Diamond Dogs House of Grooming

08/14/2024

Happy Anniversary Kevin. Today we would have been married 19 years. 19 years! Instead, I sit here crying alone for what could have been, but wasn't. I wake up every morning missing you. I go to bed every night missing you. Every time I have exciting news, or something remarkable happened, I want to rush home and tell you, but you're not home anymore.

The world moved on after you died, and that kind of kills me every day.

You were and still are "my person". You weren't perfect. I'm a far cry from perfect. But we were good for each other, and I miss that so badly. What I wouldn't give to see your face, hear your voice and hold you so tightly you'd never leave me again.

I still love you. I still miss you. I will until I take my last breath.

Happy anniversary, babe.

07/23/2024

Yeah ... imagine. I don't need to. I live it.

06/27/2024

I had what I hope to be the final appointment with my Orthopaedic surgeon today, and it was a very short visit. No offence to Dr. MacLeod and his staff. They're all fantastic, and gave me excellent service and care. My foot and ankle are both feeling much better.

The numbness / pain in my foot seems to have largely been resolved by the repair and fusing of my baby toe metatarsal bones, so that's fantastic. There's still the odd pain now and then, and my range of motion is very limited in my baby toe, but really, how much range of motion does one need in their baby toe? LOL

The Fibula feels so much better with the screws gone, and my ankle almost looks normal again, on the inside. The outside of my ankle still feels a little ... odd. I still think they elongated my Tibia when they rebuilt it. It's only like, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch longer, so I'm not terribly concerned by it. I do notice it much less now that the toe is sorted, so another plus(?).

Also, my hernia(s) seem to be healing up very nicely. I'm back in the gym, and it feels good to be rebuilding the muscle mass lost when I broke my ankle. It's going to take time to get back as close to where I was at before I broke it, but it's time I'm going to spend anyway, so I might was well spend some of it making myself more comfortable, and hopefully that will keep the worst of the pain at bay.

Onward and upward!

06/12/2024

If I invited a Trans educator to come give a "Transtalk 101" (topics include: pronoun use; bathroom etiquette, etc.) discussion, how many friends in London would come?

I have a trans sibling, and trans friends, and *I* want to make sure that I'm properly educated, and I'm hoping a bunch of my friends would appreciate some more knowledge too.

So ... let me know if you'd like to come, please, and I'll set it up.

05/30/2024

My stitches came out yesterday at 8:30 am! Yay! The wounds are now covered with a basic plaster (bandaid), and I am able to wear a normal sock and running shoes!

I won't lie, my foot was very tender inside the shoe, and I have to really loosen the laces to get my foot in (I can't bend it much), but I can get it in! Slides and socks will soon be a thing of the past. :)

I found out yesterday that I didn't just break a bone in my baby toe when I broke my ankle. I broke all 3 metatarsal bones, and two of them had reset in bad positions. So, they had to rebreak those two and reset them in their normal positions.

But, given that my foot and ankle bones are, apparently, undersized, (Kevin would have laughed his ass off over me and my tiny feet) they fused all 3 bones to support the two broken ones. Which explains why I can't bend my foot much. LOL Who knew?! (Clearly, not me. LOL)

I'm sure someone explained all this to me after surgery, but I have no memory directly of this information. They obviously gave me some really fantastic drugs. LOL Can I have some more, please? I'd like to forget the nightmare fu***ng world we live in for a spell. :P

I don't mess about, when I do something. Go big or stay home! LOL (I should have maybe stayed home on broken ankle day, in retrospect. LOL)

I go back in a month for more x-rays, and we will address the slight length issue in my tibia. I have 30 days or so to decide if I can cope with my left foot not striking the floor flat. Right now, the recently re-broken baby toe bones are exactly what I step on, and the inside of my foot is elevated slightly off the floor.

I'm seriously considering just leaving it, because the thought of yet another surgery, potentially rebreaking the tibia to shorten it (I don't know how they'd do this, to be honest) just feels like too much right now. We'll see how I feel 45 days post surgery #5.

For now though, my ankle feels great! No more screws rubbing the inside of my skin (such a gross, weird feeling!), and now that the stitches are out, I can move it more with less aggravation.

Onward and upward!

05/27/2024

I picked up the car today, and I'm very pleased with my purchase. It also looks much better with the tinted windows.

I do have a bit of a blind spot when I look over my right shoulder, with that big "D" pillar at the rear. This car has blind spot monitoring, though, and an amber warning pops up in the exterior mirror if something is in that space. Sweet!

