Big House Little Dogger

Friday Cat Blogging

TGIF

Email #1 :

Reminder!!!
Bunny Due Date is Monday, April 2nd.

We've collected about 50 bunnies, but normally have over 150 :-( , so let's all go shopping asap!! Please see attached message from your Bunny Central office. It's time again for our annual Easter Bunny Drive (or any stuffed toy animal you'd like to donate) . As always....Thanks so much for your generosity and compassion for North Carolina's sick children and elderly populations!!

Email # 2 :

Hi all,

Please read the email below regarding the replacement of the chiller in the Our building. This work is scheduled to begin next week and may take up to a month to complete. We will be without air conditioning during this time. Building management have requested that the work be delayed until we move from this building and we were informed that this is not possible because the work is under contract and affects folks in the Clark building as well.

We have requested fans to help cool the building and move the air. If you have other suggestions to make working conditions on hot days more tolerable, I will welcome your ideas.

Chief

We blew off the bunnies and the poor and the infirm and now Gawd is smiting us. This is our fault. Not my fault because, you know, I came across with the bunny's - but the rest of those unfeeling sonsofbitches, I really hope they feel bad. They totally won't, but I think some of us should get first dibs on those fans, that's all...And do you think anyone at work is going to see the connection? Nah. They think that this pollen season is either a government plot to poison us or a really insidious form of terrorism. I kid you not. They talked about this at length.

But today we talked about trying to stay cool. A number of people suggested that we all just kind of become home based for the duration - this oddly, was not met with much enthusiasm from management , who went on to suggest popsicles as a good heat beater. We then suggested frozen margaritas. Management suggested Popsicles.

I know that this weekend when I'm out shopping for workplace casual swim suits, tee shirts and shorts to wear to the office - where we'll be even longer then we were supposed to, "first week of May" is now "Maybe, June?" - I am totally going to pick up some bunnies.

And I'll huff and I'll puff and blow your war down...

The U.S. Senate today passed a war spending bill that would require U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of March 2008, ignoring a veto threat from President Bush.

But, yay! for the good guys any way - took them a while to remember why we elected them in the first place.

Wednesday

Okay, Monday it was freezing in the office. We all complained all day about how cold we were. I hated the entire world.

Wednesday it was hot. Very hot. There are only so many layers of clothing one can take off and not end up the pre-curser of a hastily assembled sexual harassment seminar.

Even with the vast temperature fluctuations I have not yet been able to develop a good workers comp level case of pneumonia! I hate being thwarted. You would think that TPTB would care that the fluctuations in temperature are bad for the computers -we know they could care less about us, but gawd, someone think of the computers!

According the NWS it should be only in the 50s Thursday, it is also supposed to rain. We’ll see. Dogger and I had a very good time at the dog park last night broken up early by thunder - it never rained. There was a perfectly good tiny dog to admire as well as a monster Great Dane to stare at. Occasionally the Dane would wander past where the tiny dog was and just look at it. You could see him thinking My God! What happened to you? Where is the rest of you? My chew toys weigh more than you! My ears weigh more than you!. The tiny dog for her part pretended she was in a nice glass menagerie or some heiresses purse far away from four footed aircraft carriers.

Little dogs can dream but I still have work to do.

I just tried to get into the system we have to use to order office supplies. I of course, can not remember my password or log in. I remembered the last time, oh, weeks ago, but now I am at a loss. It would be so much easier if I didn’t have to know how to do this. I took down my how to manual but it was less then helpful, taking into account that any problem I would have would happen after I successfully logged myself in. They also take for granted that I bothered to right down the password and whatever user name I was assigned. How could they be so thoughtless?

I managed to lock myself out of the system. Terrific. I call the number the manual provides and they tell me they can’t help me and that I should contact my “security coordinators” and do I know who my security coordinators are? Oh course not.

Why is it when they make the move to streamline things they are never streamy or linn-ie? They always create a half a dozen hoops that must be jumped through or over just to do something as simple as ordering 3x5 cards. It shouldn’t be a big issue.

Let see Monday it was an ice box in here and Wednesday it’s an inferno. My knees are sweating.

I have perfectly good candy sitting here that I can not eat because it’s turning into hot chocolate and it’s too hot for hot chocolate and I would put it in the freezer but I know better then to leave candy unguarded and people around here treat any food stuff left unattended as communal property. You could mark something PROPERTY OF ME! MY PROPERTY DO NOT EAT and all they would see was the EAT part.

I keep trying to get back into the office supply ordering program but it is sulking because I forgot to remember my password and username and now it thinks I don’t care about it.

Still locked out and the “security co-coordinator” hasn’t gotten back to me. I’m feeling insecure now; perhaps I’ll go pout with the program.

Tuesday

They may have fixed my work computer. Or not. They keep saying they have fixed my computer but it doesn’t stay that way. Once upon a time it would do this one task. It was very good at the task and did it happily. Then, one day it decided it didn’t want to do the task anymore and began to spew error message after error message after error message at me. I tried to offer it milk of mag but it didn’t want any. Computers are very picky about their OTC medications. So I called the TI person and she came and did whatever it is IT people do and then she conferenced with other TI people and they all proclaimed it fixed and then two days later it was unfixed again. So far there have been no fewer than four teleconferences about this. I believe it’s going to get written up in some IT journal. My fear is they’ll send some IT equivalent of House in to deal with it and they’ll have to kill my machine to save it.

Whatever. If it doesn’t get fixed that just means there is one less task for me to perform. I’m good with it. I would be totally willing to let it go and move on but our IT person isn’t as willing to do that and neither is my boss - and so IT keeps coming back with new things to do to the machine. A new driver, and new pathway, removing and restoring programs – all kinds of stuff.

Anyway. What a difference a day makes, yesterday if she had fallen out of the sky to play with my machine I would have strafed her with mortar fire on the way down. I was not feeling it. I was cold, behind on my work and beset by morons. All day.

I came home, changed clothes and hid under a blanket. I was really mean to Dogger. I put out her outside and just left her there until I felt like going and getting her. She was trapped in the yard by herself for over and hour! In her halter! She was waiting to go to the park – which, in my defense I never told her we were going to, but nothing says “Dog Park” to Dogger like her halter. I would have taken her but I was cold and the blanket was warm and the Kitty was on the blanket.

Dogger gave me a dirty look when I roused myself and brought her in to eat. She knew I was too lazy to take her anywhere, she always knows. I should have just stuck her in the yard in just her collar, that way she would know there wasn’t anything in the offing. She wasn’t going in the car, no walk no nothing. Just a nice warm day to wander around the backyard. How she suffers.

I felt so crummy that I made Mac and cheese and tuna for dinner.

I also had to face an entire evening devoid of 10 year old sitcom reruns! Hateful Netflix. I was forced to watch a CSI-Miami rerun! I mean, really! I wonder if the other CSI’s pretend they don’t know them? I haven’t watched it in a while, since I started watching Studio 60, which is most likely canceled sob!. I was kind of half heartedly taping Miami, but after I didn’t bother watching any of them, I stopped taping.

I think I would now say that Miami is almost as funny as any sitcom on TV – funnier then anything on CBS and a lot funnier than what passes for comedy on the netlets . Who would have thought that David Caruso was such a comedian? I dare you to watch any given episode and not bust out laughing at least once before the opening credits roll.

Good Morning America! (enjoy it while you can)


U.S. show of force in Persian Gulf

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. Navy on Tuesday began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran.

The maneuvers bring together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes.

