Look at this face!

So this is Chester. Chester is a 2.5 year old Dachshund / Terrier mix who is housebroken, neutered, and has all his shots. He's gentle and sweet and gets along with everyone. I mean look at him. Have you seen a cuter dog? Look at those silly, fluffy ears. Chester is available for adoption right now. He is currently fostered in a really good foster home, Anne and Pete's. You can see him on www.Petfinder.com. While you're there, also check out Willy the springer spaniel and Charlie the Golden Retriever/Cocker Spaniel mix. I'm telling you, if we could have more dogs, we'd be getting Buddy three brothers with this lot.

So if you know anyone who's looking for a dog, check these guys out.

On a related note, after being seduced by the clever marketing campaign, I bought some Iams Savoury Sauce for Buddy. It's a vitamin-filled gravy you add to your dog's food to make it extra, well, savoury. So I was so excited. I poured it on his food this morning, set it down in front of him and waited to see the joy. There was no joy. He started to put his head in the bowl, caught a sniff of the sauce and looked up at me with a hurt, confused look. He then sniffed it again and looked at me again. He then very gingerly started to pick out individual pieces of kibble with the least amount of savoury sauce on them. This is a dog who usually eats anything you'll give him, including paper, oranges, and wax. After watching him pitifully and s-l-o-w-l-y consume five or six pieces of kibble, I gave him a fresh bowl with no savoury sauce. Which he gulped down. So much for savory! Stupid enticing commerical. I'm just glad I didn't by the three-flavour multi-pack!

Get off the frickin' sidewalk!

So, I have two pet peeves related to sidewalk use. Well, I say pet peeves but they're more like massive annoyances that make me want to punch people in the head. Of course, being me who dislikes confrontation, I usually contain myself to the dirty look and the half-turned head as they pass me by (you know that one - Seinfeld demonstrated it beautifully in the movie theatre). Anyway, my grievances are these: 1) people who are over the age of 12 who ride their bikes on the sidewalk and 2) people who use golf umbrellas as personal umbrellas on the sidewalk.

So first the bikes. Okay, I get that Toronto is a scary place to ride a bike. Traffic is crazy, pedestrians appear out of nowhere. But I'm not talking about Yonge Street. I'm talking about High Park where the streets are super wide and there is hardly any traffic. Today I was out walking my dog and some jerk in his thirties is riding up the sidewalk. There is not a single car on the road but instead of going on to the road to let me pass, I had to pull up Buddy tight against me and press against a shrub for him to go by. Ugh. I'm still getting mad thinking about it now. Frickin asshole.

And then, the umbrellas. WTF with business men who just whip their golf umbrella out of their car trunks and proceed to walk down very crowded sidewalks on streets like Bloor or Yonge? They piss me off. They don't look where they're going. They don't raise the umbrella as they pass by so it doesn't bean me in the forehead. They just take up the whole frickin' sidewalk like the frickin' jerks they are. Stupid entitled asses. There's a reason they make golf umbrellas and personal umbrellas. Golf umbrellas are for golf courses. Personal umbrellas are for everywhere else. And I feel I have to say, I have never seen a woman with a golf umbrella on the sidewalk, unless she was with a man. More gendered behaviour, IMO - women don't dare inconvenience others by taking up space where as men just take it all on and don't even think about the fact that they are invading everyone else's space with their ridiculous umbrellas. Now I realize this is a vast generalization and that many men are considerate and understand proper umbrella use. But I'm still waiting to see a woman with a golf umbrella on Bloor Street.

Ugh, people. Use sidewalks with just an ounce of thought! Or one of these days you might find your self at the business end of a withering stare from yours truly. And you do not want that. Trust me. I stare real good.

Stickin' it to the exes

So, here's a guilty secret of mine. I love finding out that my ex-boyfriends' lives suck now. I know it's petty and mean-spirited but it's great. I mean, to hear through the grapevine that they are out of work, living with their parents, repeatedly dumped by girls who treated them badly, dropped out of school, these things warm my heart. Of course, this is true for some boys more than others. Especially the ones who treated me crappy and thought I'd always be there. To them I say ha! I am very happily married to a good-looking, smart, funny, caring man, I'm doing my Ph.D., I have a great apartment, a fabby doggy and we're thinking about babies in the next year or so. My life is so good. And theirs are not. And it makes me happy, happy, happy. In fact, I think I'll do a little happy dance right now (and hope that the karma gods don't read this post!). :)

Freecycling is cool

So I was recently turned on to the phenomenon of freecycling and have to spread the word. It's basically a movement that developed in the last few years with the goal of keeping things out of landfill while developing a sense of community and fighting consumerism. It works like a listserv. If you have something lying around your house that you don't want anymore, you post the group and offer it to anyone who would like it. Then people email you to ask for it. You get to pick who you want to give it to. You pick the person, let them know, and then they come pick it up at your convenience. The group stresses that this is a gift that you are giving someone and it's up to you who you want to give it to. You can give it to the person whose email was funniest, shortest, first, 17th, or whatever you want. They take the stance that no one is more deserving than the next person and to just have fun with it. You can also request items that you need and see if anyone is willing to pony up.

So I joined a few days ago and today I had my first freecycling experience. I offered a bunch of dog things that Buddy totally ignores and has never used. I had seven responses in one day and picked the one that I liked best. The person I picked, Marjorie, came to get the things today and was super nice and I felt really good about giving her the stuff. I also answered a plea for some curtains by offering up an old IKEA panel that's moved with me five times but hasn't been used in three years.

Anyway, I dig things that are environmental and I dig things that are community building so I'm all down with freecycling. If you are interested you can go to www.freecycle.org or to www.freesharing.org and find out where there are groups in your area. It's free to join - the only thing they ask is that you offer something up for freecycling before you ask for things and that you always been polite. Check it out. It's super cool.

Freecycle! Yay!