Greetings Earthlings!

Yes more pet stuff. I dont think a lot of people appreciate how much people love their pets. I know with me Warner and Indy is what motivated me when I was first ill. I couldnt bear to leave them behind in a disatster.

A Lesson From Katrina: Pets Matter
Disaster Plans Include First Aid, Evacuation Options for Four-Legged Victims

By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 2, 2006; Page B01

Jason Wesley has always considered herself a sensible woman, the kind who keeps flashlights and bottled water handy -- just in case. But she never thought that instinct would one day lead her to the floor of a veterinarian's office, giving mouth-to-mouth to a fake dog.

That's where she ended up after Hurricane Katrina, enrolled in a pet first aid class and handed the fake dog and instructions to save it. Thinking of her puppy at home, she put her mouth to the plastic snout and began to blow.

This is the emerging field of disaster planning for pets, filled with doomsday scenarios, four-legged victims and people who love them.

For years, despite an estimated 69 million U.S. households with a pet, animal advocates have been relegated to the fringes of emergency planning. After Katrina, however, and the sight of people in New Orleans refusing to evacuate and in some cases dying with their pets, emergency officials are starting to take animal rescue seriously.

By saving the pets, advocates said, owners can be saved as well.

In Calvert and Montgomery counties, planners are trying to establish emergency pet shelters alongside those for humans. On Capitol Hill, five representatives have proposed making pet disaster planning mandatory by tying it to federal funds. Meanwhile, many pet owners have begun to make plans.

"People are finally realizing that this is a serious issue," said Lynne Bettinger, a Red Cross-certified instructor in pet first aid.

( Rest behind the cut )

3 Dogs Dead, 18 Ill From Tainted Dog Food

By ELISABETH GOODRIDGE
The Associated Press
Friday, December 30, 2005; 9:40 PM

WASHINGTON -- Contaminated dog food which was sold in 23 states killed nearly two dozen dogs and sickened 18 more, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The deaths and illnesses sparked an FDA investigation into the pet food made by the Diamond Pet Food Company at its Gaston, S.C., manufacturing plant. The FDA said so far 23 animal deaths have been linked to the pet food.


The company, based in Meta, Mo., issued a recall of 19 varieties of dog and cat food on Dec. 21 because some of the pet food made at the Gaston facility was discovered to contain aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin, a naturally occurring chemical that comes from a fungus sometimes found on corn and other crops, can cause severe liver damage. Aflatoxin poisoning can cause sluggishness, a lack of appetite and in severe cases severe vomiting, fever and jaundice.

The recalled pet food was sold in 23 states under the brand names Diamond, Country Value and Professional, and bears the date codes of March 1, 2007, through June 11, 2007. Consumers are asked to immediately stop using the product.

Last week, Tony Caver, the state veterinarian in South Carolina, said that state has five presumed cases linked to aflatoxin, including three fatalities.

Seven dogs from the Rochester, N.Y., area were being treated at Cornell University Hospital for Animals for liver disease and failure after eating contaminated food, said university spokeswoman Sabina Lee. An area veterinarian discovered the link after three dogs died in the area, she said.

In a Dec. 20 press release, the company said it had notified distributors to hold up the further sale of Diamond pet food that had used corn. The next day it ordered the recall.

"To ensure we got all the affected product or potential to be affected, we cast a very wide net with the recall," Diamond spokesman Jim Fallon said Friday. He said the company is conducting tests and has set up a consumer information center, open seven days a week, to handle consumer questions.

"We are working with customers and their vets to confirm a link between the pet food and the pet's illnesses," he said. "Our whole focus is saving pets' lives and doing the right thing."

The company said it was analyzing retained samples of all of the affected pet food products in Gaston in an attempt to isolate specific lot numbers that were impacted and provide the information to distributors, retailers and customers.

According to the company, the pet food was distributed to stores in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Vermont, and Virginia.

The FDA said some of the recalled product had been exported to at least 29 countries, including several in the European Union. Those countries have been notified, the agency said.

