I can… which explains a lot about why I have been working for the same firm for five years. When I was younger, my average tenure at a job was about 18 months. That is roughly how long it takes for me to learn, master, and become bored with a job. The first place I stayed awhile was my job before this one and that was only because I was promoted through four positions in three departments AND we went through a huge merger, all of which kept my job new and interesting for six years.

My current employer is the only place I have worked for multiple years in essentially the same position. The company has grown, so my responsibilities have also - quite a lot really. That does make a big difference - I am all about learning and growing on the job - but I doubt it would be enough to keep me there all this time if my boss weren’t an all around good guy to work for.

Why do I say he’s a good boss? Well, other than being generally personable and human, he recently approved my request to take several hours off once a week to visit classrooms with Snickers as part of a humane education program. He knows I will always work the hours and do the work that needs to be done, but it is inconvenient for the firm’s only tech support to be away during business hours, so it is a sacrifice. I’m very grateful that he’s willing to support my desire to do this!

Work/life balance is important and, even though I work for a small firm that doesn’t have any official policies on flex time or community service, my boss supports those things. That carries a lot of weight when I compare my current compensation to other positions.

PS Snickers and I actually visited classrooms for the first time this morning. More on that later.

Late Sunday night - after midnight - has always been one of my favorite times to walk Snickers. Other than Christmas Day or in the middle of a blizzard, this is the quietest time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. Last night, Snick and I were enjoying a quiet minute on “rat plaza” (don’t ask) and I suddenly realized that I hardly ever see any pigeons when we’re out walking at that hour. They’re usually EVERYWHERE. So, where do they go at night?

(And, if they’re all congregated somewhere at night, wouldn’t that be a great time/place to, um, exterminate a bunch of them?)

Fat people meandering along on the sidewalk bother me.

Umbrellas in my face really bother me.

But, FAT PEOPLE WITH UMBRELLAS???

AUGH!

Edit after the fact: I’m not talking about any and every overweight person and I shouldn’t have written the post the way I did, but since I don’t normally believe in editing or deleting my posts… I’m clarifying. What bothers me is when anyone, of any size, is inconsiderate on the sidewalk. It happens to be that there are a number of people that walk slowly in the middle of the sidewalk on my way to work many days and they make it very hard for the 100s of other people trying to move faster and more efficiently around them. They happen to mostly be large. It also really bothers me when people are inconsiderate with their umbrellas; I’m tall and you have no idea how many umbrella spokes to the face I have to dodge when it is raining. THIS PARTICULAR MORNING, a person, who happened to be quite large and carrying an umbrella was walking the wrong way through a crowd - completely oblivious - and smacking everyone with their freaking umbrella. I’m sorry if my post was inconsiderate, prejudiced or inflammatory.

Our Shiba meetup group was founded on June 15, 2006. Our first meetup was scheduled for June 24, 2006, but was rained out and took place on July 1, 2006. We had a really nice turnout for a group that had only been around for two weeks… 14 people! The group got off to a great start and it has continued to grow and evolve.

We have 185 members and we’ve had 21 meetups so far, including a full blown, catered cocktail pawty and a couple of Shiba-only training workshops. In late March, we spawned a rescue group that has adopted out 3 Shibas already and has eight more in foster care at the moment.

We had our first anniversary meetup this past Saturday and a couple of our members got together and made a video. I was just watching it and noticed one of our rescue dogs (was Blueberry, now renamed Kodi) trotting along and smiling and having a good time at his first meetup after joining his new family. It made me SO HAPPY that I needed to post the video and brag about the group a little.

The NYC Shiba Inus present “The Canine Cocktail Pawty” to benefit Animal Haven SoHo. The first Canine Cocktail Pawty was such a hit, that these mischevious dogs have decided to do it again. We’ll be getting together for drinks, hors d’ouvres, off-leash play time, and a raffle.

What: Cocktails and Hors d’ouvres
Who: All the coolest dogs in town
When: 6pm, Sunday, July 22, 2007
Where: Animal Haven SoHo Adoption Center

Everyone is invited, regardless of breed or species! Well-behaved dogs attend free. Well-behaved humans pay $40 each. For details and to buy tickets online, visit caninecocktailpawty.com

NYC Shiba Rescue has been around for less than a month and we just took in our third foster dog, Sabrina. Surely there won’t always be so many…?

Finding foster homes - and then adoptive homes - at this rate is practically a full time job. And, in case you don’t know, I already HAVE a full time job. And a ton of freelancing work. And a kid. And two dogs. Good thing I have no social life!

Anyway, you can read about Sabrina, and our other foster dogs, on the NYC Shiba Rescue Blog.

So, I’m supposed to be on vacation this week. All I’ve done is work. It’s good though. It’s (1) getting a bunch of past due hanging-over-my-head freelance stuff done and (2) doggie rescue stuff. What have I been up to since my last post? Well, let’s see.

*Foster Mom Terra had already named him Hero when I got there. Poor Hero can walk but it’s pretty wobbly and he falls down sometimes. He has a terrible looking skin condition, which the shelter didn’t tell us anything about before we picked him up. The vet we originally went to wanted a fortune, so I called my vet and they squeezed us in at closing time. They examined him and gave him pain meds and an anti-inflamatory and kept him overnight. They ran blood work to rule out thyroid problems or testicular tumors that could be causing the skin condition.

