So the other day, I was at the vet's picking the dogs up (nothing serious, just the old bath and day-spa treatment) and had brought the kids with me. As we were waiting to checkout, I see a man pass by Kellie and try to hand her something. After he had left, she came over to me and handed it to me....it was about the size of a business card and it said:
"I am deaf...please give me what you can."
Kellie told me that she felt bad for the man....and it was about that moment that I was transported back in time.....it was 1978....and I was at the dreaded Fairview Heights Mall with my mother. I was browsing in a Walden's when I was approached by a man who handed me a card very similar to the one that would be handed to my daughter almost 30 years later. I didn't have anything, and when I got home I spoke to my Dad.
He had been raised by two parents who were both deaf...and I suppose I also felt some sense of guilt...some sense that I had an obligation to help out someone who was in a situation somehow (in my mind at least) similar to my grandparents. My Dad's reaction really surprised me.
"Do you want to know what your Grandmother would have done if she had been there?
She would have immediately started giving him what-for and told him to go out and get a job. Its people like that who cause the deaf and handicapped to get bad names.
Your grandmother would've told him that there was no reason he couldn't be working."
And as I stood there with Kellie, I retold the story. Of how indignant my grandmother would've been at the man--because she and my grandfather had raised five boys, despite both of them being deaf....and my grandfather had worked his entire life to make their lives better.
And to quote Yogi Berra.....it was deja vu all over again.
Later,
Jeff
Monday, February 19, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
2/17/07--Temporary crisis in the Bowdren house
So yesterday, I'm at work....just back from lunch around 1:15pm, and I get a phone call from Kim. Apparently, and no one seems to no how, the back gate to our yard was left open and our dog Jazz had gone missing.
Kellie had let Jazz & Midnight (ya know, the "good dog") out into the backyard for a little bit of the old lunchtime constitutional and had come back a few minutes later and discovered the gate was open....and both dogs were out.
Kellie then proceeds to run screaming through the house, yelling to her brother that the dogs were out and to come help her find them. They both run out front and discover that Midnight--remember, he's the good dog--was pretty much hanging around out front, greeting the occasional passerby and pretty much waiting for some of the neighborhood females to wander by. He came back into the house as soon as he was called. Kellie and Andy both then took off looking for Jazz--in the same direction.
Kellie then advised her brother that, ya know, things might get done a lot faster if we try looking in DIFFERENT directions. So Andy takes off the opposite way and the search is on. While this is going on, Kellie calls her Mom to tell her what happened.
Kim tells me that when she picked up the phone at work, she heard....
"Mom, the dogs got out and wwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....."
The rest of the call was pretty much Kellie crying hysterically. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure she was very upset and rightfully so. But Kim is standing there trying to grasp what in the hell is going on and only managed (barely) to understand that something had happened and the dogs were out. So Kim runs out of her job and tells them there is an emergency at home and she is leaving.
She calls me at work and tells me what she thinks has happened and I also make plans on the fly to leave work and help with the search for the now missing Jazz. (Apparently Beezer was inside sleeping on the couch the entire time--he only responds to TRUE emergencies) So now, I'm heading home, Kim is heading home...and the two kids are scouring the neighborhood looking for the missing dog.
The culprits....laying in the grass....waiting to cause consternation:
So as Kellie is walking around, a guy pulls up in a car and asks her if she is looking for a dog. She breathlessly tells her that is. He tells her that he saw a black dog earlier.
She says she is looking for a white dog. He says that he will be on the lookout and drives away.
Meanwhile, Andy is searching just north of our house and sees an employee of our animal hospital (which is less than a block away) who advises him that Jazz, our little runaway (little Bon Jovi quote for your morning coffee) is at the animal hospital.
Andy goes over there, sees the little piece of (cough, cough) and takes her home.
Kellie calls Kim, who calls me....and the crisis has been averted.
Apparently someone saw Jazz wondering around in one of the parking lots across from our house and figured that she might have been from the animal hospital and took her back over there. Jazz, like a lot of the young girls these days, has her own tattoo (I think it says "Lynrd Skynrd") and it shows the vet where she belongs. So all the dogs are back home and the meltdown has subsided. We went out to dinner last night and talked about it with the kids. Kellie was sure that she would be yelled out for being the one that had let the dogs out, but it wasn't her that left the gate open so there was really nothing that was anyone's fault. I told them that I was proud of the way that both of them had handled themselves during our family crisis. Kim mentioned that Andy, who is totally non-emotional about ANYTHING (having mainly to do with his Asperger's) was crying when he told her about Jazz being gone.
And then I asked Kellie a question that had been bothering me the whole rest of the day. I wondered if, in the midst of the situation, at the height of all the drama, when she was at her most emotionally distraught....what she would have done, in her uppermost concern for the missing dog......if the guy in the car had told her to get in and he would help her look for the dog.
Without missing a beat she shook her head and said no.
And I was glad. I was glad that she knew, as I told her right afterwards, that no matter how much I love the dogs, even Midnight.....that no dog is worth finding if it means something had happened to her.
Sometimes those kids are listening when you talk to them afterall.
Later,
Jeff
Kellie had let Jazz & Midnight (ya know, the "good dog") out into the backyard for a little bit of the old lunchtime constitutional and had come back a few minutes later and discovered the gate was open....and both dogs were out.
