Trying Out Office 2007 Blog Thingy

This is probably going to be pretty uninteresting as I don't have much to say.

I am taking a computer class at school as a prerequisite for the radiology program I would like to get into (I am very excited it is almost time to start the registration procedure) and in said computer class, we are learning how to use 2007 version of Office®. Microsoft Word in the newer version, so far, is pretty cool. We have the 07' edition on our computers at work and I have used it to type up stuff I needed at work but I just fumbled through it and really had no idea what I was doing. Well now I have a better idea of how to use this program and have discovered a bunch of cool things.

Like this blogging feature. You are supposed to be able to type this in Word 07' (which I am doing now) and then when I am done it is supposed to just publish it to my blog. Some of you may be wondering why I think this is cool and so here it is, the sorry excuse for a word processor at BlogSpot SUCKS! So I usually end up typing my blog in Word anyway and then copying and pasting the whole thing to the blog…..as you know when you do this sometimes things get a little wonky and for me (who has so little time as it is) that is really frustrating. There have been multiple instances of weeping and gnashing of teeth. In fact you have probably missed several of my blogs for this reason. I just give up after spending a couple of hours on a blog to have the computer eat it up. Hopefully this helps…if you are reading this on BlogSpot…then it worked. This feature alone would make me want to buy Office 07'.

The computer class is going well, in spite of a few hitches. When the manufacturer packaged the books I spent over $200 on, they failed to include the "Case grader". One of those little codes you must have to do some of the assignments for class. Oh and while I am thinking about it, This whole textbook thing is a racket!!! I am not sure who is making the gazillions of dollars off of us poor unsuspecting students but when and if I find them I will sic my entire Pit Bull pack on them (they will die a slow death from slobber poisoning). But I digress. Anyway the case grader debacle has been trying to say the least. They finally got them into the bookstore today and the whole time my anal retentive brain is freaking out because there is an assignment due on Thursday and I still don't have my Case grader!…this normally wouldn't be such a big deal except that my first A&P exam is on Tuesday of next week and I should be devoting all of my time to studying A&P and not messing with this stupid computer class. On top of that you are supposed to get a 180 day trial of Office 07' with it, which I did but it is on a DVD ROM and not a CD ROM… My computer doesn't read DVD ROM's. So I was able to find a 60 day trial of it online…so that will last until November but I am not sure what to do after that. I am beginning to think it is time for a new computer…as my Computer instructor tells us relentlessly you can get a good one for under $300 these days.

Wow I sure did say a lot for not having much to say.

Hopefully this works….here goes PUBLISH!

Puppy Mills are Evil

I recently watched an episode of Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel that was about Puppy Mills. A rescue organization asked Cesar to come help them with a couple of dogs that they had rescued from a puppy mill that, of course, had some pretty serious behavior problems. One dog was a Pekinese that bit anyone who tried to touch her or the person that was holding her and the other was a Yorkshire terrier that obsessively licked the face and hands of whoever was holding her. Cesar was, of course, able to fix both of these dogs and they found great homes.


There were cameras on the people that went into the mill and the conditions that these dogs live in is deplorable. The adult breeders (that is all they are in the eyes of the people who run these places) live their entire lives in a small cage. They never come out, EVER. The practice is legal but there are some rules; such as the mills are only allowed to have 100 dogs at a time. 100 dogs! The dogs they breed have every conceivable congenital defect there is and yet they keep breeding them. I saw a yorkie that had such bad knees that she was unable to stand normally. I saw a couple of Shih-Tzu’s that had horrible entropian (the eyelashes go into the eye instead of away from it scratching the eye), it was so bad that the dogs had permanent ulcers on their corneas. Both of these dogs had litters of pups with them. Dogs from puppy mills are more likely to have hip dysplaysia (look it up), elbow dysplaysia, and dental disease among many other diseases that will be problematic for both the dog in terms of discomfort and the owner in terms of cost to fix and maintain these problems. Not to mention the dogs get no socialization and the puppies are taken away from their mothers and siblings at four to five weeks of age most of the time to be shipped off to pet stores to be sold. I cannot tell you how bad this is for dogs. They need to spend at least eight weeks with their mother and siblings if not ten weeks. This is the time when dogs learn social skills they need for the rest of their lives from their mother and siblings. This experience cannot be simulated by humans. No wonder the dog whisperer is so popular! He has to help all of these dogs that could have learned proper social skills from their own dog family.