My vet doesn’t think he has any fresh fractures but he has a good bit of muscle deterioration and arthritis. Mostly likely scenario is that this guy never recuperated from a previous accident (notes from the shelter say he has a plate in his hip from before they got him) and then was injured again recently. His general health checks out pretty well though except for the back legs and the skin. The vet thinks with some exercise and physical therapy he could build his muscle tone up to compensate. He’s only about 5 years old, so he’s got some good years left in him if we can get him healthy and neutered and adopted out. He’s definitely adoptable. He was an angel for us. He never complained when we picked him up. He walked as much as he could and we carried him when he got tired. When we were waiting at the vets he laid down and put his head on my leg. He was just so sweet. He’s got the Shiba pride and stubborn streak though. It showed through even though he was tired and in pain.

**The vet decided to keep Hero a second night. He’s resting comfortably. He has Lyme disease and a low thyroid. Nothing serious though. Vet changed his antibiotic to cover the Lyme disease. He got a bath and will get treated with Revolution in the morning. Vet thinks with good nutrition and exercise he’ll be ready to be neutered in a couple weeks and we’ll redo the blood work then too.

***Terra said he’s walking way better already and she has him settled in at her apartment. Her female Shiba wants to PLAAAAY with him, but she’ll have to wait.

I’ve been busy. OK? Just busy, that’s all. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since my pre-cocktail pawty post.

And that’s just the stuff I can remember off the top of my head!

Yes, I am certifiably insane.

People ask me sometimes how I deal with the whole single mom with two dogs and two jobs thing all whilst living in midtown Manhattan. I usually shrug and go “eh, it’s not so bad,” meanwhile knowing it probably isn’t normal that I (1) almost never sleep more than 6 hours a night, (2) haven’t had time to sit down and read a book in several years, and (3) only take vacation time from my real job when I need to do something for Miss ~T~, catch up on my freelance work, or clean my apartment. Oh, and have I mentioned that I’m also the treasurer for my local, private dog run and the organizer for the NYC Shiba Inu meetup group?

So… that said, I suddenly decided about six weeks ago that it would be fun to have one of my Shiba meetups be a "canine cocktails" event.

Ahem. Yeah, right. Me and my SIMPLE ideas.

On Tuesday, March 20, at 7pm, the NYC Shiba Inus are hosting EIGHTY PEOPLE - yes, that’s 80 people - at a fund raiser for Animal Haven Soho. If you google canine cocktail pawty, you’ll get an idea why so many people have bought tickets already. Plus, this doesn’t show up in Google yet, but we were featured on a FULL PAGE in Time Out New York! How awesome is that? (It looks better in print.)

If it goes well, which it seems that it will, it may become a regular event. It has its own website and I may even have a corporate sponsor lined up for next time! (More on that if it pans out.)

Anyway, wish me luck. I’ll be taking a LOOOONNNNG NAP when this is all over.

What good is having a blog if you can’t use it to promote your favorite causes???

What: Cocktails and Hors d’ouvres
When: 7pm, Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Why: to raise money for Animal Haven
Where: Animal Haven SoHo

For more information and to purchase tickets online (before March 12), please visit caninecocktailpawty.com.

Miss ~T~, Snickers, Secret and I are looking forward to seeing all of our New York friends (human and canine) at the party!

A couple weeks ago, the NYC Shiba Inus and their Human Companions (that’s our Meetup Group name), held its first inter-breed meetup. We got together with The Beagle Pack. There were about about 40 dogs there and they had a blast. This video was posted by a Shiba meetup member today and the choice of music really made me laugh.

PS How many times did you spot Snickers?

Edit: To learn why the song choice makes me giggle so (and the Shiba owned will get this best), check out some of the lyrics:

One, two, three and I come with the redneck style
cause you know I get paid by the mile, like Avis
I pave this, fast save this, everybody smile. . .
And act gracious
See I rob banks, I pull pranks, sometimes I eat
Franks and knishes - best wishes - I’m vicious
but here I am again like CNN delivery my friend.

Stick em up punk, it’s the fun lovin criminal
Stick em up punk, it’s the fun lovin criminal

Yes we bug a lot and my friends is loud and. . .
I’m more freaky than disco 2000
I scream, I yell, I bark, I bite
I’ll hit you with an egg on a hot summer night
I never let the cops get wind of me
And I never, ever, ever say die
I never take myself too seriously
cause everybody knows fat birds dont fly

The NYC Shiba Inus are throwing a party! A fund raiser to be exact. Shibas may be a stubborn bunch, but they’re generous to their friends and our Shibas have decided to raise money for one of their favorite places… Animal Haven. Let’s help Animal Haven raise the money they need to finish their Soho facility!

There will be catered food, drinks (ever had A Screaming Shiba?) and gourmet dog treats. Well-behaved dogs attend for free. Well-behaved people are $40/person. (Bad dogs and bad people should stay home.)

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are non-refundable. Please click here to purchase your tickets by March 12, 2007.

Those of you outside NYC probably don’t realize there is a RAGING debate going on here about off-leash time in the city parks. Even so, I think any dog person can appreciate this Op Ed in the Times today. I’ve said for years that having dogs somehow makes us more human…

Op-Ed Contributor
My Life as a Dog
By JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
Published: November 27, 2006

FOR the last 20 years, New York City parks without designated dog runs have permitted dogs to be off-leash from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Because of recent complaints from the Juniper Park Civic Association in Queens, the issue has been revisited. On Dec. 5, the Board of Health will vote on the future of off-leash hours.

