I was at work a few nights ago when I got the phone call. “Manager you have a call parked on 101.” I figured it was a customer or an employee calling for something, so when I answered and recognized the voice as that of The Girl’s, I was a little worried. And it didn’t get any better when I asked what was wrong and she said “I’m not sure I should tell you.”

Of course by now we’ve all seen that picture, so it’s no mystery as to what they did: they chewed a hole in the armrest of my couch, and proceeded to pull out all of the stuffing. Yes, that’s a real picture of the actual damage. Click it for a larger view, if you desire. Go ahead; laugh at my expense. F*ckers.

How do you beat a dog with stuffing? If someone can figure that out, please let me know. Because for the life of me, I couldn’t find a way to make it work. And dammit, believe me I tried.

Anyway. We’re trying to put it back together. We’re moving kind of slow at it right now though. I expect that by the end of September, that we’ll have a fully-functional couch. It’s early in the month, however. We have time. We’ll see what happens.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

No Photoshop was used in the creation of this photo. That is a real, live shark.

?

Real, live… dead… shark?

OK OK, how’s this: It’s a real photograph… of a wild-yet-dead shark that we came across… while walking along the beach yesterday morning. It was just me & the dogs (Miles, Zoey, Chase, & Hunter OH MY!) on the outing, and we came across it as we were walking back. It’s obviously just a baby shark, at most 2-ft long. But it washed up completely intact, and as we came up to it, I was actually a little worried. Because I didn’t know how long it had been there, and I didn’t want the dogs getting too close and it lashing out on it’s last breaths and getting a mouthful of Lab or mutt, you know? I mean sh!t, look at these teeth:

Yeah, you don’t want to be getting too close. What if it was a girl? And what if it was “that time” of the month? It’s mad, it’s bleeding, it’s bloated, and it also happens to be marooned on a beach? Watch out. Those’re some ferocious teeth, mang.



There were some other paths I was contemplating taking with this blog, other than the standard-issue descriptive narrative. One was along the lines of “meet my new attorney-at-will.” Considering the pic, I was also going to go with “Chase, the Shark Hunter.”

On that note: no lie, someone I know of saw the pic and asked if Chase had killed the Shark. You know, because people often send their land-based dogs into the water to hunt & kill the most fearsome killer of the oceans. ?

Anywho, this was a first for me, seeing a real, live… dead… shark(?) wash up on the beaches up here. Thought I’d share. Really makes me reconsider my desire to learn to surf up here, though. I can just hear the corny 70’s theme Music from Jaws starting up right now.

Duh-dun… duh-dun duh-dun…

Anyway, here’s a Photo Gallery of the damned thing. Enjoy that as well.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

So about those options…
I mentioned 3. I had ordered three. Showed up to pick up the Taco?

Saw two. Suh-weet.

The Running boards & Roof Rack made it on. The Skid Plate? Not so much. Didn’t actually exist on the Tacoma. I figured what happened was this: The original new truck was ordered but had the skid plate pre-installed when they got it, so they didn’t order it. However, when the original new truck was returned and the NEW new truck was ordered & then delivered, no one caught that little detail.

Until, that is, random bob showed up on the scene.

Found the sales manager – who was not happy to see me – and got it straightened out. He pretty much verified that what I thought was probably the issue was indeed the issue. Yeah, he was a little worried at first sight of me. He’s been well-trained that seeing the ‘bob ususally means that something is the matter. But it wasn’t that bad this time, and he was on top of it. Should be in by Monday. Suh-weet.

It sucks a Tad. Not this Tad. But just a little bit.

Doesn’t matter too much however, as I’m not putting the truck to the test until I get the Shell, anyway. I mentioned it before, but I’m not going anywhere in it for too long without the dogs. Especially now with the new guys. Yeah. Little bastards. I’m out eating right now. They’re probably eating more speaker wires as I type.

Dammit.



What the funk: Politics
I don’t get it. The public has an abysmally-low rating of the current presidency, led by monkey-boy Georgie Bush. Like, abysmally-low. Yet somehow, McCain’s not only running, but according to one pole at least, is in the lead?

