Ladybugs to the Rescue

Amanda and I try to go to at least one of the Tacoma Farmers Markets every week. We usually pick up fresh flowers and produce and an occasional baked good. Recently, Amanda had an ulterior motive for our farmers market outing: Ladybugs.

Ladybugs apparently eat whatever makes dark spot on our roses, so Amanda dropped $10 on what must have been 500 of them. They lived in an old salsa container with sprouts, and the vendor at the market told us to keep them in the refrigerator to keep them in a cold coma and limit their mobility.

Our first stop after the market was a Mexican restaurant for lunch, so they warmed up like fajitas in there, and I was preoccupied thinking that they'd blow the lid off the container and infest the restaurant.

Lunch went without a ladybug outbreak, and we made it home OK with our new friends, which I placed in the refrigerator in the garage. They stayed there for a few days and when I went to retrieve them so that Amanda could release them to our garden beds, something terrible happened.

They died.

Or at least they looked dead. I know what dead bugs look like, and when I saw nearly all 500 of them upside down, I thought I was in the dog house for sure. The fridge was too cold, and I froze them to death.

Not the case. I nearly froze them to death. They came alive within an hour of exposure to room temperature. Whew. The release ceremony could begin, and our roses would soon be spotless.

Here's Sergio questioning Amanda's sanity.

Go, ladybug, go!

The Warby Parker Experiment

Sometimes I forget about blog posts that I start. This is one of those gems.

Early this summer, Amanda and I got to thinking about buying new glasses frames, refreshing our faces. That's just what geeky couples do. 

I had read about Warby Parker, an up-and-coming boutique frame shop out of New York that has a unique online purchasing model. In short, you shop frames online and Warby sends them to you, five at a time and cost-free, to try on at home before purchasing with lenses. Very hip. You can't apply your vision insurance to the purchase, but every frame is $95, lenses are included, and shipping is free. I can dig it.

Like Tom's Shoes, Warby Parker also has a "One-for-one" program where it gives a pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair purchased. Does everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside?!

Amanda and I took a couple days browsing the site and all of Warby's frames. The styles range from classic to hipster, and colors from conservative to bright orange. We each picked five frames to try and in just a few days we received them to try-on at home.

The only issue we ran into with the process was that many glasses are unisex, so when we thought we were ordering his/her frames by the same name, we actually just ordered the exact same pairs.

Though we decided not to buy at the time, Amanda liked the Roosevelts and I like the Digbys. I'm sure those will be our next glasses purchases -- for the cost, style, service and concept of Warby Parker.

Why I Decided To Subscribe to A Dead-Tree Newspaper

I finally broke down after 10 years of adulthood and subscribed to my local newspaper, The News Tribune. I ordered the weekend editions through January for $20.

Why? I hadn't regularly read the newspaper since journalism school, and that was because my professor required it at the time. I enjoyed reading the paper (The New York Times then) but was of course affected by free and easy access to online editions of every paper like the rest of the world. Not just that, but I was growing professionally in an online industry that discouraged print editions and viewed them as less valuable. That's still true. I picked up the weeklies, still do, but to pay for a dead-tree subscription was damn-near uncivilized.

I recently found a few good reasons why it finally made sense (and cents) to order the paper.

1. Community. I'm finally settled in a home and a community -- personally and professionally. I care a lot more about the quality of community life than before and the local newspaper, plus the right Twitter hashtags, provide that. Though I could still access those stories online, I also want to support the vitality of the newspaper as an institution. A dedicated news source is an inherent pillar of community. I shell well more than $20 a month at my favorite local bar for the same reasons. The newspaper subscription price is a steal in that respect.

2. Coupons. I could care less, but ever since Amanda saw an episode of Extreme Couponing, she thinks she can transform our grocery budget. I think this will soon turn my garage into a storage bin of household cleaning supplies bought in bulk, but I digress. Here's Amanda in her first couponing binge.

3. Fetch. I'd like to teach the dog to fetch the paper in the morning. That combined with the start of a tobacco pipe habit and more regular robe-wearing and I'll be well on my way to middle age.

4. Fires. Paper burns. Duh.

5. Inspiration. Long before the rise of the Internet and the democratization of information (big concept!), people bitched and moaned about editorial prejudice and the general notion that journalists and editors had too much power and authority over information. The news funnel was too small. In some ways, the Internet freed access to information. In some ways, social media reversed that freedom as people "subscribed" to the friends and sources of information that appealed to them, shackling the scope of information they exposed themselves to and creating fragmented echo chambers of opinion. I find myself guilty of that, hearing the same things from the same people.

I'm often most inspired by news I wasn't looking for or finding conflicting points of views. My lack of control over what I see in the dead-tree newspaper is the dynamic that I've been missing. I want to turn a page and not know what will be there. That's a funny thing to write as that was the only option pre-Internet. I'm willing to pay to limit my choice of news and think critically about what others think is important to publish, a rare opportunity these days.

A good example is the editorial "More partners, more news". If I hadn't seen the story in print, introducing a partnership between the News Tribune and other local papers, I probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise. It wouldn't have been "Like"-worthy in my online networks, but the story mattered to me. The editorial spun the efficiencies of combining resources, eliminating reporters from multiple papers attending the same events for cost-saving. I saw through that message and realized the lack of competition and differing perspectives that the public will miss. Without the attendance of multiple reporters, quality of reporting will worsen and alternate perspectives will be non-existent. One voice. One source. No alternative. That's a disservice to the community.

I'm watching closely the negotiations between the teachers' union and Tacoma Public Schools, a hot-button issue, because the paper alerted me. Or, it was nice seeing a child recovering at one of the hospitals I work for on the front page of Saturday's paper. For all of the reasons above... OK, just #1 and #5, these things matter and justify the subscription. They justify stepping away from the multitasking temptations of the bright screen and looking at the dull print.

