Update, January 5, 2016
When I began this blog in 2009, the home page header image was a narrow slice of the photo above: our ten-year-old mastiff Bart. Ten is old for the ‘giant dog breeds’ as they are called, and he died later that same year. We still miss him, and our second mastiff, Jack, an adult rescue who died in 2014. Returning (I hope) to active blogging, I found the theme I’d used, Coraline, had been discontinued, and in choosing a new theme I also chose a new header photo (uncropped, below). It shows Jack, and our Ridgeback Imani, in the car reacting to a neighbor’s goats. Imani looks uncharacteristically fierce, Jack is the calm alert dog that he always was. It’s not exactly the photo I want but it’ll do for now.
The aboutme below is still pretty accurate. During the past few years my focus has been on helping my husband through a time of very bad health and many surgeries. Some of this I have blogged about where it seemed our experience might be helpful. I’ve had time to read, my lifesaver, but not much for writing and thinking. We’ve gotten through all but one acute problem and hope to see that improved so that 2016 can be the first of many better years for him.
aboutme (back in 2009)
The motto of nosleepingdogs is “No snoring, no lying”. The top photo is of our English Mastiff Bart, who certainly exemplifies the second part; as for the snoring, he does, but at the advanced age of ten his snores are soft and soothing. Really!
WordPress evidently cuts off usernames at 13 characters, so the WP username for the writer here is nosleepingdog, without the s of the blog title.
This blog has no specific topic/focus: I post about whatever interests me if I think I have something interesting to say. And the time to write a post and whip it into shape. I enjoy doing the thinking, research, and writing of a post; I look forward to learning from the comments of others, but ones that just say you read it and enjoyed it are rewarding too!
My working past includes being a zookeeper for many years, and working in university libraries. For some years now I have been coping with fibromyalgia, trying to increase the energy I have for things like researching pet topics. I do some volunteer work, giving away kids’ books at the local food pantry, and also participating in our library’s Friends organization. I’m a Mac user and enthusiast, a dog lover, and a fan of science fiction.
aboutme (October 2017 update)
There’s a new dog on the banner, our young English Mastiff Ziva. I couldn’t find a good head shot of her and Imani (the Ridgeback) both.
My husband’s long suffering is over. From his time in Vietnam he brought back severe PTSD and bone marrow cancer—multiple myeloma—which caused a compromised immune system, many hard to treat infections, finally a leg amputation. Every ration packs included cigarettes, which increased alertness and offered brief pleasure. Government sponsored addiction. Lung cancer caused his death.
We were together for nearly 40 years. He was a remarkable man, noble in mind, compassionate in action. Hard to live with in ways (the PTSD), and now agonizing to live without.
nosleepingdogs 
Great site. I have added it to my list of favorites on my blog, The Teacher’s View at http://plmartinwrite.blogspot.com.
Thanks, Paul! I’ve enjoyed your blog The Teacher’s View too, recently posts on the book about Gutenberg and one on the trend for public school teachers to allow students to select their own reading, rather than have lists or chosen texts that the whole class reads.
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll. I want to spend time with your flowers…great photos and comments on them.
BY the way, if you are researching pet products, I would like something my dog can carry his own water with…not a huge backpack which he has for long trips. This would be an invention for day hikes with little water. I’m tired of carrying his and my water. I’m thinking it would look like the dog on the old TV show Topper, the St. Bernard who carried the wooden barrel around his neck!
My fiance & I are both chronic pain patients.I`ve been through most of what you spoke about.You are nothing less than a brave & determined woman.I`d come to the conclusion years ago,looking at a small white pill,I cannot let this rule my life.That was over 10 yrs. ago.It still has control & we found out today that our “so called” pain specialist had been arrested.We had our next appt. on the 26th. of this month.Now we have just enough medication until then.I felt your pain exactly as I remembered it when I tried(3 times).I thought I`d been successful but after 5 months,I relapsed.I was detoxed blindly & when I was told I`d been drinking plain juice,I broke down & cried.It felt as if I`d won the lottery.Pretty plastic of me,huh.Now @ 57 y/o & on 120 mgs. for over 20 yrs.I sit here pondering the next few months.It`s my fiance I really fear for.She suffers so bad w/lupus,fibro,gastroporesis & severe total degenerative osteo arthritis.I just wish I was closer to my family.I`m living in Ga.,but am originally from Brooklyn,N.Y.I`m so glad it is over for you.I can only wish you the best of health & being able to cope w/your fibro.God be w/you & me.Thank you,,,S.G
I am so sorry that you are going through this. I tried to think of some avenues of help. As far as getting another doctor to treat you, here’s one thing to think about. My thoughts are with you both.
When your pain doctor suddenly vanishes, as above, or “cuts you off”, you may want to know what your state’s laws are as to a physician’s responsibility to treat pain. Some states have Medical Board guidelines that say a physician has an ethical responsibility to either treat pain adequately or refer you to someone qualified to do so. You can find out more online here, http://www.medsch.wisc.edu/painpolicy/matrix.htm, where there is a chart state by state with links to the guidelines or laws. I cannot guarantee it is up to date but it is a place to start, and you will be more knowledgeable if you need to look elsewhere for more info. You can also check with your state Medical Board; look in the phone book in the State Government section. Or ask a reference librarian at a public library for help.
Since you are in Georgia I looked at their material on the above page: it dates from 1991! and deals mostly with how the physician can responsibly monitor opioid or addictive medications for the protection of the patient and for the physician’s protection. I saw nothing about physician’s responsibility to treat pain, but that idea has only gained traction in the last 10 – 15 years. Surely Georgia has updated their State Board of Medical Examiners rules since then—any library should be able to help you find out, and find the text of the current rules.
Enjoyed your blog on mumbai and internatinaol aide to mumbai verses hatai. I will take you up on your recommendation ro read White tiger. Have you read Shantaram? Excellent book!
I just found your blog the other day while trying to identify a plant that I had photographed on a walk. I have just started reading through your posts, but I think it’s one I’m definitely going to enjoy! Best of luck dealing with your fibromyalgia. I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with so much pain. 😦
you have an illustration i would like to obtain and i can’t find out how to do so. Please help.
If I can: what is the illustration you want, and what page of my blog is it on?