It has been a hell of a day. Late last night, or early this morning in all actuality, Smoky died in my arms. He was twelve years old.
Author: Kelly and Geoff
That play we missed
Regular readers will have noticed that I mentioned that Geoff and I missed a friend’s Very Important Play on Friday night when Smoky took ill. I emailed him to explain and apologize, but it’s never as good as being there. I know I hate it when my friends miss my performances, even when they have a really good reason. Thankfully someone was able to videotape the experience, and in HD no less.
April 1st is here again
So far today we’ve seen some pretty inventive April Fools Jokes from corporate America. The first to cross my virtual desk was this one from “Warby Barker.” It’s a very well done prank by Warby Parker, an online glasses retailer with a social awareness bent.
This post could have turned out very differently
Smoky scared us very badly yesterday. He’d been having a so-so week. After his pretty much triumphant return from having his ablation and then release back into general population he’d been getting along pretty well. He eventually started to dislike his pill pockets and so pilling him became a twice daily ritual of tracking him down and shooting pills down his throat with a pill popper.
As you may imagine that was no fun for any of us involved, least of all him.
Continue reading “This post could have turned out very differently”
Fears of a dry summer
Well, it looks like my fears of a drought this spring and/or summer may just be coming true. Most of the rivers in the state (and in Connecticut and Rhode Island) are far below normal for this time of year, and there is already talk of how this will affect fisheries and agriculture. I wonder if we will have problems with fires this year. Hopefully nothing too bad. Anyway, I need to check on the level of water in my rain barrels before I do any major planting this year. I still hope to do some herbs in pots if nothing else.
-Geoff
Those screenwriters got everything wrong
Someone finally decided to end movies the way they should have ended. My favorites so far are the Star Wars ones and the Jurassic Park one.
-Geoff
Gratuituous Snoopy photos
Snoopy likes to spend lots of time demanding attention and trying to sit on one or the other of us when we’re on the computer. Not exactly the best material for getting pictures. But tonight he finally got comfortable with one of the, um, many dog toys we have around here and he got to work on it. This happens to be a $0.69 special we got on sale sometime after Christmas. Here are some of the photos of him sitting on the ottoman and enjoying himself.
Snoopy!
Nope, I’m not talking about Geoff’s obsession with dogs named after Peanuts characters. Though, in this case, the dog in question is, in fact, named after the famous beagle. This time I’m talking about the pup we’re dog sitting this week. He’s a cockapoo, properly called parti-colored, and he’s pretty funny.
Looks like Congress is getting involved now
That bit we talked about earlier where employers were asking job applicants for their passwords to their personal e-mail and social media accounts? It looks like it has gotten the attention of a few Senators, and they are not happy. Some state legislatures (California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey for starters) are also working on laws to prevent this sort of thing. So now it appears that a great national debate is in the making, and I welcome it. Personally, I find nothing wrong with Googling potential employees, but asking for passwords seems to cross a line, legally and ethically. In my mind, it is similar to the difference between doing a credit check of a potential employee and asking for that applicant’s ATM card and pin. One seeks information that is clearly in the public domain, and the other clearly is asking for something that is not.
-Geoff
A hero of mine gets the cold shoulder
Many of you who know me know that I am a great admirer of Bruce Schneier, a renowned cryptology and security expert who has been a thorn in the side of those who believe all security issues can be solved with big, expensive machines and the push of a button. He is the inventor of the term “security theater”, or measures that are more effective at looking like you are doing something than actually doing anything to make you safer. I have several of his books and I highly recommend them. Anyway, recently Bruce was uninvited from testifying in front of Congress at the insistence of the TSA. I imagine this has something to do with the fact that he is a very vocal critic of the TSA and many of their policies.
