Save the Pits!

I know that this is a very bazaar question but please stick with me. Whenever I've blown my nose over the past 3 days mucus or air comes out of my right eye. I had a cold that I've been over for about the past week and I feel perfectly healthy. I'm not congested and I do not have a runny nose. I'm just blowing gently some normal every day mucus.

Has anyone ever had this happen? What the heck is going on?

I'm fairly certain that this isn't the end of the world but I thought I'd run it by ya'll just to double check.

My dog has been fighting happy tail for a few months now (1 1/2 year old Mastiff, Sadie) and despite various treatments we've been unsuccessful at treating it. She's has a scheduled appointment to have part of her tail amputated to remove the damaged area on Thursday which I have tried numerous times to have moved up to a closer date. The short of it is that a couple days ago her tail no longer had a sore on it, it was held together by only a couple strips of muscle and the bone (about 1 inch from the tip). I called over a vet tech. friend of mine who convinced me not to go to the veterinary ER since it was not an emergency and to wait it out until Thursday. Last night sometime while we were sleeping she must have eaten the tip and perhaps a bit more because I can't find it for the life of me. Will this hurt her in any way?

Also, I was told by my vet tech friend that it's my decision on whether or not to wrap the remaining tail or not. She has told me that wrapping it is only good for keeping out infection and if she's keeping it clean (and we keep it clean) that she'll be fine but on the flip side it may protect her from some pain when wagging into furniture. there is about 1/2 inch of bone sticking out past the rest of the flesh at the tip and I currently have it slathered in iodine and wrapped. Any opinions on this matter?

Thanks all!

My <2 year old Mastiff, Sadie, has been suffering from "happy tail" for a few months now. After seeking medical guidance a few times for this problem we have opted to have part of her tail amputated. The last time she went to the vet was Friday and at this time her tail had an angry red sore, some of her fur pulled out (by her of course) and it was mildly swollen. Her appointment for the amputation is June 3rd. Since Friday her tail has gotten progressively worse day by day seemingly exponentially. I do not believe it is infected (yet) but it is headed that way soon. It is weeping bloody plasma, the sore is getting about 1cm wider each day, and she is still in a good deal of pain despite the Tramadol that I insisted the vet give to her as she is in enough pain to have snapped at my other two dogs which she has never done before. I am getting seriously concerned that June 3rd just isn't fast enough. My question is... can this wait until tomorrow morning for me to call the vet to request an earlier date if at all possible or do we need to go to the emergency vet tonight? And if it can wait until morning; is this serious enough that it CAN wait until June 3rd if they can't slip her in sooner? I don't have much experience with the progression of "happy tail" so I am unsure of when/if this becomes an "emergency" versus "urgent." I certainly don't want my dog to suffer but I also don't want to waste the time of an emergency vet that may be needed elsewhere. Prior experiences, opinions, and thoughts are more than welcome, thank you!

My husband has always wanted children. I, on the other hand, though liking children just fine, have never seen myself as a mother. We both have good, stable careers with good benefits, we own our own house which is in great repair and have a spare room, and though we have three dogs they all are stable and great around kids.

Over the past year or so I've been feeling progressively more "warm" towards the idea of having a baby but the idea still scares the crap out of me. I was thinking initially it was just "baby fever" because everyone around me is having children but now I'm really thinking it's something more. My husband and I have talked it over several times though never reached a decision and he seems so excited and sure of it but I'm scared but still want to. Does that make any sense? We are in a good position right now to seriously think about trying.

I guess what I'm asking is how did you feel before you decided to start trying? And do you have any advice for me regarding these feelings?

My husband has always wanted children. I, on the other hand, though liking children just fine, have never seen myself as a mother. We both have good, stable careers with good benefits, we own our own house which is in great repair and have a spare room, and though we have three dogs they all are stable and great around kids.

Over the past year or so I've been feeling progressively more "warm" towards the idea of having a baby but the idea still scares the crap out of me. I was thinking initially it was just "baby fever" because everyone around me is having children but now I'm really thinking it's something more. My husband and I have talked it over several times though never reached a decision and he seems so excited and sure of it but I'm scared but still want to. Does that make any sense? We are in a good position right now to seriously think about trying.

I guess what I'm asking is how did you feel before you decided to start trying? And do you have any advice for me regarding these feelings?

I bought music on iTunes and did not put most of it on my iPod (way too much) and the computers (both of them) that I had the music on blew up. Okay, one blew up and the other just kinda stopped working. Anyway, I can't figure out for the life of me how to re-download the music. I've authorized this computer but I can't find anything that will let me download it in the store or the drop down menus in iTunes. I decided to give up at one point and tried to just buy an album again but I got a warning message telling me that I've already purchased the album and was I sure I wanted to continue. Of course I don't give I can just get it back! Can anyone help me out?

Thanks so much!

I bought music on iTunes and did not put most of it on my iPod (way too much) and the computers (both of them) that I had the music on blew up. Okay, one blew up and the other just kinda stopped working. Anyway, I can't figure out for the life of me how to re-download the music. I've authorized this computer but I can't find anything that will let me download it in the store or the drop down menus in iTunes. I decided to give up at one point and tried to just buy an album again but I got a warning message telling me that I've already purchased the album and was I sure I wanted to continue. Of course I don't give I can just get it back! Can anyone help me out?

