2015 ~ Notes from Leisa Land

Tennis Elbow

Geez...I have had a blank post up about. I guess my elbow hurt too much....

I have developed tennis elbow from something other than tennis. My only other regular activity is computer stuff--and this year alot of it. I think that my ergonomics were comprised when my new computer was set up while maintaining my old computer on the printer table (1) behind me which provided the best level.

At the margin, small increments matter over time. Whether you are producing widgets or typing in a mechanically compromised way (poor leverage of reach and height), the good or the bad builds up fast. In my case 12-17 hour days over a period of some months is the cause of my tendonitis.

I had a minor pain (prior to realizing what the problem was), and received a cortisone shot which completely eliminated the pain. Unfortunately, the shot masked the problem entirely, so I did not have a chance to understand that the nascent symptoms were escalating under the veneer of the cortisone.

When the cortisone shot wore off, I realized how much inflammation I was experiencing. It is bad enough where my regular routine is compromised---cooking, cleaning, working (computer), all contributing to the pain. And bumping that sore area against a door jam is wince-inducing.

I've tried the arm band. It felt good at first, but the benefit was either transitory or illusory. It is possible that I'm just using it incorrectly. I've avoided anti-inflammatory meds, but I'm simply not winning this battle. Ice/heat combo provides some of the best relief. I'm not ruling out that I'm doing something strange with my arm during sleep that is exacerbating my symptoms.

I'm unused to having joint pain prevent normal activities. I have a great empathy for folks with the chronic joint pain (from systemic or injury/use issues). Husbando says that I just have to rest it completely, and that I should consider a sling.

Right.

I was at a consignment shop and spied an English Setter flushing quail print. The artist was Douglas Van Howd. The print is 119/750 and signed by the artist. I didn't know who the artist was...in fact, I hadn't discerned the artist's signature until yesterday. Been too busy to look. You can read about him here.

It's a largish 31.5"H x 39.5"W, and features an orange-belton English Setter flushing a covey of quail. There's a pastoral quality to the print. There is no title to the print unless it is beneath the matting. I did manage to stumble upon a picture of it after trying many key words. "Douglas van hows fall flush" was the one that finally yielded a hit. I forget what I paid for it, less than $90 and far less than what it would have cost to frame the print alone.

I really love the way that it captures the point-movement of the Setter.

No I don't hunt, and my English Setters hunt and point whatever is in their periphery--mostly squirrels and biscuits.

My search for a new sofa ended thanks to Craigslist. I found a beautiful Classic Leather, Keswick, sofa, pictured above, in like-new condition. I paid $700 for it v ~$3700 that it would cost new. Still, it was a premium price for a 10 year old sofa; but a difficult thing to find used in the condition that I wanted. Given the price I paid to the price that I would have had to pay, it was a good deal. I gave my previous furniture to my daughter as it was in need of being reupholstered. I had already upholstered 2x and slipcovered 1x. I wanted to get something durable as we will sit on this piece every single day.

My other furniture, made around 1930, ,had the most beautiful scale to it--smaller, very well made, with exposed carved wood on the base, the arm front face and the wings. My daughter had the sofa reupholstered with companion fabrics for her chairs. The sofa turned out beautifully. It's worth noting that it costs as much to have a sofa reupholstered in a quality fabric as it costs to get a new sofa. So, it is no wonder that people just toss out the old and get new.

My 'replacement' sofa was simply a sofa I had used to stage houses that I had bought for $150 at Rainbow Thrift and LGBT community thrift store. It was like new, but it was singularly the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I had ever sat upon. Out with the old to the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters thrift and in with the new-old from people rehoming furniture.

The dogs, of course, were quite keen to sit on it first.

I have a leather loveseat that I purchased at a good discount from Haverty's 15 years ago. Unfortunately, the leather on the cushions on the seat spots are now completely worn through--that is surely showing the love. This piece is the most singularly comfortable piece I have ever sat in. It is perfect for watching TV. Back is propped up by the comfy arms and the opposite arm makes the greatest foot rest. I'm not sure if I'm ready to let this one go yet! Reade suggests that he should get out the gorilla tape.

It may come to that.

Monetizing Thanksgiving

Holiday commerce seems to oozing into to every nook and cranny of our lives--to include encroaching on a holiday. As if Black Friday were not enough, we have to co-op 6 p.m. - midnight on Thanksgiving. Sacrilege!

I appreciated seeing the ads from Marshall's, Homegoods, and TJ Maxx bowing out. I also across a an essay from last year from Ann Brennoff called What Black Thursday Protesters are Doing Wrong. Her article has two major points--both poorly argued.

Her first point is that those of us who would express disdain for stores opening for Thanksgiving shopping are making the flawed assumption that everyone would rather be eating with their families rather than earning money. If the assumption fails on the part of those supporting privileging the holiday as a shop free holiday (assuming that people would rather not be working), then it also fails on the part of those doing the finger wagging (assuming that people are grateful to be away from dysfunctional families).

There's just one problem: Who made them the boss of us? How do these people actually know that the guy who is working the register at Target doesn't appreciate the money? How can they be so certain that the gal gift-wrapping your packages at Macy's even has a family she wants to spend Thanksgiving with? Not everyone does, you know. Some people dread the holiday and are more than happy to spend it earning some money.

That some people dread the holidays and would rather work is likely a small portion of the retail population conscripted to work--and using that argument as an anchor for an essay is weak.

But who are you -- Black Thursday protesters -- to tell us that you know what's best for us? I don't recall electing you, and yet you want to impose your values on me.

Perhaps the Black Friday protesters are those that are affected by a family member that has to work on Thanksgiving. Perhaps it is the meal's cook. It's a holiday so daycare is not open. Perhaps the person is working because they were threatened with losing his/her job if they didn't show up--not because they appreciated the pittance of traveling to work for 4 hours of pay.

"Protesting" is not about foisting one's values on others. Rather, it is about giving voice to one's opinions about what we consider objectionable actions. And, yes, objectionable actions are things that abrade against our values--which is why women's suffrage, racism, police brutality, child labor and a host of other issues emerge into the public conscience.

Her second point, which I believe is important (but poorly argued) has to do with not making a selective argument while ignoring the larger issue:

Thanksgiving happiness doesn't just come in one shape. Shop or don't shop, that's your choice. But don't make Thanksgiving a holiday about labor rights when you ignore it the other 364 days a year.. . . Social activism? Folks, it's a 365-day-a-year commitment, although you'll probably want to take off on Thanksgiving.

Here's where I think that Brenoff has a mixed up argument. The objection is about monetizing the space between Thanksgiving and Christmas and changing it to 'including' Thanksgiving. It feels that we have pimped out our last outpost of non-commercialized space. If enough of us treasure the holiday enough to NOT SHOP, then we can absolutely let our opinion be known. But if the collective we is so titillated by the too-good-to-pass-up door buster sales, then that simply reinforces another set of values that the shopping public has embraced.

I'm opting out.

Here's a few things to consider for your kitchen outside of the 'mandatory' things. These are quick thoughts--not meant to be comprehensive, or even fully thought out.

Silicone Mitts -- I finally broke down and bought some. They don't get wet; don't compress and reduce the insulation when you are carrying heavy pieces and have to hold them longer because your instructions on "move that" aren't carried out with the alacrity you expected, and you are left holding the pan. Your hands are worth it.
Flour sack cloths: You can get these by the dozen at Sam's. Keep a dedicated couple for straining food stuffs that require fine straining. It's a fine stand in for cheescloth; and coupled with a conical sieve you can do wonders. (I made some homemade marscapone cream cheese for less effort and cost than finding/buying it at the store.. They make great cleaning rags too, but don't mix them up. I put some border stitching on my cleaning one so nary the two should meet (and they shouldn't).
Glass cutting board: Not to cut on, but set it over your unused stove burners or on the counter beside the stove to provide for additional space.
Painter's Tape and Sharpies: great for labeling containers for your advance ingredient prep. Sharpies on their own allow you to mark plastic bags. You think that you'll remember...but after a certain age, you just will NOT remember what is in that Ziploc bag.
Plastic Page sleeves and binder clips: The sleeves are great for slipping in your recipes--to keep them spill free. A binder clip allows you to hang it easily (utensil stand etc) putting your recipes in easy reading reach without taking up valuable horizontal space.
Cooking string: If you cook alot and don't use string, this will up your game for keeping a roasting hen from relaxing in the oven to making stuffed roasts. There are dispensers, or simply put it in an old creamer bowl so that it does not wrangle with other stuff in your junk drawer.
Wooden utensils: They are stiff and work hard. Just don't put them in the dishwasher. Here are some lovely examples at http://www.woodspoon.com/
Mineral Oil (food grade) and Paraffin Wax (food grade): Show your cutting boards some love--and all of the other wooden items in your kitchen. Melt 1 part wax to 5 parts mineral oil. (I did mine in the microwave). Pour it in a Mason jar. Use a dedicate terry cloth to oil your boards and put in a ziploc back afterwards. A great gift idea. (Also, your hands will love it too!).
A cup hook by your sink to hang a kitchen towel: This will keep a towel handy, and decrease your use of paper products.
A mat in front of your sink area: this will soak up the spills and splashes from your sink (particularly when working with oversized pans.).

