Last year, I purchased a couple domain names – TampaBayRail.com and TampaBayRail.net. I intended to launch a web site on mass-transit and address the Tampa Bay area as one region. Not a separate-but-equal take that local government has had in the past on transit solutions. But those plans were soon forgotten as other issues worked into my life (including hand surgery, political campaigns and walking the dog).

Now, for those of you aware of what the local blogosphere has to offer, you already know David Pinero has Tampa Rail.org up and running. Pinero’s site is a great civic orientated pro-rail web site. The plan in my noggin’ with my own blog/site were just to ride the “rail” names but talk about all transit issues in general. But all of this is really beside the point, so let’s move on.

Basically, time goes by, the seasons change, the Gators were champs and John Grahame sucks. A few weeks ago I got notification from my domain registration company that both domain names were soon going to expire. I could renew the domain names for however-many-years I’d like or I could simply let them disappear into the digital tumbleweeds of the interweb. They’d likely be snatched up by a spammer or domain-name broker with no interest in Tampa, Tampa Bay, transit in Tampa Bay or rail in the region.

The whole thought reminded me of what happened to the previous official website that the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County operated regarding a rail system. A few years back (2002), those governments held the rights to TampaRail.com (check the wayback machine). For some reason, the powers that be (City of Tampa? Hillsborough County?) let that domain name expire around 2003. The name was quickly snatched up and exploited by a Russian domain name broker. The web site and url shifted to BlueHeronMedia.com, then ended up drifting into oblivion before being removed from their servers. Tampa’s official rail website was as dead as the pro-rail movement in the region. But the movement is now stirring again.

This past summer, we were all witness to the grand spectacle of the Hillsborough Expressway Authority trying to launch a new sprawlway through the region. Along with Mayor Pam Iorio (and the Tampa Bay Partnership and Tampa International Airport) renewing a push for a regional rail system through the Tampa Bay area. Emphasis on the Tampa Bay regionalism of their presented interest.

So, what’s a guy to do? I have control of TampaBayRail.com and .net. I could sell them and possibly recoup some of the costs of the domain names — eventually. Instead, I decided to do some good. I offered both domains to the City of Tampa. You entrepreneurs may see this as a waste of money on my part, but just consider it a good deed.

Suffice to say, the city was receptive of the idea, so both names are now controlled by Mayor Pam. I don’t expect you to see a regional rail website any time soon, but there is the possibility for a united Tampa Bay rail effort on the web — with TampaBayRail.com potentially it’s base location on the web.

That’s our cat actually, and hearing the news hurt.

Amber was a cat we rescued from the North Pinellas Humane Society last year about this time – it’s within a few days of the one year anniversary of getting the cat. Jenna had just moved into her apartment at Sabal Walk and wanted to get a feline friend to compliment her brood of dogs in the apartment. Meanwhile, I had the inkling of getting a cat for my brother Andy’s birthday – but I soon retreated on such an idea as they (at the shelter) said – giving animals as gifts isn’t such a bright idea.

Me and Jenna had gone to the shelter on a Sunday morning… I can’t exactly remember the details leading up to getting inside the shelter — I think we cleaned out her van in the shopping center across the street from the shelter as we waited for it to re-open — but I can remember inside. The cats were all penned into seperate fenced in areas. Some had unhealthy looks in their eyes from being in captivity too long. Several had been their for years, while others had been their for months on end. Me and Jenna had taken to a few sweet tabby cats that had been inside for a while… It was a pity party of sorts. I started making a list of preference cats in my head as we moved through the building, but every selection was a pity selection more so than a prized discovery.

Then we came to the last cage in the cat area… We were interested in looking at the dogs soon – just for the hell of it — but wanted to see the cats within the pen. It was crowded in their – maybe 12 or more cats all tucked into it. It was mostly longhairs. Several didn’t want to be touched and several were only interested in keeping their position in the cage.