The U.S. exercises come just four days after Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines who Iran said had strayed into Iranian waters near the Gulf. Britain and the U.S. Navy have insisted the British sailors were operating in Iraqi waters.

Monday, Monday

Have you ever had one of those day when everyone did what they could to annoy you?

By about 9 am I was hating people for no reason. They were in the office just so they could annoy me. All this extracurricular irritants made my regularly scheduled work go very slowly. I couldn’t get through anything without being stopped at least once by someone trying to annoy me. And if it wasn’t my co-workers ganging up on me it was the callers. I hate the public.

It started out so well too. My alarm work me up! This never happens. Usually I’m up every couple of hours wether I want to or not. Kitty does his part but sometimes I wake up just to see what time it is or to assure myself I set my alarm or that I have not yet slept through my alarm. The one day I sleep through the night I wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

I was fine when I got to work, where the A/C was set to stun - With enough time to play with the computer. Everything was good. Until. Until I wanted to check in at TwoP - I really hate those people but I want to assure myself that I am not the only one watching Raines, you should try it, it’s kind of like if Monk only taller, without the OCD but with delusions and more bodies, it’s like if Medium was actually suffering from hallucinations. I’m going to lose interest though if our hero doesn’t get laid or throw a tantrum or something because otherwise the shows plots are really Matlock level who-done-it’s - and this from someone who enjoys the My First Mystery storylines of Monk .

And then I started my work day. I should have gone home when the messages on the answering machine made me want to hurt someone. It’s not the callers faults, their just all uniformly mentally ill and I should be used to this by now - and currently none of the callers are calling from psych wards seven or eight times in a row - to tell me that they shouldn’t be locked up because they really don’t belong here - trust me, if you are calling from a locked ward - You belong there. I really did go about a week with listening to messages from a “client” who said he changed his name to Bill Shakespeare and he called the machine at all hours to talk about what a complete and total nut job he was. Actually, he didn’t talk about being a nut job, he talked about so many things he inadvertently told me he was a nut job - in so many words, like 172,000 words - every night. Crazy people love to tell other people how really, really sane they really are and how they are the only person on their ward that isn’t completely out of their minds and that all of this is a mistake and they can not understand why the cops brought them in.

Do you know how crazy you have to be before the cops will bring you in? You have to be displaying enough insanity that they cops can feel comfortable taking a break from arresting drug dealers just to get you off the streets. The cops have to feel that you need to be taken off the streets more than a drug dealer. Then they have to fill out paperwork to lock your crazy ass up for 48-72 hours - during which time, you call my answering machine between 48 and 72 times.

The Raleigh-er

I had Saturday lined up. I was going to sleep late, because I can then I was going to do the laundry because I need to and then I was going to mow the lawn because I should. It was time.

Paper read, laundry started. I went to the shed to get the gas can, it would need to be filed before I could mow the yard. After having figured out how to lock the screen door, I left Dogger shut in the entry way and went to get the gas can.

It was full.

I could mow the yard now. I wasn’t ready to mow the yard now. The plan was going to be walking down the street to buy gas then I was going to find my mowing-the-lawn shorts then I was going to mow, I haven’t found my shorts yet! I mean, I have a pair of shorts, but I didn’t want to wear them, I wanted to wear my other shorts. From last summer. Mowing now was blowing my plan.

I prepared to mow the yard in sweat pants.

First I put gas in the mower.

Then I forced the mower - the mower has issues, out to the front and tried to start it. It didn’t start. I then went to push the little button thingy on the side. There was gas leaking out of the button thingy on the side, there was also gas leaking from what appears to be a lawn mower air filter. It was running, really, flowing out of the air filter. My neighbor down the street is washing her car and a river of water is flowing in the gutter. The irony is not wasted.

I yank on the cord again. Nothing. When I press the button it makes a wet, squishy sound. More cord yanking more nothing. I push the soggy button again. Gas dribbles out, but does not flow. I see this as an improvement. And I try again. And . Again. And again. My shoulder hurts.

I give up. I go inside and read The New Yorker where I scan the cartoons and read a story about bored, wealthy Manhattanites who feel tragically unfulfilled by their hobbies. This unhappiness forces them to drink heavily at their children’s play dates. I hate them.

I am assuming they are unhappy because they live in a world bereft of over grown front yards and broken lawn mowers . They are unhappy because even with all their money and free time they do not have their own broken law mowers, or tragically over grown front yards that they need to mow but can not. I am of course projecting.

HAPPY SUNDAY !!!!!!!!

HAPPY SATURDAY !!!!!!

Friday Cat Blogging

Tilting at windmills

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to require President Bush to pull U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by fall 2008, despite a White House veto threat.

Sigh

Britain's Ministry of Defense confirms to CNN that Iranian naval vessels have seized 15 British Navy personnel on patrol in the Persian Gulf.

full story here

Hopping down the bunny trial - to disaster!

I sent myself an email today. It says simply: BUNNY RABBITS

Yes. Spring is in the air. Along with the pollen, it is now Bunny Collection Season. There are reminders on all our doors at work, sadly, this year they are black and white because the color printer hates us. It stopped working last summer and another is “on order” but for the time being the broken one is still sitting in the office blinking at us. I miss the color bunnies. In black and white you can mistake them for a flyer for yet another church fish fry or choir recital. The bunnies need to be in color.

Every year we, the state employees get together and buy lots and lots of stuffed bunnies and every year I hopelessly over think the whole thing until I am paralyzed . I didn’t do that this year.

No, this year I thought ahead. This year I got my bunnies last year. I bought really nice bunnies the day after Easter. This year I didn’t have to stress myself over the plethora of cheap ass stuffed rabbits that would never ever live up to my exacting stuffed bunny standards. The dollar stores do not have the standards I do.

They have all these bunnies with wire ears! and ribbons! Ribbons that could be choking hazards or used to self hurt - There are mentally Ill people everywhere! And other people who may not know what they are doing. Don’t think that just because Grandma is in Ye Olde Old Folks Relaxorama that Grandma is surrounded by old folks. No. They have been emptying out the funny farms for decades and not all the former mental patients live in your neighborhood - Some do! Don’t think they don’t. There are group homes ev.re.y.where. I have to think about that when I am buying a bunny that could harboring a weapon. I don’t want to hear about some old person who got poked in the eye with a wayward bunny ear or that some crazed person did something unspeakable with that cute bow.

And, and, I have my own Bunny issues. I will not buy a bunny with “Jesus Saves” anywhere on it’s fuzzy body. No Sir. And no camo bunnies either. And no gun toting bunnies and no Barbie Bunnies or NASCAR Bunnies or sports themed bunnies or bunnies playing instruments or wearing shades. And also no pink, blue, green, lavender or yellow bunnies or white bunnies that have eyes any color other than pink... Sorry, if it doesn’t appear in nature it doesn’t appear in the basket. The world is full of inappropriate bunnies this time of year. Won't someone think of the children? how hurt are they going to be when they find out that in real life, there are no pink bunnies. Shopping at Wal-Mart this time of year can be very disheartening to the bunny purist.

I don’t think I’m asking too much. I’m just always looking for a tan or brown rabbit in a natural pose without wires in the ears or with a bow around its neck and no whiskers either, whiskers are just sharps in disguise and also, if possible, eyes that can not be flicked off, embrodered eyes are ideal.

You don’t want to go bunny shopping with me. It’s a very long, tedious process that rarely ends well - I mean, I’m happy because I see myself as looking out for my fellow man, so if I don’t find a bunny on this trip, I’m also not adding to the collection of killer rabbits.

