Friday Cat Blogging

The Bush Admins' family values

Efforts to crack down on lead paint thwarted by China, Bush Administration

(And by the by, not from some reactionary leftwing news source either. Suck it Raw Story)

Goodies

...and the train is in on the track

The best thing about getting older is that it takes so much longer to celebrate your birthday. I mean, as a child it’s : games, cake, gifts, home done, but I guess that’s old school, today’s kids probably do something like : make overs, pimp their rides, big game hunt, lunch with cast of High School Musical , cake, gifts, catch flight for home. I mean, really.

chug chug,

As an adult we can’t party that hard. It’s more like : Cake at the office, home, a long shower and then bed and the next day, dinner with the fam, gifts, a long nap, maybe some ben-gay and then some light reading and then bed. As we age, we need to pace ourselves. I have more birthday this weekend. Needless to say, I’ll need to take frequent rest breaks.

Whoops! hit that turn a little fast...

Why is 30 Rock not coming back until October?, how is that right? Prison Break comes back next week, a show I don’t even watch! And 30 Rock, a show I do watch doesn’t come back until October! Not Fair. I’ll have to sooth myself by watching my Angel-The Series Season 3 DVD. My favorite season. Take that NBC!

chugging along...

Broskey and Alpha Gal gave me lots of cool stuff! Along with the DVDs they also got me these really pretty rooster salt and pepper shakes- My first thought was “Well, they can go with my little animal collection” - I do not, repeat do not have a menagerie, lets make that very clear, I have a petting zoo, single women with “menageries” need to step away from the Tennessee Williams. A petting zoo is post modern deconstruction, feminist model of the out dated “glass menagerie” idea . Also? I am not mentally ill . Big Difference.

hitting the turn a little fast...

Another major difference? The Kitty smashed just about all the glass animals in my petting zoo. Whatshername in the play? I bet she didn’t have a single native American crafted wooden wale in her lame little collection. I’m going to be really different, instead of declaring my roosters “art” I’m going to use them as : salt and pepper shakers. Gasp. I know.


and Oh! Derailment!!

I had to pull Dogger out of the yard a minute ago. She was barking madly at something or someone and I was afraid she would scare the neighbors. She’s really a good little secondary burglar alarm. She’s very green and the only burglars that would come near my house would have obliviously given up all hope and are really unmotivated or are very, very, very dumb. Probably suicidal, actually. And of course, in that case, they'd deserve our sympathy and help - But not if they tried to break into my house. I would just be sad that they got blood all over my nice floors.

I imagine that Real Robbers send unsuitable burglar wannabes my way to thin the herd. I haven’t actually ever found a dead burglar body in the yard, but if I left Dogger out there more often..., maybe if I salted the back yard with a car stereos? If you bait them they will come, like ants. I wonder if I could use the remains - because, it’s not like I could in good conscience take them away from her, I mean, not after she protected me from them and everything, I mean, she would need to be rewarded , so like, after she got tired of them...OMG! they would be perfect mulch! My jasmine plants have never really taken off the way I had hoped.

Just in case though? I think I’ll keep setting my real alarm. Its much safer for the burglar community, it just calls the police on them and I understand if it’s the cops that get to them first, they hardly ever tear out suspects throats.

Let Them Eat Cake

Wow. SO this is what 27* feels like! Whew. What a long strange trip it’s been! I had no idea my 20's* would zip by this fast. My teen years lasted forever. Of course, I was a teenager for the better part of two decades, so your mileage may vary.

Dogger and I went to the park and we saw the oddest dog. It looked like a cross between three breeds. It had the head of a lab, the body of a basset hound and the legs of a corgi. It was not the happiest dog I have ever seen. The lab and basset in him really wanted to run with the other dogs but his little bowed corgi legs just wouldn’t let it. You could see his pain. He had the bassets sad eyes

It could have been worse for him though. There was a pug there, pugging around, who was inadvertently turned into a speed bump by a herd of big dogs doing wind sprints. As his person was taking him to the small dog park she said "He honestly thinks he's really a big dog". The rest of the large dog people were thinking "Honestly? he weighs 15 pounds, my dog shits bigger than that".

The pug should have been pugging around the safety of the small dog park but like all small dogs who play in the large dog park, he clearly seemed to be insulted the implication that he is actually, a small dog. All the small dogs seem to suffer from Napoleon complexes. They see the small dog park as their own Elba and they clearly resent it. They universally prefer the large dog park, despite the implicit dangers associated with running with the big dogs.

And how was your day?

I found something that the lazy, passive aggressive, self absorbed asshole who offices next door to me have in common, other than our shared laziness, passive aggressiveness and self absorption: Wood Chipper themed humor.

There is nothing that is not made funnier if it first fed through a chipper. For example. What do you call a canary after if it has been fed through a chipper?


I’ll give you a moment to think it over.



Give up?



Chipped Tweet.



Oh come on!!




Give me a break, I had birthday cake for dinner.


* Yeah, right. I was 25 for a really long time, for like the entire 90's - but due to personal growth and development, I am now 27. Growing Up does not mean Growing Older.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

On Aug. 29, 1991, the Supreme Soviet, the parliament of the U.S.S.R., suspended all activities of the Communist Party, bringing an end to the institution. Wow! I didn't know that. Other things that happened on this day in history

Do you know what I was doing August 29, 1991? I was the only person at an afternoon showing of Doc Hollywood at rundown movie theatre in downtown San Marcos, Texas. I would bet money I didn't know what else was going on in the world, I was feeling sorry for myself. At least I can say I remember where I was when the Communist Party came to an end...

Gay Old Putz, Real Nancy Coots

Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested on misdemeanor disorderly conduct in a bathroom, denies he is gay and accuses a newspaper of a witch hunt.

Can't the Log Cabin Republicans offer a dating service or something? "Closet.Com" or "Old Queens.org", they really need to let these chickenhawks know there are alternatives to glory holes and cruising men's rooms. I remember men like this from my days at the Theatre Center. They cruised the parking lots in station wagons.

That time of the Month...

I took Dogger to the park. I visited with my friends, Dogger visited with her friends, it wasn’t as beastly hot as it has been. A good time was being had by all.

Dogger spends the time running around, running around, running around. She is the definition of “Plays well with others”. The Dog Moms were discussing how many times you would need to walk around the park to walk a mile, one of the Dog Dads said he had heard it was four times. We decided that is something we can do.

