Going Green

I have been trying to think in terms of "Green" . The options sometimes seem too limited at times. Recently (and hopefully, only transiently), my commute has increased significantly, putting 100 miles on the car (50 each way) once or twice a week.

The van and I have never bonded. Now, with gas prices, although I am getting a respectable 23 mpg, I would like something that does better. The van is going to stay with me: I need a "family" car however, for trips without the dogs, I think this will do just fine:Unfortunately, like all good gas conserving cars, this (Mini Cooper Clubman) is on back order. Mine will arrive in September. Think it will come with a whippet inside (yeah, I cheated and modified the picture). The 37 mpg hiway will be a nice change, and I think with some creative thinking, I can probably travel with part of the pack.

My brain is about to explode

Ahh, the joys of going to a big meeting. I heard the rumor that the prediction was that this year's ASCO has 33,000 attendees. There is something moving about that many people cominng together in the name of fighting cancer. My brain is about to explode: a combination of information overload and caffeine withdrawal (why is it so hard to find simple tea or Diet Coke at events like this?).

ASCO has been exciting in some ways, disappointing in others. I came to my current position the long way: taking a decade foray into basic science and research before pursuing medicine full time. Sometimes, listening to talks, I feel frustrated by how much we don't know...why has it taken so long....but then I hear something where it does seem like we are beginning to molecularly characterize tumors so that, hopefully, some day, we can tailor therapy (and dare we dream, also avoid toxicity?).

I am currently in full canine withdrawal. For some reason, I was coming back to my hotel room on the 15th floor, I thought that there would be a dog...but of course, not. No dog. Lousy conference. Even the security dogs have seemed to be on the scarce side. Used to be I saw the dogs every day.....but, no...they have HUNDREDS of security people to keep the oncologists in line -- no standing at the back of a room during a conference (why do we have to sit?? My sitter is sat out!), no stopping in a hallway. This meeting is regimented.

Chicago is nice, but there are far too many people. I don't see how people live here (not to mention, far too few dogs).

I did find this nice cow....I guess they try to make even people like me, yearning for the ranch fell at home. Somehow, a brass cow just isn't as nice as a real cow. I hate that I won't have much time with my dogs before having to rush to work, but it will be good to see all those brown eyes and brown noses.

So, what is cool about the meeting?

I attended a session about non-small cell lung cancer in the non-smoker. It was a tad on the disappointing side, but it did confirm what I had already suspected -- that they are finding non-smokers tend to live longer, even when they present with metastatic disease than do the smokers. There is likely a molecular basis for that-- in general, non-smokers more commonly present with adenocarcinomas (a flavor of lung cancer), and more commonly have mutations in the EGF receptor (allowing higher response rates to a certain class of drugs). Of course, I wanted to hear that there was a cure for that da** disease, but -- not yet.

I attended a few of the breast cancer sessions. I find it interesting. When I was in training, women with Her2neu amplified breast cancer were considered to have a poorer prognosis. Now, because of targeted therapies (Herceptin and Tykerb) those women have a BETTER prognosis when presenting with metastatic disease -- at least for the first two year. It's nice when the science really impacts the clinic.

Finally, my old friend Ras seemed to be the star of the meeting (slide stolen from the plenary session on KRAS and colon cancer):
Way back when I was an impressionable mind, I became interested in cancer while reading a Newsweek article about oncogenes. They had discovered c-myc and the ras (Kirsten/Harvey mutations) oncogenes and it was thought that the cure for cancer would follow in about 10 years. Unfortunately, regulation of the cell cycle has proven to be much more complex than 2 or 20 or 100 oncogenes....they are multiple pathways with multiple interactors that can all go awry during the process of turning a cell into a cell out of control. However, recently it has been discovered that in colon cancer, mutations in KRAS will confer resistance to EGF-receptor mediated drugs (like Erbitux). It is a small but important step -- this will help us to avoid treating patients with drug that they don't need to see as they won't help them. Hopefully, we will determine more of these cause/effect relationships between tumor gene expression and response to therapy.

Aiport Travels

Today, I traveled to Chicago for the ASCO Annual Meeting. ASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology, so if you wonder why you hear about the breakthroughs in cancer care, it’s because ASCO is happening this weekend.

Unfortunately, my flight was delayed between the time I left Small Town America and when I arrived at Big City airport (some tornado activity between here and Chicago....pilots can be such wimps :D ). An extra 90 minutes to wait in an airport. Joy.

While cruising and people watching, I happened on a woman walking with a friend (who was sighted) and the woman's seeing eye dog, a big yellow lab. As a person who was already in the early stages of canine withdrawal (my pack is still in Small Town), I was drawn to said dog, although I knew better than to interfere with a dog who was doing its work.

