Hil, what Strix said. I've done these before and you are basically looking for: not a horder; not a breeder; not a meth lab, not giving off serial killer vibes. Basically reasonably normalish environment and willingness to have them check it out.

ETA: hoarder. I have no idea where they fall vis a vis hordes.

ETAA: Though I suppose if you hoard dogs you also have a horde. A very cute and wiggly horde!

Normal cleanliness of the home, and that your home is an adequate size for the type of dog you want.

Hmm. Reasonably clean but not sparkling, and little apartment for little dog.

A fenced-in back yard or a safe neighborhood for walks to go outside for bathroom breaks.

Safe neighborhood, and there is a fenced-in area in the back yard, but it's kind of a pain to get there.

Hil, what Strix said. I've done these before and you are basically looking for: not a horder; not a breeder; not a meth lab, not giving off serial killer vibes. Basically reasonably normalish environment and willingness to have them check it out.

Not a hoarder, not a breeder, and I don't think I give of serial killer vibes.

Just seeing where s/he would sleep, eat, your plans for care, and generally if you're willing to have a home visit to get the dog.

Well, I can point at a spot in the kitchen and say, "I'll put her bowls there," and point at a spot in the living room and say, "I'll put a dog bed there."

Best of luck, Hil!

For once, fixing the $35,000 piece of gear wasn't difficult at all. The hardest part was finding the itty bitty screw that dropped on the black stage. Took about 5 minutes to find it. Where was it? Stuck in the treads of my shoe!

TCG brought home a red rose for me tonight. So sweet.

And Hubby is home, feeling better than when he went in to the hospital--which is the goal of all this, after all--and snuggling with his cat. And trying to violate all his doctor's instructions, also as usual. He was told not to drive while he was on the pain drugs. As he told me, does that mean he shouldn't have been driving for the last 15 years? His pain management doctor has assured him in the past that if any legal questions ever come up over Hubby's judgement, due to all the drugs, that said doctor is happy to testify that Hubby has very good judgement and has good medical reasons for the bottles of very street-valuable narcotics in his drug box. (Honestly, if the economy collapses into an apocalyptic situation, we've got the wherewithal to trade for some good stuff.)

But he's home, and the not-quite-crisis is over, and we've blown the family health deductible out of the water for another year.

Woo for having that pesky deductible behind you? I'm glad he is home and wish for better days ahead.

Thanks goodness, Connie.

Comfort and ease to you and Hubby.

On the drug front. I'm still looking for a worthy recipient of the tub-o-Bactrim I cannot use. The Pod suggested a church with a third world mission project. Have not found one yet.

I'm allergic to that one, too.

I took Bactrim for YEARS for utis. Never a problem. This time, taking it via iv? MURDER with the rash. I'm still peeling from that. Ugh.

Still, I figure someone should get use out of it.