Kellie then proceeds to run screaming through the house, yelling to her brother that the dogs were out and to come help her find them. They both run out front and discover that Midnight--remember, he's the good dog--was pretty much hanging around out front, greeting the occasional passerby and pretty much waiting for some of the neighborhood females to wander by. He came back into the house as soon as he was called. Kellie and Andy both then took off looking for Jazz--in the same direction.
Kellie then advised her brother that, ya know, things might get done a lot faster if we try looking in DIFFERENT directions. So Andy takes off the opposite way and the search is on. While this is going on, Kellie calls her Mom to tell her what happened.
Kim tells me that when she picked up the phone at work, she heard....
"Mom, the dogs got out and wwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....."
The rest of the call was pretty much Kellie crying hysterically. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure she was very upset and rightfully so. But Kim is standing there trying to grasp what in the hell is going on and only managed (barely) to understand that something had happened and the dogs were out. So Kim runs out of her job and tells them there is an emergency at home and she is leaving.
She calls me at work and tells me what she thinks has happened and I also make plans on the fly to leave work and help with the search for the now missing Jazz. (Apparently Beezer was inside sleeping on the couch the entire time--he only responds to TRUE emergencies) So now, I'm heading home, Kim is heading home...and the two kids are scouring the neighborhood looking for the missing dog.
The culprits....laying in the grass....waiting to cause consternation:
So as Kellie is walking around, a guy pulls up in a car and asks her if she is looking for a dog. She breathlessly tells her that is. He tells her that he saw a black dog earlier.
She says she is looking for a white dog. He says that he will be on the lookout and drives away.
Meanwhile, Andy is searching just north of our house and sees an employee of our animal hospital (which is less than a block away) who advises him that Jazz, our little runaway (little Bon Jovi quote for your morning coffee) is at the animal hospital.
Andy goes over there, sees the little piece of (cough, cough) and takes her home.
Kellie calls Kim, who calls me....and the crisis has been averted.
Apparently someone saw Jazz wondering around in one of the parking lots across from our house and figured that she might have been from the animal hospital and took her back over there. Jazz, like a lot of the young girls these days, has her own tattoo (I think it says "Lynrd Skynrd") and it shows the vet where she belongs. So all the dogs are back home and the meltdown has subsided. We went out to dinner last night and talked about it with the kids. Kellie was sure that she would be yelled out for being the one that had let the dogs out, but it wasn't her that left the gate open so there was really nothing that was anyone's fault. I told them that I was proud of the way that both of them had handled themselves during our family crisis. Kim mentioned that Andy, who is totally non-emotional about ANYTHING (having mainly to do with his Asperger's) was crying when he told her about Jazz being gone.
And then I asked Kellie a question that had been bothering me the whole rest of the day. I wondered if, in the midst of the situation, at the height of all the drama, when she was at her most emotionally distraught....what she would have done, in her uppermost concern for the missing dog......if the guy in the car had told her to get in and he would help her look for the dog.
Without missing a beat she shook her head and said no.
And I was glad. I was glad that she knew, as I told her right afterwards, that no matter how much I love the dogs, even Midnight.....that no dog is worth finding if it means something had happened to her.
Sometimes those kids are listening when you talk to them afterall.
Later,
Jeff
Saturday, February 10, 2007
2/10/07---Getting to know my doctor just a little more than I wanted....
So I paid a visit to my doctor a couple of weeks ago, and he gave me a delightful bit o' news. It was time for me to, ya know, get 'er done. By " 'er", I mean of course, that most wonderful of procedures that most-to-all of us will get done in their mid to late 40's....the colonoscopy. Ah yes, I just tell as you read this....you're jealous.
So I made the decision (after originally trying to talk my way out of it) to go ahead and schedule the appointment to see a doctor who specializes in the old GI. I went there, and told the doctor why my primary had recommended I go see him (there are some things that I just won't share with you---deal with it). He asked me some fairly general questions and then...yep, it was time to...as they say in the business....
Drop trou.
You've heard the jokes.
"Hey doc...you don't happen to see any car keys back there, do ya?"
"Doc, you're about to go where no man has gone before..."
And you know what? They are all true. There's just no getting around it. But, on the other hand, he told me that based on my family's medical history, and....ya know, a preliminary search...it didn't seem like there was anything to worry about....but still, the original recommendation was not necessarily a bad one.
I had already emotionally prepared myself for the event--after some lovely private counseling sessions with others that have experienced it--and so a date was set for....
"the procedure".
Anyone who has been in my situation will tell you that the worst part of it is the day before. That's when you are given this vile concoction that at best tastes like a bad Alka Seltzer and at worst tastes like....you don't wanna know.
12pm--the day before. I had a pretty light breakfast, ya know, some toast...that sorta thing and began to take the prescribed 4 pills. One every 15 minutes. After that, I slurped down a bowl of chicken broth (it actually says on the box--"to help things along"--OH MY!!). About an hour later....time for the really rough part. Time to drink the mixture. And ya know....its not completely horrible....just mostly. The real problem is that you have to drink 8 oz ever 10 minutes. And its a whole pitcher full. Which means that you are drinking 48 to 64 oz of this over the course of an hour...now that is disgusting. To quotea co-worker:
I swelled up like a tick.
Which is probably why I threw up about 45 minutes into it. But I digress.
Eventually you find yourself clean-as-the-proverbial-whistle. (You really didn't expect me to go into even MORE detail, did you?) But it is one nasty feeling. The wife took the kids out to dinner that night (Outback--DOH!) so I wouldn't be tempted. Yeah right. Depriving me of my God-given right to cheese fries! Ahem.
