OK, I’m still here, and if you are reading this it looks like you didn’t make it either. So let’s go back to the beginning (with convenient fig leaves)
Since it’s Monday, hope you had a good breakfast – if not, how about some flapjacks?
And if you can’t take that, why not let William Shatner say it
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Cosmopolitan
The Cosmopolitan casino is built between the Bellagio and the City Center. It is on a very narrow strip located above some condominiums (they bought the air rights in exchange for building a big parking garage). Because of this it is different than the other casinos - there is no broad expanse of casino floor, everything is long and narrow (well, narrow for Vegas anyway). If you go upstairs and walk back toward the buffet and convention rooms there are smaller hallways filled with art works. This one looks like some form of steampunk death ray.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Bahrain on the brain?
I don't want to downplay the problems there, and the plight of protesters versus the monarchy and how our fleet depends on their port so it's a political challenge for the US. But whenever I hear a news story from there they always talk about the capital of Manama it makes me think of this:
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sahara closes
Cold rainy weather all week here in Vegas, only supposed to hit 20c (68f) tomorrow, and rain! Colder than predicted for Portland. Oh well, next week should be back to where I like, in the low 30’s (85f or so) and more sunshine. A lot better than putting up with those white lawns people have in other places in the wintertime.
Yesterday the Sahara resort closed, after 58 years of serving the public. Lots of local press, from tv shows to news to several articles in our local papers including an RJ article. The Sahara is way up on the north end of the Strip, close to the Stratosphere. There are empty lots across the street and next to it where other casinos have been torn down and not rebuilt, along with the steel skeletons of other modernization projects. It was too far away by itself to walk to from the bigger resorts and a little too old to attract younger crowds. It relied on tie ins to Nascar but that was not enough to keep things going all year. Perhaps it will be rebuilt and redesigned some day, the property is too valuable to become just another empty lot, but with the economy as it is that will probably be quite a few years away.
Caesar’s Palace announced that Rod Stewart will be rotating with Elton John and Celene at the Coliseum over the next two years. So if you like those guys and don’t mind dropping $150 or so to see them, check the schedules and select the appropriate week for your Vegas trip.
Supposed to be Dogs on Tuesday, so here’s a shot of Buster (in the diapers we were trying out) dancing with E and B. Well, he wasn’t really dancing he was just passing by.
He came along on our last road trip, though he doesn’t see well enough to look out the windows like he used to I guess it’s OK as long as we are there. He did sleep most of the way.
Yesterday the Sahara resort closed, after 58 years of serving the public. Lots of local press, from tv shows to news to several articles in our local papers including an RJ article. The Sahara is way up on the north end of the Strip, close to the Stratosphere. There are empty lots across the street and next to it where other casinos have been torn down and not rebuilt, along with the steel skeletons of other modernization projects. It was too far away by itself to walk to from the bigger resorts and a little too old to attract younger crowds. It relied on tie ins to Nascar but that was not enough to keep things going all year. Perhaps it will be rebuilt and redesigned some day, the property is too valuable to become just another empty lot, but with the economy as it is that will probably be quite a few years away.
Caesar’s Palace announced that Rod Stewart will be rotating with Elton John and Celene at the Coliseum over the next two years. So if you like those guys and don’t mind dropping $150 or so to see them, check the schedules and select the appropriate week for your Vegas trip.
Supposed to be Dogs on Tuesday, so here’s a shot of Buster (in the diapers we were trying out) dancing with E and B. Well, he wasn’t really dancing he was just passing by.
He came along on our last road trip, though he doesn’t see well enough to look out the windows like he used to I guess it’s OK as long as we are there. He did sleep most of the way.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Friday!
Not much going on for me this weekend. Temps are up in the mid 90's (35c or so) and our garden is doing well.
