July 4, 2020

Take extra safe care of your dogs this 4th of July holiday.

Cross posted in Pets.


My good girl is terrified of loud sounds and noises, so thunder, gunshots and fireworks, and we get it all, freak her out to the point of panic. She ran off, actually climbed over the chainlink fence in her fear, after hearing gunshots on New Years Eve a few years back and was lost for almost 4 weeks.

I feared she was dead. I live way out in the country and stray dogs get shot or hit by cars, amazingly some kind soul remembered her from seeing a flyer I posted and he called to say she was at his house and secured inside his gate.

I was shocked and screaming hysterically happy as we drove to get her, 4 miles from home. I wept, it was like seeing someone come back from the dead, and she practically was, all skin and bones, but happy to see her people again.

So make sure your dogs, even if they aren't normally scared, are safe inside from dusk to dawn. Those Thundershirts really work, I loaned mine to my sis and it never came back home, so I put my pupper in an old sweatshirt for comfort at least. If you need to take your dog out for a potty break, don't go out without a strong leash and escape proof collar.

Give them a secure spot like their bed or crate, add a blanket to hide under, a fave toy, and place it in a quiet area. If they want to cling to you, a reassuring cuddle will make you both feel better. My dog wants to hide in under our bed, but shes a giant breed and too big to fit more than her head. I fold up some rugs and drape a blanket off the footboard like a tent, so that seems to work for her.

I wonder if lavender scent or some other essential oils would help!

Take care of your dogs, and all your other critters, keep safe everyone!

April 21, 2020

Get one of those Bedazzler gizmos while you're at it.

Nothing says you're large (cough-cough) and in charge like a little sparkly bling and stick on pasties.

July 6, 2019

I've lived in Caifornia most of my life and

rode out all the big quakes. This is the first time that I recall an earthquake swarm where quakes the actually strong enough to be felt and are coming up every few minutes.

The earthquake app I have shows 15 events in the past hour since the 7.1 quake. No rest for me tonight!

October 8, 2017

Yes, and that's the whole gist of the criticisms.

If she was going to the beach or a BBQ, then you're right, there is nothing improper with what Witt is wearing. However, she's a big time news anchor on a major news network, and instead of presenting a professional image as a respected journalist, Witt chose to look like she was attending a garden party in that frock.

Yes, she might be "a fairly attractive lady wearing a nice outfit", and again, that's the point, she's not hosting a lollapalooza fashion sale on the Home Shopping Network, yeah? Look at most TV anchor hosts, they are very professional and conservatively attired in unremarkable, dark, muted clothing choices.

This is not a question of us "do-gooders making a issue out of it", it's that some of us still think that its important to respect the value of journalism, a profession that is under constant attack by rightwing sources. Let not defend Alex Witt as she swings her news show towards the Fox News business model, where women really are cast as on air personalities based solely on their looks and their silly gyrations in keeping those too tight red dresses from revealing everything.

October 8, 2017

Hogwash.

If some dude was sitting at an anchor desk in a cropped muscle shirt with his bare abs, I'd still criticise his poor judgement. Outside of Fox News and their tarted up buxom blondes, the news is a serious business, not a personal fashion show.

Witt made a poor decision, and it isn't her first. News anchors typically dress conservatively for a reason; they don't want to become a side story that makes them the brunt of laughter and derision, as she is now. She leaves a lot to be desired as a journalist, but when she chose to pull a beachy, summer sundress out of her closet in October to show off her bare shoulders, she gave up all pretense to the profession.

So, one more time to the aggrieved fashionistas, the criticism is not about this woman's malfunctioning wardrobe choice, it's about trying separate the respected journalists as consummate professionals, from the giddy clothes horses who giggle and coo on Fox News.

October 6, 2017

Why? Am I defending Trump, lying for him, or making up lame excuses

for his string of daily insults and unearned errors? Am I criticising the weak and the poor or chastising thousand of suffering Americans who have been left to live or die as best they can!

Stop defending these fucking Republicans! They are not our friends, and this lying, devious woman is being well paid to treat professional journalists like they are annoying, traveling vacuum salesmen instead of respected members our free and adversarial press corps, which we depend on as our Constitutional right.

If it cramps your bowels when I mock her, I don't care, hear me on that. I am 70+, so make of that what you will. If you think it makes a whit of difference how I should look in order to get your approval to castigate any goddamned Republican in the manner I see fit, think again!

July 15, 2015

That's probably how it will go.

Although even without an official declaration, he does pretty good with a wink and a nod.