Monday, October 27, 2008

Ralphie says, "Don't forget to vote!"


In Alabama, you can confirm your polling place and print provisional ballots at http://www.alabamavotes.gov/. I was hoping our polling place had been changed to our local civic center, but nope. I'm in one of the county's largest cities and we're still voting at a small church. Seriously, they have maybe 10 tables set up for you to complete your ballot. And the parking lot...don't even get me started on the size of the parking lot. We're planning to be at our poll by 6am and I suspect there will already be a line.

All polls are open from 7am - 7pm and as long as you are in line by 7pm, you should be allowed to vote.

No matter which party you're affiliated with, REMEMBER TO VOTE! I won't be voting FOR either major candidate...but I'm certainly voting AGAINST one of them. Hey, maybe I should just write Ralphie in...

Happy Howl-o-ween!


It was obviously a slow adoption day for us on Saturday...but come on...animals in costumes...does it get any better than that?! Man...was that cat PISSED...!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

10 on Tuesday...

1 & 2. Laverne:

And Shirley:

I got them free at WalMart last Wednesday night. I've lived in the same city for the last 10 years and I've always been thankful that our WalMart parking lot isn't full of "Free Puppy" trucks every weekend...and this is why. Because when I see one, I end up pissed off. And I end up taking puppies. This family started with NINE. God only knows where the other seven are now. And of that seven, how many will reproduce? How many will be hit by cars? How many will be lost without identification? All because they were given away in a WalMart parking lot to anyone who wanted one.


3. Ralphie graduated from Level II Obedience last week in spite of his inability to "stay."

It was his awesome on lead heeling (which goes out the window in public) and his hilarious recall that saved him. We'll start Level III (in preparation for the Canine Good Citizen test) in a few weeks. In the meantime we'll be sitting in on the new Level II class in hopes of polishing up that "stay."


4. Ralphie also had a great weekend at Shelby Humane's Bark in the Park. Only one lady jumped away from him like he was a rattlesnake (freak) and we had MULTIPLE people comment on how well behaved he was.

Veronica, on the other hand...not so much. We were performing hourly flyball demonstrations in an attempt to attract new club members. Veronica made the first jump...and the second...and the third...then made a sharp left directly over the lane markers to mingle with the crowd. I didn't tell people that she'd been competing for almost four years now...or that she has five titles. Didn't think that would be good publicity for our club. What a clown.

Then there was Clarence...he at least got the ball off the box...before making a beeline for the lake...


5. We've been taking advantage of Brandon's "benefits package" at his new job - four of our dogs went to daycare last week, some went more than once. All in all, it would have been about $200 that we could never afford otherwise. And the saying "a tired dog is a good dog"? Yeah, that's 100% TRUE.


6. Speaking of Brandon's new job...he was offered his old job back. An internal investigation turned up no evidence that he should have lost it in the first place (well no shit!). Needless to say, he will NOT be going back. And it really pays to have a fabulous friend who is also an attorney practicing employment law. Stick it to 'em T!!


7. We're placing the next to last puppy from a litter of seven later this month. We get the very BEST applications via our courtesy listings on Double Dog's Petfinder site out of Connecticut. Sister will be headed to Bristol, CT and will be living in the same neighborhood as one of our other placements!


8. Took pictures of this guy last week for a vet who is trying to place him. He has a head the size of a watermelon!


9. Finally got my flu shot (see last week's 10 on Tuesday). Made me sick. Blah.

10. In case you've been living under a rock, Alabama is ranked #2 in the Associated Press poll this week! I think I love Nick Saban!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Here's a #10...

that I could have used yesterday.

10. Every year there seems to be a frantic shortage of flu shots. I fall into one of the groups that is recommend to have an annual flu shot. So I called my allergy/asthma doc yesterday and was told that they haven't received any vaccinations yet but that they'll add me to their call back list in case they get some in. Then on the way home, I passed the Walgreens by my house and saw, "FLU SHOTS - OCTOBER 2ND 1-7PM" flashing on their sign! WTF?

Me thinks the problem is with the distribution rather than the production.