On a side note, I hope everyone likes the new blog layout! You know I can't go without changing the blog every year or so. This new template provides a lot more flexibility. Yes, some old links will be broken, but pretty sure that I'm the only one looking at my archives.

Photos: Cabo San Lucas 2011

This title is awfully misleading. These images represent Cabo as much as an image of the Space Needle represents Seattle. Rather, these images show the great time we had at Riu Santa Fe, a couple miles downtown Cabo and on the water. I would highly, highly recommend this resort if you don't need the full flavor of Mexican culture. The quality and value of the hotel was exceptional. It wasn't my first time vacationing in Cabo, but it was for Amanda, so naturally I had to show her the best of Mexico via an all-inclusive, primarily American-occupied resort.

Great room.

The room included a "tap" with four liquors.

This was worth the price of admission alone.

Here's the "interior" pool.

The main dining hall. The food was excellent.

Where's my Corona?

When the weather was cool (below 90 degrees), we went for a walk into town.

Walking back from town... HOT.

Amanda picked up some hot pink knock-off Ray Bans.

A cruise ship came into the bay during our walk back.

Here are a bunch of shots from around the property during the early morning, hence the lack of people. It was really the only comfortable time to lug around my Canon. Camera weight becomes a factor in two primary situations: hot Mexican destinations and mountain climbing.

Do you see the guy on the horse on the beach?

Here's another dining hall, closer to the beach.

Our daily bread.

More resort photos.

I like to call this "The Alamo."

Whoever invented swim-up pool bars deserves all the money he/she has earned. The couple walking toward us, Kevin and Becky, were honeymooners from Connecticut. There were lots of honeymooners at the resort. No surprise for this time of the year.

After five nights and plenty of cervesas, we were home sweet home.

Kennel Cough and a Cold Vet

Gianna had a good start with us for the first couple days, but before we had a chance to get her into the vet she gave us a reason. It all started with some hacking. Then it turned into a lot of sneezing. Then some reverse sneezing, and finally the amount of green mucus I’ve only seen created by a preschool during flu season.

The humane society warned us about kennel cough when we adopted her, but we were also reassured that they had provided her a vaccine when she came to the shelter. What they didn’t tell us was that it’d take a week for the vaccine to kick in and it’d be too late to stop anything she’d pick up at the shelter. Kind of ass backwards, but there’s not much to do for prevention unless previous owners had her vaccinated and within the year, which wasn’t likely, and as we learned wasn’t true.

To help battle the symptoms, we tried offering her Robutussin by the vet’s recommendation but she wouldn’t take it. I don’t love the flavor either. Until we got into the vet, we slowed down her activities to get her to rest more. To help battle Gianna’s phlegm assault on our house, we covered all the furniture and floors with blankets. It either looked like we were moving or just got done painting. I cannot express how much phlegm she tossed around from sneezing and the hair she shed that stuck to it. Aside from the blankets, resistance was futile. We just had to deal with it. There was no point in cleaning where she’d just sneeze again. I wore the same shirt and jeans combination for three days straight knowing that if I put on new clothes she’d just germ them out.

In the early stages of her sickness, we took her to a local vet. We had planned for a general screening and meet and greet, but we obviously had concerns as she was coming down with the kennel cough. The vet was generally nice, though I thought it was interesting that she only recommended dog food from providers who had reps that visited her office and provided education. This of course rules out any indie food providers that hip places like Mud Bay recommend. I could write a whole new post just about the contradictory recommendations I’ve heard about dog food.

After the pleasantries, the vet started her examination and we hit a bad patch early. We knew Gianna was sensitive about her teeth. The couple of times we tried to brush her teeth, she growled. We mentioned it to the vet in advance and when the vet tried to look at her teeth, Gianna growled, jumped back and then flipped on her back – a combination of defiance and submission.

Well, the vet didn’t like that much and had her muzzled and held by an assistant for her examination of the posterior. Gianna growled the entire time. It was painful to watch her discomfort and just unpleasant hearing our sweet dog growl. After the examination was over, the muzzle came off, and the dog went over to the vet for some affection, maybe an unspoken apology.

From there, the vet had serious concerns about Gianna’s behavior issues. She went on about how confused the dog was and how she needed the attention of behavioral specialists. The first impressions weren’t ungrounded based upon the visit, but the vet’s tone irked me. “If you decide to keep her…” often lead her statements, and it seemed she questioned our commitments as dog owners as much as she did Gianna’s apparently deep-seeded source of growling.

I (in my head) called bullshit about the behavior analysis. As Scott so eloquently said, “I bet if you stuck a finger in that vet’s mouth and ass, she’d more than growl.”

The dog had traveled across the state, been adopted by new owners in a new home, met dozens of people and picked up kennel cough. Despite that, she had already been off-leash for hours in public places, met a variety of dogs at the dog park and socialized with more people than a GOP presidential candidate and without incident. So then when she growls because a stranger pokes and prods her there’s a problem? I believe this dog did not grow up with a vet, but I don’t think that means she’s a harm to the public. I think that means she’s going to be a pain in the ass taking to the vet. I can only imagine the hissing and screaming that will occur when we take Fabrizio in as he hasn’t been to the vet either.  Despite that, he still hasn’t hurt a mouse.

I was so pissed and irritated by the vet visit that I’ve been growling about it for the past week since it happened, as you can tell.

What came positively out of the visit was learning that Gianna was physically healthy and a little overweight (I told her she had too much fur), nothing to worry about, and we got the medication we needed to help Gianna fight the kennel cough.

That’s the good news. Now we have blankets to remove and floors to wash.