BooIzzy.comSpecializing in feral chihuahuas and blind pit bulls since 2006

Just in case you still think that pit bulls are dangerous, here’s a picture of mine in their usual positions:

A security system they are not.

On a related note, did you know that Helen Keller had a pit bull? Yes, she did.

I recently finished the book The Pit Bull Placebo by Karen Delise. An electronic version was recently made available for free by the National Canine Research Center.

I don’t know that I’d recommend this book. It basically examines news reports of dog attacks from the turn of the century through the present to identify the factors involved in dog aggression towards people and to dispel the myth of the pit bull as a inherently dangerous dog.

The first few chapters recount fatalities caused by popular types of dogs from the 1900s. These were mainly caused by Newfoundlands, Mastiffs, St. Bernards, and other popular guard dogs of the time, but did you know that collies were responsible for several fatalities in the mid-1900s? Kind of shatters that image of Lassie that I had from my childhood. The point is that all breeds can aggressive and dangerous if neglected and abused, particularly when a breed is most popular.

The most interesting fact that I read in the book had to be this one:

The fact that there is no documented case of a single, spayed/neutered Pit bull or Pit bull-type dog, maintained exclusively as a household pet, involved in a fatal attack on a human in the United States is proof that canine behavior is profoundly influenced by the function of the dog and quality of care and control practiced by owners.

I live with two pit bulls. I love the breed for it’s loyalty and good nature, and I’ll stand up for pitties at any opportunity. I read a lot about the breed and follow the efforts to rehabilitate the Vick dogs and the dogs from the Oklahoma bust. But I’d never heard this fact, and it’s surprising to me that it’s never made it into a media story that I’ve seen.

I’ve long had a theory that pit bulls are a most resilient and forgiving breed. If you spend any amount of time in neighborhoods like the west side of Salt Lake or Rainier Beach in Seattle, you’ll see a lot of pits chained up in back yards. They’re often emaciated and bred frequently. They’re primarily guard dogs, kept around because they look tough. They don’t get a lot of attention, and when they do, it’s probably not the good kind. There are probably hundreds of thousands of pit bulls kept like this in neighborhoods across America, and the amazing thing is that in, spite of it all, so many of these dogs are actually good dogs. Even pit bulls who have been abused horribly can come into homes where they are treated well and be great dogs.

The moral of this story is that pit bulls are the least of our worries. In fact, they aren’t a worry at all. If you want to prevent dog bites and aggression, spay and neuter your dog. Don’t chain it up outside. Don’t let it run around and terrorize your neighbors. Socialize it. Encourage the people you know to do the same.

And if there’s a breed you do want to worry about, I’d say it’s chihuahuas. They’ve apparently taken over California, and this one won’t stop terrorizing my pit bull puppy.

In fall of 2004, I found myself in a bit of a pinch. I had been listening to NPR everyday at work and got in the habit of reserving books I heard about at the library. I already had a shelf of them at my house with their due dates looming when several more arrived for me at the circulation desk. Mulling them all over at home, there weren’t any that I wanted to return without reading. I set out to read them all, and I did.
As I returned the finished books to the library, it dawned me that this was a pace I could keep. I had read a book a week, and there was no reason I couldn’t keep going. In 2005, I read 58 books. I read 61 in 2006 and repeated that number again in 2007. In 2008, I made it to 56.
And then came 2009. This year was the first that I didn’t make my goal, with only 51 total books.
I know that 51 books is still quite a lot, but it’s always disappointing to miss a goal. Looking back over the last few years, there are a few things that contributed.

• I used to read at the gym on a bike or elliptical trainer, but I’ve switched to classes and going for bike rides or cross country skiing. I’m in better shape because of this change, but I’ve lost a couple of hours of reading time every week.
• This year was also the first year that Brian and I didn’t travel internationally for our vacation. Instead, we explored Southern Utah. Being on a plane to London or China has meant getting through three or four books while I was on vacation. Driving meant more time talking, listening to music, and looking at the views.
• I also got my hands on a Kindle this spring. On the one handle, the Kindle has made me more excited about reading. It’s a great device for reading and appeals to my gadget attraction. On the other hand, Kindle books don’t come with deadlines like books from the library. There’s less reason to rush through a book because I own it.

These are small changes, but they translated into five fewer books this year than last year. Most of these changes have been pretty positive ones, so I’m not sure I’ll be changing back to my old ways. But I’ll look for little ways that I can do to build a little more reading time into my life.

For the past few weeks, Salt Lake has been covered in its usual winter murky haze. Being in a valley, certain weather conditions cause our pollution to concentrate on top of the city. With no where to go, all of the pollution that we produce in this city stays in this city and builds. If wind, rain, or snow doesn’t come to clear it out, we continue to breath and live with the muck. Just walking my dogs around the block last week gave me an itchy throat and red eyes.

