Author Archives: SJPONeill

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About SJPONeill

Retired(ish) and living on the side of a mountain. I love reading and writing, pottering around with DIY in the garden and the kitchen, watching movies and building models from plastic and paper...I have two awesome daughters, two awesome grand-daughters and two awesome big dogs...lots of awesomeness around me...

Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban

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The lead for this theme was that the idea behind urban photography is to photograph your city and the streets where you grew up as they are but I’d sorta done that in Wrong the other week….I’ve loads of photos from cities all around the world but I struggled to find one that really said ‘urban‘ to me (What your photos DON’T talk to you? Crazy!!).

But just last night, through the miracle of the Picasa 3 screen saver app…this image flicked up onto my screen just as I logged off…fortunately I had just time to recognise it as from my visit to Duxford in 2009…it is in the American Hangar, a massive display of American aircraft all in one big hangar – getting them in and out must be a real act…

This one image is what urban is to me – well, what it was last night anyway…the old and the new, clutter, things standing still and things apparently moving fast, light but dark at the same time…all apparently moving in different directions…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Merge

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Merge had me stumped for weeks – all I could think of was traffic lanes merging and my particular hate for the nanny-state merge lights on motorway on-ramps – are people really too dumb to figure it out for themselves? – but this challenge came through only a couple of days AFTER I got home from a recent work visit to Auckland where such silliness abounds…

Then…when we were exploring our property with the dogs over the weekend – been here eight years and still not even close to exploring it all – we stumbled a native tree (a couple of metres thick) that had collapsed over a small stream, creating this massive bridge a dozen or so feet above the trickle of water. We were amazed at how well it merged into the surrounding bush until we were right on top of it – didn’t have a camera with us, then it started to rain…

Finally I came back to this image, my first instinct, the Shuttle Enterprise where science fiction met science fact – only nine years after NCC-1701 first flashed across grainy black and white TV screens we were naming our first true spaceship after her…

Footnote: I first heard of the Star Trek: New Voyages project in early 2007. Carmen and I had stopped at Bosco’s Cafe in Te Kuiti (northern end opposite the Teak shop and before the Shell station and New World heading north) after another weekend working on Hell’s Holiday Home at Te Waitere on the West Coast, on the southern edge of Kawhia Harbour. The December 2006 issue of Wired carried an article on a group of Trek fans who had accumulated a few props and started to film their own Original Series episodes (kicking off their own Season 4) in a  barn. Bit by bit, they garnered more support and more cash including a bunch of unofficial support and assistance from Paramount Pictures. Working in the US later in 2007, I managed to download the two or three episode then available (couldn’t download at home – over the dial-up connection we had then, I’d still be waiting on it now) but never quite got round to getting them onto DVD and watching them.

It was only when reading a thread on developing Star Trek paper models that I stumbled across the link again and downloaded the seven available episodes – I think that the production team is aiming on one a year which is pretty good for a backyard effort – and worked out how to use MS Movie Maker to stitch the 4-5 files for each episode together and then convert this WMV file to an MK4 for the WD TV player in the lounge using Handbrake.

So last night – finally – I got to dim the lights and watch the first couple of episodes: Kirk is still going through his B-grade scifi stage so he sat up the front by the TV and watched as well. In Harm’s Way, episode 2, was, we thought, pretty damn good and at least to the standard of the original series. I understand that production and acting values get better as the series progresses so we’re off to check out another couple of episodes now…

Surf Nazis Alive And Well In NZ

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The most fitting accompanying image I could find…

Oh…my God, it’s not often anything stops me in my tracks but this did…there are real live Nazi apologists in New Zealand!! Holy Heck, Batman!!

