My Pups Are Born

I gave birth to two healthy pups early this morning, one red boy and one red girl. It was hard labour, both were breech births, but with the magnificent help of dear Paula I managed to give birth to them at home without any complications.

Natural blog break

I will take a natural break from my blog now. As a soon to be mother I need to keep all my strength to sleeping, eating and prepairing for the pups to arrive. As soon as my pups are here I will write more. In the meanwhile I will give you a picture of myself only three days old.

To clarify: below is not a picture of a pup of mine!

Late Morning

We all slept until late this morning. On the second day of Christmas, all the stress and work in order to prepare the Christmas celebration is over and we could have a nice day without much work to do. This felt great. Christmas food was left in the refrigerator, so there was not much cooking to do either.

Over the last days, Paula and Daniel has measured my body temperature on regular intervals. They say this may let them foresee when my pups will arrive. I hope they can. Since we slept until late this morning, there was no morning measurement, though. From what I understand, it is not necessary to take the temperature at exactly the same time day by day. There is an interesting time ahead of us.

Harsher Rules on Bloggers in Vietnam

Vietnam's government has tightened its rules on blogs and those who write them. As a dictatorship, it is natural for this government to do so, because blogs give uncensored news from anybody to everybody via the Internet. Free access to news is always a threat to dictatorships. As a blogger myself, I am against any govenment imposed restrictions on the free publication of news on the Internet. I wish the Vietnam people and dogs a better new year and that their country will soon turn into a democracy with full freedom of speech.

On the issue of blogging: this is my blog entry number one thousand. Isn't that something?

Merry Christmas!

It is Christmas Eve. In Japan, life goes on as usual, since it is not a country with a long, Christian tradition. Prime Minister Taro Aso had a press conference (to the joy of European news corporations like the BBC) and said he rules out a quick new general election.

Paula also works on Christmas, she worked the night before Christmas Eve and will work on Christmas Night as well. They need people who work at her job at the hospital the year around, and she gets extra pay for working these hours, so it is a win-win situation. She will not work around New Year though, which is good considering that my pups may be newly born at New Years Eve.

Before we can celebrate the birth of my pups, we will join a large part of the world in celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas. I wish everybody a very merry Christmas!

Losses in the Automobile Industry

There are a lot of talks in Sweden about the crisis of the two Swedish car manufacturers Volvo and Saab, and their owners Ford and General Motors, respectively. In the general financial recession, it is important to notice that many more car manufacturers are in a state of crisis at the same time. Japanese manufacturer Toyota has announced that it may suffer from the historic first loss in 71 years of car manufacturing. Also Japanese Honda slashes its profit forecast, and has announced it is ending its Formula 1 engagement. Indian owner Tata of British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has asked the British government for financial aid to support the factories in Britain. It may be that we see a race to the bottom, and that some car manufacturers actually have to stop making cars permanently. It was said even in the recent economic boom that there were too many car manufacturers in the world, too many cars produced for the world market. This recession may bring the harsh solution to that problem. I hope that, however harsh, it is not too harsh on people and their dogs.

Anne of Green Gables

Since she was a child, Paula has liked the books and films about Anne of Green Gables (original books by L.M. Montgomery). There was a film about Anne of Green Gables on TV this evening, but we were disappointed with it. It did not follow the original story but was some kind of modernized version that was not good. We quit watching it after a while.

There are earlier films made of Anne of Green Gables that are good. It is a shame that there are so many film makers who have to make new, worse versions than the films already made. Anne of Green Gables is but one example. Can the film makers not make up new stories or make movies of stories that has yet not been filmed? I believe this would be much better. Perhaps they just do not have the imagination necessary for it, but in that case, I wonder why they make films at all.

Curtains

Paula and Daniel has bought new curtains for the windows in the upcoming puppy room. Unfortunately, they were too long, so Daniel went about shortening them this evening. Mum and Dad were with him and tried to help, though Daniel says they made a mess of the curtains when he tried to measure their length. Well, I do not care that much about the actual lenght of the curtains, as long as they cover the whole windows from top to bottom. Apparenty, they would have, regardless of what Mum and Dad did. Since this is the case, I cannot understand what Daniel is complaining about.

Christmas Shopping

Paula and Daniel spent the afternoon downtown, shopping presents for Christmas. I would like to go shopping for presents myself, but as long as I carry pups, I must stay at home. Paula and Daniel has assured me, though, that giving birth to my pups is the best Christmas gift I can give them. This would even be true, they say, if the pups would wait for several days after Christmas Eve (when Christmas gifts are exchanged in Sweden) to be born. Well, I guess there is some truth to this. Regardless, I have some plans along with the other dogs for Christmas gifts. These plans are secret, of course.

