The Harnation

I'm a firm believer in fixing your pets. There are so many pets that go without homes, and there is really no reason for the average pet owner to contribute to the already growing population. I also think that not everyone should be allowed to own pets.

Apparently, with the recent spike in home foreclosures, the country's humane societies are packed solid. People are dropping off pets that they can no longer afford to care for. What's worse is that others are leaving their pets abandoned in their foreclosed homes, often without food or water.

The foreclosure agents have been finding abandoned pets locked in homes and tied up to trees. People have been leaving their pets in rising numbers as they vacate their property, and they don't come back to take care of them. How could anyone just leave their family pet behind to slowly starve to death like that?!

The shelters report seeing increases of drop offs up 60% from last year. The Metro Animal Control Shelter in Nashville has been forced to euthanize 30-50 animals a day, six days a week!!

This kind of stuff makes me mad.

I know plenty of people who have gotten pets only to get bored with them once they're out of the cute puppy/kitten phase. Some return them to the shelters, others abandon them. (Ace was dropped into the middle of 6th Avenue in Decatur during rush hour before we got him; Rusty's original owners "didn't have time to house break him" and got rid of him once he was about 6 months old). I even once had a co-worker in college who (after not having her dog fixed), said her husband wanted to just drown the puppies so that they wouldn't have to take care of them.

At our old rental house, there was a yard a block or two away with completely matted, malnourished and neglected pets. I considered going and stealing them from the yard one day. I had a co-worker who did just that a few times after finding skeleton dogs chained up in the yard with no food or water.

I know that sometimes things come up unexpectedly. However, if you sign an interest-only mortgage with a flexible interest rate, you knew ahead of time that the payments were going to go up at the end of the fixed term! You also knew - or should have known - that pet food, getting your pet fixed, and rabies shots are generally not free!

I don't know why people get pets when they're not willing to take care of them for the entire life of the pet. They're a commitment, but they should also become part of the family. Would you give your kids to the kill shelter once they got out of their infant stage?

I know dogs aren't people, and shouldn't be put on the same level. However, I also know that we're supposed to take care of ALL of God's creation. Adopting a pet and then getting bored with them, allowing them to reproduce when there aren't available homes for them, or worse - neglecting and starving them to death, is not taking care of that creation.

Pets ownership is a big responsibility, but its also extremely rewarding - as long as (like anything else) you're willing to put in the time and effort to make it work!

In high school, we spent many a night (and allowance) on toilet paper usage. And I don't mean in the bathroom. We had a friendly competition among the youth group as to who could perfect the white lawn application of their peers' front yard and trees. The night after we got back from our family vacation to Europe one summer, the youth (lead by our fearless youth group leader) blanketed our yard and trees with somewhere around 250 rolls of toilet paper.

We all participated in the rolling (but not necessarily the clean up). I think we got one family about three times in one week, others were just too far of a drive to paper regularly.

It was a lot of fun. No one ever got hurt or caught in the act. We weren't being hateful to one another, and we weren't doing anything that would cause permanent damage.

I like reading the news and keeping up with current events. Sometimes I choose the stories based on the link or article title; sometimes the title alone gives me enough information when I don't have much time to spare.

However, there are LOTS of stories that do not need to be posted or linked to from major national news sites. I do NOT want to read about a humane society taking in dogs trained to do disgusting things, or about some couple arrested for desecrating a war memorial.

I think Fox News is one of the worst about this. They've also got some weekly and daily columns that just don't seem to be family-friendly enough to post in big letters at the top of their website. In one of my history/government classes in high school, our teacher used the big screen computer/tv to check the current news headlines. It was a really good way to keep everyone interested in current events. Can you imagine how much trouble my teacher would've been if some of these disgusting news article titles were plastered in large print across the screen in front of a class full of minors?

I don't meant to sound like a prude, but I just think some current events are too disgusting to be broadcasted on a national forum. Summing it all up in the title doesn't help either - I still get that gross visual that I would like to avoid.

My mom was telling me about this story today at lunch.

