Clogger

Not talking about a hair ball.

This guy is good. As a kid, I fantasized and (sometimes as an adult) being able to publicly do something that surprised, amazed and wow'ed people. I think this fellow dose it.

Democratic Debate

Hazel and I watched the democratic debate last night. At two hours, I was ready for them to end but I did find them interesting and worthwhile to watch. The debate was spirited at times and provided some opportunity to see how the candidates differed.

This morning I went to a CNN site providing analysts scorecard of the debate. I think they are wrong. The analyst view the debates from an entirely different perspective then the average viewer. They have a "history" with the candidates and accordingly rate on the basis of this previous knowledge and on conjecture as to how the average viewer sees them. For example, to say that Clinton won the debate because she didn't put her foot in her mouth IS WRONG! If the question had been whether the debate changed their status, okay. But Clinton did not shine last night.

For me, it was the first time I saw some of these people represent their positions. I liked Richardson (at least he promoted his record in very favorable light) in the debate even though I reject his Iraq position. Mike Gravel? Well I hope he stays around to throw water on the other candidates. Sometimes he even said something worthwhile but as a serious presidential candidate - no way. It was like one of those group settings where one individual consistently says things out of sync, the others politely pause and then resume their discourse as though he had said nothing.

I think Edwards gained some points, Obama showed substantial grasp of issues, Clinton had a face lift, Biden surprised me and will get further scrutiny from me. He was a little too forceful at moments but had good comments, Dodd - not impressed, Kucinich - please no!

Course I'm a republican so might not vote for any of them. Frankly, I want to vote for the person that I think can best lead the country. It's unlikely Ill agree with all of their platform. I just want competence.

The big surprise? That the debates weren't canceled for a "Going to Jail" party for Paris Hilton. Don't we have our priorities here?

Fortune Cookie

Most fortune cookies do not tell your fortune e.g. you are going to be run over by a Hummer. Instead they contain some sort of boring statement. Thus when eating at a Chinese restaurant the other day I didn't want to even bother opening my fortune cookie. Hazel would not permit that and opened my cookie for me.

For once I felt it was right on. It said, "You have a potential urge and the ability for accomplishment."

Hazel...Hazel...yoohoo...Hazel, now where did she go?

Lobster Sale

And now its a week later, Saturday, June 2nd. This morning I went to Southport to help with a Lobster sale sponsored by our church, proceeds to benefit the church's Outreach program. While I was there we cooked about 700 lobsters and then my shift was over so don't know how many were cooked in total - the sale ended mid-afternoon. We were also selling live lobsters for those that wanted to prepare them at home.



Hazel and I decided it was time for us to experience the fun of cooking a live lobster at home so I brought two live ones home with me. I thought about giving them names but Hazel would be even more upset at killing them then she was already. She advised me not to look into their eyes when putting them in the pot. She also wanted me to feed them vodka and club them. I rejected all ideas and forced them into a steaming pot of boiling water. HeHeHeHeHeHe



Hey, when you're old and retired you gotta get your kicks however you can.

Ocean Fishing

Last Saturday I went ocean fishing with a friend of mine, John. A passionate and experienced fisherman, I was pretty sure that if fish were biting, John would find them.

Ken, another friend of Johns and an experienced fisherman joined us on John's 22 ft. Galcier Bay Catamaran. (Shown here, the fellow on the boat is Ken).
I tried to get a better picture of Ken but we were under way and it was difficult to hold the camera steady. With the ocean swells and wave action (residual from previous days of high wind) the ride was pretty bumpy but the boat handled it well.
John picked me up at my home at 6:30 am and by 7:00 am we were under way. This was shot as we left the marina.
We sped out into the ocean at 23 knots and arrived at the first fishing location, the "Horseshoe" at 8:15. I believe we were about 30 nm out from the harbor. I took this next shot so I could find the same location again. This is done through scientific study of the exact wave configurations, their frequency, period, height, and DNA.


And here is a picture of the coastline (right). Okay, we were too far out to see it but it was there - I think, or maybe in another direction.


The weather was perfect with light winds. The fish, however, were sleeping in and we didn't catch anything so after 45 mintues heading to a new location, the "Tower".
Our luck was better and within a matter of minutes we started catching King Mackerel and had caught four within 20-25 mintues. We also caught an Amberjack (no idea how big but maybe 20lbs). That necessitated bringing in the other lines while Ken wrestled with it and finally got it aboard. We had at least three more hits but those got off the hook before we could land them. Then it became quiet - no bite, nibbles, anything.

