Regulus "Reggie" Leo

My GAWD, I forgot how expensive it is to get a new dog. The leash, the harness, the name tag, the food, the food dish, the book that had the best grooming section, the slicker brush, the crate, the water bottle, the 'pee stake' and a couple toys and I've already spent well over the adoption fee on supplies for the little booger. Ramie has gotten into a bad habit of dragging whoever is walking her... since we've had an enclosed yard her walks have become few and far between. Now that Tyler finally weighs more than Ramie does, I have been thinking that I need to get off my duff about breaking that habit and letting him walk her. So I get her a regular 4' leash because you can't loose leash train with a retractable leash (what she has now). So tonight I decide to give a quick lesson, and when we're leashing up I notice Ramie's name tag is worn almost bare and you can't make out any one line in it's entirety, so we need a new tag for her. God save me from myself, I find more ways to spend money than anyone I know.

But on a more cheerful note, I took my nana out for coffee today as a 'Happy Grandparents Day' gift... given her age and health I just can't handle giving her 'things' because I can't help thinking about her not having long to enjoy them. After that, I let Tyler & Daija stay at my mom's while Halle and I went over to have a little visitation with Reggie. Since he wasn't technically up for adoption Thursday night when we went to see him we couldn't play with him. She wasn't with me when I did the adoption paperwork Friday, which is when I got to hold him. I wanted to give them some time to bond without the other two kids battling for his attention. Also, he's probably not going to feel too hot Monday night when we pick him up, so I figure spending a little more time getting to know us before his juevos are sore wouldn't hurt his stress level when we pick him up. He enjoyed being held and carried by both Halle and I and walked really well on a leash for both of us. I mentioned we were coming back the next day and asked if it would be OK if we bring something with Ramie's scent on it for him, and they said we were welcome to bring her with us and introduce them. I am so thrilled, because I was not looking forward to trying to get both dogs, separately, to a neutral location for their introduction. He seems friendly towards other dogs and was alert but didn't get hyper when they walked past us today... but assuming he's not going to be feeling great after a neuter and a car ride, he might not be very receptive to a once over by a dog four times his size (which, btw, is about 9.5 lbs).

So as far as the name, I did this great build up with the definition... "I read about this great name that means Heart of the Lion, Little King, the Prince" and she looked very intrigued. Then I told her "Regulus" and she wrinkled her nose. When I tried to sell her on the Reggie & Ramie combo, she started whining and was on the verge of tears. Moomba got only a slightly better reaction. So I'm tossing out names on the list, and when I get to Leo, she asks me if it's spelled l-e-o... she wants Leo because she can spell it. I assured her that I would absolutely teach her to spell any name we chose. She was firm on Leo. So I said okay, and then commented in an offhand manner... "Do you remember Miss Neicey? Zoe's mom?" And she did. She loves Zoe, and since Miss Neicey not only brought Zoe into the world, but also permits Zoe to have Bratz dolls, Miss Neicey is also an object of affection. So I went on to say that I had emailed with her today about the new puppy, and that Miss Neicey had thought Reggie and Ramie sounded REALLY cool. Suddenly, Reggie sounded like a great nick name, and Leo could just be his middle name instead.

Guess What?

ding ding ding ding ding ding

Oh, and he was so happy to see me... he was actually a little wiggly when I stopped outside his pen before someone came to take him out so I could hold him. Of course we had to walk ALLLL the way through this long row of cages of barking dogs to get to a holding area and he was just trembling when the guy handed him to me. I swear he crawled right up to my shoulder and clutched my neck with his paws, just like a little monkey. He's not a puppy though - they estimate he's about two years old. And he was a stray with no tag/identification. That, coupled with the fact that he wasn't already neutered at two years old tells me his previous owner was a careless and/or uneducated owner and that the dog is probably the product of a backyard breeder... the really good breeders usually require you to spay/neuter as part of the purchase contract. So, with that in mind I'm going to assume he may not have much of the right kind of training... so we'll start with the clicker when we pick him up on Monday.

Halle had planned to name her dog, whenever she got one, Christina, but this fella being a boy, now she needs to come up with a new name. I told her that since Shih Tzu's were known as 'little lion dogs' we should find some names that mean lion. Of course the final decision is Halle's here are the names I'm going to present. Cool trivia fact: the Shih Tzu is reported to be the oldestand smallest of the Tibetan holy dogs, the lion being associated with the Buddhist deity. Tyler, who has always had a strong affinity for Buddha, thought that way cool.