Surprisingly, I didn't feel as empty as I obviously was. After midnight, the order is that you cannot drink or eat anything....I was actually pretty lucky that my procedure was scheduled for early in the morning so I could get it out of the way. Kim and I got to the hospital and did the check-in and we were quickly processed up to the out patient area.
My nurse was Diana, who was very pleasant and who had been doing her job for just over 25 years--at least I was in the hands of a veteran. The clothes came off and the lovely and oh-so-discreet hospital gown came on. Diana went over the procedure with me and answered my questions ("When can I eat?") with lots of patience. She assured me that what I had gone through the day before (the "concoction") was far worse than anything that would happen that day. After a short wait, I was wheeled towards the operating room where the procedure would take place--at this point, the wife pretty much deserted me (hey, I gotta tell it like it is)....but she had too. It was just me, the doctor and....my friend to "the rear".
I get into the room and go over some items with the anesthesiologist as he begins the IV.
I complain about the crappy music playing on the hospital's radio.
"Got any suggestions?" I'm asked.
"Yeah...how about some U2, Springsteen or maybe some Bob Seger?"
"Ya know, one of our nurses is a big Bob Seger fan."
"Oh yeah? Well you tell her that I said...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
Yep, it takes about that long for you to be out like a light.
The next thing I knew I was being wheeled into my recovery room where my wife was sitting. All I remember was yelling....
"WHERE'S THE FREAKIN BOB SEGER MUSIC I ASKED FOR????"
Kim said I talked about some other things regarding....well, let's just say that's a story best told....at another time....suffice to say, if I had been coherent, I'd have been embarrassed. So there I am, laying on my side (yep) and half in the bag from the IV and I hear the doctor say two very wonderful things.
1) Everything is A-okay....no problems.
2) Because of your anesthesia.....I don't want you to work tomorrow.
Looks like no work tomorrow!!
Later,
Jeff
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
2/6/07---Me & my friends at Best Buy
I thought I'd tell you about what happened last weekend with my good friends at Best Buy. The following story, while amazing and seemingly unbelieveable, is actually what happened.
Sometime early last week, I noticed that I was having trouble acessing my laptop and going online. My wife looked at it, and ended up calling our internet provider (Bellsouth) to see if the problem was coming from their end. They assured us that, not only were they not the problem, but that our modem was outdated and that they would be sending us a new one. We continued to work at the problem, and I even managed to go online for about 5 minutes before I got dumped. We decided at this point that we really couldn't figure out what the heck was happening and that maybe we would be better off calling in someone who knew what the heck they were doing.
Enter: The Geek Squad.
Well, sorta.
My wife informed me that I needed to go to the local Best Buy and make an appointment to have someone come out and figure out what our problem was accessing the internet on my laptop--I say it that way because whatever was happening was not effecting my wife's computer. So I'm at work the next day (that would be this past Thursday---2/1/06), and I'm planning on leaving work about an hour early so we could go see our accountant and get our taxes done early. I had mentioned that what I hoped to do was to hit the Best Buy on the way, and then see the accountant afterwards.
Well, while I was at work, I came across the bright idea to call the store and see if it was possible to make the appointment over the phone. Quite the concept, huh?
So I began to try and contact the Geek Squad at the local Best Buy---and while you're reading this, key in on the word "try". I attempted to reach them at the phone number that was in the local white pages. Three times. No answer. Finally, and somewhat amazingly, I somehow connected with the store operator. She wasn't the person I needed to speak too, but I figured she could at least help me reach someone in the department I was trying to reach. There's that word again---"try". She promptly put me on hold and told me that she would be right back. This was the beginning of what I called "the Yanni music". You know, that new age garbage that is supposed to be "soothing" and relaxing, which is why they must play it for their customers on hold---because otherwise they would be losing their respective minds. The operator came back on, announced to me that she was transferring me to the department....and promptly disconnected me.
Well, at this point I was about ready to leave work, so I just figured that I'd probably have to make the appointment in person. Traffic was heavy and so I was running a little late for the appointment with our accountant. Before I got to the accountant's, I decided to make one last try at making the Geek Squad appointment by phone. I tried again, and the phone continued to ring....and ring....and ring....and ring---and then as if by some miracle, the phone was picked up---by a live person. It turned out to be the same operator I had spoken to an hour or so before--and she was getting ready to transfer me to the Geek Squad.
"Wait!" I said, "please...please don't transfer me. I'll get disconnected. All I want to do is to ask you a single question. Do I have to come in and make the appointment for a home visit by the Geek Squad or can I do it over the phone?"
She was very polite and told me that she would be happy to make the appointment for me. A minute or so later, someone else actually came on the phone and helped me make the appointment for that Saturday (2/3/07).
Hey! I got me an appointment to get my computer fixed!
Not so fast there Slick.
Saturday afternoon came, and it was around 2:20pm and my wife and I were just sitting there. I told her that I would go and get our kids from their Tae Kwon Do class, since if the technician showed up, she had a better idea of what specifically was wrong with my laptop--and perhaps more importantly, the router.
I go and picked up the kids, got home and walked in to find my wife exactly where I left her.
"I'm assuming they didn't come," I asked.
"Nope. No phone calls either." she said. "Do you want to call them?"
I then began what can best be described as.....round 2.
I called the store again, trying to find out why the technician was so late. So I called.