Dogger and another dog are in the middle of the field waiting in the line to drink. Other Dog is drinking and Dogger sniffs him. So far, I’m not actually paying much attention. A comment in made about cute it is that the dogs can be running around chasing each other and then they call a doggy time out and they all just stop and wait in line for water or just to catch their breath before they start again. It really is cute.

Anyway. Dogger is obediently standing in line, sniffing the other dogs butt when out of no where she decided that THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!! I don’t know if she didn’t like what she sniffed or Other Dog got tired of being sniffed but the next thing I knew both dogs were up on their back legs and it was really not cute.

I leaped up and hollered at Dogger to STOP , Dogger ignored me. I got behind her and grabbed her harness to pull her back off and away from Other Dog - and it’s nice to know that I can pick her up bodily if I have to - and then I pulled her hard into the ground - ”Screw you Dogger, I AM THE ONE”. Doing so I ended up with about half the ground cover in the park on my knees. Did I mention it rained really hard over the weekend? Yeah, it as great.

After I made sure that Dogger hadn’t hurt Other Dog, and that Dogger was okay, I dragged Dogger back to the seats. I didn’t leave. I’m trying to butch up about that. It helped endlessly that Other Dog and Dogger are evenly matched sized wise and Other Dog was pretty much on it’s way to kicking Dogger’s ass when we broke up the fight. I would have felt really bad, and probably would have left the park, had Dogger aggressed against a smaller dog.

Other Dog was cool. Other Dogs person was cool. One of the Dog Moms noticed that Dogger had bloody gums. It looked as though she had bitten her mouth or that Other Dog had gotten in a good left hook before they were separated. One of Doggers friends, who will now be known as Remora came up and cleaned her mouth for her.- Dogger has her own cut man.

It helped my state of mind post fight, that right after that two other dogs got into it, so Dogger wasn’t the only one showing her ass. We decided that the dogs were keyed up because of the coming lunar eclipse.

Yeah.

I think for Doggers next collar, instead decorating it with happy flowers, I’m going to have the phrase I AM A BITCH embroidered on it. It’ll still be pink but this time it’ll be pink and edgy, kind of like Dogger.

Anti-War Vigil

Moore Square, downtown Raleigh

When - 28 Aug, 7:00 PM
Where - Address: Moore Square, 200 S Person Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
Status: Public, open for RSVP, 72 Guests (Max 5000)
Why? - As always, bringing about a speedy end to Shrubs shameful folly.

You don't live in Raleigh? Find One Near You

A Total Eclipse Of The Moon

On August 28 there will be a lunar eclipse, scroll down, and see the best time to see it in your time zone : Lunar Eclipse

Breaking News

Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales intends to resign, senior administration officials tell CNN.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS New:

Bush likely to replace Gonzales with Homeland Security chief, officials say.
Gonzales to announce resignation at Justice Department at 10:30 a.m. ET
Democratic critic Sen. Charles Schumer: "It was the right thing to do"
Lawmakers had called on him to leave after the firing of several U.S. attorneys

Attorney General Gonzales resigns, officials say

Compost the Rich

I missed big excitement at the dog park the other night while I was by standing at the crime scene. It turns out, that same night. At the same time: There was also a murder at the dog park.

Okay, it was probably closer to squirrelslaughter because I don’t think there was and premeditation involved, well, any more than any dog would say as they sat under a tree, hopefully looking upwards, Hmm. I sure would eat anything that fell out of this tree. Maybe today, it will happen.I doubt that was any real conspiracy at work. It was probably like Fifth degree murder, and it could have been a suicide pact too, because Mr. And Mrs. Squirrel took the kids with them when they launched the nest out of the tree and into a waiting herd of dogs.

Your dog doesn’t have to fall into the Hunting Dog category at Westminster to enjoy fresh squirrel if fresh squirrel happens to fall on its “working dog” head, they’ll work real hard to make sure they get a taste.

A total of five squirrels fell, one was lunch before it hit the ground, and one broke the sound barrier running away. Fortunately, the sounds of the heavy nest falling to the ground and the resulting dog joy got the attention of the dogs people and they managed to save some of the babies while Chester's dad shoveled up what was left of the adult and took way outside the fence to bury it. The three surviving baby squirrels were rushed to an animal hospital where one was expected to live.

Three days later, they were still talking about it and I have yet to hear word one about the man who was shot. I wonder if he would have been deemed newsworthy if he had been the one who fell out of a tree and was set upon by dogs.

Anyway.

I just went to the basement to see if my washer was still broken. And, yes, it is. It does not want to spin or drain. It does want to rinse though. It really, really wants to rinse. It will rinse even if it has been ordered directly to stop rinsing. It will rinse when it is turned to soak, spin, or OFF ... I am have custody of several large plastic cat litter tubs full of gray, soapy water. We’re in the middle of a drought and I have gallons of water. Useless water, but gallons of it. And every time I touch the machine, it magically produces gallons more.

If I had my druthers I would say ithe washer came from the side of the road and back to the side of the road it shall go. I went to look up what the replacement cost would be - if it kept refusing to drain and if repairing it would be too costly. I also thought this would be a good time to investigate the newer, greener washers.

I don’t have enough green to be green. It turns out, being green is expensive. How can they expect people to help save the planet if the people can’t afford it? Sure, Leo Dicaprio and the cast of Grey’s Anatomy can feel good about washing their $300 7 for all Mankind Jeans in their $1258 clothes washers, but what about the rest of us? The cheapest front loading clothes washer I found was $549, the cheapest top loader was $279.

And they do exactly the same job. Dirty clothes go in,. Clean clothes come out-Why can’t they be the same price? I can’t see how the technology is so advanced and special that it can not be included on the $279 model? If they want all of us to figuratively save the world they are going to have to make saving the world something all of us can literately afford to do. World saving shouldn’t have to be a luxery item.

HAPPY SUNDAY !!!!!!!!

HAPPY SATURDAY !!!!!!

Friday Cat Blogging

”I’m Not Surprised”

Dogger and I were in the DMV parking lot when I heard the sirens, RRRrrrrrr I hear them all the time, I don’t even look up to see, it’s RRRRrrrrrrrRRRRRRrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRR until it’s out of ear shot. RRRrrr, it ended too soon. They were close by. Another round of sirens RRRrr. They were stopping before they got to my street, selfishly, I was relieved. The sirens aren’t for me, my house or my neighbors.

