A strangely empty home

There is another world
There is a better world
-the smiths

We let Chemo go on Monday. After almost 2 1/2 years of fighting seizures, neurological problems and a form of fibrosis she crossed the "quality of life" threshold that we had settled upon. The last few months were difficult with her health starting to deteriorate quickly, but up to a few days ago she still showed signs of her old self...stealing a sock, getting into the cat food (after refusing to eat her own), or barking at a skunk outside our back yard. But finally the combination of drugs and her natural terrier tenacity was not enough to sustain her.

When I first Chemo over 12 years ago she was just my new girlfriends “snappy little dog”…I put up with her but I’d be lying if I said it was love at first site….but my first dobe, Nitro, had a thing for her and it was sort of fun having “him and her” dogs (but try fitting two people, a 90lb dobe and westie in a full size bed). Eventually Nitro passed away and Stacy and I moved in together….somewhere in there Chemo became my dog too and I started to look forward to getting home for some little Chemo kisses (and the occasional bite on the nose)….then, suddenly it seems, I liked that she was a grumpy sort of snappy dog who barely listened to you….yup I had fallen in love with that little girly dog. Eventually we adopted Max, and though Chemo was a little older and less playful, she enjoyed having the big dopey guy around….so for about 5 years we were the happy dog family again…but time caught up with Max this past fall and Chemo this week.

The house just isnt the same without a dog but we are happy that chemo is free of her health problems andwe know she is somewhere being her bitchy terrier self and hanging out with Norm(!) , Micky, Finn, Nitro and Max......

I want to thank Dr's Mann and Steckroat and the staff at County Vet Hospital in Kendall Park, NJ and Dr. Nancy Rinkardt, Michelle and the staff of the Santa Cruz Vet. Hospital for all of their great care over the years...

Of course we still have the cats but all attempts to get them to bark in the last few days have failed

A thought on doping in cycling

I said earlier that I wasnt going to talk about the whole Floyd, Operation Portopottie, or anything like that but the comment below was a reply to a friend who sent me this link, http://www.petitiononline.com/floyd/petition.html, and wasn't intented as a blog post...but it pretty much sums up what I think:

As much as I believe in transparency, due process, and burden of proof (i.e. I still think the blood doping test is shaky, scientifically, at best) I also don't think I "know" people like Floyd, Tyler or Ulrich or that they need me to "support" them...also, if these guys are clean, I don't think they have done much to help the sport in terms of speaking openly about the drug problem....honestly, in a weird way, Jose Conseco is sort of one of the most upstanding guys in sports to me.....we need a slew of finger pointers in cycling...

I give less and less about "pro" cycling, at least in Europe.....in terms of following results its more fun/exciting for me to follow the results of elite (but not pro) friends or see Adam Myerson get 6th at a big-time crit then Floyd win the TDF....

No American Team for Avenir?

from cyclingschmooz:

"The following teams were invited by French organiser ASO: Ag2R Prevoyance, Agritubel, Germany, Germany, Auber 93, Belgium, Bouygues Telecom, Chocolade Jacques - Topsport, Cofidis, Columbia, Cycling Team Capec, Française Des Jeux, France, Jartazi-7Mobile, Landbouwkrediet - Colnago, Norway, Omnibike Dynamo Moscow, Orbea, Perutnina Ptuj, Portugal, Rabobank, Ukraine, Unibet Davo and Viña Magna-Cropu. An American team was not invited "

I wonder what happened to Tiaa-Cref...they rode hard in Europe this year and its on their calendar?

hmmm...ya think JV is pissed? (this JV not that JV)

the bottom line...