Fish Fear Me

Rest In Peace, Sweetie

(Sammy the Wonder Dog, 6/23/1997-8/31/2009)

"Hey! Do you want a dog?"

It's been a bit over twelve years now since an envelope salesman spoke those words to me after we concluded some business. Sean was his name, and he had gotten himself into a bit of a pickle. It seems earlier that summer he had promised his parish priest back home in northern Minnesota that he would take a puppie from a litter that was due in June. Since then he had moved into an apartment building that didn't allow pets. Why he didn't just explain that to his priest wasn't entirely clear to me, but I think it had something to do with "living in sin" and avoiding that whole discussion. "You're going to Hell for lying to your priest and you want me to help?", I asked. He blushed a little and said, "Well, yeah."

I agreed and a couple of weeks later he brought me a little just-weaned bundle of fur. I originally was going to name her Nikki, but coincidentally I had just hired an intern named Nikki, and I thought that might be perceived as a little weird. So I picked Samantha, Sammy in reality, for no particular reason.

She was a smart dog and figured out the "do your business outside" thing pretty quickly. It was a few months before she was able to wait more than about four hours though. I felt like the parent of a newborn those first two months or so, as every night she would wake me up at about 2:00 A.M. to take her outside. I kind of wondered what I had gotten myself into, but that passed and we settled into a routine that would last 12 years.

She wasn't really a wonder dog, of course, and she didn't always mind me so well at home. In the field though, it was a different story. She always minded me when we were off tromping through the woods and always stayed within eyesight of me. I don't think she was afraid of the woods, it's just that she knew she wasn't anywhere close to home and she better not lose me. I had bought a shock collar for her when we first started hunting because I was afraid she would get the scent of a deer and run it. She never did though, and I never used that collar. I gave it to a friend a few years later.

I didn't train Sammy that much, I didn't need to. She got the basic commands down quickly and she easily became socialized to people and other pets. She had a sweet disposition and never bit or was aggressive toward anyone. Well, except for strangers at the door, who got greeted with a pretty ferocious sounding bark until she confirmed that they were okay. Out in the field and the woods she instinctively picked up what she needed to do. "Find the bird" was a part of her and she did it well for many years. I have no idea how many miles and hours we spent bushwacking our way through Superior National Forest for grouse or scaring up pheasants in Iowa. It was a lot, and those will be my fondest memories.

When she hurt herself somehow a few weeks ago I was afraid it was the worst. I had ruled out surgery at her age and so we did what we could to see if she would recover. She seemed to rebound a little the weekend before this past, but it didn't last long. By the end of last week she had stopped eating even my food and so I knew it was time. Like I told the vet this morning, "If your old dog won't even eat bacon, it's time."

I cried this morning as I held her head, but I take comfort in that she had a good and long life and many times she got to do what was in her genes. She was a good dog and I will miss her and our walks through the woods, just the two of us. But I have the memories and they are good ones.

Rest in peace, Sammy.

I'm Sorry, But It's Funny

Obamacare will soon be renamed as...

...ChappaquiddiCare.

May I suggest a tagline?

"It will take your breath away!"

Baseball History Sunday

It was a good weekend for milestones in baseball history.

First, Ken points out only the fifteenth unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history, accomplished by Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett. I don't care what team somebody plays for, that's pretty special. You can see the video at MLB's website here.

Also yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer make franchise history when he became the first Twin to hit two home runs in the same inning, one solo and one two-run shot. The Twins have had some pretty good power hitters over the years, so it's a little surprising to me that it had never happened before. Nice job, Michael.

Two Sides

You may have heard about that Sun Country flight from JFK to MSP that was delayed for six hours on Friday. On the heels of a Continental flight where passengers were stuck on a plane overnight at Rochester, the Sun Country delay created quite a stir here. I was aware that that flight was delayed on Friday because my niece, nephew, and brother-in-law were all stuck on it. I expected them to be angry and frustrated about the whole thing, but they are experienced travelers and pretty much took it in stride, saying that it wasn't that big a deal. So when I read the media reports about it yesterday, I talked to my 15-year-old nephew again, this time with the dead tree version of this story in my hand.