The Fire Marshals SUV roared past, and then an ambulance. And I’m thinking Rrr I thought “a fire” . But it would have to be close and wasn’t any smoke in the air. I thought “heart attack or trip and fall”. Dogger and I went to find the sirens. I wasn’t going to do that, but they were right there. There was a large crowd of neighbors. And a crowd of cops. It wasn’t a heart attack. Dogger and I joined the crowd. A man called from across the street that he was going to call Dogger “Beethoven” another woman asked what kind of dog Dogger is. I asked what happened. The cops watched the people ask me questions and answer mine. The cops watched me. Dogger wanted to go. We left, so did the ambulance. RRRRrrrrrRRRRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRrrr.

As we were leaving a man was walking towards me looking quizzical, another neighbor. I told him what I had learned. I told him a man who lived in the house behind him had been shot. He said “Tsk. I’m not surprised”. I was surprised that a man who lived two blocks from my house had been shot and I didn’t hear anything. This both comforts me and makes me nervous. Shouldn’t I have heard something? Dogger and I would have been walking down my street when it happened.

The good news was that the ambulance arrived very fast and left fast. They didn’t spend a lot of time working on him and they used the sirens as they left, so I took from that he was alive when they took him away. Dogger enjoyed the show, but wanted to go home now. Dogger doesn’t like siren bearing vehicles. I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to go to the post office.

Dogger didn’t want to go to the post office. I let her take us back towards the house for a bit before we went to the post office. We walked past a house were I think the people who lived there knew the shot guy. There was a car in the yard and another car in the drive way and neither of the cars had happy people in them. They were all barking into cell phones. I got a bad vibe.

We went to the post office.

On the way back from the post office we went past the shot guys house. There were seven cop cars in the street - No sirens for them , seven cop cars rolling in should have sounded like Armageddon - and up closer to where I live, an unmarked car. Have you ever seen an unmarked car that didn’t look like an unmarked car? They can’t give detectives VWs? I mean really, I half way expected to see Lenny Brisco and Andy Sipowitz sitting behind the wheel. There were a couple of detective looking guys scattered around the shot guys yard , but they didn’t look like Andy Sipowtiz, they looked like Jethro Modean.

All the cops were just standing around in the shot guys yard. The guy had been shot for 20 minutes and they were just standing around.

Dogger and I went home. I checked the local news online. Nothing. This both comforts me and makes me nervous.

edited to add - I checked the local newspaper this morning. Nothing. Not a word. Seven cop cars, detectives and a gun shot wound and nothing.

Shock and awe

Playing with Fire

Dogger had the best time evah at the park today. There is this good old boy that comes up there to shout at his dog ”CHESTER! CHESTER! Use your INDOOR VOICE BOY! RETRACT YOR TEETH NOW SON!” . Poor Chester. That old boy lurves him his dawg, but damn, I don’t think the dawg makes half the noise his daddy does. His daddy also likes to preach! He hates George W. Bush almost, but not quite as much as he loves his dawg. I feel him on that, really, but damn, must he hate on George at the top of his sizable lungs? The old boy doesn’t weigh but about 140 lbs., but I think a good, 75, 80 of that is lung. He can project like a son-of-a-bitch. I hate Shrub too, but damn, ya’ll don’t know! If you arrive at the park and see his car in the lot, it’s a good idea to make sure you come into the park on your phone and stay there, it’s the only way to avoid him and whatever his sermon for the day is.

Anyway, The old boy brought a buddy with him and that buddy was there to play with the dawgs. And he had the energy of a 15 month old puppy. He played tug with whomever would play with him and I’m pretty sure he won! And he wasn’t playing with cocker spaniels and Jack Russell’s either, but wouldn’t that be cute? No, he was playing at various times with Dogger, his buddy’s Shepard mix, an Irish wolf hound mix, a black lab/Honda cross and a very tenacious young golden retriever. So he was pretty much playing tug of war with a tow truck with very competitive teeth.

The dogs loved it! They were sooo happy! And were having the best dog time ever. They were working together, they were co-operating. They were a doggy team. Dogger will be dreaming about it for weeks.

They would get distracted - to be a dog is to be distractible, one of the dogs, a huge black lab/Honda mix , let go when he heard the St. Augs band warming up, another dog fell out because another dog on the other side of the park might have seen a squirrel and Dogger periodically forget what she was doing.

All the while the old boy keep hollering at his friend Don’t let them re-grip! Don’t let them re-grip! I worked with a guy and he lost two fingers that way! Don’t let them re-grip! and his buddy kept saying “That’s all right! I don’t need more than seven or eight to get around!”

I think the old buy needed to stop talking at his friend, he needed to keep his complete attention to playing with the dogs. I mean, the dogs can only stay on task for so long, but while they are? They aren’t playing, you are playing, they are answering the call of the wild. They will hurt you. Especially if you are playing with a number of them. They aren’t playing tug with a soccer ball, they are trying to get their share of the kill. You stick your puny little hand in there at your own risk. If a person is going to play with the big dawgs, they had better come prepared to be the bigger dawg. I’ve “played” with Dogger when she wasn’t and I have the scars to show for it. You always have to keep in mind that while you are smarter, and you brought the toy, they are stronger and they invented the game.

Bush to compare the Iraq War to the Vietnam War - Years after the rest of us but not in the same way... OR And the beat goes on...

He thinks Vietnam was successfully. He also compares the Japanese people, post WWII to the Iraqi people today. He is crazy.

Bush to invoke Vietnam in arguing against Iraq pullout

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As he awaits a crucial progress report on Iraq, President Bush will try to put a twist on comparisons of the war to Vietnam by invoking the historical lessons of that conflict to argue against pulling out.

A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans -- 64 percent -- now oppose the Iraq war, and 72 percent say that even if Petraeus reports progress, it won't change their opinion.

The poll also found a great deal of skepticism about the report; 53 percent said they do not trust Petraeus to give an accurate assessment of the situation in Iraq.

In addition to his analogy to Vietnam, Bush in Wednesday's speech will invoke other historical comparisons from Asia, including the U.S. defeat and occupation of Japan after World War II and the Korean War in the 1950s, according to the excerpts.

And on and on and on, and the beat goes on...

14 U.S. soldiers die in Iraq helicopter crash

It’s in the bag

I decided since I’m on this End Summer Now campaign that I while I can’t really wear anything wool for the time being, that I could at least carry a winter purse. I look for joy where I can find it. Shut up.

And so this forced me to have to look around online for advise and there was a lot of it. Ask Google for Handbag trends for fall 2007 and ye shall receive.

The first link suggested color, lots and lots of color and if that color was patent leather even better. It went on to say if you could score a vividly colored patent leather bag with some exotic skin embossed on it, well more the better.

