Andrée Seu Peterson on the "Time" cover 
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Whirled Views 4.3
Good morning!
Today’s quote is from an American writer and editor, who also led a life of intrigue:
“A witness, in the sense that I am using the word, is a man whose life and faith are so completely one that when the challenge comes to step out and testify for his faith, he does so, disregarding all risks, accepting all consequences.”
Topic: News Desk, Watercooler Chatter
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The quote made me think of the many witnesses around the world who have Jesus to be so precious and His Word so powerful in their lives that they daily disregard the risks and accept the consequences to worship and proclaim Him.
Anyone here ever check out Voice of the Martyr’s Canada side project, Theology of Persecution?
It’s a great little gem of a blog and much-underappreciated (like their main blog.
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Just some comments from the past few days that I haven’t been here.
1. I cannot imagine the Queen of England asking for a gift of any kind. Had she actually wanted an iPod with certain things on it I am sure there is a secretary or someone around to make sure she has just that thing. Remember when the world was agog over Princess Diana and we read that she did not purchase her own stockings and that a lady in waiting always had an extra few pair so that she never had a run?
2. Apparently the British learned from their first gift to Obama and only gave him signed portraits this go ’round.
3. I am sure there are plenty of people crawling all over Washington DC who can instruct the Obama’s on gift giving and proper behaviour.
Perhaps I have these views because I am southern but there are things one simply does not do. One does not invade another’s personal space unless there is a certain level of familiarity. Since I have been on this site for a while, if I were to meet most of you in person I might hug you. I do not know and have never spoken with Barak or Michelle Obama, I most definately would not hug them.
MICROSOFT: I am currently devising ways to blow the entire company to pieces. I cannot do an elementary thing in Word such as print file labels. I had to pay someone to go online and find a work around for me to use Xcel. I could print preview and see files but I couldn’t see them on the screen to work in them. He set Outlook up for me and it worked yesterday but this morning I cannot send emails from my work email address and it has completely deleted my signature line. Have I mentioned how strongly I dislike Microsoft 2007?
Lest you think I am too cranky this morning,
After a week of rain the sun is shining, I have my kitchen door open, the birds are singing, life is good.
Baby Girl and I went to see Cats Wednesday night. It was worth the price of the tickets to see her face. She was completely captivated by it. As you can imagine, I have had to listen to the London Original Cast CD for the past two days. Baby Girl amazes me. This was the first time she had seen the play, and on the way home was signing all the words to three of the songs, and in tune…she most certainly did not get that talent from her mother.
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I can’t work Word 07 either, Kim, and it’s impossible on this Mac. People keep telling me it’s like learning another language; you dive in and get to work and eventually you get used to the rhythm.
That hasn’t happened to me, yet. I just get frustrated I can’t do my work because I’m wasting so much time trying to figure out where spell check is and how to turn on word count. Maddening.
But, it’s the wave of the future and I need to cast aside all Luddite fantasties . . .
Have finally escaped Jeremiah and moved into Lamentations. I wish didn’t see so many parallels between Jeremiah’s need to weep and mine, too.
Spring is here in northern California and the flowers are glorious!
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Lynn I’ll take “Who was Whittaker Chambers?” for $500
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My most memorable part of Chambers’ book was when he had his break with communism. He was seated at the breakfast table watching his daughter eat porridge. He looked at the detail of her tiny ear. It was then and there that he concluded such a delicately designed ear could not have come about thru chance random evolution. And the conclusion he drew changed his life and changed our nation’s history.
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THESELITTLEONES
Thank you for the compliment on our new house.
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Mornin’, friends: may I ask for your various takes on how to resolve a vexing situation with my neighbor?
One evening last May, I was walking our cocker spaniel-sized mixed breed dog around our neighborhood. She was on a leash, and I had her well under control. She gets very excited and barks a lot when she encounters other dogs, but she doesn’t go into attack mode.
As we walked down the sidewalk, we saw the neighbor (I’ll call her Dee) coming our way on the opposite sidewalk with her two dogs on leashes. She has a scottie and what I think is a weimeraner (I’m sure I’m spelling it wrong). Dee stopped to chat with another neighbor, and wasn’t paying sufficient attention when her dogs and mine began barking at each other. The weimeraner lunged toward mine and broke away from Dee. Her scottie also got away. Both her dogs charged us, and I could not get my dog up into my arms before she was bitten a couple of times (nips from the Scottie, more significant bites from the weimeraner). My dog did not bite in return.
