The Fuzzy Mic
After retiring from a 30-year, major market morning radio career, I'm often asked what I miss the most about the job. I miss 3 C's...camaraderie, creativity but most of all, conversation.
The Fuzzy Mic is built around creativity and conversation to develop camaraderie. The 4 focus areas are: Mental Health, True Crime, Music and Sports.
So, while The Fuzzy Mic allows me to fill some professional voids, it's my sincere hope that maybe you'll find something personally fulfilling in it too.
The Fuzzy Mic
Remembering The Mayor of Sconeyville
I'll just say this upfront, this episode ain't for everyone. It's raw, emotional grief.
How do you cope with the loss of a pet who was more than just a companion, but a beloved family member? Join me on an emotional voyage as I remember Pinto, my cherished dog, and explore the deep bond we shared and the unwavering joy he brought into our lives.
Pinto's presence was a constant source of love and happiness. I recount the heartbreaking events of June 14th, the day we lost Pinto, and how this tragic moment collided with a significant date for our Snowdrop Foundation. Through these personal stories, I celebrate Pinto's enduring legacy and the profound impact pets have on our lives.
You also get a couple of episodes of Pinto's alter ego, The Mayor of Sconeyville.
I share poignant reflections on the loss of our beloved pets, including fond memories of Pomeranians Yip, Yap, and Pinto, each with their unique personalities.
Fuzzy, fuzzy Mike. Yeah, fuzzy, you can take it with them on a bus or train, on a highway or on a plane backstage, or on a bike. It's Kevin Kline's Fuzzy Mike.
Speaker 2:Hello, welcome to another episode of the Fuzzy Mike. This is going to be a hard one for me. Um, normally I write bullet points or or actually script out segments. Uh, especially when I have a guest, I always have bullet points that I want to cover. Um, I don't have a guest this week and I haven't written anything out either.
Speaker 2:This is all from the heart, so I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't know what I'm going to say. I'll talk about my dad every once in a while and the genes that he passed on to me. The one gene that he did pass on to me that I am so thankful for and so grateful for is the love of animals. My dad, he loved his dogs. I think he loved his dogs more than he loved his kids. I love my dogs.
Speaker 2:Last week we had to put one down and it was so unexpected, oh God. We went to bed June 13th and Pinto was perfectly fine. I mean, he was dealing with seizures and he was in the final stages of congestive heart failure. But there were three things he looked forward to every day Breakfast, lunch and dinner. And they were all set times 6.30 am, 1 pm and 7 pm, and that was to coincide with the medicines that we were giving him.
Speaker 2:Well, at first light in the morning, which ended up being like 545, I could always feel a paw on my face. That was the alarm clock. That was Pinto telling us hey, it's time to get up and eat breakfast. So we'd get up and feed him breakfast at about 6.15 or so, he and Beans, his brother, and then they'd go out and do their business and then he'd come back and lay down. Then, depending on what time we got up, he got up with us and then he would go greet Grandma and then Grandma would put him up on her lap and she would talk to him and they would have their little conversation. We used to call it his spot. His spot was on Grandma's lap and then when he was done and it was getting close to lunchtime he would get down and we always called it Pinto's's hawking because he would hawk us for about an hour. You know, at noon he would I don't know where the clock came from, but his internal clock at noon started staring at us. He would stare at us and just like, dude, where's my food? I mean, he lived for three meals a day and in between those three meals he lived for sleeping and being held and getting loved on, which was quite often Matter of fact, it was always and then about five o'clock in the afternoon, when we were sitting down eating, he would start staring again and we'd have to remind him brother, you're an hour and a half early, at best really two hours early, but I would always cave. 6.15 would roll around and I, like I always just told Trish I'd be like you know, it's more peaceful for us to feed him rather than to tell him no, it's not food time yet. And then he would shift his stare over to me and I'd be like buddy, it's not time. Then he would shift his stare over to grandma. She'd be like I'd listen to mom and dad. So we just figured, you know, 6.15 was as late as he was going to let us not feed him and I'll miss that about him. Then, after he would eat his dinner, he would come in and he would watch TV and sit right next to me.
