Bad Connection

We have had bad Internet connection the last days. I do not know why. As far as I know, nothing has changed in our technology configuration or our contract with the Internet service provider. Maybe it will become better further on. If it does not, we have to talk to the customer service. The Internet is working, but not well enough. It makes me impatient, waiting for pages to load.

Another Monday

It is Monday again, and both Paula and Daniel were at their respective workplaces. This is OK, in the hours both of them are gone, we take care of watching the house. This is the way of the watch dog, and we are experts on it. You may know that Japanese warriors can follow the way of the warrior. Japanese dogs like us can follow the way of the watch dog. We do this very well. Nobody has ever broken into our house. This is proof of our expertise. Workdays are not hard for us.

Mother's Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The last Sunday in May is Mother's Day in Sweden. I have, thus, celebrated my Mummy Hailey. There are a lot of other mothers of pups here at our home as well, they have also been celebrated. I got greetings from pups too. We had extra treats with our food and a nice Sunday in other aspects as well. Mother's Day is a nice day.

Let Man's Petty Nations Tear Themselves Apart

We listened to a song from the musical Chess tonight, Anthem. In it, singer Tommy Körberg declares his love for a woman, which goes beyond any borders that is set up between the countries of men in the world. I can relate to this. Dogs do not have borders between nations. We may have borders between dog packs, but we treat all dogs outside of our own pack equal. There is no need to have national borders, if you are a dog. I agree with the sentence: let man's petty nations tear themselves apart. Man's nations are petty. They believe they are more than this, but they are not. In the heart of men and dogs, we are always free, individual spirits, regardless of man's petty nations. This is something we should always remeber.

A Memory that Must Stay Vivid

The President of the USA has visited Hiroshima, famous for being the target of the first (and one of only two) places ever to be hit by a nuclear weapon. The atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, killing a lot of humans and dogs. The two bombs also probably made the war come to an end faster, thus saving other lives.

This was the first ever visit of a President of the USA to Hiroshima. He said the memory of the bomb must never fade. I agree with this. Some people wondered whether the President would appologise for the bombinga, but he did not. I cannot see why he would. It was an act of war in an ongoing conflict. If you fight, you will use the means necessary. It was just a sad thing that the atomic bombs were considered necessary at the time and that they hit many civilians. Who are we, who live now, to judge what they decided back then? We must, however, keep the memori alive and vivid, to make sure we will do what we can to avoid these things to happen again.

Macy Has Left

Hello, Orange here!

Macy has left us for her new home. I miss her! Macy was such a fun puppy to be with.

I am certain Macy will have a great life with her new family. I have met them and approved of them. It is still not easy to let go of my pup.

Good luck in your new home, Macy!

Veterinary Check

Hello, Orange here!

My daughter Macy turns eight weeks old today. Paula took her for the check up at the veterinary hospital. She passed with flying colours. I did not expect anything less. Since I have known Macy all her life, I know she is a healthy, well nourished puppy who can run, climb, and play all you want. We are often having a great deal of fun, Macy and I. It is a great privilege seeing your own puppy growing up and becoming such a nice little dog. I love Macy and being a mother.

Leftover Cake

There was some leftover cake from yesterday this morning. Paula, Daniel, myself, and Karstuhl all got a share of it. It was nice. Celebrating birthdays is not just a good thing on the day of celebration itself, but often the next day as well. Leftovers can be just as tasty as the food was the day before. I like this. It makes for extra celebration, not just one day, but at least two days. Most reasons to celebrate are great, this is one great reason.

Daniel's Birthday

We celebrated Daniel's birthday today. He deserves to be celebrated.

Paula and Daniel had some sparkling wine and cake. I do not like wine, but I did like the cake.

A Little Rain

We had a little rain this morning. Daniel decided to do other things than mowing the lawn because of it. In a way, it is a shame. The lawn needs mowing. A well mowed lawn is the best remedy against ticks, these unnecessary little blood suckers who do not make any dog happy. Well, I guess Daniel can mow the lawn in a few days instead.

Crime By an American in Japan

An American man who worked as a contractor at a US military base in Okinawa, Japan, has been charged with dumping the body of a dead young Japanese woman. This is not the first time Japanese fall victim of crimes committed by Americans who have come to Japan to work for the military.

The military alliance between Japan and the USA is important, not least because of the tension between the countries around the East and South China Seas. Still, crimes committed by Americans who are in Japan due to the US military presence there, are definitely making a strain on the relationship. The Americans must probably make better background checks on their personnel.

You can never be completely sure no crimes will be committed, but there have been too many. I wish there would not be any more felonies for a really long time. It would make the relationship between the countries much better.