I'm on my 3rd sinus infection in as many months...a record for me. I went to Patient First. I'm the TG cook, and I can't let this get ahead of me. The doctor said that the pollen, mold and pollution counts are very high this year causing more problems (and my regular doctor noted similar escalation in patients affected).

Afterwards I went to BJ's to get a jump on TG shopping. I think that I've got 99% of what I need. I was a little peaked after my hunting and gathering. I didn't do any of the EPA cleanup needed (though I've been chipping away at it). Probably just as well as my tendinitis in might right arm has come back. The doctor gave me a cortisone shot, and I've had no problems until this week. Falling apart!

One of the suckey things about Thanksgiving is that you still have to feed your family in the 2-3 days ahead of time while you are schlepping and prepping. I wished we could just eat cereal or sandwhiches!

We were given a deer hindquarter and a tenderloin. The hindquarter was so small and lean, I simply fed it to the dogs. I whacked the bone parts with my Chinese meat cleaver. Dexter wouldn't touch it which surprised me. I knew that Daisey wouldn't. I could cont on Greedy #1 (Angel) and Greedy #2 (Ella) to enjoy it. They did. With gusto.

The tenderloin I cooked in my new DeBuyer pan. I soaked it about an hour in a solution of weak vinegar which helps draw the bloodout. I rinse, pat dry and then season with salt/pepper. I then put a small amount of oil in the pan and get it shimmering hot. I put the tenderloin in whole and sear all over. It is medium rare. I served with a red wine sauce (red wine, butter, red fruit jelly/preserves and some thyme).

I have found that make very thin slices to within about 1 inch of the other side, and then cutting a serving section through provides a lovely presentation (imagine a book--the cut sections are the pages and the long end the spine). I then spoon the sauces over it so that it gets into the slices. It really is lovely.

I made lamb shanks this evening. I got 2 for just under $17. I've never made lamb shanks. I pulled out the DeBuyer pan again and shimmered some oil, patted dry, salt and pepper. I then seared the heck out of them before putting them in sweated onions, celery and carrots all roughly chopped with some rosemary and thyme. I put them in the oven on very low temperature. I made a pan sauce with a roux starter and then spooned in some of the braising liquid. I cooked red potatoes in the microwave and smashed them in a soup bowl. I spooned the vegetables from the braising liquid over, sliced the meat off the bone (it fell off), and then spooned some of the pan sauce over. I made homemade biscuits (using White Lily flour, which makes the best biscuits).

I would have never guessed that the meat was lamb. I love lamb; I know that many think it 'gamey'. But this I could not recognize as lamb. Really, really good.

The pleasures of good food--and the pleasure of cooking it with good equipment.

Dolma

About two weekends ago I made some dolma (meat stuffed cabbage). I see from my blog that about a year ago I made some, and I was "Meh!" for the recipe. Gosh, I don't even remember making it. It was that unimpressive! But.....I did some recipe scouring (a/k/a recipe immersion where I consider all options and do my Frankenstein recipes...grabbing a bit of this, and that from various recipes).

I emerged from my immersion and elected to make this recipe:

http://howtoexpo.com/recipes/stuffed-cabbage-rolls-dolma

I did a few things differently. (1) substituted beef for pork/veal/beef mix (which I saw in another recipe and would recommend); (2) I put diced tomatoes and V8 juice in the pot. I think that my Nanny used diced tomatoes and tomato juice, but I never have that on hand. I figured V8 would be a fine substitute. It was. The seasonings were perfect, and I would not change a thing (from my adaptation). Also, my Nanny would put this in Pyrex dish and cook in the oven. I used the stove top method, and I would stay with that. I also cut part of the bottom core out of the cabbage and put the whole head in salted boiling water, removing the softened leaves with a pair of tongs and laying them in a pan.

The aroma from the pot was wonderful. I did not have yogurt, but I did have sour cream. I will definitely make the suggested accompaniment (yoghurt/garlic). Frankly, I don't remember these being served with such an accompaniment at our house. But....I cannot imagine NOT eating them with such. They really were that good.

I had leftover meat and cabbage (as the cabbage head got too small to roll). I just chopped up the remainder cabbage and threw the meat mixture in the pot.

Now, though I consider myself a good cook, I rarely swoon over anything that I make. Well...I swooned over this dish...as did the men-folk. It actually tasted as good or better has what my Nanny made. This will be my go-to recipe (with changes that I noted). I so appreciated Marriette publishing her video.

Milk Fat Product Matrix Spreadsheet

From the USDA Data base, the following are the percentages of milkfat in various products.

Why, you might ask, is this important? Well as we move into frenzied cooking season and our time and energy is limited, sometimes we need MacGyveresque powers to get through our recipe preparation. How many times have you been short on a necessary dairy product, have to drop eveything and go to the store? Or, how many times have you over purchased and have to throw out because you needed just a cup of whipping cream but you have a quart?

My goal is to do dairy Garanimals, and do a mix an match between just two products: skim milk and whipping cream. With those two dairy products in your arsenal, all of the above iterations of milk fat end products that you would need to make your recipes can be achieved. Skim is skim, but it makes half and half, 1%, 2% and whole milk when combined in the right proportions. And there is no way to achieve whipping cream without having the full fat product which comes in 36% and 40% varieties. And, you must know that half and half is NOT half cream and half milk--which is why when combined as such there is an oil slick on my coffee.

Yes, I had plenty of better things to do, but my goal was to breakdown the Goldilocks and the Three Bears math to achieve the right chemistry to transform a high fat product + a low fat product to just the right end product. And, that distinguishing characteristic the fat percentage (per above) applied to the grams per cup (244) to calculate the fat grams per cup of product--hence the table above which has both. It's interesting (though I would say immaterial to our math) to note that the full fat products have move volume and less weight (weighing in at 238 g v. 244). But any of us trying to get a zipper closed post holiday eating knows that fact well!

Here's a handy formula for you to use to transform different fat milks to what you want to combine to get to the milkfat % that you desire. I'll do this in grams for now, and then apply the ratios to ounces. 244 grams is the number of grams in a cup of end product. X is the grams amount of high fat product that we need. We simply subtract that from 244 to get the amount of low fat product that we need. If you have a kitchen scale (which every serious cook should have!), then you could weigh them out. Otherwise, apply the HFgrams/244 and apply that % to 8 oz.

In general: ( HF% - LF%)(X) + (LF%)(244)= (TF%)(244)

Of course, I'm lazy and math challenged, and I created an Excel spreadsheet which you can find here for milk products only. I'm not interested in adding butter to milk. Here's an example:

If we want to use skim milk (0%) fat and 36% whipping cream we would do the following:

.36% - 0% + 0 = 25 (in this case we have to get all of the fat from the whipping cream)

.36X=25 or X = 25/.36 or 69.44.67 g of HF product and 174.55g (244-69.44) LF Product.

If we want to make whole milk from these two products, our ratio for 1 cup of whole milk (8 grams of fat) would be 7.25 ounces of skim milk and .75 ounces of (1 tbs + 1.5 tsp) of skim milk. This is not science lab and rounding is not going to cause any problems.

Anyway, with Thanksgiving coming up, and so many recipes requiring milk, half and half and whipping cream, one can greatly simplify by just stocking skim milk and whipping cream.

I was on the hunt for a few things. I purchased an All Clad tri-ply skillet (12") with lid from Metro Kitchen. It was on sales, but still pricey. I don't have a skillet this size that is not in non-stick format. In general, the only non-stick pans that I buy are for frying breakfast stuff. (Notwithstanding my Scanpan ceramic titanium pan that I purchased at the salvage store for 19.95).