Abbas (Lion)
Amra (the Lion)
Ari (Lion)
Ariel (God's Lion, Lion of God)
Asad (Lion)
Danh Tu (Lion)
Leo (the Lion)
Moomba (cute little lion like creature)
Nada (roar; battle cry of a warrior)
Regulus (heart of the lion, little king, the prince)
Shiku (Lion's Roar)
Simba (Lion)
Tau (Lion)
Usamah (Description of a Lion)

How much is that doggie in the window...

Have I ever mentioned that I have been looking for a Shih Tzu for Halle since January 04? I won't buy from a backyard breeder, and I can't afford one from a real breeder (it'd probably run around the equivalent of my mortgage payment), so I've been watching out for one to pop up in a shelter and it's finally happened! Last night I raced over to Animal Control like a maniac to get there before they closed at 5:30. Turns out he isn't available to adopt until 11AM today. He looked absolutely thrilled when we stopped at his cage... stood on his hind legs with his paws on the cage wagging and sniffed us and licked Halle's hand, but didn't bark, spin in circles, or jump, so I'm hoping he'll be of good temperament. He was in a cage alone and there was some doggie doo outside, and a piddle just inside the door... I figure that's a good sign that he's at least got the general idea that his mess belongs outdoors and he makes an effort to get there. Especially in a smelly place like that where he'd be tempted to mark his territory all over the place. Unfortunately, they said they can't tell me anything about him until today... so I will have to race back over there like a maniac, cuz they don't take phone inquiries, to find out if he was a stray or an owner turn in, and if he was an owner turn in, why. If he was a lost pet/stray, or the owner just couldn't manage his hair (possible, cuz he's only been there since Tuesday and is sporting a very recent 'buzz cut), he's ours. If chewing or potty training was an issue, I can probably even handle that (says the woman of a 2yo who won't use the toilet) cuz problems with that are just as often a owner not training or crating, as a problem with the dog. But if he was a turn in for biting or aggression, that we can't do.

I'm heading over there at 'lunch'... I'm afraid he won't be there by the time I get off work. These dogs just don't usually turn up in shelters.

"Never"

Daija went through a phase (she seems to be leaving it since having left the YMCA) where she constantly told me no. I can't stand that, but since the other two never told me no, I really had no idea what to do about it. Telling her not to tell me no, just resulted in her screaming NO.

One night, I think it was the third week in July cuz Tyler wasn't home yet, just after we got home, she told me no and I just wasn't in the mood to hear it. I got nose to nose with her and gave her the finger lecture about telling me no. Went on to make dinner and whatnot. Later that evening when I went back to load the dishwasher, I noticed Daija's cup still on the table. She clears her own dishes, so I asked her to bring it to me so I could put it in the dishwasher.

That child crossed her arms, lowered her head and literally glowered at me and stated, with emphasis,

"Nevewr."

My head spun and Halle stared at me open-mouthed... 'Where did she get THAT word?" The entire rest of the night, every single time I asked Daija to do something, she responded the same way.

What could I do but try desperately not to laugh? I told her not to tell me no, and she didn't.
Now it's less confrontational... she crosses her arms and usually shakes her head and says 'never, never' in a petulant, I'm about to burst into tears voice.

"Not Coming"

Before the story, I gotta explain the 'What' rule. I cannot stand it when I call a child and he or she yells back 'what' in response. My (older) children know that if I wanted to come look for you, I would have. If I call you, it's because I want to see you standing in front of me. So when I call your name, you call back that you are coming to confirm that you heard me as you begin to walk in my direction. If you do not acknowledge my summons, I can only assume that you have not heard me; therefore I will continue to call you until I see you in front of me. The longer and louder I have to call you, the more irritated I will be by the time I see you, andthe less likely that things will go well for you at that time. If you cannot immediately come to see me, you must respond with a reason and an ETA (I'm in the potty, I'll be there in a minute).

This was a few months ago, during the NBA playoffs. Ro and I were watching one of the sun's games, and the kids were playing in their rooms. Daija had wandered into our bedroom, and Ro called her.

Daija, come here.

Daija calls back. Ro doesn't quite catch it, and asks me what she said. I muttered 'I dunno' and looked at the game.

Daija, come here.

Daija calls back. Ro asks me again what she said. I muttered 'I dunno' and kept my attention on the game.

Daija, come here!

Daija walks to our bedroom door and yells back, quite clearly...

"NOT coming!"

Too Big

I have a big picnic table in my kitchen right now... I have a booster chair attached for Daija cuz she's still likely to slip off the bench and knock her jaw out of whack. Anyway, last night Daija announced "I sit by you, Mommy... I too big my chair"

It'd be nice if she decided she was too big for diapers and pull ups.

