Let's take a look at the whole wide world today. The whole wide world? Well, maybe just the good parts. Some of the whole wide world can't be watched without safety goggles or at least a warning to parents.
I was on jury duty yesterday. It wasn't in the nasty criminal courts, it was in the really, really nasty civil courts. Fortunately, I was excused early and for that I say, "Thank God the system works." It spit me out early. I was ready to give all the plaintiffs whatever they wanted. I'm generous with other people's money -- perhaps I should seek public office.
OH, MY, A MEDIAN DOG: More evidence that dogs are often too clever for their own good. Our reliable tipster Kim Kirkham Davis reports that she's spotted a "husky-looking, mostly white or light gray" dog "hanging out on the median between southbound Highway 67 and the service road just before the I-20 exit." This is on the Dillard's side of Southwest Center Mall, she says.
"I've seen him in the morning and the evening. Not sure why he's staying in the median. It's really not a very big space for a dog to live. Maybe he's waiting for his scoundrel owner to return for him. I first saw him on Monday morning when it was cold and icy. This morning it appeared he was eating something -- as best I could see from across the highway."
So, folks, there's another one to monitor and, maybe, bring in from the cold. When the traffic eases up. Be careful.
HELPING A PROBLEM: Operation Kindness, during February, is conducting a fund-raising campaign called "Have a Heart." The OK folks are trying to raise money to fight a specific complication that sometimes arises in rescued dogs -- heartworm.
According to the no-kill shelter, "Last year, Operation Kindness tested 925 dogs for heartworms, successfully treated a record 126 dogs with heartworms, and gave the preventative to an average of 189 dogs each month." The 111 Hurricane Katrina animals had 21 cases of heartworms. In 2005, Operation Kindness spent more than $40,000 on heartworm related items.
We periodically pick up dogs off the streets of Oak Cliff and Greater Dallas -- only one, the oddly coated dog formerly known as Johnny Domino, had heartworms, but treating him was emotionally tough on us because he had to be kept still -- and he was a dog who longed to romp. (That's Johnny sticking his tongue out at the camera.)
Fortunately, he survived the treatment and was adopted through Operation Kindness. (My rescuespouse Martha, who specializes in saving ol' dawgs, basically took Johnny Domino away from some kids who were hitting him with sticks. He was dragging a broken telescoping leash and the clatter of the handle on the pavement of Polk St. was frightening him, too. If she hadn't picked him up, he might have survived the kids, but he wouldn't have survived the heartworms.)
To help Operation Kindness work on saving these dogs, click HERE. It'll take you to a spot where you can see great critters and click on the Have a Heart button, too.
OUR STATE FAIR: Congrats to the State Fair of Texas for picking a slogan that makes great sense -- it's a tribute not just to Big Tex, the giant cowboy on the Midway, but to Dallas, my adopted and beloved city, the city that won the State Fair in time to pull Big D's fat out of the frying pan during the Great Depression.
The slogan for 2006 is "Big Tex and the City." I'm sure someone will try to get Sarah Jessica Parker to put on fashionable cowboy boots and cut the ribbon on opening day.
(If you're interested in the history of our State Fair, a great state fair, the most enjoyable place to read about it is in the book by now-retired State Fair spokeswoman and Fair fact guru Nancy Wiley. It's a grand volume and it's called The Great State Fair of Texas: An Illustrated History.
Meanwhile, go to www.bigtex.com to see the info about the 2006 State Fair of Texas -- as previously noted here, it's scheduled to run Sept. 29-Oct. 22. We're checking into whether the 2006 fair will feature a return of the Children's Petting Zoo -- the recently ended Fort Worth Stock Show had a petting zoo, I understand. The State Fair's version with the alpacas, goats, pigs, giraffes and other exotics -- was always one of our favorite attractions -- a lot less anxious an experience than the "guess your weight" booth.
EARLY KITTEN SEASON: Our buddy Geneva O'Connor, famed pet sitter of N-Trust-Ur-Pet, has a trio of feline beauties that need a home or homes.
