The smaller Great Dane:
The larger Great Dane:
The six monthold St. Bernard:
The Labrador retriever:
Friday, February 29, 2008
Big Dog Day
Today was Big Dog Day at the animal shelter. Two Great Danes, a Saint Bernard that was only six months old but still as large as most of our dogs, and the biggest lab I've ever seen, probably 90 pounds. The picture of the lab doesn't really get across how big he is (although he knows "Shake!") but the Great Dane is pretty obvious.
The smaller Great Dane:
The larger Great Dane:
The six monthold St. Bernard:
The Labrador retriever:
The smaller Great Dane:
The larger Great Dane:
The six monthold St. Bernard:
The Labrador retriever:
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Mandatory Update
My wife has forbidden me from reading until I update my blog. She found out the hard way that after I get a stack of new books from the library, I'm not good for much for the next few days.
Mandatory update completed.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Mafia!!!
For last week and a half, Child and I have been playing an online version of Mafia. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, a small number of the players are chosen as the Mafia, while the remaining players are Innocents. The Innocents try to discover who the Mafia are and lynch them, while the Mafia do their best to convince everyone that one of the Innocents is in fact the secret Mafia and get them lynched. It's a very fun game.
Well, this past game, out of 15 players, we had three Mafia members. We lied, we deceived, we mis-directed, and by the end of the game, we came out flawlessly victorious with all three members still alive and the Innocents lying in a heap in the Town Square. I believe it was unprecedented--usually at least one Mafia member gets lynched by the end of the game.
I told Child to watch out--if I could get away with lying for that long, there was no telling what other secrets I might have!
...actually, she doesn't really have to worry. As a general rule, I'm not particularly good at lying, as she's found out in previous Mafia games. I just got lucky this time around, and figured out that the less I talked (and ironically, the less I defended myself against flying accusations), the better off I was.
Well, this past game, out of 15 players, we had three Mafia members. We lied, we deceived, we mis-directed, and by the end of the game, we came out flawlessly victorious with all three members still alive and the Innocents lying in a heap in the Town Square. I believe it was unprecedented--usually at least one Mafia member gets lynched by the end of the game.
I told Child to watch out--if I could get away with lying for that long, there was no telling what other secrets I might have!
...actually, she doesn't really have to worry. As a general rule, I'm not particularly good at lying, as she's found out in previous Mafia games. I just got lucky this time around, and figured out that the less I talked (and ironically, the less I defended myself against flying accusations), the better off I was.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Trapped!
Acouchi loves the outdoors. We made the mistake of taking her outside to look at the snow a few months ago and now she'll sit at the front door and meow or paw at it for hours. The problem is that she is very much an inside cat--declawed on her front paws, and terrified of anything that moves.
I finally came up with a solution--that laundry basket kennel. With a bucket of cat food for weight.
I finally came up with a solution--that laundry basket kennel. With a bucket of cat food for weight.
UCPets.com News Article
The local newspapers picked up the story on the UCPets website.
I talked to the girl at the other end, answered all her questions, then hung up and looked at Child. "Um, if you put the phone against your chest, the person at the other end can hear quite clearly what you're saying."
"Oh," she said.
The article never appeared in the paper.
Not that I mind; my thesis adviser has been "strongly encouraging" me to get my thesis done, and I'd just as soon he didn't see I've been spending time working on another website.
- Daily Herald
- Deseret News
- BYU Newsnet
I talked to the girl at the other end, answered all her questions, then hung up and looked at Child. "Um, if you put the phone against your chest, the person at the other end can hear quite clearly what you're saying."
"Oh," she said.
The article never appeared in the paper.
Not that I mind; my thesis adviser has been "strongly encouraging" me to get my thesis done, and I'd just as soon he didn't see I've been spending time working on another website.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Super Tuesday
Yesterday, I went to vote in the primaries. Child drove me to the polling station, but when I saw the two-hour long line, I told Child that I changed my mind and I'd just vote in November. She countered with "Who cares about the presidential elections? Your vote only really counts in the primaries." I countered with, "This is Utah, and a Mormon is running for president. If you're voting for Romney, is your vote really necessary in either of the elections?"
Sure enough, Romney took the Utah primaries with 90% of the vote, followed distantly by McCain with 5%. Still, I guess it's a good thing to exercise your civic duty.
