Rants

Categories Gardening, Nothing Much, Rants, Solar Power

I’m having one of “those” weeks…..

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It could be ever so much worse, but still.

The last 5 days in a row we were predicted to get rain, potentially a lot of it.  We got a sprinkle once.  Looking at the weather map it looks like there were actually storms, but they ended up going around my immediate area somehow.  For 5 days in a row.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m thrilled that the yard has finally dried up enough for me to mow completely.  But it also means that I’m having to water the garden…..

Monday in particular was extra “interesting”. 

Monday we received a notice from the state that we were being audited due to our claim of getting solar panels put up in 2012.  We have 30 days to provide them with the paperwork to prove the claim or they’ll cancel the refund.  Never mind that I included copies of almost everything they’re requiring with the tax paperwork……So now we’re digging through files and muttering rude words as we discover that this or that piece of paper didn’t get filed properly.  We’ve got it all, but it’s still frustrating as heck.

After spending an hour digging through files and getting frustrated I went out to go spend an hour or so in the garden since I find that generally calming.  Keeping the volunteer clover from taking over is pretty much a constant chore anyway, and after the discovery of the giant zucchini hiding under the clover in that tire I’ve been trying to work my way around the various beds to at least thin the clover enough to be sure I don’t have to many other surprises waiting for me.  Everything was going smoothly till I grabbed a specific clump of clover in one of the cantaloupe tires.

There are yellow jackets nesting in that particular tire.  Under that specific clump of clover.  Immediately adjacent to a ripening pumpkin and a still growing cantaloupe.

And yup, I got stung.

Today’s Wednesday and I’m still swallowing the max dose of benadryl in order to keep the swelling down and itching from driving me crazy.

I hate using general insecticides in the garden.  I have, after much work, finally managed to have enough pollinators in the yard to ensure proper pollination of everything.  And the last thing I want to do is kill them.  But I’m not going to try to work around a nest of stinging insects either, even if we didn’t have family who’re allergic.  ESPECIALLY when the nest is immediately adjacent to two growing fruits that will have to be picked before TO much longer.  I picked up a bottle of concentrated permethrin, and have already treated the nest area once.  I’m being extra careful to ensure it doesn’t get onto any flowers or the like, but I’m still not happy about it.

I’m just hoping the rest of the week goes a bit smoother…….

Categories Dog, Online Idiots, Rants

Dogs in Cars

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Yes, dogs die in hot cars.  And yes, there are climates where, for most of the year, even parking in the shade with the windows for just a few minutes down may not be enough to keep the dog cool enough.  And yes, they cook to death in the heat.

But lets clear a few things up.  Cause this is just ridiculous.

First off, dogs don’t suffocate in cars.  I have yet to see a single consumer vehicle that actually seals air tight.  Maybe some of the newest high end fancy cars with extra good sound insulation are (though I doubt it, cause what car maker wants to be sued because you suffocated in their car).  But certainly the average car on the road isn’t.  A dog in a car with the windows rolled up isn’t going to suffocate to death.  No matter what the weather conditions.

Second, even in the hottest climates in the USA, if the dog is in a car that has been left with the AC going the dog is not going to overheat.

And in much of the rest of the country, parking in the shade with the windows most of the way down is plenty on all but the insanely hottest of days to keep a healthy dog from overheating.

And if the car owner has put up shading and a fan and water then the dog is REALLY  not going to overheat.

Oh, and while we’re at it, “panting” alone is not a sign that a dog is overheating.  Yes, I know that the little blurbs that the media keeps putting out say that “panting” is a sign of overheating.  You know what?  They’re fucking stupid.  Dogs pant for MANY more reasons than just because they’re hot.  Stress or excitement can cause panting.  You coming over to pound on the window and stare at the dog could be enough to cause a sensitive dog to start panting.  And even it the dog is panting because its warm it doesn’t mean he’s overheating.  A dog who pops up to greet you isn’t overheating.  Even if he’s panting.  Even if he’s fussing at you.  A dog doesn’t sweat, he pants instead.  Just like us humans can be sweating (even sweating alot) without being in danger of heat stroke, a dog can be panting (even panting alot) without being in danger of heat stroke.

A dog who’s panting due to overheating is ALSO going to be flat on the floor or footwell of the car in the only shade he can find, and he’s NOT likely to pop to his feet to greet you.  A dog who’s panting due to overheating will ALSO be drooling excessively.

