Friday, October 15, 2010
Let there be...change
As you might have heard we recently adopted a dog, Cecil. He's a 2 year old border collie, hound, beagle mix. We know some of what he's been through just from what the rescue group told us after we adopted him and we're finding out much more as we go. We've discovered he's afraid of a lot of things even the cat. He'll whimper and whine when the cat is around doing such hazardous to his health things, like sleeping on the couch. If he's in his crate and the cat is around he whines and then growls we suspect out of some sort of fear aggression response. We've made his crate as cozy as possible and even give him treats when he's in there (and the cat is not around) to foster the concept 'this is your happy place.' Lately he seems to be turning his nose up at it and fighting it probably because he's understanding now that it means he'll be in there for many hours (overnight.) He is/was crate trained when we picked him up. When he gets spooked by the sleeping cat he whines and gets as close to us as he can. We wonder if his fear of the cat and his inability to curl up next to us when he's in his crate are causing him to growl at the cat out of a fear aggression response. It's getting old. Every 5 minutes at night we have to get out of the bed as soon as we hear him growling and correct him. We don't coddle him when he whines but we don't want to let the aggressive behavior go unchecked. Ah Cecil. It's just a cat buddy!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Cecil!
The Cute and Wonderful Wife and I have talking about getting a dog for almost a year now and decided we would wait until after the wedding for many reasons. We've scoured the web pages of local animal rescue shelters and hadn't found a dog that sounded like it would fit in our home. One dog was described as "She really likes to GO GO GO and wants a family that does the same." Others had problems with cats or with children. As fate would have it The Cute and Wonderful Wife had been chatting with our wedding photographer Clare Norton about our search for a dog. Clare recommended the Almost Home Rescue shelter it's where she landed her 2 wonderful dogs. The Cute and Wonderful Wife checked out the page and found Cecil. We knew as soon as we read the description he has the perfect temperment and energy for our household.
We don't have any pics that you can coo over so put on your thinking caps. Come on now don't be shy. He's a black and white hound beagle border collie mix. He's only 2 and he's had a tough go of things already, he was chained up outside by his prior owners and just left there while other dogs from the neighborhood would come and attack him. He still has some scars on his legs from when he was attacked. Through all of that he's kept a stiff upper lip and by all accounts he gets along well with other dogs, animals, (his foster parents have chickens and he doesn't really pay any attention to them) and young kids. His foster mom said he's listed at 25 pounds but that's pretty generous. She also mentioned he's a mellow laid back kind of guy and likes to lay on the couch and chill with his pack leaders. She repeatedly said he's so well behaved and calm that would make a brilliant therapy dog. While we're not looking for that it certainly is a great thing to hear.
We have had our home evaluation (and passed-obviously) we've sent in our paperwork and arranged for the pick up. We've secured a den for him (a crate with some nice blankets for him to lay on) and a couple toys, a leash, food dishes, and some food. Now all we have to do is....wait! Gah! We can't pick him until tomorrow afternoon. It feels like an eternity. We are ready and excited to bring home our new companion and want to make the transition a calm balanced and safe affair for him and for us his pack leaders (yes Moxie is a pack leader too!) We'll post pics of the newest member of our pack very soon. Cecil!
We don't have any pics that you can coo over so put on your thinking caps. Come on now don't be shy. He's a black and white hound beagle border collie mix. He's only 2 and he's had a tough go of things already, he was chained up outside by his prior owners and just left there while other dogs from the neighborhood would come and attack him. He still has some scars on his legs from when he was attacked. Through all of that he's kept a stiff upper lip and by all accounts he gets along well with other dogs, animals, (his foster parents have chickens and he doesn't really pay any attention to them) and young kids. His foster mom said he's listed at 25 pounds but that's pretty generous. She also mentioned he's a mellow laid back kind of guy and likes to lay on the couch and chill with his pack leaders. She repeatedly said he's so well behaved and calm that would make a brilliant therapy dog. While we're not looking for that it certainly is a great thing to hear.
We have had our home evaluation (and passed-obviously) we've sent in our paperwork and arranged for the pick up. We've secured a den for him (a crate with some nice blankets for him to lay on) and a couple toys, a leash, food dishes, and some food. Now all we have to do is....wait! Gah! We can't pick him until tomorrow afternoon. It feels like an eternity. We are ready and excited to bring home our new companion and want to make the transition a calm balanced and safe affair for him and for us his pack leaders (yes Moxie is a pack leader too!) We'll post pics of the newest member of our pack very soon. Cecil!
