Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

…and if it’s not something, it’s another thing

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Since it would be our last rally obedience-specific class before the trial, of course this would be a day that I don’t get home early enough to make the long-ish drive to class. Figures. Freya is taking it in stride. Easy for her, because when we practice at home, the string cheese and meatballs for practice are nice and firm and not all mushy. Less pocket lint, too.

And to add to my discomfort level, I still don’t know which day we will be trialing (see yesterday’s post).

UPDATE: 11/13/09 3:55pm – There was a voicemail awaiting me that confirmed our entries for Sunday. Yay!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 12 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 257 of 274)

It’s always something…

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Tonight I received an email with the corrected confirmation for our trial entry this weekend. Except it’s not actually corrected. We are supposed to be entered for both trials on Sunday, and both the original and “corrected” confirmation have us entered for both trials on Saturday. There was no additional information or explanation included, so I have no idea if we are confirmed for Saturday because there is no space on Sunday, or if we are confirmed for Sunday regardless of what the confirmation actually says.

I really don’t want to be too much of a bitch about it, because I’ve done the show secretary or trial secretary thing in the past and it’s a lot of work keeping everything straight, especially if you are doing it for a venue that requires you to take day-of-event entries. And I’m sure a phone call or yet another email will clear things up. But I really didn’t need One. More. Thing. to deal with on top of my usual massive case of ring nerves, or I guess at this point it’s actually pre-trial nerves.

On the bright side, Freya seems to once again have a good handle on the difference between left and right. So once again, I will probably be our team’s biggest problem in that regard. I keep reminding myself to look at the picture of the arrow on the sign instead of the words “left” or “right” and all will be well.

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 11 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 256 of 274)

Rottweilers are everywhere!

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For those who haven’t seen Sons of Anarchy episode 210 (“Balm”), this is not a plot spoiler, especially since I’m not quite ready to talk about this episode yet.

I just wanted to mention that I was quite tickled to see a couple of shelves full of Rottweiler stuff (figurines, plates and possibly photos) in Piney’s cabin.

Freya (that would be the hopefully-ready-to-trial Freya) just wants to remind you all that Rottweilers are everywhere you want to be, even on Sons of Anarchy.

That is all.

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 10 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 255 of 274)

Urban wildlife – spotted!

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As you may already know, we have been watching a squirrel’s nest outside our office window for a while now. We have seen him? her? in the courtyard area and in the alley, but the only time it was seen entering or leaving its nest, we did not have a camera handy.

Until this afternoon!

You can see it holding an object (probably some food item) as it enters the nest, remains only long enough to put away the object, exits the nest, and then scampers down and across to the second floor deck area.

Okay, so maybe it’s not that exciting to those of you who live in areas where wildlife is abundant, but hey, this is downtown Chicago and I’ll take what I can get in the way of critters. But no, I will not be filming urban rats as my next wildlife project!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 9 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 254 of 274)

Another TV break

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Please, please, please don’t spoil me on Mad Men! I now have three episodes to catch up on before we can talk, including tonight’s season finale. I’ve complained before about Comcast’s delay in adding Mad Men episodes to On Demand in a timely fashion, particularly the non-HD versions. When I last checked earlier tonight, last week’s episode still wasn’t available for either HD or non-HD.

One show I am completely caught up on is Sons of Anarchy. It’s only Sunday and I am already looking forward to Tuesday’s 90-minute episode. One of the most interesting and surprising things about Sons of Anarchy is the large number of non-bikers who have embraced the show. That is obviously a good thing for the future of the show (as evidenced by its strong ratings) because I doubt any show could survive very long with a niche audience only. But no, I meant watching those non-bikers discuss the show on any number of blogs and forums. And by discuss, I mean overanalyze based on misconceptions of the “biker lifestyle” as they perceive it. The funniest ones are those who think they know everything about outlaw bikers because they watched all the A&E Gangland biker episodes. Or because they are slightly acquainted with one, count ’em, one outlaw biker, or at least they think he is an outlaw biker because he wears a vest with something on the back.

I suppose I shouldn’t make fun of these people. I don’t know anything about their hobbies or lives either. Then again, I don’t go acting like I do know anything about… ummm… fly fishing, or bowling, or Formula One racing, or life in [insert country or region of U.S. that I have never lived in or even visited]. And I try not to post ridiculous stuff based on that lack of knowledge all over the internet. Except for here, of course. But this is my place!

Speaking of bikers, I guess I should say something about South Park and last week’s “The ‘F’ Word” episode. I think in general I’m way too old for South Park anyway, although I still find many uses for a quote from the original “Spirit of Christmas” episode: “Don’t belittle my people, [insert appropriate insult here]!” I actually use it quite a lot because a surprising number of people who would never make racial jokes about other minorities think it’s ok to make stupid flied lice/Engrish jokes about Asians. But I also don’t think the show is as funny as it used to be. Or maybe they are just too caught up in sending messages. Yeah, yeah, I get it. Using the word “fag” as a generic insult is Wrong and Not A Good Thing. You guys sure got GLAAD upset about how you sent that message, too.

But really, there weren’t that many big laughs in “The ‘F’ Word” other than bike curious (someone who hasn’t yet bought a Harley, but might be interested in buying one) and the bikers making motor noises with their mouths.

I am also somewhat surprised that I haven’t yet seen anything about legal action. Harley-Davidson is extremely protective of their trademarks. Although I would think that the use of the word “Harley” and the cartoon bikers and bikes as portrayed in South Park are well within the limits of free speech, I’ve thought that about other instances in which Harley-Davidson did file lawsuits. I also wonder what will come of the reference to “Hades’ Divinations” and the image on the patch.

Buh buh buh buh buh BUH BUH BAH BAH BAH!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 8 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 253 of 274)