Dee came running over, we got the dogs separated, and I took mine home to calm her down and look her over. While my wife and I were examining our dog inside, Dee came to the door and suggested that we take her to an animal emergency room. She also remarked that she was sorry this happened, that her weimeraner had long been a challenge for her, and that she might not be able to keep it any longer.
We didn’t take our dog to an after-hours vet that evening for several reasons: cost, an unfamiliar vet, but also taking the advice over the phone of a friend who used to be a veterinary assistant, who suggested we clean the bites and observe her for 24 hours. After doing so, we took her to our usual vet. He fixed her up for about $300.
A few days later, I brought the receipt to Dee and asked her to reimburse us. She agreed, but said she would have to do it in installments. She wrote a $100 check, and a month later I stopped by and collected another $100. She then wrote us a long certified letter announcing that she would not be paying the rest. She cited our “negligence” in not taking the dog to emergency care (the bill for which would likely have been larger than what we paid, IMO), and how another neighbor went through something similar and paid less than we did, and so forth.
Eleven months and another exchange of letters after the incident, she still refuses to pay the rest, and threatens that if we take her to court, she’ll subpoena our veterinary ass’t friend, and all our dog’s medical records, and a bunch of other nuisance items including fraud. The fraud allegation stems from her misplacing one letter from us, asking for a copy, and then claiming she located the original after all, and our replacement had been edited. She apparently is a paralegal; I’m sure some of this is just the blowing of smoke, but I don’t know how much.
In my view, this incident was her doing: had she controlled her dogs, mine wouldn’t have suffered bites. Yet we’ve only lost $100. I’m torn between taking her to small claims court for the rest (both to realize our loss and to refuse to give in to her legal-shmegal bullying), and just letting this slide in the Sermon on the Mount sense.
Your thoughts?
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Kim: I don’t know if you saw this diatribe concerning your Office 2007 problem which I made on WV last night. Here it is again so you don’t have to go there:
Microsoft is known for that. If something is user friendly, and common people can actually figure it out on their own, MS changes it so we have to use their help desk. I often wonder if MS has a “Keep it difficult” department, where they hire older folks to use new products. If us old fogies get it, the program goes back to the programmers so it can be made more confusing.
Chas re TurboTax: I used TaxAct in the past, but tried TurboTax for my daughter. I think I am going to redo mine this year with TurboTax. It does seem easier than TaxAct. (I need to redo them anyway, since one of my employers had the wrong SSN on my W-2, and I have not submitted them yet, due to owing $500+ to Uncle Sam. I suppose I am doing my part to stimulate the Socialist economy.)
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Kim,
Instead of messing with Office 2007, just download and install Open Office. It’s free, open source, has a support forum, and may work better anyway.
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RR, let it go. You’re very lucky you got the $200. The vexation and expense of pursuing this is huge compared with the lousy hundred bucks. Thank God that your dog is fine and give this all to your heavenly Father in prayer, who sees the truth and is the judge of us all. Don’t resent her vain posturing, but humble yourself and pray for this lady and for peace in your neighborhood.
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RR,
As said, let it go. I don’t have legal advice for you but as to getting along with the neighbors, let it go.
You didn’t ask but, as a nosey know it all, might I suggest you not pick up your dog when another is apparently attacking? It is safer for the dog to be on the ground where the other dog (dogs) can impress themselves without harming your dog. Almost always, the approaching dog will just be visiting (though the approach can be very alarming).
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On another note, a couple of our brethren here have mentioned being embarrassed by another’s actions. How does that work for the believer? I don’t see where Jesus was embarrassed by, say, my actions, though several could have put him there. When I am embarrassed by my children’s actions, I find it is a pride issue. Having seen signs of the “ugly American” overseas, I have never been embarrassed by them, though irritated and saddened they hadn’t been taught respect. So, the question: do we as believers have a place in our lives for embarrassment either over others’ actions or our own?
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RR #7, I’m with Kwerna #10. It’s turning the other cheek to let it go.
I’d have to fight with the “I’m holier than you are, because I turned the other cheek, so there!” attitude afterward, but that’s secondary.
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RR: I agree, let it go. She’s in the wrong. You know it. She knows it, even if she won’t admit it. But the amount of money involved is trivial compared to the cost of legal action, not to mention dragging the whole incident out for many more weeks and months.
Be grateful your dog is ok and leave it at that.
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I’ll join the let it go crowd. But, has she got her Weimeranger under control now? I assume it was reported when your dog was attacked.