Eat your heart out Ikea Part II
Adding roman numerals to things always seems to make things more regal doesn't it? Back to the Future II and III wouldn't have the same zest if they were Back to the Future 2 and 3. The Superbowl would be a bit less than the Superbowl if it were Superbowl 44. This post is no different it needs to live up to the regalness started by its predecessor a post done in July.
The Cloffice is done. I finished drilling the holes to accommodate the cords in the back slapped a couple coats of poly on it and screwed it onto the metal support braces. As promised in July here is a pic of The Cloffice, or basically a nice piece of wood in our closet.
See? Pretty ritzy eh? We're pretty proud of our handiwork. This helps us maximize precious square footage in our house and it's a nod to the scandanavian design elements of clean simplistic lines and not wasting an inch of space, all elements that we absolutely fell in love with when we were in Iceland.
The Cloffice is done. I finished drilling the holes to accommodate the cords in the back slapped a couple coats of poly on it and screwed it onto the metal support braces. As promised in July here is a pic of The Cloffice, or basically a nice piece of wood in our closet.
See? Pretty ritzy eh? We're pretty proud of our handiwork. This helps us maximize precious square footage in our house and it's a nod to the scandanavian design elements of clean simplistic lines and not wasting an inch of space, all elements that we absolutely fell in love with when we were in Iceland.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Born to Run
So I just finished plowing through Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and it's really opened my eyes to all or the little I knew about running. Personal insights aside it's an interesting and funny read mixing cutting edge anthropology, science and some excellent story telling. But, onto the cool science stuff.
The author wants to be a runner but is constantly plagued with injuries even after running short distances. In a last ditch effort to overcome his injury prone ways he heads to the Copper Canyons in the Mexican dessert like Skywalker seeking Obi Wan to find a reclusive tribe of ultra runners. The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico have practiced running up and around and through the canyons in the dessert up to 50 miles at a stint, for fun. People of all ages run effortlessly for miles and miles through dangerous switchbacks and canyons under the searing dessert sun without so much as the latest and greatest sneakers, hydration packs power gels or a even good pair of socks. They slap on some cheap sandals and set off for a cool 50. After spending a few days with Tarahumara he heads home to do some research and see if science can explain how they do what they do, as well as apply some of what they do to his own body.
So how is it that the Tarahumara peel off 50 miles at a time in cheap sandals without showing any injuries? Apparently it's our own fault. It's our shoes. The human foot is perfectly engineered to run long distances but we feel compelled to wrap it in all sorts of fancy rubber and trappings to prevent it from doing this that and the other thing. A long long time ago Neanderthals roamed the planet. They were happily chillin' when somewhere along the way homo sapiens dropped in. Of the two species Neanderthals were stronger, tougher, had harder-to-break bones, bigger brains and better natural insulation against the cold. Yet within a scant 10,000 years of their arrival homo sapiens were the only kids left on the block, the Neanderthals were gone. How did the strongest smartest and sturdiest lose to the weak one? Neanderthals lacked the ability to run. After the great big winter died down and the jungles and canyons gave way to great big open plains the Neanderthals way of hunting with spears and bow and arrow didn't do them any favors, you can't hunt an animal with a spear that can see you coming from miles away. Sure they could sprint or jog a short distance but they couldn't flat out run like we humans can. Have you ever heard of any creature in the animal kingdom running for 26 miles at a time without stopping? They don't because they can't. Homo sapiens are perfect engines of locomotion we have legs full of springy tendons the ability to sweat to release excess body heat and the ability to breathe while running. All pelt covered creatures release heat by panting and can't take multiple breaths and run at the same time. Point humans. Animals can sprint for a short period of time but ultimately have to stop and pant to release built up heat. Humans also have arched feet and short flat toes perfect for running. That's great that we can run like hell for a long time but that doesn't help us when a cheetah for instance can do laps around us and then turn us into hamburger. It's the endurance not the speed that set us apart and put us at the top.
The author found a tribe in Africa that still hunts animals by persistence hunting-running an animal down until it's exhausted and THEN hurling your spear at it. So that's how we did it. We simply ran animals down until they couldn't move anymore and killed them. Opposable thumbs don't hurt either. Hello top of the food chain.
