KZ Kari

The past two winters prior to this one were unusually mild for Ohio, followed by this winter, which has been much colder, for longer than we've seen in years. I don't "love to bitch", but it's certainly justified! And no thanks to Minnesota. I had a friend move there. His stay lasted one winter.

I'm usually not one to complain about the weather. I live in Ohio, I know how it is. But DAMN. The first snow happened before Halloween, followed by a metric shit ton through Dec/Jan/Feb. And more yet in March. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised by an April snowfall. Warmth and sunshine; so close.

I don't think I could ever "end the suffering" myself. I hope the time never comes where I'd be put in that situation. My vet is a pretty amazing and compassionate person; I'm glad to have her there and available. Thank you all for your kind words.

I'm so sorry for your losses. I couldn't imagine losing two family at once. Hang in there.

Best of luck to ya!

You missed me. I'd like to be in the slow group, please.

Thank you guys very much. These furry little beasts can really get the best of us. I'm sorry Scott to rehash hard memories.You did very good for your dog. I have friends who foster for a dog rescue organization, and there are so many stories where people own a dog for years, and once those senior years really set in and the dog requires a little more care, they'll dump the poor dog off at the shelter. It happens all too often.

My dog, who’s getting close to 18 years old, is going through his “making him comfortable” days. These past couple months, his health has been declining steadily. You always hear people say that you’ll just “know” when it’s time. I disagree. In these past 3 months, I’ve have made 2 appointments to have him euthanized. I’d make the appointment while he was having a bad day, and he would turn around and return his more alert self, relatively speaking, by the time of the appointment. It’s a torturous roller-coaster. Anyone who has had to put their pet down, knows how hard this last appointment is. This will be my third in 7 years. And while it’s hard to make that appointment, you certainly don’t want to push beyond that, and selfishly drag your poor dog through days of pain and/or discomfort, when there’s no quality left to be had. On Friday, I talked to a different veterinarian who sent me a link to this “Quality of Life Scale”. This allows you to actually evaluate a handful of different areas to determine a quantitative value for the quality of life remaining. This method might not be for everyone, but it has certainly helped me by removing the uncertainty from emotion and to consider and combine all factors of his happiness and well-being in a more analytical fashion. I work and deal with things better that way. Before Friday, I had never heard of this, and wish I had. I’m sure there are other pet people on here, so I just wanted share this in case it could be helpful to someone else in the future. http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/vet-practice-news-columns/bond-beyond/quality-of-life-scale.aspx

It always helps me to have something to work towards. This is my third year in a row that I'm doing the Warrior Dash. It's a whole lot of fun; I highly recommend it. One of these days, hopefully within 2 years, I want to work up to Tough Mudder. That race really intimidates the hell out of me.

Right around the corner from me. Thanks for the review!

My response prior to all the testosterone setting in: Find a new job. I worked for a pretty awesome company years. Stuck with them until the end; we went out of business in 2006. There were only 10 of us. On our last couple days we were paid to write up our resumes, do mock interviews, establish contacts (setup a Linkedin account), ect. The CEO of the company went over our resumes to ensure they were well written. They also setup several interviews for us. We were given 1 month severance and unemployment. It took 1.5 months before I landed job in my career. I took a 7k year pay cut. I needed the job and they knew it. Since I had no job, I had little to no negotiating power. My one request was that I got a performance review after 6 months. That didn't happen until after 9 months and after my bi-weekly reminders. I busted my ass; went the extra mile. I've never had as hard of time growing within a company as I did at this one. There was a shit ton of negativity between my technical director and our "manufacturing manager", who was also the Chief Financial Officer of the company (<--- yeah, what company that has any chance of success does that? AND that was the guy who signed my paycheck. Bullshit). Anyway, after 3 years of nickle/dime raises and broken promises, enough was enough. I had been keeping my eyes open for quite some time for other opportunities and found one. I sent my resume off, and in less than a week got a return call. Within the next week, I was interviewed and given an offer. I even negotiated a better wage (which was already MUCH better than what I was currently making). It was so fast. In less than two weeks of sending out my resume, I had a new job. This is my fifth year there, and I've made great growth since my employment. My point is: screw a severance and the risk of having no bartering power. You look more appealing employed. The amount of money I lost in those 3 years was greater than a 6 month severance. Maybe even more if counting loss of growth within a shit company. And working in such a negative environment is toxic. There's better out there. I highly recommend this book, "What Color is Your Parachute". This book was given to me by my first company mentioned above. It's immensely valuable when finding a new job (why and how to network, what to put on your resume, how to conduct a good interview, ect). Good Luck! http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2014/dp/1607743620/ref=sr_1_1/189-3817420-9922138?ie=UTF8&qid=1394754623&sr=8-1&keywords=what+color+is+your+parachute%3F

Yes, that'd be me. Thanks Noel. And welcome!

Thank you! Is that a mastiff in your profile pic? I had an English mastiff for the better part of 11 years. Best dog ever.

lol. Well I was talking about the apple pie beverage that contains everclear.

Jason says your car is slow.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes.

Hi. I'm pretty sure I don't actually know a single one of you guys, but I'd love to join this ride; meet some new people. I've been riding for the better part of a decade, but never really in a group and not on these roads, so I'd like to stick in the slow group.

Yeah. We'll probably have a bonfire shindig in the spring to burn all the fallen limbs and brush from the winter. You and Carie will have to come and help us drink it all.

Sill have plenty of apple pie left. It needs to be consumed before next cider season.

Ryan was an old friend of mine. He was a very talented rider and driver. Still greatly missed by many. Rest in Peace buddy.

Oh? What was I thinking to believe that OR was about... riding? I wouldn't say that I'm a huge gun enthusiast, but I do own one and enjoy shooting.

Thanks! I certainly will.

Thanks guys. Leg humping, eh? I'm not too worried. I was the only girl in my auto tech class at Eastland. I took a lot of shit; gave even more back. Guys can't hump a swift knee to the groin. ;-)

Hi there! I've been a member of OR for a while, but I have yet to utilize this site. I'm really interested in meeting some people in the area who ride, especially women. Currently, I don't know any women who ride. I ride an 82 KZ 1000CSR and a 07 Yamaha FZ6. Kinda considering selling the FZ6 and going full sport, but not too sure yet. Anyhow, I plan to be more active on this site, meet new people and hope to join some group rides when this crap weather breaks. Looking forward to the season!