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February 2008 Entries
February 28th
My dog, Luka, is Great...she listens when I'm speaking to her, sits, lays down, fetches, and can now even catch a tennis ball in mid-air. She sleeps under the bed everynight, and then when she needs to go out in the morning, she wakes me up at 7:00am everyday by putting her paws on the side of the bed and panting in my face. She herds the other dogs like sheep for fun, and is the best travelling companion in the car; she'll just lay down and sleep for hours on end.
She does need to stop digging holes in the back yard.
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Some Facts about Dogs
In the early 1940's, Swiss inventor George de Mestral went
on a walk with his dog. After arriving home, he saw that his pants and his dog's
coat were covered with cockleburrs. When he looked at the burrs under a microscope,
he discovered they have a natural hook-like shape, which became the basis for his
invention of a unique, two-sided fastener --- one side with stiff "hooks" like the
burrs and the other side with the soft "loops" like the fabric of his pants. The
result was VELCROŽ brand hook and loop fasteners, named for the French words"velour"
and "crochet."
Increasingly, people are being choosier about their pet's name ... and with dogs,
names like Bowser & Rover are in disfavor. The trend is seen as part of a steady
growing importance of the role that the pets play in family life. Family dogs are
seen more and more as bonafide family members. According to a survey by the Veterinary
Pet Insurances, the most popular names for a male pet are Max, Buddy, Jake, Rocky,
Bailey, Buster, Charlie, Bear, Sam, Lucky, Cody, Toby, Jack, Shadow, Duke, Rusty,
Harley, Sammy, Oliver, and Murphy. The most popular female names are Molly, Maggie,
Daisy, Lucy, Sadie, Ginger, Chloe, Sophie, Bailey, Princess, Angel, Zoe, Sasha,
Lady, Missy, Samantha, Abby, Brandy, Misty, and Bella. The once popular name 'Fido'
comes from Latin meaning fidelity.
Based on an average life span of 11 years, the cost of owning a dog is $13,350.
Dogs only sweat from the bottoms of their feet, the only way they can discharge
heat is by panting. Dogs and wolves yawn as a sign of contentment.
Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears.
Unfortunately, the likes of bulldogs and pitbulls only have 10, due to their breeding.
Therefore, these dogs easily get misinterpreted by other dogs and often get into
fights.
One of the worlds oldest breeds of dog is the Saluki. It is thought to have been
developed in ancient Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C.
The fastest dog, the Greyhound, can reach speeds of up to 44 mph. (Most dogs run
at a speed of 30 mph.) They were known to exist in ancient Egypt as many as 6,000
years ago. and were traditionally used to hunt large prey such as wolf, deer, and
wild boar.
A dog's sense of smell is one of the keenest in nature. If a pot of stew was cooking
on a stove, a human would smell the stew, while the dog could smell the beef, carrots,
peas, potatoes, spices, and all the other individual ingredients in the stew. In
fact, if you unfolded and laid out the delicate membranes from inside a dogs nose,
the membranes would be larger than the dog itself.
Bassets can't swim. Their legs are too short to keep their heavy, long bodies afloat.
Two dogs survived the sinking of Titanic. They escaped on early lifeboats carrying
so few people that no one objected. Miss Margaret Hays of New York brought her Pomeranian
with her in lifeboat No. 7, while Henry Sleeper Harper of the publishing family
boarded boat No. 3 with his Pekinese, Sun Yat Sen.
Giving dogs chocolate could be fatal for them, because theobromine, an ingredient
of chocolate, stimulates the central nervous system and cardiac muscle. About 2.4
lbs of milk chocolate or just 5.14 oz of cooking chocolate (which has more theobromine
per ounce) could kill a 50 lb dog.
In the original 101 Dalmatians movie, Pongo has 72 spots, Perdita has 68 and each
of the puppies has 32.
Chewbacca, the hairy Wookiee in the Star Wars movies, was inspired by George Lucas'
loyal dog Indiana, an Alaskan Malamute.
Dogs exist in a wide range of sizes, colors, and temperaments. Some, such as the
Doberman pinscher and the German shepherd, serve as alert and aggressive watchdogs.
Others, such as the beagle and the cocker spaniel, are playful family pets, even
though they were bred for hunting. Still others, such as the collie and the Welsh
corgi, can herd farm or range animals. Each of the dogs just mentioned is a purebred.
A mongrel dog, however--one with many breeds in its background--can just as easily
fit into family life.
Dogs have been domesticated for most of human history and have thus endeared themselves
to many over the years. Stories have been told about brave dogs that served admirably
in war or that risked their lives to save persons in danger. When Pompeii--the Roman
community destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in AD 79--was finally excavated, searchers
found evidence of a dog lying across a child, apparently trying to protect the youngster.
AB
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February 23rd
Yes, unfortunately, I am that busy. Too busy to write these days, believe it or not. I have been working more hours than ever in my life these days, and it's paying off. We have written more business at work than I would have ever imagined.