Speaker 2:June 13th, everything was fine. He ate his last meal, came and laid by me. Then it was time to go potty, get his pills, and night-night we called it potty pills and night-night and he could have been dead asleep and all we had to do was say if he was ready for potty pills, and night-night ears would perk up. He'd stare at you and he was ready for potty pills and night-night. If it was 10.30 and we weren't in bed, he was staring at us like why, why are you keeping me awake? I should be in bed by now.
Speaker 2:But when he got up for potty pills and night-night on the 13th he was a little wobbly. He was a little wobbly and we just thought, you know, he was waking up from a deep slumber, didn't think anything of it. So he walked outside, did his business, came in, we all went to bed and then we woke up on the 14th. The 14th was supposed to be a special day for us because that's the birthday of Snowdrop Foundation. It was our 18th year of Snowdrop Foundation, the nonprofit that we created for Chelsea Campbell for helping kids with cancer, scholarships for college-bound pediatric cancer patients and survivors and research money for undifferentiated sarcoma and other sarcomas. The research is being done by Dr Nino Renuso at Texas Children's Cancer Center. June 14th has always been a special day for us because of that.
Speaker 2:But we got up on our own. We didn't get a paw in the face, we didn't get walking around on the bed and kind of figured something might be up. So we picked up Pinto and Beans Beans led us to the kitchen and Pinto and Beans Beans led us to the kitchen and Pinto just stood there. He couldn't walk and he just kind of collapsed his legs and we picked him up, put him outside to go potty. His tail was on the ground and his back legs were bent and he couldn't move. And, uh, we didn't expect him, we didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2:So we took him to the animal hospital and told them what was going on, and he didn't look like he was in any pain. He didn't look like he was there. His face was kind of off, kind of distant, certainly not as alive as he normally was. But they said that they had three criticals that they were taking care of right now and they wouldn't be able to get to him before our regular vet opened. And so they suggested that they just take his temperature, check his glucose level. And they did. Temperature came back and he was below normal. So that signified to them that something was wrong. His glucose level was fine. So they wrapped him in a blanket, gave us the blanket, told us there was no charge, which stunned us, but it was very, very kind of them and they said just wait for your regular vet to open and take him there While we were in the parking lot before the vet opened at eight o'clock and they opened him, we went in and they said well, we've got a full slate today.
Speaker 2:Let's see if we can work him in sometime. But take him home and get him comfortable and we'll call you if something could be done, if we can get him in. And so we did. And we got a phone call at 10 15. They made some room for us and by then I was laying down in the bed with him and, uh, he peed on me and he didn't even realize it.
Speaker 2:He peed on me and he didn't even realize it, and I didn't really realize it either, until we woke up from our little snuggle nap.
Speaker 2:And we took him into the vet and I knew I knew, because he wasn't himself he didn't want to eat and he lived to eat and he couldn't stand and he couldn't walk. And so the vet came in and looked at him and did all these tests on him. And here's the sad part about it is that he passed every single test. His tongue was pink, his gums looked good. Every single test, his tongue was pink, his gums look good. Uh, his strength in his legs were. He said he's strong. And we said well, what's going on? And he said, if I had to pinpoint it without a neurological test, he had a stroke and what is damaged is his brain. His brain is not communicating with his body. His brain isn't communicating with his back legs to be able to support him, to be able to allow him mobility. His brain's not really communicating with his bladder to let him know that he's got to go potty or got to go outside. His brain's not communicating with his throat, because he was having trouble swallowing because we gave him some water from a syringe and he had trouble swallowing because we gave him some water from a syringe and he had trouble swallowing that.
