When you don’t know whether you should laugh or cry, follow the lead of American television, and show an evening of political satire. After all, if even one more person is scared enough to go and vote then the goal has been met. These are tense times; somebody crack another joke, please!
posted in computing, history, pets | Comments Off on Satire, nostalgia and a dog with retrieval disorder | 261 words
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door
posted in pets, technology | Comments Off on Distracting a distracted dog | 269 words
Think smaller. Your silhouette is your identity in our new well-fed world. Tonight the dog and I went for the annual checkup – the one where the vet examines the animal and then blames the owner for everything. Well, not everything, because I didn’t growl with menace every time the white coated human approached the white coated canine. But in a world where big is not better, my dog now has some lifestyle changes on the calendar.
posted in pets | Comments Off on Do not blame the dog | 265 words
Use of the movie as a teaching tool has been common practice for many years. Even back in high school we were shown the occasional two-reeler as a way to kill off an exciting period or two of something academic. Sadly, proposed changes to the Imaginary Property laws may make such things impossible for future generations, but until such time as a new law receives Royal Assent we should profit (in the imaginary sense). This afternoon, I decided to teach my dog some things about life, so we flipped channels until the “right choice” was available.
posted in media, pets | Comments Off on Dogs should pay attention to the lesson | 437 words
We’ve gone green around here. It didn’t take Gore et al to convince the family; putting the blue out with the green makes good environmental sense. Unlike more progressive places like the Island, this city works with the concept of two large bins. Fill one with the grotty and the other with the “soon to be a new product for your use”. Nothing difficult, and we feel better about our overconsumption. A winning model.
posted in environment, pets | Comments Off on My dog the recycler | 353 words
It’s been a long, tough winter around here. Now that the ground has reappeared, I’ve been doing the necessary inventory of damage and we’re going to remember this season as perhaps the hardest we’ve ever had. Nothing extreme; the earthquake back in 1988 will hold the record for destruction by force of nature for a while (I hope), but there are odd little reminders that man won’t win in a hand-to-hand with the climate.
Reading through the various newspapers that now have a porch on that Internet Highway often leads me to think about how good life is at home. Today an editorial that tried to compare the two big kids on the Canadian coffee bench (you know, Timmy and that Starbuck fellow from away) helped to reassure me; my daily cuppa is “just fine”.
posted in health, pets | Comments Off on Smell the coffee | 576 words
Now that the winter approaches, one effect of the installation of electronic thermostats is evident. Well, it’s not exactly the fault of the thermostats; rather, it may have something to do with my decision to lower room settings at night, when we are all tucked into our beds. There has been an undercurrent of tension, as some people are “complaining that it’s cold”.
posted in pets | Comments Off on Who you gonna call? | 323 words
The ad ended with a great suggestion: “Don’t leave home without it”. The dog misunderstood, as she is wont to do, and she left home with it, and came home without it. No, not a magic card; rather, a prized bone.
posted in pets | Comments Off on Where oh where can my doggie-bone be? | 296 words
First you see it, then you don’t. Any resemblance to my paycheque is purely coincidental. Tonight, before your very eyes, I intend to present a pledge, which I will turn, to a final prestige. I learned that excellent description from a recent movie, which didn’t teach me anything of value other than the axiom that revenge is a dish best tasted cold, and it has nothing to do with the topic at hand (note the interesting turn).
posted in pets | Comments Off on Distraction | 337 words
