So understand that when I find that I have been referenced, or you have clearly read a post on my blog… and not given me credit, I will take you to task for it.

As a writer, I do my best to protect the interests of other writers. When I like their work, I link to it. When it inspires me, I openly credit it. This is especially true for the works of local bloggers. Lately, I’ve really been enjoying the posts of Bike to Work Barb, who posts these wonderful, warm and charming stories about her family and her day to day life on her blog. Her posts are not only a pleasure to read, but are thoughtful and thought provoking. She has a unique style that really puts a smile on my face every time she posts. My favorite is still “Sweetie and the Poo Rock”. If you haven’t read it, you should.

I also spent the entire month of November involved with the local writing scene here in Spokane, by participating in NaNoWriMo. The local writers are an amazing bunch of people. Collectively in Spokane we managed to write almost 3.4 million words. Nearly half of all participating writers in NaNoWriMo in Spokane this year, finished by November 30th with 50,000 words under their belts. Here’s a link to those statistics. As you can see, Spokane’s writing community is vibrant, active and watchful. We keep our eyes on each other and do the best we can to support each other.

So here I am, as a writer, holding my hand out to the community now.

A blogger borrowed a title from an article of mine, and clearly read the article without giving me credit for having written my original work. I’m not asking for much. I’d just like a link within the context of their post because I started the fuss. I engaged in conversation about and wrote the article title that clearly inspired their article title. Their issue, that they talk about on their blog came about because it was my issue.

I am glad that someone is reading this blog, but I feel so violated and so used because they took my issue and tried to make it their own, but couldn’t even do me the courtesy of coming up with their own article title, or leaving my research and my conversations out of their article.

At this point, this is all I am saying. I am hopeful that these people know who they are and will do the right thing. I’ll give them some time to do the right thing, and when/if they do, I will thank them for their readership and move on with life. If not, I will make a big fuss about it. I have to protect the integrity of my work. As a writer, my work is my life’s blood, even if it’s some small cheesy article that I wrote in the middle of the night because I was feeling irate. It doesn’t matter. I wrote it, I took issue with it and I stood up for what I believed in when I wrote that article. I have to stand behind what I wrote because I own it.

I am also hopeful that my experience here opens the eyes of other local bloggers. Watch the local scene. Watch for people who unfairly take your ideas without giving them credit. Watch out for yourselves.

Update: I have edited this post to remove identifying markers because the blogger in question and I conversed and it turns out that we merely just missed each other on twitter. We had the same ideas at the same time, but different perspectives on them. This happens too. As a result, I am leaving this article in tact, with this update in place as an attempt to educate others. Contacting the other writer is a good route to take, especially when a misunderstanding can result if you hadn’t done so otherwise. That was the case this time, but it is not always the case. I am sure the other blogger would agree that protecting one’s copyrights is important and in the digital age, it is increasingly difficult business.

I am horribly miserable about this.

The BBC has announced that some schmoe named Matt Smith will be replacing David Tennant and will take his place as the 11th Doctor Who sometime next year.

I had just gotten used to David Tennant! I really sort of liked him, not to mention the fact that he’s sort of cute in a quirky, weird sort of way. It’s a crime I tell you! A crime!

It’s 7.99$ and the word on the ground is, the thing was optimized for the iPod Touch, which has a faster processor than the iPhone, but still… Katamari crack for iPhone lovers!!! WOOHOO!

I might have to go drop 8$ on this ridiculous little game.

Tonight, I was browsing happily from my iPhone. This is quite possibly the neatest feature of my iPhone for me. I love the ability to browse the web, and I really appreciate that most national news sites that I visit, such as Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and CBS News all have iPhone friendly websites. These sites auto-detect that I’m surfing from an iPhone and load up a less graphics intensive version of the site that is easier to read on my iPhone and I assume that these sites work similarly with Blackberries and other mobile web browsing devices. I enjoy this feature so much that this very blog is set up to auto-detect iPhone users when they visit the site. It automatically feeds them an iPhone friendly version of randomgemini.com.

