March 24, 2007
An Advantage To Small Dogs
This week, as the story broke about poisoned dog food, concerned pet owners scrambled to determine whether there was any risk in what they were feeding their dogs.
One of the advantages of small dogs, however, is that I have a lot more leeway what I feed them. We buy them Nature’s Variety, which I once calculated to be about 4 times as expensive by weight than a lot of commercial food. It’s the sort of expensive “gourmet” dog food, grown in “sustainable agriculture” farms, etc… In fact, it’s probably grown in a more environmentally-friendly and natural way than the food that I eat.
But when you have two dogs weighing a combined 17 pounds, the cost becomes pretty much a non-factor. If the difference between expensive food and cheap food is $4 a month vs. $16 a month, I’m willing to pay more. If I had two dogs eating enough food to make the difference between $30 a month and $120 a month, the cost/benefit analysis might change a bit.
This might be something to consider when you’re trying to determine whether to get a Yorkie or a Great Dane as your next best friend.
March 14, 2007
The Bachelor Life
As I pointed out a while back, the wife is off in California for a month and a half in advance of her sister’s wedding, and so I’m living the bachelor life. There will potentially be a lot of travel coming up, so she even has the dogs. And I sold my TV (it’s getting time to upgrade). So I’m living a bit of a quiet, reserved, bachelor’s life right now.
How do you think I’m doing with it?
Hmm… Peppercorn marinated pork tenderloin with steamed asparagus…
I’m doin’ alright. 
February 11, 2007
Why Bread, Milk, and Eggs?
Down here in the South, snow is a very rare phenomenon. Here in Atlanta, we’ll get an occasional ice storm, and even more rarely do we see snow. When it does occur, it’s at most a 1/2 day disruption. By early afternoon, everything has melted.
Yet when there’s a forecast for snow or ice, the city panics. People rush to the grocery store and buy the place out of bread, milk, and eggs. For those of us who grew up in northern climes, it’s high comedy.
But I was thinking about it today. Why bread, milk, and eggs? I realize they’re considered “staples” by most people, but how many people in the modern world eat these things every morning? Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to pick up oatmeal, bottled water, and canned goods? You know, non-perishables? It’s even worse, because if the fit really hit the shan, and the power went out, the milk and eggs would spoil!
I guess it’s just irrational, and there’s no explanation for it. After all, if you’re irrational enough to think that a 1/2″ of snow is going to shut down Atlanta for a week, you’re probably irrational enough to think the power won’t go out and the 3 gallons of milk and 4 dozen eggs you just bought won’t spoil….
July 15, 2006
Who’s Buying This Crap?
Maybe two years ago, I was in the store and started seeing White Chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter cups as well as Dark Chocolate varieties. I love dark chocolate, as I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, and those things were great.
Shortly thereafter, the dark chocolate version disappeared. They’re still selling the white chocolate, and I just saw today that they’ve released some sort of peanut-butter-and-marshmallow cup (milk chocolate).
I don’t get it. While anecdotal evidence isn’t worth much, I have run into hundreds of people who love dark chocolate. And maybe a handful that like white chocolate. Why in the world would they stop selling the Dark Chocolate Reese’s??
June 30, 2006
What Did She Order?
PETA Targets Beyonce at Dinner
Beyonce Knowles had several surprise guests at a recent dinner, where members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals peppered the pop star with questions about her fur use.
An eBay auction offered fans a chance to dine with Knowles, and PETA secretly placed the winning bid. At the dinner Wednesday at the chic Nobu 57 restaurant, members of the animal rights group confronted Knowles about wearing fur coats and using fur in her clothing line, House of Dereon.
A video of the encounter, posted on http://www.tmz.com , shows a stunned Knowles, unresponsive to the allegations and appealing to others in her group to react. The PETA guests, whose tone was conversational but persistent, are eventually kicked out of the restaurant.
Wow… I can say that I do applaud PETA, a group I normally consider to be the Scientologists of the animal rights movement, for at least behaving in an adult manner. They paid their money and probably didn’t deserve to be kicked out (bear in mind, I haven’t watched the video, so they may deserve it).
My question is, what did she order? I know that if I were bombarded with PETA, I’d order accordingly.
Rabbit with foie gras, with a side of tuna-free dolphin, please.
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Brad, we have two dogs and a cat. The dogs eat Pedigree dry dog food with left-overs stirred in and the cat gets nine lives. I was glad that our dog and cat food was not on the dredded list….. (PS. one of our dogs is a Pit Bull and the other is a 30 pound mutt.)
Comment by Lucy Stern — March 25, 2007 @ 6:35 am
we have three cats and fortunately we avoided this whole mess because we only feed them dry food, which is better for their dental health anyways. also, you wouldn’t think its expensive to feed cats, but two of the three are fat tubs of lard, one of which who has a perceived bullemia issue as she is always hoarking her food back out because she over eats. Since the third cat is skinny and rarely eats, we have to leave food out 24/7 so portion control for the bullemic cat is nigh impossible.
Eh well… its been a bad week as i just learned that the rat poison i bought was ineffective as it contained dog food and now the rats in my neighborhood are the size of oxen.
Comment by mabus — March 26, 2007 @ 7:47 am