I have a lot to learn about this car, and all the modern tech inside it. For instance, it has an electronic emergency / parking brake. It only took me 10 minutes to figure out how to disengage it. LOL I did figure it out on my own though! I paired my phone to the car way faster than I figured out the e-brake. LOL

The car also has Android Auto and Apple Car Play built in too, but they are wired connections. That's fine though, I do have the correct cable to connect them, and I will get that out to the car in the next few days. I tend to just listen to the radio most drives anyway, so those features aren't as important to me. Well, at the minute. Once I figure them out, they may well become much more important. ;)

I head back to work this week, with my stitches coming out on Wednesday morning, just before work. Fortunately, it's a light morning, so I'll be able to rest my foot before the afternoon groom.

The ankle feels pretty darned good. I can't feel the screws in there, and my ankle looks closer to normal. Yay! The toe, however, continues to be a fun little healing process. "Fun" ... yeah, anyway. LOL There was a bit of an infection forming in the toe wound, as I think the bandage and slides aggravated it. I've been soaking it in Epsom salt water, and it's doing really well now.

The pain's not bad if I'm cautious with my foot when I depress my clutch. I need to make sure it's positioned correctly on the clutch pedal, so that the baby toe bones aren't taking any of the pressure. As I heal, this will get easier and easier over time.

I'm walking relatively normally, but I can't yet put my foot into a running shoe, nor full pressure on that baby toe. I'm still "rocking" slides, and I intensely dislike them. Generally, I'm not at all comfortable in them, except that they are the only footwear that will expand enough to still fit over my bandages / stitches. Once they're gone, so are the slides.

Speaking of, hopefully, by the end of this week I'll be able to dispense with bandages altogether. With the stiches coming out Wednesday, there will be a few days to a week of some covering for the wounds, but a basic plaster (bandaid) should do it, and then nothing at all after a few days.

And, with any luck, this is the final surgery to correct my ankle. I'm happy to live with the fibula being ever so slightly longer than the tibia. Yes, my foot doesn't strike flat on the floor, but it doesn't bother me like those damned screws in there did. :P

Onward and upward.

05/25/2024

I am relieved to report that an insurance policy has been bound on the new car, so delivery can take place on Monday, as planned.

This policy is costing me roughly twice what my last insurance did, with the majority of that additional cost, ultimately, because either CRA or someone at Libro Credit Union didn't do their job, and my credit rating was destroyed because of it their failure.

They will pay. I am now pi**ed off enough, and have suffered enough fu***ng stress, that they will both pay. I'm so fu***ng done.

05/25/2024

This is so fu***ng demoralizing. The quotes I'm getting for insurance are fu***ng insane. All this because the fu***ng government and Libro Credit Union fu**ed me around for 5 months.

Those fu***rs are going to pay. (Oh, and if you don't like my language, well, you know where you can put your dislike.)

05/24/2024

Okay, Facebook hive mind, do I know anyone who is, or knows, a lawyer that deals with CRA, and banks, and likes to beat them up in a very winnable lawsuit?

Aaaaannnnnnd ..... GO! ;)

05/23/2024

Who do I know that sells auto insurance? I need to get some, and I'd rather deal locally, in the London or Oshawa areas.

05/22/2024

So, I bought a thing today, to replace my broken thing. It's a 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT Sport, and it happens to match Gus and the trailer perfectly. ;)

I feel like I got a decent deal on it, and as I do with most of my vehicles, I drive them for a decade or so. As long as I do the maintenance and rust-proofing, I should be able to make this one last as long.

(Please note I did say "most of my vehicles". LOL The Smart 4two was clearly not smart, and so hits the "most of" section. ;) )

Anyway, as mentioned, it's a 2018 Hyundai Elantra Sport, with only 37,700 kms on it (it's barely broken in!), 201 hp, 177 ft-lb torque, front wheel drive, air, cruise, tilt, power seats and windows, heated seats and steering wheel (I've never had such luxury before! LOL), backup camera, a panoramic glass roof (that covers about 3/4 of the roof surface!), leather seating ... it's loaded, essentially.

This may well be the last car I buy, so this time I decided to spoil myself a little. Yeah, it cost me, but as mentioned, I plan to keep it a long time, so if I average the cost out over the amount of time I plan to keep the car, it's worth it to me. And since I'm paying my bills, it's my decision.

Finally, to those people who helped me out financially not so long ago, I would like to return the assistance you've given me, as I have access to my accounts again, and can repay you. Someone else in your world may need help, and if I repay you, you can help them more readily.

