A blue-eyed, red-furred view of the world!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

When barking isn't enough

Does this sound familiar to anydoggy?

He had ripped open my pillow and its case, so a white snow of down covered my bed and most of the cabin floor. He'd pulled four pairs of shoes and a pair of cowboy boots out of the closet, and he'd managed to dismantle and devour the better part of one of the boots and all of the shoes. He'd overturned a big potted plant, pulled the vegetation out by the roots, and dug to the bottom of the pot, spreading soil in a wide wake, then tracking brown prints everywhere, including across the top of the small kitchen table. The two chairs that normally sat tucked beneath the table were both turned on their sides, and the backrest of one of them had a good dent where the corner had been chewed off. There were deep grooves where he'd scratched the inside of the door and the wood on the windowsills, probably trying to get out.


No, it wasn't me! I don't know when I've ever been in a cabin! Here's a later episode:

He'd scratched more grooves into the inside of the door and raided the kitchen counters, turning over my coffeemaker and canisters of sugar and coffee and breaking a glass that had been left beside the sink. He'd tugged my leather jacket off the coatrack and chewed through the cuff of one sleeve, then peed on the lining. And he'd raided my laundry basket, pulling out all the dirty clothes, focusing especially on a pair of recently worn panties, which he had ripped to shreds. In the bathroom, he'd torn down the blind from the window next to the shower and chomped holes in a bottle of body lotion, my bath pillow, and a plastic tube of shower gel. He'd gathered all his objects of devastation into the center of the one main room and heaped them in a pile.


Pretty cool rampages, huh? Know anydoggy like that? Of course you do! Even though the writer also said, "This is a work of fiction, and the characters herein are figments of the author's imagination, representing no one." Which is okay. Because humans aren't always being nice when they call you a character.

Anyway. I don't think anydoggy needs an explanation of what happened, write? I mean, right? But the author included one anyway:

The ranger who had worked with me on the adoption process had warned me about wolves' separation anxiety and urged me to keep Mountain with me as much as I possibly could. "To wolves, abandonment is death. They're pack animals, they never spend any time alone unless they're put out of the pack. When that happens, unless they find another family that will accept them, they die. Wolves hunt together, raise their young in community, and are very social. They mate for life, and they're fiercely loyal to their pack. Don't leave him unconfined if you have to leave him for any length of time. These animals are tremendously destructive, and he'll take his anger out on the things around him for what he perceives as your abandonment."


So that's where it comes from! Humans sealed their doom on this subject when they decided that dogs are a subspecies of wolf!

The quotes are from the book Wild Indigo by Sandi Ault. The Human Assistant bought the paperback at the grocery store. He also saw it at Barnes & Noble. So ignore what Amazon says about "Currently unavailable."

You can read about the real-life Mountain on the author's website.

But be warned! The author forces you to listen to music she wrote when you go to her website. This could make pages load slowly! And it's rude to have no button to turn it off. Even when it's nice music.

But maybe you'll want to woo along to the music!

ⓣⓤⓒⓚⓔⓡ

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Food guarding

The Human Assistant says Lucy is squirrely. But not like a real squirrel. We saw one a couple of days ago. It was on the pole in our back yard.

Me 'n' Lucy 'n' Sinjin ran down to watch it. This time Lucy didn't bark bark bark at it. We just watched it run up the pole. We got a giggle when he started yelling at us.  ​

But Lucy is squirrely because she guards food. Two nights ago the H.A. had to go buy food because we were all out.

[mr_ed:  Except for a couple of months' worth of canned and dehydrated, plus 40 pounds of Milk-Bones, 24 pounds of beef patties, and 30 pounds of hot dogs. But some of that is for MaxFund doggies....]

So here's Lucy guarding the food H.A. brought home. It's the only time she lies there. Except when her bowl is there and she's full but there's still food left. She guards her bowl then. Even when she's not hungry anymore and I am.  ​

Lucy, bag of food, Sinjin
Go away, Sinjin.
Lucy, bag of food, Sinjin still
I said, go away.
Lucy, Sinjin more interested in bag of food
Scram!


But she does this with the bags every time! The only way to make her stop is to pour the food into a bin. Weird, huh?

