The Adventures of LatteMan....
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The Adventures of LatteMan.... |
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Monday, July 31, 2006 Fried brainsForget drugs, that egg in a frying pan? That is your brain after walking across mid-town Manhattan in this heat. Why is it, that somehow this company seems to only pick 90 plus degree days to call me into the city for meetings?Of course if they extend my stay (which looks likely right now), I will be longing for these days during that same walk during the middle of winter when they will probably pick the sub zero days to request my presence at the big dogs office. Saturday, July 29, 2006 FinallyIt was with great joy that LatteGirl was finally able to announce last night that, "My tooth fell out!"Yes, last evening the Tooth Fairy after several false starts finally made an appearance. As expected, this morning LatteGirl found 2 Gold Dollar Coins under her pillow, and couldn't wait to tell me this morning about the treasure she got from the tooth fairy. She has continued inmittently today continued to sing, "My tooth fell oooout, My tooth fell ooooout!" I don't remember that long ago if every tooth was as big a deal as the first... but I certainly hope not. Friday, July 28, 2006 Criminey... what does it take to get a sponsor?We are now under 24 hours from the Start of Blogathon 2006. I will be "Primary Host" from 9am to 3pm (we will all be blogging throughout, but each of us has a "primary" timeslot to ensure out posting every 1/2 hour). During that slot I will be almost exclusively pinned in front of my computer, to (as best I can) provide a "live" Blogathon experience during that time. So be sure to come by Fresh Food, Fresh Blog and taunt me... (psst... you should be sure to come and taunt, Cathy, Doug and Barry as well... but I am not authorize to offer taunting on their behalf so shhhhhhhh).And now in an effort to help raise money for Farm Aid, I am going to put it bluntly... what do I have to do to get You... yes you in the back... with the cute ears, trying to hide behind the guy with the big head. What do I have to do to get you to become a sponsor? (And remember this is a Family rated event... I'm just sayin') What? Stand on my head? Do a belly flop into my pool live on webcam? Become a sponsor... make a request... and if there is anyway I can fulfill your request (meaning not going to cause bodily harm, causing me to be arrested, or not of a family nature) I will do it. The cause is worth it. Next week, after a week of rants of various sorts and the begging for sponsors for the two or so readers I have left, we will return to the regularly scheduled life of Latte Man.
It is all Quality TimeWhen I read the post, Time Romance and a dryer over at Dadbloggers, I was reminded of something LatteGirl said, and it really took on some new meaning for me.I was doing some work around the house. I suggested that she may be bored and would perhaps rather play with her toys in the yard or inside the house. She responsed by telling me that, "I would rather spend time doing nothing with you than playing and having fun when you are not around" Sometimes we concern ourselves too much with what we consider quality time, and need to remember that to a child, almost any time can be seen a quality time together. Thursday, July 27, 2006 This diet is freaking me outOK, so before I even bought the book, based on the information I was able to find on websites, blogs etc., as I mentioned before I decided to give the Shangri-La diet a try. Before I finally got around to ordering the book and getting it shipped to me, I had lost 10 lbs in about 5 weeks. Nice. Not earth shattering, but nice. Some of this could also be attributed to an improving view towards food. More organic fruits and vegetable, more home cooked food, less eat out junk, etc.When I finally got the book (about 10 days ago), I found that according to it, I was actually taking probably too little oil for my size and the amount of weight I wanted to lose, and adjusted upward accordingly. The results? I lost 3 pounds the first week at the new level. I definitely felt less hungry and therefore was eating less. But the real freakout came last night. Wednesday is Pizza Night. Being the big guy that I am I have always eaten 3 (and somtimes 4 if it is a really thin pie) slices. Ok, I knew I had been eating less, and getting full sooner, so I figured, I would only be eating two slices. This is where I started to freak out. My mouth and stomach were in disagreement. My MOUTH wanted that second