I truly appreciate the help when I was so desperate, but that time has passed, and it's very important to me to return the monetary help I received, so maybe someone else can be helped. Please shoot me a message with your e-mail address, so I can e-transfer those funds to you.

Thank you!

05/17/2024

Good morning friends. I will be offline for the weekend, as I'm going to visit my sister in Toronto, and I'm not taking my laptop.

I'm available via text, if you have my cell number. If you don't, you don't need to talk to me that badly that it can't wait until Monday. :P (I don't have social media on my phone.)

For my Canadian friends, enjoy the Victoria Day long weekend, and the day off on Monday. For my American friends, enjoy your weekend, and Monday (?). LOL

05/16/2024

It's unwrapping day!! They've gone in the same scar on my ankle as the last surgery, so no additional scarring. There is some extra bruising just above the new stitches, but the only surprising thing to me is that there's not more. I am a walking bruise factory most times. LOL

The baby toe is another matter. That's an entirely new scar on my foot. Oh goody! I hope no one I meet has an unscarred foot fe**sh. LOL I will fail them. :P

I can bear weight on my left heel now, but I am still unable to walk with any normalcy. I expect that'll be another day or three healing for that to start happening. All in good time.

But, what I can do for this evening is bag my foot and shower! YAY!! I've been sponge bathing in the bus, but it's just not the same as a full-on shower!

05/14/2024

That's surgery number 5 done. In 367 days. (Three to fix my ankle and two to fix my groin hernia.) If I don't see a medical professional for a long, long time, it won't break my heart. LOL

I am truly grateful that I live in Canada, as all of this hasn't cost me a dime (other than $120 for new aluminum crutches) when I first broke my ankle. I'm sure in the US this would have cost me THOUSANDS of dollars each time I was operated on. All of the medical personnel were fantastic too. I have not so much as a single complaint about any of them. Well, maybe one minor one ... LOL

I was promised up to 36 hours of nerve block in my leg. My foot started waking up 2 hours ago. My surgery was finished by 10:30 am, and I started being able to move my foot (and feel pain again) by about 5 pm, so barely 6 1/2 hours of painless time. Crap. That's fairly typical of my body though, as my nervous system tends to burn through drugs like that quickly. *sigh*

Anyway, the screws in my ankle are now gone, which was the biggest pain, so that's good. It seems the lump on the bottom of my baby toe was more involved than anticipated, as they ended up breaking the baby toe to fix it. I don't know what went on yet, but I will find out on May 28th when I go back to see the surgeon.

And now on to relaxation and healing. I've given myself one clear week for recovery, and then I go back to work for one day next Wednesday, and then again on Saturday (the 25th) for two grooms. Am I pushing myself too hard? Probably. Do I have much of an option? Nope. Bills gotta get paid!

05/03/2024

Well that was an interesting bit of time.

I went to St. Thomas to get dog food, and while there, I decided to drive over to Aylmer, as there's a used car dealer there that had some cars I wanted to look at.

I drove a 2015 Mazda 3 Sport GS (base model) and a 2016 Hyundai Veloster. The only thing the Mazda doesn't have is cruise control, otherwise it's nearly perfect. It's even white with black trim, matching the bus and trailer! 6 speed standard transmission. $12,995 and 165K kms.

I also drove a 2016 Hyundai Veloster, and it was pretty well loaded up, except for leather and a sunroof. Neither of which are necessary to me. It did have cruise control. $14,995 and $160K kms.

I liked them both, but much prefer the Mazda, despite the lack of the optional cruise control. It could be added later. Or not. Now I just need to find a private lender that will work with me, until CRA gets their s**t together. If you know any private lenders, let me know their contact info, please.

05/01/2024

The tape sutures were all falling off, and getting caught on the waist of my pants, so I finished taking them off last night.

Picture 1 was immediately after removing the tapes.
Pictures 2 and 3 was this morning, almost immediately after getting out of bed.

I'm very pleased with the wound site. It's quite clean and healthy looking, to my eye. If you'll recall, the last hernia repair bled a lot more, and looked ... well, not great. I'm more hopeful this time that things were repaired better.

Sleep last night was better, but still interrupted, every time I moved positions. And I move positions a lot. There was some stabbing of pain when I moved, so I woke every time, but I drifted back to sleep pretty quickly.

So, overall, after about 6-1/2 hours of semi-broken sleep, I'm feeling alright, and a touch better than yesterday.

Back to work on Monday for 7 days of work, and then off again for two weeks, for what I hope will be my last surgery.

