Some photos

I will warn you at the outset that this post will include a few Dodger post-surgery photos. Nothing too gruesome, but don't scroll down if you are squeamish about photos of incisions (in this case, closed with surgical staples).

We'll get to that. First, a couple of photos of the utensils my Mom used to use for serving salads. Marc got them out recently, and I decided to polish them up. My Mom didn't usually use silver for regular meals (the sterling was for special occasions), but these particular ones were an exception--they were used at our regular family dinners. So here they are, all polished up...





Now, more evidence that Mandy has the best take on life. Here's Mandy in one of her happiest moments...


Imagine if your happiness were so easily attained!

Okay, now for some post-surgical Dodger photos. You may recall my mentioning that he had a lot of his fur shaved off for the surgery, going far beyond the site where they were operating. Have a look...




You can see how thrilled he was with having his photo taken after arriving home.


The red bandage is covering a narcotic patch that was controlling his pain.

And here's the leg that got worked on...





He's still hopping around, but I think he's slowly making progress. So here's a shot from a happier moment (about a week after the surgery, on a day when Marc was baking a cake, so everyone was happily focused on the kitchen)...


Still not thrilled with being photographed, but seeming more comfy.


Another of our kids who wasn't in the mood for a photograph


Mandy tries to mooch a piece of cake

And, last but not least, here's a shot of the cake as Marc's making it...



For more on creation of the cake, check Marc's blog later tonight.

Stop the seal hunt!

Go here to help stop the Canadian seal hunt.

Every year, thousands of seals are brutally killed (the total allowed this year is 275,000!!!). Information from the Humane Society:

The 2007 Canadian seal hunt left more than 215,378 seals dead --
almost all of them were babies as young as 12 days . . . Seal hunting is an off-season activity for Canada's east coast commercial fishermen. They earn a small fraction of their incomes from selling seal skins to the fur industry: only a reported $17.5 million (Canadian) annually, compared to the nearly $3 billion taken in by the Canadian fishing industry from seafood exports to the United States. The connection between the commercial fishing industry and the seal hunt gives consumers all over the world the power to end the cruel slaughter of seals. (The link at the start of this post will let you take action.)

As this article explains, "Hunters will be required to sever the arteries under a seal's flippers." This is supposed to be a more humane approach to make sure the seals are dead before they skin them, because the hunters didn't bother with that in the past. They skinned many alive!

So the humane approach is going to be to club these defenseless animals and then cut them open to let them bleed out? How humane!

"Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly to the fashion industry in Norway, Russia and China, as well as blubber for oil, earning about $78 for each seal."

Pelts? So this is still killing for fashion. And oil from blubber? How is any of this defensible?

How long will it take until this savagery stops?

Hooray for an itchy ear!

After I got home this evening, I was hanging out with Mr. Dodger. He had his cone off, so he could groom a bit and be more comfy. He only enjoys that luxury when we can watch him, so he doesn't mess with his leg.

As he was standing, watching me go through today's mail, his right ear apparently started to bother him. So he slowly brought his back leg up and gently scratched at his ear. It lacked the usual vigor he would bring to such an effort, but he got the leg up/forward like he hasn't since the surgery. It was a wonderful sight!

He's still not walking on it, but I think he's making progress!

D.B. Cooper

My interest in the D.B. Cooper hijacking goes back at least as far as the In Search Of episode on the subject. (I loved that series. It was hosted by Leonard Nimoy and addressed important issues like this, Bigfoot, Ball Lightning and other terribly vital matters.)

Most "experts" believed that the hijacker died in his attempt to parachute (with a $200,000 ransom) to freedom in the Pacific Northwest. That was the commonly accepted theory. Some of the bills had even been found.

Now comes this. Have they found his parachute buried in a field? If it turns out to be the real thing, then it looks like he probably did survive. And it that's the case, it's been one of the more amazing heists and getaways ever.

Even if it doesn't turn out to be his, it still takes me back. It really is an amazing story.

If you're interested in reading an article from the original coverage, I converted a two-page article into JPG files and put them on smugmug, so you can read them. Page one is here and page two is here.

He's home

Dodger got home this afternoon. I shot a video of our picking him up, but my computer refuses to recognize the camera when I plug it in, so I have no way of getting the video off of there. Actually, it probably is the camera's problem (it's a digital video camera, but it's several years old). It wasn't going to win an Oscar anyhow, so I won't worry too much about it.

Anyhow, Dodger is a hurting puppy. He has a pain patch that stays on for a couple of days (strong enough that we have to wear gloves when the time comes to take it off, so it doesn't knock us on our asses). He also has pain pills and antibiotic capsules to take.

He needs to take it easy for several weeks. When he goes out, even though he will be in the yard, he has to stay on a leash, so he doesn't exert himself (in case he should see a squirrel or cat or some other thing that needs chasing). When we got home, the first thing I did was take him for "a walk" in the back yard.

He has a cone to wear, so he doesn't mess with the big suture line on his back right leg... or the patch on his back left or the IV site on his front left.

On top of all that, the poor boy is missing a lot of his fur! They shaved the whole area around his back right leg. He looks like he is indulging in some new punk doggie hairstyle. To call him displeased would be a great understatement, but it really is for the best. I don't know if he'll ever really understand how any of this is helping him. He'll just know that his pain is going away at some point, and he'll be happy for that. Why his leg works again probably won't occur to him.

One other thing we'll need to do is carry him up the stairs. No stair climbing for him for the foreseeable future. Plus, we'll probably let him stay in the bedroom all day. If he spends his days with Mandy (his usual routine), they might wrestle around, and he could get hurt.

