Too Cute

I had begun to worry about my Lulu. The poor little black pug has really been on edge lately. She's been especially edgy since returning from the beach on Monday. We always head to the bathtub, upon arrival at WC Headquarters. We love our "spa time" together, especially the double rinse and then wrestling with the toweling after we're lifted out of the tub. Unfortunately, the last time I trimmed the puggies' nails I left the electric trimmer out in the bedroom. From the bed, Lulu could clearly see the trimmer where it lay upon the electric box fan. If Lulu could see it, she figured, then it could see her, too. How horrible is that?? Then, apparently whenever she was out of the bedroom she worried that the trimmer would still be there when she returned, and, oh, it WAS there when she went back to the bedroom! This afternoon we were TiVo-ing through two episodes of "Judge Judy" during a fifteen minute nap, and I moved my foot suddenly. Lulu had been laying down by the foot of the bed, sphinxlike, facing the...the THING and obviously not getting ANY rest while it was in the SAME ROOM with her. Poor little dog JUMPED when my foot moved! Later this evening I passed her poised on the pillow, and really asked her what was wrong. She has so obviously been in discomfort. I tracked the focus of her big exhausted eyes to THE TRIMMER! As I turned my back to shield my actions from her, I scooped up the trimmer as I made a big deal out of turning on the air filter. The trimmer discretely left the room, and found hidden refuge away from puggy eyes. Within a few minutes, Lulu had joined me in the library. I had been enjoying "The Sweet Smell of Success" with Isabella, just kicking back, and Lulu was ready to kick back, too! She stretched and splayed her feline bitch's body against the bleached terry toweling that covered her under-piano dog bed. She seems more relaxed than I've seen her in days or weeks! I never realized how much she dreads that nail trimmer.

Dropouts!

Digital dropout has become more noticeable a problem of late. The first obvious signs came during an episode of "Weeds" in which, no sooner had I expressed a wish to replay a scene than the scene repeated itself – without any physical input from me. More recently, in TiVo-ing an HD showing of "The Jerk" I experienced digital dropout that was equally evident in the recorded version. This suggests interference from the transmission media, and are determined, at this time, to be random occurences involving transmission rates, richness of data, and conversion algorithms. We'll soon see who is going to take the hits and who is getting the strikes for the latest output. Letting a program director at Viacom pre-select options for my viewing enjoyment is only a safe path one can choose to follow, or not.

Booger Flicking and Broccoli Farting

I would like to suggest that the newly designated "high density residential development district" be designated to raise funds necessary to cover costs associated with maintenance and upkeep of public facilities. Improvements to existing materials may be made at the discretion of the Manager of Operations. Road repairs are a crucial part of this sceme. Camara Circle was an early example of "dead-end routing" of suburban streets, leading fleeing suspects into a continuously looping street plan, with only one way in or out of the "neighborhood" (with the emphasis on "hood!" So it was really a wonderful visit with my good friend Susan. Let's assume that her brisk departure was due to a life-changing transformational revelation experienced in the presence of Pure Pug. What was the slime factor that repulsed Ed so? In between picking and flicking his ear, eye, and nose boogers.

Block Offshore Drilling

As an argument for opening the coast of the continental United States for oil extraction, pressures to lower prices on gasoline at the pumps seems low energy.

If we are to manage our energy resources while we become more acutely aware of the importance we place on energy to maintain our comfortable lifestyles, we can attenuate our demand for carbon fuels while supplementing our energy supply from an ever-expanding renewable energy field.

There is no need for off-shore drilling at this time. We have producing oil fields currently in operation throughout the South Midwest to Southwest. If we focus our extraction efforts on existing wells, then prices for crude oil and gas can be maintained. The revenue stream generated by charging consumers of the energy produced from these resources a metered fee for use could be used to finance development of advanced off-shore drilling rigs.

If more oil is pumped than can be accomodated by the refineries, and consumed by the inhabitants of the world, where is it stored? Pity the resident of the small oil-rich nation where there's always an oil field and storage tanks nearby. Block off-shore drilling for now - we might as well keep that oil reserve safe and sound and stored in the ground than risk dragging it up here to the surface only to be burned up into our atmosphere or poured out into our seas.

Once we have depleted our oil resources on land AND proven that we can do so without inflicting significant harm to the land and its flora and fauna, we will be ready to develop the technologies that we have perfected in the laboratory and select field sites while responsibly harvesting resources from areas of dry land.