Keisha...may she rest in peace

As many of you know our dog Keisha (a wonderful stubborn 13 year old dalmatian) has been having some trouble walking for the last several weeks.

In October we took her for a walk and she wanted to run home so I ran with her. Later that evening and the next day she started limping on one of her back legs and she would hold it up. So we took her to the vet and found out that she had a torn ACL. She wasn't showing any other signs of problems of any kind so we decided to have her ACL repaired. The one thing that concerned us was the 12 week healing time. She loved to run and play outside and we were concerned that she would be bored inside for the first part of the recovery. It was tough for her for the first few weeks and then we were able to start walking her and that made her very happy!

Once we started walking her Theresa noticed a lump on her left front leg. Sorta like it was swollen but all the way around her leg. We watched it and decided that when we took her to the vet for her checkup on the ACL surgery and her yearly shots that we would have the vet take a look at it.

So on the 20th we took her in to the vet and they xrayed the leg to find out what was going on. The diagnosis was very difficult to hear. Osteo Sarcoma--bone cancer. I couldn't believe I was hearing that. She was so alive and alert and happy...how could she have bone cancer? The vet told us that they could amputate the leg and start her on chemotherapy. Theresa and I talked about it and decided that with one leg still healing and the fact that she would be 14 this February that amputation and chemo probably wasn't the answer. We decided to take her home and make her comfortable until we got a sign from her that she was ready. That sign came on Tuesday and yesterday. Theresa was carrying her up the stairs and Keisha yelped. When Theresa put her down Keisha wouldn't put any weight on the leg with cancer. Over the next several hours she got better about using it but she was still limping and putting very little weight on the leg. I kept her quiet during the day yesterday and when Theresa came home we let Keisha outside. Theresa was getting the mail and heard her crying. Keisha had fallen and hurt her leg again. Theresa came in crying and carrying Keisha. We talked about it and knew it was time. So I called the vet and set an appointment and we just sat with her and pampered her for about an hour. We took her for her last ride in the car and brought her to the Chanhassen vet clinic. They were awesome. They made us all very comfortable and talked to us about the procedure and made sure everything was very clear. Keisha's passing was very peaceful and quiet.

All in all her death was one of the most difficult things I have been involved in. If you think it is easy to make a decision about what to do with a loved pet you might be surprised to find out how difficult it really is. The thing that I notice the most this morning is that she isn't here and the house is very quiet.

Theresa and I love Keisha very much and we know she is not suffering anymore and playing in that heavenly dog park. It's still very hard to know she isn't going to be around anymore--but we have lots of great memories and lots of pictures so she will live on in our hearts...

Cell phone carrier ratings

Well, it's out again... Consumer Reports has issued its findings about cellular phone carriers. Guess what?! Carriers scored a D+. Go figure. It seems that carriers can't do anything right--that is if you listen to the people who are trying to sell magazines.

What amazes me is that people look at that and take it as gospel. Because of that people actually believe that carriers are horrible and that carriers are actually trying to do things to tick off their customers. But rather than trying to fix the problem Consumer reports is trying to capitalize on the issues and fuel the fire.

The question I ask is: Do people REALLY TRULY understand what services carriers are trying to provide? Do people REALLY TRULY understand what a wireless service can do? I am not saying that it is the fault of the consumer---completely. But consumers have to realize that it is up to them to find information and learn about the services they use and get that information from reliable sources. If consumers rely on message boards and other forums to try to gleen information they will usually come up with an answer that is partially from someone who is trying to help but doesn't have all the information.

People complain of dropped calls and poor customer service. I have had poor customer service from many technology companies including Microsoft, XM Radio, Dell, Nikon, HP, etc. How did I get through that? Did I complain? No…I kept working on fixing the problem. It took some time but I got it resolved and they went above and beyond once I found the person that could fix my problem. Carriers are the same way.

I look at these articles and think of the people that responded to the survey. For example, I know people who are complaining of dropping calls near their home and then going to the city council meetings and say things like: "You can't put a tower near my house!! Oh no! I won't have it!". How does that fix anything?

Carriers could fix every problem in coverage and customer service if consumers weren’t demanding continually cheaper service. I know some people who think it is a game to try to switch carriers and get the new carrier to eat the contract fee—just to get 50 or 100 extra minutes a month. This costs the carrier money and YOU pay for that.

Some reputable publication should talk to the carriers and get them to explain the reason that the problems persist and how they are working on the problems. If people understood the real reasons there are customer service issues and dropped calls—if people understood how the technology worked I can guarantee that the consumer reports scores would increase.

I think it is very disturbing that consumer reports continues to position itself as there for the consumer when all they really want is to make money and not really help to fix the problems.

-Paul