So let me get this straight: The American People don’t like bush anymore, feel they’ve been lied to & misled for the last 4-8 years, and want change. Then see fit to essentially re-elect him? In the form of McCain? Who’s essentially the Bush Candidate reincarnated, but older (is that possible?)?

Holy f*ck. Canada, come save us. Apparently, we’re too stupid to do it ourselves. We need an intervention.

You know, I really think we should re-think that whole Civil War thing. The South may have been on to something. I sure as hell don’t want them dragging me down. Let them be their own collection of idiots, I say.

I say a lot, I know. But I definitely say that.

Tags: Vehicles, Animals, New Family Members

Options Installed Tomorrow
When we got the truck, we had specified a certain set of additional options. Since the trucks don’t come with them, they were ordered and are to be installed tomorrow, actually. Front skid plate, roof rack, & running boards, oh my!

Oh, and Perma-Plate. ? It’s an additional option that struck our fancy. It’s basically a factory-applied protectant that they cover the exterior & interior with. Prevents stains, cost us an additional $600. Thing is, it also includes an annual interior & exterior detail job for 5 years. That itself typically goes for $200-$300 a pop, so after 2 years it’s paid for in its entirety. We felt it was worth it, since an annual detail job is something we budget for anyway.



Dogs might be dead before end of month
Last night I get home and they had eaten a couple of the speaker wires run to our back speakers. This includes the subwoofer. I am understandably pissed.

I should have seen it coming. Two days before, they had pulled up the wire cover that goes across the floor. Didn’t touch the wires at that time, just pulled up the cover. It was clearly a warning; a sign of what was to come.

Little bastards -- no one takes my bass away and lives.



Eating a whole lot more than we had figured initially
They’re hungry little guys! We had assumed that they’d cost us about 2x as much as the current two we have. We figured incorrectly. We figured, multiply our current food intake by two and then put an equals sign and look at the number, done. Doesn’t quite work that way. See our old food intake schedule was based off of one hungry lab and a mutt that hardly eats. Now we have 3 have three hungry labs and the same ol’ mutt that hardly eats. So it’s closer to 3x the rate of food intake.

I bought a 50lb bag of dog food for the labs (they eat different food than Zoey as she as skin issues) on August 12th. As of today (the 20th), I figure I have a week left. That puts a 50lb bag at two weeks. That’s 100lbs a month just for the labs, not considering the amounts zoey eats. Though that’s not much, as I said.

I just wish they’d sh!t less. Especially on the sidewalk at night. Bastards.

Tags: Animals, Vehicles, hate, New Family Members

It’s been really awesome, I may have mentioned once or twice here already. I don’t plan on going anywhere. We’ve been pleased with the area, and though weather was a concern for most everyone (“it rains all the time!”), we didn’t find it particularly troublesome. Granted it was another drought year, but even so, we had actually wished for more rain – we could use it up here.

I just wish all these people would go away, so me & BigFoot could live in peace! :-D



Out to the Non-Lake today
We both have the day off, an I plan to get us ready & out of the house on a trek to Blue Lake again today. We were there not too long ago with all the pups, and we felt it was time to visit again.

Don’t let the name fool you; we’re going there to hang out at the river. Because there’s no actual lake. Just a river. A Mad, Mad River.

There’s a nice little hidden trail that we go 4x4-ing down, get to a nice spot removed from the roads, and hang out. It’s convenient, because then we can take all our stuff (say, a cooler, chairs, etc) and not have to lug it 4,000 miles just to get away from the frequented spots. Which is important when you have 4 dogs (we have 4 dogs! Holy crap!)

Don’t worry; the 4Runner’s rough, rugged, and ready for the trail. We’ve done it before, and dammit we’re going to shine again.



My Canon goes in for service
I emailed amazon about trying to return the products, and was met with chirping crickets. Yep, not so much as a word back to me on the matter.

Anyway, with having recently tried out other makers’ cameras, we can safely say that we’d rather put up with Canon’s occasional malfunction than the other manufacturer’s all-the-time sucking with their sucky suckiness.