So that's the update. The main thing is that Dodger is home and recovering. It will take time, but I'm very happy to have our boy back with us.

Not that I'm much of a fan of the Pope, but this...

Why is someone who is supposed to represent Christ doing something that can only incite anger and hatred? Not that the Catholic Church hasn't had its moments in the past (just ask Saladin, among many, many others), but this can only be seen as a thumb in the eye of peace-loving Muslims all over the world.

Yes, anyone who wants to become a Catholic should be allowed to do so. Freedom of religion is a cornerstone of American democracy, and I think it's a valuable principle anywhere in the world. But any Catholic priest can aid someone who wants to become a Catholic.

For the Pope to personally baptize a (now former) Muslim journalist who has referred to Islam as "an ideology which legitimizes lies and dissimulation, violent death, which induces both murder and suicide, and blind submission to tyranny" and Catholicism as "the authentic religion of Truth, Life and Liberty" is to add to the world's problems.

Magdi Allam, the man the pope baptized, has shown open disrespect for all religions other than Catholicism, especially Islam, and the Pope has now tacitly endorsed his views in as public a fashion as possible. What a sad event on a day so holy to Catholics.

Magdi Allam, no doubt, has said less provocative things of which I'm unaware, but perception becomes reality. The world knows him for his more outrageous statements. The Pope, by his actions, has endorsed those statements. That's a shame.

A quotation for a friend

A friend of ours from another country recently told me of his concerns with my country. Overall, I still think the United States has done far more good in this world than bad (in fact, I think the world would be far worse off if not for this country), despite the recent efforts of people like George W. Bush. With that said, we do have some issues. So when I found this line, I thought of our friend...

"We Americans live in a nation where the medical-care system is second to none in the world, unless you count maybe 25 or 30 little scuzzball countries like Scotland that we could vaporize in seconds if we felt like it." -Dave Barry

*snicker*

Certifiable? Moi?

This morning, we made breakfast together. I made the eggs, and Marc made the toast and the coffee.

Marc told me how he wanted his eggs, and, for his part, I said, "I'd like some butter with a little toast under it."

Is that so unreasonable? :)

Okay, so he was laughing as he said it, but my honey said, "TTB, you're certifiable."

At least he was laughing!

The surgery is complete

Dodger is in recovery. The surgeon said the ACL was completely torn, as we thought, and he also had a bit of damage to his meniscus. My pup had the knee of an old football player, apparently.

It has been a very hard day. Harder for Dodgie than us, I suppose, but it still was tough. When he has had to stay somewhere in the past, like a kennel or the vet's for some tests, he went along with the kennel/vet people very willingly. Always cooperative, he would make this easy.

Today, as we left him there, he turned to me and aimed his eyes pleadingly at mine. It broke my heart to have to leave him there, but he needed this surgery.

So now he recovers. He will be there until Sunday. During that time, he will get various medications and will have three one-hour physical therapy sessions. After all of that, I'm sure he'll be a tired pup when he gets home Sunday.

I'm glad his surgery went well, and I hope his recovery (which will take several weeks) is an easy one. He's a wonderful boy, and we love him.

The true enemy of this nation

Yes, the terrorists are a real threat. No question. So are criminals on our streets.

But if you really want to be scared, if you want to see a real threat to America, watch the movie Jesus Camp.

Religious radicals create suicide bombers, but religious radicals also create people who are trying to pervert the American way of life.

The Muslim radicals are a threat, but they're nothing compared to the Christian radicals who twist everything to their desires. They talk of the Founding Fathers, but they distort everything the Founding Fathers stood for. They talk of this country as a "Christian nation," when it is a nation founded for all people, of any religion or no religion at all.

This is a truly frightening movie, and you should watch it if you're at all complacent about the future of America and the importance of voting. Our very way of life is at stake.

Wounded knee

One of our pups needs surgery. Actually, that has happened before but never anything this complex.

Dodger has a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Basically, part of his right knee has to be rebuilt. Don't even ask what it will cost. We've spent less on some excellent vacations.

But this is more important than any vacation or any material possession. This is a member of the family, and we love him.

So what led to this? We think the original injury occurred months ago while he was playing with Mandy. He limped back then for a while. We took him to the vet, but surgery didn't seem vital then. Instead, he took anti-inflammatory medication and seemed to be doing better. In fact, he seemed to be doing quite well recently.

Then, a few days ago, he was heading up the stairs when he gave a cry and stopped suddenly. Since then, he has been walking on three paws. He uses both front paws and hops on his back left paw.

So Marc and Dodger went for a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon today. It appears that the existing injury was a partial tear of the ligament, and it seems that it has now torn completely. Things that should be fixed in place in his knee are moving around very freely (and painfully).

So our Dodgie is going for surgery on Friday. He goes in Friday morning to have surgery, and he will be in the hospital for two days, during which he will have various meds and three rounds of physical therapy. Then we have to take him for walks and do various other things to help his leg heal. I understand that healing can take three months. It must be quite traumatic, since, in my experience, dogs usually heal a lot faster than humans. (I remember that Mandy's spaying--basically, abdominal surgery--slowed her down for about a day. Think of how long something like that would slow down one of us.)

We love Dodger, and I hope you'll all keep him in your thoughts and prayers. To some, he may just be a dog. To us, he's a loving family member with as good a heart as can be and a love and commitment for us that is beyond compare.

I would have seen the movie anyhow

I'm not a hard-core Trekkie. I'm not the type who watches for Trek conventions coming to town. Still, I like Star Trek, and I look forward to new movies coming out. So I already planned to go see new movie, due out next year.