Thanks so much!

I bought music on iTunes and did not put most of it on my iPod (way too much) and the computers (both of them) that I had the music on blew up. Okay, one blew up and the other just kinda stopped working. Anyway, I can't figure out for the life of me how to re-download the music. I've authorized this computer but I can't find anything that will let me download it in the store or the drop down menus in iTunes. I decided to give up at one point and tried to just buy an album again but I got a warning message telling me that I've already purchased the album and was I sure I wanted to continue. Of course I don't give I can just get it back! Can anyone help me out?

Thanks so much!

My husband and I traded in one of our cars (a '93 Jeep Cherokee Sport) to the used car dealer for 500 bucks towards our new used car. This was back in mid October of last year! We told them that we could not get the Jeep to them and they said that they'd be by with a tow truck something before the end of the week. Perfect... well, they didn't show up. I called them twice to remind them that we have the car and they are more than welcome to get it whenever and they first made a scheduled time so we would be there when they picked it up (I stayed there all day waiting for them) but they didn't show up so I called and said I couldn't take another day off work to wait for them but to please pick up the car whenever convenient so it could get off our lawn. Well, again, they never came to get the car. We've worked with them since to fix something on our new car and they haven't said a word about it.

My question is, we signed over the deed and everything to them and they haven't come to get the car. Does it ever revert back to our ownership because it's abandoned property or something? I hate feeling like trailer trash because we have a broken down car in our driveway and it really takes up space! It's been 10 months now... can we just sell it to a junk yard legally?

I have a friend who I've clicked incredibly well with. We have a lot of fun when we go out together and our conversations are really engaging. A few months ago her boyfriend pushed her hard into a dresser and she kicked him out but now they're slowly getting back together. He's now spending the night and she says things are going really well but I know there's something really not right going on. A couple months ago she went on a "ride along" with my husband (who's a cop) and her boyfriend drove around the town he works in looking for the cruiser until he found them. He charged up to the cruiser and screamed at my husband to give him is "f***ing girlfriend back" (keep in mind that my husband is in full police uniform and in the cop car) and started flipping out. My friend and I used to go out once a week but lately she's either been ditching me for him or doesn't call me back. She'll text me or send me an e-mail later apologizing because she was "sick" or "didn't get the message until midnight" or was "working" but I have reason to believe that this isn't always the case. Half of me wants to just cut my losses and figure that she really just isn't interested in the friendship anymore but then she'll write to me out of the blue (or call) in a great mood and we'll joke around for a few hours and make plans. It makes me worry that something bad is going on between her and her boyfriend and that maybe he's deleting messages or forbidding her to come out to see me and that she could be in some real trouble. Tonight I noticed that her car was not in her work's parking lot (no I was not being a creepy stalker, I was driving to grab dinner) and tonight is her work night. I tried to call to see if she was okay but her phone is off and it never is. What should I do?

I accidentally bought live pinkie mice for my corn snake instead of the frozen. I bought enough to freeze the remainder for the month... now I have three live pinkies and I don't have the heart to kill them by breaking their necks, I don't have access to CO2 and it's illegal to just put them in the freezer. I've tried broadcasting via facebook that I have extras to give away quickly for people who have snakes and calling around to see if anyone has a pet snake or knows people that do have one that may want it. Suggestions please! I don't want these little guys to suffer needlessly!

I asked this question a couple months ago and my mind was put at ease but now I'm still very concerned about the growth of my English Mastiff puppy.

I'm not a dog novice. I feed only the best quality food and have brought her to her 8 week old health check and 6 month bi-annual check up at which time the vet said she was "looking good" when I asked about her weight. She is now 10 months old and only 83 lbs. Our previous Mastiff was what I affectionally called a "Mini-stiff" because she only ever made it to 135 lbs. She was larger than our current girl, Sadie, at this time. Sadie's mom is 180 lbs. and her father is 240 lbs. Her litter mates are all weighing in around 140 lbs at this point in time and there was no runt in her litter. When we picked her up at 8 weeks old she was the forth largest in the litter of 12 (yes! big litter!). She is not nor has she ever been on any medications that could stunt her growth and we feed her according to her personal needs. As she does not tend to overeat we feed her three times a day as much as she wants then pick it up after she loses interest in it. If she is having a growth spurt she'll take around 12 cups of food per day and if she isn't she only wants around 6. She is correctly proportioned for her frame and does not have any parasites (we checked).

Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on? Ideally I'd like to hear from someone with Mastiff experience. I by no means want to force her growth nor is it important to me that she grows just for the sake of having a large dog. I am just concerned that there may be something medically wrong that is making her not grow/grow poorly.

Sadie is acting perfectly normal. She's alert, playful, seeks affection, and has a normal appetite. Hope someone can shed some light on the situation. Heck, hopefully someone can tell me this is normal and that she's just growing slower than most pups! Thanks in advance!

