Hawt Dog!

So, I'v added a new site to my blog roll. It's A Pile of Dog Bones. I've been to his site before, although it's been quite awhile, sorry about that! And while bored yesterday I started clicking on different links that other people had on their sites and while looking through CP's list I remembered I liked what The Dog wrote and decided to go again. Turns out he's in a competition so I'll be voting for him. Why don't you go check him out and vote also.

The Hot Blogger 2009 Calendar Voting has begun! There are two actual categories, one for the girls and one for the guys. While perusing the nominations I saw that the NYC Watchdog has been nominated. So you know what I did right? I totally casted my vote for him because he is a total Hawt Dawg!!! Voting is VERY easy. There is no registration, its a simple poll, and all you have to do is check off right by his name! They couldn’t have made it any easier for us to make the Hawt Dawg into our Mr. October for 2009!!! So throw the Hawt Dawg a bone and help me out by voting for him here!!!

Bells will be ringing

OK, so my husband is the king of procrastination and I know this but still. DAMN, I told two women I'd get them a copy of the opening ceremonies. The problem is is that I have to rely on him to do so because I haven't learned how to do all the recording crap required to get them done. And now it's been over a week since I said I'd do it and they're still not done. Almost, but not quite. Jeesh. I guess I'm going to have to breakdown and learn how to do all that crap so next time this type of thing comes up I can do it myself. Yeah, yeah, I'm the QUEEN of procrastination, I know. But when it's for something like this I know I'd be able to get it done in a timely manner. Love ya honey.

ANYWAY!

We've been busy with the puppy. He's just such a cutey, full of energy and all like a good puppy should be. And see, this is where I have to rely on HD again. It's his computer and the techy in the family, therefore he has to be the one to clean up the hard drive and make more space to be able to download the photos. Which still hasn't happened yet. Granted, as mentioned, we've been busy but not so busy that he couldn't have done it at some point in the past two weeks.

So let's see, what else has been happening around peanut land. Oh yeah, I had a Surprise Party on Friday. There were 10 of us, 13 including the sales lady and her two trainees. My basement was pretty full, it's actually a good thing that 5 of the people that said they'd be there didn't show up. Well, as far as seating comfortability goes. There would have been enough seats, it's just that there would've been sitting in front of others going on. But that's ok, everyone that didn't show has been to at least 2 or 3 of these parties so it's not like they would've missed anything. I received enough discounts to get half my order off. So that worked out well. And no I'm not going to share, I've embarrassed HD enough already.

It was kind of funny though. Saleslady is best friends with my coworker that started us all off on having these parties. She decided to do something new and handed out little gold bells to ring whenever an item came up that you owned, as long as you wanted to share of course. Not all items are "toys" by the way. The two coworkers that showed up and I stood off to the side while everyone else was sitting in chairs and on the couch in a circle. We three were the only ones ringing the bells until the shaving cream was brought up. Finally one of HD's coworkers rang her bell. And only two more women ever rang theirs and then only once or twice each. We three were amused by this, we of course wondered how all but one of them have been to at least one of these parties and came away with nothing. This was my fourth party and I'm still buying things. That shaving cream is awesome.

One of the coworkers booked a party off mine for the 13th. This time I think I'm finally going to buy the glitter powder that I've been saying I was going to for my nieces. I think they'll love it.

Ok, enough chitter chatter for now, I'm outta here.

Media quote of the day: Never do I have the happy frolicking puppy visions. Always bones and death and... - Cordelia Chase - Angel

Chai's story - Updated

If you're a pet owner (espcially a dog owner) or know someone who is, please go to this site and read this poor puppies plight and then do what the lady asks at the end.

Sad, just so so sad.

Chai's story

So I sent my email off to them and this is what I received in response. So it looks like you won't have to email them anymore but still, at least, be wary. Just goes to show what can happen when people band together.


Dear concerned pet owners:

Please see the attached comments now posted on the Chia Story blog. We have and are making every effort to ensure that this does situation does not happen again. As you can see from Mr. Rechelbacher’s comments we feel he is very comfortable that Four Paws has reacted in a responsible way.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the amazing people who took the time to help with this cause. Earlier today I reached an agreement with Four Paws Inc and am letting you know that what I was trying to accomplish has succeeded thanks to an international community of caring individuals. Four Paws has also agreed to help with compensation of my expenses and I would like to acknowledge their willingness to try to do the right thing.