Maybe I should go look at those bunnies I bought last year. trots off

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Two white bunnies with brown eyes! with ribbons around their necks and not terribly secured ribbons either! One looks like it’s wearing a really cute scarf! Oh The Rabbianity! And the other is wearing ducky slippers!

I’m not going to panic. It may not even be an issue, after all some of the bunnies end up with quadriplegics and coma patients. Others are put up on shelves out of reach...

Hi, My Name is Diana and I am a Rabbocrit.

Los Lonely Dog

I went to the dog park today and didn’t know a soul! It was so wrong. It was like it was a Saturday. I hate Saturdays at the dog park - the people are such snobs. There was hardly anyone there and the few of them that were there all knew each other. It was so definitely a Saturday. On a Wednesday! don't these people know their place? There are weekday people and there are weekend people. Gawd.

I don’t know how it was Saturday on Wednesday but there it was. I first thought “Well, maybe everyone is just adjusting their park going time now that it’s lighter longer. But I was there at 6 and while I been there around five since the last time change, at six, most of my people would still be there. We’ve all been talking about how nice it is to not have to rush to get there at five. I thought about going early, but I was knee deep in the last Murder One episodes and I really wanted to see what happened - Nothing by the way, the got cancelled and there was no official end to the show and so that kind of sucked. I watched these last summer and I didn’t remember that bummer aspect of the DVDs.

So. Two hours into Ned and Stacey I’m still not sure what I saw in it. It’s not just stupid, their Mama dressed them funny too. It’s a sitcom and everything, but damn, its just so bad and it’s not just the clothes - but damn, tights with everything? but then I went and looked at the blurb on the mailer and suddenly it all made sense, 1995 . I think I wore tights with everything in 1995. I think in 1995 I was in temp job hell. Pre- nursing home, post Barney. I also noticed two hours in to Ned and Stacey that Thomas Hayden Church isn’t anywhere near as hot as I remember thinking he was; I also now know why he didn’t win the Oscar(tm) that time - two hours with him is a very, very long time . I’m totally going to soldier through the rest of the episodes,though, but mostly because I’m pretty sure that Will and Grace used the same sets and I want to make sure. I am sure though that Debra Messing lost a lot of weight between the two shows.

Back to the park. Dogger was so bored she took to chasing a fluffy white dog! She hasn’t chased fluffy white dogs in like forever! The fluffy white dog’s people weren’t so sure about my big orange dog chasing their fluffy white dog. Their loss. Dogger was really bummed by all the strangers. She galloped into the park and was all “My People My people!!!” And then was like “Whoa! Where are my people?”. She did her rounds of where the people sit and she didn’t know any of them. She was in doggy shock. It was very sad.

A half hour later we left. I fed Dogger and dove into my DVD player.

Here comes the sun...

House panel votes to allow subpoenas in attorney firings

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Democrats voted Wednesday to give their leaders the authority to force White House officials to testify on the firings of U.S. attorneys.

Rerunning and running and running

Saturday, I was shivering in a snow suit, Tuesday I was sweating in shorts. Is it any wonder I have a head cold all year round? Of course I had to change into pants and a sweater once I got home, but that’s only because my house is an icebox until the moment it isn’t and after that point it is a hibachi.

I also hate this time of year because we are inundated with reruns and so I am forced to watch 22 hours of Murder One (second season) back to back to back with only brief respite so I can go to work. But it get s worse. As soon as I am finished with Murder One I’m on to Ned and Stacy. The only thing standing between me and 22 straight hours of that, is Netflix’s delivery policy and the first run Bones tonight and the new Boston Legal last night. I do have back up though, I still have Hogan’s Heroes standing by.

I like Boston Legal but the more I watch it the more I wish someone would have frozen James Spader back in 1986 or fed him a tape worm or something because boyfriend has gotten fat. If he were a woman he would have been punted off the lot a long time ago. I’ve gained too, but I was never Steph in Pretty in Pink. I do have to give the costume people on that show credit, they manage to find very masculine muu-mus for him to wear every week. I’m also happy that at his age 48! he’s not playing a grandfather on some kiddie soap opera on ABC Family or guesting on JAG Most of the other actors I was a fan of back in the day have been sent out to the Hallmark Channel pasture . James Spader must have lived a very good life because he looks a lot better than the much younger ( and thinner) Andrew McCarthy . Spader is older and fatter but he’s not making soppy romances for Hallmark Channel.

Hogans Heroes, sigh.I would have it watched eons ago but I Netflixed Auto Focus last summer and that kind of put me off Hogan for a while. I can't enjoy Hogan's Heroes until I can watch it with out thinking Hmmm. They showed this scene in the movie. He left from there and went and edited a film of a “date” he had with a 300 pound hooker, a vacuum cleaner, and a collie.... I'll enjoy Hogans Heroes more when I can watch Bob Crane and only see Col. Hogan.

Hmm. I may not be there yet. It’s weird. I watch Match Game reruns, and seeing Big King Perves-A-Lot, the very pervert who led Bob Crane down the pervert path... The pervi-ist pervert who ever perved, Richard Dawson, doesn’t bug me at all, in fact back in ‘74, he was kind of hot. I am so going to hell. In my defence, Dawson was/is a good liberal, while Crane died a hard right winger -which frankly rates only slightly lower on the “How Disturbing Do I Find This” big board then his sex addiction and porn fetish -because essentially the only person he harmed was himself, and eventually, had he lived, he would have supported whatever puppy stomping the RNC told him to. Really, I have to concentrate on Colonel Hogan, Colonel Hogan, Colonel Hogan.

Let the Lying begin!

The White House will allow key presidential aide Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers to be interviewed by committees probing the firings of U.S. attorneys, but they will not testify under oath, Rep. Chris Cannon says.

Socks

I am so over this winter. On Thursday I pulled out shorts to wear for walking the dog because it was so warm, by Saturday I was dressed in a ski suit wondering just how long it was going to take for my fingers and toes to stop hurting and get numb all ready.

When you’re warm you hardly even notice your feet are wet and when you do its’ like “oh. I hope the water doesn’t mess up my shoes”. Speaking of wet shoes and socks. I wanted to get nice heavy socks to wear. I couldn’t wear the shoes I wanted to wear as they have apparently been sucked up into some alternate reality and are no longer in this one. I looked and looked and those puppies are simply not in my house or my car, or on this planet any longer. I wore then last week and now they are just gone and I know I didn’t leave them at the dog park. It’s just weird. Any way. I needed socks to wear with the default shoes, I would have needed them with the right shoes too, but now I was annoyed about it. I needed big, thick, padded socks. My only concern was it might be hard to find them this time of year since I see heavy socks as a winter item. Little did I know.

Okay. I went to the store and found (finally) the sock isle. I started in the ladies sock section because, you know, I’m a girl. Well, after searching there I discovered that in Wal-Martland, girls and women don’t need nice, thick, heavy padded socks. Wal-Mart doesn’t think girls and women need to protect their feet from blisters or cold. Girls and women don’t wear heavy hiking boots or walking shoes. In Wal-Mart’s world view girls and women and their dainty little feet are carried everywhere they go and as such, have no need for protective foot wear. If the aliens who stole my shoes came to Wal-Mart they would think they were supposed to be worn with either stockings or cute anklets and they would get blisters and they would blow us up. I know I would.

