Dog Days

With temperatures hovering in the high 80s to mid 90s, it's the dog days of summer as far as I'm concerned!

We do what needs to be done early. Except for Bacchus. He pretty much goes with the flow. His routine is quite consistent. Hub rises at 4:30. I refuse. It's uncivilized! Anyway, he takes Bacchus out with him to pick up the morning papers. Bacchus gets his morning grass angel fix and all the other first thing in the morning stuff. Then back in. Hub starts the papers and has his first cup of coffee. When it's time for his second, Bacchus gets his first batch of pills, between 5 and 5:30, then goes out where the grass is cool and damp and craters.

This is about the time I stagger in, get my coffee, read the papers, shower, eat breakfast and depending on how speedy I am, sometimes get the bed made and the dishes done before 8 which is time for for the second batch of pills and first yogurt.

Usually my old boy comes right in but sometimes he decides he's going to jerk my chain a bit. I don't mind. We always get it done.

It has been just a shade over six months since he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The trials we've endured have sometimes seemed epic. It does show, however, patience and following the doctor's instruction can pay off. We weaned him from his junk food diet from the early days. He is now back on dog food. Canned and kibble. The improvement in his condition is unbelievable but it took a lot of patience and trial and error.

The reward, other than still having ole fuzzy face with us, is that he's more like an old dog who happens to be sick than a sick dog who happens to be old.

How sweet it is!

Neighborhood "Watch Out!"

I'm sorry Mr. President, but you were the one acting "stupidly" after first admitting you weren't present and didn't have all the facts regarding the arrest of you're friend, Henry Gates, then claiming the police acted stupidly. That, in of itself, was a display of bad judgement on your part. The fire storm it kindled is much worse.

First, this is how I see it had it been my own circumstance. If a neighbor noticed anything untoward on my property, I would want them to call the police. I would want the police to respond in a timely manner and approach the intruder with caution - especially if I was the one being mistaken as such!

If asked for identification, I would gladly show it. I would not mouth off to the officer no matter what color he/she was. Nor if it were a black officer, or Hispanic, or Asian would I think him/her racist if I did mouth off and was arrested because of my conduct.

But that's me. I'm not a high falutin Harvard professor with a chip on my shoulder and an over estimation of my recognizability!

That's where it should have stopped. Obama didn't have his teleprompters handy and ended up with his foot in his mouth. Gates mouthed off and got arrested for it. End of story.

I wish. What began with a good deed turned sour by bad behavior has been blown into a full scale racial incident. I am so disgusted with the news coverage of this. Since it's been on the news 24/7 since it happened it's impossible to escape. Why is the media trying so hard to make it into something it wasn't? Anchors are pushing the racial profiling angle. I haven't seen Jesse Jackson yet. That may be an issue of timing on my part, but the oh, so solemn Al Sharpton is weighing in anywhere he can.

Police officers from around the country are being interviewed. Black police officers. They have, to a man, supported the officer involved, yet I've heard more than one anchor state, in effect,"Oh well, he is a cop!"

We are never going to conquer racism or even control it if every time a white officer arrests a badly behaving black or vice versa.

Obama should either apologize to the officer for an inappropriate comment or just shut up. Defending his comment is just fomenting the controversy. I'd not like to think it is by design but if this continues to simmer with the President, or his spokespeople, in the middle of it I will do more than begin to wonder.

National Cankles Awareness Month

This is the last post I'm going to devote to the inanity of things people concern themselves with rather than important issues of the day. Even though they often tie together. Like cankles for instance.

Here some of us are giving the administration a pass on very bad health care legislation because it's Obama and we have to give him a chance. It isn't the fact that seniors are likely to have their health care rationed that's concerning people, it's the fact that if one has cankles one doesn't look good in capri pants! They ought to remember that they too are likely to one day be seniors!

The Wall Street Journal devoted an inordinate amount of space to it this morning! Ah, our obsession with our shortcomings. At least Hillary lives with hers! Just look at her cankles compared to Chelsea's slim, trim ankles!

What are they? When the calf meets the foot without a discernible ankle it's referred to as a cankle. It apparently bothers those so afflicted a great deal in order for an entire month to be devoted to raising awareness!

In doing a bit of research on this I find gyms are devising programs with special exercises devoted to reducing calf to foot fat. Even plastic surgeons are preforming liposuction. There's even a Facebook support group called "Cankels Unite!"

You've got to love it. According to the paper this type of leg used to be referred to as "stovepipes". I remember them as "piano" legs. Here are a few other physical maladies that could rate awareness months. Saddle bags for ample hips. Poor Hillary, she's "saddled" with those too!

Love handles, that plentiful pinch around the waist. Muffin tops that came in with the popularity of low rise jeans. Let's not forget bat wings, the flab we older folks tend to develop on the upper arms. Here's one for the guys - bay window, beer belly or dunlop's disease for the belly dun lop over the belt!

Fortunately, insurance plans don't pay for things cosmetic. It makes me wonder, though, if people have expendable income to have these unsightly blemishes removed or hidden, do they not have the money to pay for a health insurance premium? Who knows. It's rather like the milk versus methane comparison I wrote about yesterday.