I have some colorful bags but they are for the wrong season. Colorful for spring 2007 is not the same as colorful for fall 2007. Bag Snobs was even kind enough to make a list

#1: Go Bold with Color!
#2: Geometric Shapes will modernize your wardrobe.
#3: Shine on with patent leather!
#4: Keep last season's metallic.
#5: Go Exotic with ostrich or a lux Valextra croc!

All good advice but I never embraced the whole metallic thing. In my mind those purses say Married to the Mob and suggests you favor large scale use of animal prints and wear big hair. I think it’s a case of the designers laughing at the public.

And so they suggest color, but which colors? You have to be careful with turquoise for example - I went to another site in search of more spoon fed advice. I don’t want to have to wade through a lot of babble, I want them to tell me what to buy and in what color or colors. I know what I like, but I also know that what I like isn’t necessarily something I would really want to be seen with everyday. While making a fashion statement is nice. I would prefer to use a quote whenever possible.

The next site I went to, Artical directory, um, yes, well. Anyway, suggested:
. • Oversized bags in patent leather, pebble-grain leather, clear plastic or patterned
• Medium doctor bags
• Metallic bags in silver, gold and bronze• The medium-size envelope bag or a clutch in metallics or shiny satin
• Faux crocodile or snake-skin handle bags You're a style trendsetter with any of these handbags.

Again pressing for the metallics! And I again had to say no! I went to another site Senora Cartera, who while, lovely no doubt, suggested I spend upwards of $1500! She makes an argument for “investment bags”. I have to argue that they are purses not real estate! I moved on. Jewel tones, muted earth tones - Bright blue is very hot but so are reds, golds, greens and purples. The fashion people suggest you leave your dull brown bag at home and get a bright color, any color and get it in patent leather.

I looked at a few more sites. I learned that Gray is a very big color fashionwise for fall. Gray is the new black, also, boots should have a low heel and be a little below the knee. The ideal purse for the fall would be gray patent leather embossed with snake skin and it should have a handle. Knock yourself out. I ended up with a bright apple green bag, patent leatherlike, a very nice, very cheap find. Senora Cartera wouldn't approve, but, I love Target.

Brrrr. Damn it.

Okay, out with old, in with the new. I am over summer and it is now time for fall. I bought really a pair of cute black boots over the weekend and that cuteness loses a lot in translation when worn with shorts.

Hot is over. I am now thinking cool thoughts. I am thinking about wool, I am dreaming of corduroy . I am not letting a little things like record heat and drought get in my way. I am thinking positive thought. Polar fleece thoughts.

It isn’t hard to do.

With my cute boots in mind I thought maybe I would go and find them some friends, perhaps some brown friends., perhaps in a nice riding boot style. I also thought I could do this online, Beeeep! No, no, you can not . You can, there are thousands of choices - and while I am sure they are all very wonderful - about nine-tenths are too dom, too granola, too storm trooper, too cowboy, too furry, too shiny, too short, too tall or too drag queen! When I started, I thought “I’ll just look for some nice plain, brown boots. Somewhere between Laura Ingalls and Cat Woman . A happy medium.

What I saw a lot of, the very, very, very expensive boots. I don’t know where they get the leather or the huzpah but the hides must come from designer field mice and then they use gold to tan the leather and then Gwyneth Paltrow licks the leather and then it is made into boots. Very expensive boots. And if Jimmy Choo designs something and calls it "The Prince Boot”, it has eight inch heels and it will costs more than your first car. A good rule would be to avoid any designer you have heard of and not to even look at anything by any designer that was ever mentioned on Sex and the City. You are not Cary Bradshaw”.

And I was thwarted by the heels I saw. I have seen have serious heels, I am not looking to discipline anyone and I do not have a Napoleon Complex. The average boot designer and his consumers have some real issues.

I like to see myself as above average. Moving on.

I got tired of looking online and went back to bricks and mortar.. If anyone was wondering, I know where all the sandals went, we couldn’t find any this weekend. I found them. All of them. The first place I went didn’t even have any fall shoes! It had one pair of men's timberland's and about 657 different kinds of flip flops. I was like “Hello! It’s Back To School Time! Why am I seeing white shoes? Why am I seeing ballet flats!! Hello it’s the end of August! Where are the mukluks?!”

I went through two different elcheapo discount places before I hit Target. I love Target. Target is our friend. Target also has boots.

Target has boots named “Greta” and “Gretchen” and “Greta”. I think their boot designer went to Berlin over the summer and all he saw was the underside of Mistress’ boot. Mistress’ black boot! I already have black boots!

Of course, I went home and checked Target online and there were : my boots. Not too dom, too granola, too storm trooper, cowboy, too furry, too shiny, too short, too tall or too drag queen! Somewhere between Laura Ingalls and Cat Woman . A happy medium.

Pray for them

(CNN) -- Hurricane Dean burgeoned into a Category 5 storm -- capable of inflicting catastrophic damage when it makes landfall early Tuesday.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who was in Canada for a trilateral meeting with President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, announced he would cut short his visit and return home Tuesday to deal with the storm.

Mexico's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Mexico, said it was abandoning its offshore rigs in Dean's path and evacuating more than 14,000 workers, Stopping production at the Campeche Sound's 407 oil wells will result in a loss of 2.7 million barrels of oil and 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, Pemex said, according to AP.

Notice the Mexican president cut short his actually important non-vacation activity to return to Mexico to deal with the storm - before it even made landfall. You know Shrub called him a pussy for that. The pirates on my corner went from $2.66 when I came home from work at 4:40 to $2.79 by 8pm. I'm so glad I filled my tank with $2.52 this weekend.

More of everything


The fam is in town so I didn’t have quite as much time as I would normally - Hours and hours, let me tell you! All day Saturday and Sunday, slogging away at the grindstone, working on this Monday entry. Ya’ll have no idea.

That’s all bull shit, but I’m racing the clock a little more than normal.

First off, can anyone tell me what makes a ski jacket a snowboarding coat? Because they look like a regular coat. Do they have special pockets to store your weed? Help me out. Am I too old to have a snowboarding coat?

Okay. On Friday Broskey and I attended a Moveon.Org gathering to announce what the cost of the war as been to North Carolina, more specifically, the 13th congressional district. I don’t think I live in the 13th and Broskey doesn’t either, but you know we came, we saw we took the hand outs.

Right after we got to Marquette Moveon.Org did a similar event except they had it printed up as an ad in the local paper. Better plan, I think, going directly to the press instead of having to hope the press comes to you. But I wasn’t in charge, was I? Good thing too.

The cost of the war to NC tax payers alone is $12.34 billion, tax papers in the 13th district have shelled out $981 million.

