Another Industry's Hand is Out for the Bail Out

I was reading through the CNN website and saw the headline, Porn industry seeks federal bailout. The first thing I did was check to see that I was not diverted to another website such as "the Onion.com". Nope, I was at CNN alright. So the next thing I did was read the article. No way this could be serious. I wanted to see what the joke was. Well, the joke was on me (or us taxpayers). Larry Flint (Hustler) and Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild videos) were trying to make the case of how important the porn industry actually is to the US and of course they should be bailed out. That made me doubt the article that much more. How could they actually go to Congress with a straight face and ask for the money. Then it occurred to me...they have to have pictures on many of the members. How else could they possibly bring this up? Further commentary by Campbell Brown said it best, Leave it to Joe Francis and Larry Flynt to show the absurdity of the bailout. Let me just say this, if they get it, I am going next. I would require far less to get me through this tough time and once I am through it, I will be a strong contributor to the economy again.

Did My Civic Duty-Jury Summons Has Been Completed

So today I fulfilled my civic duty by standing by for jury duty all day. This is only the second time I have been summoned since living in California (1991). Was not selected to even sit in the box to be questioned but did get to sit in the courtroom watching the jury selection process. Quite interesting really. Not only the questions asked of each potential juror but also the variety of folks who are summoned. The group was definitely a microcosm of society as a whole. Some of the folks really impressed me with there thoughtfulness and their desire to do the right thing. These folks seemed to truly want to do the right thing and give the individual a fair trial. Then, of course, there was the folks on the other end of the spectrum. I would hate to have any of these folks sitting on any jury that would be judging me. Fortunately, the folks that probably didn't represent the best and the brightest were excused by the attorneys. It really was an interesting process. Wow....

Flashes of Childhood-Gumby

I was at the store picking up dog food and what do I see...a Gumby figure. I couldn't really imagine this as a dog toy. Actually I thought it was a pretty silly idea for a dog toy. But I loved Gumby. Not the show but the figures. I had them as I was growing up. Gumby and Pokey...how funny. So I bought him. When I was bike-riding competitively, many of the cyclist had Gumby figures as riding companions. I don't know that today's kids would like them but they brought me back to a simpler time. Now I just need to figure out where to put him.

More Random Thoughts

Well, it certainly has been awhile since the last post. Seems I've been busy but not with anything particularly interesting or funny. But...leave it to our American ingenuity to provide me with a topic to talk about. For those of you who have seen Wall-E the movie, you may know where I am coming from. A big premise of the movie was that the human race had gotten so into technology that over time, we became blobs floating along on electronic lounge chairs. Well, we may be moving closer and closer to that reality. Listening to radio news station, I heard a story that Domino's is working with TIVO to enable folks to place orders through the TIVO box. We won't even have to get up to get the phone. All I can say is...GET UP AND MOVE. If we don't use those muscles we will lose them. Seriously, isn't this a little bit scary?

This next item is more of an annoyance. I was watching a commercial where a young man was proposing to his girlfriend. Of course, they showed him on bent knee with the open ring box. As I was watching, I couldn't help but look at his hands. His fingernails were dirty. How did the ad agency not notice that. I realize that in real life that may happen BUT companies spend a lot of money on ads. Shouldn't the agency have caught that?

Random Observations

Not too much to say today with the exception of a few random observations and thoughts. So without further adieu, here goes:

-Listening to the radio today I heard an ad for a company selling giant teddy bears, stuffed rabbits, you named it. You can even have a personalized t-shirt made. The final question the ad asks, "wouldn't you love a teddy bear taller than an NBA basketball player?". Ummm...no I would not.

-Also heard on the radio that the polar bears are so hungry they are eating each other. Thankfully though, Sarah Palin informed us there really is not any man made problems with the environment. I guess they have always eaten themselves.

-Looking out at the park outside my office window, I noticed a woman practicing her line dancing steps. The question my friend Staci asked..."is it really line dancing when it's a line of one.". Excellent question Staci.

-While taking a lunch time walk, I notice a commotion. There were five or six men holding down another man while they waited for the police. The held down man was screaming bloody murder. Apparently, he had just robbed some tourists. It was quite reminiscent of the show "Cops". Just goes to show, big cities don't just have high profile crimes.

-Can someone please tell how "Forbes" magazine can publish an article the "Hollywood's Most Influential Infants"? How in the world are these infants influential? And if they are...Shame on us!

Okay, before I get on to things that really peeve me, I will end this post. Whoo...feel a Little better now.

