Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

This fight is for everything.

We still have time to mess this up!

Women: they get shit done

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

We can agree to disagree, but i’m right.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

They are all Michael Cohen now.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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A Good Time for Some Pet Updates?

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Saturday afternoon seems like a good time for some pet updates.

My little Henry has been itching and scratching and getting ear infections, which says allergies to me.  So I talked with the vet and we did the blood testing for allergies.

I had guessed that Henry was allergic to the tomatoes he is always stealing from the garden, so that was no surprise.   I feed Tucker and Henry Pork & Peas dog food because Tucker is allergic to beef and chicken and lamb and rice.  But it turns out that Henry is allergic to peas.  Of course he is!

I literally snorted all those years ago when we got the allergy testing back from Tucker and his highest allergy was to cats, because of course I had just gotten my two kitties, Willow and Mr. Bear.

Anyway, I have pulled my tomatoes for the year, so we are good there, and I will have to find another food for Henry.  Then we’ll see how he does with all the other stuff he’s allergic to.  For Tucker, all it took was changing his food to the Pork & Peas and then he was able to deal with his cat allergies.

I haven’t heard anything more about Molly, and I think Raven will likely chime in with an update about Tai.

So what’s going on with all your pets?  Anyone thinking of adding another furry guy to your family?  If anyone wants to send a photo, I can add the first 10 to the post.

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Miss Molly Needs a Home

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Just a reminder to all you amazing people that Miss Molly, who we discussed in this thread, still needs a home. We have some new pictures to share with you all:

I love the frog legs in the first picture!

Again, she is a good puppers who needs someone to give her a chance.

One note- in the last thread, a bunch of you got all anal retentive and down in the weeds about whether the dog is anxious and all this other stuff, and it just made me both depressed and laugh. Of course the dog is anxious. She lost her person, is living in a strange house with a bunch of strange people and animals, and feeding off the mania. Dogs respond to people.

And the other thing that made me laugh is that the dog you are adopting is NOT the dog you are going to end up with. TRUST me on this. You are bringing home one dog who behaves one way, and in a month, after they are loved and comfortable and happy, you are going to notice that you have a COMPLETELY different dog.

So yes, I think a new dog owner should do due diligence, and if you are adopting a breed with known issues like an Akita, you should definitely be careful. But if we only adopted dogs based on the criteria and levels of inspection and anal retentiveness that some of you exhibited, no one would adopt ever.

*** Update ***

OMG you people. I didn’t say you can’t offer advice I just don ‘t want you all scaring away potential adopters.

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I Completely Suck. Have Some Champ As An Apology. Tikka Too

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It must be said: I suck as a front-pager these days.

Many people have had much worse rides, but it’s been a tricky few months/years for yours truly here in the Hub of the Universe .  And thanks for the communal sympathy for the one bit I shared about our family cabins when they were in imminent danger.  That all ended as expected, alas, and not well:

I Completely Suck. Have Some Champ As An Apology. Tikka Too

That’s what’s left of the larger of the two cabins. The fire burned so hot that the septic tank melted; the county has been informed, and we’re pumping out the hazard as soon as a truck can get in there.

It could be so much worse. Thankfully, no fire fighters or other disaster personnel were hurt while working to save ours and other cabins in the valley; these were summer-only houses, and fire is part of what happens when one chooses to spend time in remote country. (Also, thankfully, not all the houses in the valley burnt. Which is good for our friends and means, inter alia, that the landscape isn’t wholly charred.)

So that’s a part of the reason why I’ve been essentially absent from this site for too long. There’s some other stuff going on which may keep my presence here to a (satisfying to some, I’m sure) minimum.  But I hope to take a more active part; we’ll see.

In the meantime, as an apology, take a gander at some great felines:

Here’s Champ, just this evening, objecting as I swapped the chicken that had been in harm’s way for the kale:

I Completely Suck. Have Some Champ As An Apology. Tikka Too 1

And here she is, a mathematical cat, dreaming of topology:

I Completely Suck. Have Some Champ As An Apology. Tikka Too 2

And here’s the cat I serve, Tikka, in his Robert Louis Stevenson moment: the sailor, home from the sea (and no mean hunter, back in the day).I Completely Suck. Have Some Champ As An Apology. Tikka Too 3

(That was at a holiday house we got to enjoy for a week at the end of August. It was a long enough sojourn that we took the cats. Champ loved it from the moment we unpacked her from the car. Tikka took a couple of days before he’d get out of the drawer he’d found to hide in. He’s an old Spaniard, as Stephen Maturin would describe him: “Let no new thing arise.”)