For our $981 million we could have funded:

- Healthcare for 202, 837 adults or 451,685 children
- 20, 898 more elementary school teachers
- 212, 865 more college scholarships
-9,293 more units of affordable housing
-25, 832 more cops ( my question, in Raleigh alone or state wide? Is this nation wide?)
-14, 311 port container inspectors for North Carolina

Okay. Costs by congressional districts:

1st - $679 million
2nd - $872 million
3rd - $96 million
4th - $1.29 billion
5th - $950 million
6th - $1.04 billion
7th - $813 million
8th - $917 million
9th - $1.32 billion
10th - $900 million
11th - $830 million
12th - $855 million
13th - $981 million

I checked and I live in the 2nd congressional district, I want my damn money back.

HAPPY SUNDAY !!!!!!!!

HAPPY SATURDAY !!!!!!

Friday Cat Blogging

Tick, Tock

I turned the computer on and went to the other room to, um, do something useful - not at all like watching TV or anything like that, and a while later I went back to the computer and I couldn't get the screen saver to move. it just stood there not spinning at me. I tapped the keyboards a couple of times and moved the mouse around an gradually my ISP start page appeared. I didn't want to look. How many times did IE load? Take a guess, a wild guess, now keep in mind it wasn't nearly as bad as it has been in the past - and it's not a virus. I have Norton and I run a couple of different anti-spyware programs too.

My old computer did this to me as well. I think it's just meanness. 24, I came in and there were twenty-four IE's unhappily running simultaneously. It doesn't always do this, but every third or fourth time, it goes nuts. It's also not always 24, some times its 6 or 53 once it was a whopping 70 something.

I thought it was because it got bored waiting for me to do something, you know I would turn it on and go about my business and lose track of time or forget it was on in the first place and I would go in there and it would be having a tantrum. Fine. I decided to sit with it while it powered up, you know keep it company and lo and behold it did it again. The little IE's just multiplied in front of me. I would go to stop it and while I was trying to close the group, four more would appear. Hateful, hateful, hateful. I finally learned to stop validating it. I don't give it the satisfaction of making me lose my temper. I just say fine, turn it off, usually takes a few moments, but it will power off... and then I turn it on again and usually it will behave. But I hate that, I want to work because it wants to not because I forcibly shut it down. But to be honest, there are times I would beat it like a rented mule if I could figure out where to administer the beating.

A little bird told me that Best Buy was going to have killer sales on lap tops in October-November. Computer is on notice! Computer is going to have to do time studies, fifteen weeks worth because it will suffer more than I did! I will be monitoring it's email and Internet use. Damn it.

Okay.

I want to say that 30 Rock is on and it is too dark to be out mowing the yard. I hate that. A few weeks ago, 30 Rock was on and I couldn't watch it because I was mowing the drug dealers yard. And did you know that the college kids are all ready coming back to campus? They just left campus! It's just so wrong.

It's still August and you can not find a sprinkler, you can find Fall - Halloween decorations and Winter - snow shovels, but they are totally skipping Hurricane! The stores should be full of bottled water, nasty white bread, plastic tarps, cheap styrofoam coolers and flashlights that only work once. And sprinkers! I should still be able to buy a sprinkler!

My plants are drying out, Dean is out there, the leaves are falling and I'm parka shopping. I hate Valentines Day.

Randomness

Remember when bottles were glass? Remember how heavy they were? remember collecting money by recycling them? And then everything went plastic, that cheap bubble -y plastic, not the sleek plastic everything is now, the faux glass. You pay extra for plastic that looks like glass. Sprite has always been good at that. A Sprite bottle looks like a sprite bottle. It's the dimples.

it doesn't matter how glassy the plastic is formed to, you can drop it from the counter and it still isn't going to shatter. You aren't going to break it. You also don't see as much broken glass around either. Pretty much the only thing that still comes in glass are beer bottles and the odd condiment. I remember when just about the only plastic you would have around the house was your shampoo bottles. There isn't as much sea glass anymore either. There used to be a lot of people who did thing's things, with sea glass. I wonder if they had to start making there own. Perhaps there are even sea glass farms out there.That would be a good gig. Work though your aggression by smashing glass, feel green by using the broken glass, make green by selling the glass. I mean, it wouldn't happen over night, sea glass takes time, but nothing is perfect. You might spend a lot of time watching glass dull.

I got to thinking about the wonders of plastic and the dearth of glass because The Kitty launched a plastic bottle off the counter and instead of shattering it just bounced. I wonder if The Kitty would be so excited by throwing things off shelves if he got to experience the unjoys of smashing those things. I would think, that as a cat, The Kitty would be unthrilled by the prospect of all the fluids that would be a side effect of the smashing. He doesn't always like the sound of what he just launched bouncing when it hits the grown, he would really hate the sound of crashing. When he has successfully smashed things he didn't like it. The smashing got my attention but it didn't often lead to his getting fed - his ultimate goal. I would have to clean up whatever he smashed and that did not lead to his getting fed. I think he saw the cause and effect of launching things that break verses things that bounce. Bouncing = Food, Smashing = Not Food.

Another thing. Why can't online driving directions be more personalized? All they would have to do is ask you questions about where you are going. I had to look up directions the other day. I wasn't going far, I was just going somewhere I hadn't been before. I got there and I was like "I know where I am! Why did they send me here this way? I didn't need to get on the expressway to get here! I got lost for nothing". It's true. I even went to different sources to get directions because with online directions you are usually lucky if what they give you is only slightly wrong and they only get confused about right and left on some of the turns. Two different sources failed to give me the most direct path to get there.

If they had only asked me questions. You know like "Do you like pizza?, have you tried LILLY's?", how about art films? remember where you saw whatever art film you saw? Yeah. Right there", or even "That place you used to go sometimes, and you always said you would go back but you didn't? Like a block up from there". I hate that. I drove around like an idiot, worse than that a tourist and they could have just told me where I was going was where I had been.

