From loyal commentor Ozark Hillbilly:
After we bought our place in Spring 2010 the wife wanted the dog she had been so long unable to have in our previous rentals. We had decided on a lab or lab mix because of their gentleness with children and the last thing we wanted was to worry about him with our granddaughter. I went to the local small town no kill pound where they actually had one.
I met the Woofmeister on a Monday after a weekend during which he had no visits from the animal control officer since Saturday. His cage was perfectly clean, no poop, no pee. When the ACO opened the cage so I could introduce myself, the poor dog shot past me and bolted for the open door where he ran to a semi secluded spot behind a sign and proceeded to empty both bladder and bowel. I do not kid when I say it took well over 5 minutes to finish the job.
I thought, “Damn. No worries about house breaking him.” and brought him home. We named him “Woofie” because to Baby Girl all dogs were “Woofs”.
His 5 favorite things in the world are belly scratchings, butt scratchings, chasing his frisbee, laying on the couch between Momma and Daddy, and belly/butt scratchings. Oh, he’s kind of fond of bones too.
***********
Apart from happy pets making people happy, what’s on the agenda for the day?
Poopyman
What a great doggie! Lucky OH.
The agenda includes waiting for Mrs. P to come crashing out of the bathroom and into the waiting Poopymobile so she can beat the traffic to work. Then it’s off to work myself, where the agenda for today is taliking about the impending Snowmageddon II and little else. Here in sunny Southern MD they’re calling for over 20″.
Poopyman
Aaaaaaand, she’s off. And I. am. outta. here.
raven
Sweet pupster!
Mustang Bobby
Aw, I love Labs. We had two when I was a kid, ostensibly for my dad’s duck hunting passion, but I think it’s because he just loves dogs, especially that size. (It took him a little while to warm up to Sam, who at the most weighed 17 lbs., but he came around). Tuffy was succeeded by Clyde, and they were sweet boys.
It’s actually cool here this morning in South Florida. Not as cool as it was in 1977 when they actually had snow. It didn’t stick, of course, but it was banner headlines back then. I gigglesnort to see people bundled up in scarves, gloves, and coats because it got down to 55 F last night.
Satby
Beautiful pup and so happy you rescued such a good boy! He reminds me of the late Biggie and Maggie, labs and lab mixes are such great dogs.
raven
Nice story
)Jamie Foxx has played plenty of heroes on the big screen. Monday night he played one in real life.
Satby
It’s 14 degrees here and more light lake effect snow, though the winds that made the last 3 days winter weather advisory have died. We’d love a chilly 55 degrees, but we’d be seeing people wearing t-shirts. (And the weather guy just said it was going to be a “warmer” 21 degrees for the high today).
J R in WV
Ozark, how could you be a Hillbilly without a hound dawg of some kind?
We went to the local shelter for our last dog, I found a white lab 9 mm old, kinda thin and not strong looking.. Took her for a walk, one of the adoption requirements.. She got to the edge of the pavement, stopped, put her head down into the grass. She had never seen grass to remember it. Named her Alice, through the looking glass.
The sign said good with kids and cats, I think she was supposed to be a puppy for a little girl, had a little rhinestone necklace collar. They kept her in a crate all the time. Our other older dog taught her to jump on the rocks, run down the (steep!) hill full tilt, catch chipmunks, how to be a big farm dog.
They were in the back seat of the truck cab when Mrs J rolled the F-350 2 years ago, on I-25 in NM. They were OK, but not happy about the ride. Alice got in and out of the truck we bought to get home, but after we let them out at home, she wasn’t doing cars or trucks ever again if she could help it.
She’s OK with it now, tho.
Try to go back to bed now. late nite for me.
Baud
We have a lot in common.
Schlemazel
What a great doggy, you guys are lucky. Glad you found each other
Mustang Bobby
@Baud: Yeah, I had a boyfriend who liked those things, too. It didn’t last.
cmorenc
Awww, good doggie! Looks like you have a winner of a pooch, OH! That saying that the party “rescued” by a “rescue dog” is as much the dog’s new owner as the dog – applies here.
