From commentor Tony S:
We’ve adopted a new pup: Ulysses. We were scammed a bit on him. They said he was five or six years old, but we think he’s about two or even less. He’s a beagle mix, and quite insane, in an entertaining way.
***********
Apart from puppy love, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the week?
Mustang Bobby
Caption for Pic #1: “Baroo?”
Oh how I wish I could have a dog again. But I rent and the landlord wants a $500 deposit against, uh, deposits, and I’m out of the house 12 hours a day at work, which would be cruel to critter who instinctively seeks out companionship.
raven
Seems like it would be better if the pupster was younger rather than older?
NotMax
Have mentioned it before, but every beagle have ever encountered was firmly and irrevocably convinced my ankle was a rawhide chew toy. And I have the scars to prove it. Only beagles do this, and have seen them make a warp speed beeline across a room to clamp their teeth into the ankle.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: One of the many benefits to my job is that I am on year 10 of working from home. Both doggies have lived their entire lives with me here and it really adds to their feeling comfortable. (He says as both soaked pups jumped up on the couch after a short morning walk!)
scuffletuffle
That first picture is simply awesome…captured his personality and zest beautifully.
Alex S.
What’s going on in Albany?
Mustang Bobby
@raven: I gotta get me one of those gigs. Then get me another Sam.
Baud
@Mustang Bobby:
Agreed. I would love to work from home full time.
OzarkHillbilly
Beagles are cute, but what a pain if they can’t run unrestrained for at least 3 hrs, 42 mins and 17 seconds.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: I have been soooo lucky. I don’t know what’s going to happen next fall when my bosses both retire. I’d like to work until I’m 67 but I ain’t drivin!
raven
Rut ro, they sort of put the street back in order but there are muddy paw prints everywhere!!!
Tommy
Oh my little lady:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/webranding/8183827487/
and again:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/webranding/7294351676/
Both pics in the same place, on the old computer desk I built. I’ve said she always wants to be inches from me. Those pics she marched in front of my monitors while I was working. Stuck her ass in my face asked for some attention. When she didn’t get it, just went to sleep next to me.
Oh and cause dogs also rock, me and my brother’s dog Murphy.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/webranding/7260903216/
He is a handful, but we have kind of a truce. My brother and his wife don’t take him for walks. They have a large, fenced in backyard and just let him run free in it. I am a walker and so I take him for long walks when I am over. Afterward pics like this happen.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: I am technically retired but still have — let’s see — 1,201 more working days until I actually stop coming to work.
I want to hold off collecting Social Security until I hit 70, so I plan to find something to fill the gap for the three years between leaving the office and becoming one of Paul Ryan’s takers.
CarolDuhart2
Question for retiring Juicers: Is it true that if you collect Social Security at 62, but continue to work, that your benefits would not increase when you finally stop working at all?
The reason I’m asking this is that I work seasonally, and struggle off-season . I’m 58, and wonder if I could collect and continue to work and not get behind the eightball once I get to be 62.
My Social Security would be more than unemployment. But I don’t want to be stuck getting my age 62 payment…
Please walk me through this.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: You’re so short you could parachute of a dime. You’re so short you have to stand on a stepladder to kiss Geronimo’s Ass. . .
And here is an obligatory doggie short timer calendar!
Tommy
@Mustang Bobby: It is flat out wonderful working from home. My last job before I started working for myself was as VP of Marketing for a software company. DC area based. We one day did away with offices and many of us, myself included, picked up shop and moved.
The bosses did it for a number of reasons, of course they saved a ton of money on office space. But a close second was the quality of life for workers and also, we could hire talent anyplace in the US, heck the world. You didn’t ‘have to live in DC, you could live anywhere.
It is a wonderful arrangement. One I think most people should have the opportunity to experience. Many jobs just don’t require you to go into an office each day.
Cervantes
@Alex S.:
A corrupt hack has been exposed, except insofar as everyone has known for a while that he’s corrupt.
Cuomo recently shut down his own investigation of the corrupt hack and is now casting about for an eloquent, even sonorous, explanation.
raven
@CarolDuhart2: Lotta good info on the SS website.The earlier you retire the less you get.
raven
Age To Receive Full Social Security Benefits
(Called “full retirement age” or “normal retirement age.”)
