31 May 2004

Dogs, dogs, dogs…

How do they find us?
Over the weekend, we had not one, but two temporary dogs to look out for.
The first, a pretty brown husky, had slipped from her person's car in a parking lot on Saturday and wandered across a busy street near downtown. It took four people following her for about ten minutes to finally get a hold of her and we gave her a drink. The number on her tag had been disconnected, which sent us into a state of worry about what to do with her. The dog got a little antsy as we waited and wondered, so my wife took her for a walk ∼ yes, I keep a spare leash in the car (as well as puppy and cat treats). Luckily my wife happened across someone who knew the dog and its owner, and we tracked her person to a nearby hair salon. (whew)

Number two wasn't so easy. This morning I looked out the back window to see a medium size black dog with a docked tail looking around.
With some coaxing (and a biscuit) I got a hold of him, and could see that he had had a collar on, but must have slipped it. It was obvious, too, that he was fairly young, maybe seven months, but was going to grow into a monster. As we watched him, we figured he was possibly a husky | german shepherd mix. We closed off the back porch, and let BlackJack out to play with him ∼ a bonus for everyone. I made numerous phone calls through the day, but couldn't find anyone looking for him, so we reluctantly brought him to the city animal shelter. They do have a good partnership with a local group that takes care of animals that have been there for more than a few days, so I do feel confident that he'll either find his original home, or get a good new one.
It was pretty clear that he hadn't had much obedience training, but he was very sweet and eager to please, like all good puppies!

30 May 2004

Just strange

What kinds of things will make a waiter look at you funny?
For starters when two people of average size split a meal. I mean actually share the entree. Nutritionists & dieticians go on and on about how portion size affects obesity in America. And it's not cheap to eat out, either. With that in mind my wife & I often share a meal, as much to save money as to minimize our leftovers and growth.
Last night we shared an appetizer — chicken quesidilla, and then the entree — a 12 ounce Sirloin that was,admittedly, quite tasty. Having a 12 ounce steak on the menu makes it seem like a pretty normal serving, yeah? But how many folks out there actually eat that type of portion (and live past 50 to tell the tale)?
We still took enough home to split the remainder for lunch today! No wonder America is obese!!
I will admit that maybe we deserve the funny looks when we split the daquiri with the appetizer, thought it was served in a pint glass that would have done either one of us in, and the beer we split with the steak — again, a pint of lager.
And talk about huge, we split dessert, some incredibly to die for chocolate cake. Took some of that home, too, and had part of the remainder after lunch (though my wife was the real dessert, and still have a bit left for after dinner tonight.
So for our $50.00 we got four individual meals, with dessert… . Not too bad, I suppose.

19 May 2004

Who thinks this is a baaadd idea?

Indonesian district chief frees 100 snakes to catch rats

Poetic spam

I received this incredibly moving poem in my email today:

Believe me.
You may give her flowers and presents.
You may take care of her and love her.
But the best you may make for is to be the #1 10ver.
C1a2li3s will help you. Get er[ect[10n whenever you want.


Did I mention that it moved me to throw up?

18 May 2004

Subject line of the week

"s-a-v-e a lot! Be sensible eaten"

10 May 2004

ahh...

Weellll.. Seems that dogs actually cannot get poison ivy, and BlackJack has a bacterial infection that he picked up running through the wet grass somewhere.
:-(

He went where?

Now.. I've known for a long time that if your dog rubs on poison ivy, the oils can rub off on you.
But I've never seen a dog actually get poison ivy!
I noticed a little bump on BlackJack's belly on Friday, and thought maybe some bugbite was irritating him. Then yesterday morning, we found them all over his cute little belly, and realized what it was.
We're off the vet momentarily to get a cortisone shot, and probably some more Benadryl for the itching.
Poor guy; I guess that's the disadvantage of those short little legs.

07 May 2004

04 May 2004

Stonehenge Lives

Stonehenge - Aotearoa.
For millennia people have gazed in awe at Stonehenge, often totally unaware of how structures such as this were used. Stonehenge Aotearoa will be a full-scale working adaptation of Stonehenge that is intended to inspire New Zealanders young and old, to explore and experience for themselves how technologies of ancient times were used, and still can be used, to give practical and detailed information on the seasons, time and navigation.