White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules

We had a blast doing a white elephant gift exchange with our friends last Christmas. Here are the rules we went by. Read them before you try them, and feel free to modify or use them however you wish. Thanks Pete and Janet! My in-laws loved it this year!

1. Pick a gift with red wrapping
2. Pick a gift, but do not open it
3. Pick the largest gift
4. Pick a gift, but sing a Christmas carol before opening
5. Pick a gift, but do not open it
6. Pick a gift and drop it before opening
7. Shake 2 gifts and choose 1
8. Pick a person/gift that hasn't been opened and have them open it. (wait until opened) You have the option to steal.
9. Pick any open gift in the room
10. Pick a gift, but do not open it
11. Pick the smallest gift
    
12. Pick the most uniquely wrapped gift
13. Pick you own gift
14. Have 2 unopened gifts trade, you get the third gift
15. Have 2 opened gifts trade
16. Pick a gift
17. Say something nice about 3 people here, then pick a gift
    
18. Choose 4 people here and give them the gift that best fits them
19. Pick a gift for someone and take theirs

* Any time a wearable gift is opened, everyone with an opened gift must rotate one to the left.

Pacey's first Christmas

Here's a collection of pictures we've taken of Pacey over the past few months. Isn't she a cutie!

Normal's planned 2nd dog park is history

Apparently, it takes more than 2 people to get a dog park approved. Of the 44 people contacted, Friday's Pantagraph story reported that only two signed in favor of the dog park.

I wish the city wouldn't be so anal about ticketing leash law violators. (They probably wouldn't be if residents weren't so concerned.) All I want in this world is for my dog to be treated like a human. Is that so wrong!?

happy anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Amanda! A friend of ours owns B. Bellissimo, a jewelry business, and I was able to get Amanda some pretty cool chunky jewelry for her.

Bloomington needs a dog park (reply)

My alderman's reply to my request to consider a dog park:

----- Original Message -----
From: Ward 7 Alderman [redacted]
Subject: Re: City of Bloomington Dog Park?
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 23:30:44 -0500

Mr. [redacted],

Here is the reply I got to your inquiry about future plans for a dog park. Seems like getting support from the residents around the park is of primary concern. Let me know if you would like more information from the director of parks or you can contact him directly at the number in his email.

Thank you and please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

[redacted]
Alderman, Ward 7
Bloomington

Councilman, wanted to respond to your inquire regarding future plans for a dog park in Bloomington. Several years ago staff recommended a dog park at [redacted] Park and got negative feedback from residents and so we did not pursue it. We then turned to [redacted] Park and again got negative response from the residents. At this point we are looking at developing one in a community park at a later date.

If you would like to discuss future plans please do not hesitate to call me.

Thanks
[redacted]
Director of Parks and Recreation

Advice on starting a dog park in your town

Note to my readers: if anyone that comes across this blog wants to petition the City of Bloomington to start a dog park, there's a good source on that topic at usa.dog-parks.org.

I've pasted the post here for reference . . .you never know when a post might be removed:

You can read a bit about our process here and that may help. The best piece of advice I can give you is to get a group of interested citizens together to plan and lobby for a dog park. While your local Parks and Rec Dept and your local government can easily dismiss one or two people with a bright idea, it is much more difficult to dismiss a group, preferably large, of determined and well-informed people, especially if they get a lot of publicity in their local papers (write letters, get interviews, photos, etc.), hold fundraisers, pass out info, and so on. If you are really lucky, there might be an enlightened person at your Parks and Rec so that the initial persuasion would be reduced. By the way, it is better to pitch the idea as a place for people who have dogs than a place that dogs need.

I got a group started by writing letters to my local papers and inviting interested people to contact me. I also put together a small brochure and some business-size cards with a brief mission statement and contact info, which everyone in the group posted anywhere they could think of and dropped into neighbors' mailboxes, etc. You need to be inventive. Keep a record of everyone's contact info and begin an email list as soon as possible to save hours on the phone. Get other people to take over tasks like that. Meet regularly so you can plan strategy.

