Granola for the rest of us

Does anyone else love Caribou Coffee granola bars?


I tried the caramel one first, and I was hooked, but now I've tried the chocolate mocha, and I think I've found a little bar of heaven.

I'm not sure how you can possibly go wrong when you're combining granola bars (health food by all accounts - don't try to disabuse me of that notion) with chocolate AND coffee! And there's even a cute animal figure thrown into the mix. I mean seriously. It's perfect.

Better days for The Murph

Well, the rehydration and antibiotics seem to be doing the trick for The Murphinator.

Last night, she was her usual social self, sitting next to me on the couch, following me around, and bumping the phone with her head while I tried to talk and purring into the receiver.

She had eaten, and her meow was back to its loud, insistent quality - who would've thought I'd be glad for that?

I haven't seen her drink any water yet, but seeing as the vet pumped her full of fluids on Monday evening, maybe she just wasn't thirsty yet. I have to say it's an odd occurrence to see your cat's back leaking water. I'm hoping that tonight, though, I'll see her hitting the water trough. The subcutaneous fluids they gave her Monday should have all been absorbed by now, and since she's eating again, she should get thirsty again.

So, I don't think I'll need to take any donations for her medical care, but thanks to all of you who so generously offered to contribute. Murphy is touched by your concern, and she says to tell you all that she now knows that you all like her - you really like her!

Poor Murphy...'s mom's bank account

My boo-boo kitty Murphy is illin'.

As of last Thursday, she was still herself. She was stalking around, yelling at everyone, harassing my mom's cat (we were visiting), and being her usual, lovable, purr-monkey, snuffling self. All was well in Murphyland.

But Friday morning, when I woke up, she wasn't on the bed with me and didn't come up to me in bed for lovin'. Something was amiss. She was hiding somewhere, and she never even came out for any conversation while I got ready for work. Hmmm. But I didn't have time to deal with it just then - I had to get to work. So I did.

That night, she was still anti-social. Not a good sign. Maybe allergies? She'd spent most of Thursday on my mom's porch. And she does have sinus issues.

Saturday I brought her home. Maybe getting back to her normal environment would help. By now, she was downright lethargic, unsocial, and her meow had become kind of puny. This is not my Murphy.

Sunday morning - same story. I began to notice she wasn't eating or drinking either, and she literally spent the whole day lying on the bed in the guest room. Time for action. I called the vet that afternoon, and they didn't have any more appointments unless I needed to bring her in on an emergency basis. Well, I'd felt her nose and there didn't appear to be fever, and I'd felt her all over and couldn't find any wounds or tender spots, so I made the call to wait until Monday. Emergency tips to the vet are pretty freakin' pricey, and with such non-specific symptoms, I wasn't hopeful they'd know what was wrong.

Good thing I waited. I took her in yesterday, and after almost 2 hours and $250 worth of exams, tests, prescriptions and giving her fluids to rehydrate her (when you don't eat or drink for 2 days, you get dehydrated), I walked out without a clear diagnosis and a vet who would've done full-on exploratory surgery if I'd let him. Imagine the price if I'd brought her in on an emergency basis! He wants to re-run her blood test in a few days. Uh, yeah, not likely unless she's worse instead of better or holding steady. I'm not ATM, pal.

I told Aggressive Vet that for now, we'd treat her as if it's an infection (one of the possibilities he came up with based on her white blood cell count...and nothing else) and see what happens. It could be a virus. Or it could be who the hell knows what. But we rehydrated her, gave her an antibiotic shot, and now I'm giving her antibiotics at home.

I seriously hope this works because I don't really want to pour more money into a mystery illness. She does seem a little bit better this morning - a bit more vigor in her meow, and at least a little bit of interest in eating. But antibiotics tend to have a negative effect on her digestive tract, so we'll see what I come home to. Wish me luck. I'd prefer not to have to cash out my IRA if this doesn't get resolved!

Lesson for the day: be female.

The following story appeared in USA Today today (is that redundant?):

Man dies during cupcake-eating contest

A British man choked to death Friday during a cupcake-eating contest at a pub in Wales.

BBC News says Adam Deeley, 34, was competing with his friends to see who could eat more of the "fairy cakes" that were left over from a party at the Monkey Cafe and Bar in Swansea.

"It is thought Mr Deeley had around five of the cakes lodged in his throat," the South Wales Evening Post says. "Colleagues trained in first aid and an off-duty lifeguard rushed to help him. Paramedics arrived moments later. But they couldn't open his airway."

