Julie

March 9, 2008

A Dog’s Purpose

A Dog's Purpose A Dog's Purpose, (from a 6-year-old)

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.' Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.' Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like: * When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. * Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. * Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy. * Take naps. * Stretch before rising. * Run, romp, and play daily. * Thrive on attention and let people touch you. * Avoid biting when a simple growl will do. * On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass. * On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree. * When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body. * Delight in the simple joy of a long walk. * Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough. * Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you're not. * If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it. * When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently. Smile... It increases your Face Value!




March 9, 2008

It is Clearly Time to Calm Down


Time Out of Mind

 
IN 1784, Benjamin Franklin composed a satire, “Essay on Daylight Saving,” proposing a law that would oblige Parisians to get up an hour earlier in summer. By putting the daylight to better use, he reasoned, they’d save a good deal of money — 96 million livres tournois — that might otherwise go to buying candles. Now this switch to daylight saving time (which occurs early Sunday in the United States) is an annual ritual in Western countries.

Even more influential has been something else Franklin said about time in the same year: time is money. He meant this only as a gentle reminder not to “sit idle” for half the day. He might be dismayed if he could see how literally, and self-destructively, we take his metaphor today. Our society is obsessed as never before with making every single minute count. People even apply the language of banking: We speak of “having” and “saving” and “investing” and “wasting” it.

Click here for the entire editorial
March 9, 2008

20 Worst Foods in America

The Top 20
Worst Foods in Fast-Food Chicken Meal - Chicken Selects Premium Breast 
Strips from
McDonald's (5 pieces) with cream ranch sauce. 830 
Calories, 55 grams fat
(4.5 trans fat), 48 carbs. Add a large fries 
and regular soda and this
seemingly innocuous chicken meal tops out 
at 1,710
calories.

19: 
Worst drink - Jamba Juice
Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie
 (30
fl 
oz). 900 calories, 10 g fat, 183 carbs, 166 g sugar... Jamba
Juice 
calls it a smoothie, MSNBC calls it a milk shake. The
beverage 
contains as much sugar as 8 pints of Ben & Jerry's butter pecan
ice cream.

18: Worst supermarket meal - Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken
Pot Pie
(whole pie). 1,020 calories, 64 g fat, 86 g carbs. Label may say
this 
pie serves two, but, who ever divided a small pot pie in half?
Once 
you crack the crust, there will be no stopping.

17: Worst
'healthy' burger - Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger. 1,145 
calories, 71 g
fat, 56 g carbs.

16: Worst Mexican entree - Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chicken Burrito.
1,179 calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs, 2,656 mg
sodium.

15: Worst kids' meal - Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n'
Cheese.
1,210 calories, 62 g fat, 3,450 mg sodium. It's like feeding your
kid 
1 1/2 boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese.

14: 
Worst sandwich - Quiznos
Classic Italian (large). 1,528 calories
,
92 g
fat, 4,604 mg sodium, 110 g carbs. A large homemade sandwich 
would more
likely provided about 500 calories.

13: Worst salad - On the Border
Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef.
1,450 calories, 102 g fat, 78 g carbs,
2,410 mg sodium. This isn't an 
anomaly: Five different On the Border salads
on the menu contain more 
than 1, 100 calories each.

12: Worst burger
- Carl's Jr. (Hardee's on East Coast) Double Six 
Dollar Burger. 1,520
calories! , 111g fat. Carl's Jr. brags it's home 
to this enormous sandwich,
but the restaurant chain also provides 
convenient nutrition info on its Web
site -- so ignorance is no 
excuse for eating it.

11: Worst steak -
Lonestar 20 oz T-bone. 1,540 calories, 124g fat. 
Add a baked potato and
Lonestar's Signature Lettuce Wedge, and this 
is a 2,700 calorie
blowout.

10: Worst breakfast - Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream
Stacked 
and Stuffed hotcakes. 1,540 calories, 77 g fat (9 g trans fat), 198

carbs, 109 g sugar. Five Egg McMuffins yield the same caloric cost
as 
this stack of sugar-stuffed flapjacks, which is truly a
heavy 
breakfast, weighing in at a hefty pound and a half.

9: Worst
dessert - Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla 
Ice Cream. 1,600
calories, 78 g fat, 215 g carbs. Would you eat a Big 
Mac for dessert? How
about three? That's the calorie equivalent of 
this decadent dish. Clearly,
Chili's customers get their money's worth.

8: Worst Chinese entree - P.
F. Chang's Pork Lo Mein. 1,820 calories,
127 g fat,! 95 g carbs. The fat
content in this dish alone provides 
more than 1,100 calories. And you'd have
to eat almost five servings 
of pasta to match the number of carbs it
contains. Now, do you really 
need five servings of pasta?

