RIP Huckleberry, We Will Miss You Always

This post is long overdue.  It should have been published on the day it happened, September 8th, but it was just too hard to get myself in front of a keyboard and put it out there for the public. 

Huckleberry, the greatest dog that ever lived, has passed away. He was only 5 years old. 

On September 28th I took him to the vet and dropped about $500 on tests. He'd been sick for a few weeks, but honestly the only symptom seemed to be a decrease in appetite. He refused so many kinds of dog food that we tried human food, but our good boi would turn down that too. With his weight loss noticeable, I took him in. 

I expected the doctor to tell us he had some parasite or an allergy. Instead, before she even ordered the labs she told me she thought it was cancer, lymphoma to be precise. Sympathetically, but firmly, she said "He will be gone by Halloween."

WTH. 

"And if we treat it?" I asked. 

"Then he will still be gone by this time next year, but he'll have spent a lot of that time sick from the chemo."

But, she then backed up a little and said that I should wait until next Tuesday for the blood results before making any decisions.  (Monday was Labor Day)

On the way home, distraught, I took Huck for a car ride and let him explore the expansive fields north of the airport. 

I kept the news secret for a day before I couldn't bear it alone. After work the next day Lisa sent me to pick up dog stairs to help him get into the bed, after noticing he suddenly had trouble making the leap. 

Late Friday I was rattled by a disconcerting phone message from the vet, telling me if Huckleberry were to decline rapidly over the weekend and was suffering, I should take him to XX for euthanasia . .  . just how advanced did she fear it was????

Tuesday we got the answer, It was cancer, it was bad, and it had affected his stomach as well, causing some internal bleeding. We started him on 2 medicines and continued to pamper him like mad. 

The prohibition on dogs riding in my car? Temporarily lifted. 

If someone went out, Huckleberry went with them. 

Each day he declined a noticeable degree. His attempts to get on the bed were sadder and sadder. We booked a camping excursion with the intent of taking him on one last adventure, and booked it for the second week of September. He would not live to see it.  

Meanwhile everyone spent time with him, friends stopped in to see him, and he spent time at the dog park with Lulu

and Lisa and I, with my MIL in tow, took him to a sniff spot in Kenosha County, where he and Sawyer had sole possession of two acres in which to roam. 

Unfortunately, by that time he was declining  quite a bit, got tuckered out, and largely just lounged. Not that there's anything wrong with taking it easy. 

We made the decision to put him down, scheduling it for September 8th, only 11 days after his diagnosis, as he was beginning to suffer, and his bowel movements were liquid and he no longer always had the strength to get outside fast enough to dispose of it there. 

My friend Seth heard of Huckleberry's illness and dropped off plentiful treats for his last day

Likewise, my long time friend Tre asked if Huckle could come over and visit. He and his family gave me a chocolate bar to give him in his last moments - "no one should die without knowing the goodness of chocolate" he said - and my Godson TJ walked him around their block. Although it wore out Huck, he enjoyed it immensely. 

His last day he was taken to the dog park and pampered throughout the day. When I got home from work a little early, Lisa, Junie, and I took him to the vet. I have pictures, but will not post them here. He wagged his tail for the vet (he was Huckle until the end), and devoured with relish that Hershey bar Tre bought him. 

 Lisa sang to him as he passed away 

HE'S THE BESTEST BOI AND WE LOVE HIMMMMM

SOOOO MUCH 

HUCKLEBERRY HUCKLEBERRY HUCKLEBERRYYYYYYYYYYY

HE'S THE BEST

And then he was gone. And so was a huge part of our hearts. 

Ewwwww

 Tonight I saw a rat in the wild for the first time. 

It was on 22nd and Clybourn. I had just dropped off Junie's friend and I was waiting to make sure she got in her house safely, when a rat walked out from beneath a parked car. 

It looked up at me, seemed to smirk, then ran across the street and under another car. 