I do most of my web browsing from my iPhone these days because it’s convenient and the internet is always in my pocket. If I’m standing in the laundry room wanting to know which stores around town have the best price on fabric softener, I break out my iPhone. If I am in front of my PS3 playing a game and need a walkthrough, I break out my iPhone. I almost don’t need a laptop anymore.

Recently, I have started paying attention to the local news. Normally, I don’t bother. The local news can get rather depressing after a while, so I just pay attention to things on a national level and leave the local stations to do what they do, but this month is different.

This month, Spokane has been hit with the worst series of snow storms it has ever seen in recorded history. We had over 54 inches of snow in the month of December alone. There was more snow last night. The roofs of several local businesses have collapsed, as well as carports in apartment complexes and homes with flat roofs because the buildings were simply not designed for this amount of snow load.

It has suddenly become important to keep up with the local news to me, very important. The local news has kept me and my family safe since all of these storms began by informing me of when it is best to stay home and not brave the roads, or where to call when I have a problem, or what to do in the event of certain unusual activities as a result of all the snow in and around my home.

The local news sites are all very busy visually. They have dozens of links to lots of local footage. They are heavily loaded with php, flash or javascript. They all have streaming video links that take you to where newscasters are offering live reports. They all seem very current with web design trends.

They seem that way.

Until you try to browse them from a mobile device, then you get to watch your iPhone load the full bore web version of the news site, complete with video links that do not work and interactive screens that will not load because guess what folks? The iPhone doesn’t support flash. In fact, these sites are so heavily encumbered with flash that browsing them from an iPhone is not easily accomplished and I got so frustrated with one of the sites that I put my iPhone down and went to my laptop.

You might argue that I should simply suck it up and visit those sites with my laptop, but I have to ask you, why should I have to suffer because someone else is simply too lazy (or heaven forbid, charges you a monthly fee) to offer a mobile version of their pages?

What if I were out at the mall with my family? How am I going to obtain information about which roads I should avoid, when I need to know it? I have an iPhone so that I can have access to those things and with flash video and flash interfaces abounding in Spokane’s Local News Web, I can forget it. I’m better off tuning in to the local talk radio station and hoping that I get my up to the minute traffic information sponsored by some tire chain.

I shouldn’t have to put up with this. This is why I bought an iPhone. Neither should you, weather you use an iPhone, a Blackberry or an Android phone. I don’t care how you surf. All devices should be able to surf equally. I know that not every site can give you a mobile friendly page, but is there any real excuse for a news organization to have a web site that one simply can’t use from a mobile device?

If you agree with me, that there is no excuse and are a local, then please put your fingers to your keyboard and send an email to the following folks at the local news stations. Tell them how you feel, and tell them that mobile friendly websites are the future of their business and remind them that their job is to serve the community in which they broadcast. Let them know that as things stand they aren’t doing the mobile users in their community any favors.

KXLY.com’s Web Questions Box.
KREM’s customer service page.
Send an Email to the KHQ Newsroom.

He was about to get transferred to a kill facility from the no-kill facility that we’d chosen to adopt our dog from. That was it. On the ride home, I convinced my husband that we had to save him. We had to be the ones who were selfless and who were ready to do the brave thing. He had spent the day playing with us, and showing us how wonderful he was, and it was a big risk to a dog in his position, trusting someone after being let down by humans once before. But he had been willing to take a chance on us, so it was only right that we take a chance on him.

Someone had abandoned him, or let him get out of their yard. He wasn’t neutered. He had no collar. Whoever had owned him before hadn’t mistreated or abused him, he was clean and showed none of the signs of an abused dog, in fact, we suspect that he may have been very well loved in his previous home, but somehow, he got out. Unneutered dogs tend to wander, they like to roam free and sow their wild oats where ever they may, and if you’re not careful, and not smart, you’ll end up losing your dog. We’re certain this is what happened to our old man. He had definitely been trained as a hunting dog. He loved to chase ducks on the lake. He knew enough about what guns were to know that he didn’t like having them pointed at him and he would wait in the weeds for you until his body gave out.