The coroner plans an inquest, but police don't suspect foul play, The Guardian reports. "It was a tragic accident and very sad and should serve as a cautionary tale," the nightclub's owners say in a statement to BBC News.

I'd like to think that I'd recognize I'm choking long before the fifth cupcake became wedged. I'm guessing when the FIRST cupcake became lodged in my windpipe, I'd probably pause. "Hmmmm. I can't breathe. Maybe I shouldn't shove *more* cake down my throat."

And then there's the question of why even the paramedics couldn't open this guy's airway. What the hell were these "fairy cakes" made of? Surgical glue and slime - it sticks to everything but you can't get a grip on it? Did anyone try the Heimlich?

The police say it should serve as a "cautionary tale." Right - like, "Don't be an idiot." You'll notice that when you read these stories, it's never a woman who has died in some pub trying to cram more cake in her face than everyone else and not stopping when she's ceased being able to breathe.

Cuba = the size of New Jersey

Fidel Castro, 81, has resigned as "president" of Cuba. His brother, Raul, 76, will take over. An ABC reporter this morning, reporting the story, said that this peaceful turnover of power from one communist to another would foil the hopes of those wanting a new kind of government "for a long time."

Really? For a long time? Raul is 76. How long do you expect the man to last up there atop the utopian kingdom?

What you tell a reporter is usually reported.

A possible hate crime is being investigated in the college town where my parents live - down the road from Austin. A Muslim professor's house was broken into and nothing was stolen but the house was trashed and "epithets" were scribbled on the walls.

I saw a news report about it last night and again this morning, and the reporter interviewed neighbors who were "shocked." I guess they were "shocked senseless" because this one guy announced how the street where they live (where the hate crime happened) is so quiet that he often leaves his doors unlocked and he never sees police around.

Hey, genius - did you ever think that the kind of people who break into other people's houses, usually to steal all their stuff, not to just write stuff on the walls, just *love* when you tell them exactly which streets have unlocked houses and no cops around? Moron. Maybe you should just announce on television where your spare key is hidden and your alarm code while you're at it.

In my email...

According to an email in my bulk folder, I sent myself an email with the following subject line: "SAVE Up to 15 % ... Top Replicas".

I don't HAVE any replicas of tops! What can this mean????

I stand corrected.

The Pats didn't pound. I must say I'm surprised. I really thought the Patriots would just dominate last night, and not only did they not dominate, they didn't even win. Eli Manning was very impressive, and Tom Brady just didn't seem on his game. I don't know what to tell ya.

Luckily, I don't really care that much. I was rooting for the Pats. A perfect season would've been cool - history and all that. But I like the Manning boys, and it's also pretty historic to have one brother win last year and the other win this year. The only downside is that I don't like New York, so it's unfortunate that we have to all listen to New Yorkers gloat. Blech.

But congratulations to Eli Manning!

In my email...

John Cordova assures me, "She will always want it now." Really, John? ALWAYS? Because that's a pretty bold promise. Oh, wait - you're talking about a gift of money and chocolate, aren't you? You're right. She will always want it. In fact, HE will always want it, too. Everyone would want that. So, you're not really telling us anything we didn't already know, are you, John? Good grief, man, stop wasting our time.

Got some old Crocs you're ready to let go of? Well, you can toss your old Crocs and help a good cause all at the same time. The maker of the ubiquitous plastic shoes has started a new iniative called SolesUnited. They figured out how to recycle the material the shoes are made of, and they're encouraging people to donate their old worn-out pairs so the company can recycle them and manufacture them into new pairs for needy people around the world. Pretty cool, huh?

I don't see a downside here at all. I believe in giving to good causes, recycling, wearing shoes, and taking advantage of opportunities to do good things with minimal effort and cash outlay. This fits all that. You don't really have to do anything except toss your old Crocs into a bin at a shoe store instead of the trash, and you get to be part of charity and recycling at no cost. And someone in the world gets a pair of shoes, maybe for the first time. Nice. It's painless charity, people.

Me? I don't have any Crocs. I have a knock-off Wal-Mart pair. I'm guessing those aren't made of the same material as real Crocs. Mine are probably made of asbestos that gives off formaldahyde everytime I take a step. They're from Wal-Mart, after all. But all of you who ponied up for the real ones, you can do a good thing.