Two women were on a flight from Greece to England when the stewardess denied serving the visibly intoxicated pair any alcohol. One of the women took a swipe at the stewardess with a bottle of vodka and then tried to open one of the airplane doors to "catch some fresh air." The plane had to be stopped in Frankfurt where they were arrested.

What were they thinking? Drinking and flying has ZERO appeal to me. First of all, I can barely survive a flight without getting sick (I'm getting better... about a 4-1 survival odds now). I can't imagine compounding that with alcohol. Second of all, everyone is so darn touchy when it comes to the airline industry. You can't say or do anything even remotely, possibly, or even somehow just a little bit threatening. You'll get tased, arrested, and put on the no-fly list.

Just ask this guy:


Seriously though, it's like thinking that it's okay to walk into a bank with a brandished weapon and slap around a teller or the security guard and get away with it. (I would highly recommend you stay away from Big Jen at "Gringotts" though --- I hear she takes kick boxing!).

Matt's favorite saying is: "People are stupid." It applies to SO many situations...

If you ever wonder what we learn to do in Amanda's Body Attack classes, here you go:



I especially like dancing on pointe on top of Matt's head at home (skip to around 4:18 in the video).

(Compliments of my mother-in-law)

After reading about a judge who made an 8 year-old girl a ward of the state so that he could change her name from Talula Does the Hula a couple of days ago, I had to laugh at some of the names that were brought up at the baby shower I attended last night.

Cara told me that reading through the baby name books was a lot of wasted time because there are so many "nonsense names" that are included in the books. Anna suggested that she and Craig should have named their child "Bazooka B." after reading it in one of their books.

I had no idea. I thought those baby name books were full of great biblical and historical names, names of various cultures and backgrounds, and especially names with very deep and significant meanings.

A former co-worker of mine was very interested in the meanings of different names. He informed me that my name was often associated with the translation of a "snare or trap", just like how the biblical Rebekah tricked her own husband. That sure cheered me up!

When my baby cousin died at birth, I was struck by the name that my aunt and uncle chose for her. Her first and middle names meant "a crown of glory" and "(bitter?) sorrow". What an example they set for me in choosing her name - reminding us all that even in their sorrow, they were able to rejoice that she was now with our King!

I think names can often define a person in a certain way. Some names make a person sound distinguished, others relay heritage or ethnicity.

I've personally always been drawn to a few names in my (and Matt's) own family. I love the idea of passing down something as important as a name to another generation.

Amanda often teases my mother saying she's going to name her kids little Sayid or something, but even she is just joking. She's told me some of the names that she and Wade are considering, and they're all very thoughtful.

All I know is, I think that a child's name is a serious decision and not an excuse to humiliate them right from the beginning. You won't be catching me with a stroller full of "Apple", "Talula Does the Hula", or "Matt 2.0"s!

My dad lent me this movie last weekend and we got to watch it a couple of days ago. It was pretty good. It is a fictional story (I think) based on the events surrounding the communist takeover in Cuba.

The basic plot is about a fairly wealthy family who owns a large farm and other businesses. One of the three sons, Fico Fellove (Andy Garcia), runs a nightclub in Havanna. The cruel dictator, Battista, is eventually run out of the country (only after one of Fico's brothers is killed by the secret police for his involvement in an assassination attempt) . The other brother joins the communist opposition party and becomes part of a band of rebels lead by Che Guevara.

As we all know, Fidel Castro then took control of the country. He didn't hold an election because he said that the people "had already chosen." The communists slowly choked out the way of life for everyone in Havanna. They seized private family properties, closed down businesses, murdered anyone they believed to have been a supporter of the former dictator, and limited the exit visas allowed to their own citizens.

What do you do when the farm that has been in your family for generations is seized by an (unelected) government "for the greater good"? What about when you're no longer able to operate your own business because of a government-controlled union or a false pretext used to close the business down? Fico eventually fled to New York City to begin a new life.

I think the story is really sad and probably rings very true for many dislocated Cubans. Just another reason why (even with all of our own problems), I'm so thankful to be an American!

A great friend lent me this book, Cancel Your Own (Expletive) Subscription. It's a compilation of some of the more unique letters that the late Bill Buckley received while editor of the National Review. Some of the letters are rather amusing.