I had to first go find then go digging around in the Men’s sock isle to find a pair of appropriate socks and according to Wal-Mart all men are stomping around on great big gun boats. It’s so totally phallic. In the men’s defense, in Wal-Marts world view all men spend their days charging around construction sites or working on a line somewhere. They had a lousy selection of men’s dress socks.

Have you ever gone on a bus trip? Did you notice how much longer the trip home is compared to the trip there? I mean, good Gawd, I thought I was going to die! I swear the bus made a swing though Louisiana on the way from DC to Raleigh. The trip to DC took four, five hours tops and that was with a couple of stops. The trip back was 15 hours or seven – it was really, really, really long. I knew we were in trouble when we blew right past the exit for “Raleigh – Downtown” sign. By the time we finally got home I was in my Imustleaverightnowgetmeoffthisthingnownownow place that I go to whenever I fly and the plane has landed and the door is open and I have to wait more than say, fifteen seconds to get off the plane. I’m standing there with my carry on and I am ready to go, go, go! and I seem to be the only one who wants to get off the plane. Everyone else stands around a blinks at each other instead of getting their stuff and deplaning. It makes me feel crazy on a plane; I was feeling down right insane waiting to get off the bus.

FYI

WHAT: Student Walk Out Against the War

WHO: All Students, Raleigh students from Green Hope High School, Enloe
High, Raleigh Charter, Cary High School and NC State University already
organizing to walk-out.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 20th, 11am

WHERE: Walk-Out then Converge at NC State Univ. Bell Tower on Hillsborough
St.

World Peace Puppy Puppy for World Peace

When Diana went marching off again...

You may have heard there were protests this weekend. Or not, if they didn't happen in your city or you didn't go - you may very well not know that tens of thousands of people did go.

Oddly, despite the number of TV trucks that I saw



...the coverage was minimal, I can bet you heard about the handful of counter protesters who showed up and I'll bet that you heard about the arrests. There were five the day of rally and those people intentionally aggravated the park police. Did you hear that the SDS is back? - expect more arrests. I did learn that they make riot gear for police horses and that the park police come with their very own tear gas canisters. This was the fourth time I've done this and I've never seen that level of "preparedness". It was a little off putting.

photo from A.N.S.W.E.R


But, the rest of us kept our cool...




...Which wasn't hard because it was colder than a witches tit!

If you ever want to feel at one with George Washington and his troops, cross the Potomac during a strong wind and freezing temperatures. The two dozen leather c clad Bikers For Bush/counter-protesters/mercenaries lined up before the bridge and shouted obscenities and pro-war, pro-Bush rubbish. The obscenities were aimed at the women and girls marching. Such butch guys the Bikers For Bush, picking on the woman and girls. I think they also failed to keep in mind that just about everyone was carrying a sign on what could, should it be needed, as a club. Don't mess with chicks who are armed. Exspecally a bunch of chicks, we could peck you to death.

The Bikers For Bush were also carrying signs that at first glance, appeared to be home made. But...they were all the same size, used the time type face and employed the same colors. And were not in anyway blowing around in the 20 MPH wind. In my experience home made signs are hand written, employee mixed media, and get ripped apart in the wind.

I was a little curious about the genesis of our leather clad friends. The theme of this rally was "From Protest to Resistance" ( which was oddly used by the SDS back in the day) They pushed for sit ins, walk outs and individual acts of disobedience. They speakers mentioned the counter protester's over and over and over again. There have been counter protesters at every rally I have attended and they have never been validated in any way and this time every speaker mentioned them or refered to the group as "Bush's' Puppets" . I think they were there as props. The rally never went close to the Vietnam Memorial - which is why allegedly our leather clad buddies were in attendance. I think the rumors about the activities at the site were circulated with the idea that people like that would show up and act as a foil for the assembled masses. It made me very suspicious.

Ever wonder what the Socialist movement is up to? They are alive and well and publishing newspapers. Lots and lots of newspapers. Every socialist group has their own newspaper and they all wanted to give me a copy. Everyone with anything to flog, had some handout to publicize it. Where were we supposed to put all these things? everybody had some card or some hand out they kept offering. I didn't want any, no one wanted any! What were we supposed to do with them? If it had been less windy we might have burned them for warmth - but how could we, between the wind and the low altitude helicopters buzzing us over head, we wouldn't have been able to keep a fire lit anyway.

Despite the cold, and the weirdness, I had a great time, but there were people on my bus for whom the day was a life changing experience; these people were having epiphanies about themselves about their country and what they can achieve as a citizen - I'm not even sure these kids bothered to vote in the past, but now, they wanted to stop the war. NC State didn't have it's own SDS chapter on Friday, by Monday, they will.

More pictures : Here

HAPPY SUNDAY !!!!!!!
HAPPY ANNIVERSORY ALPHAGAL AND BROSKY !!!!!!!

HAPPY EARLY ST. PATRICK'S DAY !!!!!!!!

Friday Cat Blogging

Party all the time

Are ya’ll all excited to hear about my exciting lunch time adventures on Wednesday? Well, let me tell you…

It started with a fascinating trip to the pet store to get new food for the Kitty! It’s always an adventure because the pet store people went off their meds and now every time I go in there they have rearranged the stock again and I have to tour the store to find the cat food again. I don’t like it. My lunch hour isn’t long enough to play hide and seek with the cat food isle. I want to get in get out and still have time to enjoy my Happy Meal across the street.

I didn’t go for the Happy Meal, instead I went to Sam’s because I needed to get my prescription refilled and I was pretty sure I had lost the Sam’s bill I had just got in the mail. I don’t know what happened to it. It arrived and then it disappeared. Gone, into the air. I don’t know if one of the Kitty ate it out of spite or I threw it away or what happened to it. I do know that it is gone and I can’t mail it in and I don’t think the spiteful Kitty is going to pay it. So. My plan was to go to Sam’s get my prescription refilled and pay my bill. I thought that all I would have to do with my bill was to go to customer service, admit what happened and show them my card and pay my bill. My $2.58 bill. I am a very high roller. So. I went to the pharmacy and then trotted down to customer service.

They wouldn’t let me pay my bill. I said But I lost it. I want to pay it now and I can. Can’t you just call up my card number and let me pay it? . No, No they can’t just call up the card number. They can take my card back to the back somewhere and play with it for fifteen minutes to ascertain what I had just purchased because I gawd forbid, didn’t have a receipt, and must have stolen a flat screen, but under no circumstances could they see how much I owed them. It was very annoying and eating into my lunch hour.

I was trying to get things done and TPTB were not cooperating with me. Here I was trying to give them money and I was being turned away!. Somewhere Sam Walton was spinning in his grave.

Speaking of the pharmacy. I told one of my co-workers about how Sam’s pharmacy is cheaper then my old pharmacy. I had the big mega-corporate nature of it, but a $4 co-pay is a $4 co-pay. I was paying $10 for the same thing. Anyway. I could not get the co-worker to understand why $4 is cheaper than $10.

Me - I pay $4.
Co-Worker - How?
Me – How? I gave them my prescription and they fill it and then they charge me $4.
Co-Worker – How does it work? Do they charge your insurance company?
Me – I don’t know. I don’t know about that end of it. They charge me $4.
Co-Worker – Do you have to have insurance?
Me – I think so.
Co-Worker – I don’t use the state insurance, I have other insurance.
Me – See if they take the insurance you use.
Co-Worker – How does it work with the insurance company?
Me - I don’t know. I don’t care. I give them $4 and they give me my script. It’s $6 cheaper then my old pharmacy.

