Goofy Runs (Really!)

I never thought I'd type that. That. Up there in the title. "Goofy Runs". THAT!!!

You see, I'm NOT a runner. Running to me has always been BORING. Well, okay, if you are running from first base to second base, or across the soccer field to shoot and SCORE, yah, that's kinda cool. You have a purpose. But running down the street, just 'cause...well. Bo-ring. Yawn. Not for me.

But...opinions have this nasty way of changing sometimes.

Especially when you have friends that talk you into doing a 5K. Well, not just ANY 5K. The Komen Race for the Cure. The Rock Concert of 5Ks (IMHO).

There was MUSIC every half-mile...live bands, fer crying out loud! And snacks after.

Hell, no one ever told me about the SNACKS. I like snacks, especially delicious, sugary ones. :-)

And...

I thought I would walk most the way....I didn't.
I thought I would be sore and tired after...I wasn't.
I thought I would do this and not want to ever do it again...I was wrong!

In fact, I did another damn 5K the following weekend. And I had to stop myself from signing up for one the weekend after that! I'm signed up for one next weekend.

I am officially addicted. Not really addicted to running. I'm not dying to get into the gym to run the treadmill, and I'm not dying to pound the pavement around my block.

It's the RACES that get me. The MASSES of people, all running to the same finish line. All in a HURRY. All sweating, but SMILING. The COMPETITION and SPIRIT of it all. THIS is what gets me up at the buttcrack of dawn to go do something that I viciously hated just a few short weeks ago.

Well, okay and the SNACKS don't hurt either.

RA Sushi - Unsolicited Website Critique

No, you didn't ask, but here's a website review I felt compelled to write about "RA Sushi", a sushi restaurant chain that appears to be located out of Scottsdale, AZ. that is opening up a new location in Kansas City.

I tripped across this website when I read that RA Sushi was opening up a location in Kansas City. I have just returned from a vacation in Lake Tahoe, where the sushi is served up like McDonald's cheeseburgers. I had eaten my share of delish sushi from Tahoe, so I was ready to commit to sushi more in my wonderful home town of Kansas City.

Problem is: Not too many sushi places here do a Happy Hour. We absolutely LIVED on sushi happy hours in Tahoe. Same delish sushi. Half-price. What's not to love?

Anyway...I found the website for "RA Sushi" - http://www.rasushi.com/ and pulled it up to take a look. And I looked. And I looked...and I couldn't find anything to click except for "Get a RA Gift Certificate".

Really, it's obvious what they want you to do on the site...buy gift certificates. That, or join their email list.

I wanted neither.

I wanted restaurant locations! Menu! What about a happy hour? I couldn't find this anywhere. Even when the cursor turned to a pointy-finger, I clicked and nothing came up.

The background music is very soothing, but where's the beef?! Er...sushi?!

I was cursing the web designer under my breath when....I saw it. Wrapped subtlely around the RA Sushi logo, THERE were the links I was looking for.

Yes! They had an happy hour. Yes! The menu was online.

But...

When I clicked on the menu, there was no option to PRINT. What?!

Memo to restaurants: PEOPLE WANT TO PRINT YOUR MENUS! It's awfully cute and visually-appealing to put your menu in a scrolling Flash area, but I CAN'T PRINT THIS!

Nor can I copy and paste this in an email to my sushi-loving friends.

Nor can I post this on my food blog.

Nor can I tweet about this on Twitter.

Really, RA, you are shooting yourself in the foot. It's all very pretty and cute, but inevitably UNUSABLE.

I really hope your sushi is better than your website.

Canine Assault and Battery

Once you have kids in your home, pets take backseat. It's unfortunate, but it just happens. But I had an experience yesterday that brought our beloved dog Murphy firmly back to the front seat.

We were taking our evening walk, and were almost back home, when we saw that two neighborhood dogs had gotten out (again) and were running free. They ran up to us to say "Hi". The Rottweiler came up to nicely and I remember thinking, "I'll just grab his collar and walk him back home."

Then looked over and saw my dog on the ground with the other dog's jaws wrapped around the scruff of her neck, shaking her back and forth. Murphy started yelping. My Mama Bear instinct kicked in and I dropped to my knees and started trying to pry them apart. I remember thinking, "Okay, this is exactly what you are NOT supposed to do when two dogs are fighting," especially because I was literally grabbing this dog's mouth and trying to pry it off Murphy!*

But Murph was in trouble and this lab was unrelenting. I popped the lab on the snout a few times. I grabbed his collar and tried to pull him off Murphy. His collar came over his head and in the process, made him release his hold. Then he decided he was done, because he popped up and ran away. Murphy got up slowly and gingerly walked down the sidewalk, giving a few yelps as she walked. I didn't want to run her home, for fear she was really hurt and running would make it worse, so I tried to calmly walk down the street.

