Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

Rewind: 10 from 2010

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Yes, I’m late with this since we’re almost a week into 2011 at this point. But I still wanted to take a look back at 2010. I won’t call this a “top 10” list as many other pet bloggers are. I’ll just ask you to revisit some of 2010’s moments with me:

The best achievements of 2010 went to the dogs.

New champion!! Axel’s AKC championship was one of the highlights of my year. A week after this, he would earn his CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and the following week his RN (Rally Novice) title, making January 2010 a hugely successful month for him. I was more of a happy cheerleader than anything else. The credit goes to his handler Julia Foster and his breeder Denise Pluta.

Just a few more Freya title thoughts Later in the year we would have some training setbacks and I’m still not sure whether Freya is retired or just on hiatus from rally obedience training and competition. But in March 2010, we kept things together long enough for her to earn her UKC Rally Obedience Level 2 title. This is an off-leash title and given that I am the worst handler in the world, a huge accomplishment for both of us.

If I were a real pet blogger, I’d have more posts like these.

Freya: class notes 1/16/10: I have a few other “class notes” posts where I take some raw video from a training session, class, or practice session, and break it down into what went right and what still needs work. It was helpful to me to review Freya’s progress and decide what to work on. I hope it was interesting to at least a few of you as well.

Some Freya video and my iMovie learning curve: I used one of the “class notes” videos to learn how to use iMovie ’09 and also create an “intro to Rally Obedience” type video. It did not end up being that effective as an overview, but I learned a lot about iMovie while creating it. Thanks to our obedience trainer Allan Ross for all of the class videos.

Total recall: We experimented with taking an online class as well, with some surprisingly good results. I don’t think online dog training can ever totally replace working one-on-one or in a small group with a good trainer, but I found this recall class to be an effective supplement to our training. Susan Garrett’s blog is a great read even if you are not doing one of her online classes and even if you have very little interest in agility.

Review: Pet Botanics Healthy Omega Treats: If I were a real pet blogger, I’d probably get more opportunities like this one to review pet products. I was happy to give these treats a good review. The dogs loved them and the healthy ingredients and low calorie count were a bonus.

These very disturbing news stories accounted for quite a bit of last year’s traffic, sad to say.

Update: Mary Wild sentencing: Dog handler Mary Wild got off with an unbelievably light sentence for the actions that caused the heat-related deaths of seven show dogs due to her negligence. She was convicted on eight counts of animal abuse and the light sentence was a horrible letdown considering what the penalties could have been.

Update: Lora Hunt sentencing: Lora Hunt was painting her fingernails as she drove, and rear-ended motorcyclist Anita Zaffke, killing her. For this, Ms. Hunt got only 18 months in jail. Another unbelievably light sentence and a big letdown for all of us who really do want to believe that justice can be served.

I’ve gone off-topic to non-Rottweiler, non-technology items quite often in the past. I’m trying not to do that going forward, but sometimes it’s hard not to write about food and entertainment!

Snack break: teriyaki meatballs: If 2009 was the year of kal bi, 2010 was the year of these retro teriyaki meatballs, taken from a ’60s cookbook put together by my aunt’s service club in Honolulu.

TV break: The Rocky Horror Glee Show: I’m not good at recapping or reviewing movies or television shows. I usually talk more about myself than about the show!
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Update: Lora Hunt sentencing

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We all know the wheels of justice turn slowly. Sometimes I wonder if they are really just spinning out and going nowhere.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I’ve been following two court cases for the last year. One was that of Mary Wild and the show dog heat stroke deaths which resulted in a shockingly lenient sentence for Ms. Wild including no jail time, far from the eight years in jail plus $8,000 in fines that could have been imposed.

The other was that of Lora Hunt, who could have been sentenced to five years in jail for reckless homicide in the death of Anita Zaffke. Ms. Hunt is the nail polish killer, who, because she was painting her fingernails while she drove, rear-ended and killed Ms. Zaffke, who was stopped at the light on her motorcycle.