And it went on like that, and then she wanted to ask about Wal-Mart and whether they were doing the $4 thing too. I told her I don’t know from Wal-Mart pharmacy. And then she got on the phone and called someone and then got back to me and said she didn’t think it would work and I said okay.

My life is so damn exciting sometimes.

Going, Going...

Hmmmm.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote today the use of subpoenas to compel testimony from five Justice Department officials about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

from CNN.com

Time, Time, Time

A couple of weeks ago if you hung around at the dog park until dark, you had hung around until about 6pm - but why would you do that? the Dog had been shivering in the car since 5:30. Wow. What a few weeks and thirty degrees and a time change will do.

Today I hung around the dog park until dark and it was ten to eight! !@#$*&^% I was going to miss Bones! I really had to boogie. I got home in time and lo and behold I knew one of the actors on this weeks showe pisode ( this doesn't happen outside a handful of Law and Order reruns) he played the publicists assistant. He played the same kind of nebishy part on My Name is Earl a few times too. He's not a nebishy guy, at least he wasn't when I worked with him years ago. Actually, he was kind of a hot head and a bit of a primadonna. He seems to have lost some hair along the way too, but that's beside the point. Yay for Jonathan, he was also a recurring character on Andy Richter Controls the Universe, but I never watched it because I thought it was stupid. And I'm not going to watch Andy Richter's new show because it's bumping 30 Rock.

And after Bones it was suddenly 9pm and then I had to sit there and cuddle The Kitty because he lurved me... or he lurved being near my hastily prepared dinner (Gwad Bless George Foreman), but regardless, you must take your Kitty cuddling when you can get it.... and the it was like 9:30 - totally out of no where, not because I dozed off.

So. In tomorrows post a thrilling travel logue of my busy, busy lunch hour! Woooooo!

The Office

Now this, this is what I am talking about.

The first really warm, extended daylight day of the spring. All of my dog park buddies sitting around the park bench, all of Doggers dog friends going from person to person getting pats and Dogger was having a great titme. Ahhhhh. I also got to do some research on a dog breed I had some interest in. Fox Hounds, a bit like a large beagle, I thought they would be a neat dog to have. No. They casually back the worse dog noise ever. You know that sound your dog makes when you accidently step on its foot? Or what it sounds like when a dog is being eaten slowly by a land squid? Those dogs make that noise when they are running after a stick and they don’t get it or when they think they aren’t going to get it or some dog somewhere in the world might at that moment be getting a stick.

Everyone was really genuinely concerned about Dogger and her poor little shaved self. It was really nice. I would have just stayed there, but it was getting late if not dark and it was time to go. By Friday, it’s going to be 52 and raining. In DC the high on Saturday is supposed top out at 42.

I enjoyed the warm and sunny while I could.

I had to laugh at work today. I think late last week I heard someone in the break room talking about this green meat in the refrigerator and that it had been there for a while. The solution to the green meat problem was, I understood from what I was over hearing, was to move the green meat to the front of the refrigerator so that it’s owner might notice it was green and deal with it. It was of course unthinkable that anyone else might take the initiative to get rid of the green meat themselves.

This afternoon, some one came into the office from the breakroom and said “Why is there meat taped up in the refrigerator?” and I said Wuh? and the girl said again “Why is there meat taped up in the refrigerator?”. I started laughing, and I mean, hard, because I was thinking of a slab of meat taped up somewhere. And I’m thinking, she must be kidding. And while I am laughing I’m imagining tape and meat and the refrigerator. And so I go look and I laugh some more. There is a baggy with a pork chop, a pork chop with a greenish cast to it and this baggy of greenish pork chop is taped up, inside the refrigerator, on the edge of the shelf, like an ugly tie.


AS it turned out, the meat and its baggy wasn’t just moved to the front of the shelf, it had been taped to the front of shelf and left there as some sort of object lesson to the other meat. You know, stay here long enough, become green and you too will be taped up like a Dilbert cartoon.

Now. Packing tape is not common around the office, not yet. So the taper had to leave the break room, go to the other side of the building search around and then, find some tape and then go back to the other side of the building with the tape to the break room to tape up the baggy then go back to the other side of the building to put the tape back where they found it.

Now. If the mad taper was so put out by the green meat, why didn’t they just throw it away? I did, I took the meat and marched it outside to the dumpster and threw it away. Done, finished. Took me all of three minutes. I didn’t tape it to the front of the dumpster, so that everyone could shre my outrage, I didn’t wait for someone else to take the initiative to finished the job... I can see the taper spending the last week or so watching the meat turn green and getting pissed about it. Fine. And I’m sure the taper bitched about the green meat far and wide and went on and on about how gross her co-workers are and how inconsiderate they are letting their meat get green and not throwing it away.

The green meats' owner was kind of lazy about disposing of their meat before it turned green, but at least they didn’t TAPE IT TO THE REFRIGERATOR instead of THOWING IT AWAY Gawd.

Breaking News

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says "mistakes were made" and accepts responsibility for handling the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors.

Full story here

Ye Olde School

Pope Benedict lamented that Latin, the Church's official language, was disappearing and said he wanted future priests to study Latin."Nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy in Gregorian chant," he wrote.

The 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council ended the general use of the old-style Latin Mass in favour of local languages and some parishes allowed the singing of popular songs during the Mass.

Work it 15th century style

Know your Movements

Knowledge is power. Knowledge about your neighbors is super power or in its origanal :Wissen ist Energie. Wissen über Ihre Nachbarn ist Superenergie.

That was in my mailbox.

Shockingly, its not ravings of some rabid freak, It’s from my mortgage company and it is well disguised come on to check out home prices in my zip code - which is fine. But damn! It sounds like something they would have been taught to three-year-olds under Stalin to chant as they marched in a May Day parade. It didn’t just put me in the mind of the communists, my first thought was Jawohl! I was half way to clicking my heals. I think someone hit the send button a little fast.

Speaking of things that landed in my mailbox:

Great News!!! The move to The New Building is scheduled for the week of May 7, 2007 for our Unit. Our Unit and Acute & Home Care Section will move in that week and the Nursing Home Section will move in the next week. Everyone will need to clean out their offices by April 30. May 1-4 will be used for packing. Management has made it very clear that no outdated materials/books/files will be moved. Each staff will be responsible for moving any personal items.

These were some of the original instructions provided when we were moving in August of 2006.

Employees may want to start collecting boxes used for copier paper to put their personal property in. Other things that should be noted include:

- The movers will only be moving state owned property, i.e. desks, chairs, bookshelves, file cabinets, etc.

- Employees will be responsible for moving any personal property included, but not limited to pictures, decorations, lamps, plants, fans, personal furniture, etc. Please remind employees if they currently have any personal heaters or other high voltage appliances, they should not bring these to The New Building.

- All desks and book shelves must be completely empty prior to moving.
- Two and 4 drawer file cabinets can be used to store/transport paperwork and other belongings.
- Each employee will only be allowed 4 boxes to pack their belongings pertaining to state work.

About a month prior to the move, managers will notify staff regarding what offices and zone they will reside in the New Building, so staff can label their furniture with the office number and color of zone they will be moving. This will make it much easier for the movers to move the items to the appropriate place in The New Building.

Data Management will be responsible for moving computers and related hardware, i.e. monitors, printers, etc.

I’m not getting excited about this yet . They sent this out last summer because we were going to move then too. And "the movers" mentioned? Prisoners.

