They call it an invisible fence

So when we adopted Lindi, our beautiful Boxer/Lab shelter dog, installing an electric fence was high on the priority list. Way too much money later, we had one installed and proceeded to train her to obey the beeps. Since she is a pleaser and kind of a sissy, she never went through the signal. Until recently…

The wire was cut during a landscaping project and she quickly figured out that she could go play with the neighbor’s dog sans shock. We thought she would return to obeying the beeps after the fence was repaired…yeah, not so much. She acts guilty when we call her home, whichleads us to believe that she knows she shouldn’t do it, but she is a DOG.

After seeking advise on how to retrain her, we followed the instructions to no avail. The jolt from the reciever does not seem to phase her anymore so I suppose we will need to ask them to crank that bad boy up. Does that make me a mean doggie mom?

I guess it can be “invisible” in several ways.

Returning from Key West

Really it was Sunset Key; a major detail of minor importance.

Flying is pretty high up there on the list of things I don’t enjoy.  Getting to a destination makes it worthwhile…it’s merely the lines, walking barefoot through security, unfriendly staff, hurry-up-and-wait and uncomfortable circumstances on board that are not so fun (think sitting close to the lavatory when the man that was in there for 15 minutes emerges).  All three flight legs of our trip were surprisingly pleasant. The fact that beverages are not complementary on flights irks me, though US Air is bringing back free drinks (there was no charge for my Ginger Ale, as a matter of fact). My only real complaint is that the speaker volume is insane on board. That paired with flight attendants that like to hear themselves speak undoubtedly makes for a few headaches.

Back to the Ginger ale. It is a rare occasion that I drink a carbonated beverage, but my untimely and unusually unsettled stomach needed a fuzzy blanket so I indulged. The flight was extremely turbulant, due to high winds and stormy weather, which didn’t help. The pilot did a really nice job landing the bird in the snow though…it was a scary flight, not gonna lie!

We went from sunbathing in Key West to snow in Charlotte – not too bad for one day. We drove to Charlotte which meant we had to drive back in snow and ice and passed no less than 56 accidents or spun out cars.  It was more but I stopped counting.  I imagine the Apocalypse would look quite similar on roadways.

 

The snow is fun – even more so if I am on the slopes –  and it makes everything look like it was gently thrown with a blanket of beautiful, sparkling-white purity.  Even High Point Road looked pretty ( OK, it’s not true, but it IS the closest HP Rd has ever come to looking like its worth anything).   While I found the snow refreshing and invigorating, my bulbs did not.  Tricked by the unseasonably warm temperatures we experienced at the beginning of the year, the began their ascent to our world only to be slapped in bloom by the menacing snow.  Lindi was ultra-adorable in the snow too.  She munched it!

Spring is in the air

While walking Lindi this morning, I heard birds singing and chirping happily in the trees.  The first sign of spring is here!  I’m not sure how happy they will be when the weather changes its mind again though.  And the poor bulbs around here have been fooled too…

Even though I’m not a “foodie”

A “foodie” is not on the list of things I call myself, but I do enjoy finding new things that delight my tastebuds.  On a recent adventure down the aisles of the local grocery store, I picked up a bottle of Annie’s Naturals Woodstock salad dressing.  It is a “savory blend of Tahini & Tomato” that I use as a condiment in wraps and sandwiches.  The dressing is also really good on grilled chicken or fish.  I am a fan of vinaigrettes on salads, but if you like something a little thicker this would be a good one!  The best part is that it’s not only tasty and very versatile, but it’s also: vegan friendly, there is no added sweetener AND it’s dairy free (hooray for us lactose-intolerant folks!)

Nothing like escaping into a good movie to forget economic woes

While many companies are slashing budgets and jobs due to declining profits, Netflix continues to grow during tumultuous economic times.  By lowering the cost to subcribe to the movie rental by mail service, they beat profit projections by a decent chunk of change.  Read the MarketWatch article here.

Will someone please pass the popcorn?

My Two Cents

A penny saved is a penny earned, right?  Wrong.  As is turns out, it costs the US Mint two cents to produce a penny.  A penny is made of zinc  (97.5%), which has doubled in price, and  plated with copper (2.5%), which has tripled in price since the penny came in to production.  So what does that mean exactly?  Glad you asked.  The US Mint produced about 5.4 billion pennies in 2008 (versus 7.4 billion in 2007) at about 12 pennies per second.  The value of 5.4 billion pennies is $54 million, but the cost to produce $54 million worth of pennies is about $108 million.  So A=B=C  does not even come close in this case.  Not making logical sense to you?  Don’t worry, you are not alone.  Mark Weller of Ammericans for Common Cents (featured in a TIME article that you can read by clicking here) devotes his time to the cause of raising awareness of the money pit (the penny). 