I used it last evening to prep some refried beans. Work very well. No sticking. I do not find the handle comfortable though, an must levy the harsh criticism of extremely poor design ergonomics.

I also had to upgrade my garlic press. My Zyliss, which I love and purchased as it was recommended on America's Test Kitchen, is aluminum. That makes it strong and lightweight. Unfortunately the coating started flaking off, and the aluminum oxidizes giving a nasty hue. Plus you have to wonder what might be flecking into your dish. ATK now recommends Kuhn Rikon Epicurean. I found that at Amazon at significant savings. Still pricey, but I have a high reliance on the garlic press in the kitchen, and I've not found a suitable replacement for my Zyliss. I've not put it through the paces yet. {Update...I have and WOW!. Hopper is small, but darn if it is not one of the finest pieces of kitchen equipment I own. View it here.

I've been wanting a Taylor folding probe thermometer. I found the best price at Zoro. I've never ordered from them before, but the experience was pleasant. I rely on thermometers quite a bit in the kitchen. I appreciate that many can touch the meat and know exactly what the doneness is. Not me. There's a huge difference in meat quality between 135 and 140 for nice cuts of beef (which we rarely eat beef anymore due to expense and digestion). And if you are making bread, well this will work to ensure that your water is not too hot, and to test for doneness. Here's a great website , Crafty Baking, for some temperature (and tactile, visual) guides for testing for doneness.

I've done pretty well on my cooking commitment this week. Last night, I had to go to Sam's, so I brought back their chicken enchiladas. They are easy and good. I did use my new AllClad pan to heat up refried beans with some garlic and onions. Fast and delicious, though hardly a fulfillment of my cooking commitment--but shopping commitment and cooking commitment cannot be crowded together in a time blight.

And speaking of fast and delicious, here's a link to 5-Minute Dinners. For the starved and time starved weekday cook. Though not a 5 minute meal, I'm going to try this recipe from Bon Appetit for Weeknight Porchetta.

The Ubiquity of Learning Opportunities

While the Internet can be a mindfield of opinion presented as fact, porn, trolls, and the democritization of all sorts of blather, it is worth having to put up with all of that 'stuff' to find the many gems online that can satisfy a healthy craving for satisfying good curiosities.

I turn to the internet often for help with thorny Excel functions that I don't use often enough to have a great understanding of--but when I need that understanding I can get it quickly. All things cooking are there in abundance. I recently found the America's Test Kitchen videos on You Tube. However, what I wanted to share with you is something that I found for free on Craftsy. The title of the course was Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott.

If you like to cook and want to hone your knife skills to improve safety and efficiency and have better looking end product, this video is worth your time!

Knife Therapy and Lipstick on a Pig

My knives were in some serious need of sharpening. Unfortunately, my waterstones were in need of flattening, and you cannot have sharp knives without flat stones.

I've been resistant to investing any more in my sharpening stones by adding to my collection a flattening stone. I have a DMT extra coarse, but that doesn't quite do it. Again, the ubiquitous wisdom of the internet was at my disposal. I saw a video using a turned over piece of ceramic tile. The back is unglazed and had a grid to provide abrasive qualities. The combination of water and elbow grease helped get my stones in shape. Not ship shape....I didn't have quite enough energy, and my hands and arms are sore today from the effort of the flatteneing and the knife sharpening. But my knives are sharp!

There is a therapeutic value in the the rhythmic effort of moving a knife blade over a progression of stones under water. Not great for a manicure, but I don't have a manicure.

I had to forage for some food and visit home. I'm 30 minutes away from my folks, and once I'm home, my inertia is high. But I made a mission westward and had a quick visit with my stepmom. My dad was away at his 'meeting'. I then worked my way back eastward topping at Tuesday Morning because it was in the shop of the Aldi's that I wanted to visit.

At Tuesday Morning, I winnowed my way through the aisles. I have many very nice things, that I've purchased from TM over the years. My Sabatier and Deglon knives are part of that trove of treasure. Still beautiful and useful after all of these years. (And sharp too!).

I picked up some gift bags...particularly wine bags which are nice to have handy; a couple of double wire journals, and sauntered down to the housewares aisle. I spent an inordinate amount of time on the kitchen stuff. Picked up a Paula Deen french rolling pin, some silicon tipped tongs and then turned my attention to the cookware.

In the past, I purchased two enameled cast iron oval pots, one small, one large. But at $35, you truly get what you pay for. The enamel stained, cracked and began to peel on my largest pot. Oh, there are still grill or water for wood uses for it, and it will not be retired--merely repurposed. But you cannot confidently cook food in something if you are are concerned that your dinner will contain enamel chips.

Now to the lipstick on the pig chapter....

That's when I spied them...beautiful "Staub" 6.5 quart round enameled cast iron dutch ovens--at significant savings: 129.99 v. $300. The Staub identifiers were the Staub sticker on the outside, Staub rooster nob (which I see costs about $30 on line), Staub ribbon and Staub insert. However, I'm a natural researcher, and I think that what I bought is a dressed up Kirkland Signature pot with a Staub knob. How did I find out? Naturally, I'm going to check out my deal. I noticed that the top is different on my "Staub". Further, I note that my pot only says "Made in France". There is no "Staub" on it. And...the Kirkland pot has tab handles v. the loop on the Staub. The only difference between my pot and the Kirkland pot is the Staub handle.

Do I feel ripped off? Well. . . YES! The euphoria of finding a fantastical deal v. a so-so buy is obliterated. Buzzkill. Sniff. Buyer must always beware. If I'm buying Kirkland Signature, please identify it as such. I guess that some of the following must be true: (1) Kirkland Signature is made by Staub; (2) Tuesday Morning was either duped; and/or TM knows what it is doing.

I no longer have a Costco membership as it is just too far away from me (40 minutes) and not within my traveling realm as I don't work close by). If I want to buy Kirkland, (and the pot I have is here) I can do so for about $100 to 109 on Amazon (or 90 with a Costco Membership). With the $30 Staub nob, I have a pot for the same price as I would spend otherwise sans the membership.

Sigh... A good value, but not the good deal that I thought. And the pot is not so much a pig, but there is a great deal of lipstick on it.

I did email TM this a.m.

Copperhead Encounters

We are firmly in my favorite time of year. Unfortunately, within the last two weeks there have been two copperhead encounters. One had sidled near us while we were on what I lovingly call our 'redneck' porch, the apron in front of our garage, enjoying a lovely evening. The sun had already set, so we were only illumined by the fluorescent light streaming through the narrow windows of the garage doors. Crickets were rythmic--an auditory heralding of fall.

Dexter kept looking under my Thunderbird in the most curious way. "There must be a cat under the car," I said to Mark. Dexter continued his look--ears forward, tail up, eyes intent on something. It did not appear to be his greeting look for the cats.

"Mark, why don't you look and see if that is a cat under there, because if not, it may be a copperhead." Mark obliged and looked tentatively, then hurriedly said, "get the animals inside!. I shepherded all the dogs in and grabbed a long-handled metal scraper by the door. Our serpent visitor was dispatched to the Netherworld humanely. All I could think of is if I had entered my car, the snake could have bit me on my ankle so easily.

I understand that copperheads are not far ranging, so this was number 2 kill within 8 feet of our home perimeter. Too close for our comfort. Just a week later, Mark was weed eating and found another snake nestled in the comfort of the over growth. That perimeter may have been 15 feet.

Soon the weather will be cool enough to send them underground for the winter. We live these guys unperturbed if we see them from afar. But slinking about our house, close underfoot foot for canine, human and feline, is just too much. I always remember Garvey Winegar's admonitions about these vipers--and my vigilance has likely kept be bite free and wary of objects of interest by either my cats or dogs.

Dexter has alerted us twice now. He has earned his keep.

Mark is in West VA riding dirtbikes with his friends. I'm enjoying some solitude with the pups.

Debate

"The Republican debate is on," Mark said tentatively. "There might be some real entertainment in that."

I don't think that I've ever watched a Republican debate, but if Donald Trump has done anything for the Republican Party it has been to "spice things up." Or...to serve as the proverbial train wreck that one cannot help but watch, unable to turn away. We tuned in.

My staying power was low last evening. I've been under the weather with a sinus infection. I went to the doc on Tuesday, and it was packed. "Seasonal stuff," the intake person told me. I did manage to see Carly Fiorina bitch stomp Donald Trump. When given the opportunity to comment on his "look at that face" comment in Rolling Stone, she masterfully hurled a zinger Trump's way. But the expression on her face just prior to composing the zinger was priceless.

