Got back from the vet a bit ago, and while there, they shaved Rosie’s area and discovered a scar from surgery to fix her, and have concluded she is just a full-figured lady.
After trying to pawn Rosie on the staff, I mentioned I was concerned about Tunch, and the vet’s assistant said “Tunch? You’re worried about Tunch? I’d worry about Rosie. He’ll rip her up.” Which was amusing, because he really is the spawn of Satan when he gets to the vet.
Martin
Yes, I think all of us out in the gallery have been of that opinion for years. We’re still amazed Tunch hasn’t smothered and eaten you after some Stillers +8 evening.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Eddie is going to give me a heart attack one of these days. The preliminary results on the biopsy are back. No sign of lymphoma. It looks like inflammation. There were some abnormal cells that the vet wants the dermatologist to look at, and the dermatologist wasn’t in today. So, final results will have to wait until next week.
So, the drama appears to have been wasted.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Martin: Is that John +8, or Tunch?
Svensker
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
No news is good news so far. Keep hangin’ on.
Josie
It’s entirely possible that Tunch has communicated that fact to Rosie from the beginning, which would explain her lack of interest in him. A big cat always has a really good chance with a dog, unless the dog is super big and determined.
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I am glad that Eddie is free of cancer. I’ve been following your reports and know that you are really relieved to hear that news.
abo gato
So she’s been spayed? Now I am worried that she did just slip out of her collar and get lost. Did the vet have an age estimate?
I think too, that the vet is right about Tunch. If you’re not seeing any aggression now at this early stage of introduction, you’ll probably not see any later on.
I still hope she stays with you guys, Lily needs a dog buddy to play with.
Svensker
When I was 8 months 28 days pregnant I looked like a bloated cow. One day at the train station a little boy said to his mom, “Why is that lady so fat?” The mom hushed mom and said, “She’s not fat, honey, she’s pregnant.” The little boy stared at me with his face all screwed up, then said, “She is not. She’s just fat.” Poor mom was so embarrassed. I would have ROFL but that was not possible.
Culture of Truth
Is it me or do your pets have a weight problem?
Violet
I’m also wondering about the age estimate. Maybe she’s a Dog of a Certain Age, and it isn’t likely that she’ll become aggressive.
I hope her people find her, if she’s got people. She sounds like a sweetie.
What did the vet suggest about you keeping her with your other two? All joking aside about Tunch, did they think it was workable?
Mary G
Can we keep her, please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeease, John?
AnnaN
Agree with Abo Gato re: Rosie being fine with Tunch over the long term. Dogs really don’t hide their natures; if Rosie was a cat chaser/killer there would have been signs of this by now.
A new dog to a household is not thinking, “okay, one more month of being Tubby’s friend and then I’m moving in for the kill” (which was precisely what was going through Kathryn Rogers’ mind when she first met Rush).
anatta
She’s not fat! She’s just big-boned.
jeffreyw
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Yay!
jeffreyw
@AnnaN:
Now I haz a giggle.
Mark S.
That’s a relief she’s not pregnant.
RedKitten
Beefcaaaaake!
Funny how you’ve not heard anything about her owners — it does seem like she was well-cared for (if a bit overfed). Keep trying, especially with the shelters. I have no idea if all of the shelters in your state and the adjoining states communicate with each other, but it’s worth asking. She may have been from further away than you’d think.
MikeJ
Franken launches full-throated attack on ‘conservative activism’ on courts
Mike Kay
sad. at one time somebody loved her enough to have her fixed.
TaMara (formerly Bad Horse's Filly)
@Svensker: Hey, I’m hoping you’ll share the recipe your Turkish Chicken recipe. Please, please, pretty please?
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): That is such good news about Eddie. Yay!
Violet
@Mike Kay:
Could have been a shelter. Isn’t it common for shelters to fix dogs before adopting them out? But still…
I’m thinking older owner with very pampered dog. Or dog on vacation with the family that somehow got separated. John, have you put up signs at places people on a vacation might go? Local motels or campgrounds? Grocery stores? Any attractions in the area like state parks?
Jules
She is not fat, just well-loved by someone who has lost her.
I hope her people find you…
Alice Blue
Rosie’s circumstances remind me of our Bella. She had been hanging around our friends’ house for about a month and they had been feeding her, but they couldn’t keep her and the nights were turning cold. I told my hubby I wanted to take her in, and he agreed (with some misgivings). We already had three cats in the house.
Bella had a collar but no tags. She was housebroken and very well socialized. When we took her to the vet, we discovered she had already been “fixed.” The vet said she was about seven months old and that she was a Bassett-Greyhound mix. We were sure someone had lost her. We asked everyone in town (pop. 150) and no one knew anything about her or knew anyone who had lost a dog. We put up signs all over the place. Nothing.
That was almost six years ago. She and the cats developed a “live and let live” attitude, and I can’t imagine life without her.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike Kay:
That’s true. There may be a tragic backstory here. But the fact that she’s been spayed means that she knows what care and affection are all about (which, of course, is why she picked John in the first place).
SiubhanDuinne
@Mary G:
And just WHO, young lady, is going to feed her? And give her baths? And walk her? Yes of course every day. YES, even if it’s raining.
John Cole
I’m doing everything I can to find them.
Violet
Poor Rosie. :( She must really be missing her people. She’s lucky she was found by you, but it’s still sad.
SiubhanDuinne
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
I take this as Good News. Hope whatever the dermatologist finds is something quick, easy, inexpensive and painless* to treat. Whatever it is, I’m so glad it’s not lymphoma. Yay for you and Eddie.
*Painless for everyone concerned, meaning you as well as the cat.
Athenae
Aww. I was hoping for Balloon Juice puppyblogging.
My six-and-a-half-year-old ferret, Puck, is lazy as fuck here at home, just lolls around waiting to be fed and picked up and loved on. At the vet’s, though, he’s a cheeky little squirrel, running around and nipping, so when I take him in because I’m concerned he’s lethargic, they’re always like, “Seriously? The ball of fluff currently attached to my pant leg? That’s who you’re worried about?”