04/30/2024

Dang, this would be a cool replacement for my smart, and I could use mine for parts. :P Who has $5500 I can borrow? LOL

🔍 Looking for Smart ForTwo? Find the best new and used 🚘 Smart ForTwo sold by trusted owners and dealers on Canada's largest autos marketplace, Kijiji Autos

04/30/2024

Hernia update time! (Sorrynotsorry LOL)

We are now 5 days out from surgery, and things are on the upswing, I think. The first few days were intensely painful and a lot overwhelming.

There's been no more spotting or bleeding than there was on day 2, when I unwrapped the surgery site, though, and by this time last hernia repair, I'd soaked a good few bandages, towels and underwear with blood.

Sleep has been particularly rough. I don't sleep well to begin with, and adding this pain back in just hasn't helped. Quite frankly, I'm exhausted. But with pain levels decreasing as the day has gone on, despite my groin pain and swelling, I'm hopeful that a decent nights sleep can be achieved tonight. Here's hoping!

Dave La Rue took me out to 2 car places today, and I test drove 3 cars:

2012 Fiat 500 convertible: Interesting, fun to drive, standard transmission, easy to modulate clutch, BRIGHT yellow exterior with black interior and yellow accents, okay little car, but it leaks. The trunk was wet from the rain we had last night. I'd rather have the hard top with a regular sunroof. $10,800

2012 VW Golf GTI Turbo: AWESOME car, but I'm betting it was driven hard. It looks a little ... worn. Goes like stink, 6 speed manual, easy to modulate clutch, handles well, but insurance would be steep. I really don't want a sporty car. I'll use it and get in trouble. Just a small, economical hatchback or wagon would be perfect. $12,800 (they'd deal down to $10,800, but ... I dunno ... )

2013 Hyundai Accent 4 door hatch: Great little car, has decent pep for it's size, and definitely a model to consider. Probably not this one though on the front, passenger side corner there's some weird caulking or rubb seaming showing between a body panel and the front bumper, and when it goes over a bump on a corner, the whole car feels like it's going to spin out. It was very unsettling. I don't know if it's just this car, or the entire line. Driving another one of these soon will be important for comparison sake. $6,991, which still feels overpriced for an 11 to 12 year old economy car!

I'll do some more looking and see what I come up with.

Anyway, if things keep improving as they have been, heading back to work on Monday won't be a problem. Except that I need appointments next week! Currently I have one booked Monday morning and Saturday the 11th booked all day, and nothing else until my ankle surgery on May 14th. But I need to work and earn money! ;)

So, I have an opening at 2 pm on Monday, May 6th; and openings at 10 am and 2 pm Tuesday through Friday available! Let me help you out by grooming your dog, and you can help me out by ensuring I get to buy my dogs food. ;)

Thanks! More updates to come! (still sorrynotsorry. LOL)

04/26/2024

So, I've been home from my hernia surgery about 24 hours, and things are okay. My pain level is quite high today, but manageable with cannabis.

I'd rather not use the prescription pain reliever prescriptions I was given, as most of them cause me pretty sever constipation. When you've got a hernia that's pushed open by your intestines, the last thing you need is packed hard, constipated intestines pressing out on the recent hernia repair.

So, now I have until May 5th to recover before going back to work, and then I'm off again for another 2 weeks for my ankle repair surgery on May 14th.

Five surgeries in 1 year and 2 days is just ridiculous. This past year has been quite the s**t-show for me, what with my health issues, the CRA issues (that I haven't and won't really discuss publicly), and my fu***ng car dying, I'm really in need of a break.

So, if anyone can help me secure a loan for a car (under $10,000) and insurance, so I can get to work again on May 5th, that would be an amazing help. I know most people can't manage that these days, so it's totally okay if you're not able to help out. If you can help a little bit (just $5 would be amazing), I could use a bit of help with groceries until I'm able to get back to work fully in late May, my e-transfer e-mail is [email protected] Mostly, I want to make sure my pets are supplied with food. I'll be fine.

I know everyone is struggling financially right now. S**t isn't easy for anyone anywhere (unless you're very rich, but I don't move in those circles, clearly). So if you can't help, don't worry. I'll muddle through, as I always do. :) Best wishes for good (better?) health are also gratefully received.

04/25/2024

I'm home again after surgery, and feeling okay, but a little tired. I may take a nap.

Big thanks to Jennifer Larue for dropping me at the hospital with plenty of time (despite my sleeping in and forgetting my wallet), and to Dave La Rue for picking me up and bringing me home.

Thanks also to Jordan Simpson for feeding all the beasts and walking to dogs for me this morning. I'm sure they appreciate it as much as I do. :)

And now onto recovery for a few weeks, and then another ankle surgery on May 14th. One year and two days after I broke my ankle. Man, I hope this is the last I see of medical people for a good, long while.