The Palazzo is celebrating Spring
The Palazzo is celebrating Spring
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Random Spring notes
After a few cold windy days (highs only around 22c – 72f) we are warming up again, back into the 90’s later this week (35c+) where it should be. Most of our plants have finished blooming, and our first tomatoes are up to about an inch in diameter. We put in three tomato plants this year, two Hawaiian Tropic and one cherry, so we should start filling up on them in a month or so. A few peppers, and lots of sunflowers for B. The wisteria finished up blooming a few weeks ago
We visited the Springs Preserve for their annual plant sale a few weeks ago.
We picked up several flowering plants to put out in the yard, all low water requirement desert blooms. The trees we put in when we converted from grass to desert yard seven years ago are all getting fairly large now. We’ve had to replace some, but a few have really taken off. The larger shrubs, such as the sage, were up over six feet and had major trimming this winter. We periodically get smaller flowers to scatter around, and replace ones that aren’t doing well. That is a nice thing about having a desert landscape instead of grass; we can stick plants all over and not just have an unbroken field of green.
Around town, this is the last week for Santana at the Hard Rock. We went and saw his show several months ago, and were very impressed. Elton John has announced his return to the MGM, to fill in Celine Dion’s time off. Haven’t heard how often he will be there, but for the next few years it will probably be for two weeks every two or three months as he did before. Other names are being thrown around to also alternate, we’ll see who comes. I hear Celine’s new show is very good – and Elton is supposed to be something majestic as well.
We visited the Springs Preserve for their annual plant sale a few weeks ago.
We picked up several flowering plants to put out in the yard, all low water requirement desert blooms. The trees we put in when we converted from grass to desert yard seven years ago are all getting fairly large now. We’ve had to replace some, but a few have really taken off. The larger shrubs, such as the sage, were up over six feet and had major trimming this winter. We periodically get smaller flowers to scatter around, and replace ones that aren’t doing well. That is a nice thing about having a desert landscape instead of grass; we can stick plants all over and not just have an unbroken field of green.
Around town, this is the last week for Santana at the Hard Rock. We went and saw his show several months ago, and were very impressed. Elton John has announced his return to the MGM, to fill in Celine Dion’s time off. Haven’t heard how often he will be there, but for the next few years it will probably be for two weeks every two or three months as he did before. Other names are being thrown around to also alternate, we’ll see who comes. I hear Celine’s new show is very good – and Elton is supposed to be something majestic as well.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Buster in Suzy's shirt
A while back while reading somebody’s comments I clicked on one commenter and was presented with the blog of Suzy Soro. Since then I’ve been a regular visitor, appreciating her style of humor (yes Suz, I think you’re funny). I’v e never had the pleasure of seeing Suzy in person, but did catch her quick bit buying bobka on Seinfeld:
Suzy has some neat t-shirts for sale on her blog, and liking the basic black style I got one. Suz posts your photo wearing her shirt, and one month somebody sent in this one:
I figured Buster might like to appear, so we came up with this one
It doesn’t fit him very well, and he wasn’t pleased that I couldn’t capture his good side, but there he is.
Suzy has some neat t-shirts for sale on her blog, and liking the basic black style I got one. Suz posts your photo wearing her shirt, and one month somebody sent in this one:
I figured Buster might like to appear, so we came up with this one
It doesn’t fit him very well, and he wasn’t pleased that I couldn’t capture his good side, but there he is.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Hobbit
Peter Jackson is posting a blog about the filming of the Hobbit. Wow, such a lot of work into making this -
Friday, April 22, 2011
Winslow
Last week I made my yearly trip to Winslow, to play toy trains with my friends. The town looked even sorrier than last year - more businesses closed and fewer people. The current store owners talk about 'revitalization', and they just spent a lot of money on fixing up Rt. 66, but to me that's not enough of a draw to keep a town going. It was started for the railroad, but currently there is no reason for Winslow to exist.