All this talk of primitive life on the plains sans the newest running sneakers and sans any injuries lead to a blurb about the barefoot running world and the Vibram Fiver Finger shoe. All the information taken together presents a pretty compelling reason to go barefoot. The Beautiful and Awesome Wife and I recently ran a 10K with a friend of ours who was sporting the Fiver Finger shoes. She's been running with them for awhile and really enjoys them and did quite well in the race. She was a bit sore after the race but then again we all were. The Fiver Finger shoes do lend themselves well to other activities i.e. water sports which we do plenty of. That and you feel like you're barefoot how cool is that? I'm certainly intrigued by them and the thought of running in them. I'd like to give it a shot but I haven't arrived at the I want to run barefoot table yet. Maybe sometime I'll shed the chains that shod and answer the call to running barefoot.
The author wants to be a runner but is constantly plagued with injuries even after running short distances. In a last ditch effort to overcome his injury prone ways he heads to the Copper Canyons in the Mexican dessert like Skywalker seeking Obi Wan to find a reclusive tribe of ultra runners. The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico have practiced running up and around and through the canyons in the dessert up to 50 miles at a stint, for fun. People of all ages run effortlessly for miles and miles through dangerous switchbacks and canyons under the searing dessert sun without so much as the latest and greatest sneakers, hydration packs power gels or a even good pair of socks. They slap on some cheap sandals and set off for a cool 50. After spending a few days with Tarahumara he heads home to do some research and see if science can explain how they do what they do, as well as apply some of what they do to his own body.
So how is it that the Tarahumara peel off 50 miles at a time in cheap sandals without showing any injuries? Apparently it's our own fault. It's our shoes. The human foot is perfectly engineered to run long distances but we feel compelled to wrap it in all sorts of fancy rubber and trappings to prevent it from doing this that and the other thing. A long long time ago Neanderthals roamed the planet. They were happily chillin' when somewhere along the way homo sapiens dropped in. Of the two species Neanderthals were stronger, tougher, had harder-to-break bones, bigger brains and better natural insulation against the cold. Yet within a scant 10,000 years of their arrival homo sapiens were the only kids left on the block, the Neanderthals were gone. How did the strongest smartest and sturdiest lose to the weak one? Neanderthals lacked the ability to run. After the great big winter died down and the jungles and canyons gave way to great big open plains the Neanderthals way of hunting with spears and bow and arrow didn't do them any favors, you can't hunt an animal with a spear that can see you coming from miles away. Sure they could sprint or jog a short distance but they couldn't flat out run like we humans can. Have you ever heard of any creature in the animal kingdom running for 26 miles at a time without stopping? They don't because they can't. Homo sapiens are perfect engines of locomotion we have legs full of springy tendons the ability to sweat to release excess body heat and the ability to breathe while running. All pelt covered creatures release heat by panting and can't take multiple breaths and run at the same time. Point humans. Animals can sprint for a short period of time but ultimately have to stop and pant to release built up heat. Humans also have arched feet and short flat toes perfect for running. That's great that we can run like hell for a long time but that doesn't help us when a cheetah for instance can do laps around us and then turn us into hamburger. It's the endurance not the speed that set us apart and put us at the top.
The author found a tribe in Africa that still hunts animals by persistence hunting-running an animal down until it's exhausted and THEN hurling your spear at it. So that's how we did it. We simply ran animals down until they couldn't move anymore and killed them. Opposable thumbs don't hurt either. Hello top of the food chain.
All this talk of primitive life on the plains sans the newest running sneakers and sans any injuries lead to a blurb about the barefoot running world and the Vibram Fiver Finger shoe. All the information taken together presents a pretty compelling reason to go barefoot. The Beautiful and Awesome Wife and I recently ran a 10K with a friend of ours who was sporting the Fiver Finger shoes. She's been running with them for awhile and really enjoys them and did quite well in the race. She was a bit sore after the race but then again we all were. The Fiver Finger shoes do lend themselves well to other activities i.e. water sports which we do plenty of. That and you feel like you're barefoot how cool is that? I'm certainly intrigued by them and the thought of running in them. I'd like to give it a shot but I haven't arrived at the I want to run barefoot table yet. Maybe sometime I'll shed the chains that shod and answer the call to running barefoot.
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