Ew

Ew

Ew

Kudos to my hometown tho'. 51 years living here, in dense urban neighborhoods, and I'd never seen a rat? Good luck going 51 *hours* in Chicago.  Thanks Milwaukee!

Robert Redford

Robert Redford, the man who may have been the greatest film actor of the last sixty years, passed away in his sleep today. He was 89.

His on-screen career stretched from the 1950's through 2019, from all-time classics like Barefoot in the Park and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to Marvel movies like Avengers: Endgame.

I remember him best from 3 Days of the Condor, The Natural, and All is Lost. I thought about that last one just the other day. An old man, alone on a sinking sailboat, facing death with all the fury and stubborn refusal to die as someone a third his age - and not one word of dialouge. A powerful performance by a wonderful actor. 

RIP

update: Charlie Kirk Has Been Assasinated

The charismatic and popular leader of a conservative movement on college campuses, Charlie Kirk was just the victim of an attempted assassination at a rally in Utah.

I pray he survives, but from the video, I don't think it's likely. 

The MSM was quick, of course, to describe him as "right wing," using that as an insult, but while his beliefs were - no, ARE - conservative, I always found him respectful of his opposition and willing to listen.  The fact that he'd listen and not be swayed angered the Left all the more.

The online comments from the Left about the shooting are, as expected, disgusting and embarrassing.  If the shoe was on the other foot, there is no leftist in the world where I would mock their pain, root for their death, or celebrate their killer.  You can disagree without hating the other person, and there is ZERO excuse for political violence. 

Good luck Charlie.  You're in my prayers. 

Update: he has passed away. RIP

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Davey Johnson

Davey Johnson, the umiquitous MLB manager who led the Mets to a World title in 1986, has passed away.  He was 82.

To me, Johnson seemed to always either be managing in the bigs (he managed the Mets, Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, and Nationals) or in talks to do so.  Frankly, it's kinda odd to realize MLB has, to date, survived 12 years without his employment. 

RIP sir. 

A Close Call

I took Sawyer on a very brief car ride around the neighborhood, really nothing more than an excuse to park my car for the night. A large racoon ran across the road, bringing me to a stop. The racoon went no further than the tree on the curb, climbed up about four feet - car window height - and just casually made eye contact with Sawyer.

Who was in the back seat. 

Alone. 

With the window rolled most of the way down.

These thoughts ran through my head in order, and I instantly lunged for his leash, catching him more than halfway out the window.

Serves me right for taking him with me. 

Junie Starts College

Today our Junie, our youngest, started college.  COLLEGE! 

The days are long, but the years get shorter and shorter. 

She reports that her first class - Philosophy of AI - was "dope." And yes, you Mike Rowe cultists, that has a practical application to her career choice.

Congratulations Junie! Kick some butt!

A Crane in Flight

This morning, for the first time ever, I saw a crane fligh across the road. I was down in Kenosha on Washington, and it was such an awkward sight, with the crane's long legs angled back but for all intents and purposes, just dragging behind in the air. 

A Nightmare from a Midday Nap Yesterday

The dream started with me watching an art movie in a dark theater. 

Timothee Chamalat was the star. He was playing a young Howard Stern in the movie, and unlike what I presume happened in real-life, he was playing him as a teenager obsessed with the rock band KISS. For much of the first scene he was in full KISS makeup. 

Then he took out a knife and without hesitation cut a deep path across his face, right to left, and through both his eyeballs. 

The film turned upside down, as if someone had flipped the camera, and text on the screen told the audience that it was the director's intent to screen the whole movie in this style. I was impressed by the director's commitment to his art - and very disappointed when it reverted to normal and more text said such a viewing was impractical for a feature length film. 

Then the opening credits started. It was a Magnolia production, if I remember right. 

The next scene was a bright sunny day, focused on a corner lot, the storefront made of brick. A man sat outside on an old lawn chair. A tan '70's station wagon pulled up too fast, screeching to a halt. A blonde curly haired woman in a denim suit - Howard's Mom - rushed out.  The man in the chair, his Dad, rushed to intercept her. 

