Dogs can sniff out cellphones?!?!

Holy Moly! Did ya know that not only can dogs sniff out illness and drugs but now they have trained them to sniff out cell phones???  From what I understand according to Dan Politi of www.Slate.com  they can detect cell phones hidden anywhere including inside televisions and jars of peanut butter! Just makes you go hmmmmmmmmmm,eh!

some fun quotes about dogs….

“When a man’s best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.” ~Edward Abbey.

“The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.” ~Anonymous.

“Dogs need to sniff the ground. It’s how they keep abreast of current events. The ground is a giant dog newspaper, containing alll kinds of late-breaking dog news items which, If they are especially urgent, are often continued in the next yard”. “Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.”   ~Dave Barry.

“A dog teaches a boy fidelity,perserverance, and to turn around three times before lying down!” ~Robert Benchley.

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” ~Josh Billings.

“In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.” ~Dereke Bruce.

“You enter into a certain amount of madness when you marry a person with pets.” ~Nora Ephron.

“Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.” ~Sigmund Freud.

“We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.And in return, dogs give us their all. It’s the best deal man has ever made.” ~M. Facklam.

“Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence taht you are wonderful.” ~Ann Landers.

“Outside of a dog, a book is probably man’s best friend; inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”~Groucho Marx.

“If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” ~Will Rogers.

“If you have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven and very,very few persons.”  ~ James Thurber.

“I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult?” ~Rita Rudner.

“My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That’s almost $21.00 in dog money!” ~Joe Weinstein.

“There is no psychiatrist is the world like a puppy licking your face.” ~Ben Williams.

“”If your dog is fat, you are not getting enough exercise.” ~Unknown.

“Money will buy you a pretty good dog,but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.” ~Unknown.

“Things that upset a terrier may pass virtually unnoticed by a Great Dane.” ~Unknown.

“Some days you’re the dog;some days you’re the hydrant.” ~Unknown.

for more dog quotes go to www.travelingdogs.com

If you cannot tell all ready, I am really enjoying being the owner[?] of a pound puppy named Cricket. If I could I would include a photo [one of oodles I have taken of her in her almost seven months on Earth]. She is companion, protector, sympathizer,detective,comedian, empathizer, and Love all rolled up in one furry auburn package!  She is struggling right now to contain her near-constant need to bark at every Tom,Dick, Harry, and Jane that dares to walk the same Earth with her, especially at 2 a.m. in the morning!!! But she is also showing flashes of brilliance in her manner and demeanor.  She is part Rottweiler, part German Shepherd.  She is wonderful, mahvelous, and she cares for me!*

*Apologies to all the cats out there. But, there’s nothing like a dog!

Happiness is cold calamine lotion…

When you are suffering the insufferable agony of poison ivy on your foot,arm, and shins nothing beats ice cold calamine lotion slathered on until it drips down your appendages and you feel that ‘ahhhhhh’ of relief! How, you may ask, did I contract this dreaded affliction? Well, enter a known poison ivy garden [trying to retrieve some debris from a two plus inch downpour in a twenty minute span] wearing open sandals and shorts. Forget to wash exposed skin when you return to the house.  Snuggle your puppy who probably has oil from the ivy on her coat and from what I am told can carry that oil for days after exposure.  Scratch said skin thinking it is yet another bug bite.  Do not bother to look at the area you are vigorously scratching until after you have broken open said blistering so it will spread, no doubt, to other areas of the body. Repeat said stupidity. Thus, happiness is indeed cold calamine lotion.

After reading my last post over post-edit, I am taking myself and the world much too seriously. Hey, today Meredith Viera blogged about learning to fire a machine gun, If that is not insanity, I don’t know what is!!!

So I made a concerted effort to find some humour and wisdom in this crazy place and found these…

Youth~”The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.”

Self-knowledge~”I think knowing what you cannot  do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that’s good taste.”

Luck~ “Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it, and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work-and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.”

 

 

all from the great Lucille Ball, comedian extraordinaire, U.S. film and television actress. [1911-1989]

some saber rattling of my own…

Time magazine writer, Mark Thompson/Washington 10 July 2008  writes a piece on Saber Rattling by Iran and Russia.  Well, please allow me to do a little commentary and saber rattlling of my own……………………

Iran~ demonstrating their missle capability by test firing a missle with the capacity to reach Turkey, Israel, and United States military deployments throughout the Middle East. Just what we need!~escalation of this machismo  by their provactive action which will in all probablility lead to air strikes by Israel over the nucleur proliferation issue and possible U.S. involvement  just giving this administration the  affirmation and/or “reason” [?] they want to justify widening the conflict outside of Iraq. Good move.