Dark Energy

I am usually rather energetic and love to run around and play. This may be called dark energy, since I am a black and tan. The stuff most commonly referred to as dark energy is something best understood by people working with advanced astro-physics. It is the energy in the universe that we cannot see, but which seems to be the cause behind the expansion of the universe.

Over the last weeks, a lot of my energy has gone to the expansion of my belly. There are pups growing in it, as those of you who often read my blog knows. We will know more about the pups once they are born. We expect then to be born between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Fortunately, getting to know my pups will be easier than getting to know the dark energy of space.

Pups versus Clothes

We are refurnishing one of the rooms in our house to be a puppy room. The main use for this room has been for drying and ironing Paula's and Daniel's clothes. I think this is a waste of space. As Paula and Daniel are humans, they do not have the fine coats that most dogs have, so they have to use clothes instead. Clothes get dirty and need to be laundried, then dried and some have to be ironed to look fine. Dog coats, on the other hand, look mighty fine most of the time, no matter what happens. An occasional bath may be useful, especially if you are going to a dog show in a day or two, but is often unnecessary. Regardless of the maintenance you have to give your clothes, if you are a human, having pups in the room is a better use of the space. The room is still not quite ready for the pups, but we are getting there.

Strange Story

An Italian man in a row boat was recently saved off the coast of Australia. He had tried to row the boat from South America to Australia, but did not have the strength to row the final kilometres in heavy weather.While it is nice that the man was saved, I just ask myself: why did he do it? It is not like he is a hero, he did not have a higher aim for his mission, he did not row out of necessity to save himself or others from anything. He just did it for the thrill. OK, if he wants to, I would not be the one who would stop him. I just ask myself: why would anybody do such a thing? It seems so unnecessary.

It seems even more unnecessary that this story makes the world news. It was one man, and he did not do anything heroic or participate in any competition, he was just rowing for his own sake. Now you may say that, since I write about it, it must mean I find it important enough, thus it was worthy of its place in the news. In that case, I say: on the contrary. I comment on this story just because I feel that it is such a waste of time for the news consumers to see headlines about it. If nobody ever objects to stories that they find unnecessary, will they ever disappear from the lime light? I object, that is why I write this comment.

Coat experience

Today I felt a new experience with expecting pups. The coat on my belly is starting to fall of. Mum says that this is yet another thing in preparations before the birth of my pups.

Paula and Daniel bought a lof of stuffed toys for my pups. I manage to sneak one without them looking. I played with the monkey for a little while until I got tired and fell asleep.

Moving

Paula and Daniel helped Paula's grandmother to move today. I did not get to come along, though I believe I would have been able to help as well. When expecting pups, you have to be very careful and should stay at home except for some walks and such. It has to do with the risk of infections. This may be boring, but it is for the greater good, that is, for the good of my pups.

Cost Reductions in Formula 1

The World Motor Sport Council met in Monaco yesterday. The operating body, FIA, has announced decisions of the meeting to greatly cut the costs of Formula 1 for 2009 and 2010. Among other cost reducing rules, the engines will stay the same (except that Renault was granted to make certain modifications on its engines), and each engine has to be used for three consecutive races.

You might think these new rules are the result of the general economic recession in the world. They are not. Discussions about cutting costs in Formula 1 has gone on for years, even in the heydays of the latest economic boom. Formula 1 may be a sport that facinates the imagination of the whole world, thus letting the participants make a lot of money. Nevertheless, many important people in the sport have argued for a long time that since the sport has become more and more expensive for the participants, it may be digging its own grave. I believe this is so.

There is a danger in any sport that if it becomes too costly to become successful, too few people will try. When there are too few participants at the top, the interest of the public will fade and people in general will direct their attention to other sports. Of course, one of the great things about Formula 1 is that Formula 1 cars are the best, the fastest, the most advanced ground vehicles there is. It can, therefore, not be easy to decide upon rules to cut costs, because if the rules become too restricting, Formula 1 will lose the edge and may not be able to keep the title King of Motor Sports. This would also make people lose interest in Formula 1.

Now, it seems, the new rules has met with low opposition. I believe that if the current Formual 1 teams agree upon these rules, Formula 1 will still be the best of motor sports, while not too expensive for newcomers to try it out. This would strengthen the sport for the future. I hope it does.

More Snow

Even more snow fell today. It really feels like Christmas will soon be here. We cleaned the house today, as is proper before Christmas. Cleaning is tiresome and it is late now, so I will not write much today.

A Lot of Snow

We have got about 1 decimetre of snow today. This is enough to play in, and play in it is something we have done. It is always fun to play in the first deep snow of the season. I hope this snow will stay over Christmas and new year. Later, when it is time for my pups to discover the world outdoors, less snow and more warmth would be very welcome.

