We’ve had Jesse since he was a young tearaway that we rescued from the RSCPA over Christmas 1995 – that’s 15 years ago. He was a year old then, so he’s just a bit over 16 years old.
About 2 years ago he had a kidney pancreas issue, but we got that under control and he’s been doing ok, but a few months ago he started to struggle again. He’s been getting pretty lethargic. We took him to the vet a few weeks ago and based on what we thought was going on he was put on a low dose of arthritis medication. That hasn’t helped much, so he went to the vet again yesterday and some blood tests were done.
The results were not good at all: his kidneys have failed, and we’ve got to put him down.
We’re obviously pretty sad about this. He’s been with us for a long time – 3/4 of the time Lisa and I have been together Jess has been part of our lives. Both kids have grown up with him; they don’t know anything other than Jess being part of the family. The big girl is taking it pretty hard; she’s quite upset about it. It’s not easy to explain death to a 7 year old.
We’ve got lots of really good memories of Jesse; things that annoyed us at the time are just fun to look back at now. The way he used to pull all the washing off the line until we fixed that (hint: plastic shopping bag half full of water). The time Lisa and I were walking into Box Hill from our house in Surrey Hills and Jess and Zak ran either side of Lisa and the lead went across the back of her knees and dropped her like a sack of potatoes. The trip we did to Uluru with Jess and Zak in tow.
When Zak was put down we had him cremated. We’ve got his ashes in a wooden box; I think we’ll bury that with Jess. They were good mates.
Update: Jesse was put down just after 1pm yesterday.
A few months back (right around the time the D80 failed) I bought a few more small pieces of lighting gear. I got some el-cheapo radio triggers, a 5-in-1 reflector, and a new umbrella. As well as the silver reflective umbrella we’ve now got a white shoot-through brolly.
Tonight the kids and I spent a while playing with the nifty fifty and the lighting gear. It’s just beautiful; the reflector adds so much to the setup – being able to fill opposite the main light makes such a difference.
The photo below was shot with the SB600 dropped 1/3 of a stop to camera left with the gold reflector camera right.
This is what I’ve missed doing over the last 2 months…
I finally have my beloved D80 back! It took the Camera Clinic about 7 weeks all up, I think. They had it for almost four weeks before they were able to quote on the repairs, and then had to wait nearly three weeks for parts. It’s finally back though.
It would obviously have been better to have it back much sooner (or have it not fail in the first place!) but the price was actually pretty good considering they’ve replaced all the moving parts (shutter, aperture control, sequencing motor), cleaned all the optics, adjusted the focus and tested everything.
I haven’t done much with it yet (might get the speedlights out with the kids tonight) but Lisa and I did wander out to the paddock and I fired off a few shots of the sheep and Alpaca.
I’m participating in the Relay For Life 2010.
Relay For Life is an overnight, community event where teams of 10 or more keep a baton moving in a relay-style walk or run to raise funds for the Cancer Council. The event brings the whole community together for a night of fun, entertainment, celebration and remembrance.
Every dollar raised at Relay For Life helps the Cancer Council to:
- Investigate new ways to prevent, detect and treat cancers
- Educate people in your community about ways they can reduce their cancer risk
- Advocate for cancer control
- Support people during their times of greatest need.
You can help support me by making a secure online donation using your credit card. Click on the link below and search for me:
https://secure.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/registrant/StartUp.aspx?locationID=10927
For more information on how YOU can participate in Relay For Life 2010, please visit us at http://vic.relayforlife.org.au/ Thanks for your support!
From the Victoria Police website:
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a fatal collision on the Pyrenees Highway. The accident occurred around 11.15am near the Chadwick Track intersection. Investigators have been told that a 76-year-old Maryborough man was riding [sic] his 98 Ford ute west along the highway. For a reason yet to be determined he lost control of the ute and collided with a tree. The man died at the scene and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.
We got the call around 11:18 and were on scene at 11:27. The driver was already deceased.
Today is the anniversary of the terrible bushfires of 7th February, 2009. The fires left 173 people dead and over 400 injured.
Twelve months on there are still scars left on the land, throughout the towns that were directly affected, and in the hearts and minds of the people who experienced the ferocity of nature at its worst.
Maryborough, where we live, was fortunate. Although we didn’t have a single fire in the area that day, Lisa and I clearly remember the sense of dread that hung in the air. The weather bureau had been warning about the day being an extreme fire risk for some time. As soon as dawn broke we could sense in the heat and strength of the wind and by the look of the sky that the day would be every bit as bad as predicted.
Some of the things I’ve heard from various SES and CFA volunteers over the last 12 months have been grim. When you’re in the way of a 1300°C fire front that travels 32km in 8 minutes you simply don’t stand a chance. I cannot imaging how the people of Strathewen, Kinglake, Marysville and countless other towns and hamlets felt as their communities were decimated by an inferno that transformed day to night, turned homes to dust and tore apart families and friendships.
Lesson have certainly been learnt. Communities are rebuilding, emergency services are better prepared and people are more aware of how devastating, unpredictable and uncontrollable fires of that scale can be. Faced with another event of this magnitude, things will be different. People will leave homes much earlier, and those who bravely choose to stay and defend have a clearer picture of what they’ll be battling against.
As much as it will be sad to remember the events of 7th February 2009, the anniversary will also be a reminder that as a community we have moved forward, we have learnt and grown and we have emerged stronger than before.
We’ll certainly pause for a moment and remember the 173 people who died, but we’ll also take heart in knowing that their loss has done much to improve the way we’ll deal with similar events in the future.
I finally got a quote back from the Camera Clinic, and they want $418.00 to fix my D80. I’ve told them to go ahead. If they’ve got parts in stock (and given how popular and common the D80 was, I hope they will have) it will take a few days. If they have to order parts I’ll need to wait a couple of weeks. We’ll see. Either way, it will come back with a new SQ Motor (whatever that is), a new aperture control unit and a new shutter assembly. Should be like new and good for the next 38,000 shots!
Who said what?