My vet says he has seen more success with the rear leg amputees. I was concerned about Miss Heidi's size until I read about that poor abused St. Bernard the other day. She is larger and will surely grow even more as she seems to be a fairly young dog. They say she is adapting very well.

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Just read about Miss Heidi. Very sorry to hear about her ill health. We had one of our rescue organization's (ESRA) dogs come in with a lame front leg which was quickly amputated and we were very fortunate to have a great local family fall in love with and adopt her.

It's weird that they can be more mobile after removal, but they stop hobbling in pain and quickly re-learn how to get around. Though a back leg might be tougher to do without, this Springer is witness that the bum leg is not missed. Of course all cases are different. I sure hope Miss Heidi makes a full recovery.

I see I'm in that majority who will "use it for necessities."

Our $1800 should cover one $5 gallon of milk daily over each of the next 360 days. We will bake our own cookies.

I hope the critter is ok.

Miss Heidi has had this problem most of her life and I'm afraid there is more to come.

That pet insurance business is not as crazy as it seems. I wish I had bought it.

At least I can take comfort in knowing that my check won't go straight to China via WalMart.

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Just spent my promised bone-us check, and more, this morning at the vet.

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I'm going to use it to buy new tires since the ones on my vehicle now are the ones that came with it when I bought it new in 2002. I got sick, became disabled and lost my job that year, but just barely managed to hang on to the vehicle...with help from family and doing without other stuff, like medicine. I have not been able since then to keep it up as well as I would like, so I'll get tires, have the brakes inspected, change the filters...etc. I probably won't be able to afford a new one for a very, very long time.

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"You can't fix stupid..." ~ Ron White"
"I never said I wasn't a brat..." ~ Talidapali

Got it on March 31, 2007. On April 1st it was cut in half. I believe it's gone now.

Here's the IRS list:

(link...)

There are still a few. The 2008 Escape hybrid credit is a pretty good deal, if you can find one.

I thought the Prius tax credit ended. You must've gotten in at the beginning of the year?

We used to pay the AMT, but this time we fortunately didn't so we get a small rebate plus we get most of our Prius tax credit. If you pay AMT, you don't get any of the hybrid tax credit. But, the credit gets reduced by part of the AMT calculation even if you don't pay AMT. Go figure.

(P.S. I think the hybrid tax credit will almost pay our accountant's bill for doing our taxes and all the AMT calculations.)

Does going to the beach count as a necessity?

Since we'd already planned the trip before they announced they were paying us all off, I guess I could technically say we're using it to pay off medical bills. It's kind of a toss up.

Andy - I'm forever hearing about how the dreaded AMT is ruining so many lives, but I do taxes and I almost never see anyone hit by it (I see it maybe once or twice a year). Congratulations!

No stimulus here; AMT instead. Whee.

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With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

I'm sending $50 to the Obama campaign. Thanks shrub!

Heh. Great idea. Depending on what my cut is I'll kick in there, definitely. I sent the DSCC some last night.

I picked category two, but we plan to apply ours toward various home improvements, which seems like a none of the above.

Ours will be used to pay off existing debt.

April 15th is closing in and our 1040 taxes are due. If you want your Economic Stimulus Payment, you must file a tax return (not necessarily by the 15th).