#1 It is a myth that dogs are color blind. / #13 A dog's mouth exerts 150-200 pounds of pressure per square inch / #32 An estimated 1,000,000 dogs in the U.S. have been named as the primary beneficiaries in their owner's will / #40 Dogs have no sense of "time" / #70 The longer a dog's nose, the more effective it's internal cooling system
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Pink! Too much pink!
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The congregation voted to call Rev. Eric Posa as our minister. The positive feelings and excitement surrounding that vote starkly contrasted the feelings four years ago. Walter took a great group photo of the congregation members who attended the congregational meeting. 73 people attended.
Signing the ministerial agreement is a great way to end my tenure as Board President. Rev. Posa's ministry will be a great way to start the new church year.
A congregant's hidden talent appeared and I will call upon her skills when presiding over the May congregational meeting.
The beauty of church community is that there is always someone with a strength that can compensate for a weakness.
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I have an idea for a performance - one person play type of thing. It has been bouncing around in my head since yesterday and is occupying a great deal of my thoughts right now. I have a slight headache because of it. Delusions that I can entertain a live audience for more than 5 minutes. I can see several bits of this thing very vividly. The thing is a monologue with props and slides. Has a touch of Bob Newhart stand up - where the audience only hears one side of a conversation. I need to write it down, develop it and maybe perform it at least once. If it fails miserably at least I will not have the regret of not trying. Title: Other People's Crap.
Some of the bits can work as comic strips - single and multiple panel but I think it would be funnier performed.
I have lots of visions but very little execution skills. I need to take a stab at this. For my own peace of mind.
Walter and I hit the garage sales almost every Saturday. Seeing some of the items people attempted to sell prompted a few questions too rude to actually ask out loud.
To the woman selling the Baby Einstein videos and other educational videos: I want to see the child demonstrate some form of intelligence. Before investing 50 cents per video I would want the effectiveness of the videos demonstrated.
Kid, explain the Pythagorean Theorem.
What you don't know!
Ma'am, will you take 25 cents per video?
Forgetting my tied tubes for a moment, I believe my child would have an advantage over your Baby Einstein watching child because it would have two parents smart enough not to pay retail for Baby Einstein videos.
To everyone who tried to sell various ab exercisers: Show me your abs.
I witnessed a garage sale first - a person selling a fitness system who actually looked like they used it.
To the person selling the Carlton Sheets zero down payment real estate investing system videos: How much was the down payment on your house?
This week I ran 14.66 miles, burned 1852.7 calories and weigh 173 pounds.
Monday: 3.32 miles in 35:00
Friday: 4.25 miles in 45:00
Saturday: 5.97 miles in 65:00
I went to a few meetings instead of running or weight training.
Tethering Isaac worked. I let him off during lunch. I will let him off again when I get home. I prefer the tethering outside to keeping him in a kennel inside. His regular foster will come for him on Sunday. I hope he does not have to stay at adoptions on Saturday. I really dislike hauling the huge kennel.
Woodstock needs a fundraiser so that they can purchase a new kennel for huge dogs. The one that they have is very rickety and bent. If you want to send money to Woodstock visit http://www.woodstocktexas.org for details. They also need money for medical treatments and other things. Their website has a wish list.
| You Are 56% Tortured Genius |
 You are very smart and a little bit tortured. Like a tortured genius in training. You're brilliant enough to see how screwed up the world is. Just don't let it screw you up! |
I'm trying a two collar system with Isaac. If he somehow breaks through one collar he should remain attached to the other. There is lots of shade and water by the tree that he is attached to. I hope he calmed down and chose to rest under the shade of the tree. He was calm when I left. I hope he does not get too excited by the activity next door.
If Isaac does manage to break through both collars I think he will stay in the yard since he did not see me leave.
I did not want to leave him in the kennel this afternoon because the weather is gorgeous and I will attend a meeting immediately after work so I will be late. At least tethered to the tree he can interact with Loki and have a visually stimulating environment.
I need to find out if Isaac needs to attend adoptions.
After work, I will attend a question and answer session with Rev. Posa. Why is it called question and answer? I've never heard of a question session. All questions, no answers. Some would say that is a great UU slogan. I would say to them that your understanding of UU is a bit shallow.
