RIP Cheney

It is always good to have a boxer around, they will let you know that your problems are not that important, but petting them is. Especially that one spot, just under my right shoulder . . . . .

Life is simple for a goofball boxer. Here, let me put my paws up on your chest and explain it to you. Just pet me, give me a marro bone, and I will let you in on the secret. The secret is getting pet a lot, more marro bones helps.

Now, let me lick your face, your problems will seem much less important. I can either jump up and lick it, put my paws on your chest and lick it, wait for you to get a little closer then dart in and lick it, or, if you would be so kind, just bend down a little bit.

I clearly did not poop in your backyard, that was another boxer. I am not sure which one, but if you pet me and give me a marro bone, I will tell you which one. That was only one marro bone . . .

Be careful, there is a cat over there, I will take care of it for you if you would like me to. If not, I will continue to stare at it, so it knows it is being watched and should not try anything catlike.

If the squirrel would like to eat Sam's food, that is fine, because it is not a cat, possum or chihuahua, and, it is not my food.

What would Cheney do (WWCD)? Bounce, wag the happiness indicator, flash the brown eyes, try to lick your face and let you pet her. And accept a marro bone. Or three.

Today, I took Cheney (documented criminal, cloaked wonder, devil dog, terror of cats, possums and chihuahuas) to the vet for the very last time. She has had a history of stomach problems and has lost a lot of weight in the past month. She wasn't keeping any food down, could barely make it through a short walk, and was very wobbly getting around. Up to the end, her happiness indicator was tinking away.

When they did an ultra-sound on her, she had a 6-8 inch blockage in her intestine, probably caused by her earlier problems (blanketectomy and twisted stomach), that blockage was not allowing her to digest food properly. There was a surgery option, but when the vet explained it to me, it didn't seem like it was a guarantee, and she may not fully recover.

Cheney was not my dog to begin with. A friend of mine adopted her from a family that had 3 cats, 2 kids, a deploying dad, and not enough time for a hyper-sweet, high energy boxer. When we went to pick her up, she just boxer-bounced (all four legs, straight up to your face so she can lick it) around the yard, licked everyone's face and spread boxer-joy around.

She hung out with Sam and just stayed around. Always happy to see anyone that walked out the back door, happiness-indicator (her stub of a tail) in full approval mode. When my friend moved out of the house, Cheney was left behind. Because she had the backyard dug up just the way she wanted it, I let her stay to take care of the cat and possum problems in the neighborhood in Fayetteville. She and Sam kept the backyard free of cats, possums, and chihuahuas.

Boxers are very stubborn, I could never get her to sit fully, and she would not shake my hand for anything. The closest I could get was a fake Cheney sit, where she would almost sit, her boxer-butt would be centimeters off the ground, but never touching. This of course would be enough to earn her a treat, which was what was important.

She stuck with me for 9 years, made sure I remembered that whatever my problems are, they were not as important as petting her. If my problems were really bad, she would give a soulful stare with her brown eyes, and lick my face. She and Sam chased PTSD monster away, a lot.

I am very sad that she isn't here. I hope she can find Chip in doggy heaven and wait patiently (as patiently as a boxer can wait) for me to show up and pet her and lick my face. My heart hurts, and is a little broken.


Her death hurts me a lot. Chip wandered away and I didn't have to confront his death. I was just sad for a long time, because I was never really sure what happened to him. Cheney's death is up close and personal (boxers are like that), in every way, shape and form.

I shouldn't feel this way, there are many people on earth that don't get fed the food of their choice twice a day, have a house and a blanket, but this still sucks.

I know my fan club reads this, if you call me up or talk to me, please don't talk about this for a while.

Not feeling very Green Beret-like today.

Easing into Spring

Well, spring is here in DC, some nice weather, some rainy weather, some hot weather and the occasional cold spells.

First off: Happy Mother's Day Mom!! Thanks for touring DC with me, I enjoyed it.