Oh. I am going to the pentagon this weekend! I finally got in touch with the college kids organizing the bus. I was just in DC and I wasn't going to go to this one because while I don't loathe A.N.S.W.E.R., I have serious issues with their scatter shot world view : Everything is evol. We can't pick just one thing to be pissed about so we're pissed about everything at once! We hate Racists! We hate Sexists! We hate Homophobes! We Hate George W. Bush! Oh! The Poor Palestinians! Oh! The Poor Cuban Political Prisoners! Oh! The Poor Death Row Inmates! Oh! Guantanamo! Oh! The Sudan! Oh! The War In Iraq! Oh! New Orleans! Oh. The Futility. It's not the scope of their concern that I object to, it's their lack of priorities. It's a protest movement with ADD - and I wouldn't be going with them but they're leaving from Raleigh, right down the street from my house more or less and they aren't leaving until 5:30am! and the guy I got my el cheap-o ticket from said they are going to try to be back by "10pm, or 11 but before Midnight, totally". We'll see.

Man Up Ladies

GREENCASTLE, Ind. - DePauw University's president on Monday ordered a sorority off campus by fall after Delta Zeta kicked out nearly two dozen members and drew accusations that only attractive, popular students were asked to remain.

Well, duh! of course they kicked the ugly, unpopular girls to the curb! it's what they do! It's a sorority! Not the campus chapter of NOW.

DePauw Cuts Ties With Troubled Sorority

OGIM

I watched three movies over the weekend, but I don’t suggest watching both Tenacious D the Pick of Destiny and The Road to Perdition in the same weekend. It’s just not right. It’s all right to watch Empire Records ( collectors edition), you know, again in combination with one or the other of the others but not one after the other after the other. TDTPOD does have some genuinely funny moments but if you can only watch or stomach one Jack Black movie per annum watch School of Rock or High Fidelity, he’s in that one but he’s not the lead. A little Jack Black goes a long way.

What else did I do? Well, Saturday night I cleaned out and organized my linen closet. Yes, I party hard. I was hoping that a big wad of cash had leached out of the walls since the last time I poked around in there, but sadly, other than yet another box of Christmas cards I came up empty. I do however have enough unopened boxes of Christmas cards to open my own Hallmark It’s an option I should keep on the table.

I took Dogger back to the park on Friday. She had a great time and it was nice to see my friends again. I think that I should have given it a couple of more days though. Maybe waited until she was finished with her course of antibiotics... She was fine while she was there, great even, as happy as a dog could be. But Saturday she was back to sleeping all day. But maybe she sleeps every Saturday. Maybe that’s just what she does on Saturdays. Hell maybe she sleeps all day everyday and I’m not usually spending my waking hours watching her sleep. I don’t know, I never kept track of what she was doing! She’s a dog! It’s not like she’s packing a day runner or a blackberry. I really never paid much attention to what she was doing. As long as she wasn’t shredding the electric bill or tormenting the Kitty I really couldn’t tell you what she was doing or how long she spent doing it.

She didn’t spend the entire Saturday sleeping, we sat on the front steps and read my book for a lot of the afternoon. I thought she would spend more time grazing in the yard but she insisted on sitting on the stairs with me. I wish I had a picture .

My other big fun over the weekend was bathing Dogger. Yes, I really party way to hardy. I should go to rehab or something, maybe go hang with Britney or Lindsey.

I had so much time on my hands that when I decided I needed to go to the grocery I drove all the way to Food Lion instead of Kroger!! and then I came home and made dinner! . In my defense it was an awesome dinner. How many of you had shrimp fettuccine alfredo with broccoli followed up by fresh home made brownies? And not the microwave dinner version either. I made it from scratch, well, not the brownies, those came from a box but the mix called for real eggs! but I used eggy weggies, but... Still, I had to heat up the oven then stir the batter and then find something to put it in and load everything into the dish washer and then run the dishwasher. I’m drained. I’m so drained that last week I accidentally taped Crossing Jordan and now I’m watching it. I need to go lie down with Dogger.

HAPPY SUNDAY !!!!!!!

HAPPY SATURDAY !!!!!!

Friday Cat Blogging

Falling tourists in 5, 4, 3...

Massive steel walkway attached to edge of Grand Canyon

Mini Kitty

When my parents blew through town earlier, the wind was not strong enough to carry Mini Kitty with it.

Pity.

Mini Kitty has been a joy an absolute joy - if you define joy with it's little known "hiding under the bed all the time" variant. It's not used much, it's fallen out of favor but it is still listed in the older versions of some dictionaries I know. You wouldn't know them, they live in Canada.

Dogger is feeling much better. She was feeling so much better that she had the strength to go ballistic when the neighbors came home at 4am. I heard her barking and my first thought was Damn. Here we go again !@#$. I went downstairs with a heavy heart. I walked in the room and saw her with her paws on the window sill standing about 5 feet tall barking her head off and looking like an avenging angel. If I were a bad guy experimenting with windows and came across her looking like that? I'd go find another window in another house. She was really fierce. I told her to leave the neighbors alone, but I gave her a cookie anyway for A)guarding the house and B) not throwing up blood.

The Kitty has been under whelmed by Mini Kitty. it's not to say he's not happy about her being here, he has been thrilled by her food dish and I know he's just crazy about her box - he hasn't actually spent much time with her. His mistake seems to be his failure to spend enough time hiding under the refrigerator.

Last night was the first time Mini and I had any "us" time. I went upstairs and she was sitting on the tree sharpening her claws with a wet stone. I could see where she had discarded a razor whip. Mini was ready to rumble.

Me - Hi itty bitty kitty! How is Boo Kitty?

Mini Kitty - Shut the @#$% up.


Me - Is baby waby cwanky?

Mini Kitty - I will mess you up.


Me - Does baby want to play?

Mini Kitty - I will cut a bitch.


Me - She's such a cwute little baby!

Mini Kitty - Are you high?


Me - Oh! Where is my camera when I need it!

Mini Kitty - Oh no you didn't!


After that the discourse really went down hill. Kitty goes home on Saturday. He's keeping track of the time by carving little X's on my fingers. And arms. And face. And corneas.

Parking the dog

Dogger and I took an only slightly abbreviated version of our normal walk and Dogger seemed to tolerate it well. We were stopped a couple of times so she could be pet, so she had some down time on the way. I had tossed around the idea of taking her to the park but it turned out to be a beautiful day and I thought there would be too many dogs there and she might get over tired. I’m not sure she’s ready to play with the weekday varsity squad quite yet, I’ll probably take her by there over the weekend as historically there are fewer dogs and the few dogs that are there, aren’t the week day dogs. Dogger doesn’t do much playing with dogs she doesn’t know well, in fact she can be down right standoffish so it’ll give her a some off leash time but not tax her unduly. I’m afraid she would be so excited to see her dog friends and their people that she would over do it. I’m also factoring in one of her very best friends as he has fallen off the wagon humpingwise and I’m afraid his great big paws wouldn’t be able to get a good grip on her baldness and he might slip and squish her.

This is the longest we have gone without going to the park since vacation last summer! I don't think we've been to the park since at least last Tuesday and I feel like I’m missing out. It’s times like this I wish the forum they set up was more active. It’s not like I’m missing out on any dog park gossip either, as I’ve said before we see each other almost every day yet we don’t know each others names. It’s hard to dish on people you don’t know. I feel like I really “know” the people whose cars I recognize in the lot. I know that BoBo’s dad drives an Element and that Max’s mom has a station wagon and Enos dad drives a great big duelly. I have recently learned that Bobo’s dad’s name is Ray and that Max’s mom is Jan. Eno’s dad might be a landscaper. I don’t know Dizzy’s moms name but I know she’s a grad-student studying arachnids and that she has 52 tarantulas in her apartment.

