Thursday, January 18, 2018

Thursday This n That

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I love love LOVE my Foreman Grill.  I can whip together grilled sandwiches of all varieties in no time.  No need to flip them either, so I can cram all sorts of stuff in the sandwich - steak bits, sliced leftover brats, chicken strips, fried eggs.  Yummers.  I can also put a hamburger out in like 3 minutes.  Chicken tenderloin or thighs, too (boneless - bone in takes forever).  You just can't put hotdogs on it because they want to roll off.  My only gripe is mine's a pain to clean.  Less work than cooking things in a pan, though, so it's all good.

I also love my battery backup.  We had a major voltage drag yesterday and the backup software told me so.  It's also kept my computer from freaking out during brownouts and surges.  Plus, I don't lose precious words if I'm writing and the power goes out.  It gives me time to save and shut everything down safely.  If you don't have one, squeeze the money out of your budget and get one.  It's worth it.

Last year, the local grocery store changed hands and the guy who was in charge of fishing gear there (yes, we have fishing gear at the grocery store) was let go.  From what I heard, he marched right over to the actual bait and tackle store and demanded a job.  The owner there told him he was welcome to fill out an application, but they don't hire people just because they demand a job.  He was rude to them and left.  Months later, he opened his own tackle shop four doors down in the same plaza.  It had a horribly long and unwieldy name.  And it didn't do much business - because why go to him when you can go to the actual bait and tackle shop with the super-nice owner and employees?  Anyhoo, today's paper has an article about the NEW owner of the newest tackle shop.  I'm kinda happy the other guy is gone.  I don't expect this store to do any better, though.  The name has changed to something shorter, of course, but it's worse.  And this other dude doesn't even have experience selling bait and tackle.  Ah, drama in the back of beyond.

PSA:  Despite what you may have heard and seen on TV, adopting an adult guard dog or guard dog mix should not be entered into lightly.  You have no idea what kinds of things it may have been trained to do, the types of experiences it's had, etc.  It may be perfectly lovely until a certain set of circumstances come into play.  If the dog's been trained to guard a yard, for instance, and someone walks unknowingly into that yard, they will get attacked.  If they've been trained to guard while chained to the house, and someone approaches them while they're on their chain, they will get bit.  (Been there, done that.  Got the scar to prove it.)   As with all pets, do your research before you bring it home - both on the breed and on the individual dog*.  For the record, one of the nicest dogs I ever met was a pitbull. Her name was Petey.  She'd been bought from a reputable breeder and raised up from pup to adult by a very conscientious owner.

Okay, that's about enough out of me this morning.  What've you got on your this n that?


*Don't take the adopting agency's word for it on breeds.  They said my Rott-n-Lab was a Bouvier mix. 
Do you see anything remotely 'Bouvier' in that dog?  Sheesh.

And they said this was a Chow mix:
I figured Malamute and Lab, btw.  110lbs of him at a year old.  Maybe they thought he was Chow because his brother was extremely fluffy.  :shrug:

The point is, people make mistakes.  Don't let their mistake be your heartache.  Do your homework.


3 comments:

  1. Yeah, my hometown just had a case of a father who brought a Pit home (and yes, I've known some lovely Pits, so it's not always just the dog), to see how the dog acted before keeping it. Said father had a 3 yo daughter and dad was very careful to keep them apart. Evidently, dad and daughter were living with his mother, or at least dad, daughter, and dog were all at "grandma's" house. Dad left to run a quick errand. Dog was in the yard, child in the house. When he got home, grandma was laying on the dog, trying to free the toddler. Toddler died. Cops shot the dog. Dad and grandma are devastated. So yeah. Sad all around. :/

    Not sure I'd say Malamute. They're even fluffier than Chows. Definitely not a Chow though. Muzzle is two long. I see some Lab there for sure. I'm usually better than the rescue places of figuring out parentage. When we got Tucker, they had him marked as part St. Bernard, based solely on his markings. We laughingly called him our "Standard Papillon" because he looked like a giant Papi, and acted just like one.

    Going to warm up today and the forecast calls for 60 on Saturday. I'm ready.

    I'm making slow headway with my two WIPs. And I'm searching for stuff to read/listen to. It's also contest time so there's that. I *love* reading books I didn't pick out. #sarcasm Except I signed up for it and I have a dog in this pony show so I'm smiling and reading and being fair because I hope those reading my book are doing the same.

    Is it Friday yet? Not that it matters...

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    Replies
    1. That was the exact news story I was thinking of when I wrote it. I'm betting that dog was trained to GUARD when placed in a yard. So sad.

      The reason I was guessing Malamute is because he had the thick undercoat and a NEED to pull, plus HUGE. I figured the Lab part undercut the fluffy part. You should've seen his brother. Total puffball. I almost took the brother because he was so cute. But way too timid. Tutter was total Alpha. Man, I miss that dog. He went to live on a farm, though, so it's all good.

      Yay for warm! I'm so ready to get past this freezing cold.

      Yay for headway!!

      Nope, not yet. But like you said, it doesn't really matter.

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  2. We've rescued the majority of our dogs so we're always cautious until we learn their 'triggers'.

    The best behaved dog we ever had was Tank, the rottie. When I walked him in a crowded Petsmart store, people backed away like the Red Sea. Yet he was the gentlest, most compassionate soul I've ever known.

    re: Foreman grill
    Greg wanted one of those forever, but I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money. When that pannini maker we got went on sale, I snatched it up. We use it several times a week, concocting all sorts of grilled sandwiches. It was such a good purchase. Like you, cleaning it was important. I was glad to see the trays were removable. Makes it much easier to clean than many of the other grills.

    Do you have any pets at home now? You never seem to talk about them anymore.

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