Retrievers in elevators, Pomeranians on No. 6 trains, bull mastiffs crossing the Brooklyn Bridge … it is easy to forget just how strange it is that dogs live in New York in the first place. (read more)

Miss ~T~ and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time last month. A friend that lives in Brooklyn invited us out to visit the Garden and have dinner w/her in Park Slope. We almost never venture into the boros unless we’re headed to the airport, but we make exceptions for friends. Boy, were we glad we did! Everything was just gorgeous, dinner was delicious and the company was wonderful.

I uploaded my favorites of all the photos ~T~ took. Click the pretty picture to visit the gallery.

Thanks for the great day in Brooklyn Pam. We owe you one!

I have a lot to be thankful for, but this is not a long, sappy post listing all those things. This is just to say that I really love my friends and I’m so happy to finally be living in the version of New York City that I was headed for when I left the South and moved up here in the 80s. (Yes, the 80s. I am that old.) I didn’t find it then, although I found a lot of great clubs, fun times <grin>, one life-long friend and my first ex-husband (not that there’s been a second one yet, but…).

Anyway, my point was that I love that New York City is the biggest small town on earth. I have made a lot of good friends here and a number of them are within walking distance of my apartment. Yesterday afternoon, I received a last minute dinner invitation for myself, Miss ~T~, Snickers and Secret to all go over to a friend’s place for homemade chicken stew. YUM! Today, we spent the afternoon and evening with friends (old and new) eating a traditional t(of)urkey dinner with all the trimmings and then singing karaoke for a few hours. And, the funnest part? There were FOUR Shiba Inus at this gathering. hee hee!

Anyway, it’s great here. I love it. And I love my friends. Thanks guys!

subtitled Bye Bye (for now) to Benedict and Kaos

Benedict and Kaos have a 3pm flight out of LGA to Miami. TODAY. They’re getting out of here before it gets cold again!!! I’m so happy for them. They were sleeping in various places (like ATM vestibules) that couple weeks when it was so cold. The cops mostly left him alone. (He’s a nice guy.) He can’t go in any of the shelters with Kaos. He’d been getting some day work here and there too, but only when he had someone to leave Kaos with. (It’s hard to go to work when you have no home to leave your dog in!) He’s been talking about trying to get to Florida (he has family there) before the cold set in, but (1) he didn’t have his ID and (2) traveling with the dog is next to impossible - it makes hitchhiking way harder; Amtrak won’t take dogs; Greyhound doesn’t take dogs - dogs can fly but only when it’s above 45 degrees, plus flying is expensive. We’d talked about trying to find a place to keep Kaos while Benedict hitched down to Florida (besides being cheaper, he hates to fly) and then fly her down to meet him, but he didn’t want to leave her behind.

Well, then, "How did this happen?" you may ask. Apparently, Benedict and Kaos have angels watching out for them. About two weeks ago, he and I were talking and he asked me if I knew Bettina. "Bettina, with the little Chihuahua? Sure, I know her." (All us dog-folk know each other, after all.) He proceeded to tell me that Bettina had offered to buy him a plane ticket as soon as he had his ID in order, which he had just accomplished. Wow! I ran into Bettina a few days later and told her what he’d said. That night, she bought him a ticket and arranged for Pet Chauffeur to pick the two of them up at 11:30 this morning. Then, another neighborhood friend, Mary, who I’ve blogged about before, donated Rafter’s kennel for Kaos to fly in. Benedict took Kaos back to the vet to get her health certificate and Bettina picked up the kennel from Mary. This morning, Benedict and Kaos met up with Bettina, got the kennel and the e-ticket info, and hopped into the pet taxi to LGA!

He promised he’d call me after they get settled, to let me know they’re doing alright. I sure hope he does. I’m going to miss having them around the neighborhood, but I’m SO GLAD they’re headed somewhere warm now.

Last, but not least, Bettina took on a big expense (Benedict’s ticket, Kaos’s ticket, Pet Chauffeur, etc.), so if anyone wants to make a donation to help cover her costs, let me know.

If you live in the city and you don’t go to the flea market, you don’t know what you are missing. You really should check it out.

First, there is Chuck. He makes benches, stools, and desks from reclaimed wood and they are incredible. I bought one - custom made to the size I needed and stained the color I wanted - 6 or 8 months ago and I just love it. He and his wife Jeannie are very sweet people; Snickers likes to visit with them every Saturday morning.

I recently bought a vintage, black leather coat (part of the kinky outfit actually) for only $20. Seriously. It was going to be $25, but the merchant didn’t have change for my two twenties and gave it to me for $20. Miss ~T~ has purchased more than a few adorable handbags from our favorite merchant of all time - Judith Adler - and I got another REALLY awesome leather jacket from her for a price too low to be disclosed!

Oh, AND, the best deal so far? I got these awesome, red LEATHER chairs at the flea market a few weeks ago for only $125. No, not each. $125 for the pair!!! Can you believe that? They are in amazing condition and they are very comfortable too. Almost too good to be true!

Periodically, on my way to work, I see a woman walking two older dogs, I think one is a Yorkie and the other, a Maltese. I don’t know how often I pass her - maybe not so often - but periodically for over 3 1/2 years is enough to have a sense of recognition. I hadn’t seen her for quite awhile actually and then a week or two ago, I passed her and she only had one dog. I thought “oh. oh no.”