Year of Birth* Full Retirement Age
1937 or earlier 65
1938 65 and 2 months
1939 65 and 4 months
1940 65 and 6 months
1941 65 and 8 months
1942 65 and 10 months
1943–1954 66
1955 66 and 2 months
1956 66 and 4 months
1957 66 and 6 months
1958 66 and 8 months
1959 66 and 10 months
1960 and later 67
Anne Laurie
@Mustang Bobby:
Spousal Unit & I have decided that Baroo must be the god of little dogs, because it’s what all our guys yell in circumstances where humans would use “Jaysus H. Chroist!” or “Goddamn!” When we pull up in the driveway & the chorus from the house starts, one or the other of us will say, “Hear the choir prayin’ to Baroo again… “
CarolDuhart2
I plan to continue working. I only really work 6 months out of the year, and I could even go down to 20 hours if I had to. But I don’t want to get too behind on my bills. Age 62 benefits would help me during the other six months, even with the reduction for earned income. Plus I’ll have a small pension, and hope that this blog thing I’m doing will also bring in a little income as well.
But if/when I completely retire at 66-I was told that the additional income I earned won’t raise my check very much. Is that true?
Mustang Bobby
@raven: [rimshot!]
Mustang Bobby
@raven: If I delay my retirement until I’m 70, I’ll get even more. According to the Social Security site, if I wait four years past my normal retirement age (66), “Your benefit will be 132 percent of your primary insurance amount.” I’ll take that.
Mustang Bobby
@Tommy: Oh, I wish I could work from home. I have all the technical capabilities with a good VPN hookup, and most of my work is either via e-mail or over the phone, but the boss is firmly in the “if I can’t see you, I can’t trust you” camp.
Tommy
Having a good morning. My monthly Loot Crate came yesterday and just going through it. It is hard to explain what a Loot Crate is. But it is just a box of random stuff, you don’t know what you will get before it arrives.
One of the cool things in this one is a comic pocket notebook, with each page sectioned off the way a comic strip would be. So you can write a comic. Has a stencil of different balloons to use to add dialogue. Not much of an artist, but I think it will be fun to play with.
Heck just opened this one little box within the box, and it is a Space Invaders tie. I can’t wait to wear that with one of my handmade suits. It might be ironic :).
Tommy
@Mustang Bobby: “if I can’t see you, I can’t trust you” camp.
That is stupid thinking. I found working out of my house my boss got longer hours from me, not less. When your work is at your home it can be hard to get away from it. I’d say the one big downside of the entire concept. You have to be able to segment off work from your home/personal life. It is just too easy to sit down at the computer, check a sports score, and find an email about work and then work for an hour.
If that email was on your computer at an office, that wouldn’t happen.
Elizabelle
Beagles are so soulful. I just love them.
Especially like the second photo, with the beagly ears and the wise older dog.
Ulysses is very cute, scammed or not.
Mustang Bobby
@Tommy: I agree 100%. It would save me money, too, because of the 37-mile RT commute each day, and we’re supposed to be moving to a paperless office anyway. I actually have done work from home and it’s so much more productive.
ETA: I get to the office 2 hours before everyone else anyway; it’s just me and the live streaming music. I get a lot done before anyone else shows up. (When I’m not commenting on blogs, that is…)
Betty Cracker
@raven: I’ve worked at home since aught-7, and both of our dogs have also lived their entire lives with a human at home. It would be traumatic for them if I got an outside gig.
Schlemazel
@Mustang Bobby:
YEah, I saw the same thing for mine and have the same goal as long as I can stay healthy enough to crawl into work. My assumption is that the actuaries work out that they only pay out 2/3 as much for people retiring at 70 instead of 67. So its sort of a devils bargin
Schlemazel
@Tommy:
My assumption has been that people assume workers from home do what they would do if they were at home. If they give an honest days effort they assume others will too. That or they are just control freak assholes.
Tommy
@Mustang Bobby: It is so much more productive in my experience. I was the VP of Marketing so I had some meetings with third parties, but nothing like our support department that had to be around during “normal” business hours.
The owner was pretty progressive both in his politics and how he ran the company. He could care less when I worked as long as I got my work done. I am a very early riser so often I’d pound out work from 4 am until mid-morning.
Then have the rest of the day to tool around town. Workout. Go shopping. Play a round of golf.
I can’t tell you how much that added to the value of my life.
Now I work for myself, and I know I am blessed, but I work when I want to work. I explain this to my clients and it still stuns me how they could care less when and/or how their work is done. I say I have bad insomnia and so you will get emails at 3 AM. You might call me during the day and I am not around. I could be asleep, because it is the only time I can sleep. Or I might be out and about doing stuff so not work related.
But if I give you a deadline in a production schedule, I will hit it.
Again they seem to care less. In fact many of the “corporate” types I work with seem to be envious.
Mustang Bobby
@Schlemazel:
Oh, so you’ve met my boss.
(I’m kidding… just in case they read this. :) )
Mike E
Heh, get ready to be hounded! …Miss E wasn’t prepared for the “ankle” routine and had an adjustment period before she could put Itchy into her place, tho, now, all is good (the cats had/have to smack that shit down, too). My sis finally had to take matters into her own hands with her rescue hound, who needs to face-bite her other dog when they have to go out. Hounds are kinda assholes, relentless, and need constant correction!