slice. My stomach said, "No Way." This diet has received publicity, both good and bad. The folks at Calorielab love to trash it at every opportunity, because based on "traditional thinking", it makes no sense. I have to agree that without trying it, even with the explainations of the science behind the diet, my inital thoughts about it were to consider it "speculative" at best, but since it was easy and cheap to try. But I am quickly becoming a believer in what the book has to say. Is it fad? Well, I am not an expert enough to say definitely. And you need to do more than just follow the steps in the book (although that is a good start), such as trying to clean up your diet from too much junk, etc. But so far this has made it so much easier, that it just freaking me out. Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Mixed EmotionsJury: Yates insane, not guilty . I have such mixed emotions on this it is difficult to know how I feel about this. The easy thing is to fall prey to the desire for vengance and say she should never see the light of day again for what she did to her kids.On the other hand, I do understand that PPD is a very real and very debilitating thing. And as such, she may very well have been "insane" at the time and perhaps this verdict is then correct. But if that is the case, then her husband, her doctor, somebody... somebody really missed something here in leaving this woman in this type of condition with her kids. On a third hand, the whole "I thought I had the devil in me" arguement makes me angry at the Bible Thumpers that drive this kind of faux message home to people, and enable them to think this way. But again... to believe it is... insane. I just don't know. Tuesday, July 25, 2006 My First InterviewI will be conducting the interview that it, not being interviewed. But I am quite excited to be interviewing Diane Hatz, the Senior Program Director of Sustainable Table as well as The Eat Well Guide.If you would like to ask Diane a quetion, go over to the Fresh Food, Fresh Blog and post a question in the Comments of this post, and I will try and work all the questions I receive (plus whatever Barry, Cathy, Doug and I come up with). Then go here and sponsor us for Blogathon 2006 as we raise money for Farm Aid. (No, being a sponsor is not required to ask a question... but it would be GREATLY appreciated).
Environment Matters When I get discouraged by the lack of effort or caring people show towards the environment, our health and the future of this planet, I can always be sure to find one source of inspiration to remind me why the fight is worth it. Of course it probably comes as no suprise to anybody that has read this blog for any length of time that LatteGirl is that source of inspiration.
Another win for GOP in their war on women's rightsThis is not news, as conservative Republican views and Women's rights are usually at odds. But this time, as I watched this unfold, I also paid attention to the so-called "liberal media." Take a look at today's CNN article on the "Child Custody Protection Act." (Side Note: Does anybody else notice how anytime a GOP bill wants to take away people's rights it always seems to be a "Protection Act") . In this article CNN starts it off by providing the case of a 14 year old daughter that was (allegedly) transported by her then boyfriends parents to New Jersey to get around PA notification laws and "forced" her to get an abortion by refusing to drive her home until she got one.First, does anybody actually believe this story? I mean sure if I am Marcia Carroll (the girl's mother), I may wish to believe that this was true because after all how could HER daughter have an abortion unless it was coerced. I am quite certain that if this girl had decided and told the people at the clinic she did not wish to have an abortion they would not have done it, and even more so, would have contacted her parents so she could get a ride home. But no, it is easier for her to believe that her daughter could do no wrong (Of course, I have to wonder whether a proper lack of sex education including the use of condoms played in a 14 year old getting pregnant in the first place). Second, what the "liberal" media opted to ignore in reporting, was the grusome tale of Spring Adams, an Idaho 13-year-old who was raped and impregnated by her father in 1989. Because she had to have parental permission to get an abortion, she told her mother, who confronted the father. Her father killed her, her mother and himself with a shotgun. Now, before you start lambasting me, just hear me out, while sidestepping the