KateAndDally

Military Woofs

This is a great story, with a great outcome, _ut certainly raises ethical questions....I wonder how much it costs to place a stateside animal?  Anyone know?  Please note that Charlie's head is shaped much like Kate's...

Yesterday, at the local mall (just up the road from Walter Reed), I encountered several military types, _ut without their canine companions...also without some of their lim_s, which is always difficult to see.  I always feel like I should either thank them or apologize, or possi_ly _oth.  George _ush _etter _e right.  A_e Lincoln is said to have dreamed of the _oys he sent to death.  Does George, do you think?

Cra_cake Primary and Other Gross Inequities

Kate ate my "_" key, so words like "cra_" and "_ullion" and phrases like "goddam _itch" are impossi_le to type. I am Not Happy.

Weather here is horri_le.  It is currently 28 degrees and raining, so the rain is freezing on contact with roads, _ridges and interstate off-ramps.  UO is still across the river, whiling away his time with women and song while awaiting for VDOT/MDOT to either salt the roads (which they don't seem to _e doing, for some reason), or for the temps to moderate and the ice to melt.  I told him to stay overnight at his sister's _ut that doesn't seem to _e an option.

Local news outlets are saying turnout at the Cra_cake Primary has _een heavy _ut early; record levels are expected; _ut clearly the weather has _een a factor.  Virginia polls close at 7 p.m., while District and Maryland polls close at 8.  So we should have a good idea what's what early on.  I make no predictions...anticipation should _e enjoyed.

Update

MSN_C is reporting that MD polling stations will stay open 1.5 hours longer tonight, to make up for the weather delays...and N_C is reporting a _ig win for O_ama in VA.

Update #2

UO just walked in the door.  The rose_ush _y the driveway is sheathed in 1/4" thick ice.

Catching Up...Dogs, Kids, Brownies, Politics and Mansfield Park...

So many subjects. so little time.

Kate is currently in the doghouse, literally, for snaking past my legs and going after the nice (and understanding) mail lady whilst I was collecting the post.  Luckily for Kate and me, she didn't knock the mail lady down, but she was all bristling energy and loud barks, so I hastily shoved her in the kennel and tossed away the key.  For at least five minutes.

I didn't watch the SOTU last night.  I mostly don't watch SOTUs because overall political speechifying has been in a long, deep trough as an art form (how pretentious is that, really), so most speeches are flat, boring and uninspiring.  Even the routine jabs at the other side lack wit.  And listening to this president is excruciating in the extreme, so I try to avoid it wherever possible.

I am taking a break from tallying up initial girl scout cookie orders this afternoon.  I am Cookie Mom this year, the first year this troop has ever sold cookies.  The Littlest Offering's brownie troop sold last year, but as Leader, I was smart and made someone else do it.  These little kids are amazing power sellers!  I have one girl who's the quietest of the bunch, as well as one of the teeniest, and she's sold almost $600 worth of cookies!  Who'da thunk it.

Offering Boy is chuffed big time.  He came home looking very pleased with himself, very much the cat who swallowed the cream, telling me he had news that would "decimate my reason for living."  "You did all your homework in homework club," I said.  "How'd you guess?" he demanded in outrage.  Well, because I too was once convinced teachers and parents conspired to ruin my life with homework.  Geez.  These kids.  They have no imagination.

I am puzzled over NOW NY's response to Ted Kennedy's endorsement (notice how they bash Ted but not Caroline, who may well be a paid up member of NOW NY, but I doubt it).  It is absolutely as Slate says, a hissy fit and to no purpose, except to remind all us feminists why we aren't members of NOW.  Reinvent yourself or die, I say.  We are in a post-feminist era, where the ideals of equality for women in all spheres of life are so imbued in the greater culture that women don't have to vote their gender to get ahead.  To these aged eyes, boys and girls, that's what winning looks like.

Mansfield Park blogging:   TLO and I watched it; I didn't care for it especially, but I didn't actively dislike it.  TLO is a major Billy Piper fan, but even so, it took a while before the penny dropped.  All that wavy hair.  But, as Mr. Darcy said on occasion about another, "she smiles too much."  I've never read the book, but will put paid to that soon enough, since my Austen Collected Works has arrived.  I've started with Lizzie and Darcy and will work my way though all six novels.  Lady Susan is included.  It should be interesting to see how JA when she was just starting be Jane.

...But Kate is Soft, if Sturdy

Bored, I switch over to AMC, where the preying mantis Lara Croft has just killed her most recent mate.  "Species" comes on at 10:30.  It's amusing and it has Michael Madsen who is better than amusing; and oh, yes, it's a about a female alien who kills her men after she mates with them.  I'm sensing a theme here.  Who says AMC isn't as good as TCM?

By the way, the doggusses are piled on the couch next to me; Kate keeps stretching, pushing me into the right arm of the couch.  They do not approve of the yells from the crowds watching the tally boards in the various HQs in NH.

