The Dogs Have It...

A drippy couple of days.  I took Amanda to the doc on Wednesday - she's battling a nasty bug that looked a lot like the flu - fever, body aches, sore throat.  The whole nine yards.  She snoozed on my couch most of the day.  I whipped-up some homemade chicken soup and by Thursday morning she was feeling much better.  The soup was pretty good if I do say so myself...

Yesterday was much more sedate.  Went to Costco and got a bunch of stuff for the elders.  Then a good long workout.  Last evening I got caught-up on the HBO miniseries The Pacific... the story of several U.S. Marines who fought in WWII.  It's produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks who also brought us Band of Brothers - the series that told the story of the war in Europe from the GI's perspective.

The Pacific is pretty graphic - jungle fighting at its most bestial and horrific.  And if the notion of Marines prying gold teeth out of dead Japanese soldiers is too much for you to contemplate - then you should give it a pass.

Meanwhile, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico looks to dominate the news for many days (perhaps months) to come.  I would think that oil coming ashore on the coast of Louisiana with it's shallow bays, inlets, and swamps has the potential to make the Prince William Sound disaster look like a picnic.  Remember the pics of folks hosing down the Alaskan beaches?  Don't think that strategy will work so good in a mangrove swamp.  Stay tuned for pics of untrained volunteers attempting to rescue oiled alligators... 

And of course the impact of the spill on the upcoming debate on a national energy policy is fascinating to contemplate.

On a lighter note, I leave you with today's Los Angeles Times story with the headline "One Third of Married Women Say their Pet is a Better Listener than their Husband, Poll Finds."   For the record, eighteen percent of married men felt the same regarding their pets and wives.

When pets become the therapists, the dogs have it. Twenty-five percent of dog owners said their canines listened better than a spouse, while only 14% of cat owners chose the feline.

Ron Farber, 55, of Hoxie, Kan., said it's easier to talk to his dog Buddy than his wife because "the dog doesn't have an opinion."

"I think better out loud. He doesn't care what you say or do. He looks at you, pays attention, you walk through the problem in your mind and eventually, the answer comes. It's not as easy when other people are offering opinions," he said.

Have a great weekend everybody!