Now it would be quite the thing to see Carly and Hillary in a debate. It is ~~nice~~ thrilling to see women gaining access to the executive branch leadership stage and showing their mettle.

Political Silly Season

Outside of the "25 things that you didn't know about Taylor Swift", "5 foods that you must not eat", "18 celebrities that are awful people, # 9 will shock you"--an everyday assault on sensibilities-- the political silly season, whether local or national, is too much to bear.

I'm not sure whether to be amused or afraid (but not surprised) by the fact that Donald Trump is the Republican front runner. I guess if the Republicans desire a caricature as their representative, then they have found the penultimate in Donald Trump, and to look further would be futile.

We can never underestimate "mass man" as characterized by Jose Ortega y Gasset in Revolt of the Masses. Galvanized by a message that seeks to create hard-drawn lines between the 'us' and the 'them' and propagating ~~feeling~~ fact of our superiority in values, motives, intellect and success we create a falsehood of 'righteousness'. Politics and religion fall from the same tree in such a vein when adherents believe in the singularity of one set of ideals v. a plurality of other ideals.

The controversy regarding Kim Davis, the Rowan County, KY clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because it offends her beliefs. If we are asked to do things in our job that offends our sensibilities, then we simply quit our jobs. It is that easy. The argument that KY law is to accommodate religious conscience is a selective argument. That Kim Davis has a religious conscience that can be shared by other conservatives makes the argument hold water. But what if Kim Davis were Muslim, a Wiccan, or a radical Jew? Of course, if she were any of those things, she would not have been elected, which gets us back to the mass man dilemma.

Our DNA for the most part prevents us from being free of bias. For most social animals, survival depends on having clear boundaries of 'us' v. 'them'. And when we encounter people like Kim Davis and Donald Trump making judgments about others based on 'right looks', 'right belief', 'right sexual orientation', then we should be reminded that our evolutionary curve is still on the upswing.

There is a dangerous conclusion that is held by many conservatives that I stumble upon, that the right to hold a particular opinion/belief grants one the right to foist that belief on others. Our nation's history has been replete with an adjudication of contending beliefs in our democratic society with slavery and women's suffrage being two such examples. It is a nation of moral conscience (not religious conscience) that examines its beliefs when those beliefs disenfranchise groups of other people based on our conferring upon them inferiority due to their race, age, belief, sexual orientation, etc.

The process of adjudication is not a simple one, and at the end of the process there are winners and losers. But better that those who are incapable of freeing themselves from their closely held, unexamined biases to lose than basic civil rights for "others" to be violated. To me it is a question of basic humanity. Nevertheless, history is a harsh guide that humanity over fundamentally held beliefs does not always prevail.

I hope that we are not in the pendulum swinging the other way era that is a necessity to find the rational middle ground. The beauty of freedom of speech and belief is that the expression of all points of view provides a basis for finding common ground.

P. S.

The Telegraph has a nice collection of Donaldisms which you can find here. I see a market for "don't be a ~~dick~~ Donald" t-shirts and bumper sticker or perhaps a "free the badger" because that is what looks like is on Donald Trump's head.

Wireless Kaput

The other day (and after a software upgrade from Microsoft), my computer failed to connect to any network. Tried the phone Nope. It saw the networks, but was not able to connect. Troubleshooter did not have any success. Wah!!!

I did some research, and decided that the wireless board board needed to be replaced. Foremost concern was whether or not there was going to be a compatibility issue as the part clearly had the "HP spare" number. I wanted to upgrade as I've had several problems with the initial part.The buggy connection wasn't new, but the serialized failure to ever connect was.

Small screwdriver, tweezers and reading glasses had the board out quickly. My new part, and Intel 7260 wireless dual band with Bluetooth, arrived in a couple of days. The hardest part of the installation was reattaching the two antennae. I had to go get the magnifyng glass. It felt like the operation game...thank goodness no screws were dropped in the chassis or any noses lit up.

It was quite a feeling of accomplishment to restore an essential piece of communication. No more timely than my going on vacation in a couple of weeks. I cannot drop off the face of the earth, but by the same token, I want to have some degree of disconnect from work life. It has been a tough, long slog this year; and I'm glad to have a small respite.

As with last year, we will have to cook. We will have a Mexican themed dinner, and I think that it will all come together nicely.

Homemade Dog Food

We are 344 days into homemade dog food--rapidly approaching our one year anniversary. Dexter was recently at the vet. The vet asked what I fed him. I mentioned that I fed him a homemade diet. Without any retribution, she suggested that I ensure that I go to vet approved resources such as Cornell. I thanked her and indicated that I had done my homework, to include UC Davis's Dr. Strombeck's work. She said, "Good. So many of owners don't bother to do any research."

I put in quite a few hours doing the research, and Dexter's body condition was given "Excellent". He is perfect weight; his coat is shiny and soft; and his poop does not stink. (One of the many great benefits of a homemade diet!). That he had to be manhandled to get vetted was very disappointing. I've never had any dog

It seems so easy now, but I remember my trepidation that I would do something that would forever harm the health of my animals. Oh, I still have to buy dry food, as with a recent trip where another hand to care for my 4 dogs. So, they got dry food which I integrated into their regimen over the course of a few days. It helped my daughter feed them easily. They ate it (though Dexter was not crazy about it); and none were were for wear.

There is no question that there is real work involved over and above opening a bag and scooping it out. It would be far simpler if I did not have 4 dogs which is an all time high for us. But I have 3 seniors, so the crowd will naturally thin. I have no desire to have such a large pack in the future. It is simply just too much. But we are giving a loving home; they give us love and companionship in turn.

So as they age; they have excellent nutrition which will help greatly. Skin, coat, teeth and eyes are all great. And once I commit to making a batch of food, it lasts a about 6 weeks, which includes my getting about 30lbs of the mechanically separated turkey in 10lb chubs.

I'm down to my last couple of meals, and I need to make some more. It is not something that I relish. But they love to lick the bowls!

195 Things I could care less about

I'm not quite sure what the appeal is to these ubiquitous 'teasers' that show up everywhere (like the belly fat tips and acai berry magical fruit). I'm unsure how there could possibly be 50 things interesting about Taylor Swift or 45 Things that I didn't know about Sofia Vergara or 50 stunning photos of Santorini or 50 facts about Steve Jobs and Apple that I would be remotely interested in.

And I'm quite sure that nything past 5 on any of these is probably bordering on ludicrous

Dog Sitting

I am dog sitting for my sister and her husband. I last did this for a joyful occasion: their travel to MA to attend the marriage of their nephew. This time, it is for a sad occasion: the burial of my BIL's sister (mother to nephew). She will be buried on her 60th birthday.

She was a breast cancer survivor for more than 10 years. What came back was virulent, ugly an inescapable. She handled it with grace and courage.

With recent eye surgery, my sister was unable to fly. Rather, they had to drive 12 hours. Their home is just over 3 hours from mine. They left early this a.m. I committed to arriving by 2 p.m. My sister was a little concerned about how the dogs might react to me coming into their home without their being there.

The girls remembered their auntie Leisa. And I had but to say "Who wants a cheeeeeeeese treat?" in a high pitched voice for them to instantly remember who I was: the lady with alacrity in feeding them treats.

They are almost 2 years older now from my last visit. And that was my last visit. My sister comes our way once a month; so we get to visit; I just don't get to Bedford.

Savannah is the oldest. Gray flecking spreading further on her face than before and across her body. She still has lots of vigor; she reminds me of Ella. But she will not be here two years hence in all probability. Ruby, a pitty/rottie girl is fat as a butterball. She made her low happy growl-purr. Shelley barked at me and hung back for just 30 short minutes. All she needed was some prompting that I was the treat dispenser. "Oh, I remember who you are now!"

It's lovely up here. I was in the living room when a doe and her two spotted fawn came through the front yard. Deer are like the ballerinas of the fauna world...their movement languid, graceful and staccato at times of danger.

I now have three shadows.

I stopped in Lynchburg on my way in. I stopped at the Givens Bookstore. I walked out with an armful of used books. My plan was to go to the bookstore and then see if there was a Thai restaurant around. As it turns out, I came across the Blue Orchid on my way to the bookstore. Providential!!! I had a lovely red curry and was fortified for my book buying jaunt.

