Monty's Painting...the Final Dog Post for a While

I've had a handful of requests from people that actually wanted to see Monty's painting. Here it is.

An unframed 8x10 digital print can be yours for just $9.99. If you want one...and you know you do...send me an email to jeff@weinertoons.com. The prints are not a limited edition item...the original is one of a kind.

Supermarket Soundtrack

I was walking through the supermarket earlier this evening and I was singing aloud to Ricky Martin...Livin La Vida Loca. I go grocery shopping almost every week, I worked in a supermarket when I was a kid...pretty much from age 15 - 19...and I never stopped to ask the question. Why exactly is it necessary to have a shopping soundtrack? And it's never current music...it's music from the previous decade. It plays for an hour and repeats..."Hold on to the Night"...it's Richard Marx from the 1990s.

Monty's Big Day at the Track - An Afterthought

So I've been thinking about the pet communicator we met at the greyhound event we went to last week (see the previous post first if you haven't read it yet). I was thinking about how she promised to tell us what Monty was thinking, and when we sat down for a 15 minute session, she told us about 5 minutes worth of stuff. The conversation went something like this:

PC: Monty likes living with you
JW: Uh huh...as opposed to living on the track in a cage like he used to.

PC: He feels safe when he's with you. Safer when he's with both of you...because you've got his front and his back
JW: Yeah...OK. I choose the front.

PC: Monty is a lover, not a fighter
JW: Well, he gets kind of cranky when we go near him when he's eating a chewie.
PC: That's because he can't finish is in one sitting. He's had to fight for his food. Is there anything else you want to know?

Wait a minute...doesn't Monty have any more to tell us without asking him questions? For 5 years, Monty has been itching to talk about his feelings and when he finally gets the chance, he clams up? That's all he has to say, "I'm glad they picked me to live with them"? I call bullshit...I think he'd have more to say. How about something interesting like, "Hey, that food you give me tastes like crap...and it gives me gas". Or maybe, "I hate the frikkin cat". I don't think, "He likes being an only dog" is a revelation, do you? What animal doesn't want their owners undivided attention?

Is it crazy for her to think that Monty is talking to her? Or maybe she knows something we don't. Or maybe she was just excited at the thought that people were paying her to talk to their dogs! Has anyone else had an experience like this, and what did you think about it? I'll admit that we had fun, but I personally don't think I believe it.

Monty's Big Day at the Track

Yesterday was "bring your former racer back to the track" day at Wonderland Greyhound Park, where hundreds of people bring their greyhound for a day of fun, food, and fabulous prizes. It's kind of like visting your old work place when you're retired, right? You go over once in a while to have coffee and donuts with the old crew. OK, maybe it's not, but Monty likes to see other greyhounds...they're the only other dog that he's not afraid of. All day long, they had the "fun run", which we might enter Monty into next year...they clock the speed of each dog and take pictures during the race. It was amusing to see him watch the other dogs run...he started running with them at one point.

If you look closely, you'll actually see that there are dogs racing on the track there.

They also had exciting activites, like clip your dogs nails for $5, and let your dog paint a picture...which you can't do until after you've had his nails clipped of course. Here's Monty painting...I should duplicate this and sell it on EBay as limited edition prints painted by my dog. Don't think they wouldn't sell.

And lastly, there was the pet communicator...how could we NOT go for this. Although what she had to say that Monty was thinking was interesting, I have trouble believing that Monty is talking to her. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's my opinion.

Hold on a sec...

What Monty...did you say something? Oh...he says that I don't know what I'm talking about. I've been corrected. ;-)

see more pics from the big day here

The Patio: The Adventure Continues

I know what you're thinking...that thing isn't done yet? It's getting there.


BEFORE


DURING.

AFTER...Coming Soon.

Yummy Yum Yum Yum...and Lots of Fire and Goodness

If you live anywhere near Massachusetts...Salem to be exact, you should make it a point to visit Asahi Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. Sure, they tricked us when we walked in and told us it would be a bit of a wait...and then asked us if we wanted to get some sushi at the sushi bar while we waited...they knew we were hungry because we said so when we came in...so we ordered some sushi and then they immediately sat us at one of the four hibachi tables so we could eat our sushi that wasn't really necessary because you get a ton of food...BUT...where was I going with this? Oh yeah...the food is fabulous, it's all cooked right before your eyes in all its flaming goodness.

Our master chef was Kin...if you can get him, you're lucky as he's quite talented. We had fried rice, steak, shrimp, chicken, scallops, more rice with ginger butter, vegetables...I'm SO glad I can eat seafood again (allergy tests came back negative) we were so deliriously full at the end of the night...which is why, when we got the bill...all we could do was laugh, as we left the car behind and walked home.

Just in Case Anyone Was Worried...Another Story About Dirt

Dirt in my shoes, dirt on my clothes, dirt all over the yard, dirt UP MY NOSE...Kleenex helped me discover THAT tidbit...but you probably didn't want to know that. If I had fingernails, there would be dirt there too. Anyway...the patio hole is just about done now thanks to Steve and his 4-wheeler with the plow on the front. Some of you were worried about that...how would we get the 4-wheeler in and out of the yard when there was a 4 foot drop in the way? And what did I say? I said, "Trust me...it'll work"...even though I wasn't sure HOW it would work.

And it did work. Thanks for your concern! Oh...you want to see the digging that was done? I figured as much.

It's hard to see now...but someday, this is going to be a SWEET patio.

Our Fresh Veggies...and Other Tales of Things We Hope We Can Grow

So the patio isn't done, but at least we got the garden planted. It's been a while since I've grown fresh vegetables...love to pull those fresh tomatoes off the vine and eat them. Got some green beans going...some peppers and cucumbers too. We'll see what happens. Well, we might see what happens if we can actually grow anything here. We're trying to grow out vegetables in window boxes two stories above the ground. It's safe from animals this way and we don't have to worry about our soil being unfit for planting.

We do however, need to replant some of this already. Our tomatoes need to be in pots (note to self for this weekend)...need to create some drainange for the window boxes since they filled up the other night. Who knows...if we play our cards right, we'll have vegetables just in time for the Thanksgiving harvest. I'll let you know when the first ripe tomato falls off the vine...and onto the unfinished patio with a squish below.

A Piece of The Rusted UFO

This is a piece from the rusted UFO we pulled out of the still unfinished patio digging project.

Seriously, we pulled this piece of wreckage out 3 weeks ago, but I'm giving you the illusion that we're still working on it every week so you don't think we're lazy. It'll get done.