They Should ALL Be Ashamed.

On a day that we all take time to remember the American lives lost 11 years ago today, (and since then as a result of the attack) a lot of us are reflecting on where we (as a nation) have come from, and what direction we would like America to go in the future.

Yes the United States has some major problems to solve. We have citizens in need of quality health care, while others are suffering from hunger. Still others are living on the streets and/or are not able to find work. Crime is up because employment and wages are down.

Our leaders are quoted almost every day, in sound bites on the 24 hour news channels, that they are doing everything possible to help the less fortunate among us. But it’s not hard to see that nothing ever changes. (I call it: SOS,DD)

I am SO tired of all of the bull that comes out of the mouths of our nation’s political leaders. All that they do is point their fingers and blame “the other guys” for creating the problems or not fixing them. If they would ALL spend as much time, effort and money working together to solve our nation’s problems as they do blaming each other, the problems would have been solved YEARS ago. They should ALL be ashamed of themselves! And we as citizens should demand that they “pull their heads out” and get busy working for us!

Petty bickering and end-fighting gets us nowhere. We all put our differences aside in the days following the 9/11 attacks. It’s time we do it again for the good of our country.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.  OUR CHILDREN DESERVE THE SAME AMERICA THAT WE GREW UP IN!!!

Walking Your Dog Could Be Hazardous!

Yes, you read it correctly. I said: walking your dog COULD be Hazardous.

No I have not changed my position on taking your dog for regular walks. I just want to make you aware of a few hazards that you may come across while you are out on a walk.

I was recently sitting on my front porch (with Patchs) enjoying a nice quiet evening at home. While relaxing, I noticed that a lady was walking her dog down the other side of my street. She was walking her dog, listening to her MP3 player and appeared to be texting someone on her phone all at the same time. (Distracted  Walking)

The city had recently repaired a water main leak in the yard across from me and the yard had a 6′ x 10′ area of fresh dirt where it had been back-filled after the repair. Needless to say, she found it. With luck, she was not hurt.

I can’t count the amount of time that I have had near misses while walking. The biggest problems are pot holes in the street, cracks in side walks; stray or loose dogs, and even a stray car or two. I’ve even encountered wild critters. But last night I had one of my CLOSEST calls yet.

It was about 10pm. Patchs and I were walking in a quiet neighborhood on a route we walk about 4 times per week. There aren’t very many street lights on this street, but Patchs alerted on sometime crossing the street about 30 yards ahead. I strained to see it, but it looked like a raccoon or a big cat. It crossed right to left in front of us and then stopped at the curb. It then moved back into the street in front of us.

By this time we were about 20 feet away so I could see it’s outline much better. All at once the critter turned its back to us and I saw it raise it’s tail. Without hesitation, I jurked the leash and made a 180 degree course change. I ran as fast I could (dog in tow) and avoided being sprayed by a skunk.

Had I NOT been paying attention we would both be taking tomato juice baths today.  So please … leave all of the “stuff” behind when you walk your dog. Turn off, gear down, unplug and enjoy a nice relaxing walk with your dog. It may even save you a trip to the hospital or doctor’s office.