You know what causes a dog to crash suddenly from overheating?  Assholes who can’t mind their own business and so over-excite the dog by pounding on the window and calling the dog and exciting the dog to the point where he overheats himself in his excitement and crashes.  Yes, by repeatedly “checking on the dog” you could cause him to overheat and potentially die.  So back off asshole.

And third……I keep seeing it reported that there are 16 states where it’s illegal to leave your dog in the car.  Do any of those folks actually bother to READ the laws they’re reporting on?

In 15 of those 16 states the laws  specifically require that the dog be left in such a way that harm or death will result in order for it to be illegal.  And in case you somehow got to this paragraph without reading the above, no, leaving your dog in the car does not automatically sentence him to death.

The only state with laws specific to dogs in cars that doesn’t have that provision is Tennessee.  And even in Tennessee you’d better be willing to swear under oath that you believed the animal was in imminent danger of death.  Unfortunately there are idiots who think that any dog left in any car regardless of anything else is in danger, which makes laws like this one dangerous.  

Now, I keep seeing online commentary that there are individual cities with laws prohibiting dogs in cars.  I’ve yet to actually be able to find any such law.  Several have laws similar to the above mentioned 15 states, where leaving a dog in a car in a manner that will result in harm or death is specifically prohibited, but again that’s not the same thing.  Mind, apparently even some responding police seem to be unaware of the difference, but that’s what the laws state.

In addition, not one of these so-called rescuers seems to care what the impact of “being rescued” can have on the dog.  There are many many dogs who are not stranger friendly, or who will guard their owner’s car, or who will even bite when cornered.  And contrary to popular opinion many dogs don’t give a care what your intentions are, all they know is that some stranger just smashed the window and is now cornering them in the back of the car…..it’s only a matter of time before some “rescuer” is bitten in the process of trying to “rescue” a dog who doesn’t need it.  And in many many areas that bite is a death sentence for the dog.  Especially since it would be considered “unprovoked” in the minds of many people. 

Now sure, in an ideal world no dog would ever be left in a car unattended.  But even the best laid plans can fail, and a bout of diarrhea on the way home from a 45minute trip can require an emergency bathroom break.  And a 5minute sit in the car unattended is nothing compared to the benefits of being able to spend the rest of their day with their human in the minds of many dogs (and owners).  Have you ever gone to a canine sporting event?  Very few facilities have the space to allow indoor crating of every single dog participating.  Heck, if it’s an outdoor event there may not be ANY indoor crating space.  And yet the number of canine deaths from heatstroke at these events is astronomically tiny (and even then, it tends to be after the event, on the way home, that it’s an issue).  

So lets stop this hysteria, all its doing is harming the dogs and the responsible owners who are caring for them!

Categories Rants

Rain…..

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You know, when you talk about moving to central/upstate NY, everyone warns you about the snow.  Not only does the area get large total amounts of snow, but it gets lake effect snow, which is a special torture all of its own.

And a little research will tell you that the Syracuse area is one of the least sunny areas of the country.

Nobody tells you about the rain.  I suppose it ought to follow along with the previous two bits of trivia, but somehow it never does.

Its not till you move to the area that you learn that almost half of Syracuse is a flood zone.  They’re currently arguing with the Feds about whether those folks have to buy flood insurance or not.

That I81 itself floods to the point if not being drive-able, and if the rain is hard enough it’ll happen so fast you’ll end up stranded in the middle of it.  Seriously, go look at that picture.  Those cars didn’t drive into a “flooded road”, they were ON the road when it flooded.  To top it off various morons in charge want to turn I81 into a tunnel under the city.

We’re not quite breaking records for rainfall this month.  But we’re in the top 10.  There’s a reason my garden is all in raised beds.  My yard is a swamp.

I don’t want the drought conditions the west has, but I’d be happy if we could just have an average rainfall…..please!

Categories Rants

Economy…..

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Saw an article not to long ago (no, I didn’t save it, wasn’t intending to blog on it) about how even with the lower gas prices the general public wasn’t spending more money on “extras” than they were before.

They had a whole list of reasons as to why the author thought that was the case. 

But they missed the one I thought most obvious.

When gas prices skyrocketed, very shortly afterwards the prices on everything else started going up.  Meaning that consumers were not only paying for the higher gas prices at the gas pumps, but also at the grocery stores, and clothing stores…..

When gas prices came down (we dropped below $3/gallon for the first time in how many years??  Hell, I don’t think we’d even been below $3.25/gallon for that period!) nothing else dropped in price.

Husband and I did some math, and we’re saving, on average, about $20/car/fillup, which means about $40/week for the household.  Although we’d both noticed with delight the lower gas prices, neither of us noticed that $40 a week.  Not really.  It got added into the grocery and sundry budget before either of us so much as thought about it.  Hey, we can have a once a month ordered out pizza again!