Today, I was watching an episode of CSI:Miami when I noticed a hot young actor and went online to find out his name.


Screenshot from the CSI episode

Looking up the episode, I found that the actor's name is Chris Pine. So then I was wondering if he's the son of Robert Pine (Sgt. Getraer on CHiPs). He is. After that, I noticed that he is going to be the young Captain Kirk in the upcoming Star Trek movie. Well, that does it. I'm going!


Look at those eyes! He'll make a yummy Starfleet officer!

A good day

This morning, we picked up my Bokey's new car. Go on over to his blog for a look at his new wheels. The car is fabulous, and he sure deserves it!

This afternoon, we went to my niece Lauren's Christening. She's cute as can be and happy as a clam, and it was a nice family gathering.

All in all, it was a good day.

--------------------

Update: Since Marc decided to use just one of the photos I took of him and his new car, I might as well post a couple of the ones he didn't use here:


The new S80 joining mine in our driveway


Marc next to his new car

A photo of Marc where you can see the whole car is over at his blog. Enjoy the car, honey! You deserve it!

I guess the foot's on the other hand now, isn't it, Kramer?

For years, I have told associates that they shouldn't take legal cases personally. In particular, when a decision was made to settle a lawsuit over "but we didn't do anything wrong" protests, I'd explain the costs of litigation, etc.

So late this afternoon, I heard from a colleague at my old place that they were paying to settle a case I was involved in. They never even asked for a deposition from me. Instead, they folded and handed over some cash. The hospital's lawyers didn't have the balls to call me about the settlement, because they didn't want to hear my opinion.

When they first told me the asshole in question had the nerve to sue, I gave them my opinion, one lawyer to another. I told them if I still were in my role there, he would get a penny over my dead body.

Let me tell you the background. A couple of years ago, some union reps came to my office to "ask a favor." Someone we had fired the year before for being late and ditching work on more occasions than we could count later told the union that he had a problem with the bottle. So they were asking if I could give him another chance.

I am a big believer in second chances. It's hard for someone to kick a problem like that, so I said yes. There were two conditions: he had to stay on probation longer than usual (we settled on 9 months as a reasonable period), so we could make sure he didn't go back to his old ways, and he had to work with Employee Health so they could monitor his compliance with his program.

The people who did our hiring (in our uptown offices) screwed up. They had instructions from me (and I am so glad I put it in writing) not to rehire him until he had signed off on those conditions. Instead, they put him back to work. I told him he still had to agree to the conditions (which, by the way, are standard for anyone in such a situation), and the union had the complete fucking lack of integrity to defend him and say he shouldn't have to agree. They claimed he was clean, but the key part they didn't like was Employee Health being able to check with his program that he was sticking with it. Gee, seems like something doesn't make sense, or is it just me?

In the end, after I entertained way too much bullshit from this guy and the people who asked me for a favor, because I had absolutely no obligation to do a fucking thing for this guy, I was forced to utter the following: "You have no choice. You got a second chance on the condition that we can take steps to make sure you're fit for duty and no risk to the patients. Either sign the documents or you're going to be fired." He agreed to sign the one extending his probation but not the one that would let us confirm he was staying clean. So I fired him.

He then filed a complaint, saying he was discriminated against because of his disability (being an alcoholic). Now, if I were inclined to discriminate against alcoholics, HE NEVER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN REHIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE!

The icing on the cake? A few weeks ago, this same guy was in the news. He drove drunk and smacked into 15 parked cars. When the cops arrested him, he also had marijuana in his possession. I made sure the hospital's counsel was aware of this, so they realized the kind of guy they were dealing with.

If they didn't have the strength to tell this guy and his lawyer to go fuck themselves, then they should have farmed the case out. I was a trial lawyer. There are some cases you don't settle on principle. This was one of them! Yes, I know. I started out saying it's a business decision, and I should take it as calmly as some folks I've explained that to (and my thanks to the writers of Airplane for the title of this post). Even so, I never would have settled this case. I would have taken it to trial. I take some comfort in the fact that this money and quite a bit more will be needed to pay for the damage he did while driving drunk (plus, he'll probably go to prison), but this is just wrong.

Apparently, "steamroller" was the adjective. Who knew?

When New York Governor Eliot Spitzer took office and quickly declared that he was a "fucking steamroller," we all took that as a political statement. Little did we know it actually was a sexual brag! (Does that mean he's so vigorous that he leaves his partners flattened? Okay, that's a mental picture I didn't need. Never mind!)

Well, nice implosion, Eliot. I'd feel sorry for you, but you took our enthusiastic votes and made us feel bad with your rapid descent into a level of behavior that made Rudy Giuliani look like Mahatma Gandhi. Funny how the world works sometimes.

One truly sad note: this was a governor who was fully in support of gay marriage. Perhaps his successor (presumably Lt. Governor David Paterson--who must be trying not to seem too gleeful), if Spitzer resigns, will still push for gay marriage. We shall see.

As seen in The New York Times

Wow, I'm famous! Published in The New York Times!

Okay, not quite.

I recently noticed that, among the meager number of hits on my blog, a handful had found their way over from the website of The New York Times.

Huh? What was that about?

So I took a look. It seems they came from here. You'll notice that the headline for this page matches the 7th link in the list. Yes, that's my little blog there.

I guess it's not that big of a deal. Still, it's neat to find that Mr. LaForge apparently was amused by my little observation.

Hmmm, think he might be cute and on our team? :) Oh yeah, I have a partner already. Forgot for a second! (Just kidding, hon!)

It sounded like... ?