This morning, I saw her again. I was already running a few minutes late for work, but there she was, walking one cute little old dog (the Yorkie) I walked up to her and explained that I see her walking her dogs every now and again and I noticed she only had one with her that last couple times I saw her. I asked “Did he… ?”

She said yes, he was killed by a cab just a block from where we were standing. She was waiting at the corner for the pedestrian light about 6 months ago and a cab turned the corner cutting really close in front of her. He killed one dog and sent her and the other dog to the ER and the vet. We talked for a few more minutes about how she was dealing with it, her remaining dog, etc. I told her I was really sorry and then I went to work.

I’ve had close calls with cabs myself. They don’t see dogs that are low to the ground and they cut SO CLOSE to pedestrians. I saw a cab run over a woman’s foot one day outside the Port Authority! There is one intersection near my apartment where the cabs just WHIP around the corner and Snickers has almost been hit twice as we’ve started to cross the street and had a cab cut in front of us.

Walking dogs in the city can be a real challenge with the traffic, the crowds, people pulling out of parking garages without looking, construction sites, electrified grates, etc.

This woman seemed like such a nice lady and her remaining dog was so sweet and well-behaved. I just feel terrible that that happened to them.

Fighter planes are coming to watch over us and everything. “Just in case.” It’s very surreal.

Thank god it was small.

Sorry it has taken a week to get around to writing this post. I’m working too much and sleeping too little. I think my brain is too tired for anything coherent, so I’ll just bullet point the vet visit and what I learned about Benedict last Saturday. K? K.

• The vet said Kaos is quite healthy and has great teeth.
• Kaos was very good for her shots. The vet muzzled her for the blood draw and temperature. Kaos didn’t like that much but she was REALLY good. She just stared into Benedict’s face. He said it was OK and she believed him. She’s really devoted to him.
• Kaos was SO GOOD with the other dogs in the waiting room. Another dog there was aggressively barking at her, but Kaos took it all in stride.
• There were about 6 of us in the waiting room talking about the dogs. Benedict said something about Kaos being protective when he’s sleeping and I saw a couple of confused faces. They hadn’t realized he was homeless. Didn’t faze them at all though. :)
• Benedict is planning to move to Florida before winter. I knew that before Saturday but we talked a lot about his plans to get there and what he’ll do then. (It’s a mile walk each way - lots of time to talk.)
• He has stuff stored with a cousin in Florida and a small piece of land (no house though). He wants to build something there.
• He’s a college grad, which didn’t surprise me AT ALL.
• He gave up a ride to South Carolina that was offered to him on Saturday morning, because he didn’t want to miss Kaos’s vet visit. Now that she has her rabies tag and a health certificate though, he’s good to travel if he gets the chance.
• I’m going to take him a city dog license app to fill out and then just mail it in with my address on it and give him the tag when it comes.
• I haven’t seen him and Kaos ALL WEEK, but I haven’t seen the guys he normally hangs out with either so we probably just haven’t crossed paths.
• I gave him my cell phone number after our walk to the vet and back. He promised he’d let me know if an opportunity to leave the city arises and that he’ll give me an update after they get settled in Florida.
• Someday he may even read all this and I hope he won’t be mad that I shared so much about him with "strangers."
• Oh, and, btw, thanks to a 10% discount from the vet and donattions from you strangers… the $251 vet bill only cost me $56. :) THANKS!

• I’m porting the blog to WordPress and redesigning the templates sometime in the next couple months. Fun fun.
• I received some photos last week from a high school reunion that was held this summer. (I’ve never made it home for one.) I’m sad to say I only managed to recognize 4 people out of about 40.
• WATER, IT DOES THE BODY GOOD!
• Snickers is scheduled to take his AKC Canine Good Citizen test on October 24. We have some work to do between now and then.
• Did someone shorten the days to less than 1,440 minutes each and not tell me about it? Lately, I can’t seem to keep up with everything that has to get done in one day.
• A neighborhood friend gave Benedict some dog food for Kaos a couple days ago.
• Why do tourists insist on trying to flag down cabs that are occupied???
• ~T~ is getting a Sidekick. She’s paying for it herself from savings. WOW!

First, it turns out that Benedict spells her name Kaos and it’s not just a cute misspelling. It’s an acronym! Kicks Ass On Spot, which is just that much cuter to me really because she’s such a sweet dog.

Secondly, here are a couple pictures of the two of them. Click to embiggen, as Lachlan would say.

  

Thirdly, yes, we went to the vet today! More on that later. I’m exhausted.

Best. Lunch Break. Ever.

A (gay, male) coworker alerted me to the existence of National Underwear Day this morning. He and I made a lunch date and strolled the few blocks to Times Square to get our ogle on. As we were leaving, I thought “oh… blog. photos. cell phone. duh!” Unfortunately, my res was set low, so the photos don’t do justice to reality at all.

Other than the obvious eye candy, my favorite moment was watching a 60-something female tourist have her picture taken with one of the models. Who was wielding the camera? Her husband, of course!

PS There were girls in underwear too, but, you know… who really cares???

No no, not a yurt shaped like a pentagon!

This morning I was thinking about yurts again. (For those of you that are relatively new to my blog, I do that occasionally.) The new train of thought started at the dog run a few evenings ago. An acquaintance was talking about buying land upstate and building a cabin. I said build a yurt!!!