I had basically given up on the the pen and was ready to move on when Jenna noticed a cat tucked away inside a cinder block. The block was already basically hidden under a platform that held several cats… The block was also surrounded by other cats lounging…

Jenna pulled the cat out from the abyss and lo and behold we found the prize of the Humane Society. The Needle in the haystack if you will. Her hair was mostly white with tints of brown and orange… It would be an elegant coat if not for the cat being in a dank cell and her hair matted against her body. She was a ragdoll.  We looked over the chart outside the cage to try to find the name of the animal. It wasn’t quite clear to me which of the dozen+ animals on the list it was… Though it seemed to be one of three or so, and most likely a cat named “Idgie.”

Idgie had been in the shelter for only a few days compared to the other cats. She was terrified in that cell, she would hiss when held near other cats or over other cats. She’d struggle to get out of your grasp and run back into her hiding space from time to time…

But she also had the demeanor of an animal that didn’t belong in a pen like that. She seemed violated and desperate to escape.

We browsed around the dogs – Jenna took to a golden retriever that was up for adoption, but my mind was on “Idgie.” Would she even survive a few minutes without us? We had to get her out of there… I mean we just HAD to do it.

And that’s just what we did.

The adoption only took a few minutes and “Idgie” was brought out in a cat carrier. It ran through my mind a few times what this cat must have gone through and must be going through. Her papers said she was six and that she had been put up for adoption because of a new baby at home where she had lived. She was already declawed and though she was a tad volatile in the pen, it was obvious she wasn’t an aggressive animal by nature.

We got her out to the car — she was adopted officially by me but she’d be Jenna’s cat — and decided right there she needed a new name because… Well, Idgie? There are uncommon names and then their are REALLY uncommon names. Idgie didn’t even look pronouncable on the information sheet we had been given, let alone was it something that either of us would willingly call an animal. We decided upon “Amber” as her new name.

And that was the begining of her new life — andn that life would only last a year.

She was sweet, that much I can remember. She was scared when we brought her into Jenna’s apartment and she hid inside Jenna’s closet most of the time. I was always concerned for the cat because of the change of situations she was facing, but she came out fine. We cleaned her up and indeed she was a beautiful longhair. I’d almost think that she was a show cat because of how smart she seemed to be.

But now she’s gone….  Though the memory lives on….

At any rate, I told people about this story in an earlier entry… There is no title to it as it stands right now and it’s just a few hundred words… Let me know what you think if you think anything about it… Just click on more to view it.

Dontrell and Monica stood on the tiptoes of their flip-flop clad feet and peered into the white minivan. They had been on their way to the community pool to help beat the mid-summer heat when they were compelled to look in ominous white vehicle that was owned by a white lady who lived nearby. The car was parked just across the street from their own apartment and along the path to the pool. It was impossible for them not to look, knowing the white woman had big dogs that she put in there. They had seen her and the animals before and both intimidated them. There were a couple of large cages in the back of the minivan, where the woman sometimes put the dogs before she drove off to where ever white women go to.

“Ya’ll better watch out,” their mom’s boyfriend, Barry, spoke from behind them. “She gonna’ end up comin’ out and catchin’ you!” He was standing close to their apartment building and hauling a couple of trash bags in his arms. The kids liked Barry with his music and modified car that had a really loud speakers and could bounce too! He wore gold chains and looked like a rapper from TV.

“Ya’ll see those cages in there?” Barry asked, putting down his trash bags for a moment and approaching the kids. The cages had specifically caught their attention because of how big they were. “Ya’ll look at them real good ‘cause when she catches you she’s gonna’ put your asses in those cages and let the dogs eat you!”

The kids looked at Barry in disbelief. Would the woman really do that to them? Feed them to those monster hounds? Barry slowly nodded as if to stress the point before picking up the trash bags again and continuing on his trek to the trash bin. He let out a laugh on the way but the children didn’t hear him – they were too preoccupied on the frightening reality that stood before them.

Ever since Dontrell and Monica watched their friend Alisha be mauled by her family pit bull a few months earlier, the kids had been absolutely terrified of dogs. It could be their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Jackson, and her little terrier. It could also be any one of the neighborhoods other pit bulls, and there were many of them. Whatever size it was, whatever breed it was, the kids were certain the animal was ready to snap at them.

And of course some white lady’s dogs have got to be trained to go after the black folk, the kids thought. She was one of the only non-black people that lived in the apartment complex, and they had no idea why she didn’t live with the rest of her people and leave their neighborhood alone.

