Battle

Posted on August 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

Every day, Battle Fur. Zoe has an undercoat with which I could have made several nice sweaters over the years but I do not have a loom and can’t knit anything anymore. I only did golf club covers because they were mittens without a thumb. Petit point went somewhat further and I made some interesting gifts.

Our guest for the past couple of weeks was an American Silken Windhound. Gorgeous coat and I didn’t think she had an undercoat until strange grey tufts came up from Zoe’s bed, which she laid on many times. She went home the other day and now grey tufts of undercoat are coming up all over the place!

I think she wanted to leave some of her with us. Good guests do that. Fur, OK. I got a bite today from a teething pup. I didn’t know it until I went to our door and noticed blood coming from my wrist. I lent them a frozen peanut butter-filled Kong (black is nearly indestructible) and we already gave them a puppet designed for teething so the pup will not eat hands. He’s an Old English Sheepdog and if they train him, he’ll be a great dog. Tendencies are good, just teething and in pain. Frozen stuff will help him get through this. I’m OK.

Another trick. Take clean old athletic socks, dip them in chicken broth and wring them out. Leave them wrung and place in a plastic bag and freeze. That may help with teething. Bad side is that he may always want to eat your socks.

Yes, I trained as a chef, am a good cook and the dog lady. Why can’t I work in a professional kitchen? I’m stubborn, talented, do not speak fluent Spanish, will not get minimum wage for maximum effort or buy and clean my uniforms, will not get tattoos all over my body, plus I’m too old. I cook for my husband, his grandmother knows he eats well, and we feed the dog frozen raw duck, venison, and more. Perhaps frozen wabbit, all with carrots and blueberries. Cheers, Dee

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Local Prohibition

Posted on August 20, 2015 | 1 comment

I’m not allowed to write in on this one to the local paper. I might give you a name, Jackie Robinson, now in the Hall of Fame and wasn’t allowed to play because he was Black. Now as current resident of the most racially divided town in the nation I may never see a gay player on the field, at least an openly gay one, David Denson, in my lifetime at Miller Field. I care how athletes play, not how they look or whether they’re married or not.

No-one knew about Rock Hudson until he got AIDS and died. He was a hero in the movies and Doris Day supported him along the fight against the disease. I want Milwaukee and the minors to respect his game and not his sexuality. Basically, it’s none of your or our business. I’m sure there are more salacious stories about his fellow hetersexual team members.

We come to see baseball, hopefully historic games. Unless you’re proved to be a serial killer I don’t really care what you do when you’re off the field.

Are you really going back to “gays in the military,” repealed decades ago? For baseball? It is a sport, not work except for a privileged few. I’m certain you’ll have to go back to steroids and HGH until you find something else that seems ripe for a scandalous report. Thank you. Dee

PS This is for the cast and crew of Field of Dreams. Our two neighbors, my sister and I played softball with “ghost men” every day in our brief summers. This is for Moonlight Graham. D

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Killing Native Wildlife

Posted on August 20, 2015 | 1 comment

This bill revises a variety of existing programs to expand access to, and opportunities for, hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting.

“The Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act is reauthorized through FY2025. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act are reauthorized through FY2020.

Components of firearms and ammunition and sport fishing equipment and its interesting stuff (such as lead sinkers) are exempted from regulations of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

The proportion of funding from the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act that states may use for public target ranges is increased.” This is a bill summary.

Interior must issue permits for the importation of polar bear parts taken in sports hunts in Canada before May 15, 2008, which is the date the species was listed as threatened.

***

Our government wants killers to go to Canada and bring back polar bear heads and parts of other animals. They want to kill more here. I lived on a wildlife preserve for several years and elk, moose, coyotes, Greater Sandhill Cranes were always preserved. Even when the two juvenile moose whose mom was killed on the freeway protecting them from traffic. They crashed a wedding down the road. Imagine those videos and photos. Wedding of a lifetime!

***

The bill revises standards for determining what a baited area is for purposes of the prohibition on taking migratory game birds.

Federal public land management officials must facilitate hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting on certain federal public land. Land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service must be open for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting unless the managing agency acts to close the land.

This bill provides special rules to expand access to federal land and waterways for film crews of five people or fewer.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may not prohibit individuals from possessing a firearm in public areas of a water resources development project. The National Park Service may not prohibit individuals from transporting bows and crossbows if certain requirements are met.

Funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund are allocated for priority projects that secure public access to federal public lands for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.

What is wrong with this picture? We’re allowing hunters to take wildlife that is endangered and place their heads in their man caves. All so a state can get revenue through hunting permits. What a sad story that is.

I know we have a better story, as a nation, to tell, and a better future and troops. No-one carries a weapon but our voices are stronger than your cruel traps. Let’s go to it. Remember it’s Sen. 405. I’m writing in today. Dee

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Missing Her Already

Posted on August 19, 2015 | 1 comment

She hasn’t left yet, after nearly two weeks but Ms. L is loved and cherished here and is welcome back as a guest anytime. Any dog who can use her paw or tail to corral the sunshine from her eyes looks good to me.