Well, except for that old Eagles song, which plays continuously from the gift shop across the street from the famous 'corner' park
Well, except for that old Eagles song, which plays continuously from the gift shop across the street from the famous 'corner' park
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Bread
One of the blogs on my reading list is Chocolate & Zucchini (see that list over there on the right side? ->). She has interesting stories and recipes, I even bought two of her books on eating in Paris (I love Paris). Clotilde frequently talks about baking bread, and a few months ago I succumbed and sent off for some sourdough starter.
When you bake bread the main ingredients are flour and yeast. Many people just use packaged yeast, but one method is to use a starter. This is a yeast culture that you keep growing, and just take some of it and use that part as the basis for bread. Here on the west coast sourdough is very popular, and there are a number of places to get some dried sourdough starter. I searched around and ended up mailing off for some of Carl's Starter, which just required a self addressed stamped envelope (well, I put in $5 donation to help out).
What showed up was a small envelope with some dried flakes. I followed the directions and added this to flour and water, and ended up with a foamy jar of active starter. I feed it once a week, and on the weekends take some out and bake a few loaves of bread. It’s taken a while to figure this out, as I’ve never done bread before. I combined parts of Carlos’ low-knead hand-mixed recipe (on Carl’s site) and suggestions that Clotilde had in several posts, and now can make a fairly tasty loaf.
It usually starts out on Saturday night, when I take a cup or two of starter (I keep mine in the refrigerator in a closed jar, as I don’t bake that often) and add it to some more flour and water. Then on Sunday morning I add more flour, some salt and some Italian dried spices. I get my spices at the Spice House, they have some great stuff.
I knead it a few times following the directions and mainly just let it sit and grow. I found that warming up the oven and putting the pan in there to rise works great – our house was just too cold for the yeast, but with summer coming on it will be warming up (due for 30c – 86f today). The basic recipe ends up making two loaves. I followed Clotilde’s suggestion of baking it inside a cast iron pot. Our humidity is so low that the bread doesn’t develop a good crust, and doing it inside a covered pot keeps the moisture inside, and the loaf comes out great. A little olive oil keeps it from sticking to the pan.
The loaf is a little flat, but still tastes great. I usually bring it in to work to be consumed by others, we don’t eat that much bread at home, but it’s fun to make and is a nice treat.
Especially great warm from the oven with some butter. Mmm
When you bake bread the main ingredients are flour and yeast. Many people just use packaged yeast, but one method is to use a starter. This is a yeast culture that you keep growing, and just take some of it and use that part as the basis for bread. Here on the west coast sourdough is very popular, and there are a number of places to get some dried sourdough starter. I searched around and ended up mailing off for some of Carl's Starter, which just required a self addressed stamped envelope (well, I put in $5 donation to help out).
What showed up was a small envelope with some dried flakes. I followed the directions and added this to flour and water, and ended up with a foamy jar of active starter. I feed it once a week, and on the weekends take some out and bake a few loaves of bread. It’s taken a while to figure this out, as I’ve never done bread before. I combined parts of Carlos’ low-knead hand-mixed recipe (on Carl’s site) and suggestions that Clotilde had in several posts, and now can make a fairly tasty loaf.
It usually starts out on Saturday night, when I take a cup or two of starter (I keep mine in the refrigerator in a closed jar, as I don’t bake that often) and add it to some more flour and water. Then on Sunday morning I add more flour, some salt and some Italian dried spices. I get my spices at the Spice House, they have some great stuff.
I knead it a few times following the directions and mainly just let it sit and grow. I found that warming up the oven and putting the pan in there to rise works great – our house was just too cold for the yeast, but with summer coming on it will be warming up (due for 30c – 86f today). The basic recipe ends up making two loaves. I followed Clotilde’s suggestion of baking it inside a cast iron pot. Our humidity is so low that the bread doesn’t develop a good crust, and doing it inside a covered pot keeps the moisture inside, and the loaf comes out great. A little olive oil keeps it from sticking to the pan.
The loaf is a little flat, but still tastes great. I usually bring it in to work to be consumed by others, we don’t eat that much bread at home, but it’s fun to make and is a nice treat.