Sentencing was yesterday. And in this case, too, I am saddened and disappointed by another too-lenient sentence. Ms. Hunt received only 18 months of jail time. Not only is this far less than the maximum penalty of five years asked for by the prosecuting attorney, Ms. Hunt is also allowed to leave during the day for work, community service, and counseling. What the hell is that?

Here is a link to news coverage at ChicagoBreakingNews.com: Woman whose nail painting caused fatal crash gets 18 months

I’m also dismayed by some of the public comments on news reports and blog posts about this case. “Ms. Hunt is truly remorseful” and “is also suffering” and “people committing worse crimes on purpose are getting lighter sentences” — these statements may all be true, but none of them are reason not to impose the maximum possible penalty in this case. I truly cannot think of too many things more reckless than painting your freaking fingernails while driving, and if that caused someone’s death, it should be punished with an appropriately long jail term. Then again, these are probably the same people who had no problem with Ms. Wild’s suspended sentence because “it was dogs that died, it was not like she killed people.”

I especially fail to understand the thinking that because we have problems with more serious crimes, lesser ones should not be punished appropriately. I definitely agree that more serious crimes are a problem. I live in a city where three police officers were shot and killed in the last two months, so yes, there are huge problems. Punishing all crimes appropriately should be the issue. And in Ms. Hunt’s case, the maximum penalty allowable would have been most appropriate.

I truly admire Greg Zaffke II and the entire Zaffke family for their grace and class throughout this whole ordeal, and they remain in my thoughts.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 23 of 31)

Sounds reckless to me…

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Tonight I received an e-mail update from the Black Nail Brigade on the nail polish killer. For those who are new to this blog, this refers to a fatal crash in May 2009, when Anita Zaffke was killed when her motorcycle was struck from behind by Lora Hunt, who was painting her fingernails as she drove.

A motion to dismiss reckless homicide charges was heard today. The judge’s decision will be heard on February 10, 2010.

Greg Zaffke’s update gave a few highlights from the hearing. I have to say this part totally floored me, especially because the defense attorney was using this statement by Lora Hunt to justify why the crash should be considered negligence rather than reckless homicide:

I was distracted by applying nail polish, [which I contemplated whether or not to do]. I chose to do a very stupid thing.

Wow. Isn’t that the very definition of recklessness, dictionary or legal?

I hope this plays out to the correct conclusion. I can’t say happy ending, nothing happy about it.

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 20 of 31)

Update roundup

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I may have failed spectacularly in completing NaBloPoMo for November ’09, but I am just a few posts away from completing Jenni’s unofficial NaBloPoMo 75% Challenge for 2009. I may not have accomplished as many things this year as some others, but at least I’ve written something readable (usually) on more days than I haven’t!

While I was failing to finish off the month of November in style, and procrastinating at starting the month of December (I opted to forego daily posting, seemingly a good decision so far), a few things happened that some of you might be looking for updates on.

First, I want to thank Di for keeping me updated on Mary Wild. For those who haven’t been visiting here long, Mary Wild is a Missouri dog handler whose criminally negligent actions in regards to her clients’ dogs’ comfort and safety caused the heat-related deaths of seven of them this past summer. I am sad to see the news that Ms. Wild’s trial has been postponed yet again, this time to June 3, 2010. The wheels of justice turn way too slowly sometimes.

The Dog Press is also posting updates, and it was most disheartening to see the rumor confirmed that Ms. Wild is still showing dogs.

The wheels of justice turn way too slowly for humans, too. A motion to dismiss reckless homicide charges will be heard on January 5, 2010 in another case that I’ve been trying to follow. Motorcyclist Anita Zaffke was killed in May when she was struck from behind while stopped at a traffic light by Lora Hunt, who was painting her fingernails as she drove. As I’ve said before: all for laws prohibiting texting while driving, but apparently due to the extreme stupidity and lack of caring of some humans, they are way too specific.

I know a motion to dismiss is just standard procedure in the legal process, but in a case like this, it’s so disgusting to even think that a death like this could be “dismissed” in any way.