A.
Betsy
@Svensker:
LOL. That’s hilarious.
TaMara (formerly Bad Horse's Filly)
@Alice Blue: I’m so trying to figure out what a Bassett-Greyhound would look like!
I had similar experience. I helped retrieve dogs for a Great Dane rescue group and my second girl came to me a month after my first died of cancer. (I wasn’t going to keep her, just retrieve her from the shelter, ya’ll know how that goes).
No collar, beautiful colors (she was not a cheap dog to purchase from a breeder), 9mos old, found running on the interstate. She was spayed, well trained for her age, but honestly made herself my dog within 5 minutes. She was really clear.
I was sure someone was missing her. I called shelters within 100 miles of where they found her – nothing. I kept looking for about 3 mos. We had 11 beautiful years together.
JenJen
Wooohooo!! Not Preggo!!
Can’t imagine that’s the first time you’ve been relieved by those words, Cole.
@Svensker: I know the politically correct thing to say here is how charming and funny and authentic kids can be, but in this situation, that boy was a little hellchild. Great story, though. :-)
abo gato
Alice Blue, oh please! Can you give us a picture? Like TaMara I really, really want to know what your dog looks like. What a combo! The mind reels.
jl
Since both Rosie and Tunch are quite ‘ample’ perhaps the greatest danger either poses is (God forbid) to tip over and fall on top of the the other one.
Svensker
@TaMara (formerly Bad Horse’s Filly):
It was so fantastic I’m making it again tonight. Very easy. Take 4-6 chicken breasts and poach them gently in chicken broth. Let the breasts sit in the warm broth while you make the sauce. In a small saute pan melt chunk of butter and saute 1 small onion chopped and 2 garlic cloves chopped, until soft, then add 1 tablespoon paprika and 1 teaspoon ground red pepper and stir until fragrant. Put in the blender or food processor 1-1/2 cups walnuts and 2 slices bread dipped in the chicken broth. Add the onion mixture to the blender, then pour in a bit of the hot chicken broth and blend, adding more broth to get the sauce loose enough but not too loose — should be consistency of a runny hummus. Taste for salt and add some if needed. Remove chicken breasts from broth and shred or cut into bite size chunks. Toss with the sauce and serve garnished with walnut halves and chopped parsley. For the coup de grace, melt a spoonful of butter in a pan and stir in another teaspoon of paprika, until the butter turns a brilliant orange — then drizzle that over the finished dish. Just unbelievably good.
Served it with a Turkish shepherd’s salad (cukes,peppers,tomatoes, onions with oil, lemon, dill, mint over romaine) and some sauteed okra. We’re cutting down on carbs, but it would be fantastic with rice, too.
Mark S.
@JenJen:
Especially in West Virginia, where everyone has a shotgun.
Geeno
@Athenae: A. – I lurved Dingo Bowling on your site today. I have to get a place with hard wood floors.
andrea
Doggie! OK, sorry for the enabling. Rosie looks like a chunkier version of my sister’s JRT.
TaMara (formerly Bad Horse's Filly)
@Svensker: That sounds delicious. And so easy.
Josie
@Svensker: This is the second wonderful recipe you have posted since I have been visiting John’s site. I am indebted to you for the Turkey Burger recipe from earlier (a big hit with my sons) and now this. Thanks so much.
beltane
@Violet: It is possible that Rosie is an elderly dog who happened to be abandoned when her owner passed away. This happens far too often, and while it’s just speculation, there is the possibility that this is what happened here.
Alice Blue
@TaMara Iformerly Bad Horse’s Filly) and abo gato:
Bella has a Greyhound head and body on Bassett Hound legs and feet. She’s got Greyhound coloring (dark brown brindled) and I think her sweet goofy personality is greyhound-ish as well. She almost looks like a very large Dachshund.
I’d love to post a good picture of her, but she doesn’t like cameras. In the picture we took of her to put on the posters, she is crouched in a corner looking absolutely terrified.
slag
@MikeJ: I loved Al’s judicial activism rants from his radio show days. Glad to hear he’s keeping on the subject. It’s a good one.
Mike Kay
@Violet:
Remember when it was revealed that Mitt Romney went on a family vacation and attacked his dog on the roof of his station wagon. Ugh! And this ass is a Harvard grad.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1638065,00.html
debit
@Svensker: …I’ll be going to the grocery store now.
abo gato
Alice Blue, okay, I can see that…..a very large dachshund makes some sense to me…..I’ll bet she’s lovely!
Joshua Norton
You realize that if you keep trying to pawn off Rosie on someone else every time you go out, people are going to start locking doors and turning off their lights if they think you might be coming around.
Plus, you’re going to give the poor thing a complex.
Seebach
Anyone read the Playboy article by the Tea Party strategist that Ebert tweeted:
http://j.mp/aIBnm8
Alice Blue
@abo gato: She’s certainly an attention getter and such a sweetheart. To this day, I still wonder where she came from.
slag
This MattY post on Alan Greenspan made me unreasonably happy. Especially the last sentence.
(And when I say that it made me “unreasonably happy”, I mean the fact that Greenspan’s idiocy and its effect was described so accurately–not that it exists.)
TaMara (formerly Bad Horse's Filly)
@Alice Blue: I think we’ll have to assume her dad was the Greyhound. ;-)
jeffreyw
@Svensker:
OK, I cut and pasted this into my recipe file. You may be seeing this soon: “Mrs J’s Famous Turkish Chicken”–LOL
Calouste
@Mike Kay:
And that makes him better than other people how exactly?
It’s not like it is exactly difficult for the son of a former automotive CEO/governor/presidential candidate/cabinet secretary to get into a big name university or business school.
Something Fabulous
@beltane: I’ve been wondering that too! In her pix so far she looks a little on the mature side. Did the vet give you an estimate of her age, M Cole?