She writes that the three "beautiful kittens...were born under a deck in the fashionable Inwood Estate area. They are currently looking for more permanent homes as they deck they were born under leaks a bit!"
She says the "fabulous Cassie" has the brown and orange tabby markings of her parents. "Glamorous Belle...will purr sweet nothings in your ear while you brush her luxurious gray tabby coat."
And there's "sensitive Sven with his charmingly shy personality and golden -- or orange -- Nordic looks! These kittens are very loving and have been given all their shots, spayed and neutered."
To give these kittens a home, call 214-352-7700 or 214-727-7903 or e-mail [email protected].
HERE'S AN IDEA: I get a lot of e-mail from pet rescue groups hunting for money and a lot from rescue groups that have new ideas for getting money. For example, Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas is currently running its Wag The Jag fundraiser -- selling tickets for chances on a vintage Jaguar. (Check it out at www.goldenretrievers.org.)
You might wonder why that group needs money. This photograph is an example. You may recall that the group took in a very pregnant golden and she delivered 11 puppies. These are the 11 puppies at feeding time. Nine are wolfing down the chow, but it looks like the two on the lower right have filled themselves and passed out with joy!
Anyway, I got an e-mail from the folks at Metroplex Animal Coalition and I was reading through various situationers and updates and here came this tip for raising money in a practical fashion:
It reads, "Ask local businesses to 'sponsor' a crate that will be taken to adoption days They donate the cost of purchase for a crate and they get free advertising on it. Create some sort of plaque to go on the crate with the business name on it -- or a place where they [the sponsor] can leave their business cards."
I'm sure some of y'all have run across this before. But I bring it up in case you're like me and it slipped your mind or you wrote it down and lost the note. Know what I mean?
I think that if I were the Golden Corral people, I'd try to sponsor some cages with Golden Retriever Rescue -- looks like they're in the market for about 11 new cages.
JURY DUTY REPORT: Bless Dallas County's heart. The soap dispensers in the men's room in the Central Jury Room were empty Wednesday, so the staff had thoughtfully put out a bunch of those little hotel soaps for potential jurors. I guess they ask county employees who are traveling to bring them back the little bars as a good will gesture to taxpayers. (Be sure to tell your county commissioner how you appreciate the hotel soap idea -- hmmm, wonder if that's leftover jailhouse soap?)
Also, a potential civil courts juror gets paid $6 for the first day -- most only serve one day. If you park in the George Allen Courthouse county facilities, it's $8 or $8.50 a day, if memory serves. So, if you don't get your parking validated, you're paying for the privilege of sitting in a big TV-less room for several hours.
And you're told immediately that you can't use cell phones inside the central jury room. The county has provided a row of free wall phones at the back of the room. But, sure enough, a guy wearing a Borg-like cell phone with the blue light clamped to his ear, sat in the middle of his row speaking loudly to someone somewhere not on jury duty.Before cell phones, we'd have asked the bailiffs to get help for the man who was talking to himself. Nobody said anything to him about the rules violation -- maybe he didn't have call waiting and the bailiff couldn't get through.
The potential jurors were dressed a lot nicer in the civil courts building than they were the last time I was summoned for criminal courts duty a few years ago. My keenspouse Martha points out that I did criminal court duty in spring when it was warm and civil courts duty during a cold snap so people dressed warmer.
On the jury summons it says "Proper clothing: NO SHORTS OR TANK TOPS."
You would think that was an unnecessary warning.
I'm from the old school of dressing up to go to the courthouse -- heck, I think you ought to dress up to go to church, too -- how backward is that these days?
Anyway, I've always thought the only person who could possibly benefit from wearing shorts to the courthouse would be a leggy defendant on trial for shooting her husband and facing an all-male jury. But, like I said, I'm "old school."
And, it seems to me, if you respect the legal system, you'll dress up to participate even if you're not a defendant wearing a suit so new it practically screams "I'm trying to con the jury."