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I would let it go also, but I would let her know that you are unhappy that she would impugn your reputation; that you reject all that she is alleging, and you hope she will control her dogs better in the future for everyone’s safety. Finally, I would tell her you consider the whole thing behind you.
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GO IOWA. It’s been about 10 long years, but the gay marriage ban is no more. Thank god for this miracle.
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RR – I also say let it go. Even if you were to win in court, her resentment may bring problems later.
Mumsee – Interesting thought. Pride is a huge problem with the human race, isn’t it?
I have felt bad about the sniping at Pres. & Mrs. Obama. As I have said in the past, I am not an Obama fan, but I also don’t believe in constantly finding fault or being critical. I don’t like it when “liberals” do that to “conservatives”, & it’s certainly no better when “conservatives” do it to “liberals”.
Some have mentioned Queen Elizabeth’s graciousness in dealing with the Obamas. I think we Christians should be showing more graciousness towards them as well. I’d rather err on the side of being graciously wrong than contemptuously correct.
BTW, I do think it is okay to politely criticize the president’s policies, but I’d leave the other stuff alone.
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RR,
I’m with the others on this. Let it go. There’s been enough bad feelings all around on it, you got some reparations, and your dog is ok.
(And that’s from a guy whose previous solutions to dog problems has been to shoot the offending dog.)
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Me too, RR, on the ‘let it go’ advice. She is clearly in the wrong — and you’re right, take it from one who has by necessity had to use those animal ERs after hours, they will charge you an arm and a leg. You did the right thing. Praying for her would be the best course to take now.
Several years ago my former dog Ellie was attacked by a pit bull in our local dog park. Long story short, the bill came to maybe $400 (though the first vet I went to, my own, wanted to charge me $800). The owner of the other dog had given me a false name, although I managed to locate her and she promised to pay me when she could.
But it turns out I had to take my place in line — several other dog owners had claims against her as well (her dog had broken the leg of one small dog in their neighborhood). Eventually we all had to testify at a city animal control hearing, which was very unpleasant, but the dog was removed from the woman’s ownership.
Animals will be animals but it is our job to make sure ours do no harm to anyone else.
(Oh, and Mumsee is right about picking dogs up, for some reason that just makes other dogs get all the more aggressive and then you’re in danger as well.)
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Sawgunner wins! Whittaker Chambers is correct. Here’s your $500:
$$$$$
(hundred-dollar bills)
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$$$$$!! If I would have known we got money, I would have tried harder!! Not that it would have helped.
Sawgunner: That is an interesting story #5. Thanks for sharing it.
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Scott #17,
While you are in celebration mode, there are millions of Iowans and residents in surrounding states who are in full sorrow mode. Another nail in the coffin of our nation’s moral foundations. Oh, and by the way, you’re addressing the wrong source with your thanks, though our court systems are seeing themselves more like god all the time.
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Oh, my mistake PastorDavid, I thought your god could guide things in this world. So apparently, he is either powerless or doesn’t care to partake. And, PD, for what EXACTLY can one thank god? I hear people thanking him all the time for stuff, surely he must have a part in making something happen, right? What is it and how can I figure it out?
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RR, the Devil is making me write this:
Dear Dee,
In these trying economic times, I understand that you may simply just not have the ability to pay the last $100 you owe for your dog attacking mine.
My gift to you is to forgive the debt and wish you well for the future. Perhaps when you do have the money again, you can use it for obedience classes for Scottie and Weimeraner
Very Sincerely,
RR
by the way, I would send it certified mail.
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RR: The advice is all going in one direction – it’s not worth it. We had almost the exact same thing happen when our dog was attacked by a Rotweiler, and the owners weren’t willing to pay injury-treatment costs, citing the same kind of things (you should have taken her to the vet immediately, you should have gone to a less-expensive vet, etc.). We didn’t pursue it further, esp. b/c we live in a foreign country and don’t know many of the laws, and our dog wasn’t actually on a leash at the time (she is totally harmless). But more importantly, it’s better to keep peace in the relationship. We often expect people to be honest and accept full responsibility for their actions (and their dogs!) in the same way that we would, but of course many people are not like that. It’s difficult enough as it is for us not to think badly of those people (the Rotweiler owners) – I can’t imagine how it would have been if we had been involved in some legal action. As difficult as it is to feel like you’re “giving in” when you know you’re in the right, it’s simply not worth all the hassle. Just pray for her. I don’t know if she is a believer or not, but who knows how God might use your attitude or her guilty conscience to draw her to Himself?