H.A. also bought two new pads. He put a big fluffy one in the bedroom so old Sinjin wouldn't have to lie on the bare wood floor. And a foam one in the computer room. It feels funny. He says it's an egg crate. But no eggs.

So now there are three pads in the computer room. Because lots of times there are four doggies there.  ​  ​That doesn't add up, does it? But I guess he wanted to see if we'd use the new pads. Here I am next to one:

Tucker next to new pad
I'll pass.
Lucy on tile floor with towel, blanket
I'm fine, thanks.
Sinjin on bare wood floor
::Yawn!::


Lucy has her head on a towel. Sinjin is ignoring the fluffy pad. Nodoggy was all that interested in the new ones.

The next day I came into the bedroom while H.A. was waking up. I pounced on the fluffy bed and grabbed the outside and pulled and grabbed it again and pulled. It was like a giant stuffy toy!

The H.A. laughed. And he said he was really happy to see me playing. Which I don't do very much. Especially since he won't give us stuffy toys. But he wouldn't let me tear up the pad he had just bought.

What a spoil sport!

So I don't want anything to do with the new pads. But the others decided that they'd try them out:

Sinjin mostly on eggcrate pad
I'll give it a shot.
Lucy on fluffy pad
Since you said please!
Gremlin on eggcrate pad
Yeah, not bad.


Lucy is only posing on the fluffy pad. She doesn't use it. When she's in the bedroom she just jumps up on the bed. And Sinjin still just lies on the bare floor. He did try out the egg pad. But mostly Gremlin lies there. When we're all in the computer room.

Then Lucy takes my favorite spot on another pad. Even though that one's for me. The other pad is for her! She knows it's hard for me to get back in that corner! And Sinjin lies under the computer desk.

Where I like to be sometimes. So I head out to the kitchen. Maybe H.A. will buy another couple of pads and put one there. We'll see.

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

4,300 minks?

Or 430 ostriches? Which would annoy your neighbors more?

I thought humans could read. But maybe sometimes there's too much to read. But for sure humans should probably read the things called zoning ordinances before starting up an animal rescue!

Here's a news story. Some silly humans thought they could house 40 dogs just because they had 43 acres in beautiful Colorado.

Sadly,  NOT.

The area is zoned for homes. Maximum of 4 dogs per home. Neighbors can get snooty when you have more dogs than you're "supposed" to have. Especially when the homes are estates.

Actually, if they were really estates, I bet neighbors wouldn't give doo-doos. But these are estates where you have to tell the humans that they're estates. So they know they're getting their money's worth.

Now, if they had horses, that would be different! Everybody knows you can have horses on estates. It, like, makes them even better estates! Especially if your neighbor has horses so you don't have to.

When you invite your snooty "friends" to visit, they can see (and smell) the neighbors' horses. Then they think, "Wow, these really are estates!

The news story makes it sound like they can have 2 horses per acre. I'm not sure the neighbors would really like 86 horses there. Would that be better than 40 dogs? How could it be?

If you want a really unique estate, you can have buffaloes. Real ones! Alive ones! Wouldn't your neighbors (and their "friends") be impressed by 86 buffaloes? I sure would!

(Would anydoggy reading this want to chase the buffaloes? They get pretty big!)

But wait, there's more! How about 10 ostriches per acre?  WOW!  Would they be great to chase or what‽‽‽

I'll bet 430 ostriches would really make an impression on your neighbors!

But wait, there's even more! In this great neighborhood, these humans could have  4,300 minks!  What would that smell like‽‽‽

I hope that these kind-hearted people can find a way to keep their rescue running. The Human Assistant says it wouldn't be good to help them by contacting lots of ostrich or mink farms. And asking if they could spare hundreds or thousands of animals. Just to make a point.

"Keep your eye on the ball," he says. Which is a really stupid thing to say to a Sibe. But I guess I get his meaning. If a human throws a ball at you, you don't want to get hit in the head. It would be bad for you!

And bad for the humans with the dog rescue. In case their neighbors started throwing balls at them. I don't know why they would. But humans do lots of strange things.

The H.A. also says 4,300 minks reminds him of the book Gorky Park. And the movie, too. Well, whatever.

Thanks to Laura Albin of SIBERNET and Polaris Siberian Husky Rescue for the link to the article.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Borrring

It's warm and sunny today. Borrring.