READY TO PULL MY HAIR OUT

Oh, I am so hot right now. Long story not so short, I've noticed that we miss a lot of maintenance opportunities because the log pages for the deferrals aren't always updated in a timely manner. Now technically, it is not my responsibility to go in and read these log pages - in a perfect world I get the part they ask for, and it's really what they need. Once my repair is delivered here, my job is done. We have MEL expeditors that are responsible for getting the parts through the receiving process and routed to the a/c. Unfortunately, I don't think we give our mechanics the resources (time wise) to do the follow-up paperwork. I raised the issue to a manager in Maintenance Operations a couple weeks ago, and at his request told him I'd follow up whenever I came across an example. So here's one on a fuel quantity indicating computer (FQIC) that I noticed at the tail end of the day yesterday. I called the controller on duty in MOC (Mx Ops Control) and email the manager of MOC as an FYI. I copied in the warehouse supervisor who was on duty, because at this point both the MEL guys have gone home and someone will need to change a work control package so the part in question, goes tot he right a/c. I leave work to get the kids, but figure, what needs to be done is pretty clear. Just in case... I log into my email at 9:30, and don't see any follow up from the whs supervisor (who gets off duty at 6PM) except a little note he'd tried to call me. So I call MOC, and the guy on nights doesn't know anything about it. I call production control, and the guy in charge of scheduling Phx maintenance, doesn't know anything about it. I give him the details and let him know he needs to switch this part from a/c 628, to a/c 621.

Do you know what happened last night? The FQIC was routed to a/c 628, and we robbed a/c 653 to replace the unit on a/c 621. The FQIC that was routed to a/c 628, was not used and was put back in stock this morning... and has since been issued to be installed on a/c 653. NOW WOULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN A LOT SIMPLER IF THEY'D JUST PUT THAT PART ON A/C 621 LIKE I TOLD THEM TO IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!

*&$%*()&()*_^$%&*^(_*_

Recovering from the Long Weekend...

Saturday we had Halle's dance class, errands, some house cleaning and a baseball game to which I took all three of my kids and two of their friends. After we got home from the game I started painting - two more coats on the doors, another coat on the bed, and two coats on the baseboards plus touch ups to cover the fiesta pink I got on the celestial sun walls - and putting up the appliques. Got a nosebleed that I'm pretty sure was a result of breathing in all that paint, and then I fell into bed fully clothed (and covered in paint).

Sunday we did yard work and cleaned a little, napped a little, went and order the kids' cake (it was so CUTE), then back home for dinner and a video, followed by finishing the trim and touch ups in Tyler's room, and falling into bed at 2AM. Raced around like a maniac Monday to clean some more and have all four of us dressed and presentable for the 11AM arrivals. Three and a half hours of family fun entertainment, and I was just ready to die. I popped the blockbuster video in and passed out for three hours. Those beautiful angels of mine never made a peep - didn't argue once. When the movie was over, Tyler restarted it from the middle.

6-year-old becomes a hero to band of toddlers, rescuers

Tense days lead to reunion of kids and their moms
By ELLEN BARRY
Los Angeles Times

BATON ROUGE, LA. - In the chaos that was Causeway Boulevard, this group of evacuees stood out: a 6-year-old boy walking down the road, holding a 5-month-old, surrounded by five toddlers who followed him around as if he were their leader.

They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2 years old, and one was wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he said his name was Deamonte Love.

After their rescue Thursday, paramedics in the Baton Rouge rescue operations headquarters tried to coax their names out of them.

Transporting the children alone was "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, knowing that their parents are either dead" or that they had been abandoned, said Pat Coveney, a Houston emergency medical technician who put them into the back of his ambulance and drove them out of New Orleans.

"It goes back to the same thing," he said. "How did a 6-year-old end up being in charge of six babies?"

Clean and healthy

So far, parents displaced by flooding have reported 220 children missing, and that number is expected to rise, said Mike Kenner of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which will help reunite families.

At the rescue headquarters, the children ate cafeteria food and fell into a deep sleep. Deamonte gave his address, his phone number and the name of his elementary school.

He said the 5-month-old was his brother, Darynael, and that two others were his cousins, Tyreek and Zoria. The other three lived in his apartment building.

The children were clean and healthy, said Joyce Miller, a nurse who examined them. It was clear, she said, that "time had been taken with those kids." The baby was "fat and happy."

False hope Thursday night, they got an encouraging report: A woman in a shelter in Thibodeaux was searching for seven children. People in the building started clapping at the news. But when they got the mother on the phone, it became clear that she was looking for a different group of seven children.