No, I can’t see her in a Stetson. Too little and bony for the hat. She’s getting along with everyone in the neighborhood except she wants to eat skittish Yorkies and teeny poodles. Luckily she’s on leash. A neighbor was caught downtown today with two dogs, one really old, off-leash and was given a warning.

Her owner and I, she’s a neighbor, met because of the dog and bonded over collars. Martingale collars, no buckle, hand made Asian silk. They each have two. That collar has kept Ms. L from squirrels, Yorkies and miniature Poodles as she is a sighthound and looks for prey.

I can control her in a heartbeat. Walking two dogs, a sight hound and a herder, would be difficult without a leash splitter that the owner holds with one hand and the dogs have to stay on the same side and walk at the same pace.

They’re  couple of pounds from each other even though L is tall and skinny and Zoe has more fat and an undercoat. They’re now separated, which allows me to write this. No roughhousing for 20 minutes!

Zoe is under the bed with the door closed. L is on the sofa sound asleep as well, wiht her tail covering her eyes. It is remarkable how similar they are for different breeds.

My mother-in-law gave us a quilt years ago, all hexagons, 100 years old from a great grandmother. She kept up the pattern until dementia set in, then started using wild colors and patterns. I tell visitors that these strange patterns on the outside (my husband and I) met in the middle and married years ago.

I think that’s what is happening with our “sister” dogs. I will miss her when her Mom comes home. Such a sweet girl. Dee

 

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Heirloom carrots

Posted on August 17, 2015 | 1 comment

Last night I made a potato salad with a variety of colors. Tonight I smell roasting heirloom carrots.

I’ve more tomatoes to make a corn and tomato salad with perhaps some blistered Hatch chili and a balsamic vinaigrette. Oh, and our local Italian specialty store has these fantastic sun-dried tomatoes that I put in the corn salad, corn is raw and just sliced off the cob. Summer at its best.

Tonight it’s brats on the grill. No potatoes. We’ll have the tomato/corn salad and roasted heirloom carrots. Even with thunder, lightning and rain outside we’ll still grill. In the Rockies, my husband used to shovel his way to the grill all winter. Down coat, furred Cossack hat, gloves, good to go.

* * *

Oh, the dogs are doing great together, ours and our neighbor’s visitor. They’re playing and teaching each other bad things. My dog is nearly 12 years old. Little one is nearing two. Guess who’s learned more bad habits to teach. Sorry!

Little one free-feeds at home. Not here. I introduced the “special sauce” and she eats in ten minutes. Zoe eats the same amount in one minute and tries to poach our guest’s food. I place her in another room and with the “special sauce” our guest eats in about ten minutes.

What is that sauce, you ask? Chicken broth. When our Zoe was a pup she wasn’t drinking water or getting enough fluids so I’d add a tablespoon (a splash) of chicken broth to her dinner and she ate it up like crazy.

Yesterday I went wild and instead of boxed chicken broth I made a roasted chicken and saved the juices. They had a lovely dinner tonight with homemade broth and are sleeping near each other in the living room. All is quiet chez Dee. Hope you’re having a great evening also. Dee

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Approaches

Posted on August 17, 2015 | Leave a comment

and meeting the goal.  People want a job without politics. There is no job without politics. Husband and wife, parents and children. Hirer and consultant. Yes, my husband and I have had the same job in different circumstances.

We’ve a guest dog for a couple of weeks while the dog’s mom is way out of town. Our dogs have gone through many things, from our dog peeing on our guest L’s bed at the outset and me throwing it in the wash, to them play-fighting to bed switching, playing keep-away with our only toy and now sleeping four inches apart. It’s like Congress actually talking to one another and getting things done. For my part I like congress not passing anything except the budget minus “pork” and use this as a tribute.

That is dog politics. I never wanted to be involved in politics and years ago thought of myself as a legislative policy person. I was wrong. Since I was born I was a politician, not of the traditional sense. I argued for a milk formula, a clean diaper and didn’t want to go down for a nap. That’s politics.

Oh, my parents would walk me around the living room while I cried, then put on Jackie Gleason’s Music, Martinis and Memories record and if that didn’t work, they’d drive me around the block and I’d be sound asleep. That’s baby politics.

My husband calls it sneakiness, but that only comes into play when I find the best way to a place we need to go to avoid traffic. I live here. He’s off for months so I have to get to know a new place. Word to the wise, be nice to everyone, until they cross you or humiliate you. Then, think about it. Think about the best way to fix their error for your family.

Then act. Kindly. Write a bad review of Fazio Automotive because he kicked you out of the shop for no reason after spending thousands of dollars there over the years. He wants to kick women out so he can have his motorcycle buddies hang out there. He actually bragged to fellow mechanic shops about kicking me out. That’s politics. Luckily I’m smart enough to shut him down, through zoning and Federal Civil Rights laws.

I didn’t write laws for 34 million people to sit still and let people treat me badly. I’ve also spent my life on volunteer work that has helped people and animals. My husband and I are problem-solvers and innovators and that makes us clash from time to time. He is more technical, me more social change.