As I was walking behind the dog, I noticed with a touch of concern, that it needed to poop, and sure enough, the dog let loose a couple of warm brown presents. A gentleman off to the side called out to the couple with the dog that it had….errrrrr….made a deposit. The sighted person in the couple looked back and then kept walking.

I have never seen so many people horrified by doggie excrement. I had just gotten my breakfast so had two travel bags plus a bagel and drink in hand and was a little compromised in my ability to do anything (after all, one isn't supposed to leave their bags unattended). People formed a twenty foot ring around the poop and stared…..One brave soul chucked a couple of newspapers over the offending pile of turd, maintaining a 10 foot distance from said turd(s) in the process. I went to the women’s restroom, which was conveniently 20 feet from the deposit, and grabbed a bunch of paper towels. Rearranging my baggage, I went back to the poop and (AAACCCKKK) picked it up. I looked up to see perplexed people staring at me. I think some thought me quite insane. I commented, “I’m a dog person. I can do this.”

Was I the only dog person in the airport? Is it so bizarre? Yes, it seemed very poor form for the people with the service dog not to have taken care of the deposit, but goodness…it was just a little bit of poop. Did I miss some news story describing how terrorists are making bombs that drop out of yellow labs disguised as poop? Based on the response of the crowd at Big City Airport, I can only assume that is the latest way of smuggling bombs into airports. People, it's just poop! Everyone does it. Really.

Once in the air, the flight went quite well, although I am amazed...one no longer gets a bag of chips with that drink, and food costs LOTS on planes (which is why I didn't buy any). Seems like there should be something done about this racket. Because of the theoretical risk of liquid bombs, one can no longer take drinks past the security point, so one immediately falls victim to the high prices inside the security point, and then one is subject to even higher prices on the plane ($4 for trail mix....individual serving size). Hmmm. I think not. (Picture taken from the window about 30 minutes from Chicago).

Hug your hounds. I miss mine so. (People ask me if I feel "tied" down by my dogs. Yes, they do keep me from doing some things, but what they give me in return is worth it. Sigh. I hate that our society seems to becoming so anti-animal. I think we are on the verge of painting ourselves into a corner).

Dog poop photo credit

Fun Monday #13. Collections

Mariposa tells us that we ALL have collections. Hmmm....really

"We all have them...and if you don't, you do....you just may not realize it. For some reason or another we all collect something and we collect it for reasons that will definitely make for good reading. So on Monday, I want to see your collection. If you don't have or don't want or CAN'T (wink) show us a picture, then tell us what the collection is in 10 words or less. Then tell us why you started collecting it."

When I was younger, I had a LOT of collections: the little porcelain animal collection, the doll house with collector furniture, my stuffed animals, my books. Most of those collections are long gone. I have tried to rid my life of "stuff" and so much of it was just stuff.

Now, I don't seem to have many collections. I rarely have time to read because of work, and I no longer save journals from work because they are all on line.

Those of you who have been to this blog before might say, "You collect whippets!" But there seems something so not right about that. Yes, I am the guardian of quite a few whippet souls, but I don't collect them....they collect me!

Much of my free time is spent with either the dogs or working on my property. My other passion is photography. I think one could call a groups of images a collection I don't know if I am good at photography, but I love capturing that image....the one that talks to me. Some of the pictures make me smile on a bad day. Whether it be a pretty flower, a butterfly, or a dog I truly enjoy the acquisition of images. I wish I was better at capturing pictures of people. For some reason, that talent seems to elude me.

I think the shutterbug might be genetic. There have been shutterbugs on both sides of the family. My great grandmother was a photographer and a dog lover (hows that for genes?). She bred pekingese, though. I wonder what she would have thought of this computer age when we can manipulate images....

So, some pictures from my collection of pictures....








I'll admit it, most of the pictures ARE of dogs, but what better subject?

Check out the other participants

1. Robin (Pensieve) 2. Jennifer 3. Jo Beaufoix 4. Our Happy Happenings 5. Nekked Lizards 6. Swampy 7. Olive 8. Patience-please 9. Planet of Janet 10. shiela c. 11. chrisb 12. chrisb 13. Hootin' Anni's 14. Jenn and the City 15. grace

16. lisa's chaos 17. Kaytabug 18. Aoj & The Lurchers 19. Faye 20. Molly 21. Sayre 22. SwampAngel65 23. rotten correspondent 24. Karina 25. Susan-A Slice of Life 26. Jan 27. Ragracers 28. Sauntering Soul 29. pratap 30. Nikki

31. Tink *~*~* 32. Alison 33. hulagirlatheart 34. Rachel 35. Gattina 36. manilenya 37. ari_1965 38. Insane Mama 39. IamwhoIam 40. Karisma 41. Cricket's Hearth 42. jill 43. CruiseMom 44. You're next!

