The dog life

Entry #744
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Made some relatively significant life changes in the last few months. I quit Hempfest after much conflict with our board of directors. I'd been pushing for democratic elections and fiscal accountability for a few years, and that was not the easiest thing for our existing leadership structure, which, among other things, skipped doing the books for the entire time they had the books.

The final straw was our second annual board "elections" in which I was not elected, despite nearly unanimous agreement that I am the single most qualified person in Hempfest to serve in such capacity. It became apparent that this was not about Hempfest, but about interpersonal issues -- with a few board members in specific. The system in which I had voluntarily placed myself was governed by a power structure which was actively fighting to keep me out of it's realm. It all started to feel like a big, dramatic joke. And so I decided to not participate in such whimsy.

Stemming from that, or from that same wellspring, I've decided that, on a more basic level, I don't need to expend much energy maintaining unhealthy or unsatisfying relationships. In my life I seek positive, communicative, non-violent energy and people. If it ain't that, I need to let it slide by without damaging my ship.

I ditched my long-time cell phone. I finally gave up on my theory that one can keep one's same addresses for life. Number porting is a pretty theory too, but that failed me. And then I envisioned a life in which I receive calls only from people whose calls I don't fear answering. And so I took the plunge, got qwest-free for the first time in ten years (I'm still disputing their final bill and have a complaint in with the attorney general), and got a pre-paid phone with this new text messaging technology the kids are into these days.

That also ends an era of a "24-hour emergency number" for Inwa/Hemp.Net. And sort of begins a new era in my business life -- hopefully one centered on "less work, more pay." I've been doing more survey work lately, less tech support, and I don't answer the business phones at all these days. (Zhonka and Inwa share a part-time support person -- thanks Pam.)

I got a super stylie road bike from Bike Works, a community bike shop in Columbia City. (My old bike left me when I parked it unlocked in Belltown a few months back -- it was time for our relationship to end.) A way awesome girl named Donald took me over to their warehouse and we picked out a shiny red trek that didn't need much but a tuneup and a handle re-wrap. Two hundred bucks for my bad ass bike, and the head bike guru at Bike Works guaranteed that the red paint was good for an extra mile per hour at least.

Pretty much my first bike ride, I jammed a bag of groceries in my front wheel and tweaked it pretty good. Heh, life. Got it trued up for fifteen bucks at the bike shop near my house, and I'm back up and running.

My first real bike ride was to the Seattle Storm game the other night. Lisa and I have season tickets, another heh. It's pretty entertaining. I'm not terribly into sports, but Lisa has what I call a "recessive sports gene" that expressed itself during the Seahawks playoffs. We had to hit the pub for every game. So one night, late, I got tickets to women's basketball, which has a much superior coolness-to-cost ratio than other pro sports. At some point during the game, during a timeout, they call all the kids to the court for a completely insane congo line. It's all pretty funny.

The biggest news in my life is that Lisa and I adopted a dog. Her name is Birdy. She's three and a half, mostly spaniel, white with tan markings, smart, affable, loves car rides, etcetera, etcetera. We're both very much enamored with her. She goes just about everywhere with me. We walk at least twice a day up and down the hills of our hood. She has an extra toe on her back right foot. Heh.

We think Birdy may have been trained in a foreign tongue. It wasn't the easiest first week, but her and Sydney the cat are reaching better interspecies balance. We added the Dog Whisperer to our Netflix queue. The frequent, small checking of her behavior through leash tugs -- and "pack leadership" of course -- works like magic. I now seek out challenges for her -- cats to not bark at, dogs to not bark at, stopping at every street corner and waiting for my lead, etc.

She is adept at tearing toys apart, and I'm amazed not just that she can tear them apart, but that she seems to be very aware of the "weak points" of any toy. My first lesson on dog toys was the five-minute plush ball. In the car, it didn't occur to me that the lack of squeaking meant the toy had been completely demolished. The semi-tough sewn bone lasted ten minutes. The rope monkey twenty. She like to play tug-o-war with ropes, which are about the only thing that last.

We're totally dog people now. We have dog hair everywhere. We brush her often, and it keeps coming. I gave her a bath the other day in the tub, which was fun, time consuming, and messy. Next time we're going to the dog wash for that. Still haven't taken her to the dog park, but we've been hanging out with friends and family dogs, and she's been doin' pretty good. I'm planning a weekend hot springs trip with her at the end of the month.

All in all, we're pretty smitten by our new doggy birdy kitten. Welcome to the fam damily, Birdy. You're such a good girl! Yes you are! Whose a good girl?! Whose a good girl?! Birdy's a good girl! Yes you are! Yes you are!

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If you think of it, Birdy's an odd name for a dog... but oddly enough, I have known of another dog named Birdy.

Welcome to the Realm of the Dog People, Ben & Lisa!