Hello gentle readers

We just got back from vacation and we should post about South Padre Island, the World Cup, the Gladys Porter Zoo, our anniversary, but none of that is nearly as interesting as our adventures over the past two days.

Yesterday, my boss handed me a clipping from the newspaper about a certain gubernatorial candidate making a stop in Abilene.



As expected the Jewish cowboy attracted an eclectic group of 50 or so people, everyone of whom was wondering why the person next to them lived in Abilene. We were the only delegates from our small county.

I felt compelled to buy something so he'd have something to sign. I bought Roadkill, but if Adam hadn't of asked for it back I would have had When the Cats away on hand.

M also bought some salsa.

Note by M:
I've met the man and I still have NO IDEA for whom I should vote in a few short months. I am excited though that for once I won't be voting against a particularly bad candidate...I can actually vote for a good one! I just don't know who that is yet.

Today, M came with me and my boss to Granbury on business. It was my first on location archival survey. It was also DM's first trip on one of these.


As you can see, we had a great time in this 4-seater despite it being smaller than a suburban.


We had to wear those headsets to talk to each other. The ride home was in a different plane that allegedly had air conditioning. We had to ride sitting backward this time and because of afternoon heat columns, I nearly lost my lunch, though I maintained my manly composure.

Note by M:
I kept an eye out for telltale piles of dirt near the airplane hangers, but it looks like the Night Flier hasn't recently visited the Metroplex or its surrounding areas.

For those interested in our vacation (Mom), we took a trip down to South Padre Island where the waves were lame compared to last year's hurricane Emily steroid charged waves. We watched a lot of World Cup and really got into it, well the guys got into it. The girls were watching the games through pornographic lenses (M doesn't dig soccer players the way a fellow female watcher did). I wasn't really pulling for any particular team, but it was really exciting when someone scored. My zeal for World Cup took me far beyond the vacation all the way to the headbutt heard 'round the world.

We also went to the Zoo for the benefit of my 3 year old nephew, who thankfully, is well behaved. Since the Valley's climate is quite similar to that of most tropical and African animals, the Gladys Porter Zoo is, in my opinion, one of the best zoos. The animals rarely have to be caged due to weather so there is the maximum of space used for a realistic habitat. Our nephew mostly liked the snakes. I liked this biotch.

Kinda reminds me of Contra. (And yes, those are its phosphorescent young writhing on its back.)

For our anniversary, we got to spend a quiet evening alone at a nice restaurant followed by fireworks...no not those kind, we had to share our room...and the walls were thin. I could hear my dad snoring through the walls in the condo next door. But seriously, its been 5 years! Some of you were there, some of you (well one) were not yet born, and thankfully none of you are now deed!

M note:
According to the book How to Lie With Statistics we have lasted longer than half the newlywed population. Now if only we could update our blog more often!

Basketball and Revenge
(a slightly disturbing image (only to people nicer than me) appears at the end of this post)

Way back in the dogblog beginning, we wrote about bringing the puppies home and watching the Rose Bowl game a few short days later. All of D's Rose Bowl inspired jumping and yelling (if you saw the game no explanation is needed) really freaked out the puppies. They didn't have much run of the house at that time, so they did their best to hide from him. Well, I fear they may have had flashbacks recently. This was their solution to D's jumping and yelling during the NBA playoffs:




I was happy to provide a safe, if incidental, haven for them. Since school's been out for a week and a half now, I've spent more time sitting in that chair and the dogs seem quite happy to camp out under the desk whenever I sit down. Can you guess where they are right now? It's so nice to have a warm fuzzy little body warm your feet in the winter, but the temperature has recently passed 100 degrees for several days in a row. Please guys....no foot warming is necessary! No I already feel bad for complaining. They are very sweet little dogs.

What makes me feel even more guilty is our upcoming trip to South Padre. There are no dogs allowed in the house we are occupying at the beach. Yesterday D and I checked out our vet's boarding situation and set up the dreaded neutering. Their first boarding experience will include the chopping off of balls! What kind of pet owners are we?!? I know they are just dogs, but we just can't help but feel bad for leaving them with strangers that happen to perform surgery. Sorry dudes!

Now, on to revenge. Today our rattle-y friend came out of its hole for a snack and D happened to look outside just as the snake made his appearance. Not long before this, D had rigged up a little slip knot near the snake hole so it wouldn't easily get away before we could chop it up. After some quick but careful thought, D ditched the noose and got the ax.

Now, D has a gentle spirit so this was a little tough for him. I swore revenge after Felix was bitten and am happy to report that snakey is now in two pieces somewhere outside our fence. But D feels bad for killing him. Wish I could say the same. I spare spiders, non venomous snakes and even scorpions, but that rattlesnake just had to go. As D has the good back and good aim, he had to do the dirty work. Poor guy. If you don't like seeing snakes in two pieces don't scroll down. There is no blood or gore, but I want to give you fair warning.






Felix is avenged:


























If you look, you can see the snake kept moving for a while. Eww! Anyway, don't try this at home......unless you have a rattlesnake living under your house. Yep, that's our kitchen wall in the upper left corner. No, really.

3 things...

This will not be a usual dog blog post. No dogs, just talk (well, maybe just one).

1. Betty Friedan died today. As cliche it is to remember someone only after they are dead (we aren't going to see her at the Oscars), The Feminine Mystique is one of my favorite books. Sure, the second half is mostly dry sociological studies, but the first half is full of revelations. Through high school, I always had this nagging feeling that my attitude towards women was not in the mainstream, that my mom was not like other moms. But I could never quite figure out why that was. I didn't know that my mom was a minority among my friends' moms, and why I always got the bug-eyes when i told people (in the valley) that my mom was a lawyer.

The Feminine Mystique kind of codified all of what I could not figure out on my own. Of course, as a result, I saw evidence for the book everywhere. But I didn't feel the need to always point them out like some caricature from PCU. For most of you readers out there, the book won't be very compelling as Friedan's ideas have moved into the mainstream, but you should read it anyway. Think Mrs. Brown from The Hours.

2. It has been the best football year for the Alonzo family. UT won the national championship, and the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Superbowl. And it wasn't the usual bad superbowl, it was actually a good game. Not a blowout, not 3-0.

3. M is in Austin this week and I am in Albany. Pizza and dogpiss will be the rule for the week. No picking up, no cleaning. I'm only bathing to keep my job.