"This went on and on," said passenger John Nides, of Mendota Heights. "We just didn't have any communication. There was no presence from the staff saying this is what the deal was. So everybody was getting a little anxious."

Nephew: The pilot got on the speaker many times to tell us what was going on. We knew what the problem was.

Passenger Gary Kurth, of St. Paul, said the tedium didn't go down well with children.

"That was the worst thing, listening to those kids cry," Kurth said. "I felt bad for them."

Nephew: I didn't hear any kids crying. I was close to the front, but I walked back to see Dad and Sis several times and never heard or saw kids crying.

"There was nothing free, except for a glass of water," Nides said.

Nephew: I got free soda, but I had my own snacks so I was ok.

My nephew read that story himself and when finished, wondered aloud if those people quoted were on the same flight. I'm not casting aspersions on anyone here, I just think it's interesting how different the perspectives are.

Bemused

Late last week, I had figured that today I would almost certainly be scheduling Sammy's last appointment with the vet. But then a funny thing happened after I found peace with that: she started walking better on Saturday. Much better, in fact. I'm only half-kidding when I wonder if she grokked what I had been thinking and decided she doesn't want to go quite yet. She still isn't back to normal, but she may be at a tolerable point, and she still isn't eating as much as I would like. The improvement is such though, that I have to step back and see where this goes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see the improvement. But the roller coaster is tough.

Wanted: Tomato Sauce Recipes

If anyone is willing to share their favorite recipes for taking fresh tomatoes and making tomato sauce for use in spaghetti sauce(or other), I am all ears. I normally just use canned tomato sauce and tomato paste, but pretty soon now I'll have enough from the garden to do some homemade I think. So far I've only been eating them in salads, but I'd like to give making sauce a try.

Out Of The Blue...er, Gray

Hmmm. In what is a rarity around these parts, it looks like the National Weather Service got caught with its pants down this afternoon. We were getting fairly heavy rain today, but with the temps only in the upper sixties it was shaping up to just be a rainmaker and not much else. As I was driving around a little bit ago, all of a sudden I heard something on the radio about a tornado and people were calling in reports of funnel clouds and wind damage in several spots around the metro area. It appears there were no warnings at all. I heard the sirens go off shortly after that, but it looks like that was about five or ten minutes after the fact. All I saw was heavy rain where I was at, with very little wind.

A strange storm and a very rare miss from the local NWS office. It will be interesting to hear the explanation.

The Obligatory Brett Favre Post

Joke:

Better joke?:

Some of my fellow Minnesotans went insane yesterday when the word spread like wildfire that Brett Favre had signed with the Vikings:

"There he is, right there, with the No. 4 in red by the tree," Lamando, 37, hollered to those who also came to witness Favre's arrival with their own eyes. "How can you miss him? He's the only guy with all gray hair. But at least he has hair. We love you Brett! Brett Favre forever! Wooo!"

Oy. I hate to be a wet blanket here, I really do, but I am so far unimpressed. I am unimpressed by the antics that I think were purely designed to avoid the mini-camps and training camp that every other player has to go through. I was unimpressed with the news conference last evening where Favre seemed strangely passionless and arrogant at the same time. I am unimpressed that the Vikings have guaranteed Favre $12 million dollars and then it was revealed that he has a rotator cuff tear.

However, the man will get the opportunity to change all of that and if he does, then more power to him. I'll be more than happy to give him his due...when he earns it. Until then, spare me the insanity.

(Update) You tell him Fran:

"We have responsibilities we're just not athletes that are in it all for ourself, football, is it not a team game? Isn't it all about team ... and here comes Brett Favre riding in on his white horse, doesn't go to training camp, doesn't come to offseason workouts and he's gonna come on his white horse and bond with all these players."

