Guard Dog

Well if anyone is wondering WTF happened to the Rays this year, hows this: Most runners LOB in the majors, leading the AL in most DPs against, highest OBP against lead off hitters in the MLB and 3rd highest oAVG on hitters with 2 outs. Only the Astros & Rockies were worse on that one. Did anyone else get that sense of finality from David Price's last start against the Pirates on Wednesday? I'm betting his next start will be in San Francisco.

Motorized or Calax powered? Inquiring minds want to know!

Injuries, underperforming pitchers, no hitting. It's just a perfect storm of crappiness.

Hurlshot's US Tour 2014: He goes on vacation so you don't have to!

I stand corrected. But back bone certainly is no requirement for politicians. In fact few successful ones possess one at all.

Does this make anyone else feel old? Congrats Krook! ... And I'm sadly still in school v.v I should be done in december though but what I'm going to do after I have not a clue. That's not helping Calax! I Remember YOU as a HS kid too! As for what you are going to do how's this career path for a political science major: you wind working as a paid staffer for a State Rep back home in California (democrat of course). He'll get elected to Congress and take you along. Next thing you know he moves on to the Senate and you are running for his seat, and you win. You are full of ideals about how government can help people. Then 10 years go by. You're filthy rich because you've been taking bribes the whole time and stealing from taxpayers. You've been banging on of your 19 year old staffers but that's ok because your wife despises you now anyway and is spending your money as fast as you can steal it. Finally you move on from the 19 year old to an even hotter 20 year old that was answering phones during your last campaign. The 19 year old gets pissed and goes to the Washington Post with details of your affair and your financial dealings. It's a huge scandal but the House Majority Leader refuses to investigate because you are the same party as they are. But your constituents vote you out of office anyway and your wife divorces you. But that's ok because you were stealing taxpayer money from slush funds and hiding it off shore and it makes a nice supplement to your $200k post-elected office lobbyist job convincing congress to cut down the Redwood National Forest. Proving that politics is a hideous bitch-goddess that turns good people into bad ones and idealists into hypocrites! I'm joking of course. But given your education and intelligence why don't you consider politics? It beats working for a living!

Wow, TG was far too young.

Does this make anyone else feel old? Congrats Krook!

That's a nice story. Can you share what game you train them with and also isn't Sunny too old to be trained? I thought you had to train a dog from the puppy stage or the training isn't effective so I am keen to understand how you train your dogs. Sunny is between 2-5 but you can train a dog at any age. You CAN teach and old dog new tricks! But I'm not teaching her anything complex. We're starting with leash etiquette and basic obedience. Once she has that we'll move on to teaching her how to behave off leash. I can take Tommy anywhere with no leash and he won't leave my side or wander off. That is just learned behavior. That's all. You make it a game by making it seem fun to you. Remember they are watching you and pick up on EVERYTHING. Smile, praise, play tug with a toy or give a little treat when they do the right thing. Ignore them when they do the wrong thing. That's all there is to it really. Reward the desired action and ignore the rest. For off leash training I use a 15' lead with a thin choke chain around her neck. Then I wrap the leash around my waist so she will see it is not in my hands. Then I just walk without making eye contact with her. When she heels I slip here a little treat. When she wanders off the chain tightens and there is the correction. But it is important that I show no reaction when that happens. It lets her know following me is the right thing to do. I usually work with her for 15 minutes or so twice a day then we play ball or Frisbee or something else fun. The key is for the whole experience to be positive for her. That's how I've always done it and it's worked really well.

I started Sunnys training today. I had to leave Tommy in the house so she wouldn't be distracted. So far she's eating it up but I make a game of it so dogs usually respond well to that.

That was bound to happen sooner or later.

What? I thought we were a writer! Booze and writing go hand in hand, just ask Joyce, Hemingway, Vonnegut, I could go on all night! Besides, Wild Turkey is so harsh and flavorless. You should try some single barrel small batch bourbons like 4 Roses or Woodbridge.

The Dutch have been waiting 4 years for that whooping. Plus isn't is sweet to defeat a country they have historical bad blood with? Yeah I know that was centuries ago but still. Kansas and Missouri college games are still a big deal here for that very reason.

I'm no fan of the Heat but you have to admit, appearing in for straight finals and winning two of them is nothing to be ashamed of.