We are agents of change. You hire us to fake change. Make it real for your bottom line. It will be worth your while. Dee

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The Girls

Posted on August 16, 2015 | Leave a comment

We’ve a loaner dog for another week and things change every day. They’re in my kitchen and that’s verboten. Guest L took over our bed last night and Zoe slept underneath, despite my husband’s efforts to put them a few feet from each other.

Zoe needs attention now, but there are three dog beds in the living room plus a huge sofa and so they trade.

I think I’m too old to do this with two dogs. A friend of mine, sure you heard of Jake who died over a year ago, I just got a photo of a new pup from Jake’s family line. He is so cute. I try to stop by Jake’s favorite tree in the park every day.

Jake’s owner/dad and his sister are close by, after Zoe’s dear friend goes home we’ll host a dinner. The current dogs may be competitive with each other but can sleep well and walk well together. They’re sisters for good or bad. I’d tell you about but you’d never remember “Sisters” as sung by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in White Christmas with Dee in our home harmonizing along, cheers! I don’t even know if the dogs could handle that! Dee

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Hello in There, Hello

Posted on August 14, 2015 | 1 comment

It’s an old, revered Joan Baez song with the silken voice. She sang of old people being left alone because no-one cared about them anymore.

I believe strongly in “hello” and greet fellow residents and even make them dinner on moving day. My term is different than what is happening here.

Late last night, after “last chance” for the dog, as our “hello” we got a dunning notice saying we owed $40, due immediately. No information on what the charge is for and certainly not a “hello” from new management.

Neil Diamond once sang Hell0, Again, Hello. Bear with me. Having a fake party at another venue piggy-backing to make it a tent event with residents having to take photos of the new “team” to gain two tickets to something insults all of us. We pay through the nose to live here and you treat us like errant children. If anyone can put a stop to this, I can.

Hello, indeed. Dee

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Ethics

Posted on August 13, 2015 | 1 comment

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/03/04/390841422/house-approves-amtrak-funding-rewrites-rules-to-allow-furry-riders

I called Congressman Jeff Denham’s office and was put on hold several times. Then I was referred to the DC office, a paid call, and placed on hold several more times. I said I was looking to help allow pets on trains.

In the end Evan told me it was unethical to speak to anyone outside their district in Modesto, CA. Hey, I’m writing a blog and they’ve already spoken to the Huffington Post and heaven knows how many lobbyists from outside the district. It’s August, they’re manning the office and would rather be on vacation than at work and don’t want to do any, I get it.

I am a former legislative analyst, bill writer and lobbyist and this is plain BS. Oh, Sen. Cohen’s office just had an answering machine, no-one on watch. Years ago when I was a lobbyist and everyone was on vacation, all our members and staff, I’d try to leave at 4:58 to catch the 5:03 train home every Friday. Of course the boss called at 4:55 as I was putting on my sneakers and asked to speak to everyone. She was on vacation the entire summer but harangued us because she could. I was a lobbyist doing paperwork while the legislature was out of session.

Anyway. I didn’t like the parameters of the Rail Act that provided a lot of money for Boston to D.C. and nothing for the rest of the country. Two years ago we spent $250 for someone to stay here with our dog and paid for a roomette on Amtrak through Chicago to Texas. It was supposed to be 24 hours, ended up 36 and we had to have family pick us up at an alternate destination. There were buses involved.

But if we had the cabin with en-suite bath we’d love to have our dog with us, outside of her crate. She’s only about 32 lbs. and won’t fit under an airplane seat. See, her grandma in Texas likes her there for Thanksgiving. We cook for days now. Last year it was 4.5 days, and our Zoe cleans crumbs we leave behind, accidentally of course, during our routines. It’s become a dance.

She makes cakes, potato rolls, brisket, iced tea for 50 and many other dishes. I’m known for spicy almonds and cashews, brussels sprout and cauliflower gratin, spinach balls and mincemeat tarts. Of course we do more than that.

It would be nice to be able to take a train, with a cabin with en suite bath with our dog in the cabin, getting out for a few moments at each stop, and getting there on time with no backward movement for a couple of hours and buses. I think Congress errs when it eliminates Chicago from its funding perspective and tries to help dog owners but makes them crated and baggage.

Does Congress ever wonder why so many airline passengers fake assistant dog status? It’s $149.99 and includes a doctor’s note for an Emotional Assistance Dog. I could probably fake that on Amtrak but will not do so.

If you allowed pets even just into rooms and roomettes Amtrak may get a following from paid travelers instead of feeding from the public trough. Dee

ps I know that on the southern routes passenger trains are required to go to sidings while freight trains pass. You have not only dismissed dogs, you’ve dismissed people. American citizens trying to visit relatives for the holiday.

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Digging to China

Posted on August 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

Yes, I was warned that our guest dog would scratch at the bed. It was our dog’s bed and she did it at three in the morning. From our bed I asked her to stop and she went right back to sleep.

It’s been three hours and I’m ready to take them out. She wants her mom. I’m doing everything I can to keep things on schedule and watch her every move. She and Zoe are getting along great, playing, competing and sleeping within a few feet.

They are both great individuals that feed off each other. Let’s hope they’re teaching good things and that next week our Zoe will not start digging to China. Dee

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