Important question: Does this beagle-mix bay or bark?
Southern Beale
THAT FACE!
Toxic cuteness.
Southern Beale
We have a 2nd Amendment Hero today. Taylor Hancock of Andalusia, Alabama. Tried to unjam his 9mm while driving, shot himself, crashed his car, got scared and lied to police about it.
No charges filed.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: Pisses me off that they call one thing “full” and then you can get more.
Tommy
@Southern Beale: I am so not a gun guy, but I have to ask, why would you need to unjam your gun while driving? Seems like that might be something you pull your car over to do or I don’t know, wait until you get to wherever you are going.
I followed your link and it said the police worked the case for severals days, thinking his statement was true and he was shot by somebody else. Yet no charges were filed.
Seems they wasted a fair amount of time they could have been, I don’t know, investigating a crime that was actually committed, so charges should be filed just for that. Oh and he lied to police and I can only assume signed a false statement.
I don’t mean to nitpick, but pretty sure that is a crime in all 50 states, even Alabama.
F
The response to King Abdullah’s death typifies the utter cynicism endemic in foreign policy, I think.
Tony Seideman
@Mike E: Ulysses doesn’t bark or bay. He has a unique and horrifying death howl. And he uses it frequently, with his entire soul and body. We’ve had people stop in the street and ask if they should call the police. One kid who was walking home from school said, “Now I know what it sounds like when a whale dies.”
It is sort of a raspy, raw cry full of the agony of a dog who knows he has been abandoned and nothing will ever be right again, or who is rejoicing that the people whom he barely tolerates have returned home to feed him and then stay at the safe distance that he can barely tolerate.
We have had wonderfully merry beagles before. Now our two beagle mixes and one terrier are just odd, odd creatures. Jessica, the terrier, was rescued from a kill shelter in West Virginia. Maybe her state of origin explains it.
Mike E
@CarolDuhart2: Co-worker just retired at 62, he gets a pension on top and will continue earning right up to the benefit income limit of $17k/year until he can’t work anymore. He has it all figured out, right to the penny. My sis retired ‘early’ at 65 and hasn’t said if she’ll supplement her income down there in FL but I think she and her ex-cop boyfriend are doing ok.
Iowa Old Lady
Mr IOL is 70 and still working full time, but at that age, he can also collect SS. When he signed up, I signed up for his spousal benefits, but when I hit 70, I’ll switch to my own benefits, which will be substantially more. I could have taken my own benefits now, and they’re bigger than what I get on his spousal bennies, but I decided to let my own payout grow.
If you call Social Security, they’ll walk you through all this. They also have a web site where you can ask questions.
satby
And then there were 10. My oldest rescue kitty, Shaggy, passed away in her sleep night before last. And I will miss my sweet girl, but it was getting to be time to decide to let her go, so I’m grateful she was able to slip away peacefully before I had to decide.
Shaggy was a sickly little barn cat the first two years of her life, so stunted that we thought she was a kitten of about 8 months. She had benign tumors in her ears that were terribly infected, the first vet who did surgery to remove them told me that she wouldn’t live very long and that she would probably develop more tumors. She did, and had surgery again a few years later. But Shaggy had the last laugh,she lived to be 15 years old after such a rough start, and even grew enough to be a smaller but no longer stunted cat.
FYI We’re doing a rescue fundraiser here: http://teespring.com/my-favorite-breed-rescued
debbie
@Baud:
I worked from home for a good 10 years until the financial crisis took it all away. I really miss the independence, not to mention the kind of work (graphic design, writing) I was doing.
Alex S.
@Cervantes:
Thanks!
debbie
@CarolDuhart2:
You can go to the Social Security site and pull up your records. It’ll give you the exact amount you can expect to get at different ages.
For me, the monthly payment almost doubles between 62 and 70.
Tommy
@debbie: This is so off topic but what kind of design work did you do? I ask because as I’ve said here a number of times I do websites for a living. I am pretty good in Photoshop, but more and more of my clients are asking for print-based materials to promote said website. I am very lacking in Adobe InDesign. Heck I just did my first business cards. I was so proud of the design, but when they came back they were terrible. The spacing totally off. Clearly I didn’t understand something as basic as “bleeds” and the “margins.”
So I ask because I don’t have anybody to send the work. I hate not being able to tell a client, “yeah I got a guy/gal that can do that, here is their contact info.”
ThresherK
@satby: Condolences on the biggest heart found in your little companion. My experience leads me to think yours was the runt of the litter. Felines in that spot seem to have sweet personalities.
debbie
@Tommy:
For layouts, I used Quark and InDesign, though InDesign was still somewhat in its formative years.