I plan to give my dog some belly scratching today in honor of your dog.
BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: I saw that on the local news, know the area pretty well.
raven
Bondi is a leaner. Anyone who calls him will get him leaning up against their legs for they can scratch him! (and get shedding fur all over them)
Felonious Monk
@Baud: Will there be a Secretary of Scratchings in the Baud Administration ?
raven
He also likes to lay his chin on a couch or chair for a few seconds before he jumps up in it??
2liberal
my sister has had a black lab for a long time, she is about 14 now and has quite the gray muzzle. Unfortunately she is very arthritic in the back end and doesn’t like to run or even walk any more. She has a very tough time standing up after laying down for awhile and is heading towards the time when she just won’t be able to function any more. She had some operation on her hips or knees that black labs have and for a while they called her the “$6000 dollar dog” like there used to be a “$6000000 man” tv show. She’s just a great pet and will be sorely missed when gone.
ET
Love the New York Daily News cover on the Palin endorsement – “I’m with stupid” with each pointing at each other.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Last night I sent the .pdf file for the print version of Becoming Phoebe to Ingram Spark. I ordered one copy, paying ridiculous rates for one day printing once they have it set up and one day shipping. I want to have enough time to look it over in case there are any problems before it actually goes on sale on 1 February.
I broke down and decided that it just doesn’t make sense to give it the 55% wholesaler discount necessary for bookstores to be interested in carrying it. That would have meant my receiving about $1.25 per copy sold, not only in bookstores, but also on Amazon and B&N. The alternative is to use a lower discount that will still leave it available on those sites, and I’ll get more like $4.00 to $6.00 depending upon the exact discount I pick. (There are some arcane reasons to go with one over the other, aside from making more per sale the lower the discount.) Maybe I’ll revisit that later if there is reason to think that I might sell enough in stores to make it worth it.
The ebook files won’t be ready until next week, but they’ll go to Ingram Spark after I look them over. There’s little reason to buy a copy of those to examine before they go on sale; they’ll be the same file I already checked.
So look for it in a couple of weeks.
Randy P
@2liberal: We had a mostly-black lab who made it to 14, very athletic dog if not one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever owned. Also had the hip problems at the end of her life. I say mostly-black because she was actually a chocolate mix. In bright sunlight you could see the cinnamon-colored highlights which gave her her name (Cinnamon). The vet called her coat “seal” as in the marine mammal.
Like Ozark’s new dog, she had an iron bladder, never had an accident in the house. Unfortunately she had to prove herself a couple of times. Those were unexpected problems with commuting or something, but because our schedule now routinely involves days where nobody is home for 12-16 hrs+, there is no way I’m getting another dog, much as I miss them. I don’t expect to ever meet a dog with that kind of control, to say nothing of the loneliness.
Cinnamon never stopped chasing the cats, but I think it was for amusement. Our old tabby would try to stand his ground and look cool, but much to his disgust she could always unnerve him and make him move.
She also achieved doggy nirvana once, actually catching the squirrel she was after. It was after a heavy snowstorm, and both animals kept falling through the crust on top of the snow on each leap. Her leaps were bigger and she ended up on top of him. At which point she had no idea what to do, so in a blind adrenalin panic he struggled out from under her and levitated to a nearby tree. She didn’t seem upset at the outcome.
Kay
Everyone thinks Trump’s absolutely enormous paper trail spanning decades doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t, in a GOP primary, but I think it will matter a lot in a general election.
There are probably thousands of statements or comments like this, and it’s all recorded in one way or another.
Baud
@Felonious Monk:
I’m thinking that, for a position like that, I should appoint a czar.
JPL
This blog has gone to the dogs. Ozark, What a great story.
David *Born in the USA* Koch
both Clinton and Sanders need a dog. Look at all the great press Fala brought FDR and Bo has brought to Obama.
it humanizes them.
Just don’t drop the dog on it’s head, like loser Shrub did.
