Vince Can Go To Puppy Camp!

First I want to say that I was very happy with the performance of the Boilermakers in the NCAA tournament. Yes, they lost to the #1 seed Florida but they were competitive the whole game and the game was closer than the final score indicated. I think that Matt Painter has it going in the right direction and we'll be seeing Purdue back on top of the Big Ten standings sooner rather than later!

Vince has been a joy to have, but one of the issues we have had is that we haven't been able to board him even for a day trip because he hadn't had a rabies shot. That all changed on Saturday as he is now officially fully vaccinated! After getting his rabies shot Vince got his official City of Chicago dog tag so we can now take him to the dog parks as well.

After the vet we went to meet Penny - our friend Sharon's dog. That wasn't a great trip, while Vince was wanting to play Penny wasn't too sure about having another pooch in her house. We're afraid that Vince is going to get some ideas about decorating since Penny has her own room painted with dog bones and paw prints! All told it was a huge morning for Vince which lead to his usual Saturday afternoon nap.

Our vet is the Banfield Animal Hospital which is part of the local PetsMart. So it seems that each time Vince goes for a vet appointment he comes home with a new toy. We finally broke down on Saturday and bought him a plush chew toy. As other dog owners know already, the problem with plush toys is that they all have a squeaker in them. Vince loves his squeaking toy as you see below. He's now a Chicago Dog munching on a Chicago dog!

We hit Moonshine in Bucktown last night for Grady's birthday dinner followed by a few beverages at Easy. Notice how every bar and restaurant in Bucktown has only one name? We were discussing that last night and nobody could figure out why that was. Smile if it's your birthday party:

Busy Week

No time for posts, we've been quite busy this week. We had a spectacular St. Patrick's day at our house. We started with having 12 people over for an Irish breakfast; much Guinness was drunk and a good time was had by all.

Vince and I went for a walk downtown among the revelers at the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Vince was a good boy and a big hit with the ladies. The Intern from Germany that works for my company was with us and commented that Vince was a lady catcher; the girls all wanted to pet him.

While Vin and I were downtown the majority of the group from breakfast was spending the day in a bar. When you see one of your friends wearing a thong over the top of his jeans, you know that the day is going well:

Paula got called away on business so she was out of town most of the week again. At least this time Paula got to experience business travel like the rest of us for once: she wasn't traveling to some beautiful classical European city this time! Nope, Paula got to experience Wichita, Kansas. She insists it is everything you could imagine and more.

Vince is Advanced for His Age

Those were the exact words that the dog trainer used today! Not that he's perfect, we had four separate "accidents" today, but he is learning his commands at a very good rate. Vince can do sit / stay / come.....as long as there isn't anyone around to distract him! He will however wait at the top or bottom of the stairs if told to stay and will wait until he is told to come before he releases so that's what the trainer was impressed with.

Since Paula is out of town Vince and I did our usual on Saturday - a visit to the vet for a booster and long walks in the park. Actually we did two park trips on Saturday. We went to the park with the fenced in tennis court before the vet. Vince loved playing catch with the tennis ball until somebody would walk near the fence, then that was his total focus point. Oh well, he is just a puppy.

We then went to Lincoln Park for a second walk after we ran some errands and had lunch. Vince is now riding in the front seat with his car harness when it's just he and I so I took some pictures to share:

Before getting to the park Vince was mildly bored. After the walk he couldn't keep his eyes open! We looped the North Pond again and then headed up to the Botanical Garden. Vincent was the first puppy that a little boy got to pet. He was very sweet, (I'll admit that I was holding his leash so that he couldn't jump up), and was very happy to receive the attention and the chance to lick hands that were coated in sugar!

Before:

After:

They Made It!

By "they" I mean the Boilermakers, and made it where? The 2007 NCAA tournament. I'm very jealous of the kids in the band because they're travelling to New Orleans for the first two rounds. (I'm sure most people know that I was lucky enough to travel with the team to NCAA tournament games for four years when I was in school.) They are a low seed (9) but being in the tournament is a testament to the fact that Matt Painter has things going in the right direction!

Get your bracket for the office pool here:
http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/brackets/viewable_men

Unfortunately as the General Manager at the plant I cannot lead or participate in an office pool this year. I'm just hoping that somebody puts together a pool I can enter! (BRIAN CRANE!?!? How about a CPP tournament pick off?)

The Blogging Dilema - Paula Checks In

So since this blog started it has been written a weird amalgam of third person and first person perspective. This was done so that both Paula and Eric could post without an obvious seam in the pattern. However since I (Eric) have made all the posts to this point I'm going to write it in the first person and let Paula post if she wants when she wants.


OK, so it started raining today in Chicago. With the rain comes additional snow melt. Snow melting and additional rain equals a flood in our front yard. The developer did a horrible job grading the courtyard so it has never drained correctly but we now have an inch of water on our side of the courtyard. (We're on the downhill side.) I'm sure that I'll be putting up sandbags by morning!


Paula checked in with the following photo which was taken in the foyer of the hotel she's staying in while on her business trip in Mauritus:





To illustrate the difference in Paula's and my experiences in business travel here is the average view from the rooms I stay in while doing my international travel in China:





What you can't quite make out in this picture is the oil slick on the river. Really it's unfortunate because the oil slick really makes the scene!

Mmmmmmm Salty

Vince has finally matured to the point where Eric has time to use the eliptical machine that has been sitting dormant at the condo since Vince came into the family on January 22nd. Vince was a little freaked out by the whole concept at first but by the third day he was used to watching his owner walking in place. Vincent has also learned something new: if you lick your owners leg after he gets off the machine he tastes SALTY. The last two nights this has lead to great anticipation for Vince as he waits for Eric to get off of the machine so he can quickly lick any exposed skin that he can get to!

Vince's training has been.......well tough. He does not react to the collar that the trainer gave us so I've gone back to the gentle leader collar. ( http://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=29) Vince and Eric took two walks today with the gentle leader and they were 100% better than the choke collar that the trainer wanted to use. That's not to say Vince loves the gentle leader, but it's better than the other collar!

Paula has checked in and apparently Mauritius (sp?) is a tropical paradise. I'm sure there will be pictures and stories forthcoming.

What a Week it's Been

Eric was really busy with work last week, hence the lack of posts. The Head of Pipe Production for Geberit was visiting the plant in Michigan City last week. This made for a very loooong week.

Paula returned from her vacation with her mom (one day late due to weather) last week just in time to head out to Mauritius for work this week. (For those of you trying to find Mauritius, it's east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.) Yes, Paula only chooses the most exotic locals to travel to for work. Heck, when she and her mom got stranded for a night trying to get back from vacation they were stranded in Miami. (Getting stranded in Atlanta or Detroit like the rest of us just wouldn't do.) So it's Vince and Eric on their own again for a couple of weeks.