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Thanks for the inputs, all of you. On the matter of scooping up a dog, I didn’t know to do that and was advised later that I could have prevented the attack by doing so. Now I have several votes to the contrary to ponder …
If I didn’t make it clear before, there was no doubt of the other dog’s intentions from the moment it broke its owner’s lead. Beeline to the bite, no circling and growling or anything like that. Went for my dog’s hindquarters like a missile, biting her on the back and belly.
Oh, and yes I called animal control (a police function). A patrol officer came out, asked me questions, said he would speak to the neighbor, and I never heard another word about it from police or her. He didn’t offer a case number, and I forgot to ask for one at the time, so I have my doubts that any public safety file was created or updated.
While I’ve been leaning toward just letting this slide, I thank KI for her excellent suggestions about stating my reasons for doing so and formally putting this behind us.
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RR, glad you did report it. I was told to do that as well and I never heard a thing until I was ’summoned’ to attend the hearing downtown several months later. I was quite surprised to see all the other owners there who had their own history with the same dog. The authorities will probably just have a talk with your neighbor about the importance of leash control, etc., unless there are other incidents on record.
Maybe a muzzle would be in order when she takes the dog out for walks if there is a danger — it might even give her more peace of mind if she worries that she can’t control the dog or that it might get loose again.
I never did collect any of the money in my case, I was told the only way to do so would be through civil court but I chose not to go that route (though I think a few of the other owners who were out more money than I was did so). After I saw how many people were in line waiting to get paid as well, I didn’t pursue it with the woman any further, I just wrote it off and was grateful my dog wasn’t any more seriously hurt than she was.
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Huh…
Rethinking this… If the dog has been a problem for several others, then the shooting idea may not be so far off anyway.
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Mark yesterday, the 2nd of April, as the darkest day in American history worse than Pearl Harbor and 911 put together.
Our surrender monkey Marxist President fell on his sword and proclaimed tot the world that America is the root cause of the worlds financial ills and all other problems – and that America is now dead. Then he bent America over the sofa and let his socialist buddies, who hate American like he does, to have their way with us.
The Socialist French President Sarkozy proclaimed like the strutting cock he now is, even if he represents a pipsqueak of what used to be a country 200 years ago, saying ‘the era of Anglo American Capitalism is over.’ A new socialist world order is born.
Obama, after his huge ego was stroked by fawning comrades, was naively pick pocked by these socialist thieves and he agreed to a $1 trillion INF funding for the IMF that America will pay 40% of or another $400 billion of debt no socialist in his party will pay since they don’t pay taxes – even if they owe them. This trillion dollar third world welfare scheme hidden in another ‘the world is ending in Africa’ socialist lie. What it really is, if you know what is is, is a European bank bailout if their now non performing loans to third world countries.
Yes even after Obama got caught transferring billions of dollars to bail out European banks through his AIG conduit, he now just gave those same European Banks another $400 Billion again!!!! His hubris knows no bounds. The US tax payer is bailing out European banks. against their wills, with taxes they can’t pay because they are broke and socialist can’t raise the tax rates fast or high enough on real Americans that do not vote for them. No problem for the messiah though. This god trapped on earth, will just borrow it from his other foreign Marxist comrades – the Chinese.
Oh, but this messiah was not through with the changes we can now believe in. He agreed to let the IMF set all pay and bonuses for all financial firms with systemic risk in the world – including US ones. This man is not an American president he is more like a Benedict Arnold. His head size and pay grade are way, way above that insignificant posting of American President that has been held by evil Satans previously. He can’t get the US government to set pay for these executives for fear of being called a socialist and Marxist while being accused of nationalizing and running US companies. Plus the right in congress would have a field day and filibuster any such further socialist power grab. No problem for the messiah. He just got the US hating IMF World to set their pay instead. What? How nice, the American hating UN was too busy?
But the end if his vile, despicable and anti American actions yesterday was not over by a long shot. He got his socialist and Marxist disciples in congress to pass a $3.5 trillion dollar spending bill, without one Republican vote in the House or Senate, for worthless crud like national health care, Free College for Minority kids and illegal aliens, a trillion dollar Restrict and Tax Energy tax increase that is the largest on record by a factor of 5 and also borrows another $2 trillion dollars.
Mark your calendars well, remember the first and ever surrender of America to any enemy for any reason. But be prepared, it won’t be the last time. I will see you in Washington DC on April 15 when real Americans will erupt all over America to protest the too much spending, too much taxing, too much borrowing, too much anti Americanism and the surrendering of America to Socialism and Marxism that messiah Obama and his disciples in congress are responsible for – but not the change any American could ever accept for any reason – no not one.
