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Tuesday, 18 May 2004
more ranting
Blog number 2
The Government, the very same that is supposed to look out for our well-being, and are often the very ones causing is the most harm. They only seem to be interested in pursuing their personal goals, which only seems to be lining their pockets at our expense. Sure they do some good, but do we really get our taxes worth? I don't think so.
Let's take fuel prices for example, holy shit batman, up to a 30 cents\l increase in the last 2 months. That's something like 90cents plus a gallon. (I'm estimating here okay?) All of these taxes that are added to the price are supposed to go to road maintenance and repair.
The last time you drove, how were the roads? Nice and new? Smooth sailing so to speak? Probably not. They did a road repair around here where I live. The problem they had was that water kept coming out of the road in the spring, and every time we had a heavy rain. Their solution was to dig it out, fill it with gravel, and that was it. There is no pavement there, there is a huge pothole developing though. I mean, like 4 to 6 inches deep and 18 inches wide. It's like running your wheel into a 4 to 6 inch curb. More than enough to do damage. The worst part is that it is on the uphill side of the road, you run the risk of a head on collision if you try to avoid it. As for going on the shoulder, forget it. They put caution signs up, you know, just a vertical sign with diagonal stripes. Nothing about a bump or anything like that. And they put them right beside the damn road, where the pavement and shoulder meet. Too close and you could very well take out a mirror, a little closer and you are going to need a new paint job.
So, if a car is coming downhill, you HAVE TO drive right through the worst of the pothole. There is no choice, none at all. All this so called road repair was done over 2 weeks ago, and there is no sign of anything being done. By the by, water still pours out of the road surface when it rains.
As to the actual surface, well, how do you explain it? Parts of the street I live on, you can almost take your hands off the wheel, not that the road is good mind you, it's just that the groove on one side is so deep, it grabs your wheel and pretty much steers the car for you.
And let's not get into the extra wear and tear on your vehicle, suspension and tires and well, everything. All that jostling around is not good for the car, probably not good for the body either.
What about the effects of the road on snow removal? How the hell do you expect to clear the roads, when the damn things aren't anything close to being level, let alone smooth. And this is where most of those taxes are supposed to go.
And how about income tax, I just love seeing 25% of my earnings being taken, and then having to shell out even more. And for what? So that I can go out, spend what little money I have left, and pay more taxes, and more taxes and more.......
I mean really, you pay tax on the home you live in, on the mortgage you took out to buy it, the insurance you pay to protect it. Anything you buy to maintain it. You paid taxes on all the lawyers' fees, the registration fees, and the home inspector and on and on and on.
The car you own, unless you bought it new, has had taxes paid on the purchase price at least twice. Think about it, bought new, taxes were paid on say, 35k, it was sold again used for 20k, and the taxes were again paid on it, and if you sell it a third or fourth time, more taxes. So the government collects taxes for a car worth 55k but was only sold new as a 35k car. Get what I mean?
You pay taxes for the groceries you buy to survive. You pay taxes on the utilities you HAVE to have to live, unless you have your own power, water, and heat supplies, not to mention septic and waste removal services.
So really, how much do we really have left over? When they say that you have to work until the middle of the year to pay your taxes, what kind of life is that?
Posted by miklbarn
at 7:17 PM EDT
Updated: Monday, 24 May 2004 12:07 AM EDT
Monday, 17 May 2004
hello
Well, I've done it. I have decided to vent and rant and rave. Or whatever I feel like saying. Please keep in mind I am just a regular joe, so please forgive grammer and all that other writing shit *G*
This is my space, I make no apologies.
I am going to use this space to let the world know what I think about anything that crosses my mind.
I welcome any and all comments, those I don't like or disagree with, well, they just might disappear *G*
Here is a taste of what is to come.....
. When our insurance company found out that we had two rotties, they dropped our house insurance like we were diseased, although, they were more than willing to keep insuring our vehicles. I must say, that was awfully good of them, don't you think? I mean, think of all the accidents we could be responsible for, all those people running off the roads trying to get away from our dogs. *S*
Well, it took days and many, many calls to insurance brokers to find someone who would insure our house. Every company, every person we talked to said the same thing, we can't insure you because of your vicious dogs.
To each and every company, we issued the invitation to come and see our dogs, to take the opportunity to see for themselves the level of aggression of our dogs, needless to say, none of them accepted.
I'd be willing to extend that offer to almost anyone, just to prove to people that these dogs are gentle, loving animals and not the frothing, snarling devil dogs they seem to be depicted as.
The biggest problem with people and rotties, in my opinion, is the people. They just don't think about the responsibility that comes with owning a dog, regardless of the breed. I don't think that very many people really take the time to research the breed's background, its working history, and the reasons for its breed in the first place, for example, did you know that most of the small terriers were bred for ratting? That is, to work on the docks and warehouses killing and eating wharf rats. You know the ones I'm talking about, everyone thinks its "cute" when they growl and snap at you. After all, they are so tiny and cute, right? Yet the same behavior out of a large dog is considered aggressive. Well WAKE UP it is aggressive behavior, regardless of the breed.
The only difference is size. Period. An apt comparison might be say, a child comes up and wallops you one right on your nose. Ouch! But that's it, now say a 190 lb man comes up to you and wallops you one right on your nose.... Get my point? While the behavior itself is aggressive, and unacceptable, we would still laugh at the child's behavior, would we not?