As for myself, even though my ankles are fine, I just don't wear capri pants. Nor low rise jeans nor sleeveless blouses. Those days are long gone, if they ever were. Maybe what we really need is a "how we can live with it awareness month"!

Camel's Milk

Well, here we are. Day two of my promise to stay away from politics for awhile. At least in a sense.

I'm finding as I take a step back, some realities about our world become more focused. For instance, I'm finding, just like the health care reform issue that's raging, everyone is talking, shouting and screaming yet no one is listening, what's more, hearing.

That brings me to my topic for today. Camel's milk. According to the Wall Street Journal Camel's milk is going to be the next rage in health food. In some parts of the world it already is and an enterprising lady from North Carolina wants to bring it to the states. Big time. Why? It tastes good and it's better for you than cow's milk.

It is not only more nutritious than cow's milk, it's said to be an aphrodisiac, and help everything from diabetes to autism. The pharmas are going to hate it! Especially the makers of Cialis unless they consider filling those bathtubs with milk! Then the beauty industry, too, will hate them!

There is a market for Camel milk in the states. The entrepreneur, Millie Hinkle, gets nearly daily calls from a Somali shop keeper in Minneapolis who tells her he has at least 70,000 Somalian customers who would buy it immediately. Wow. One shop keeper with 70,000 customers! Great.

There are always problems with new ventures. Ms. Hinkle's main one would be the lack of camels on U.S. soil. There are a few around outside of zoos and circuses but they aren't exactly the ideal backyard pet. They aren't called ships of the desert for no reason. They're as big as one! There are risk factors too. It's said they can be ticklish around the udder and unless whoever is doing the milking is experienced, he may just find his subject laying down mid-milking. That could slow what is already a laborious task.

The United Nations along with many European, Asian and Middle-Eastern countries are already studying ways of increasing camels and the production of their milk. Biomedical research is being done for development of drugs based on antibodies found in camels called nanobodies. These wondrous creatures are a treasure trove, indeed! It would be fun to see pastures full of camels dotting the hillsides. They have a charm about them if you don't mind their spitting in your face should you get too close.

But whoa! Wait a minute. This is where the fact that everyone is talking, planning and researching and no one is listening comes in. Camels, just like cows and goats and llamas, and other produce methane! They are larger than cows. More methane? Now, here's where two diverse sides need to get together. They need to weigh whether a more healthy product that is a staple in a world wide diet, milk, is more important than the amount of methane that would enter the atmosphere as herds increase.

Whoops!

Fat Chance!

It's hot and I'm getting cranky as the temperatures continue to rise. I'm tired of politics. I really am. Especially since I've been preaching to the choir lately and it seems I'm the lone member. So. It's time for a change of pace for at least a few days. As difficult as it may be, I'll look for some positives.

With all the focus on health and health care, let's begin with our new Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin. Those who can be nothing but negative, no matter what, have been all over the fact that she is - uh - chunky. What kind of an example is that?

We women tend to obsess over our weight but that she is chunky never crossed my mind when she was nominated. I looked at her background and felt she was an excellent choice, but then I do march to a different drummer.

We've all been told there is an epidemic of obesity in this country. Yes. At least an epidemic of overweight by some criteria other than your mirror. So just what constitutes overweight and obesity from a more scientific point of view? BMI, Body Mass Index.

Knowing I'm on the heftier side of normal I wanted to see if I was merely overweight or really, actually obese. So I followed the link, plugged in my height and weight and found that, alas, I was merely overweight and not badly so. I consoled myself that this little test does not take into account age, bone structure or any of that good stuff. Just plain and simple, height and weight.

Now the good news! According to a story in this morning's Spokesman , being overweight may not be so bad! It informed me that two recent studies have shown overweight and obese people can expect to live as long as "normal" people while underweight people are at increased risk for premature death!

Take that all you skin and bones super models and movie stars! Ha!

Sure, those who are a tad more than pleasingly plump are ripe for various ailments less likely for their thinner counterparts. Yet the skinny on that is plumps don't suffer from anorexia or bulimia, for example. Nor do they cause all sorts of system wide upsets from restrictive and crazy diets that rob a body of basic nutrition!

So here I am. A senior with weight settling in places I wish it wouldn't. So be it. One thing with having a pet who is not well, I'm learning how to control my penchant for obsessing. That it's carrying over to other aspects of my life has to be good - for my anxiety level, my eating patterns and even how much wine I consume to ease the frustration.

I've accepted the idea I can wear a size larger on the bottom than on top. I've accepted I can wear a larger size period! And still look good! Now I can dress for dinner in something nice and come home satisfingly full and not feel the waist line cutting into me!

So those of you in Mississippi who are fat and happy as number one for the 5th year in a row on the fattest state competition, enjoy. Careful with your kids, but enjoy. And you Colorado folk, who rank the lowest, with your lean and sinewy bodies, don't you drink too many Coors. It could add some fat to the meat on your bones! Oh, woe!

As for Dr. Bengamin, she looks good to me. I just can't build up a trust in those who have that lean and hungry look!