The Order of Growlie

Billboards greet drivers with a sample of Oakmont tradition

There is a crazy little squirrel greeting drivers as they cross the Hulton Bridge to enter Oakmont.

While he's not exactly one of the crazy little squirrels who force drivers to stop suddenly throughout the borough, he will soon hold the same warm spot in residents' hearts.

Oakmont Chamber of Commerce has launched a new campaign to boost tourism and encourage more people to come to town to shop and the squirrel is going to help. He's on a billboard near the Hulton Bridge beckoning drivers to veer their cars to Oakmont's business district.

Okay, I'm sorry - but what about this squirrel is going to make me shop in some town in Pennsylvania? I lived below Pennsylvania for twenty-two years of my life and I was in the state maybe a total of two times. Please note that this was my choice so my car would not fall into one of their potholes that would easily be mistaken for the great divide.

Inquiring minds want to know what this squirrel is doing with a fork anyway? Is he going to stab people that don't go shopping? How's he going to stab them without opposoble thumbs? I see this as a problem for the furry little bastard. Or, is he a cannibal/kleptomaniac squirrel hell-bent on eating his furry comrade and stealing the contents of his squirrel-sized shopping bag? Speaking of which, would I really want to buy tiny gifts that fit in squirrel-sized shopping bags?

Oh! How did the squirrel pay for it? Did he steal it, or can I take an enormous bag of nuts and buy a pair of new shoes? I could really use some new tennis shoes...

If they want people to visit to shop, fix the damn roads; don't pimp out our furry little woodland creatures.

Lately at work I've had a lot of various unrelated tasks to keep track of. This was quickly becoming a headache because I had no way to associate tasks.

For instance, if they were somewhat related tasks, I was able to keep track of them by some odd association game. However, none of my tasks are really contingent upon each other and my workload has increased quite a bit.

Enter Mozilla Sunbird. It's a lovely little calendar that fits my needs perfectly. I can schedule tasks and events and it will send me reminders of when the events take place. It also allows me to set a priority on tasks that I schedule.

All in all, it works great for my needs and I think it's a neat little program. Also, it doesn't seem to lag my computer at work, which is a really good thing.

This guy is my hero....

Rescued dogs head for California on flight funded by oil tycoon
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO — The first major airlift of dogs from the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast left Louisiana on Sunday, carrying about 80 pets to new temporary homes in California.

The Continental Airlines flight from Baton Rouge, La., was chartered for about $50,000 by Texas oil tycoon Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, in a movement dubbed "Operation Pet Lift."

Some dogs were placed in cages in the cargo section while others rode in the passenger cabin, where they barked and wagged their tails.

"They'd been in cages far too long. We felt like they needed to be free so they sat on our laps, and we played with them the whole way," said Christine Penrod, Madeleine Pickens' sister, who accompanied the animals on the flight.

About half the dogs were headed for San Diego, with the rest bound for San Francisco. Sunday's move was organized by PetRelocation.com, based in Austin, Texas.

"The goal was to help rescue 200 dogs," Pickens' spokesman Jay Rosser said. "They're overjoyed that they were able to rescue 80, but clearly disappointed and dismayed at the bureaucracy, which prevented them from taking the full 200."

Organizers complained that some legal requirements were impractical, such as waiting out a 30-day quarantine before transporting the animals.

Kelly Harrington, director of disaster response services for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said a makeshift shelter for up to several thousand dogs had been set up at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., about 45 miles northwest of New Orleans.

She hoped additional dogs would be flown out in the coming days, but said the effort was taking time.

"Every animal has to be vet checked, vaccinated and microchipped ... so we can track these animals in case an owner does find them," Harrington said.

Petfinder.com was setting up a database of pet pictures to help reunite owners with lost animals.

Andrew Rowan, executive vice president of operations for the Humane Society United States, said animals must be moved out of the Gonzales facility quickly to make room for "maybe 50,000 or more dogs and cats in New Orleans that need to be rescued."

"There are vans and cars and trucks all over the place," he said. "Dogs are barking, cats are meowing. It's a tremendous logistical operation to provide the care that these animals need."

The Humane Society's Dave Pauli, director of the Gonzales facility, said 200 animals were shipped out Sunday by truck to Houston, but rescue teams expected to bring in about 300 more in the afternoon.

About 200 animals have been reunited with their owners at the facility.

"That's what keeps us going," Pauli said. "Every one of them brings a tear to your eyes and makes these sleepless nights worth it."

For the original article go here.

My latest addiction has been a game called Tales of Symphonia. I've heard there's quite a few games in this 'Tales' series and I'm curious about the previous games.

About a week ago, I bought Symphonia because my gamecube was dying for a new game to coddle in its insides and spin like mad. It's no Final Fantasy III (or VI), but the graphics are beautiful and the story is pretty captivating as well. Being used to old school FF III, I'm still trying to get used to be 2-D battle system in which you only control 1 character. I was used to controlling all 5 of them in a turn-based battle before.

For a lovely review of Tales of Symphonia, visit GameSpot. Eventually, I'll write my own, but I'm not far enough into the game yet to be able to do one in a manner which this game deserves.

Gamespot also has some screens here. But the screens really don't do the game justice because they are a little blurry and the graphics are very crisp and clean.

Eventually I'll find some better screens or make my own and upload them to my gallery.

In closing, this game was so addictive last night that I was up until 4:30 having gotten up fairly early yesterday.

The internet is cursed with blogs filled with nonsense and more personal information than you could possibly care to hear. However, I figured one more blog wouldn't make much of a difference.

So, this is my personal space with ramblings about nothing particularly important to anyone but myself and maybe a small select group of people.

My brain-child it is, and I shall nurture it and call it the Order of Growlie.