Shane in Utah
I’ve never seen such a fat JRT. Most of them run 20 miles a day if you let them. So I’m guessing the previous owner kept her inside, on a leash, or in a small pen before the f*@#er got tired of taking care of her and dumped her. I also bet that after a summer of being exercised regularly with Lily, she’ll be thin as a rail.
Athenae
@Geeno: They’re saving me thousands in therapy bills every year.
A.
Anne Laurie
@Violet:
Yeah, that’s why my guys wear their ID tags 24/7, and are microchipped as well.
Another alternative is that family circumstances changed and Rosie didn’t approve. We inherited Demon Kishkan when friends of ours moved overseas to a place with a six-month quarantine for cats. Kishkan had originally shown up at their door as a “stray” and assertively bullied her way into their household. When they broke down & took her to the vet, they found out she’d already been fixed. Some 18 months later, they added twin humans to the family, and Kishkan made it veryveryvery clear that she DID NOT CARE for babies (never tried to hurt them, just hissed & stayed well clear of them). She didn’t want to live with us either — she would much prefer being an only pet — but she hasn’t been able to find a better meal ticket, not even when she offered one pair of hunky contractors doing some repair work a dead vole as a bribe. (True story, hand to goddess.)
Rosie may have a similar story — her owner(s) had kids, or died & left her to their kids, or the adult kids & grandkids had to move back in with the ‘rents and spoil Rosie’s gig. I can certainly imagine a JRT running off on her own to find a more pliable sucker, I mean, kindhearted person like Cole…
Mnemosyne
@Shane in Utah:
Some people are speculating that she was the pet of an elderly person who got dumped (by the family?) after said elderly person got sick or died. It would explain her trusting nature, her unusual placidity for a JRT, and her weight.
You Don't Say
@John Cole: Maybe you could get a shelter or local rescue group to put her on Petfinder. I notice a lot of listings from a shelter in my area say “in a private home” so they’re doing a favor for someone.
Paddy
@MikeJ We have up the video of Franken and he’s as biting as ever. VIDEO: Franken launches full-throated attack on ‘conservative activism’ on courts
You Don't Say
@Mnemosyne: Good guess. Bet that’s it.
burnspbesq
@Svensker:
Typical bratty Jersey kid. My youngest brother (who was five months old when we moved to Jersey) was just like that. The rest of us had some manners beaten into us by the nuns at Holy Family in Syracuse and St. Helen’s in Schenectady.
Litlebritdifrnt
Oooh a pet thread. Perfect for what I saw when I came home from work this evening.
http://crittersbybritty.blogstream.com
for the whole story.
Mary G
@Violet: My favorite theory also. Rosie is the faithful companion of a older person who loves her and spoils her rotten. The owner dies and the kids say “You take her” “No, you take her.” No one steps up and finally they take the poor little thing for a nice ride in the country.
PurpleGirl
@Athenae: You have some great ferrets. I like the video you posted today. They are good for giggles.
Geeno
@Mike Kay: My fondest memories of that story come from the guy in MI who was driving his car around during the republican primary with a stuffed dog tied to the top and signs saying “Mitt is the shit, vote Romney!”. It still makes me laugh.
KyCole
So the new puppy (that I told my son not to get) really loves to chew. That’s cool, got her a chewy thing. Willie, who in all her ten years has never once liked a chewy thing, suddenly does. Okay, I learned and bought two chewy things at the store today. So why is the puppy barking at Willie and wanting her chewy thing as well as the one she is presently chewing? Do I need many chewy things littering my house?
QuaintIrene
Well, at least that’s one less thing to worry about, a bunch of little ‘miracles’ plopping out onto your kitchen floor one late night.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Mary G:
I can attest to this. My bosses daddy had an elderly cat (she is currently 19) the most honery animal you would ever care to meet. She is a marmalade tabby called Samantha. When bosses Daddy died in November 2008, everyone wondered what to do with the cat, many folks suggested having her put to sleep, Aunt Marie however screamed “don’t you dare, your Daddy adored that cat” various attempts to catch her to relocate her were fruitless. Therefore, I go down to the house where Samantha lives twice a week to feed her wet food, replenish her dry food, and scritch her. It has taken me 18 months to develop a level of trust with her that I think in the next couple of weeks I might actually be able to pick her up and get her in a cat carrier to relocate her to live with Aunt Marie. I am however, not totally confident that this will happen, it might just piss her off so badly that I have to start all over again with the gaining trust thing.
Kristine
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
I’m glad that news is good, even though I know you went through Hell. Went through the biopsy thing with King a few months ago. Not fun.
jeffreyw
@KyCole: Yeah, and stuffed toys for games of fetch. Mrs J cruises yard sales and buys them by the bushel.
bey
I took one look at that neck roll this morning and thought to myself – that is not a pregnant dog. I recognize that neck roll from seeing it in the mirror every morning.,,.
She does have a mature look about her, but the teeth in the pic look young.
I agree if she were to be cat-agressive you most probably have seen some glimmers by now, even if she is on guest-dog behavior. If you give Tunch a safe escape place for a few months – like a gated doorway, that will allow him to set some boundaries without bloodshed. If necessary.
You SO have another dog and I reiterate: you are one terrific human being.
Great news about Eddy too! It’s still a week of worry, worry for you though, but the big hurdle is past. Nice start to a weekend.
Dee Loralei
@slag: After I read that Greenspan shit, I am so ready to insist that bastard be one of the first up against the wall when the revolution comes. Matt prolly has a more emotionally healthy reaction than I did. Fucker.
Damn, I need to get +1++++ pretty quick.
bey
@KyCole: Why yes. Yes you do. The canine plan is to covet whatever the other canine has, because it must be better. There’s a reason why the story isn’t The Cat In The Manger.
Josie
@Litlebritdifrnt: Be sure to take a big towel to wrap her in when you pick her up; nothing is as scary as a pissed off cat. They can do some real damage. You would probably be better off with a live trap like the animal rescue places use. You bait it and they go in to get the food and the door closes.
eemom
@KyCole:
you need many chewy things, and you also need to move your shoes and all kinds of other stuff to places out of puppy reach or they will become chewy things too.