If anything, rotties are calm by nature, size and strength giving them the self confidence to deal with most situations without fear, (one of the leading causes of aggressive behavior in any animal, let alone a dog)
As I stated earlier, the problem lies with the people. The dog is, and always has been a pack animal. In the pack there is the pecking order, alpha male, alpha female and then the rest of the pack based on strength and fortitude. Pretty much everyone knows this right? Right, pretty basic, just watch one of Discovery Channel's animal shows about wolves or any canine. Then why do they forget it when it comes to Rover? Your family is the pack, you, your partner, your child(ren) and Rover. Maybe, more importantly, is the fact that the dog needs to know the order of things, where it stands the family hierarchy.
If you let the dog get away with aggressive behavior, regardless of the level of ferocity, you are basically allowing that dog to intimidate you. If you continue to allow this to happen, that dog becomes alpha. And you let it. But when it displays the typical alpha behavior, we label it vicious. Yet it is only doing what come natural, in a pack, you get to the top by being the toughest and most aggressive.
Being a pack animal, the dog also needs a family life. Why would you think of owning a dog just to tie it outside? Cute when they are puppies, then too much of a pain when they get big. Think of how you would feel if your family had kicked you out of the home, tied you to a tree out back, and only came to see you to give you food and water. Don't we put people in jail for that? Isn't it called abuse, or neglect or something like that?
Yet we act all surprised when one day we go out to feed Rover and he growls and snarls at us, with his tail between his legs. We wonder what got into him, must be in the breed or something, after all, we gave him shelter, fresh air, (dogs like being outside right?) Food and water. What more could he want?
Take any social animal, man included, and when they are young, shower them with love and attention, show them the physical affection of hugs and cuddling. Include them in your daily life. Then, one day out of the blue isolate them. But let them see you, watch everyone doing the same things living the same life, but without them. What happens?
Most times, massive confusion, hurt, anger, and perhaps you might just get a little bit antisocial.
Owning a dog, or any pet for that fact is a huge responsibility. You are entering into a relationship that has the potential to last for years. You are agreeing, through ownership to provide the care and proper environment for that animal, until its death. You take on the responsibility to the people around you to raise your dog properly, so that its behavior isn't unpleasant or unacceptable.
Both of our Rotties are rescued dogs. The eldest, I rescued from someone that got the dog because of its status symbol. But thought nothing of keeping the dog in a dog cage for 16hrs at a time, and it was not unheard of for that poor animal to only be let out twice a day, for a few minutes each time. Basically for food and bathroom breaks. Nice life eh?
The second, who has only been with us for about 9 months, and was 2.5 yrs when she came to us, was purchased by a childless couple. When they had a baby, the dog was put outside, and ignored, all of the parent's attention being focused on the baby. They moved into town, still leaving the dog outside, now in a much smaller area, and ignored it.
They wanted to get rid of her because she was too much of a hassle. With a goodly amount of patience, love and a stable environment, we were able to bring out the best in her.
When we first met her, she was so dirty! You weren't able to pet her without your hand coming away black. And talk about uncontrollable! Our first walk consisted of me chasing her down the street. She jumped and ran before we even made it in the house. She loathed to be hugged or cuddled; she even went so far as to growl when we tried to hug her.
Months of work followed, from house training to basic commands. Though the training is still ongoing, as it should be for life with dogs, she has become a most welcome and loved member of our family. Nothing warms our hearts more than coming home and having both of our "girls" greet us with an ecstatic display of affection. We have received numerous compliments on the girls' behavior, even from people that were terrified of the breed. Keep in mind that these dogs weigh close to 100lbs each, and have the strongest biting force of all the breeds as well as one of the worse reputations imaginable. And yet, to meet them, you forget all of that in an instant. From the first moment they meet you, that's it, unless you have no heart at all, you are going to fall in love with them. Just ask anyone, our parents, friends, and neighbors, anyone they have met. I can't count the number of offers to take them off our hands if we ever tired of them. As if! *S* And it really isn't a problem to get someone to baby-sit them either. They are loving and affectionate animals, and with love and proper training, they are a joy to have in your family.
I could go on and on about dogs and owners, but I will leave off here. I will include links to different sites on rotties, and I hope that you will take a moment to explore and find out what these dogs are really like and how much joy they bring to people.
http://www.rottclub.ca/therapy.html
http://www.rottclub.ca/index.html
http://www.amrottclub.org/
http://www.geocities.com/lovemyrottz/
http://www.post-gazette.com/pets/19990217pets.asp
http://www.geocities.com/rottweilersRus/success.html
Just run a search on rotties, rescue dogs and the like, you'll be very surprised at the positive feedback about these dogs. Why doesn't anyone ever do stories about the positive aspects Rottweilers? Or about the other breeds out there, the toys and terriers that you always see snarling and barking and generally being unpleasant?
Well, I'll step off my soap box now, and thank you for your time.
I just wanted to point out that there is a whole other side to this so called vicious breed.
As an aside, my wife and I were told by the woman that arranged our second "adoption" that when she was talking about how well behaved our dog(s) were, they actually wanted to take her back. After us putting in all that work. mmmmmmmm can you say Not A Chance!!!
take care all, and please come back to visit. I will try to update weekly, but, well, shit happens and I will do what I can
cul8r
Posted by miklbarn
at 9:02 AM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 18 May 2004 7:19 PM EDT
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