Diary of a Network Geek

If you have dogs, you have got to see this!
You may have seen what you think of as fancy dog cookies in PetSmart. You know, the ones that are shaped like bones, but have frosting on them. But, I am here to tell you these are low rent compared to what the nice people at Pink Poodle Gourmet and Design have. I mean, go look at these things and you’ll see. They look almost too good to give to your dog. (Sorry, Hilda.) They’re better looking, and tasting, than a lot of cookies made for people. And, yes, before you get all wierded out by the fact that I ate dog cookies, they are made from all human-edible ingredients. They’re also quite tasty. At least, all the ones I’ve tried personally are, but I haven’t risked any liver flavored ones yet. They do sell from the website, but, you might want to find a local supplier so you don’t have to deal with shipping. (You can sniff them out at their webpage.)

Okay, okay, you caught me. This is actually a shameless plug for the darling woman that I’ve been seeing. This amazing lady has run her own business for more than two years and paid all her bills with it. Obviously, she works very, very hard at her business and her product really is amazing. I mean, I understand the rudiments of making a cookie, dog cookies even, but what she does… Well, it’s the difference between me building with Lincoln Logs and her building 30 storey sky scrapers. Really, I cannot urge you enough to go check out her work: Pink Poodle Gourmet and Design And, no, this is not a bribe to get more pie. Though, it’d be well worth it. Her pie is delicious!

So, I’ve been a little, well, off, the past couple of days.
There’s a reason, but, frankly, not one I want to put out for everyone to read. My regular readers, who have left good e-mail addresses, will most likely get a private e-mail with why. But, I won’t post it. The e-mail will make it clear, but, yes, there’s a girl involved. Hey, with me, there’s always a girl involved.
In any case, after a day of hell at the office, combined with the purgatory that’s become my personal life, I decided that I’d take my favorite girl for a ride. I’ve been listening to lots of new music lately, everything from Rob Zombie to Bowling For Soup to the Brian Setzer Orchestra. And, most of that gets listened to in my car, so I’ve really enjoyed driving the Black Beast, as I call my Crown Vic. It’s a retired police crusier, that still has the big V-8 and police tranny on it. Burns gas like an open fire, but it’s got a smooth ride and never has trouble accelerating into traffic on the highway.
Anyway, I popped in some Gwen Stefani and picked up my favorite redhead for a little drive and some dinner. Of course, I mean Hilda, my dog. And dinner was a trip to PetSmart for her, and some 99¢ tacos from Jack-in-the-Box for me. Well, okay, I shared some of them with her, too. I spoil her a little extra when I’m feeling down at all. She always appreciates it and always shows me love. Now, if I could just find a nice girl who felt the same way…

I used to volunteer for H.O.P.E.
But, foolishly, I thought I’d have more time, not less, after the divorce was over, so I stopped making it a habit. The end result is that I haven’t been there to help out in months. I’m an official, paid member and everything, but, I had really intended to actually help out at the adoption center. Well, I’ve always been good at compartmentalizing guilt, so I did that very thing and forgot about it. So, yesterday, I’m running errands and swing by PetSmart, where H.O.P.E. does their adoptions from, off 290, to pickup some food for my Hilda. Hilda was a rescue dog that we got at H.O.P.E.. In fact, that was why I started volunteering there, because, at the time I’d lost Hilda, I was keeping an eye out for a replacement pup. Now, I come into contact with these folks for the first time in months.
Okay, here’s the thing… Back when “I” was “we” and “we” got Hilda, there was another dog I connected with named Sage. He was a good dog, though at the time, he had sort of a bad reputation, being, essentially, a Pit-mix. But, click that link and you’ll see that he’s a beautiful dog. And, at least to me, friendly as all get out. In fact, as memory serves, he did better with the women-folk than guys, but he and I got along really well. Unfortunately, he had issues. For one, he liked cats. Apparently, the thought they were quite tasty. Sadly, we had two cats at the time and picked up a third. Besides that little hiccup, my ex-wife was terrified of him. She’d been bitten by a dog, according to her, as a kid and had physical and mental scars. In fact, it was a fight to get my submissive, sweet-tempered Hilda! (I’m not sure how much of her story was true, though, since she apparently lied on a regular basis to get her way. If only I’d realized that sooner… Ah, well.)
Anyway, when I went in yesterday, Sage, was still there, three years later, looking for a permanent home. So, here I am, the ex is long gone, so that obstacle is removed. I got Hilda back because she allegedly killed one of the poor, sickly, geriatric cats that my ex dragged with her out to Phoenix. Personally, I think it was something else, because the story I got doesn’t mesh with how a dog would kill a cat, and, frankly, I don’t trust those two to ever do anything but lie. Still, the upshot is, I won’t take the risk of having cats with her, so that removes another “obstacle” to adopting Sage. Now, the question becomes, how would my darling, spoiled, little girl take to having another dog in the house? She seems to enjoy other dogs, after she gets to know them. But, I worry about how well she’d take it. And, I’m going to have to do some travelling for work here shortly, so I’m not entriely sure I want to add a dog to my house until after that time. Lots of variables to consider, but, well, I can’t help it. I’m seriously thinking about adopting a brother for Hilda.
Thoughts?

