When I interviewed for a job recently, my mom constructed an offering to Jobu. She arranged some of my favorite items, along with my personalized cloth napkin and a whole chicken. Obviously, it worked. How else could I have been selected for the position?

We went back to the house and played Pictionary with Dan and Cherie. The teams were boys vs. girls, and we totally crushed them! After the family funtime, we watched Kenny. We all thought it was quite a hoot. I recommend it highly, and consider it to be the Citizen Kane of portable sanitation unit worker movies. We called it a night climbed into bed.

On Saturday morning, Heather and I rode our bikes down to Avila Beach via Foothill, Los Osos Valley Road, Higuera, Ontario, and the Bob Jones Trail. The weather was perfect and we didn’t get any flats, which I consider a huge success. We met up with mom, dad, and Brittney at the beach for a picnic. On the way back, we stopped at the doggie spa to get Brittney’s nails trimmed. She was a little angel on the table. It’s worth every penny. Mom and dad cooked up a fantastic early dinner; tri-tip and homegrown beets and carrots. It was tremendous. We finished that off with a perfect nectarine cobbler made with some absolutely perfect fruit.

Heather and I get spiffed up for the reunion, which was held at Native Lounge on Chorro near the mission. It’s a nice venue. It makes a better bar than a restaurant. It was Sebastian’s in 1989. We got our name tags and mingled around, by which I mean that we got some drinks and staked out a comfortable couch. It was nice to see familiar faces and get caught up with people that I literally hadn’t spoken with in 20 years. I was somewhat surprised at who wasn’t there. It was also interesting to experience the event sober — I actually remember what happened. The conversations I had with people were often amazing, mostly because the places that I would have predicted some people ending up are the complete opposite of reality. Then again, some people didn’t surprise me at all.

Shortly after the joint opened up the ropes for the general public, Heather and I went back to pick up Brittney and drive home. She had to be at work at the spa at 0830 hrs on Sunday morning. I slept all day. It was too hot to work. It’s still flaming hot in my office. I’ve missed stage 14 and 15 of the Tour being away, so I’ll have to catch up on the rest day. It would be nice if Versus.com didn’t suck so hard.

I regret not saying hello to everyone I should have, however I have that feeling after every event I go to; it’s a feeling with which I’m quite familiar. I also feel like if anybody really cared to know what was going on in my life, it would be pretty damned easy with all my blogs, tweets, and snarky comments on social networking sites. See? Aren’t you glad that I didn’t say hello? Heh.

By last Sunday, it was apparent that Olie’s health was quickly worsening. He had difficulty walking — so much so that I used a harness to hold him up when his legs gave way. His panting was constant, and we would later learn that he had a type of pneumonia. Olie had an appointment for Monday at 1100 hrs to remove the catheter in his front leg, but it was clear that the only humane action would be to put him to sleep. I wanted to do something nice for him, just to express how much I loved him one more time. It may sound weird, but I decided to take him to In-n-Out for a cheeseburger. He was always so excited when I shared a bite with him. On the way to the vet’s office, I picked up Kelly at work. I waited with Olie on the patio at In-n-Out while Kelly ordered him a Double-Double, no vegetables. He scarfed it down in seconds, but it was clear that my friend wasn’t completely present.

We sat on a blanket with Olie in an exam room. We both cried and told him how much we loved him. Kelly asked for him to be given a sedative so he could have a moment’s rest. I looked down at his little body and felt a wave of sorrow and relief. In a few days I will make an oak box to hold his ashes, and maybe one of his favorite squeaky toys.

I watched a movie with Heather and Denise last night, then came home to clean the house for a bit and put away some of Olie’s things. It’s hard to be without him at home, where he was nearly always within arm’s length. I tried to give him the best life I could, to the point of spoiling him, no doubt. However, since I won’t have any children, I think I’m allowed. I’d like to toast Olie with a drink. I’d really, really like a drink, but being sober is the only I’ll cope with the grief. In a few weeks, we’ll have a gathering to remember Olie; a BBQ with plenty of sausages. :)

During the night of 22 January 2009, Olie had several seizures of greater severity than previously. Olie was lethargic and unstable in the morning. He even walked away from breakfast, which he has never done before. That afternoon I took him in to see Debra Klumb, DVM — I assume that Sharon was busy with a surgery or otherwise booked. She requested a group of blood and urine tests that would identify problems with his liver, kidney, pancreas, etc. — basically everything outside the brain. He placed very little weight on his hind legs, and did not bother to keep his legs under his center of mass or inline with his spine. Before Olie could go back to have samples drawn, he had a seizure on the exam room floor. Fortunately this episode was consistent with the others, so Debra was able to see the symptoms first hand. They immediately gave Olie IV phenobarbital and diazepam. They took a series of chest and abdominal x-rays, but everything looked normal enough compared to his last set on file. Although he has a fairly pronounced heart murmur, the size and position of his heart looked okay on the screen. His lungs and liver looked healthy; the kidneys were obscured. Debra prescribed phenobarbital to prevent more seizures.

After a couple hours of observation, I took Olie home. Kelly and Udo came to visit him that night. The Valium (diazepam) wore off by 2100 hrs, and Olie’s behavior was agitated and restless. He regained his appetite, and didn’t seem satisfied with his normal meal. Throughout the night, he paced about the house and cried. I didn’t realize it until morning, but the tops of his hind feet were bloody from dragging them. I tried to put him in his normal spot on the bed, but he wouldn’t stay still.

Olie and I went back to the vet’s office at 0900 hrs on 24 January 2009. Heather met me there to provide support while waiting. The lab results were in, and all the values looked normal. It is helpful to have baseline values in the file from the Senior Wellness Examination he had a couple years ago. At this point, we can make the assumption that there is a tumor or other brain defect that is the cause of the seizures. It’s possible to have some advanced diagnostic imaging done on his head to get a better look at his brain, but because there aren’t any reasonable treatment options, having a picture of the tumor won’t help.

Olie had the IV catheter flushed out, and a dose of corticosteroid administered in the hopes of reducing any swelling that may be causing pain. We left with a prescription of dexamethasone. I hadn’t slept much in the last 48 hours; Heather offered to watch Olie while I slept, which was a great sanity boost. I took Olie home that night, and hoped he would be able to get some sleep. He slept in 10-15 minute intervals, getting up to pace around the bedroom in between. I mopped all the floors and put booties on his feet to protect them (his feet, not the floors). I played some music for him — he likes Sarah McLauchlin. He has been drinking much more water than normal, and I let him out on the lawn every couple hours.

Olie has started chewing on things that he wouldn’t normally chew on: wires, door stops, sprinkler heads. I don’t have a guess for what that would be. He also has been walking to corners of rooms and staring there for several minutes. His vision and hearing have definitely been impaired. He doesn’t want to walk backwards; after taking a drink from his water bowl, he’ll walk through it to continue forward, rather than turn away. He’s definitely not himself.

This morning I feed Olie a bit more than normal, and his appetite was ravenous. Since yesterday, we’ve increased his phenobarbital to three times a day. It may be that the level is building up to the point that it is making him sleepy. He’s resting on his bed in my office right now. He has lost most of the control of his hind legs, and is generally uncoordinated. I don’t know why that is, or if he will regain control. At this point, I just want him to be as comfortable as possible, and able to continue fighting if that’s what he wants to do.