I had this neighbor dog's collar still in my hand and didn't want it there, so we walked towards our neighbor's house. At that point, I realized then that my hand was bleeding. Somewhere in the middle of the tussle, I had gotten bitten. Wonderful. My neighbor was out in front of his house and I bluntly told him that one of his dogs had attacked my dog and bitten me. He reacted like it had happened before but was apologetic.

I brought Murphy in and checked her up and down. She had a lot of dog spit on her left shoulder, but no blood that I could see. I called the vet at and a kind staffer told me to keep an eye on her for strange behavior, lethargy or vomiting, but unless we saw that, just pamper her.

Later that evening, I decided to go wipe her face and mouth down, because it had gotten dirty during the tussle. I hadn't done this immediately because she was very freaked out and didn't want to be touched. Um yeah, I was too. I used my hands to put some pressure on her shoulders and neck to see if she was sore. Then I saw it....a red blossom of blood on her neck, closer to her chest than where I had seen the dog chomped down on her. Damn! She had gotten bitten. I investigated further and actually found a puncture hole. I grabbed my hubbie and we simultaneously soothed, disinfected and antibiotic'ed the wound. We had to cut quite a bit of fur away to see what we were doing.

I think she got about four biscuits during the course of the night. We all felt sorry for her and for dogs, food = comfort. She took them willingly, which (per the vet staffer) was a good sign.

I'm leaning towards taking her the vet today, just to get some reassurance that she doesn't need a stitch or two.

It's unfortunate that it takes a traumatic event like this for us to re-focus our attention on our family pet of 10+ years. If you have a family pet, give them a special hug and some attention today, and be glad that they had a boring day.

* Later that night, my husband reminded me what you are supposed to do: Get behind one of the dogs and pull them away by the tail. This was the last thing that would have come to my mind.

UPDATE 7/12/09: We ended up taking Murph to the Emergency Clinic on Saturday. Not because we thought she had an emergency, but because our vet and the two other vets close by were booked solid! $200 later, Murph has a shaved neck (very odd-looking on a husky), a disinfected bite wound, and 3 prescriptions (antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and pain killers). She has to have food with each of her prescriptions, so she is very happy about having all the snacks. And we are sure that she's okay, and that's well worth the cost.

Goofy Visits the Cable Store

So I call up my buddies at Time Warner Cable to figure out how much blood I will need to shed in order for my new HDTV to actually get an HD signal. Surprise of surprises...it's FREE! I didn't think anything from the cable company was free! Not even their silly version of the TV Guide is free ($2.75 a month...ouch!)

All I need to do is disconnect my cable converter box, take it into the Time Warner store and exchange it for an HDTV converter box.

So I did. And this is what happened...

As I walk in the door, I notice a large gathering of customers, each clutching a different species of cable box in their hot little hands. I also notice a very-large-print sign on the door declaring that they are out of HD converter boxes and they won't have more until next week.

I ignore the sign. I take a number. I wait. I realize how heavy a cable converter box is.

Finally, my number is called.

Me: Hi! (smile and pause) I'm HOPING that you all have an HD converter box for me. (smile again, sweetly)

Time Warner Cable Girl: Um...that IS an HD converter box you have there. (points to the metal box in my hands)

Me: Um...NO! It's not.

TWCG: Yep. It is.

Me: No, it's not!! (what are you...stupid?) We've had this box for a year and a half! (No, I'm not sure what my logic was here, either)

TWCG: See the HDTV logo on the front. (points) You've already got one! (now she smiles sweetly)

Me: (stammering now) Well...why aren't we getting HDTV then!?!? (Huh? HUH??)

Me (answering my own question): Wait...Oh...yeah...we didn't get an HDMI cable yet...that's probably why. (starting to eat a nice-sized portion of crow now)

TWCG: Yes, you will need an HDMI cable. Just plug that in and....blah, blah, blah......

Me: (nodding, not listening to instructions because I'm feeling stupid now that I unplugged my HDTV box to go exchange it for another HDTV box...duh)

TWCG: Well, that was easy! Have a good day!

As I turn to leave, I notice that other folks in the cable waiting room are eyeing my HDTV box hungrily and realize that I have something that they cannot get until next week. I hug my HDTV box (!!) tightly, run to my car and speed off.