I will be here several days. I managed to leave my home without my camera. My life has been too filled with work. I will not even get a respite now as I have some deliverables to take care of. I've been saying "thirty more days" for several months now.

I'm clicking my red heels together. "Thirty more days."

Copperheads

About 9 p.m., and I had let the dogs out for their evening constitution. Mark was just coming out of the garage side door, and Dexter was making his way over. I shut the door and went about my business. Moments later, Mark rushed in the front door, and his voice was strained, "Keep Dexter inside, there is a copperhead out here by the garage door."

He then dispatched the copperhead to the Netherworld. It was unsettling. Mark said that as Dexter came over he stopped and looked at something on the ground that caught his interest. (It was dark and just the outside lights on). Mark immediately saw the danger, grabbed Dexter, and brought him in. What was unsettling is that it could have just as easily been a snake bite to one or both of them.

Just two weeks ago, a copperhead lunged at Mark as he rode his motorcycle. Just down the hill he could see the snake on the side, and as he passed on his bike the snake struck out. No harm done, but....

Our neighbor informed us of a recent biting of several dogs in a pen in our county. All will be fine, but it is a nasty thing to deal with.

Vigilance.

Inducing Your Dog to Vomit

My bedtime routine was interrupted last evening by having to search for how to induce vomiting in dogs. While I knew that hydrogen peroxide was key, and needed a primer on how much. My search was launched when Dexter jumped out of the bed and grabbed something that was crinkly and ran downstairs. He had that quick trot that always alerts me that he has something that he considers a prize. I lay in bed for a few moments. I was ready to sleep, not chase him down.

But I heard the noise again and went down the steps. He had a package of unidentified gum (in blister package). I believe that it was Orbit, and it looked like it had gone through the wash. Likely it fell undetected beside the bed during laundry. There were two loose pieces on the sofa and a hint of minty freshness on Dexter's breath. I have no idea how many were in the blister package, but there were at least nine slots. As it was a wash damaged packaged, I don't know what had fallen into the wash. I found these before from my son's pants that were not emptied.

Xylitol is highly toxic to dogs. It is a natural sweetener than when metabolized by dogs in a toxic dose can result in life threatening hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), liver necrosis/failure. With the health stakes so high, I was not going to risk making an assumption about what he may or may not have ingested.

I located a syringe, hydrogen peroxide and squirted it in his mouth. I took him outside to move around, and then brought him in. He vomited fully in several places to include the arm of the sofa. It was a welcome sight, and the armcover could be rinsed. I did not see any signs of gum in his vomit, but given that he had a full stomach, there was alot of volume. He came to bed and all was well.

Now is a good time to check your medical supplies. If you live in a skunky place, two 32 oz containers of hydrogen peroxide are useful. It's great as a mouth rinse, laundry aid (HP + Dawn), and of course inducing vomiting. Having some activated charcoal powder on hand is great too. I'm 35 minutes away from an emergency vet. So being prepared is both life saving and money saving.

Summer

My blog posts are a rarity. My life is now resuming some normalcy. I feel that I can breathe now v. gasping for air. If there is no time to breathe there is certainly no time to write.

Angel was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor on her leg. Given her age and the location, we will not treat it. It cannot be operated on with any hope of reasonable clearances, and amputating her back leg is not an option. Thankfully we have compassionate means of transitioning for dogs. We will ensure that she is well cared for. I have to give her 3 Benadryl a.m. and p.m. to control the histamines that such tumors give off. She seems no worse for the wear.

Our weather is hot and humid. Summer in Virginia.

Husbando riding motorcycle out of driveway onto our road. Quarter mile down the road a copperhead uncoils and strikes as he passes. No harm done, but being on foot would have been a problem. We have a large black snake slip, sliding about. I hope that he is a totem that keeps us safe from encroaching copperheads. I've seen too many about over the years.

Dexter has become the dog that we hoped he would be. He's Mark's constant companion. He loves all of his sissies, and he and Ella have been digging for moles with great energy and success. We are harvesting potatoes, and as I dig, I see the mole tunnels and the ridges in the potatoes that I'm digging up.

I'm desperate for a week off. I'm settling for weekends for now. We were able to spend time with both Dad's over Father's Day. As they are in their 80's the limit on remaining holidays is high on my mind. It was nice to celebrate them.

Sunday Notes

It has been more than a month since I've written a thing. I've been out-of-my-mind busy, though that will be tapering off soon. Since mid-February I have been in a mad dash working with a new client. That typically brings its usual flurry of activity.

Dog Front: All dogs are doing well.

Angel has to be separated from Daisey to prevent any further altercations.
I am still feeding RAW==> 231 days now. I'm now in scoop, plop, drizzle and sprinkle mode. Scoop meat, scoop starch (or slice and plop for potatoes); plot it in their bowls; drizzle oil; sprinkle Health Powder (Dr. Pitcairn's receipt), sprinkle NuPro, sprinkle vitamins, bone meal powder if not using bone in grind. No more painstaking mixing. All are doing very well.
Dexter continues to mature and have better impulse control. We have had him 280 days now. The last two months have really seen a turnaround. He has brought alot of energy to our household.

Garden Front: Mark has been hot housing our seedlings until the weather has turned water. Our hot house is simply an old door on a wood frame with a light in it. But it allows the plants to stay warm and grow. All are in the ground now, to include potatoes.

Inch worms are dangling about--getting to the car without having one in one's hair or as body decoration is next to impossible.The wood thrush are singing, and they are my favorite herald of Spring. The redbuds have burst forth with their fuschia and purple blooms, now faded. The dogwood has similarly had it glory and now the leaves are taking over. The snowball bush is the next in line to blossom, the heads still tight and green-white.

The leaves is the woods are fluorescent green--almost an assault to the eyes. Their color will deepen and take on the hue of the species, but for now, all leaves seem indistinguishable from any other unless it is the red maple.

And pollen abounds.

Notes from my Life

The calendar says spring, but the thermometer says otherwise. Nevertheless, the birds are vocal and active, as are the owls and the frogs. Driving home last night the car's dashboard read 30 for the outside temp...but we could hear frogs. Nature will not be stopped.

I've been crazy busy with work, and that will not abate for another 45 days.

Angel is still in lockdown mode, which has kept her out of trouble, and Daisey out of her grip....except that last evening, Dexter had a tumble with Daisey. He wasn't being mean-spirited, just playful. She would have none of that and energies escalated. That escalation happened near Angel's lair, and she was quick to . There was a hop on pop moment, but I was able to grab leads and get everyone disengaged without any, including me, coming into harm. My body sprang mechanically into action, no yelling, nothing but grabbing leads and pulling mightily. Trailing leads on my troublemakers is key management tool.

It is necessary to keep the energy levels down among this group. Sigh....

I had to breakdown and buy a new computer. My current computer was purchased in 2009, and was decently outfitted with 8 gb of ram. But I have found myself running out of resources when using Excel too frequently, and the machine itself has some noises that are disconcerting--the latest of which was the hard drive clicking. Otherwise, I would have just upgraded the memory. I tried to upgrade the memory previously, but despite my best efforts to ensure compatibility, the machine froze. I didn't want to fool with it again.

I splurged and got a workstation over a desktop machine. I don't really use my computer for pleasure, but rather to power through work. The upgraded technology in terms of memory and speed is very helpful in my work. No crazy noises. No out of resource messages. I networked my computers, which does give me some flexibility. These were not things that I paid attention to before, and it was nice to figure a few things out.

The new computer is equipped with 16GB of memory, and a Quadro K4200 video graphics card. I probably do not need that, but I was in "why not?" mode. Perhaps I'll be a CAD designer!

Admittedly my stress level is through the roof and diet/exercise have been neglected. Not smart. But I've been doing a decent job on staying organized, and that has allowed me to stay focused and productive.

May Spring visit us soon...

Corned Beef

On a home archaeological dig, I unearthed an ancient clay artifiact: my Rommertopf Clay Pot. I've had it for more than 20 years, and I've not used it in 15. I dusted it off. Roasted a chicken. Perfect. My sister was coming into town, and we've done a good job keeping up with my cousins during her visits. My cousin, Val's, home is convenient for all. She cleaned, and I cooked.

What to cook? I woke up the next morning with the inspiration of cooking corned beef and cabbage. We were just a few days shy of that great holiday (which also happens to be the anniversary of our first blind date 36 years ago), so why not bring that dish forward? We tested the waters of our guests and all said fine. (Though my other cousin Diane later confessed that she had some misgivings remembering corned beef and cabbage of yonder days----cabbage mush and meat boiled beyond saving.