This causes a bit of a conundrum for me. Most of the year I bike to work everyday and don’t contribute to the pollution problem. Unfortunately, I have lung problems, and biking on an orange or red air day could trigger an asthma attack in the short-term and shorten my life in the long-term.

In past winters, I’ve turned to the bus which doubles my commute time and costs $4 round trip. This year with Brian’s layoff, we’ve gone from being a DINK household to a SINK household (single income, no kids), and that cost of $20/week stings my pocket book. Driving my own car costs about half in gas and time.

So I drive and contribute to the muck. I’m sure some child is developing asthma because of my decision.

This is my new evening routine. Actually, Amos is normally up on the couch too, but he’s camera shy.

This year we decided to explore our own backyard instead of traveling to far off lands. Initially, we’d planned to venture down to Zion and Grand Canyon because we’d never been and/or spent substantial time in either place. Then I picked up a few guidebooks and read about Monument Valley and Cedar Mesa in the southeastern corner of the state. The sites sounded amazing, and the hiking was generally dog friendly.
We started the trip with two full days in Bluff. Bluff is about an hour and a half south of Moab and in the middle of nowhere. The nowhere around Bluff is filled with Anasazi ruins and amazing geologic formations, and it’s mainly BLM land where you can hike for a minimal amount or nothing. The grandeur of the setting really can’t be described; it has to be seen.

We split our first day in Bluff between Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods. Monument Valley is a fairly popular destination known for it’s dramatic rock formations and as being a backdrop for many a John Wayne film. It’s about an hour south of Bluff and part of the Navajo nation. While it’s gorgeous, the only thing you can do on your own is drive down a busy and deeply rutted dirt road for $5/person. You have to hire a guide to explore beyond this very beaten path.

Valley of the Gods, on the other hand, is nearly as dramatic a setting, but it’s on BLM land with a very well maintained dirt road. You can hike or camp anywhere you like. We liked it so much that we visited twice on the same day: once on our way to Monument Valley and once on our way back.

The next day we headed for Cedar Mesa, an area of BLM land west of Bluff home to a number of Anasazi ruins. To get there, you drive up a steep gravel road called Moki Dugway. The drive could nearly be an attraction in and of itself because of the spectacular views of Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods.

We had intended to hike Road Canyon to an Anasazi ruin that morning, but our guidebook suggested a shortcut that proved difficult to find. We ended up hiking the rim of the canyon and missing the ruin completely. We heard from other hikers that it was pretty amazing, but the hike along the rim wasn’t so bad.

There were loads of ruins to be had in the afternoon. We drove north and then east to the Butler Wash Ruins. It’s a quick hike from a roadside stop to view these ruins, and they were quite amazing to see.

From there, we continued east to Upper Butler Wash Road, a 20 mile long dirt road connecting Highway 191 to Bluff. There are a number of short hikes off of this road to petroglyphs and ruins We chose one of the shortest hikes to Fish Mouth Cave. The hike basically takes you a mile down a wash to ruins and then a cave. Unlike the Butler Wash Ruins, we were able to walk right up to these ruins.

I could have easily spent weeks exploring Valley of the Gods and Cedar Mesa without even scratching the surface. The ruins are amazing to see from a distance, but even more amazing when they just appear in front of you on a hike. Plus the sheer remoteness means that you often have them all to yourself. If that doesn’t entice you, Bluff is also home to an amazing restaurant called the San Juan River Kitchen. Brian and I ate a crimini mushroom and onion sandwich there that was the best sandwich I have ever eaten.
The next day we headed to Torrey. This was the one day that it rained, but we decided to stop at Natural Bridges National Monument. Even in the rain, the bridges were inspiring, and there were yet more ruins to be seen. We ended up doing two hikes from overlooks down to Sipapu and Kachina bridges. A better plan probably would have been to hike the wash that connects all three bridges in the park.

Natural Bridges doesn’t allow dogs on trails. We took this trip in early October when the temps were cooling off and highs were in low 60s. This made it possible to leave the dogs in the car while we did short hikes. This wouldn’t have been an option had the temperature been much higher given the intensity of the Utah sun.
After spending the night in Torrey, we headed down Highway 12 toward Escalante. We stopped at the Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder for breakfast, and then continued south down one of the most scenic drives in America. Unfortunately, we didn’t stop for photos. Outside of Escalante, we turned down Hole-in-the-Rock road for some hiking. We hit Devil’s Garden, Dry Fork, and Peekaboo. Peekaboo is definitely not to be missed. It’s a narrow slot canyon that feels like a playground for adults.