Especially great warm from the oven with some butter. Mmm
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday videos - guitars
Watching a video and thought of the guitar performances that I like. Here are a few:
Rodrigo y Gabrila – Diablo Rojo
Dick Dale & the Del Tones – Miserlou
Eric Clapton – Signe
Wide variety of styles, don’t think I like one over the other, which one I listen to depends on the mood.
What are your favorites?
Rodrigo y Gabrila – Diablo Rojo
Dick Dale & the Del Tones – Miserlou
Eric Clapton – Signe
Wide variety of styles, don’t think I like one over the other, which one I listen to depends on the mood.
What are your favorites?
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Random thoughts
Thoughts driving in this morning:
Most of our freeways have those ‘New Jersey barriers’ lining the sides and the center divider. I wonder why there are so many rubber tire marks on both sides, indicating a lot of cars have scraped up the barriers. Are people really that bad at driving?
The sun is just peaking over the eastern mountains directly in front of me when I come around the curve from 215 to the 95. The freeways don’t have lane divider lines painted on the pavement but instead have the plastic reflective ‘Botts dots’ markers. These shine white in the headlights, indicating where to drive, and produce rumbling sounds when you drive over them, indicating you are drifting out of your lane. The back side is red, indicating you are driving in the wrong direction. Can’t use them in cold country where snow plows would tear them off the road, but that’s not a problem here. Looking in my rear view mirror all of the dots are bright red spots shining brightly in the orange morning sun lighting up the path I came from.
Getting out of my car in the parking lot there is a strong yeasty warm odor. There is a big building just off the freeway where Wonder Bread and other snacks are baked, releasing into the morning air the aroma of fresh bread. It’s different than the clear desert air we usually have.
The palm trees around the office are filled with little birds, a few of them are chirping morning songs quite loudly, sounding even louder than the radio in my car that I just got out of. They are different than the mockingbird songs around my house, shorter and not as lilting, but still quite pleasant.
Last week was pleasantly warm, but this week a cold front is coming down from the north. Going from an April 1 high of 33c (92f) to a high of just 14c (58f) tomorrow, with strong winds outside the window right now and rain possible.
Most of our freeways have those ‘New Jersey barriers’ lining the sides and the center divider. I wonder why there are so many rubber tire marks on both sides, indicating a lot of cars have scraped up the barriers. Are people really that bad at driving?
The sun is just peaking over the eastern mountains directly in front of me when I come around the curve from 215 to the 95. The freeways don’t have lane divider lines painted on the pavement but instead have the plastic reflective ‘Botts dots’ markers. These shine white in the headlights, indicating where to drive, and produce rumbling sounds when you drive over them, indicating you are drifting out of your lane. The back side is red, indicating you are driving in the wrong direction. Can’t use them in cold country where snow plows would tear them off the road, but that’s not a problem here. Looking in my rear view mirror all of the dots are bright red spots shining brightly in the orange morning sun lighting up the path I came from.
Getting out of my car in the parking lot there is a strong yeasty warm odor. There is a big building just off the freeway where Wonder Bread and other snacks are baked, releasing into the morning air the aroma of fresh bread. It’s different than the clear desert air we usually have.
The palm trees around the office are filled with little birds, a few of them are chirping morning songs quite loudly, sounding even louder than the radio in my car that I just got out of. They are different than the mockingbird songs around my house, shorter and not as lilting, but still quite pleasant.
Last week was pleasantly warm, but this week a cold front is coming down from the north. Going from an April 1 high of 33c (92f) to a high of just 14c (58f) tomorrow, with strong winds outside the window right now and rain possible.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Gucci
While walking around City Center (yes, I have a lot of photos from there, it is an interesting place) you can see many of the buildings from the open spaces between the various towers. Across Las Vegas boulevard to the east are the Polo Towers, with the Gucci store at the Crystals shopping center in front
Thought the advertising sign on the back of this cab was interesting: Sluts R People Too!
