Quality Weenie

The Gross Foot

Today was "wash the foot day"

Yea!!

I was able to take the dressing off and "sponge" bath the foot and incision area. I had already seen it at the doctors on Tuesday, but Mr Weenie didn't get to see it.

So off the dressing came and the unveiling began. Mr Weenie said it didn't look to bad, which it doesn't. It's only about a 3 inch or so incision, which surprised me because I was told it usually is 4-5 inches. They used disolveable stitches so they don't even have to be taken out.

We are surprised at how brused my foot is, even all my little piggies are quite brused as well as the top of my foot, and the bottom of my foot. It is still quite swelling, about 1 1/2 times it's normal size. And the bad news is that when I put the neosporan on it I couldn't feel a thing. I am hoping it's just because of the swelling but they did say there was a chance that I could lose feeling in that area because of nerves being cut during the surgery.

I was told I didn't have to use the ace bandage if I didn't want to, so right now I have a really big bandage on it with some neosporan. If that doesn't work I will go back to using the ace with a pad over the incision area.

I was also awesome to be able to shave my whole leg, that was bugging the hell out of me because I could see those unshaven area's and it was grossing me out.

So for the great unveiling, I will put them in the extended entry for those that are grossed out easily. Although it really isn't that bad looking.

First up the top of my foot

And the bottom, it's a little blurry but you can really see the brusing.

Friday Doggie Blogging

Yes, it's Doggie blogging time!

The puppers have gotten some new collars lately ...

Here is Lance in Glitter Skulls

And Maggie with piggies, cause she is a piggie

And here they both are in their Automobile collars, it has little cars on it!

And last here is Lance sleeping, doesn't he look soooo cute!

Now That's Better

So I went back to the doctor's yesterday to demand a new cast thing.

My regular doctor wasn't in so I saw one of his associates, I told them what happened, they took one look at the cast verses my surgery and said they couldn't figure out why the intern dude put such a high cast on for one. They said if the ankle isn't involved they always use a short cast.

They also said the only time I need to wear it is when I am up and about, no need to sleep with it on at all.

They said if they didn't have the correct size they should have sent me to a medical supplies store instead, which is what this doctor did because they didn't have any that would fit me.

So off to the medical supply store, and he said that if they don't fit you with the cast correctly they can actually cause injury.

So I got fitted properly, got a shorter cast, didn't have to sleep with it on and I am one happy camper today.

It Went From Bad to Worse

Yesterday I had another check-up with the foot doctor and it was Cast-off day!

Yipee!!

Or so I thought.

They put me in a "walking" cast, but I still can't walk on it for another week (why they just didn't leave my regular cast on for another week I don't know) and then I can slowly start walking on it.

Well the new walking cast is worse then the other cast I had on.

For starters it weighs like 5 pounds and it's to big because they didn't have one in my size and it doesn't fit right (probably because it's too big) and it holds your leg and foot in a unnatural position.

I am having a hard time moving around with this thing on, it makes doing everything more difficult.

And I am not able to drive in it, which means I still can't go back to work for another 4 WEEKS. Yes, I have to wear this new monster for 4 weeks.

I probably won't have a job to go back to.

I called the doctor's office this morning and told them that they have to find me something that fits right, doesn't hurt and is smaller. This stupid thing goes up to me knee, I've seen them on people, it's not suppose to go up that high.

I mean look at this thing ... all for a 4 inch area on the upper part of my foot. Talk about over kill...

To say I am not a happy camper is the understatement of the year.

Were No 1, Were No 1

Ok, I guess being the violent crime capital of the world isn't something to be proud of ..

The FBI released its final 2006 violent crimes report on Monday.

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Detroit remains No. 1 and Flint remain No. 3 in the nation for violent crimes among cities with a population of 100,000 or more.

Nationwide, violent crimes were up 1.9 percent compared to 2005, and property crimes decreased by 1.9 percent, according to the FBI.

In Michigan the increase was 1.5 percent. Violent crimes in Detroit rose by 1 percent.

This Will Prove It's Not the UAW's Fault

Since GM and eventually Ford and Chrysler will be getting rid of paying for retiree health benefits, which is what they are claiming is the reason for them doing so badly I wonder what will happen a couple years down the road when they are still doing badly.

What will they claim the workers are or are not doing that is making them fail.

I see this as the writing on the wall to prove that it's not the UAW fault that the big 3 are in the position they are in.

Tenitive Agreement Reached At GM

General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement early this morning on a historic new labor contract, instantly ending a two-day strike and paving the way for GM to pay the union to take over $50 billion in retiree health care obligations.

What are the agreement terms?

