MIL turns XX today (I just won’t post certain people’s ages online for fear of my own safety, although I will have my own little bargaining chip arriving in about 2 months).
Monthly Archives: January 2007
Long day at the dog park
5th Street Steak House, Chico
Best steak this side of… anywhere.
We drove up to Chico last night and had dinner at the 5th Street Steak House in celebration of Kris’s, Kathy’s, and my birthdays. Now, IMO, I can BBQ a pretty damn good steak, but I have nothing on the folks at 5th Street. My Rib eye was so tender, juicy, and flavorful that I almost keeled over and died at the table from taste bud sensory overload. It was magnificent. Sublime. A thing to revere. IOW, it’s good stuff.
I can’t say this about many places, but I would drive 4 hours round trip just to eat at this restaurant. If you’re ever in Chico and you’re looking for a good steak, look no further than the 5th Street Steak House. And make sure to get the Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Mmm mmm good.
First pics
This is one of the first pictures I took with my new D80. Obviously, I have no clue what I’m doing, but even in point-and-shoot mode, it takes damn good pictures.
Your dog is fat, and it’s your fault
Great f*cking Caesar’s ghost – there is now an obesity drug for dogs.
The government approved the first drug for obese canines on Friday. Called Slentrol, the Pfizer Inc. drug is aimed at helping fat Fidos shed extra pounds.
Here are some tips to get your adipose Alpo-eater to lose some weight:
- Feed it a reasonable amount of food. We have an 85 lb Labrador Retriever. He gets 1.75 cups of kibble in the morning, and 1.75 cups of kibble at night. That’s it.
- Cut back on the treats. They are, after all, treats. Our dog only gets them after we shove a pill down his throat, or when we’re feeling nice and he’s being good. I’d say he averages one small, bite-sized piece of dog biscuit about every 3 or 4 days. And when I say small, I mean small. Make the “OK” sign with your thumb and index finger. The treat should easily fit into the middle of the “O”.
- No table scraps. Feeding your dog people food is a surefire way to send him or her to Fat City. The only “human” food our dog gets is a baby carrot every now and then.
- Exercise! Get your mutt’s lazy butt off the couch and out into the sunlight.
Obviously, I am not a vet. Consult your vet before changing your dog’s diet and/or exercise regimen blah blah blah.
When you cut the crap out of your dog’s diet, he’ll start looking at you like you’re Satan, but Fido will survive. Unless you’re training for the Iditarod, or you have an especially active pooch (in which case your dog won’t be fat anyway), the critters just don’t need that much food to live on.
Our vet relayed a story to us. She was treating a particularly obese animal, trying to get its weight down. When she asked the owner how much he was feeding the dog, he said 1 cup. There’s no way, she thought. This dog is just too fat. So she asked him what kind of cup – a drinking cup, or a measuring cup. Turns out he was using a 64 oz Big Gulp to scoop out the dog food. *slaps forehead*
Anyway, it’s pretty simple: more calories coming in than being burned off = doggie gains weight. Just like humans.
Hitachi to ship 1 TB hard drive this year
1 TB drives getting ready to hit the streets
Ho. Lee. Crap.
And they’re only going to cost $400, which will surely go down with time. Insanity.
My first computer (Pentium 200 MHz) had a 2 GB hdd, and that was top of the line at the time. 1 TB? That’s just ridiculous. And my coworker just informed me that Seagate plans to have a 37.5 TB drive out in a couple of years.
This is great news considering that I am the recipient of a brand new Nikon D80. Since I am just now learning how to use it, you can bet that there will be gigs and gigs of “learning” photos.
Yes, I love technology… But not as much as you, you see… Always and forever…
Happy Birthday, Kris!
My sister-in-law Kris turns 28 today. Have a great day!
UK cabbie clocked at 420mph
A UK cabbie has broken the previous speed record for a petrol-driven reciprocating-engined vehicle by clocking up an impressive 420mph in a 30mph zone in Newport, Gwent.
In training
We decided to bite the bullet and sign Homer up for puppy training. Although he’s not much of a puppy anymore. In fact, he’s well over 2 years old and tips the scales at 85 lbs. But I digress.
At the first lesson, we “learned” that Homeslice is a defiant little bastard. Near the beginning of the lesson, the trainer used a Pupparoni stick to get Homer to obey a command, and he responded very well. She asked him to sit, and he sat. She asked him to Watch Her, and he did, all in the name of Pupparoni. Unfortunately for her, this particular doggy delicacy would ultimately have only limited effectiveness.
The problem is that Homer has what you might call a hyperactivity disorder. If he’s outside the house, that means it is fun time, and he should be frolicking in the orchard among the dandelions, and dancing with the squirrels because they are merry. So when she basically just sat there and talked to us for an hour, Homer got extremely anxious and agitated. He sighed so often and so deeply that I thought he was going to hyperventilate.
So about 50 minutes into the class, she tried to get Homer to walk nicely on a leash. “Look at me, Homer,” the nice lady repeated. “Homer, Watch me. Watch me!” No go. Homer was looking up, down, side-to-side, he checked the timing belt on Kelly’s Honda – I think he even managed to roll his eyes once – doing anything he could to avoid looking at this woman who, in his mind, was an evil bitch. He wasn’t responding, so she pulled out a magical Pupparoni stick. He didn’t take it, so she gently stuck it in his mouth. And what did our good puppy do? He spit it out, stood up, turned his back on her, and sat down again.
I can name few times where I have wanted to laugh so hard in my life. Not out of spite or malice, because the trainer was actually doing a very good job, and she had been the utmost professional throughout the whole session. But it was hilarious to see my dog openly and brazenly thumbing his nose at authority and saying, “Hell, no, wench! I don’t need your Pupparoni!”
I know this is the type of behavior we’re supposed to discourage, but, damn, my dog’s willfulness is impressive.
Bees!
And lots of them!
Click the image to read the thrilling saga of how redneck engineering saved Christmas from a rogue swarm of bees. Or something like that. (some language NSFW)
