Snowing Again; Bits & Pieces

Sunday morning, seven degrees outside, and snow is lightly falling...  I've walked to the bakery, fed my kits, cleaned their litter boxes, taken out trash, read the newspaper and put out food for the outdoors critters - wasteless bird seed for the juncos, sparrows, and finches; baguette rounds for the crows, ravens, and cowbirds; and a combination of peanuts, pecans, and walnuts for the squirrels.  I've had my breakfast, listened to the local news and taken care of my e-mails and facebook page; now it's time for the blog....
   As the family understood it, the surgeon was to drill a small hole in Kent's skull Friday to perform the biopsy on his brain tumor.  Instead, he removed a piece of skull the size of a person's hand; then he shaved bone from the interior of the skull before replacing it...  Why?  We found out that Kent cannot undergo either chemo- or radiation therapy until his skull seals, or re-knits/heals.  As the amount of time that will take is unknown, and due to the fact that Kent's tumor is growing rapidly, the surgeon wanted to be sure that Kent's brain would not be cramped, or under more pressure, as the tumor grows, or in case his brain begins to swell.  The surgeon said Kent had a wonderfully thick skull, and he was certain that he was able to make enough space, if it's needed.  Now we have to wait for a full-body CAT scan today, and the results of the biopsy, which will, hopefully, be available on Wednesday.
  I wrote about a month ago regarding a case of animal cruelty - Caitin Lesko had taken her young French bulldog to the vet for treatment, but when she was told the cost of setting Bamboo's two broken legs, as well as the cost of treatment for the burns covering half of his tummy, the woman left.  The veterinarian's office called the police to report a possible case of animal cruelty.  The lady was arrested, and the dog taken to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley.  The pup has since been adopted out to a new family.  Ms Lesko was originally charged with a misdemeanor pet cruelty charge; it has now been raised to a felony count.  And, during the investigation of the case, the police found that Bamboo was one of a pair of puppies that Ms Lesko and her boyfriend had purchased.  The other puppy, unfortunately, is dead.  It was strangled to death by Ms Lesko's boyfriend.  The couple had the puppies in bed with them - a king sized bed, raised quite high from the floor.  French bulldogs have short little legs.  The now dead puppy had to use the bathroom, but was afraid to jump down from the bed - at 8 weeks, he used the bathroom on the bed.  The boyfriend woke up and strangled the puppy to death because it had used the bed as the ground.  The boyfriend did take the puppy to a vet, appearing very agitated when he was told the puppy was dead.  The man had given a fake name and address to the vet's office, so even though it was reported as a suspected animal cruelty case, it could not be followed up by investigators.  Now the boyfriend is facing felony animal cruelty charges, as well.  I say: Hooray for our investigators!  This type of nonsense must cease!
  Back in June, Boulder was shocked by the stabbing and death of a 17-year-old high school student who was camping out with friends near Nederland.  The man (20 years old) charged with the murder was a previous classmate of the deceased.  On Friday he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and stated he was under the influence of LSD, psychotropic mushrooms, and "moonshine" at the time.
   Also, the young lady that lives next to me, and who screams in anger and frustration, has allowed her abusive boyfriend back into her life.  I have seen him multiple times during the past week.  I called the police once, to see if he was still "banned from the building" but received no answer - even though they came to Britta's apartment to be certain she was safe.  So I guess he's allowed back on the premises - and, unless I hear something truly horrendous from next door, I'll be ignoring their shouting and screaming and the sound of thuds of body blows and furniture being thrown around.  Poor little girl... he's got her convinced that he is the only person who will ever love her.  It's the same old abuse story all over again...
   And, finally, I rooted for three college teams yesterday during the "College Football Championship" day.  Each one of those teams lost.  I feel like my support is the kiss of death at the moment.  Hopefully, the Broncos will the Tennessee Titans in today's game - if not, then I'll know I need to stop watching  for the rest of the season....