right to choose, to remain on topic and not cloud the issue. Would I want MY daughter to come talk to me? Of course I would. Any (reasonable) parent would. And statistics show that a vast majority do in fact speak to their parents. But the fact is that there are plenty of less than reasonable parents that present problems such as Spring Adams. I am proud that the Senators from New Jersey have seen this for what it is, and called to spend more time, money and energy on sex education and prevention programs and stop using women for political gain during mid-term elections (and if you think this coming up for a vote now is anything but done to rouse support of the religious "zealots" you are fooling yourself). This bill has already passed the House of Representative, and today it will most likely (and unfortunately) pass the Senate, and nobody will complain because the "liberal" media apparently is sufficinetly happy reporting the spin the conservatives want, and it is no surprise that when they report it this way that 75% of people they polled support the measure. Sometimes half a story is not better than nothing. Monday, July 24, 2006 Kermit was wrongOK, so years ago maybe he was right. There was a limited number of "green" products on the market, and the ones that were there were to say the least expensive.Now as I have mentioned before, I can be best described as "light green." I am not changing my ways overnight, nor do I think those that advocate it are doing the right thing, because you will get more resistance that way. But slowly and steadily as we find new products at reasonable prices, we are turning our household more "green." We started out with some simple things like Ecover brand fabric softener. It works every bit as well as any of the name brand products on the market, is completely biodegrable, not made from any petroleum based products, and is priced the same as any of the leading brands (possibly a little less if you fill out the form here and let them send you some coupons). Our next stop was the kitchen sink, where we have gone with Seventh Generations Dishwashing Liquid. (coupons available here - and you print them out. Very Cool.) Something they point out on their website, which is interesting (OK, it is interesting to me), and something very few people every associate with their dishwashing soap is that "If every household in the U.S. replaced just one 25 oz. bottle of petroleum based dishwashing liquid with our vegetable based product, we could save 118,700 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 6,800 U.S. homes for a year!" What a difference, changing just one product in your home can make. Plus thus far, I can make no distinction from this and the Palmolive product we gave up. Our latest change is now going to be our Laundry Detergent as we give Sun & Earth a shot with their products. We have not started using this yet as we finish off what we were using (hey... I am not going to just let it go to waste.) so I can not really give it a thumbs up or thumbs down... yet. But I will eventually. In the mean time, these three (among others I will probably talk about in the furture) show that you can stay in budget while still helping to make our planet better for us and our children. Something that everybody short of Sen. James Inhofe (who still believes that global warming is a "hoax") should be able to appreciate. And speaking of appreciate and making the world better for our kids (you knew this was going to be coming didn't you), there is still time to sponsor the Fresh Food, Fresh Blog for Blogathon 2006. Just drop in over here, and sponsor us for whatever you are comfortable with. Every little bit counts. And of course don't forget to come by on July 29th as we blog for 24 hours in support of Farm Aid. Friday, July 21, 2006 Be a dear, and be a sponsor I have teamed up with Cathy of Domestic Psychology, her husband Doug of Reality Me and Barry from Inn of the Last Home for Blogathon 2006. For those that are not familiar with Blogathon, essentially at the Blog we have set up for this cause one (or more) of us will post at a minimum every 30 minutes for 24 hours, in an effort to raise money for a worthwhile charitable cause. We have selected as our cause this year, Farm Aid. Won't you please consider helping us by being a sponsor? You can do so here. You can sponsor either "by the hour" (so your sponsor total will be whatever you pledge times 24) or just enter it as a single lump amount. Whatever you can sponsor is great, sponsor a little or sponsor a lot, the amount is up to you and every little