There are several countries, including my native country South Africa, that no longer use pennies.  They simply round up or down to the nearest five cents.  And while you feel like you are getting ripped off the first time your total is rounded up, you feel pretty darn good when it is rounded down.  Need I mention how much lighter our pockets and purses would be without those darn pennies?

Think about this for a second: What can you buy with a penny?  And I mean, just one penny.  Nothing.  Nothing is for sale that costs 1 cent.  Plus, when going through a toll booth or buying a snack from a vending machine have you ever used a penny?  Nope.  Maybe they are on to something…

Pennies would be worth more if melted down to their metals and sold by the pound.  This is defacing currency and is ILLEGAL, so don’t get any ideas.  In fact, when the Indian Rupee value plummeted the country faced a national shortage of Rupees.  Some clever little Indians figured out that they could melt the coins and make razor blades to sell for more than the coins themselves were worth.  

So what is the debate really?  In business as usual, if product production creates a capital loss, then that product is changed or production stopped.  It seems the penny has more than just a face value; it has a sentimental value (sayings, piggy banks, etc.).  If people really do not want to let go of their not so precious pennies, then why not change the metal from which they are forged?  The term “shiny copper penny” could be changed, right?

Here is an interesting set of statistics that I heard on 60 Minutes:

On average, 2.5 seconds are lost in each transaction because of the penny (think about how many more pennies are given with change than other coins).  That equals 2.4 hours of lost time a year per person.  That comes to $41 a year per person.  That  amounts to a staggering $10 billion a year in lost time based on average wages.  

Factor in the lost money in the production of pennies and you have a sinkhole.  

What is the penny worth to you?

Lessons from Italy

In a NY Times article today, it was reported that due to illegal trash dumping, sales of prized Italian buffalo mozzarella have dropped (40%!!) due to possible dioxin, a carcinogen, contamination. Apparently South Korea has even banned imports of the cheese, much to many government officials’ dismay.

Officials and other stakeholders in the industry are trying to convince the public – the world – that there is no reason to be concerned. They say it’s a case of “criminals making a counterfeit product from God-knows-what.”

“To send a message of concern, Italian health officials are meeting Wednesday to discuss the scale of any contamination and how to end it. Harder to fix is the larger problem: for decades the Camorra, the Naples organized crime group, has made a profitable business illegally dumping trash, and no one has stopped it.

For now, there are two investigations running. One concerns the larger problem of crime and why Naples periodically floods over with its own refuse. The other focuses on complicity between shady mozzarella producers and local officials who reportedly knew about the contamination.”

Lessons to take from this incident:

1. To continue serving pizza and other traditional dishes, restaurants in Italy have switched to cow mozzarella cheese; customers refuse to risk consuming tainted (but oh so loved) buffalo mozzarella cheese, even if it is certified. Lesson: Businesses should take responsibility to provide customers with the safe products they demand (start demanding, people!!).

2. To get attention from authorities so that the problem can be corrected, Italians are widely boycotting the purchase and use of the cheese. And South Korea is following suit. Lesson: Squeaky wheels DON’T get the most grease; gigantic squeaky wheels do. When people form large groups, especially when it involves keeping wallets closed, authorities listen.

3. Italians know that eating carcinogens is bad. Lesson: pesticides on produce are carcinogenic. Lead in toys is bad. Low-quality products do us no good; we can all demand higher standards too (start demanding, people!!).

When the quest for Hollywood perfection becomes deadly

Today there were reports about an 18-year-old that died from plastic surgery (breast augmentation) complications.

With the number of cosmetic procedures being performed each year (check out the stats) on a steady climb, with it comes an increased number of deaths from complications.

But what is to blame for the quest of perfection? Maybe there is not one simple answer, though there is an obvious one: the media.

The “perfection” the media worship brainwashes men and women to believe that they want to be with and to look like that.

The fashion industry covets models that suffer from eating disorders or drug and exercise addictions to remain thin. And the media enable the fashion industry.

The photos that so salaciously grace magazines, swimsuit issues, sexy catalogs, Playboy, etc. are retouched to correct the imperfections (razor bumps, stretch marks, skin folds in problem areas, wrinkles, blemishes) and enhances where features are lacking (add cleavage, plump lips, extend cheekbones); and all that AFTER the loads of surgery, face/body make-up, glistening oil and hair extensions.

Who can blame people for wanting to attain perfection? Not me. The media have so much power and some abuse it, possibly unknowingly (it would be extremely unfair to chastise ALL media). Maybe one day the trend will be to promote peoples’ well being, instead of degrading self-esteem. Until then, lets just hope that people will learn from others’ misfortunes.

The Associated Press

With news of the Dow Jones and AP Newswires partnership coming to an end – apparently the oldest such journalistic partnership, formed in 1967 – the day begins with hope.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end for the highly coveted AP Style of writing that the media world adheres to. And although uniformity within the profession is important, it might just be time to create a 21st century-worthy standard of writing.