I am really writing this blog to reach as many people as possible about the horrors of puppy mills. The dogs are basically tortured for as long as they can spit out litters of unhealthy puppies and then killed when they are no longer of any use. These puppies get sold to pet stores where people buy them by the thousands every year. As long as there are people to buy puppies at pet stores there will be puppy mills to make them. The pet stores are as much at fault. They sell supposedly healthy puppies to the unsuspecting public…wait, I hate to not put the public on the hook here. They should do some research before they buy any dog. It is best to adopt from a shelter or a breed rescue, these are people that dedicate their lives to rescuing a certain breed from shelters or they get dogs from people that can no longer keep their purebred dog and then match the dog to a better home. If you must buy a dog go to a reputable breeder (these are not online) and ask to see both of the parents. The dogs should be raised one litter at a time in someone’s home. The pups should be clean and happy. The parents should be free of defects and the breeder should have paper work certifying the health of both parents. The temperament of both parents should be impeccable as this is definitely passed from generation to generation. Before you get a dog do a little research. Find out what the energy level of that breed is and make sure if you get a high energy dog you are willing to exercise the dog everyday. Do not get a high energy dog and then take it to the shelter when it eats your couch out of frustration because you can’t or won’t exercise it properly! Do not get a breed that needs to go to a groomer every six weeks or needs it coat brushed every day if you are not prepared to spend the money on grooming or the time on brushing leaving the dog to be matted and filthy all of the time. They don’t like being dirty anymore than you do.



Finally I would really love to see puppy mills outlawed. This is cruelty to animals and should not be allowed to go on any longer. Most of you are probably saying “Don’t we have enough problems in this world?” This is true but these dogs are innocent that don’t want anything more than to be fed and near us. I think they deserve better. We have shaped them over thousands of years to suit our needs and I think it is time they get a break. I have been a Veterinary Technician for 15 years now and everyday I am at work I see an endless parade of dogs. It is pretty easy to tell which ones came form a puppy mill and which ones didn’t. It makes me sad everyday that this horrible disservice is being done to these wonderful creatures that we are supposed to take care of. I will leave you with a couple of pictures I found online of puppy mills. I warn you I spared you the worst of them but they are pretty sad. If you want to help just type Puppy Mill into your search engine and you will find countless sites that are trying to get this stopped as well as ways you can help. The best way is educating the public on what is really going on and where those cute little “puppies in the window” came from.



Lastly I want to drill this into your head; MILLIONS OF DOGS ARE EUTHANIZED EVERY YEAR!!! SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR DOG!!! YOU DO NOT NEED TO BREED THEM! YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THAT IS WHAT PBS IS FOR! IF THEY NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THEN THEY MUST ALSO NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF A PILE OF 140 DEAD DOGS. THIS IS HOW MANY DOGS ARE KILLED IN EVERY SHELTER IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