Example of Dog Park Gossip:

Dog Owner 1 - Were you here for that fight the other day? Go run around

Dog Owner 2 - I think I just missed it. No!bad dog! I got here after it was over

Dog owner 1 - It was bad. “Go play!”

DO2 - That’s what I heard. Who was in it? Oh, wait, I’ll be right back!

(Returns)

DO1 - “StopitStopitStopit!Go play! See him? Go chase him! What is with the wood chip eating?

DO2 - I know! It goes in phases. Fluffy's dad followed her around with bitter apple to make her stop.

DO1 -Did it work?

DO2 - I don't know. No! Come Here, come here, Come here! Ew, baby dog that’s yucky! Oh, you know she isn’t going to go get that.

Do1 - Is that hers? I thought that red one was hers.

DO2 - No, Bonkers is the girl with the blue hair who doesn't talk to any one's. that one's dog is Fitzy. She’s always on her cell. “Get Down! Leave it! Leave it!

DO1 - “I can pet you at home! Go run around!” Oh, I know her! “Go play”. Better that one guy, Blitzen's dad? He was loaded the other day.

DO2 - Really? “Don’t sit here! Go play!”

DO1 - You know who hasn’t been here, Skipper and his Dad Damn it! you're a girl! Get off of her!

DO2 - I heard they were in puppy school. Oh new dogs! Go run! Go get’em!

DO1 - Good! One who wants to run! Go! Go! chase that dog Go!

I miss the dog park.

Shorts

My family came through town and I grew a life for an evening. So short entry

There is an upside to Doggers baldness. The exposed skin is softer than expensive leather, it's like what you imagine the obscenely wealthy use instead of mole skin, perhaps some sort of chinchilla. She actually gets tired of being pet. Last night she was like "Keep your damn hands to yourself! If you must stroke something, stroke my ego!". I had to spend the rest of the evening telling her she was the prettiest dog ever and that if her fur doesn't grow back that I will ask the vet with a straight face for canine rogaine (tm) and that further, I won't lie to her about it's availability so that I can continue to have access to her chinchillaness.

Dogger has dreams. Many, many dreams. She runs and sometimes barks in her sleep. I think she's dreaming of the park.

Ever since I took the polish of my nails they have totally gone to hell. it's like they are making up lost time. I kept the polish on them for two weeks and I didn't break a single nail or have any other nail related issues. Since then, one at a time they are going back to the way they were - short, ragged and damaged.

News

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four of five counts in his perjury and obstruction of justice trial. Libby faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was accused of lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters.


full story

Fist the small fish now the big fish.

More Things

That sudden intake of breath you heard last week was my high school class collectively sucking in our breaths and then our guts. We got this in our in boxes:

Hey Class of '87!

Can you believe we are coming up on 20 years? I wanted to give you a heads up on dates and locations for our reunion.

Our Ice Breaker Event will be on Fri., 6/15. If anyone has ideas or suggestions for a location, I would love to hear from you.

The Family Outing Event is set for Sat. 6/16 from 11am - 1:00pm We are trying to come up with a location where there is fun for all our kids of all ages, again suggestions are appreciated.

Reunion Celebration - will be on Sat., 6/16 from 7pm - midnight at the City Club on the 69th floor of the BOA Building in downtown Dallas.

You will receive a flyer in the mail in the next few weeks with all of this info and a list of people that have not been located yet.

What no get together at a dog park? Pet bigots. I was shocked to get the notice but I mean. It's not like our twentieth should come as a surprise. I just thought they would get us more time to prepare, like letting us know about it now and then actually having it in another couple of years or something. We had a five, which seemed really soon for something like that. I mean, five years out was not nearly enough time. I mean, five years after graduation I still knew where my senior pictures were.

At the ten year reunion we felt so old and so thoroughly grown up and moved on with our lives. We were 28 years old. And then oddly skipped the 15 year, I guess at 32 we were too busy. There was no explanation for why it wasn't organized, but perhaps the class PTB decided we were turning into a truncated low rent home made Michael Apted doc and decided to pull back. Or maybe it was more prosaic than that, maybe , but it sounds more romantic than "Sorry, forgot".

And now. We are really old. I mean, old. I have classmates who could be grandparents. I have one classmate that is all ready a widower . We're 38. Well, they are 38, I am significantly younger. I was a gifted youngster, I am 25.

That doesn't mean I'm not all ready making a list of things I'm going to have done to myself before the reunion - I'm definitely going to have to dye my hair again, you know just for continuity's sake, I was a natural brunette back than. Today, I naturally use Loreal. It's not about my vanity, it's for the sake of the others, if I let my hair go white, it would make it harder for my classmates to remember if I was someone they talked to, chances are, they didn't but I would hate for them to have to look stupid while they tried to remember who I was. Of course we've all gained weight but as a side effect I have a much bigger rack than I did then, so point for me. I'll need to get my nails "done". I never did that back in the day but I think it will go a long way to keeping me from nervously gnawing on them down to the bone in the days leading up to the reunion. I wonder if I can grow a husband or ex-husband and two kids before June? I all ready have the minivan.

The email was right, we did get a flyer with our missing classmates names on it. Out of class of if I remember correctly, 378, there were only 48 names on it. It seems incredible to me that the organizers were able to track down that many of us. I was kind of surprised at some of the names that were there, I've known Collen Shannon my whole life, how can we not know where she is? and Prissy Frank? You know, I didn't even know I went to school with someone named Betty Thomas.

And how is Dogger? Today we went on a very short walk:



...and then she went back to sleep

Gawd these people! I swear if I get one more dirty look because the copy machine is jammed I am going to hurt somebody!

Yes, the machine is not working. NO I didn’t do “it”. In fact I spent way more time than was productive on my knees trying to fish the jam out. It is not reachable; the machine is not going to work until we get the jam out. The repair guy has been called. He will or will not be here this afternoon.

Yes in an emergency, the fax machine can and will act as a copier – for one or two things! Do not put 100 sheets of paper in it! Do not ask me where the collate feature is! Do not look at me like that. Do not assume I care why you have to make those copies right now!, I am not Rob Schneider, I am not the copy machines’ keeper. I do not enjoy talking to you about the copy machine.

Use the other copy machine. Is the other copy machine also out of services? Life sucks for you. Go back to your desk and do something else. You must have something else to do. Is this all you have to do? Go update your resume, because surely, you are on the way out.

Things

There are all these things that I haven’t been able to talk about since the affaire de Dogger! I haven’t told you about getting a new light cover for my ceiling fan in the kitchen! Last week I saw that Home Depot was having as lighten sale and I thought that this might be a good time to deal with the awful kitchen light. It’s attached at a not really all that awful ceiling fan and if ceiling fans were also on sale, well, more the better.

So, off I went. I was more or less trying to kill time before the Oscars (tm) - yes, that was only a week ago! I was shocked too. It seems like it was a lot longer ago than that. It was also the night that Dogger took sick.