Our dear departed Max in his young days ate at least 10 of my shoes and shredded at least 50 rolls of paper towels and various books, as well my DC bar diploma.
Rocky, one of our current dogs, ate the leather couch in the living room.
Mark S.
@Seebach:
I think a better title for that would be “My God, I Love The Taste of Breitbart’s Balls (And O’Keefe’s Aren’t Bad, Either).”
It sounded like it was written by someone who’s not quite the player he thinks he is.
Litlebritdifrnt
@eemom:
My two boxers have eaten a leather couch and a leather loveseat, which as we speak are now being held together with slipcovers. DH keeps saying “we need new couches” to which I reply “why, so the boxers have something else to eat?”
Mary G
@Litlebritdifrnt: Samantha is lucky to have you and Aunt Marie. I second Josie’s suggestion of the towel or better yet a live trap. Some rescue place might loan you one.
Litlebritdifrnt
@bey:
True dit. Lucky (our elderly black lab/cocker spaniel cross) sleeps in the bedroom with us at night due to the fact that Cueball (90lb white boxer) attacks him for no apparent reason occasionally. When Cueball is put in “time out” up the stairs so Lucky can go outside, when Lucky returns he is given a “snack” of dry dog food, and a couple of treats. He usually eats the treats and then leaves the dry food. Both of the boxers then eagerly eat the dry food in Lucky’s bowl, as if it was ambrosia, despire the fact that is exactly the same food that is in their “bistro” endless dog food supplier. For some reason removing the food from their feeder to a metal bowl twenty feet away makes it taste much better.
QuaintIrene
Miss Kate, our current dog resident, was adopted at 8 months. Pretty full grown but still basically a puppy. She was pretty good on chewing except for books. You couldn’t leave a paperback around anywhere without coming back and finding the cover pulled off and chewed to bits. And always just the cover.
TrishB
@Mnemosyne: My sister picked up a pound puppy that appears to be a bichon frise-poodle mix. In short, she looks like a slightly leggier black bichon. Eloise was fixed, knew sit, stay, come, roll over, and shake. There was an invisible line that she would not cross into the kitchen – she’d immediately go into a down-stay position. She was obviously better trained than any dog anyone in my family has ever owned. The vet guessed she was just shy of a year.
Three years later, we still can’t figure out why she would have been left at the pound. The only conclusion we could come to was perhaps an older couple that had to move to a nursing home, or some such.
CynDee
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Sounds like you are on the Beloved Pet Roller Coaster. We go through so much with our animal loved ones, and would do ANYTHING for them if we only had the power. These ordeals take so much out of us, but we know we would do it all over again if it would help. That’s just the life of animal people.
I hope that the news continues to be encouraging. Take good care of yourself; friends are thinking of you.
Uloborus
@Seebach:
I got about two pages in before my need to bludgeon him overcame me and I had to look away. It was, at the same time, funny and not threatening at all. It read almost exactly like The Fabulous Fab. Welcome to Assholes With An Inflated sense Of Their Own Importance.
Although truthfully, some of that might be fake. I mean, the article itself was clearly shilling to make the tea party look good and keep them happy. They WANT dirty tricks done in their name.
TrishB
@KyCole: If you’re talking about edible chewies, the answer is 3 chewy things for 2 dogs. They always want the one they don’t have at the moment. The thing the other dog has might be better in some way.
If you talking about toys, just buy many and watch your step.
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): YAY! Glad to know that Eddie does not have cancer. More vibes to you and your sweet boy.
Cole, glad to hear that Rosalita is not pregnant. Keep us updated, please.
@Litlebritdifrnt: That is so sweet. And, good on you for taking care of Samantha. It does my heart good to hear.
@Paddy: Thank you for posting that. I love my junior senator. He gives me a big happy (and slightly moist panties).
Phoebe
People dump pets for any number of stupid reasons. Just because someone fixed her doesn’t mean she wasn’t dumped. I hope that if she wasn’t, her former owners find you/her, and keep trying, but she still could have been dumped.
Jackie IL -
@TrishB: In my house there is only ONE good chewy thing. There may be nineteen seemingly identical items, but there is only ONE worth chewing at any given moment. Tomorrow another one may take the crown, but today one chews and the other one covets and plots and plans to steal it away and then the roles reverse.
Lesley
But but…”full-figured lady” is what we call Tunch!
abo gato
eemom, yes, we too had a previous JRT that ate a leather couch in the living room. Poor guy, he had a problem. There was something wrong with his brain. Never could figure out the dog door. He’d stand at the door and look at it. He’d go in and out of it if the other dog would go first, but if he was on his own, he couldn’t figure it out. We tried and tried to help him, but there just wasn’t anything we could do that made him able to understand. When he was about a year and a half he started having seizures…..then, when he had a seizure every two hours for a whole night, we knew he needed to be put down. It was awful. We went to our vet, and of course that day he was fine, no problems at all, and yet we knew we had to do it. I think it was one of the worst things I have ever done. We got our other second JRT after him and she has been just a wonderful addition to our home…..she is just the greatest dog ever, after our big one. (can’t be overlooking her, she is also the greatest dog ever…….)
But, aren’t they all?
Warren Terra
Not related to pets at all (hey, this is an Open Thread), but the incomparable Charles P Pierce ends his weekly letter to Eric Alterman this week with a truly righteous seven-paragraph rant on Sarah Palin, or more properly on her elevation by the media in general and by Newsweek in particular.
The first paragraph, for a taster:
REN
[email protected] Litlebrit
Our own dogs have demolished furniture when young,but the cake taker was the time we were dogsitting my daughters 8 month old German Shorthair and he ate the couch ,an easy chair, and the plastic Christmas tree. Including many apparently tasty ornaments. He had the couch down to the springs, one of the arms was bare wood and loose.
Svensker
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I love your nature shots. The dragonflies are gorgeous. Give us some shots of the lantana, with or without butterflies, would you? I love that stuff.
