Slow Day of Vacation

Daniel has a vacation and we all took a slow, lazy day today. We did not do anything in particular.

To some degree, this is what a vacation should be about. Life is good. 

Japan Welcomes Sweden as NATO Member

Japan is not a member of NATO. Situated in the North West Pacific Ocean, a North Atlantic alliance does not suit Japan. Nevertheless, Japan is a democracy with rule of law and a great champion of human rights. The rules guarding personal data in Japan are good enough that Japan has a decision from the EU commission on adequate protection of personal data. Japan could easily be an ally of Sweden. Japan is a friendly nation. When Sweden and Finland is about to become members of NATO, Japan welcomes this. 

This makes me happy. As a Shiba, my ancestors are from Japan. As a Swedish dog since birth, my heart pounds equally for Sweden and Japan. When Japan hails Sweden as a new member of NATO as a great thing, this is great. I would like to read more happy news like this. 

Thunder

We did not only get rain this afternoon, we also got lightning and thunder. Fortunately, none of us are affraid of thunder, I know some dogs are. To me, thunder is merely a sound that can be annoying if it is too loud when I am trying to sleep. 

Nature needed the rain, after many days of warm weather and sunshine. It is also a little less warm weather now, which pleases me. It is a good summer. 

Visit to the Hospital

Paula visited the hospital today, because she has not been feeling well for many weeks. We were affraid that she would stay at the hospital, but she came back home in the late afternoon. 

It is not nice when Paula stays at the hospital. This has happened before. We are happy it did not happen today. Hopefully, the help she got today will make her feel better. 

Fish and Chips for a Queen

Apparently, the Queen of the United Kingdom loves the British iconic fast food fish and chips. She has it made for her, or have a footman go out to pick it up from a nearby restaurant. She is not into luxurious versions, though she prefers the fish with just breadcrumbs rather than heavy batter. 

I love fish and I like chips, so I can fully understand the love of fish and chips. Peanut also says this is yet another proof that the Queen of the United Kingdom is the best monarch. He comes from England, so I understand why he says so. While I like the British Queen, I hold the King of Sweden and the Emperor of Japan in higher regard. I wonder what Swedish staple food the King of Sweden loves, and what Japanese staple food the Emperor loves.

Murders in Oslo

Our thoughts today go to the Norwegians, their next of kin, and dogs, who fell victim to a shooter in a gay bar in Oslo. Two humans were killed and twentyone were injuried. The shooter has been arrested and will be prosecuted for murder. Apparently, he was a Norwegian citizen, but with roots in Iran. There are suspicions that he did this for Islamist causes.

I do not know how many dogs there were, whose humans were affected. The news have not told us. I hope they will all get through this, however. 

Midsummer

It is Midsummer Eve, one of the great festivity days in Sweden. We celebrate summer and the long days and short, white nights.

Daniel gave us dogs pickled herring on our dog food today. This is great food and fitting, since it is the food that humans traditionally eats on their Midsummer Eve parties. 

Happy Midsummer, everyone!

Microchips in Dogs and Cats

Japan has just recently made it mandatory for breeders and other humans who have dogs and cats to put a microchip in the animal. The microchip must be registered and this will make it much easier to find the human family members of a lost dog or cat. 

We have had rules like this for microchips for many years in Sweden. You may say it is unnecessary or an invasion of privacy. I think it is good. If I would ever find myself lost, I know my microchip would help me to return home. It also helps when dogs or cats cross borders or go to dog shows, they can be identified this way. Not least, it is a way to fight dog smugglers.

The Japanese dogs and cats will be safer with these new rules. 

Late

This evening, Daniel was supposed to be on a meeting. He received a telephone call reminding him, because he had forgotten about the time when it would start. He rushed away.

I am never late for meetings. It is easy to avsides being late for meetings, when you never have meetings. 

Not Much Rain

Rain fell heavily on our roof yesterday afternoon. It sounded like so much that I wrote about it in my blog entry yesterday.

This morning, the rain gauge did not hold more water than 1/2 millimetre. What had happened with all the rest of the rain? We discussed this on the morning walk. None of us believed anybody else had trespassed on our lot and emptied the rain gauge. Indeed, it was not fully empty, which we believed was evidence against this theory. We also did not believe the water would have vaporised. The theory that stuck with us, was that it had indeed been a heavy rainfall, but a very short one, and that we had not received more than 1/2 millimetre of rain, because of this. 

If you have a different theory, please let us know. 

Rain

We got some heavy rain this afternoon. Daniel was working from home and asked if we wanted to go out, but none of us dogs wanted to. 

Rain is good. I have written about this many times before. However, rain is at its best, when you hear it on the roof while resting indoors. Life is good when you do this. 

Government Not Responsible for Fukushima Disaster

The Supreme Court in Japan has ruled (3-1 with four judges) that the government has no responsibility for the disaster when a tsunami hit the Fukushima power plant in 2011. 

The plaintiffs had argued that the government could have ordered the owners of the power plant to build protections against tsunamis, because of the knowledge of the probability of such tsunamis. The defendant claim was that such protection would not have helped, due to the tsunami that actually struck Fukushima.

Most nuclear power plants in Japan have not been restarted after 2011, but some have. 

It is sad that in a country where there are historical evidence of great tsunamis striking the east coast before, the nuclear power plant was not sufficiently protected. Old stones with text high up from the coast give evidence of how far tsunamis of previous centuries reached. I do not know of all the evidence of the court case. Some lower courts had put blame on the government, others had not. There was one justice in the Supreme Court who did not agree with the others. Despite my uncertainties, and the need to respect the ruling of the Supreme Court, I do believe the government should have been to blame, to some extent. 