Miscellaneous Comments

Monday was parent-teacher conference day at Offering Boy's school.  Very disorganized, you just show up and sign up, no prescheduling allowed.  Meant we had to make multiple trips, with TLO in tow.  She brought along her DS so she could occupy herself playing her new Animal Doctor game, which is as it sounds: you amass points by looking afte r various animals,etc.  From time to time she'd ask us the meaning of various words like "indigestion" and "colic."  Then she asked us what "mitosis" meant, and we explained.  A mom sitting next to me leaned over and whispered "is that something to do with the game she's playing?"  "Why, yes," I said.  "Hmmm," said Mom.

So this afternoon I was working on my thoughts on global warming, and fending off Kate at the same time.  I finally convinced her to leave me alone and she "settled down" on the floor.  I thought she had a toy, but NO, she was munching on a pair of white capri pants of MINE, thank you very much.  Holes galore.  Much swearing and bad doggying.  Then she has the temerity to hop up on the couch and lay her head fetchingly on my shoulder.  When I finally turned to glare at her, she burps in my face.

An Explanation, and an Update

I've been ignoring the blog in favor of NaNoWriMo, AKA National Novel Writing Month, which is November (betcha didn't know that, did you?).  The idea is to, well, write a novel (duh)...pump out 1700 words a day for 30 days and at the end you will have 50,000 words, which is considered "novel" length...It doesn't have to be a good novel (which is good for me) but at least at midnight on November 30, I will have a rough draft of a historical novel.  However, I started late, so I'm playing catch-up, writing about 2200 words a day...I should be caught up by the end of this weekend.  I haven't yet got sick of my characters, and I'm learning a lot about Montgomery County, MD during the Civil War, as well as Quakerism and the Underground Railroad, which wound through MoCo...Anyway, check out the NaNoWriMo site, esp. their programs page and consider contributing some money to support the Young Writers program...$10 bucks, come on, you'll never miss it, and you'll help launch the next generation of American letters!

I think I also promised you an update...At the moment, Dally is draped over my old (but clean) laundry piled on the recliner in the rec room, and Kate is having her second stinky mange dip.  God, that stuff lingers. 

I've also been reading Cesar's latest, Be The Pack Leader.  he promises that our acquisition of calm-assertive energy will not just propel us to the front of the pack, it will improve our lives as well.  Well, yes, calm assertion is always better than frenzied hysteria.  He's absolutely right about dogs needing more exercise and discipline before they need our adoration.  But I can't help pulling either hound into my lap for some cuddle-bunnies. 

...Jiggity Jig

Kate has mange.

I arrived home to find that she had less hair on her body than when I left, and her constant stratching was driving me up a wall.  I napped most of Sunday afternoon, and each time I returned to half-consciousness, I heard "scratchscratchscratch-jinglejingle-scratchscratchscratch."  Drove me up the wall.

So today I took her to the vet.  The wonderful Dr. M took one look at her and told me he wasn't going to mess around, he was going to treat her for parasitic mange, which can also lead to heartworm, so here's another reason to make sure your doggies always take their heartworm tabs.  She got a shot and dipped in a stinky lyme sulpher bath, and Dr. M prescribed prednisone tabs...I wonder if they will affect her the way they affect me... Uh oh....

A Call to Action

Alert reader SAB asked me if Dally wasn't finding it lonely with Kate getting all the attn...until a couple of weeks ago I'd have said not at all, but now I'm not so sure.  This can be laid directly at UO's door; he refuses to take Dally running with him anymore, claiming that she's too slow.  I think this is reprehensible behaviour and poor payback for a lifetime of devotion.  While Dally has been loving to us all, she has always been especially UO's dog.   I certainly understand him not running with her -- if she can't keep up it's because she senses that too much is being asked of her, and she sensibly slows down.  We are talking about a border collie here -- she'd run herself to death before she'd stop, so if she's slowing down, it's a BIG HAIRY DEAL.  But he's not compensating for it by being with her in other ways, and I think he should.  So all you crossover UO/KateandDally fans, let him know it!  Let him know that he needs to be Dally's Dawg!

Cans filled with pennies

So, as reader SAB directed, I took an old diet coke can and loaded some pennies into it, and then shook it at Kate the next time she Behaved Badly. 

Oh my, do I feel guilty. But it worked. 

YES, dogs have sensitive ears.  Do they.

Now, when Kate is in the bedroom and decides to bite me, all I have to do is raise the can.  She lays her ears back and trots out in search of less disturbing pleasures.    I sort of feel sorry for her...but then I consider my ripped jeans -- people, these are JEANS, they're supposed to last a decade at least, and I only had three years with them! -- and I think it's rough justice, but justice nonetheless. 

So thanks, SAB. 

Clicker Training Redux

I am embarrassed. 

I got it wrong.

One does not clic, then reward...one commands, and only when the pup has performed the command, does one click and then reward.  The click tells the dog that they've performed the command correctly.  Oops.