And I got the ringing...and ringing....and ringing. Finally, I managed to get through to someone in the Geek Squad and told them what the situation was. They put me on hold. More Yanni music. Then I got disconnected. Again.
I called again....wrong department. Let me transfer you--'no, don't do that'---I'm not making this up...I got disconnected again. So I called again, and this time I actually got through to the Geek Squad on the first try! I explained that at this point (3:15pm-ish) that all I wanted to do was to reschedule the appointment that I had, as my wife and I had made plans to go out late in the afternoon. The person I spoke to (I believe his name was Oscar) was very nice and told me that the person scheduled to come to my house--"Lewis"--had tried to call me and let me know that he was running late.
"Uh, no...." I said, "that is absolutely false. My wife or I have been here the entire day and no one has called us."
I even told Oscar that I understood that things came up from time to time, people get delayed for reasons beyond their control--but at the very least I should have received a phone call either from the store or from the technician who was supposed to come to my home--he agreed. The appointment for that day was canceled.
(Here's where it starts to get fun)
I then told Oscar that I wanted to reschedule the appointment for some time the next day (that would be Sunday, 2/4/07). I was told that the person who "did the scheduling" for the Geek Squad home service calls---I believe her name was Natalie--was not do to come in for another 15 or 20 minutes, but that he was going to tape a note to her desk to have her call me "first thing she came in" and schedule a new appointment with me. So my wife & I, with our kids, went out. This would have been a little after 3:30 pm.
5pm and I haven't heard from anyone....I decide to be pro-active and call them myself, knowing that I would once again be facing what had almost become, to me at least, a "force of nature"---I refer of course, to the phone system at the Best Buy. So once again, I call...and once again, I get no answer. So I call back--no answer. I call back again--and lo & behold, I get ahold of "Ray", who identifies himself as the manager of the Geek Squad area. Tears of joy stream down my face as I have a feeling of geniune empowerment---I may actually be close to getting something done!!! Ray says that he can help me....and then he puts me on hold. More Yanni music....empowerment gone.
But shockingly enough...Ray comes back on the line! It is the same person that I spoke to originally!!! This is the first time this has happened to me the entire weekend of dealing with Best Buy. I explain, almost tearfully, my situation to Ray---beginning with my incredible frustration at the phone system that Best Buy is currently using.
And then, Ray said the most incredible thing:
"You're not the first person who has complained about our phone system," he says.
"Ray," I said, "do you know how many times I've called in the last few days and haven't been able to get ahold of ANYONE in your department??"
"Oh," he says, "I can explain that. The way that our phone system works is that, when you call, if one of our employees is on the phone with a customer, your call won't ring as a 'busy signal'. It will just keep on ringing."
"You mean, it'll keep on ringing....as if no one is there to answer it?"
"Yes."
"Ray," I said, "I have to tell you....that may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my 45 years on earth. Do you realize how much business your store is losing because people are calling and thinking that no one is picking the phone up??"
"Uh," he said, "truthfully....this is something that I've brought up before."
I continued to be amazed by what I had been told. Then, it actually got better.
"Okay Ray," I said, "This has been a really amazing experience. But, ultimately, all I want to do is to reschedule my appointment for tomorrow."
"Oh," he said, "you see...here's the problem. The person who does the scheduling for us---Natalie---called in sick today. That's why she didn't call you."
"Well, okay," I said, "I understand that--its a legitimate reason....maybe I can just talk to the store manager and he can give me a date and time."
"Uh," Ray responded, "no...he can't. He doesn't have access to set up an appointment."
"The store manager?"
"Yep."
"Well Ray," I said, "your the department manager. Maybe YOU can reschedule me."
"Um, no....I don't have the access code to do that either."
"Your telling me that NO ONE there has the access to reschedule me????"
"Nope."
By this time, I had gone past amazed and directly to incredulous.
"Okay Ray, how about when someone who does have the access comes in, they call me and schedule me an appointment?"
"Okay," Ray says, "I'll give the message first thing tomorrow (2/4/07) and have them call you."
Now, the store opens at 10am onSundays. At my home, 10am came and went. I was out and about....and at 2pm, my phone rang. It was Natalie, the absentee access holder, ready to set me up with a visit from the Geek Squad.
Only one problem. My wife and I got home....and fixed the problem ourselves.
We installed the modem ourselves, and my wife called Linksy's, our router company, and after about 15 minutes on the phone....we resolved the problem.
Aggravation from dealing with Best Buy retail store in Plantation, Florida: Incredible.
Amount of money paid to Best Buy Corporation for service call: ZERO
Satisfaction at telling Best Buy employee that we didn't need a service call: PRICELESS
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Bowdren
Sunday, January 28, 2007
1/28/07 Just because I live for the gossip
Keep in mind...this is about someone who grew up as poor white trash. I guess the apple don't fall far from THAT tree.
Britney Spears Doesn't Have Time
City Rag is reporting on the Mike Walker's visit to the Howard Stern show yesterday. Mike Walker talked about Britney Spears being a cheap tipper and told a recent story.
Britney Spears Doesn't Have Time
City Rag is reporting on the Mike Walker's visit to the Howard Stern show yesterday. Mike Walker talked about Britney Spears being a cheap tipper and told a recent story.
Britney Spears was picking up her car at an L.A restaurant and dumped a pile of change on the pavement while reaching for her ticket. When the valet pulled up with her car, she pointed at the change and said "there's your tip" adding "Im sure there's a lot of money over there but I don't have time to pick it up" and making the poor dude scrape $5 in coin off the ground."