And last, here’s the boss cat in all his dignity. He is saying, as he so often does, “friends don’t let friends vote Republican”:

I Completely Suck. Have Some Champ As An Apology. Tikka Too 4

And with that, ave et vale.  I hope to be a better citizen of the blog soon. In the meantime, the thread is open.

Play nice.

Or not.

 

 

 

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Monday Morning Open Thread: Labor Day

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I feel like America needs a version of this contest, specifically to mark the national end-of-summer holiday we call Labor Day. You know it would be popular, in every town with young people and their dogs!

Elsewhere…

In case this might be helpful…


(A little) more info here (the article is two months old, but it’s what my weak google-fu found).

More data reinforcing the thesis that this is the weirdest timeline…

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Rescue Pup Molly – RedDirtGirl Has Questions for the BJ Hive Mind

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RedDirtGirl writes:

Hi Jackals, RDG here with my update on Molly from Thursday’s Rescue Bleg. I just finished Facetiming with Molly’s mom’s son.  She’s a beauty, there’s no doubt about it. I didn’t actually get to see too much of her since she had just woken up from a nap and was on the move, but I learned a lot more about her.

She ticks off a number of boxes on my wish list:

Older, mid-sized, short-haired, active, likes to lean up against you, and what I think of as the holy grail – from a loving home.

She has allergies that require specialized food (hydrolyzed) and medication: desyrel, anafranil, and a third (can’t see the label in the photo they sent). Without these she licks her paws, scratches and has dandruff and, I think, rashes. I will research this a bit, but I don’t think it means more than a modest increase in my monthly expenses.

As a first time dog adopter, I have been holding out for an older dog with the idea that I would find one that was on the mellower side of the spectrum. Not because I’m a couch potato, but so that its youthful exuberance was a thing of the past. Molly is a young 7. It’s a bit hard to get a read on her usual level. While she clearly has a lot of energy, some of that comes from the stimulation of her current environment.There are two other dogs where she has been for the past 4 months, and she would be a singleton in my apartment.

I have 2 concerns that I know you guys can’t resolve for me, but I’m happy for your thoughts.

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Dog Rescue Bleg: Very Good Puppers Needs a New Home

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Dog Rescue Bleg: Very Good Puppers Needs a New Home

A very dear friend of the blog (mostly a lurker) and personal friend passes along this crisis:

Hello Everyone, this is Molly. Molly and her Mom Joanne have been through the ringer this year. Joanne had a stroke this spring and has been in and out of the hospital ever since. She is about two weeks away from surgery to reattach a portion of her skull that was removed to alleviate some of the swelling, but has a long road ahead of her that will likely include rehab and some type of assisted living facility. She is currently at my sisters – as is Molly, but that is only temporary. It is likely that Joanne will not be able to care for Molly on her own once she is recovered, which is breaking her heart.

My sister already has two dogs, two rabbits and twin teenage girls, so you can imagine it is a zoo right now over there. We are all looking for some type of answer for sweet little Molly, who is going through all of this through no fault of her own. I thought I’d reach out to the Balloon Juice community. Even though I’m a “lurker” as John likes to call us – I’ve been here since the beginning and have seen this community do amazing things. My kitties Clarence (RIP) and Cleo even made the calendar! So I’m hoping maybe we have another amazing thing we can help with – a great new home for Molly and peace of mind for Joanne.

We think Molly is about 6-7 years old – but she was a stray herself so that isn’t exact. She’s high energy for sure – but has been getting along fine with my sister’s two dogs. My sister has a three-legged dog Molly has been bullying a bit – but not aggressively and a lot of that could be because she went from being an only dog to one of three. My sister’s other dog is smaller than both of them and still runs the roost, so to speak.

She hasn’t been around cats, so we’re unsure about that. But she is a very sweet and affectionate girl, loves to cuddle and is responsive to commands. I’ve been with her myself and she’s friendly, not at all shy and an all-around very good girl. If anyone can help, or has ideas for a potential home, we would all be so extremely grateful. We’re willing to help with any transportation and assist with costs, the most important thing is we want to find this girl a great home. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this!

Dog Rescue Bleg: Very Good Puppers Needs a New Home 1

Now I am no expert actually I’m the last thing from an expert considering my dogs have been Lily, Rosie, and Thurston so basically I am one for three which is pretty shitty but .333 is all star material in the major leagues, but Molly looks like a really sweet dog and I think she is just beautiful, and I like the longing gaze and the smile and the ornery ear, and I think with a little love she would make a fabulous housemate. So if you are interested, please email me and let’s give Molly the home she needs and her mom Joanne the peace she needs so she can focus on recovery.

Sidenote: I would really like to see more of the chairs and that what appears to be mid century modern coffee table.

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