bit is greatly appreciated. Why Farm Aid? I plan to go into this more during the Blogathon (hint hint), but will give you enough "Why" to explain why this is a worthwhile endevour to sponsor (Did I mention I think it would be great if you were a sponsor?). Back in the 80's when families where losing their farms en masse, it was a very newsworthy event, and one that Farm Aid was born out of to help save family farms. Today, the events are as "newsworthy" (to main stream media anyway). Factory farming is hurting our food supply, the quality of our food, and destroying the family farm. Milk laced with hormones and anitbiotics. Livestock caged in horrific conditions in order to get the maximum profit per acre at the expense of the health of not only the animals, but of the consumer. Sustainable Family farms are good for the communities where they thrive, they produce better healthier products, and don't produce manure at toxic levels. This is an important endevour that anybody should appreciate. But especially if you have children, it is something that you must consider, not only for your future, but theirs. Please won't you help? Thursday, July 20, 2006 Fashion ClubIn keeping up with her push to "girly up" her mom, LatteGirl decided TheWife needed a makeover and thus started fashion club day.(Wisely?!) TheWife decided to ensure all the events of Fashion Club were complete (and evidence removed) prior to me returning home from work, thus I was unable to get photographic evidence of these events, but from what I was told, the events when something like the following: Each took turns in the Bath Tub enjoying having the hair washed by the other. LatteGirl selected clothes for each to wear (thus ensuring she got mommy to wear a dress... even if for a little while) Mommy recived a FULL make-over complete with brightly colored (mostly pink) Barbie makeup (because you know, only the best makeup :), Then followed a liberal amount of body glitter. With that complete it was time for manicures and pedicures. And finally a tea party (since they were all dressed up with no place to go). When I arrived home from work, TheWife had managed to remove all but the body glitter and was back in a pair of shorts. LatteGirl continued to sport a look that reminds me of far too many girls I dated back in the 80's with WAY too much (and too bright) Eye shadow, and then I fended off a potential panic attack thinking about her dating... but calmed myself that I didn't need to have that attack just yet. Both had a ball, and it was a great bonding experience for them. But one that for a change, there is no chance of me being jealous of being left out on. Wednesday, July 19, 2006 (Bad) Timing is EverythingAs we await LatteGirl's first visit from the Tooth Fairy, the following is heard on an episode of The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, "Like that was going to happen, what do you still believe in the Tooth Fairy too?"Oppps. She hasn't said anything... yet. But I am sure she is waiting for just the right (for her, not necessarily for me or TheWife) time to spring some questions on us. In the mean time, TheWife now wants to ban Suite Life from LatteGirl's list of shows. Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Lesson of the DayThe impending Thunderstorms and potential blackouts don't scare you. You just purchased a new APC Battery Backup and surge protector. No electrical spikes to hurt your computer, no worries if the power goes out because afterall you are using a laptop that is connected to a battery backup. You can last up to two hours after the battery backup goes down. No worries right?Well, as it turns out, if that DSL router that is sitting elsewhere is not also on a battery backup, you still aren't getting out on the Internet. Duh. Monday, July 17, 2006 How do you know when it is TOO hot?When you need to put cold water into the pool so that you do not feel like you are being cooked in a pot of soup.I guess this is what I get for acting as a guest blogger for Erin down in Texas, brought some of that nasty heat up here to NJ. It is hard to complain too much though, looking at the devestation of the second tsunami to strike Indonesia in three years, the still devestated New Orleans, and others. And in case you didn't know (or care), the author of the Mike Hammer novels, Mickey Spillane died today, he was 88 years old. Most written before my time, but in my father's collection, I loved the "gumshoe" Hammer, and read just about all of them. LatteGirl went to Madam Tussard's Wax Museum on her Day Camp trip today. I have to admit, that