Terms of the tentative deal include:

* The creation of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, or VEBA, that Gettelfinger said will cover retiree health care benefits for the next 80 years.

GM agreed to fund the VEBA near 70 cents on the dollar, sources said. That's significantly more then the 65 cent contribution the company originally pushed for.

*GM will implement a two-tier wage system for workers not doing core manufacturing jobs. The lower tier will be as little as half the current $28-an-hour wage for an hourly worker. The new wage structure would apply to new hires, not current workers.

*The automaker will make 4,100 temporary workers permanent employees paid at the lower rate. A special attrition program offering workers buyouts or early retirement would help clear out senior workers and make room for the new workers.

*Also part of a deal is a trade-off in which workers will give up cost-of-living adjustments in exchange for no increases in medical premiums.

*The agreement would include modifications to the controversial jobs bank program in which laid-off workers receive pay and benefits. The changes will expand the geographic area in which workers would be required to take a new job if one is available. Under current rules, workers are allowed to remain off the job and in the bank unless there's an opening within 50 miles of their old job.

*Signing bonuses, meanwhile, could help win ratification of a contract. The payments would be $3,000 to start, followed by three years of lump-sum payments equal to 3 percent, 4 percent, and 3 percent of their annual pay in the last three years of the contract.

And the union is endorsing the agreement asking that union members vote for it.

And to all those that said that the union is unwilling to negotiate and would refuse to become competitive you all can go fuck yourselves.

UAW Willing To Compromise, GM Not

The way GM is talking you would think that the UAW is not willing to compromise on anything, but the reality is is that GM is demanding excessive amounts of cuts.

Key issues under discussion as talks resumed Monday afternoon included benefits for active workers, commitments by GM to invest in its U.S. plants and pensions, according to people familiar with the talks.

When the workers speak of job security, they are not talking about a jobs bank. They are talking about GM willing to reinvest in it's own plants.

The bargaining focus on core economic issues came after Gettelfinger blasted GM on Monday for demanding a litany of concessions to solve its financial problems.

"Nobody wants a strike," Gettelfinger said at a packed press conference at UAW headquarters in Detroit. "But there comes a time when somebody pushes you off a cliff and that's exactly what happened."

GM, Ford and Chrysler all think that the magic answer to all their problems is a huge cut in wages.

I have said before, the workers could work for free and that still won't get people to buy cars that have no style or platforms that haven't changed in over a decade.

If you design vehicles people want to buy, people will buy them. It is as simple as that.

And if you don't think the workers have given concessions, just look at a small list of things that have been given up in the last couple of years ...

Gettelfinger pointed out Monday that the UAW had given up its cost-of-living adjustments in the last four-year contract, negotiated in 2003. He listed other major union concessions in recent years: a 2005 health care deal that left retirees with higher medical costs; cooperation with GM on its plan to shutter a dozen factories and usher out 34,000 hourly workers; and a deal with bankrupt Delphi Corp. that gave workers cash payments in exchange for lower wages.

One can only give up so much before they expect the other side to give also.

Workers are willing to give, Gettelfinger said, but need commitments from GM in return.

One labor expert said GM gambled that the UAW would accept any number of concessions to secure a new four-year contract.

"GM felt the union was in a weak spot and went for broke," said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California-Berkeley.

"From a union's point of view, that turns sacrifices to make GM more competitive into subsidies for expanding into China or for executive bonuses."

That says it all, the UAW is willing to give but all GM wants to do is take.

GM UAW Workers Refuse to Roll Over

Most people think that the UAW workers have no right to strike, make to much money, blah blah blah.

But you know, this strike is about standing up for your job, showing the big executives that you refuse to roll over under the propoganda that they are spewing.

The UAW refuses to negotiate in the media, but the executives have been doing that since opening negotiations. The big 3 continue to spew out information, blaming the workers and their salaries for the mess they are in and people outside are laping it up like puppies.

The UAW opened their contracts last year and gave up concessions, but you didn't hear anything about that. The UAW is working hand in hand with the big 3 and has improve quality so that the big 3 is even and in a lot of cases better then the Japanese. The UAW has worked with the big 3 to improve the time it takes to make a vehicle and in most cases now is even better in timing to make comparable vehicles to the japanese.

But all you hear about is the UAW wages, which are comparable with the Japanese.

The big 3 want huge wage cuts so they can be "competitive". If you want to know what happens when employees take wage cuts just look at Delphi and Northwest, the executives get huge raises for congratulations on getting the employees to take wage cuts.

The UAW is standing up for what they believe in and to show the big 3 that they shouldn't be throwing stones in their glass houses.

