My Dog Chasing Squirrels

I've probably written about this before. I know I've described it to friends and family before.

I have a dog who loves to go to the park and chase squirrels. You're not technically supposed to let your dog run in the park, so maybe I shouldn't be writing this. I explained it to her, and she said it's not fair, why are the squirrels allowed to run free? I thought, yes, good point.

At least my dog's had her shots and she has me, her owner, right there with her. The squirrels likely have never been to the vet ... and they're simply wild, no one to control them by commands or motions.

So she runs free ... sometimes. Like if there's a lot of squirrels.

That's what she loves to do, chase squirrels. Fortunately she doesn't catch them. But she gets a lot of exercise chasing them. I love to see the look of recognition, when you know she's seen one. She moves closer to the ground in a flash, and is running with all her might. She's pretty fast, too. Just not quite fast enough.

Darn, missed another one!

Slowing Down On Ripping CDs

I mentioned the Beatles CDs yesterday that I haven't heard yet, the new ones.

I have lots of CDs that I'm not hearing. It seems like the older I get, the busier I get. It seems like I used to have lots more time for leisure things, like listening to records. Some of it's my own fault. I come up with projects that I want to finish, take on responsibilities, etc.

There for a while I was trying to rip all my CDs, put them on one of my big 1 T hard drives. But even that is time consuming. It wouldn't be so bad if they would just rip flawlessly, tag themselves perfectly, get the artwork, etc. But they don't.

So to rip a CD the right way, you have a lot of manual labor, tinkering with them endlessly to make the tags right, the artwork decent, on and on.

Then I sit back and say, Why rip them all? Just rip them as you want to hear them. Save time. Smart thinking actually. The CD is a hard copy. It's there if you need it.

No More Beatles Mentions?

I haven't heard anyone mention the Beatles for a few days. Really not much since the big day of 9-9-09.

I have the CDs, got them on the 10th. I've listened to numerous things off them. I haven't heard everything yet. I'm very busy, doing this, doing that. I've had, for example, a real full day today.

But I'm about ready to wrap it up. Do a few more things online, then who knows? Actually I'll probably read. But I do have that stack of Beatles CDs aren't going to listen to themselves.

It's strange, though. It's such a big deal. It's The Beatles. They get a ton of publicity for a few days, then BOOM, the bottom falls out. No more mentions.

If we forget The Beatles, what's the chances of any of us being remembered?

Gmail Was Down?

I heard Gmail was down a couple days ago ... again.

I have some Gmail accounts, but I guess I've been hitting it OK. Whenever I happen to check one of them everything seems to be working fine. I'm just not there all the time though.

It all ties in together. If one part of the internet goes down, it affects other parts. I don't know if that's the way it is with Gmail or not. Or if it has something to do with what was afflicting Twitter a month or so ago, that kind of attack.

I'm just glad it all works as well as it does. It's like a car, only worse. There's so many things that can go wrong, it's a wonder we ever get anywhere.

Whoever's in charge of Gmail ... peddle faster!

Republicans Desecrating The Flag

Can you believe it? Did you happen to catch this story, about Chuck Norris advocating desecrating the American flag to make some kind of political point?

This is weird. First, he advocates that his deranged brethren on the right fringe simply fly some other flag instead of the American flag. Like "Do Not Tread On Me" or something like that. Second, that if they insist on using the American flag, stain it with tea, which will somehow give them solidarity with the Founding Fathers!

When's the last time I heard something that weird? Well, one time I toured a mental hospital and I heard lots of strange things. But I digress...

This is weird, weird, weird. Aren't these yahoos the same people who spent the Bush years shouting "USA! USA! USA!"? Aren't these people the same ones who insisted on flag pins for all patriotic candidates? And I don't think they meant "Do Not Tread On Me" flags or stained ones. Aren't these the same people who claimed to be so out and out patriotic? They stomped the Dixie Chicks in the dust for one little peep of protest.