The Inevitable Emmy entry

You thought you have escaped this when I was on vacation when the nominations came out, you thought you were safe. Ha. I can still magically have opinions about TV shows I do not watch and Actors I don't even recognize, even weeks after the nominations are announced.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

Ricky Gervais - Extras
Tony Shalhoub - Monk
Steve Carell - The Office
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Charlie Sheen - Two And A Half Men

Ricky Gervais is over, he was funny but now he's just British and as much as audiences love brits, it's more like puppy love and we have moved on. Tony Shaloub already has a couple of these and while I like Monk, Shalhoub isn't really doing any heavy lifting over there. I am the only person in America who does not think Steve Carell and The Office is Hi-larious. Charlie Sheen is funny, but I want Alec Baldwin to win - it has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I find his ex to be tiresome.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

James Spader - Boston Legal
Hugh Laurie - House
Denis Leary - Rescue Me
James Gandolfini - The Sopranos
Kiefer Sutherland - 24

Denis Leary is brilliant and Hugh Laurie should have won the last two years, but for reals, like anyone has a chance against The Sopranos. Right.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

Felicity Huffman - Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures Of Old Christine
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
America Ferrera - Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds

I wuv Tina Fey. I want her to win and I want her to market a line of glasses which I would wear despite the fact that they may not flatter me. If it says "Tina Fey" on it, I want it. But I'm pretty sure it's going to Mary-Louise Parker because she's a movie star. it's like the Tony awards, always bet on the slumming movie star.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Patricia Arquette - Medium
Minnie Driver - The Riches
Edie Falco - The Sopranos

I hate Minnie Driver. And again, like any one has a chance againts anyone from The Sopranos.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series

Kevin Dillon - Entourage
Jeremy Piven - Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson - The Office
Jon Cryer - Two And A Half Men

A Kevin Dillon win would make me happy, but it' going to be Neil Patrick Harris, just watch. Or the guy from The Office.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

William Shatner - Boston Legal
T.R. Knight -Grey's Anatomy
Masi Oka - Heros
Michael Emerson - Lost
Terry O’Quinn - Lost
Michael Imperioli - The Sopranos

T.R Knight because he was "victimized". But again, no chance against The Sopranos, no matter how many mean words are hurled at you.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

Jaime Pressly - My Name is Earl
Jenna Fischer - The Office
Holland Taylor - Two and a Half Men
Conchata Ferrell - Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds

Jaime Pressly is my homegirl. Kind of.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

Rachel Griffiths - Brothers and Sisters
Katherine Heigl - Grey's Anatomy
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy
Aida Turturro - The Sopranos
Lorraine Bracco - The Sopranos

I don't care if the entire female cast of Grey's Anatomy is nominated, The Sopranos will win OR, the three from GA and the two from TS will cancel each other out and Rachel Griffiths will get it.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two And A Half Men
Ugly Betty

30 Rock! 30 Rock! 30 Rock!

Outstanding Drama Series

Boston Legal
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
House
The Sopranos

Puhleese.

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series

The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Night With Conan O’Brien
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher

I want TDS and TCR to both win. But, if one can, it must be The Daily Show

World Peace Puppy

Picture it

I was talking to one of my co-workers the other day and we were talking dogs and she said jokingly “Not a cat lover, huh?” she didn’t know I had a cat! I was horrified. She assumed that Dogger was my only pet! She had this idea because, well, if you didn’t know better,what with the life sized portrait of the dog, you might not even notice one 4x6 picture of my cat, the main message you take from my cell is that I have a dog. I mean, there aren’t a lot of Dogger pictures around, just the life sized portrait, the one of her smiling on the beach, the one of her grinning at the camera and one of The Kitty, looking glum. I think the misunderstanding can be traced to the life sized portrait, it sends message and that message says : Kitty? What kitty?

How did this happen? The Kitty is the most photographed animal on the planet, Wegmans dogs don’t spend as much time posing as The Kitty does. There are super models who have less time in front of camera than The Kitty. I Friday Cat Blog! I mean, I probably have hundreds of pictures of The Kitty - on my hard drive. In real life, no so much. I am falling behind though, I have updated Doggers Dogster page twice in the last month or so and I haven’t touched Kitty’s Catster page in a year. I suck. The Kitty needs to win a contest, tenth runner up at the very least. I need to enter The Kitty in something. Do you think Molly Shannon could be persuaded to make Year of the Dog II - Year of The Cat?

How did I end up in a Dogger shrine? I mean, you hang one life sized portrait and all of a sudden you "hate" cats? I don’t have the desk space to display enough 4x6's of The Kitty to compensate. It would be easier if our walls weren’t made of concrete and it also would have been nice if I had been in town when the guys came with their drills. I managed to get a few things hung before I left, but not what I would have done had I been in town . What I have is hung on 3M hooks. They work really well, but they look like pygmy coat hooks. On the up side my walls don’t have any tacky holes in them, on the down side, I can only hang things that can hang from a coat hook. It's limiting.

That leaves my desk and the window sill.

The sill is a good bet, it’s wide and right now it is home to a collection of Happy Meal penguins, that if pressed, I could argue, are Kitty stand ins, but if you don’t know I even have an over weight black and white house cat, you wouldn’t get it. They just look like penguins and you would assume I really liked Happy Feet - where you would be wrong, the penguins are from the surfing penguin movie not the dancing penguin movie and I saw neither.

The desk is cluttered with the computer and the little shelf thing is kind of all ready kind of taken by other pictures, I would like people dropping by my cell to see that I do have a life outside my pets. I am related to human beings as well. I need to represent the bipeds in my life.

The good news is that magnets can be my friends. I have metal bits here and there and my window sill for some reason is magnetic, so I have options. I’ve seen the future and it is magnetic photo sleeves.

Rove to step down

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Karl Rove, President Bush's senior political adviser, will voluntarily step down from his White House post at the end of the month, senior administration officials said Monday.


Of course, I would have prefered he left in chains, on his way to a federal prison - but I'll take what I can get. It would also be a really nice b-day gift if he could make his exit around the 29th.

Full story here

Foods for thought

This is my week to feed Smokey. Despite valiant efforts to convince him otherwise, which included two of his Friends giving up a Saturday morning to “walk” him from the old building to the new building and then repeated trips to campus to make sure he had stayed there - Smokey did not want to move with us.

His reasons for avoiding the new building are many. He’s very old, he's all ready fought for and won the territory he has now and he isn’t going to abandon it, and the large fox that hangs out around the new building. I think if the reporters are seeing a “large” fox that they may actually be seeing a coyote. But I’m not sure, I remember reports of foxes at the other building as well as coyote sightings and those didn't scare him away. I think that as a 10 year old feral cat, Smokey just isn’t going to be pried away from his home. There is another group that is supposed to be moving into our building at some point (Lord have mercy on their souls) and contact has all ready been made with them - They will take over the Smokey feeding responsibilities at that time. But for now, the three of us are taking it one week at a time. It’s funny. I did the feeding of him every day for years and the food was provided for free, and no one ever volunteered to help me out with it. Now that we have to travel to do it and supply our own food, there is whole group dedicated to feeding him.