She seemed scary to them just because she was so alien – white people weren’t common in their community. Her hair was a deep red and she barely smiled. She wore glasses and was always bringing around other strange white folks: a scrawny man who walked around with the help of a stick, and there was another woman who stayed with her for a while who had a scab on one of her eyes. Maybe they were her friends but they were all so freaky!

The dogs that the lady had – they looked like the kind they had seen when Barry took them and their mom to the racetrack once in a while. The big, sleek, thin dogs would chase a mechanical rabbit around a track and they were hella’ quick too! That was another reason why the kids were so taken aback of the white woman’s dogs – they knew that they were too fast not to catch them!

It was terribly hot, but Dontrell and Monica had forgotten the pool for the moment, as they stood affixed to their fears.

In their silence, they imagined being locked in the cages and having those big dogs closing in on them. They would be slobbering and panting, barking and growling and showing their viciousness before closing in on the kill. It would be exactly like what happened to Alisha – having her skin ripped off and being made dead… There would be no escape. They’d scream and maybe Barry would try to save them from that mad white bitch’s dogs? Or maybe he’d let them die so he could have their mother to hi’self? He always wanted private time with her anyway and was always throwing them out of the apartment.

A voice from behind them broke the anxious silence, “Could you kindly not get handprints on my windows?”

It was the white lady – standing not 3 yards from them. Dontrell and Monica looked at each other and panicked. They heard not a word of what the woman said but had all of their fantasies come to life! Barry said she’d feed them to the dogs! Barry said she’d lock them in the cages before she did it! She was here now and at any moment now her dogs would be chasing after them down in frenzy!

They screamed and took off for the pool without looking back. If they had, they would have noticed the white lady watching them with an expression of bewilderment. The threat was only in their minds, the perception of imminent doom was just an innocent childhood misconception; one whose impression will not likely fade with away

Maddie’s been pretty good at times and annoying at others. She’s teething of course – has been since I got her in July — but it’s a little worse now because it’s her mid teeth and back teeth and she’s trying to gnaw on anything she can. I can deal with that by picking up chew toys and such… That’s no problem.

What is a problem is her social skills. Madeline is extremely friendly and extremely over-excited to meet people. I mean REALLY over-excited. If she sees a human, she wants to run up to them and say hi. She’ll jump and run circles around them (and when she is on her leash, this can cause problems), or run away for one reason or another… I’m never sure what causes that but it’s usually when she sees someone from a distance.

I’ve enjoyed when I’ve been able to walk her around the block — only twice total. Two factors usually keep me from walking her that far, the first being the Florida heat and my own desire to stay out of it. The second factor is Maddie herself. Not because of her hysterics act but… Well, her hysterics act. I’ll start walking her down the block and I won’t even be able to get her 300 feet from my house before she wants to go back and investigate something she wants to chew. Other times I get her half way to the end of the block and she gets scared off by the sounds of dogs barking (the sad thing is, the dogs barking are a 3rd of her size).

I’ve had more social interaction when I’ve been out with her, which I like… But at the same time I have GOT to get a handle on her social skills and I need to socialize her more — among dogs and humans. Unfortunately no one wants to go to the Dog Park and I’m not entirely interested in walking the 3+ miles with the dog to the nearest park (across 6 lanes of highway and next to a 4 lane highway).

I’ll figure something out, I hope….

I’m not that much of a dog person (that’s Jenna‘s thing ) but there is some significance to having Madeline get her next set of shots.

I can start walking her out of the neighborhood and taking her to the dog park and such.

Now if only I could keep her from going completely ape-shit happy when she sees people and keep her from wanting to run across the street to greet them and such…

I’m chatting with Jenna and she informs me about finding two little black kids peering into her van at Sabal Walk. She asks them not to get fingerprints on her windows and they ran off screaming. I think about it a minute and then tell her that the kids could have been made to think bad things about her and the cages (dog cages) that are in the back of her van…

From one brief spark, a fire is born.