The Legalazation of Industrial Hemp

Today I watched a little video on MSNBC about industrial hemp and its current ban in the U.S. I am greatly disturbed by the apparent lack of common sense put forth by the U.S. government regarding its use. We import millions of pounds of the stuff from Canada and France every year but we continue to be the only country in the world that doesn’t grow it. It was made illegal in the 1950’s as the start of the “war on drugs”. Hemp contrary to popular belief is not cannabis (marijuana). It does contain a small amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, but you would have to smoke a telephone pole sized joint to get high and really all you would likely end up with is a whopper of a headache.
The fibers produced from hemp are very strong and the seeds are very high in omega three fatty acids. Hemp is used to make a lot of things including but certainly not limited to; gloves, clothes, soap, lotion and car parts. Here is an example; the American car we know as the Viper (coincidentally built by the company Chrysler…yeah that one that is bankrupt now) gets its door panels from an independent company. This company makes the door panels out of hemp. The company that makes the door panels has to buy the hemp needed for the doors from France and Canada. The CEO of the company says that doing this adds ten to fifteen percent to the cost of the car. Currently all of the money we spend every year on products made from hemp, Millions, goes to other countries that we have to buy the hemp from.
Hemp is cheaper to grow than cotton because it doesn’t need fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides; it basically grows like a weed. As the taxes on tobacco continue to rise in the U.S., hemp is a viable growing option for those farmers as well as the farmers that grow the cotton that makes our clothes. The footprint for growing hemp is much smaller than the footprint left by growing cotton.
There is a bill HR-1866 in congress right now which is co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul for the legalization of industrial hemp; however he is not optimistic it will pass because congress says that hemp is marijuana. So if they vote for hemp, they are voting for marijuana, which means they are voting for hard drugs so then they are pro drugs. Only in Washington could this convoluted thinking thrive.
Of course the legalization of drugs in America is a whole other story and one I believe to be a good decision for this country but that is a whole other blog. However, I will leave you with these thoughts on it. How many of you have tried an “illegal” drug? How hard was it for you to get? How many of you have known a drug addict in your life? How hard was it for them to get drugs? How affected were they by the belief that they were dirty or bad because of their addiction to “illegal” drugs? Do you honestly think there would be more drug addicts if drugs were legalized? How much money do you think the government spends on policing drugs? Try 19 billion dollars a year. I wonder how much more money this country could make legalizing and taxing drugs? How much more of that money would be better spent treating people with the debilitating DISEASE of drug addiction? Think about it.

The hemp plant.

Outside Observations after the rain.

I wanted to take a minute from my hectic life and write about the beauty of nature that some of us take for granted and some just don't notice.
I was sitting outside today with my dogs, taking a break from writing this really involved annoying paper for comp101, and took some time to really look and I mean really look. In both my art class and English classes I am currently taking we are learning about observation and really looking at things. I thought I was good at this before but now that I am practicing observation, it is amazing the things you see. Anyway I digress, but you should really try it.
I quickly became enthralled with how beautiful it was outside. It rained this morning for the first time in a long time. So the air smelled of wet earth (one of my favs) and moist air filled my lungs. I could feel the humidity attaching itself to my skin, it is a wonderful natural moisturizer.
I noticed that the bark on the trees was dark and wet and the leaves were so green against the dark wood and shiny because the rain had cleaned them off. The animals were out in droves busily finding food. Birds found bugs that the rain had stirred up. The squirrels as well as my canines were racing around the yard playing and enjoying the cooler weather. It somehow seems quieter after it has rained and occasionally I feel like the only person on earth, although not today.
The light here after it rains is magical. It is as if you are wearing glasses with a golden tint to them. This is truly magnificent and people who have never been to Texas or the ones who live here and don't notice it are really deprived of its stunning beauty.
Now you might be reading this and thinking that the next paragraph is going to be about thanking god ( and possibly getting uncomfortable depending on your take on god) for all of this beauty but I don't believe in organized religion, so I don't refer to the higher power as god. But I believe in it mainly because I look around me everyday and witness the diversity of life on this planet and the beauty that comes with that diversity and I just don't see how all of these incredible things just happened by accident.
So, there you have it, my "observations for the day" blog I hope you enjoyed reading it and moreover I hope the next time you are confronted with this kind of beauty you will take the time to notice it, breathe it in, feel it on your body and in your mind and most of all, be thankful for it.

This is a picture of the sky at sunset taken from the back porch of the hospital where I work after a storm had passed. The Texas sky after a storm at sunset is one of the best nature shows there is.