It’s scheduled to arrive there in about 3 days (UPS ground is SLOWWWW…), and I’ll probably get it back about a week afterwards.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Tags: New Family Members, Vehicles

So now that we’ve had the dogs a good three weeks, I thought I’d throw in some of my observations thus far with regards to their budding personalities. I mean, they are two different dogs, brothers or not, right? Right.

Things I think I prefer about Chase over Hunter:
Chase is of course black, like the ever-venerable Miles. He is also much more into getting into the water to give chase to something than his brother, much the way that Miles is game to chase something down if it involves getting wet. In fact, Miles so much as prefers water chase. You can almost touch his desire to crawl into the water for something. Chase is going to be that way too, I think, whereas Hunter’s more into land-based pursuits. He’ll crawl into the water, but he’s not nearly as gung-ho as his brother when it comes to the water; Hunter is content to let them get wet whilst he stays dry. Chase also seems to be more a people person than Hunter. Not that Hunter’s an outcast or weary of human contact. Actually, Hunter came right up to me when I first found them, where Chase actually needed a little more coaxing, but still – Chase seems more interested in what I’m doing at any given moment than Hunter does. Like he just cares a little more to be close to his people at all times.


Things I Think I prefer about Hunter over Chase:
Hunter’s more independent, like the ever venerable Miles. Miles doesn’t care about this or that or that some dog is barking; he’s not going to give in to peer pressure or fear something just because another dog does. Nope. With the exception of the water, he’s very much more curious and adventurous than his brother. The first time we started the vacuum, Chase got some distance to see what was up, in case it tried to eat him. Hunter though, saw that I was holding it, and concluded that if I was holding it in my hands it couldn’t be that bad. And thus he was just curious about it rather than scared about it. Of course now both of them are fine with it, and Chase doesn’t care any more than his brother, but that initial “whoa just hold on a minute” was confined solely to him. Hunter’s more like a smart person, whereas Chase is a smart dog, if that makes sense.


Things I’m still on the fence about:
I cannot decide who’s the more affectionate of the two. I know I said that Chase seems more into whatever it is that I’m doing, but Hunter’s much more excitable when I am doing something. If I run around the house, he’s much more waggy than his brother. He also likes to wallow on me more than Chase, as well. However, when he gets his petting time, he sort of eventually decides when it’s over and goes on to other things. Chase though, when petting time comes for him, he’s very attached to it. He will not call quits on the session, preferring to stay put and accept as much attention as you’ll lay upon him; and the look is one of “thank you, Daddy. I… I love you… I really love you… Do you love me?” Hunter’s look is different. It’s not less loving, just different. Chase looks at you with his eyes and his feelings, but Hunter seems to want to get into your soul. There’s no tinge of sadness or the evacuation of sorrow like his brother; just soulful content.

They’re both affectionate, but just in different ways.


What it means in regards to Miles:
Miles is very much Super Dog. And even more to his credit, it seems as though it is going to take two dogs to equal One Miles. He’s the soulful, content go-getter that’s not afraid of nothin’, smarter than some people I’ve met (and some I’ve been related to), willing to wallow on occasion, but independent enough to spend some time alone and be OK. Yeah, he loves chasing the ball into the water, but c’mon, it’s just a ball, and sometimes, he just figures that since he did the work, it’s his ball and he’ll do with it as he pleases. Maybe he won’t bring it back, maybe he won’t chase it. He’ll decide thanks.

I wanted to eventually have an exact replica of Miles; it seems as though that might never be a possibility. I guess I’ll have to settle for two half-replicas.

As if that’s really settling much, right?

Tags: New Family Members, Animals

Today was the first day of my vacation. We took the dogs (all four of them) out to the river. I wanted to help Hunter (the Chocolate Lab) get over his apprehension to jumping into the water to get stuff. I don’t get it, but for some reason the Black Labs seem more “in” to the water than the other labs of another color (even from the same mother). Hunter will go and swim, but he doesn’t just hop right in and go, and if there’s other dogs going after the same thing, he’s content to let them (the two Black Labs) jump right in and go. But if the other dogs go one way, and he has no competition going another way and can take his time, he’ll crawl in and go.