Snoopy Sculptures

If you have a lot of money and wish to have a uniquely painted sculpture of the comic strip Beagle Snoopy, from Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, now may be the time. There is an auction in the UK where these sculptures are for sale. The proceeds go to dog welfare, so it is for a good cause.

Unfortunately for me, I do not have a lot of money. If I did, I would probably make a bid fordonen of the sculptures. It would make a fine addition to all the other fine things in our yard. 

Open Window

Summer is here and we have a warm and sunny day. It is so warm, that Paula made sure the window in our bedroom was open. This is good, it gives us fresh air. Life is good in the summer. 

Finishing School

Paula went away today to celebrate her nephew Arvid and niece Nadja. They finished School for the year and have summer vacation now.

I guess there was cake at the celebration. The biggest lover of cake is Daniel, but he was not there, he had to be at work. When he came home, he was disappointed for missing out on the cake. I can understand him. This is as if I would have had the opportunity to get minced meat, but had to work instead. Life is harsh sometimes.

Weather Forecasts

The weather forecasts for both yesterday and today have said there would be a lot of rain. We have hardly had any rain, however.

It is probably hard to make weather forecasts. They often turn out to be wrong. I do not envy the people doing them. Fortunately, however, we are not very dependent on the forecasts. I can see positive things about most kinds of weather. 

Minutes

This evening, Daniel was at a political meeting. He wrote the minutes from it, which he finished after coming home. It was a little boring that he did not want to spend time with us until he was finished. Afterwards, everything was as it usually is again. Then it was a nice night. 

Nice Bottle

Daniel had a ber tonight with a great bottle. It could only have been better with a Shiba. 

Lost Football Game

My material grandfather Kuro would have been pleased today. He was born in Norway and always rotes for his country of birth in sports.

Sweden played Norway in football, UEFA Nations League, today. Norway had home turf, but recently won on Sweden’s home turf as well. The result was 3-2 to Norway. 

Sweden is not very good in football this year. It will turn to the better, it usually does. We have traditions to defend in football, and the traditions also make for a good basis to become better. 

Three Months to Go

It is exactly three months to the Swedish general election, the 11 September 2022. Some polls indicate that there might be a new majority in parliament for a new cabinet after the election, other polls indicate the opposite. Many voters decide late, so the polls may not be good prognoses. My main hope is that the elected politicians will make decisions that are good for dogs. We will have to see what happens.

Hacked

Daniel’s Facebook account has been hacked. Some ill meaned human has stolen it.

This is ironic, since Daniel works with information security as a Data Protection Officer. He will have to improve his own security. 

Åland

 🇦🇽

It is the 9 June, the day of self governance on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea. I have been there on a dog show. It is a nice part of the world, a fairly bog island with an archipelago around it. Åland is the only place in the world where Swedish is the only official language. You could claim it should belong to Sweden, but as long as it is part of Finland, it strengtenth the Swedish language in Finland. This is good. 

Silence

Late last night, the Ipad just turned silent. No matter what Daniel did to get the sound going again, it stayed silent. Then, all of a sudden, after a little less than an hour, the sound came back. We still have no idea what the reason was for the silence, nor why the sound came back. Electronics work in mysterious ways sometimes. 

Contracts

Daniel is working with the contracts for the ring stewarts for the Askersund dog show in August. It is not always easy. Most ring stewarts accept the terms, but then there are those who do not. Some have special demands or cannot give a straight answer to important questions. Danielis more patient with the ring stewarts than I would be. I wish it turns out great in the end. 

National Holiday

Our national holiday 6 June is in remembrance of the election of King Gustavus I as king on this date 1523. There must be more reasons to celebrate next year, when there is exactly five hundred years ago this happened. We will have to see if this will happen. 

Pentecost

It is Pentecost, a big feast day in Christianity. It is, however, not very celebrated these days. I think any reason to celebrate is a good reason, so I think we should celebrate Pentecost more. A few more dog treats to any dogs in the households cannot hurt, can they?

Celebrations

At the initiative of Peanut, who was bornin England, we celebrated the 70 years anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Her Other Realms today. It is a great feat to be Head of State for more than seventy years. She is old even for human standarda, but still fit enough to fulfill most of her duties. Among humans, I would say only the Emperor of Japan is higher in rank than her. 

Life is always good, when there is something to celebrate. Life was great today. 

The Queen and Her Corgis

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom celebrates seventy years on the throne. This is an amazing feat. She has had a lot of help in her work as a Queen by her dogs of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi breed. Dogs can help any human who has a tough job.

British Hope

Ukraine won against Scotland, but were not finished with the qualifications. They still have to play Wales, another British team.

Peanut says he only roots for the "main" British team, England, where he is from. England is already qualified. We will have to see if Wales or Ukraine goes on to the World Cup. 

The Final Qualifier

It is finally time for the qualification game between Scotland and Ukraine for the FIFA Football World Cup this year. The game was postponed when Ukraine was invaded by Russia. The war is still going on, but the qualifier have to be played sometime before the World Cup. Tonight is as good, or as bad, as any other night.

Most people probably root for Ukraine, because they sympathise with the defence war that Ukraine is fighting. Peanut roots for Ukraine, because he is English and cannot root for Scotland. Daniel roots for Scotland, however, since he normally roots for all British football teams. We will have to see what the result will be.