A Mixed Bag of Life

It's been a mixed week of highs and lows.

We lost Leonard Nimoy last week. He was a big influence on my childhood. I grew up on Star Trek, a show that broke the glass ceilings of gender, color, and philosophies. What I liked best about Nimoy is that he never stopped being an inspiration. He left the world a better place. You can't ask for a better legacy than that.

My computer files and links have finally been migrated to their rightful places. Somehow we managed to get the printer installed (and working), but it refuses to scan or fax. We're missing a step somewhere.

The biggest headache and my crowning achievement was my email. Despite a long session with my service provider, we could only get one of my email boxes to work. Tired of hitting dead ends, I told the tech I'd get back with her the next day.

I methodically backtracked and checked every option to see where my working email box differed from the nonworking ones. It turned out the numbers for the outgoing and incoming servers (under the Advanced option) were wrong. I was so pleased to have figured it out myself.

I babysat a friend's dog last week too. Ozzy is a sweet little guy but he brought me to new levels of stress. The little dog had some serious health problems a few months ago. We thought we were going to lose him. 

Thankfully, his mom is as hardheaded and determined as I am when it comes to our kids. She wasn't going to give up on him and he was back to his chipper self when she left him with me.

I followed her medication instructions to the letter, but I wasn't prepared for such a picky eater. Ozzy drove me crazy. Half the time I had to hand feed him to make sure he ate enough. 

My guys eat anything that's put in front of them. Sir Ozzy on the other hand...

My friend, Jim Giammatteo was struck with some serious health issues and is in the hospital. He could use some help. Another friend of his started a fundraiser for him. If you can help out, go here.

More travel, more real estate woes, and more stress lie ahead, but it'll get better. It always does. 

I noticed a couple of people on Facebook were poking fun at Dallas because we got some snow and ice. Nothing like what they suffered, but it's crippling for us. We're not equipped for really cold weather. It'll be 70 tomorrow, so nyah, nyah, nyah.

Does anyone have experience with picky eaters? Any tips?

Any thoughts about Leonard Nimoy?

I leave you with my favorite quote of his:
The miracle is this: The more we share, the more we have.

Comments

DRC said…
Growing up, our dog (a rough collie) was a picky eater. He'd go days without eating and we ended up hand feeding him too. We took him to the vets to ask what we could do, worried that he was starving, but the vet said he was okay. He wasn't under weight. He also said that the dog wouldn't starve himself and he'd eat when he was hungry. We still hand fed him though and he lived to the ripe age of 14...

As for snow? I know where you're coming from. The UK has no idea how to cope even under the lightest of sprinklings...
LD Masterson said…
For the scan and fax functions, check online for Win 8 drivers for your model printer. Incompatible drivers are often the culprit.

I was a big fan of both Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy but I was still pleasantly surprised at the outpouring of admiration and respect that followed the news of his death.

Sophie went through a picky eater phase. Now she's in an "eat everything that's not nailed down " phase and getting quite fat!
Maria Zannini said…
DRC: If it hadn't been for Ozzy's near death experience, I wouldn't have worried so much, but it's important that he keep up his strength.

By yesterday he was eating very well, maybe because he was used to the new routine.

Re: hand feeding
They know they have us over a barrel. :)
Maria Zannini said…
Linda: We uploaded the latest drivers. Still nothing.

It keeps talking about the homegroup. I think it's not connecting to the shared network. The only reason it prints is because it's hard wired to the computer.

Re: Nimoy
He had a nice send off. I was glad for that.
Unknown said…
My sister and I always had different tastes in male influences in our lives. I liked Starsky, she liked Hutch. I liked Batman, she liked Robin. Spock was mine, Captain Kirk was hers. RIP Leonard Nimoy!
Stacy McKitrick said…
When an area that isn't equipped for snow and ice gets hit, you pretty much want to yell at everyone to stay off the roads, huh? I look forward to getting some 70 degree weather. Wonder when it'll get here? Definitely not this week.
Angela Brown said…
The first day Leonard Nimoy's death was shared by an FB friend, I really had to dial back the desire to ask them to stop spreading such nonsense as I did not think it funny.

Only, it wasn't funny and was unfortunately true. I'm glad I didn't go running my mouth. He will be missed.

I have experience with a picky eater. Chipmunk and I have been and continue to go through some ups and downs, trials and errors, when it comes to expanding her diet beyond chicken nuggets. We're making slow but steady progress lol!
Jackie said…
Maria you can keep your snow and ice thank you very much, the idiots driving in Bastrop County cannot even handle a bit of rain on the road as evidenced every time we hit a certain area going into town and there has been a wreck since the last time we passed it.

Picky eaters: Luckily not my pets but saw the years go by with my Mom having to feed her male Chihuahua only baked chicken she cooked or Whataburger chicken tenders they bought for him and tore into small pieces for him to eat. He only lived to be 12 thanks to succumbing to CHF but in all those years never ate dog food unless it was doused with chicken broth first and softened, that was on rare occasions.

Leonard Nimoy was always interesting to me as the character Mr. Spock in the Star Trek TV series and later in the movies. He was not your run of the mill personality for sure and am sad to see him pass on but pleased that he has been shown such an outpouring of love and respect from fans.
Gwen Gardner said…
Computer problems are the worst. My email keeps getting a popup that says there's been an error. But I'm still receiving emails 0_o.