August 26, 1969
Dear Mr. Buckley:

In this writing -- that I bring to your attention -- I introduce myself to my readers saying: I am the Second Coming of Jesus of Nazareth. When I addressed a group at Times Square on August 6, proposing a new way to end war, I introduced myself to them also in the same way.

Now a person of your intelligence, your erudition, and refusal to accept surface appearance -- your refusal to be mentally flim-flammed or deceived -- your desire to search for the truth -- should obtain great satisfaction in proving that an individual making such a claim is in fact an impostor -- if that be the case.

Or -- if despite the odds against it of billions to one -- if I am, in truth, who I say I am -- and I repeat again: I am the second coming of Jesus of Nazareth -- what more fantastic guest could you have on your program?

You stand to win - either way.

Norman Bloom
New York, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Bloom: Beware. I am the second coming of Pontius Pilate. -WFB



September 23, 1969
Dear Mr. Buckley:

Your syntax is horrible.

Ron Kelly
Mattoon, Ill.

Dear Mr. Kelly: If you had my syntax, you'd be rich. Cordially, WFB

Being new at a fairly large company has been an adjustment. I've been used to working in smaller 20-person groups where everyone knew me. Last week, no one knew who I was or (in most cases) that I even existed.

However, that's all going to change. Today I checked the intra-office pictorial directory and low and behold: MY photo. I do exist! I'm even listed in the company phone list now too. Hooray for me!

This is a big step. Now, I have 1100 co-workers who I know will just be dying to meet me (not). At least - on the rare chance that they know who I am and need to talk to me - they can now find me. :)

Raising Arizona is one of my favorite movies. Here is the original trailer and further below is another good scene from the movie.




This is the diaper robbery scene. Warning: graphic language.




Classic!

Since we're in transition right now and don't have a church building of our own, we're starting a bunch of small group studies.

Matt and I jumped on the chance to host one of these bi-weekly studies in our homes (which means we have to keep it decently clean, but we don't have to drive to someone else's house). :)

We love hosting things but find that our house is really too small to be able to have big parties or baby showers. We also love having people over for dinner, but our dining room table only seats 6 (we've got a whole list of things we want for our next house - entertaining space is one of them). This sounded like the perfect situation to allow us to invite people into our home and also get to know some other members of our church better.

Charlie will be leading a discussion starting at 7pm twice a month on the book, The Reason for God, by Tim Keller. This is open to everyone (not just the 20/30's age group) so if you're interested, we'd love to have you!

One down, only 1773 left to go (assuming I work until I turn 60)!

It was a pretty good first week. I've been itching to get back there, so it's been a pleasure to finally start my new job. There are a lot of things that are different from my old job, though, so I can tell it's going to be a little bit of an adjustment.

My new group is really young. I'd probably estimate that 70-80% of the people have been out of college less than five years. THERE ARE PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN ME! I've always been the youngest engineer - by at least eight years, so this is exciting to me.

They're all also really smart. Every other week, my division has a pizza lunch and a topical discussion forum about something technical (either someone's graduate study topics or something neat they're doing at work). I lucked out and they were having the pizza lunch on my first day. I felt a little overwhelmed once the questions portion came up - I had a sudden realization that I am now completely surrounded by incredibly intelligent people. They're all technical too. It's intimidating and exciting all at the same time. As Lynne put it, "being around smart people will make you smarter."

I do have a great reason to get my honey to take me shopping now... I need some new clothes. Now that I'm in an office that is next to the board room, I don't think I can get away with my blue jean capris and flip flops. At my last office, I dressed up compared to a lot of the rest of the group (we were in a small office and didn't interact with the customer on a daily basis), but now I definitely need to look even more professional. They told me that some people wear jeans (especially on Fridays), but I didn't see it - and I definitely don't want to be the only one sporting "casual Fridays".

I'm also adjusting to sharing an office. Most of the junior engineers in my building are set up in two-man offices. It really works out pretty well since the offices are much bigger and both people aren't in there at the same time the majority of the time. But, it is an adjustment to sharing a big office with someone else after having my own office for the last four years, even if he's only in there with me for about two hours out of the day.

