Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

[SmallBlueThing]

Ladies and gentlemen, I was speaking metaphorically- those two weeks of arse and tongue hell I spent in a dirty Plymouth back street scarred me forever. And the chicken pox was unbearable too.

SBT

[staticgirl]

My dad used to get shingles as an adult which I believe is a result of childhood chicken-pox. He was a bit unlucky to to get it so young as it mostly affects people over 50 but it was probably because he had such a hard childhood and his immunity wasn't so good. You don't really hear of people getting it nowadays...

[Theblazeuk]

Joe of Adam n Joe got shingles (or even respected screenwriter and director Joe Cornish if that's what floats your boat).

Until that happened I thought it was like rickets or polio or what have you, consigned to the medical waste bin of history.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I am just settling down to a nice Saturday evening of paperwork. Which is dull and tiring, but at least it's because I finish my job on Tuesday. At 1.00pm sharp.

Anyone want to go to the boozer on Tuesday lunchtime, just let me know!

[GrinningChimera]

Until that happened I thought it was like rickets or polio or what have you, consigned to the medical waste bin of history.

Not according to The Simpsons

[Frank]

I am just settling down to a nice Saturday evening of paperwork. Which is dull and tiring, but at least it's because I finish my job on Tuesday. At 1.00pm sharp

Wow - I didn't realise there was a finite amount of work you had to do before you can quit. Now I know my entire career is job-and-finish, I think I'll just hang back late and batter through my allotted chores so I can retire before I'm 50.

[radiator]

We just adopted a dog. The dog itself is absolutely wonderful - in every way the dog we have long dreamed of having - beautiful, perfectly behaved; gentle, great with people, children and other dogs, loving and loyal right off the bat.

However, over the weekend we began to notice she had an intermittent problem with her back right leg. She didn't appear to be in actual pain, more minor discomfort, and after examining her foot ourselves we figured that it was the result of one of her claws getting snagged or torn. But having had her looked over by a vet this morning it appears that it is something far more serious that will require expensive surgery to fix, or else it'll be a slow decline that would result in having to have her put down.

I'm obviously gutted, but ultimately we love this dog and are fortunate enough that we are able to cover the costs (unlike the majority of people who buy or adopt a big dog, we only did so prepared and ready for any eventuality). With any luck the surgery will be successful and she will have a good few years of happy life with us. Fingers crossed.

Of course, this begs the question of whether her previous owners knew about the seriousness of this injury before selling her to us, and my hunch is 'yes, of course they bloody did', and will plead ignorance.

All along, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop as I couldn't figure out why anyone would give up such a wonderful dog - even though they gave us a perfectly plausible story, something didn't quite add up. There's always going to be an element of trust involved in these situations. You live and learn. Pretty resolute now to just say 'fuck 'em' and do what needs to be done, though I may very well be sending them a rather strongly worded text message.

[The Legendary Shark]

Let it go. Don't sully your new found and loving relationship with anything so petty as recriminations. They didn't love this little soul but you do. Revel in that and don't look back, is my advice.

[radiator]

Thanks Shark. You are of course correct - we are deliriously happy with the little pup, as she is with us.

I think I will work through my anger by drafting a few emails to them, then deleting them. I do hope that they can sleep well at night, though, and spend the money we handed over in good faith on something nice for themselves.

[radiator]

Should add, I slightly misunderstood the information my girlfriend relayed to me and thought the figure she gave me was in Sterling, not Dollars, so in fact the surgery is nowhere near as much as I thought! 

[The Legendary Shark]

Well, it won't get them much karma I suppose.

Me? I'm a bit of a romantic so I'd tell myself that the people who sold you the pup were in financial distress and knew they couldn't afford the vet bills so were forced to choose between having the little pup put to sleep or passing it on to someone who could afford to keep her alive. If they'd told everybody about the expensive problem, what chance would they have? If you choose to believe something like this you can see yourself as the selfless and philanthropic hero rather than the avenging angel. You can even tell the story that you figured this out from the start but played along to help the poor peasants keep their dignity.

Then, you shall be henceforth known as Sir Radiator, Protector of Beasts. At least in your own head...

[radiator]

 

[TordelBack]

Radiator, that's a right curate's egg.  Shark is dead right - rise above it.  Do whatever is best/feasible for your pet, and enjoy their company as they enjoy yours. 

We're watching our old fellow deteriorate before our eyes at the moment, a rescue dog who had a first year of life I couldn't even bring myself to describe here, but who has had 12 mutually great years with us to balance it out.  There's times I'd happily pulp the face of his previous owner (who was as a result banned for life from keeping any animal), particularly now our lad's mind is going and we can see him reverting to behaviours from his ghastly long-ago puppyhood, but to be honest we all got so much out of the deal that I should probably thank him instead.


And then kick the shit out of him.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

That's a tricky bit of a situation there sir - but I hope you gain some comfort in the presence of the dog, who I'm sure is happy to have got a (more honest) owner!

Currently a little peeved at seeing some folk doing a "ooh look for one month I'm surviving only a few pounds a day - like the poorest in our society are - I'm saving money AND raising awareness" - cos currently - I AM having to survive on a few pounds a day. I just find that attitude kind of patronising - like all of the people on your friends list are also so privileged they'll find the "sacrifice" really inspiring instead of depressing. Fact is, if summat goes wrong in your house that month are you going to have to spend a week not eating to pay for it? Is the 'few pounds a day' going to also cover your rent? I think fucking not. All the awareness you've raised is that I'm now aware that you don't think before you type.

Sigh.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

"Raising awareness". That has to be the most narcissistic form of charity there is. It's like they're assuming either you've never heard of poverty/mental health/cancer/whatever, or you just don't care. They take real things that real people actually have to struggle with and make it all about themselves.