George Zimmerman

More about George Zimmerman....   The man was found not guilty four months ago.  He's been warned once and ticketed once for speeding,  He's been taken into custody twice since then due to reports of domestic disturbance, but only arrested and charged this Monday.  He claims that he is indigent, has no home address, and owes $2.5 million in debt.  He was allowed to bond out of jail for $9,000 - after reportedly pointing a shotgun at his girl friend's face, threatening her, and breaking a glass table inside her home.  In September, police were called to Zimmerman's wife's home - both were taken into custody, but both told such conflicting stories that police released them both because there was not evidence supporting either story.
  Monday, 911 dispatchers received two calls, almost simultaneously - one from George Z, inside his girlfriend's mobile home, and one from the girlfriend who had been locked out by her boyfriend, Zimmerman.  They both told strange stories to the police.  George Z said his girlfriend and he were discussing things, and suddenly "just went crazy."  The girlfriend said that after she asked him to move out, he became violent, broke the glass table, and threatened her, pointing a shotgun in her face.  She said, according to news reports, that he had two handguns, an AK-15, and the shotgun in his possession.  She said as he was leaving - moving out - at her request, he started throwing his belongings around, and one piece of his luggage crashed through and broke a glass dining room table.  After she started yelling at him for breaking the table, he got out the shotgun, and threatened to kill her.
  Zimmerman's story is that the girlfriend told him she was pregnant, and that, due to his notoriety, she wanted him to move out, but that he would share parenting responsibilities. He said that as he was gathering his belongings, she started throwing things at him and became verbally abusive.  He, therefore, pushed her out the door of the mobile home, locked the door and barricaded himself inside.  Then he called 911.
  The girlfriend said that she was not pregnant, and just wanted him out - she was afraid of him and the four guns he carried with him everywhere.
  One of the conditions of Zimmerman's release on bond was that he turn in all his guns to the police.  -  Hallelujah!  The authorities have finally taken this man's guns away.  Even though I live two-thirds of a continent away from Florida, I feel safer.  ...  Now I am waiting to see what happens when he appears in court once more...

Wondering

I'm going to try to complete my "things I'm wondering about" blog that was interrupted Monday afternoon. I'm still wondering about Jimmy, Black Caviar's brother, in Australia.  The vets' still say he's in "stable condition" and that he appears to be making progress.  His pain medications are being slowly decreased, and he ate well over the weekend.  Considering the amount of care he has been given, I hope that the colt will make it to the breeding shed, even if he doesn't make it to the track.
   Here it is Wednesday, and I'm still wondering about the newspaper headlines Monday morning that described Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning as "hobbled."  Peyton had extra bracing, padding, and tons of tape around his high right ankle strain.  It looked thick and ungainly.  But, during the entire game, Cris Collingsworth was watching Manning's movements, and he only made one comment about the quarterback seeming to be hampered by the sprain and the extra support.  And, really, "hobbled?"  I have hobbled horses many times in my life, and Peyton Manning was not moving as if he had a pair of hobbles around his ankles. Hobbles can vary widely in materials they are made of, in width around the "ankle," and in the length of the strap/chain/rope that determines the size of step a horse can take.  Peyton Manning was not hobbled in any way, shape, or form.
  I'm still wondering about the five children in the care of the couple in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina.  Their Foster Care license expired in 2010 - three years ago.  They lived in Union County, but the children were supposedly under the supervision of a neighboring county's Social Services.  It turns out that the children were home schooled, and this is why no teachers, counselors, or administrators were aware of their plight.  No social worker had visited the family in more than three years.  What still astounds me is that the female of the couple was the Director of Social Services in Union County, where they resided.  It still blows my mind.
   I'm wondering about the laws of our country - the man who attacked the woman next door on Monday afternoon was released from jail Tuesday afternoon.  The only reason I know this is because two men, who didn't live in the building, came walking down the hall this morning, looking for names on door plates.  (I think there are six apartments out of 80 that actually have a name posted.)  I asked if I could help them find someone, and they said they were Boulder PD detectives, and wanted to see Britta and Ted, the folks next door.  I told them that Britta had walked her bicycle out the front door less than 3 minutes earlier, and that ted was in jail. That's when they told me that Ted had been released Tuesday night, and wanted to know if I had seen him....  They left their card on her door, with a request that she call them.
   The other reason I'm wondering about the laws is because of George Zimmerman. He was found "not guilty" of second degree murder in the killing of an unarmed youth in Florida.  Since he was exonerated by the jury, he has been stopped for speeding in Texas and given a warning; he received a $256 ticket for speeding in Florida a month later; in September, police in Florida arrested both Zimmerman and his wife for a domestic dispute, but released both without any charges, because both stories seemed plausible, but both were also contradictory, and they had no evidence; George Z was arrested again in Florida this past Monday for a felony charge of aggravated assault and misdemeanor domestic violence battery and criminal mischief.  He was released today on a $9,000 bond - after claiming he was indigent, had no fixed address, and was currently in debt to the amount of $2.5 million.   ....  More tomorrow.