Personally, if I had been the valet, I would've key'd her car.
Later,
Jeff
Friday, January 26, 2007
1/26/07---A horrible trial...a horrible life
There are a lot of nights when I come home and I'm having dinner with Kim & the kids and Kellie will ask me if we had any interesting cases that day. Usually I'll tell them about some particularly interesting thing that happened that day, and I guess they sort of enjoy hearing about it. The other night....I decided not to talk about work.
We took a trial from another judge. The charge was Cruelty to Animals. The accused was charged with cruelty by "abandonment of an animal".
I can remember awhile back, when Kim was forced to euthanize her cat Trigger, who was 24 years old and suffering from renal failure, the veternarian telling Kim that one of the reasons she should consider letting the cat go was to "think about his quality of life".
His kidney's were failing and the doctor told us, that although he could be treated....that we should consider how Trigger felt--that he was probably miserable and not really enjoying the whole process of living that much...and that things didn't look like they were going to be improving.
Her name was Isis, and truth be told....she probably didn't have much of a life.
One day a worker who had come to Florida after the hurricane was working on fixing the powerlines and heard what he thought to be a "sort of moaning". He looked down into the yard next to where he was working and saw a dog laying on its side, obviously in some distress. He called out to the dog to see if it would respond, but the dog didn't move. He tried to call the dog a few more times, and after not getting a response, he decided to call the city's animal control unit (and God bless him for doing that). The animal control officer came to the location, tried to reach someone inside by knocking on the door and when that failed, went into the backyard to check on the animal.
She said the first thing that struck her was the incredible stench that was coming from the yard, and in particular the cage where a dog layed on its side. Before she began to attend to the dog, she called the city's police department and asked for an officer to be sent to the location for a possible animal abuse case. She then looked after the dog, and the first thing she noticed was the fluid that was coming out of the dog's mouth and nose. The animal was laying in its own urine and feces and had sores on its side from laying onto of a cage withoutany form of cushion or padding provided for it. The animal was a bull terrier--best known as the breed that gave us "Spuds MacKenzie" back in the 80's. She tried everything she could to get the animal to respond and nothing worked. She knew from her training that the dog was in severe trouble.
About this time, the city police officer that had been called arrived on the scene, and again tried to knock on the door--with his flashlight--and still no one answered.
He met with the animal control officer in the back yard, and was advised that the dog needed to be taken to the hospital and right away. It was about at this time that the backdoor to the house opened up and a man walked out. The police officer walked over to him and asked him if he was the owner of the dog. The man looked over at the animal control officer administering to the dog and didn't answer. The officer asked him again--and again got no answer. Finally, for the third time the man was asked if the dog was his--he told the officer that he was responsible for the animal.
The police officer would say later that what struck him first was the incredible smell.
When asked to describe it, he would testify that he had been called before to murder scenes...to scenes where a person had been found dead, sometimes for a long time.
The smell from the backyard that day was worse---worse than even coming upon a dead body. He also said that he couldn't help but notice the incredible amount of fluid that the dog was expelling from its nose and mouth....and almost continual flow of vomit.
The dog appeared to be anywhere from 20 to 30 lbs under what its normal weight should be....its nipples were distended and its vulva was swollen....signs that the animal control officer would say were common with an animal that may have just given birth to a litter.
The police officer continued to talk to the man who had come out of the house. The officer asked why the animal was in such condition. He was told...by the man....that:
"The dog must have bitten a toad."
The man showed the officer a selection of medicinal items, including a solution and cream for dogs with ear mites...and a fluid that is given to females that have just had a litter of pups, called "Restore", which is supposed to provide nutrients to the dog.
The dog informed the officer that the dog, named Isis, was in the backyard becauseit had problems getting along with the other dogs in the household.
Meanwhile, the animal control officer had arrived at the local animal hospital and the dog was examined by a veternarian. The dog was continuing to lose fluids at an alarming rate--so much so that the officer couldn't keep the dog up in the front of her vehicle on the ride to the hospital. The doctor did all she could, before deciding to make a difficult decison.
Isis, after a horrible life, was put down. She was said to be four years old. She had just delivered a litter of pups, and may have been used as a vehicle for breeding by her "owner" or "caretaker". She most likely spent all of her days in night in a cage, with a wire or steel floor, with a roof made out of tin--which may have kept out the rain, but certainly not the heat of a south Florida summer. She had sores about her body, do not only from her "home", but from laying in her urine, feces and vomit. She probably did not have much of a "quality of life". She probably found far more peace in death than she ever found in her short, horrible life. The doctor probably grieved that she was unable to do more for the dog, not realizing the incredible service she was doing for the animal by putting it out of its misery.
The case went to trial last week in my courtroom. I have three dogs, and I have no use for anyone who would ever willingly hurt any animal, but especially a dog. I watched the defendant listen to the horrible, emotional testimony from the witnesses with no expression on his face....no remorse, no disbelief....nothing. He sat there stonefaced as the evidence was introduced---photos of Isis at the animal hospital, lifeless and laying on a trashbag--as if she was so much garbage. Her wounds were apparent, as was the rest of the damage that had been inflicted upon her. His attorney, during cross examination, would introduce that his client had been caring for the dog--and the proof was that the medicine was there for her ear mites, and the bottle of Restore was there to be administered to the dog. Testimony was introduced that the defendant had called a friend of his who worked at a seperate animal hospital and inquired what he should do for the animal--but the friend had been told, incorrectly, that the animal had "probably gotten ahold of a toad". He was advised to flush out the dog's mouth--thefriend obviously, not realizing the depth of trouble the animal was in as he was only offering advice over the phone. When he was called back, he correctly advised the defendant to take the animal directly to a hospital---and still, Isis was left there, laying in her cage.