7: Worst
chicken entree - Chili's Honey Chipotle Crispers with 
Chipotle Sauce. 2,040
calories, 99 g fat, 240 g carbs. "Crispers" 
refers to an extra thick layer
of bread crumbs that soak up oil and 
adds unnecessary calories and carbs to
these glorified chicken strips.

6: Worst fish entree - On the Border Dos
XX Fish Tacos with Rice and 
Beans. 2,100 calories, 130 g fat, 169 g carbs,
4,700 mg sodium. 
Perhaps the most misleadingly named dish in
from Taco Bell will saddle you with fewer calories.

5: Worst pizza - Uno
Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza.
2,310 calories, 162 g fat, 123
g carbs, 4,470 mg sodium... Downing 
this "personal" pizza is equivalent to
eating 18 slices of Domino's 
Crunchy Thin Crust cheese pizza.

4:
Worst pasta - Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat 
Sauce. 2,430
calories, 128 g fat, 207 g carbs, 5,290 mg sodium. This 
meal satisfied your
calorie requirements for an entire day.

3: Worst nacho's - On the Border
Stacked Border Nachos. 2,740 
calories, 166 g fat, 191 g carbs, 5,280
sodium.

2: 
Worst starter - Chili's
Awesome Blossom. 2,710 calories
, 203

fat, 194 g carbs, 6,360 mg sodium.

1: 
The worst food in
Cheese Fries 

with Ranch Dressing. 2,900
calories
, 182 g fat,
240 g carbs. Even if 
you split these "starters" with three friends, you'll
have downed a 
dinner's worth of calories before you entree
arrives.

March 3, 2008

A timely quote


Carole sent me this quote and I found it applicable to a conversation Terri and I about some observations she had made at the Detroit Kennel Club show:



The tribal
wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that
when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to
dismount.


March 3, 2008

MAPBD



The Michigan Association for Purebred Dogs.  Does very important work fighting anti-dog legislation.  This is important for all people who love dogs not just those with purebred dogs. You can become a member as an individual. Please join and support with a donation!


March 3, 2008

Jaywalker






From Terri:

I was walking Jake this morning.  I did a sort of Jay walk at Shiawassee and Jenison.

Great, here comes a cop. Slams on his brakes. I'm thinking "oh boy, here comes a lecture or a 


ticket."

He says, "That's a handsome shepherd you've got there! I'm a K-9 handler so I have a special affinity for GSDs."


Made my day of course!

March 3, 2008

Unfortunately, back…


Hi!


Sorry I didn't get this done last night.  I think I

collapsed once we were finally home.


LA was great, as usual--and if anyone wants good

corned beef, I know where to send you.


Yesterday was fairly awful--not as totally awful as

the time they made us take Air France from Chicago to

Paris to London when we knew we had already missed the

London-Moscow connection, but depressing enough.  Had

to get up at 4, to get the shuttle at 4:45.  All the

other idiots taking the shuttle were late (guy had to

go into the hotel, call the room, eventually they came

down, etc.), so nervous traveller was getting

irritated.  Check-in was ok, we got on the plane, then

had a delay because of ground conditions in Denver.

Landed in Denver in a sleet storm.  Apparently the

luggage sat outside the whole time, since everything

in the checked bag was soaked when I got home.  Long

delay waiting for plane to go to d-ville, then an hour

line-up for de-icing, finally arrived in d-ville in

the middle of a sleet/rain mix, temps falling steadily

as I left the airport.  Went straight to the kennel to

pick up the monsters, and we all returned looking like

drowned rats.  But at least the streets had not yet

turned to ice.


Today we have sun, wind chill of 12, etc.  The boys

greeted the day by tipping over the water bucket in

the kitchen, so my floor is wet, they drowned the tote

bag of stuff I had ready to go to class tomorrow, etc.


But the real question to contemplate is future travel

with checked bags.  The regular carry-on was just the

usual aggravation.  But this time my bags were checked

every time, and TSA is going a little nutty.  They

were so determined to disconnect the battery in my

cheap alarm clock that they broke the clock in the

process.  It was not worth much, but when a person

needs an alarm clock . . . .  On the way back they

took the top off a little container of hand cream and

put the parts back in separately, so that created an

interesting little mess.


Are we on a list because of the Russian visas?  Or do

they do this to everybody?


Maybe we should all take the battery out before we

leave home?  But what did I have in the hand cream?

One of those Cold War micro-dots?  If so, I should

have had it on a contact lens.


OK, enough.  time to put all the towels from the

kitchen floor in the laundry, go to pick up the mail,

etc.


Have a better day than we are!


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