Dog Abuse

Hi folks, it's me Bear again. Could someone please call the SPCA? A dog shouldn't have to go through what I have to endure. Here is the proof. Look at my head. Dad stuck a tiny bird feeder in the top of my head and it drives me crazy. That constant chirping from the birds coming for their morning seed and the squirrels running all over the place is more than I can bear stand.

Haha, did I have you going? Don't call the SPCA I am just kidding. Dad didn't really stick a bird feeder in my head, it's just trick photography.

Saturday, I helped dad fix up Hobo Garden. The summer flowers were getting a little worse for the wear so we cleaned up the garden and planted new flowers. It looks pretty good.

If you want to see the garden and more pictures of me, take your paw and click the link below.

Hobo Garden - Fall Edition Photos

Dad is going to the Saints game today in Baton Rouge and I am staying here for the baby shower with mom. She said there will be two babies here today. She is excited to have babies around. Dad says he is glad he is going to the football game.

Enjoy your Sunday folks

Until the next time
Bear

I like thees guy; he makes me laugh

I don't know why, but the sound of flipper the bottle nose dolphin cracks me up. Do you remember the show from the 1960's?

Speaking of laughs, here's a good joke I got in the email last week:

A Texan is drinking in a New York bar when he gets a call on his cell phone. He hangs up, grinning from ear to ear, and orders a round of drinks for everybody in the bar announcing his wife has produced a typical Texas baby boy weighing 25 pounds.
Nobody can believe that any new baby can weigh in at 25 pounds, but the Texan just shrugs, "That's about average down home, folks... like I said, my boy's a typical Texas baby boy." Congratulations showered him from all around, and many exclamations of, "WOW!" We heard one woman actually fainted due to sympathy pains.

Two weeks later he returns to the bar. The bartender says, "Say, you're the father of that typical Texas baby that weighed 25 pounds at birth. Everybody's been making bets about how big he'd be in two weeks. So how much does he weigh now?"
The proud father answers, "Seventeen pounds."

The bartender is puzzled, concerned, and a little suspicious. "What happened? He already weighed 25 pounds the day he was born!"

The Texas father takes a slow swig from his long-neck Lone Star beer, wipes his lips on his shirt sleeve, leans into the bartender and proudly says, "Had'm circumcised".

Today I will be helping get the house in shape for the big baby shower tomorrow. Luckily, I will be in Baton Rouge with John watching the Saints and Bears at Tiger Stadium, while Barbara and her guests do all kinds of girl things.

It's time to sharpen your hunting skills; deer season is right around the corner.

Have a great weekend folks

Until the next time
John Strain

What's in your wallet?

Previous posts of similar topic
Dresser Drawer Archaeology
What's In Your Pocket?

We've seen the commercials that ask the question, "What's in your wallet?" Here is my answer to the question.

Here is the list of items in my wallet:
• Two $20 bills, I'm rich
• 7 photos of my son (now 20 years old)
• CPR card
• Louisiana State ID Card
• My counseling license
• Social Security card
• Expired fishing license
• Card with phone numbers on it
• Visa card
• Debit card
• Time card for work
• Delta sky miles card
• Business card, urologist (he helped me through a swollen testicle thing a few years ago)
• Business card, contractor who remodeled our kitchen and built our computer office
• Business card, my niece's husband Marc (good guy)
• Voter registration card
• Old invalid health insurance card (now thrown away)
• Current health insurance card
• Business card for our old IT guy Robbie
• Home Depot credit card
• Dental card
• Another outdated health insurance card (now thrown away)
• Business card for the wine guy at our local supermarket
• Business card furniture store with the stock number for an entertainment center on it
• Yet another outdated health insurance card (now thrown away)
• ID cards for my lens implants
• A ticket stub from 9/26/99 KC Chievs v Detroit Lions. Good memories with my son and brother at Arrowhead stadium.
• Business card, my internal medicine MD
• Scrap paper with a bank account number on it
• Scrap paper with a hotel reservation from last year (now thrown away)
• No condom(s)

So there you are, a list of the contents of my wallet. I guess the pillagers will be on their way since there is no Capital One card in the list.

Until the next time if the pillagers don't get me
John Strain

House of cards

Most of the devastation caused by Katrina was inflicted not by high winds, but by massive flooding that resulted when the city's levees breached. Four major breaches and dozens of smaller ones occurred on the morning of Aug. 29, sending water surging across 80 percent of New Orleans and swamping an estimated 100,000 homes. About 1,000 people died.
Washington Post article

Go figure. As more information comes out about the 200 mile New Orleans levee system, it appears that it was never capable of protecting the city from a category 3 hurricane as advertised. This is because #1 The levee design was flawed from the beginning, and #2 Contractors used the wrong material to construct the levee.

At this point, there is a lot of finger pointing and ass covering, but the lawyers will no doubt make a lot of money suing people for the next 50 years.

I guess "The city that care forgot" cares now; now that it is too late.

I am not surprised at the findings. I have become used to people doing a poor job or cheating for financial gain. I am used to politicians pocketing money or diverting the funds to their pals. I think we all are used to these sorts of crimes. The flooding of Katrina is a direct result of laziness, greed, and a lack of accountability. I am a voter and it is my job to hold politicians accountable, therefore, I have a part in this mess.

Until voters hold their elected officials responsible for things that are really important, a New Orleans scale tragedy could happen again. It could happen here and it could happen in your town. I am not just referring to hurricanes, but any disaster down the pike.

The next election I will pay much less attention to whether the candidate is a Republican, Democrat, or what BS position he/she holds about the litmus test questions and focus on their resume.

Here are a few questions I would like to ask them:
-What is your plan for the next hurricane?
-Do you have numbers to call to get help?
-Are you acquainted with other local, state, and federal officials?
-How would you coordinate with these people?
-What would you do if the phone did not work?
-Who gives you counsel?
-What resources do you have access to?

These are a few of the questions, but I want to know specifically what they would do in an emergency. I want to know how they will protect us from potential future problems.

Our elected officials are not class presidents running on a platform of extending recess and shortening the school day, they are vital cogs in a machine that could save our lives or kill us through incompetence or even criminal negligence.

Just ask the folks in New Orleans who are learning that the flood did not have to happen.

Until the next time
John Strain

Race Flix

Here is some video of me finishing the Rocky Raccoon 50K (31 mile) Trail Run in Huntsville, Texas held October 22, 2005.

Mac Users and other brave souls click here for a larger version of the clip

Marathon season is upon us. Here are the ones I am committed to so far:

December - Baton Rouge Marathon
January - Mississippi Marathon
February - Mardi Gras Marathon
April - Boston Marathon

I need to find one in March now.

Until the next time
John Strain