The Human Assistant gave some of his clothes a bath. Now they're pinned to some wires in the yard. He says Lucy really needs a bath. Will he pin her to the wires?

Her black fur would dry really fast today! It gets hot in the sun! We don't have much air between us and the sun. So more of the heat comes all the way through.

Does anydoggy say naughty things when they howl? Years and years ago a man wrote a poem called "Howl". On this day in history American government humans grabbed a bunch of books that the poem was in. They said it was too naughty for Americans to read.

I don't think they chewed any of them. I probably would have tried one or two.

A couple of years later a different government human said the book was okay. Even if it was naughty. Americans should be able to read it. Or chew it, I suppose. But I don't think there are many humans who chew books. Not adults, anyway.

I'm under the computer table while H.A. types this. He keeps telling me to get off his mouse cable. But Lucy's on my favorite pad. And I'm just taking a nap. 'Cause it's so borrring today.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sunday chit-chat

Tucker and Sinjin face off

Sinjin:  You big meanie, you shouldn't snark at Gremlin when she's just laying there!

Tucker:  At least I don't whine like a puppy!

Sinjin:  Yeah? Well you should watch what you eat 'cause you're sure growing like a puppy!

Tucker:  You should watch what you eat! One day you're going to bite off the Human Assistant's fingers! Then how will the big baby get treats?

Sinjin:  You know why the Big Guy got back in touch with Polaris Siberian Husky Rescue? He's going to send you back!

Tucker:  You know why he was at MaxFund yesterday? He was reserving a kennel for you!


⅀ⅈℕⅉⅈℕ
ⓣⓤⓒⓚⓔⓡ

mr_ed:  Remember The Smothers Brothers?

Easter egg dog?

Sinjin's coat, area 1
Test Location #1
Sinjin's coat, area 2
Test Location #2


I'm not sayin' Sinjin uses peroxide.

I'm not sayin' he doesn't.

But his coat's pretty brittle along his back!

Yeah, I got your "disturbing images," buddy! Right here on the old computerino!

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Insider report!

Sinjin here, with exclusive photos of a side of Tucker never before seen in public!

Tucker on his back, leg extended
Reach and stretch and ...
Tucker on his back
... back and rest and....


Your intrepid reporter got these disturbing images of the ugly underbelly of the beast from I guy I'll just call Papa Rottsie, a bulldog of an investigative reporter in his day.

Papa Rottsie has covered every angle of the Tucker issue for over a year, and he's never seen anything like this before!

At no other time has Tucker been known to lie on his back!

Many thought Tucker couldn't do it!

And that was before he got so round!

What kept him from rolling on over?

The wall may have played a role, but it's not talking!

More on this colorful character next time from your in-depth, inside, I-witness investigator!

⅀ⅈℕⅉⅈℕ

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Not finished with finishes!

chart of 36 years of Iditarod finish times

Convention of pontillist Sibes!
Okay, the Human Assistant really did work on this for hours.

Which may not be something to be proud of.

And he didn't help with my blog!

But I'll let him post it here. It comes in two versions.

This small one is Neo-impressionist Vision of 36 Years of Iditarod® Dogs.

But you can click on it. Then you get Microsoft® Excel® Vision of 36 Years of Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® Finishes.

The bottom-most line is the winners' time for each year.

Then going up, the time for the team coming in 10th, 20th, 30th, and 40th. (Which has some bare spots.)

He left in a few little stretches here and there for team #50. But not for #60 or #70. Because there aren't many yet and they got lost in the clutter.

I think I can see Kree Vanka there on the right!

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Iditarod 2008 finishes!

Deborah Bicknell closed down the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® Monday night!

Last year she started the race. But she couldn't finish because of weather problems. The Iditarod calls you a rookie until you finish once. She's a rookie no more!

Deborah and her team got to Nome at 8:36:12 p.m., Alaska Daylight Time Monday night. (That's 04:36:12 Universal Coordinated Time or Temps Universel Coordonné or whatever you want to call it.)

They were the last to finish. So they got the Red Lantern Award. These are very special! Only one musher can get it each year! A few years ago Karen Ramstead won it. Karen puts notes and comments on the SIBERNET forum when she's not extremely super busy.