In 15 minutes I write an ultra short story — just under 900 words — talking about the kids and what could have led them to react like they had. There were racial issues and social issues and just flat out childhood reactions that all come out. I’m not all happy with the length but I am happy I wasn’t so lazy with putting the story down that I didn’t do it. It was a solid concept and it was supposed to be brief in the telling. to begin with. I would have liked 1000 words and I might try to edit the story up but for the time being I’m happy with what I got.

Excuses and lack of discussion – and gang-up-on-John BS.

Well, how do I break it to everyone that I bought a dog months ago? Especially when I show up with her next week?

There was a dog I was told about by Jenna before I met Kerrie Kuper, this dog was in Orlando – another Whippet – and the his family was considering moving into a place where no dogs would be allowed. They loved Rip, but they would have to give him up… Or not. Jenna kept me informed about Rip’s status and as it turned out – Rip wasn’t going anywhere…. Supposedly.

Yesterday I found out that he was given away to someone in St. Petersburg, some time ago. I got to see his picture and I got to get angry because I missed out on my opportunity to already have a dog instead of waiting… Waiting in ignorance…. Waiting anxiously. Waiting…

Suffice it to say, it’s going to be a tight couple of months…

Under Jenna’s influence, I’m interested in getting a Whippet but my sources are non existent. I’m not looking for a champion but I’m not looking for a mutt either… I’m also not looking for an over-physical dog tha will jump all over me and knock me around without knowing (thus why I haven’t gone after a pitbull).

I FINALLY got my DVD’s — Resevoir Dogs and Equillibrium – back! Oh joy! Oh joy!

I also got a wakeup call seeing an old friend and attending his wifes baby shower. I won’t go into details for the sake of trying not to sound judgemental, but to go from hard and at the high point and then get responsibilities while enjoying yoruself sure can change a person.

I like to stay obtuse in here at times and in this case it’s especially hard to do so because my partner-in-crime reads the blog on a regular basis. That beign said I’ll cut with the detials and get to the point….

Giving a dog to a good home is something special but knowing the dog is terrified — that’s bad. Knowing that she’s going to a loving, patient pair of owners — that’s good. Spending a day with someone you care for is fantastic. Then having to break the news to that person that the dog she saved, healed and had given a life to, had run away — that’s bad.

Wandering around downtown Clearwater chasing after a shy dog at 1 AM – that’s just strange. Albeit it ‘s also dangerous with the quality characters in the neighborhood. Knowing the animal is playing traffic (not literally, but had been close to traffic and almost hit) — that’s terrible.

Going on minimum sleep and returning to the scene of the crime at daybreak to try, try again — that’s devotion.

And to see this animal re-united with her family after being rescued / captured by a good samaritian — That’s heartwarming. Left wanting more, — that’s life.

friend: wanna hear something funny? Rob is more insecure about me talking to you than he is about me talking to Eric
friend: how do you like that? YOU are threatening
me:
me: It took me a minute to really fathom this…
friend: yeah, Eric called me last night, and I had Rob answer my phone (because i didn’t reconize the number and I’m hiding from bill collectors) and he wasn’t too upset about it
me: If he only knew….
me: what did Eric have to say last night? Just checking up on you?
friend: yeah just calling to say hi, we haven’t talked since before the holidays and I don’t know what made him think to call me, but we just talked about the site and his health and all that jazz
friend: mind you, Rob did get jealous, but not as jealous as he gets of you
….
me: You should have him talk to me if you think that would difuse things.

but then again I’m getting a kick out of this so iets put that off as long as possible

It’s hilarious to think that I get someone jealous. It makes me feel good that I can actually make someoen who is physically superior to me jealous for that matter. As someone with his own insecurities, this is a bit of an ego boost. Of course having a friend who cares about me enough to talk about that friendship with her significant other is also pretty heartwarming…. But knowing that me and this friend could never really be more, and for Rob to be jealous of me is like a cat being jealous of a dog panting. It makes no sense.

But it’s sure fun to think about

I was sort of taken aback by this news — I didn’t know the sexes of Andy’s dogs to begin with, I didn’t know one of the dogs had become pregnant and I had no idea in hell that one of these dogs had given birth.

“So, his dogs have been screwing, huh?” was my immediate response… It earned me a blank stared and a gasped-like chuckle that lasted for several minutes…

When you don’t know the full story, folks, stick with the facts you do know… :smile