A limitless source of power has been tapped by South Africa's Roundabout.  They've created a well pump driven by a merry-go-round.  As the children play, pushing the merry-go-round, a pump pulls water up from the ground into a storage tank.

Say, that reminds me...

Emeka, the matrix has you.

(via boingboing)

Nala is very thankful for all the well wishes (Nala can’t read so I simply give her a dog biscuit every time someone posts a get well wish, she seems thankful).

I took Nala to the Vet again Tuesday morning (our normal vet, not the emergency vet) and the doctor gave me a little more information.

Her condition isn’t uncommon, especially in older dogs.  We should expect her to recover almost entirely.  Nala has essentially lost the user of her inner ear for balance (temporarily or permanently wasn’t clear).  Animals (dogs and humans alike) use multiple inputs to establish balance: inner ear, visual queues and muscle position.  Take away one of the inputs and things will be wonky at first, but the animal will learn to cope.

It will be a few days before she’s able to get around well on her own (she’s already managing pretty well, but does tend to go bump in the night).  The doctor said to expect her to be unsteady for a few weeks or longer… especially since Nala is shy one leg.  Many dogs never get back to 100 percent and will have some minor symptoms.  The most common vestigial symptoms being a tendency to fall down when shaking dry and perpetual head tilt (which is actually kind of cute).

For now we’re continuing to baby her, more for our own sake than hers.

We had a bit of a scary weekend.  We went out for a hike on Sunday and came home to find our dog Nala hiding in a corner and a lot of vomit on the kitchen floor.  She came slinking out of the corner when we came in. 

Initially we interpreted her posture as shame for having gotten sick in the house (though she's never been punished for doing so) but we quickly realized she was staying low to the ground because she was having a lot of difficulty standing.
We watched her for a little bit, then, like any good, overprotective parent, we went straight to the emergency room.  At this point we weren’t sure what had happened... how sick is she?  Did she have a stroke?  We were both terrified we’d have to put her down on the spot.

The doctor told us Nala most likely had “old dog vestibulitis”, not uncommon, but also not very well understood.  There could be a number of different causes for Nala’s vertigo and some blood tests would hopefully rule out some of them.  To be sure she was getting enough fluids and to allow her to be watched Nala spent the night in emergency veterinary clinic Sunday night.

Monday morning the doctor called us to let us know she could come home to recover.  She’s still not able to walk on her own and has difficulty standing to eat.  The doctor said she could be better in a few days, but it could be longer.
I’m not sure how much variation there is, but Nala’s symptoms are a rapid, side-to-side twitching of the eyes (horizontal nystagmus), a pronounced head tilt (perhaps trying to compensate for the spinning room) and a pronounced lack of coordination.  There are no warning signs and, from what I understand, there is nothing that can be done to prevent it (note: vestibulitis in general can be caused by ear infections as well, but for the “old dog” variety there doesn’t appear to be any cause).

My personal tip: get a dog harness, the kind that goes around the dog’s chest, and use that as a handle.  Nala now has a lot of trouble walking (especially because she only has 3 legs) and being able to grab the harness allows me to keep her upright but still allow her to walk roughly where she wants to go.  I’ve been using the harness to support her walking, eating and while she goes to the bathroom.

We’re off to our regular vet shortly... perhaps she’ll have more information for us.

Update: I found a note from the doctor with the technical diagnosis and am adding it so I don't forget: Idiopathic Peripheral Vestibular Disease.

Some resources:

• A good page on the topic from Yankee Golden Retriever rescue: http://www.ygrr.com/doginfo/health-vestibular.html
• United Emergency Animal Clinic (they did a great job): http://www.emergencyanimalclinic.com/unitedemergencyanimalclinic/
• A short video of Nala trying to walk: nala.wmv (459.98 KB)

Thomas:  They say the walls of asylums are painted green to make the patients feel calm.  Is that really true?

God:  Do you feel calm?

It was a traffic accident you sicko!  You should be ashamed!

Mary-Kate's Fender Bender by Lia Haberman May 20, 2004, 2:00 PM PT New York Minute star Mary-Kate Olsen found herself in a Los Angeles predicament Wednesday afternoon. The diminutive tween titan was involved in a freeway accident, her rep confirmed today. Olsen was cruising down the 101 Freeway in her black Range Rover and driving through a construction zone when her SUV was struck from behind by a bodyguard tailing her in a black Yukon.

... but apparently there is something more evil than Microsoft.  Strangely enough, this “evil“ involves Australia and comedy.

Steve	Reeves

I thought it was tough when my teachers made me sit in the corner... at least they didn't have the class beat the snot out of me.

SEAGOVILLE, Texas -- Elementary school students say that a teacher made them line up and slap a classmate.

But wait... that's not all.  Here's the real insanity:

Parents in the district are shocked by the allegations.

They had me going but the story lost all credibility when it implied the parents were actually paying attention to what their children do in school.