It being my week, I took Dogger and we went to the building Sunday afternoon to pick up the food container, which on Friday I kind of thought might have had food in it, it didn’t. Dogger and I went to the grocery.

The store was advertising it’s back to school products as well as two for one Sugar Smacks . So much for a healthy start. I thought that while I was there that I would make myself meat loaf for dinner, but first I had to worry about what Smokey was going to eat. I had been told that he seemed to like Ally Cat brand cat food. I was familiar with Ally Cat because this is what I fed my cats at school. It is the cheapest cat food on the market. It is made of equal parts ash, bone meal and I imagine, melamine. If you are a cat eating Ally Cat You all ready have problems apart from your diet. The melamine content is just lagniappe.

I couldn’t find Ally Cat, so clearly a product of China the cat pictured on the bag bears a striking resemblance to Mao Tse-tung and inside every bag is a copy of The Little Red Book. The store didn’t carry it. Sugar Smacks yes, Ally Cat, no. I have some cheap cat food at home for my strays, but past experience has taught me that Smokey won’t eat that brand, he like Bill O’Reilly hates products of Mexico. He’s poor, he’s homeless, he’s beset by fleas but even he won’t eat .99 cents per three pound bag of dry cat food. He has standards.. I ended up with Store Brand cat food, more expensive than Ally Cat but with a higher ash-to-bone-meal content. Nummy.

Cat food accomplished, I wanted to start thinking about me. I had wanted to make a meat loaf, but when I walked into the store, there were no baskets handy. I couldn’t carry a bag of cat food and meat loaf fixings. I changed my mind on dinner. I ended up getting a frozen pizza, thin crust, because I was feeling like something healthy.

HAPPY BLOGGER STILL SUCKS SUNDAY!!!!!

HAPPY BLOGGER SUCKS AGAIN!!THANK GAWD FOR WHAT LITTLE HTML SKIZ I HAVE SATURDAY!!!

Friday Cat Blogging

Beasts

It’s 104 degrees. It is very warm. It is too warm to walk the dog it is by extension, too warm to go to the park. I didn’t even have to say anything to Dogger, sh was like “You know, I understand. I think I’ll just stay splayed out on the floor here and you do whatever you need to do”. As to the splaying, I would have thought that linoleum would be cooler for doggy splaying than wood but apparently, the wood is the cooler of the two surfaces. Also, The Kitty owns the kitchen and I’m pretty sure that Dogger has just learned that the wood is the safer alternative. It’s cool because she keeps hers.

Before work this morning I wanted to get something out of my car, I didn’t get it out because I had pulled the car too far forward and so I couldn’t open the passenger door all the way. Sucks being my green tea. I was going to get my keys and reposition the car but as I was going back in the house I saw something in my recycling bin.

I screamed.

Okay, I shrieked, it was early, there was no reason to alarm the neighborhood over a rogue possum. I was horrified, and I really believe my hysterical reaction was totally valid because Oh-My-Gawd-There-Is-A-Possum-In-My-Recycling but I doubt the cops would understand. I had this meltdown because a possum the size of the three week old kitten was hissing at me. It surprised me! It could have been a rat! Or a huge spider! Or a freaky human/turtle hybrid! Did I tell you I saw a very big snapping turtle on the beach on day? It wasn’t supposed to be there. There is snapping turtle world and there is people world and I’m pretty sure that we are supposed to use the beach separately. I bet there is even a schedule sheet somewhere with snapping turtle beach times clearly marked on the schedule and this was clearly a people time - and it hissed at me too.

It was a hissing flashback! I wasn’t over reacting to the possum, it was a flashback! Even very small possums have teeth and nasty claws. And the hissing.

I had to go to work!

So, time was passing and the creature was hissing at me and I didn’t want mama possum to get me with my back turned, so I went to work. I figured if baby possum got himself in there, baby possum could get himself out. Son had claws. Far be it from me to mess with the natural order of things. And the hissing was scary.

Went to work. Worked. Worked. Worked.

Came Home. Hot, hot, hot. Whine.


The baby possum was still there . “Shit”. I said. And then I read it the riot act about sticking around. And then when it still didn’t get the message, I pulled the bin out and tipped it over. I thought “Ah Ha!” and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And called my Dad.

...Who told me to call animal control. I was afraid they would give me a ticket for knowingly leaving the baby beasty in the bin all day. I thought about lying to them and telling them that it was in fact, a three-week-old kitten. It was easier to tip the bin over and hope for the beast, best. They really do play possum. I felt totally like a not very bright predator. I also shrieked again, because it looked like I killed it. And then when it was not dead, I lectured it, it of course, pretended to die of boredom. Asshole.

When small is not cute

There was a baby possum in my recycling bin this morning. I didn't take it out because possums are sharp and pointy and they hiss. Should I have helped him/her out of the bin, despite his/her sharpness, pointiness and hissiness? Is there going to be a posse of pissed of possums waiting for me in the pm?

Whine

It’s hot.

I’m hot.

Dogger is hot.

The Kitty is hot.

The dogs at the dog park were hot.

And so I decided to do some work outside. My Mom got me one of those tree face kit things, you know, the ones you see in catalogs? The ones that cost too much? Well, they also sell them in stores and in stores they don’t cost too much. If you buy yours at Shopko they hardly cost at all.

Anyway

I found out that I didn’t have any nails in the house. I have a hammer the size of a three year old - I so need a super-sized hammer, I do so much home improvement. I think I bought it when I was still in an apartment. I must have had big ideas, or I watched too much Trading Places. Memories...

Anyway. Nails. I needed nails. I was on my way to Lowe's when I went by Family Dollar. I really, really, really didn’t want to drive all the way to Lowe's for a box of nails. It would be wrong. Family Dollar came through for me and they gave me a selection of different kinds of nails. Who knew? I mean, once a upon a time, I took a class called Stage Craft and I would bet I was tested on different kinds of nails but, that was years ago. I wasn’t going to need to know about nails for any reason, ever. Idiot.

I came back home. My tree is outside, inconsiderate bastard tree! Before I left I looked at my tree and decided where on my tree it needed a face. It needed a face fairly high up. I was going to need my ladder .

Before

I got the ladder. It is hot inside too and that is with the air conditioning.

I get myself, the face, the nails, the hammer and the ladder outside and under the tree - which is still outside! The bastard! It is at this point that I notice that one of my neighbors is outside with a puppy the size of one of Doggers ears. It is tiny and I must meet it. The puppy, Furgy weighs only a little over a pound and her little legs are shorter than my fingers. I chirp at the puppy for a few minutes and then I go back to work.

