You're all making me cry. Judy, I'm so sorry. They give us so much, unconditionally, and in the end we are left to do the "dirty deed". They make us laugh, cry, pull our hair out, lie (NO my dog didn't get in your trash), throw balls until our arms hurt, they make a bloody mess of our cars when we take them to the beach (what I can't rinse my dog off in the public showers), they bark at inappropriate times (just guess when my two decided to bark at a leaf falling off a tree a mile away when a new b/f and I were.... never mind),they force us to give them too many treats and take them for rides in the car. They don't understand that we can't see to make a left turn through their heads. They don't know it's rude to ignore the treats they get in the Walgreen's, bank or McDonald's drive thru, cause they're waiting for their part of that cheeseburger (even though Walgreen's and the bank don't have cheeseburgers). I read in a Dear Abby or Ann Landers column once, I think a priest wrote a poem about where our pets go when they die. Anyway, the gist of it was that good dogs never go anywhere without their masters/members of their pack(now we all know who is master in this relationship is questionable), so your dog is waiting at heaven's gates for you because she won't go anywhere without you (since you have parrots, and they are part of the "pack" pack a lunch, you could all be there a while). Judy, your dog had the best of everything. I'm assuming while at the lake she was allowed to be "a dog". At home she had gourment food, heat, AC and lots of love (she probably had that at the "lake" too).I'd be willing to bet that your dogs, like mine, are spoiled rotten and you do without or compromise while they do "their dog thing" (they stretch out in bed, you curl up so they have room). I too have a 12 year old dog who is not even close to showing her age. Trust me, not a day goes by I don't thank my lucky stars for that, but the day is coming when I'm going to have to decide at which point I have to say "enough". Bless your heart, it's so hard. Parrots are amazing aren't they? Laura, Remy, Sunny, Josie and Tweets

We, too, had a workhorse KA dishwasher. I fairly wept when it gave its swan song after 20+ years of washing dried on cheeses, tomato sauce and other malodorous gunk. We purchased a new one, bought the extended warranty and had a service call within two months. Control board went. Frustrating part was that Lowe's told me that no matter what died, it was covered. Well, it was covered, but I couldn't get anyone to come out. I'd make an appointment, and the company would cancel the night before. Finally, I called Lowes, told them about it and they sent someone right out. Currently, the little happy chime doesn't signal denoting the end of cycle .... probably signaling another service call. Sorry to corroborate your experience, PKguy. I've become so cynical. I hear energy savings, it only uses a teaspoon of water, blah, blah, blah and I just put up my hand like a traffic cop, thinking "Please. I'll be replacing this in just a few years." Cathy in SWPA

Hi Wendy, I came across this site and just wanted to get in touch with you because your experience sounds a lot like mine. My mom passed away about 6 weeks ago very unexpectedly. I'm 18 and the night before I was supposed to leave for college something went wrong with her heart. My dad and I did CPR on her until the ems team came. After working on her for about 45 minutes, all the way to the hospital, she kind of had a pulse. They finally kind of got a heart beat going and hooked her up to all sorts of machines. She couldn't hear me, see me, talk to me, feel me...she couldn't do anything. She had gone too long without oxygen to her brain, and the damage was irreversible. 3 days later we had to make the decision to take her off life support. My aunt and grandfather wanted to be with her and they said it took less than two minutes for her to go. I was so close with my mom and it's so hard without her. I was always her little baby. On her last day in the hospital, the nurse moved her over in her bed so I could cuddle with her one last time. I'm at college now, but the only reason I was able to come is because my boyfriend is here and he is a huge help to me. I haven't been home yet so it feels like she will just be there waiting for me when I go home this weekend. I'm so scared for everything to actually start to click in. It used to be so hard for me to be away from her. I couldn't even go to a two week camp one summer in high school without actually getting sick because of being so homesick for her. Now I have to live the whole rest of my life without her. Sometimes I feel guilty wondering why it happened the night before I was supposed to leave. I feel like I worried her because she knew how much she was going to miss me. She was the most amazing person in the world and was an incredibly mommy to me and my brother. I still can't quite grasp the concept that she isn't here anymore. It makes me so mad that I didn't get to say goodbye to her, or at least that I know she could hear. But I guess that's a good thing because I don't think she ever knew anything was going wrong while it all happened. We never saw her panicking or in pain, which was a blessing. Okay, sorry, I jut got typing and couldn't stop. I guess I haven't really told anyone all this stuff until now, and I don't even know you, but it just helps to get it out. I just wanted to write to you because I know you've gone through a good portion of the grieving process by now and I thought you might have some advice or something like that. If it was anyone else who had died, it would have been so much easier for me because I would have just gone to my mom for help. She always knew exactly what to do to help me. Just like someone said earlier on this post, I feel like no one will ever be able to love me as unconditionally as my mom did. Sorry this was so long--you don't even really need to respond..I feel a lot better now just after having written all this. Thanks for listening, Amanda

Yes, I 'm glad you popped in to comment, shannon! I heard Friday's evacuation for Lake Francis area has now been lifted. That is wonderful news for your mom. Some electricity has been restored to your Mom's area, according to our newspaper. If she gets her power from "The 300 mw Colgate Powerhouse," she has power. (Am I the only person who doesn't know the name of my powerhouse?) Honestly, I am in no danger. It appears to be burning away from me right now. Pray for the firefighters, the homes in imminent danger and of course, the poor wild life. Re: Arson. Shannon! I saw three fires too, in the beginning. Several of us (yahoos in the church parking lot) were talking about it and initially I hedged my bet on arson as well. Then a local fire chief dropped by the look out area to check it out and he though it was an electrical fire because of the three fire plumes. So us yahoos dropped the arson idea and decided we should bet with him. LOL! Maybe the bird triggered the electrical lines to spark in more than one area? Who knows. I am no expert on electrical wires or fires. As of last evening, the fire has spread to 3,260 acres. The weather isn't cooperating but we have an impressive army of firefighters on it. The paper said we have about 1,582 firefighters from around the state, assisted by 96 engines, 13 helicopters, four air tankers and 18 bulldozers. Five firefighters have been injured, but the injuries were considered minor, thank goodness. My niece is still evacuated and the road to her house is closed. We're optimistic because they don't have a lot of fuel around their house, making it easier to defend.