Stem Cell Plot

I am going to be the first to sound the clarion horn of alarm. While reading the paper this morning I realized all the stem cell research must be a sinister plot by women to rid themselves of men. The women want to perfect embryonic growth to the point where they can grow babies without our input. They are making men obsolete!

I know, hard to believe but there is an ironic twist. Women may make themselves obsolete in this whole process and then there won't be any of us. At least that solves a bunch of other problems like the war, Barney Frank, and Nancy Pelosi.

Myrtle Beach Fire

Yesterday the wind was carrying the smoke from the Myrtle fire directly up the coast and the air had a heavy blue haze and light ash was falling. We live around 50 miles from the fire and there was the sharp smoke bite to the air. Later int he day the wind shifted and carried the smoke off shore. Today no problem here.

They now think the fire was started by a yard debris fire in one of the subdivisions. After living in California it has amazed and troubled me how little restriction there is on burning here. In North Carolina you can burn acres of trees and brush by simply going into your local hardware and getting a free fire permit. No requirements on fire safety.

Last fall a fire got out of hand when a fellow was burning brush near our development. Seems the pail of water he had wasn't sufficient to contain the multi-acre fire he was "watching." The fire threatened to jump the highway outside our development and take out houses. The smoke was so dense they shut down the highway. As it was, a nearby town had to abandon there utility brush truck and it was lost in the fire.

Seems like people should be required to at least have adequate resources on hand to control a fire. Would stimulate the economy because I could, for example, rent a brush (fire) truck with my services to stand by when they plan to burn a large area.

Archie and More

Its been awhile since I've really blogged so better go back a couple months and start there. If you've been reading my blog you know that Hazel and I adopted a Havanese puppy in January. Archie is now 5 months old and has grown larger but is still a puppy.



Now for a short quiz. Hazel and I were feeling sorry for Archie. He had no playmates his age and we were poor substitutes for a friend that he could wrestle, nip and chase while voicing macho growls.

When Koko and Brue were alive they were close friends and we remembered how they gave each other company when we were away. That prompted us to think about adopting another dog, specifically Archie's sister.

1. Our decision to adopt Arabella was:
a. Stoopid?
b. Stoopid?
c. Stoopid?
d. All of the above?

What fun it has been to try and house train two puppies instead of just one.

"All right! Which of you left this poop??? Two innocent puppies look at us and wag there tails. "Who us?" "No, wasn't me?" "Me either, do we get a treat?"

So here is Arabella (Bella for short):



Her appearance may be doleful but she is a happy cheerful puppy.

We wouldn't do a thing different. These two have brought so much joy to our lives. The abandon and joy of puppies is contagious. Although in the evening when Hazel and I sometimes want to veg out and just watch TV, the dogs seem to think that is the best time to play.



Bella is the gregarious social butterfly and wants to greet all dogs and people. She is also something of a gossip and loves to tell jokes.



Archie is a little more serious, taking his role as male dog to heart. He is more vocal but frustrated because the neighbor cats ignore him.



It was a good move to adopt Bella and the two puppies are fast friends.



Bella and Archie have graduated from pre-school and are now enrolled in kindergarten. They have learned how to milk us for treats and make us beg.