Speaker 2:And the doctor said I could run a whole bunch of tests on him. He says all these tests are going to come back negative. He said so it's definitely his brain and all of this is irreversible. He not in any acute pain, but he is possibly in some dull pain. Um, but he's not the same dog. And I said I, I know he's not the same dog from two nights ago. It's radically different. And so the vet said you, you've basically got a decision to make. Do you want to take him home and make that decision to bring it back, or maybe not bring him back and just leave him at home, or do you want to make that decision now, driving?
Speaker 1:over.
Speaker 2:I had already made that decision and the doctor said you're not making the wrong decision. His quality of life wasn't there anymore, just like that. He was totally fine 12 hours before. All I could think about was watching him, not being able to move, not being there. He wasn't present and I know it's the right thing to do and I looked it up. I said you know, online, I looked up euthanizing dogs when you know it's time and everything pointed to we made the right decision.
Speaker 2:When his quality of life is compromised, when mobility is compromised, when there's no appetite, when he's not himself. So he was 13. We know he was at least 13. He might have been older than that. He was a rescue and we had seven great years with him. I mean, all dogs have a personality. This was just larger than life. He loved three things, in this order grandpa oh my god. When grandpa would come over, nothing else existed, it was grandpa and he would follow Grandpa around. If Grandpa went to the bathroom, he would use his head as a battering ram to try and open the bathroom door.
Speaker 2:I mean Grandpa took precedence over everything. Next was food he lived for his three meals. And then the third thing was I don't know if it would be a toss up between sleep or mom Trish oh, when she wasn't in the room he would look for her like he would look for grandpa. I was always an afterthought until grandpa or Trish were gone and then I was a substitute, but every night he would lay next to me and we'd watch TV together. He'd let me hold him.
Speaker 2:I mean, he was such a chill dog and if anybody that ever saw one of his videos that we made, there was a progression of names that he had. His first name before we adopted him was Arctic White Fox. I don't know, he was white, so I guess the Arctic White, and he kind of looked like a fox. So, yeah, I get it, but there was no way we were going to call a dog Arctic White Fox. So we started Trish and I started kicking names around and she wanted to keep it legume thematic because we already had beans and so we were just thinking of different beans that we could call him, you know, like Navy or Garbanzo or geez, you name it. And we just looked at him and Pinto came out and it was like it was perfect. He looked like a little Pinto, and so Pinto became his new name, from Pinto, you know, I, I, I always make up different names, so let's try and follow the progression here.
Speaker 2:Pinto became Pintobious, became Pintobious, became Tobes. Don't ask me where it comes from, it just comes. So I would always call him Tobes, tobes. What are Tobes? Tobes, what are you doing, tobes? Okay, so then Tobes became Tobus, became Tobusconus, became Tobiscus J Again, no idea, but Tobusconus became Tobiscone, tobiscone. We're watching one of the debates between then President Trump and candidate Joe Biden. I asked Trish, I'm like do you think in the canine world they have politicians like a political hierarchy Made no sense at the time. A lot of the shit that I do doesn't make sense. And she said where do you come up with this crap? And I'm like, like, for example, like would he be the mayor of Sconeville? Thus, a character was born and pinto, tobes, tobias, tobis, tobiscus j, tobasconus, tobiscone became the mayor of sconyville took that character and ran with it Literally Made a whole YouTube channel out of him.
Speaker 1:This is Channels Television's breaking news. Is there a new green initiative in Sconeville? During his lunch break today, the mayor of Sconeville was excited to get some fresh air and check out the newly landscaped grounds of City Hall. Here you can see the mayor surveying the new mulch and lush greenery. However, things took an unexpected and unprecedented turn. While inspecting the precise edging of the thick green verger, noticing a spot that looked undernourished, the typically demanding mayor decided to water it himself instead of ordering the grounds crew to redo it. Is the mayor turning over a new leaf? When news of the mayor of Sconeville happens, we'll bring it to you first at Breaking News.
