Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

Fireworks and jagoffs

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I grew up in a time and place where fireworks were completely legal, and considered essential to many ethnic and non-ethnic celebrations. My paternal grandfather supposedly knew pyrotechnics, how to make the fireworks and how to get the different colors and effects, but it was not something any of his sons picked up on.

As an adult, I still enjoy a quality aerial display. One memory that sticks with me (good thing, too, it’s something I could never have photographed) was of a July 4 many years ago. I was riding my motorcycle, heading home from the Chain o’ Lakes to the north side of Chicago. I left as darkness was falling, which was not the safest time to leave, but it turned out to be the most spectacular time that day as I saw part of just about every fireworks display in every town between Fox Lake and Chicago as I headed home.

What I do not like is the jagoffs who insist on blowing off fireworks starting three or four days before, and continuing to three or four days after New Year’s Day or the Fourth of July. What I hate even more is the even bigger jagoffs who try to scare kids or animals with said fireworks. It’s been 15 years, and I still get mad when I think of one of our neighbors who purposely lit off a firecracker to scare our 4-month old Rottweiler puppy. His life really hasn’t gone well in the years since then, and you know what, karma is a bitch, isn’t it?

I feel lucky that none of our past or present dogs or cats are seriously frightened of fireworks. Even that puppy got over it quickly and she grew up to be one of the most rock-steady dogs I’ve ever had. The ones who are slightly afraid are fine as long as we don’t make them come out from under the bed against their will. Freya and Axel are convinced we are at war and that they must defend our home and yard from incoming attacks. Needless to say, they spend a lot of time indoors until the “war” is over. Thanks, guys, but I wish you would listen to the part about “there is no war here.”

It’s still only the second, and some of the neighborhood jagoffs are already blowing stuff up. I know it’s wrong, but I really am hoping something bad happens to them. I will not feel sorry for any of them who get burned or blow off one or two digits, and I just hope no innocent bystanders get hurt in the process.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 2 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 159 of 274)

Another month, another NaBloPoMo

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Another month has begun. It is July 1, and temperatures have ranged from the high 50s to low 60s throughout the day and night. That’s right, July, in Chicago. I don’t think record lows were set, but it hasn’t been this cold on July 1 since the 1930s. So much for global warming.

I’ve been participating in NaBloPoMo for most of this year, which means I’ve written something here every day so far this year, except during the month of February.

I’m still not totally convinced that I have enough to say, or rather, enough worthwhile and interesting things to say, to blog daily. But as I read through the information glut that is 2009 on the web, having nothing worthwhile to say doesn’t seem to stop most people from saying it anyway. So I’m certainly not alone, and unlike some of those people, at least I spell most of my drivel correctly. So there.

NaBloPoMo has an optional theme every month, and the July theme is “routine.” That’s something I’m finding difficult to apply to blogging, although I know it will help me once I do. Unfortunately, so far my so-called blogging routine consists of watching the 10:00 PM news, flailing around for an interesting topic to write about (sometimes the news helps with this, but not usually since I’m not a political or current events blogger), and trying to put together a couple hundred mostly coherent words before bedtime.

Could use improvement, huh? Maybe we’ll run with that “routine” theme and work on getting some better routines in place for blogging, dog training, and computer maintenance this month.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 1 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 158 of 274)

Li hing mui margarita lost in the vast midwestern wasteland

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I’ve never seen a li hing mui margarita in the wild anywhere in the vast midwestern wasteland. And we do have a few bars or restaurants here where you’d think they might be hiding.

I don’t think they are as popular as they used to be in Hawaii either. On our last trip to Honolulu in February, I was horrified to find out that the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s beachside Mai Tai Bar no longer serves them. How can the famous pink hotel cut a pink drink from its menu? That is just plain wrong.

Oh. Li hing mui is Chinese preserved dried plum. It’s sweet, sour and salty.

There are still a lot of recipes for li hing mui margaritas available online, and I did think far enough ahead to buy some li hing mui powder on one of our Honolulu trips. It took a while to go through the recipes as I was simply not interested in anything frozen with extra fruit.

