Dogs know more than you think

I have a dog, Fat-Chai, who taught me today that he has a much better understanding of the world than I ever knew. People will have you believe that dogs are not capable of anything more than the simple feelings such as happy, fearful, and excited. Supposedly they can't feel sad because that would require them to understand that something bad has happened.

Well Fat-Chai has been moping around the house all day today. In fact, he's been sitting in the small bathroom for most of the afternoon. There is no blankets or pillows in this room and the floor is cold and hard. Also, he never sits in this room, which makes me fairly certain he's unhappy.

This morning, I took Fat-Chai to the vet with his brother, but I don't think this is the cause of his current attitude. They were litter mates, growing up together for the past three years and both were very healthy. They knew today's appointment involved needles, so needless to say, they weren't excited to go. Fat-Chai was a little stressed out during his appointment but when it was all over, he morphed into a happy, smiling dog - his normal demeanor.

As soon as we opened the door to leave the vet, a disaster happened. Over the course of five minutes, Fat-Chai's brother broke from his leash, ran into traffic, was brought back to the same room at the vet's office where he just received his check-up - but this time, he never left the room. Fat-Chai was with me the entire time. He saw what happened. He did not have a simple reaction to this string of events.

I sat with him while we waited for my wife to arrive. He paced. He pooped indoors (he'd never do this normally, he's very well trained to go outside). He kept scratching his ears until they turned bright red. He kept rolling on the floors until the skin around his eyes was raw. I can say for certain that Fat-Chai was in shock. In fact, he still is - he's sitting in the bathroom again. The bathroom was his brother's favorite spot to sit.

Wife-ism #1

As is the stereotype, I am a guy and tend to forget things soon after they happen. This is a problem for me whenever I get into an argument with my wife; it's as if I am invited to a sword fight and have completely forgotten my sword.

Since my wife speaks English as a second language, she often has trouble with pronunciation. Again, these are things I make fun of when they happen but forget soon afterwards. To remember, I will keep this slip-ups in blog form.

Usually, it's my wife that pronounces things wrong that grabs my attention. Sometimes, however, she misunderstands what I say; this usually happens when I use uncommon words, like "abusive". This morning I jokingly referred to my wife as abusive, since she literally kicked me out of the shower. She instantly became offended because she thought I called her "obese". I'm not even sure what to make of that.

She wasn't upset when she realized what I actually called her.

I just had cheese that smells like feet

I arrived home yesterday from my trip to California, only to find that the cheese that we bought wasn't packed. There were two cheeses that we purchased at a Cowgirl Creamery in Sonoma. The first was Humboldt Fog, a ripened goat cheese made by Cypress Grove Chevre. The other was Oma, a cheese made by a tiny Vermont cheese grower Vonn Trapp, who utilizes the Jasper Hill Creamery to age their cheese.

For a few weeks now, I've had a strong urge to try Jasper Hill cheese. The idea is a good one: build a huge facility and rent space to small cheese makers. It allows small companies to exist, which is good for the local economy, but more importantly, it adds creativity into the world of cheese, which is good for all cheese consumers.

Not knowing much about cheese, but knowing about Jasper Hills and about a cheese that is washed in lambic beer, I asked for the cheese and ended up with Oma, which happens to be aged at Jasper Hills and has a fantastic flavor, but alas, is not bathed in lambic beer. I can't say I am disappointed for trying Oma and will be on the lookout for it in the Twin Cities.

Ironically, I found the cheese I was looking for to begin with - Winnimere - and was not a fan of it. The cheese itself tastes somewhat bland, it kinda smells like feet, and the rind is extremely bitter, but I guess most people don't eat that part.