The best part about my new job is that there is some *really* cool work going on not only in just my division, but the whole company. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to concentrate on, but for now I'd just like to learn as many new things as possible!

I'm glad it's the weekend, but I'm definitely looking forward to going back to work on Monday. :)

I loved this story by the Associated Press today. Landon Wilborn, an 11-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, was sick of the traffic speeding through his neighborhood. When yelling at the cars didn't work, he brought out his Hot Wheels radar gun and flashlight with a built-in siren. Cars lock up their brakes when they see him recording their speed in his bicycle helmet and safety vest.

Haha! I wish we had a kid like this on our street growing up. We lived on a quiet residential street. It was really nice for riding your bike or walking the dog except for the fact that it connected two busy roads and people liked to speed down it to "cut the corner". It was really annoying. When I go over to my parents' house, it still makes me mad when cars go racing past. I should get my mom to go out there with her floppy hat and a radar gun to yell in Japanese at them. Or, maybe I could pay my cousins to shoot the speeding cars with their soft air guns. Heh Heh.

This is an interesting piece on the man, Robert Levy, who filed the lawsuit that resulted in the Supreme Court's recent ruling that the Second Amendment is an individual right. Levy, a lawyer who never owned a handgun, handpicked the plaintiff, a security guard, for the case.

100 years ago, during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation started as a small investigative unit of the justice department. It took off in 1924 when J. Edgar Hoover took over as the first formal director.

In the early days, the FBI focused a lot on the capture of gangsters and members of organized crime. That evolved towards pursuing communists, and the primary focus today is preventing acts of terrorism. It's kind of neat how the Bureau has evolved from capturing criminals who have already committed crimes to concentrating on finding out about and preventing acts before they happen.

The FBI pioneered fingerprinting and forensic evidence technology, but it has lagged behind with its computer systems. Right now, it's spending a lot of money on updating the computer systems and working to share information with the CIA and other justice departments.

Like any part of our government, it's not perfect, but it sure does have a neat history.

I'm a little late putting this up, but wanted to do it anyway - even if it's belated.

Tony Snow died on Saturday of colon cancer at Georgetown University Hospital. I always liked him. I especially liked him as the White House Press Secretary. He seemed to actually enjoy his job (one I would not) and made it look like he was always having a good time, even when surrounded by the aggressive press junket.

Reacting to Snow's death, President Bush said that he thought Snow was able to bring "a certain civility to this very contentious job."

If you're registered to vote in North Alabama, there is a runoff between two Congressional candidates tomorrow, July 15th.

I know there are probably other races on the ballot, but I wasn't able to find a sample ballot online.

I love my dogs - both of them. However, one of them has a special knack for driving me crazy sometimes.

We had to install a shock fence to keep him from digging in the flower beds after he destroyed hundreds of dollars worth of my plants (c'mon, I can kill them on my own; I don't need any help). We now have to keep the tall trashcan in the kitchen on top of a chair so that he can't get into it every single day. When we took both of the dogs to obedience classes, Ace immediately became the class's "bad kid" because he doesn't get along with other dogs. He whines constantly when he wants something and nudges your hand whenever you stop petting him. He is also a little hyper and a bit of an attention hog.

Well, his recent favorite past time (obsession) has become bee hunting. He stands next to a patch of lamb's ear in the back yard, waiting for them to congregate near the plants. Then he tries to catch him. They sting him. He doesn't care; he tries to bite and catch them in the air anyway.

Since he's extremely OCD, he started chewing and scratching the bites earlier this summer. At first I didn't know what it was until I actually saw him get stung and then tear into a new piece of flesh on his front leg. Because he won't leave them alone, they get bigger and uglier. Simple bee stings should heal within a few days, but it's now been a few weeks.

I've tried everything on this dog to get those wounds to heal: liquid bandage, Benadryl, medical wrap. He's relentless and as a result, he's got some scarring and constant open wounds. He wakes us up in the middle of the night chewing and licking them. Some nights he starts crying as he's scratching them.