The following is a correspondence that I'd like to share. Since the objective that we have set out to accomplish has been achieved, I'd like to ask if you would forward the progress made on to your networks.

All the thanks in the world,
Daniel Rechelbacher

Four Paws Inc letter to Daniel:


Dear Daniel,

Once again let me start off by saying how truly sorry Four Paws is for the pain that you and Chai have endured. As we discussed we immediately ceased shipment of the product in question when we learned of the problem.

After reviewing the product we found there to be a manufacturing flaw in the mold. By simply looking at the product the problem is not visible, that is why our QC Department did not catch this prior to the product being shipped. The toy has a large hole on one side and a small hole on the other side. The smaller hole is there to insure airflow in order to prevent any type of suction. At first glance, the ball appears to be fine; it is only when you hold it up to the light that you can see that the smaller hole is not completely open. We have reached out to all of our customers to have them remove this product from their shelves and return them to us. We are reworking all of this inventory to insure that the product functions correctly.

We are also going to post on our website and by any other means we can find to let consumers know that if they currently have this product, they should hold it up to the light and make sure the small hole is completely opened. If it is not, all they need to do is take a sharp object such as a nail and carefully push it through the small hole to open up the airway. Please be assured that we have taken all necessary steps to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again.

We hope that you feel confident that we have been responsible in our quick action in correcting this problem.

Sincerely yours,

Four Paws Products



Barry Askin
Executive Vice President

So many movies

Man, I hate when you save and then go back in Blogger. It automatically puts in extra returns. Most of the time you can fix 'em but not so much when you paste in stuff like this. It sucks!

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So the above is with Katrina (maiden name)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 289 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

This one is Katrina (married name)

Wow what a difference.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1,090 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

And this one is HDiTty

This site fascinates me. I kept putting name after name in there, too cool.

So I was trying to do an easy post rather than get into the whole puppy thing right now, especially since I can't put up any photos yet. So I searched for some memes and found The Daily Meme, which has some pretty cool links. Which is where I found the above and now the below.

Take this list of the top 100 movies from the IMDB and bold the movies you have seen. (I'm not sure where this is originally from). This list is from May 2004. I'm changing the color of the ones I've seen since bold doesn't work as well. I'll also do as the book meme and change the ones I want to see, I'll make them blue.

1) Godfather, The (1972)

2) Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)

3) Godfather: Part II, The (1974) (We own the whole set but haven't watched any but the 1st)

4) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)

5) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)

6) Schindler's List (1993)

7) Shichinin no samurai (1954) - Seven Samurai

8) Casablanca (1942)

9) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)

10) Star Wars (1977)

11) Citizen Kane (1941)

12) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

13) Dr. Strangelove (1964)

14) Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

15) Rear Window (1954)

16) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

17) Pulp Fiction (1994)

18) Usual Suspects, The (1995)

19) Memento (2000)

20) North by Northwest (1959)

21) 12 Angry Men (1957)

22) Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

23) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (HD just watched this one a couple months ago and said it's ok but not as good as all the hype. So I decided I could skip it.)

24) Psycho (1960)

25) Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) -

26) Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)

27) It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

28) Goodfellas (1990)

29) American Beauty (1999)

30) Sunset Blvd. (1950)

31) Vertigo (1958)

32) Matrix, The (1999)

33) Cidade de Deus (2002)

34) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

35) C'era una volta il West (1968)

36) Apocalypse Now (1979)

37) Pianist, The (2002)

38) Third Man, The (1949)

39) Paths of Glory (1957)

40) Taxi Driver (1976) (Does half of it count? I'm putting it because I know I'll finish it one day since we own it)

41) Fight Club (1999)

42) Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) - Spirited Away

43) Some Like It Hot (1959)

44) Double Indemnity (1944)

45) Boot, Das (1981)

46) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

47) Singin' in the Rain (1952)

48) Chinatown (1974)

49) L.A. Confidential (1997)

50) Maltese Falcon, The (1941)

51) Requiem for a Dream (2000)

52) All About Eve (1950)

53) M (1931)

54) Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)

55) Se7en (1995)

56) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

57) Saving Private Ryan (1998)

58) Rashômon (1950)

59) Raging Bull (1980)

60) Wizard of Oz, The (1939)

61) Alien (1979)

62) American History X (1998)

63) Sting, The (1973)

64) Léon (1994)

65) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

66) Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)

67) Vita è bella, La (1997) - Life is Beautiful

68) Touch of Evil (1958)

69) Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)

70) Finding Nemo (2003)

71) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

72) Reservoir Dogs (1992)

73) Great Escape, The (1963)

74) Modern Times (1936)

75) Clockwork Orange, A (1971)

76) Amadeus (1984)

77) On the Waterfront (1954)

78) Ran (1985)

79) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

80) Annie Hall (1977)

81) Wo hu cang long (2000) - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

82) Jaws (1975)

83) Apartment, The (1960)

84) Braveheart (1995)

85) High Noon (1952)

86) Aliens (1986)

87) Fargo (1996)

88) Strangers on a Train (1951)

89) Shining, The (1980)

90) Metropolis (1927)

91) Blade Runner (1982)

92) Sixth Sense, The (1999)

93) City Lights (1931)

94) Donnie Darko (2001)

95) Duck Soup (1933) (Don't remember this at all, just know I was kid at the time)

96) Great Dictator, The (1940)

97) General, The (1927)

98) Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) - The Seventh Seal (This was on just a short while ago but I didn't get a chance to see it, I'm hoping it'll be back soon)

99) Princess Bride, The (1987)

100) Dogville (2003)

So I've seen 54 of them, oops, 58 of them. I went back and put the foreign names in IMDB's site for titles to make sure and sure enough there were four more. I put the English translation next to those I've seen or want to see to make it easier on you. Sorry, I didn't think to do the others and have gotten lazy and don't feel like going back for the others.

And there's 14 I've yet to see. One day I'll get to those. Hell, we own Eternal Sunshine, just haven't gotten around to watching it. There's a few others I'm on the fence about. Kind of the I'll watch it for free when it shows up on some channel but I'm not going out of my way to rent it, type deal.

So that was a easy enough post. One of these days after HD makes room on the hard drive and I'm able to get the puppy photos up I'll get the update done.

Media quote of the day: As I lay in the back of Buck's truck, trying to will my limbs out of entropy, I could see the faces of the cunts that did this to me and the dicks responsible. Members all of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other, that not only does God exist, you're doing His will. - The Bride - Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Puppy fever

We got a puppy!!!!!!

More to come at a later time with all the deets and pictures!!

No name yet, we're still trying to decide.

EDIT: Please vote for your favorite name in the comments.
The names in the running are:
Who Dat
Saint
Jazz
Bacchus
Bourbon (Bourbon Street not the drink)
Jasper (HD doesn't like this one because it doesn't fit with the whole New Orleans theme)
Poydrus (This one is pretty much the coolest because it's the most obscure but it's not as easy to say)

Which do you like? Feel free to offer another one, but it needs to have the New Orleans/Louisiana theme.

PS. We're staying away from any current Saints players because, well, you never know if they'll be sticking around or not. HD did think of Hebert (for Bobby Hebert) since he was their quarterback and a cajun but since he didn't finish his career as a Saint that's been ruled out. So if you want to nominate a player think old time and finished his career there. Thanks!!

Vacation Weekend Recap - Finally

So, we ended up not going to Door County the other weekend. We ended up staying home but at least we did something every day. I was frustrated at first that we weren't going anywhere because I just knew we would end up doing nothing but sitting on our butts for the whole weekend. But although we pretty much took it easy, like I said, we did do stuff every day.

Friday I had my doctor's appointment at 8:30 as mentioned before. I'm now on Propranolol, which is a blood pressure medicine originally. I only take one of them a day as opposed to the two of the Topamax I was taking. Also I'm supposed to take it at night because drowsiness can ensue. Dr. Head (not his real name of course) was telling me about the different side effects that could occur and then he started to hem and haw before telling me the last one. Got me a little nervous until he says that there are some people who claim to have nightmares from using this medicine. He then says that in his 20 years of being a neurologist and all the years prescribing this medicine he's never had a patient whose ever claimed it. Then he says all excitedly, "But if you have any let me know because I'm really interested in it. It'd be kind of cool to have a patient that finally had one." Luckily I'm pretty damn easy going and laughed about it rather than freak out or get upset with him practically wishing them on me.