We continued to fish and listen to other fishermen nearby either catching nothing - like us - or catching Dolphin, Kings, Amberjack (someone called them Donkey Jacks). Most were having no better luck then we were.

Later, after lunch we anchored and started bottom fishing. The fishfinder showed good bottom with plenty of activity. The top left number is the ocean depth and the number below it 76.7 is the temperture of the water. The string of fish running across the upper part of the display was the outrigger weight holding one of our long lines. The fishfinder reads density and not actual objects so still proclaims a lump of lead to be a fish (not very good eating). Lower in the display more fish are shown and they are the real thing.



Our luck was better although I don't know how many fish we landed. These were smaller fish - some were to be used for bait, and some found there way to our dinner table. I caught 3 sea bass and 3 or 4 other kinds.

We then tried trolling for dolphin before heading home but had no further luck.

We returned to shore, stopped at Tatum's fish house and sold part of our catch.



The kings and Amberjack are shown here (sold).


Cleaned the boat and remaining fish and were home by 6:30 that evening.

I was going to write a blog but its subject slips my mind. Oh well.

Attention Shoppers

The Home Shopping Network is working toward offering a remote that enables you to purchase items wihtout having to telephone. This is fantastic news since I believe that exhibiting the number of remotes you have is a way of gaining status. Now I can display remote controls for:

HSN
TV
Direct TV Receiver
Tivo
DVD Player
Stereo
Sirius Radio (Yeah I canceled the service but still have the remote)
Fireplace Starter (borrowed from our neighbor)
Garage Door
Gate Entry to the devlopment

The problem I now struggle with is my virtual life. I'm already here on Blogspot talking to invisible people, next I need to look into Second Life. By joining Second Life I will have a circle of virtual friends that never actually visit my home (who wants someone in their home that looks like a giraffe wearing striped shorts and a bra)?

I know, I can probably create a bunch of remotes in my Second Life to accompany my sex fantasies but somehow its not quite the same thing. Just creating a buzz here.

Brue 1994-2007

We brought Brue home yesterday and she was doing okay. However, as I wrote in my last post, Dr. Tony believed she would soon fail. Last night, within just a few hours her conditioned worsened so rapidly that we found ourselves rushing her to Animal Emergency in Wilmington to put her to sleep. The hour long trip was an eternity because she was yelping in pain with nearly every breath.

It surprised us and Dr. Tony too. We hadn't expected so abrupt a change.

Thinking about Brue a word that resonates with me is "gentle." She never, ever, showed any anger - growled - anything - towards any of us (except Koko who deserved it). Brue was easygoing but immensely loyal and faithful. Goodbye baby.

Brue's last days

Brue had a hard weekend but then has improved the last couple days. As scheduled, we took her to the vet this afternoon and he said her disease has progressed. Dr. Tony believes she will rapidly decline within the next two or three days. It is time for Hazel and I to make our plans.

G W Bush

I have disliked Bush almost from the first days of his presidency. I distrusted him, in hindsight appropriately, because I have observed in corporate life that you can tell a great deal about the man in charge by the people he places near his seat of power. I saw Cheney and Rumsfeld as arrogant bullies. I have seen their type in business and they are so sure of their opinions that they ignore efforts to advise or reason - they are poison. This pattern persisted with Bolton, Gonzales and Wolfowitz.

I concur with Bill who wrote in his blog, "The George W Bush Administration will not go down in history as a mediocre presidency. It will be remembered as thoroughly ineffective and one of the most grossly incompetent administrations in American history."

Don't confuse arrogance for strength.

Oprah's Leadership School

Last month I had a couple people remark to me about Oprah's leadership school for girls. Their remarks ran along the order of "Why isn't she spending that money here at home." I was a little puzzled because they never said anything about the many others that are providing some type of monetary help to Africa.

After thinking about it I don't think it has anything to do with Africa but the fact that she is spending it to develop women leaders. Could they feel threatened? And by black women too?

I applaud what she is doing because I think this may be a way of truly helping Africa.

Another thing Oprah has done to help all MANkind is here.

Global Warming - Perspective

In today's San Jose Mercury News:

"Former Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, who was deputy chief of staff for air and space operations, is participating in a symposium Friday at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on low-carbon emissions standards and the need for energy independence.

"We all came to this with a certain degree of skepticism," said Sullivan, who found the science of global warming convincing, even if it's not 100 percent certain.

"Speaking as a soldier, we never have 100 percent certainty. If you wait until you have 100 percent certainty, something bad is going to happen on the battlefield," he added."

My sentiments exactly.

Happy Birthday

The day after Maya left with her folks, Jason came over to the house and we had steaks. It was Jason's 38th birthday. Happy Birthday son.