I passed the place twice a day for more than a year and never made it inside. She liked it, but wasn't thrilled. I guess it is more interesting to adults, although like I said, passing it all those times, I never once (OK maybe once) had the urge to go in. I could go on... but it is just too darn hot. Friday, July 14, 2006 The loose toothWell, now that everybody that is visiting is searching for information on what happened in Wild West City... I am moving on. I truely wish Mr. Harris a speedy recovery. But there is really nothing new for me to talk about until either law enforcement comes up with something or somebody will take jurisdiction as to rules of safety at "theme parks" that include "show guns."So I am going to divert my attention elsewhere. More specifically into LatteGirl's mouth. We have confirmation of her first real loose tooth. "Real" loose tooth you may be asking. Yes. You see, it seems that compared to her friends, LatteGirl is the only one (or one of very few) that has not lost a tooth yet, so in her efforts to "catch up" with her friends we have had some what I can best call phantom allegations of a tooth coming loose. But this time, it is certainly and definitely loose. Now time as passed and of course the memory fades, but I don't remember being this excited about a loose tooth. Oh yeah, I was excited when it fell out (CASH!!!... or more correctly back then "COINS!!!"), but I don't remember thinking of this as a right of passage to being "big" as she does now. I told her, she is not allowed to lose her baby teeth yet! Basically, her response was to tell me to deal with it. Her Birthday was only a little more than a month ago, and already I think there are far too many firsts that have come being 6 than I am ready to "deal with." Thursday, July 13, 2006 There is something not right in Dodge.Or more correctly, in Wild West City, a recreation of Dodge City, Kansas. Now, I understand after an accident like the one my wife and daughter witnessed, that officials at Wild West City would have a "No Comment" when questioned about the incident, particularly while there is still an investigation going on, but other things do not make sense.In today's Star Ledger, it is reported that the Actor still in coma after shot to head at Wild West City, the article goes on to state that according to First Assistant Sussex County Prosecutor William Fitzgibbons, "At first, no one -- not even the emergency medical technicians who responded Friday -- realized Harris had been shot. The only sign of injury was a 'scratch' on his forehead." Fitzgibbons went on to state that, "They thought he either had a convulsion or hit his head on something and was unconscious." I double checked with TheWife, and she said quite certainly that this was NOT the case, and that it was immediately obvious at the time that he had been shot in the head. And even after a Pastor, who is acting as a spokesman for the family told the press that doctors had informed the family that a Bullet was found in his brain, that the fact that the "projectile" was in fact a bullet, Fitzgibbons is disputing it with comments like it is still being investigated whether it was a bullet for something else that was expelled from a gun loaded with blanks, and my favorite stupid comment, "Why would live ammunition even be there?" Well now, on any normal day, that is certainly true, but on a normal day none of the actors wind up in a coma with something lodged in his brain, so THAT would be a good question for the police to investigate, rather than being the reason you are continuing to deny that it is a bullet. So why is this all so confusing? Why conflicting reports in the press? Is it because they are trying to protect Wild West City from a possible backlash from the event? Is it because an investigation did not start until "hours later" which could have hindered the investigation since evidence obviously could have been compromised/erased in that time? Could it be a cover up of sorts? Or is it simply a case of a prosecutor from Sussex County not knowing how to deal with the press? Side Notes: TheWife tried to contact Wild West City for an update directly, because as she says, "not only employees of the park are affected by this." But like I said, their "no comment or details" stance is certainly understandable at this point. I suggested she contact the Byram Police Department (as the request in the papers). But to be honest, I would not want them to start questioning LatteGirl about the events either. The quicker this fades in memory as far as I am concerned the better.
