Category Archives: pets

October 21, 2008 · 9:54 pm

Pet Sounds?

I am pretty sure that there is some kind of critter living in the ceiling soffit in my office. Let’s just say I hear the skittering noise of what I am hoping is just a mouse, running back and forth at all hours of the day and night.

It is not like this is a new discovery. I must have mentioned this to the overpriced exterminator I have on a monthly retainer more than once. He reminds me that the office is in the basement and a wall backed by an outdoor staircase is susceptible to rodents. (ew)

I do like the staircase, though, in case I need to make a quick getaway. Of course I would have to move the copy machine to get out, my feng shui is so off in this office I don’t even have feng!

I digress – for a change.

Every once in awhile I hear the scramble of little feet in the ceiling and think, hey, this guy is much less work than the dog. I mean, I don’t have to feed him and I don’t have to worry about a sitter when we go away. He certainly does not bother either the Fed Ex or UPS guy. And he does kind of ease the loneliness of a solitary work environment.

So, I will let him be. The thing I worry about more is when the pitter patter of his little feet stops there could be a good chance I will have something dead in the ceiling!

Which makes something living in there seem so much more palatable.

Catch me today at Mid-Century Modern Moms where I discuss rabid soccer moms.

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August 12, 2008 · 1:02 am

Baby You Can Drive My Car


Don’t laugh, she can probably drive better than me (those who have driven with me will confirm that).

Mel has a sweet habit of jumping into the driver’s seat to wait for our return. It is pretty funny to watch people when she does this in the convertible. Sometimes I will sit in Starbucks and watch the people point at her as they pass by.

She, like Gary, is a good sport.

I love the graininess, lighting and color in this shot. I shut the flash to capture the moment. And OK – a little photoshop work – but I just screwed around with the levels to bring up the detail. I swear.

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July 14, 2008 · 10:58 pm

Dog in Street…

While we are on the subject of pets, here are a couple of real life stories about my sweet pup, Mel. For those who have noticed she is the dog with glasses on my avatar.

She is a white lab, definitely part rabbit and as sweet as can be. But she does suffer from the occasional bout of wanderlust (maybe she needs to be medicated).

The note above is an actual UPS post-it that I found on my front door few months ago. Having worked at home for many years, the UPS and Fed Ex guys know me pretty well. And they know my dog even better as she has a habit of running onto their trucks when they deliver here. Apparently she had gotten out of the back gate without my knowledge, the UPS guy found her and put her in the back, leaving me the note.

I have written this particular post today for my dear friend Joanne. You all know her, the one who does not know what spanx are. Joanne and I watch eachother’s dogs when we go away. They are like two old ladies together and they are very much at home in eachother’s houses.

This past weekend while we were whooping it up in Montauk, Mel was swimming in the pool at Joanne’s and getting the good dog food (the stuff in the can that I won’t feed her). Still not quite sure why she would want to wander from that Shangri-la, but you know how dogs can be.

Joanne called to tell me that she was in her house when the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find the husband of another one of the First Thursday Girls with Mel in the front seat of his car. Apparently he was driving down the road and found her out for a stroll. As he said, good thing as that would be a pretty tough phone call to make…

“uh, well, like your dog is dead.” kind of a relationship killer, don’t you think?

i told her not to worry as the last time her dog was here she took off and I had four 15 year old boys running around the neighborhood in fear of that same dreaded phone call.

my husband’s response? if you kill my dog I am taking yours! (very adult)

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July 14, 2008 · 10:44 am

Does Fluffy REALLY Need a Facelift?

Actually, it was liposuction that was cited in another of a series of outrageous ‘health-related’ articles this weekend, but as my friend Barb pointed out, the alliteration worked better in the title. And of course I LOVE alliterations.

Once again, the Sunday NYT did not disappoint for blog material.

Cover of the mag section… Animal Pharm. Here is the article “Pill Popping Pets” (of course I like my title better)

Some staggering statistiscs:

• Americans forked over $49 billion for pet products and services last year, up $11.5 billion from 2003

• other than consumer electronics, pet products are the fastest-growing retail segment. (remind me again why I am not tapping into this market?)

• A third of the total spending, and the fastest-growing category, is health care, with treatments formerly reserved for people — root canals, chemotherapy, and you guessed it, liposuction AND mood pills — being administered to pets. (I have been doing work in the healthcare market for years, again, why am I not tapping into this?)

Now, I am not one to judge pet health care spending. After all, when my dog (the greatest animal ever born) was under 3 she had not one, but two knee surgeries. (Hey, what was I supposed to do when she blew them out, get her a little cart?) And I do love her to death but quite frankly her fat ass will not be getting any liposuction if mine isn’t.

Perhaps I should say, “F the lipo, eat a big bowl of kibble”.

The administering of anti-depressants to dogs is also more than I can handle. How about this quote:

For lonely dogs with separation anxiety, Eli Lilly brought to market its own drug Reconcile last year. The only difference between it and Prozac is that Reconcile is chewable and tastes like beef.

OMG, can you imagine the mix up with a family member? “Honey, I took my meds this morning and the strangest thing happened, I have been craving a burger all day”.

My last word on this:

Woof!

 

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