Sure, $40 a week is $2080 a year.  Which I suppose has the potential to be a nice vacation or something.  But I’ve got far better things to spend that on.  Its not “extra money”.  And it’d take a hell of a lot larger savings at the gas pump (for a much longer period of time) before I’d even consider calling it that.

So, why am I blogging about this now?

Yesterday I bought sugar.  

I don’t buy sugar that often, infact its been a couple months since the last time I bought it.  The name brand stuff has been packaged as 4lb bags (instead of hte former 5lb bags) for a couple years now at least.  But the Wegmans brand sugar was still 5lb bags last time I paid attention to the label.

Yesterday, I noticed that the Wegmans brand sugar was packaged in 4lb bags, for just about the same price I remember paying last time I was sure it was a 5lb bag.  Now its possible it was like that last time I bought sugar and I didn’t notice.  But it hasn’t been like that for much longer than that, because I DO try to notice.

Not only are the prices on “other stuff” not dropping to match the gas prices, they’re still going up.

And “they” are wondering why we aren’t spending our “extra money” on things like big vacations……

Categories Rants

Blanket Training……

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*sigh*

I try, hard, to stay away from “reality TV”.  Because if I watch even a few minutes of it I find myself wanting to give into the desire to smash the TV and pound my  head into a wall.

This means that I didn’t follow the Duggars either.  I knew who they were, couldn’t avoid that, but I otherwise tried hard to not pay much attention to them or their TV show.

Which means that when the publicity storm hit that the eldest son was a rapist, I took a deep breath and ignored it.  And when the fact came out that he’d been 14 at the time, and it was more like “force-able touching” than rape, and his parents hadn’t even gotten proper counseling for him or their daughters I did the same.

I wasn’t quite able to ignore their interview with whoever it was about the subject, and ended up reading the transcript of the interview.  Got very frustrated at the religious stupidity of people (“well, all of our friends’ sons did it so we figured it wasn’t a big deal” gggrrrrrr, no, it means you and your community FAILED MASSIVELY at teaching the moral/religious concepts you’re so proud of!), and then took another deep breath and turned in a different direction.  Adding my voice to the mess was pointless, I’m sure they’re ignoring the large majority of it anyway.

Two days ago THIS blog article popped up on my news feed.  Since it wasn’t immediately obviously attached to the Duggars and I was bored I clicked through.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that thats a “thing” in the child rearing world.  Nor that certain strict thought processes insist that if the child isn’t happy they’re shaming their parents.

Look, I think the average teenager today has both too much freedom and not enough.  They lack learning in responsibility and consequences, and I dread the day that those kids are adults who are helping form the society for their kids.

I don’t have a problem with “place” training for dogs.  Which is likely what the “blanket training” is based off of.

Nor do I have a problem with a properly placed and timed swat on the rear of a misbehaving child.

But…..there’s a point at which things are taken to far……and the Duggars and others who follow those methods have found that point.

 

Categories Rants

News!

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A week ago today I noticed police sirens approaching my house at a fairly high rate of speed.  Glanced out the window in time to see a tan car with out of state plates fly by, taking the 90degree turn just past my driveway at about 50, follow closely by two state police cars, lights and sirens going.  

Less than a minute later a state police SUV followed, also with full lights and sirens.

Shortly behind him was a county sheriff’s car.  Also lit up and loud.

And a minute later an unmarked black SUV also came flying through, hidden lights flashing, sirens going (that was interesting, didn’t know any of the local police had an unmarked black SUV….).

The whole crew made an additional 90degree turn (still doing 50) onto the only street leading off of mine in that direction, and just before they got out of my range of vision I saw one of the original pair of state cops try to pass the tan car.

Chatting on Facebook about it, a friend, who happens to live a couple miles further down that road, commented that they’d all blown by her, still in hot pursuit of the tan car, and that the tan car had narrowly missed t-boning a truck when it blew through the stop sign…..

Not one of the local or semi local news places carried so much as a blurb on it.  

 

For the last 3 days at work I’ve had customers asking me “did they ever get the ducklings out of the storm drain???”.  Turns out that on my day off last week the police and DPW ended up shutting down over half of the (major thoroughfare) lanes of the road that the store is on in order to try to pull up a storm grate to get a bunch of ducklings out of the storm drain.  Right infront of the store.

Not one of the local news places carried so much as a blurb on it.