I called last week to get an appointment for him to see our vet, but with the holiday, they weren't able to see him until this week. I took him in Tuesday and was prepared to pay an unhappy amount. I was pleasantly surprised when we left though. I got some great advice and Ace got a cortisone shot and some antibiotics for around $46. There's no way that could I get all of that from my doctor at that price!

Now we've just got to use some of the tricks the vet showed me to keep him from chewing until those darn bites can heal. I'd thought about putting a clown cone on him, but the vet said that he wouldn't recommend that method for a dog as "intense" as Ace. He sure would look funny in one though; I think it'd cheer me up after having to deal with his obsessions!

What's the deal with getting inmates to pick up trash on University Drive (on the inbound lanes packed with cars coming into work) during rush hour?!

I don't normally take this road to work, but started a few weeks ago because my normal route is closed due to construction. This means that the road is even more congested than normal. Now, I know Matt always says that we do not have bad traffic (like Dallas and Cleveland did), but it still seemed way too busy to have people picking up trash on the side of the road.

Are they trying to get an inmate run over and then have to settle a big law suit or what?

Touchy subject!

I agree that learning new languages is extremely important. I disagree, however, with telling the nation that we should make sure our children learn Spanish after talking about immigration.

Over the weekend, we watched Into The Wild, the film based on the same-titled book about the adventures and death of Christopher McCandless. Matt read the book a while back and I knew that he would like the movie too.

After graduation from Emory, Christopher decided to give almost all of his life savings to charity and take a cross country trip. When his car broke down, he burned the rest of his money and hitchhiked. He canoed down the Colorado River, all the way into Mexico. He moved all over the Midwest, meeting several eccentric characters along the way and took several short odd jobs to earn enough money to move around. He eventually decided that his ultimate goal was to go to Alaska to hike the Stampede Trail and live off of the land.

He was apparently extremely naive about the Alaskan adventure. He hitchhiked into the area and only had a 22-caliber rifle and rain boots because the guy who dropped him off insisted that he take them (who goes into the wilderness for a long-term stay without a rifle?!). He only took with him ten pounds of rice, some camping supplies, a camera, several boxes of ammunition (I assume given to him by the guy with the gun), and a few books.

He hiked into the wilderness in late April and found an abandoned bus used as a shelter by hikers. By July, he decided to hike out but was trapped in by the rising river water. He died some time in August and was discovered by moose hunters a few weeks later. He weighed less than 70 pounds when he was found.

The movie was less about his death (and starvation) and more about his travels all over the country and the poor relationship that he had with his parents. He was really anti-materialism and just wanted to have an adventure. Christopher got to see and do some really incredible things, but in the end, he died alone on an abandoned bus in the middle of no where because he was naive and stubborn.

Matt and I were watching "A Cemetery Special" on APT Sunday evening. It was actually very interesting, and gave a lot of the history of the first American cemeteries, their designs, and identifying characteristics.

Matt was most impressed with the downtown Atlanta cemetery (historic Oakland Cemetery), just a couple of blocks from his brother's house. He told me that he was eating at the restaurant across the street from the cemetery, called Six Feet Under, when the tornado that ripped off the roof of the Georgia Dome during the SEC basketball championship came through the neighborhood this past spring.

But, back to cemeteries. Did you know that America's first "cemetery", Mount Auburn in Boston, was built in 1831? It was the first to use the term cemetery, from the Greek koimeterion for "place of sleep," rather than burial ground. The only U.S. President whose casket is visible is President Garfield, who was shot just a few months after taking office (all of the other presidents are either buried or entombed). Garfield is "buried" in Cleveland, Ohio, at Lake View Cemetery in a monument where his casket is on a raised bed. Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place to almost 3,000 Confederate soldiers. It filled up quickly though; it sold its last burial plots back in 1884. If your family owns one of the unfilled plots, it's worth a LOT of money!

My favorite was this epitaph, found at Key West Cemetery. Apparently B.P. was a bit of a hypochondriac, but it appears she got the last word.

Over the weekend while we were running errands, Matt asked me what I'd like for my birthday. Now, my birthday is nearly two months away, but it never hurts to start making that list early!

