Well, with the exception of Harriet Miers, it looks like we're all back in the running for Supreme Court Justice again. Keep your phone lines open.
If the president chooses me (and I have been available for one year today!), I'd like to swear all of you to secrecy. Thanks. We don't need a series of long, disgusting hearings.
I am qualified, however: I'm not a lawyer, I have few strong opinions (thoughts on cheeses and mustards, notwithstanding) and I have never been politically active. I also wouldn't mind dressing each day in a nice comfortable robe -- I guess my life wouldn't change that much. I'll let you know when the White House calls.
THE COCO STORY: In the Oct. 17 post on this site, I wrote, "There must be something extra special about this dog Coco" and outlined her story thanks to longtime rescuer Tawana Jurek. Coco had been living in a Dallas animal shelter for seven months -- since she was a puppy. "Her time was up and I went to save her," Tawana told us. Tawana got her into a rescue group.
Here's what has happened next.
The first note came over the weekend from Barbara Richardson of Homeward Bound Animal Rescue. "Coco will be going to Phoenix. Michelle [Smedema] has made arrangements for transport and someone else that had called me when they read her story is picking her up tomorrow and meeting the transport person so the little black dog Coco has a home. Thanks Tawana for all you did to get her out of 'prison at DAC' and Larry for putting her write-up on your website. I got calls from all over the country." (Aside: We're going to pause in Barbara's note to explain Coco's situation. Then we'll finish up with Barbara's next challenge.)
Wednesday morning, this note arrived:
"My name is Michelle Smedema and I have adopted Coco. She is being picked up from a woman's house in Dallas this evening by a trucker who is bringing her to Phoenix ... Just wanted to let you know that she has a big yard, swimming pool, sister (Abber Labber) and brother (Moosey Goosey) waiting for her.
"Thank you so much for bringing her plight to our attention. No dog should be killed because they are not 'adoptable' -- in the opinion of one person."
Amen, Michelle, amen.
Now, intrigued by those names, I asked Michelle to tell us a little bit about Coco's new family situation.
Here's Michelle's response:
"Abber Labber (a.k.a. Miss Abigail Rose) is a 3 1/2 year old spoiled rotten cream yellow lab. She is standard at about 56 pounds but thinks she is a lap dog and has no respect for human body parts like feet, arms and legs.
"Moosey Goosey (a.k.a. Moose) is an 8 1/2 year old Catahoula Leopard dog who I rescued when he was 5 weeks old. He acts like an old man and runs the roost.
"Most months we feel like we are just paying the mortgage for them to live in luxury.
"They love to sit on the couch and watch TV. Abber Labber sleeps with us in bed and Moosey Goosey right beside my side of the bed.
"We have a summer place in Northern Arizona (Prescott) that we go every other weekend and they both love 'road trip' days because I bring them with me to work on Friday and we leave from here.
"I sure hope Coco likes to travel as all winter we go to the sand dunes near Yuma, to ride our dirt toys.
"Abber Labber loves to swim and we cannot keep her out of the pool. Since Moosey Goosey likes to get in the water but not swim, we bui8lt our pool with a huge top step so he just gets in and lays down to cool off. We designed our yard for dogs with a huge dog run on the side (unfortunately, it only took them five minutes to figure out how to open the gate) and all our plants are pet friendly (except one cactus which they discovered quickly is not a fun to thing to run into). Coco should fit right in with our traveling zoo -- I sure hope she likes to swim because in Phoenix it is still swimming weather and we spend a lot of time outdoors in the pool or at the barbecue.
"When we are in Prescott, we talk long walks and hikes and frequently visit the 'bark park' where we can let them off their leashes and throw tennis balls until our arms are worn out."
So, that's what Coco, formerly a dog living in a cage in a shelter, will face when she gets to Phoenix sometime Friday.
Michelle says she should arrive "just in time for road trip day. I am so excited it has been hard for me to sleep. This is definitely a happy ending!"
And this brings us back to Barbara Richardson and Homeward Bound Animal Rescue (See the foundlings at www.petfinder.org/shelters/TX122.html .)
Barbara, of course, is overjoyed to see Coco headed toward a great home. There are other animals awaiting good homes. And as Barbara says, "Maybe when my Isis, the mange Dalmatian I got from the woman who was living in her car with 8 dogs, finally gets some hair, you can put her in your column with her story and she might find a home."
Folks, there's your first notice regarding Isis the Dalmatian. There's a good home out there just waiting for its new Dalmatian. If you want to get a jump on the adoption process, e-mail srich@flash.net or call 817-792-5122.
And, thank you Tawana and Barbara and Michelle for working hard to give Coco the good life. Good news in an era that needs it.
SPOTTING THE SIGNS: Regular reader "Sandy sends a note about something spotted over the weekend. "I noticed these on every pole along Coit. However ...you CAN'T STOP on Coit. I finally found a pole on a side street that I could pull over...I don't know if either of these dogs have been found/claimed but here goes:
"'FOUND: FEMALE PIT BULL [picture shows mostly white with few spots] 469-644-2620.'
"'LOST YORKIE Family misses her. Reward. 469-585-4450.'"
Sandy writes that all the sign are between Beltline and Campbell on Coit.
Maybe someone will recognize these pleas and match them with a missing dog or a found dog.
BORROWING EQUIPMENT: The Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake will be doing a "surgery catch-up day" on Nov. 13, says Friends spokeswoman Sydney Busch. Friends is fighting the spay/neuter battle with enormous enthusiasm. And on this particular day, at least 40 large female dogs are scheduled for surgery. The clinic doesn't have room for all of those and will be needing some help. "If you have a large airline or folding wire crate we can borrow for that day, please let me know ASAP," says Sydney. And, yes, the cage or crate will be cleaned before it's returned to you. (Call 903-451-4701 or e-mail sydney@edbusch.com.