OzarkHillbilly
Fitting that the pics are up the morning after our snowstorm. I have made the executive decision that my wife is taking a vacation day. These roads are just too dicey and MODOT doesn’t plow them until everything else is clear.
@raven: Same with the Woofmeister, he is a complete slut that way. Sometimes I’ll be conversing with someone and have the slow dawning realization that with out any conscious will on my part I am petting him. I’ll look down and there that hand is, like it doesn’t even belong to me anymore. Fortunately, he still allows me to use it when he is done with it.
And yeah, the chin on the couch or bed before he jumps up is a thing.
JPL
@Kay: Most of the electorate will excuse him because he’s a busy man, and can’t possibly know everything about his businesses.
BillinGlendaleCA
@David *Born in the USA* Koch: Or pick up the dog by it’s ears like LBJ did.
frosty
Our son found a box of lab mix puppies by the highway
too young for the pound
he and a buddy sat outside of walmart and found homes for all but one
he brought the little black one home she fit in the palm of our hands
Callipygia is the best dog we’ve ever had. Loyal, gentle, loving, smart….
Mustang Bobby
@David *Born in the USA* Koch: It sure worked for FDR.
BillinGlendaleCA
As far as Joe of the Morning went(at least the first 20 minutes that I saw), the Palin thing didn’t happen. They talked about how Hilary is tanking and it’s because she won’t talk to anyone(I saw her on TRMS twice in the past week) and that there aren’t enough debates. Then on to tRump dominating Marco “Boy Wonder” Rubio and jeb? in a recent FL poll and on to Hilz emails, CLICK.
David *Born in the USA* Koch
@BillinGlendaleCA: the ears aside they were really cute together. LBJ would howl and the dog would imitate him and howl back.
Baud
They are bleeping Palin on the news this morning where she says “kick ISIS’s ass.”
David *Born in the USA* Koch
@David *Born in the USA* Koch:
eta: there’s a bunch of photos of them howling together
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: He’d have to wear a hard hat and I’m not sure the world is ready for a helmet ferret.
Kay
@JPL:
Well, he’ll get 45%. It’s the other voters he needs he has to worry about.
I went to a county Dem meeting last night and heard what I think is an interesting criticism of Sanders. The leader of the “labor council” there is an acquaintance and he thinks Bernie will be weak on attacking his opponent in an election. He’s afraid the Republican will savage Sanders and Sanders will end up defending because Sanders doesn’t really go after Republicans- he goes after “corporations” or “banks” or “corruption”.
This is kind of a constant fear among older Democrats- that there will be a “weak” Democrat in a campaign. I think it’s left over from the pre-Clinton era. It’s really why they loved Bill Clinton- Clinton fought in elections. He and his campaign team were vicious. Democratic pundits won’t admit it was part of Clinton’s appeal but local Democrats loved it.
I thought it was honest of him to say- issues are great but he also wants a political partisan who loves to fight. That’s important to him.
David *Born in the USA* Koch
@BillinGlendaleCA: Hillary is tanking by leading in Blow’s NBC poll by 25 points, which had her picking up 6 pts in one month and beating his buffoon hero by 10 pts.
he should stick to covering up the deaths of dead young married interns.
Baud
@JPL: This election will be about the strength of white identity politics. If it had one last gasp, the Republicans will win.
amk
How many votes will branstad sticking a shiv to rafael cost the latter?
Kay
I have to think more about Sanders as “issues” person and not “fight Republicans” person, but I think this tweet from Planned Parenthood goes to the same idea:
I’m just not sure the vast majority of Democrats are to the point where they’re parsing “establishment” versus “insurgent”- I think they believe they need everything they possibly have to win, whether “establishment” or not. That’s just always been the approach- “OMFG, we need every single possible person and org and advocate!” and there’s truth in it.
I’m not sure they’re ready to abandon partisan politics and take a risk with just promoting issues. I think for a lot of them that just means they lose. I feel like Bernies too far out in front of them.
