Yippee it's Saturday

Oh boy, it's Saturday and my family will be home all day. Dad will play with me more and I will get extra walks. I love the weekends. Then on Sunday, Dad throws me chips and other snacks he eats while sitting in front of the TV. Sometimes he gets real happy when he watches TV on Sunday afternoon and other times he gets real mad and says bad words. Mom just sits on the couch reading the paper and shaking her head. I think he is watching football games or something.

I also heard Dad saying he was going to clean out the shed today. It is full of stuff and he says bad words every time he goes in there because he can't find what he's looking for. Also, things fall down and he says more bad words.

I like it when Dad works outside because I get to hang around and watch. It feels real good outside today. It is cool and no humidity. Dad says when he runs his 25 miles tomorrow it will be a lot easier.

Well it is time to go chase my tennis ball again, I think I am getting a bath later too, but I like water.

Bye for now,
Bear

I think I feel a pulse

New Orleans is coming back to life, albeit slowly. This morning at the Sheraton Hotel, Mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco, Admiral Allen, FEMA reps, and folks from the SBA addressed 1500 New Orleans business owners. The purpose of the event was to inform people about what is happening in government to assist businesses in their efforts to reopen.

They said that Katrina wiped out 360,000 jobs in the area, but at the same time, businesses lack employees. Workers have been scattered out across the nation. So the people here have a great chance at finding a job. The awarded contracts thus far have gone to Louisiana businesses in 44% of the cases.

Burger King is offering a $6,000 signing bonus. I don't know the details, but I am sure people don't get the money until they work a year. Still, businesses need help and they are paying better wages to get it. Of course, costs will go up. I am waiting for the $5.00 Whopper to cover those signing bonuses.

I watched part of the conference on television and was shocked at some of Mayor Nagin's comments. I have searched for the exact quotes or even a story about his comments, but it is not being reported. Mayor Nagin was speaking like a preacher delivering a sermon. He was lecturing on race saying folks should get used to living by or working with people who do not look like them. Myself, I do not like elected officials preaching to me, especially about morals. Usually a politician needs to listen to such sermons, not deliver them. So he continued the sermon. He began talking about how folks from Louisiana should get the majority of the work. Then he said this, "We don't want to see the city fill up with Mexican workers." After a few more comments, he said, "A few Mexican workers are OK, but we want our people to get the jobs."

I am reporting this, because no one else has. It is evidence of a racial double standard. A black mayor can make such a statement and nothing happens. Imagine a white mayor making such a comment. There would be demands for a resignation, and an apology. The major news outlets would make it the lead story.

All skin color aside, public officials should not make general statements about entire races. Until we demand correct behavior from EVERYBODY a double standard will continue. In my book equality works both ways; opportunity and responsibility. I also believe that if someone is responsible, they increase their opportunities.

So businesses are beginning to reopen, traffic jams are taking place, and politicians are arguing with each other. It's a start.

I remain optimistic. I believe in the happy ending. Problems are only minor inconveniences. They will be overcome by some body. The fate of New Orleans is still a story unfolding and no one really knows what will happen. With the help of our neighbors, the American taxpayer, and local citizens, New Orleans will be back.

Strange fact: I just heard on the news that 51 carbon minoxide deaths have been reported from people running generators in their house. These folks are worthy of a Darwin Award.

Until the next time
John Strain

Reunited

Click here to read the heart warming story behind the above photograph.

Does your heart need more warming?:

"I feel happy. I got my dog back," said Sarah, who then planted a big kiss on her dog.
Click here to read about Sarah reuniting with her dog.

Prisoners helping pets On the right is a photo of an inmate in a Louisiana prison helping take care of a pet displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Noah's Wish Photo Page

Watch Humane Society call center video

National Geographic Photos of pets affected by Hurricane Katrina

If you want to read more stories, Google the words; pets, reunited, hurricane, Katrina. There are many stories about people getting their pet back.

What once was lost, now is found.

May those still looking for their pet find them soon.