Maya's Visit

Grandaughter Maya came to visit last weekend and she brought joy. She was endlessly cheerful and broadcast her cheer with endless chatter. That gal is a talker but she is entertaining so I didn't mind listening.

She came to Raleigh to look for a new home and a new job for her dad. It's looking like they may be moving from California to the Raleigh area in the not distant future. Hazel and I are looking forward to there coming.


She also brought her parents, Chris and Laura...
And grandparents John and Linda...

Chris showed what a wonderful father he is by setting a good example for Maya.

But I think Maya can handle it.



Maya has returned to California for the time being but left us a few reminders of her visit. Come back soon.

Brue Update

On May third I reported that Brue had a bad infection, possibly leukemia. Her white cell count was the highest our vet remembered seeing. She was put on antibiotics to see if the infection could be reduced. Last week another blood test was performed and the antibiotics (which Brue had difficulty keeping down) had not worked, her white cell count was even higher and that, plus other test indicators confirmed leukemia.

The treatment course now is to keep her as comfortable as possible. We had decided not to try "heroic" measures that might prolong her life but with considerable pain and discomfort. The antibiotics have been stopped and she now is on prednisone which has made her more comfortable. We don't think she is in pain but because her red blood cell count is so low, she pants in an effort to get more oxygen into her blood stream. Now we are wondering if or when we should have her euthanized.

Years ago we had our Lhasa Apso, Muffin, euthanized and it was one of the worse experiences I've had. Muffin went to sleep peacefully but I struggled over my right to take her life, and the experience of watching life go from her. She had arthritis so bad she couldn't climb the two steps between our family room and kitchen. She was in constant pain and I think we did the right thing but my conscience still berates me.

Brue is still eating, although we have to entice her with richer and better food - no more dog food. Today it was a cooked hamburger. Euthanasia may be a harder decision in that she may not have outright pain. The breathing, however, may be so uncomfortable we will decide it is time to put her asleep rather then force her to struggle more. Like Muffin she finds it difficult to navigate steps but this time due to shortness of breath. We had already stopped trying to take her on walks and now have stopped taking her into the yard on a lease. Her trips outside are prompted by nature's call and we will be carrying her up and down the steps.

The signs of her failing are more apparent on a daily basis. Partly I imagine because as we learn more about what is occurring we become more aware of how it affects her. On the other hand, there is no denying that Brue is nearing the end. A few days ago we were thinking she might have a couple months or at least weeks to live, now we wonder if it will be days.

Drug Pusher

Purdu Pharma, maker of the drug Oxycontin, lied about its "wonder" drug. The company claimed oxycontin was not addictive even though they knew otherwise.

The government fined the company $600,000,000 and fined the officers a total of $34,000,0000.

Why weren't they criminally prosecuted?

Spontaneity

Read in a book the other day and liked it..."there is a time and place for spontaneity."

Brue

Three weeks ago while I was in New Orleans, Brue had a seizure. Now that in itself doesn't signal imminent crises so we monitored her and last weekend she had another. Time to take her to the vet. Nothing obvious was noted so he drew blood for tests. Friday, the results were back signaling a very high infection, possibly liver related. She is on antibiotics now but the overall prognosis may not be good. She may have leukemia.

A return to the vet is planned for Wednesday to see if the antibiotics are working. As of this writing she seems to show slight improvement but nothing huge. On the other hand, she has always been a laid back couch potato and now that she is older (13 years old), seems to be more so. Thus it is difficult to be sure about the improvement part. We are hoping she will return to good health.

Golf's Glass Ceiling

I always marvel at Tiger Woods. This guy pulverized the racial glass ceiling of golf with incredible athleticism and grace. Check out the website for the Wachovia Championship.

By the way, Steve Isley, the head professional at the Reserve course here at St. James is playing in the championship too. Hope he makes the cut, be fun to watch.

A New Pet Peeve

Hallelujah! Got another pet peeve to bitch about and stay in my grumpy old man character. Seems that online vendors are bashful about tellling you the cost for their product. Just looked at details on a touring seminar and as usual I had to start the "purchase" cycle to find out the cost.

The philosophy on good site design is to make it easy for the user to find information and at a minimum of mouse clicks. So why can't they simply say for the "Special One Time Introductory fee of $299" and get it over with. I won't waste my time on that hair grower and just move on.

Oh, now that I've started, can't say how often I've wanted to know where a retailer or workshop was located and I had to search all over their site. Was reading about a workshop on Aztec body painting the other day and it was like pulling teeth to find the location - St. Paul, Minnesota (had a special intro by Garrison Keeler).