This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter). Posts here are rare these days. For current stuff, follow me on Mastodon

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Goodnight Miley

We welcomed Miley into our family in 2015. A few hours ago we had to say goodbye.

She was a rescue. We never knew exactly how old she was. But she was not a young dog when we got her. And she always had medical complications. The shelter said they thought she might have been a breeding dog that was dumped. She had clearly been a mom before.

But to us she has just been a loving family dog.

She was sweet and loving and took good care of Alex, and the rest of us.

In 2018 the vet gave her only months to live. Even if we were very aggressive with treatments. But she still had lots left to give.

A little while after her terminal diagnosis, we got a puppy. Jetski. In part this was because we knew losing Miley would be hard on our son Alex, and thought maybe having another dog around would help. But Miley was invigorated by the new addition to the family. And I guess we just plain got lucky too with the progression of her disease. She played more and had more energy than she’d had almost since we got her. And she took care of Jetski too, even when Jetski grew to be twice her size.

In the last couple years Miley was showing her age. And in the last few weeks that accelerated quite a bit. At a regular checkup the vet said it seemed like she could go at any time, and it would probably be painful, and it was best to say goodbye now, rather than wait for her condition to get dramatically worse in an emergency situation.

She had given us years more than we expected. Good years. But it was time for the end. For her sake.

So today, we spent all day with Miley. At first it seemed like maybe we had waited too long. She was so tired, and didn’t want to get up. She had to work up strength for every move.

But Alex and Amy and Brandy threw her a feast. She had cake and cupcakes specially made for dogs, topped with steak. She had pizza. She had all her favorite treats. As soon as she saw and smelled that, she popped up and ate enthusiastically. She was very excited.

Then we took her to her favorite park. A dog park on the beach where when she was younger she had run and splashed in the waves. It was cold. Below freezing. There was snow in the air. And she was not up for walking, so we took her to the beach wrapped up in blankets in a wagon.

But as soon as she realized where she was she started trying to jump out of the wagon. We helped her out and she started running. She played a bit with some other dogs there, and she ran to the water and started splashing in the waves. She had a great time. She came back to the wagon once she was cold.

Then it was time to go. She was tired. She was ready. And we all said our goodbyes.

Miley, you were a great dog.

Good dog Miley.

We love you.

Another Vote

Once again, a vote for my wife. No matter how things go, she has done an incredible job and put everything she has into the race. I am so proud of her. Go Brandy!

Support Brandy Donaghy for Washington State House 44th Legislative District Position 1

Hey, I rarely post here any more, but Brandy is running to be properly elected to the position she was appointed to last December. Please visit her website and donate to support the cause, and if you actually live in the 44th Legislative District in Washington State, please vote for her in both he primary in August, and the general election in November. Thank you!

 

Washington State Representative Donaghy

Snohomish County Council voted 4-1 tonight to appoint my wife Brandy Donaghy to the vacant Washington State House seat for the 44th legislative district left by John Lovick moving to the State Senate. She was sworn in about an hour later by Judge Okoloko. Congratulations Brandy! I am so proud!

Where did Curmudgeon’s Corner Go?

If you are a person that has looked to the abulsme.com blog for announcements when the new episodes of the Curmudgeon’s Corner podcast comes out, you may have, well, not seen any the last two weeks. Apologies for not putting an announcement here sooner, but well, CC has moved. For the longest time, the Curmudgeon’s Corner podcast has “lived on” abulsme.com. Blog posts announcing episodes were here, the actual podcast episodes were hosted here, and the XML feed files for the podcast were here too.

I have finally gotten around to doing something I have wanted to do for many years, which is set Curmudgeon’s Corner up with a domain of its own.

You will find the latest episodes of Curmudgeon’s Corner, and all the historical archives at curmudgeons-corner.com.

Some of the technical stuff behind the podcast is still linked to abulsme.com, but I’ll be disentangling that over the next few weeks / months. But from a listener’s perspective, that is the podcast’s home now.

Of course, nobody has to go to the website. Most people will find, listen to, and subscribe to the podcast using a podcast player on their phone or computer. You can still find the podcast there the same way you always have.

And I’m making sure the Curmudgeon’s Corner Facebook page still gets an announcement when there are new episodes.

And I’m tweeting out episode announcements when they come out too.

But this abulsme.com blog will stop posting podcast episodes every week. That had become almost everything posted here lately, with a few exceptions a year. Maybe I’ll figure out something new to do with the blog. Or something old. Dunno. We shall see.

In the mean time, for the podcast, head to one of those other places.

Thanks!

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Said By Hand

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam goes solo. Mostly. He discusses the big Texas abortion case at SCOTUS and the implications thereof. He discusses the pandemic, especially the latest on masks. Round it out with a bit on Afghanistan, a little on Hurricane Ida, a bit on a movie, and just a smidge about CPAPs, and you have a show!

Click below to listen and subscribe!