I was at the store with my bitch last night.
Everyone was flirting with her, of course. And spoiling her. Well, I spoil her, too. Last night was no exception. I’m talking about my Hildagard, naturally. I’d never refer to anyone else as a bitch, or quite as fondly.
I like to take her out riding in the car, especiall when we go to PetSmart. There’s weren’t any other dogs there last night, but there were plenty of people who cooed at my little red-head. She was more interested in the treats offered than the attention. And, I think she just about came unglued when she saw me put three rawhide bones into our cart. She got one last night, because it’s been too hot to take our walks and she needs something to keep her busy. The other small one I’m saving for when we have company in a month or so. I expect there will be movers that will get her all wound up, so I’ll want to give her something to keep her extra busy then, too. After that, I hope to have a divorce party and I’d like Hilda to be on her best behavior, so I figured I’d give her the largest rawhide bone then. A house full of people is sure to make her hyper, but I hope a three-foot hunk of rawhide will help calm her down.
I also got her doggie brownie mix. Yeah, that’s right. Carob brownies that you bake at home for your dog. Just add eggs and oil. I figure I’ll be too busy to really make everything from scratch, even for my favorite people, the dogs. But, I know several people who have dogs and I want to let them bring their dogs to this party, too. I have a big enough back yard to let them all run and play. (And, if I have time before hand, I’ll make them something out of Cooking the Three Dog Bakery Way or from Short Tails And Treats From Three Dog Bakery or maybe even from the Three Dog Bakery Cookbook. If pick something I can freeze, I can make it early, then throw it in the freezer and keep it until the party. Of course, I might cheat there, too, and just get the Three Dog Bakery Worlds Biggest Box \’O Beagels – Miniature Variety for all my canine compatriots.)
God, I spoil my dog. But she’s worth it. Hey, here’s a little advice from your Uncle Jim, “Spoil your pets a little. They love you more for just being you than any human being ever will.”

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Sometimes someone says something really small and it just fits into this empty place in your heart."
   --Angela, "My So-Called Life"

I took Hilda for a ride last night.
I paid bills yesterday and ran them over to the post office right away. And, since my sweet, brown girl has become my constant companion, I got Hilda all harnessed up and took her for a ride with me. I got her a “Travelin’ Dog Car Harness” from PetSmart, which she doesn’t really like, but keeps her safe. I got the “medium” for her at first, but it was so small I couldn’t get it on her and I had to get the “Large”. Unfortunately, the “Large” is almost TOO big and I had to cinch it all the way down so that it fits and still works. I like this particular harness because it lets her set up in the seat next to me and see what’s going on, but it attaches to the seat-belt to keep her safe in case of a sudden stop. Also, it’s padded for her comfort.
She’s really funny when we ride together. She rests her little chin on the door by the window and sticks her nose into the airvent. And, she’s done this enough times to know what the word “ride” means now, too. She gets so excited that she can barely hold still long enough for me to put the harness on her! And, when we got home, she was so excited about having an adventure that she was practically vibrating. My only regret was there was no one to tell this all to when we got home. I guess that’s why I’m writing this entry; so that someone, somewhere who knows us knows that we had fun.

Oh, and in unrelated news, I’ve been invited to join the “prayer team” at my church. Well, the “church I attend” is more accurate, since I haven’t actually joined. I really ought to go ahead and join, but I have a few things I want to grill the pastors about first. I find myself diverging somewhat from standard church doctrine and I feel funny about joining this church until I know where they stand on a few issues. Oddly enough, I find myself worried about being too liberal, instead of too conservative. I guess I must be growing up. Or, at least, changing.
Anyway, if you want us to pray for you, drop me a note. Some of you regular readers will be on my prayer list anyway. And, even though there are some of you that would most likely rather not be on my list, I’m going to pray for you anyway.

We went shopping today.
Hilda has always been a nervous dog and she’s never been as well socialized as she should or could have been. I blame myself, really. I should have been walking her and bringing her around to my in-laws and whatnot much more than I did. So, I’ve resolved to change that some. She’s only two years old and that leaves us plenty of time to work out all the bugs, so to speak. Toward that end, we went shopping at PetSmart today.
Hilda needed a car-riding harness, since the one I bought her last week was far too small. And, based on the two or three dreadlock-like tangles she had on the side of her face, I thought we should get a brush again right away. She’ll need to get used to that again, too. I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s primping and preening like the little doggie princess she is. And, we got her two tennis balls to chase and catch. Though, I have to admit, the returning part of fetch seems to be a challenge for her this afternoon. She still does catch amazingly well, though, which was always fun. And, finally, we got the longest tug-toy they had in the store. Hilda has always loved playing tug-of-war. For a little dog, she’s really amazingly strong. She’s only 45 pounds, but she can almost pull me off my feet!
The other dogs made her a little nervous, as did the two or three small children wandering around the store. The H.O.P.E. dogs all started barking at her when I went to see the ladies at the volunteer table. And, I found out that H.O.P.E. most likely won’t have anything at all on Sundays anymore at my closest PetSmart. Some kind of behind-the-scenes political kerfluffle. Thankfully, I’ve not gotten that involved, so I have no idea what was going on. Unfortunately, that may slow down my volunteering there. But, with things the way they are in the rest of my life, that may not be such a terrible thing right now. Well, like so much in my life, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
At the moment, though, I have to go work on the laundry and play with my dog. Have a great weekend!