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Donna – Whatever became of that man in the dog park who was threatening the older lady?
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MiM: (And that’s from a guy whose previous solutions to dog problems has been to shoot the offending dog.)
mmmm … I kind of wish I didn’t know that about you. Except in cases of serious self-defense, I have a hard time imaging a case where that’s justified.
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When the dog slaughters, and is the middle of slaughtering, hundreds of dollars of livestock, that’s really the only solution Steve.
Dogs are NOT people, no matter what their owners say.
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SteveG, how about having to pull a six year old out of the middle of a dog fight and the owner, whose sister is a police officer in of another community, still lets the dog run loose. We’ve thought about taking a dog for a one way ride.
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Llama, watch the vulgarity.
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100 dollars aint worth it RR.
“Thanks for the inputs, all of you. On the matter of scooping up a dog, I didn’t know to do that and was advised later that I could have prevented the attack by doing so.”
Except I could see the opposing dog lunging at you for the dog still and you being knocked over in the least…
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“Perhaps when you do have the money again, you can use it for obedience classes for Scottie and Weimeraner”
Nice
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We have had an aggressive dog before. A stray we picked up as a young dog and stayed with us for seventeen years. Part of the time he was in cities or towns and it was difficult but doable. Part of the time in the country and he was ideal.
Anyway, he caused harm three times. Once a jogger came up behind my kids walking the dog, at night, on a sidewalk on a bridge where they had no room to step aside. She suddenly appeared and startled the kids, the dog hit her with his teeth, not penetrating. She reported a dog bite. The officer came by about eight days later (when the report got to him) and said the dog had to be confined for ten days (only two remained) but as he had seen us and our regular dog walking ritual and how he was always on leash, we could continue our walks, nothing changed.
Second, two dogs loitering in our yard, our dog snapped a chain to chase them out but did no real damage to the intruders.
Third, a neighbor would regularly bring his dog over, letting the dog roam freely. I confined my dog in a crate when I saw him coming. One day his dog attacked one of my other dogs in front of the crated dog. He remembered and got the visiting dog when he was loose and the guy brought her over. My dog set a trap and did some damage. The guy did not bring his dog by anymore.
The moral here is, if you have a cute little Fifi that would never harm another dog and looks so cute walking around without a leash and just this one time let her out because you were busy and she needed to go, don’t. There are aggressive dogs out there and, though most owners try to control them, if your dog is taunting, it is generally your dog that pays the price even if it is the owner of the aggressive dogs fault.
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On a happier subject, one of my friends works at a Christian orphanage in Juarez, Mexico (the city is at the center of armed violence and the subject of an interesting article by Lynn in last month’s World), and they reported the following story in a recent newsletter:
“Jonathan is a precious 6 year old brought to us by his aunt almost two weeks ago.He has 7 siblings.His mom is a drug addict lost in the streets of Juarez and Jonathan was lost with her.Her sister hunted for Jonathan for weeks until she found him looking for food in a garbage can.He had been with his mom all this time, but she was so high she had lost track of the fact her son was with her.Jonathan was dirty and hungry and his aunt has a large family so she decided to bring him to Emmanuel Children’s Home to help her care for him.
“Jonathan was so afraid to stay, he began to cry as his aunt left and he shared with us he was afraid something bad would happen to him in “this place”.We gave Jonathan a shower and fed him, we gave him clean clothes and gave him a bed and he went to sleep peacefully.The fear began to disappear.The next morning, he woke up to a busy place full of children getting ready for breakfast, then school, then a bunch of fun activities with “the Americanos” who were visiting.He played and ate, he went to a Pizza Party on a bus full of people who spoke a different language but they were holding him and hugging him and Jonathan had a blast.
“The weekend arrived and his aunt came to visit him.This is what his aunt told us.”Jonathan is so happy. He told me he could not believe a place like this existed. He said, ‘Aunt, it’s like a dream!’, so I want to thank you for all you do”.
“What a special thing God did to bring this little boy who was so lonely and scared on this precise week when there was so much extra love at Emmanuel.”
http://www.emmanuelgo.org/
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Back to the aggressive dog stories, if my dog is attacked is it safer to drag her away on her leash, or drop the leash so she can run away?
I usually haul my dog away with the leash–as a zeta dog, she’s the one who is attacked–and shout at the other dog and for its owner.
A friend seriously damaged her hand by hanging on to the leash once with her agressive dog, so I’m always a little torn. In her case, her dog was the agressor. That’s never been true of me and mine.