Thought the advertising sign on the back of this cab was interesting: Sluts R People Too!
Friday, April 01, 2011
Aria buffet
A few weekends ago we were wandering around City Center and the new Cosmopolitan and got a little hungry. Most of the fancy restaurants aren’t open for lunch; we didn’t want a $18 sandwich, so we thought we’d try out the Aria buffet. We aren’t too big on buffets, don’t eat enough to make all of that feasting worthwhile, but since there were several with us we thought it would be worth a try, after all, City Center is a fancy place, the food should be good.
City Center and Aria from the fountain courtyard.
The Sunday Brunch was running, cost around $26 per person, with a few bucks extra if you wanted champagne. It looked OK, and was one of the few buffets that actually had windows. Most of the time the buffets are located in the middle of a casino, under hotel towers with slots on one or two sides. A place to stock up and get back to gambling. But this one looked OK.
We were initially seated in the middle, but then pushed for a place by the windows. We ended up next to the dessert line.
My favorite part of the meal.
Food surrounded the main area on three sides, with cold crab legs and oysters over on one side. The ladies immediately headed for that, while I tried the meats and salads.
Unfortunately it was the Sunday Brunch, which meant a combination of breakfast and lunch, so a lot of space was taken up by breakfast stuff, such as eggs and meats and eggs Benedict and sweet rolls and cereals. I tried some eggs and bacon, but mostly hit the carved roast beef and ham. Not many salads were out, but that left more room for dessert.
Overall I wasn’t too impressed. Perhaps because it was the breakfast combination, but the variety wasn’t that great, and what was out there was not very impressively good. I want to be wowed by the food, and I wasn’t. Have to get back to the Rio and see if it’s still as good as I remember. My suggestion: skip the Aria Buffet. We had tried the Bellagio one a while back, and that was small, expensive, and not very good either. So if you are in the middle of the Strip and want a lot of food, I hear the Paris buffet is pretty good.
But there were windows. It was cold, but the big hot tub was just outside our table. No tiny bikinis, just a bunch of younger guys getting drunk, so the ladies had something to look at.
City Center and Aria from the fountain courtyard.
The Sunday Brunch was running, cost around $26 per person, with a few bucks extra if you wanted champagne. It looked OK, and was one of the few buffets that actually had windows. Most of the time the buffets are located in the middle of a casino, under hotel towers with slots on one or two sides. A place to stock up and get back to gambling. But this one looked OK.
We were initially seated in the middle, but then pushed for a place by the windows. We ended up next to the dessert line.
My favorite part of the meal.
Food surrounded the main area on three sides, with cold crab legs and oysters over on one side. The ladies immediately headed for that, while I tried the meats and salads.
Unfortunately it was the Sunday Brunch, which meant a combination of breakfast and lunch, so a lot of space was taken up by breakfast stuff, such as eggs and meats and eggs Benedict and sweet rolls and cereals. I tried some eggs and bacon, but mostly hit the carved roast beef and ham. Not many salads were out, but that left more room for dessert.
Overall I wasn’t too impressed. Perhaps because it was the breakfast combination, but the variety wasn’t that great, and what was out there was not very impressively good. I want to be wowed by the food, and I wasn’t. Have to get back to the Rio and see if it’s still as good as I remember. My suggestion: skip the Aria Buffet. We had tried the Bellagio one a while back, and that was small, expensive, and not very good either. So if you are in the middle of the Strip and want a lot of food, I hear the Paris buffet is pretty good.
But there were windows. It was cold, but the big hot tub was just outside our table. No tiny bikinis, just a bunch of younger guys getting drunk, so the ladies had something to look at.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Warming up
Last week was a little cold, but it’s finally warming up again. Our normal high for this time of year is around 24c (76f) but last week it was significantly lower, by the weekend it’s supposed to be 28c (82f), with our normal full sunshine. We were out working in the garden this past weekend, getting in some more tomatoes and a dozen more sunflowers. B wants to fill one of the garden beds with dozens of sunflowers, she liked the way the few we had last year looked.