As you may have heard, there was a small explosion early this morning in Times Square. Yes, a bomb went off.

While some witnesses, including one in the article I linked to above, said it sounded like a bomb, there were many others on TV today who had a variety of descriptions for the sound. I'll spare you the descriptions, but all of those interviewed this morning had interesting ways of describing it. It got to the point of my talking back to the TV, saying things like, "oh, come on!!!"

A tornado hits a house, and the survivors say, "it sounded like a bomb going off!"

A car crashes into a truck, and... "it sounded like a bomb going off!"

A big tree falls over in heavy winds, and... "it sounded like a bomb going off!"

An actual bomb goes off, and what's the one thing I didn't hear this morning? Of course... that it sounded like a bomb going off. :)

Come on, people. Am I really asking that much?

Sunlight is nice

Not to be confused with Moonlight Feels Right.

As I left work this evening, a little before 6pm, I enjoyed the remaining light in the sky. Spring is near, the days have been growing longer since the winter solstice, and I am a happy man!

With the earlier start of Daylight Saving Time this year, we need only wait until this Sunday for sunsets that suddenly are a full hour later. That's a very good thing in my book!

Another fun weekend with friends

Friday night after work, I picked up Jeff at the train station. He helped us spruce up the house a bit and assisted Marc in some important liquor consumption. (Those boys do know how to mix some fine drinks, and a visit from Jeff is enough of a reason to make a couple.)

On Saturday, we were joined by Patrick and, a couple of hours later, by David and Robert. Before they arrived, I had a fire going in the fireplace. I also had purchased 3.565 pounds (hey, that's what the scale said! *g*) of salmon. That evening, as everyone enjoyed drinks, I prepared the salmon while Marc prepared a fabulous dijon cream sauce to go over it. He also prepared a terrific green bean dish (I'm not a big fan of green beans, but these were terrific), garlic bread and a homemade cheesecake for dessert. He made the cheesecake without sugar, so I could stick to my low-carb diet, and, at least to me, it tasted like a wonderful sugar-laden cheesecake. Isn't he a good boy?

We had a great time with everyone, and the evening flew by. Around 11pm, David and Robert went home. Then we watched MadTV. After that, Jeff and Patrick headed to their rooms. Yes, Cooper, he was in his own room! We didn't drug him and drag him into ours! ;)

This morning, Marc made a quiche for Jeff, Patrick and himself, and he made a crustless quiche for me. Then we went to Robert Moses State Park on the western end of Fire Island. It was chilly today, but I thought it would be nice to go for a drive in the sun and a stroll on the boardwalk. It turned out to be too cold and windy to really enjoy it, but I'm still glad we went.

After that, we came back to the house for a little more quality time with the pups before taking the boys to the train.

Here are some photos from the weekend:


Mandy decided that Patrick looked lonely in the chair


When Robert was leaving, Mandy had to give him an appropriate goodbye


The boys enjoy quiche this morning


Mandy is very subtle. Also, note Dodger sneaking in from below!


Some of the native wildlife at the park paid us a visit


Aren't they pretty?


The four of us on the boardwalk. The ocean was pretty, of course, but it was so cold out!


A shot of the park from a prior visit, with the Fire Island lighthouse visible. Even though I didn't shoot this today, it gives you a better view of where we went.

All in all, an excellent weekend with wonderful people!

A pet peeve

I like books. I like bookstores. I like the nice, new books I find in bookstores.

Not too long ago, I was in a bookstore looking for a particular book. There was only one copy left... and some putz had broken the spine of the book!

I know that people will thumb through books sometimes, but if you open it enough to crack the spine of the book, you should buy it. If that equation doesn't work, go to the library!

For anyone looking for a new copy of a book, the book should be pristine. Cracks running down the spine just don't cut it. How about the old "if you break it, you buy it" rule? Shouldn't that apply?

Since he won't post it

I took a picture of Patrick playing with Mandy last week. To be clear, not Patrick or Patrick. Rather, Patrick.

Patrick doesn't want to post the photo of his handsome self, but he said I could feel free to do so. So I shall...



He's a handsome man! Another one who wasn't around when I was single! :)

One other thing

Patrick brought flowers when he came to visit us last Monday. We didn't expect it--and he didn't have to bring a thing--but it was a sweet gesture from a sweet man. While they still look nice, I want to share them with you...



Thanks again, Patrick, for the flowers and, more importantly, the wonderful visit!

This and that

A brief note on politics: by the time November comes, I will be so nauseated by the candidates that I will wind up voting for the lesser of the evils. I remember a time, years ago, when I found such things interesting and exciting. Now, seeing the self-serving hypocrisy of most of the players with greater clarity (and/or greater cynicism) than I possessed in my youth, I find the prospect of happily and wholeheartedly supporting a candidate on the national stage an exceedingly unlikely one. No doubt, I'll hold my nose and pull the lever for the person least likely to trample our rights (read: the Democratic candidate), but I won't bring the same enthusiasm to the process that I once did.

On a happier note, one of our stops today was the mall. I continue to be amazed at what type of man may be called "dad" these days. None of the dads looked like that when I was a kid! Nowadays, it's like a DILF smörgasbord. Not that I'm complaining!

By the way, you may recall from my last post that I mentioned our having a lovely time when Patrick visited us. I kept the description brief, but I hope that didn't make the event seem anything less than wonderful, because it really was wonderful spending time with him. With that said, he has put me to shame with the recounting he posted. Feel free to wander over for a look, complete with a spooky picture of Mandy. :) And Patrick, please come back soon! You're a wonderful guest, and I'm happy that our friendship is growing!