 

*sigh*  I know that in the over all scheme of things ducklings in a storm drain falls into the “cutsy and stupid” category, but when that many people want to know what happened its probably worth running a few seconds on it on the news that night (especially since it basically shut down a major road for several hours).  And a high speed chase out in the “rural farmlands that aren’t anywhere near the city” (*rolls eyes*) doesn’t really impact city life……but really??  And in the mean time the news media is full of pieces on the midnight closing of the local Toby Keith’s restaurant……

Categories Rants

Ow…..

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Last year my mother was diagnosed with a particularly nasty form of an immune disorder.  Like, a large portion of people aren’t diagnosed with it till they “end up in a coma in the hospital with their system shutting down” nasty.  Which makes my mother incredibly lucky since she never got anywhere near that bad.  But in retrospect she’d been experiencing symptoms of it for at least a couple years prior, and they’re struggling to get it under control now.

Needless to say, when the doctor informed her that this significantly increased my chances of having an immune related disorder, she added in the fact that I’ve been dealing with arthritis in both of my  hands, and had a bit of a freak out.

I wasn’t nearly as worried, other than my hands and screwed up knees I have essentially zero symptoms that match up with any of the immune related problems I’d looked at.  But when my mom’s youngest sister’s bloodwork came back as “highly likely you have an immune disorder but we can’t figure out which one” I agreed that I probably ought to see a rheumatologist.  After all, if nothing else, at least one could make sure I was coping properly with the achy hands…..

It took 3 months from my doctor sending in the referral to my appointment with the specialist.  I rolled my eyes and thought that it was a good thing I wasn’t actually experiencing any real problems.  But when I actually got into the office I discovered that they are actually just that busy.  Oh, and instead of sending out the questionnaire they want filled out to you ahead of time, you’re required to wait to fill it out till you’re in the office because they use a fancy computerized pen to record your answers so that no one has to data entry it.  Which is cool, except that it’s my HANDS that hurt, which means that holding a pen for extended periods hurts…..*gripe grumble*

Doctor was a nice fellow who’s new to the practice (they need to add at least one more though, to cope with the patient load….), got on my case about never having seen a dermatologist about my adult acne (honestly, unless I’m having a flair up, its rarely more than a few spots, so I’d never really thought about it, though the times my doctor tried to do something about medically the treatments only worked for a short time).  He agreed that based on the bloodwork already done, combined with my lack of symptoms, my chances of having what my mother has are pretty much nill.  Made me flex various joints, asked me if my ankles ever bother me (nope, but I did sprain the hell out of them as a kid).  He put in for a bunch more bloodwork, and some xrays.  Come see me in 6 weeks to discuss the results.  

First available appointment is for EIGHT weeks, yes they’re that busy, and I head down for bloodwork and xrays.  Xrays of my hands, and my kne….ankles??  Wasn’t expecting that.  My ankles never bother me!  But ok, if that’s what he wants…..

A week later I’m starting my new job.  One that once again requires me to be on my feet all day.  Been there, done that, more times than I can count.  I know it takes some time to re-adapt to being on my feet after several months out of work, feet hurt, and knees hurt, and the nerve under where they did the lateral release on my left knee gets irritated, due to swelling from that pain, resulting in what is essentially “diabetic nerve pain” in that leg (one of those “side effects” that they either didn’t tell me about, or that I didn’t understand properly at the time of surgery *sigh*).  Its a pain in the ass (not literally, but close enough).  But once I’m used to being on my feet again it’ll be fine.

Two weeks into the new job and it’s not my knees that are giving me hassle, its my ankles.  Oh, the knees are a bit achy, but not like my ankles are.  And its bad.  Tiger balm doesn’t help at all, and two days off in a row doesn’t help much more….what the fuck??  I swear this had better be all in my head……

Categories Dog, Politics, Rants

New York State–possible dog and animal law change

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Bill # S04706 and Bill # A01006

They are essentially identical as far as I can tell.

They are written to prohibit the tieing, tethering, restraining, caging, or penning of “any dog or animal”, whether “working or non-working” during the hours of 7pm to 6am.

There is nothing that says that these restrictions are for outdoors only, so the indoor crating of a destructive dog could be considered illegal under these bills.

There is nothing that defines what those other “animals” are.  So in theory these bills could be applied to horses and livestock.  

In addition to the above these bills also state that “dog or animal” that is penned, caged (etc)….during the day must be housed in an pen or cage that is at least 4 times the height and length of the animal.

There are sections of my house where the ceilings are only 7ft high.  Which means that per that law it could be considered illegal to contain my Tibetan Mastiff INSIDE MY HOUSE.  Nevermind what it would do to housing horses…..

