When shoud a Judge Retire?

I had the most awful experience today at a show. The judge was obviously ill and was having an awful time keeping on track and judging his entry. The steward had to tell him repeatedly if he had more than one dog in the class as he would try to mark the judges book after going over one dog.

It was horribly unfair. Not only to the exhibitors but to the judge himself to keep him in that blazing sun trying to do a job he was so obviously incapable of doing.

The exhibitors were subjected to very poor ring procedures with no clear directions on what to do when and then, if you were third in a class of 3 that's the ribbon you got because he marked the book after the first dog before he ever touched the other entries. He kept getting further and futher behind in his judging and by the time his second "set" of dogs was starting in the ring, he was more than an hour behind.

The show committee kept propping him up and making excuses to the exhibitors, saying he was ill and on medication that required frequent trips to the restroom and that is probably true, but to keep on letting him judge when it was all so obvious that he was "out of it" was just plain criminal.

I think the reason they (the show committee) kept him going was because of money. If they had substituted another judge for him, they would have had to pay that judge, plus refund entry fees to people who pulled their entries (you are allowed to pull your entry and get a refund if there is a judge change). It's so sad when money is allowed to be the reason for allowing an unfair situation persist when it could have been corrected.

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Iranian President Pleads Not Guilty to Building a Nuclear Weapon

Today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the UN General Council and once again stated that Iran has no intent to build a nuclear weapon -- that their nuclear ambitions are peaceful and domestic.

Jesus taught us to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves. I know that I want to be believed when I make a statement of intent. Or at least given the benefit of doubt. Why do we persist in not believing Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement of purpose with regards to Iran's nuclear enrichment program? Has he shown himself to be a liar? I don't think he has. He has indicated that he thinks of America as a bully and I find myself in agreement with this assessment. We ARE acting the bully.

We acted the bully when we invaded Iraq on trumped up scare headlines of terrorist breeding grounds and weapons of mass destruction. We've made a horrible mess of Iraq and it's no wonder that other countries look on the US with a jaundiced eye.

Under our present administration, the US has lost much "face" in the world. We are no longer looked up to as the standard bearer for fair and equal treatment of all. Our present administration, under the guise of "protecting us against terror" has chosen to throw away the Bill of Rights and Constitution that our country was founded on and has been governed by for a century and a quarter. Our current administration has twisted the rules of the Geneva Convention to suit it's own purpose. It's a shame that we the people have allowed this adminstration to have this free rein when it comes to denying these rights to the people.

Let's get back on track. Let's regain our status as world peacekeeper, human rights advocate and fairest of the fair. Urge your Congressman and your Senator to set the US back on track.

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Home Again!

Oh WOW! It's so good to be home again!

I took the last 5 days to go to a dog show in Atlanta, GA and while a good time was had by all, it's great to be home! I did take tomorrow off from work, too, just so I would have time to clean up the camper, get laundry done and catch up around the house as well. Of course I have a zillion e-mails to read and answer, but that's all part of the plan for tomorrow.

We did no big winning at the dog show. However, we did some GREAT shopping, LOTs of talking to friends I don't get to see very often and filled my eyes with visions of some GORGEOUS Whippets! Outside of a National, the Southern HAS to be the best place to see a gathering of some of the most gorgeous Whippets in the nation.

The Metrolpolitan Atlanta Whippet Club hosts this event yearly and boy! do they ever do a wonderful job of it. The trophies are always original and wonderful, the food is great and the hospitality is pure Southern! My hat is off to you folks! Thanks for the great time!

Well, I think I go take a nap now :)

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Followup

Thank you for all your prayers! As always, prayer WORKS!

It seems that my son did not have a stroke or a TIA.

They've told him that his brain is too large for his skull and that his caffiene consumption and some other things have contributed to this incident. He will talk with a neurosurgeon later this week about other courses of treatment and get their recommendation, but he's back home and back at work now, none the worse for wear as they say.

It's interesting that the doctors say the fact that he is ambidextrous is one of the signs of having this condition. Also, that it's hereditary and congenital. DaVinci was ambidexterous, so he's in good company.

Thanks again for your prayers. Please let me return the favor some time!

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I'm frightened....

Like Dorothy, when she was locked into the witch's castle and the hourglass was emptying of sand, I'm frightened -- oh, Auntie Em! I'm frightened!

My daughter-in-law called this afternoon with the news that my son was taken to the hospital after suffering a stroke. Not words any mother wants to hear, let me tell you! It turns out that they (in all thier innimitable wisdom) THINK he had a TIA (transient ischemic attack). They've run a battery of tests from a CAT scan to an MRI and other than a "shadow" they saw on the MRI, they cannot find a cause of this.

He had all the classic symptoms of a TIA -- disorientation, slight paralysis of his left arm, blurred vision, inability to process a thought chain, but no apparent cause. His blood pressure was (and is) normal, he's not overweight, he's in his mid-thirties, normal range of cholesterol and otherwise very healthy.

He did have an incident a few weeks ago with his knee which has since been bothering him and he was scheduled to have an MRI on that later this month. I'm wonderfing if he had a clot break loose, but surely "they" have covered that base.

No mother who loves her son could be more worried than I am right now. Do I go or wait? I'm waiting now to hear back from my daughter-in-law if they released him to go home.

They say no news is good news, but right now, no news is just leaving open space for the brain to conjure up all kinds of worst case scenarios. You know what those would be like?

Pray for him and his family.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

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Writing is addictive

Writing is an addiction. If you've ever written something that received someone elses' attention, you are hooked. The need to write something else that gets commented on, or read by someone else is your spur to write more.

It almost doesn't matter if the response is complimentary or uncomplimentary, it's the heady rush of "hey! someone READ what I wrote!". That's what gets you hooked.

Now that I think about it, I may be MORE excited about someone who disagrees with something I've written about than with someone who compliments me on what I've written. Reason being, when someone disagrees, you can pretty well bet they've read at least most of what you wrote. They usually quote you on a sentence or two and nearly always take your salient points to refute, all of which tells you they read on a more than cursory level, and with some degree of depth, your entire piece.

The complimenter on the other hand, can be pretty empty with their words. You often don't get that indication that they read past the opening paragraph or so of your composition. (reminder to self to include some points upon which I agree or note some particular turn of phrase used in writings I want to compliment).

So, disagree away with me. It serves to spur me on to greater literary (cough, cough) heights.

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Sloppy Blogger

Well, I see that I have woefully neglected this blog. I have blogged on the "family" blog and I have blogged for dollars on the blogging for dollars blog, but haven't posted anything here -- here where my most opinionated thoughts are recorded.

It's not that I haven't had any opinions lately. It's more like I forgot this one was here (at least temporarily). It was in the back of my mind.. honest!

So, to any readers I might have out there, my sincerest apologies! I will promise to try to do better. Lord knows there's plenty to talk about.

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