So I figured I’d go wading through across the river, and then of course he’d follow me. The hope is that if he sees me going with no hesitation, that he’ll forget his own hesitations. And while the idea is solid, again I refer to to the first sentence: Swimming in running shoes can really be no fun.

The dogs, they are fast. Faster than I gave them credit for. And when I go, well, they catch up to me. And the paws… oh, the paws. They scratch me. Badly.

Swimming in running shoes is no fun when you have dogs tailing your ass.



The Golden Compass
So we watched The Golden Compass tonight. The reviews are sort of all over the map. I tend towards the lower end of that scale. The whole movie seems to jump around here then there, then here, then there, and throughout it all, you’re going “wha…?” and you feel like you should care or something or at least know more than you do. But you don’t. And it’s not your fault, you’re not missing anything. The movie just sucks.

Look: Give a girl a compass, she gets lost. Give her a Polar Bear, and she gets eaten. Give her Sam Elliot, and… well, she gets a Western Side Kick, because that’s all Sam Elliot ever is. Give her Nicole Kidman, and she also gets a monkey? OK whatever, right? Exactly. Look, All I’m saying is that maybe they should have given her a script for a better movie. What’s the worst that could have happened?

Right. Whatever. Just don’t bother watching it. Your eyes will thank you.

Trust me. Trust. Me.

Edit: If you haven’t seen this movie yet, but you’d like to know what’s up without having to actually suffer through it, I present to you The Abridged Script Version. It’s fun, take a read.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

The new additions to our family, being the young pups they are, need time and attention. Those 2-½ hours I’m at Jujutsu practice 2-3 times a week, well that’s their training time! That’s their play time. That’s the time they need to form good, healthy bonds. And since I want to leave them to their own devices as little as possible, that’s also more than likely (what with The Girl’s work schedule) 2-½ hours of time they have unattended to destroy more stuff.

I plan to go back, once they’re more acclimated to their new surroundings, and once they are trustworthy enough to leave at home for two additional hours alone. But right now, and for probably the next 6-8 months, that’s simply not the case.



Work is (hopefully) going well
The transition to a new store has been 10 days in the making now. It’s been kinda weird because although everything’s the same, everything is also slightly different. And for the first few days/nights, I was just trying to get my bearings. Which was difficult, because I’d be trying to think through my mental task list, and that list would resemble more of the store I came from than the store I as at, and then I’d get some wires crossed and really just end up a little off track, honestly.

But that’s calming down now. I’m getting into a slight groove, and now when I close I’m able to get us out of there quicker than the employees are ready for. I’m feeling good enough about it & getting done fast enough, that I’m prepping the morning paperwork before I leave at night. I get ready to walk the floor sooner than everyone’s prepared (through years of training) to be ready for.

Hopefully, it’s because I’m getting that good, not because I’m wholly missing some important piece. Hopefully.



Vacation begins in 3, 2, 1…
I’m so giddy I could almost fall asleep. No really, this is a good thing. I could use the rest. I think I may have mentioned it, but just in case: were you aware this is my first real vacation in like 7 years? I can’t wait.

Or I can wait about 3 days. Whatever.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

Immigration Reform Proves Difficult
I refer you to this article in the Washington Post. I am totally against the whole “let the immigrants stay” sort of mentality, if you didn’t know already. I don’t think that they bring more to the economy than they take away; I think they’re simply a vehicle for the bourgeois to continue raping the middle-classes of jobs, status, and wealth. Yeah, really. A job hired out for $4/hour to an illegal immigrant is a job not given to a legal American worker, and also the difference in pay is then skimmed and stays with the bourgeois, never reaching middle America — it furthers the rich/poor divide, y’all. Anyway, the real solution comes from punishing the businesses that harbor & hire illegal workers, I have said this before. But the problems in doing this are many, apparently:

Companies tell me, 'We have an immigration system that allows us to hire illegal workers, legally,' Baker said. Asked to defend President Bush's track record, he said, "Why are employers not punished more often? Because the laws we have don't really authorize that.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

Nowhere
Everyone keeps asking me “where are you going?” heh. Look, I live here by choice. Where am I going? To bed. Really. I’m not trekking anywhere, because simply, there’s nowhere else I’d rather go. I live in my perfect vacation spot.