The Springs Preserve had their annual plant sale last Saturday and this year we were able to get up early enough to get there when some plants were left. They carry a few dozen pots each of hard to find desert plants, and even thought the total amount is probably around a thousand plants they still sell out by 10am (opening at 8). We snagged a half dozen gallon pots of some pretty yellow desert daisies and pestemons and some other pretty pink flowering thing. Those were laid out and will get into the ground this week.
The Springs Preserve is a large complex with a big desert botanical garden, playground, exhibits and other activities. If you come to Vegas a lot it’s worth stopping by. The outdoor gardens are free to walk around, and granddaughter E likes to climb on the big snake and play with the train, so we go periodically. Wolfgang Puck runs the café, where we grab a lunch salad and coffee.
Around town we are back in the ‘yellow’ season, where most of the plants in bloom have yellow blossoms. We have about a half dozen different things around our yard blooming right now. This one is a succulent, which only has one big bloom per year:
After the flowers dry up the plant carries the feathery seed pods for a while, until the wind takes them away.
The Springs Preserve had their annual plant sale last Saturday and this year we were able to get up early enough to get there when some plants were left. They carry a few dozen pots each of hard to find desert plants, and even thought the total amount is probably around a thousand plants they still sell out by 10am (opening at 8). We snagged a half dozen gallon pots of some pretty yellow desert daisies and pestemons and some other pretty pink flowering thing. Those were laid out and will get into the ground this week.
The Springs Preserve is a large complex with a big desert botanical garden, playground, exhibits and other activities. If you come to Vegas a lot it’s worth stopping by. The outdoor gardens are free to walk around, and granddaughter E likes to climb on the big snake and play with the train, so we go periodically. Wolfgang Puck runs the café, where we grab a lunch salad and coffee.
Around town we are back in the ‘yellow’ season, where most of the plants in bloom have yellow blossoms. We have about a half dozen different things around our yard blooming right now. This one is a succulent, which only has one big bloom per year:
After the flowers dry up the plant carries the feathery seed pods for a while, until the wind takes them away.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday video's - the 80s
Last week was warm, but we’re now back to winter here. It’s not getting down to freezing or close, but for us it’s cold. This morning when we got up it was 7c (45f) and highs around 13c (mid 50’s f). It rained last night, and showers are predicted for most of the week – but at the end we probably will end up with a weeklong total under 1cm (less than a half an inch). I remember a weather announcer a few weeks ago discussing the predicted “torrential downpour, with a half an inch of rain predicted”. Sorry, but the term torrential downpour indicates to me a lot of water falling from the sky, not a half inch total.
Celine Dion is back in Vegas, opening a new show at Caesar’s Palace back in the Colosseum Showroom constructed for her last run. Tickets range from $92 - $500 each, depending on what show and where in the 4,000 seat room that you sit. Her grand opening was last week, and reviews rated the show very highly. There are weeks when she is off, and other big names come in for a day, including Janet Jackson, Ricy Martin and Kylie Minogue. (wow, just looking at Kylie tickets, those run from $105 up to $772 each). If you’re coming to town you can see tickets here.
Form today’s videos we have some music from the 80’s. Can’t link to the Sting one I wanted, Dont stand so close to me with Sting dancing around, but here is the younger version with hair
How about the Talking Heads?
And of course we have to whip it
Celine Dion is back in Vegas, opening a new show at Caesar’s Palace back in the Colosseum Showroom constructed for her last run. Tickets range from $92 - $500 each, depending on what show and where in the 4,000 seat room that you sit. Her grand opening was last week, and reviews rated the show very highly. There are weeks when she is off, and other big names come in for a day, including Janet Jackson, Ricy Martin and Kylie Minogue. (wow, just looking at Kylie tickets, those run from $105 up to $772 each). If you’re coming to town you can see tickets here.