Her teams are all completely Siberian Huskies. There are some other teams like that, too. But I forget whose they are right now.

Anyway. Tonight the Human Assistant worked hard  ::snort::   to compare how this year's teams did against each other. He had to learn a few spreadsheet things to make a table.

And it doesn't even have four legs!  But you can see it here.

Okay. Gotta go. The H.A. is feeling better. He thanks everyone for their concern! But he says if he doesn't post this, that he'll fall asleep in the chair. And then he'll fall over. Probably on the printer or something.

Bye fur now!

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

Fly, flu!

It's boring around here. The Human Assistant decided to get flu symptoms Friday morning.

He's been feeding us. But he says he can't stand up long enough to give us our medi-treats. And he hasn't gone anywhere. So we don't get our here's-​a-​treat-​let-​me-​out-​the-​door goodies.

Sinjin did a horka to show that his tummy was empty. I tore up an envelope.

I didn't eat all of it. I usually don't. I was more bored than hungry, really. The H.A. picked up the pieces and went back to bed. So I got another one.

second envelope torn up by Tucker
Envelope #2
Sinjin eats some envelope
Sinjin tries a sample


I was glad to see that Sinjin tried some too. Not that he tore one up for himself. But he has possibilities. There's a little black fur in the background of the picture. Lucy didn't eat any of the envelope.

But I let them try some if they wanted. Then I plopped back down again.

Tucker lies down with envelope pieces
Let's see now....
Tucker looks up after eating a piece
What?


Then H.A. decided we'd better get our medi-treats after all. Gremlin gets pretty annoying when I don't get my Pregna-Zone.

So I guess H.A. is feeling a little better. He wants to eat something but he doesn't know what. We don't care! Just pick something so we can have some too!

But he always thinks that maybe he's sick from food. Or that food will make things worse. Sheesh! How could food make anything worse

Anyway. What else? Mika and Scooby were adopted Friday. So I can stop worrying about the thing Khyra was thinking about.

That's all for now. I hope something interesting happens now!

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Friday, March 14, 2008

This is Lucy

Lucy covered with grass
This is Lucy on grass.
Mika with a blade of grass on her nose
No-snow nose.


That's dopey. That's grass on Lucy. From when she and Sinjin went to visit Mika and Scooby on Wednesday. She forgot to shake herself off before she got back in the car.

You can see her when she does shake off on her dogster page.

The Human Assistant says it's a joke about an ad from back when he watched TV.  Har.  He says, "That's dopey" is a joke too.  Har. Har.

The other picture is grass on Mika. Obviously Mika has a more refined personality. Because she's a Sibe. Click the picture to see her nose better.

Lucy got to go to MaxFund again on Thursday. A lady wanted to meet her. She said Lucy looks almost exactly like her last dog. Except Koda's muzzle was blockier. More like the Retriever example picture on Lucy's dogster page.

The meeting went well. Lucy kissed the Lady. She doesn't kiss the Human Assistant. Lucy, that is. The lady neither, I guess. Lucy may like women better than men.

I think this lady would give Lucy a great home! I mean, Lucy's okay here. She doesn't really bother me. But she'd probably be happier someplace that she felt like kissing the people. Seems to me.

We'll have to see what happens. Maybe the lady would take Sinjin too! The H.A. doesn't think so. He said the lady wasn't interested in Mika. Well sure. Mika's a girl! I'm sure the lady'd love a big handsome  ​::cough::  ​lug like Sinjin! Seems to me.

Anyway. We'll see.

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Her again!

Tucker in crate, Sinjin in car seat
A place for everything....
Sinjin here! Don't listen to what Tucker says. He's a big red crabapple!

He had to ride by himself yesterday because the Big Guy didn't want any fights in the car!

On Wednesday B.G. took both Lucy and me to meet Mika!

Just when he went inside, another volunteer was getting Mika and Scooby ready to go to the yard. So they came out together.
=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=⌛=


Sinjin and MaxFund's Mika check each other
"Take yer partner 'round the bend!"
Sinjin and MaxFund's Mika and Scooby
"Add one more and 'round again!"


Remember goofy Scooby? He and Mika are in the same kennel at the shelter because they were found together. Lived together, actually, until their family moved and forgot to load 'em into the car.

