Amber D

Here's the story. Up until about 3 weeks ago, my yellow lab (who is almost 8 years old) was a perfectly fine dog. I noticed a discharge and took her to the vet where they said it looked like she had pyometra and would need an emergency hysterectomy. Ok. 2 days later, I go to pick her up, and she has a difficult time getting around. I chalk it up to the surgery. Days passed and she doesn't seem to be getting around any better. At her follow-up appointment, she had a fever so they switched her anti-biotic. They didn't seem to think too much of the fact that she's in pain and couldn't get around very well but they did give another pain pill. At the next follow-up appointment, her temperature really came down, but at that point, she's really having a hard time walking. She doesn't use her hind right leg unless she absolutely has to. The vet checks her out (a different doctor from the same practice) and he's feeling her hips and legs and says she has severe arthritis and hip problems. She didn't have ANY of these problems prior to the surgery. None of the doctors at that veterinary hospital would even acknowledge the fact that she was not like this before! The vet tech did say that maybe her legs got stiff from the surgery because they had to stretch her legs out straight. But if she was just stiff, why is it that she's still like this like 3 weeks later? I just don't know what to do. I did take her to the chiropractor last week and that seemed to help slightly, and she has another appointment tomorrow. But what else can I do for her? And what did those jerks do to her during surgery to screw her up this bad?

Once I get my photography business up and running, I am wondering how much I should charge. Right now I am still working on my portfolio full of freebie shots of family and friends, but once I get going, I have no clue what to charge. I live in a rural area where the only local photographer retired a few years ago and now most of the seniors have to drive 40 minutes to get to the closest real photographer or they *shutter* go to Sears. It's mainly due to lack of options in town. What's a good starting point for prices? Should I do a higher sitting fee and have a low mark-up on prints, or should I do a cheaper sitting fee and mark the price of the prints up? Also, what are your thoughts on offering a CD? I know a lot of people order minimal prints and get copies made elsewhere anyway (even though it's illegal), so should I also offer a CD? If so, what should I charge for the CD? My only hesitation with offering a CD is that people could get crappy prints made and then that would reflect on me. Opinions?

Ok, I'm looking for a recipe for mashed potatoes and carrots that has sour cream and cheese in it and gets baked in the oven.

A lady I used to work with who I became good friends with made this for me the Thanksgiving before she died. I did online searches but couldn't find a recipe that was really similar.

I have a 2 GB Lexar Compact Flash card for my Sony A100 camera. When I use it in my camera, it seems absolutely fine. I can review pictures, take new pictures, etc. When I try to use it in my card reader, though, it says to insert the card even when it is already inserted. I also don't seem to be able to hook up the cable to my computer and get my pictures that way. I'm not really too worried about the card itself because that is replaceable, but it has pictures from my daughter's first trip to the beach on it as well as a photo shoot I did today with her with the fall leaves. Is there any way to possibly still get these pictures onto my computer or am I screwed?

I have a Minolta Maxxum 5 as well as a Sony Alpha 100. Their lenses are interchangeable. I have the opportunity to buy lenses from a Maxxum 7000 which I know is much older. Is the lens mount still the same? Or was that before Minolta switched to their latest mount? I'd just hate to buy lenses that I won't be able to use on my Sony.

Friday my car started acting up. It was fine up until I picked up dh. I called him when I got there & he said he'd be out in a minute, so I sat with the car running. 1 minute turned into almost 20 minutes of me sitting in a still car with the AC running. (I mention that because I'm not sure if that is what caused the problem or not.)

Dh drove home. Going up hills & stuff, my car struggled. Like it's losing power. The longer we drive, the worse it gets. When we come to a stop, it all but stalls. The RPM's go way down & the car shakes. Pulling out out from a stop, it goes really, really slow for a little as it's very slowly building speed (even if the pedal is to the metal) & then once it hits a certain RPM, it goes ok. But it has to be over a certain RPM (I think like 3000 or so) or else it's all but dead. We have to keep it in a lower gear. (Manual transmission.)

I'm going to try to get it into a garage tomorrow, but I was just wondering what this could be & what it's gonna cost.