That got me thinking about the fact that I may never live in a yurt because I may never actually leave New York. My NYC dream used to be to build a house on top of a building. A little house with a white picket fence and a yard. That’s what a real penthouse is, you know… a house built on a roof. I’ve only been in one real penthouse so far, but it was quite nifty. Anyway… I’ve combined the old dream and the new dream and now I want to build a YURT on top of a building in NYC.

Now, I just need to be wealthy enough to buy some good roof rights and then have a yurt made out of some sort of sound blocking material. Cool.

PS I’ll let go of the Alpaca idea if I go with the pentyurt.

This was a recent IM conversation with a friend of mine. A few mingled side conversations have been erased to protect the not-so-innocent.

me: I’m thinking again of moving. I realize more and more that the things I do now are not unique to NYC like they used to be. I am paying a fortune to live here when maybe I don’t need to.
me: Do you know people in other places only spend about $20 per class for agility?

she: it’s kind of amazing isn’t it…
she: they also don’t spend 8 dollars on a box of cheerios.

me: LOL!!! tell me about it

she: where are you thinking?

me: someone yesterday was like “oh but you don’t have to pay for a car and gas, etc. so the classes really aren’t any more for you than they are for the people that have to drive to them.” I said “do you pay $x,xxx* a month for a 400 square foot, 5th floor walkup, one bedroom apt???” Of course not!
me: I keep thinking I might try Chicago. I’d hate the cold, but it is supposed to be so much nicer and cheaper than NYC but still pretty metropolitan. I might even live in the burbs and get a car.

she: woah! a car!
she: that’s a move

me: I know. But it would be easier with the dog really.

she: oh, I’m ready believe me

me: I’m freaked out by the IDEA of not living in NYC, but I bet if I moved somewhere like Chicago, I’d adjust.

she: I know… I’m just ready to upgrade my quality of life

me: exactly! me too
me: oh AND I heard on the radio this AM that NYC is one of the WORST places to get a decent job nowadays. Between that and the high cost of living and interest rates going up, I’m about ready to move ANYWHERE.

she: I believe it.
she: The salaries are not reflective of the real estate prices.

me: then there’s always the overhanging threat of another terrorist attack

she: which leads to therapy bills
she: more money

me: LOL!
me: That would be even funnier if it weren’t true.

she: hahah

me: and here we are being typical New Yorkers, just complaining away about it all. that’s what we all do, you know.
me: and then we stay
me: we’re like crack addicts

she: god, you’re so right… perfect explanation.

*removed for the sake of privacy

There’s a battle going on in NYC regarding off-leash time in the parks. The Parks Dept. allows dogs to be off-leash in many large public parks (that don’t have dog runs) before 9:00 AM and after 9:00 PM. (Sadly, as any fellow Shiba owned will tell you, I can not take advantage of this cool privilege so Snick and I stay home whenever our friends go to Central Park.) Not long ago, a lawsuit was started to force the Parks Dept. to end this privilege.

I followed a link today to a blog that calls itself "Prospect Park Advocate" and almost gave myself a headache rolling my eyes over and over. Whoever writes this blog is clearly completely clueless about dog behavior and is most likely terrified of dogs. She (I assume she from the writing) posts pictures of well behaved dogs playing and exploring the park with their owners and then says things like "…that they have no problem with fighting unleashed dogs in Prospect Park," (under a picture of dogs wrestling in the snow) and "Can someone explain how an owner is ‘in control’ of their dog when it’s running loose?" (under a picture of the off-leash rules that state owners must be in control of their dogs).

<sigh>

This started off to be a post about how funny I thought it was that the writer thought the two dogs in the snow were fighting, but now I’m frustrated. I don’t understand why people like this think it’s OK to try and take away rights and pleasures from whole groups of people because of their own fears and prejudices.

For more information on what’s happening with the lawsuit, go here.

~T~ is in town for the week between visiting her grandparents most of the summer and going to visit her dad for a couple weeks, so I took today and tomorrow off work to hang with her. We’d just come home this afternoon after manicures and pedicures and I was checking my email before dashing out to see The Devil Wears Prada. Mostly routine stuff in my inbox: email from a client scheduling some computer work, email from Shiba-L, newsletter from UrbanHound. Interesting newsletter title: “The 10 top reasons why New York City is great (for dogs).” Let’s read that. Click. It opens. I start reading…

Dear urbanhounders,

Outsiders believe that anyone with a dog in New York City must be crazy. But we know better. And so we dedicate this issue to the top 10 things that make New York City great (for dogs):

10. The boom in local Meetup groups for breed enthusiasts;

9. Blogs like NYCityPets and NYCgadgetgirl’s Snick the Dog that chronicle a dog’s life in the Big Apple;

8. Hound-friendly stores…

Wait a second! Snick the Dog?!?!?! Cool!!!

When I picked Snick up from doggie daycare this evening I said “Snick! Guess what? You’re famous!” He looked up at me and said “Neat. Wazzat? Can I go smell that pile of garbage over there? Please?”

So, there you go. Snick had his 15 minutes of fame and, like a true blue New Yorker, he blew it off and got on with what needed to be done. Good dog!

PS to UrbanHound - I’ve been visiting UrbanHound for almost three years now and I’m flattered by the link. Thanks!

I just got spit on. On purpose. By a bum in the street. Across at least SIX FEET of sidewalk that was between him and me.