Speaker 2:We now take you back to your original program and people started to watch the YouTube channel and subscribe to the YouTube channel and comment on it and it made a difference in people's lives and it was fun to do. I've got some videos that I'll share with you now about, you know, the mayor of Sconeville.
Speaker 1:This is Channels Television's breaking news. First the mayor, now all of Sconeville. After his mea culpa to the Asian community, the mayor of Sconeville basked once again in the glow of universal adulation. However, the glory was short-lived, as the mayor of Sconeville was forced to confront another emergency issue affecting Sconeville and its citizens. A member of the mayor's cabinet informed him that a cyber attack had been launched against the Snossages plant, halting production until a ransom was paid. The ransom amount 101 Dalmatians. An immediate investigation was launched by the mayor's head of cybersecurity, mcgruff, the Crime Dog. Sources tell us that the probe is still underway and, even though it's very early into the search for answers, preliminary data analysis indicates that the attack originated from the paws of a ransomware syndicate of Siberian huskies. The mayor never the diplomat advised sconyvillians to wait for the completed investigation instead of rushing to judgment. When news of the mayor of sconyville happens, we'll bring it to you first on Breaking News. Now back to your original program.
Speaker 2:I miss him. I already miss him. I already missed him when he took his last breath and we were there and I knew it was going to be hard. I didn't know it was going to be this hard because we'd already dealt with Yip and Yav, our two previous Pomeranians. Yip died of renal failure at age nine and Yav died of cancer at age 16. Nine and Yap died of cancer at age 16. But the difference with them was we had time to prepare. Now we knew the end was getting near. We knew the end was coming Pinto. We didn't know it. It was just a shock. And he didn't show outward pain like Yip and Yap did. And I still don't know how to deal with it. I just don't.
Speaker 2:He would cuddle with me. He loved to be on his back. I'd pet him his. When you would come home, he would be in the front room and he'd sip around the corner and sometimes his back legs would go out and he would slide and he'd get up like, yeah, I meant to do that.
Speaker 2:His personality was just. Like, as I said, all dogs have personality. Yip's personality was just. He was a little black Pomeranian. He lived to be nine years old, renal failure, so we had to put him down, but his personality was just, chill, just, he loved to lay on the top, uh, back, of the couch. The only time he would ever get upset was when I got up for work. All hell broke loose. He would bark at me, he would go or move himself along the edge of the bed and scratch the scratch, the footboard of the bed, uh. But then when I left the room back to sleep, he, uh, he loved other dogs yap, on the other hand, who lived to be 16.
Speaker 2:Uh, his personality was that of a jerk. Yep, he was my boy, though. I loved him. Uh, what made him a jerk? Uh, from the time he was awake until the time he went to bed, he constantly barked. Uh, he did not like many, if any, people holding him except Trish and me, and we had to hold him a very special way. There was one person that he would let hold him and that was our friend, kevin Godfrey, and it was amazing. You would just go right over to Kevin and Kevin would pick him up and he would be fine. When you tried to leave the house, he would be fine. Um, when you tried to leave the house, uh, he would nip at your heels. Uh, I don't know if that was he didn't want you to go or just I don't know. I never knew why he did that. Uh, but yeah, uh, if, uh, if you, if he was outside for a long time, that was another no-no. And it was kind of like that with Pinto, and we have a couple of photos. I'll put them up right here if you're watching on YouTube. I think these are the only photos in existence of Pinto outside.
Speaker 2:I mean, when you hear the term inside dog, that was Pinto, but his personality was absolutely larger than life. You could do anything to him. You could make him dance, you could make him work out and he would just lay there. He loved it, he loved attention, he loved being loved on and I miss that about him. I miss his little bark, which he rarely did. I miss his little growl. You know, if he was on the couch and beans wanted to come up, there would be a little back and forth growl and it was always kind of funny, but I don't know what else to say. I mean it was such a surprise. I mean, at least we have Beans and Beans is not as affectionate.