Anne Laurie
@TaMara (formerly Bad Horse’s Filly):
My late dad once shared a household with a dog (from a litter of 13) whose dam was a St. Bernard and whose sire was a fox terrier. Dad’s standard answer to the question of mechanics was, “Well, either someone put him up to it, or he just rose to the occasion.”
South of I-10
Il fait chaud, y’all! Almost 8:30 and it still 90 degrees. And all I have is red wine. Someone needs to whip me up a cool margarita.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Heh. Slightly moist? FSM only knows what would happen if he weren’t a happily married man. Hell it’s entirely possible that little factoid might not stop you! I keed, I keed!
Okay I thought I had more here but I’m honestly spent. Oh I might be pissing off the current job by trying to get the new one. It’s a sordid story.
@TaMara (formerly Bad Horse’s Filly): Keep an eyeball on your inbox dear lady. I’m brain testing a recipe in my head that may get road tested tomorrow although no real good reason why it shouldn’t work. But this is why I test! It involves pork and cheese and herbs. And that’s my teaser. :-P
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@QuaintIrene:
I guess we know how she judges books.
Svensker
@South of I-10:
Tall glass, lots of seltzer, splash of red wine, ice cubes, and some fruit — sliced lemons/oranges if you’re feeling Sangria-ish, or apple/peach if you’re in a more Italian mood. Maybe not as amazing as a margarita, but it’s cooling and good.
SiubhanDuinne
@QuaintIrene #80: it is for Miss Kate and her ilk that the book publishers run that disclaimer abot “ifthisbookismissingitscoveritmighthavebeenOMGohnoez!stolen”
Mark S.
Wikileaks has a new video coming soon and they say it’s worse than the last one. It won’t matter; even if it’s US troops barbecuing an Afghan infant our press won’t cover it.
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Heh. That was teh funny.
@Yutsano: Hon, if I wore panties, they would be drenched right now. He is at the top of my political crush list–along with Anthony Weiner, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and Sherrod Brown. The Obamas are at the very top, of course. Sigh.
Sorry that your job is being dickish to you. Just another good reason to move on.
@Mark S.: Well, in that case, they might because they do love a good barbecue. Harumph.
South of I-10
@Svensker: No seltzer in the house! If I am actually going to work up the energy to go somewhere, I would probably just go to my local bar’s drive-thru. Cause it’s La, home of the drive-thru daquiris. They make a killer margarita. Of course, I actually follow the rules and don’t drink it till I get home.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Svensker:
Ha the lantana from hell began to bloom today, she is an absolute monster, she began life as a 25cent “dead plant” selection from Lowes, last year she was at least 6 feet tall and about as wide, FSM knows how big she will get this year. Will take pics this weekend and post them. In other news the 50 cents “dead plant” Disco Belle Hibiscus is growing like a weed right now, if the buds actually turn into flowers this year she will be spectacular.
debit
@South of I-10: Drive through… bars? It does not compute. Here you can’t even have an unopened bottle of booze in arm’s reach in your car. Hell, I put mine in the trunk just to be safe.
Drive through bars. Wow.
Yutsano
@South of I-10:
When my friend moved from Washington to Georgia, she made a point of going through New Orleans just for the exclusive purpose of getting a drive-thru daiquiri. Considering she’s a graduate from a drinking school, I’d say it’s akin to making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Or something.
@asiangrrlMN: They’re technically not being dickish, at least not yet, but they could try to sabotage me even though I will have all the hours I need to account for in four days and really don’t owe them a day, even though they could make things worse. I suppose I could just tell them to fuck off and walk out period, although that’s not my style. Dammit.
Anne Laurie
@KyCole:
If you have two dogs, you need at least 3 chewy things available at all times. As Puppy gets older, and learns to “hoard”, you may need many chewy things. Rough rule of thumb, canine adolescence runs from about 9 months of age up to their second birthday — they may not get much taller during that time (many small dogs are as tall as they’ll ever be at 6 months) but that’s the period when their brains “grow up”. Newbie will use her new skills to test the boundaries of both your and Willie’s patience; that’s why so many dogs end up at the pound around their first birthdays. Many chewies, and stuffies, and similar playtoys (as JeffreyW says, yard sales are great, cause dogs don’t mind if their toys have been loved/washed into shapelessness) mean more distractions you can use to keep Puppy away from stuff she can’t chew.
One trick to save your sanity: Designate a cardboard carton or plastic tub as a “toybox“. Store all the chewies ‘n toys in the toybox when they’re not in use. When Puppy is getting on your nerves, or Willie’s, tell her to “go get your toy” or “where’s the toybox?” and lead her to it. Once she’s got the idea, start putting interesting new chewies/in the toybox, so when you say “toybox”, Puppy will have an incentive to go investigate rather than pestering. Once she’s got that idea down, you can start teaching her to put her toys back in the toybox… some dogs never really grasp the reasoning behind that, but others (herding breeds, for instance) enjoy “put the toys away” almost as much as playing with them. (Well, I guess to a Sheltie or cattle dog, that is ‘playing with them’!)
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Well, at least you know that no matter what they throw at you, it doesn’t have to stick. Yay!
TooManyJens
@Seebach: I’m trying to read it, but I just don’t trust this self-important anonymous douchebag. Why the anonymity, anyway? There’s enough detail that anyone who knows this person will be able to figure out their identity. I think they just don’t want their responsibility for this shit to follow them around later in life. Besides, it’s hard to take seriously someone who still thinks that the ACORN tapes proved anything except James O’Keefe’s mendacity. Also, too.
@Warren Terra: That rant is a thing of beauty.
Comrade Tudor
She’s Rubenesque, apparently.
TaMara (formerly Bad Horse's Filly)
@Anne Laurie: Hahahahahahahahahaha….
I’ll raise the various furniture and see you a half-wall and a porch (okay, just the railings, but still).
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: My parents are trying to teach their border collie the finer points of “fetch”. He’s more than willing to chase the ball/stick/thrown object, it’s the recall that he seems to be a little, umm, shaky on. He will, however, go to said object and start chewing or else take it and run off in another direction. He’s still a puppy so I’m guessing it’s part of his maturation process, but it drives my mom nuts, especially since our Lab never played this game either!