This blot on the tapestry of reality came to light when a small (very small) smattering of socalled anti-war (like anyone is pro-war) advocates set up their soapboxes in the FB Sumner Burstyn give back your NZ passport! page….The prattle about oil in Afghanistan was amusing but this revelation just took the cake:

Her: I dont support the way Sumner expressed herself at all. I mourn a lost life regardless of who they are. I do my homework every day and I dont wave placards or go to protests, I try to address the causes and not the symptoms, thats all. The intentions of NZ soldiers are no doubt honorable, all I am saying is I dont believe the actions or intentions of those requesting your assistance are. I didnt come here to be a punching bag for those wanting to vent against anyone who disagrees. Facts speak the loudest, it is a fact that the enemy you are fighting was deliberately created to collapse the soviet union. Why are we cleaning up the mess of failed US poilcy. They mass murder people on a regular basis and we dont want to be tarred by that brush. They are hated so much and rightly so.

Another Poster: Small question. Without soldiers who would have stopped Hitler?

Her: Hitler did not start the war contrary to the propaganda we have been fed. He invaded Poland in retaliation for the murder of 58,000 innocent germans in the danzig corridor. Examine his every speech and his works and you can clearly see he did not start the war.. The germans were starving as a result of the sanctions, they did all they could to avoid the war. General patton was assassinated because he saw that a mistake had been made, that germans were lovely compared to the way russians were treating people. They killed him because he did not agree with the treatment of german POW’s. 1million germans died of starvation without shelter, food or water at the hands of the americans. A cruel way to die. They havent stopped this cruelty and we ougt not to support their immoral actions..

Another Poster: Are you actually defending Hitler? [name removed to protect the stupid] you are deluded.

Her: you need to study his speeches and look at the provocations…i alwsy thought that too. We have been lied to all our lives…

Apparently, the answers are all in Patton’s diaries…Indiana Jones, where you when we need the Patton Diaries…?

In an attempt to establish her credibility, this individual stated that she’d been an Army wife – disclaimer not to be associated with real Army wives who are indeed a force to be reckoned with, lest anyone be subjected to the Death of a 1000 Chick Flicks – but, sheesh, woman!! Do you think that’ll really help your case when you’re pleading a case of self-defence for Nazi Germany…? Of course, the bigger question might simply be, ‘do you think?’…

While the creators and members of the page have been happy for those with alternate views to contribute to the page, it is disappointing that all they can do is attempt to use it as a platform for their views on the wrongs of involvement in Afghanistan, relations with the US, etc instead of avoiding the real issue that the page was established for, i.e.. to raise and share concerns arising from the unnecessary comments made by disowned Kiwi Barbara Sumner Burstyn (the Canadians probably wouldn’t mind disowning her now too) about fallen Kiwi soldier, Lance-Corporal Jacinda Baker. Although most members of the group manage to express themselves clearly and rationally, in some cases eloquently, the anti-war fringe consistently come across as poorly-informed and quite ignorant, with quick recourse to personal attacks against those that do not agree. I note that they are all very quick to rant away online but less keen to set up their soap boxes outside the RSA or anywhere in mainstream New Zealand…

Here’s another muppet: why is it that they all assume that any and all service people are mindless brainless machines capable only of following orders…perhaps it’s a super-clear that they have not taken the time or made the effort to actually get to know their ‘enemy’ – of course, this might mean that their preconceptions might be ever so shattered when they find that service people are actually smart, articulate well-educated people and, if the truth be known, always have been…one need look no further than the vast bulk of the comments posted on the Burstyn protest page…

Have to go now…I feel so bad the we picked the wrong side in WW2 and need to atone in my own small way…maybe a dose of Inglorious Bastards…?