It might be worthwhile to take a class if there are schools nearby. For other programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, I was self-taught. The best books I’ve found are the Visual Quckstart series published by Peachpit Press. Concise numbered instructions with lots of screenshots — perfect for those too impatient to wade through long discussions. Take a look at them. They’ll definitely have info on margins, bleeds, etc.
More basically, print out your designs before sending them in. You’d have caught your mistakes if you had.
MazeDancer
Handy Gov estimator to calculate age scenarios about taking Social Security. Scroll down to blue bar: http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/estimator.htm Run options you’re considering.
70 may not be the best deal for everyone. Calculate your “break even date”. How long to you have to be collecting payments to make up for that not inconsiderable 4 year los?. It is an uncertain world. 4 years of cash in hand can feel way more secure to many of us.
If you are earning money and taking payments from 62-66 you’ll be paying taxes on both. You will get reduced payments during those 4 years depending on how much you earn.
Call Social Security and ask them about your particular situation. Read the FAQ’s at the gov site. Check out AARP site. Google is your friend.
PurpleGirl
@Tommy: That looks awesome. A personal Archie McPhee collection of neat stuff.
Elizabelle
@satby: Hugs, and you did good giving Miss Shaggy such a happy long life after an inauspicious start.
That’s kind of cool that she slipped away in her sleep. In a warm house, among friends. Good way to go.
satby
@ThresherK: Thanks ThresherK! She probably was, but the first vet shocked us when he said she was probably about 2 years old at the time, instead of a 16- 20 week old kitten! I’m not finding Shaggy’s passing as sad as Biggie’s. She had a happy long life, 12 years longer than she was expected to, and just didn’t wake up yesterday morning. Very peaceful end, I would wish to go the same way in my time.
satby
@Elizabelle: Thanks Elizabelle! I agree.
Tommy
@ThresherK: I have the runt from the litter and she is not the largest cat you’ve ever seen. People that come over never confuse her with being a kitten, but often remark she isn’t the largest cat they’ve seen by a long shot. Small. I correct them and say she is just petite.
@satby: I am so sorry to hear of the passing. I rescued two kittens and one of them got very sick a few years ago. I had to have her euthanized. It hit me a lot harder than I would have thought. I questioned the decision. I kicked myself. I am not that emotional of a guy, but when the vet asked me if I wanted to hold her while they did it I openly broke down and started crying. I couldn’t do it, I had to get out of that place.
A good friend of mine that almost makes it his life work to rescue Greyhounds said something that helped. You gave her a home when nobody else would. You loved her. She might have passed away far too soon, but she did so with love all around her. She could have been killed years before, but she had those years with you. She knew what it was like to both be loved and cared for. You got that going for yourself and you should never forget it.
That helped a lot …. I hope it helps you just a little. Sounds like you did everything and more for Shaggy. That is all Shaggy could have asked of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Southern Beale
@satby:
Awww, so sorry for your loss. Sounds like she was very lucky you came into her life. See you on the Rainbow Bridge, Miss Shaggy.
Southern Beale
@Tommy:
Yes, one would think.
I believe this particular 2nd Amendment Hero is a kid of 18 or 19 (graduated high school in 2013 but it’s Alabama so who knows …). So let’s chalk this one up to being a stupid fucking kid with a gun. RESPECT THE CULTURE. Etc.
Shocked he wasn’t texting at the same time.
Cervantes
@F:
What response?
satby
@Tommy: Thank you Tommy! I think she was happy too. Though I also think that almost all of my rescues would have been happiest as the only or one of two pets in a home. That’s usually my only regret, that there are so many of them and only one (allergic) me, so they get less snuggle time than they should.
But life with me at least beats the alternative!
Tommy
@debbie: Women after my own heart. I have almost an entire shelf of Visual Quickstart guides. I actually read manuals.
Now with that said I was trying to ask if you might want some business. I have a client that needs help this very second. I can’t do what he needs done. I fear, and this is from past experience, he will hire somebody that will do sub-quality work for him. He won’t call them on it because he might not (1) know it is sub-quality work and (2) he is such a nice guy, giving work to a “starving artist” makes him feel good.
satby
@Southern Beale: Thanks. She was a great little gal!
Randy P
Can somebody explain the stupid football scandal to me? I’m stuck on one point, having to do with the laws of physics. What can you possibly do the the football that would benefit your side but not equally benefit the other side? Why is releasing air from the ball good for one team only?
satby
TonyS @ top: You are a brave man, I love Ulysses’ sweet little face! Beagles are so high maintenance! Good for you taking him on, even though if he’s two he’s still practically a teenager.
debbie
@Tommy:
Thanks for the offer, but it’s been too long. I’m not even sure if my desktop would start up. Lots of printers do in-house work, you might want to check on that.
satby
@Randy P: Richard Mayhew explained it pretty well in a post yesterday morning (I think), clearly enough for even this completely apathetic to sports person to get it.