Went to dinner last night with the Board and Eric. Discussed church issues and governance. Finally explained the players and their positions. The other Board members - the ones staying next year did most of the discussion and that was appropriate. My only issue, which I failed to communicate, is that the church has incredible potential but only a vague notion of how to unleash it. I believe the UU church can transform the Brazos Valley in a positive way. I'm interested in using technology as an aid to that transformation. Technology as part of the church's ministries. A part - not the whole. I want to focus my "ministry" to the church in updating, revamping and unleashing the church website as more than a mere informational tool next year.
I have a vision. I have lots of visions but have difficulty with implementation.
Learned last night that reasonably portioned meals are quite expensive. Missed the opportunity to test whether or not asparagus really does alter the smell of one's urine. I only had two stalks so that may not have been sufficient to test the theory. Sniffing my own urine was not a top priority last night.
Tonight, I will post, at the church, the list of church members eligible to vote at the upcoming meeting. We get to vote for our minister. We have 100 eligible voters and need 30 to show up to the meeting on Sunday. I'm sure at least 30 will show up for something this important.
Today's icon: Vera surprise.
I spent my lunch hour yesterday tending to Isaac and Loki. Isaac spent the day in his kennel because he jumps over the fence.
I tried a harness attached to a line that is attached to a tree yesterday evening but either he or Loki chewed it and Isaac got loose. Fortunately, Isaac did not jump over the fence. I guess he decided to stay because he did not see us leave. Isaac stays in the yard as long as he does not see you leave.
Because of the lunch time fence jumping, I took Isaac to the office. He behaved well. Other than the fence jumping Isaac is a well-behaved dog.
I will spend my lunch hour the rest of the work week letting Isaac out to play and stretch his very long legs. I'm ahead on my cartoons so a few days without drawing will not throw off the schedule.
If you want a sweet, lovable, big dog check out Isaac at http://www.woodstocktexas.org Make sure you have at least a 6 foot fence or can take him outside periodically. Despite Isaac's size he is a great indoor dog.
Memories were made to fade. They were designed that way.
Mary reveals how she can sleep at night despite her disastrous meddling. The memories of Aldo will fade. The memories of all those sick children in Vietnam deprived of a physician will fade. These things will no longer bother her because they were designed that way.
Does Karen Moy actually take money for writing this?
Toby, people can forget their past unless some busybody keeps bringing it up.
Thank you to the woman who was a passenger in the car behind me for blowing soap bubbles out your window. The sight of the bubbles made me smile and gave me a small surge of joy. I needed it.
I just received news of a student's death. He died of a heart attack on Wednesday, April 18. Student Life sent the notification today.
James O'Brien was not a typical college student. He was 70 years old. I think he was working on his 3rd degree. I had a class with him when I was an student in 1989 (Angling - it was a Phys. Ed. course). He stood out then because an older person who is a student stands out on a college campus. I remembered him when I saw him again when I started working in the department.
He retired from the military and spent his time learning. I recently saw him in the undergraduate adviser's office planning his next semester course schedule. He would take one or two courses at a time. He learned at his own pace but never stopped learning.
He often joked that it was appropriate that as the oldest undergraduate at Texas A&M that he should study in the oldest building at Texas A&M.
I think I saw him last on Monday or Tuesday. I don't quite remember. We just said hello to each other as I passed him the hallway on the way to some business that must of been important at the time.
In my memory, I can clearly see him sitting on the couch outside the student services door. He was reading something in a notebook. His legs were crossed and he was leaning a bit to the right. I remember his voice and him saying, "Hi, Linda, how are you doing." I said I was doing great.
I cannot remember why I went down the hall.
He was the only student, besides the student workers, that I have much interaction with. We would talk about all kinds of things - mostly non-academic stuff. The last long conversation was about unusual middle names and his troubles learning Latin and why he chose Latin as his language to study. Regarding Latin, he said he was too old to learn another alphabet on top of another language.
I am inspired by James' attitude and his love for learning. I will miss seeing him in the halls.
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences interdepartmental softball tournament has been cancelled because of the lack of teams. COALS has 15 departments aand the organizers of the tournament expected at least 25 teams. I guess the larger departments would field more than one team. 9 teams signed up.
Damn, there goes my opportunity to show off my non-skills and an excuse to purchase a glove.
