Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Espresso, Pets and Vets



Spoiled rotten. It's spring the windows are still open, that's a very big deal, and I am sippin on a homemade latte thinking about what to blog about. I found a little pink stove top espresso maker at Marshalls for $5. The box was in Italian and there weren't any directions. I tried to go on line to look up some kind of instructions for use. Nada. Ok well, with a spirit of adventure I started looking it over. The bottom holds the water and the steam rises through the coffee. I have a grinder so powderizing the beans was no problem. A tapper,...humm I have a teaspoon. After mashing the coffee into the little coffee holder spot, I really looked at the bottom part. How much? Was that a line? What is that little dingie ma bobber on the side? Some kind of steam release button? Better not overfill it. Is this really supposed to sit on the stove top and not melt and get ruined? What if I put boiling water in the bottom and then put it on the stove on medium and watch it real real close. IT WORKED! It didn't fall apart or melt, or overflow. The dingie ma bobber was a steam release and in just a few minutes I had a little pot of lovely espresso. Half a cup of organic milk in the microwave for a minute, add the lovely dark brew and wahlah; what a way to start the day!

Old ladies love to reminisce about the past. I am not old yet but I am practicing. Meandering around in my memory bank thinking of stories I remembered our hippie vet that used a delivery truck for his practice. When we lived in Felton we had the great good fortune to be acquainted with a wonderful travelling vet. He had redone the inside of a big bread type truck and he made his rounds, by parking on certain streets in different towns every day of the week. He charged $15.00 for a visit.
He did not rely heavily on expensive testing, he was a crackerjack diagnostician; had wonderful remedies, and did low cost spaying and neutering out of his home. He would pick up your pet keep it overnight and then you went back the next day for pick up. What was so cool was this idea actually made a significant difference in health care for animals, on the simple basis of easy access and affordibility. Is that a word?

One of my cats left a fettucinne noodle the other day, not really. Not to be gross but I know what that is. In the old days I'd go stand in line, wouldn't even have to bring the cat. Tell him what's up and leave with enough wormer for everybody. Just like that. When my poodle would get yeast in his ears, he gave me 7-1 ointment that cured up everything and made the dog feel better. Very reasonable at $11 a tube and $15 for a call so who wouldn't go? If you didn't bring the pet he just sold you the meds. How cool is that? The vets here in our town are very high class. They give high class human style care. To get a yeast infection cleared up we must have a micro study, $50, a visit, $40, the meds, $25 - $30, over a hundred to clear up an ear infection. Now that's sick.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Desperate times call for desperate measures so a tube of over the counter yeast cream for women for $5. In the ears massaged liberally for 7 days. Did it work? Well it helped, may need another week she still has a little funky red/brown gunk in her ears. hopefully the cream is compatible with a dogs tympanic membranes. Lord. I have diflucan too but cannot find anywhere on the internet what the mg/per pound dosage is. Being a liver toxic drug I am not foolish enough to guess at that. Here's my beef. Where are the hippie vets that love animals and want to help you take good care of your pets? Can anyone pay a hundred bucks a pop for routine stuff? How come we have to send stool specimens to the lab and spend hundreds of dollars for tapeworms. I need a country vet. I cotton pickin need a country life.

Daddy BB and I were talking about selling out and buying a piece of land. We only have enough for the land and the septic. I could put up an A frame and take it one step at a time. I am not beneath bargain shopping for sinks. Shoot we could have an outdoor solar shower in the summer. In fact solar would be great here it's so sunny and warm.

If I was a vet, I'd buy a bread truck and get to work. What can nurses do without docs? Not much. Time to quit dreaming and start grading papers and getting ready for this high school graduation. Will figure out the rest later, Scarlett O Hara your my hero.

10 comments:

Kathy said...

Dare I comment? LOL just deleted a long comment, 'the view from the other side...' (vet medicine)
I understand your yearnings for the country life. My journey to our place includes a story about living in a tent for almost a year. (By choice)

Karen Deborah said...

awhh Kathy your exempt from my fussing. Don't hit delete. The other side is always a good eye opener. You've seen some bad stuff, you have proof.
I just miss my vet in the truck.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, the counrty life...the piece of property we just bought has so, so many hidden expenses! It's scary!

Karen Deborah said...

you bought some property? are you moving? How exciting!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Karen,

There is a farmer's co-op out east of Brandon. I cannot remember the name of the road it is on but I seem to remember it is that main road that goes through the old downtown section. It is on the left and a fairly large building. Of course, we were there nearly six years ago so that area may be more developed now. Anyway, I used to buy my dogs yearly vaccinations there for $6 and give them myself. You are a nurse so it would be a piece of cake for you. They also had all the different wormers there and they might have what you need for an ear infection. Gosh... you know I should check around out here for one. We've got an excellent vet but we are spending $140 a month just for our dogs' special food (early kidney for Lu Lu and Duck and Potato for Benny). We have spent so much money on both dogs lately!

Hmmmmm. I just gave myself an idea for a blog post! It will explain how I learned to give dogs shots in the first place.

Karen Deborah said...

sounds like a great idea. I actually found some droncit today on line. That's what my hippee vet used, yeah! As it is I spent over a hundred to get flea stuff and wormer for everybody, 5 aminimals.
I hate giving cats shots, I can just about stick anybody anywhere with anything and it gives me the creeps to pull up the skin on an aminiminals neck and stick em. Go figure.

Susiewearsthepants said...

I understand your point. I unwillingly have three cats and the high cost of pet care is an issue. I didn't willingly take on the animals, they came with the house. So what's a single struggling mother to do? I feel ya girlfriend!

Brenda said...

I am a city slicker. If you are yearning for country living though, I hope it works out for you! Your current home and gardens would be so hard to leave though. They are pretty.

Karen Deborah said...

From Tigger:
Yay for Brenda! Omg can you like enter my grandma's brain and make her like want to stay where she is please? Nannie has wanted to move to: California, Florida, Mexico, Papa New Guiney, Colombia, and out in the country. The woman is obsessed with moving! I'll pay you 25$ to do it!

April said...

Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned the ear yeast thing. I didn't think about getting an over the counter human drug. I've been flushing our dogs ears with vinigar...poor guy.