I've made corned beef and cabbage many times over the years, but I wanted to try it in my clay pot. I found this recipe over at Food.com I combined that recipe with Elise's (Simply Delicious) method of braising cabbage and found myself with one of my "Top 10" meals. Points to make:

boiling and draining the meat removes excess curing agents. You will not wake up parched in the middle of the night, and your dish will not suffer.
The clay pot perfectly cooks the meat
I removed the meat and 1/2 the liquid from the cooker and added quartered red potatoes (large), onions and halved carrots. The cooked beautifully.
I used the brown sugar, clove (ground, I didn't have whole), lemon zest, sherry vinegar (I didn't have sherry wine) and Grey Poupon mustard to coat top of roast and bake further. The harmony of the the spices and the zing of the zest and vinegar were outstanding.
Braise the cabbage separately to have flavorful, good on the tooth accompaniment with your meal...not mush.

The meat was fork tender, aromatic, moist and flavorful. I will NEVER cook my corned beef another way--to include using the sweet/tangy topping of which you can find several renditions all of with complement the meat.

March!

I've been away slogging through life on a topography that has been rugged and unforgiving. My mother in law passed. It was a merciful release. So much of what she suffered from could have been addressed by simply going to the doctor.

She made a choice to pray v. simply visiting the doctor. Sometimes people ask too much from God, when they simply can take care of their issues with a simple medical intervention. Her approach to her life would have been fine, except seldom do our approaches--our individual choices--involve only ourselves. Rather, the string of choices that we make wraps everyone up in our axle.

On the dog front, Angel Marie began hunting down, Daisey. First is was skirmish at the front door, then it became seek and destroy. My husband got caught in the middle. Angel bit him, though we are confident that he had his hand in an inopportune place. Though she did not intentionally bite him, she was ready to do harm to Daisey. I must add that this certitude came after several hours. The first reaction was, "Angel is going down." In fact, I had a vet appointment that day. My redirect was simply to have her euthanized v. her checkup. Simply put, we could not have a dog actively seeking to harm another dog in our household.

A dog bite sets off calls to the local authorities. It's a big deal. We ventured to Patient First who punted us to the emergency room. I hadn't even parked the car when I got a call from the animal control officer. I told him that we were going to put the dog down (this is before Mark reflected more on what happened). He said the dog had to be kept for 10 days.

A dog dies in 10 days from rabies, and the dog cannot transmit rabies unless it is symptomatic. Therefore, the quarantine ensures that if the dog is alive at the end of the time, it most assuredly does not have rabies.

Angel most assuredly was not symptomatic--she just had developed a distaste for Daisey that cannot be assuaged.

The bite was not a terrible wound--but deep and of course from a dog's mouth. They put in 4 stitches==loosely to ensure drainage. Antibiotics and soap and water.

I took Angel to the vet. We discussed several things, to include an animal behavioralist. Right now, Angel is on lock down. She has no freedom. She is tethered in the kitchen...her place of choice. You see, prior to having an OCD with Daisey, Angel simply ate, slept and went outside briefly. She punctuated her normal, sedate, old-dog routine with "I'm gonna kill Daisey" activities.

So far the management of the situation has worked well. Ella goes out with Angel--Ella, my little ambassador. Daisey goes out another door. And to her credit is paying more attention to me and my commands so that she does not get in Angel's space.

I have Euro style lead that allows you to configure the lead a multiple of ways. I actually thought it was a martingale harness, and I'm not sure where I picked it up in my dog rescue travels. (I didn't buy it). Nevertheless, I saw one advertised, and I realized I had such a gem. It is great for tying a dog off quickly in your home as it has a clasp at both ends, and rings through the leash body to clip onto. Zip the lead around a table leg and fasten to a sturdy metal ring. Fast, effective and strong.

I hope that March is more tame.....

The Treasures found in Books: Swami Vivekanda

I stumbled upon Swami Vivekananda in a used books store--a small red book with $3.50 inscribed in pencil on the inside cover page: Karma-Yoga and Bhakti-Yoga. (You can download pdf's by clicking on the link.) The book was in excellent condition, and there was not a mark in it. But the cover opened easily and the pages were not compacted together. So assume that it was read, but never marked. Not one dog-eared page.

http://www.siliconeer.com/past_issues/2013/august-2013/Aug13-Siliconeer-Cover-Story-Swami-Vivekananda-The-Patriotic-Saint.html

Swami Vivekanda from Siliconeer, click to see article

Like my first Santayana book, found in the used stacks of the Little Givens Book Store in Lynchburg, as soon as I opened this book and read a page, here, then there, I felt as if the words from the page sang a tune that immediately felt in harmony with my ear. Such is the thrill of finding passed-on books that no longer have a use for the owner or whose owner has passed.

"Swami." The word sounds exotic to our Western ear. Swami V was one of those wise souls that pass through and through his/her teachings lift us from confines of our desirous natures. These books came about from his lectures when he was visiting the US. He was a delegate to the World Parliament of Religions held in conjunction with the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

For the two months of December 1895 and January 1896, he delivered a series of lectures from his rented rooms in New York City at 228 W 39th St. He delivered a morning and evening class, free of charge. These lectures were recorded by a professional stenographer, Joseph Josiah Goodwin who later became a disciple of the Swami and form the basis of five books.

In the first book, Karma-Yoga, the ideals of work, duty, mercy, nonattachment, charity, selflessness, and sacrifice. These are universal ideas but they are nearly always reflected through a cultural lens. Swami V writes (italics mine)

Therefore the one point we ought to remember is that we should
always try to see the duty of others through their own eyes, and
never judge the customs of other peoples by our own standard. I
am not the standard of the universe. I have to accommodate
myself to the world, and not the world to me. So we see that
environments change the nature of our duties, and doing the duty
which is ours at any particular time is the best thing we can do in
this world. Let us do that duty which is ours by birth; and when
we have done that, let us do the duty which is ours by our position
in life and in society.

Swami Vivekananda, Karma-Yoga, p. 39

Swami V goes onto say: "There is, however, one great danger in human nature, viz. that man never examines himself."

Self-examination can be a painful thing. And I was reminded of one of my favorite books, Jose Ortega y Gasset's Meditations on Quixote:

"Man reaches his full capacity when he acquires complete consciousness of his circumstances. Through them he communicates with the universe". (p.41). . . .I am myself plus my circumstance, and if I do not save it, I cannot save myself." (p. 45)

And it is surely true, that if we are not conscious of our circumstances, we cannot possible communicate with the universe. As we are the equation of ourselves and our circumstances, if we cannot save our circumstances, then we cannot possible save ourselves. The great social, religious, economic reformers are those who transcend the pettiness of our human nature that strives for power, wealth, recognition, indulgence of our senses, and see the 'customs' that encroach on the freedoms and rights of others (slavery, voting rights, social/economic injustices) yet are accepted without examination for what they truly are by those who enjoy such right.

It is too easy in our country to forget that work of any nature if valuable. I remember a 60 Minutes episode, long ago, of a man who was a city rat catcher in New York. He went about his work with the single-minded knowing that when the subway tunnels were free of rats, then the homeless, who often sought refuge in the tunnels, would be safe from bites and disease. He had kind words, money and sometimes food for those that he found huddled in the tunnels.

He saw his job as a rat catcher, as a sacred duty. He lived modestly. He saved his money. He gave his daughters the gift of a loving home, and a college education. I will forever remember his humility, and the great lesson in listening to the story of this man who through his work, an occupation that would be viewed as 'beneath' that of many, helped so many.

We can find inspiration from many different people--no matter what their cultural background as it compares to ours. Ultimately, the litmus test is do the words that we read or hear resonate within us and incite us to want to be a better person. Swami V is one such person for me. The ratcatcher in New York subway another. Jesus, Buddha, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the person that feeds the feral cats at a client's workplace. We needn't look far to find inspiration. We needn't look far to find how easily our lens on the universe can be be corrupted. I will leave this post, now, with a final quote from Swami V

He who does the lower work is not therefore a lower man. No man is to be judged by the mere nature of his duties, but all should be judged by the manner and the spirit in which they perform them.

Swami Vivekananda, Karma-Yoga, p. 39

Such are the treasures found in books.