When I looked back, he looked very self-satisfied. You’ll all be VERY proud of me though. I managed to hold my tongue. I walked away and looked for a cop. Last night, I swear I saw 20 cops while I was walking Snick. (6 of them were on horseback and all together, so I don’t know if they really count, but, whatever.) Tonight, no such luck. I finally saw one about 5 blocks from where it happened, which seemed pointless, and he was busy talking to someone.

I text’d a friend - because I had to tell someone - and he said I really needed to report it. I went back out and looked for the one cop I’d seen but I couldn’t find him again. All I could do was call 311 and report it.

I feel very disatisfied by that though. I want to go smack the guy upside the head (with protective clothing on, of course, he was gross). Don’t worry… I won’t. In the long wrong, he didn’t actually hurt me. (He just made me sick to my stomach for a few minutes.) And he did make me grateful that I still have some anti-bacterial soap in the apartment even though I’ve decided to stop using anti-bacterial stuff.

So, I guess that is that.

Snickers and I met a homeless man this weekend named Benedict. He has a 6 month old puppy named Chaos. Chaos is one well-kept, good looking dog and she is clearly devoted to Benedict.

He said he took her from a man that was training her for the dog fights. (For those of you that don’t live in NYC, yes, we have underground dog fights here. Pets get stolen for them sometimes. It’s definitely A Bad Thing.) Anyway, Benedict took Chaos away from that and you can tell he takes very good care of her. His backpack, which was mostly all he had, was full of dog food. Chaos looked healthy. He said she’d had distemper, parvo and rabies shots, but he needs to get her on heartworm preventative. I told him he also has to get a city license for her ASAP so he doesn’t have to worry about her being taken away from him as a "stray"

If a homeless man can take such good care of his canine companion, what the hell is wrong with the people who surrender dogs to the pound? Don’t they understand that they made a commitment to a living being? Don’t they realize their former family pet will most likely DIE because they couldn’t be bothered? Maybe they just don’t care.

Benedict cares. I like him.

A fellow New York dog owner, Amanda Soto (and her dog Butch, of course), started a group on Dogster recently called "NYC - Let me get on that train!" It did not take long for that group to start growing!

Long story short, discussion was had and then Amanda did a lot of work to put together a great petition to the MTA. It asks for the right for leashed dogs to be allowed on the subway and suggests ways to make sure the dogs are not a nusiance, such as only allowing dogs that have passed the Canine Good Citizen test. She even talked with the AKC and got permission to use their CGC info/language in the petition!

So, huge props to Amanda (and Butch for inspiring her). Also, if you are in NYC, make copies of this petition and start spreading it around. Get signatures. Send them to the MTA. Let’s make big waves. Snickers says "Let me on that train!"

I couldn’t resist. There were so many people on meetup waiting to see if someone would start one, that I finally joined meetup.com and started a NYC Shiba group. For any NYC Shiba folks out there, check it out and join if you’re interested: http://shibainu.meetup.com/101/

The first meetup is scheduled for June 24th at 11:00 AM in the dog run at Madison Square Park.

I work on Fifth right by 42nd. Even though we’re on the 27th floor of our building, we can hear the bagpipes on St. Pat’s morning before the parade. I make a point not to go outside any time there is a parade or event on Fifth, so I haven’t been out since I got here this morning. I just heard one of the guys come back from lunch though and he was saying he’d never seen so many blond drunks in midtown. He said “They’re everywhere and they’re all drunk. Madison Avenue smells like beer.” It struck me as funny.

It also reminded me of a text message an Irish-American friend sent me a couple years ago on St. Patrick’s Day. It said “Happy drunken family members calling me from a bar where I can never show my face again Day.”

Makes you wanna be Irish for the day, eh?

I don’t normally like to walk Snickers around Times Square, but he tries to take me that way 2 or 3 times a week for some reason. If he pulls that way on a Sunday night, I will relent. It’s really quite empty and quiet late Sunday night. So, yes, Snick and I walked through Times Square tonight. As we’re walking along, someone standing by a pay phone mutters about a dog as we go by. About 6 feet later, Snicks stops to mark a lamp post or something and this guy comes up to me, circles around in front of me and goes “We have guys DYING in the war on terror over in Iraq and you’re worried about your DOG?” I’m looking at this guy I’m thinking

• “So, I shouldn’t walk my dog and let him pee, because he’s not a war veteran?” or
• “Should I send him to Iraq right away to do his part?” or
• maybe I should simply ask the nut in front of me (who is dressed like a wanna be soldier and probably tried to enlist but they wouldn’t take him) "What would you suggest?"

Anyone who knows me in person will be amazed to learn that I asked him none of these things, because I have learned (really) not to encourage confrontations with the crazies. Instead, I simply looked him in the eyes and, with my most disdainful tone of voice, asked him “Exactly WHY are you talking to me?”

He looked befuddled and wandered away. I was pleased that Snickers doesn’t have to enlist.

Tonight, Snickers got to do something only country dogs usually get to do. He trotted proudly home with a prize held carefully between his teeth.

He didn’t exactly hunt this down and kill it, but he certainly proved himself to be capable of procurring dinner.

We were outside for our bedtime walk. As we were walking north on 8th Ave we started to pass two ladies carrying identical shopping bags. These weren’t just any shopping bags though; they each had a big picture of a DOG on the side. As Snick came along the lady in front, he slowed down and looked at her bag. Then he slowed down some more until the 2nd lady came up beside him and he looked her bag. Sped up to 1st lady. Sniffed bag. Slowed down to 2nd lady. Sniffed. Sped up to 1st lady and nudged. Of course, by this time they had slowed down and were going “oh, how cute! he’s looking at them!” The next thing I knew, Snicks must have sent out some subliminal messages, because one of them was searching around in her doggie bag for something.

