the-gooch.net Blog

Wow, so my last post was back in April of 2010! Amazing! So much has happened since then, and yet, it also seems like nothing has happened. It’s odd how life does that. It can let you know that things are different, yet with the mind’s tendency to adapt, everything seems to be “normal” or the same.

Since last year, I’ve purchased a new car. We are now the proud owners of a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Yay! It’s not friendly with the gas, though, so I do cringe every time I let the little gas light turn on to fill up. $60+ a week is a little more than I feel comfortable with, but it’s such a smooth ride. I do miss the instant acceleration of my Volvo S40, though.

We’ve also added another cat to our family: Max. He’s also known as Maximo, since I tend to give all our cats little nicknames. There’s Simba, AKA Simbalicious. We also have Kiwi, AKA Key-Whiskers. Then there’s Batman, AKA Batmanski. Yeah, don’t ask why the cats have nicknames–just accept it, nod, and walk away slowly while smiling and muttering to the person next to you. “Let’s get outta here, now!” 

Bryan passed the 10th grade–yay! He’s “enjoying” his 11th grade at Kaiserslautern High School, if one can call school enjoyable, that is. Apparently, he does not. I did. I had a blast in high school. I didn’t always get the best of grades, but I do believe that I was able to still graduate in the top 10% of my class. Meh, still hoping that little light goes off and he realizes that school is for more than socializing.

Kelly finished her first year of university. She’s moved out of the dorms, has her own place, and just purchased her own car (with the help of her mother and step father). We’re hoping to see photos of her new car, but who knows when they’ll be forthcoming? Who knows when photos of my new Jeep will be forthcoming, too? I haven’t snapped as many photos this year as in previous years. I’d better get on that, though, because I love browsing through old photos!

‘Til next time, friends… Take care!

~ Leroy

So, our cat, Kiwi, was having a lung issue that caused us to take her to the vet. Well, we didn’t know it was a lung issue, we actually thought that she had a problem with furballs, because it sounded like she was trying to cough one up (didn’t see it over the three days that she was gacking, though). So, we took her to the vet, and were told that Kiwi had a lung infection and what we were hearing was a cough. The vet gave her some anitbiotics and before sending us on our way showed us this kick-ass tool called a Furminator. This thing pulled a whole bunch of loose hair off our Kiwi in one fell swoop, so I decided to buy one.

Well, it’s two weeks later, Kiwi is all better and our Furminator has arrived! I took a few passes over Kiwi with it and holy crap, it pulled two massive hair-tufts off her and that’s just the beginning. I glanced at the back of the package and saw that this thing will definitely clean your animal. If you don’t have one of these, I suggest you get one and save your clothes and furniture a little embarrassment, as the Furminator will definitely clean your cat up!!!

Don’t get me wrong. I get tired and I want to just lie down and vegetate at times, too, but my drive occasionally makes me get up and clean up after myself. Kids, these days, however, seem to have this huge “off” button that seems to be tripped as soon as their butts hit the couch. I’m finding this not to be solely an American problem. Apparently, even local kids here in Germany have this problem. What can be done to prevent the spread of this scourge? How can we get kids interested in “doing things,” again?

Maybe the problem lies with us, the adults. Maybe we’re giving our children too many creature comforts. Perhaps we’re indulging them in an effort to prove that “I won’t do that to my kids when I grow up” attitude that we put up whenever our parents did something to us that we thought was unfair? My wife believes that kids today are just too distracted with their X-Box, PS-3, and Wii-driven lives. Too many music, rock bands, and gossip on the ‘Net to keep them from focusing on family and responsibility.

It’s definitely an interesting question, and I’m sure it’s been addressed somewhere. For now, though, this is my avenue of venting and hoping that I’ll find an answer that clicks with both myself and my teenage son. I sure could use a break, myself, but until then, I have too much to do…