KANBAN Implementation update and other matters

Tick-tock: I'm 18 days into my KANBANFLOW implementation, and I cannot imagine life without it. It has been one of the most intuitive, fund, easy to use, powerful applications that I have ever used. It has been nothing short of transformational.

There are few software applications that you can get started with in 2 minutes or less. This application is one of them. It is so thoughtfully designed, and the interface is so easy, that surveying the terrain and making impactful (I know that this is not a word, but it should be) decisions about what to do now is not a drudgery. Rather it is fun. I remain true to the Pomodoro technique, and that combined with KANBAN flow has made me a veritable bulldozer.

I was once described as bulldozer by a partner at the accounting firm that I was working at. No matter what was given to me, I plowed through it. My tenacity has been one of my best qualities, and I genuinely like bringing order to chaos v. making the orderly more orderly.

DCS (a/k/a Dexter containment system). Mark completed fencing about 1.5 acres to ensure that we keep Dexter contained. My husband accomplishes much--and he feels a duty to Dexter having brought him into our home. It allows us to open the door to let him out for bathroom without having to be out there with him. As it turns out, he is so used to our being out there with him, he's not so eager to be outside by himself. We do not plan to have him outside unsupervised. I don't want him patrolling the fence guarding against would-be interlopers.

Coffee Pot Cleaning: I looked inside my stainless steel coffee carafe to my coffee maker. The opening is too narrow to allow for proper cleaning either by hand or dishwasher. My Krups ss carafe had a wider opening, and I could easily clean it (or put it in the dishwasher and know that it would get adequate coverage from the spray arms). It was not a pretty sight. I found the most effective way to clean such a thing courtesy of Kevin at Garden Web:

take a dishwasher tablet [or 1/2 cup of powder/liquid (not what you wash with but what your dishwasher uses) and place in coffee maker (or thermos)
pour boiling water in
Wait at least an hour. Mine was not completely clean in 15 minutes, and I had to redo it, which is why I say an hour which was originally recommended. My eagerness to view the results sooner cost me an additional tab.

The results were spectacular.

Karma-Yoga: I picked up my small tome of Karma-Yoga and Bhakti-Yoga that I picked up in a thrift store. Sometimes I see a melange of books undoubtedly deposited there by relatives of one who has passed. I see so many gems, this being one of them, that I wonder if family members ever pay attention to what their loved ones read. Swami Vivekananda is a favorite of mine. If you have an interest in his insights, you can find a pdf of his Karma-Yoga here. I will leave my post with this passage:

The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness, but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are great teachers, and that he learns as much from evil as from good.

Swami Vivekananda, Karma Yoga

Yes, my elbows turn out, but I can still strike like a rattlesnake

Here is Angel Marie. (I still marvel how her previous owners could name this dog Angel Marie). Our sleepy dog suddenly woke up--and did so with impunity. All I need is a sheriff's star, as she seems to think that she is the new sheriff in town. Her chest is wide enough for 100 sheriffs' stars.

My subliminal mind has been working hard on finding a reason for the front door aggression that we have been experiencing. I have an alternative theory to my originally posed one. (That benign body language given by Angel to Daisey regarding front door rights, and ignored by Daisey, was escalated to prove a point.)

My alternative theory is that Angel felt ambushed when my daughter brought her bouncy dog, Blaze,

Angel light and dark....

in without so much as a knock on the door. She sprang up from a dead sleep to quickly pounce on this interloper. I've never seen her do it--but we've never had a strange dog come into our home except for Dexter. The alacrity and swiftness of her pounce was beyond anything that I could have imagined much less forecast. I awoke with the memory of that day when Angel sprang into action and accosted the brazen boy who had barged in the door and the feeling that this was the seminal moment of this new behavior.

This protectiveness is new. Frankly, she used to just simply lay on her bed and not be bothered by any of the openings and closings of the front door and the parties engaged in such behavior. Not that I don't appreciate that she is enlivened, but it was darn easy to manage 4 dogs when three of them were benign (Angel, Ella, Angel) and one of them (Dexter!) off the charts. Now, I have a clutch of canines energized. Yes, I do long for quieter days.

Truthfully, I realize that 'theories be damned' is an appropriate judgment. Regardless of the validity of any of my theories, or if there is another righteous one that fits, Angel is determined that Daisey is a dog that needs some 'special handling', and she is quite intent in providing this service. Last evening Daisey barked at the cat. Angel went over at a clipped pace to intercede. She was trailing a lead so I interceded calmly. My goal is to keep energies calm.....no escalation, because deescalation comes at a dear price. (Last week, Daisey's nose). I'm instructing my other household members to squelch our reflexive heightened voices when responding to these things.

My Matthew Duffy books have been priceless to me. The mantra that I'm holding to is the following:

For dog training purposes, hostile canine behavior
is best viewed as an emotional fire. Viscerally reacting
to a dog’s aggressive conduct with an equally
emotional response, whether fearful or angry, is only
going to fuel a fire that is already burning out of
control. The most productive way for a handler to
respond to his dog’s inappropriate assertive behavior
is with calm and decisive action. Effectively
controlling the explosive situation without getting
caught up in the emotion is a tall order for new
handlers but that is what this book will help you
achieve. Keep in mind that calm and firm are not
mutually exclusive.

The Eight Faces of Dog Aggression, Matthew Duffy

I have managed to intercede in these situations calmly as opposed to our reflexive bad habits of yelling. It has made a huge difference in both my confidence, and in eliciting the response that I'm looking for: Angel to defer to me. Daisey to defer to me. Daisey as much as Angel needs to learn to listen, as she has contributed to these circumstances--both in the initial provocation and in the heat of the moment where she refuses to pay attention and stand down.

I --Duffy's 'team captain' analogy. We are certainly a team here, and our harmony has been sorely disrupted. It doesn't matter what the reasons are--I could rationalize any of them. Nevertheless, I am determined to be the captain, and I believe that they see me as the captain--mostly. Over the past 3 days, I have been consistent in my guidance about proper behavior from all team members. I haven't yelled. I've been calm in the center of any canine storms and squalls, and each of them have responded BETTER to that. Nevertheless, we have a long way to go, and I'm not fooling myself into believing that the problem is solved. There's too much intention in Angel's actions, as she is 'locking on' Daisey as a target. And I believe that there is a very real possibility of harm being inflicted if the situation is not controlled. So, I'm not leaving anything to chance, and I'm ensuring that I'm controlling the situation--particularly if I cannot be at home.

Mia in 2008

The only other time I have observed this "locking on" phenomena in canines was during a dog transport run. My charge was Mia and a host of other dogs. All of the other dogs were in crates except for Twilla. She was a sweet, intuitive and smart girl. You can read about my terrifying transport with Mia here--it was 7 years ago, and I will remember it to my grave. (Mia had scars on her face and front legs that led me to believe that she had been fought). She was going to a family of 5, and I surely hope that they were able to handle her and her dog aggression.

I highly recommend Duffy's books for any dealing with troubling canines--and who need to reflect on his/her handler reactions. I have both needs....I need as much training as my dogs--and I'm confident that I can out-resolve them.

Breathing

Breathing. For most healthy adults, breathing is a natural thing. So easy, so effortless it escapes our attention.

I was recently visiting my MIL in a convalescent care facility. She has severely compromised lung function. Rather than see a doctor, she prayed. Her recurring pneumonia and bronchitis, left untreated for decades (and it is truly a wonder that she did not die), damaged her lungs permanently. Breathing for her is an effort.

My daughter was with me. She is a special ed teacher. I was programming a phone. She was insistent that I give it to her because "I'm more technologically savvy than you are." I gave her a withering look and asked her, "Who had to hook up your printer? Can you take a computer apart and put it back together?" She retorted, I need to give you a breathing app to remind you to take a breath. Point well taken.

As it turns out, perhaps she is more tech savvy than I am, because there is a breathing app to remind you to breathe. And another to remind you to be mindful, and.....the list is endless. But for a special ed teacher who has out of control children at times, reminding them to focus on their breath and calm down their energy is a useful aid for them (teacher and student).

There are no end to the phone apps that will help us presumably be happier, healthier and smarter. But if we have to depend on an app to remind us to be mindful or to breathe or to breathe, we may just be missing the point. To the extent that the apps aid in the development of a habit, then that is worth much.

If you don't think about your breath much, I invite you to focus on this extraordinary process that gives live to every cell in your body. And by focusing on breath, you immediately become mindful. Kills two birds with one stone.