MomSense
Sweet doggie!
debbie
@Kay:
I don’t think Bernie’s seemed weak yet. What, old people lose their ability to pivot? Frankly, Hillary will be in a defensive stance most of the time anyway with what the GOP plans to throw at her.
debbie
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Not placing the book in bookstores — where most readers trawl for something new to read — could be compromising your exposure. As an unknown, this should be factored into your decision. You can always be more selective with future books if this one takes off.
Randy P
Anybody wanna talk “Sherlock”?
So in other important current events, my wife and I, behind the times as always, are starting to catch up with the Benedict Cumberbatch series. Part of the delay was finding a site where we could stream at least some of it for free, once we decided maybe we’d check out this thing everyone else in the world was talking about (still never seen a “Downton Abbey”. Or “Breaking Bad”. Or “The Sopranos”. Told you we’re a little behind the times).
Last weekend we found that our PBS membership lets us stream other free stuff, including the New Years episode which returned the characters, confusingly, to Victorian England and some traditional Holmes story lines, more or less.
I’ve been reading a lot of WTF reaction online to this episode. I thought modern-Sherlock’s statement that he was just imagining himself being back there in order to solve a century-old crime seemed a reasonably plausible reason to dress everybody up. Not completely sensible, but sensible enough for me to suspend disbelief. (Note: I haven’t finished the episode, so maybe it gets more confusing later on).
Here’s my question though. They keep talking about the “Mind Palace”, which is apparently some magic mental trick Sherlock can do? I’ve seen this referenced in other episodes, but haven’t seen wherever they first introduced it. What’s that all about.
Also, I thought it was kind of cute that the Victorian characters are NOT the same as the modern characters played by the same actors, though I’m having a hard time pinning down the differences between modern Cumberbatch and Victorian Cumberbatch. That is, they seem very different personalities to me, but I’m not sure what exactly is different. Reason enough to dress them up, as far as I’m concerned, to have fun with the actors.
PurpleGirl
Love the pictures of Woofie. I hope you and your wife can enjoy his company for a long time.
debbie
I am on tinderhooks (or whatever) waiting to hear Glenn Beck rail at Sarah Palin’s betrayal. It should be fun.
Kay
@debbie:
Maybe “weak” is the wrong word. Sanders is saying that the system is corrupt. He says these corruption/capture issues are bipartisan- true, obviously to some extent. In fact, it’s his main argument for why he can be elected- he wil draw people who are fed up with “politics as usual”.
That’s fine as far as issues, but how does it fit into the frame we have, which is not “corrupt establishment or insurgent” but instead “one Democrat versus one Republican”?
Trumps supporters believe Trump is the insurgent. So do Ted Cruz’s. They can be insurgents without voting for Bernie Sanders. Sanders will have to beat one person, not “corruption” or “big banks”.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
The response to the MLK song I linked yesterday has been fantastic. LMM has permission to post the sheet music.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Randy P:
Mind palace.
Ramalama
I love those pix of Woofmeister. Dog stories always tug at my momofdog strings.
J R in WV
@Randy P:
The concept of a “mind palace” has been around for eons, and was used back before writing was common by bards and story-tellers to help them memorize the details of all the many epics and religious myths, by having a room in the palace for each detail of each story or myth.
When the idea of writing stories down first came around, the bards hated the idea, saying it would ruin the human memory forever if everyone didn’t memorize the Vedas and such. And now no-one memorizes the Bible or the Encyclopedia ever – bunch of lazy readers@!
The Moar You Know
The wife and I lost our black lab in 2013. Working full time and then some (who isn’t?) we wanted another dog but realized we could not commit to raising it properly – you really need someone with the doggie for most of the day. Cruel otherwise. They’re pack animals and need their people
We’ve ended up working with Guide Dogs for the Blind and have a never ending stream of gorgeous labs and the occasional golden through our house. It is wonderful. And this way you learn about the breed, not just the individual dogs (although you learn about them as well, of course.)
So I can tell two things: Photo 1: lab on a mission. That’s their favorite state of being. All dogs love having a job.
Photo 2: Very relieved lab.
You done good, Ozark Hillbilly. You’ve made a dog very happy.