Speaker 1:Beans is not as smart.
Speaker 2:He's got his own personality. He is paranoid, he's afraid of everything, shadows included, and he just likes to be in his own bed and he just likes to be in his own bed. So it's going to take some time getting used to not having Pinto's vibrant personality around. Good thing about Beans is he does like to cuddle with me. So we cuddled last night and at least my arms are wrapped around another buddy. So it'll be tough when we have to let him go. Man, this one stings. This one hurts really, really bad. He was a TV star. Our friend Melanie, who used to work at KY3 here in Springfield, did a whole feature on him about second chance dogs, because he was a rescue.
Speaker 1:And today I would like to begin highlighting rescue pets and letting everyone know what great companions they are. Joining me now is Kevin Kline and his dog Pinto. Hi guys.
Speaker 2:Hi, there Say hi.
Speaker 1:Oh, so cute, so cute. So talk about Pinto. What kind of breed is he and where'd you get him from?
Speaker 2:Pinto's a Pomeranian and we adopted him from a Houston rescue organization called Recycled Palms. And Norma from Recycled Palms in Houston, she knows that Pinto lived a really, really good life, but that he's over the rainbow bridge now and all I can see with Pinto is because it happened so quick it's him on the other side of the rainbow just looking over at me, just looking up at me with those eyes and saying Dad, I'm right here, pick me up. I wish I could, I wish I could. I hope I'm wrong on that. I hope that he's playing with dip and yap. I hope that he's found a new city hall and he's lording over a new domain. I'm hoping that my dad might be loving on him. I hope that Chelsea was there to meet him and greet him and love on him too.
Speaker 1:I don't know what the afterlife is.
Speaker 2:I really don't. I don't know if any of us do, but I hope it's a happy place for him, man.
Speaker 2:He gave us so much happiness. You know, I saw something online not long ago. It was on Facebook. It was a picture of somebody hugging a dog and said as much as I love you. Now, in 10 years, I know you're going to break my heart. Mine is shattered, it is just shattered, and our friends have been so kind, reaching out and telling us that you know if we need anything, if we want to get away, we can visit them. We had our friend autumn yesterday. Bring us some homemade banana bread and some flowers, because she she knew pinto and she knows how much we're hurting it's. We've got a lot of support. Don't have my dog, though. Don't have my dog, so hopefully you've listened to this and enjoyed the pictures that I've posted. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that this is the episode you're getting. Normally, I try and help you navigate through something that you're going through Either my own thoughts or an expert, but I'm laying this on you and it's not fair and I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2:So we've already recorded the Tuttle Cline episode this week and I promise you it's much more uplifting than this is.
Speaker 2:I was actually able to hold it together and Tim brought it up a little bit and I just didn't want to go there because the tunnel incline podcast is about humor and it's about fun and about laughter and I knew that if we talked about Pinto that it wouldn't be toe, that it wouldn't be so, uh, I waited for this and you know, if you don't watch this, turn it on and you realize that, oh shit, this is going to suck yeah, it does and you don't watch it. I'm totally fine with that. I am totally fine with that because this is just really me just trying to get it off my chest and trying to cope with it, trying to figure some way out to get rid of this grief. You know, I had so much I slept from 5 30 in the afternoon on Saturday until noon on Sunday and I got up and I went for a 10 and a half mile run, thinking that that might get some of this out of me.
Speaker 1:And it hasn't man.
Speaker 2:It hasn't Probably going to be a while, so I'll just keep looking at these pictures. I'll keep watching his videos, remember how much fun he was, his little personality that was larger than life, and the impact that he had on people who met him. Everybody loved him. Everybody loved him. So did I. So, again, I apologize that this is what this episode is. I thought about not even doing one, but, selfishly, I had to do this so that I could talk about my boy. Thanks for listening, for watching If you ever met him, thanks for loving Pinto.