The big 3 had cut R&D for so long and have hardly any new models out that people don't want to guy their cars, that is the biggest reason why they are doing so bad.

"I've seen what happens when management takes too much of an upper hand and workers can't stand up for themselves," he said. "My job security and my family's security is at stake here. We have to draw a line somewhere and we think we've found it."

"We've really gotten slammed again," said Mike Thomas, an electrician at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. "It goes on and on. They want to keep us workers for third-world wages. What we want here is accountability and fairness. It's our future."

"That's why we got to stand up. If not the UAW, then who will stand up for the middle class? If GM thought we were going to roll over, they were so mistaken," Ade said.

I Heart The Teamsters!

It's nice to see people standing up for what they believe in, even if it means taking a hit themselves.

The Teamsters have announced that they are standing behind the GM UAW workers and will refuse to cross the picket line. That means nothing will be delivered to or taken from any GM plant.

GM IS ON STRIKE

DETROIT (AP) -- Thousands of United Auto Workers walked off the job at GM plants around the country Monday, in the first nationwide strike during auto contract negotiations since 1976.

GM spokesman Dan Flores said the union launched a national strike after the late morning UAW strike deadline passed without agreement on a new contract, which would include a groundbreaking provision establishing a UAW-managed trust that will administer GM's retiree health care obligations.

Workers began picketing outside GM plants.

The UAW has 73,000 members who work for GM at 82 U.S. facilities, including assembly and parts plants and warehouses.

Deserves GM right, they have been bargaining since late July and GM refuses to give anything, all they want to do is take.

I have a feeling that Ford and Chrysler will follow soon.

Frizzen Sparks Gone?

What has happened to Frizzen Sparks?

I went there today and I get a different site.

Has Grau gone blank? Quit? Been kidnapped by monkeys?

They Found Lead In What?

Surprise, Surprise. Guess what else the chinese are putting lead into?

Since they didn't kill more pets by tampering with the food, they are now putting lead into dog toys.

I keep saying, the chinese are only in it to make a buck. They don't really care who they harm in the process.

Expertox, a Texas lab, has found elevated levels of lead, chromium, and cadmium in two Chinese-made pet toys sold at Wal-Mart. But two veterinarians said the levels found by the lab are not a health risk to cats and dogs.

The lab was hired by ConsumerAffairs.com to test two dog toys and two
cat toys for heavy metals and other toxins.

A dog chew toy, a green monster, tested positive for what the lab
categorizes as high levels of lead and chromium. The lab detected lead
levels of 907.4 micrograms per kilogram (almost one part per million).
Chromium was found at levels of 334.9 micrograms per kilogram. Levels of
cadmium, arsenic and mercury were also found in the green monster toy.

The lab said with that kind of concentration, if a dog puts the toy in
his mouth and chews or licks it, he is being exposed to a good amount
of lead and runs the risk of metal toxicity that may shorten his life.

Expertox said a cloth catnip toy also tested positive for a
“tremendous amount” of the toxic metal cadmium. The levels of cadmium found
were 236 micrograms per kilogram.

So if you have any dog or cat toys from Walmart you better not only take them back but have your pet tested.

Bullshit Line Of The Day

The contract talks are a big thing around here and with the contract expiring the media is wetting their pants.

I just heard on the news them say that GM said that if the retire health care costs are costing them so much money that if they didn't have to pay it they could build 6 new plants.

BULLSHIT

Um, whom ever uttered those dumbass words needs to be fired because GM is closing plants, they have no need to build new plants because they don't have enough production to keep the ones they have open.

Happy Birthday Blogfadda

Today is Harveys Birthday

He has requested birthday gifts in the form of boobs, and I am assuming the bigger the better.

So Happy Birthday to my Blog Fadda

Will There Be A Strike?

Today is the day that the UAW National Contract expires for Ford, GM and Chrysler.

I know Ford UAW employees have had their strike vote and it was for striking if it comes down to it.

There will probably nothing come of it until Monday but this weekend will have the newspeople in our area wet with anticipation of what is going to happen come Monday.

We are waiting.

What Else Could Happen

I tell you what, the poo flinging monkey is really throwing the shit at me lately.

I have gotten a pretty good handle on the crutches, so good in fact I am getting a little too confident on them.

I went upstairs last night for bed, made it up the stairs fine (I crawl up the stairs, it's much easier), got up on the crutches and went towards our bedroom.

Our bedroom has 2 stairs up to it and this is where the confidence comes into play.

I made it up on the first stair fine but try to bring the crutches up to the second stair and walking with my good foot at the same time was not a good idea.

I started falling, stepped down with my bad foot to balance myself, extreme pain and the lifting of the bad foot ensued. Still falling since I couldn't balance myself and bounced my head off the door molding (the corner of it) and landed with all my weight on my knee and then hip.

