Category: Fourre-tout

Dogs do it… humans do it… We all do it because we are social animals and we have the same primal needs. We crave the contact with our fellow creatures and the stimulation that it provides.

By a curious coincidence, in Marin County our pétanque field is juxtaposed with the local Dog Park. The purpose of both venues is the same though: to bring similar species together in order to mix and play (with balls).

Whenever I go to the field, I always see dogs straining on their leashes in their eagerness to reach their playground. Humans don’t pull on their leashes (husbands usually leaves theirs at home) but I sense the same eagerness when they stroll unto the field.

Both species want variety, a break from their daily routines.
Variety is the very spice of life that gives it all its flavour. –William Cowper

Dogs as well as people need to meet other creatures on a regular basis to have a satisfying social life. This is important, even crucial.
If you stay home and play video games all day, you will eventually become a loner without any affinity with your own kind. And people like that (in a country bursting with guns) are often assailed by strange thoughts.

Sure, once in a while a fight breaks out between two dogs, but canines are different from people. They don’t keep grudges while people do, and this is the scary thing…

“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.” ― Oliver North

Dogs usually don’t carry firearms and they are magnanimous. They forget a disagreement easily. They also abide by an honor code prohibiting them from shooting their own kind. A few warning bites maybe, but no bullets. I know that because canines and I are on the same wavelength and we understand each other.

What do you think of the 2nd amendment I often ask them? There is usually a chorus of answers and it is difficult to understand what they are barking, but I know what they are saying.

We don’t want these noisy, scary things in our midst. There is no need for it. If we disagree with a bitch, we usually keep it civil. We refer to Huskies (aka lawyers) to settle our differences.
These guys are very social, they love to talk and they are very good at getting their point across. No bullets, no sir!

By he way, do you want to play chase the ball? It is a very exciting game…

Alain

Relativity is the quality of having significance only in relation to something else.

“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a hot stove a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”― Albert Einstein

For many people this quality can be extremely annoying.
Let’s say that you are the Top Jock in your school. Enters another top athlete and you are suddenly relegated to Second Banana. That’s relativity.
You are only a big fish in a small pond. In a larger pond your size shrinks significantly. As a result, your significance is relative to your environment.

Rudy Giuliani (the highly creative legal adviser to the President) said “Truth isn’t always truth.”
Listening to politicos, truth seems to be a conveniently pliable material. According to them, one’s truth could be truth, relative to another “truth”.

Baloney, and Einstein said so.

“Relativity applies to physics, not ethics.” Albert Einstein

So there is no other truth but “untruths” (I love this euphemism). Truth is like gold; it cannot be adulterated regardless of its environment, . Even after a long time buried or submerged, it will remain pristine.

Consequently, there is only one truth, regardless of what deniers are saying. No matter what cynics are stating, the Holocaust really took place and Hitler was its monstrous genitor.

Relativity is present in every situation, something that we experience every day. You might think that your girlfriend is beautiful, but in a different context she might not even qualify for a local beauty pageant.

While in parts of America people believe that POTUS is on the right track, in many other areas he is the Flying Dutchman, always changing direction and doomed to flounder forever.

Finally, when you compare yourself with somebody else, you are only great measured to a lesser person. With a more successful individual, you could rank distressingly low.

Alain

PS: I shot a few pictures today. Sneak a peek.

I am no Sherlock Holmes but I can always tell if a crime has been committed or if somebody broke into my office. My MO has always been “a place for everything and everything in its place.” So if anything looks even slightly out of place, I know that my safety perimeter has been breached.

The two most likely perpetrators are my cat and our grandson.

The cat prefers to operate under the cover of darkness. She possesses night vision goggles and her Native American name is “She who walks in the dark.” While everybody is snoozing, she gets up and goes on patrol. She examines/sniffs every single object in her path. If something catches her fancy she will bat it for a while. If she deems that thing amusing, she will play with it briefly and then abandon it.
How do I know that she was there? There might be footprints or hair (most likely) left on the scene of the crime. I even found a whisker once.

Our grandson is more like a bungling bandito. He does not dwell in the dark but operates under the blanket of innocence. He casually strolls into a room and investigates (flips, opens, uncorks, disassembles, deconstructs) whatever is in his reach.

The problem is that you cannot stay mad at these two scoundrels. The cat, no matter what you tell her, remains as cool as a cucumber. Even when obviously guilty, she never blinks. Under duress, she might give you her name, rank and microchip number. But that’s all. She is a tough bird.

Our grandson cunningly plays the educational card. “I was just trying to figure out how that thing works.” Yes, I was unable to put it back to his original state, but I did this because I am eager to learn. Learning is not a crime, or is it?
Well no… technically it is not a crime…

How do you deal with these two rascals?
Kill them with kindness, that’s how! After a little research, I came to the conclusion that to prevent crime, you need to wear out the offenders. Play with them until exhaustion… Until they (or you) fall flat on their backs begging for mercy.

A cat by the way, is easier to fatigue than a kid. Play 20 minutes with her and she is ready for a nap. A kid on the other hand, has inexhaustible energy. He will wear you out before you can tame him.

Treats are my Kryptonite. When the kid is overwhelming you, buy him off with a goody of any kind. Destroy his supernatural buoyancy through his stomach.

“the way to a scoundrel’s heart is through his stomach.”

That’s what wives have done for centuries to tame their wayward husbands.

Alain