Must Kill the Dogs
Last night The Girl got home slightly before I, and found at her feet two dogs who had mortally wounded our indoors. They had gotten into our hall closet and took out some clothes to play with, and also found a bag of books that were destined for Good Will. Since of course dogs don’t read (They prefer TV), they decided to put the books to use some other way. And since they are Labradors, that ‘way’ was oral destruction. Books, books, everywhere. Yay!

Actually I should probably be more specific: Pieces of books, pieces of books, everywhere! Yay!

That wasn’t bad enough though. They also managed to get into the entertainment center cabinet which has – I should say had – The Girl’s old photo albums. You know, before she got wise and went digital and sh!t. So Bobby Two-Face & Auntie Em are toast now. As are a few magazines we had next to the couch, oh and a Haynes Manual for The Girl’s Tundra, as well.

It’s seriously like night & day with these two. When we’re home they’re perfect little angels. When we’re gone, it’s as if they’re the Hounds of Hell sent here to destroy or something.

Last night I even tried calling the answering machine and telling them to behave. Apparently, they didn’t get the message.



Postscript
In looking for a decent “Labrador” link, I read multiple times that you should put your dog into a little crate when you’re away. Wha…?

Look it may be easier for you, but I feel that it borders on cruel to put a dog into a little cage. What better way to tell them you love them, eh? Locking them up in a little box.

I fail to see how being locked in a box is somehow the answer to a hyperactive breed. Dolts.

Peace.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

So yeah, take a stroll on over there. I put some up celebrating their arrival, and I also put a couple of pics of them up in the Family Album as well. Enjoy!



The ensuing question: answered
The easiest way to tell people who have owned labradors from those who haven’t: People are going to see those pics, and the ones who haven’t had Labs are going to scream bloody murder “why do they have those horrible-looking collars on!??!?!”

Those that have had Labs? No comment, because they know the answer: Labs are as focused & stubborn a breed as they come. They won’t even notice that collar as it is. Anything less, and you just get pulled into bad situations, am I right? Seriously. If you want them to pay attention to you when you’re trying to give them commands or keep them safe from harm… a proper training collar is absolutely necessary.

I once read a book about the dogs. They were talking about how to keep them from running around and getting into trouble. One thing they talked about was an electronic collar that goes with an electronic perimeter. If they cross the perimeter, they get jolted. Well apparently, when they do installs for Lab Families, it’s typical for them to come back and put two collars on the dog. Because with just one, the dogs decide to just keep going anyway.

Now leave me alone.

Peace.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

They are also – and I may have mentioned this – Labradors. Which of course means that things simply must be chewed. And of course, where there’s food, there’s paws in close tow. For instance, yesterday I made 3 – count them, 3! – bags of trail mix to take with me to work as a snack. I wasn’t that into the stuff, but the first two managed to be found and subsequently devoured. How the hell they smelled trail mix through a sealed baggie & inside a laptop bag is something only The Creator can know. It’s definitely a Lab Talent. They seem to have a sense for where food is, even when technically it’s supposed to be safe.



The Truck
On Thursday night the Tundra’s battery died. It was the original one, so I guess 6 years is pretty damn good. Anyway, she needed a jump which was handled by AAA after they tested the battery. No problems, right? Wrong.

On Friday morning we called to have AAA come out to replace the battery. The wrong one was attempted, then they couldn’t get the “right” one in I guess (I was at work), so they said “here, this one will work.” And it did! For the first attempt.

Now however, as soon as it turns over and starts, it just dies. Idles down to nothing and dies. So we’re a one-car family now, but with two working adults. Fantastic.



Speaking of Work
So yeah, come Saturday, I started with a different store after being transferred. Cool, huh? Well, it does have its ups to go with its downs. The store is new and clean, and it’s organized very well. I also think I’ll get along nicely with the store manager – I like his outlook on things, it seems to tend to gravitate towards how I would look at a given situation.