The media look after their own

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Oh, woe is me…the combination of Kiwi, stick and snake apparently works for leftos as well

There is a story in the Herald on Sunday on the Sumner Burstyn issue. Unfortunately it’s not a very good one and really only serves as a platform for Ms Burstyn to plead ‘oh, woe is me…why are people angry with me?” We wondered last night if the media lack of response to the issues were a case of them looking after their own and based on THIS article that would seem to be the case…

The author, Joanne Carroll, does not appear to have made any attempt to interview or seek comment from the creators of the page and seems happy enough to simply regurgitate what she has been told by Summy Bear, coupled with some lightweight comment from the defence Force which does not seem to have any opinion on whether it is OK or not for people to slag off fallen soldiers before their final journey is complete. And that is the real issue here, folks, NOT the hows or whyfores of New Zealand’s involvement in Afghanistan…

There is an email link at the end of the article and I would suggest that anyone with concerns about the standard of NZ media reporting on this and other issues, use it. Pick your 1200 characters carefully and, as always, keep it seemly and remember that soldiers are discplined but mobs and rabbles are not…

Dear Joanne

Thank you for making the effort to cover the erupting Summer Burstyn issue however I don’t believe that you have provided a balanced perspective at all and have simply latched onto the issue for some cheap ratings. You have made no effort to portray fairly the feelings of those who have expressed their outrage at her comments on Facebook and elsewhere online but have just focussed on the minority whose comments are aggressive. Is not the fact (if the Herald still deals in such?) that over 20,000 people have joined the FB page in less than two days an indicator of where public feeling lies on this issue? The NZ media was very quick to climb aboard when similar outrage was expressed occurred over the Kahui twins.

There was a belief expressed yesterday that the NZ media’s lack of response to this issue was a case of the media covering up for its own. Your article has done nothing the assuage that belief and merely provides a forum for more of Burstyn’s self-righteous self-pity.

I hope that the Herald and the rest of the NZ media community will get it together and offer a balanced view of what the issues are.

Here’s a view from the FB page that I think presents the balance absent from the article:

Sumner Burstyn: post an antiwar comment and get 120 death threats – funny how that works.

Barbara, the thing is, your comments were not antiwar comments (I greatly respect anyone’s right to make those). Instead they were a personal attack on a young dead female soldier just after her body was returned to New Zealand for burial.
While I am sorry that the responses from 20,000 of her closest friends and collegues became personal and in some instances threatening, surely you can see that they mirrored the language and feeling of YOUR original post.

While I respect your opinion, your target, tone and timing were highly inappropriate in any civilised society. Despite your apology we continue to see similar messages from you, including personal attacks on dead service personnel in your earlier posts. As a NZ Herald columnist I would have expected a more considered approach to posting such views. I guess that’s now a matter for your employer and tomorrow’s talk back radio callers to consider.

More words from activist filmaker Sumner Burstyn

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More words from activist filmaker Sumner Burstyn.

This makes great reading. It derives from a comment made about  Lance-Corporal Jacinda Baker, one of the three Kiwi soldiers killed by an IED in Afghanistan last weekend:

After the first pushback from the community the comment was removed however as the exchange with a soldier on the link above shows, that wasn’t through any sense of remorse. It is really interesting to note, when reading this transcript that the socalled journalist very quickly descends into abuse while the infantry soldier continues to put his case in clear and articulate terms…

The issue is not whether or not we should or should not be in Afghanistan, or the whys or why nots of having a defence force; the issue is simply that someone has stooped to a vicious personal attack on a young woman who is no longer able to speak for herself – but there are, at the time of typing this, 13752 people prepared to speak on Jacinda Baker’s behalf.

While the freedom of the internet allows someone like Sumner Burstyn to publish her slander, it also allows for that slander to be challenged and not be allowed to become the new ‘truth’ and here a community has come together again to see that wrong righted.    I say ‘again’ because this is a very special community, one that spans across the world and across decades – there are names appearing here that I have not seen for years and years and that bring back such memories. We might not meet regularly or even often but we can carry on a conversation that started in a hole full of mud and bugs in South East Asia, or while shivering in the tussock of Waiouru as if that were only yesterday. And certainly we can come together again to speak on behalf of those who can no longer…

