Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

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Step up and be counted

November 6, 2012 by kathi

I was in and out of my new polling place in less than half an hour. I had a bad moment when my name wasn’t on the first list they looked at, but they found me and everything went smoothly after that. I’ve heard it didn’t go so well for many other redistricted voters who had problems finding their correct new polling places. Things were made even worse by the website and phones of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners both failing under the demand.

Wondering why the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners is not using a Chicago- or even Illinois-based web host for its site? We have some well-regarded web hosts and data centers in the city that could easily handle high-traffic websites, so why not support local businesses?

But I digress. I hope everyone was able to find their way to their new polling places, although I’m guessing there will be at least some people who are unable to vote this year and some fallout from that fact.

Like I said yesterday though, let your voice be heard. If you can.

(NaBloPoMo | November ’12: 6 of 30)

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: election 2012

Problems of the spoiled urban dweller

November 5, 2012 by kathi

After over twenty years at this address, the last Illinois redistricting put us in a new ward. We are now part of the 20% of Chicago voters who have been assigned to a new polling place.

My old polling place was a short city block away. My new one is… OMG… 0.6 miles away. How could they inconvenience me like that?

While you shake your head at what a spoiled city girl I am, I will once again post a 2004 quote from Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune that I have posted prior to a few elections now:

“The problem is, we’re not all carrying the same country in our hearts. We all claim we want to be safe and free. But each side in this war–the internal American war that’s shaping the whole world–has a different vision of what it means to be safe and free and how we should share those gifts.”

Support your vision with your vote. Even if you are not sure that your one vote makes a difference (and there have been many times I have questioned it myself), your silence for sure will not make a difference. So let your voice be heard.

(NaBloPoMo | November ’12: 5 of 30)

Filed Under: Chicago, Politics Tagged With: election 2012

One voice heard from

November 2, 2010 by kathi

My husband was probably one of the first people at our polling place this morning, needing to get his vote in at oh-dark-thirty before heading off to the firehouse. And I was among the last, getting there around 6:30pm after a very busy day at work and making sure the dogs got at least a little time to play outside before I headed off to vote.

As residents of Chicago, more often than not we find ourselves choosing between bad and worse, or the lesser of two evils, come election time. This year’s race for governor of Illinois has been particularly ugly. Still, I would not skip the responsibility and privilege of voting.

Something much worse than having to sort through a less-than-ideal crop of candidates would be to not have a voice at all.

(NaBloPoMo | November ’10: 2 of 30)

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: election, NaBloPoMo

Obligatory First Dog comments (11 of 30/77 of 274)

April 11, 2009 by kathi

All of us psycho dog people with blogs have an obligatory First Dog post to make at some point, so here is mine. My psycho dog person credentials: 15 years in Rottweilers, show occasionally, trial infrequently, training is lifelong, health testing is done as appropriate for my breed, not currently a member of any clubs but my personal code of ethics would meet or exceed that of the clubs, have not bred a litter.

Shortly after TMZ broke the news about Tuesday’s upcoming arrival of the First Dog, the mainstream media picked up on it and a few different versions of the story have been reported. However, everyone seems to be in agreement that the pup is a male Portuguese water dog, six months old, from a breeder in Texas who is also the breeder of Senator Ted Kennedy’s dogs. Some are reporting that the pup is in fact Senator Kennedy’s youngest PWD Cappy. Other sources are reporting that the pup is one that was returned to the breeder for rehoming, and is from the same or similar bloodlines as Cappy.

As a psycho dog person, I have very mixed feelings about the whole First Dog thing.

I never had a dog or cat as a youngster, and when I hear my husband and friends talk about their childhood pets, I feel I missed something important by not having that experience. Nothing that permanently scarred me, of course, but if the Obama kids don’t have to miss out on it, good for them.

I didn’t live in the limelight as a child, nor do I now. The Obama family does. Celebrity pets (and I would argue that all of the recent presidents are just as much celebrities as politicians or statesmen) are another thing I have mixed feelings about. They will obviously have all of their material needs taken care of, but in many cases, it won’t be a typical family life they get to live.