The jury returned a verdict in less than half an hour.
Guilty as charged.
The judge's sentence was swift and severe. 364 days in jail, and a $5,000 fine plus court costs. She called the testimony amongst the worst she had ever heard and ordered the defendant remanded to custody. When she pronounced her sentence, a friend of the defendant's in the courtroom burst into tears....saddened that he would be held in custody to serve his sentence.
I couldn't help but wonder why there had been no tears for a young dog, a young mother with a litter of pups that probably had never seen after giving birth other than when she was needed to nurse......there had been no tears shed at the sight that confronted an electrical worker from out of state that day, that an animal control officer saw and smelled that day, that a veteran police officer called worse than a murder scene.
No one cried for a young dog named Isis during her short life. I saw no use to offer any for her "owner", as he deserved none from me.....or anyone else for that matter.
Later,
Jeff
Monday, January 15, 2007
1/15/07---Its MLK Day, so that means: Movie & concert reviews! Political commentary-
So before I start, here's my political INCORRECT thought of the day. I've been watching that stupid new NBC show called "Grease--You're the One that I Want", and the whole premise of the show is to find two unknowns who will appear on Broadway in a production of Grease as Danny & Sandy. And as I watch the show, I see there are black people applying for the roles....and I can't help thinking to myself....
Does this mean I can audition for The Color Purple during its next Broadway run??
Cuz, I'm just wonderin.....
Anyway, as some of you may know, Kim & I went back in time to our teenage years and hit 3 concerts in 3 nights a few days back. I gotta tell ya, its not easy getting old and waking up the next day after a concert with your ears ringing and trying to get around on 4 hours of sleep. Here's some thoughts on the shows:
1) Bob Seger--Thursday night, 1/11/07, in Hollywood, Florida at the Hard Rock Casino. Seger is on his first concert run in something like 10 years and he's always been one of those guys who I had never seen in concert that I allows wanted too.
The really funny thing is that my buddy Greg can recall seeing him performing on the back of a flatbed truck at the Swap Shop here in Lauderdale in the early to mid 70's.
We started the evening off by getting to the casino about an hour and a half before showtime, and decided to have some dinner at a place called Renegade's BBQ.
You know me--I'm always up for a little bit of BBQ. So we get there, and they tell us that its about a 30 minute wait for a table--no problem. I go to use the bathroom and can't help but notice on my walks in & out of the facilities that there are, safe to say, maybe 1/3 of the restaurant is empty. So I go to the hostess and ask her why its going to take 30 minutes to seat us when there are tables available. Its because their currently seating everyone and filling those tables---uh, yeah, right. After we finally get seated, I'm looking at the menu which describes its BBQ as "authentic native American style BBQ". Huh? What the hell does that mean? Native American BBQ? Well, perhaps against my better judgement I order some baby back ribs and wait. Another 30 minutes goes by ("their really backed up in the kitchen"--from what? Boredom?)
and our food finally arrives. My ribs were just the way I like them---dried out and lukewarm from all the time under a heatlamp. Just to make things completely miserable, I also managed to drop some of my dinner on my shirt (thank God it was a dark shirt).
Needless to say, I won't be giving a recommendation to Renegade BBQ to any friends.
So we make our way over to the concert hall, lay down some $$ for some shirts and as we're going in, the ticket taker informs me that there's a problem with my seats and that I need to go over and see somebody. Wow, this evening is really starting off bad.
What's next? Seger has laryngitis? Happily, I'm informed that because the seats that I purchased had an obstructed view, that their going to give me better seats! We ended up one entire section closer to the stage (the better to lose your hearing by) and waited for Bob to hit the stage. Finally, we get the big announcement over the P.A. that its only 5 minutes to showtime! The lights go down, and we start hearing "The Boys are back in Town" by Thin Lizzy (great song--odd choice). A single guy walks out to the stage, starts fiddling with the microphone stand (I'm thinking its a roadie or something) and says:
"Uh, hey...how's everybody doing."
Its Bob! Just a very unassuming beginning to a great, kick ass concert. While he played about 7 of the songs from his new CD, he also played about 25 of his old songs, so I'm not going to complain about him pushing his new stuff. I was happy as hell to hear him play my two personal favorites, "Mainstreet" & "Against the Wind".
I waited 25 years to hear him sing the latter......and it was worth the wait. So was Bob.
Great, great concert.
2) The next night we went and saw Rod Stewart. Kim really isn't a huge fan (to say the least), but she was a good wife and went along. Now here's the interesting sociological
observation of the day. The crowd the night before at the Seger concert were old school rock concert fans....maybe a little older than me, but the kind of folks who had been known to occasionally have a beverage--if ya know what I mean and I think ya do. The crowd at Stewart, at least in our section, was between 55-70 and more of a wine-drinking crowd. They would politely applaude Rod's hit songs and act like they were at the theatre---totally different type of crowd. The concert was in 2 parts. The first part--before the intermission--was horrible. I mean, pretty much one of the worst concerts that I had ever been too. After intermission, it was like a different performer.