@asiangrrlMN: My personal opinion? If they don’t want to give me a career there the least they could do is get out of my way so I can find another one. I’m thinking the IRS may be the last place I go job hunting if I get the job. Plus it’s a HUGE positive that the hiring manager is willing to work with me as much as she is. I must have done something right when I took that online test!
@South of I-10:
Snicker. I adore that little legal loophole.
South of I-10
@debit: They slap a piece of tape over the straw hole so it is a “closed container”.
@Yutsano: We talked with some young guys from out of town at Festival International and gave them the lowdown on what they could and could not do. Walking with a can in the street? OK. Walking with a bottle in the street? Get’s you cuffed and stuffed. That’s what the “go cups” at the door are for. They were amazed that you could walk around with a can.
TaMara (formerly Bad Horse's Filly)
@Yutsano: Well, now you’ve got me all a tingle you’ll have to follow through. tee-hee.
Yutsano
@TaMara (formerly Bad Horse’s Filly): Oh great. Now I have to hope it all comes together. It’s funny cause I’m making modifications in my head as I’m thinking about it, so I think the end result will work quite well. I seem to be in the mood to play off Italian flavors in new ways (or perhaps not so new but new to me at least!) so I’m having fun with this. :)
@Svensker: My dad had a work meting in New Orleans (what a nuke tech has to do down there I have no idea but anyway…) took my mom and we ate Louisiana cuisine for the next six months. They even hauled in crawdads and shrimp for my brother’s graduation from the Gulf. That was some dayum good grub I tell you what!
Svensker
@South of I-10:
Rule #1 of hot climate — always have seltzer in the house.
My one visit to N.O. I was just amazed at the Go Cups. Also amazed at the delicious food and how beautiful everything was. But then anything’s (more!) beautiful when you’re chowing down on grits and gravy.
Svensker
@Josie:
Thank you. :)
jeffreyw
@Yutsano:
Gives me an opening to relink to this.
lurker phil
Thanks for the update, John, and I would agree with the Vet. I once had a large tomcat who used to dare the neighborhood dogs to fight by napping in the middle of our front yard. The neighbor’s German Shepard often took the bait, circling the cat until she got near, and the fight was on. The cat would jump on her back and the fur would fly. There was no serious injury to either of them, and frankly they seemed to enjoy their little battles.
madmommy
@debit:
Yep. Drive-through daiquiri bars are on every damn corner. It is one of the small perks of living in the 9th ring of hell. And these are not small drinks, either. They serve them with the straw, wrapped, on top of the styrofoam cup.
It wasn’t that long ago that it was legal to have an open container in the car, so long as the driver wasn’t holding it.
Right before I got married I was meeting with the minister after work. It so happened that the minister was my Uncle, who is Baptist. I’d had a hellish day at work, and got myself a big ol’ daiquiri on the way to the meeting. When I got there he asked me what it was. I told him, as well as where I got it. He just laughed and shook his head and said “only in Louisiana!”
TooManyJens
@Warren Terra: Oh God, he’s ranting about Lisa Miller. I’ve had my own words about her in the past.
eemom
@Warren Terra:
great linky, thanks!
There can never be enough people calling out Palin for the obscene fraud that she is.
Here’s another tasty morsel:
If she does run in 2012, Mitty and Hucksie are gonna grind her ass into itty bitty little starbursty crumbs. And that, praise the Lord, will be the end of her.
SIA
@Litlebritdifrnt: You sound like my mother – she buys these poor dead pathetic plants for a quarter or two, and go over there a month later and it’s taking over the yard! Whereas I buy good, healthy live plants that soon die. ;)
Re the lantana, those are great for butterflies, right? And are pretty low maintenance? Do they need lots of direct sunlight?
South of I-10
@Yutsano: When Hannah (our BC) was a pup she did the same thing. We gave her a little treat when she would bring it back, and she got it in a day. I think I am very lucky in that Hannah has given herself helpful chores. She is Hannah, herder of cats. No cat can lay a claw on the furniture or they get fussed. Little cat Katie will occasionally attack elder kitty, Pati. This is also not allowed. And no cats are harmed. I remember being so worried when Little South was born about how Hannah would adjust. She now lies in wait every morning for Little South to get out of bed so she can assault with kisses. Ok, one more, probably the best thing I ever taught her was “drop it”. This has come in very handy.
Mark S.
@Warren Terra:
Pierce reminded me of the most ridiculous political ad I’ve ever seen: Gather Your Armies!
“You gentlemen revolted over a Tea tax – A TEA TAX!”
Dee Loralei
@TooManyJens: I read bits of that article and got the feeling that Breitbart himself was the author or maybe was making suggestions to the author. I just don’t remember him playing such a prominent role last spring and summer. Dick Armey, the med doctor in Fla who is now running for office, Sarah Palin and about 7 other people who all claimed to be the founder, originator, instigator, but none of them were Breitbart. Breitbart could have been so far behind the scenes his name was seldom mentioned and then only in awed whispers. But that hardly fits in with his public persona. So I have no idea. Perhaps he’s creating his own reality, his own history, and now other people will remember him being a hero of “the movement.”
But it’s damned curious to me.
South of I-10
@madmommy: I think that law was changed two years ago, right?
Yutsano
@South of I-10: I figure eventually he’ll get the hang of things, especially now that my mom is retired and can spend a lot more time with him working on training him. He’s a very friendly and sweet dog but fortunately won’t go too far from any of us. He also fortunately hasn’t gotten into the habit of stalking quail. The funniest is watching him try to herd horses. That goes over well. He’s already been kicked twice.
madmommy
@South of I-10:
Yeah, it wasn’t that long ago. I think it had something to do with getting highway funds.
