Found the camera! (In, um, the drawer where I've always kept it. But I haven't used this camera in a while, and I forgot that that's where I keep it.)

A stray pit bull wandered onto our job site today, very friendly. I improvised a leash, got him food and water. One of the trainees was going to take him home, but the girlfriend said no. So I ended up turning him into a shelter.

Bless you for taking care of him, smonster. I've had to do this myself and cried the same way. I pleaded with the animal control guy to make sure the ptb knew the puppy was 'workable.' ("I'm a professional! Have them call me, really!) He said he would...and DC now adopts out pits, so hope wasn't completely lost. I hit all my social network options (even here, as I recall) hoping to send a rescuer his way.

In the end, you can only do what you can do.

bonny, how about this. Rip the pages that you need out of the book. (cringe) Photocopy only the pages that are the backs of other pages such that they are useless.

Zen, I've been considering this. And since the book is spiral bound, I could probably photocopy without tearing anything out...or I could just splash out for another copy ($12) and glue some pages together.

I don't need to copy all 100 messages...maybe a dozen good ones and the encourage clients to make their own.

I did end up writing to the author. Perhaps enough people like me have asked so the publisher will consider making actual cards.

Are you taking a pain reliever in addition to the Valtrex?

Ibuprofen, 4 at a time, though that's mostly for the headache the Valtrex is causing (or the headaches I normally get; it can be hard to tell some times).

Thanks, smonster! I am happy about it too! NORMALITY!

Sorry about the pup; I always hate it when the big dogs get a bad rap -- Rotties, pits -- because it's all training. They can be awfully sweet dogs usually.

I would take a Rottie or a pit over a (SEE MY DOG PREJUDICE) small, yappy dog any day.

I grew up with Scotties, so they are my favorite dog. Smaller, but muscle and speed; smart, protective like whoa, but not overly aggressive. Easily trained, not hyper. Just active enough, and they like a small pack. They tend to pick one person. Don't shed much and they keep your yard mole, rat and gopher free. Love me all the Scots we've had.

RIP, Sass and Pepper. Mom and Dad have Shadow now, and she is the biggest, fastest Scot we've had. 32 pounds of pure muscle, fast as hell and sweet with kids.

Oh, and Tep, try saline bathing the area and ice packs. The first outbreak can last a bit, so call your doc on Monday ad ask about lidocaine gel or a stronger pain reliever. My first outbreak, my doc gave me a week of Vicodine; I halved them during the day and took a whole one at night till the pain subsided.

If she'd send you an electronic copy you could print your own on card stock using your own printer, which would NOT be expensive.

I would take a Rottie or a pit over a (SEE MY DOG PREJUDICE) small, yappy dog any day.

I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about Rottweilers, but I do have strong feelings about pitties. Good feelings, though. This mostly comes out of having a pit bull that I had never seen before spend a good five minutes placing herself between me and an aggressive bull mastiff that already sunk its teeth into me on a previous occasion.

The real problem, for me, with those breeds isn't that they are more likely to bite or whatever. It's that they have massive fucking jaws and the musculature behind it.

Granted, I don't much like any strange dogs but I have really adored some pits and Rotts once I've met them. Including a (briefly had) neighbor who had the sweetest dog in the world who only ever hurt me because he really, really wanted to climb in my lap and sometimes swing around to get more attention. And those were just tiny things. My parents Goldens have done worse over the years doing the same things, nearly.

That can be true for smaller dogs, too, tho. Scots have the biting power of a German Shepard in their jaws.

My dad is amazing with dogs, though, and I have him to thank for my ability to deal with dogs. None of our dogs ever did anything besides nip a little too hard, and that was when playing tug or keep away, and a stern "NO" was enough to have them ashamed and apologetic. As pups, they would get the "NO" and a finger on the nose if they nipped, much as a mama dog would discipline them.

The only time I have ever seen my dad hit a dog to hurt it was when a kinda feral Dobie wandered into our yard and started a fight with our Husky mix. We lived in the country at that point, and out next door neighbor, a true hillbilly who thought my dad was soft, totally gained respect for my dad when he waded into THAT fight, whacked the Dobie upside the head and grabbed it and restrained it til the neighbor got a horse lead rope and then tied the dog up and called the owner and bitched him out.

We did see that Dobie a couple of time, but he never came into our yard, and he wasn't afraid of my dad, but he never, ever offered dominance to him again. And my neighbor brought that story up ALL the time. Impressed the hell out of him, because that dog had a rep in the hood for being a mean sonofabitch.

I love my Daddy. And he was the best horse trainer. Again, neighbor thought he was soft, because he only used a whip as sound when the horse was training on a lunge line, and my dad's App that he trained from a foal would do ANYTHING on a trail ride for my dad.

I miss horses. I haven't been on one in over 20 years, but I was leading trail rides when I was 8 or 9, and I miss it.

Your dad sounds like a fascinating man, Erin.

smonster, I'm sorry about the dog--maybe this one will get lucky.

Mackinac Island

Somewhere in Time!