I have a 30 week old English Mastiff puppy and I'm a little concerned about her growth rate. I do not want to force her growth but I'm worried that she's not putting on weight like she's supposed to. Her proportions are good and she is not wormy, lethargic, or sick in any way. She weighted in at 75 lbs on Monday. Growth charts I've been seeing place their puppies at around 125 lbs. Her mother is 180 lbs (when not nursing) and her father is 240- they were both at healthy weights. My previous English Mastiff was "small" weighing only 136 lbs as an adult and I remember when she was this age she was over 90 lbs- and she was a very sickly dog.

We feed her about 9 cups of Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul every day and her bowel movements are firm. She is not force fed in any way. I do not believe in starving large breed dogs to slow their growth (this is an internet fad that spread like wild fire) but I also don't want to make her grow faster than nature intended. She seems to be putting on 2-3 lbs per week. She also had her 6 month puppy exam and the vet was very happy with her proportions and health.

Does anyone have any experience with a Mastiff growing this slowly? Should I be concerned or is nature just doing what it's supposed to do? Finally, should I be bringing her to another vet to get a second opinion? I could care less if I end up with a "midget mastiff" but I do care if there's a potential health problem! I want to make sure my little girl is healthy!

Thanks!

I've been thinking a lot about if/how to change my name after I get married in June and I think I've finally solidified it but I was wondering if this would be appropriate/acceptable:

I'd like to have 2 middle names. The first one being my grandmother's name (I was very close with her and she died from cancer when I was 16) and the second one being my maiden name (since my father fought for 4 years to adopt me so I could share that name so I don't want to give it up). My question is, is it appropriate to take my grandmother's name or is it in bad taste? I do not plan on ever having children so that wouldn't be an option.

What do you think?

In 2 weeks I will be interviewed for a job as a Residential Support Counselor (crisis intervention, case management, intake interviews etc.) and I have an industrial piercing through my cartilage of my left ear. Common sense says TAKE IT OUT! But it isn't really something I can do anymore. I ended up keloiding and the ring keeps the keloids in a place where you can't really see them. I've had to take it out once since they developed for an x-ray and it took me literally 3 1/2 hours of pain to get it back in since the holes are no longer straight and they are swollen shut because of the keloid. Without the ring, the keloids look even worse. Do you think it will significantly reduce my chances at getting this job if I don't take it out? Does anyone have any ideas on how to hide it if I can't take it out? I plan on having the keloids removed over the summer and hopefully that will either make it so I can take the piercing out when I want to or just close up the holes and go back to "normal." What do you think?

I'm looking for another good book or series to read but since I've graduated college I'm not getting any good recommendations from professors. I have a pretty eclectic taste but I really enjoy fantasy/future based books but don't let that limit your recommendations! Have any must-reads you'd like to share with me?

Much appreciated! Thanks!

I'm getting married in June, and over the past couple months I've become very close with another girl. I'd very much like to involve her in the wedding and give her some position of status. I don't want to just give her a little job like "coat collector" lol, I want to have her do something special since I'm fairly certain it's too close to ask her to be a bridesmaid (though the dress is only 35 dollars...) is there anything else I can have her do? I've written the ceremony myself so adding something in isn't a problem (though I have no idea what I'd add in) but I'm not sure if having her do a reading is really up her ally. Has anyone else had this happen? Should I add another bridesmaid? Any ideas?

Thanks!!

I'm going to the bar tonight and I have a serious chocolate craving. Anyone know of a good chocolaty bar drink that's fairly common/easy to make (just a local college bar)?

Thanks!

I'll give you one hint- he's an exact 50-50 cross.

And he's not some freaking fancy "hybrid" he's a rescued mutt that some stupid "breeder" bred trying to create her own breed. The whole litter ended up at the shelter because she was irresponsible and let her b**** get hit by a car.

Anyway, can you guess?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/savethepits/338773075...

I've had a major shoulder surgery on each of my shoulders. They've been doing very well and from January of 08 until January of 09 I worked at an animal shelter doing almost everything that everyone else was doing. I had very few restrictions though they all knew that if someone had to do heavy lifting or whatever, I wasn't the person to ask. One might say that I had "no accomodations." Well, we had a ringworm epidemic and it required the morning cleanings to turn into 8 hour scrub-fests and I ended up injuring one of my shoulders. I went to the doctor, he prescribed me meds and sent me to physical therapy. The physical therapist told me that I could go back to work but would not like me to be scrubbing the cages. I called my boss and she told me that "there was no place for me" and that was about it. I did not quit and I have not been terminated. I've gone in a few times to do some public relations work but that's all. I am fully able to go back to work for the afternoon shift as that is when all the morning scrubbing is done and I could do paperwork, work with customers, vet work...pretty much absolutely anything that needed to be done but she told me that she didn't need or want anyone for that shift.

My Dad (who runs a judicial branch building) is fairly certain that they have to take me back legally as long as reasonable accommodations can be made (I think working the afternoon shift is reasonable, don't you?) to allow me to work. He also said that since I got hurt because I was working there that they really should be taking me back. What's the law say about this? Do I have a leg to stand on?