The weekend of three Patricks (and a Greg)

We've had a nice long weekend. From Friday night until Sunday afternoon, we were in Vermont with Patrick (a/k/a PatCH) and Greg. In this case, "we" included Bernice, Mandy and Dodger. It was our first time traveling with them. We had some difficult moments, especially on the drive up, but it went well in the end.

On Monday, we had a visit from this Patrick. It was our first time meeting him, and he's as charming, bright and entertaining as his blog and e-mails had suggested, if not more so. We had a wonderful time, and I think he had a decent time with us and the kids. I sure hope so! We can't wait to see him again!

Then we met this Patrick last night to see the new Broadway show Passing Strange. Let me take a moment to urge everyone to go see Passing Strange. I'm not much of a fan of musicals, but this one was great. It's a sort of rock musical, but I don't want you to confuse it with Rent. It's different. Someone better versed in such things could give a better explanation of its genre and strengths. I'll just say that we all were blown away. By the time we walked out of the theater after the show, my hands hurt from clapping!

Now back to the Vermont part of our weekend. Patrick was working on his portrait photography. He gave us a CD of photos he had taken, and I may share some of those eventually. In the meantime, I had photos on my camera.

Here are ones I took of Patrick and Greg...


PatCH


Greg

I took the ones of Marc and the kids. Marc took the ones of me. (And thanks to PatCH for the extra lights on Marc and me.) So here is a sampling of the ones Marc and I shot...


Dodger in a serious moment


Dodger laying a claim to the hot tub


A view from the deck


I LOVE this shot of Marc


As mentioned above, Marc took this one of me, as well as the next two




I like my smile in this, but I could live without the scarf (a prop Patrick put on me--he was shooting at the same time as Marc)


Patrick & Greg had some dog toys on hand, and Mandy fell in love with the one she's offering to Patrick in this photo


Bernice found one soft piece of furniture very suitable for her evening relaxation

So there you have it. A fun-filled long weekend and some photos, and you even got a few of me. That's unusual around here! I just hope I didn't scare anyone! :)

A couple of photos

A couple of photos from the cell phone camera...


Jeff and Marc

That first photo is from Saturday when Jeff, Marc and I went to Feinstein's at the Regency to see Betty Buckley. The performance wasn't fabulous, but the company was. That's what really matters!



The second photo? Well, Marc came to my office today with that vase of flowers. I work in an office with one other man (the VP) and about 18 women. I got the best flowers in the place! :)

In fact, the ladies were all atwitter before I ever got to see the flowers, since Marc had to walk through most of the department before he got to my office. One of my staff members hadn't met Marc before. So what did she say after he left? "Marc's cute!" Yes, he sure is. Not the first time I've heard it, but no one has to tell me that! He's also a Grade A sweetie!

Okay, now I'm off to molest the sweetie. ;) Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Where were the trucks?

We've known that snow was coming. Not a lot of snow, but it was predicted to be messy. Snow (a couple of inches), followed by mixed precipitation and then rain. I was at work until almost 7pm. The snow had started 4 or 5 hours earlier.

With such a small amount of snow, the roads should have been fine. It's too little for the plows to do much good, but sand and salt would prevent accidents and potentially save some lives.

Sadly, the roads were a mess and I only saw one truck the whole way home. Come on! How can they have dropped the ball? I used to work in government. I once oversaw all personnel for a 15,000-employee county, and I remember what we did when a storm was coming (or even might be coming). The short version: we had the plows and sanders rolling as soon as the snow started to accumulate.

This was pathetic. At least the rain that's supposed to start overnight should wash it away. Hey, it just clicked! Those idiots are planning to just let the rain wash it away. Why pay extra staff to drive trucks, if the rain is coming? Isn't that great? It's going through an ice phase now. I hope no one gets killed while these idiots save a few bucks on overtime.

I should blog about that

In my head today:

I should blog about that. That's interesting!

Maybe I should send myself a reminder e-mail.

Nah. No way I'll forget before I get a chance to sit down at the computer.

Fast-forward to this evening.

Rats. What was that? It was going to be a good post!

*sigh*

I can't tell you how often this happens. You'd think I would have learned by now.

Are you people kidding?

Berkeley to Marines: You're 'not welcome in our city'

I hate political extremists, whether it's the right-wing, hate-filled religious zealots, or the left-wing, bleeding heart morons who are the subject of the article linked above.

Oppose the war. That's fine. In fact, I think the invasion of Iraq was an unjustified, misuse of American military power.

But to say that recruiters for the U.S. Marine Corps aren't welcome in an American city is way over the line. Quoting from the article, "the Berkeley City Council approved a measure last week urging the Marine recruiters to leave their downtown office. 'If recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.'"

Intruders? Are these people kidding? United States Marines are intruders in an American city? What? Do the big, bad Marines scare you? Fine. Don't have them over for afternoon tea, but these men and women risk--and sometimes give--their lives in the defense of this country. How dare some left-wing radicals do this? While they're so happily enjoying their free speech, they might take a moment to remember that brave men and women have fought and died to protect their Constitutional freedoms!

And if that's not enough to give these morons some manners, they might have stopped to think what their opposites were going to make of it. As the article mentions, this has played right into the hands of Republican Senator David "I may hire hookers and cheat on my wife, but I'm still holy enough to oppress the fags" Vitter of Louisiana. Nice. So now that fucker and a bunch of his buddies get to score points off of this. Good job, Berkeley!

Morons. Complete morons.

Can anyone be so busy...

...that they need to be on their cellphone while seated in a Men's Room stall?