In what is probably a final update to the office squirrel story, the building knocked down its nest while I was on vacation. JR yelled at the maintenance man about the murder of possible squirrel babies and such, which is somewhat out of character for him. I suppose it was inevitable that the nest was removed; it wasn’t very attractive from the standpoint of the building managers. It does not appear that there were in fact any squirrel babies, and the squirrel was spotted soon afterward building a new nest in a safer location (not to be disclosed this time) and being fed on the second floor deck. He? she? did have a full 15 minutes of fame on television and in the newspaper, something that many of us humans have not achieved so this is at least an okay, if not a really happy, ending.

Photos have been ordered for Freya’s new rally title. Very disappointed there were only a couple of action shots of our team and not looking very good either, might I add. One shot is like a “don’t do this, tight leash bad, loose leash good” poster. No reflection on the photographer, though! It’s all on me. Photos are also on the way for Axel’s latest points. As soon as I get the releases on all of the aforementioned pics, I’ll post them to our gallery. I’m all about protecting intellectual property rights and giving proper credit, and I will never be the one complaining about reasonably priced photos (emphasis on reasonable).

(NaBloPoMo | 75% Challenge: 273 of 274)

In the news: distracted driving

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This tragic incident has been on my mind, saddening and infuriating me since it happened this past weekend:

Charges mulled in fatal nail-polish crash

Anita Zaffke had stopped her motorcycle at the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Old McHenry Road as the light turned yellow. Lora Hunt’s car struck and killed Ms. Zaffke. Ms. Hunt admitted to painting her fingernails as she drove, and claimed she did not see the motorcycle until she hit it.

I will freely admit that my opinion is extremely biased because I am a biker’s wife and a motorcycle rider myself, though not lately. I have heard the whole “I didn’t see the motorcycle” scenario way too many times over the years. When you are the unseen motorcycle, as all of us who ride have been at one time or another, if you are lucky, you have enough room and time to evade an accident. If not, you become a victim of the classic motorcycle accident where the driver of a car doesn’t see the motorcycle who had the right of way.

I am amazed and incensed at some of the comments made on the linked news reports and other accounts of the incident that imply that the victim was partly to blame simply because she made the choice to ride a motorcycle. I cannot agree that someone should expect to be injured or killed because they choose to legally ride a motorcycle on a public highway. From all accounts, Ms. Zaffke was a responsible and trained rider. At the time of the incident, she was wearing a helmet and reflective vest, and had yielded for the yellow light. She was not doing anything wrong. Yes, motorcycling is inherently risky. No, no and a thousand times NO should anyone be injured, let alone KILLED, because some freaking irresponsible moron decides that painting her nails in her car is more important than driving that car and watching where she is going.

Some of the other comments that bothered me most are the ones that say “what if the car driver was distracted for some other reason.” Ummm. She wasn’t. She wasn’t trying to read a map because she was lost. She didn’t just get a phone call with an emergency. She wasn’t trying to attend to a baby or child riding with her. She wasn’t being stung by a bee that entered her vehicle. She was PAINTING HER NAILS. Yeah. I think that’s way different.

At this time, the only charge against the car driver is a traffic violation, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. To my knowledge, we do have distracted driving laws in Illinois. The language is such that it must be proved that the distracted driver’s recklessness was so extreme that he or she acted with complete disregard for the safety of others. I understand the need for a proper investigation, but if this incident does not constitute “extreme recklessness” with “complete disregard for the safety of others”… what does??

Most of the laws introduced recently here have had to do with texting while driving. I don’t think texting while driving is a good idea, but it seems to be far from the most common or most distracting thing that people do while driving. Maybe the current distracted driving laws just need to be revised and strengthened.

I admit (and probably so should you, and you, and well, just about everyone) that I do not always have 100% of my attention on the road. This whole thing has made me look again at what I do while driving. I wish everyone would take a moment to do that, especially if you live and drive anywhere near where my husband or I might be on a motorcycle.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 5 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 101 of 274)