New Job

Paula has made a deal with her employer for a new job. She will eran some more money and work with the things she things is most interesting. This is great for her. We celebrated a little this evening. This was a good reason to celebrate.

I will keep my job as a pet dog. I enjoy it and cannot think of any better job. We are all different and have different ideas of the ideal job. A human cannot be a pet, of course, but then, there are many Jobs a human can have, but a dog cannot.

Montenegro Becomes Member of Nato

It has been agreed that Montenegro will become meber of Nato, increasing the number of members in the alliance to twentynine. The decision has to be ratified by the current members, but odds are this will pass everywhere without much question.

We have had talks about membership in Sweden as well. There is, however, far from a consensus that this would be a good idea. Sweden has avoided military alliances since the early 19th century. This way, Sweden avoided offers to join Great Britain and her allies in the Crimean War, thus avoiding the chance of liberating any parts of Finland from Russia. Sweden also avoided going to war against the most horrible threats to freedom and civilisation ever, by staying neutral in the Second World War, thus letting others do the dirty work of beating Nazi Germany. Sweden also stayed out of Nato, when this was the alliance of free, democratic countries standing against the Soviet Union communistic dictatorship in the post war decades. I guess the people who wish for Sweden to stay out of Nato are proud of this history.

Military alliances are not really a thing for a dog, like me, to have any opinion about. There are so many factors involved. I do believe, however, that Nato is an alliance for the defence of liberty and democracy. It would not be bad joining Nato, would it?

Ëvery Spring, Dandelions

There are a few dandelions in our garden. There has never been so few as this year. This is because Daniel constantly hunt them and pulls them up with their roots. He really hates the dandelions. Daniel says they mock him, that their yellow flowers bully him. He says they torment him with their very presence. I cannot see it this way, but he does. It is a good thing for him, then, I think, that he can pull them out and make sure there are fewer and fewer of them each year. Pulling out weeds is a good way to make something useful of your aggressions.

Great Results

This evening, we celebrate Paula and her great results on the course to become an intensive care nurse. She got Summa Cum Laude on her thesis and on the work place education today. It is great. We have all trusted in Paula's abilities and helped her now and then. It feels good that our feelings that she would make a great intensive care nurse seems to be true, even when judged by others.

Congratulations, Paula!

Canine and Human Cancer Medicine

Researchers have found similarities between brain tumours in canines and humans, so that research on cancer of one species can help research on the other, and vice versa.

This is just another way that dogs and humans help each other. We do it all the time, but not always in research like this. It is great.

Night Shift

Paula is doing a night shift at the hospital again. We miss her. The good thing about this, however, is that she will come home in the morning and stay home all day. Since Paula has been awake working all night, she will also engage in one of my favourite chores: sleep.

You might wonder why I call sleep chores. Is it not just lazy pass time? No, it definitely is not. You have to sleep a given amount of hours daily, in order to function properly. It is unhealthy not to sleep. Of course, resting when you do not have to is laziness, but sleeping when you do have to is chores.

I will happily acompany Paula, when she sleeps tomorrow.

Late Night with the ESC

We watched the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday evening. It went on and on, was somewhat exciting, and then it was suddenly past midnight. I do not think the winning song was a good one.

Dance

Hello, Karstuhl here!

They are dancing on TV on Friday nights. I have never really understood what dance is about. I guess you have to be human to understand this.

Board Meeting

Daniel is a member of the board of the Swedish Spitz Club, which is a club under the Swedish Kennel Club responsible for sitt breeds like the Shiba.

They had a board meeting tonight. It was a telephone meeting, so Daniel was at home, but he was not at home in his mind. His thought were just on the meeting.  This meeting went on and on and on. He wasted the whole evening on it. While the Spitz breed Club is important, it cannot be this important,  can it? There has to be some reasonable limits to the time you give to a meeting like this.

I like that Daniel takes time for club meetings on important subjects, but the family is more important. Why does a meeting have to go on for hours? It is a waste of time.

Cold

We have had warm, summer weather for days now. It is rather nice, though I would prefer it if there were less flying insects. Insects are annoying.

Regardless of the heat, Paula has a cold. We feel sorry for her.

A Fifteen-year-old Rediscovered an Ancient Maya City

A fifteen hear old human boy, William Gadoury, from Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec, Canada, has used Mayan star charts and satellite images of Mexican jungles to locate the probable site of a so far unknown old Mayan city. He theorised that the cities were positioned on the ground in the same pattern as Mayan star constellations. It turned out he was right. There were ruins of an ancient city where he thought it could be found.