The other important piece of advice would be to try to get someone on the inside at Town Hall on your side. This can be invaluable - all sorts of hints, contacts, and info can come your way. We had the assistant director of Parks and Rec supporting us and helping us to find a suitable spot within the existing park land. He also helped us know what hoops we had to jump through - we had to make presentations to various town commissions that had to give permission for the dog park project.

Bloomington needs a dog park

I know, there are probably bigger issues in the world today to be concerned with. It's just that, if I'm going to be forced to "donate" to a cause I don't believe in, I had better get my chance to effect change!

Here's a letter I wrote to my City Alderman:

Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:00 AM
To: ward 7 alderman [redacted]
Subject: City of Bloomington Dog Park?

Steven,

I read the recent [redacted] article regarding the [redacted] intent to create a second dog park with great interest.

Living in the heart of Bloomington just a mile from [redacted] Park, it would be extremely convenient to have a place to bring my dog where she could run off leash. I've made a few trips over to the park, hearing that it was sort of an unofficial dog park, where responsible owners with well-behaved dogs could go to enjoy some green space. On about my 3rd or 4th trip over, I was cited with a $50 ticket for an ordinance violation of the leash law. The ticket was given to me on a Wednesday morning at approximately 8:30 am. The whole of [redacted] Park was occupied with just 2 bird watchers, another owner and their dog, and a Park Policeman. Not even a slight rain was enough to deter this policeman from doing his duty. How frustrating!

The policeman tried to help me understand why he was issuing a ticket . . .apparently, some local residents had complained that dogs were running off their leashes. Possibly that an off-leash dog approached a baby stroller and scared the parent. This is an understandable concern. But why not attempt to issue tickets during the hours of 4 pm to 6 pm, when the problem likely occurred -- and when the park is crowded with kids practicing football with their families watching? This is the time that would seem to present the greatest danger!

If a citizen can't go to a city park on off hours in the rain with his 5-month old puppy, what other options are there? I suppose I could drive up to [redacted] Park in [redacted], but I don't pay [redacted] taxes, I'm not a resident of [redacted], and on a weekday work day, another 10 minutes of driving each way truly makes a difference.

Is there anything you can to do convince the Council to revisit this issue? Or how about even setting aside morning hours permitting dogs off-leash access to city parks? Surely, if the [redacted] can make plans to create a second park, obstacles like public support and liability insurance costs must be small ones to overcome.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to assist you in this effort.

Regards,

[salutation redacted]

Enc:

Sources showing benefits of dog parks:
http://gazette.cyberrails.net/Archives.asp?A=109
http://www.watsondogpark.org/whatsADogPark
http://www.trumbulldogpark.com
http://www.tredyffrin.org/pdf/community/complete-prosp.pdf
http://www.seacoastonline.com/2004news/yorkstar/ys5_13b.htm

It's pool time!

Today's the big day! Pacey is almost 6 months old and we're off to the Dog Days celebration at the local pool. For the past few years, they've held a fund raiser for the local Humane Society. After the last week of pool season and before they empty and clean the pool, they invite local residents to bring their dogs in for a swim.

Violating the law

The leash law, that is. Pacey and I got a ticket at [redacted] Park this morning for violating the local leash ordinance. It was just before 9 am. The weather was about 40 degrees and raining, and there wasn't a soul in the park besides me and another lady walking her dog.

Apparently, dogs have to be on leash in all city parks. Even when you're the only one in the park. Even when your dog is a harmless puppy.

As the Park Police officer was writing the ticket, he shared with us a story about how some dog rushed up to a stroller and the mother called the city to complain. Apparently, the city is on the lookout again for leash law violators. I got a $50 ticket. Yikes!

What was slightly satisfying is that Pacey, our 5-month old Vizsla (who still hasn't lost her baby teeth) sat in a perfect sit the whole while the officer wrote the ticket. Who would write a ticket for having a 5-month old puppy off of their leash?!

It was all I could do to hold back the thoughts in my head. I live a mile or so from the park and my garage and my wife's car have both been broken into this summer. While he was writing the ticket, I asked him, "Do you know anything about catching thieves?"

What are the different ways I can avoid probate?