I mean, it was like night and day--the 2nd half was that good (or maybe it was just that good when compared to the first half of the show). Rod has a new CD of cover songs out, and some of them are good ("I'll Stand By You" by the Pretenders, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" by Elvin Bishop & "Its a Heartache" by Bonnie Tyler) and some of them are (shudder) realllllly bad ("Still the Same" by Bob Seger & "Lay Down Sally" by Eric Clapton). Some of my favorite songs by Stewart are cover songs--its not that he does a bad job on them---he just needs to be more selective in his material.
First part of the show--horrible, 2nd part--pretty damn good. As far as the people in our section, during intermision I turned to Kim and told her that I felt like I was at an AARP convention. That's not good when your at a rock concert.
3) The final concert we went to was on Saturday night, 1/13/07, we took the kids (and it was their request, lest anyone think I was being really cruel) to see the Notre Dame Symphony, which was performing at Assumption Catholic Church in Lauderdale by the Sea. Now, I'm the first one to say that I'm not a big "symphony guy"....but ya know, for a once in a lifetime event--I gotta tell ya, it was a heck of a performance. There were some absolutely incredible musicianship--and the kids were really amazed. Now, I didn't win the raffle for the Notre Dame tickets....but it was still a good time.
Now...I also finally finished up with my holiday movie viewing....here are some reviews:
1) Talladega Nights---I've heard Will Ferrell on different radio & t.v. shows, and its fairly remarkable how NOT funny he comes off to me. Which is really strange, because when the guy becomes one of his movie characters, he's hilarious. While he's funny in this movie about NASCAR, the real gems in this movie are the two actors who play his incredibly profane and poorly behaved sons, Houston Tomlin & Graylin Russell, and by the always underrated Gary Cole as Ferrell's no-count-redneck daddy. Its tasteless and profane--but its hilarious and there are worse ways to kill a couple of hours. ***3/4
2) An Inconvenient Truth--how about me? First I go to the see the symphony one night and then I'm watching a documentary about global warming the next. Am I Mr. Culture or what? Former vice-president Al Gore presents an incredibly compelling case for the damage we have wrought upon our planet--and are continuing to do. What is really amazing is for all the bad press he received as VP for being "boring" and a monotonous
speaker---here is not only interesting, he is compelling. He is self-deprecating. He is fascinating. And as I watched this important film, one that everyone should see, I couldn't help but think help but think of one of the first comments that Gore said in introducing himself to an audience:
"Hi, I'm Al Gore...I'm the guy that was supposed to be your President."
Indeed. *****
3) Miami Vice--ya know, sometimes when you have absolutely no expectations for a film, other than to kill a couple of hours with popcorn-esque entertainment, you end up being pleasantly surprised. When I first heard they were remaking the Don Johnson mid-80's television show, I had some pretty low expectation---sort of along the line of Bad Boys 1 or 2. Instead, the movie delivered a solid 2 hours plus of gripping, dark police action. The only real difference in the original television plot is that Tubbs, played on the t.v. show by Philip Michael Thomas, has gone from basically being the buddy of the star, to being one of the two stars. Not surprisingly though, an actor as good as Jamie Foxx pulls off the role--I mean, he's not exactly playing Ray Charles here.
Colin Ferrell is okay as Crockett, but the real star of the movie is the location, and the mood--director Michael Mann, much like he did in Collateral, makes what is happening in the background almost as interesting as the foreground. And, as in his classic crime epic "Heat", this film finishes with a gripping and brutal shootout that is filmed with an almost poetic grace. This is good stuff, much better than you'd think. ****
Later,
Jeff
Does this mean I can audition for The Color Purple during its next Broadway run??
Cuz, I'm just wonderin.....
Anyway, as some of you may know, Kim & I went back in time to our teenage years and hit 3 concerts in 3 nights a few days back. I gotta tell ya, its not easy getting old and waking up the next day after a concert with your ears ringing and trying to get around on 4 hours of sleep. Here's some thoughts on the shows:
1) Bob Seger--Thursday night, 1/11/07, in Hollywood, Florida at the Hard Rock Casino. Seger is on his first concert run in something like 10 years and he's always been one of those guys who I had never seen in concert that I allows wanted too.
The really funny thing is that my buddy Greg can recall seeing him performing on the back of a flatbed truck at the Swap Shop here in Lauderdale in the early to mid 70's.
We started the evening off by getting to the casino about an hour and a half before showtime, and decided to have some dinner at a place called Renegade's BBQ.
You know me--I'm always up for a little bit of BBQ. So we get there, and they tell us that its about a 30 minute wait for a table--no problem. I go to use the bathroom and can't help but notice on my walks in & out of the facilities that there are, safe to say, maybe 1/3 of the restaurant is empty. So I go to the hostess and ask her why its going to take 30 minutes to seat us when there are tables available. Its because their currently seating everyone and filling those tables---uh, yeah, right. After we finally get seated, I'm looking at the menu which describes its BBQ as "authentic native American style BBQ". Huh? What the hell does that mean? Native American BBQ? Well, perhaps against my better judgement I order some baby back ribs and wait. Another 30 minutes goes by ("their really backed up in the kitchen"--from what? Boredom?)
and our food finally arrives. My ribs were just the way I like them---dried out and lukewarm from all the time under a heatlamp. Just to make things completely miserable, I also managed to drop some of my dinner on my shirt (thank God it was a dark shirt).
Needless to say, I won't be giving a recommendation to Renegade BBQ to any friends.