But things are new & different all over again. Learning new systems, you know? And if you know me – which I think you do – then you know that I simply hate not knowing any particular thing.

And did I mention the drive? Sweet. Er, uh, not sweet.



But mostly the New Dogs
We’ve both (The Girl & me) have been quite tired this last week. Today marks only our first whole week with the laddies! And again, while they’re sweet and cute & very smart already, they’re also going to need some time. And this has meant sleeping with one eye open.

Actually they’re pretty good come sleepy time. It’s really about stressing “what’s going to be munched up when I get home?” But still, also some of the “sleeping with one eye open” thing too. Plus I’m on a 9-day workweek stretch, going from open-to-close-to-open and whatnot, which makes random bob a very tired guy.

I need to get some time alone with them, but I haven’t quite figured out how. I need to get some commands ingrained in them and be absolutely sure they understand. And I also need to manage to be around when they try to do bad things. They need correction. Maybe not much, but they need it. They need to know only a handful of things, really, but they need to know them well. They need to know: (a) you don’t jump up onto things. The couch, the counter, things that are above the floor are above it for a reason, that reason being that it’s not for you; (b) you do not chew things up that are not specifically given to you. Yeah, it may very well be edible, it may even not be edible but feel oh-so-good in your mouth. However, unless it’s given to you to chew on, it’s not meant to be in your mouth. Period. This includes but is not limited to furniture, laptops, remotes, wires, trash, fences, trash cans, footwear, other dogs, Blu-Ray Discs (you can chew DVD’s they suck anyway :-D ), Television sets, radios, iPods, pillow cases, grocery bags, food, coal (think outdoor barbeque), carpet, rugs, or containers of any nature. And also (d), I expect there to be no question as to where the poop & pee goes. It goes in that spot outside by the tree or whatever on the grass. That’s it. Nowhere else. Not in the house, not in the garage, not on the sidewalk. It goes outside on the grass.

It’s all about being able to trust that they’re not busy destroying the place while we’re away. Because really, that stuff takes time away. Time away from taking them out fun places, time away from feeding them nice treats, and the rest. If I have to come home and clean the something-or-other for 30 minutes, well then, that’s 30 minutes less of playtime. And it might mean even less than that. Because if I was going to go out for 45 minutes, but now I’ve spent 30 cleaning… well maybe 15 minutes ain’t worth the effort, you know?

But they’re good thus far, a week in. They don’t need leashes already. They know their names and they come when called which is good. And they don’t run, despite the fact that I found them roaming the streets.

We’re going to have fun. I just need them to get The Rules down, is all. And they’ve got some time. They’re doing alright.

Peace.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

Pretty fitting, too! We went out to the river today to hang out and play a little. Chase, the black Lab, is very into chasing something that’s thrown, up-to-and-including-and-especially in the water, much like my dear Miles. The brown Lab, Hunter, isn’t as keen on jumping into the water and fetching things. He’s more land-based, and likes to hunt things down. Flies, moths, birds as we experienced yesterday (he was the mastermind behind that plot). Not that he fears water or avoids it, he’s just not as gung-ho into it like Chase & Miles. See the pic for the Proof!

So yeah, Hunter is what we decided to go with. Their names seem to suit them well thus far, too. We’ll have to see how it develops.



Search for the Owners
We did make some more phone calls today. We also took them into the Vet clinic, have them scanned for a microchip, too. They came up empty though(yay us!).

There. Now no one can accuse us of not having done the responsible thing. Now please leave us alone as we acclimate our new puppies :-)



All you Nay-sayers
About 90% of the people I’ve told about our new dogs have replied with ‘are you insane’ or something of that nature.

No, we’re not insane. We like animals. And it’s not as though we have 4 dogs like your neighbors had 4 dogs, in that there’s 4 large, pooping, crazy, uncontrollable beasts running around digging up holes and doing the aforementioned pooping on everything in the house.

Even the new guys, they got it down. We’ve got 4 under-control, potty-trained, well-behaved family members who happen to be furry. It’s fun! We take the dogs out and hang out at the river, they play. We throw sticks, they fetch. We swim, they swim with us. When we’re at home, they hang out, sometimes ask to be petted, but mostly just relax with us and wait to go out again.