The Portuguese Water Dog community is wary of the fallout that the sudden attention to their breed will bring. It’s the same fallout that is familiar to anyone in a breed that has been popularized by a movie or television show: overbreeding, people buying or adopting a pup “like the one in the movie” and between six to twelve months later, an influx of that breed to rescues and shelters because people didn’t research the breed and expected it to be “just like the one in the movie.” You know, the one that some professional trained, and that was performing according to a script.

Since the Obamas and the media have referred to the faux breed name “Labradoodle” whenever the First Dog subject came up, I am glad they did not pick one. I have nothing against mixed breed dogs in general. I have everything and then some against purposely bred faux breed mixes with dumbass cutesy names and inflated price tags.

I’m not surprised at the comments at TMZ and other media sites from people who are unhappy that the Obamas are not adopting a shelter dog. I am slightly surprised at the pure hate in some of those comments, and the ones that say that now they cannot support Obama because he is getting a dog from a breeder. Ummm. There are valid reasons for a person to not support Obama, but his dog source would be a real reach for being any kind of reason at all.

Of course it would be a much better feel good story if a homeless dog went from shelter to White House, but I don’t feel the Obamas are being irresponsible to get a dog from a reputable breeder, especially in light of Malia’s allergies. I really don’t know how many purebred dogs of the so-called hypoallergenic breeds turn up in shelters each year. I don’t think it is many compared to the more common breeds and mixes.

The breeder is a member of a Code of Ethics club, and their breeding dogs appear to be Champions and health tested. If the news reports are true and the almost-First Dog was returned to the breeder by the original owner, the breeder is one of the good ones that take responsibility for a dog for its entire life, and the original owner is honoring a contract that undoubtedly requires them to contact the breeder if they cannot keep the dog for any reason.

So that’s what this psycho dog person thinks. What about you?

Filed Under: Non-Rottweiler Pets and Animals, Politics Tagged With: Code of Ethics, dog breeders, NaBloPoMo, Obama puppy, Portuguese water dog

Giving in (15 of 31/50 of 274)

March 15, 2009 by kathi

I generally try to keep a positive attitude, but I am giving in to some negativity today. I’m disappointed that Axel and his pal Jules didn’t do better at the Kentuckiana dog shows this weekend. Not disappointed in them (they are wonderful dogs and must never ever think that they are not), but just that they didn’t get their turn in the spotlight on this go-around.

For me to feel that way about Axel’s showing is not even right, because he wasn’t supposed to even be there, let alone win anything. So for him to bring home even one ribbon (which is what he is doing) is over and above what he was originally supposed to be doing, which is being at home and wrestling with his sister Freya in our own back yard.

Jules is very young still, and her time will most definitely come, probably sooner rather than later. I just wish it could have started this weekend.

If you refer back to Tuesday’s post, I was inconveniencing most of my circle of dog friends just to ensure that Axel didn’t break the major and thus ruin his good karma. Sometimes I am just too impatient about waiting for that good karma to cycle around.

Speaking of bad karma, I did not think I could hate Mayor Daley any worse than I already do as the wife of a Chicago firefighter. I was wrong. On Saturday he spoke out in favor of a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance which is currently in committee, and on which a vote was postponed this past Thursday.

Understand that I am not against spay/neuter. I am against government making the decision to make it mandatory, and against government involvement in a decision that really belongs with pet owners and their veterinarians. Especially in a time when the city of Chicago has so many other critical challenges to face, the idea that this ordinance would be pushed partially as a solution to gang crime and dogfighting is so ludicrous it makes me laugh even as I should be crying. Yeah, I really see gangbangers being affected by this one. They don’t abide by the laws on the books now, such as registration and leash laws which are underenforced. And obviously committing felonies doesn’t bother them if they are fighting dogs in the first place.

If you are a pet owner in Chicago and haven’t yet done so, please check out AKC’s bulletin on the ordinance and send your letter against it before it comes up for a vote again. If you are reading this blog and think that mandatory spay/neuter is a good idea… why are you even here?

Filed Under: Politics, Rottweilers Tagged With: Axel, Jules, mandatory spay-neuter, NaBloPoMo

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