TGIF!

Does anyone else remember that movie from the 70s, Thank God It's Friday!? It featured Donna Summer singing her absolute best song, in my opinion, 'Last Dance' and co-starred a very young, very Elfin Jeff Goldblum.

What does this have to do with my fundraiser? Nothing, really. I do know, though, if I evergot to compete on Jeopardy, I wouldn't have to have a fundraiser, because I have so much useless information in my head, I would rival Ken Jennings *and* Watson. My mad useless trivia skillz would send me home with all kinds fundage, I promise you that.

We're a little over 1/5 of the way to my goal, which not only gives me a 1/5th more peace of mind than I had starting this up, but also confirms for me that, even though our species collectively sucks, we do have the potential to incline toward helping one another and our fellow Earthlings, if we are capable of doing so. The world needs more people like you guys and fewer like Pat Robertson. I went yesterday to get my prescription refills, supplies for Smidgen and Toby, yoghurt for the antibiotic I'm currently taking,enough food and beverage (juice and water) to hopefully do me 'til the 14th, and some cleaning supplies. I paid the mother unit the money I owed her and also paid my rent. All of it came to more than I'd hoped, so what you guys have sent me so far is already a couple of deep breaths of relief.

As it stands right now, I have three appointments next week. One is for an EEG with sleep deprivation on Tuesday morning. Later that afternoon, I have my pre-op appointment with Dr. Hess, at which time I will learn more about any supplies I need to have to help with a swift recovery. I then have an appointment with my pain management doctor, who has to be the one to handle my after-care pain program. You can't have two doctors throwing such meds at you. You could end up in a jail cell with your doctors for committing such a heinous crime.

My bus pass is good until the 24th of the month, so that's one less worry, since I don't think I'll be physically able to deal with transit until at least a month after the surgery. The friend I'm staying with is gonna take me to post-op doc visits, then the mother unit will take over that task when I return to the house. I have no other health-related activities in which I must participate for the rest of the month. So, I guess that's it for now. Again, thank you generous souls who have contributed so far. I don't deserve the friends I have and I hope to someday return your kindness in the best way I can, to help make your lives better in some important way. Please pass my fundraiser on to all your pals. Once you have to resort to setting up a GoFundMe in order to scrape by, pride goes out the window, so it will not bother me at all if you spread the news around like butter on bread. As I said, the $500 is the bare minimum I need to just get by without being a further burden to the mother unit or placing Smidgen and Toby in a situation where they don't have the food or medications they need. It's not a financial cushion, but I don't think you should use a site like this as a cushion. It should be a legitimate barebones need. With just this, I expect to be in another deficit long before September ends, but it will be a deficit that I can feasibly claw myself out of. Without the help, the hole will just get bigger and deeper which, in turn, will put me in the position of feeling more like a leech and useless person than I already do, by individuals who have no right or reason to impose their feelings on the matter. You're helping lift me, Smidge, and Toby up instead of watching us be torn down. I'll never forget your generosity and friendship. I'll update again soon.

If you're wondering what the heck this is all about, click the eyeballs you see in provided widget below. Should you choose to help me out, just know I really appreciate it, as does Smidgen and Toby. Ta!

Can we say "screwed," boys and girls? I thought so!

I just talked to the vet and got the good/bad news. The good news is that he has no parasites and no current lung or heart issues. There was evidence that he did have pneumonia at some point, but that is not the issue causing Toby's coughing. The doc suggested it may be allergies, since she couldn't get him to cough at all when he stayed the day at the office last week. She asked about what part of the house he spent most of his time in, and what contact he had with other animals. I told her Smidgen was with him almost all the time, but he'd never had any allergic reaction to her before. When I mentioned Syd and Nancy, though, she seemed pretty certain we'd found the allergy culprit.

The problem is, he can't be kept away from Syd & Nancy, since they live in my room with Toby, Smidgen, and me, and there are other birds throughout the house, so it wouldn't matter where he is.

She suggested that Syd and Nancy be moved to a different part of the house. That isn't an option in the current situation. She then suggested that I get a Hepa filter for the room. It occurred to me, then, that Toby didn't start the chronic coughing until I turned the A/C off for the season. I asked if I should at least turn that on the fan function until I could get the filter, and she said that would probably help immensely. So the A/C fan is on, despite Matt informing me that the electric bill went down $300 the month the Mother Unit and I turned off our A/C units.

Not only am I going to have to purchase an expensive filter, I'm going to have to pay at least $200 for electricity. Either that, or be made to feel like the dead beat I obviously am.

Toby's boot-scooting, which has not diminished since the vet visit, is not due to any parasites, nor the bump the doc treated. She asked if I had changed his food, which I had, because he has a problem tooth, and I was trying to make it easier for him to eat. As of today, though, I have to give him the food he had been eating for a couple of years and, when it comes in the mail from Amazon, add the vitamin-enriched flavour enhancing gravy to let it soften a little. That means the food I've bought for him for the month can't be given to him.

Not even a third of the month has passed and I'm already broke as fuck. I don't know what I'm going to do... The one thing I can not do is fail to be a proper guardian to my little man. If I have to go hungry to make sure he's okay, then so be it. I throw up half of what I eat anyway, so why bother? Waste not, want not.

On a lighter, but related, note, I never thought I'd have an asthma hound chihuahua in my life, but sometimes - most of the time - life can prove you wrong.