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I will be going not only to Seder this year, but to an adult bat mitzvah in May. I’ve never seen one, and my friend is a little nervous that her Hebrew might be off. I, of course, won’t know if she makes a mistake.
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Karen O — Thanks for asking — Nothing further has happened with the man at the park, the woman whom he was (in my mind) harassing now simply makes it a point to come earlier in the day so she misses him (he usually comes quite late).
The one time I saw him since, he came, looked around to make sure the woman wasn’t there (she wasn’t), then came in with his dogs and stayed only about 10 minutes.
So everyone’s pretty much had a chance to settle down, which is good. Maybe that’ll be the end of it.
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Michelle,
My experience would say to drop the leash. She will probably just roll over and the dog will be happy that he is the mighty conqueror. The problem comes, I think, when people try to protect their mild dog in these situations, throwing off the balance of power. The mild dog begins to think of itself as superior, egging the troubled dog to more aggressive action. Just letting the dogs figure it out has worked for us time and again. When a pampered dog thinks to highly of itself, it loses the thought process of interacting in reality and danger lurks. This is not easy to do when a basket case is charging at your gentle Clark Kent but it is the dogs’ world.
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Dogs can feel defenseless and thus become more aggressive on-leash in those situations. It’s all so counter-intuitive to us humans, our natural instinct is to pick a dog up, pull in on the leash, etc.
That’s why at off-leash dog parks everyone is told to unleash their dogs in the entry way first. I’ve so often seen people come in with their dogs still leashed (usually on a first visit), and it puts the dog at a complete disadvantage, sometimes prompting a defensive “snap” as loose dogs come up to check him out. Owners want to protect their dogs but as Mumsee said, the animals do usually just work it out on their own.
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Of course, further complicating these situations are other factors — are you near a busy street where traffic could pose another danger to loose dogs?
As in all crises, you have to think on your feet, which is tough, and each situation can be unique.
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Prayer is needed for the ongoing situation in Binghampton, NY where there is a hostage crisis at the high school, apparently 4 dead. My friends’ daughter taught in Binghampton public schools a while back.
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#33 and #34: Fair points.
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With apologies to NJ Lawyer and all cat lovers.
The next door neighbor, 82 years old, Hank, has outdoor cats. He feeds them but rarely touches them. He has had up to 18 at a time.
Earlier this year, my wife came home and there was a dead kitten in our back yard. Snipes, our Chinese Crested mix, may have killed it.
Last month our Xolo, Lucy (Lucille Bald, she has red hair on her head), got out and went over to the next door neighbors house. My wife and/or daughter found a dead cat in his backyard. It was right after that Mary Anne got a new fence put up between the houses. She was extremely upset that Lucy had killed the cat. Lucy now goes out hunting for cats in our backyard.
The only solution will be when we move and bring the three dogs with us. Mary Anne doesn’t want to think about it but we will probably end up putting shock collars on the dogs. 5 acres is a lot of fencing, not to count the inconvenience of a gate. We will put in a smaller fenced-in area but we won’t decide just where until after we move, most likely.
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You may remember that I once had Marlowe the WonderDog, quite simply the worlds best Golden Retriever. He and I were in the across the street neighbors yard (the Fullers) one day when their next door neighbor (the Cochrans) Cocker Spaniel, Bingo dug under the fence and charged Marlowe. Marlowe was well trained and I had never not been able to control him. I reached down and jerked back on his collar to keep him from hurting Bingo (I was worried about the vet bill I would have). Marlowe’s Daddy (George, at that time we didn’t have Baby Girl so we were MamaDog and DaddyDog) had bought him a new leather collar that day. It was a smidge too big and he backed out of it. I had pulled it with such a force that I landed smack dab on my fanny in the neighbors driveway. Bingo latched onto my leg and Marlowe grabbed Bingo by the back of the neck and was shaking him from side to side and the whole while Bingo still had my leg.
Mr. Fuller had to go get the waterhose and spray them to get them apart. I ended up with the kind of bruises that have big knots in them. My doctor put me on antibiotics and blood thinner and I had more than one person approach me to ask if a man was beating me and offer me assistance. It took about 3 months for the bruises to go away and I still have a scar on my upper thigh.
My advice, let the dogs sort it out and each owner pay for their own dog’s injuries if it comes to that.
The Cochran’s offered to pay all of my medical expenses but I told them no I had health insurance. My insurance refused to pay because of the law suit that was sure to happen. Bingo bit his owner, they gave him to an older couple that lived on several acres and he bit them, he was eventually put down.