The fact that we weren’t hunters didn’t seem to bother him at all. He was perfectly content to run around the yard and chase balls and bring them back to toddlers. He was happy to go for walks in the mornings before breakfast, when everything was quiet and nobody would notice us leaving. He was happy to be my co-pilot behind the wheel of my car, and as long as he could stick his nose out just far enough for it to make that funny sound that usually made him sneeze after a few feet, his day was made.

Now that old age is settling in, things have changed. He’s slowed down. He doesn’t bounce like he used to and doesn’t run from one end of the house to the other anymore. He likes to move at a more leisurely pace, and he tends to be a little more reserved. He still gets excited when you offer him some leftover steak but rather than jumping up and catching air, he wags his tail and lets his tongue hang out, then looks up at you expectantly.

He doesn’t sit on our feet very much anymore either. We have beds for him on every floor of the house, and he finds his bed and sleeps in it, whichever bed is closest to where the people happen to be will do for him. And at night, he has two beds to choose from. One in his crate and another out in the open on the floor.

The only thing that hasn’t really changed is the 2:30 in the morning scratch. If my hand is visible on the bed, he wakes up, heads over to the bed and sticks his head under my fingers until I scratch him. He’s always done this, and I think he always will. It’s like he’s waking himself up in the middle of the night to check and make sure that I’m still there. I try to remind him every day through everything I do and everything I say that I will be here, but he is a dog after all and old habits die hard. I’m sure he knows that this is what I signed up for. I promised him that I would take care of him until he was ready to leave this world, and by God that is what I am going to do, even though it is painful to watch him wake up in the mornings and stretch his stiff old legs out, I am going to do it. He has never given up on me, and I’m not going to give up on him either. We still have more good days than bad days. Most days, he wakes up and the world is great because he’s in it and he’s got his family. And I think the life that we have given him has been filled with more hope and more love than he was ever going to have from anyone else when my husband found him in the shelter that day.

Say whatever you like about a boy and a his dog, it has nothing to do with gender or age. There is something about pets for all of us. They get inside our hearts and we love them unconditionally. We don’t care if they chased a skunk into a bush, or squawked until we thought our ears would bleed. These things are not important, unless they are somehow funny.

What does matter, in the end though, is the respect we have shown our friends at the end of the day. My dog is probably one of the more spoiled canines in the area. I made my hubby buy him a stand for his food and water bowls so he wouldn’t have to bend down as much to drink and eat. He’s got his own pill box for his medication regimen that deals with his allergies. Every Friday he gets a salon day, complete with pedicure, and really how many beds does one dog really need?

Mine needs at least three, and I’d like to have two more, because I don’t like to see him laying on the tile, that can’t possibly be good for his old bones.

At this point, I can imagine that it’s hard to see where I’m heading with all of this, because the title of this article is “Animal Rights?”. I apologize for taking the trip down memory lane, but I wanted to make myself crystal clear. My dog is loved and is alive and healthy and I’m sure that if he could speak, he would talk for hours about the amazing life he has led and how happy he has been.

That’s why I wanted to say something today, to remind everyone of an issue that is close to my heart and to his too. Too many people get wrapped up in Animal Rights to realize that Animal Rights are not the same as Animal Welfare. Animal Rights activists would have taken my wonderful boy away from me, and either euthanized him in a shelter, or released him into the cold, hard world to make his way on his own. No “Mom” to scratch his chin at 2:30 in the morning. No one to make sure that he has beds to keep him comfortable when his hips are in pain.

PETA, the HSUS (not affiliated your local area Humane Society) and groups like them believe that we should not own pets. They believe that animals should be left to roam free, and that pet ownership is a blight upon humanity that enslaves and abuses animals.

So at this time of year, when we are most willing to whip out our checkbooks and give to charitable organizations, I ask that you reconsider before donating to an animal rights group. Donate to your local shelter, donate to a local vet that offers free or low cost spay/neutering for low income families with pets. Donate to the local animal hospital.

