MWA-HA-Ha-ha haaaaaa.......

Fall - and by association, Halloween - are in the air.



Recently we had a wickedly foggy morning - which seemed a great opportunity to snap an image or two of the house in character for its Halloween preparation.


This is one of my favorite trees in town. It's an apple-shaped maple that has been gloriously evolving into its fall hues.


Finally, a parting shot of Djiini - who for some reason gets tired out during walks! What you can't see very well behind her is the end of my pumpkin vine - a surprise from last year's Halloween decoration that was eaten through (and apparently dispersed) by squirrels. It's obviously genetically retarded, because it's been blossoming every day for a week or so. At the end of October. When all the other pumpkins have grown, ripened, and ended up as pie mix or decorations. I figure I'll see what happens with it.

My Dog has OCD....??!!

You can expect to see more dog pics as time goes on, and as Djiini adapts to Kathman(du) and I (and vice-versa). At any rate, I have observed some very interesting behavior in Djiini recently. They always say to be wary of dogs adopted from the SPCA, but I've never paid that much mind - as a kid, most of our dogs found us when they were dropped off at the pound at the end of our dead-end road after hours, and we never had any real problems with those that adopted us. But, as a kid, I wasn't much into observing dog behavior. Not that I'm much into it now, I just seem to notice it more.

Djiini has already proven to be a particularly picky eater. She initially did not like any of the variety of dog food types that I purchased. I asked at the SPCA what she was fed (Science Diet), and she wouldn't touch that here at home. Nor any of the other 9 brands or types of dry food. And I refuse to feed a healthy dog wet food - that's for old, toothless dogs in my opinion (and I've got no appetite to handle or smell it). So, I finally found a mix - and after time, I think she got used to the routine. Of course, I still have to apply a good dousing of that dog food gravy stuff that comes in a kethcup-like squeeze bottle.

Then there's Kathman to consider. He's gained a pound since Djiini's joined us, which doesn't make a lot of sense - you'd think a cat that encourages play with a dog 4 times his size would get plenty of running exercise to keep fit. Not mine. He's getting pudgy, but not lazy (thankfully). The hard part is that he'll eat anything except black olives. Trust me on that - I've tried giving him some really strong human food to see what he wouldn't eat. Jalepenos, onions, broccoli (even I don't eat that), feta cheese, you name it - he'll eat it. Now, I've learned, dog food is not above his palette. So, this requires I feed them at the same time, and that when they're done, I pick up Djiini's bowl from the floor and put it in the top shelf cabinet. I feed her about 12 ounces of dry food (tho the recommended serving size is 8 oz.), because she was a little thin when she came in, and she wasn't eating any of the food varieties. Now, she eats most of her bowl, but always leaves a little covering the bottom. Kathman, on the other hand, gets 1/3 a cup of his indoor cat food twice a day, and licks his bowl clean. He eats like a front-end loader.

So, to Djiini's Obsessive Compulsive behavior - once she landed on a preferred dog food.
OCD Behavior #1: First, she licks the gravy off of all of her dog food nuggets.
Then, she takes a mouthful into the office area, drops all the nuggets, and eats them all except the dark brown ones.


OCD Behavior #2 - But - I noticed during play times and lazy times around the house - she absolutely does not like to walk on the kitchen hardwood floors. The utility room floor laminate is no problem, the ceramic tile in the bathroom is not a problem. But for some reason, she hates to walk - or even stand - on the hardwoods. So, I placed a carpet piece under her food and water bowls. She began eating at her bowl after this, which is good, but then.......

OCD Behavior #3 - she continued to pick out just the dark brown nuggets (liver flavored?) from her food and drop them, one by one, out of her mouth when chewing. The weird part: her placement of these nuggets - the spacial arrangement is almost like that of a series of constellations.

But, this is not a problem, because Kathman, aka "the Cleaner", follows behind and promptly eats up the rejects.

Then this is just an odd photo: She was standing perfectly poised when I tried to take a portrait, but decided that was the perfect time to do a full body shake, which I happened to catch on camera. Kind of funny.

*yawn* A little chaos to keep things interesting

Dolphin Boy Sighting in Mexico!!

This summer, a rare Dolphin Boy (aka Gabriel Synge) sighting was reported from a resort area in Mexico. He was allegedly vacationing with mom and dad (Kendra and Marty), but it appears here more of a family reunion of sorts - just look at how intrigued this real dolphin is to come up and greet the little guy!! And, I think now we know which side of the family Gabe's Dolphin interest comes from. Just look at dad's mouth.....other than this strange contortion, it looks like Marty's transition to human form has served him well, and that the family is enjoying themselves tremendously. Gabe's a lucky guy!...I mean, Dolphin Boy!

VW Phaeton - Shadowplay Commercial

This is one of the most creative VW commercials (but aren't they all?) that I've seen. It was part of one of those 'funny commercial' type programs recently, but I had to find it online and watch it again. It's all shadowplay, and its point is to indicate that the VW Phaeton is hand-built. Incredibly artistic!