Mika's folder says they should be adopted together, but they don't seem very attached. Not at all, that the B.G.'s seen.

Scooby and I mostly ignored each other, but one time he decided he wanted to scrap. The other volunteer got us stopped before B.G. could take a picture.

Sinjin and Mika sniff
"Let yer partner sniff yer neck!"
Sinjin and Mika look at each other
"Form an angle, what the heck!"
Mika sniffs Sinjin again
"Let her sniff yer ear an' then!"
Mika sniffs Sinjin yet again
"Let her sniff yer face again!"


The B.G. took a couple of pictures of Lucy, and he'll probably post them another time. They aren't really all that great. He took 38 photos. Some have to be stinko!

In fact, I see lots of repetition in them. Mika over here and me over there. Me over here and Mika over there. Mika following me from over here to over there.

She's a sweet kid, but I'm not all that interested in her. I guess she didn't try as hard to climb on me as she did Tucker, but she thought about it once or twice.

Mika followed B.G. around, too, wanting something to happen. Petting or treats or something, I'm not sure. Of course she ignored the ball that the other volunteer threw. Goofy Scooby ignored it too! Too much excitement with four dogs and two humans, I guess.

So it was a nice ride. Cooler today and overcast, so Lucy and I weren't hugely thirsty like Tucker was on his trip. Turbo, I saw the bowl. It's a little plastic thing, and only one of Tucker's paws would've fit. And it would've turned over pretty easily. He was probably too thirsty to spill the water!

That's all for today. Who knows what'll happen tomorrow‽‽‽

ⓢⓘⓝⓙⓘⓝ

-- edited by Big Guy 11/20/2009 to correct photo caption

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Darned females

Don't listen to what Sinjin says. He's a big whiny baby! He needs to get thumped sometimes. I don't always remember why, exactly. But I know he does.

I got to go for a ride on Tuesday! The weather was warm! Supposably only 66°. But it felt warmer than that!

We went to MaxFund and I had to wait in the car. That was dumb.

The Human Assistant went inside. Then he came outside. And he had Mika with him. Then they went to the MaxFund yard. I was still in the car! But then he took me in the yard too.

After he made sure we weren't going to chew each other up, he let me off my leash. This is what that looked like:

MaxFund's Mika sniffs Tucker
Yeah, that's my ear.
Mika puts her paws on Tucker
You're pushing your luck!
Mika wants to get on Tucker again
Go away! Sheesh!
Mika sniffs Tucker again
Now what?
Mika tries to put her paws on Tucker again
Dangit, stop!
Tucker walks away from Mika
Stay away!


Danged females! You let them sniff you and they think that makes them the boss dog.

I did turn around and snarl in her face her once. She just snarled back. Have you seen pictures of the Army of Four when it looks like they're fighting? It was like that. Just for a second. Too fast for H.A. to get a picture.

Then H.A. put me back in the car again. Whew! I was panting and panting! Thirsty! Then he took Mika back inside. Lucky dog! I'll bet it was shady and she had a bowl of water.

Where was the H.A.? What was taking him so long? Then he came out with a bowl of water for me. Then he walked me around the car. I thought we were going back into the yard, but no. Huh.

Then we came home. Everydoggy was all, "What are those new smells?" I was all, "Stand back, I'm going to get a drink."

Not the most exciting day. But I got to sniff around the MaxFund yard and catch up on the news. And mark a lot. So not a complete waste.

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Don't tell anydoggy but MaxFund's bowl is still in our car. H.A. says he'll take it back soon.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Having a new route(r) without kids

Sinjin and internet router
"Reporting from the Internet!"
Sinjin here!

Reporting from the drop, the place at the end of the fiber-optic cable where the rubber (or whatever) meets the road (or internet highway).

I made Tucker let me blog because he's jumped me a few times and knocked me on my back and made me screech.

The Big Guy says Tucker doesn't feel so good lately because he took T-Bob off Prednisone. Does he ever get crabby! (Tucker, that is.)

But Tucker said for me to go ahead and blog, he doesn't care. (::sulk sulk::) So I am.

A few days ago the internet stopped working. Big Guy thought he hadn't paid the bill, so he hurried up and called them and paid it over the phone. (Thank dog the phones haven't been shut off!)