Have you ever been asked how to avoid the probate process? The question seems to come up more frequently as you get closer to understanding the finality of life . . .

For the rest of us wondering what probate is, it's the process a persons estate goes through at their death to pay debts and distribute property. There's a more formal definition at wikipedia.org.

Here's the answer you've been looking for: All of the web sites below say that what, in order to avoid probate, you need is a properly made out will and beneficiary designations on your asset accounts (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance, etc). You don't necessarily need life insurance, an annuity or a trust just to avoid probate!

Check 'em out:

• Inc.com: Ways to Avoid Probate
• Crosswalk.com: Future Planning: Probate And How to Avoid It
• MSN Money: Retirement & Wills

Love at first sight (Pacey)

It was on June 13th in the airport in Rome that we came across a woman and her little Vizsla puppy. That moment started a romance for both Amanda and I. We had fallen in love with the Vizsla breed.

We arrived home on Friday, June 23rd. By Sunday, I had contacted every Vizsla breeder in the state and then some (25 in all).

We've been home from our 3-week European vacation for a whole 5 days and picked up Pacey last night. We got her from the [redacted], a breeder up in the [redacted] area.

A puppy surprise for Amanda (shhh!)

If we are going to get a dog, the summer of 2006 seems like the perfect time to do it. Yes, we had two cats, but knowing how much Amanda wants a dog, we are bound to add one to our family sooner or later. We both want to start a family, and it would be nice to have a dog trained before our first child comes.

And so with this in mind, I have begun looking for the ideal dog breed. I started with Golden Retrievers. Amanda grew up with Max, and we both admire the breed for its athleticism and temperament. I'm not the biggest fan of them because they are a pretty big breed, have long hair and stink when they're wet.

I want a breed that has a more commanding presence. As a runner, I wanted a breed that will go for long runs with me. The Weimaraner seems almost like the perfect breed. At 80-90 lbs full grown, they are just as large. And I have heard stories about how they can be neurotic and at times destructive.

Among the other breeds I'm considering as I plot my surprise is the Vizsla. I don't know much about them, but like their monochromatic look and athletic build. After all of the research I have done, I'm still not ready to surprise Amanda with a puppy. I really needed her input.

And so with these thoughts in mind, we're off to southern Europe for 3 weeks.

Carpenter bees

When we bought our house back in August of 2004, we had an insect inspection done. Unfortunately, the inspectors missed a fairly large infestation of carpenter bees. If you've never heard of them, you're in good company.

Visually, they look like bumble bees but are bigger and black. If you're brave, you might find yourself practicing your tennis swing on them or maybe even using a pan head shovel to swat them down. The bees aren't very fast moving -- just don't miss! ;-)

The bees tend to return to the same place each year and are really hard to get rid of. There's a good write-up on bee psychology at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture website.

When the exterminator came to treat my infestation, they used 4 chemicals, some of which supposedly aren't available at retail outlets (i.e., only available to licensed exterminators). At the time I had the work done (in the Spring of 2006) they charged $80 and guaranteed results for this year. In other words, the following spring, they wouldn't guarantee results for any new larvae.

The products they used were:

• Wasp Freeze - quick kill of stinging wasps and hornets . . .does not leave a long term residual (is absorbed into the wood).
• Demon WP - longer residual effect than Wasp Freeze . . .3-4 months. Stops bees from smelling decay odor put off by wood and keeps them from boring new nests.
• Intruder HPX - put in cracks and crevices to allow bees to carry into nests. Best sprayed in evening . . .causes bees to go neurotic and leave "safe places", which then subjects them to other listed poisons
• Drione Dust - flea powder-like substance . . .isn't absorbed into the wood, provides quick knock-down and residual control (1 year) against bee larvae. Plug holes with 1/2" dowel or cork after treated.

If you were to treat the infestation yourself, here's what you'd be facing:

• Wasp Freeze and Drione: $44 for a 2 cans of Wasp Freeze and 1 lb. of Drione dust or $7.50 for a can of Wasp Freeze
  
• Demon WP: $19.50 for 2 to 4 gallons (sold in powder form)
  
• Intruder HPX: $13.90 for 14 oz