Cloud Computing, Life

Stormy passed away Tuesday morning. Over the last month he was slowly deteriorating, and we finally learned he had a form of cancer that couldn't be treated. He was still "functioning", but he was no longer eating, and he didn't have much strength left. So we decided it was best to do the right thing before he experienced a lot of pain, or could no longer stand or walk. This is one of the recent pictures I took of him with my mobile phone a few weeks ago. He was sick, but his natural easy-going self still did shine through. This is how I want to remember him. I could write a book about him and Greyhound behavior, but for now, I just want to recount two days in the time he was with us. The first day we brought Stormy home, the realization of what it meant to have a Greyhound became apparent. Stormy went from the race track, to the Greyhound shelter kennel, to our home. He had never been in a house before! He didn't even understand what it meant to walk up a small s...

This picture about sums it all up. Taken from the top of Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City, Oregon. Nothing more needs to be said.

"Stormy" (retired Greyhound) is middle aged in dog years, but I can see that he is slowing down at little. As a retired Greyhound, he still likes to run and play, but the little things are what I notice. Our main vehicle for carrying the whole family is a SUV, so he has to "jump up" to get in. That part is no problem, but jumping down to get out is several feet. He is a big Greyhound at 85+ pounds, not fat, just tall, but a couple of times recently he seems gimpy after making the jump down from our truck. I think it is too much stress on his front legs and back. Recently, I've been carrying him out of the truck instead of making him jump. He doesn't seem to mind if I put my arms around his chest and lift him out, but I'm a big guy. What I really need is like a short "ramp" that can go from the floor of the truck down to the ground. Then he would just have to hop from the top of the seat to the top of the ramp to get out. I've never seen any...