Cervantes
@Randy P:
I predict you’ll be even more disgusted when you get your answer.
Tommy
@PurpleGirl: If you have a “geek” in your life get them a subscription for Loot Crate. They will LOVE you for it. They are well under $20 a box. $14.95 actually. You have to buy a subscription for three, although if you watch their site, and they have a lot of them left over, you can order a “one-off.”
The first one I got I didn’t like a single thing in it I liked. I thought to myself, WTF is this junk? The last two, I like everything about it. There is just something so neat about opening up a gift, even if you sent it to yourself, where you don’t know what is in it. Then being happy. Thinking I don’t even know what this is, I never would have bought it, but now I have it, so cool.
Tommy
@debbie: No worries.
MomSense
Beaglemania! Such a handsome dog and I can tell from his photo that he will keep you on all 10 of your toes!
Amir Khalid
I see mischief in them big old beagle eyes.
Tommy
@Randy P: The teams use different balls.
I mentioned this late last night, will try to say it again. I had DI sports scholarship offers for two sports. Tennis and golf (I went with golf). I can’t even being to explain how important the balls were for both sports. I could talk ten pages plus on golf balls. Almost as much about tennis balls.
Let talk golf balls. There are golf balls made for women. They have a lower compression rate. 80. Now most men should actually use them, because if you don’t hit the ball well they work better. Easier to compress them and they go further. The pros use golf balls at a compression rate of more than 100. But you have to hit that ball “true” to get the benefit.
Then there are so many factors such as the shell of the ball and what it is made of. When I play I used a 100 compression Titilest Balata. The shell of the ball is “soft,” I can scratch it with my fingernail. I loose almost ten yards against something like a hardcore Top Flight. But the ball is softer and it gives me control and better putting.
In a long winded way back to footballs. I was not allowed to play the sport. Even in the 70s and 80s my parents felt getting hit in the head wasn’t a good idea. But I have to assume the ball itself matters. Matters a lot.
Amir Khalid
The prospect of debating an empty chair arises in British politics. Apparently, the empty chair could be David Cameron’s.
MomSense
@satby:
I’m so sorry to hear about Shaggy. I have to take my 15 + cat to the veterinarian today to say goodbye and it’s just a really sad and difficult thing to do.
Svensker
@Randy P:
Each team uses its own balls on the field. Each side brings 12 footballs for regular play (other footballs are used for kicking). The balls are checked before the game for proper inflation and apparently all 24 balls passed inspection. When a Colts player intercepted Brady’s pass, he told the ref the ball felt funny. During the half all the balls were checked — the Colts’ footballs were all still properly inflated, while 11 of 12 of the Pat’s footballs were substantially below the proper inflation. This lopsided result led to some obvious conclusions.
Bostondreams
@Svensker:
No he didn’t. He had no idea the ball was underinflated or that it ‘felt funny’.
Lots of things going on with this story that just aren’t accurate. Obviously I am biased, but I think the refs simply didn’t check the footballs all that well. Remember that Aaron Rodgers has stated that he tries to get overinflated balls past the refs. That tells me that these inspections aren’t always done properly.
But I admit my bias.
Yatsuno
@satby: Barn cats are the best. They also tend to be very hardy beasts. I’m sorry for your loss but also glad she died comfortable & happy.
Curt
Looks like today my chihuahua Butterbean will get to try out the brand new Thundershirt my mom got her for her birthday recently. Here’s hoping it works!
In even better news, after several years of doglessness, my parents are getting a chiweenie puppy on Monday.
And for the love of clown cars, debaters gonna debate! Take that, Reince! Now what?
JCT
What a sweet beagie! We have two of them and the younger one (almost 13) is permanently arrested at the naughty toddler stage. Always looking for *something* to steal so we can chase her through the house. Great fun!
The younger one is also a certified “cat whisperer” – all three of our cats including the most standoffish love to find her on the couch for a cuddle and the youngest cat seems firmly convinced that she is her long-lost mother.
Not a mean bone in either of our beagle’s bodies.
satby
@MomSense: Oh MomSense. my thoughts will be with you! We both have had a really tough year on the pets front, haven’t we? But you are doing what’s best to spare your sweetie from suffering.
{{HUGS}}
Belafon
@Tommy:
If it didn’t, there wouldn’t be inspections before the game.
satby
@Yatsuno: Thanks! I can’t really be that sad about it, she beat the odds in every way. I even hoisted a glass of wine to her life well lived!
