My Vote Must Matter.

Okay.. forget what I said the other day. Today is Primary day in South Dakota, and I got no less than three calls from the Obama campaign. And they were all recorded messages.

The first was from Barack Obama his own self.

The second was from Michelle Obama.

And the last was from the hottest member of the US House , our lone Representative, Stephanie Herseth-something..

...(she went and got married! The Horror! The Horror. )

Hitting the Road.

We're halfway to the ASFA II in Leesburg, VA. We stopped in Wheeling, WV to have Rally checked out by The Greatest Vet in the Universe, who was channeling a rapper, or pro athlete when he said, in the third person, "Dr Radcliffe's not happy" with her progress. X-Rays show that she still has major loss of bone density in the calcaneous, where the achilles tendon is attached, and he's afraid we might lose the repair, so it's back on heavy-duty antibiotics (from a short list of those that the staphlococcus haemolytus is not resistant to), and a splint. This will go on for at least another two weeks.

Business out of the way, we went to dinner last night with the good doctor and his wife. Before that, though, we went to their house so we could see the newly remodeled kitchen. Wow... it's a chef's version of Heaven.. check out the Electrolux professional stove. That's restaurant quality there.

Speaking of restaurants, nobody's going to be surprised when I tell you we went to the Metropolitan Citi Grille. Was it as good as I remember? Of course. Bummer of the night was that Margaret and I were the only Detroit Red Wing fans in the place, and the Wings were losing!

We parked at our favorite location for the night.. Cabela's, so I could get a replacement "sun cutter" hat which I'd lost last August.

Today, we'll head for Virginia where, I hear that besides the rabid foxes, they're also having a bad tick year.. deer ticks no less, so a quick trip back to Radcliffe's office before we leave is in order, to pick up some Preventic collars.

Weather forecast for Leesburg, VA for the weekend calls for 88 degrees and scattered thunderstorms on Saturday, and 86 and sunny on Sunday.

Desperate Times.

The primary season ends next week with our South Dakota primary, and one other- Montana, I think. This means our cellphones are ringing off the hook. I got one call from the South Dakota Obama campaign a couple of weeks ago. It was a live human being. We had a good talk. I told him our absentee ballots had been requested, but I couldn't remember if we registered as Democrats or Independents, (Only Dems can vote in the primary). In the last week, I've gotten at least four calls from the Clinton campaign... all automated. Who's desperate?

Looks like our votes won't end the primaries with a (technically) clear winner, but, hopefully the nonsense will end and the senator from New York does the right thing.. what she should have done the minute she realized she couldn't catch Obama.

Memorial Day

I know Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who've fallen in service to their country. Perhaps my former comrades will permit me this small lapse, for just this year only.

On Saturday, our great friend, Mike Lorenzo lost his battle with brain cancer. I've known Mike and Karen for about a decade. We met through sighthounds, of course, but Mike's interests went way beyond just dogs. We've spent many a late night's cross country travel, in cellphone conversati0n about politics, exotic cars, motorcycles, real estate... and, of course, dogs. We were talking, not necessarily to learn anything from each other, but to keep each other awake, as I would be driving from Wisconsin to Texas to shoot a trial, and he and Karen would be driving from New York to Georgia. It's those talks I may miss the most.

Update: And weather. We talked way more about the weather than is probably healthy. Or wise.

If you knew Mike, and wish to contribute something to his memory, there are a couple of options, but I'm only going to list one: Send a check payable to "Mike Lorenzo Medical Expense Fund", to 49 Sunrise Ridge, Florida, NY 10921. I found the above photo, along with a few more of Mike and Karen, while sorting stuff for our big garage sale this weekend. I'll be including them with our check.

Farewell good friend.. and be strong, Karen.

Shots Up To Date?

Going to the II? (American Sighthound Field Association's "International Invitational").

While some are concerned that the temperatures will be intolerable for hounds and humans alike, Patrick has posted on a potentially more serious problem: Rabies. In the neighborhood.

Forewarned is forearmed.

We'll be there, of course. I've shot every II since 1996 except 1997. You could say I'm a fixture at this point. We'll be joined by my friend, Steve Surfman of Steve Surfman Photography. Steve has helped shoot a few previous II's.

We'll also be joined, briefly, on Saturday by the aforementioned working terrierman himself, Pat Burns.

A good time should be had by all. See you there, and make sure your rabies vaccinations are current!

The Problem With Google Ads.

Google ads... those banners at the top of the page.. show up because they're "relevant" to the content of this blog. That's why you see all the dog and pet items and, when we were in New Mexico, there were lots of ads for Santa Fe real estate... that's how it works.

The downside is that I have no control... zero... zilch... over the ads that show up. So what's up there now? Some total right wing bilge about a certain presidential candidate (a word these dipshits can't even spell) I wrote about the other day. They rotate regularly, so it may not be there every time you look, and eventually it will disappear as I write on other interesting subjects. Anyway, it's pretty despicable crap, so I might as well get some money out of them! Click away... make 'em pay.

Thanks.

Global What?

Climate change.

Only the most rigid, and inflexible are in denial over the concept. I spoke with one at the trial last weekend.. an old friend, and way too set in his ways. When the first drowned polar bear washes up on his Indiana lawn, he may begin to see things differently.

Normal people on all sides of the political spectrum now agree that the climate is changing; the argument is over whether we, as a species, are the cause.

We've already had more tornados this year than we normally have in a full season.. including big ones in the middle of winter. Alaska has had it's first deaths- ever- from yellowjacket wasp stings. I've seen dead armadillos as far north as central Missouri, on I44.

So with all this evidence of so-called "Global Warming"...

...Why the hell does it feel like early April in Michigan... at the end of freakin' May? (Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question). It was 39 degrees when I got up yesterday, and the wind blew strong out of the northwest. I had to wear my coat all day. This morning was no better.. 41 when I took the dogs out.

The weekend promises to actually be like late Spring, rather than late Winter. We're going to bail on the trial we had scheduled, to move out a bunch of the things we have in storage. Then maybe we'll have a picnic... if picnic weather happens.