It’s not as crazy as it seems. Really. We’ve got the situation in-hand. Srsly. Don’t compare our 4-dog-situation to your “Crazy Aunt B’s” 4-dog-situation. Totally different, really. We got our dogs under control. In our house, the poeple are the masters, not the dogs. We’re good. Thanks for the concern, but hey, we’ve got it handled. Beatings at 11.

Peace.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

I’ve not been fond of the name Chase before. Mostly because I am not fond of Chevy Chase. But, I do think that I might grow to to appreciate it.

We took them out to the Elk River Delta today. Originally – before we found 2 dogs in the street this morning – were going to go inland and hang out at Mad River like we did before. We didn’t want to leave our dogs home, but we didn’t want to leave two new dogs unattended at home, either. Nor did we want to take two new dogs to Mad River. It’s big & expansive, and there’s lots of room to run. As in, run away. So we decided to take them all to a place that we could be more assured that they wouldn’t get into any trouble. The Delta fits that bill, because you have to cross a bridge to get there, and then you’ve got the bay to one side and a river to the other, so it’s not as though the dogs could get too far too fast.

They’ve got their own personalities already, too. Kilo seems to be a more independent-minded dog, a-la Miles. And Chase seems to be more in need of approval. Neither of them are quite fit to fill Miles’ shoes, though. Kilo – while more independent-minded like Miles – seems to be less willing to go out gung-ho to get something. And Chase – while seemingly more timid & thus quite the opposite of Miles – actually had the gusto to just jump out into the water and chase after Miles & the ball.

But both are typical Lab puppies, in that they are tunnel-vision once something catches their fancy. Today, it was birds. They heard & then saw birds darting back & forth, and off they went to chase the birds down, and actually managed to catch one. We won’t talk about what happened next other than to say I had to bury a birdie to keep it from being digested.

Damn, did I just pretty much tell all of it? Guess so. Oh well.

Anyway, I’ll try to get some pages up for them, once I know more about them to begin with. In the meantime, you can click the picture at the top of this blog to see a bigger version of the two new family members!

Peace.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

Last time we quickly looked for a home. But last time it was a Pit Bull of unknown origin. This time, they’re two cute, young Labrador pups, maybe 6 months old thereabouts, and we’re quickly looking for a way to keep them. We can’t, of course, we’re renting a small place with a small yard. But we will. I am pretty sure about it, that unless someone calls to get them, we’re not going to go too far out of our way this time to find a place for them.

I mean don’t get me wrong, we made a call or two already. Called the animal shelter to report them found. Funny thing, they said they could send someone by to pick them up, to which I replied “no.” And there was silence, because they weren’t sure what the hell was going on.

“Just calling to report it, so if anyone calls in, they can be reunited.”

Still though, I’m thinkin’ that if someone really cared, we’d have gotten a call already.


So then? What shall we name these two new little guys? We already have Miles & Zoey. I had been teasing that when we got a replacement for Miles, we’d have to name him Kilo (for Kilometer), in keeping with the unit of measurement theme. So since the brown one reminds me more of Miles’ temperament, I’m thinking he gets to be Kilo. The black one? I dunno. Inch, maybe. Yard? That doesn’t really work.

Eh. Maybe I’ll have to drop the whole unit-of-measurement theme. I’ll let you know when I decide what’s up.

Peace. (click the pic for a large version)

Tags: Animals, New Family Members

Through many phone calls and references, we found someone who was not the dog’s owner, but has lived around here their entire life and sort of has a knack for finding lost dogs (or having them find her) and reuniting beast with master.

She’s sweet on animals, so we felt comfortable letting her take the dog with, and hopefully she’ll find the family who’s missing her or another good fit. Because the family that’s missing her really should have cared enough to put tags on the dog, huh? One would think.



Why I love “The Matrix”
Yes I know the film’s like 10 years old now (can you believe that?), but I just got through watching it a couple of days ago and I must say that to me, it’s the de facto standard for science fiction flicks.