MomSense
@satby:
{{{Hugs}}}} right back to you! Yes, we have had a rough year on the pets front. I really don’t have a choice but to help my kitty. I think something is happening neurologically too and I can’t see him this way.
AndoChronic
Just have to vent and give mad props to my rep. Keith Ellison.
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/27916687/invitation-to-tour-non-existent-sharia-law-no-go-zones-in-minneapolis
This is my town. 1. Tony Perkins’ claim is totally unfounded and untrue. I don’t even know what else to say on the matter. 2. Even if his claim was true I thought white conservative suburbanites were all tough and stuff with their dick extenders and what not. A bunch of panty-waist sissies if you ask me.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: You are doing the right thing.
Will be thinking of you. Hard loss, and how wonderful that you have the puppy in house to help comfort and amuse you.
Amir Khalid
@AndoChronic:
These preposterous claims are bullshit in the technical sense: Tony Perkins doesn’t care that they are false, and wouldn’t care either if they were true. He’s going to ignore Rep. Ellison’s invitation because the truth would mess with his beautiful mind.
Karen in GA
@satby: I’m so sorry. RIP, loved, tenacious little kitty.
Karen in GA
@MomSense: Aw, hell. Hugs.
CONGRATULATIONS!
We adopted a puppy two weeks ago. To say it has gone badly would be an understatement.
Pup has some serious, serious aggression issues. As in, scary. As in, if he were his adult size I would HAVE to put him down. Fortunately, he is only three and a half months old.
We are calling in a behaviorist this weekend. If we cannot make some progress on this quickly, as in this coming week, we are going to have to take him back to the adoption center – I have neighbors with kids and cats and other dogs and I cannot run the risk of him attacking one of them. He already went after my seven year old nephew.
ETA: yes, I know what they’ll do with an aggressive puppy at the adoption center.
I have never met a dog like this in my life. He is smarter than most people. He is gorgeous. When he is not in Cujo mode, he is the sweetest thing ever. And then he isn’t. And it is scary. I’ve had animals all my life, and some with behavior issues, but never one that seemed to enjoy hurting people. My wife has just about thrown in the towel as well (I’d have taken him back last week, but she still thinks we might be able to salvage him and she knows dogs better than I, so I hope she is right).
No rhyme or reason or triggers causing it.
I am fucking broken-hearted.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
I am sooo glad we have a puppy even though she is kicking our asses right now. Plus one of my boys is transferring to a college that is not a quick drive home so youngest boy really needs the canine best friend.
MomSense
@Karen in GA:
Thanks! How is your Iggster doing? I don’t know why I started calling him that–but I think it’s that he has so much attitude.
Curt
I just e-mailed the RNC with a subject line of “already flouting debate rules” and the following message:
Doubt my trolling will yield any results, but no asky no getty, right?
CaseyL
@satby: Shaggy had a very good life, and slipping away peacefully at home was the best way to leave it. Blessings to you for giving her, and all of your rescues, a great home!
@MomSense:
I’m so sorry; those are the hardest car trips ever. 15+ is a very respectable age, though; your kitty had a very good run.
MomSense
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
OH NO!! I’m so sad and sorry. Do you know what his life was like before he came to live with you??
Morzer
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/23/wikipedia-bans-editors-from-gender-related-articles-amid-gamergate-controversy
Karen in GA
@MomSense: He’s just fine, thanks. Heartworm negative. I’m so glad I can refer to all of that in the past tense now, with him healthy and snuggled next to me.
So of course, my nearly 15 year old kitty is at the vet now for a heart ultrasound, plus she has hyperthyroidism. Treat the thyroid and the heart could improve, but the thyroid problem could be masking kidney problems that will worsen if the thyroid is healthy. Ugh.
I’ll just do what I can until there’s no more to do.
AndoChronic
@Amir Khalid:
“One of the most salient features of our culture,” writes philosopher Harry Frankfurt, “is that there is so much bullshit.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/23/jon_stewarts_brilliant_f_you_why_sputtering_obscenity_is_sometimes_the_best_response_to_fox_news_insanity/
CONGRATULATIONS!
@MomSense: Think he was in a foster situation like what Cole’s got fermenting in his house at the moment. There was a mother present for a while. That he was separated from his mother and siblings too early is obvious – the aggression tends to get nipped right out of them otherwise.
Right now I’m trying to do the right thing, but the truth is after yesterday, when he nailed my arm good, I just want him gone.
Which of course makes me feel even more guilty.
Morzer
@AndoChronic:
There’s a great memoir waiting to be written about life in a red state with the title “The Bullshit Salient”
gene108
@MazeDancer:
But there’s an upper limit on the amount of SS benefits you pay back as income taxes, which is lower than the tax rate for ordinary income.
