Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. There is great news in the air…I am actually writing about a holiday “before” it even gets here. Insert “happy dance.” Yes, I am talking about Valentine’s Day. As you (my faithful readers of the pack) know that I understand the commercialism of the holidays and I am a big advocate of doing nice things all the time and not just on the designated holiday. So buck-up guys and gals, get in gear and do something special for those that play a significant role in your life. Now, I…
Browsing: Commentary
If you are reading this, then you survived Snowmageddon 2016. We all anxiously awaited that first snow flake; Tim Bullis had already made the hearts and souls of all the children and teachers happy by calling school on Friday, and the anticipation for a huge snow storm was building. My little family woke up Friday morning to gray skies and cold breezes. We lounged for a bit, enjoyed a leisurely home cooked breakfast and watched as the snow began to fall. Did I mention that Daddy was out scurrying around like a mad man while the rest of us lazy…
I know of three fires, in single-family dwellings with attached garages that have resulted in fatalities, in Chesterfield County alone. The fires that I am thinking about have spanned a number of years, the most recent was a few Sundays ago, but all had devastating results. Each one of these fires was horrific to the families that lost loved ones. I will not speak of any one of these fires as being worse than any other. In addition to these fatal fires, there have been fires in homes, with attached garages, that have destroyed those homes. Do we stop building…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. If you remember last week, I was explaining how my billfold was on its last legs and how men really cherish their billfolds. With that being said I saw a commercial the other night about a slim billfold, so slim you do not even know you have one. “Ha!” I said, at no one particular, “My wallet was slim once too!” I shouted at the television. Just like me, over time, it has gained some in its girth. So I decided to get real about this topic and actually…
During the course of a normal day, the feet are asked to bear much of the burden of our regular locomotion. We often take our feet for granted until they start hurting. Ideally, the foot is designed to distribute the weight of each step throughout the foot and not just on one particular area. There are many causes of foot pain including alterations in the bones, tendons, ligaments, circulation, and nerves in the foot. Anatomical differences can predispose a foot to excessive strain on its parts as it “gives” under the weight of the body. For example, some people have…
I am often asked about timing. “Is it too late for, too early for, or when should I….?” These are common but good questions because it means the person is thinking before doing. Most trees, shrubs, and lawn grasses are forgiving when it comes to errant timing of pruning and pest management. An example are azaleas. Azaleas bloom on the current season’s growth. This is often referred to as ‘new wood.’ Pruning after mid-summer will remove next spring blooms but it will not harm the plant. Another example is spraying herbicide on weeds in the lawn when the temperatures are…
The numbers are in for 2015. Chesterfield Fire & EMS answered 39,000 plus calls for service, where greater than 75 percent of the calls for service were medical in nature. The greatest number of fire-related calls was alarm activations. The greatest number of medical incidents was difficulty breathing. What do these numbers mean for you and I versus what do these numbers mean for firefighters? In this article, I will only skim the surface of what the numbers can teach us. The first thing that we see is that calls for service have increased, and I do not expect them…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. The new year is not starting out very well…not counting the big drop in the stock market (thank goodness I moved all my stuff into fixed income investment), we had a layoff at work. Never a pleasant event, even if you are not one of unfortunate souls who were walked to the door. I, unfortunately, have had to make that walk in the past and it is not in the least any fun. In the past they would at least wait until Friday afternoon…call you in for a late…
To the Editor: I agree that there is entirely too much negativity, hatred and anger in our country, but the majority of it is coming from the extreme Trumpet movement that I will assume is the Republican Party. I have never heard the threatening, screaming, lunatic behavior of the Trump supporters and the Cruz supporters. I didn’t have a problem with Republican ideology until the Bush era. But Trump has trumped them all. I look at his face and it screams of hatred. If this is the new Grand Old Party then we are doomed. People that I thought were…
While we haven’t quite experienced the bitter cold of winters past, twilight still appears much too soon, the trees are barren, and the world lacks color. Cardinals dot the branches of my naked trees and give me little bursts of joy, but alas, winter is still here. We may be having 70-degree days, my windows may be flung wide open in the dead of January, but try as I might; the doldrums have appeared. I get this way every winter, and truly wish that I could hibernate. Those that know me well probably wish that I would. I become melancholic,…