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I just completed a huge deal yesterday, which ran til after midnight last night, and now I'm about to head into the office for probably the entire day, yes, it's Saturday.
I can tell Joanie isn't loving the fact that I'm working 12-14 hours per day, 5-6 days per week, but she gets to go to Austin this next week to play, so I don't feel so bad.
Joanie will be attending her Teacher Orientation finally this week, so now she can begin working as a substitute in the VA Beach school district. Hopefully, she'll find a long-term sub position, but if not,
no worries. She will get hired on as a Middle School math teacher, or elementary teacher in the fall. I didn't know this but Va Beach has something like 100 elementary schools, and 60 middle schools in their district alone, and Math teachers are highly sought-after.
She interviewed at a middle school yesterday which she now referrs to as "Dangerous Minds Middle School". There are metal detectors as you walk in, it has not been accredited by the State for the past 4 years, and all that the principle could
do while she was interviewing is tell her how crappy the place was and that they would hire anyone that wants to work there.
It's been raining and cold out here all week. There is about 3 inches of standing water in my back yard, and temperature won't reach 45 today. Blah! The picture above is Luka running down the main area of the beach...we take them down there on
good weekends. Luka will typically make it only about 5-10 minutes. She takes off directly perpendiculary to the waves, goes in head first, runs back out, then horizontaly running along the waves, until she's about 1/4 mile down the beach; after we've
chased her down, we're pissed off, so we put her on the leash and walk back.
AB
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February 15th
Sitting in my office drinking a margarita and listening to some Texas country music. It's Friday, and I've had a really good day. We've had some really good sales, and good news business wise, so I don't feel bad about letting loose today.
I think Joanie and I are hitting up the Irish bars tonight for the Great Guinness Toast. Maybe dinner too before, then tomorrow night out at 501 Ocean Front Grill and Bar with John and company.
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February 12th
Sitting at home tonight updating blogs and websites. Joanie is watching American Idol, again, downstairs. I've been pretty busy at work these days...just building travel packages, selling travel packages, listing travel packages online, etc....fun, I know.
It will all pay off in time though.
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So, Joanie took some pictures of the house now that it is put together somewhat. She conveniently didn't take any pictures of my hunting room/office though. Well, as soon as my Alberta Deer arrives, and I can hang it on the wall, I'll damn sure make sure to post some photos.
Above is a photo of our living room...but you really have to be here to appreciate the sounds that come with the pics. Since 6:00pm tonight, there hasn't been a moment of silence...I've heard about 50 Navy Jets fly over our house leaving Oceana Naval Base, and tonight, they think they're all Tom Cruise buzzing the tower (my house). I guess we're really not pulling out of Iraq any time soon, or
we're about to go to war somewhere else. Anyway, I can't wait til Summer...everyone says that they die off a bit due to tourism season along the beach.
Come see us if you have a free weekend...only $250 round trip from Austin on either Continental Airlines or Southwest.com
AB
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February 6th
Want to go Skiing in Virginia? This is what it looks like right now! A couple of my employees, Jonathan and RayJ, took the day off to hit the slopes, and this is the picture that they sent me this morning from their IPhone.
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Work is slammin and jammin right now. It looks like I'll be traveling and staying extremely busy from April 3rd through the end of August, after the Olympics. But then, Football season begins, and who knows how busy we'll be then.
I was planning on going to Dublin this year for St. Patrick's Day, but after looking at the prices for flights and hotels, I think that we'll just go skiing or something if I can find a good deal. Or, maybe Texas for a Big Bend Trip if others are interested as well.
It's 5:30pm here now, and I'm ready to head home, so Adios for now!
AB
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February 2nd
So, the new website is up and running, I've got the company's inventory management system in place and nearly 100%, all of our computer equipment is set up, and today is finally my first day off in a month.
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Joanie and I woke up early this morning and then Jonathan joined us for a morning bike ride. We rode down the beach, then to First Landing State Park, and back...about a 2 hour ride. This is where the English first landed in America to settle, near Jamestown, etc...this is also where Pirate Blackbeard's treasure is supposively buried.
The Cypress trees all have moss hanging from the limbs and there are a few swampy looking areas along the trails...would be perfect for a Halloween movie or Cult to hang out I guess. There is also a beautiful beach, and some really nice homes throughout the park.
Tomorrow, we're going to take the dogs to the beach and see if Luka will swim away towards England or not. Then, about 5:30, we're headed up to the Wrinkle Room (Hot Tuna) for a private Super Bowl party.
We also booked a trip back to Texas in April. Michael Guerra and Kara are getting married on April 19th in New Braunfels, so we'll be in and around San Antonio and Kerrville from April 17th - 21st. I think Joanie will probably head to Austin before then though...I've got a guys hunting deal set up for March 1st, so she may be back in Austin that weekend.
AB
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