The children were transferred to a shelter operated by the Department of Social Services, rooms full of toys and cribs where mentors from the Big Buddy Program were on hand. For the next two days, the staff did detective work.

One of the 2-year-olds steadfastly refused to say her name until a worker took her picture with a digital camera and showed it to her. The little girl pointed at it and cried out, "Gabby!" One of the boys — with a halo of curly hair — had a G printed on his T-shirt when he arrived; when volunteers started calling him G, they noticed that he responded.

Deamonte began to give more details to Derrick Robertson, a 27-year-old Big Buddy mentor: How he saw his mother cry when he was loaded onto the helicopter. How he promised he'd take care of his brother.

Late Saturday night, they found Deamonte's mother, who was in a shelter in San Antonio along with the four mothers of the other five children. Catrina Williams, 26, saw her children's pictures on a Web site set up over the weekend by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. By Sunday, a private plane from Angel Flight was waiting to take the children to Texas.

In a phone interview, Williams said she is the kind of mother who doesn't let her children out of her sight. What happened on Thursday, she said, was that her family, trapped in an apartment building, began to feel desperate.

The water wasn't going down and they had been living without light, food or air conditioning for four days. The baby needed milk and the milk was gone. So she decided they would evacuate by helicopter. When a helicopter arrived to pick them up, they were told to send the children first and that the helicopter would be back in 25 minutes. She and her neighbors had to make a quick decision.

It was a wrenching moment. Williams' father, Adrian Love, told her to send the children ahead.
"I told them to go ahead and give them up because me, I would give my life for my kids. They should feel the same way," said Love, 48.

His daughter and her friends followed his advice.

"We did what we had to do for our kids because we love them," Williams said.

The helicopter didn't come back. While the children were transported to Baton Rouge, their parents wound up in San Antonio, and although Williams was reassured that they would be reunited, days passed without any contact. On Sunday, she was elated.

"All I know is, I just want to see my kids," she said. "Everything else will just fall into place."

Announcement for All Employees - Relief Efforts Thank You

In case I haven't said it lately, I am always so proud to work for this company.

September 6, 2005
Dear Fellow Employees,

More than a week
has passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated the people and city of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities. Even before its impact - and throughout the days since - our employees have come forward with selfless donations, both of time and money, to aid in the nation’s relief efforts.

As you probably know, America West and other airlines have been assisting with the rescue/relief efforts in New Orleans, and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your participation, your thoughts and your prayers. Thanks to your efforts, combined with those of your fellow employees, we were able to transport survivors to a safe place.

Over the weekend, we operated two flights between New Orleans and Texas and one between New Orleans and Phoenix, carrying nearly 500 evacuees to safety. In addition, we transported approximately 4,000 pounds of food and water to the New Orleans area. We remain on standby to offer additional flights as part of the relief effort, which is continually being evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Even with America West’s airlift operation on temporary hold, we continue to support victims as Do Crew volunteers and HpEART and FACT-trained employees offer their time and expertise as needed. In addition, victims continue to receive support through organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, supported by generous employee donations. The list of employees who have contributed to this tremendous effort is growing by the minute, so although I won’t be able to recognize every employee in this letter, each will be recognized individually.

This past Sunday I received a call from Department of Transportation Secretary Mineta thanking America West and our employees for our participation in the New Orleans airlift operations. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, he conveyed that his thanks can and should be construed as appreciation on behalf of the United States Presidential Administration. He also communicated that the entire operation was very successful and that the administration was very pleased with the results.

Because of the nature of our business, sometimes we are called upon to help our country in times of need. It is times like these when being part of America West is more than being part of a company. America West employees care about each other and the people in our communities, and that was demonstrated this past week. On behalf of our 14,000 employees, DOT Secretary Mineta, the Presidential Administration, and the 500 safe evacuees, thank you for your support.

Doug

U.S. jets attack bridges near Syria to halt insurgents

Associated Press
Sept. 6, 2005 07:00 AM

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Marine jets Tuesday attacked two bridges across the Euphrates River near the Syrian border to prevent insurgents from moving foreign fighters and munitions toward Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. command said.

A Marine statement also said U.S. and Iraqi forces destroyed a "foreign fighter safe house," killed two foreigners and arrested three others during a Tuesday raid in the same area as the bridge attack.

Elsewhere, Iraqi civilians said they could see smoke rising Tuesday from the northern city of Tal Afar, where fighting has been raging for days between U.S.-Iraqi forces and insurgents said to include foreign fighters.

