How the World Works, 21st Century

A few weeks ago, I searched the interwebs for a halogen light bulb, even going so far as to click on a vendor and check out the prices and availability.

Fast forward to the present.  When I open various pages on my browser, pop-up and sidebar ads for architects' lamps abound.  Now, one realizes that we are monitored, and that advertisers impinge themselves upon us at every click, but does it not seem reasonable to believe that were I going to purchase any such item I would have done so, well, weeks ago?

There may be a built-in expiration date, though.  About a year ago, I searched for a mother board for a flat screen TV set which was malfunctioning.  The ads for TV sets finally petered out some months later.  We'll see what happens with the lamps.

JJ's Annual Visit

October 1.  Today is the thirteenth day of the little guy's visit lodging at chez vanilla.  "Little" is a relative term when applied to JJ, for he weighs thirty-one pounds in his bare feet.

On a recent excursion, we stopped for a few grocery items.  Dog and I stayed with the car.  As BBBH walked away, the beastie struck this pose.  Basically, he did not take his eyes off the spot where he last saw her disappear into the store.  Guess which one of us is his favorite.

Essentially, JJ has been a good dog.  It is a matter of working with him.  For example, he cannot resist the urge to tip wastebaskets, and so it is that all such receptacles must be kept out of his reach during his stay.  One thing we did overlook, not having any knowledge that the problem could arise, had to do with the decor in my bathroom.  On a shelf are some beautiful seashells, and on the floor in one corner is a fishing creel, net, and more shells, all this to augment the fishy shower curtain.  Anyway, back to the story.  JJ helped himself to one of the starfish, ate it, leaving enough bits on the hallway carpet that we were able to determine what he had done.

Panic.  This is a dog whose people consider him their child, and more, they are (over)concerned about his digestive system and the materials that enter it.  BBBH: "Shall we get him to the vet?"  Me: "No, he will either live or die."  But then I remembered the digital age in which we live and entered "dog eats dried starfish" into the browser bar.  Ha!  Look at that.  JJ is not the first of the canine persuasion to ingest an echinoderm.  Several people have sought advice concerning this very matter, many of them owners of, you guessed it, dachshunds.  All responses indicated that there was nothing poisonous in the consumed creature, and that, while the dog would likely barf it up, it would produce no long term ill-effects.  Minds at ease.  An hour later, dog barfed up remains of starfish.  All over the carpet.  The dog is fine.

His people are expected to retrieve their pride and joy day after tomorrow.