Is there some psychological condition or state -- I believe there is -- where you go so far one way that you are eventually going the opposite way? Maybe this is it. Or some psychological thing where you project all your bad qualities on someone else -- like those derned lib'ruls -- then eventually you're doing the very thing you supposedly hated them for? Whatever it is, it's mental.

But watch the political balance eventually swing the other way. Then they'll be right back in the thick of it. Any supposed slight against the flag will be met with their hypocritical self-righteousness once again. We just have to make sure that never happens. To have these sickos in charge again? That was too much to live with for the last eight years.

But whatever happens, we will never let them forget. The so-called conservatives were the ones advocating flag desecration. The so-called patriots were the ones advocating secession from the Union. Why do they do all this nonsense? Do they think we're not going to remember?

Chuck Norris ... one strange guy.

The Lost Symbol

I got the book by Dan Brown.

It's a little unusual for me. I don't usually buy books like this. But I decided to go for it.

I heard "The DaVinci Code" read on CD. This time I decided to give my ears a rest and use my eyes.

So we'll see how that goes. I'm up around chapter 4. It's supposed to be a page turner. So I'm hoping pretty soon I'll be reading a lot faster than I have been.

One thing I'm looking for when I read these days is where to put commas and other punctuation. Commas is my main concern, since I'm always writing these little blog entries and wondering if I'm getting the commas in the right places.

I think I'm doing better.

Nature Doesn't Work At It

I was out taking some nature pictures today, being the first day of Fall. I wanted to get some shots of trees, scenery, whatever was in the area. An old bridge, a running stream, a river, my dog, etc.

There's all this stuff that makes for great pictures. Like if you want the changing of the colors, it's there. The running stream, always a great one to pose. Moss on trees, strange looking flowers, a bumblebee sucking on some yellow flowers, interesting weeds, faded and crackly, the river flowing through sand, on and on.

Even when it's not beautiful, it's beautiful. Like the muddy banks of a creek and sticks laying all helter skelter, like where they've just accumulated.

One thing to say ... for the most part it's just happening. Nothing's out there working at it trying to get the pose exactly right.

Then I try to take a picture of myself and I'm all self-conscious.

The Lingerie Football League?

How is it I missed this one, that there's a Lingerie Football League? I know I'm not a sports fan and don't pay that much attention to it, but still it seems like I would've heard of this before now.

Checking it out on You Tube, there's quite a few videos. But I saw this little story today. And that's the first I heard of it.

It seems like a gimmick whose time has come. But I wonder how long it'll last. It reminds me of G.L.O.W., the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling show that was on sometime -- like in late '80s or very early '90s. That was a cool show.

The lingerie in the link above doesn't look all that sexy. It's looks industrial strength. But some of the shots in the video (which is a crappy video, by the way) looks more lingerie-ish.

Tomorrow's The Last Day Of Summer

Time to put the Beach Boys' CDs away. No more summer! Well, one more day, give or take a few hours.

It's been a fast summer in many ways, sped right by. It wasn't exactly the hottest summer on record, maybe the coolest ... not counting the last Ice Age.

As for my swimming, I only made it to the municipal pool four times. Four stinking times. And guess what, I bought a season pass. So that means I overspent. And my outings were all very short, less than an hour. Meaning, without calculating, I paid enough I should've been swimming in bottled water.

But the weather never really cooperated. Or there were some other problems. The pump broke. Then the other pump broke. And I think terrorists stole the diving board one day, so naturally the pool had to be closed.

There is, though, more to summer than swimming. So I did plenty of other things. Mostly for minutes at a time, trying to avoid the sun and bugs.

Ah, you know what, welcome fall! Summer's never all it's cracked up to be, no matter how much we enjoy it.

Animals That Wouldn't Eat

My dog and cat freaked me out last night. I gave them their food and they both turned their nose up at it. Very weird. They usually dive in.

It made me think maybe there was something in the air, a strange air pressure or something, or some biorhythm thing only they can sense.

Eventually the dog worked on it and ate hers. The cats' food was still there in the evening. It was still there this morning.

But then tonight, Saturday, they all ate their food like normal. (The cats get wet food in the morning too, and they ate theirs this morning like normal.)