My days of tequila shots are far in the past, and even the “correct” margarita mix that is 50% tequila just doesn’t work for me these days because it makes it too easy for the Rottweilers to knock me over. Although it might be a surprise to anyone who knew me back when, I picked a recipe that ended up being only 20% tequila: Homemade Li Hing Margarita from House of Annie.

I did make my own sweet and sour mix, too, but with Rose’s Lime Juice and ReaLemon instead of fresh squeezed juices. My tequila was Jose Cuervo Silver (my favorite is actually Herradura Silver) and my orange liqueur was Cointreau.

So my drink ended up being:

2 oz. sweet and sour mix
1 oz. Jose Cuervo Silver tequila
1 oz. Cointreau orange liqueur
1 oz. Rose’s Lime Juice
1/4 tsp. li hing mui powder (this goes in the drink; what goes on the rim is extra)

I like to mix some kosher salt with li hing mui powder for the rim of the glass. I know not everyone agrees with that, but it was my drink.

And it was really good!

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 30 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 157 of 274)

Gratuitous dog promotion

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Maybe even slightly pointless dog promotion, because Axe is currently on “summer vacation” and won’t be back strutting his stuff and playing the showdog game until fall. So I will be promoting him again right before he goes out on the road.

For now, though, I am still going to make you look at my wonderful dog’s latest advertisement which will be running in Issue 2 of The Total Rottweiler Magazine, due out sometime in July. Behold the beauty that is Axe!

axel_trm_issue2_09

click image for full-sized PDF version

I said last week that I would have more to say on show dogs and handlers, after the awful incident in which seven show dogs died due to what I would consider criminally negligent actions on the part of their handler.

Axel’s handler, Julia Foster, is a total professional. Axel adores her and thinks she is family, not “just” someone who is paid to show him (please do not let him read this and spoil his illusions). I trust her with not only his career, but his life. I could not imagine her ever putting client dogs in an awful situation like the one we talked about last week.

I would love to be able to show my own dog, but this is not an area in which I have any talent or skills. I have almost tripped over my own dog in the obedience ring. God knows what would happen in the conformation ring where I’d have to actually run with a dog. Competition in Rottweilers is serious enough that even a good and deserving dog won’t win with a clueless person like myself on the other end of the lead.

So in the fall, Axel will be heading back out to the shows with Julia, and hopefully he will come back quickly as an American champion. Yes, it was a big decision to send him out with a handler, and yes, I still believe it is the right one for us.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 29 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 156 of 274)

Where were you when…

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During the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death last week by the mainstream and “new” media and around the blogosphere (you know, I really don’t like that word), there were more than a few instances where people said “I will always remember where I was when I heard the news of Michael Jackson’s passing.”

For me personally, it was not a “where were you when…” moment. I always thought those should be reserved for, well, more historical moments than the passing of an entertainer, no matter how significant. But then again, who am I to say what should be important to you?

The events in my lifetime that I would consider my “where were you when…” moments include President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 (five years old, home from school, adults all in shock, all of us glued to television or radio), astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969 (another glued to the television moment), the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 (working midnights, in a bar after work that morning, watching the news, then dead silence and someone dropped a glass and it seemed to shatter forever) and 9-11-2001. There are many other historical or personally significant moments that occurred between 1960 and now, but those are the few I consider most significant.

There were also a number of comparisons between Elvis Presley’s death and Michael Jackson’s death. August 1977 was the summer after my freshman year in college. That is a long time ago, and I don’t really consider it a “where were you when…” moment, but I do remember it well enough to marvel at how the internet and social media has really changed how many of us get our news.

I first heard of Elvis’ death in the car on the radio, and got more of the story later on television and from the newspaper. I first heard of Michael Jackson’s death on Twitter, and maybe it was just the old people like me who were also tweeting that we were waiting to hear it confirmed by some “real” media, which apparently means someone other than TMZ. I was leaving work, so my “real” media confirmation came from the CBS affiliate radio station WBBM rather than any of the usual online sources.

Hmmmm. So maybe things haven’t changed as much as I thought. But it is still fascinating how many of us got our initial report on Twitter, and went to other online sources first to get more information. We did turn on the television at work, but most of our hunt for news was done online.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’09: 28 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 155 of 274)