There is a lot of anger on the community page and there probably would be at any time but in this month, where we have lost five of our own, a lot of folks are venting. It isn’t an unreasonable expectation that the mollycoddled left leaning loony community couldn’t give it a rest at least til the funerals and grieving are done…

A sad day for New Zealand as Corporal Luke Tamatea, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker and Private Richard Harris arrive back home. (c) NZDF 2012

Jim Hopkins of the NZ Herald ends an article yesterday:

Yet, somehow, we still get soldiers. Who don’t hide in other people’s houses or make self-serving speeches or expect everyone else to “do the right thing”. They do it themselves, whatever the cost. On the Stuff website, beneath its report on the death of SAS Corporal Doug Grant last year, readers have posted their comments. One says this: – “Rest in Peace – We shall remember them. If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read it in English, thank a soldier.”

That’s the essence of the debt every generation owes its troops – a debt unpaid by those who hide in embassies.

Age shall not weary them

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I started work this morning, only to learn that three more Kiwi soldiers have been killed in Bamiyan Province when the last vehicle in a convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device in Bamiyan, north west of Do Abe on the road to Romero about 9.20am on Sunday (Afghanistan time).  The remaining personnel in the patrol secured the location and awaited additional support. A second bomb was found and defused.

Many people are sharing a quote from US Army Major John Hottell, who was killed in Vietnam…it sounded familiar and I found a Time article that concludes with that quote:

…you have five in a row from the class of ’64. One belongs to John Hottell III – a Rhodes scholar, twice a recipient of the Silver Star – who was killed in 1970. The year before, he had written his own obituary and sent it in a sealed envelope to his wife. “I deny that I died for anything – not my country, not my Army, not my fellow man,” he wrote. “I lived for these things, and the manner in which I chose to do it involved the very real chance that I would die…my love for West Point and the Army was great enough…for me to accept this possibility as a part of a price which must be paid for things of great value.

Some day I might copy the whole article in here but that’s not appropriate today…in getting my head around these losses in Bamiyan, I did come across the site from which I borrowed the image above…the author talks about memories of ANZAC Day and the simple act of placing an RSA poppy on the cenotaph, one of the many scattered across this nation, reminders of those who did not come back from the nation’s struggles…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wrong

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Old Oamaru Hospital 1998

Some things are just wrong…the demise of the regional public health system…in 1998, I was home on leave…I may have been recovering from an injury as I remember doing an awful lot of walking in that period but not much, if any, running…

Oamaru is a small coastal town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand – it once was a thriving rural support centre with a railhead linking inland with main trunk rail services – we used to be able to look across the breakfast table and see the plume of smoke from the train servicing the Oamaru Stone quarry at Weston – and a small port supporting coastal shipping services – when such still existed. Both the rail and shipping are gone now: there are no passenger rail services south of Christchurch and the harbour is slowly silting up…

A view from the grounds of St Lukes, facing north-east, overlooking some of the restored Oamaru Stone Buildings

In the late 80s, Oamaru began to tidy itself up and started a programme to re-invent itself by revitalising the old Victorian port quarter – an industrial scunge hole as long as I have known it – as the new centre of town, It is now a thriving area of re-enactors, cafes and other businesses that, among other things hosts annual penny farthing races. As part of this programme, a lot of other areas in town were tidied up including restoring all the buildings in Oamaru Stone to the original blinding white of the raw stone, and developing a series of walking/running tracks all through the hills on which most of the town sits.

Oamaru’s main street, Thames Street, looking north.

In 1998, these tracks were all quite new to me and I spent the better part of a fortnight exploring them all in daily walks. One of then follows the line of Hospital Hill (so named for obvious reasons) and gives the walker the option of dropping off south towards the Gardens or heading north on a leg that runs along the hills that parallel the coast. The latter course takes one through the old hospital complex and it was here that I snapped the image above. Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the re-organisation of the public health system a couple of decades ago, I still think that abandoning the detritus of this programme to rust outside the former hospital buildings was just wrong…

The walkway from the Gardens follows the Oamaru Creek east towards the sea; the building at top right is the northern edge of the restored Victorian quarter.