After this appointment we took my truck in for it's appointment for the A/C. Luckily what was wrong with it was covered under the extended warranty. About a month before the A/C went out lights on the left side of the control panel had gone out and then it was a couple weeks later that the on/off knob for the A/C got stuck. Apparently that's when it really went to shit. Whatever blew to cause the lights to go out slowly burnt up the wires or the switch (can't remember which but I think it was the switch) inside the console that turns on the A/C. They fused together which is what caused the knob to get stuck and then eventually soften up again enough that when I was finally able to turn it I had broken that connection. So I guess the switch and the new knobs and whatever other parts they ordered were all covered by the warranty including their labor. I only had to pay the hundred bucks deductible. Unfortunately they didn't get the part on Saturday as the guy hoped they would so they had to keep it over the weekend. But it was all better by Monday afternoon.

After dropping of the truck on the way home HDiTty was practically falling asleep so he went to bed as soon as we got there. I grabbed my book and decided to read until I heard back from the service dept on whether all that work would be covered under warranty or not. They called right at noon so right after that I grabbed my purse and headed out to go do some errands that needed doing. One of those was sending some books back through the mail. While there I decided this was as good a time as any to finally get my passport. Grabbed an application, did some shopping and went home to fill it in and grab my birth certificate.

Made it back there with about 45 minutes before they were to end for the day with accepting applications/taking photos. At least that's what I was told earlier when I picked up the application. The first guy I talked to tried to say they were done for the day but luckily the chick that told me what time they would be ending was still there and finishing up with her customer and saw me and heard him. She called me over to her and said she'd help me. When we went into the back to take my picture she told me that her husband and son just did theirs and received them in two weeks. She said the earliest I could expect it would be in two weeks the latest would probably be three weeks. It was Friday the 1st that I did it and I received my passport last Friday the 8th. One week, how awesome is that?! The only thing is how bad my photo is. 1) I don't photograph well to begin with and 2) she asked me a question right before she snapped the picture so I was answering her when she did it. But it was right when I opened my mouth to talk so it's slightly open. But rather than take another one I opted to keep it because, well, see number one.

HD had me wake him up around 5ish so we could go see a couple movies. First was the new Mummy movie. SUCKED big time, DO NOT go see it. The only reason we didn't leave the theater is because both of us are people that would prefer to see things through when we pay for 'em like that. Yes, we could've asked for our money back but rather than the hassle of that we opted to stay. Sort of regret it though. Horrible, just horrible!! After that we saw the new X-Files movie. Much, much better. We both enjoyed that one.

Saturday we did sit on our asses all day after we got up late in the morning. By the time I was able to get him up and ready to go anywhere it was going on 4pm and all the zoos would be closed by the time we got there. The boat tours/rides we would've been interested in were either sold out or running too late to be able to make it to Zanies Comedy Club which is where we decided we'd go that night. So we decided to go to our favorite Chinese place for dinner which is way out by where I work but luckily there's a road not too far away that would take us directly to the comedy club. Rather than have two shows like normal they only had the one starting at 7:45 and it didn't end until around 10:30. If you like going to comedy clubs keep your eyes out for Three Poles Walk Into a Bar coming your way.

It's a whole evening's worth of entertainment. To start with as you're waiting for it all to begin they provide a plate of polish food, which we opted not to have since we just finished dinner. Besides, not big on most polish food anyway. But the plates had quite a bit on them and everyone pretty much finished their whole plates so it all must have been good. Then after the host comedian did his shtick he introduced Freeze Dried, a polka band out of Chicago. They played about 5 songs or so. A couple were traditional polka songs but the rest were pop songs set to polka music. They were really good and fun to watch. A few couples even got up and danced. After that the comedians did their sets, all very funny. And then the band played again while everyone was settling up their bills for the night and even beyond that. Not too many people stayed behind after paying, maybe about 6 or so groups of us did. But since they told us we could stay and enjoy the music if we wanted to that's what we did. The headliner comedian even joined for one song.

The whole thing was being recorded for a special that apparently is going to be aired on Showtime at some point. The headliner requested people say what they thought of the show on their way out, good or bad, and it'd be quite possible they'd see themselves on Showtime. We didn't do it because we were enjoying the music too much to leave. By the time all of left who had stayed behind they weren't filming anymore. At least not for opinions. There was a guy walking around with a camera filming the band and people who had stayed behind so there's a good chance we're on their film. But I doubt they'd put us on tv as we're not really tv material.

