Rottweilers Ate My Laptop — Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Finally official! Freya’s TT

July 19, 2009 by kathi

Yesterday we finally received Freya’s certificate from the ATTS temperament test we did back in May. She is now officially Sciroco’s Freya vom Viersen CGC TT!

The Letter of Certification emphasizes that a dog who passes this test is likely of sound temperament, but that the test is not a warranty of sound temperament. This seems sort of obvious, so I wonder if people have attempted to misrepresent the certification as being more than what it is. That would be sad, but not particularly surprising. Sort of like the people who try to claim that their therapy-certified dog (usually not a working therapy dog) are service dogs so they can get them into places that are normally off-limits to dogs, which is so wrong and makes it harder for those with a legitimate need to get their service animals admitted without question.

Finally, a word about the scoring. Responses for each subpart of the test are scored from 0-10, with the desired response being in the Average range of 4-6 where the dog shows either a positive response or a mildly negative response followed by quick recovery.

You can learn more about ATTS and the TT at the ATTS website:
http://www.atts.org/

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 19 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 176 of 274)

My non-bird neighbors suck

July 18, 2009 by kathi

I hate my neighbors for a variety of reasons. But the latest one completely proves that they are huge jagoffs and that they suck like a Hoover.

You read about the cardinals that live in their rosebush. So, a little bit of information about that rosebush. I moved here almost 20 years ago. The original owner of the house was still alive then, and the rosebush had obviously been there for quite a long while, maybe even being original to the property. There is also another bush of some sort that has intertwined with the rosebush. It doesn’t seem parasitical as it’s been there a while and the rosebush is still going strong.

In the past few years, very little maintenance has been done to the rosebush. Every summer, the branches on our side of the fence grow to the point where my husband ends up cutting them back so they don’t whack us in the face when we walk by. I should say so they don’t whack me in the face. He usually watches where he is going. I am often doing mini-obedience drills with one of the dogs, and get whacked in the face when I’m paying attention to the dog instead of the bush. You would think by now I’d know where the bush is and call a right or left turn just before it.

Enough about my lack of dog training skills, and getting back to the point, which is that the bush doesn’t get trimmed very often. Not on our side, and certainly not on the jagoff owner’s side either.

So why then, at this time of all times when the cardinals are nesting, do those stupid jagoffs decide to cut away the non-parasitic whatever-the-hell plant, and trim the rosebush, too? The only saving grace is that they didn’t knock the nest down. The cardinals haven’t abandoned the nest yet, but it’s much less sheltered, at least as viewed from our side of the fence (which means that it may be even more open on the other side), and the branches that gave cover and shade are gone.

The nest is just high enough that we can’t see if there are eggs or babies or if they are safe. We just assume there are eggs, at least, because the female is there daily. All we can see for sure is that the nest is not as protected as it was before those jagoffs trimmed the bush.

Add them to the list of jagoffs that need punched in the face. Hard. And think good thoughts for the cardinals.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 18 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 175 of 274)

Jagoff spammers: die, die, DIE

July 17, 2009 by kathi

Not that jagoff spammers would have any clue about etiquette, but honestly, why would this subject line make me do anything other than delete the email immediately:

Hell, if an email with that rude-ass subject line came from someone in my address book, I’d still delete it unread for being jagoff-ish.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 17 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 174 of 274)

Piano men

July 16, 2009 by kathi

While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say good morning to the night*

I still haven’t quite gotten used to the idea of concerts at Wrigley Field. Tonight, Elton John and Billy Joel did a concert there. There will be another concert next week. Tonight’s show looked like a good time, from the photos and video clips I’ve seen so far.

In junior high school, I used to joke about how great it was that a short, chubby person like Elton John who wore glasses and played the piano could find huge success. Being a short, chubby person who wore glasses and played the piano (badly, not like Elton John), I meant it.

I didn’t get any better at piano playing. I did see Elton John twice, though, in two totally different phases of his career. The first time was in Honolulu in 1973, during my sophomore year in high school. That would be the tour for “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” with Kiki Dee as the opening act. Elton was in his glam rock phase with the super outrageous sparkly huge glasses frames and impossibly tall platform shoes. Back then, I wanted “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” to be played at my own funeral. I think I still do.

For unless they see the sky, but they can’t and that is why
They know not if it’s dark outside or light*

The next time was in 1979 at Chicago’s beautiful and historically significant Auditorium Theatre. This was light years away from the 1973 show. It was just Elton, his piano, and percussionist Ray Cooper. It was not quite what I expected but it was a good show.

I’ve never seen Billy Joel in concert, but his song “You May Be Right” set the tone for the soundtrack of my life during my twenties.

Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive but I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I’m insane**

Yeah, I wonder how I survived that decade as well.

You may be right, I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for**

I think I’ve left the lunacy behind for the most part, and I don’t say good morning to the night that often any more. But the soundtrack of my life will always have some good strong keyboards running through it.

* “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” Honky Chateau, 1972, Elton John and Bernie Taupin
** “You May Be Right,” Glass Houses, 1980, Billy Joel

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 16 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 173 of 274)

What a catch!

July 15, 2009 by kathi

As promised earlier this week, here’s proof that Axe can do more than just chase the frisbee. He actually catches it, too!

Good boy, Axe!

He now has his own frisbee photo gallery. Axe is special like that. Right now, there are a few additional photos in it that haven’t already appeared here. We hope to finally get that “money shot” and a few more action shots, and maybe a video, too, before we’re done.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 15 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 172 of 274)