I almost protested but it was so cute, I had to let it play out. She handed him a BONE (which I later learned was a Pedigree Dentabone). He put it down on the sidewalk to check it out and the ladies walked on. He then picked it up and practically DRAGGED me several blocks home, carrying it all the way. We passed the ladies on the way; as we went by, I heard “oh, look, he’s carrying it!”

So, to make a long story at least marginally shorter, we got to our building, I took off his leash and he trotted up to the fifth floor, bone in mouth and proceeded to immediately polish off half of it.

I didn’t get a chance to say thank you to the nice doggie bag toting ladies, but I wish I had. They created a memorable moment for me and made Snick VERY happy.

AUGH! NYC is COVERED in snow and it’s WONDERFUL!!! Snick and I spent almost two hours outside this morning running around and diving through snow drifts. We finally made it to the dog run and there were other dogs there and Snick had SO MUCH FUN running around playing chase in the snow. He’s a snow dog at heart. He looked so proud and regal when he would stop and stand and look around. Thing is, I didn’t take my camera because it is just too big. ~T~ met up with us about halfway through, but she didn’t have HER camera either because she lost her charger and the battery’s dead. I must get some pictures of Snick in the snow. I must must must!

Just when I’ve deleted the Hell’s Kitchen category from the blog for lack of entries… an entry about HK presents itself.

I received an email yesterday from HKNA (the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association) regarding an exhibit at the Municipal Art Society. It’s called Livable Streets: A New Vision For New York City and it is all about shifting NYC away from being auto-centric toward being pedestrian-centric. If you know me personally, you already know that I could not agree with that idea MORE. So, check it out, especially you New Yorkers.

• Municpal Art Society info on the exhibit
• Promo from the opening gala
  (The page also contains several other interesting clips re: the traffic problems in the city, particularly HK.)

I took a day off from my “real” job today and BOY did I get a lot done. AND, I even relaxed a little too.

After I ran my last errand of the day (picking up laundry at 9:55 PM), I finally uploaded some of my favorite NYC photos. You can see them here if you’d like!

A list of things I never seem to have time enough to do:

• Chilling with ~T~
• Chilling with any of the many books I own and haven’t yet read
• Talking with my Daddy
• Networking with clients and colleagues
• Helping ~T~ with her homework
• Playing pool with my good buddy Mark
• Writing the posts that belong in my Philosophy category
• Training Snickers
• Keeping my apartment as clean and organized as I would like
• Reading some great blogs that I know about, but haven’t managed to fit into my daily routine yet
• Writing that book…

There are more. Those are just the ones bugging me at the moment.

Started this entry on January 1 and then forgot about it… It seemed fitting to complete and post it now. Now that I’m thinking of leaving.

I had New Years Day brunch with my friend Mary earlier today. Both of us spent time outside the city during the holidays. We have also both lived in other urban, and rural, areas, so our conversation turned a few times to the pros and cons of life in NYC and the things that make us consider leaving and then ultimately decide yet again to stay.

The day I returned to the city, I thought I was going to lose my mind. Traffic coming through New Jersey was awful (of course). Getting through the tunnel and into the neighborhood was fine, but then finding a place to park was horrendous (of course). I finally parked a block from home, got T and Snick and one load of luggage into the apartment, went downstairs and found a PARKING TICKET on the car! And not just ANY parking ticket, but a $115 parking ticket. <sigh> AND I had fed the meter and had the receipt and an ex-boyfriend’s police patch on the dash. I was so frustrated and upset that I didn’t think “oh, let me leave the car here now that it already has a ticket on it anyway,” and I moved it into a lot about a 1/2 block from the apartment. I finished unloading everything (including carrying Snick’s wire crate up to the 5th floor), dropped off laundry at the laundromat and then headed uptown to drop off the car. I was so fed up and so ready to leave the city forever. I dropped off the car (mercifully close to home) and started walking back. About 6 blocks into my walk, something clicked in my head. “I’m home. New York. I LOVE it here!” I was walking, dodging tourists, smelling pretzels and hotdogs and loving my town. THEN Snick’s friend Rafter called (via his owner of course) and said WOOF WOOF which translates to “meet me at the dog run in 20.”Life’s good.
I *HEART* NYSome interesting facts:

• New York City has had proponents of its independent statehood (and even nationhood) as far back as 1787. It has long been commonly recognized that the upstate state government at Albany is of a different world than ultra-urban NYC, which is about as devolved as a U.S. city can legally be (NYC itself contains multiple counties and collects its own income tax).
• New York City - officially named the City of New York - is the largest financial center in the world.
• The city is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture.
• The city is home to all of the missions to the United Nations, which has its headquarters in New York City.
• New York City has an area of 309 square miles. Estimated in 2004 to have 8,168,388 residents, it is the heart of the New York Metropolitan Area, which is one of the largest urban conglomerations in the world with a population of over 22 million.
• The city includes large populations of immigrants from over 180 countries who help make it one of the most cosmopolitan places on earth.
• The city serves as an enormous engine for the global economy, and is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other place in the United States.
• The city is estimated to have a Gross Metropolitan Product of nearly $500 billion.
• If it were a nation, the city would have the 17th highest gross domestic product in the world, far exceeding that of Switzerland ($377 billion) and nearly equaling that of Russia ($586 billion).

