Saturday, July 30, 2011

Dogs rule, humans drool

Blitzen here. I thought I would respond to a post my Mom was talking about dogs and silent fences.
A long time ago, Grandma & Grandpa and Mommy had Red and Dandy.


This picture is Mommy and Red winning a jr. handler trophy at a fun match. No one's ever taken me to one. I would so show them.
Here's one of Dandy and Panda (Panda's standing and the star of the story.


Anyway, we have a five foot chain link fenced in back yard. It's pretty nice, and I hear there aren't many Beggin Strips and Airconditioning vents on the OTHERSIDE of the fence, so why go there? But one night, Red and Dandy decided to go out. They dug out around midnight, but no one knew until 4am. Mommy stayed home from 9th grade to help Grandma look for them. They found them very muddy around noon. So everyone put some concrete blocks around the bottom of the fence. Like a concrete block is going to stop a husky! Grandma found some of the blocks moved. (See unlike what Grandma and Panda told me, Dandy wasn't the most wonderful creature to walk the earth.) So then Grandpa cut up some rebarb and put an 18 inch stick every three inches around the fence and the blocks, then they added barb wire around it. One day Grandma looked out and saw Dandy half under the fence! See Siberians are unstoppable!
They decided to get a silent fence and place it under the fence so that doggies couldn't get to the fence to dig out. It seemed to solve the problem. Red died, and Mommy chose Panda to come live with us. As Panda always informed me, she was the Princess (and I'm the court jester, according to her, she always acted like I was annoying and I wasn't. I'm nothing like that pipsqueak Koti.) Anyway, Panda as a Princess didn't like being told where she could and couldn't go. She didn't want to leave the yard because she didn't want to go through the trouble of training new humans, but hello? the people were infringing on her rights! She realized that there was a beeping sound before the shock, but the more beeping the less the shock since the batteries were worn down. She laid down at the edge where it started beeping until it stopped beating since the battery was dead. She was free to go where ever she wanted to go! Grandpa replaced the batteries, like he's in control around here or something. Panda was stunned that someone would try to upsurp the Princess's power so she decided to solve the problem forever. First, she killed the batteries again. She tells me this was fun as well to watch the people spend $15 on batteries that would be dead within the work day. Panda realized the collar had to be receiving a signal from the wire under the ground, so she dug up the wire in 3 or 4 places. Now she had to remind herself that she was doing this for the good of Siberians everywhere - humans are not the superior species, there was some current going through the wire, but it wasn't that strong on her gums. She chewed through the wire so that it couldn't tell the collar to shock us.
It worked and the humans decided to just put us in the kennel when they are asleep or leave the house. It has a tree by it, our houses, some grass, it's concreted in, and we get a treat if we have to stay in it. Much better.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Continuing Education

One of the most important things as an auditor is to participate in continuing education. It's not unimportant as an accountant either.
I've come to the point where I need to get something more. I have a few choices, but I'm having trouble focusing on one thing.
MBA - I could get one in Accounting or Marketing. Accounting would probably be more useful, but Marketing might be easier. If I did, I pretty much know where I would apply. I'd need people to write me letters of recommendation and my former company won't let people do that, so it's an issue. I'd also need to get a good score on the GMAT. I'm studying for that, but am trying not to psyche myself out. I hope it would be useful, but I already have an odd education/experience mix.
ARe - Associates in Reinsurance. This is an insurance industry designation that I'm over 60% completed. I'd like to get it finished just to have it. It's a little unusual so I think that would pay off - but what if I never go back to the insurance industry.
CPA - A lot of work to study for the test, but probably something that everyone recognizes and I don't know if there's an accounting/auditing job where it wouldn't help.
CIA - Pretty much the same as a CPA, but certified internal auditor. Equally as prestigious though less well known.
CFE - Certified Fraud Examiner - not really a must have, but useful in auditing, and I hear one of the easier to get.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Schedules

I hope everyone enjoyed Blitzen’s day yesterday!
I’m writing this out long hand at work because my computer is scanning for a virus. I don’t know what I clicked wrong, but something happened so I’m running MacAfee with the hopes of fixing it before I have to tell anyone. Anyway, I’ve had problems with Blogger erasing all that I have typed – so frustrating. They are usually awesome blogs that I don’t have the patience to retype. How doe you stay motivated when this happens?
How well do you rest? I’m sitting here trying to find other ways to do things. I don’t mean rest as in play on Facebook. I usually do that. I mean – be satisfied that you are getting enough done each day. I’ve completed 9 things on my task list and have three others started, but I have thirty-six more to start. I break things down into little pieces so I can feel accomplished, but I can never feel that it’s acceptable to give anything less than a top priority because if I don’t work on something it goes out of control so that then I’m non-stop fighting fires. What do you do to feel like you have accomplished your goals each day?