Give PETA the finger.

http://www.randomgemini.com

I love my hubby, he’s a wonderful man, and he really knows how to make a geek gal squeal.

Ever since he told me he’d registered it and I’d finished knocking the wind out of him with hugs, I’ve had this song stuck in my brain and I share it with you now, merely because I can and it seems appropriate, though I have absolutely no idea why.

Merry Christmas folks, and welcome to my new haunt.

We find someone that we like the look of, we learn if they have things in common with us, and if we find enough commonality to build a foundation upon, we can have a successful relationship with that person. This is true of friendship, family and romance. It’s actually really very simple, but people get so wound up about romance and dating that they can’t see the forest for the trees.

I think we get so wound up in it because falling in love is something that anyone can do. It does not require a degree. It doesn’t require that you have a job, and it doesn’t require that you be part of a certain social class. Whatever your class, race or creed, you can fall in love. All of us are capable of doing so. The trouble comes in, when we convince ourselves that we have to find our one true love

What does that even mean?

What’s wrong with just plain old love? Love by itself is pretty special. I don’t need it to be some deeper, more intense bond. What you feel when you’re in love with someone is pretty intense on its own and it doesn’t need additional guidance. All it requires is a compatibility of spirit, and the ability to smile and laugh with the person you’re with. If they can make you laugh when you’re bawling your eyes out because you had to put your cat to sleep, this is a person worthy of spending your time with.

If he buys you a gift for Christmas, don’t try to read into it and get sucked into some generic love advice website’s idea of what he meant when he bought you that thing. He is not trying to send you some weird mixed message with his gift. If the man bought you something, it is up to you to appreciate the gift. Even if he got you the same thing he bought you last year, and especially if the relationship is new and all he brings you are some flowers. Accept gifts for what they are, gifts and enjoy them.

Geeks are no exception to this, but there is something important that non-geeks really have to understand.

You have no business dating a geek!

If you cannot squeal and giggle when your sweetie brings you home a stick of ram for a present, you are the wrong girl for a geek. If your eyes don’t light up at the thought of the latest video game release on your sweetie’s console of choice, you’re dating the wrong guy. If you do not find yourself listening to him talk about his work day, and being able to follow the conversation, what are you doing with him?

How can you foster a healthy relationship with someone you don’t understand? You need to be involved with the sort of person that you enjoy talking to, that lights you up inside with his wit, and his gifts. If you don’t find RAM to be romantic, as some lame love advice sites might suggest, you’re with the wrong person.

Food for thought.

Adam Walsh disappeared in a time when it was okay to let your kids walk through the toys section while you finished up your shopping and then came back for them. Department stores like that were always full of kids in the toy sections when I was growing up. Sometimes, play groups would form around the displays and I would make new friends there, but after Adam Walsh disappeared, I think every parent in America slept a little less easily.

It was certainly not because children hadn’t disappeared before. No, it was the public suffering of Adam’s father who begged on national television for the return of his son. The tears that streamed down his cheeks as he hoped and prayed that someone, anyone, would find a way to bring his little boy home. I will never forget that broadcast, though I couldn’t find a reference to it anywhere.

John Walsh proved himself to be a forward thinking man. He stopped at absolutely nothing to find his son. He did whatever was necessary within the bounds of the law, and he and his wife rose above their situation. They took their grief and constructed a life. They had three more children after Adam’s murder, and though they almost divorced a few years ago, they stuck it out and have managed to stay together through what I can only imagine as being one of the most horrific tragedies that a family can ever experience. In addition to continuing on as a family, they started the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center and were a driving force behind several laws regarding missing children and became active with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

They helped start the Code Adam program, which you will see signs for in every single grocery store, department store and shopping mall across the country. Code Adam is the response system that store employees use when a parent reports a child missing inside the store. When you hear “Code Adam” over the PA system, you will also hear a description of the missing child. This allows other shoppers in the store to help employees locate and possibly save a child from abduction.

