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but I'm a bit of a snob. I don't like commercials and I hate laugh tracks. I ended up getting the movie channels (HBO, Showtime, etc) to repetitious banality of commercials. Plus, I like The Wire because I have legal training, I worked with juvenile offenders and I know a lot of cops (both good and bad). It's just interesting to me on a number of levels.
As the Admiral likes to say: there are assholes everywhere and one for every occasion. Unfortunately for my family, my SIL is an asshole on most occasions. It's like she likes taking up the slack when no one else will step up and be the asshole that day.
I will give Sharon a big hug from/for you. It's funny but I've found so many wonderful people on the internet. I always look forward to being able to meet them. I've been very lucky. Almost everyone I've met on the internet is the same in person that they are online. They keep that small glimmer of hope for our collective futures alive.
Rants definitely keep me from buying an Uzi and climbing on the nearest tower. I'd love to come visit you sometime. I guess it is from living in a larger state but driving a distance to visit a friend isn't a deterrent for us. We used to drive almost an hour just to say "hey" to evlbstrd and 10 hours just to hang out with a friend of ours in Nashville.
You're right. We'll want to look around and figure out where we fit in before we buy. I'd like a less uptight neighborhood. Then again, maybe it is me. I should try to get a little more involved around here. People, overall are just people, and I haven't been making much of an effort to get to know anyone nearby. I have to take some responsibility. I'm just spoiled. I had a nice little community and a great group of friends. I've never really had to go out and start all over from scratch. It's a new process for me but I'm going to give it a shot. I am thinking of the Takoma Park or Arlington areas are places that we might want to consider exploring. Takoma Park because I keep hearing that it is older and more laid back. Arlington because we'd be closer to our friend Alan and we like hanging out with him and his friends (who are becoming our friends). We want to buy because we want to get another large dog for the German Shepherd to play with. The reason we're in the house we're in now is because we had trouble finding a place where we could have three dogs. Most of the places were okay with the small ones but they thought the big one would be trouble.
The thing about Kansas weather is that you know they are going to happen and no one panics. Yeah, we might get several inches of snow or a tornado watch but truthfully neither are that bad. When you know it's going to snow heavily you know the road crews are going to be out and that travel won't be great on side streets but it rarely paralyzes the area. When there's a tornado alert/warning, you can see where it's going and, more often than not, you know what areas are in most danger. Tornadoes aren't any every day occurrence and, anymore, you can tell what area is most likely to be hit. If anything, the weather in places like Kansas makes you more aware of your surroundings and gives you an appreciation for the environment. Besides, when the weather is bad people go outside and watch the sky. It's one of the ways we ended up meeting our neighbors. We were all outside watching the sky and then you start talking to whomever else is outside about past storms, the color of the clouds, the wind direction, etc. And, if something does hit, neighbors come out and help. The weather actually brings people together. We had a microburst a couple of years ago and we spent the days and weeks after helping out neighbors. We helped cut up trees and clean up. Here, not so much. If the weather looks bad, people seem to keep to themselves and stay busy inside. With all that said, I'd prefer a warmer climate myself. I like being outside and feeling the warmth of the sun. But having actually seasons is nice too. I like the spring rains, I like it when the leaves turn and I love it when it snows. It makes life seem a little bit more like an adventure.
LOL, yeah, I've been walking dogs in shifts for a long time. They've each got their own personalities and I've learned that they are happiest when they get to do what they like. I spoil them. I spoil them real good. Skala likes running free. She spent the first two and a half years of her life chained in a yard 24/7/365. She seems to really appreciates being able to roam and sniff whatever she wants and investigate her surroundings. It has to be a lot better than being chained up and never being able to walk beyond the 15' that the chains allowed. It did take her a while to get used to being inside. Ceiling fans freaked her out at first. Then there were the sounds in the walls whenever the heat kicked on. She used to bark at the vents. She was a handfull at first but now she's content to lay on the couch and watch National Geographic. She barks at the animals she doesn't like and when "The Dog Whisperer" is on she still runs up to the tv and tries to sniff butts. The funniest thing she's ever done was the time she was watching the Outdoor Life channel and they hunter on there said, "Let's go." The dogs ran to the right of the screen and Skala jumped off the bed and out into the other room. She looked perplexed that she was the only one there. She came back into the room where the tv was and cocked her head like she was saying "where did you all go?" She still has trouble suspending her disbelief and understanding that there really aren't other animals in the television for her to play with. Now when she gets out, she makes the most of it. She runs to and fro picking up sticks and tossing them in the air.
The two little ones like to go for walks but they don't like to explore as much as Skala. They like staying on the sidewalk and are insecure when they are off their leashes. They are content to spend the day sunning themselves in the backyard and going for a walk once a day, or not.
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