So a month ago one of the ladies of the house was rushed to the ER after too much fun in the snow. She is recovering quite well and all indications are that she'll be off leash come Tuesday to heal the rest of the way on her own. She's still got a limp, and the short fur is still a good 3 inches away from "normal" so it looks like she's lost a ton of weight on just 1/4 of her body. But all is well.

As of now, another lady of the house (the least furry of the three and the one I married) is crashed on the couch in a Percocet haze. This is the result of a planned double knee surgery to relieve some long standing pain she's been having. The doc cleaned out and smooth the cartilage and bone around her kneecap, and clip her tendons slightly so they'll heal a bit lengthened to help recenter the kneecap.

There was a bit more clean up than was originally anticipated, but he didn't need to clip nearly as much. This means that instead of being in leg braces for 5 days and then extensive physical therapy that she just has to keep her leg wraps on for 3 days, and most likely won't need any formal PT at all. Good news indeed!

In the mean time, I get to be her beck-and-call-boy (not that I'm not anyway!). But this was just a quick update for those that were not aware, or wanted a few more details.

If you don't like Jokes about GOD....don't look behind the curtain

( Curtain... )

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)

Guinness went into the vet today for a check up. Originally it was to have the last two remaining staples removed, but since those worked themselves out late Saturday it was just a checkup.

The incision is all closed up. No more cone of shame. No more sling (thank goodness). She can go for walks now, which we will be doing. She's still restricted to leash when doing anything other than wandering around the room, but only for two more weeks, then she can do whatever she wants.

This is all about a month of what we thought was going to happen, and will be a welcome relief that she won't need to be babied for much longer.

So the saga of me and the TSA has been on-going. The short refresher: Since 9/11 I've been subject to "extra screening" whenever I fly. Over the years this has taken the form of anything from an extra 10 minutes at the check in counter while they call to some secret room to make sure it's ok for me to get on the plane, to not being able to use internet or kiosk check-in because at the very least an agent needs to go to some other menu to make sure I am who I say I am.

The problem is twofold. First there is some eco-terrorist running around with the name Dave Wilson that at some point had an address here in Utah. The second is that the TSA, for the past 9 years has decided it is reasonable to have a nationwide database that matches on ONLY two points of data: first and last name. Duh.

Well it seems at least one of these two has started to pull their heads out. A requirement that began sometime in the past few months is that the airlines will need to gather more info about each traveler: along with the name they'll need date of birth and gender. Hurray for more data points to do a reasonable match. But wait, don't order yet.

A few years ago DHS fired up the TRIP (Traveler Redress Inquiry Program). In short I could supply them with as much information about myself as possible in the hopes that this extra information would be cataloged somewhere so I could be treated like a normal passenger. A month after submitting the info I was sent a letter saying the info was received and that DHS may, or may not do something with it. Either way the matter was now considered closed and if I didn't like it I could hire a lawyer and go to court about it.

Well now there is something new. Due to my previous "participation" in the original TRIP program, I have now been sent my very own "Regress Control Number". According to the accompanying letter, I can provide this at the time I make my reservations. As I make all my travel reservations on line, It'll be interesting to see how long it takes different airlines to update their on line reservation systems to prompt for this nugget of info.

As a single, unique data point I can see how this would solve the problem. We'll see if it actually does.