"Where is he?" she said. "I want to see Howard."

"He's' ok," the Dad said. "The doctor's say he'll be ok."

Now she sees Howard, playing with his younger sibling just down the street, a bandage across his eyes (but still, somehow, able to see and walk and play as normal). 

"Oh my God," she said. "The blood! His eyes!"

"He'll be ok Helen," the Dad said. 

And I woke up. 

Yum

Our lunch today: my version of Zupa Toscana, crafted by Lisa. 

E Buonissimo!!

I Can Explain

So I misplaced my phone this morning and might have gone a little overboard looking for it . . .

Happy Heavenly Birthday

Had her life not been stolen from her in the summer of 1993, Mia Zapata would have celebrated her 60th birthday today. 

Her memory, and her musiał gift, lives on in the recordings of The Gits.

RIP Mia. You should still be with us.

Pizza Pete's

This morning I saw a random Facebook post on a community site where a guy was lauding pizza from Pizza Pete's, then casually mentioned it was half off today. 

Whaaaat?

Well, I'd never been there but I promptly ordered a two topping 18" pizza and two orders of garlic bread for dinner. 

The cost? $18 and change!!!! (And I did tip generously when I picked it up, bc the staff was running themselves ragged filling orders.)

Do I agree with the review I saw? I'd skip the garlic bread, no lie, as it's dry and not very flavourful.  The pizza was good.  Not Top 5 good, as I think it needed some seasoning, but good all the same. I'd get it again. And maybe my thoughts are a minority opinion.  I had three square pieces; before I was done with them all that remained for me to pack up as leftovers were three more, with the rest being gobbled up by the three other adults here. (YaYa, LuLu, and Lu's bf)

Junie and her man

Junie and her beau at National Night Out at the police station in West Milwaukee. 

Free Clothes

moving and have various 2x - 4x clothes up for grabs. range of styles , casual to semi formal. mixed bags, must take entire bag (or both), and pass on what won’t be used please. - YaYa

Free Burgers in Milwaukee!!!

For the third time in franchise history, the Brewers have won 12 straight games in a row — and for the third time in George Webb history, fans will have the chance to score free burgers.

The Brewers, who have the best record in baseball (75-44), have been on a hot streak for weeks now. They are 31-9 in the past 40 games. During that time, the team put together another 11-game win streak. Plus, despite having one of the smallest payrolls in the MLB, they are 10-2 against the two teams with the highest payrolls: Dodgers and Mets.

Read more: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/free-burgers-brewers-12th-straight-win-triggers-longstanding-george-webb-promotion

Happy 18th Birthday Junie!!

It's over. 

8, 690 days after parenthood began, the last 519 days having been shored up by Junie's contribution alone, it's done.

The last of the kids has turned 18. I logged into my medical app and it's only my info. 

Not YaYa's.Not Lu's. Not Smiley's.

And as of today, no Junie's.

The childhoods of Team Slap are just memories now, and nothing more.  I hope, as the youngest enters adulthood, that she recognizes how much effort and sweat we put in to make it memorable for them all. 

My baby in the window. My Lump. My Ginger. My Junie. 18. A grown-up.

Damnit, i can't stop bawling.

Happy Birthday kid. Sto Lot!

Malcolm Jamal Warner

Malcolm Jamal Warner, Aka Theo on The Cosby Show, has reportedly died by drowning while on vacation in Costa Rica. He was 54.

RIP

Toast Milwaukee

 

The first two times Lisa and I wanted to try TOAST, a breakfast/brunch restaurant on S 2nd St, there was a line out the door and we passed and went elsewhere. Last Saturday we solved that problem by arriving ten minutes before TOAST opened and were first in the door.

Until we were seated and looked around it didn't dawn on either of us that the restaurant's theme was weed related; the double entendre of the restaurant name, tie dye shirts on the servers, the late '60's rock, and even the tongue in cheek names for the menu items, all relate to weed. 

Which is odd, because the food is not infused or, in any way I could tell, associated with marijuana. So is it just a kitschy and ultimately irrelevant gimmick? It would seem so. 

