Saturday Night Ramble

This post begins on BART, just out of the tunnel approaching the Orinda station. It’s been a long week. Today caps off a week’s worth of overtime.

There are a few people on the train wearing A’s gear. They played the Angels today. I have no idea who won, but willing to lay odds 2-to-1 that they lost. It’s been a long season for my beloved Athletics. I haven’t been to an A’s game in two seasons, none at all this year.
I suppose that in the eyes of some that would make me a fair weather fan. After all, a REAL fan would show up to support the team no matter how bad they are, right? Well, no. I’m sorry, I have to disagree.

More than all of the teams I love, including the 49ers, Sharks, and Warriors, it is the A’s I love the most. I love them so much that it hurts me deeply to see them lose. I know how bad the A’s are this year. I know how much I would be hurt to actually see them lose in person. I simply cannot subject myself to it. In fact, I say that the people who are showing up this year couldn’t love the A’s as much as I do because, obviously, it must not hurt them as much as it does me.

In my bag is a voter registration form all filled out. I just have to put it in the mailbox. So politicians take heed I will be A REGISTERED VOTER. I’m glad the kids care so much about the upcoming election. Imani’s been bugging me about getting myself registered. I don’t know if I’ve felt this passionate about the presidential election since the first one I was old enough to vote in. That was 1988, when Bush, Sr. beat out Michael Dukakis.

I still don’t regret voting for Dukakis. I thought he had the more thoughtful and logical answers during the debates. Jesus, this country cannot take another four years of a conservative in the White House, but can America really vote a black man into the presidency. Sadly, I don’t have that much faith in this country.

I’ve done a little networking through my dog blogging and Twitter. I’ve become friendly with this nice lady in South Dakota named Jennifer that volunteers at a local animal shelter, is a wife and mom, solely maintains her own very good-looking blog, and has shown me a thing or three about tech.
Last week she wrote a story about…hold on. Here’s my stop. I’ll pick this up when I get home.

Okay, I’m home now. I DID IT. I put my voter registration form in the mail.

Back to my story. Jennifer posted a story that’s really heartbreaking. It was about a Lab/Pit mix that had spent his entire life outside at the end of a short chain until some sick fucks decided to beat him down and leave him for dead. She posted a couple of videos on YouTube showing him with his front leg in a cast whimpering. AND HIS NAME IS CHARLIE, same as my adorable little pup.
She and others decided to turn his suffering into a rallying point for a great cause. They’re raising money in his name to provide subscriptions to local school kids for a youth-oriented periodical from the Humane Society (more about THEM later). I really love that idea the suffering that poor dog has suffered is going to serve a greater good.

On payday I decided to chip in a few bucks, but I didn’t want it to be from me. I wanted it to be from Zoe and Charlie so I wrote a silly note in their names and Jennifer decided to put it in her blog. Karen was so tickled with Jennifer’s post she’s talking about donating some more money.

Please take a look at her blog. It’s called “In the Shelter of Your Heart”. It’s very professional looking, complete with ads, nice looking layouts, the whole nine yards. This was also one of the blogs that inspired me to set higher goals for my own blogs. Although sometimes I feel like maybe I’ve bitten off a little more than I can chew.

I read a lot of dog abuse stories to comment about in my dog blog and I’ve gotta tell you, it gets depressing sometimes. There was a guy in Redwood City that kicked a Chihuahua to death, these asshole hunters that shot a little 4 month old Jack Russell puppy in the head, another woman being charged with throwing puppies down an outhouse. There are times that I just don’t want to hear about it, but now I feel this weight upon me. I just can’t read these horrible things without speaking out.
I’m gonna go work on my tech blog now. See ya.