Five Question Friday!! 8/17/12

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It’s that time of week again – another five from Mama M

What’s the one thing you buy every time you walk into the store?

Three things:

Milk…hard to cook or bake without it and tea and coffee sans milk ain’t worth getting out of bed for – if we end up with a surplus, it can always go in the freezer for revitalising later for baking.

Dog roll…the walking carpets get fed Purina but get bored with the constant dry food and like to have something juicy/tasty to go with; whatever dog roll is on special is what gets grabbed but often they luxuriate in left-overs instead… breakfasts this morning was two cups of Purina each with a couple of big globs of mixed apple crumble, last night’s curry and rice, and porridge and yoghurt from our breakfast this morning…

Butter and marg…as for milk, butter is a bit of a must for a lot of baking plus toast/bread without some sort of spread is dry and yukky…

If you had a day all to yourself how would you spend it?

I would really like to have a decent crack at the challenge of a Blitzbau …I have been following most of them this time around and it looks like a lot of fun…just need to have a day to dedicate to one during the blitz season…

theconfidencestoat’s Matchbox 1/72 Hawker Hunter T7 56 Sqn RAF Coltishall 1964

Are you a speed limit driver? If not, over or under?

We have a 10kmh ‘tolerance’ here but I rarely go over that unless it’s a brief spurt when passing…far easier and cheaper these days to just add in some extra time if I really need to be somewhere on time…the twins on the other hand, are speed maniacs – can’t think where they get this from…?

What’s your favorite dessert to make, homemade or from a mix??

That’s an easy one…our self-saucing butterscotch pudding…it’s yummmmeeeee!! Oh, did you think I was going to share the special recipe…? Nope not even a pic less lest some culinary schemer deduce the secret ingredients…

Would you rather have a spider or a mouse scurry across your face (no copping out and saying “neither!!”)?

Probably a mouse as they tend to be in transit and are less likely to take up residence or want to contest ownership…not actually that fussed as spiders here (apart from whitetails) are not really much to worry about and, now that we slashed back all the scrub from around the house and installed the ring of death of bait stations, we don’t have much of a rodent problem…when we first moved here, the rats used to queue up on the deck by the front door to hoover down any leftovers the dogs might have left…

Leading from the Front

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Major Wilson pictured here in 2010 speaking with then Defence Minister Wayne Mapp. (c) Dean Kozanic

The following statement has been issued by the New Zealand Defence Force on behalf of Major Craig Wilson, the officer commanding Kiwi Company at the time of the gun battle with insurgents in Bamyan, Afghanistan, on 4 August.
“I am writing this statement for release to the general public. Until I am well enough, these words will have to take the place of me speaking directly.