The majority of the seating appears to be up a flight of stairs. Luckily, we were seated in one of the few booths on the first floor. 

Lisa ordered a tequila sunrise which was a nice middle ground between too strong and "where's the alcohol?"

For an appetizer,  sausage and bacon stuffed croquettes with gruyere cheese served on a petite salad with a pepper aioli.  Quite good. 

My entree choice was a "country benedict," a cross between biscuits and gravy and a traditional benedict.  Breakfast sausage and poached eggs on a buttermilk biscuit, covered in sausage gravy and served with breakfast potatoes. 

The taste was excellent, and I'd order it again. But the timing of the dish was clearly off. The potatoes were almost too hot to eat, while the benedict itself was cool and had clearly sat for more than a moment. 

Lisa ordered lemon berry croissant French toast.  French toast, made from croissants, drizzled with a lemon creme anglaise and served with berries. De-light-ful. 

If you ignore or enjoy the pot references and value great tasting food, I would recommend you try TOAST. We will definitely be back. 
 

Daiso

I had never heard of Daiso, a Japanese retail store that is apparently well known on the socials. To be fair, I'm not their target audience, and regardless, last Sunday I found myself driving Lisa, Junie, and two of Junie's friends to check out the place in Kenosha, about 50 minutes south of us. 

 

I was underwhelmed. It's essentially a dollar store, with a few sections of "higher end" items -  merchandise you'd expect to pay five bucks for at other places. That's fine, I like Dollar Stores, and I make no effort to hide that. 

Two things bothered me. One, other than a very small assortment of Japanese food items, nothing in the place was Japanese. Oh, it may have been from Japan, but if it's all copies of the stuff in the stores to either side, what's the point? I was expecting culture shock, and instead felt right at home. 

Two, the only REAL Japanese thing about the place was the pricing. Some items had prices in yens, and you'd look on a chart posted in every aisle and translate that to dollars. Whatever lacked a price - i.e. most of the place - defaulted to $2.25. 

 So you'd pay $2.25 for scads of items that you know weren't worth it, items you could find for $1.25 at any Dollar Tree, or even a buck or less elsewhere. What a ripoff.  But, just as you do whenever you're a tourist, you go and buy it anyway. I spent $33, and while $12 was reasonably spent on a set of bowls, the rest was just me being a sucker. 

Sigh. 

Afterwards Lisa treated the kids to White Castle before we drove home. The food, the travel, and the company made up for what was, to me, a disappointing trip to Daiso. 

A Dream

Not all of this flows logically, but it was a dream. It's not required. That said, it felt very factual and true-to-life at the time. 

 I had a dream last night where I got a job working in an office in a typical Milwaukee home that was central to my family's history (aka like my real life home). But it was much longer, with a windowless side that stretched hundreds of feet.

The office existed because of a secret in the house: a sunken WWII submarine that was only half exposed in the basement, like a fossilized dinosaur still mostly trapped in stone. It ran the length of the basement (hence, I suppose, the unusual outside length of the home).  Although we sold tickets to go see the sub, it was also apparently a secret to the public at large. 

I was promoted into a position of some authority in the office, and revealed the submarine's existence to the public, because I felt the fallen sailors in the wreck deserved to be buried with honors. 

Cut to some odd scenes set in and around the Green Bay Packers of the late 70's and early '80's. 

Back to the office, where a worker/relative was angry with my decision. "Did you even think about our jobs? How are we supposed to make a living now?" I was told. 

And that was the dream in full. 

Worst. Adoption Profile Pic. Ever.

We ARE not looking to adopt another cat, but we were keeping tabs this past week on a cat that had been found and turned in to Lisa's work, and subsequently taken to the pound (eventually, it's owners retrieved him). While checking on his profile, I stumbled across this doozy. 

Why you wouldn't spend one additional second to get a picture that doesn't look like the cat was respawned in Pet Semetary, I don't know; but it did make me and Lisa laugh.