A Fortnight to Christmas Eve

Within a fortnight, Christmas Eve is here. We have made some Christmas preparations at home, but have yet to stock the pile of Christmas presents and send Christmas greeting cards. All will be done in due time, I believe. I hope I do not have to take too much action myself in the process, as I have a heavier load to carry each day with the pups. One never knows, though. There is some truth in the old saying, that if you want to be certain that something will be done, you better do it yourself.

Corruption?

When the US President elect, Barack Obama, becomes president this January, he leaves his seat in the US Senate. It is up to the Governor of Obama's home State of Illinois Rod Blagojevich to appoint a successor for the vacated Senate seat. The Governor was, however, arrested this Tuesday by the federal authorities and charged with corruption, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell the seat in the US Senate to the highest bidder. If true, this must be one of the most important cases of corruption in any civilised nation.

Mum says corruption like this would not happen in any US State. It would, for example, never happen in Mum's native State of Washington. I believe this to be true. Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington has a Shiba Inu from Mum's kennel Taichung. It is unreasonable to think that if you pass the tests of kennel Taichung and get to buy a Shiba Inu from there, you would be the type of person who would be corrupted.

Waistline

My slim waistline is disappearing. This has to do with the pups growing, am I told. That makes sense. I am not happy about it, but chances are my waistline will come back once the pups have been born. There are other pranks about having pups in my tummy. I get to eat larger portions of food every day, which is good. Perhaps the extra food helps enlarging the waist, but the pups need it. There are good and bad consequences with most things.

Paula Is Back Home

Paula came back home late this afternoon. It was very nice to see her. What was almost as important was all the things she had bought at the dog show in Stockholm. There were dog biscuits, dog candy, puppy blankets, collars and leashes for my pups among other things. Auntie Linni got a new collar. We got one biscuit each as a late night snack, this made the evening.

All the Things You Can Do with a Teddy Bear

Teddy bears are good for many things. I usually pet and chew on them, occasionally throwing them through the air here at home. British school children, aided by a team from Cambridge University, has given some teddy bears a much longer flight. They launched teddy bears into space on a helium baloon. Pictures have been released of the teddy bears in space, clad in space suits with the British flag. The bears reached an altitude of about 30 km, then landed outside of Ipswich. Reports say they are in good health.

If I had a helium baloon, perhaps I would also send some teddy bears into space. It seems like an exciting experiment to do. If I would go myself, I would like to have a better space suit, though. One of the teddy bears went without a helmet, I think this is a bit too risky.

Dog Show

The Swedish Kennel Club has its big annual December dog show in Stockholm this weekend. It is usually the biggest in Sweden every year. This year, of course, the World Dog Show in July was bigger. Paula and her sister have just gone there, like they always do together. As always, they do not bring any dogs. This is the only dog show Paula use to go to without dogs, just to be a spectator. Daniel is at home with us dogs.

I would have liked to go, but this time, there would have been no chance, since I am expecting pups. The welfare of the pups have to come first. Nevertheless, I miss the show ring. By late spring, I hope to return there. By the end of the summer, my pups may enter the show ring in puppy class. I hope the ones who do will do as well as I did, but I doubt it. Best in Show Pup winners on official all breed shows are far in between among Shiba Inus.

Space Threat?

Daniel thought I would write something about the threat from space, that is, the threat that an asteroid would hit Earth and devastate large parts of it. It may destroy civilisation as we know it, though this is rather unlikely. It was probably a huge asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. An asteroid that size would destroy civilisation, but how likely is it that we are hit by it in the near future? Daniel is concerned, though. He says that humanity has the opportunity to take action against the threat, so why not do that? It would be costly, but may be worth it. He has a point. Well, I am not part of humanity (being a dog is better, in my mind), but I can write about the threat in my blog, at least.

Competition for a Collar

Pups

I will get at least three pups.

I went to the veterinarian today and got my tummy examined with ultra sound. We could see at least three pups in my womb. The examination was a little awkward. I had to lie on my side with my tummy in the air, and the tummy was shaved. Then some cool cream was applied on the tummy, before the electronic device that the veterinarian used was moved across my tummy several times. I am happy for the results, though. Now I know that I will get pups. This means that I will become a mum myself and my Mum will once again become a grand mother. It also means that I have a great reason to eat more food than usual. I have to have extra nutrition for the pups.

Three pups in the litter will be exactly as many as the litter I belonged to. Maybe this could be a family tradition? Nevertheless, I would not be sad if there would be four pups. The veterinarian said that there might be more than three pups, it is just that three pups was all that we could see on the screen. We will see further on, when they are born.

Tomorrow

Stay tuned, there may be important news tomorrow.