But that was hours later. I don’t think that the new light thing being in the house had anything to do with it. I wonder if I should have mentioned that to the vet? Okay, anyway. I went to Home Depot late in the day so all the really good lights were all ready gone and as it turned out, most of the really nice ceiling fans to. But that was all right because I really wasn’t in the ceiling fan market anyway - but I looked at them anyway because they were pretty, but then I started noticing how big most tif not all of them are. On Alphagals suggestion, I measure mine before I left for the store and as it turns out, I have dwarf ceiling fans! They are totally the Little People of the ceiling fan world. I was looking at the other fans and thinking These would literally take up the entire ceiling as well as most likely chopping my head off and possibly interfering with the refrigerator! My Gawd, who are these meant for? And what kind of monstrous domicile are they built for? Does Biltmore have such an appetite for ceiling fans that an entire industry is sprung up for them? Do they hand them out as door prizes? Wait, does Biltmore use Home Depot? I thought they were Lowes?

Some of them were just huge. I thought that maybe they were really windmills in disguise, to get them past those people in the Berkshires or where ever that bitched about the wind farms. I bet they wouldn’t bitch about a wind farm made up of massive craftsman style ceiling fans.

I decided I wasn’t going to walk away with a new ceiling fan. Also? They were very expensive. “Nationwide Clearance” my ass. The only thing they appeard cleared off was the stuff they actually marked down for real. I’m sorry but “Was $350 now $265!” says to me “Was wildly expensive, Now just really damned expensive!”.

So I made my self think - What about the kitchen ceiling fan really bothers me? What about it makes me want a new one?”



Ah ha.

The fan itself is not a problem, especially in light of the replacement costs. What I really hate is the globe thing. I mean, I really, really hate it. It looks like a giant boob or a great big eye ball or suspicious growth. In short, it needed to go.

And away it went!



And I can hear you saying "That's not much of change", trust me, it's a big change. And while I was going through the bins, I turned around and found the very last on sale ceiling fan in the store! I don’t need a new ceiling fan, I have no where to put a new ceiling fan but for $19.00, I got a new ceiling fan! It's a Little Person fan, just like the ones I have now. It even comes with a light like my other fans. So score!

Back to Dogger.

Here is Dogger on Saturday




...and here is Dogger on Sunday



I think she’s coming right along. On Saturday she pretty much slept 23 hours, but by Sunday she only slept for 22 hours!. Her goal for Monday is to not fall asleep in her food bowl.

HAPPY SUNDAY !!!!!!!

Catster wanted you to know that Tex is one of today's featured diaries and it will be displayed all day on our Diary Central page ">here!

Grrr. Argh. Bad HTML skilz:

http://www.catster.com:80/diary/dcentral.php

HAPPY SATURDAY !!!!!

Hoooommmeeeeewaaarrdd Hound

Friday Cat Dog Blogging



Still standing!

More Dogger

Dogger is better. Not back to normal but not as sick as she was before. She's still a sick dog but she's not as sick a she was. It was a very long day.

I went after work to settle up with the vet ($$$$$) and to take Dogger to an over night clinic ($$$$$$). My vet isn't open all night and Dogger still needs intravenous fluids and antibiotics. But the good news was that she hadn't thrown up blood in hours. Yea!

The over night clinic didn't open until 5:30 so I had a little wait before Dogger and I could go.

And I Waited.

And I Waited.

And I Waited.

And I swear that every single person who walked in the office was there to either A) Put their pet down or B) pay for their pets cremation. I was there for a good hour and every one I saw was in tears. I also got to hear the receptionist's tale about her dead dog. I didn't need this. My dog isn't going to die but she is very ill. I didn't need stores of dead dogs, I need uplifting tales of dogs who fought back! of dogs that got better! of dogs that beat the odds!

Finally, they brought me Dogger! I was so happy to see her it took me a minute to notice how much less fur she had then when I had last seen her. You know, if pregnant chicks had to shave before their ultrasounds, shit, anyway, she was very tired and her eyes were all blood shot from being sick over and over and she just looked wan but the good news was, they gave her to me to take to the over night clinic "five minutes away". Vet tech please. Not even kind of.

I followed the directions they had given me but I couldn't find it, I had a very sick dog in the car, it was dark, raining and my day had all ready been too long... I called Alphagal and she pulled me away from the edge and then at almsot the same time the clinic just appeared. Alphagal is magic. I got Dogger out of Minnie and into the office and ...

And we waited.

And we waited.

And we waited.

And I heard the first sounds a seconds old beagle puppy makes. They sound like baby birds - it was the first positive thing I'd heard all day. The vet finally saw me and gave me the run down. If everything goes okay, I get my dog back tomorrow at 7:00am... And maybe a beagle puppy.

Yay!

The Ultrasound said there is no sign of foreign bodies in her little intestines and that they really think it is HGE and not some sort of blockage, so Yay for no surgical intervention! She will however have to spend the night at some emergency clinic near the vets office for more IV antibiotics and fluids.

Think a happy thought for Dogger

Think happy thoughts for Dogger

Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE) usually causes a very sudden onset of vomiting, bloody diarrhea, dehydration and depression. Dogs affected by this condition get very sick, very fast.

To the best of my knowledge, the exact cause of this disease is unknown. It appears that Clostridium species bacteria may be part of the cause. The disease is more frequent in small breed dogs but can occur in any dog. I am not sure what the general impression is among veterinarians, but dogs that have this problem seem to have a high risk of getting it again in our practice.

Most dogs respond very well to treatment with fluids to restore hydration. In some cases it is necessary to give plasma to correct loss of protein and antibiotics to combat the suspected Clostridium infection. In a few dogs, it is necessary to give fast acting cortisones to counter shock, which is a problem due to the very rapid onset of dehydration in dogs with HGE.

It is generally necessary to totally restrict oral food and water for one or two days when treating this problem. This makes hospitalization necessary for several days for most dogs with HGE.

HGE

More on HGE ( it sounds less awful that way)

From Dog Health

From The Merck Vet Manual

Sick Puppy

So. Another day another early morning stroll around the yard with Dogger . I put dogger back to bed and a few hours later we’re back at square one. I love the smell of hours old dog shite in the morning.

I have learned though. This morning I had her locked up in her crate... I didn’t at first but I learned. You know, it doesn’t take playing search and destroy with piles of poop before I begin to figure things out. So, when I came home for lunch, the mess was limited to just everything inside of her crate as well as Dogger herself. I guess it was better than not knowing where the mess was.

“Limited” but not less messy. I walked in the door over lunch and the house was rank. When I left in the morning the house was redolent with disinfectant and dollar store air freshener with only the barest whiff of dog shite.. Hours later, there was the barest whiff of disinfectant. Thank Gawd I keep the house cold.

I was late to work. I think somewhere between trips one and two to the yard I must have decided I didn’t need the alarm to get up. Why bother.

Well. I should have. I was laying there listening to Dogger start whining again and I started to get up again and my eye fell to the clock. !@#$%^&* !!!

I put Dogger out again . Pilled Kitty, got dressed, stripped prepaired the downstairs bathroom for Dogger, brought Dogger back inside and locked her up and went to work.

And waited for the vets office to open.

They can’t see her until Monday. When I asked about some sort of OTC relief for Dogger, and by extension, me because I am not loving any of this. I suggested Immodium or pepto... They suggested a diet of rice and chicken. I point out that I don't cook for myself.

I cook for my dog... who last night thought it was interesting because it was different, by the morning decided she really doesn't like white food.

The Kitty, over the past several days has morphed into The Worlds Best Cat. He loves on me, cuddles up with me at night - a practice he abandoned a weeks ago and he has started to hand out head butts indiscriminatly. He hasn't watched TV with me in the evening in a really... I can't remember how long ago, but I think it might ahve been around the same time Dogger started to watch TV with me in the evening.