Now I’m craving a drive-up daiquiri. Might have to get me one after work tomorrow :)
frankdawg
@TaMara (formerly Bad Horse’s Filly):
Here is a formal recipe for Kapama
KOTA KAPAMA
2-1/2 lb chicken
1 orange (juice only)
1/2 tsp orange peel
4 tb butter
1/2 c Dry white wine
1 1/2 lb Peeled, chopped tomatoes
1 tb Tomato paste
1 Large stick cinnamon
3 Whole cloves
Salt & freshly ground pepper
Pre heat oven to 325F
Cut chicken into serving pieces.
Heat the butter in a heavy braising pot. Brown the chicken over medium heat until light chestnut in color.
Add the wine and continue cooking over low heat.
Stir in the orange peel, tomatoes and tomato paste, slip the cinnamon and cloves in among the pieces, and cover.
Transfer to a medium slow oven (325 F) to complete the cooking (1 to 1.5 hours).
Season & serve warm over rice.
South of I-10
@Yutsano: Ha! Horses would be tough! Hannah used to try to herd my brother’s black labs, which was hysterical to watch.
Yutsano
@South of I-10: My parents also have a goat, and Jack has tried herding him too. Unfortunately Tex the goat thinks he’s a horse (it’s some strange health thing my mom read about having a goat with the horses, not sure I understand it, I think my mom just wanted a goat) so he reacts about as well as the horses do to getting nipped at the heels. His horns are filed off however so that’s not an issue. Tex is an attention whore too, he loves getting scritches from people.
EDIT: My latest obsession, submitted without further comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT438wH2M3Y
Skepticat
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Such good news! I figure that if you expect and are ready for the worst, your only surprises will be pleasant ones.
HRA
OT and I apologize. Here are the requested recipes for the bourek I mentioned last night.
Primer 1st on how to prepare the filo leaves.
Melt 1-2 sticks of butter or margarine (I use butter)
In a baking pan slightly larger then 13x9x2 or a deeper cookie sheet, sprinkle some melted butter on the bottom, cover with doubled filo leaves with the edges up a bit on the short side of the pan, sprinkle the melted butter over the leaves and repeat until 18 sheets are used, spread the filling and then repeat the procedure with the last half of the sheets. Roll the filo dough down with a slight tuck and don’t worry if it’s not perfect. Sprinkle butter on top and around the edges.
Leek filling
4 or 5 stalks of fresh leeks
2 or 3 chopped tomatoes
2 or 3 diced green peppers
paprika
salt and butter
oil
1 tbsp of fresh chopped mint
Wash and chop leeks. Pour some oil in deep frying pan and saute with other ingredients until vegetables are limp. Drain excess liquid.
Sauerkraut filling
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 large cans of sauerkraut, washed well and drained
paprika
oil salt and pepper
Saute onion in oil. Add other ingredients. Saute a while longer. Drain excess liquid.
If I missed a filling, please let me know. Brain had an overload of German books today.
WereBear
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I am so happy to hear the news about Eddie!
SIA
Someone either earlier on this thread or on another one asked about a good dog for kids. One person said “Goldens” (yes) and Elmo, I think, said “Pyrennes” (oh yes).
Our beautiful Maggie who died last 9/18/09 at 14 years was a mix of the two. The most gentle, lion-hearted, peaceful animal I’ve ever known. I once saw a baby crawl over her to get to something he wanted, and she didn’t blink an eye. I’ve seen kids pull on her tail and ears, scream around her, etc and I never even held my breath.
Now with the other two that are left, not so much. Maggie came from a happy home out in the country, whereas the other two were abandoned or rescues complete with some “quirks” we’ve learned to work around.
If someone were to offer a Pyrennes/Golden puppy to me, I would be sorely tempted. The best dog EVAH.
ETA the photo is Maggie with our very tiny little cat, Juliette.
SIA
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I’m very happy about the good news for you and Eddie also. Deep breath!
suzanne
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Yaaaaay! Fabulous news! Now, go have a martini. You earned one. Have one for me, too.
madmommy
@SIA:
We got a Lab when our oldest was 2 1/2 and the baby was 6 months old. She has been the best family dog ever! Not the brightest bulb in the fixture, but never once has she even looked sideways at the kids, much less growled or snapped at them. They’ve climbed on her, pulled her ears, and roughhoused for years with her and she keeps coming back for more. Now she’s 7, and I noticed she’s starting to get a bit gray around the muzzle. I hope she’s got a bunch more years, but realistically I know she’s on the downhill side. Last vet visit I was told she’s got arthritis in her hips. She’s very slim for a Lab, and I’m hoping that that, along with our milder winters will conspire to hold off any serious issues for her for a long time to come.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Got my first disc of Trueblood and getting watch first episode. Somebody hold my hand if I get skeered. Nekked Vampires is more better, but they is still Vampires.
Yutsano
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: You haz a puppeh. You’ll be just fine. Chortle.
WereBear
@SIA: I’ve found the bigger dogs have natural advantages when it comes to kids. They are far less likely to be stepped on or hurt, and they have a natural calm (most have a working dog background) which lets them understand little ones’ behavior.
suzanne
@SIA:
Aren’t animals amazing in that way?
About seven years ago, I adopted a kitten from the Humane Society, and named her P.J. The biggest PITA EVAR. If I had even one toe hanging a millimeter over the edge of the bed, damn cat would attack my foot with claws out. Among other assorted annoying kitten behaviors. She was cold and remote to strangers, and had been known to scratch or bite us pretty dang good if we tried to touch her unexpectedly, or in a way she didn’t like.
Couple months later, I found out I was pregnant. Was thrilled, except REALLY concerned about the cat and the baby, and considered finding another home for the cat. I decided to take a wait-and-see approach, and I never regretted it. The moment Sarah came into our house, P.J. was a different cat. She let that kid chew on her ears, pull on her whiskers, roll her over….anything. And purred the whole time. I know cats pick out their owners, and I believe now that P.J. picked out Sarah before any of us knew she was coming.
Your Maggie was absolutely beautiful.
SIA
@madmommy: Ah, I love labs. My first dog as an adult was a black lab named Chloe. A beautiful, fine dog she was too, as was her son “Jones”, a yellow lab mix.