Want some breathing exercises? Here is a link to 6 Breathing Exercises to Relax in 10 Minutes or Less . Also, for some video instruction, you can go here to doyogawithme.com

And...you can get an app to remind you to breathe during the day! For me, I have been using my Pomodoro breaks to do breathing exercises and to hydrate. It has made such a huge difference in my energy, creativity and productivity during the day.

Tick Tock: 132 Days of Homemade Dog Food

My countup timer provides a nice reminder of important events. None has been more important than my switch to homemade dog food-now at 4.5 months. I am really seeing the difference in each of my dogs. Angel Marie has shown the most important difference in her allergy management (no more bloody, swollen front paws), coat condition and energy level.

Learnings have been important:

Finding trusted information sources. (Drs. Pitcairn and Strombeck are my two most trusted sources), with Steve Brown, Monica Segal and Mary Strauss as valued resources.
Separating fact from myth/opinion with respect to

raw v cooked
carbs/starches v none
variability in protein sources
carnivore v. omnivore (no vegetables v. vegetables)

Steering clear of zealots with strong opinions and specious facts.

While I read widely, I quickly realized that I was ill equipped to separate fact from myth/opinion. Once I discovered Dr. Strombeck and Pitcairn, I felt that I had a trusted source for understanding dog nutritional needs. Only until I immersed myself and came up for air, did I feel more confident in my choices.

I'm squarely in my groove, and my dogs moved to a level of what I all optimal health. My mantra in starting out was to do no harm, and I did not. I wished I had found Strombeck/Pitcairn earlier. I didn't find Strombeck until the end. His website continues to be what I consider the most authoritative source on dog/cat nutrition available to lay people.

For our household, and my current understanding and willingness to adjust if my dogs' health was compromised, I settled on the following:

Raw v. cooked: I feed raw meat; and I have a grinder for poultry bones. I adjust bone meal in my recipes for whether or not my meat is bone in. I do not feed my dogs who parts of chicken, except I will cut up a chicken back or feed them the neck whole. I understand the benefits of chewing, but I'd rather depend on my grinder to get the bones in manageable pieces. Beware of zealots.
Carbs: My dogs do well on starches. I did not add them until recently as I had a 'grain-free' dog, Angel the Am Bulldog. Introducing carbs was probably one of the BEST things that I did. Not only did it help with the food bill, my dogs genuinely enjoy their food more. No problems with digestibility. Even Angel, who was 'grain free' has had no problems. Beware of zealots.
Variability of proteins: I vary among turkey, chicken and beef. I'm not going to source and feed designer proteins. I would add pork to the mix in the future. I truly believe the admonishments to feed your dog so many different protein sources is bunk and it disabuses many of the notion that they would be able to feed their dogs easily. Further, why go through more trouble and expense to feed your dog than you would to feed your family? Beware of zealots.
Carnivore v. omnivore: Why this is so hotly debated by any is a mystery to me. I believe it is a city-folk diatribe. Country folk who have a garden will tell you that dogs are omnivores. I provide, and my dogs enjoy vegetables (ground up or steamed for digestion and absorption, or whole for chewing fun) in their food. Beware if zealots.

The theme of beware of zealots is an important one. Also steer clear of 'cooks' who want to offer dog food recipes (Gourmet Sleuth and Allrecipes.com are two such places) that are not based on the science of feeding dogs. Gourmet Sleuth had a recipe which included scallions, a no-no in the dog's diet, and Allrecipes had a contribution that had NO calcium.

For those wanting to start, I would recommend this as a starter recipe from Dr. Strombeck. It is a mainstay at my house. To get started, get some potassium chloride and KAL Bone Meal and use the grocery store to source the rest. Based on your dog's and your preferences, you can leave the meat raw or cook it. Strombeck cooks it. You can omit the sardines if using the recipe for periodic feeding.

Poultry Meat and Boiled Rice Diet
1/3 pound (weight before cooking) poultry meat (152 grams)
2 cups rice, long-grain, cooked (320 grams)
2 tablespoon sardines, canned, tomato sauce (38 grams)
1 tablespoons vegetable (canola) oil (14 grams)
1/4 teaspoon salt substitute-potassium chloride
1/10 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon bone meal powder (3 grams)
1 multiple vitamin-mineral tablet

provides 879 kcalories, 43.1 g protein, 37.3 g fat
supports caloric needs of 29 to 30 pound dog
Omission of sardines reduces caloric content by 68 kcalories, protein by 6.2 g and fat by 4.6 g.

Dog Aggression

I picked up Matthew Duffy's, Dog Training and the Eight Faces of Dog Aggression (Kindle Edition) as we were experiencing mild skirmishes at the front door, which suddenly escalated to violent. I've been reflecting upon the escalation of these unwelcomed energies between Angel and Daisey. The notion that I've settled on is similar to what one finds in dog training....the same behavior exhibited by Daisey and benignly checked by Angel has not curbed. Rather than deferring to Angel, Daisey continues to rush the door. Given that Angels' previously benign admonitions to not charge the door went unheeded by Daisey, Angel amped up the consequence.

It is the only scenario that makes sense. But truthfully, I should have stepped in consistently when it was benign, but I didn't pay it any mind. I'm reaping the consequence of my apathy. Duffy states, and I do believe it,

Enforcing parameters with a new canine student requires energy, concentration, consistency, and commitment. Deficiency in any of these areas will surely lead to deterioration of a handler’s control. Supervision of behavior, supplying timely genuine
praise, and administering meaningful deterrents can be a substantial drain on a person.

He goes on to say that if you cannot do the above, to put the dog away so that the behavior cannot manifest and go uncorrected.

It is important counsel. My daughter is a special education teacher. She has to be consistent and clear with her charges every moment. She would probably make a great dog trainer, too. When I think of that analogy....of the type of structure that we have to provide our children to ensure that they are safe and grow up with a clear understanding of proper manners/actions, then it is easy to understand that a dog, like a child, will take every inch given to them. There really is no such thing as a successful casual parent, any more than it is for a successful casual handler (dog owner).

I admit, that I've been casual, and that lax has shown its fruit. Never too late. My goal is to practice mindfulness in setting up my interactions with my dogs, curb negative emotions--remind others in my household to do same, and eliminate ambiguity. I wished I had this training earlier in my adult life.

If you are wrangling with dog aggression issues, Duffy's book is a great resource. This is not clicker training nor 100% positive training (indeed who raises a child in an environment where there is only 100% positive training?) Rather it is explicit, actions have consequences training. Good actions have good consequences. Bad actions have bad consequences. (And no, I'm not talking about whipping either child nor dog).

I think that his book does a marvelous job in reminding us to keep negative emotions out of it. And to keep the overall relationship positive. Daisey is a product of bad training (not at my hand). But I have not really given her any training. Angel has been sleeping most of the time, but now that she has woken up after 8 months and is in the thick of things....she'll get some training.

I'll post on my progress.

06.25.2015 Update: I have been managing the dog's spaces. Angel is always tethered in the house. She is outside independent of Daisey. In taking Angel to the vet, I note that she displays what I call 'attentiveness aggression' toward other female dogs, not male dogs. Daisey is doing marvelously heeding my commands for her to come inside or 'stay' (stay where she is and not charge the door to get through it). It works for us. Re-homing Angel and pushing the problem down the road was not an option.

Notes from Leisa Land

Sample Text

Tennis Elbow

Douglas Van Howd Print

Sofa

Monetizing Thanksgiving

Kitchen Quick Thoughts: Handy Things in Your Kitchen

Tick Tock!

Dolma

Milk Fat Product Matrix Spreadsheet

Kitchen Tool Upgrades and Additions

The Ubiquity of Learning Opportunities

Knife Therapy and Lipstick on a Pig

Copperhead Encounters

Debate

Political Silly Season

Wireless Kaput

Homemade Dog Food

195 Things I could care less about

Dog Sitting

Copperheads

Inducing Your Dog to Vomit

Summer

Sunday Notes

Notes from my Life

Corned Beef

March!

The Treasures found in Books: Swami Vivekanda

KANBAN Implementation update and other matters

Angel Marie: Canine Instigator

Breathing

Tick Tock: 132 Days of Homemade Dog Food

Dog Aggression

Pages

About This Blog

My Profile

Popular Posts

Recent Posts

Categories

Blog Archive

Sample Text

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

document.write(ssyby);

Pages

About This Blog

My Profile

Popular Posts

Recent Posts

Categories

Blog Archive