Not the biggest mistake of all but still a mistake was not breaking Iraq up into different countries once the fighting was finished. The entire nation itself was an artificial construct of the post WWI peace and has only been held together by brute force. First the British, then Hussien. The flaw in the US thinking was that Kurds, Sunnis & Shias would all be able to live together in the magical land of republican democracy where they would share power and be nice to each other. Not act like savages. Because, there are so many examples around the world where that is happening right?

Thank you everyone! I know I said I'd never get married again but it just goes to show... Never say never.

Not much going on here. We just got home from 10 days in Florida, mostly in Marathon in the Keys. We spent the first day in Cedar Key. Then the next day in Miami, then Key Largo to scuba dive at Pennekamp. Tommy was supposed to stay on the boat but he jumped in after us when we dove in. That was funny. Then we went to Key West for a day before heading back up to the campground where. we rented a cabin at in Marathon. We found a dog wandering around the park we spent a few days in in Sugarloaf Key. She was awfully skinny. We asked around the campground and everyone said she had been hanging around for a long time. They all said she was a stray. She was friendly but skittish. She became fast friends with Tommy though and she let us feed her and pet her. So... 700 miles, a bath and vet visit later she's sleeping next to Tommy on the couch in my office. We named her Sunny Smiles (just Sunny really) because of her smile and her bright yellow fur. The FONV reference is my own private joke since Steph has never played. Oh.. and we got married! (Not the dog, my fiancée). We've had the paperwork for a while and Steph has been mulling over what to do for a ceremony since neither of us has any immediate family. Then when we were in Key West watching the sun set she just turned to me and said let's just do right here, tonight. So we did our own impromptu thing on the pier at Key West with just Tommy the dog as a witness. All in all is was a hell of a lot better than my first time around! When she gets off work tomorrow morning we'll go to the courthouse and make it legal. It was a hell of a good time all around.

Lady GD, the REAL GD & I are leaving town tomorrow for a nice long vacation to the Florida Keys. Ya'll be cool until I get back!

Republican? Democrat? Sheesh, it's like choosing which butt cheek you want to get the shot in. The only thing I despise more than a republican politician is a democrat politician.

You always have the most hilarious posts. Hey a internet forum with no hyperbole is like a peanut butter sandwich with no jelly. You can still eat it but it gets awful dry!

Ros, leftists in the US married corporatism a few years back. And oh what ugly children that union is producing.

This surprises you? Well, lets just see. The Obama admin has teams of lawyers writing legal briefs on how they would be justified in using the US military against US citizens on US soil. They have already stated it's perfectly ok to use drones to kill US citizens with no trial or anything else that resembles due process. The IRS is actively hunting down any group that even sounds like it might oppose the administrations politics despite actually being caught and exposed doing it. It is the law of the land that not only can they take your home and not give you a nickel for it to use for public projects they can also take it away and give it to someone else to use for private projects. And if you object or have the audacity to take them to court they get to finically destroy you to boot (if the unrecompensed loss of you home did not already do that). Every e-mail and sms message sent in the country is filtered and screened then stored forever. They want to track our movements by tracking our license plates. They want to take away private gun ownership, compel you under penalty of law to enter into private contracts with companies they sponsor, use your tax dollars to save union jobs and screw the rest and if you try to object to any of this you must be a racist because the guy in charge of this leftist cabal happens to be black. We stopped being a free country the day those planes hit the world trade center I'm sorry to say. Although the trend has been going the wrong way for years. Then in 2008 & 2012 the voters put what freedom they had remaining and served it up to the left on a silver platter. Short of secession of armed conflict I don't see how this can be reversed. The best we can hope for it to slow it down.

LOL during my entire time in the Marine Corps and long after I got out I ran and lifted with about the same intensity that Woldan does now... and I wake up stiff & sore every day! Those chickens do come to roost one day! As he (Woldan) and I have already debated, weightlifting and other static anaerobic workouts are not the end-all of exercise regimens. I lead an active life with a good deal of outdoor physical activity and that alone keeps me in shape as well as disciplined & concentrated exercise. And it comes with the added bonus of actually getting work done while doing it.

I wouldn't call a win over the pathetic Sawx huge. That's a team that wasn't playing well even when it was fully healthy, and is currently comprised of about 50% minor leaguers because their roster is decimated. There are probably a good number of college teams that could beat the Sawx right now. Oh in itself it wasn't a big deal but the way the Rays have been struggling this three game sweep was just what the doctor ordered.