Jemsweb

Our much loved pet dog Ex (aka X) died yesterday peacefully at home of old age. He was 16 years old. We laid him out in a cardboard box and the boys put flowers all around him, and we put some photos of him & us in with him and sang Pokarekare Ana, then took him up to the vets to be cremated. We are planning to scatter his ashes in his favourite park in Darlington where he spent the prime years of his life.

I wanted to write a few words about Ex’s life here to remember him by.

Ex was born to be a working dog on a farm in Hawera, New Zealand in 1992. However as soon as he started walking, it was apparent there was something not right about his gait and he wouldn’t be a good sheepdog. The farmer was planning on throwing Ex in the river but the farmer’s daughter Shannelle convinced him to let her take Ex home to her mother’s house and try and find a home for him. Shannelle’s mother Melina happened to be Jan’s flatmate at the time, and Jan instantly fell in love with the little golden puppy and decided we should adopt him. Jan & I had been together about a year then, and I was living in Rotorua and coming down for weekends.

So Ex became our “firstborn” and we took him off to the vet to diagnose his wobbly gait. The vet told us we should have him put down as he was in pain, but we couldn’t bear it and decided to get a second opinion from Massey University vet school. They told us it was juvenile dysplasia which meant that his bones were growing at different rates, but that he wouldn’t be in pain once he reached adulthood and that with the help of painkillers and minimising his physical activity, he would be fine. So Jan carried him around stuffed down her cleavage for months, and he would drive up with her to see me in Rotorua.

Sure enough he grew into a lovely dog, but he was always a funny shape – tall with shapely long ballet legs at the back, but short and squat chunky terrier at the front, and a giant head! His lineage was never really determined, there was definitely some Staffy in there and other suggestions were Bull Terrier, Mastiff or even Pitbull. He was always a very gentle dog and very friendly.
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Sorry for the relative quiet the last few days. I was off work with yucky cold thing on Thursday and Friday. And of course I do all my home page updates from work (wouldn’t you?). Had an eventful weekend as we finally moved into the new abode. Jan, I and our intrepid assistants Jake, Anthony and Michel spent Friday night lugging rather weighty objects into trucks and back out again. Four green metal cabinets were the chief offenders – it took 4 people to lift them into the truck. However we did well and many thanks to all involved.

The house is now our home and we have settled in well – except for crap hot water cylinder and very chilly tiles of a morning. Still painting the front bedroom so we are sleeping in the living room at present. Ex is loving it for some reason and seems much happier than at Hugo St. The cats are in confinement for a week while they settle. Bootsy is so used to trauma now that he is completely adjusted but Tinsel still seems a little bit freaked! We put a deposit on a new kitchen as we just couldn’t live with the old one so that will hopefully be going in in six weeks or so. Also looking at getting gas put on and a new floor in the back half of the house. Anyway it will definitely be keeping us distracted until Little Jem arrives! Still it is a vast improvement on the old place, much more spacious.

The carpet is going down at Hugo Street today – apparently the carpet layer was a real dickhead though so we’ll have to see how it turns out. New doors are coming for there on Thursday and then we will be just about ready to rent the sucker out.

From last week’s Popbitch
Marvel at the how much Geri Halliwell’s breasts have changed over the years:
The young Geri showing off her gigantic naked bazoingas:
http://www.message-board.net/upload/GeriHalliwellsleuthPC3.jpg
The current Geri showing off her shrivelled granny-bags:
http://www.message-board.net/upload/GeriHalliwellCrapaPC(1).jpg

I am still playing Junkbot, only 3 levels now on which I don’t have a gold award. Workmate Joel has mastered ALL the levels and is ranking around 17th in the world. Alas I am on about 118th, still it’s an achievement.