Re the hip issues, after Chloe, Jones & Maggie all having hip/arthritis issues of one kind or another, we had some success with a few different remedies. One is a recipe called Golden Milk which is made with tumeric. I think it helped a lot. Also we used canine chiropractic & accupuncture which was quite effective. Also, Traumeel is an oral natural anti-inflammatory that works for humans (also comes in a gel) and dogs. It doesn’t mess with their organs and I found it to be really effective.
You might start some of the holistic treatments now while she is still fairly young. All 3 of my big dogs lived till 14 which I believe is considered a long life for a lab or retriever. Not long enough though.
SIA
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: You’ll be SORRY you watched that scary show. :-o
@WereBear: That’s funny, Maggie was always trying to herd all of us anytime we went somewhere. She’d gently press into our legs with her side trying to get us to go where she wanted.
@suzanne: That is such a great story about PJ & Sarah, I am glad it worked out so well.
Violet
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Meant to comment on this earlier, but thrilled for you and Eddie. That’s such excellent news. Don’t forget to breathe!
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano:
Heh, that’s why cattle dogs (ACDs, Corgis, Swedish Vallhunds) are short-legged… they leeeean back, and the kick sails right over their hard little heads. You’ll have to get Jack some exercise balls to herd, LOL!
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano:
Goats… well, as Terry Pratchett phrased it: “Sheep can be driven, but goats must be lead.”
Mister Papercut
@Warren Terra: OMG. brb, getting the Sarah Palin passage tattooed on my person.
Larkspur
I’ve read about more and more dogs (and cats) being abandoned when their people have to move due to foreclosure or eviction. Nothing excuses the failure to drop the pet off at a shelter, though.
I think a lot depends on how efficient the region’s animal shelters are. I know of a pair of toy poodles who got adopted locally after their mom passed away. She had tried to make arrangements for them, but the friend who promised to take them had health problems of her own, and the son did not want to take them. Fortunately he surrendered them to a shelter, and they got listed on Petfinder, and got found by my friends. One of them was quite porky, by the way, but after an adjustment in diet, and continued daily walks, he’s lean and happy. Well, happy as long as the two dogs are fed separately. She gets to eat more than he does; it’s just her metabolism and his bad luck.
I don’t know anyone who’s lost a dog, but I know some people who have lost cats. In each case, the cats were meant to be indoor-only cats, but they got out, and had no chips or collars to ID them. It’s so sad.
cathaireverywhere
She’s not fat, she’s fluffy, just like my cat Maybelline.
Our dog Jasper came from what might be a similar situation to Rosie’s. He was found wandering and ended up at the SPCA. He was about 5 years old at the time. Once we got him home and comfortable, it was obvious that he had been someone’s spoiled boy. The first time my grandmother came over, his face lit up and he ran to her and whimpered. (she is not a dog person) He attached himself to her ankle and looked at her adoringly the whole time she was over. He had that the same reaction to my other grandmother. (who is definitely not an animal person) He likes people quite a bit, but has only shown that kind of devotion to my Gmas, so we surmise that his owner was an older lady, who may have passed on and left him with a new situation. He is the cutest little spaniel mix, and we have enjoyed him for 10 years now. He has a young girlfriend- a 6 year old terrier/long-haired chihuahua mix (we think) and the two of them are great friends.
Steeplejack
If Rosie has a “neuterizing” scar, it means that someone was (at some point) taking good care of her, so this makes me lean toward the “lost” vs. “dumped/abandoned” scenario. I hope her rightful owner comes forward to claim her soon.
In any case, you are doing God’s work, Cole. Kudos.
Steeplejack
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Good to hear the good news on Eddie. Still sending him healing energy, though.
Steeplejack
@Athenae:
Heh. I’ve occasionally thought about a ferret as a pet, but then I think of Rudy Giuliani banning them in New York, and thinking anything about Rudy Giuliani bums me out, so there you go.
JMC_in_the_ATL
@John Cole
My own personal experiences with terriers who haven’t grown up with cats has been… traumatic. If you haven’t witnessed a terrier succumbing to their hunter instinct, you’re lucky. Calling off a terrier that’s been triggered is well nigh impossible.
Right now we’ve got baby gates separating the Westie from the cat, and she’s run full force into them several times and will at some point knock them over (she has almost succeeded) when she gets into hunting mode. Luckily there are redundant systems built in for the cat’s safety, and the dogs are crated when people aren’t at home or are sleeping.
In my house we call it “terrier brain,” a term I learned as a kid from my Mom. I wish I could trust the Westie around the cats, because the Scottie (the older terrier) grew up with cats and loves them and hates that she can’t hang out with Miranda the cat.
At minimum, I think you’ve got to have some spots that Tunch can easily get to that the JRT can’t. Personally, if I were in this position, I would partition the house.
Caya
@SIA:
About dogs and arthritis, our last dog Diva (sadly passed away two years ago) was a big, gentle Rottweiler-German Shepherd cross who developed hip troubles early on, so bad that at age 5 she sometimes cried out in pain when getting up in the morning. Nothing our vet or we tried seemed to help much, till we met a lady with a Golden Retriever one day who saw the way Diva was walking and gave us her vet’s adress. This vet did gold implants for dogs with joint problems, and while it sounded a bit dubious we gave it a try.
The results were so amazing that I’m still awed a decade later. Two days after the implantation, Diva had already managed to tear her ACL because she was jumping around like a goat on acid, so overjoyed with her ability to move without pain again.
Our girl then went on to reach almost 13 years, when sadly her dicky heart stopped beating one summer night – at least she was home and with us when it happened, though I still cry when I remember. But without those gold implants I doubt she’d have reached half that age – after getting them, she never had any hip troubles for the rest of her life, and she certainly tested her hips to the limit, bouncing around and enjoying her life.
Steeplejack
@Seebach:
Ugh. I could only make it halfway through. That guy is going to burn in hell, and he smells like brimstone already.