NYC facts courtesy of Wikipedia

My lease renewal came last week. 1 year? 2 years? Move? We’ve been in this apartment for almost 3 years. It’s very small, but it’s cozy. We have everything pretty much the way we want it. We’re happy here. It’s convenient AND the rent will still be reasonable even with a two year renewal.

On the other hand, when we were driving home from Christmas in Indy we started talking about moving out of the city for a couple years. We’re still talking about it and now the renewal is here to force a decision. To move or not to move?

I love the city. I’ve spent most of my adult life here. By choice. T’s never known any other life, unless you count her spring and summer trips down south to visit her grandparents. We’re tired though. Tired and stressed. We keep talking about how living somewhere else for a couple years would be relaxing.

But tonight we were eating and I realized… NO TAKEOUT!

I’m not sure I can live anywhere that I can’t pick up the phone at 11:30 PM and order just about anything I want and have it delivered. So, I said that to T and she said “But we’ll still have Fresh Direct.” I was like “uh, no, honey, we won’t.” She’s very worried now that we might actually move.

When I went out to walk Snick Dog this morning, the streets were practically empty due to the heavy restrictions on driving into the city during the strike. I have to say it was NICE NICE NICE to not be dodging the idiot B&T drivers while attempting to walk through my own neighborhood.

I’ve recently started reading this great journal about the shelter/rescue/foster/adoption situation in NYC. It really makes you think about how irresponsible society is in regards to the well being of our pets.

It’s also made me guiltily think “I would help if I could,” which JUST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. I’m afraid I can’t foster in my tiny apartment with Snick, my daughter, and my already incredibly full schedule, but I have to find a way to make a difference.

We all should.

Wow. That was wonderful. My mini me and I just got home from seeing A Soldier’s Play at Second Stage. All I can say is that it was just wonderful. Everyone in it was fabulous. The audience was so caught up in it that you could hear collective sighs, gasps, and clucks at all the right times. And of course giggles too.

T’s favorite line? "How could I have done it?"

I wish I could tell everyone to make plans to see it, but it closes in 6 days (unless they extend it again).

I wanted so badly to see A Soldier’s Play when I first read about it last month. I kept checking for tickets and checking for tickets and there were never any decent seats available. Well… it was extended and I just checked for tix and found TWO GOOD SEATS! For tomorrow night! Woohoo. Me and my mini me are going to the theatuh.

…99% of the time you call for takeout in the city, whoever answers the phone has to run get the only person (or one of very few people anyway) who actually speaks English to take your order.

Why did they answer the phone? Did they think it might be someone who (1) called the takeout place for something OTHER than placing an order and/or (2) also happened to speak chinese/spanish/etc. ?

I just ran across this post re: tourists to our fair city. Well said!!! I’m tempted to print it out and hand it to tourists on the street. I’m always tripping over them anyway, so jamming a paper in their hand wouldn’t require any extra effort.

Snapped w/mobile phone on a Saturday afternoon in the New York City Subway. Is he the Son of the Count? Grandson maybe? How old is the Count anyway?

(pic of Count lifted borrowed from Muppet Central.)

Photo Friday Challenge: Darkness

Taken in NYC, August 2004
(and not at all retouched or colored, as I would have no idea how to do something like that)

T and I have periodically discussed and updated our evacuation plan over the years, so when we got Snickers in January 2004, he became part of the plan. (Darn, I keep meaning to buy a doggie backpack for him; I should do that right now.)

Anyway… we’ve always known most shelters won’t allow dogs and we’d have to sleep outside if we were hiking away from NYC towards the midwest (where my sister lives). After reading about Snowball (the poodle that wasn’t allowed to get on the bus out of New Orleans with her boy), T and I talked about it again. We’ve agreed that the only way in hell we will ever let Snick get separated from us during an emergency is if it is truly a matter of life-or-death.

Even then, I think I’d be hard pressed to remember I’m not allowed to sacrifice my life to save him. I know, I know, he’s "just a dog," but he’s also a big part of our little family. Truly, the only way I’d leave him behind is if I couldn’t save T otherwise. Her safety and well-being always come before everything else.

Everyone asks why I didn’t kick the guy back. I HAD TO CHECK ON SNICKERS. By the time I knew he was OK (perfectly fine, just a bit befuddled), the jerk was almost a block away.

Besides, all that really mattered to me was taking Snick home and giving him lots of extra snuggly love.

Who goes to someone else’s city and kicks their dog??? Apparently, American tourists do.
Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone keeps asking where I’m going this weekend. GOING? Why would I go anywhere??? Long, holiday weekends are the BEST time to stay home. Everyone else leaves. The neighborhood isn’t so crowded. It rocks! Honestly.

Oh, and PS, if you are reading this from somewhere other than NYC, please do not take this as an invitation to come here on holiday weekends. Please no. We don’t want you here.

It’s been so hot and muggy here for the past week. I was sitting at the dog run (where else?) with my friend lulu the other day and she was telling me what a hard time she’d had getting motivated that morning. She said she "felt like a slug on heroin." That struck me as a damn vivid analogy.

A few days later I was walking to work… well, sprinting really. The trip to work is actually my second sprint of the day. The first is the trip to the run. Snickers can’t take it slow in the AM; he can’t wait to get there and see his friends (god forbid he’s the first dog there though, he is so disappointed). I keep telling him he’s supposed to run IN th