Form today’s videos we have some music from the 80’s. Can’t link to the Sting one I wanted, Dont stand so close to me with Sting dancing around, but here is the younger version with hair
How about the Talking Heads?
And of course we have to whip it
Friday, March 11, 2011
Showboat songs
Just reading through blogs, and Bill just had one on older singers. One of the references was to Helen Morgan singing Can’t Help Lovin Dat Man, one of my favorite songs from Showboat
The group dancing on the shore reminded me of a scene from Blazing Saddles
But back to Showboat, and the song I remember most, Paul Robeson
The group dancing on the shore reminded me of a scene from Blazing Saddles
But back to Showboat, and the song I remember most, Paul Robeson
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Dog on Wednesday - Buster's bed
Buster is the dog that wanders around our house now. We picked him up at the animal shelter in San Diego back in 1994. The vet we took him to said he looked about four years old, so this would make him 21, seventeen of which he has been with us. He is a Chihuahua mix, soft brown fur, and weighs about nine pounds. Over the years he has gotten a little grey in the face, but he still is fuzzy.
When we first got him he was friendly and a follower. He must have lived with an older woman, because as soon as he got to our house he jumped up on the couch and onto my mother’s lap, a place he really liked. Unfortunately for Buster we picked up another dog from the same shelter just the day before. Max was a toy terrier, less than a year old, and shared the pen at the shelter with Buster and another full Chihuahua. Because of the shelter’s policy on holding small dogs longer than big dogs, in case the owner came back wanting them again, it took over three weeks after we first saw the guys before we could take them home. We were on a waiting list for both of them, as at that time lots of people were looking for little dogs. We had lost Rose, our little dog, a year earlier, and wanted two similar dogs, figuring that they would keep each other company. I first saw the dogs and signed up for them, then took B down to see them. When she got in the pen and knelt down to talk to the guys Buster immediately jumped up on her knee, he was so anxious to get out of there.
Due to the way they came in we ended up taking Max home a day ahead of Buster. I guess that first day at our house alone convinced Max that he was the boss, so the next day when that guy he had been locked up with for three weeks showed up the went ballistic, barking and biting Buster to show him he wasn’t wanted there. Since then Max kept biting Buster on the butt whenever he felt like it, and poor Buster just took it.
Now Buster is the only one left. His hearing started getting poor, and about a year ago he started getting cataracts in his right eye. Fortunately he still could see OK out of the left, but then he got an infection in the left eye. Due to some incompetence by two vets he ended up having that eye taken out, leaving him with the one with cataracts. They have gotten progressively worse, and now he seems to just about make out the difference between light and dark. It’s obvious that he doesn’t see us, as we can walk by him and get no reaction. But when he’s looking for us he knows where we sit and we look down to see him standing by our leg just waiting for whatever it is he wants. He is deaf in the left ear and hears little out of the right; he does jump at loud noises so we know he hears something, but he doesn’t respond when we talk to him or call.
Max was the guard, barking at everything, and Buster would follow along in support, but now he says little. When begging Max used to do a little dance and whine, but Buster would sit up on his hind legs and wave his front paws at you quietly. He doesn’t do that anymore. He used to jump up on the couch and bed to get next to us, but he is moving slower and doesn’t jump any more either.
We got him a soft sided bed so he would have a place of his own to lie in. Most of the time he finds it
And sometimes he props his head on the side.
But sometimes he just misses it
And sometimes he can’t find it at all
He gets around the house fine, knowing his way from his bed to the water dish in the bathroom and out to the kitchen where we keep his food. He’s lost most of his teeth, we used to leave a feeder full of dry food for the guys and they would eat whenever they were hungry, but now we have to give him soft stuff. He has gotten really picky, sometimes refusing the canned stuff we found he liked. We also give him chicken or ham, and he rotates between refusing to eat different things and we then have to go through everything trying to find something he’ll take.