Remember, in most cases, no matter what the question is, the answer is spay/neuter. (I'm just kidding about that "no matter what the question is." Spay/neuter is the answer to animal overpopulation. And, maybe, its the answer to averting some political crises.)
BOOK 'EM: Oh, yes, the American Association of University Women (Arlington Branch) book sale opens at 5 p.m. in St. Stephen United Methodist Church, 1800 W. Randol Mill Road. I've mentioned it before this week. It runs through Saturday. And it has all sorts of enjoyable books, records, tapes, CDs -- most priced at 50 cents to $2. And there's "ephemera" such as an autograph from Charlton Heston on a promotional flyer for his book Charlton Heston Presents the Bible -- that's priced at $32.
Do you wish, sometimes, that you could re-read some of the short stories you read in high school? In those stacks at this Book Fair, I have, over the past few years, managed to collect copies of the literature textbooks I had in high school. So, yes, with a handful of coins I have returned to my youth to re-visit great poets and authors!
I hope you'll take some time to visit this Book Fair. Proceeds from it go to literacy programs and to education grants for women. If you've got a daughter or granddaughter or a wife or a mom or a sister or grandmom or a real swell friend who happens to be a woman, stop by and spend some money in their honor. To borrow from another woman, "It's a good thing." (Yes, there may even be Martha Stewart books in the stacks!)
THE SAGA OF THE 1027S (FORGIVE ME A VERY PERSONAL NOTE): This is an anniversary for my fellow "1027s" and I want them to know that I am thinking of them. Many of us worked together for decades until the big paper company threw us out last year in a sudden fit of alleged fiscal responsibility.
It's never been clear how many of us were dismissed on 10/27 last year. No official announcement of "who" was ever made -- that explains why people still ask me how things are going at the paper. I don't have a clue -- I am not the only clueless individual who was involved in the Massacre of 10/27.
Some of my fellow 1027s have moved on to other papers. Some have moved on to other professions. One guy left the continent. One woman moved to Alaska -- she's had to face an unexpected expense: mandatory moose collision insurance for her car. One year you're worried about hitting deadlines, the next you're worried about hitting a moose.
My blood pressure escalated along with my weight -- maybe that was depression, maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just the real me showing up at the dinner table! But folks say I'm a lot more relaxed and that I'm not as testy as before the layoffs when I was coping with a newspaper traveling on a path away from its traditional responsibilities. Maybe I'm not as testy -- you want to argue about it? (I'm kidding.)
Writing this blog every day -- with the wonderful help of you readers -- and writing for Urban Animal Magazine have helped me remember that I'm still a journalist, still using my skills to help my community by dispensing information in a responsible and sensitive manner. The big difference now is that when you read my stuff, you don't get news ink on your thumbs.
Some people, dumped from their jobs, were allowed to creep back into the paper to work part-time or at lower-paying positions. A person's gotta feed the dogs and cats, I figure. I cut 'em some slack. We all have our price, I guess. They didn't ask me back, though at the exit interview one of the news execs told me there would be low-level editing jobs opening the next spring "though not at the same rate of pay."
Bless his heart. He is a smart guy. I don't know if he had a vote in who was dismissed. I know some of the people who did. And I just hated being dismissed by people who can barely find their alphabets with both hands.
If you like what the Reigning Geniuses of the 21st Century have done to your paper, then, I guess they did the right thing for you. Or maybe you're one of those people who says "I take the local paper because my family always has, but I read the Dallas Observer and take the New York Times because I want to know what's going on."
Still, I hear things -- complaints, you know? Mostly I hear things from people in the wrong demographic -- yep, it's way too dry behind their ears. The company isn't interested in the opinions of the mature set, it's just interested in the money of the mature set. Not to be an old codger, but when I signed on at the big paper, the product was journalism, not stock certificates.
Oh, heck, the world changes. I know that. You know that. Some people will tell you that the paper must change to survive -- that's probably true. A caterpillar changes to survive. It, however, becomes a butterfly.
You just hate to see people in power treating other people as if they mean nothing, as if they're just an expendable line in a ledger -- existing purely because the management team needs "wiggle room" in the re-tooling budget.
There's a load of immorality in that layoff-and-thrive philosophy. It says, "We don't care how dedicated you are or how much you love us, you're just a piece of cheap furniture to us." Such a "business plan" renders the human experience and the human heart worthless in the job place.
For crying out loud, this was a newspaper. It must have heart. After all, it has a key mission related to the nation's freedom and protection of democracy. This isn't a company that's turning out some gadget most people can live without.
Or, looking at circulation figures across the country, maybe it is, after all.
Nowadays, like so many people, I get my news on-line. It's easier. It's allows me to keep up with big issues and I can still watch the careers of friends and of people whose continued employment is surely a mystery even to God.
Candice Bergen's has done some ads for the big paper with the theme "Live better here." Live better here? What does that have to do with the price of newsprint in China? I'm told some of the disgruntled current employees, now aware of their true worth to the company, adopted the informal theme of "Live bitter here."
Meanwhile, as I look around my "office" here at home, there's a loyal cocker spaniel napping near me and a big Great Dane/Lab mix ready at a moment's notice for a romp in the park. We're certain the Funspouse will come home this evening and deliver a whole new load of fresh laughter and joy.
Unburdened by numb-your-brain meetings, goofball company-wide pep rallies extolling the virtues of the French and Russian revolutions (I'm not kidding), official circulation investigations by federal and local authorities and memos that read like pranks but turn out to be deadly serious, we're managing to live better here.
I hope my fellow 1027s have found that they, too, can live better where they are. And good luck dodging the moose and other lumbering beasts.