While dogs are theoretically allowed here, the canyons are very narrow and would be nearly impossible for a dog to get through. We let the dogs run around Devils Garden, but left them in the car while we explored Dry Fork and Peekaboo.
From Escalante, we headed home to Salt Lake with a couple quick stops in Kodachrome Basin State Park and Red Canyon. Overall, it was a great trip, and I’m already making plans to get back to Bluff and Escalante.
For dog-friendly accommodations, we stayed at the following:

• The Recapture Lodge in Bluff: Our room was basic, but the hotel has a number of trails behind that were great for walking the dogs. They also had a hot tub which was really nice after a long day of hiking and exploring.
• Torrey Trading Post Cabins in Torrey: The cabins here were really pleasant and cozy. The bathroom is shared and in a separate building, but there’s Direct TV and the owners were very nice. It’s $5/dog/night.
• Escalante Outfitters in Escalante: The cabins here are nice but tiny, and the bathrooms are shared in a separate building. They do have a nice store and cafe adjacent. It’s $5/dog/night.

In bed with Boo and his bat ears:

And a series of Izzy action shots:

It’s hard to listen to the news these days and not feel a certain sense of panic. Housing prices are falling. People are losing jobs. Banks fail everyday. I can’t even bring myself to look at my retirement accounts. Billion dollar bailouts don’t seem to make a dent in the financial bloodshed.
The economic situation is complex, and I don’t understand all the pieces of it. What I do know is that over the past few decades Americans have gone from savers to spenders. My parents were born in the Great Depression and grew up during World War II. My mom still has the ration books to prove it, and my dad can tell you about collecting tin cans for the effort. Neither of their parents did anything on credit. It just wasn’t an option, and it looks like we’re heading back to those days.
There are certainly cons to having to pay cash, but there are pros too. That’s why it was refreshing to log into my ING Direct account last week and be greeted with a manifesto for savers. You can find in online, but I also thought I’d share it here:

1. We will spend less than we earn. Saving a little out of every dollar we bring home is the foundation of independence. Without it, we can’t build equity in our home, we can’t invest for the future, and we can’t be ready for challenging times. We promise to pay ourselves first, always.
2. We will use our home as a savings account. Besides shelter and comfort for our family, the role of a house in our financial life is to build equity. We will have a healthy down payment when we buy. We’ll choose the mortgage that lets us pay down the principal fastest. And then we’ll leave that equity safe where it is instead of spending it on things that don’t last.
3. We will take care of our money. It’s not enough to have money in a bank. We will put it where it will grow. We’ll keep track of it. And we’ll check every account we have every year to protect ourselves against fraud or escheatment.
4. We will defend our credit worthiness. Good credit is going to be precious in the years to come. We will pay our bills on time. We’ll borrow only when we need to and in amounts we can comfortably pay back. And then we’ll do just that.
5. We will ignore unsolicited credit card marketing. We decide when we need a credit card, not some marketer. And mostly, we probably don’t need another one at all. We won’t even open those solicitations. We’ll shred them.
6. We will know the cost of borrowing. The interest lenders charge us is real money, too. When we buy a mortgage or finance a purchase, we’ll figure out what that interest is really going to cost in dollars, add it to the purchase price, and ask ourselves if it’s still worth it.
7. We will invest for the long term. Futures are built out of patience and prudence, not luck. We will not put off being a saver because we think there’s a lottery win in our future, in Vegas or on Wall Street.
8. We will take care of the things we have. We work hard for our money, and it’s disrespectful to waste it – or the planet – by treating our possessions as disposable.
9. We will remember what matters. We are not the things we own. If we have to spend and spend on bigger, more impressive things to keep up with our friends, then they are not our friends at all.
10. We will be heard. Our representatives in government and the corporations we deal with need to know that we are paying attention. If we’re silent, we’re accepting the status quo, and the business practices that got our country into this situation will continue. We are not going to accept that.

It’s a welcome change from having credit card applications pushed down my throat. I have no idea what the future will bring, but this fall I’m enjoying the last tomatoes of summer and enjoying the little things. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long winter.

I’ve been biking to work pretty regularly for the last two years or so and supplementing that with longer weekend rides. Last weekend I did a 20 mile ride on the not-yet-open Legacy Parkway with some friends. (Wish that road was bikes only all the time or at least on weekends!) Before the ride, we spotted a four-person pedal-powered vehicle close to the registration table. Turns out it was a demo and we got to test it out.

If you’re interested, you can order one online. It will only set you back $8,000. I’m probably going to hold out for an Xtracycle.
My last big ride was to the beach on Antelope Island. We shortened what would have been an 80 mile ride to a 40 mile ride by riding Frontrunner to Layton and biking from there. The roads were pretty pleasant. We took Gentile to Bluff to Antelope. If you want the full scoop, my friend Rachel wrote about it over on her blog.