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Ooo, SteveG has a fancy new avatar. Very sharp.
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Yeah, I was gonna say, sure is a nice avatar Steve.
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Michelle–
I did a literary reading of Lamentations a year or two ago … that is a beautiful book, now one of my favourites.
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RR
Let it go, the woman is wrong, she most likely knows it, but doesn’t want to give you the rest of the money – she was looking for an excuse and believes she’s found it – you would most likely win in court, but the stress won’t be worth it.
I would dust my feet off, and leave her alone -
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Wait, SteveG has a new avatar? Maybe I’m missing something, but it looks the same to me.
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#35 RR,
I don’t watch vulgar.
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I’m a little tired of vicious dogs, personally. I was thinking last night that Misten may be the only nice dog on my street! Actually, there are some that never get out, so I don’t know how nice they are. But one chained dog across the street has attacked Misten twice (neither time doing any actual damage), including one time at the dog park.
Another dog gets out of its yard from time to time, and it bit Misten on the rump the first time I saw it out and came running to challenge her several more times–I can keep him back by yelling at him repeatedly–and then it bit a neighbor lady with a pretty serious bite.
Two little terriers often run loose (their owner tries to keep them in); one of them bit me on the ankle once, and they often are a nuisance to anyone walking.
A dog around the corner is bipolar or something; sometimes it’s friendly and sometimes it’s not, so I don’t really trust it, though I will pet it if it comes up to me when it’s in a friendly mood.
Farther down, a yappy little dog comes running out, barking at heels while its owner helplessly calls it to come, and until she finally catches up with it and can scoop it up. (BTW, a dog that’s in arms is up higher, and in dog terms it’s the dominant dog. Even a passive dog can start challenging another dog from its owner’s arms or a grocery store cart. No, I wouldn’t pick up a dog unless it was a tiny little dog that might be killed and I was willing to take the risk of being bitten instead.)
Anyway, now we have a new menace, a dog that has snarled at at least three of us (including me). It basically holds its prey at bay and won’t retreat, though it has yet to bite anyone as far as I know. I’ve had the dog snarl at me twice. Neighbors report that it’s actually worse when its owner draws near, which tells me it’s a dog that thinks its owner is a wimp and she (the dog) has to protect him. Last night this dog was snarling at me and two neighbors outside our yards, half a block or more from its own yard. Its owner kept calling it, but not only does the owner have no authority over the dog, but the owner wasn’t even carrying a leash. So the dog simply ignored its owner, and twenty minutes later owner and dog were still out in the street, still no leash on the dog. I moved it away by walking toward it with a big stick and yelling at it–moving it down the street toward its owner and its own yard and away from ours–but I was quite upset at an owner who’d be so irresponsible to own a vicious dog he can’t control and that has gotten out repeatedly in the last month. The dog is fifty pounds or so, a mongrel, and I think it’s showing fear aggression–a dog that doesn’t want to be dominant but has taken the position by default since its owner is so passive. Meanwhile, this block has a lot of seniors and there’s a young child living next door to the house where this dog lives. My neighbors and I have all decided not to walk down the street where that dog lives, though we’ve all been taking that route for years. Another neighbor, in her seventies, lives on a cul-de-sac beyond the home with the dog, and she simply has to go past its house if she wants to go out walking. It really rather angers me to see an owner so casually, cluelessly endangering his whole block–and making his dog’s life miserable in the process, because I really think she would rather let him be in charge.
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The baby llama is 18 today and finally emancipated. Now she can get out on her own soon enough when she goes to college, full scholarship, and turn the world into her oyster. Her boy friend was just admitted into the Air Force Academy (Naval Academy would have been much, much better). He is great otherwise though. His dad went there too, a real sicko, and is a pilot for Southwest Airlines now. Niceset kid you ever met – just operfect andd too good to be true. You want to throw him up against the wall, and work him over real good to find out what is really wrong with him
Too bad he is a Mormon.
I made her her favorite cheese cake today and a nice chocolate layer cake for blowing out candles later. We are going out for fancy do, dressed to the nines dinner and she got a hot, little, actually tiny, red dress with super high heals and her mother is pretty hot about that. Well, its just shameful and if I had any say in it I would do something useful, possibly even helpful, about it I’m sure
Her mother never look like that either – not ever. I’m pretty sure about that.
I’m guessing that one day some poor fool will have to have 3 jobs and a large inheritance to take care of her in the way she has grown accustomed in her own mind. You can blame her mom for that too. She got her good looks and brains from me of course. What a muzzle
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#57 Cheryl D
I have seen mail carriers with an umbrella with a tennis ball on the point. I would like to see one of those popped open in the face of your big bad neighbor dog. A cattle prod might be even more fun… on low, of course.