Final Gnome Update and Jury Duty Summons

It's day ten. I think he has reached his full size. He doesn't seem to be growing anymore. Only fading in color. One of his eyes is crossed too. Let's see if he brings me good luck.

On a completely different note. I went to the mailbox and pick up my mail. What did I receive today...a jury duty summons. First thing I think of is, darn, it will probably be during my Thanksgiving vacation. I open it up, expecting the date to be at least a month away. Yikes!!! It is for TOMORROW. I ask myself, how did that happen. I only have a ton of things to get done by Friday and I have multiple meetings scheduled tomorrow. I would normally request an extension by mailing in the form but it is TOMORROW. There was a number on the form to call but I was skeptical. How often do you call those numbers only to be put on perpetual hold or in an endless automated loop. Much to my surprise, someone answered relatively quickly. Terence was his name. When I told him I received the summons today for jury duty tomorrow, he said SURPRISE! Actually, he was very helpful and moved my jury date to January 5th. Funny thing is, at first I was a little perturbed but then I said to myself, whatever happens happens. There you go...Terence took care of me. Now I get to go to work tomorrow...hmmm, on second thought, maybe I am the loser in this deal.

Trolls, Leprechauns, and Gnomes-Fun Facts

I don't think I have laughed as hard as I did today in a long time. I was speaking to a friend of mine and somehow the topic of Gnomes came up. She is very afraid of them and thinks they are creepy. I told her my mom collected them and I have a tattoo of one on my ankle (come to find out it is really a fairy). This led to a discussion about trolls (I think of the plastic dolls from the sixties, she thinks of the creatures from under a bridge) and how evil they are. Which further led to conversations of Leprechauns and their nastiness. Again, our images of them were completely different. She-Leprechaun the movie, me Lucky Charm Cereal. That led to her finding all kind crazy websites including one one Gnome that play really goofy music and another http://www.badmovies.org/ describing the Leprechaun movie.

Fun Gnome, Leprechaun & Troll Facts

Gnomes-There are several types. Woodland, Dune, Farm, House, Garden, & Siberian. The Garden gnome belongs to the general type. He lives in old gardens, even those hemmed in between the new houses of modern "model" cities. His nature is on the somber side, and he rather enjoys telling melancholy tales. If he begins to feel too closed in , he simply goes to the woods. But, as he is quite learned, he sometimes feels out of place there. The Siberian gnome has been the most affected by crossbreeding. He is centimeters larger than the European type and associates freely with trolls. In certain regions there is not a single gnome to be trusted. The Siberian gnome takes revenge for even the slightest offense by killing cattle, causing bad harvests, droughts, abnormally cold weather, and so forth. The less said about him, the better. There is even a Free the Gnome Society. Pretty funny really.

Leprechauns-One of a race of elves in Irish folklore who can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them. But they don't like humans.

Trolls-don't see very well. They are as blind as a bat and can't see their own hand in front of them. Trolls hate the daylight (Unless you are Wendy's Troll Doll). If they are caught in the sun, they will turn to stone. The worst thing you could ever do to a troll is be happy. They hate happiness and things that make people happy. So be careful not to be too happy, you might make a troll mad. If you do, a troll will not take kindly to you.


Thanks for indulging my weirdness today.

In a World Gone Mad-Maybe I'll Sell Avon

Now what would be crazier? Really...anyone who knows me knows this would be equivalent to reality television shows becoming unpopular. If you are wondering where this came from, well I was watching TV (first mistake) and an Avon ad with a chipper little woman comes on talking about how happy she was with her first big sale of Avon products. It went on to imply this was a good career choice. Now mind you, I have nothing against sellers of Avon but with all the craziness that is the state of our national finances it just really struck me as funny that anyone could suggest this is a viable career choice. But with everything that is going on...maybe this IS where the future is. Crazier things have been known to happen.

Turning the Big 5-0-Post Script

What does someone do when turning 50? Glad you asked. Seems like most of the time people mark this birthday with some significant event. Maybe a long planned backpacking trip, a big birthday bash, maybe even a long cruise. Well I chose to mark this event by getting a new tattoo (see the picture above). I couldn't think of a better image than dolphins. I love the ocean and dolphins are just cool, intelligent creatures. I had it put on the back of my calf since that will be the last place that will wrinkle on me. I have to say, it hurt like heck but it was worth it. I love it! I guess the beauty of turning fifty is that I don't worry what anyone else thinks about it. That is definitely a change for me. Besides getting a tattoo, it was a relatively quiet birthday. I did take a drive along the river with the pups in the evening. It's a pretty drive.