1-Click Subscribe in iTunes
View Podcast in iTunes
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Show Details:

Recorded 2021-09-04

Length this week – 1:37:16

  • (0:00:22-0:13:51) Segment the First
    • Agenda
    • CPAP recall
    • Sam Movie: Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
  • (0:15:50-0:45:01) Segment the Second
    • Canine cohost?
    • SCOTUS and Texas
    • Democrats vs Republicans using power
    • Doom and gloom or backlash coming?
  • (0:46:06-1:03:40) Segment the Third
    • Mask quality
    • New mask effectiveness study
    • Tragedy of the commons
  • (1:04:41-1:36:55) Segment the Fourth
    • Vaccine population effects
    • More on masks
    • Afghanistan
    • Hurricane Ida
    • Proactive vs reactive
    • Stuff at the end

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Big Purple Guy

On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan once again concentrate on Afghanistan and the pandemic. On Afghanistan, everything from the aftermath of the bombing at the airport, to the political implications for Joe Biden. On pandemic, a bit on horse dewormers, ventilation, and mask quality. But first, Sam reviews a book, and Ivan shares some news.

Click below to listen and subscribe!

1-Click Subscribe in iTunes
View Podcast in iTunes
View Raw Podcast Feed
Download MP3 File
Follow the podcast on Facebook
patreon-30x30 Support us on Patreon

Show Details:

Recorded 2021-08-27

Length this week – 1:49:31

  • (0:00:01-0:03:39) Cold Open
  • (0:04:02-0:39:32) But First
    • Agenda
    • Ivan news
    • Sam Book: Grimus (1975)
  • (0:40:33-1:08:00) Afghanistan
    • Bombing aftermath
    • Biden’s performance
    • Political implications
    • Could it have been done better?
  • (1:08:46-1:49:10) Pandemic
    • Statistics and trends
    • Horse dewormers
    • Ventilation
    • Mask quality
    • Stuff at the end

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Secret Formula

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Ivan and Sam’s main topics are Afghanistan and the Pandemic. Would you expect anything else? But Ivan also talks about his car, Sam talks about a book, and, oh yeah, Ivan talks about prepping for a medical procedure and being sick with a virus that is not Covid! Enjoy the show!

Click below to listen and subscribe!

1-Click Subscribe in iTunes
View Podcast in iTunes
View Raw Podcast Feed
Download MP3 File
Follow the podcast on Facebook
patreon-30x30 Support us on Patreon

Show Details:

Recorded 2021-08-21

Length this week – 1:54:18

  • (0:00:22-0:27:46) But First
    • Agenda
    • Ivan: Colonoscopy prep!
    • Ivan: Car update
    • Sam: Book: Call of the Wild (1903)
  • (0:28:46-1:03:03) Afghanistan
    • Collapse
    • Evacuations
    • Taliban 2.0?
    • Resistance to refugees
    • Kobayashi Maru
  • (1:05:04-1:53:55) Pandemic
    • Stats
    • Florida
    • Hospitals
    • Schools
    • Mandates
    • Closing

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Buy A Farm

This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about the Pandemic, Afghanistan, Infrastructure, Voter Rights Legislation, and the Census/Redistricting for their serious topics. On the lighter side, they engage in some chatter about school drop offs and a movie. This was recorded before the fall of Kabul though, so you’ll have to wait until next week for any discussion specifically on that.

Click below to listen and subscribe!

1-Click Subscribe in iTunes
View Podcast in iTunes
View Raw Podcast Feed
Download MP3 File
Follow the podcast on Facebook
patreon-30x30 Support us on Patreon

Show Details:

Recorded 2021-08-14

Length this week – 1:55:12

  • (0:00:01-0:02:27) Sam from the Future
  • (0:02:51-0:31:12) But First
    • Agenda
    • Ivan: School Drop Offs
    • Sam: Movie: High Noon (1952)
  • (0:32:19-1:08:27) Segment One
    • Pandemic
    • Afghanistan
  • (1:10:13-1:54:51) Segment Two
    • Infrastructure
    • Voter rights bills
    • Census/Redistricting
    • Listener Question
    • Stuff at the End

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Linguistic Revelations

On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan’s main topics are the pandemic and Andrew Cuomo. But they also talk about Brandy’s run, old wine, and the possibility of drinking emoluments. A nice little show. Tune in!

Click below to listen and subscribe!

1-Click Subscribe in iTunes
View Podcast in iTunes
View Raw Podcast Feed
Download MP3 File
Follow the podcast on Facebook
patreon-30x30 Support us on Patreon

Show Details:

Recorded 2021-08-06

Length this week – 1:47:33

  • (0:00:23-0:36:28) But First
    • Agenda
    • Brandy’s run
    • Old wine
    • Drinking emoluments
  • (0:37:29-1:22:49) Pandemic
    • Current stats
    • Anti-vaxxer reversals
    • DeSantis
    • Rules against mask rules
    • Permanent changes
    • The under 12s
  • (1:24:51-1:46:18) Andrew Cuomo
    • The situation
    • Republican comparison
    • Due process
    • Brother Chris
    • The end stuff

The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is “The Oh of Pleasure” (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is “Celestial Soda Pop” (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album “Deep Breakfast” (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.