I couldn't believe my ears. It was a business call. I can't help but wonder what the person on the other end of the line thought when he/she heard the multiple flushes that had to be audible from other parts of the bathroom, as well as the one from the guy on the phone, since even that didn't interrupt his conversation.

Granted, the people holding phones to their ears while driving are far more dangerous, but I think I'm more disturbed by this.

He's so smart, and he cares so much

I'm a lucky man to have a husband like mine.

Tonight, I suddenly felt a deep wave of depression hit me. I didn't know why, but I was incredibly sad and didn't want to do anything. We were going to watch a movie, but then I lost interest. I reached out my hand, and Marc held it.

Then he looked at his watch.

I said, "it's almost eight o'clock."

He said, "that's not what I was looking at."

I was puzzled. "What were you looking at?"

"The date." Looking right into my eyes, he looked sad and his eyes were full of sympathy and love.

Then it clicked. Today is February 5th. We're a few hours from February 6th.

On February 6, 2004, the greatest woman I've ever known, someone I loved, and still love, beyond measure, died. Tomorrow marks four years since I lost my Mom.

It hadn't entered my conscious thoughts even once today, but I guess it has been rattling around my brain. Once Marc pointed it out, I was able to face it. Now I feel better. The pain is out in the open, right where it should be.

Mouse memories

For what it's worth, this is my 888th post. Just thought that was worth sharing.

Marc and I spent time today going through a few of the many boxes of stuff stored in our garage. We moved into this house almost three years ago. When we did, we took some of our stuff and a lot of stuff from my Mom and grandmother (both of whom had died the year before) and put it in the garage. The stated intention was to go through all of it ASAP. Three years later, we're actually getting to some of it.

In one box was a bit of family history: the Havahart mouse trap (yes, it appears that they still make them). It was addressed to this address (the house we moved into three years ago--after doing some work on it--is the house in which I grew up). The postmark date was Valentine's Day 1978. The name on the address label had been scratched out. In its place, in what clearly is my pre-teen writing, was "Marvin Mouse."

It all started with my Mom noticing tiny pieces missing from Jet's Gaines Burgers (Jet being our dog and Gaines Burgers a plastic-wrapped, hamburger-like dog food she ate). After this happened a few times, we realized that it wasn't some kind of recurring factory defect. No, we had a little visitor who was helping himself to some food.

I'm from a family of animal lovers. Killing is a last resort. So no snap traps here, and especially no cruel glue traps! Those things are horrible torture devices.

My parents ordered a Havahart trap. As the cutely spelled name suggests, it's humane. It is, in essence, a cage with doors that shut when a food tray in the middle is disturbed. When it arrived, the trap was set in the cabinet below the kitchen sink. It was there overnight, and my Dad checked it before he left for work in the morning. Nothing was in it.

When I got up a little while later (in those days, I naturally woke up early--how things have changed!), I looked. There, trapped in the cage, was a little mouse. As you can tell from the re-addressing of the box upon its arrival, we had already named the mouse Marvin, before we ever laid eyes on him.

So then the question was what to do with Marvin. It was mid-winter, and we didn't know how he'd do if he was released somewhere outside. To get some information (there was no Internet for us to use then, kids--heck, we didn't even have cordless telephones... can you imagine?! *grin*), we called the people at the Tackapausha Preserve. They told us that Marvin either would die in the cold or find his way back into our house (or another house, where he might not fare so well). Either result wouldn't be good.

So we took an old fish tank (sans water, of course) and got a mesh top for it, so he could live in it. Then we got him an exercise wheel, a bottle and various other mouse supplies. Marvin stayed with us (much to Jet's dismay) for a few months, growing to be a much larger, healthier mouse in that time. He actually took to the wheel, the bottle and the rest quite quickly and did well. Once winter was behind us (in April or later, as I recall), we took him to Tackapausha Preserve to be released.

When the top of the tank was removed, Marvin jumped right out and onto the grass. He ran a little, stopped (and, it seemed to us, looked back) and then went on into the preserve. By now, almost 30 years later, he probably has many thousands of descendants there. It's a much happier ending than many in this world.

Okay, the nasty old trap (which has caught other mice in other homes over the years, include a pair in our old place) went into the trash. But it did bring back memories of a more innocent time.

-------------------------------

Side note: Yes, we're actually watching the Super Bowl. These things usually aren't great football games, but this one has been quite a nail-biter. My Dad left this earth almost 10 years ago (hard to believe, when I think about it), and he was a big Giants fan. He'd be loving this, especially with them playing against the undefeated, supposedly unstoppable Patriots. As I type this update to the post, the Giants just regained the lead. It's now 17-14 with 25 seconds remaining. Amazing.

Update: The Giants actually won! I hope heaven exists, Mom and Dad are there (as they should be) and Dad is watching the game. If he is, he's having a great time!

Aggravation

Aggravate me enough, and I'll just pay someone to avoid the headache. At least, I'll do that if it's an option.

I'll spare you the tedious details. The short version is that booking our tickets to Dublin online for our trip this June was giving me a headache. After much trying to get things how I wanted, I called American Express. I paid them a little more than I would have paid online, but a short call was all it took to get everything just the way I wanted.

I did try calling the airline directly, and I nearly lost my temper while talking to their computerized system. Note to the airlines: just because the computer has a voice, and I speak to it instead of pushing buttons on the phone, that's not the same as talking to a real human being.

So I called Amex, got a real human being and got the job done with a brief, polite conversation.

Good customer service. What a novel idea.

Perfect!

Thanks to Brad & Bob for sharing this. I love it...

Tagged

The lovely Dan tagged me with a meme. I'm not much of a meme fan, but I like Dan, so I'll play along.