I received a lot of really cool cards but I wanted to share the above two with you. Each one of them expresses how parts of me feel. The Leaping Lemur card expresses how happy I am to have this life and loving were I am at this point in time. The second card my give you some insight into how I got to the Leaping Lemur card. So I need to thank my family for helping me become a more "interesting adult".

Thanks to all for remembering my birthday and thanks Staci and Sylvia for sending the flowers. As you can see from the picture, they are beautiful.

Job Satisfaction???

Let me just answer that question by saying today may not have been the best day for me to fill out my Employee Satisfaction Survey.

What To Talk About Today?

Imagine this, you are in the office at 5am and for the next 5 hours you are looking at test populations on spreadsheets and picking random test samples (here is where the sound of screeching brakes would be cued up if I could add sound effects). If this sound mind numbing to you. Imagine being me for that 5 hours. Anyways I do want everyone to keep checking in so instead you will hear about my walk in the city and pictures I took to keep myself sane. Taking a step back into insanity, the sculpture of the heads really reflect how I felt this morning when starting my walk. Okay, onward.

There is nothing like a walk in San Francisco to help clear my head. I walked for about an hour and as you can see, I tried to look at the images of the city from different vantage points. The picture with the flags are what I see as soon as I leave my building. The flags are HUGE. The photo showing the building looking up is actually the building I work in. I decided to take a walk towards the bay and ended up at Pier 1 (not the store but actual Pier 1) and took the photo of the Bay Bridge. As you can see it was pretty foggy at the time although a lot less than when I came into the city. The photo of the "design" was taken looking straight down on the sidewalk. I just thought it would be fun to see how it would come out. And of course, the last picture is the Trans America building. I always think it would be a great picture but it is so hard to capture adequately.

It's funny, I have lived in the Bay area for so long now but I haven't really played the tourist for quite a while now. After the walk today, it left me feeling that I wish I had visitors so I could justify playing the tour guide role and then be able to experience that part of SF again,

Updates and Thoughts

Since I didn't have any adventures today I thought I would just add a few thoughts and photos to the blog today. So here goes...

As I have gotten older, I have come to realize how important having meaningful relationships in my life are. I am fortunate enough to have some really great folks in my life. My sister Maris is one of them. Hard to believe since we were so different when we were growing up. Now she is one of my closest friend. How cool is that?!! The photo to the right was taken while we were on a hike in Morgan Territory a couple weeks ago. She is with her husband Charlie who always takes me on great hikes during my Christmas visits.

I will periodically "highlight" my buddies throughout these postings.

Favorite Television shows-CSI (original) almost makes me want to become a CSI except for all the death. I watch it all the time. I also have had a blast watching "What Not to Wear". It has helped me with my fashion sense.

Music I am currently listening to-I really enjoy Gnarls Barkley. It really picks up my energy level.

Updates and Thoughts

I feel very fortunate to have some really fabulous people in my life. As I

grow older, I realize how important it is to allow myself to get close to people. I have included a couple of photos of some of the people who mean so much to me. To the far right are my sister Maris and her hubby Charlie. The picture was taken on a hike in Morgan Territory. It is the first hike I have been able to take him on in long, long time. Charlie usually exposes me to a wonderful hike on my somewhat annual Christmas trip.

To the immediate right are my friends Suzy & Stephan. They are originally from Switzerland and our my primary movie buddies. I have known them for 10 years. We met at a dog show when they were looking for a vizsla and found out we have much more in common than our love for our red dogs. I have grow to love these folks very much.

Obviously, there are other meaningful folks in my life who I will showcase periodically. Hopefully none of you feel slighted.

This picture of Sara was taken on June 7th. She won her veteran's class and was handled by my dear friend Walter. She is also a fabulous pet and I am thrilled to have her be part of my life.

Walter is also one of my field training buddies. He and is wife Sue have been a pleasure to get to know. BTW, Sue makes a fabulous tuna salad. Sara is my first show dog and she has done really well.

To the right is a picture of Sara (mom), Grady (son) and Sasa (daughter). Sara and her gets won the Brood Bitch class at our Specialty. I was pretty proud as the competition was fierce. The handlers (from L to R) were Walter, Kevin, and Susan.

There are a lot of fires around the bay area right now. The causes seem to be primarily due to lightening. It is really smokey outside. The fires seem to be so close although I know they are many, many miles away. One thing the fires seem to be doing is keeping the outside temperatures down. I guess it is a side benefit but it doesn't seem so when you consider the damage done to folk's property. We are bound to have a busy fire because of how dry our spring was.