Come visitI am guest blogging over at Family Circus, this morning. Why not come visit?I will be back with my own post here later. Wednesday, July 12, 2006 No place safe?"Daddy, we saw somebody get shot!" This sentence froze me in place. "What?" I asked, before remembering that on Friday before heading up to the campground that LatteGirl and TheWife stopped at Wild West City. Remembering that calmed my nerves and I said, "Yeah, I know honey, but they are actors, it is only make believe.""I know that Daddy, but we saw somebody get shot FOR REAL!" she corrected. I look for TheWife to chime in here and help me, but instead she glances up at me and nods her head in agreement. It turns out that an actor was shot in the head in what I can only hope is an accident. (Not that I "hope" for accidents, and not that it makes it any better, especially for the person now in a hospital in critical condition). The article I linked to focus exclusively on the shooting, but apparently the man also fell, breaking a leg and possibly his arm. According to TheWife, LatteGirl would NOT leave until she was sure the man was "taken care of" and insisted on staying at the scene until he was taken away by the ambulance. I love and admire my little angels caring nature... but can't help but wonder if we are going to be the focus of many of her therapy sessions latter in life. ( "They made me stand there and WATCH this whole awful scene at Wild West City.") I guess the thought of "What if..." is what is freaking me out the most. (i.e. "What if whatever the projectile was ricocheted and hit LatteGirl or TheWife?") It just seems sometimes that no matter what you do in an effort to stay safe and out of harm's way... that it isn't enough. I mean, you can't live life in a bubble. Just as many accidents happen "in the home" as anywhere else. Spending all your time "hiding" from it is no better, as life needs to be lived, but is there No place safe? Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Should have named her ArielWith the amount of time she spends in the water, perhaps Ariel would have been an appropriate name. Two weeks of camp, out of which two out of three days are at a Lake, a weekend camping at a campsite which had a pool.What were we doing after dinner last night? Why swimming of course. And the only way I got her out was by promising to go swimming with her again this evening after dinner. She is now a strong enough swimmer that I do not feel that I need to actually be in the pool with her every second any longer (after refilling my Xanax several times -- kidding... I kidding... sort of). In some ways it is great, in that now I can stay poolside and take some snapshots, or just relax a little as she swims. Of course this is just another thing in a long list of things that I am no longer needed for, as lifeguard status is all I NEED to do. Fortunately though, she still WANTS me in there playing with her most of the time. It is good to feel wanted expecially when you are no longer needed. Monday, July 10, 2006 Now where did that weekend go?I don't know why, after all this time, I still worry about finding something to do. I should know that TheWife has figured out the state of my ADHD brain, and left me the proverbial "Honey Do" List. The drawback to owning a 100+ year old home is that there is ALWAYS something to do, and TheWife made sure to highlight enough of them to keep me busy all weekend long.Of course, it also kept me so busy that some small tasks I had planned on knocking out this weekend actually wound up not getting done, but what are you going to do? Ya know, I always love it when Zoot breaks things out in short bullets, so I think I will try it. (Hopefully she didn't steal this from Dooce, I don't want all the "Dooce Defenders" to come here telling me how I am trying to rip her off ::snicker::)
Friday, July 07, 2006 Indecision ParalysisTheWife and LatteGirl are off on a girl's camping trip this weekend. That leaves me with some time home alone. Not too much mind you. LatteGirl has a birthday party to attend this weekend, so they drove up to the campsite (OK, honesty here... it is a CABIN) today, tomorrow they drive back here to atttend the party, then return back to the campsite tomorrow afternoon, only to return again on Sunday afternoon.Not like I am going to be away from them long enough to miss anybody. But it feels odd. For two reasons. First, it is I guess comforting to know I have LatteGirl and (on nights she is not working) TheWife to come home to most evenings. Which I guess makes number 2 somewhat bittersweet. I have the house to myself for the evening... twice. On the one hand of course I have some much talked about, but rarely spotted peace and quiet. On the other hand, "it is going to be awfully quiet around here." Now don't get me wrong I am determined to enjoy this as much as I can, but... (You could see that coming from a mile away couldn't you?) trying to decide what to do with the time has me in sort of an analysis paralysis. I know I want to make "the best use" of my free time, but in trying to decide what is the best use of my free time, I can't actually seem to make a decision on what that "best use" is. I have lost 10 pounds so far on my four weeks (or so) of being on the Shangri-la diet, so I was pre-warned by TheWife about "sitting around the house in my underwear, eating Ben and Jerry's and getting nothing accomplished." For the record (and to get that awful picture out of your