Dog
drorzel | October 30, 2017It's been a couple of years since we lost the Queen of Niskayuna, and we've held off getting a dog until now because we were planning a big home renovation-- adding on to the mud room, creating a new bedroom on the second floor, and gutting and replacing the kitchen. This was quite the undertaking, and we would not have wanted to put a dog through that. It was bad enough putting us through that...
Withe the renovation complete, we started looking for a dog a month or so back, and eventually ended up working with a local rescue group with the brilliantly unsubtle name Help Orphan Puppies. This…
drorzel | May 8, 2016There's a discontinuous jump here, if you're paying attention to photo-a-day numbering, but I'm skipping ahead of the cruise-centered backlog to write a more difficult entry.
Back in December, when we lost the Queen of Niskayuna, I had her cremated, and said I'd do something nice as a memorial, once the weather got nicer. We got one reasonably nice day in between bouts of rain yesterday, so I finished the memorial for Emmy:
The Queen Emmy Memorial Shrub.
This is in the weird little cul-de-sac side yard of our house, next to the dining room. For a while I was trying to grow herbs in…
drorzel | February 8, 2016I've been remiss in my self-promotional duties, but I'm giving a public lecture tomorrow night in Newport News, VA, as part of the Jefferson Lab Science Series. This will be my traditional "What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics" talk, with the sad addition of a slide honoring the late, great Queen of Niskayuna (visible as the "featured image" with this post). This isn't the first dog-physics talk I've given since her death in December, but the previous one was the relativity talk, which has less Emmy-specific content. This one includes one of the video clips I made around a dog…
drorzel | December 19, 2015SteelyKid's second-grade teacher sent home a couple of books about kids dealing with the loss of beloved pets-- one of which, The Tenth Good Thing About Barney is surprisingly atheistic. We read them at bedtime the other night, which was a little rough.
After we finished, and moved her to her bed (when it's my turn to read to her, we do it in the master bedroom, because her bed is really uncomfortable for me), she said, sadly and quietly, "I miss Emmy."
"I do, too, honey," I said, in a less than perfectly steady voice. "She was the best."
That got a smile, and she said "I remember you saying…
drorzel | December 15, 2015We lost the Queen of Niskayuna tonight. Emmy had been having some health issues for a while, and while we were in Florida this past weekend she wasn't eating for the pet-sitter. We tried yet another new version of the new diet food today, with only limited success. And this afternoon, she fell going up the stairs, then again on the deck.
Our regular vet was near closing time, so they recommended going to a different veterinary hospital in the area, where they could do x-rays and ultrasounds as needed. And those revealed a large mass in her abdomen, from tumors in her liver and gall bladder.…
drorzel | December 9, 2015When we had our vetinary adventure back on Saturday, they drew blood for some tests. These showed that Emmy's kidney function is somewhat impaired, leading to yet more tests, and as of last night an extensive regimen of new stuff:
Emmy's new medication.
That's some new kidney-friendly food (in both dry and canned varieties), a drug for her kidneys, an antibiotic in case she has a bladder infection (something she's been prone to; those test results are yet to come back), and a bunch of different vitamins. This on top of the antacid pills we were told to start giving her a couple days ago.…
drorzel | December 6, 2015SteelyKid's taekwondo competition was the most time-consuming event of yesterday, but not the most stressful. Before we went down to Duanesburg for the tournament, Emmy gave us a bit of a scare.
Emmy is not by any stretch a young dog-- she was a year old when we got her in 2003, so she's 13-- but she's pretty spry. Over the last few weeks, though, she slowed down very dramatically. Initially, I didn't think much of it-- she was unenthusiastic about eating her kibble, but that happens a lot when we get near the end of a bag, and she kept eating treats. And she was moving slowly and stiffly on…
drorzel | September 1, 2015Today, I officially stopped being department chair, and started my sabbatical leave. I also acquired a new toy:
My new camera, taken with the old camera.
My old DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel XSi that I got mumble years ago, has been very good for over 20,000 pictures, but a few things about it were getting kind of flaky-- it's been bad at reading light levels for a while now, meaning I'm constantly having to monkey with the ISO setting manually, then forgetting to change it back when I move to a brighter location and taking a bunch of pictures where everything is all blown out. It also…
drorzel | April 22, 2014"DAAAAADDDDDYYYYY!!!!"
"What's the matter, honey?"
"I don't like being alone."
"Well, I'm sorry, honey, but I have work to do, and it's time for you to go to sleep."
"But when I'm alone I get scared."
"Well, I can put on some music if you like. You can listen to that, and it might give you something else to think about."
"Yeah, put the music on."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but when I sleep, I always put music on, because it helps me feel less lonely."
"The music helps, but I still worry about things. Like bad guys. And the evil snakes from Lego Ninjago. I worry that they might be around…
drorzel | August 11, 2011It was another "no pictures" day today, so this shot is from earlier in the week, when SteelyKid got some birthday presents from my Aunt Norma and Uncle Dan:
This shows her playing with the I Spy Preschool Game, which involves matching cards containing pictures of complicated collections of objects with other cards containing objects to be found in those pictures.