Don't get me wrong, they've all been amazing so far, and my care has been excellent. But 5 surgeries in barely over 1 years is too much, and I'm ready to not have to deal with doctors and nurses for a while. ;)

04/24/2024

Yay! I have some VERY good news! My hernia surgery has been rescheduled to tomorrow morning! Yay!!

I called in this morning, as directed by Dr. Leslie's office manager, and she'd had a cancellation for tomorrow morning at 8 am in the surgical suite, so she put me in the spot. It's not good news for the cancelled appointment that I got, as that person apparently passed away. But that's a good break for me! (And after the last year, I deserve a freakin' break.)

So, that will only delay my recovery by one day, meaning I should still be able to return to work on May 5th or 6th. It may also not be entirely thrilling news for Dave La Rue, because I need to be at the hospital for 6 am! (It's not super thrilling for me either, but I get to go back to sleep for a few hours. LOL I'm sure he will too though. ;) )

It was fortuitous timing for calling in when I did. I mentioned to the office manager that I was (more or less) self-employed, and I needed this surgery ASAP both for the pain aspect, but also for the ability to eat, because without work, there's no food. She'd just finished with her cancellation phone call, and I was the first to call in, so I was first on her mind, so she put me in the newly-opened spot! BONUS!!

Am I looking forward to the initial pain of the surgery? No, not a chance. But I am definitely looking forward to not dealing with this pain anymore. Working with intense groin pain, and bumping the hernia on the working surfaces (it's the perfect grooming table and bathing tub height to get banged every time I move near either surface) is ridiculously painful, and I'm ridiculously clumsy, so I bang the hernia site often.

So, onward and upward, and no food or drink after 8 pm today. I can do that.

04/24/2024

And now we have a Golden girl! This one isn't saucy and ... well a cougar. ;) LOL And her name is Daisy.

04/24/2024

What a face! Scout is such a beauty!

04/24/2024

I was treated to yet another Golden boy to groom today.

04/24/2024

I got to hang with my young friend, Ivar! What an awesome dog he's going to be when he grows up!

04/24/2024

Do we know anyone looking for a small Golden Retriever mix girl? She's very sweet, and being fostered with Happy's Place- Retirement Home for Dogs. You should check her out! Share her around too!

04/24/2024

Pretty Lexi came to visit! We got on great, and she looks and feels so much better now!

04/23/2024

*sigh* Sad news today. I received a call from my hernia surgeon this afternoon, and apparently, my surgery on Wednesday has been ... postponed.

I am to call Wednesday morning to see when it's been rescheduled to. That could be as early as Friday, or several weeks or months down the road. I don't know yet. We shall see what Wednesday morning holds.

Having said that, I may have some appointments opening in the next few days. LOL If I'm not getting sliced and diced, I want to be working!

Stay tuned! More to come.

04/19/2024

Colour me surprised! I got a call from my ankle surgeon's office today, and apparently they're going to remove the screws and remove the lump on my foot on May 14th!

I really wasn't expecting it quite so soon, but I guess it'll be good to get all this health stuff out of the way again before summer. I hope. :P

04/17/2024

I had my appointment with my ankle surgeon today, and I will be having another small surgery on my ankle, and I'm very glad for it.

The two screws that can be seen on the fibula. on the left side of the picture, will be removed, as the bone on the inside of my ankle has healed up very nicely. All of the hardware on the tibia must remain, as there isn't enough bone there to fully regrow and heal. The metal hardware is what's keeping it all together.

The doctor will also be fixing a lump that has appeared on the outside of my foot, just behind the baby toe, beside the pad on the bottom of my foot. Apparently, because of the way my ankle broke, I've shifted how I walk on my foot, and that is becoming a pressure point, and the bone has altered, creating the bump. Having this corrected will apparently not impact the healing. Excellent.

That'll be another week or two off work, in about a month or two. Ugh. Like I can afford that. :\ I absolutely need to get those things fixed though, as they're driving me crazy, and having an impact on walking and standing. I work on my feet, so I need to be able to do both comfortably.

As for the nerve pain I'm still dealing with, it could take up to 2 years for that to fully heal. In the meantime, I just need to deal with the alternating numbness / pins and needles / stabs of hot pain / stabs of cold pain / and toes sometimes feeling incredibly painful, and other times completely dead and immovable.

I thought I had enough pain to deal with, but apparently my body thinks otherwise, because chronic body pain and migraines aren't enough for it. :\ Yay.