The ladder isn’t going to work. The ground under the tree is uneven. I am going to have to do this myself. Did I mention that somewhere along the line I pissed off my left arm and now it hates me?

I suck at putting the face on. I use the template and I still end up with an uneven face and the template doesn’t have any instructions and the first nails I use, while long enough but not the right kind, or something, I don’t know what’s wrong but they aren’t right. I yank those out, not fun by the way - and start again. The facial features aren’t really secure. I think they are supposed to be more secure. I think I did it wrong. Are the eyes supposed to spin?

After

Old, Elderly, Ancient

Do you know what is totally addictive? Pop Up Videos . Watch it through a couple of videos and try to look away. You can’t! You have to know more about the Angel is a Centerfold video! I mean, when was the last time you even thought about the J. Giles Band, much less what celebrities went to the school they used as the set for the video shoot? (e.e. cummings and the guy who played Doogie Howser's buddy on Doogie Howser, M.D). When was the last time you even heard Angel is a Centerfold? how about watched the video? years ago? and you have never thought about the video. Until you watch Pop Up Videos and then you are trapped, trapped by the trivia. If y'all have any questions about the Angel is a Centerfold video, ask away. I now hold a Angel is a Centerfold video PhD.

I also finally sat down, as I was in front of the TV anyway, and started to watch what I taped while I was away. It wasn’t much, three weeks of Rescue Me and three weeks of Monk. I didn’t take in to account at the time though, just how many hours that would be. It turns out that it is a lot a lot more than say your standard six hour video tape can handle. I really needed to go on vacation. I would also like to point out that one show is on FX and one show is on USA. There aren’t any other networks involved. And I cleared out all the shows I had set to tape. So, why is most of my tape taken up with some insipid dance show on FOX? Rupert Murdoch. violated my VCR..

Dogger and I went back to the dog park last night and nobody was there. Of course we were there at 5:00pm instead of the more popular and cooler later hours. I hate Drama Dog. I can’t wait for The Season to start up again and for Drama Dogs people too busy hefting and toting and crewing shows to spend much or any time at the park. I wish them a very profitable theatre season, because pretty soon the only time to be at the park is going to be from five to five-fifteen and I don’t want to have to stress about whether or not Drama and Dogger are going to tear each others throats out in the few minutes of leash-less freedom they have.

I’m still thinking about Pop Up Videos. Did y'all know that VH1 is still on? I had no idea. In fact I was watching VH1- Classics, but isn’t “classics” kind of what VH1 did anyway? I watched a Men at Work video I hadn’t thought about since it came out, in 1983!. I was shocked to realize that I actually remembered what the album cover looked like because I remembered that freshmen year of High School, Merrill Ashley won a copy of it for being rilly spirited or showing up every day or whatever and the teacher made him hold it up for the class to see. I think we were in English together, or history. I am old, very, very old.

Tap, Tap, Tap

We've been in this building for five weeks and we still do not have our candy machine! Gawd, and now also pissing me off? It is getting really, really, hot in the building. I'm getting bad, old building flashbacks. So, no candy machines and it's hot. And so far? No Popsicles! What kind of place is this?

BeepBeepBeep Damn.

I haven’t been at the mercy of an alarm in three weeks, well, there was that wake up call at the hotel but it didn’t mean that I had to wake up right then. I haven’t as much as looked at a clock out of anything more then mild curiosity in almost a month. Do you know how nice it is to not care about what time it is? To have it not matter? I mean, the luxury of getting up whenever you wake up and going to sleep whenever you go to sleep? BeepBeepBeep . Damn.

The one upside to being back is the promise of air-conditioning. It was as least as hot up there last week as it is here this week but here we have air-conditioning. I took Dogger on our first walk Monday night. It was hot. Shockingly. Dogger didn’t even want to go for a walk, she lay down in the drive way and started to sing We shall overcome. She even had the sway down. Sadly for her, I overcame her and we walked.

I knew I was on vacation, the people at work knew, the paperboy knew, the neighbors knew, but surprisingly my creditors did not. They insisted on sending me bills! Lots and lots of bills. A few of them due, hahaha, today. So I needed to go to the mail boxes, sooner rather than later. So at 5:30 (I’m all ready all about clocks and time ) Dogger and set out for the post office, the last pick up is 6pm. We speak to a guy sitting on a porch, we talk about the heat. We’re both hot.

We got there and safety mailed everything, we even chatted with the post guy standing outside collecting the last minute drop offs. We agreed it was hot.

We are almost home.

A nice, older man sitting in a truck (with the engine running) asks me about Dogger. Everyone asks me about Dogger. And usually, I am more than happy to talk about her. But it was hot. The man wanted to know if I had heard about the dog mauling out in California. Sadly, I said I had. He said he had a heard about the same thing back in the forties, except it was a woman and she was mauled by her Dobermans. He said they were nice dogs too. I said “Well, they were still dogs”. And then he told me about how his retriever lived for nineteen years! 19 years! A retriever, a big dog. And said that was a wonderful thing. I should also point out that it was very hot and I was now standing still in the very hot. The man had his trucks a/c going, he was in no hurry. He was enjoying himself.

And I was too, I mean, really, a nice conversation is a nice thing. But. He went on and on about his daughters dog and what a nice little dog it was and he had just finished babysitting it for an extended time. He loves that little dog. He said “People without pets don’t understand this, we don’t spoil them, they spoil us. And that is about the sweetest thing I have ever heard.

And sweat is flowing down my face and getting in my eyes and every time I wipe it away it comes right back and I am trying to be polite because he is being so sweet and he’s so obviously happy to be talking dogs with a fellow dog lover and the man goes on to say how he would never have stopped me if it wasn’t for Dogger and do not pet owners have this thing in common... and I say we do, we really do and he’s so nice and... I finally break away, after agreeing pet owners have this bond and while, yes, it was lovely to speak to him and all, but the whole time he had his a/c blowing and I’m standing there dieing.

So, onto the Photobloggingarama!!

Hey!!

And then it got hot again... I mean, like really, really hot. But, I'm back!! Kind of, in that "Just-back-from-vacation-gawd-I-am-sooo-tired-and-I-sooo-much-to-get-done-and-where-are-my-shoes?" way but Wow, Tuesday, boy howdy! I see photobloggingarama! Let me tell you something about Marquette you may not know, that does not photograph as well as the local flora: You can go buy Vodka at the grocery store, they have beer and wine too, but I was floored to see the hard stuff there too.

I'm Baaaaaaack!!!!