I cannot imagine the strength it must take every day to get out of bed, and work your butt off to honor the memory of your child. No one will ever replace Adam and I pray that this official announcement will finally give the Walsh family some much deserved peace.

He called several shops, only two places here locally had the equipment to remove runflats. Only one routinely did so on MINIs, and knew what the push button start was.

You can guess which one we decided to go with.

So my son and I took Viola in to get her new shoes, and the salesman could tell that this car was my baby. He spent a good ten minutes reassuring me that even though my husband had reserved the tires over the phone, they were a good choice, and I was happy with them. They had a similar tread pattern to the blizzak, and they were well-reviewed when I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and googled them, even if the name made me laugh. I’d never heard of Hankook tires before, but it looked like these were all right.

But most importantly:

1. The price was right.
2. They had the right size in stock.
3. We were expecting a snow storm.

Sometimes, you take what you can get and deal with the consequences later. This wasn’t exactly one of those situations, but the tires made me happy enough to not argue over their selection given the circumstances.

So we wait for an hour, and the guy comes out and tells me she’s ready and that they’re bringing her around now and he’d like me to inspect the tires and my wheels to make sure that I am satisfied that there wasn’t a problem with their process. And I watch my car come around and this guy gets out.

He’s in his 50s, and is obviously the owner/operator of the store. The technician that I had talked to clearly knew what he was doing, and clearly knew that I was attached to my car and I think he was thrilled to see a gal care so much about her car. But this guy was clearly not as informed about the MINI. He came in with this big grin on his face and he said, “I’m sorry. I was going to back it in for you but I couldn’t figure out how to put it in reverse and that pod thing was weird, I had to have one of the boys in the back start it for me. The other MINIs we’ve serviced aren’t like yours.”

I stared at him for a moment.

Viola’s an automatic. How in the hell could he not know how to put her in reverse? Then I said, “Well it’s on the selector…”

He said, “Oh yeah? You mean those paddle things?”

I stared at him again, then I just smiled and nodded and made a beeline for my car.

When I got in, I found the following scene:

The fob was tucked into the door handle.

All four of my goodyear tires were neatly packaged in bags and carefully tetrised into the boot. I had left a tarp back there and figured I would have to load the tires myself, but they did it for me and didn’t even need my tarp and for this they get high, high praise from me.

The driver’s seat had not moved, and the shop’s driver was at least a foot taller than me. That could not have been comfortable…

And then I discovered the reason why he couldn’t figure out how to put Viola in reverse.

The car was in manual mode.

I stared down at the selector knob and then looked at my son who said, “So why couldn’t he figure out how to get it in reverse?” And then I pushed the selector back to the right.

My son’s eyes lit up and his jaw dropped and then we both just busted up laughing.

I laughed, in part at the situation and in part at myself. You see, having looked in on several other MINIs in the area, and having shopped for used vehicles, one of the reasons I chose to buy new was because there had only been one used automatic for sale here in town, but I hadn’t even considered since then that Viola is a rare beast among MINIs in the area merely because she has an automatic transmission.

Maybe I need to consider giving up my training wheels.

Today, I got it. It’s sort of an odd feeling. I have never been all that enthusiastic about snow because I hate winter driving, but when one of the gals on the MINI forums posted that this month’s photo contest was winter driving, I started praying for the snow. I’m looking forward to trying out Viola’s new shoes and when I saw the snow coming down outside my window it was as though someone had taken all of the horrible things that I have seen and lived through this year.. and said, “You can let it go now. You don’t have to hang on anymore.”

For the first time since June, I felt like my life was mine again and that, as of today, I owe nothing to anyone.

Nevermind that a huge snow storm is coming down on us and that the weather agencies are reporting that we can expect 11 inches of snow overnight. Nevermind that the temperatures are supposed to drop to six degrees below zero.

Forget all of that.

Today, I’ve got my head back on and it happened so quickly that I might not have noticed it. Today, I feel like I can stop grieving for the dead. Today, I feel like I can live again.

Pardon me. Viola and I are going to go play in the snow.