But that wasn't it. So he used his rusted-out skills as a former networks taker-​care-​of-​person and figured out that our router was kinda broken.

The power supply fell apart before I came here. But somedoggy (♮ ​♩ ​♫  ​T, U, C ... See you real soon!  K, E, R ....  ) musta stepped on it or rolled on it or somehow broke a wire.

(The wi-fi antenna was also chewed up, but it still worked.)

old router and power supply
Busted wire, pathetic antenna.
broken wire and worn antenna
See


Now if one of his kids had been here, they coulda just soldered the wire back on! They're studying electronics for their job, and soldering is one of their classes right now.

Well, the Big Guy took the dead router outta there and tried to go straight from the cable modem to the computer. Nothin'. Rebooted the computer. More nothin'.

Not nothin' exactly, but not internet either. Iceweasel (which is Debian's version of Firefox ... it's a long story) kept saying it couldn't find any of the servers for the websites we wanted to see.

So B.G. grumbled and mumbled and went and bought a new router. It's behind me in that first picture up there, still in its box.

When he got home, he talked to his other kid (who was just a computer taker-​care-​of-​person and is now a computer-​and-​networks taker-​care-​of-​person), who told him all he needed to do was reboot the cable modem.

DOH!

Well ha, ha. It still didn't work. So he rebooted the computer again and now everything worked. Without the new router, even.

mr_ed:  A free tip on how to be your own computer-​and/or-​networks taker-​care-​of-​person, retail value in the hundreds of dollars:
Turn the power off;
Wait 10 seconds;
Turn the power on.

By non-actual count, this makes 85% of all computer-​and/or-​network problems go away. It's the first and most valuable lesson in all online and correspondence courses for becoming computer-​and/or-​networks taker-​care-​of-​people.


The fancy new router is still sitting in its unopened plastic-wrapped box. B.G. thinks maybe the next time the second kid comes over, he'll twist an arm or two and get a free installation.

We'll see!

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Mika-moo, do you woo?

Lucy and the Human Assistant met Mika and Scooby Saturday at the MaxFund shelter.  The H.A. thinks he remembers that these are pictures of Mika barking. He doesn't remember hearing her wooooo.

MaxFund's Mika's fake woo #1
9.0 for form.
MaxFund's Mika's fake woo #2
Getting sloppy.
MaxFund's Mika's fake woo #3
That looks like a yawn!
MaxFund's Scooby just looks silly
Goofball!


Doesn't Scooby look silly?

He wasn't trying to woo. He had given H.A. a big, goofy, toothy smile that H.A. couldn't take a picture of fast enough. So he asked Scooby to do it again. This is what he got.

But hey, Scoobster! Points for effort! Except that you did it on command. Which isn't really a Sibe thing. But you're not a Sibe, so that's okay.

And stop chasing the tennis ball, okay?

Somebody else told H.A. that Mika does wooooo. But not very often. So that's okay too.

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Happy Birthday! to ⍃☈⌇∑☂⋮∩◬  [name redacted for privacy and security.]

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Adopt-a-thon

MaxFund had an Adopt-a-thon Saturday. This isn't exactly about me. But it's about having less dogginess in my house.

MaxFund Adopt-a-thon, looking north
Adopt-a-thon, looking north.
MaxFund Adopt-a-thon, looking south
Adopt-a-thon, looking south.


The Adopt-a-thon had a theme, sorta. Disney re-released the old movie 101 Dalmations on CD. So they provided stuff. Balloons and giant stuffed Pongos.

The first 101 people (::SIGH::  if only!) to adopt a dog got Disney swag. Like a little bowl and a little retractable leash and a little plastic lid for open cans of food.

Canned food!  ::mmmmm!::

Disney give-aways
Disney goodies.
Lucy meets a Dalmation
"I don't like black dogs!"


MaxFund got a real Dalmation to come. The shelter actually has one, Buddy, but I guess he doesn't do well with crowds or kids or something. He's in a foster home.

This dog's name was Lacey. Or Lacy. The Human Assistant forgot to ask which. Her mom said that Lacey doesn't like black dogs. But Lacey sorta wanted to meet Lucy. Then she'd sit down again and grumble at her. H.A. and the mom couldn't hear Lacey growling, but the lady said she could feel Lacey's leash vibrating.