Mastercard

You know those Mastercard commercials:


Sometimes, my life feels like that:

whippet puppy -- a few hundred dollars ($$)

(Mati as a baby puppy)

Muzzle for whippet $12 ($)

Set of racing jackets for whippet: $50 ($)

Van to take whippet(s) to races: $25,000 ($$)



Home on 5 acres so that whippets have a large backyard for running.....more than the van ($$$$$).





Sixty-five acres so that I can set up my own whippet ranch.....more than I EVER thought that I would spend on some dogs.... ($$$$$)

The sight of the whippets enjoying the whippet ranch -- PRICELESS.Whippets running around like bunnies

The grass was Hudi height. I don't have many pictures of her. She kept getting lost.

Super Gabi to the rescue!

Gabi telling Charlie, "Really, the water feels good and you won't get muddy at ALL!"

Running through the water plants (I think the pond needs aqua Round Up)

Reilly, who seizes every opportunity to get dirty!


I didn't think Gabi's tongue was THAT big!

The Whippet Ranch is going to take a lot of work, but I am looking forward to that. In the mean time, it's fun to just let the dogs run around. Of course, if the grass gets too much higher, I may loose the whippets..... After the expedition to the ranch this morning, I went out to a colleagues land to look at his barn. Whodda thunk that I would be barn shopping?

Weekend travels

Yesterday, I drove to the Big City. I haven't been there in....a LONG time. As I got closer, I realized how glad I am that I no longer live there. A cloud of smog was hanging over down town. I decided to drive by the old house. Unfortunately, it was the neighborhood garage sale so driving down the street took 10 minutes. I took a quick right at the corner, not really seeing much of the house (although what I did see didn't look changed). We drove to Wild Birds Unlimited. The parking lot was FULL (a shopping center with a grocery, bagel place, Starbucks and other small stores). ARGH! Was it always this congested? Where did all of the cars come from?

While in the store, the resident cat decided to play games with me. Quite fun....I miss the charm of a cat, sometimes, although I recognize that I no longer have a cat safe household. I also had a nice conversation with a gentleman who lives on the outskirts of the Big City. he has rescued dogs, and was extolling the virtues of living with animals. He was preaching to the choir on that one.

After that, I visited a friend. We met via the dogs. Her oldest dog and my oldest dog were puppy playmates. I think we started having play dates when the dogs were about 6 months old. Both of our dogs will be nine in a few months. They have both slowed down. In the olden day, they would meet and romp and do zoomies around the yard. Now, they were both content to lay on the deck, and after about 30 minutes, they were all interested in going back inside for a siesta.

How did all of that time pass? When I got Darby so many years ago, I didn't realize how having these dogs would change my life. I have made many friends in the dogs/whippet world. It has also changed my life. The main reason that I chose to move to Smalltown America was so that I could have more room for my dogs. I do believe that it has been one of the best decisions that I have ever made.
The flowers around my place are beginning to bloom. I discovered that whippets love to eat gladiolas, so last week, I put up some protective fencing.
Last year, I planted 4 butterfly bushes. One died (anointed by male dog urine a few too many times). However, the 3 remaining buses are growing like wildfire this spring. I am hoping that will mean lots of butterflies. The first has begun to bloom:

I hope everyone is having a good and relaxing weekend.

Fun Monday #12 On Being a Jerk

Geez.

The Sauntering Soul has asked us to 'fess up, and reveal our inner-most jerkisms. Yup.

Well, I haven't fouled a spouse because I live alone and the dogs ain' telling (although great dogs, they do not have the talents of that Golden Retriever in the Baked Beans commercial).

Don't get me wrong - I know that I can be a jerk, and at times, seem to do it quite frequently. The danger zone for me is fatigue. The night that I didn't get to sleep. The little things that should be "let go" tend to come out then. It's usually things that happen at work, and when I know it's bad, I warn people so that we can make it into a big laugh. Hopefully.

One thing, I have found, though, the older I get, the better I can rationalize away all of my jerky actions. With age comes wisdom, or a reason to be a jerk. I do have a way of being too cynical when I am tired and irritated. And there, I think I have written a post without truly revealing how I can be a big jerk (but it is not about cutting off people on the road, cutting in line, or messing with one's spouse).
(Mati says, "Don't let her fool you.....she's a BIG jerk. See me on the other side of the gate? Huh? All I want to do is play!")