Anyway, Child left me to stand for two hours in the hallway while she went off and did other things. While slowly shuffling along, I got a little bored. Child saved the text messages I started sending her, but I'll reproduce them here for your convenience.
The main reason for the lengthy wait was that some genius in the election office decided to combine several precincts into one voting area, but they didn't increase the number of old people manning those books where they check off your name. The process wasn't very efficient either: the first old guy would ask your name, then put a checkmark next to it in a giant book. The second old guy would also ask your name, then write it down (a lengthy process since he was like 90 years old) in his own book. It seemed a little redundant.
The voting itself took about 30 seconds, and to back up my claim that the old people were the hold-up, there was only one, and occasionally two people actually at any of the five electronic voting machines at any given time.
Sure enough, Romney took the Utah primaries with 90% of the vote, followed distantly by McCain with 5%. Still, I guess it's a good thing to exercise your civic duty.
Anyway, Child left me to stand for two hours in the hallway while she went off and did other things. While slowly shuffling along, I got a little bored. Child saved the text messages I started sending her, but I'll reproduce them here for your convenience.
Lonely...I'm so lonely...Actually, I really did shout "Vote Huckabee" while in line, just to see if I could get a brawl to break out, and from somewhere up the line, someone called back, "Vote Romney!" Child told me I should have called back, "OK!"
Day 3: it seems like I've been stranded here for months. The fluorescent lights are beating down...No water or food. No sign of rescue, but am building a fire.
Can feel myself going crazy--am contemplating voting Huckabee. Another survivor slaps sense into me...signal fire unsuccessful. Ate leg.
Reached end of hallway! Line curves and goes back up other wall. Am standing next to fire alarm. Temptation is strong. Realize evacuation would reset line. Bad.
Discovery: shouting "vote Huckabee!" at a Mormon polling station equivelent to shouting "fire!" in crowded theater. Also bad.
The main reason for the lengthy wait was that some genius in the election office decided to combine several precincts into one voting area, but they didn't increase the number of old people manning those books where they check off your name. The process wasn't very efficient either: the first old guy would ask your name, then put a checkmark next to it in a giant book. The second old guy would also ask your name, then write it down (a lengthy process since he was like 90 years old) in his own book. It seemed a little redundant.
The voting itself took about 30 seconds, and to back up my claim that the old people were the hold-up, there was only one, and occasionally two people actually at any of the five electronic voting machines at any given time.
Monday, February 04, 2008
E-Cards
My beautiful wife sent me an E-card, so I decided to send one back. While filling out the form, however, I came across something that seemed a little...wrong.
Step 4: Do you want to send this card to more than one person? Yes or No?
Well, when your sentiment is "You're the only one for me," probably not. Unless, of course, you're a player and have several irons in the fire; in that case, send it to your entire email list and see who responds.
It reminds me of the guy last year that I saw getting into his car at the flower store, carrying two bouquets. "Hey, nice work!" I called to him.
"Oh, no, one's for my dad to give to my mom," he said.
"Of course, of course," I said, giving him a knowing wink, and getting in my own car.
Step 4: Do you want to send this card to more than one person? Yes or No?
Well, when your sentiment is "You're the only one for me," probably not. Unless, of course, you're a player and have several irons in the fire; in that case, send it to your entire email list and see who responds.
It reminds me of the guy last year that I saw getting into his car at the flower store, carrying two bouquets. "Hey, nice work!" I called to him.
"Oh, no, one's for my dad to give to my mom," he said.
"Of course, of course," I said, giving him a knowing wink, and getting in my own car.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Snowstorm of Puppies
Along with the snowstorms of...snow that we've been having, the shelter is starting to enter Puppy Season, leaving us with a snowstorm of puppies. ...puppystorm? Either way, we had two litters last week, and another pregnant dog come in on Friday. Add that to the litter of kittens we'll start having, and we'll be keeping pretty busy.
Tangentially, I had another idea: PSAs. Public Service Announcements. When I worked at a radio station 10 years ago, we'd do PSAs for non-profit groups, like "Quit Smoking!" or "Keep your guns out of reach of your kids!" I'll bet we could find a few radio stations that would be willing to do some PSAs for the animal shelter.
Tangentially, I had another idea: PSAs. Public Service Announcements. When I worked at a radio station 10 years ago, we'd do PSAs for non-profit groups, like "Quit Smoking!" or "Keep your guns out of reach of your kids!" I'll bet we could find a few radio stations that would be willing to do some PSAs for the animal shelter.
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