I think the maximum your benefits can be taxed at is 15%.
srv
@Morzer: Do we rename it Wikibro or Dudepedia?
MomSense
@Karen in GA:
Ugh. We do what we can to help is probably the best thing any of us creatures can ask for – and to be loved.
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
And he is a big dog, or will be. See what the specialist says. I’ve seen them do some amazing things and your pup is still young but it may be that he needs a different environment as in a farm or something. You are doing your best so try not to burden yourself with so much guilt.
debbie
Speaking of pet pics:
http://news.distractify.com/alex-scola/fluffy-evil/
beth
@CONGRATULATIONS!: When we got out puppy, she was also the sweetest little thing. However, if my then 8 year old daughter was laying on the couch the pup would jump on her and nip/scratch at her. She only did this to my daughter and showed absolutely no aggression to anyone else. Our vet thought the dog was just trying to find her place in the pack and would naturally try to usurp the place of the smallest and weakest. A few weeks of strong discipline put a stop to that behavior and, ten years later, the two are best buddies. I hope your problem resolves itself – it’s a hard situation to be in.
Ruckus
@CarolDuhart2:
I was in a some what more dire boat when I turned 62 1/2, which is the age at which I could start collecting. And did. Still in the recession, finding a job was not working, and I do actually like to eat. As others have said waiting as long as possible does raise what you get monthly for the rest of your life. It may not seem like much but in ten to 20 yrs it may be a big deal. Of course 6 months later I found a job, which pays decent but even then to live without SS I’d have to work full time.
The way to look at it is that over your working live you were taxed an amount. That total amount determines what you get from when you start collecting till you pass away. Given actuary tables, the SSA figures you will collect for x yrs if you start at full retirement. Start early, you collect for x + whatever yrs so your monthly goes down. Start later and its x minus whatever so your monthly goes up. For most people who count on SS to live it’s best to delay as long as possible. But as my case shows that’s not always reality. I wanted to wait till 70 to collect but life didn’t work out that way.
AndoChronic
@Morzer:
Better copyright that one quick, it’s a good one!
Just called the asshats at the FRC to ask for an apology on behalf of Minneapolis. The receptionist was not aware that Perkins made such a remark. You’d figure that a person answering the phones at a hate group would be up to speed about what their boss is spewing out so when someone tells them to fuck-off they’d have context.
Here’s their number if anyone is interested.
1-800/225-4008
Morzer
Charlie Pierce is in fine form on the topic of Brady’s mysteriously minimized balls:
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/brady-belichick-and-great-balls-of-fire-a-front-row-seat-for-the-foxborough-farce/
WereBear
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I’m so sorry to hear that. But I’ve heard of such terrible aggression at an early age. I’ve also been told it’s genetic and there’s little that can be done.
Can you get a professional evaluation?
If it helps, I once rescued a street cat who would switch to buzz saw mode unexpectedly. Her survival instinct was cranked so high it wouldn’t shut off. And once you knew you had that tendency threatening you, petting became fraught with tension.
No good choices. Pass her on to someone who could get hurt? Turn her loose on the streets again, with the same risk plus suffering for her? We had kids and neighbor kids. We put her to sleep.
It was hard, but also the kindest thing.
ruemara
@MomSense: So sorry. I’ve had to do it twice and it’s never easy.
This goes out to both you and satby, they had lives filled with love and cuddles, comfort and a person that made a home. Condolences.
Tommy, I’ve worked in print, web and motion graphics for nearly 25 years now. If you have questions, you can email me at my nym plus @ gmail.com. You’ll need to do a bit more than print things out to check everything for press.
You guys are lucky to have plans on retirement,. Or rather, it’s very generational. I’m 45. My plan is to sell everything once this job ends, travel as much as I can, find a nice place and stop taking my meds or take tools many. I don’t believe I’ll hold a job that pays enough for me to rent an apartment on my own to live like I’m not in college, much less retire. The foreseeable future is only getting those desperate, user type jobs with crazy low wages and no real path to anything. America has some real interesting shifts, cause my parents are at your level and they’re also reluctant to stop working too. I hope they do soon, I want them to take some down time and do something else.
WereBear
Sorry to hear about the cat losses, though it helps a lot when they live to a happy old age. In honor of my 18 year old James Bond, I wrote this helpful article:
The Myth of the One Special Cat
Ruckus
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
I rescued an older cocker that had aggression issues (that didn’t show up at all when checking him out) and he did calm down quite a bit after 4 months or so. He never really was safe for anyone else to be around but he was fine with me. But I also kept my guard up because I could never really trust him. He had been found wondering the streets and the rescue org took him from the county shelter, which would have put him to sleep. When my situation got to the point that I couldn’t keep him any more (He lived with me for 2 1/2 yrs.) the rescue org took him back and the lady in charge kept him as a family pet.