Jimmy, Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse

This morning, it was downright cold.  It was nice this afternoon, in the sunshine.  We're expecting snow Thursday and Friday.  The Broncos beat the Chiefs last night.  There were terrible tornadoes in the Midwest yesterday.  And I'm still wondering about several things....
   Jimmy, the brother of Black Caviar, the $5 million  colt is now in "stable" condition at his equine hospital in Australia.  X-rays of his fore feet late last week showed a "concerning change" which indicated laminitis.  The pedal bone in a horse's hoof is kept in place by soft tissue.  Laminitis breaks down the soft tissue around the pedal bone, and the bone can move out of place or rotate.  If the displacement or rotation is extremely small, corrective shoeing, such as our Master Flash had, can make a horse rideable.  But I have the awful feeling that Jimmy will never race, even if he can survive the next few weeks without his condition worsening.
   I am still wondering about the two people who adopted the four kids and had the fifth handcuffed to the porch with a dead chicken around his neck.  According to news reports, when the investigators returned to the home in Union County, North Carolina, they found that the five children had been living and sleeping in one bedroom, sharing it with the house dogs.  The room was covered with dog feces.  The boy who had been hand-cuffed outside, was according to reports, routinely cuffed at night to a piece of rail road railing in the room with the four other kids and the dogs.  What was being done to these children, besides threats, that made them not talk to anyone about the conditions in their "home?" How could people not know what was happening to these five children?  Were they being "home-schooled" so that teachers and administrators couldn't see or tell that something was out of kilter with these five?  How can this happen in this day and age?  It's just sickening.
   Last Sunday, 8 days ago, my neighbors to the south of me had another fight.  They have fought ever since they moved in, and she often screams just to relieve her tension.  I'm not used to it yet.  On Sunday, the lady called the police herself.  As they arrived, the man left through the back door, scaring my cats as he went by our patio.  We had seven police units here, with all but two officers searching for the man.  They were searching the building and back yard with weapons drawn and ready, and we were told to "stay inside and keep all doors and windows locked" because they believed the man could be dangerous.  I hadn't heard a bit of noise from either person since then - until last night, when they were noisily banging in the shower.  (I was afraid they'd come through the plastic shower panels.)  While I was typing the first sentence of the previous paragraph, I heard the man next door yell, "God damn you!"  Then there were two heavy thuds, followed by a softer thud.  I dialed 911 and asked for the police to come again for another domestic disturbance in A-114.  He ended up being arrested, and is no longer legally allowed inside the building.  As the police had him in the hall beside my door, and I had gone out to direct the police in, I got to look at my new catalogs while sitting in the upstairs hallway, and the police were in discussion with both parties.  Then I had to write out my voluntary statement, and sign it in the presence of one of the officers.  It's nearly two hours since I first started typing this blog.  -  I'm going to prepare and eat my supper.