We have little doggie doors that the guys used to get outside by themselves, but a while back he ended up going out and wasn’t able to find his way back in. It was a hot day and he ended up wandering in the sunshine for we don’t know how long. So we closed up the doors to prevent that, and for a while he would wander over to the back door scratching to be let out, but now he just gets out of his bed, walks a few feet, and probably thinks it’s not worth the long walk and just goes wherever he wants to. Supposedly one dog year is equal to seven people years, so that would make him the equivalent of 140 years old, so I figure he deserves to do just about whatever he wants to at that age. I tell our daughter that at 120 I’ll be doing the same thing, and she better be prepared.
When we first got him he was friendly and a follower. He must have lived with an older woman, because as soon as he got to our house he jumped up on the couch and onto my mother’s lap, a place he really liked. Unfortunately for Buster we picked up another dog from the same shelter just the day before. Max was a toy terrier, less than a year old, and shared the pen at the shelter with Buster and another full Chihuahua. Because of the shelter’s policy on holding small dogs longer than big dogs, in case the owner came back wanting them again, it took over three weeks after we first saw the guys before we could take them home. We were on a waiting list for both of them, as at that time lots of people were looking for little dogs. We had lost Rose, our little dog, a year earlier, and wanted two similar dogs, figuring that they would keep each other company. I first saw the dogs and signed up for them, then took B down to see them. When she got in the pen and knelt down to talk to the guys Buster immediately jumped up on her knee, he was so anxious to get out of there.
Due to the way they came in we ended up taking Max home a day ahead of Buster. I guess that first day at our house alone convinced Max that he was the boss, so the next day when that guy he had been locked up with for three weeks showed up the went ballistic, barking and biting Buster to show him he wasn’t wanted there. Since then Max kept biting Buster on the butt whenever he felt like it, and poor Buster just took it.
Now Buster is the only one left. His hearing started getting poor, and about a year ago he started getting cataracts in his right eye. Fortunately he still could see OK out of the left, but then he got an infection in the left eye. Due to some incompetence by two vets he ended up having that eye taken out, leaving him with the one with cataracts. They have gotten progressively worse, and now he seems to just about make out the difference between light and dark. It’s obvious that he doesn’t see us, as we can walk by him and get no reaction. But when he’s looking for us he knows where we sit and we look down to see him standing by our leg just waiting for whatever it is he wants. He is deaf in the left ear and hears little out of the right; he does jump at loud noises so we know he hears something, but he doesn’t respond when we talk to him or call.
Max was the guard, barking at everything, and Buster would follow along in support, but now he says little. When begging Max used to do a little dance and whine, but Buster would sit up on his hind legs and wave his front paws at you quietly. He doesn’t do that anymore. He used to jump up on the couch and bed to get next to us, but he is moving slower and doesn’t jump any more either.
We got him a soft sided bed so he would have a place of his own to lie in. Most of the time he finds it
And sometimes he props his head on the side.
But sometimes he just misses it
And sometimes he can’t find it at all
He gets around the house fine, knowing his way from his bed to the water dish in the bathroom and out to the kitchen where we keep his food. He’s lost most of his teeth, we used to leave a feeder full of dry food for the guys and they would eat whenever they were hungry, but now we have to give him soft stuff. He has gotten really picky, sometimes refusing the canned stuff we found he liked. We also give him chicken or ham, and he rotates between refusing to eat different things and we then have to go through everything trying to find something he’ll take.
We have little doggie doors that the guys used to get outside by themselves, but a while back he ended up going out and wasn’t able to find his way back in. It was a hot day and he ended up wandering in the sunshine for we don’t know how long. So we closed up the doors to prevent that, and for a while he would wander over to the back door scratching to be let out, but now he just gets out of his bed, walks a few feet, and probably thinks it’s not worth the long walk and just goes wherever he wants to. Supposedly one dog year is equal to seven people years, so that would make him the equivalent of 140 years old, so I figure he deserves to do just about whatever he wants to at that age. I tell our daughter that at 120 I’ll be doing the same thing, and she better be prepared.
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