"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others." Ayn Rand

Saturday, July 12, 2008

How I Beat the Heat by Miss Fina



Other than kibble, squeaky toys and children, water is Miss Fina's favorite thing. She's not too confident in the big pool, but in her little pool, with the hose as her "fountain", she's in heaven.

Oh, to be a dog. Such simple pleasures!

Tony Snow


I was really sad to wake up today and hear such sad news. Tony Snow died early this morning. A month or two ago, Richard and I were talking about him, wondering what he was doing, as we hadn't heard anything about him in a long time. He had left the Press Secretary position, claiming he needed to make more money for his family. But then CNN announced he would be working for them as an analyst. But we wondered if he was sick again.

I guess he was. From what I heard people say today, nobody really knew how sick he was. He didn't want people to pity him.

He used to be on our local radio station from 9 am until noon every day. Being the news/political/talk radio junkie that I am, I listened every day, and I really liked listening to him. He was smart, and funny. When he went to work at the White House, he brought to the job a level of intelligence, humor and humility. He once said to Helen Thomas "Thank you Helen for the Hezbollah view"; Helen Thomas (and everyone else) laughed. He stopped mid-answer once, and said to the room "Look where we work! Look where we live! This is what it's all about." He tried to convey his love for his country and his family at all times. That's classic Tony Snow.

One day I was listening when I was on my way to Sams Club, and the topic was something that got me fired up...I don't remember exactly what it was about, but it was something about Teddy Kennedy. I took out my cell phone, and dialed. On the first try, I got through, and was put on hold. So I held. And held. And held. For two hours, I held. When I was finally put through, I was so nervous....but it was a great conversation that probably lasted about a minute and a half, although it felt longer. What a nice man he was to speak to.

There's not very many people I would wait two hours on hold for. I walked around Sams for the whole time, and probably spent more than I would have if I hadn't been on the phone waiting!

When he announced that he had cancer, I always thought he would beat it. That's what he said he would do. And he did, for a while.

He leaves behind a wife and three children.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

The Start of the Middle of Summer

It's already almost the fourth of July. Summer is whizzing by.

In a change of pace, I've been in the pool almost every day! With the dogs, of course. It's been so darn hot. All outside activity (except for the pool) has been reserved for very early mornings and very late evenings....except for today. I woke up and it was 65 degrees. Glorious. Miss Fina and I took a long walk this morning and came back actually refreshed, not drenched and exhausted. It was a welcome, wonderful thing.

I'll now update the rest of my life for anyone who wants to know.....

Richard: After waiting patiently for about 50 years, Richard was given a promotion at TMI. He's got a new title, a bit more money, and the promise of less travel and more management duties. That's the upside of the promotion. The downside? He still is doing his old duties, until they find someone to replace him. TMI is converting to a brand new database, which Richard is in charge of. Problem is, the old databases that they use now won't migrate to the new one. All the information is going to have to be put in by hand. (We're trying to work out a deal where I can be the input person.) Put this all together, and you have a man who's traveling every week, sometimes four days out of five, and coming home and working in the office the days he's not on the road. This is, as we have started calling it, the means to the end. I try not to be resentful of the time he has to spend on work, but I'm not always successful. I know it's not something he wants to do.....he resents it as much as I do, probably more. I wish I could help him with it, but unfortunately it's a one person job. We both are so looking forward to having more time together.
Maggie: Maggie's life is full; of work and of Roger. She's got "bride" on the brain, and she's so excited about the future. Roger continues to be a really nice guy, and everybody really likes him. They had to do a very difficult thing yesterday...they surrendered Moose to a Chesapeake rescue. It broke their hearts; knowing it was the right thing to do for Moose doesn't make it any easier. But having a Chessie, actually having any dog, right now for them is close to impossible. They are so busy, and don't have the time. Moose made friends immediately at the rescue, and already has a girlfriend. The sadness will get less and less over time; but at this point there aren't any words that will make them feel better. It's hard for a mom to see her child upset and not being able to do anything about it. It was a very grownup decision they had to make, and they made the right one. There will be many dogs for them in the future, I'm sure; now is just not the time.

Max: Max is trying hard to have a summer, but Wal-Mart keeps interrupting. He was hired there a little more than a month ago, and they are keeping him busy. He's working a lot of hours, but when the paycheck comes, he's not minding it too much. We had an interview with UTI; a successful one at that. Max will be going to school in Houston, TX; the program runs for one year straight, with very few vacations breaks (actually the holiday schedule is more like a business than a school). Max is very excited about this; it's going to be expensive and difficult, but he's up for the challenge. I think it's going to be good for him to be on his own (sort of); he'll have to have an apartment and at least one (or two) roommates. I think it's going to be a wake up call for him to have to do everything for himself. I think that I'm not going to know what to do with myself when he goes!

Mookie and Fina: The rabble rousers are having a good old time, and I'm (as usual) encouraging it. Mookie got a haircut by mom, and it looks like a two-year-old did it. But he doesn't seem to mind. Miss Fina is growing by leaps and bounds. Almost 50 pounds, and full of piss and vinegar. The cats are all....well, they're cats. NO MORE CATS. NO MATTER WHAT.

That's it for today...I'm going to go and get something done. Maggie took the DS with her last night, so I have no Super Mario or Sudoku to tempt me away from my duties.

But, there is always Tumble Bees on the computer.......

The Horse Show Outing et. al.


Fina had her first encounter with a horse, or, as she saw it, a very large dog. The horse show was down at the equestrian center this past weekend, and, in need of some out-of-the-neighborhood training, we took a ride over there. Miss Fina didn't want to go (more on that later), but once we got there, she was fascinated.

We started out across the street from two horses that were tied to a fence. She was so curious, and wanting to pull, so it took a very long time to get across the street. (The more she pulled, the further away we got.)

Miss Fina was all courage and bravado....until we got close. I think that this was the first time I actually saw her retreat from something....when the horse put his nose down to sniff her, she lost her nerve. The horse was great though, very friendly, and an excellent candidate for Fina's first horse exposure.

Walking through the park and the different rings was another story. We kind of stayed back and observed, under a tree and in the shade. Too much for her. She kept trying to run with the horses when they would run by in the ring. Plus there were children (ooh, my favorite), other dogs (ooh, my favorite), and lots of people (ooh, my favorite). As a training experience, it was a good thing to do, but we still have so far to go when we're out in public.

In the past few days, Miss Fina has decided she does not like to get into the car. We go out the front door, and when she realizes we are not going for a walk, but going into the car, she plants herself on the ground, either sitting or laying down. No toy, no treat, no lure can move her. I actually have to pick up this 50 pound puppy and put her into the car. I don't know where it came from, or what made her decide she was done with car rides. Unless she's guiding a blind agoraphobic, car travel is a big necessity. I'll have to address this with Barbara.

We're starting bi-weekly classes this month. With gas at almost $4.00 a gallon, it's going to be a good thing.

I've been so lax in posting....will post some videos and photos that we've taken over the past few weeks.

Trying to get back on track here.......almost miss the days when there was almost no obligations. But then again, I wouldn't trade Miss Fina for anything! :)