Microbiology helps out (finally)

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It’s no wonder that the beagle has been feeling a bit rough.

We got the lab results back from her specimen – it’s only taken A WHOLE WEEK – and it turns out that her resident Escherichia coli is rather resistant to everything

Certainly to the three antibiotics she’s been on so far, anyway. (That’s post-op Co-amoxyclav, then Clindamycin and thenTrimethoprim, for my microbiological readers.)

So now we move onto the Fluoroquinolones (Enrofloxacin, for my microbiological readers.)

And the good news is that we know that it’s sensitive to this. And that means that she can finally get mended.

I can’t believe that it’s taken 7 days to get this result. Back in my day, we would have got this done overnight. Yes, even for a beagle.

It’s been a really unfortunate run for Colin, but I think we finally have the answer to our question about how to get her healthy again.

Crazy day

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Sick wife, sick daughter (exams start next week).

Grumpy beagle. Dust and grit everywhere.

Flooring to arrange. Invoices to pay.

Bathroom builders knocking seven bells out of several bits of the house.

And questions. So many questions.

What height do you want the basin?

What pattern should we use for the tiles?

How wide do you want this ledge?

Is your beagle usually this grumpy?

For the record, I went 900mm, offset,  75mm and no, she’s just had a rough few weeks.

Hopefully, once my wife emerges from her viral nastiness, she’ll agree that those were suitable answers.

I was wrong (but I was also 100% right)

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Remember this post?

It was the one where I shared this graph:

And I said that the graph was 100% true. There is nothing more exciting than getting the front seat upstairs on a double decker bus at any age. I absolutely stand by that.

And then I said this:

I’m just sad that my kids never got to experience it. 

And that prompted an email from my dad. He expressed his disappointment that my usually unerring accuracy on the blog had… er… erred.

Because he attached this image of my kids. It was taken at 3:30pm on Thursday 12th July 2012, and there they are – aged 6 and very almost 4 – on the front seat upstairs on a double decker bus.

And that looks like the bottom of West Street.

To be fair, I wasn’t there. I had no idea that this had happened.
This was clearly a Grandma and Granddad sponsored trip to town.
I was uninvolved.
(I was probably in a pub somewhere.)

So I was wrong. My kids did get to experience it.

But did they enjoy it?

Well, let’s check this photo, taken a minute later at the junction of Holly Lane.

Oh, I think so.

So it looks like I was absolutely right, as well.

A bit of perk

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When we picked up the beagle on Friday from her two night hospital stay, things didn’t look good.

Of course they had looked after her as best that they could, but she was still floppy, lethargic and looked generally tired of life. She hadn’t eaten. The op and the infection that followed had clearly taken its toll.

We got her home and tried everything we could. But there was no response. Until… there was.

Suddenly, she chose to chomp down a burger from the braai earlier in the week. Hopefully, we raided the fridge, and four vienna sausages (her favourites) and some cheese quickly followed.
And then she promptly fell asleep.

Yesterday, she was still being fussy: none of her usual food, but biltong, moist treats and some more chicken disappeared. It’s fine. Right now, we’ll take it.

And today…

…we have something more perky than we have seen for almost six weeks.

And we need to buy some more chicken.

Sure, she has shaved patches where various lines and injections have gone in. And she is struggling a bit on her recently operated upon leg. And yes, we do need to wean her back onto “normal” food, sooner rather than later; not least for our bank balance (what’s left of it after the vet’s bills).

But the beagle that we know and love is back.

There’s still a long road to recovery ahead, but this is a remarkable turnaround in 48 weekend hours.

Someone’s going to be in trouble…

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… And it looks like it might be the Two Oceans Marathon.

Obviously, this race hasn’t been the same since I ran it several (or more) years ago. And you’d not catch me out there these days – it’s horribly oversubscribed and therefore not at all pleasant.

But exactly how oversubscribed?

The permit granted by the City for the event allowed for 17,000 runners. Which is frankly horrific.

But what’s worse is that – by the organisers’ own data – there were apparently 17,677 official finishers.

And there’s a widely accepted 15% dropout rate from start to finish.

Something doesn’t quite add up.

The implications, ramifications, repercussions and upshot of this apparent disregard for the 2025 licence conditions could mean that no licence will be granted for the races next year.

Full story on The Running Mann website. Incredible allegations of corporate greed and of shocking organisation.

Go and read it.