Findlay, OH Flooding - The End is Near??

These images are about a week old, but (surprise, surprise!) access was down for a bit, and then I was distracted by some other things for a couple of days.

According to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church (Evangelical Lutherans? Who Knew!?) - Then End was apparently near......this sign was up the day before the Great Flood of August 2007. These photos were taken the day after, Wednesday, August 22, 2007, in Findlay, OH.


This was my backyard on the morning of Tuesday, August 21st, after the night of rain - about 9 inches. I was slightly worried. As you can tell, my neighbor's yard, to the East, is a bit higher and drains into mine. The water came up to my crawl space (a first), but I didn't get too much water in there. I started the day pretty upset at the water in my yard, because the 4 or so previous floods in town, all purported to be worst than the last (and I haven't been here 2 years yet), yeilded more water accumulation in my back yard. I was worried that this would be a growing trend in my yard, and what I could do - besides adding dirt - to amend the problem. The maple tree roots would be so prolific that adding drain lines would be difficult; adding dirt may force water into the crawl space or under the house, so some sort of sighting would be required to ensure it ran to one side of the property and then along the property line to the curb, so not to flood the neighbor's yard, etc etc. Then I heard it was 9 inches or so of rain - so, that made the impact a little softer, I guess. A never-before-amount of rain. And with plants in full glory, roots were able to suck much of that up. In fact by noon, much of the water in my yard had been absorbed.

But, the next day, the rain that fell in surrounding areas drained into our area, flooding our rivers, creeks, and drainages. This is a shot of the Blanchard River at Main street. Note the people driving over the bridge, as the water level of the river - over flood stage - is at the bottom of the bridge:

Finally, our offices were flooded, along with hundreds of homes in the area. The offices are still coming online a week later. Many homes are not. Why homes here are built with basements I'm not sure - only a hundred years ago, this was called the Great Black Swamp, and the water table is relatively high for a midwest/northern region. The few people I knew here with a basement, prior to moving here, said not to buy a home with a basement - they all had horror stories of basements whose sump pumps had failed, whose walls had seeped, where mildew provided a constant presence. So I purchased a home with a crawl space. To me, basement = place where everything goes down in horror movies.

The good news is that while many people were affected, I believe only one fatality occurred, and bulldozers have been making their way through town picking up debris piles on multiple daily runs. The local response and cleanup effort has been commendable. Here, two years after Katrina, I'm quite amazed at the difference. Findlay is up and running - albeit we didn't lose all aspects of infrastructure - some areas of town were not impacted, the mall was operational the day after the flood, we didn't lose power or services, etc. It's not a one-to-one comparison. But seeing New Orleans and many of its neighborhoods in the conditions that they remain in, after Katrina, and the state of cleanup that Findlay is in not quite one week later, provides stark contrast as to the level of involvement and engagement of community and civic leaders. And to be fair, both could be considered to be flavors of the good-old-boy network, to varying degrees. The differences with which both were able to enable response, however, is glaring.

New Djiini Shots

Only from my best side, please........

I'm a Mommy!!

...again...

Below is the newest member of the family. Her SPCA name was "Melody", which is so lame I can't even say it out loud. So, until her new name reveals itself to me, I'm calling her "Doggie". I pick her up on August 22nd.

Update!! Meet Djiini (pronounced Genie).
Djinn is the original spelling for what we know today as Genies, and contrary to western culture, they're not the prototypical good helpers; historically, they have been documented as often tricksters or malevolent spirit beings. They have also been noted as being benevolent to 'true souls' in need of help. Not that I need any help....but when I saw her she reminded me of a dog that "found" a friend and I who wandered off-track in Morocco and walked with us all day until we reached the next town. There is an old proverb in the Sahara......that if one is of good will, and finds themselves lost in a desert, a genii will appear to them in the form of a dog to lead them to safety - hence my new dog's new name, with a modern twist on the traditional spelling: Djiini.

A little more about Doggie: She enjoys long walks, having her hair brushed, and bon-bons. She's part German Shepherd/part Whippet or Greyhound. She is about 4 years old, and knows how to sit, stay, lay down, and is ambidextrous in her handshaking ability. She's also knowledgeable about where to potty (e.g., outside). I asked the SPCA folks if she was cat-friendly, and was in for a shock. The girl I was talking to said she'd check - and then came back with 2 cats! Holy god. Epiphany - it all made sense. In January of 2006, when I went to adopt Kathman(du), no WONDER all the cats there seemed neurotic!!

