SAFE AT HOME… WITH FOX!

WTF, is Buffalo, NY so bad that you can’t even go outside?! That campaign must have scared the shit out of old people.

They had the dumbest and trashiest of television shows including Cops and Jerry Springer. For a while there I thought that the US had gone down the drain. It was the beginning of a trend that is still going on today, scare people shitless to manipulate them into doing anything you want. I don’t have cable anymore so it is very easy for me to ignore what is happening on TV. I do take a peak every now and again and every time I come away disgusted. I know that people are generally smarter than they are portrayed on the idiot box. The tube is an agent of propaganda controlled by a few very large corporations. Fox seems to be MUCH worse than the rest.

I have no idea who that Nas dude is (’cuz I’m a thirty-seven year old white French Canadian single mom) but he is right. Plus the guy sounds really cool and interesting, give him his own show, like The Nas Compass or something like that.

There was no such thing as “Fox News” before 9/11. The whole concept of “News” at Fox is based on scare tactics and divisive coverage. Fox news propagates racist ideas and speech to a large audience whether it is regarding blacks or muslims or mexicans or whoever they can use to polarize the American people and get ratings. I am glad the race pimples are getting popped left and right mainly because of the presidential campaign. Yes A LOT of old farts have racist views and unfortunately, they still control a vast majority of the media. Eventually these people will retire and die off and so will their antiquated ideas.

Thanks Nas for making me feel like a part of a large community of people who think Fox sucks.

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Early in the morning and late at night I have taken him to the park when it’s empty (well it’s always empty and wet these days.) I let him run in circles a few minutes at a time and he mostly uses it up to roll around in the grass. He runs fast and jumps high, he is a Superdog in the making.

He has become attached to us so he does not wander very far unlike the neighbor’s dog who always runs away to come and see him. He has become more calm when meeting other dogs and leaned how to meet kids without mowing them down with enthusiasm.

He is sweet and very praise oriented. He desperately needs to know what he can do to hear “Good Puppy!” or any kind words in a cheerful tone. He is constantly looking at me to gauge whether or not I am happy or mad at the doggie. This means that he can be trained to do most anything for the pleasure of making humans happy rather than to get treats. I am not a circus dog trainer and I think training a dog to “shake hands” is useless. I have concentrated my effort on sit, stay, heel and the most useful one “Ringo, NO! stop eating out of the f*&%%*ing garbage!” I have not puppy proofed the house nore have I put a lid on the f*&%%*ing garbage can, he must learn to live in a normal house with normal people, especially kids, who leave shoes, toys, stuffed animals and crayons everywhere. He quickly learned to leave Marie-Tangerine’s toys alone and will eventually leave the garbage can alone.

He is loyal and protective and quick to investigate all suspicious sounds. He has developed a nice low warning bark but he doesn’t use it much. He is not crated at night anymore but still has separation anxiety when I create him and leave the house. When left alone he will bark and whine for 5-10 minutes but not always.

I really adore Ringo and his sweet puppy cuddles however I MISS MY CAT! Since Ringo moved in, Tucker has moved away. Sure he comes back home everyday to eat, nap in the mud room and cuddle for 10 minutes but other than that he is nowhere to be seen. I’ve had my cat for almost 4 years and I am very attached to him. I miss his purring and chatter too.

One of the reasons why I took up doggie foster care is because I needed a way to make sure I get up from my desk and go walk 3-4 times a day. I have begun to see a result from the added exercise however Ringo was too heavy to handle given my poor back.

Ringo is returning to SPCA on July 28th. I will take a break from doggie foster care as I finish up a big contract. I fully intend on caring for another dog, hopefully an older and smaller one.

moar funny pictures

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UPDATE: I was able to procure 4 packs from Mathieu who found them at Super C. Apparently if I shop at bland non-exotic places they may still have some in stock and I will buy them all (evil laugh) !!!

I make most of my exotic dishes from scratch but for butter chicken (or lentils) I always use this mix from Asian Home Gourmet. I rode my bike to IGA, Kim Hoa, Victoria Market and Adonis again today. For the past 2 months EVERYONE is out! I am pretty sure I am the one who horded them all in the first place but now I am out

Have you spotted pouches of Indian Butter Chicken mix? Please tell me where there are some left… and I will buy them all (evil laugh) !!!

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Videos and pictures on my daughter’s blog

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So everyone was talking about this and there I was NOT waiting in line. Not only do I not have an Iphone but I don’t even want one. I don’t even envy people who do. I got my first cell phone over 10 years ago and SMS the hell out of the first two years. I even had a program that would send status messages via SMS. It got old even before other people discovered that they could waste more time by slowly typing trivial gossip via text messaging. I don’t have a cell phone anymore… perhaps it’s because Fido charged me 50$ for calls I attempted to make from New York that would not actually go through. I had racked up over 10 years of loyal customership with Fido only to realize that they don’t care… They don’t have to.

The cell phone industry is THE most unsatisfying service provider yet people are really obsessed with their cell phone.