The U.S. command said an American soldier was killed Monday in Tal Afar. At least 1,890 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Witnesses saw ambulances evacuating at least 10 injured civilians from the city Tuesday.
The fighting occurred after U.N. chief Kofi Annan said Iraq had become an even greater terrorist center than Afghanistan under the Taliban. Attacks attributed to al-Qaida's wing in Iraq have stepped up in the Baghdad area and western Iraq.

A Marine statement said F/A-18 jets dropped bombs shortly after midnight on two light bridges near Karabilah, about 185 miles west of Baghdad.

"The purpose of the strike was to prevent al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists from using the structures for vehicular traffic to conduct attacks," the U.S. statement said. "The munitions used in the strike were designed to crater the bridges, rendering them inoperable but not destroying them."
The clash at the safe house occurred when U.S. and Iraqi troops came under fire "by foreign fighters occupying" the building, the Marines said.

"Multinational forces personnel returned fire and assaulted the building, suffering one friendly casualty when a Multinational Force soldier was wounded," the statement said without citing the soldier's nationality.

Troops called in aircraft to destroy the building, "which was being used as an operational headquarters," the statement added.

Karabilah is one of a cluster of towns near the Syrian border, a major infiltration route for foreign fighters heading for Baghdad and other major cities. Iraqi officials say al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has taken over parts of the area after residents fled fighting between tribes supporting and opposing the insurgents.

Annan told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that many young Muslims are angry, and the situation has been exacerbated by what is happening in Iraq.

"They feel victimized in their own society; they feel victimized in the West. And they feel there's profiling against them," he said. "And the Iraqi situation has not helped matters."

Annan added: "One used to be worried about Afghanistan being the center of terrorist activities. My sense is that Iraq has become a major problem and in fact is worse than Afghanistan."

In statements posted on Islamic Web sites, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for two attacks Monday - a roadside bombing that killed two British soldiers west of Basra and a daring daylight assault against the Interior Ministry in Baghdad in which two policemen died.

U.S. Marines said al-Qaida in Iraq launched multiple attacks Sunday against U.S. and Iraqi targets in Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad. Twelve people - including 11 civilians, an Iraqi soldier and three suicide bombers - died in the Hit attacks

Elsewhere, Iraqi officials said al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters had taken control of large areas of a strategic city on the Syrian border after weeks of fighting between an Iraqi tribe that supports the insurgents and one that opposes them.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said much of Qaim, 200 miles west of Baghdad, had been abandoned.

U.S. Marines operate around Qaim but have complained privately that they do not have enough American or Iraqi forces to secure the area properly.

The attacks in the Hit area began Sunday when two suicide car bombs exploded at security barricades on the northwest side of town, a Marine statement said.

A car bomb also exploded on the Hit bridge across the Euphrates River, rendering it impassable, the Marines said.

The Marine statement said three insurgents and one Iraqi soldier died in the attacks. The government in Baghdad said eight civilians also died.

In Doha, Qatar, the U.S. Central Command said U.S. jets launched airstrikes Sunday on insurgent positions near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, dropping two 500-pound bombs.
The statement also said an Air Force Predator aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles against a mortar firing position near Balad.

On Monday, gunmen seized a son of the governor of insurgent-infested Anbar province, Mamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani, officials said on condition of anonymity for fear of insurgent reprisal. The abduction occurred in the provincial capital of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped the new constitution, which goes to the voters in an Oct. 15 referendum, would help pacify the insurgency by luring Sunni Arabs away from it.

However, Sunni negotiators rejected the constitution and vowed to defeat it in the referendum. The bitter, protracted negotiations appeared to have raised tensions among Iraq's ethnic and religious communities.

About 1,500 people, mostly Sunnis, rallied Monday near the Sunni city of Ramadi to protest the draft charter.

On Monday, President Jalal Talabani said he and the other top Kurdish leader, Massood Barzani, had agreed to changes in the draft constitution to mollify concerns in Arab countries that the wording in the charter loosened Iraqi ties to the Arab world.

The language at issue describes Iraq as an Islamic - but not Arab - country, a concession to the non-Arab Kurds who form about 15 percent of the Iraqi population.

Talabani said he and Barzani agreed "to accept some amendments deemed vital for the Islamic and Arab worlds concerning the Arab League because Iraq is a founding member in the Arab League."

Talabani did not specify what changes had been agreed to by him and Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Some Iraqi officials said last week the changes could keep the description of Iraq as an Islamic state but add wording about Iraq having been a founding member of the Arab League. Sunni Arab negotiators said then that such language might satisfy the Arab League but not them.