The Daily Parker

More from Saturday's Wright Way Rescue reunion: Schona, a 7-year-old Lab that Parker met:

At the Wright Way reunion on Saturday, the shelter had a number of puppies up for adoption, like this one:

Parker, like any teenager confronted with babies, seemed to show benign indifference:

(He wanted to see the grill instead. Go figure.)

Today is Parker Day: I adopted him a year ago today.

Over the past year, Parker has wormed his way into just about every part of my life, for the simple reason that he doesn't have opposable thumbs and so can't open his own cans of dog food. He's grown from an adorable puppy into a mostly-adorable adult dog with a gentle nature and a taste for textiles.

He makes me happy every time I see him, even when he has bits of sofa hanging from his teeth, or has another case of worms. And he's always happy to see me, whether we've been apart for 10 seconds or 10 days. He trusts me completely. (I hope I never let him down.) Of course, he does annoying things all the time, but I still can’t get too mad at him. He can’t help it. As I was writing this he trotted off with a plastic bag that I had to retrieve. It was my fault, anyway; the thing was on the floor. This hints at the only real down-side to having a dog: the cost. Adding up walks ($1650), vet bills ($860), food ($750), boarding ($590), training ($425), and everything else, he costs about $450 a month. No college fund, though; and he's never outgrown any clothes. Eaten clothes, yes, but never outgrown them.

So what. He brings me joy, every day, even when I have to settle on the ParkerCam. And he'll probably bring me joy every day for the next 14 years. I hope so, anyway.

Coincidentally, today the rescue had its annual reunion up in Libertyville, so, naturally, we went. From a volunteer who remembered him, I found out some more information about his origins. For example, his name starts with "P" not because he was in the 16th litter the Wright Way Animal Rescue adopted out last year, but because he comes from Pomona, Ill. Also, it turns out, Parker’s mom had a second litter after Parker's, because the stupid owners didn't believe in spaying. That’s right, five more puppies the shelter took in, getting the owners to spay the dog only by threatening not to take them.

And along the way up to the reunion, we stopped by the Petco where I got him, to pick up a new collar and some poop bags. I think Parker looks good in red:

Terrorism only works if people allow themselves to be terrorized. People like, for example, shoppers in New Haven, Conn.:

Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club [the Hash House Harriers] inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare and now face a felony charge.

New Haven ophthalmologist Daniel Salchow, 36, and his sister, Dorothee, 31, who is visiting from Hamburg, Germany, were both charged with first-degree breach of peace, a felony.

The siblings set off the scare while organizing a run for a local chapter of the Hash House Harriers, a worldwide group that bills itself as a "drinking club with a running problem."

...

Mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said the city plans to seek restitution from the Salchows, who are due in court Sept. 14. "You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know," she said. "It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. We're thankful it wasn't, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out."

Maybe there's something about New England that prevents the police there from exercising common sense (see, e.g., blinking advertisements).

Update, 15:20 CDT: Security expert Bruce Schneier has declared this the "stupidest terrorist overreaction yet."

We're looking forward to another lovely day in Chicago: 25°C, sunny, light breeze, crystal-clear skies. What more perfect day to wake up with the news that, not only are the Cubs still hanging on to first place, but also Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has finally resigned, no doubt to spend some quality time with his defense lawyers:

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, the official said. His decision was not announced immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch near here.

The official who disclosed the resignation today said that the decision was Mr. Gonzales’s and that the president accepted it grudgingly. At the same time, the official acknowledged that the turmoil over Mr. Gonzales had made his continuing as attorney general difficult.

The turmoil has made the job difficult? Kind of like someone shooting his parents and then bemoaning his lot as an orphan, isn't it?

Well, with 512 days and 3 hours (or less) remaining in the worst administration in history, the President can still do enormous harm to the country, but with Gonzales back in Houston he'll now have none of his original cronies to help.

Update, 10:25 CDT: Does anyone else find some irony in his last day being September 17th?

Yesterday storms tore through the Chicago area, generating high winds and more rain than we need. On our walk to work this morning Parker and I found our path blocked by one of the results:

The tree missed all the houses, cars, and power lines it aimed for. Very fortunate.

I almost had to pull over this afternoon when I heard about the Orioles losing 30-3 to the Rangers last night:

...[T]he Orioles were battered by a team that kept batting around. They surrendered six home runs, two of them grand slams, and a club-record 29 hits. They also gave up the most runs scored in the majors since 1900, historic indiscretions that punctuated a 30-3 loss to the Texas Rangers before a sparse but wildly entertained gathering at Camden Yards.

Wow, only one Baltimore error:

Parker and I were surprised last week to come home after work and discover this in the yard:

The neighbors were also surprised. And their landlord. And everyone connected with the operation except, perhaps, the roofing company, who only got the order the day before and started work without so much as a text message.

Note to small-business owners: It's one thing to provide speedy service, quite another to provide speedy, disruptive, destructive, unplanned service.

In sum: Cubs still in first place, Cardinals slip farther into third, and the White Sox fall—or perhaps, saunter vaguely downwards—into last place.

What a great way to wake up. The Cubs have moved into first place. Only by half a game...but still, it's a nice way to wake up.