Until the next time
John Strain

Sometimes it takes a hurricane before you get that new mailbox

Have you ever been fired from a job and thought your life was ruined? My guess is that in time you said, "Getting fired was one of the best things that ever happened to me." In fact, you probably didn't even like the job, but you couldn't muster the energy to search for another one. You may have believed there were no other jobs, or there were no jobs close to home, or there were no jobs that would pay you as much. Then you discovered that new job. Do you remember the rush of creativity and hope you felt? Do you remember how you actually looked forward to go to work again? You met some of your best friends at the new job, didn't you?

Life is that way. The years have a way of beating us down and we lose our ability to see hope and possibilities. It is a form of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness experiments went something like this:

A cat is placed in a metal cage. An electrical charge is introduced shocking the cat. In response to the shock, the cat goes nuts and jumps, but the cage is completely sealed and he cannot escape. At some point, the cat gives up knowing he cannot escape.

The researchers then take the top off of the cage and apply the electrical shock again. The cat does not jump out even though he can, because he has already accepted there is no escape.

Learned helplessness blinds us to new circumstances that open up new possibilities.

Hurricane Katrina has freed a lot of cats. I have seen several stories of refugees who have been liberated. One guy met someone in a hotel from Minnesota who gave him a job. Those who are down and out make better news stories for the mainstream media, but many people are starting new lives liberated from their steel cage pulsing with electricity.

I was thinking today as I often do while walking my pal Bear. Each day, more debris is collected and things are getting cleaned up. What the hurricane did in in a matter of hours is slowly, but surely being corrected. The question then is this: Which power is greater? The storm that wrought such damage in hours; or the resolve of millions of individuals to fix what the hurricane broke? No question, nature has the edge when it comes down to sheer power, but her tantrums can be overcome by the collective efforts of people with grit and determination.

Hurricane Katrina killed almost 1,000 people. The debris in New Orleans would fill up 200 football fields lined up end to end and stacked 50 feet high. Towns and their economies are temporarily closed down, but a reaction more powerful than Katrina has begun to stir. I can see it as if it is already done. Our strength as a people is limitless if we set out to achieve a common purpose armed with love and the willingness to work selflessly. God smiles on such efforts.

We are far from helpless. On the contrary, we are capable of greatness. We are only limited by what we dare to believe.

Until the next time
John Strain

The Blind Man

It was a hot summer day and two nuns were painting a room in the convent.

As there was no air conditioning the heat soon became unbearable. The first nun said that they should remove their clothes so that they would be cooler.

The second said what if someone should come?

The first said we'll lock the door and then we will be safe. So they lock the door and continue painting when there is a knock on the door.

The first nun asks who it is and the reply comes back "It is the blind man."

The two nuns confer and decide that the blind man can't see anything and let him in, at which time the man says "Nice tits sisters, where do you want these blinds?"

Yesterday, Barb, Bear, and I drove to Baton Rouge to help John hang some blinds at his apartment. We left at 6:00 PM and made the one-hour drive in three-hours. Traffic was unbelievable and we have know idea what the holdup was. We sat at a stand still forever.

There is a little town called Holden between Hammond and Baton Rouge. For some reason, traffic was stopped in both directions of I-12 at that spot. Traffic has been increasingly worse in St. Tammany Parish because displaced people from harder hit parishes are moving in. This sort of traffic problem is sure to become more commonplace. Waaaaaaaaaaaa! C'est la Vie!

After getting John started on the blinds, we headed back around 10:30 pm and arrived home near midnight. Bear is a good traveler. He especially likes it when we go through fast food windows and people pass us food. He loves tater tots from Sonic and Cheetos from Circle K.

This is a light week of running (50 miles) compared to 82 miles last week. Running 13 to 18 miles through the week requires me to get up at 4:00 or 4:30 am. When I only have 5 to 10 miles to run, I can sleep until 5:00 am. Of course when I get up at 5:00 am I feel like half the day is over. Just kidding.

That's all from here. The blinds are up, but the traffic sucks.

Until the next time
John Strain