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Blitzen's Day

I thought I would follow a friend's lead and turn the blog over to Blitzen today.




Here I am enjoying my airconditioning vent on Sunday. Mom took this picture. She likes to take pictures of me. I like to have my picture taken. I know I am sooo handsome. It comes with being a Snowborn. We are the sweetest, cutest huskies around. I sound arrogant, don't I? But not really, I just know who I am. My parents were ch-am-pi-ons, or at least that's what Mom tells me all the time.
She picked me out when I was four weeks old. I was living with my Mom and sisters in this house full of doggies. I was the only boy in the litter, and boy did I love bossing all those girls around. One day, these lady and her parents and this doggie came to play with us. I grabbed the lady's shoestrings to play with, and she thought I was adorable. Here's a picture of me then


I tried to shake hands with the doggie but she dove under the coffee table! How could she be scared of me? But hey, I had attitude then. Ever seen that movie Lion King where Simba sings "I just can't wait to be King"? That was so me.
Four weeks later, the man who lived in the house with the doggies took me and some others to a dog show. The lady and her parents came again. This time they took me home with them! I liked my new grandpa, even though he didn't think they needed another dog. The doggie was named Panda, and she was now my sister. She told me how she used to live with Dandy, who was her uncle and that we were all related somehow. Dandy was an awesome uncle who showed her how to behave. Evidently, I needed a lot of help. I still think it's fun to splash my feet in the water bowl no matter what she said, "EEWWW, my water tastes like feet!" She was a sweet sister, but after two years she went to live with Dandy over the rainbow bridge.
A little while later, my grandparents brought home Koti. They said we're brothers because both of us have Glory as a Mom. There are so many stories I could tell you. Maybe Mom will let me have the blog again to tell you more. I'll just leave you with a picture of the two of us.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Online Friends

I was noticing something the other day. When I talk to my friends and family, I’ll always be mentioning that’s like So-and-So said or she’s doing that as well. Everyone looks at me blankly, and I realize it’s someone from Idita-support, Northern Breed funstuff, or one of my Laura friends. So many I “talk” to on the site, but then are Facebook friends with me, so then I talk to them even more and about our lives – not just Almanzo and Rose’s lives. I’ve come to the point where I consider them to be friends. Maybe not bare my soul friends of my deepest troubles, I’d had people for that already. However, they are definitely people who I would call if I was going through their town to meet for dinner. I hope they would do the same for me, if not they are more than welcome to do so!
I did notice that this was unique among my friends. Maybe because they think Facebook is pointless. (I’m not sure why. Yes, there are a lot of time wasters there, but there’s also knowing how friends from different times and places are doing without mass effort.) Anyway, they don’t have online friends. They look at me askance when I say that I’m going to fly to Mankato to spend the weekend with people and think I’ll be safe. I know that there are safety precautions to take and that there are people out there who are totally different than they present themselves. However, why not take the chance?
Last year, I was talking to a cousin. She had gone to visit a woman she had met while playing a game online. She commented to me that it’s acceptable to talk to someone you just met in a bar – why not in a similar interest group online?
I think it brings people together. I know that one of my junior high friends had a baby girl a few days ago. I know the (now former) Swetna, Alaska postmaster’s wife opinion on the Hamilton Little League Team. A woman was missing in Alaska about two months ago, and I shared the link. A friend who used to go to the same church as me but now lives in Kansas responded that her sister lives in the same town as the woman. Small World! I had updates from nearby people what items were needed by all those struck by tornadoes earlier this year. I know that my comparisons to Laura Ingalls Wilder aren’t nearly as odd as some people think they are. “Whirl of gaiety” comes to others mind when they have several social things that keep them busy.
I just think that this is an awesome thing that people should try to experience. Find something you have an interest in learning more. Look it up. Talk to people, don’t be stupid, get excited about participating in small gift exchanges at Christmas.
I very much appreciate all the friends and acquaintances that I have made online.