Russia~ strong negative reaction to the recent U.S./Czech Republic missle defense agreement on a missle shield radar system. This system is designed to counter emerging Middle East threats to security.  If so, it is r-a-d-a-r not missiles. Per chance, looking for  yet another reason for criticizing the U.S.  when you are regaining your national strength and pride in the world?  Unnecessary. Wait until after the U.S. presidential elections to reassess the U.S./Russian relationship, please.

Turkey~ruling AKP [Justice and Development Party] trying to impose Islamist rule in a progressive Middle Eastern nation?!?! Possible military coup. Recent rumoured arrest of two generals, political dissidents being harrassed and arrested as ‘coup-plotters’. arrest of “Ergenekon” ultranationalists. You were an example of possiblity for other nations in the region with a mix of opinion and independent views. What has happened?

China~ Your economy may surpass the United States economy by 2035. But at what cost to your citizenry?  Pollution, crime, obsession with money and materialism.  Get a grip! Slow down a bit and smell the roses. Enact fair but strict standards to ease your nation into its growing power.

Now nationally, here at home… Defense Secretary Gates announces the re-bid of tanker deal. ~ Boeing versus Northrup Groman/Airbus. I have been following this case for several years now. How long will this process drag on? These aircraft  now in service are well over their limit now  and will be over eighty years old when the first new tanker comes off the production line even if you grant this new contract tomorrow!  As they say in the refueling wings, “No one kicks a*% without tanker gas!”  We are involved in two major actions in the world in Afghanistan and Iraq and possibly soon elsewhere, let’s get things moving and make the best decision for all involved especially our airmen serving this nation!

Social Security~ funding is a shambles. will it even be there when I retire??? I am doubtful and this plays into our next issue..

Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for First Time Ever!!!~  Are you listening now, Congress???!!!???Rausmussen Reports states that according their last poll only 9% of those polled say Congress is doing a good or excellent job! No Duh! We, the People, did not put you in those positions to collect a paycheck for doing nothing to address the problems we face as a nation. Get out in the real world and pass some effective legislation to help us!

Jesse Jackson ~ “hot” mike, crude comments concerning  Senator Barack Obama. Apology.  statement of support. arghhh.

California Fires~ prayers and thoughts to all those so tragically affected by these natural [?] disasters. Kudos to those thousands of firefighters trying to contain this catastrophe.

JonBenet Ramsey Case~ New DNA testing finally excludes family members as suspects in this child’s murder. Justice delayed is justice denied. The perpetrator of this heinous act will someday receive punishment for his/her crime either here in in the hereafter.

Salmonella outbreak~ One thousand victims and counting! Still unsure of the exact source of contamination. Yikes! Peppers? Tomatoes? Whatever, clean it up!

Locally….

No drop in slots revenue despite gas increases~ Yes, yes I guess we should care about this. It is providing badly needed revenue to the county in times of need. But as my mother would say, “Cheese and Crackers Got all Muddy”! [a euphemism for another phrase] are there not more pressing issues to cover?

Tree girdling. Two trees defaced  and possible killed with a chain saw all for a better view of the Bay.  Octogenarian charged with offense turns himself in to authorities.  Well-known Erie figure. Will there be equal justice applied under the law?

Home invasion~physical attack on an eighty-something woman in her home by a stranger on Erie’s eastside. How low can we go?   Neighbors unite and be vigilant. Call 911. bear witness when asked. get involved. I would hate to think of my mother or mother-in-law being at risk for this type of crime!

Law and Order for teens at Liberty Park~big debate over allowing teens to attend free concerts by the Bay without proper parental supervison. When are we all going to take personal responsibility and behave like human beings that respect and care about one another?

Bob Sanders, Indianapolis Colt, Erie native, Espy NFL Player Award nominee~ vote for Bob. good guy. runs hometown football camp for high school athletes each year. remembers his roots in his hometown and is good to his parents and fellow Erieites. go to espn.com and register to vote for the Espys.thank you.

But hey, let’s worry about Jamie Lynn Spears and her new child, Matthew McConnaughey and his new baby, Madonna and A-Rod and whether they had an affair and their intimate details of their respective divorces. Let’s watch athletes salaries go beyond the limits of imagination when teachers, firefighters, and others make meager salaries in comparison. Let’s lose ourselves in minutia and fluff stories and not face reality at all. Let me worry about the pitbulls that left unattended broke through a fenced gate and tried to attack my husband and puppy a few days ago. Let me kvetch about my son being deployed to Southwest Asia.  Let me commiserate with my sister-in-law about the mystery which is men. Let me worry that one of my grandsons’ peanut allergy and asthma will limit his potential to be all he can be. And that the healthcare mess  makes me put off those annual checkups that having worked decades in the industry I am fully aware are vital to good health maintenance. Let me pick up the saber and keep rattling!