It is amazing that a boy of this age could make such an achievement. Will he ever even be able to beat it himself? Will he ever have to beat it? I wish I can do a great scientific discovery when I am fifteen years old, it is just that dogs do this more seldom than fifteen-year-old boys, I believe.

The American who rediscovered the Inca city of Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham, III, became so famous that he went on to become a US Senator for his home state of Connecticut. I wonder if William Gadoury can also become a successful politician.

Europe Day

It is the 9th of May, which is celebrated as the day of the European Union, or Europe Day. In earnest, I have not heard anything about this celebration, yet we have had radio and TV on all day. Perhaps I did not pay enough attention, but I believe I would have heard something, if anything had been said.

It seems like Swedes do not celebrate Europe Day. Many polls show there is a large minority who are in favour of Sweden leaving the Union. It seems like more people would think so, if the United Kingdom were to leave the Union after their referendum on the matter this summer. I can understand that. If a great power leaves the Union, there is less reason for a small country like Sweden to stay. Cooperation is good and I think Sweden would be better of in the Union even though the UK would leave.

The European Union has been good for dogs and dog breeding, since it has opened borders, while still making sure serious diseases are under control. If the borders and quarantine came back, it would be a bad thing. Who wants to sit in quarantine? I would not. I hope these open borders stay open for dogs.

More Flags Allowed

Eurovision has published a very limited list of flags allowed to be waved by spectators at the Eurovision Song Contest next week. This has caused critizism, and the rules have now been changed to allow more flags.

In the first set of rules, only flags of contest members and UN members would be allowed. Besides the national flags, it has now been decided that regional and local flags may also be flown at the contest. This will allow People who root for the British song to wave the Welsh flag for the Welsh singer performing the British song. If I were there to see the contest live, I could wave the flag of Närke or of Örebro. It would be fun to do so.

I think the new rules are good. It is more fun seeing many different flags among the watching crowd. Flags are a form of expression and allowing a lot of flags is positive for the freedom of expression that a song contest is also an example of. I salute the decision and may wave a flag in front of the TV set when watching the show.

Headline

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is i tresteg how the blog program workshop. If you do not write anything as a headline, the first word you write in the text is interpreted as a headline. Then you can change the headline, of course, but it is still interesting that you can get a headline without writing any.

Lawn Mowing

A sure sign that summer is coming, is that Daniel mowed the lawn today. It was the first time for the session and went quicker than it usually does. Parts of the lawn really needed it, though.

The most important thing about having a a well mowed lawn is that it lessens the risk of getting ticks. Ticks like to climb the straws of grass and use it to jump onto dogs and other animals. Ticks are mean blood suckers and nobody likes them, but they do exist. With a well mowed lawn, we get less ticks.

Holiday

It is a holiday today. We celebrate that Christ went up into Heaven. I enjoy holidays mainly because our humans are more often at home on such days. Daniel was at home most of the day today, whereas Paula was away studying. She has an exam tomorrow. We are all hoping she nails it. I think she will.

Dog Ice Cream in Ice Cream Vans

The Swedish ice cream van company Hemglass will start to sell dog ice cream this summer. This is ice cream developed for dogs' taste, from the manufacturer Hugo & Celine.


Paula and Daniel do not normally buy ice cream from Hemglass, though it has happened once in a while. The ice cream vans of Hemglass stop close to our house once a week. I hope they will take the opportunity to buy more often, now that they can buy ice cream for us dogs. Ice cream is tasty, but I am sure ice cream specially made for dogs are even better.

Another Birthday

Paula and Daniel went away this evening to celebrate the birthday of Paula's sister Mia. Mia is a very nice human, not least for taking good care of my granddaughter Soya. Mia is worth all the celebration she can get. I wish I could have been there birthday parties are usually very nice events. I and the other dogs chipped in on the present that Paula and Daniel gave to Mia. Hopefulky, she is also pleased to read a celebrating text here.

Happy birthday, Mia!

Tax

Tax is a vile thing, Daniel says, at least on a day like this. The 2 May is the last day to declare your income from last year to the Swedish tax authorities.

Tax is a better word in Swedish. Much better. It means Dachshund. Any word for a dog breed is better than most other words. A word for a type of food or candy may be better, but only slightly better. Dog breeds are good.

Flower Month

In the old days in Sweden, May was called "blomstermånad". This can be translated into "flower month". We have had some snow and night twmperatures below the freezing point in the end of April. I do hope the weather will be warmer and nature will look like it explodes with the colours of flowers, now that it is May. Summer is just a month away.