Here are the rules:

-Link to the person that tagged you.
-Post the rules on your blog.
-Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
-Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
-Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Okay, so here goes.

1) I'm somewhat obsessed about security. We live in a very low-crime area *knock on cyber-wood*, but we have a very good alarm system that I try to keep set even when we're home. Considering that this is a house occupied by two men with three dogs and several guns (but that's another story), I think maybe I worry too much.

2) Okay, so I worry way too much. In particular, I worry about Marc and the pups all the time. If they're not in my sight, then I'm worrying to one degree or another. I'm sure it's not healthy, but it's how I'm programmed.

3) In the habit side of things, I cannot sleep unless I've brushed my teeth. I have a routine before bed that includes getting my teeth nice and clean. If they're not clean, I'm not comfy.

4) I like things clean, but I don't have to be neat. I don't like a mess, but if the mail stacks up until I find time to go through it and throw out all the junk, I can live with that. That's not to be confused with cleanliness. Despite the ongoing best efforts of the dogs to stop me, I try (with Marc's help) to keep this house free of dirt.

5) Despite my not being obsessed with neatness, many of my things have a "right place" to be. For example, when I'm home, my keys go on the right side of the third step of the stairs to the second floor. Marc has even teased me, because many items not only "belong" in a certain place but need to be oriented a certain way when they're stored.

6) When I'm enjoying a book, I have the bad habit of staying up way too late reading it (I read a lot to relax before going to sleep). If I'm nearing the end of the book, this can be especially problematic. "Nearing the end" can translate to "within 100-200 pages of the end," so I've stayed up until the sun's nearly up. That can be a very bad thing, especially when I have to get up for work that morning.

Okay, that concludes my six non-important things/habits/quirks. I'll now ignore the rest of the rules, because I don't want to inflict this upon anyone else. If you want to do this on your blog, you may self-tag. :)

Oh, no. What sad news.

I just turned on the five o'clock news and learned that Heath Ledger is dead. How terrible.

I don't find it sad because he was so handsome, which he was, but because he seemed like a nice, talented young man. The loss of such a young man is always sad, and I suppose our modern era, when technology makes even the famous seem like people we know, makes it sadder still.









Rest in Peace.

Well, this should be fun

Wall Street set to plunge

Greetings from down south

We're in Atlanta. It's our annual trek down here to help Marc's mom celebrate her birthday. The gang has gone off to afternoon church, so I have a little time for some blogging (to be followed by erasing of browser history, deletion of all offline files, etc., lest anyone be tempted to follow the trail!). :)

I know it's January, but the cold is unbelievable for Atlanta. With that said, we've encountered this before. By now, I shouldn't be surprised. Clearly, Atlanta is capable of having cold snaps.

It got down to the teens, and there was some ice this morning. Yesterday, it even snowed. It was just enough snow to cover lawns and bushes, but you'd think a blizzard was coming, considering the way the TV news coverage was going and people were near-panicked around here.

Last night, they spent so long covering the "snowstorm" on the news, with reporters standing in front of spotless roads and parking lots, that I thought someone must have sprayed a hallucinogenic substance over the area (but missed us). We gave up and turned off the TV after about 10 minutes of watching them blather on about the snowstorm that didn't drop enough snow for it to be visible on television!

Blizzards notwithstanding, the visit has been going nicely. Marc's family hasn't driven either of us insane so far. The hotel (a Doubletree) is nice, and the room was quite inexpensive. I even like the shower. It has twin spray heads and is nice and big. There's even a feature where this guy joins you, soaps you all over, rinses you and then kneels down and... Oh, never mind. That's not a Doubletree feature. I brought that with me! (But it makes for one fine shower!) ;)

Okay, now I have to go review a resume (or curriculum vitae, for the spiffier among you). One of Marc's relatives is retiring and planning to do some consulting on the side. Being the family HR person, I've been asked to do a review. (Yesterday, since I'm also the family lawyer, I was asked for free legal advice.) The fun never stops! :)

Tired

As I begin typing this entry, it's 10:20pm. I don't get enough sleep. Most nights, I think to myself (and Marc and I often say to each other) that we should go to sleep at a nice, early hour. 9:30 is good. It's not like there's much worth watching on TV, and we're up early most mornings.

So how often do we get to bed at 9:30? Oh, maybe once every month or two. How about 10:30? More often, but still not the majority of the time.

Most nights, it's 11pm or later, and that's just not good. I feel better when I get a good night's sleep. Plus, my diet goes better (I really have noticed a difference when I eat well and get enough sleep), and it's just healthier overall.

So why am I blogging? Well, I felt guilty for not writing anything since Sunday. That's funny, since I tell friends that the blog is for them, so they shouldn't feel an obligation to write. Yes, easier said than done.

Here I sit, blogging about not heading to bed early enough. Brilliant. I'll head up shortly. And then I'll read a book! *sigh*

I know better, and I still can't help myself. Is there a 12-step program for the sleep-deprived? In the words of Lili von Shtupp, I'm tired!

When in doubt, post rugby photos

Marc and I had a fun yesterday with Byrne and Patrick, but I will leave it to Marc to post about that.

Instead, I will follow up on a post from last month. I shared some photos from the muddy rugby finals and said I'd share more. So now it's time for that sharing...























I'll stop there and save a few for another time.

Mandy photos, for no particular reason

(Click on them for bigger versions)


Miss M, not long after her recent bath

Can you see how happy she is in the above photo? Thrilled beyond repair. If she were any happier, she'd be trying to eat the camera.


