diagnosis confirmed

Yesterday when Wilbur started limping badly again, I decided it was irresponsible of me to not at least confirm my internet diagnosis of his knee problem. Kevin, ever the pretend optimist, continued to insist that he either had something in his foot or that he had sprained his leg in the slip on the stairs. He got hostile when I researched the cost of the expensive and extensive corrective surgery.

I was willing to wait for my favorite vet, and was surprised to hear that he would be in today. So I made an appointment for 9:45 this morning, and off went the fountain drooler and I for our assessment. I told the vet what was happening and that I had already looked it up. He said, what did you find? ... I said, what are you going to tell me I found? And then he popped the right knee out of place. And then the left. And then the right again, so I could feel it. And then he let me put Wilbur back on the floor, where he promptly fell down, because his knees were out of place.

But the good news is that although I was right, the vet is conservative. He doesn't operate on these dogs unless they need it, and an intermittent popping out that isn't even seeming to cause pain is not cause for surgery. So we will have to keep his weight down, feed him well and make sure he gets certain vitamins and supplements, and hope for the best. The worst case is a $1,500 surgery per leg. And possible arthritis. He said he is Stage 2 of 4. Some dogs will stay there for life. Only time will tell.

Last night was the homecoming dance, so Megan went off to that. It was fairly uneventful or at least as far as we are to know. Last year we had E to fill us in on some of the details, but this year, we got nothin'. Brian and Kevin are off today to watch the Devils game with the church youth group, which ended up being Brian and Kevin and the leader and his grown son, who used to be Brian's guitar teacher before he let that fall by the wayside along with the piano. Brian has hopes of going to see the Jets with his new friend, but the friend uninvited him when he found out that Brian couldn't sleep over. So we're not sure if he is really invited or not, or what the plans are for tonight.

In other news, my lost phone has not resurfaced. I see that I last used it a week ago at 4:31 to call Kevin. The only place I went after that was out to dinner, although I'm not sure if I was at the grocery store at that time or if I was back. I guess I could check my email and see if I sent any around that time, then I would at least have some more evidence. But I'm getting less and less optimistic of ever finding it. I'd like to get an iphone, and would be willing to pay the one-time charge, but having to add $30 a month to my service is a bit extreme and I'm just not willing to do that to have a little fun with my phone.

It's inconceivable to me that so many people actually pay this money each month. Am I missing something? I already pay over $150 a month for the three lines (well actually four, because I'm waiting until it will cost me nothing to drop E's old number, and it's a good thing too, because at least I have that junky phone to use while I wait to decide how to replace mine - but even that only adds $13 a month) so I can't imagine adding another $30 to that. I should shop around for plans.

Consumer Reports says that Verizon is best and at&t is the worst! I haven't had any problems with them but then I get mad when they tack on all these extra fees, like charging ME $18 to commit to them for another two years and calling it an "upgrade fee" when I also have to pay for the phone, it's just stupid. But T-Mobile also seemed to be held in fairly high regard. I don't know. They have usually worked with me in the past so I guess I'm going to have to head to the mall. Only the actual at&t shops can make changes to my plans, since the franchise store in Middletown was making unauthorized changes to my account.