So I know have a few new bruises, a pretty one forming on my forhead, and a few more on my knees and legs.

How did Mr Weenie act, upset because I put a dent in the door molding.

An Additional Week Of This?

Had a check_up with the doctor today

Just a short visit to make sure I wasn"t in too much pain< toes were pink and no signs of blood clots

I must have had a crap load of residents in the operating room with me because they all stopped into my room to say they were at the surgery and how great it went< Ya great if you weren"t the one being cut into>

Also found out that in addition to the screw in my foot I also have a staple in my foot. Gads, hope I don't get to close to a large magnet.

They told me to come back in 3 weeks for the cast removal, X-rays and a check to see if I could start putting weight on it or not.

I said, wait, 3 weeks, I thought only 2 weeks. They said no 3-4 weeks from surgery and they want 4 weeks since I had so much done.

Crap, that is not only an additional week on the crutches but an additional week off from work. I don't think it's going to be a problem but I am losing a lot of money each week by not being able to work. I am working from home but only a max of 5 hours per day. This surgery is costing me money.

These crutches are a pain in the ass and my house is a mess.

And to top it off in the next month we have visitors coming 3 different times. How can I have visitors over with a house this messy.

Fuck this sucks!

Operation Higher Search Rankings

I have searched dog clothing, bedding ,etc to see where my website ranked and it didn't hit the top 30 pages.

So I am starting Operation Higher Search Rankings to get my website higher in the search engines.

I would appreciate if everyone would click on each of the 3 links when you visit so I can get my website better rankings.

I will leave this at the top so PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWER POSTS.

Dog Clothing

Dog Bedding

Dog Sweaters

This Sucks

No really, it does.

It's been 4 days now and I am so over the not doing anything thing.

I break a sweat just going to the bathroom.

I drink only the bare minimum of water so I won't have to go so much because going to the bathroom with only 1 foot is very close to impossible.

This sucks big time.

Only have pain in the morning when I first get up because all the blood goes rushing to my foot.

I have smashed my foot 5 times, the puppies have jumped on it twice and I have put weight on it once. Picture that cat in the cartoon who is stuck to the ceiling with his claws, that way me.

It's a chore just to shower. Gads this is horrible.

The strain on my good leg is not good either.

This better be worth it.

Go to the doctors on Thursday to make sure nothing looks bad then again in 2 weeks.

Our house is a sty. I usually pick-up everyday but haven't been able, the mess is driving me crazy and we are relying on Mr Weenie to cook. At least I should lose some weight from this.

This Is Harder Than I Thought

It's done and over, I'm at home and getting use to these crutches is harder than I remembered.

I got to the hosptial yesterday at 6am (per their request), checked in and waited.

They brought me back for pre-op at 6:45am, asked about a hundred times which foot was being operated on, had at least half dozen signatures on my right foot showing that those that would be operating knew which foot was being operated on and stuck me with lots of needles.

They wheeled me into the operating room at 7:45am.

Now I have to tell you that my foot doctor, which is the bestest in the world, is also a teaching doctor. At any time in his office there has to be at least 15 interns.

In the operating room I counted at least 7 interns, a few nurses, anasetic people and my doctor. It was crowded to say that least.

The only thing I remember from the operating room was them putting something that stung like hell in my IV, which was the sleep stuff and the next thing I remember is waking up, don't remember falling to sleep at all. They just gave me something to make me sleep and froze my foot for the surgery, nothing to bad.

I got into post-op around 9:20am and they finished casting my foot up.

I was home by 11am.

The doctor talked to Mr Weenie after the surgery and he told him that good thing I had the surgery now because within another 6 months or so I would have been in so much pain I probably wouldn't be walking much. It was much worse then what the X-rays showed.

My foot was numb most of yesterday but is really starting to hurt today. They gave me Vicoden but it doesn't last very long, think I will stick to my Darvocet.

It has been a royal pain in the ass when it comes to doing things, I can't do much of anything because I have to use the crutches, no putting weight on it what so ever. Even going to the bathroom has been a pain. And of course, ladies you know that if ever there is a bad time to have your period it's always when you don't want it. I even started early (yesterday morning, just in time to leave for the hospital), wasn't suppose to come until Tuesday, so I am having to deal with that on top of everything. Gads.

The puppies are afraid of the crutches and Maggie is scared of my cast, she won't go near it.

I am going to shower tomorrow, so that should be an interesting feat.

So it's not to bad, and hopefully by the end of next week I will be an old pro at the crutches and able to handle things better.

Pictures of my ginormous cast ...