The candidating week continues to go well. I'm making that assumption based on the lack of angry phone calls, irate e-mails and wrapped bricks through my window. Everything that I have heard so far has been positive and my own experiences have been positive. I found Rev. Posa's first sermon personally relevant. I enjoyed the social time and interactions so far and look forward to further opportunities to meet with Rev. Posa.
I would love to sign the ministerial agreement this Sunday.
Janeway? JANEWAY!?! The correct answer is Picard. Even the Amish agree that Picard is the best Star Trek captain.
Janeway. Geez, it's any wonder Kathy's head did not explode. Janeway. Gads. Does Kathy even have any respect for this guy anymore? You know it's Janeway. Ha! You know nothing! My god, that response is so wrong on so many levels.
Janeway was a good Star Trek captain but not the best. Kate Mulgrew is a fine actress.
Janeway, gah, now there is a response to ensure many more years of celibacy. Buddy announces that he is too insecure in his manhood to admit admiration for a character of the same sex.
According to Googlism.com
This week I ran 18.22 miles, burned 2,092 calories and weigh 171.7 pounds.
Monday: 3.26 miles in 35:00
Wednesday: 2.29 miles in 25:00
Friday: 4.24 miles in 45:00
Saturday: 5.94 miles in 65:00
Tomorrow, my church's ministerial candidate will conduct the first of two services. Next week will be filled with meetings.
Next Saturday I will have the opportunity to demonstrate my low level skills at softball. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is holding an interdepartmental softball tournament. I agreed to play on the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences team. Not only do I have the opportunity to show off my low level skills but I get to do so in front of my co-workers. I did tell the person organizing the team of my skill level. I'm in it just for fun.
I played intramural sports in college. The teams I played on competed in the Co-Rec C league. This was the league for those teams just having fun. Co-Rec means that the teams had to be coed. The team I played with treated these sports as an opportunity for fellowship and sharing our faith. We played other teams representing various religious and service groups.
One year Campus Crusade for Christ's team almost got thrown out of the Co-Rec C Flag Football (not soccer) league for being too rough. They tended to grab more than the flags.
All this was over a decade ago.
I'm sure I'll have fun next week. At least I won't run the risk of being manhandled by Campus Crusade for Christ.
Uh oh, Mary starts to draw a conclusion. Vera grew up in Pacific Hills, the stomping ground of millionaires, and now she mentions a nanny. Mary questions the term, nanny. I called my grandmother, Nanny. My Nanny also baked great pies - her specialty was pecan (pronounced peh-khan in my part of the world) pie. This does not mean that I'm now living a lifestyle less privileged than the one in which I grew up. Surely, Pacific Hills millionaires allows its support personnel to live within their town. I can't wait to see the conclusions Mary draws and the look on her face when those assumptions are proven wrong. Oops, I assumed that Karen Moy is a good comic strip writer.
Vera, a child of privilege, now has to work and live a lifestyle far beneath the one she had become accustomed to. Oh my god! I already see how this storyline will unfold! Two possibilities actually.
One possible direction: Vera's privileged upbringing becomes a source of tension at Charterstone because Vera behaves as if she is too good to associate with the hoi polloi residing at Charterstone. After being brought down by Ian, Toby and the other good residents, Vera flees Charterstone, buys some booze and dies in a fiery car crash. Mary Worth will contemplate going to the city council and politely requesting that they consider installing guard rails on road sides of Santa Royale.
Second possibility: Begins the same as the first but Mary's friendship helps Vera adapt to living among lower classes and she grows to like them.
Now, I have to keep reading this damn strip to determine if I'm proven correct.
I like how Ruthie plays with her dolls. No doll has what it takes.
How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.
I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.
Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.
This human world of ours would be inconceivable without the practical existence of a religious belief.
Thus inwardly armed with confidence in God and the unshakable stupidity of the voting citizenry, the politicians can begin the fight for the 'remaking' of the Reich as they call it.
I needed a change so I changed the layout of this blog. Still haven't figured out how to change my profile picture.
Took Loki for a walk instead of going to the gym. Got eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Researchers funded by the federal government want to shut down the internet and start over, citing the fact that at the moment there are loopholes in the system whereby users cannot be tracked and traced all the time.
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