Friday, May 31, 2013

Back on the road

We are at the Walmart in South Hill, Virginia.  We moved back aboard Odyssey Wednesday evening, and left Deltaville yesterday afternoon after the yard was done for the day.  We'll be "living" on the bus now until the yard is done with most of the heavy lifting.  I put that in quotes because I expect we'll spend most of our daylight hours aboard Vector, going back to Odyssey periodically to check in on the cats, and ending the day there.  Meals will probably mostly be on the boat.

We are on the road this weekend to attend our cousin's wedding in Charlotte, North Carolina.  There is a rehearsal dinner tonight, and the ceremony and reception will be tomorrow.  We are looking forward to helping them celebrate, and catching up with family.  Since Deltaville is so far from civilization, we are also taking advantage of this road trip to hit several big-box stores (we've been building a shopping list), and to get George to the vet at Banfield (inside Petsmart) as she needs a checkup and a renewal of her special diet prescription.

All of that will make for a very busy weekend.  We did not get off the road until 7:15 last night, and it was all we could do to stumble over to Applebees for dinner and a beer.  We still have a four-hour drive ahead of us today, ending at the vet, and then we need to be presentable for this evening.  The return trip to Deltaville will take all day Sunday, which means we will need to squeeze our big-box trips in wherever we can today and tomorrow.

Since I last blogged here, over a week ago, I have spent nearly every waking minute working on the boat.  Between my own projects, meeting with the yard guys, prepping areas for yard work, and researching and ordering dozens and dozens of parts for both my own projects and the yard work, we've barely had time to keep up with email.  In fact, I have several unanswered items in my inbox that I have yet to get to.  Blogging has just not been on the priority list.

I do have quite a bit to report, along with photos, but it will have to wait until we return to Deltaville next week.  For example, there is the sailboat that grounded, capsized, and sank in the river a week ago today, with the towboat that was trying to help it also capsizing.  And the progress in our engine room and anchor locker.  With any luck I will be able to carve out an hour or so to blog shortly after we return.


2 comments:

  1. It's been my experience that many pet owners who go to Banfield are told their pets need to be put on a special "prescription" diet. Just by coincidence, Pet Smart which contracts with Banfied, stocks this diet. After inheriting my Mom's dog when Mom passed on, knowing that her doggie had pre-existing medical issues, we took her dog to our vet, he did lab work, found no kidney , digestive, or allergy problems as Mom had been told, and slowly eased her off the two prescriptions , one being Prednisone, that she had been on for many years. He also told us that Costco premium dog food was as good as it gets.

    I was totally shocked by all this. Who ever thought you should get a second opinion for health maintenance for your pets.
    He told us the "prescription" dog food abuse began when clients began asking to purchase these foods from other sources, manufacturers began to protect vets by requiring written prescriptions.

    Fast-forward 20 or 30 years, and greater competition in the pet food market means expanded distribution online and through big-box retailers. The concession to veterinarians who were unhappy with the competition was to continue to require prescriptions.

    These diets are not regulated by the FDA. They did not have to endure rigorous safety and efficacy trials as drugs do. As such, the requirement of a prescription, though legal, is not necessary. Your pet may be the exception, and needs this special diet, but a Google search of Banfield special diet, or Banfield scam, returns shocking results.

    Long story short, we followed his advice and she lived to the ripe old age of 17.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This has not been our experience. We've visited 6 or 7 Banfields and have found the vets to be very professional. George's health has improved on the diet which was prescribed by a non-Banfield vet in Washington state. We have copies of all her blood work and have done our homework on kidney-related cat health issues.

      Delete

Share your comments on this post! We currently allow anyone to comment without registering. If you choose to use the "anonymous" option, please add your name or nickname to the bottom of your comment, within the main comment box. Getting feedback signed simply "anonymous" is kind of like having strangers shout things at us on the street: a bit disconcerting. Thanks!