head), I do not EVER sit around the house in my underwear. I am pretty sure I can fend off the evil lure of Ben and Jerry's. The getting nothing accomplished though could be tough if I don't make some sort of decision. Thursday, July 06, 2006 How do I tell her I failed?Well, it is now officially over. I have failed in my bid to get the Board of Education to drop the issue of uniforms in our public schools. I wish I could say I was shocked or surprised by this. But when all was said and done, the Superintendent of our school system was going to get this pushed through one way or the other.To be honest it was never a fair fight. They moved in calculated fashion, and never let silly little things like reason, facts or legalities get in their way. They have made some minor mistakes that I could pounce on and file a lawsuit on a technicality (they voted on this at a "special meeting" that was not properly announced). But that would only serve to delay the inevitable, and cost me money that I can not afford to throw away to do nothing more than become a nuisance. Fortunately these clowns have moved so fast that they can not actually get everything in place for when school starts, so it will be "phased in" over the first several months of school. Which will bide me some time. Some time to try and get my loves to wear dresses to school princess, that she can no longer wear dresses to school. The hard question comes next. "Why?" Because some people believe in parenting by legislation, because some parents do not know how to be parents to their own kids, because the School Board conned parents with a bunch of lies and unsubstantiated claims. Because you daddy didn't learn how to play the game of politics early enough in life to know how to fight for your rights properly, and thus I have failed you. I gave it my best, but my best in this case was not good enough. Wednesday, July 05, 2006 Someone get Oliver Stone on the hornIn something that seems more like it is a page out of some movie of the week, after his conviction, but before he can be made to pay restitution or maybe even do something like write a tell all book about what really went on in those Engery meetings with Vice President Cheny, Ken Lay ("KennyBoy" as he is known by President Bush, who of course "Didn't know" Lay once he was convicted) was found dead of (undiagnosed) heart disease.In what smacks of a conspiracy theorist dream, conveniently Lay was found dead on Monday (presumably early morning) and conveniently by Wednesday (after a quick break for the 4th of July celebrations and slow news day), the autopsy was done and "definitively" declared a Heart Attack. So, in order to get ahead of the conspiracy theorists, I have a couple of ideas of claims that can be made. What do you think? A. Ken Lay was whacked by the Bush administation to ensure he stays quiet. B. Key Lay was offed by a family member to make it difficult for the govt to try and recover the $43 million they said Lay owed. C. Ken Lay is really alive and well somewhere on an extradition free island in the Carribean D. Ken is dead... just let the man (rest in peace/roast in hell) E. Who the hell is Ken Lay? Tuesday, July 04, 2006 A Day at the ZooThe Bronx Zoo trip was an absolute blast for everybody. Nobody wanted to leave... mentally at least... but the feet were tired and it was getting late. I managed to get a couple of nice photos but nothing near what I had originally planned as I was too busy going from one thing to another and trying to keep up with the girls, who apparently have this whole park and the various "versions" of planned trails. You can view the rest of the set of pictures here or just go to my flickr account here. Monday, July 03, 2006 A Walk on the Wild SideWe are heading into New York City today, for a trip to the Bronx Zoo. I haven't been there since I was around LatteGirl's age, so I am not quite sure who is more excited. Pictures and more upon return.Sunday, July 02, 2006 Something for Pet Owners to considerIf you have a dog (or cat, or other pet) , particularly if you take them with you when you travel, it may be a worthwhile consideration to rather than putting your home number on their collar, to instead put your cell phone number there.Today we found a dog wandering around our neighborhood. It was obviously well taken care of and had her collar. So TheWife grabbed the wayward pet. She was from a town a few over from our own. It seemed pretty obvious that she did not just wander here, so we assumed that the owner was visiting somebody. When we called the number on the dog tags, of course we got an answering machine (because they were visiting somebody near to us, and not home to answer their phone). I decided to wander the neighborhood and look (and listen) for somebody searching for the dog, and TheWife left a message on the answering machine of the owner. I never found any searchers, but luckily the owner checked their answering machine and dog and owner were happily reunited, but it got me thinking that having a cell phone number on the dog's collar would have made the whole thing easier, and more direct. I mean fortunately these people did not live that far away, and they knew how to retrieve their message away from home (something there are plenty of people don't know how to do). If these factors were not as convenient, then this could have wound up being more difficult. Just something to consider. |
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