I like this because she's sporting the "Future Physicist" shirt I bought her at DAMOP, which is kind of appropriate, really. After all, physics is all about finding and matching patterns in the universe around us.
You can see Emmy…
drorzel | June 25, 2011"Hey, Dude, what'cha doin'?"
"I'm checking out the dog drawings I commissioned for the book-in-progress. Here, take a look:"
"Hey, wait just one minute. That looks like me!"
"That's the idea. Since you're in the book, I thought it would be nice to have some pictures that look like you, rather than just a clip-art German Shepherd from Office."
"I look kind of worried, dude."
"Yeah, well, you get that look a lot when we're talking about physics."
"Good point. So, was there a point to this, other than showing off the spiffy drawings an art student did for you?"
"Sure. It's a reminder that I'm…
drorzel | June 19, 2011My parents came up today to go out for dinner for my birthday/ father's day. On the way home, SteelyKid announced that she wanted to go to a playground. We explained that first we needed to go home and get Emmy, and then we would see about going to a playground. SteelyKid then suggested that we bring Emmy in the car with us to the playground, and I said "Well, we'll ask Emmy."
When we got home, I let Emmy outside before SteelyKid came into the back yard. When she saw Emmy was out, she ran right over, calling "Hey, Emmy, you want to go to the playground?"
Then she answered herself, in a…
drorzel | April 21, 2011I'm sitting on the couch reading when Emmy trots in looking excited.
"Hey, dude, I've got a great idea!" she says cheerily. "You know how your puppy is away for the week?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I think this is the perfect opportunity to class up your blog a little. I mean, you always post pictures of her on Thursdays, but she's not here to take a picture of, so..."
"So... What?"
"Well, you should post some pictures of me, silly!"
"Yeah," she says. "Just like that. I'm an excellent dog!"
"Yes, you're the best. The Queen of Niskayuna." She flops over, and I rub her belly. She's quiet for a minute,…
drorzel | October 29, 2010Chateau Steelypips lost power this morning for unknown reasons, preventing me from putting up the post I planned to do with lots of cute toddler pictures. Thus, a quickie poll in honor of the crazy person a couple of blocks away who sometimes yells at me for dropping Emmy's bagged poop into her full trash cans while they're at the curb:
Somebody else dropping a bag of dog poop into your trash can when it's at the curb awaiting pickup is:online surveys
As noted a long time ago, this would be a great opening scene for an episode of CSI (Call me, CBS. We'll talk.), but beyond that, I'm kind of…
drorzel | March 10, 2010On this morning's walk, a woman stopped me and Emmy to say that she recognized us from a picture. Emmy was adopted from the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society shelter back in 2003, and when they heard about How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, they contacted me about writing Emmy up as a distinguished alumna. And, in fact, there's a piece in their print newsletter, including a picture of the two of us sitting by the couch (page 8 of the PDF newsletter for February 2010).
Emmy, of course, regards this as no more than her due. She's hoping to be invited to give a commencement address at some…
drorzel | March 5, 2010Another dramatic reading of a chapter from How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, just because. This is Chapter 4, which is based on the original Many Worlds, Many Treats post that kick-started the whole thing:
I'm sitting at the computer typing, when Emmy bumps up against my legs. I look down, and she's sniffing the floor around my feet intently.
"What are you doing down there?"
"I'm looking for steak!" she says, wagging her tail hopefully.
"I'm pretty certain that there's no steak down there," I say. "I've never eaten steak at the computer, and I've certainly never dropped any on the floor."
"…
drorzel | February 8, 2010What's the application? The use of lasers to provide an entertaining light show for humans, dogs, or cats.
What problem(s) is it the solution to? 1) "How will I entertain my dog or cat?"
2) "How can we distract people from the fact that Roger Daltrey has no voice left?"
Why are lasers essential? Lasers provide coherent beams of light, which remain small over very large distances, allowing you to project a small spot or a tight beam across a room, or even a football stadium.
Why is it cool? Duuuuude! Lasers, duuuuude!
Why isn't it cool enough? 1) It's fundamentally just a toy. 2) No amount…
drorzel | January 3, 2010OK, they're not that tiny. Here's your cute baby video for the weekend: Kate blowing bubbles for SteelyKid and Emmy:
I really don't need to say any more than that, do I?
drorzel | December 22, 2009"Hey, dude, whatcha doin'?"
"I'm making dinner."
"Yeah? What are you guys having?"
"Well, since the book was published today, we're having a couple of nice steaks to celebrate."
"Just a couple?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Well, you might remember, I had something to do with the book..."
"It'd be hard to forget."
"So, I should get steak, too. Right?"
"Why do you think your bowl is up on the counter?"
"Oooooh! I get steak! Steaksteaksteaksteaksteak!"
"Okay, I'm done. Can I have some more?"
drorzel | December 22, 2009Today is the official publication date for How to Teach Physics to your Dog!
I've got another reason or two why dogs should love quantum physics that I'll probably post later, but if the ones posted so far haven't sold you on the book, how about a really nice review from Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing:
Chad Orzel's How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is an absolutely delightful book on many axes: first, its subject matter, quantum physics, is arguably the most mind-bending scientific subject we have; second, the device of the book -- a quantum physicist, Orzel, explains quantum physics to Emmy,…