A shot of her looking more like her usual pretty self

Simple joys

Mandy has a good view of life. She doesn't need anything fancy. Her chow once a day and a few treats in the evening. Some water a few times a day. Aside from that? Hanging out with her family. Having a good nap now and then. Running around and playing, and, from time to time, a nice stick.

While putting Mandy and her siblings out for a morning visit to the back yard, I filled the bird feeder. After we all had finished our tasks, we headed back into the sunroom. That's when I looked down and saw that Mandy was bringing a stick inside with her.

So I got her to give me the stick, and the two of us went back out (we don't bring sticks into the house). I threw the stick for her, and she ran to get it. Then she took it, found a nice spot on the grass and went to work chewing it up. That's really all she needs.

I like some of the more complicated things in life, but sometimes I envy Mandy her simple pleasures. Not that I want to chew up a stick, but I think her overall approach is pretty good. Nothing fancy. Just enjoy life.

Hillary for President

I can't say that I've been a big Hillary Clinton fan. I find her to be too scripted, and I don't really think she'd make a great neighbor. With that said, after watching last night's debates, she seems to be the best choice for President.

I watched the Republicans, and there were some good answers from that side. All well and good, but they're as conservative as ever and beholden to the religious right. So, barring some really extraordinary turn of events in the next ten months, I will be voting for the Democratic nominee.

Turning to the Democrats, I don't dislike any of them, but I'm concerned by the emotional tide pushing Barack Obama forward. He seems smart and likable, but he's too green. Yes, change is nice, but change for the sake of change isn't anything I can support.

For the most part, each of them has decent stands on social issues, although I don't find 100% agreement with any of them. What really clinched it for me was last night's dual questions about a terrorist nuclear attack on an American city. Yes, we need to do more to detect weapons of mass destruction before they can be used, but, when it came to taking a position to prevent such an attack and responding to such an attack, should it come to pass, only one person gave the right answer, and that was Senator Clinton.

This may seem harsh, even frightening to some, but history has shown us that there is only one proper answer to a nuclear attack. Horrifying as it may sound, that response must be complete destruction. It's the position that prevented World War III, and it must be the price paid if such an attack should occur here.

But if these are terrorists, not a country, attacking us, how can that be the answer? Senator Clinton hit it on the head. There are countries that harbor terrorists. We know it. The world knows it. Those countries will only work to stop these schemes if the potential price is so high that it outweighs the secret glee they get from seeing their homegrown terrorists carry out plots around the world and/or the internal difficulty they will face in rooting out the terrorists.

The message to those who harbor terrorists must be, if those terrorists explode a nuclear device in an American city, the United States will bring annihilation to your door.

I'm sorry if any of you find that position frightening, but that's what Hillary Clinton said (although she put it in the slightly more acceptable diplomatic wording commonly used on the world stage), and she was absolutely correct. Harbor a terrorist who brings massive destruction to our shores, and you will pay the ultimate price.

The world is a very dangerous place, and we must be prepared to defend ourselves effectively in that world. Anyone unprepared to give that response is unprepared to serve as the Commander-in-Chief.

Old friends lost

Today, I was reminded that it's been much too long since I last saw my law school friend Mike. So I looked him up on New York's attorney search site. He's working for the state now (he was with a big law firm at last check), and I sent him an e-mail to say hi. I hope to hear back soon.

So then I thought, "As long as I'm looking, I wonder how Mario is doing." Another old law school friend. So I went back to the search page and entered this friend's name. Sure enough, it listed him as a member of the Bar, but then I saw the status and my blood ran cold: "Deceased."

I felt tears well. I did more online searching and found that he died just last year. I feel like I just missed him. I feel like I've suffered a loss.

I also feel guilty. I should have done a better job of staying in touch. Yes, that's a two-way street, but I still feel... well, I guess none of the emotions related to losing a friend are particularly good, even if it's a friend with whom I'd lost touch.

I need to be better about these things. Life is too short!

Rest in peace, Mario.

New Year's Day and doggie birthdays

At the stroke (and watching poor Dick Clark brings new meaning to that) of midnight, we celebrated the New Year, as well as the birthdays of both Bernice and Dodger.

(To digress for a moment, can someone please get Dick Clark to retire this year? I hope he has a wonderful quality of life, but I think he's past his "Rockin'" years. It's like Sinatra when he kept singing long after his singing voice had left him. Leave people with the memories of you at your best, Dick!)

The festivities were mostly indoors. We had a great dinner and drinks with our friends Jon and Michelle, featured in the prior post after one end of their house got toasted. Then, at midnight, we wore our hats and blew horns to celebrate. We even had a shower of confetti (courtesy of spring-loaded confetti shooters), but we took that part of the celebration to the front lawn to minimize the mess in here.


Confetti fallout on the front lawn

Make a note somewhere. Dogs don't like party horns! They literally attacked them every time we used them.

So we moved on to the part of the party that the dogs like, their birthday party! They like it, because they get cake!


The remains of the cake. Hey, wasn't that a movie? No? :)

Of course, the dogs did get into the New Year's spirit. They insisted on wearing the hats. (Okay, maybe we forced them, but it's a small price to pay for cake!)


Bernice on her 10th birthday


Mandy, as she wonders why we do these things to her


Dodger on his 7th birthday (we think... sort of... okay, we're guessing, but we think we're pretty close)

You can see how cooperative Dodger is in that last photo. He wore the hat for about a millisecond. He kept flipping it off in an instant. That's why I couldn't get a shot without Marc in the background.

But all was well in the end. Each of the kids got big pieces of cake, and they were happy puppies!

On that note, I hope 2008 brings happiness and good health to all of you!