All That Poo

Posted on November 30, 2013November 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I bet we’ve all been there, stepped in that pile of dog poo that some inconsiderate dog owner failed to clean up. Yeeeew! It can ruin a person’s day.

The condo complex where I live wants owners to clean up after the pooches but in frustration they cleared a corner of the property where we had lovely trees and bushes and made it a doggy potty. Although the owners are still supposed to clean up I wouldn’t walk there without carefully looking. Even so I stepped in a mushy pile only a few days ago when I was taking pictures around the property and I wasn’t anywhere near the Doggy Potty.

I like dogs myself but stepping in a pile of poo is not my idea of a minor problem. I can see why there can be a back lash against dog owners. So far dogs have not been banned but it has been discussed in the past.

Now another condo in Braintree, MA. has gone high tech and I like the idea. You want to have a dog and live there. Ok a one time fee of $60.00 is assessed and you have to give a cheek swab from your dog so a DNA test can be done. If you don’t clean up after your dog the maintenance crew sends a sample off to the same lab and first thing you know a report comes back identifying the offending dog. If that DNA sample ID’s your dog you get to pay $150.00… a $50 testing fee plus a $100 fine.

What a great idea. It’s a shame it has to come down to that but now the owner can’t say it wasn’t their dog or say “prove it”. The association just did. According to the lawyers there is nothing illegal about requiring the DNA test and if an abandoned pile is tested, nothing illegal there either. I think it’s brilliant.

Kerry Weidner, a pet owner in Devon Wood, (That’s the condo complex in Braintree) says the service has transformed life at the sprawling complex. “We used to see dog poop almost every other day. You had to worry about where you walk on the grass because there was dog poop, a lot of different places,” Weidner said. “Now, you don’t really have to worry about dog poop. You can walk where you want, the grass is now ours again, we don’t have to worry about it, and that’s just a great thing.”

The DNA testing service is offered through Tenn.-based BioPet Vet Lab under the brand name PooPrints.

Post Trashed/ The Day After

Posted on November 29, 2013November 29, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Good Morning Friends!

Anyone with a Turkey Hangover?

I had quite a post planned for today all about my thoughts on Black Friday. Comments and opinions about shopping on Thanksgiving. Those poor people who had to miss Thanksgiving with their families because the big, greedy retail stores wanted one more day to put their paws in our pockets.

Then I thought whoa! Until this year I was one of those “Poor people” who had to work and it wasn’t so bad. Before I worked in Plymouth I seldom worked alone and we all brought holiday food to work. Our workplace became a Thanksgiving meal and the folks working celebrated with each other. It was nice. I still celebrated on my own when I had my next day off. The extra money that I got by working the holiday certainly came in handy.

Once they moved the office to Plymouth and went “Virtual” I found I didn’t always have anyone working with me in my office. Oh I had co-workers, just not at my location but again, I didn’t mind. It was usually a quiet day and it was in Plymouth that some of the nicest things were done for me.

One Thanksgiving 2 different co-workers drove to the office to bring me Thanksgiving Dinner because they knew I was alone there! I was amazed and thankful to even be thought of once, but twice. That’s pretty special.

Another holiday when just 4 of us were working one of the 4 brought in a whole meal; ham, baked potatoes, veggies…for all of us. All home made. He got up early before work, cooked up the feast and surprised us all!

Come to think of it, I have more good memories of working holidays than bad.

And judging from the interviews on the news, these workers were happy too. They talked about earning extra money for Christmas, about break rooms overflowing with food, of happy friends that were shopping and saying hi; people they wouldn’t see if they were at home.

So I don’t know if opening on Thanksgiving is really so bad. I worked because a telecommunication company that offers phone service has to have people on in case of emergency . It’s the law in Massachusetts, maybe even Federal law but here were people working retail, laughing and singing the praises of their employers for being open and giving them the opportunity to earn a little extra for the upcoming holiday season.

Maybe having a retail store open on Thanksgiving isn’t as bad an idea as I first thought.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 28, 2013November 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It’s Thanksgiving! This is the first time in years I haven’t had to work. My new company is a strong believer in a balanced work and personal life. To help us all achieve that balance the offices are closed today and tomorrow.

I am thankful for an employer that recognizes and supports quality of life. 🙂 (I’m watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in years!)

I am thankful for family and friends.

I am thankful for my furry family, Rocky, Smokey and Buddy. They give unconditional love and make me laugh.

I am happy for the professionals that help me keep my little world running…from my Doctor to the Vet and my Pet Sitter!

I am thankful for good health.

I am thankful for my home, humble though it may be.

I’m thankful for the job that pays the bills and gave me the means for a little celebration today, Turkey, stuffing and yams this afternoon!

I am Happy and Thankful for so much this year. But I need to get back to the Parade. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Another Wordless Wednesday

Posted on November 27, 2013November 27, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Thanksgiving Secret

Posted on November 26, 2013November 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

What would you say if I told you the first Thanksgiving wasn’t in Plymouth? I bet you’d ask me how many glasses of holiday wine I’d had! But I promise you, it’s true.

Long before the Pilgrims even set foot on Plymouth Rock the Spanish had settled parts of Florida. 55 years before the Mayflower the costal town of St. Augustine was established and the settlers came together to share a feast with the native Timucuans.

Now you may not want to let the children read the rest of this post. Because I’m going to tell you something else about Thanksgiving.

Back up north the Pilgrims were starving, that’s true, until they learned to cultivate the rocky soil and hunt the native game. Legend says that it was the Native Americans that helped them survive and that in gratitude the Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag to celebrate the harvest.

Once again, not quite true. The Wampanoag were actually invited to that Thanksgiving feast for the purpose of negotiating a treaty that would secure the lands of the Plymouth Plantation for the Pilgrims. It should also be noted that the INDIANS, possibly out of a sense of charity toward their hosts, ended up bringing the majority of the food for the feast.

But even that story is disputed in some corners. Some say the Pilgrims weren’t expecting any Indians that day. If that’s true then the Wampanoag that came down the trail that morning were some of the first gate crashers!

The history of the White Puritan Settlers and the native tribes of America is complicated and punctuated with many wars and bloodshed. We were no kinder to the local population in the east than we were years later when we expanded to the West.

It’s a long, sad story but if you want to know about what really happened, here is a good resource for further reading. http://www.manataka.org/page269.html

Something to think about as Thanksgiving nears.