Most science fiction movies sort of force you to accept a certain level of disbelief in order to swallow it. Star Wars? OK, so in a galaxy far far away, everyone is human. Yeah…. But with The Matrix? They have everything covered. It’s so cleanly devised, there’s really no way you can say “Yeah but it’s not real,” because by its very design it could be. They explain nuances of our existence such as Déja vu. They explain how the existence we accept as reality is really just a construct designed to have us believe that as truth. It’s so unbelievably perfect, that you’d swear that there’s no way a silly sci-fi action flick could be the first to develop such a concept.

And you’d be right. The concept is many, many, many, many, MANY years old. It’s been around for many a century, played with by the philosopher Decartes & Aristotle, as well as others. The basic concept is called the “Brain-in-a-Vat.” There’s still holes in this theory too, but it’s been the basis of many an argument for human rationale & our perceptions of reality & how our interactions define it (is the Matrix real? What is real?).

You can sit & watch this movie, and be completely enthralled with what’s going on, and not have any moments where you think “yeah but the idea of this is preposterous,” or “that’s too unbelievable to swallow,” because they are essentially giving you the reality you know, then explaining to you in succinct fashion that your reality is a lie, and explain how what you're seeing is in reality, reality. Sweet.

Most sci-fi’s don’t explain anything. There’s a big hole right at the beginning where you just accept that all aliens look like humans & talk english, or that necromongers kill all aliens that are not them (who all look human), or that aliens from Mars (which has no living, complex life forms) appear to eat our brains (Martians just happen to need to eat brain cells of humans, a species on a completely different planet? What a coincidence, huh?). There’s no “far far way,” no “in the future,” no “special training ops” or anything like that. It’s the reality you’ve been told to believe, and philosophically it’s dead on.

OK, so the 2nd and 3rd films are a little flimsy & preachy & weak; they weren’t supposed to be made, and besides I didn’t say ‘why I love The Matrix Trilogy’ I said just ‘The Matrix’ and was very measured in that.

I know what I’m talking about here, OK? I got an A in philosophy.

But to mention it one more again: this film is almost 10 years old. Does it really seem like it was that long ago to you? Seems like a few or so to me, not nearly a decade passed. Must be getting old.

Oh well. Peace.

Tags: New Family Members

The Adopted
OK, not quite. But strange thing, shortly after the Vick post, what shows up on my doorstep? A Pit Bull. Well OK, she didn’t show up on our doorstep so much as she hopped into our 4Runner. Now, she’s cute, friendly, waggy, superplayful and has not one mean bone in her body, but when you’ve never met her before and suddenly you’re face-to-face with a mouth as big as your skull? Yeah, not a great position to find yourself saying ‘hi’ to a Pit.

We made & posted some “Found Dog” flyers around our area, while taking her for a walk in hopes she’d find something familiar and lead us to her home. Not quite. Well, not quite on that not quite, either. She DID recognize the walk back to our house. I even took her off the leash and she ran up to our house and waited at the door for us.

Which I guess means she’s adopted us.



Sadly, though….
We can’t keep her. We’re already pushing our luck with two dogs of our own, one of which is probably half Pit Bull (we’re really not sure). And she’s not house trained, clearly the case as she’s been bouncing off the couch, bed, us, and occasionally the walls too.

And on our walk around with signs, we got quite a number of stares from passersby, with us holding onto this 55lb, ripped, big-jawed Pit Bull. They don’t care to hear that she’s very nice, they don’t care to find out. And my heart would beat each time we’d walk by people, especially smaller children. Not that I think she’d reach out and attack, but if the parents freak out (which they will), then the kids freak out, then the dog freaks out…. Could be bad, you know?

So she’d have to stay at the house. The house that she’s not well-trained at maintaining to our level of cleanliness. And then that wouldn’t be fair to her to leave her there as we took out our “good” dogs. So our dogs would have to stay home too, in the issue of fairness. And that wouldn’t be fair to them.

So we’re trying to find a way to get her a home, find her owners, or find her a rescue facility that’ll take her. Wish us luck.

Peace.

Tags: Animals, New Family Members