But, the clinchers, for me, were the existence of a few oddities present in Doggie:

1. First, she has an oddly shaped head. As though the bones that fuse upon the top of the skull did so too rapidly. Doggie is, in fact, an egghead.
2. Second, she seems a little shy (but who wouldn't at the dog pound!), but also very loving. I don't think she has come from an abused home, because she was dropped off by someone who said he'd found her as a stray, but she had a collar, and she cried for that man after he left. This besides being trained, housebroken, and immaculately clean, considering her purported 'stray' status. Apparently, people often do this at the SPCA rather than pay a pet surrender fee that helps the pound's operating costs. One woman at the pound said that the majority of people who bring in animals that way often are bringing in their own pets, for whatever reason, and as a result, full histories don't come with them. For a dog that seemed shy and a bit sad, she showed no hesitation in being very loving to 'strangers'.
3. Next, I don't know what planet this dog came from, but she had no idea what to do with a tennis ball or a chew/pull toy. She barely paid attention to either of them during our "get acquainted" time, and then looked at me as though I were crazy. So she's got character. Or she doesn't like the smell of other dog-spit.
4. And finally, when I was squatted down and eye-to-eye with her, she would sidle up next to my right, lean up against me, and use my right leg as her left front paw-rest. Not in a doggie domination way, like trying to herd me, or in being possessive of me. This behavior didn't strike me, either, as though she were shy or afraid and required physical reassurance. Instead, it was more like, "Hey. How's it going? Cool. Let's do some doggie-watching!. Check her out. Poor pooch. Can you believe they made that Bitch wear a red collar?!?!"

Doggie seemed to be very interested in seeing what kind of adventures she and the two Experiment Kitties could get up to, but the Experiment Kitties were not having any part of it. Since she exhibited curiosity - not agression - I feel OK about introducing her to Kathman. I may end up needing to keep them separated initially and work on training and integrating them together as 'friends'. We'll have to see what kind of hilarity ensues next week.

In the meantime, I've got some Doggie-proofing to begin this weekend.......

As Promised...Wyoming Photo Update

Finally, here are some additional Wyoming photos. Some have stories, some don't....enjoy!

A little horseback riding does a body good....

While in Wyoming, I got to help (or at least observe and photograph) feeding some animals...

chinking some interior cabin walls (the top row!).....

Cabin interior....



Hyattville's Annual Old-Timer's Festival and Street Dance


Prairie Chickens

Some bunnies.....

Some bunnies are less shy than others.....this one seems not to have developed a healthy fear of humans yet. He came up to within two inches of Gary's boot, but moved a little too quickly for me to perfectly focus on him.

I Say, It's a Pig-Nic!!

So, one of my adventures over the weekend was an annual company picnic - I mean, PIG-nic - in Wyoming. This event and the antics surrounding it have achieved near mythic status within the company. It only occurs in Wyoming as a joint effort of the folks in that region, and probably has much more historical / company significance than I can even begin to relate here. It's also fairly common for annuitants to join in the celebration if they are in or near the area. One aspect of the tradition is that the pig-carvers don upside-down trash-bags as aprons to protect them from their work. I'm not much of a meat eater (as guessed by Shawn, second from left), but couldn't resist - it smelled delicious and tasted even better. Gary and I were able to go there together as employee and annuitant of the company, and it was great to see familiar faces from Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee (via Wyoming), as well as the Wyoming folks and a number of annuitants. Oh, and seeing the other folks that I see every day at work in Ohio was really fantastic, too! The most amazing aspect of this and numerous other events that took place surrounding the meetings the previous week was the sheer hospitality of the Wyoming hosts. I always thought people in Texas were friendly - but people in Wyoming, I have to say, have them beat, hands-down.

The PIGnic took place in National Forest in the Big Horn Mountains, so everything needed for it had to be brought in, and it was the Wyoming folks who did so - from the custom-made roaster on a trailer, to the drinks-and-ice trough, to the firewood for the all-night campfire from the previous night (and that night's fish-fry), to all of the varieties of side-dishes: sweet corn, pasta salad, bread, salads, baked beans, and other goodies too numerous to count. We're not talking Kroger ready-mades, either - these were all home-made delights. It was a treat, and a massive effort that the Wyoming gang undertakes each year to maintain the PIGnic tradition. Job well done!

What the....??

An unfortunate angle, perhaps, of a pig after having been removed from a rather large diameter spit.

Table of Friends

At this table, we've got Jerry (in yellow) and his wife Jackie, who I was able to meet during some previous project activity. We called Jerry and another annuitant, Wayne, out of retirement to join in on the project activities, and the two of them worked circles around many of us. Wayne wasn't able to make the Pig-nic, which was a shame, because it would have been a great Triple Threat reunion. Together, Jerry and Wayne (who have known eachother forever) were nicknamed on the project as "Double Trouble". I enjoyed them so much, when the three of us were together, others would call us "Triple Threat", and I felt like a 12-year old up to mischeif. It was this duo who bestowed the nickname of "Ramrod" upon me, which is no small feat in a male-oriented industry, during project activities, largely secured during field visits. I tried to spend a little time at each table - because each had new faces and names, as did this one, but this was definitely the most entertaining table at the event! They kept me in stitches (even still!).

Wildflowers at Meadowlark Lake, Bighorn Mountains, WY

...and from West Texas:

Mr. & Mrs. Marty Bootman. These are two of the nicest folks anyone could hope to meet. And in person, their eyes are blue-er than the clearest, most blue sky day you've ever seen.....