Sunday we got up early enough to head up to the Milwaukee Zoo. His dad and stepmom joined us after they found out we'd be going to a casino afterward. HD hasn't downloaded any of the photos he took so I can put any on here but I'm hoping some of the orangutan pictures came out. There was the cutest little toddler at the top of the cage. It kept hanging there and spinning around looking at everyone, it was very cute. We made a point to see the primates and the big cats, everything else we saw was just extra. We did pay an extra two dollars to see the sharks and stingrays though. We had to wash our hands on the way in because it was a touching experience. The sharks were smart and stayed in the middle of their little pond thing so there was no touching them at all. But the stingrays were swimming and shell crabs were crawling all around their pond thing. They'd every now and then come close enough to the edges for people to reach in and touch 'em. I was able to touch the stingrays a few times. They were very soft, similar to velvet. At the end as we were getting ready to leave his stepmom said she wanted to go back to see the penguins to see if they were swimming around yet. While she did that HD and I went into the souvenir shop where I bought a cat statue thingy. It's two cats cuddled up with each other and their tails make a heart, very cute.

After the zoo we headed over to the casino in Milwaukee. After getting a bite to eat there HD and I looked around for a blackjack table and his dad and stepmom went from slot machine to slot machine. She plays, he doesn't, so I guess he was acting as her good luck charm. We were trying to find a five dollar table and although they had them they were too crowded for our taste. We finally settled for a ten dollar one that was completely empty. That is until we sat down. Almost from that moment other people showed up. Oh well.

We each put down 100 bucks. I'm not sure how long we played at that table until space opened up on the five dollar one but when it did I still had $90 but HD was out completely. So when we went over there I split it up so we each had $45. By 7:30 when they called us to say it was time to go (we had agreed ahead of time that at 7:30 we'd get ready to leave) we had profited $40.00 but we gave ten of it to the dealer as a tip.

So even though we didn't go out of town as a mini vacation we still did things we normally don't do on a weekend (except the movies of course) and had a lot of fun. I can't wait for our actual vacation the first week of October. We know we'll be going to Niagara Falls for the first half but we haven't decided what we'll be doing for the second half. Not sure if we'll go up to Canada to visit our friends that live in Ottawa or head over to New York City. We just don't know, maybe even won't until we're on our way. Who knows, but either way I can't wait!

Media quote of the day: How easy do you think it is to sneak into the zoo? I need to see some penguins like, right now... - Ted - How I Met Your Mother

Sooner or later, everyone goes to the zoo. - Sloane - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

On Reading

So, while playing catch up on Saintseester's site I came across the following meme and decided I'd do it myself for an easy post. So here goes:

1. Who are your favorite authors? This is an easy one. Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Anne Rice, Robert McCammon and for the old and dead English Royals it would be Alison Weir

2. What are your favorite books? My all time favorite would be Swan Song. I've read it at least 10 times and never get tired of it. The others would be: The Dark Tower series by King, IT, the Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice) and The Life of Elizabeth I

3. What kind of books do you tend to read? The non bodice ripper romance kind. And I guess they're considered horror - all those King, McCammon and Rice books that is.

4. Do you prefer to borrow books from the library or buy them? Definitely buy. I like to reread my books. If I happen across one I won't reread I'll sell it in a garage sale or give to someone else.

5. Do you prefer hardcover or paperback? It really doesn't matter to me. I know the hardcover looks much better sitting on the shelves and last a whole lot longer but paperbacks are easier to hold and cart around. For books I'm going to keep forever I definitely prefer hardcover though, such as The Dark Tower series by King and all the Harry Potter books.

6. Do you read every day? I try but it doesn't always work out that way. Especially on HD's nights off, I try to spend as much time with him which doesn't leave much reading time on those nights.

7. On average how many books do you read per year? Well, nowhere near what I used to, that's for sure. Hmmm, let me think about this.... In the last month I've read four and I started a fifth which is about average I'd say. So if I read four a month that would be 48 a year. Yeah, that sounds pretty close to accurate.

8. Do you belong to any book clubs? Nope, never have, probably never will.

9. Recommend a good book. Swan Song, go read it right now!! I just loaned my copy to a chick that I've become Email buddies with at work. She's my contact at a general contractor's office and she loaned me three books to read herself and when I sent them back I threw in this one. I'm really hoping she'll like it. The Dark Tower series, those are some terrifically engrossing books. Anything by Alison Weir if you're at all interested in royal history: fascinating stuff.

Media quote of the day: The Man in Black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed - first line of The Gunslinger

Better beggar woman and single than Queen and married. - Elizabeth I

Here we go 'round the Mulberry Bush - the devil in Swan Song