A couple of pictures from our tour: MT Vernon's back porch, Lincoln's statue outside of his summer house (where the Emancipation Proclamation was written) and Woodrow Wilson's typewriter. Three president's houses visited, pretty cool:








What's been going on? Hmmm . . .

I am still riding to work 5 times a week, and still get kind of worn down by friday, but that is ok. Everytime I pass by a bunch of cars sitting on Rock Creek Parkway, I am happy inside because I am not in one of those cars. Everytime I see one of those miserable buses on Georgia AVE, I am very happy because I am not stuck in one of them.

I have made some modifications to my route - - I now take Kennedy street through Rock Creek Park, then hit Beach drive. There is a pretty sweet downhill (which means a wicked uphill on the way home), and the road goes right past some of the prettiest parts of Rock Creek. It also means that I have to ride with some traffic, but I will take that trade.

Part of my route takes me through the DC (Smithsonian) Zoo. There is an exhibit of Asian Bears close to the route, normally when I ride by in the morning they are just coming out of their cave for a stretch so I can check them out; I also check out a couple of families of mallard ducks that live in one of the slow parts of the creek as it cuts close to the zoo.

Around the Hood . . .

Last weekend was Brightwood Park cleanup day, I instigated it. Brightwood Park is the park that Sam, Cheney and I walk through most nights, and one of Sam's favorite spots to poop (of course I pick up after him; for the record, Cheney poops in the backyard exclusively). DC has an elected/volunteer official somewhere between regular citizen and city council person. I contacted our local rep and asked her about cleaning up the park and she contacted the mayor's office (who sent a rep) and out DC City Council person (the only one not under investigation for corruption; who also showed up) and about 10 of my neighbors showed up to spend a few hours picking up the debris left in the park. It was a good day, the park is a little cleaner, I think we will do it again in a couple of months.

Other things . . .

I am still not running, plantar fascitis is still working me over. It is getting better, I think about another month of not running will do the trick. I will report back in JUN. Biking too and from work takes care of my cardio workouts. If I am able to start running, I think it will only be a couple of times a week.

Husker update . . .

I am a little leery about the Huskers introduction into the Big 10. I read articles about how the Huskers will clean up, go un-defeated, etc. Then I flashback to the fold over the Huskers had in the second half of last season and remember how we did the dieing cockroach against the Huskies and balance it out. We'll see. I have confidence in the defense and hope the the offense doesn't rest solely on tender ankles of Taylor Martinez. So, I am optimistic, good bowl game, 9 or 10 wins and I will be happy.

Fantasy Football update . . .

I have no idea what the NFL will do this next year, and I don't really mind. I will play fantasy football and will watch a couple of games or so, but, you know, when spoiled athletes who get paid a ton start to complain to owners that are very rich (who claim they are losing money - - why keep owning a team if you are losing money???) when there are a whole lot of folks out of work, I really don't have much sympathy and lose some interest in the sport.

But, I will still try to smoke Wade in TFL.

Political Commentary (stop now if you don't want to read it) on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

I am happy that he is dead, he was the motivating factor behind some of the worst violence in the world. Not only the African embassy bombings and the 9-11 attacks, but some of the worst Sunni vs. Shia violence in recent times.

I also think that the war on terrorism isn't over. This is similar to the Cold War, a long slog against an entrenched enemy. The enemy isn't a military target that can be knocked off, it is a soft war of development and education.

There are too many motivating factors that will lead the rest of the world to continue to fall apart. When you look at a very young, poorly educated Muslim population that is growing up in a world where they are oppressed and don't have access to what the rest of the world has (education, work, quality of life, everything that they can see on the internet and can't have) you will have the roots of terrorism. If governments of the world don't pay attention to the needs of their population and continue to pay attention to their Swiss bank accounts and lining the pockets of their family/tribe/friends/political cronies there will be terrorist movements.

My hope is that the leading governments of the world don't declare victory and quit on the rest of the world. Good article:

The "Y" Article

OK, off the soap box.