 

ALSO, Bill # A06406

Adds additional restrictions to the tethering of dogs.  While I agree with some of the restrictions I have problems with some of them.

There is no provision for working dogs.

Tethering would be prohibited completely between the hours of 11pm and 6am.

Tethering during the day could only be for a maximum of 3hrs unless you have WRITTEN permission from your local Animal Control AND your veterinarian.  And even then the max length of time the dog could be tethered would be 12hrs.  AND that written permission would have to be renewed every 60 days including having a NEW written statement from your vet.

While I can sympathize with the desire to restrict the length of time a dog is tethered this is NOT the way to go about it…..

 

Categories Dog, Online Idiots, Rants

Dogs and kids

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Just before Easter a newspaper in a town in Idaho posted a picture sent to them by a reader.  The photo hit their Facebook page Friday, and went out in Saturday’s paper.

If you’re part of a community of dog people on Facebook I’m sure you saw it.  A 2yr old toddler, who I’ll refer to as B, and a large dog I’ll call T.  The child’s bunny ears had been placed on the dog, and B was kissing the side of T’s nose.  The uproar was because of T’s expression.  Tight staring eyes, wrinkled face and nose, teeth bared, the dog himself clearly tense.

By Monday the paper had pulled the photo off their Facebook page, and printed a short article in response.  In the article were repeated statements by the mother detailing why she felt that everyone else was wrong and there was no danger to her child.  The paper even found a local veterinarian to lend credibility to the idea that the public was over reacting.

Don’t get me wrong.  Some of the responses were over reaction.  The calls for the mother to be reported to authorities were stupid and made it easy to lump all the responses into the “crazy” category.

 

But lets get some things straight.

 

Some dogs do appear to “smile”.  Its often a “submissive grin” and often means the dog thinks there may be a problem and he’s trying to appease (though not always), but its characterized by the lifting of lips in an otherwise “soft” face, and may even include the showing of some of the whites of the eyes, though usually they’re squinty.  Although a dog may bite after showing a submissive grin, they don’t usually.

However what T was displaying was an “agonistic grin”.  Tight eyes, wrinkled face, baring of teeth.  Although an agonistic grin doesn’t mean the dog is going to bite, it is far more likely than with a submissive grin.

 

Veterinarians ought be decent studies of dog behavior, just by virtue of the time they spend with them.  However that does not mean that they are.  And the one in the article who shrugged off the photo (assuming he was quoted correctly) appears to be particularly clueless.  Stating the dog didn’t appear to be skittish or aggressive in the photo so therefor there was no problem.

However dogs do not have to be skittish or aggressive in order to object to the way he’s being handled, and even the best dog can snap if pushed too far on a bad day.  Something that every vet ought to be aware of since they are in a situation to see a lot of very unhappy dogs.

 

The mother stated that T is a big loveable oaf who’d never harm her son.

But if you a search for “family dog bites child” you’ll find almost identical quotes from the parents in those cases too.

 

The mother stated that T is “regularly used” as a racetrack, a pillow, and a step-stool by her son, and although T is generally not happy he tolerates it.

Which tells me that this kiss on the face isn’t a once off thing, that the child is regularly allowed to treat the dog as if he’s an inanimate object whose feelings don’t matter.

 

The mother also states that T often makes that face “when his whiskers are touched, he doesn’t like it”.  And that “.05 seconds after the photo was snapped T got up, licked B’s face, shook off the ears and walked away”.

Look, dogs lick people for all sorts of reasons, but in this case, in this setting, that was a blatant “back off kid……”.  Never mind that she KNOWS that T doesn’t like having his whiskers touched, and yet has continued to touch his whiskers enough to shrug off T’s expression as normal, and to even allow her toddler to do so, to the point of allowing B to put his face in the line of fire.

 

Its enough to make me want to cry.  This is apparently a well trained and socialized dog who’s doing his best to be polite to the baby.  And his owner is essentially setting him up to bite her child.  Hopefully he won’t.  He’s a good dog who doesn’t deserve to be put down for his owner’s failure, never mind that no 2yr old deserves to be on the sharp end of it.

Please don’t do this to your dog, much less your child.  Please take the time to read over the couple links I’m going put at the end that detail the canine body language you should be watching for.  And please please please, teach your child proper dog manners, so that they won’t join the far to many children who are bitten by a “friendly” dog every year.

 

Why Supervising Isn’t Working

Learn to speak dog

Family Paws

The heartbreaking story of another mother who was sure her dog wouldn’t bite her child.