Musings 20260328
Recently got a coupon for one of those pet DNA kits, so I took a little of my coffee fund and bought one for Maggie the Magnificent. She’s obviously a lab-mix, but what that mix is is not easy to discern. She’s smaller than I thought she’d be at this point, given the size of her paws as a puppy, and she has some distinctly non-lab personality and physical features.
Here’s what the results showed -
53% Labrador Retriever - This tracks, given her general attitude and body shape. And appetite. Can’t forget the appetite.
Note to self - pick up dog food on the way home today. Get the big bag this time.
4% Golden Retriever - This also tracks, given her general friendliness and intelligence. When she barks at a squirrel, she is attempting to communicate with a higher being, both in altitude and mental ability.
14% Siberian Husky - This surprised me, but probably shouldn’t. She has no traits from a husky, other than her 4.5 second 40 yard dash. However, I remember a couple of her litter mates having ice blue eyes.
29% - SELECT DISTINCT BREED FROM AKC.CRITTERS WHERE COMMONLOCATION LIKE ‘NORTH AMERICA’ ORDER BY FUZZINESS
Apparently, one side of her family did a cannonball into that great american melting pot. She’s almost as big a mutt as I am.
Speaking of dogs, I took Sophie out to get her nails done this morning, and decided to take her for a walk around afterward. The personality of the dachshund really came out while we circled the block.
Big dog across the street? Bark furiously and insult his heritage.
Little dog on the other side of a fence? Dare them to come out and fight.
Big truck going down the street with squeaky brakes? Pick me up! Pick me up! This isn’t fun anymore! Take me home!
Had a courageous conversation with the wife last night about the Selective Service and her son. I calmly explained that, yes, he had to sign up, no, he wasn’t going to be drafted before he finishes high school, and yes, not doing it would be detrimental to his future.
It doesn’t help that he’s a few weeks away from his 18th birthday, has something of a military tradition on both sides of the family, and the news, legacy or not, is wall to wall combat footage either showing how gruesome things can be or how glorious things can be, depending on the channel and time of day.
I guess she took it better than my own mother did. Ah, the memories. Her pushing me to apply to the Naval Academy, random brochures for Air Force ROTC programs, her looking the Army recruiter in the face and telling him that she would rather I was a piano player in a whorehouse than I be a private in the United States Army.
Good times, good times.