WereBear
Remember that four year old boy attacked by a dog in his own driveway? Was saved by the family”s rescue cat?
That was a 8 or 9 month old puppy. Saw the video. The dog just appeared around the car in the driveway and attacked. Tried to drag him off like a wounded deer.
This wasn’t fear biting or a kid getting rowdy or a pup nipping a bit too hard. This was a feral throwback situation. I believe the dog was evaluated as hopeless, and euthanized.
A goodly number of Vick”s dogs were able to be placed in family homes! But; not all.
Elizabelle
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Please don’t feel guilty.
A friend euthanized her healthy 2-year old dog last year, after it sent her husband to the hospital with arm wounds. The dog was huge, unpredictable, and beautiful. Also: it was apparent very, very early that she had a problem dog. She wanted to work around that. Not possible.
The dog would trigger for no apparent reason.
Happy ending: her family recently added a gorgeous, smaller, laid back spaniel.
Not all dogs work out, and an aggressive one could cost your kids a few years of college tuition. Make room in your life for the next rescue or pet, who will make your life happier.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@WereBear: We are. Tomorrow. Problem is, he doesn’t manifest it all the time, and never around strangers.
I knew a cat like that. Bad news. When he’d freak out, you just had to sit there and let one of the owners remove him from your lap or you’d lose a finger. Pretty sure they had him put down when they had their first kid.
If this were just me that is probably what I would do. But my wife’s involved as well, and there’s no way I could put her through that. We’ll take the dog back to the adoption place, where I am very certain they will put him down as soon as we’re out of the parking lot.
Horrible guilt? I’m drowning in it. I’m this little guy’s last chance, and neither my wife or I are up to the challenge.
Thanks all who replied. I’m off for a while I think.
Beatrice
@Tommy: Tommy, this is the link to my sister’s website. She is a very talented designer currently working freelance, but I am too ignorant to know what she can or cannot do and whether she is what your client needs. But she is a starving artist looking for work!
Linnaeus
A colleague of mine has evidence that her work has been plagiarized by another scholar. She’s taking action, but I worry because she is potentially taking on some influential people and institutions.
Cervantes
@Linnaeus:
A sad mess, I’m sure.
What’s the field (generally speaking)?
cc
@Tommy:
Tommy-if you are serious about needing design work I would love to assist. My grad degree is from Wash U.
Since it’s my first time posting–lurking for years.
I have 2 pets. 1 rescue from a cardboard box dumped on the road. 1 pet from a couple in a parking lot giving away kittens.
JCT
@MomSense: Strong thoughts your way, still remember having to do that with our 16-yr-old cat . Having to tell my 17-yr-old daughter that we had to put her cat down (the cat had slept with her every night since she was 18 months old) was simply brutal.
Cckids
@satby: I’m so sorry for your loss. Shaggy seems to have been a wonderful little soul.
Cckids
@MomSense: oh, that’s tough. Needed, as you said, but hard. I’m sorry.
Linnaeus
@Cervantes:
History – colonial America and early Republic.
Elizabelle
@cc: Welcome.
I think it’s hilarious that folks arrive here, providing a pet resume.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Tommy:
You might want to try and track down ruemara in one of the threads — I’m pretty sure she’s a graphic designer in addition to all of the other strings in her bow, and she has a lot of marketing experience.
Tony Seideman
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Ulysses almost put us over the edge when we first got him. I’m willing to endure a few chomps as a dog settles in, but can’t tolerate it when a dog nips my wife, Celine. Ulysses did that, and I did the training thing of turning him on his back and telling him who is boss, gently. Ulysses proceeded to use my hands like chew toys, and he has incredibly strong jaws. Ouch. Thanks for Neosporin.
We both learned from that experience. As time has gone on, we have gotten more comfortable with him, and he with us. He is still a very strange little beast. When I’m not around, he’ll cuddle up to the wife; as soon as I’m in the room, he treats her like she’s poison. I can take food out of his mouth, though, and there has been no nipping or bites for months.
Good luck with your dog. Aggression can be a bad thing. Dog jaws are strong.
satby
@CONGRATULATIONS!: That’s a terrible situation Congrats! But there are so many sweet good tempered dogs available that I tell people not to settle for living in semi-fear in their own homes. Rescuers are reluctant to admit that we can’t, and sometimes shouldn’t, save them all. I hope the adoption center, should you need to bring him back, does the right thing both for the dog and for the rest of society.
Lex
“He’s a beagle mix, and quite insane …”
The gentleman repeats himself, says the erstwhile owner of both a beagle and a puggle.
cc
@Elizabelle:
Thank you
Pet resumes–It seems like the thing to do