I now carry a really shitty phone activated on a pay-as-you-go plan… It belongs to my associate who only comes to Canada a few times a year. I very rarely use it and only 2 people know my number (other than the other business associates.) Some may think I am an inconsiderate bitch because I won’t give them my cell phone number but sincerely, I often forget it at home or find it off because I forgot to “feed it”. Why would I waste your time by giving you a number for a phone I keep forgetting I have.

Being constantly plugged in was cool while Kevin Rose minded the chat room on The Screen Savers… now I just don’t care about information overload anymore.

Did 6 million people really think they were going to be cool for having a 3G on launch day?!

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Marie-Tangerine handling Ringo from MarieLynn on Vimeo.

In the afternoon she walked the dog herself. I tied a long nylon rope to Ringo’s collar as a security lead and followed discreetly behind them both. Marie-Tangerine, who is only 7 years old, did very well with such a large dog. Ringo wants to please and just needs to be told how.

This does not mean that Ringo is suitable for a household with young children or teens and in 4 weeks he will only have 14 days of experience with children. He seems completely disoriented around males.

Ringo is on in Doggie Foster Care for 4 weeks and available for adoption from the SPCA.

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I received a visit from my parents on Wednesday. They are helping me get going again after being set back because of my fall in May. They brought a used bed frame from my brother and a mattress and a bunch of bed accessories including awesome memory foam pillows.

On Thursday night, Mathieu helped me put up the bed frame and it was already 10pm. Ringo, who had arrived home just 90 minutes before, jumped on everything. So I am now officially moved into my 2nd story bedroom. It is still a mess of things.

Ringo was stressed about going into the crate for the night. I closed all the windows downstairs so my neighbors wouldn’t call the cops on me. He barked for about 10 minutes before settling down quietly.

I set my alarm for 6am and took him out the next morning. On Friday I got some work done and he spend a lot of the day in dreamland on the floor in my office his paws moving. If I was a dog I would dream of being an Irish Wolfhound running across highlands and while breathing salty sea air. I wonder what Ringo dreams about. It’s not like he can watch TV, marvel at the lives of rich puppies and develop an interest in a newfangled chew toys.

In the morning he was very nervous, not knowing what to expect from me but grew more secure as the day went on. He has tried to kidnap my daughter’s toys from her room or her office. I let him play with a small rubber ball which he throws and catches himself. I will have to buy him his own toy this week, possibly a Kong. He will meet Marie-Tangerine on Sunday morning.

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Ringo came home with me last night around 9pm.

He is not the puppy that I was supposed to pick up so I picked another.

He is a very large dog for his 5 months. His previous owner got him off the Internet, whatever that means but did not keep him very long. He has been at the SPCA for a few weeks and still has kennel cough which should clear up within 2 weeks. He is presently being crated and seems housebroken. He has puppy habits like jumping and mouthing forearms when you hold him by the collar. He seems to have been in a household where a woman was his primary care take while the males were his playmates. He still thinks he is a little puppy.

He listens and responds to commands. He can learn a routine pretty quickly like sitting down to have his leash put on. I ask him to sit before and after we come into the front door. He sits while waiting to cross the street. He is learning to heel. He needs to be told what to do and likes to follow around. He settles quickly at my feet when I sit down to work.

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After a few months of Hell, I woke up yesterday feeling just fine. I am not in much pain today either. I find this really strange. Other than that one day in April, I cannot remember feeling just fine. I just can’t believe it!

Tonight I am going to the SPCA to pick up a dog. The foster care volunteer has a 6-month old puppy from hell for me to take care of for 6 weeks. Maybe he is not that bad and what is written on his abandonment sheet is frustration from owners who didn’t think things through. Are they justifying it with the usual “He jumps on people!”, “He barks!”, “He pees on the carpet!”, “He’s too excited!”?

I remember when my first husband and I bought a puppy (an incredibly adorable long haired white Jack Russel Terrier who passed for Tintin’s Snowy.) I researched my dog and knew that such hard working dogs were a lot to handle. I selected my puppy carefully. I was overjoyed that he was so much easier to handle and train that I ever expected! My husband on the other hand would always complain that he was jumping on him, biting him and annoying him. The dog just realized he had no spine and was torturing him on purpose!!! Unfortunately, in the end, it was that exact lack of responsibility on my husband’s part that caused my dog’s death. This is basically why I haven’t bought or adopted another dog since then.

A few week ago I saw a dog rocket out of my neighbor’s yard. My neighbor tried frantically to get her new dog to come back but she wouldn’t listen. I was able to trick the dog into coming closer to me out of curiosity and keeping her attention long enough for her owner to catch her.

I haven’t cared for a dog in a long time and I like the day to day routine of it. When I do not have my daughter with me I tend to work all day and not go out so having a dog will fix that. I think that being in a calm house instead of the shelter will be good for him and he can integrate into a family much more easily.

Dogs are usually not that complicated to operate

I am not 100% sure I will take the puppy from Hell, he has to meet a few criteria:

1. Like me and appear to trust me
2. Look at me when I talk to him

That’s it!

So today is my last calm day before the jumpy & barky puppy shows up.

So I have created a category for Doggie Foster Care for updates (the good, the bad and the ugly) and picture of the puppy

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