Third time is a charm - I hope

Three gone in less than 12 months is enough - I hope.

Tory, Uitlander’s Raptor von Tem BH TT CGC CI TDI was given his ticket to the bridge today… and at 4:15 p.m. if you had looked at the sky, you might have seen his spirit lift, running along the rainbow after the rain.

Feb. 2 1996 to 9 Oct. 2008. At 12 years, eight months and seven days, he was my first show dog, my first schutzhund dog, my first male heartdog. He is survived here by his half-brother, Vain and his half-sister’s son, Sully.

He was a ‘I beat the odds’ malignant cancer survivor and a dog that had gold bead therapy from the age of 2 by the originator of the procedure, Dr. Terry Durkes.

Tory was officially bred by Joe Rocco, but purchased from Liz Bauer Crawley. Despite his dysplasia, he was handled to his BH by Steve Beal and went to the USRC Nationals as his helper tryout dog. Tory loved the game, and one of my fondest memories is of the times I watched him take the over 6 foot Beal down to the ground on a hit; he was a large, very powerful dog. He enjoyed showing off. Roland Siebel was very impressed when he demonstrated his obedience skills. But the best was when the very old lady in the wheelchair accidentally ran over his foot during his TDI and he yelped… the world stopped and you could see he was embarrassed as everyone froze to see what he would do. What he did was look to me for a cookie. Which he got. He was a good dog.

They don't live long enough and we couldn’t beat time any longer. Between the HD catching up to him, the Horner's syndrome that raised it’s ugly head and probably other things lurking in the wing it became evident Monday that I needed to make a decision and he let me know today in his own way that was what he needed. When they ask to be released all you can do is do it.

I have to remember that he is pain-free now and I am sure, happily racing with his women: Elba, Happy and Pris. I miss them all.

Hug your dogs, they leave too soon

She was a throwaway. No one wanted her.

The first time I got the bug to go to visit Animal Services was in July 2001 because of a puppy with rott coloring that they had on their Webcam. I looked at him and then I saw her... She had been left tied to the old Animal Services building - July - Florida - no water. Some passerby called Animal Services and she got there 40 minutes before I arrived. They thought she was a male... I thought she was gorgeous.

I went back the next day to see her on my lunch break and found her to be starved and starved for attention. I guessed then that she was about a year old - recently whelped and if looks can tell - extremely well bred with a breeder-cut tail. I put my name on the list to take her. I was the only one. I named her Pris after the Daryl Hanna character in Blade Runner. It fit.

I got her to be a replacement for Elba and Elba seemed to know that, accepted her as a confidant and tolerated her playfulness - but hung in to make her wait six years and then I made her wait another eight months until I felt I was ready to have another bed dog. Mid July she got promoted.

She got demoted last week because she went off on me, screaming and air snapping as I tried to shoo her off the bed. It was so extreme I went into shock. Then I thought about it and wondered about an on and off iffy limp. I made an appointment to get her into the vet but a few days later because I thought perhaps she had slept wrong and pinched a nerve and would come out of it... Deramaxx took the ouch off. Tweaking muscles happens as you get older. But it didn't get better.

She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma Friday... the X-rays showed the cancer was chewing away at her tibia... The vet said that perhaps she had a greenstick fracture, but it didn't seem to be causing more than discomfort which we could control with drugs until I decided it was time.

I almost sent her on then, but I decided to be selfish and take her home armed with drugs to pamper her as the bed girl she wanted to be - we had a week, I thought.

That changed as I watched the bones in her leg move in an unnatural manner the next day as she was checking out the field and I knew that her tibia had broken. Seeing that and knowing that there is a tropical storm/hurricane on the way and not wanting her to be confined in a VariKennel 500 crate at the kennel under the stress of being separated from me... today I sent her to join my pack at the bridge.

She is the only dog that I have met that would jump up and put her paws on your chest but never put her weight on you. She danced :) We danced often... Someday we will dance again.

My gorgeous rescue, Uitlander's Black Silk Dolly, is gone. I miss her already.

Time to upgrade...

I did it. Finally! Took me three years but I finally decided to quit with the mac mini and ordered a new MacBook Pro... Can't wait, it's due in Thursday :)
I've already listed one of the mini's on eBay and it's ticking right along. I have two: The intel one that I was going to convert to and the PowerPC one that I was going to sell. That one will go after I've moved everything on to the MBP - and I'll keep my PowerBook as backup.

Nepal arrests 500 Tibetan protestors

It is no secret that Nepal subscribes to the One-China theory - it's like living within reach of the joke: "What do you feed a 900 pound gorilla? Anything it wants!"

With China acting the thug, not much Nepal can do, they have caved before. The Office of Dalai Lama's Representative in Nepal and the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office were ordered closed "since they were functioning without being registered with the government" in 2005.

What are 500 protestors to that?

China closes border between Nepal and Tibet

The Associated Press is saying that the Chinese have closed the border between Nepal and Tibet and are acting the thug on Nepalese soil. 

From what the article says it is felt that China might exert pressure Nepal to crack down on some of the 20,000 estimated Tibetan exiles who do not have legal status in Nepal.

Doesn't look like it's going to get any better anytime soon.

Let's do it again!

In 1980, I was tickled that the summer olympics were going to be held in Moscow. I was in Germany at the time, U.S. Army with a Top Secret and higher clearance and an interesting occupation which I discovered would prevent me from attending. I was bummed.

And then, it didn't matter. The U.S. boycotted, along with more than 50 other countries because of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Now, according to the Australian Herald Sun, more than 130 have been killed in two weeks of protest in Tibet. It says that China has called for the world to unite in opposition to any campaigns linking the Games to Tibet or any other political issue. Right.

So I find it funny that this comes to a head on 10 March: The 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, a date when an anti-Chinese and anti-Communist popular revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and the Dalai Lama fled to exile in India.

But even earlier this year, on 12 February, Steven Spielberg made a statement to the press as to why he pulled out as one of the artistic advisors to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games. Props to him.

Now on the world front, some say [read Fiji] that this is an internal matter for the Chinese government to deal with. China is also known to have a policy of non-interference with other countries' internal affairs. But look what they're doing in Darfur...

Sux to be China. The world is watching and the Olympics is only a few months away. Best to get your human rights hats on... Nah. That'll never happen.

Boycott. Let's do it again.

Oh. This opinion bit by Andrew Bolt of the Herald Sun is brilliant. Almost makes me agree... Nah.

Boycott the 2008 Olympics

I have a friend in India and while a coworker was waltzing through Bangkok on vacay, I was looking up information on travel requirements to India, Thailand and Tibet. Then Tibet blew up the next Monday and China is now threatening the "shattering of the conspiracy and sabotaging activities of the 'Tibet independence' forces."

I say raise the cry of "Free Tibet" and the free countries of the world should boycott the Beijing Olympics. CNN has a good article here

Lovely sentiment for St. Patrick's day...

Any day for that matter!

The glass is not half empty. The glass is not half full. You just need to add ice. - Anonymous.