On the list so far are a James Dean watercolor of Toomer's Corner, some cute Chacos, and the ever present staple: a purse. Matt informed me that he is not qualified to (ever) pick out a purse for me on his own. So, I pulled up my favorite purse manufacturer's website to peruse the (much too expensive) non-outlet items.

Then, I saw this. Coach is having a contest where you can submit your own purse design. Winners could win a Coach shopping spree or party, and the grand prize winner will have their actual design manufactured and sold in select stores. (This is where all of the guys can yawn).

I think I would do just about anything for a free Coach, let alone to have my own design. Anyone have any suggestions for my future winning entry?

Our Netflix viewing has been REALLY slow lately, but I enjoyed the movie that we watched last night.

A Mighty Heart is the film based on Mariane Pearl's memoir about the kidnapping and death of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl.

I thought that Angelina Jolie did a wonderful job and brought the story to life. In fact, Mariane Pearl personally requested that Jolie be cast for the lead role.

The Pearls were both journalists living in Karachi, Pakistan, to cover aspects of the War on Terror when Daniel Pearl set up a meeting to speak with Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani. The Sheikh was never in on the meeting and used as a ploy to kidnap Daniel.

The kidnappers were really supporters of Ahmed Saeed Omar Sheikh, who later admitted to masterminding the whole event. They sent emails with photos of Daniel with several demands, including the release of all of the prisoners at Guantanamo and the removal of U.S. presence in Pakistan.

As Mariane sought help from Pakistan's government, there were soon accusations that Daniel was an undercover CIA agent, posing as a journalist, and that he was also working as a spy for India (I didn't know this beforehand, but apparently there are some serious rivalries and deep mistrust between India and Pakistan). These accusations were, of course, completely false, but they still damaged Pakistani public opinion of the Pearls.

Nine days after his kidnapping, Daniel Pearl was killed by his captors outside of Karachi. A video of his brutal murder was sent to Pakistani and American agencies. Three people were arrested after the police traced down the IP address of the computer that sent the ransom e-mail. Omar Sheikh turned himself in and was later sentenced to death; he is appealing his conviction.

Even with several people in custody who admitted their involvement, the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, later wrote in a book that Daniel's murderer was a British MI6 (British Intelligence) agent.

The captors found out that Daniel was Jewish by birth, which I think motivated them even more to kill him instead of holding him for ransom longer.

In the video released by the kidnappers, he says:

"My name is Daniel Pearl. I am a Jewish American from Encino, California USA. I come from, uh, on my father's side the family is Zionist. My father's Jewish, my mother's Jewish, I'm Jewish. My family follows Judaism. We've made numerous family visits to Israel. Back in the town of Bnei Brak there is a street named after my great grandfather Chaim Pearl who is one of the founders of the town."

Daniel's family said that the last statement could not have been known by the kidnappers, and that they believe Daniel used it as a coded message to tell them that he was alright and speaking in his own words.

One of the last scenes in the movie shows Mariane (Jolie) with all of the people who helped her try to find her husband (American journalists, CIA agents, Pakistani police, etc.). She tells them that they did not fail and that the terrorists whole goal is to terrorize them. "I'm not terrorized and you shouldn't be either!"

Another oldie but a goodie.

Heathermomster recently posted about watching Napoleon Dynamite for the first time. She included this as one of her favorite quotes from the movie:




Here is a kid from the National Spelling Bee a few years back pulling a Napoleon when asked to spell "chinook".

I'm starting a new job in about two weeks and am really excited about it!!

If you use my current work email address, you'll have to change over to my permanent gmail account to reach me after the 11th.

One funny story from my interviews last week happened on Friday: I arrived a few minutes early and took the time to run to the restroom beforehand and wash my hands. During my interview, I suddenly realized that my fly had been down the ENTIRE TIME! I was in the room with three other people but tried to scoot close enough to the table to zip it up as inconspicuously as possible. HOW EMBARRASSING!

This, just a week after I was telling my mother-in-law all kinds of stories involving the realization that you're unzipped in public. At least this didn't happen to me:

An old co-worker sent me this video. It's GREAT!!



Apparently it's just a Gatorade commercial (sorry for the spoiler), but it's still pretty funny.