Lucy went to the Adopt-a-thon to see if she could ... get adopted! One of the people who emailed us about her last week was there by coincidence. So she spent some time with Lucy. She may be interested. Maybe.

Lucy meets two small dogs
"The dark-gray is mean."
One of the dogs doesn't like Lucy
Oops - gotta go!


Hey! Is that the Jock from Lady and the Tramp? Uh-oh! He noticed Lucy! Oh well, he didn't like Tramp at first, either.

Dogs Mika and Scooby at the shelter
Mika and Scooby.
Lucy ignores Scooby and Mika
"Lucy's ignoring us!"


Lucy also met two abandoned dogs. Their family left them at their house when they moved. Somebody said it was one of those deals where the humans didn't have enough money to keep the house.

Lucy can be be kinda a snob. Here Scooby and Mika want to meet her. And she just ignores them! How do you get adopted that way?

So that's the news about the Adopt-a-thon. Lucy didn't get adopted. She got really tired, though. She came back and just dropped asleep and didn't follow the H.A. around the house. Dopey Sinjin does that enough for both of them, anyway.

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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Move it!

Any discussion of MaxFund that doesn't involve me should move to the Human Assistant's blog. It's okay to talk about getting rid of Lucy and keeping other fosters out of the house.

Yes, it did snow. But not much. No pictures this time around.

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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Saturday Night Massacre at MaxFund



mr_ed:  Sorry, doggies, but I gotta butt in here.

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Saturday Night Massacre?

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35 years ago, President Nixon told Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox.  Richardson had appointed Cox independent special prosecutor for the Watergate break-in.

Richardson had promised Congress that he wouldn't interfere with Cox, so he refused the President's order and resigned in protest.

Nixon then told Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox.  Ruckelshaus had made the same promise to Congress, so he refused and resigned as well.

Nixon finally got satisfaction from the number three man in the Justice Department, Solicitor General Robert Bork.  Bork hadn't made any promises to Congress.  Cox was fired.

The media dubbed the loss of Richardson, Ruckelshaus, and Cox in one weekend the Saturday Night Massacre.



Details are sketchy at this time, as they say in the media, but it sure sounds to me as though MaxFund had its own version of the Saturday Night Massacre, but on a Tuesday night.

MaxFund apparently has an Advisory Committee as well as a Board of Directors. I hadn't heard of the Committee before, but it seems to hold the trump cards.

As told to me, the Committee decided to fire Lori Moss, who's been something like the operational head of MaxFund and also its shelter manager.

- The Advisory Committee told the Board of Directors to fire Lori Moss;

- The Board of Directors refused;

- The Advisory Committee disbanded the Board of Directors


Lori hadn't been fired as of 10:19 Tuesday night, but....

Full disclosure: I like Lori, I consider her a friend, and I strongly disagree with firing her.



I've volunteered with MaxFund for maybe a year and a half, and this isn't the first or second abrupt dismissal of top people that I've witnessed. Never mind the ones that I've heard about happening before I started there.

But this one takes the cake ... if, indeed, there's any cake to be taken.

Since MaxFund politics have nothing to do with Tucker or Sinjin, I won't make it a cause célèbre of this blog. But I'm really steamed and wouldn't have been able to get to sleep without working off some energy on the issue.

Since I'm Volunteer of the Month and all.

Now what do I do?

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p.s. - it's snowing

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Yup, snow

Minky wrote:
CONGRATULATIONS to your HA for being named March's Volunteer of the Month by Maxfund!! Well-deserved!!
He what?

The Human Assistant had to go back and get his MaxFund newsletter out of the email trash. He read it yesterday. But not all the way to the end. Sure enough! Volunteer of the month!

Now he'll probably have to go to the shelter every day for 5 hours a day to show that he really is a dedicated volunteer. Phoooey.

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He embarrassed me with yesterday's photos. They're purpley. He squishes pictures so they don't take forever to show up on the screen. And these he squished too much. I'm gonna make him unsquish them a little so they aren't purpley.

In the meantime. Here are photos from this morning. From 74 to snow in 16 hours or less! Pretty cool, huh? That's Colorado!

Sinjin and Tucker in the snow
No neighborcat today!
Lucy and Gremlin in the snow
The black sisters.


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