So we make our way over to the concert hall, lay down some $$ for some shirts and as we're going in, the ticket taker informs me that there's a problem with my seats and that I need to go over and see somebody. Wow, this evening is really starting off bad.
What's next? Seger has laryngitis? Happily, I'm informed that because the seats that I purchased had an obstructed view, that their going to give me better seats! We ended up one entire section closer to the stage (the better to lose your hearing by) and waited for Bob to hit the stage. Finally, we get the big announcement over the P.A. that its only 5 minutes to showtime! The lights go down, and we start hearing "The Boys are back in Town" by Thin Lizzy (great song--odd choice). A single guy walks out to the stage, starts fiddling with the microphone stand (I'm thinking its a roadie or something) and says:
"Uh, hey...how's everybody doing."
Its Bob! Just a very unassuming beginning to a great, kick ass concert. While he played about 7 of the songs from his new CD, he also played about 25 of his old songs, so I'm not going to complain about him pushing his new stuff. I was happy as hell to hear him play my two personal favorites, "Mainstreet" & "Against the Wind".
I waited 25 years to hear him sing the latter......and it was worth the wait. So was Bob.
Great, great concert.
2) The next night we went and saw Rod Stewart. Kim really isn't a huge fan (to say the least), but she was a good wife and went along. Now here's the interesting sociological
observation of the day. The crowd the night before at the Seger concert were old school rock concert fans....maybe a little older than me, but the kind of folks who had been known to occasionally have a beverage--if ya know what I mean and I think ya do. The crowd at Stewart, at least in our section, was between 55-70 and more of a wine-drinking crowd. They would politely applaude Rod's hit songs and act like they were at the theatre---totally different type of crowd. The concert was in 2 parts. The first part--before the intermission--was horrible. I mean, pretty much one of the worst concerts that I had ever been too. After intermission, it was like a different performer.
I mean, it was like night and day--the 2nd half was that good (or maybe it was just that good when compared to the first half of the show). Rod has a new CD of cover songs out, and some of them are good ("I'll Stand By You" by the Pretenders, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" by Elvin Bishop & "Its a Heartache" by Bonnie Tyler) and some of them are (shudder) realllllly bad ("Still the Same" by Bob Seger & "Lay Down Sally" by Eric Clapton). Some of my favorite songs by Stewart are cover songs--its not that he does a bad job on them---he just needs to be more selective in his material.
First part of the show--horrible, 2nd part--pretty damn good. As far as the people in our section, during intermision I turned to Kim and told her that I felt like I was at an AARP convention. That's not good when your at a rock concert.
3) The final concert we went to was on Saturday night, 1/13/07, we took the kids (and it was their request, lest anyone think I was being really cruel) to see the Notre Dame Symphony, which was performing at Assumption Catholic Church in Lauderdale by the Sea. Now, I'm the first one to say that I'm not a big "symphony guy"....but ya know, for a once in a lifetime event--I gotta tell ya, it was a heck of a performance. There were some absolutely incredible musicianship--and the kids were really amazed. Now, I didn't win the raffle for the Notre Dame tickets....but it was still a good time.
Now...I also finally finished up with my holiday movie viewing....here are some reviews:
1) Talladega Nights---I've heard Will Ferrell on different radio & t.v. shows, and its fairly remarkable how NOT funny he comes off to me. Which is really strange, because when the guy becomes one of his movie characters, he's hilarious. While he's funny in this movie about NASCAR, the real gems in this movie are the two actors who play his incredibly profane and poorly behaved sons, Houston Tomlin & Graylin Russell, and by the always underrated Gary Cole as Ferrell's no-count-redneck daddy. Its tasteless and profane--but its hilarious and there are worse ways to kill a couple of hours. ***3/4
2) An Inconvenient Truth--how about me? First I go to the see the symphony one night and then I'm watching a documentary about global warming the next. Am I Mr. Culture or what? Former vice-president Al Gore presents an incredibly compelling case for the damage we have wrought upon our planet--and are continuing to do. What is really amazing is for all the bad press he received as VP for being "boring" and a monotonous
speaker---here is not only interesting, he is compelling. He is self-deprecating. He is fascinating. And as I watched this important film, one that everyone should see, I couldn't help but think help but think of one of the first comments that Gore said in introducing himself to an audience:
"Hi, I'm Al Gore...I'm the guy that was supposed to be your President."
Indeed. *****
3) Miami Vice--ya know, sometimes when you have absolutely no expectations for a film, other than to kill a couple of hours with popcorn-esque entertainment, you end up being pleasantly surprised. When I first heard they were remaking the Don Johnson mid-80's television show, I had some pretty low expectation---sort of along the line of Bad Boys 1 or 2. Instead, the movie delivered a solid 2 hours plus of gripping, dark police action. The only real difference in the original television plot is that Tubbs, played on the t.v. show by Philip Michael Thomas, has gone from basically being the buddy of the star, to being one of the two stars. Not surprisingly though, an actor as good as Jamie Foxx pulls off the role--I mean, he's not exactly playing Ray Charles here.
Colin Ferrell is okay as Crockett, but the real star of the movie is the location, and the mood--director Michael Mann, much like he did in Collateral, makes what is happening in the background almost as interesting as the foreground. And, as in his classic crime epic "Heat", this film finishes with a gripping and brutal shootout that is filmed with an almost poetic grace. This is good stuff, much better than you'd think. ****
Later,
Jeff
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