Gordy and Brandee for New Years we played a 12 person poker tournament. It had a ten dollar buy in and we paid out to four places. And believe it or not I came in first! It was nice to win for a change. I started out very slow and I thought I was going to be out really fast. Then I started getting some decent hands and the flops to go with them. By the time we had the final table going I had enough chips to use the power of the big stack to buy a few pots.

Afterwards we played some games on the X-box. Gordy got for Christmas Midway Arcade Treasures that had a lot old arcade games on it like Gauntlet, Defender, Tapper, and best of all Rampage.

Also from e-Bay I got Friendly Dictators, Coup D'etat, Iran-Contra Scandal, and Rotten to the Core trading cards sets that Eclipse Comics published back in the late 80's.

Guess what? I get to work X-mas Eve and a part of X-mas Day! And its a two hour drive from home to boot! Doing parking lot patrol at a Wal-mart up in Midland! Dosent that sound exciting? I thought so as well! So depending on when I leave my regular gig at Comcast I will either be working until 6 A.M. on X-mas and then have to be back in Midland at 6 PM and work until 8 AM X-mas Morning.

Ann, Steph, & I are supposed to go out to eat for brunch on X-mas Day. Not sure if I will be able to stay awake enough to enjoy it! BAH! HUMBUG! Someone said that once I think,

The only upside is that I will get paid for my drive time and most likely be all overtime as well.

I am thankful for my job, but I would really like to see normal human being hours again. And maybe see the Sun sometimes. Now off to bed, Little Nemo is summoning me.

Yoinked from irishspy

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas. Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.

Also something useful found recently The IVR Cheat Sheet™. Has many "cheat codes" to get past the automated operators and get to live person quicker.

And something I found amusing and have been meaning to post about...

Ronald MacDonald charged in Wendy's theft

Associated Press
Nov. 28, 2005 03:40 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. - You'd think that just working at a Wendy's restaurant would be difficult for Ronald MacDonald. Now, the 22-year-old MacDonald — no relation to Ronald McDonald, the clown — has been charged with stealing money from a safe at the Wendy's.

Police said the restaurant manager called police early Monday, saying he found MacDonald and another employee taking money from the safe at about 1:30 a.m.

MacDonald and Steve Lemay, 20, both of Manchester, were detained at the store until police arrived.

Actor snaps over ringing mobile

Actor Richard Griffiths ordered a woman out of his West End play, after her mobile phone rang for the third time. More at the BBC. And I agree with him, I hate when people's phones go off at the movies or in the restaurant. Very few people are important to have the damn phone on all the the time

Wednesday night Congressman John Dingell (D-Michigan) made this as his comment on the US House passing House Resolution 579 about "protecting Christmas". He says it far better than I can. Video of it here.

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House,
no bills were passed `bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near.

Katrina kids were all nestled snug in motel beds,
while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In Iraq, our soldiers need supplies and a plan,
and nuclear weapons are being built in Iran.

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell.
Americans feared we were in a fast track to ..... well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily,
a fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly.

We will pretend Christmas is under attack,
hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger,
Wake up Congress, they're in no danger.

This time of year, we see Christmas everywhere we go,
From churches to homes to schools and, yes, even Costco.
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy
when this is the season to unite us with joy.

At Christmastime, we're taught to unite.
We don't need a made-up reason to fight.
So on O'Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter and those right-wing blogs.
You should sit back and relax, have a few egg nogs.

'Tis the holiday season; enjoy it a pinch.
With all our real problems, do we really need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues, I say with delight,
a Merry Christmas to all, and to Bill O'Reilly, happy holidays.
Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas."

25 days....621 hours.....37,301 minutes....2,238,089 seconds. Take your pick thats how much time I have to countdown to January 9th and flying to Las Vegas! The magic sound of the machines, the shuffling of cards, but dont forget the sound of the chips clicking together and sunshine... blessed warmth. And no SNOW!!!

I will also will enjoy the sight of the mountains each day when I get up. Seeing the sunrise shine of them and the sunset behind them is wonderful. It has been over two years since I have had any vacation of any sort. When I was still at 21C my last break from there was two full weeks off work and the half days I worked for a while after for my surgery.

I am tempted to look for work while I am out there. Get out of this place that brings the dreaded white stuff every year.