My dogs will eat anything, including dry dog food, LOL. But they do love beef and cheese <3. Koko was supposed to have eye surgery today and wasn't allowed to eat breakfast. I fed her brother when she left for the vet, but he wouldn't eat without her. Turns out the vet messed up her appointment and had to reschedule for next week, so we get to go through the whole thing again.
I had an Akita that would not eat if her bowl wasn't clean. Lucy has to have water on her kibble in the morning, and won't touch a Greenie. It's just dental sticks for her. (we call the churos)
I have one child who is a very picky eater and it's been a challenge. I've always had patience with him because I'm kind of picky too.
Never had a dog that was picky. Mine were always like yours. Eat everything.
Unknown said…
One of the nice things about the Colorado Front Range [aka The Flats] is that we get bouts of both worlds. After about two weeks of 60's weather, we sank into cold snow for two weeks.

Hey, it was good. It was drying out and the fruit trees were budding. We still will have scattered snow storms [I hope]. We don't need an forest fires.
Maria Zannini said…
Diane: Spock was my idol too when I was growing up. Though I always had a soft spot for McCoy because he seemed to play the underdog so often.

Maria Zannini said…
Stacy: The weatherman is saying it won't get as warm now. Only the 60s. But we're expecting another blast from the north after that.

Come on, spring! I want to put my coat in storage. LOL.
Maria Zannini said…
Angela: The logical side of me knows that no right minded being is going to allow him or herself to starve to death. Still you want them to eat the right things to grow up healthy.

I'm kind of a picky eater, but not that picky. LOL.
Maria Zannini said…
Jackie: The #1 perk for working from home is not to have to drive in that traffic.

I swore after the last ice storm (when I was working for the man) that I would never again brave the roads. It's not worth it. I'd be on the road for 2-3 hours, get to work, no one else would be there, and I'd have to turn around and be on the road for another 2-3 hours. Stupid--and I risk my car to boot.
Maria Zannini said…
Gwen: Oh, I'm sorry for poor Koko. And how sweet was that, that her brother wouldn't eat without her.

Mine were so quiet and unmotivated to do anything after Tank passed. Kind of like me and Greg.

I hope Koko's eye surgery is successful. Poor baby.
Maria Zannini said…
Mac: They all have their quirks but that's what make them so loveable too.

Iko will take his cookie and run off to his bed to eat it. I don't know why other than maybe it's away from the hustle and bustle of everyone else.
Maria Zannini said…
Susan: As a child, I preferred veggies over meat and back then the very notion was almost sacrilegious.

I remember my father pitching a fit because I only ate the vegetables on my plate. Luckily my mom calmed him down and passed the meat to someone else.

I understand now why he was upset but I couldn't explain to him why I preferred one over the other. Back then children didn't 'explain' anything to their parents. :)
Maria Zannini said…
MK: I hear you on forest fires. It's hard to run from a fire, especially if you don't know where it's spreading. Any extreme is dangerous.

Where I live, the most terrifying weather are tornadoes. We literally live in a glass house.
Rebekah Loper said…
We've been hit with a lot of the same weather systems you guys have this weekend, I think. It looked like most of ours was circling up from Texas. We've had snow and ice, whee.

Fortunately, I only had to leave the house a couple of times, and didn't have to venture further out than a couple of miles.

There were still a lot of idiot drivers I wanted to smack, though. So many.

It's been a rough weekend, and I'm sorry that you've had more bad news going on than just Nimoy.

And I hope you can get your printer figured out soon! Things not functioning properly can be sooo aggravating.
Maria Zannini said…
Rebekah: Believe it or not, despite the problems I had with this migration to the new computer, it's actually a lot smoother than the last time I had to do this.

Progress, I guess.

I had a sickly picky eater one time. We could always get him to eat ground beef and rice, and it always seemed to be easy on his stomach.

We also had a sickly dog once that we got through on baby food, the kind for infants that's nothing more than ground whatever and water. Turkey was a favorite, I remember.

As for Leonard Nimoy, there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. It's a hard loss.
Maria Zannini said…
Barbara: I do the rice and beef for my sick pooches too.

Ozzy liked chicken. Sometimes. It depended on his mood.

What dog in his right mind turns up his nose at chicken?

That's just not right. ;)

Mike Keyton said…
I think that photograph adequately sums up Ozzy's character :)

Ref chicken, he may prefer organic
Maria Zannini said…
Mike: It probably was. My friend brought it over.
Rula Sinara said…
Maria, I'm a huge Star Trek fan as well and I've been saddened by Leonard Nimoy's death. He was such an inpiration.
Raelyn Barclay said…
Ref: Nimoy

I grew up with Star Trek and am a huge fan. Leonard Nimoy seemed to live his life with grace and he will definitely be missed.

On a fun side note, Mr. Spock was one of my sister's first crushes. (The other: Bing Crosby) She even dressed up as Spock for Halloween one year.

Ref: Picky eaters

I've been lucky that none of our dogs have been. However, more than a couple have had restrictive diets that made feeding a challenge.

I hope your stresses are small and, if not, over soon.

We didn't get hit with snow but burrr, it was only 32 this morning on the walk with the fur-babies. And like you, should be in the mid-70s by week's end.
Maria Zannini said…
Rula: I hope he's enjoying all the outpouring of affection. He will be missed.
Maria Zannini said…
Raelyn: We are still in yo-yo freefall. 70s one day, snow today.

We'll be back in the 70s next week again. I hope it stays this time. I'm done with winter.