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Congratulations, Llama! You made it! Now, you get to pray for her, day and night. In a few years she should become a friend. That is when you get to really enjoy her company.
Enjoy the fact that she is HOT.
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Larry Summers made $5.2 million at his hedge fund last year and he made another pile speaking to the banks and financial firms his boss is running and nationalizing – like Citi.
Yesterday his boss tossed all large hedge funds in the USA under the regulation of the IMF and under a European Clean Green Bus. Hard to believe, no one buit llamas though Obama was that insane – but he is a Marxist and hates America so what do you expect? Oh Mon Du. Got to keep working on my French if Sarkozy is going to tell me what to invest in and how to do it.
I wonder if the messiah will go after closed end off shore trusts next? Sacreblue! Nice accent even if I do say so myself
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Poor you Llama – I’m sure you are the sole reason for all her great looks, her brilliant mind, and anything else you can attribute to yourself – of course your wife never looked that good, your memory is going Llama, but your self awards for all the rest are certainly admirable –
Have a wonderful time, and don’t forget to to tell your wife how much she did when raising your daughter and putting up with you.
Tell your daughter HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Yeah, I was gonna say, sure is a nice avatar Steve.
Thanks, and to Donna too. It’s a compass, but the teeny tiny picture doesn’t really show the N S E W markings well.
Matt Y., clear your browser cache and look again. That usually does it. It flushes out the old image and reloads the new one.
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Happy 18th Birthday to the baby Llama! Hopefully she just gets good looks from Dad Llama, and doesn’t spit like him. But if she also gets some of that day-trading talent, so much the better.
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Thanks SteveG.
Yup, nice and snazzy!
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Yet another reason to be sing praises unto the Lord — McCain (remember him?) didn’t win the election. Another “That One” moment from the unhinged Senior-ator.
McCain Rebukes Hispanic Voters
“He was angry,” one source said. “He was over the top. In some cases, he rolled his eyes a lot. There were portions of the meeting where he was just staring at the ceiling, and he wasn’t even listening to us. We came out of the meeting really upset.”
McCain’s message was obvious, the source continued: After bucking his party on immigration, he had no sympathy for Hispanics who are dissatisfied with President Obama’s pace on the issue. “He threw out [the words] ‘You people — you people made your choice. You made your choice during the election,’ ” the source said. “It was almost as if [he was saying] ‘You’re cut off!’ We felt very uncomfortable when we walked away from the meeting because of that.”
But one person’s straight talk is another person’s vitriol. “My hands were shaking,” one source said. “I was nervous as no-end.” The senator’s comments went on for several minutes at least. And by the end of the meeting, another participant, who had supported McCain in last year’s presidential election, was so shaken by the display of temper that he decided it is good that McCain isn’t in the White House.
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#66 RPN
“And by the end of the meeting, another participant, who had supported McCain in last year’s presidential election, was so shaken by the display of temper that he decided it is good that McCain isn’t in the White House.”
One of our WMB posters said as much last year.
I had really bad choices in the 2008 election. I still haven’t heard any of our fine liberal bloggers say how they really like Biden.
I just shake my head over him. His middle name must be Gaffe….
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Biden’s ok. He will be competent, but that may be the best I can say about him. If he should be called on to take the presidency, I think he’ll keep the rudder steady, but he probably won’t ever be more than adequate. He’s never struck me as an inspiring leader type.
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For the record, I would have voted for McCain if he had gotten the nomination in 2000. But between then and 2008, I think he lost his moorings. Calling yourself a maverick means little when your record doesn’t bear it out. It was true in 2000, and not really true in 2008.
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RR,
Forget the $100. Get a Pit Bull for free fromn the shelter. there are hudreds if thousands of them death every year. They are great dogs. No Wiener will mess with them, at least not for very long.
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Bob.
The dress was red hot – not her
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Dj,
I don’t let her day trade but she is a very good low risk investor since she was a little over 12. She has the concepts down pat and doesn’t make any stupid mistakes. She has her own trading accounts with no margin and no options. She could pay for her own college off of it pretty easy. I match dollar for dollar what ever she puts in her account and she can’t anything out. Incentives are the best way to get kids to do anything, Adults too for that matter. I will let her trade in the summer from now on though.
She should be ready to take over the business by her mid 30’s if there is such a thing as Hedge shops then.
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