He may. I read something earlier about how players are far more mercenary now than in Fran's day, and how many will accept him if he can give them a shot at a Super Bowl ring. Well, that may be true, but he's going to have to deliver for it to last.  We'll find out.

Catch Up

A couple of items I've been neglecting to update on here:

Sammy: It's been up and down, day-by-day. She didn't eat much yesterday, and even the brown-and-serve sausage grease couldn't get her to eat this morning, which was pretty shocking. I turned to drastic measures and bought canned Alpo on my way home from work tonight and mixed about a third of a can into her food. She wolfed it down like you wouldn't believe. And before that I took her outside on her leash and she pooped for the first time in two days. Sorry about mentioning that, but you know, that's one of those basic but important things. She's still limping badly, and I just don't know. I've made an appointment with the vet to see her Thursday morning to help me assess things. Regardless of what we decide, and I'm leaking a little while I type this, she'll come home with me for at least a day so that if it is the worst, some people can come over and say goodbye.

Garden: The tomatoes are finally ripening and I'm not even close to getting sick of them. So far I've had about a dozen of them and there's more to come. I declare a success there. The onions are a little stunted, but very good. I've also gotten two green peppers that rocked and I'm having salads every night these days. Despite the failures, I've learned a lot this year and now have a better handle on what I need to do for next year. First and foremost is to lock out the terrorist bunnies. The little bastards don't know how to share, so the heck with them.

Road construction: The worst of the road construction is over and the base layer of asphalt is down so the dust is much less now. The project guy for the sidewalk stuff finally stopped by this morning and said he wouldn't touch the front steps, but he would do the two remaining 4'X4" blocks of front walk for $100. Sold. I don't have to do the front steps anyway, though it would have been nice. It sounds like next week I'll lose parking in my driveway for about a week, but the city guy says it will be no problem to park on the street in front, as they will wait for the finish layers of asphalt until the sidewalk and the part they are doing on my driveway are set. The next thing to worry about is how they handle the landscaping, because they have dug into the slope of the hill along the front sidewalk, and will need to grade the new front walkway since they are removing the step and making it a ramp. I will definitely have to watch that carefully.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Wow. I'm going to read it again, but a piece I read this morning at The Atlantic is probably the smartest and most honest take on health care that I've read all year. Earlier today I posed a number of questions about how health care payments work and I think this answered just about all of them, if it is accurate. If nothing else, I think it's an excellent place to start a discussion about the real health care reform that we need, and not the ham-handed reform that is being discussed right now.

The premise here is this(emphasis mine):

Indeed, I suspect that our collective search for villains—for someone to blame—has distracted us and our political leaders from addressing the fundamental causes of our nation’s health-care crisis. All of the actors in health care—from doctors to insurers to pharmaceutical companies—work in a heavily regulated, massively subsidized industry full of structural distortions. They all want to serve patients well. But they also all behave rationally in response to the economic incentives those distortions create. Accidentally, but relentlessly, America has built a health-care system with incentives that inexorably generate terrible and perverse results. Incentives that emphasize health care over any other aspect of health and well-being. That emphasize treatment over prevention. That disguise true costs. That favor complexity, and discourage transparent competition based on price or quality. That result in a generational pyramid scheme rather than sustainable financing. And that—most important—remove consumers from our irreplaceable role as the ultimate ensurer of value.

I think that's a valid premise, but read the whole thing to see his case for yourself. It's a fairly long read, but well worth it.

David Goldhill, the author, offers a way forward that is radically different than what is being discussed right now and openly acknowledges that it would be difficult to implement. I'm not sure if I agree with him at this point, but it seems to me to be a realistic alternative to more government, more taxes, less competition, and continued spiraling costs. It makes a lot more sense to me than what we are currently discussing.

Hence, it probably doesn't have a chance.