“All six of us wounded personnel are incredibly pleased at the way LCpls Pralli Durrer and Rory Malone were honoured by their Army units and the nation more generally over the weekend. We are thinking of Rory and Pralli and it gave us great comfort to see them appropriately honoured.
“Our first thoughts are with the families of Pralli and Rory and I look forward to meeting the families in person on my return to New Zealand. I appreciate the support being provided to the families of our fallen, which I know will be coming from so many compassionate people in the country we serve and love.
“We are very much thinking of the Durrer and Malone families and their friends, as well as the families of all the guys still out doing the job in Afghanistan. We really appreciate the support of the New Zealand public, and I am hopeful that that public support will be ongoing to the families of the men and women still delivering the mission in Afghanistan.
“With regard to the other injured men of Kiwi Company, I have been very proud of their conduct. We have tried to be as strong as possible. I am sure I speak for us all when I talk about the support we have received.
“This initially came from our mates on the ground, who in some cases risked their own lives to get us out of immediate danger and provided immediate first aid. Then from our medics – who have been consummate professionals all tour and stood up yet again.
“Finally, from our headquarters and support personnel who brought all the external support to bear that we needed; who made the best of what was an incredibly difficult situation; and, as always, made the troops on the ground feel supported.
“I would like to also publicly praise the coalition troops who responded in support of the situation – especially the MEDEVAC helicopter pilots and crews who are some of the most skilled and brave unsung heroes of the Afghan theatre.
“Thanks also goes to the many coalition medical teams through the chain of evacuation that in some cases saved our lives. In all cases they made us feel safe and secure. The public of New Zealand should know that these Dutch, German and American medical teams treated us like their own countrymen, working tirelessly and with great skill.
“I would like to thank our military leaders and their staff back in New Zealand, who through their hard-working liaison officers have made us feel as though heaven and earth is being moved to keep us supported, and getting us home to our families quickly, where we all want to be. We look forward to reuniting with our family and friends, getting our medical treatment finalised, and getting back on with things just as soon as we can.
“With regard to the incident itself, I and the other wounded look forward to formally passing to the New Zealand Defence Force, at the appropriate time on our return, the knowledge and detail of this battle that we possess. This battle was very fast, very complex, and came down to a pitched gunfight where the insurgent force had many advantages over us at that moment. The full story is yet to be pieced together.
“Judging by the nature of my wounds, my days as an operational soldier are probably over but I will continue working for my soldiers now and over the next while to ensure that they are accredited the respect and recognition that their actions in Bamyan deserve.
“While this was a major combat engagement, it is what our men and women work and train for. I know Kiwi Company will have continued on committed to their work in Afghanistan because they are a professional group, and that’s what soldiers do. 
“Finally, I wish to thank the public of New Zealand for their support of all our service personnel on operations everywhere. It is really important to us, especially when times get tough.”

About the incident:
On 4 August, Kiwi Company came to the support of the Afghan National Directorate of Security who were under attack by insurgents. The NDS sustained two deaths and a further 11 personnel, including one civilian, were wounded. The New Zealand Defence Force sustained two deaths and a further six wounded.

About Major Wilson:
Major Craig Wilson was shot in the shoulder and received multiple wounds to his lungs, ribs, collarbone and shoulder-bone, as well as artery and tissue damage, and has lost the use of his right arm. However, doctors anticipate that he will regain some if not all function after likely many months rehabilitation. All of Maj Wilson’s wounds have been effectively treated, except the nerve damage where treatment/rehabilitation will commence after his return to New Zealand.
Maj Wilson is a married father of three, who lives in Burnham.
In 2007, he received the New Zealand Gallantry Decoration – NZGD – for events while serving with the New Zealand SAS in Afghanistan in 2004.
The NZGD is the third-highest military decoration for New Zealand. It is granted in recognition of ‘acts of exceptional gallantry in situations of danger’ while involved in war and warlike operational service.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth

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This is my big dog, Kirk, before he became my BIG dog – we’ve had him since he was an itty puppy and have watched his growth over the past five years into a big dog that loves to watch animal shows on TV….

I posted an item under the Mundane to Meaningful writing challenge last week about my thoughts when I spotted the Avenger being rolled out at RNZAF Ohakea last week. Although it kinda reflects my thoughts at the time, it’s a bit maudlin and, IMHO, not that effective as a piece of writing…

So without taking anything away from the young men and women that launch themselves into the air each day from Ohakea in Hueys and Air trainers and now NH-90s and A-109s, here’s what my first instinct to write about for that challenge really was…

Saryrday afternoon and I’d finished work – I normally work a Tuesday-Saturday weekend to align with Carmen’s week and also to align with the US working day as a large portion of my work is engaging with overseas partners – and I’d just relocated downstairs from the study where I work, often eight hours in a single (literally) sitting, to the lounge where I can stretch out on the couch by the fire, watch some TV and surf the net.

Surfing the net outside off the study is a relatively new experience for us as we have always been somewhat bandwidth-limited in our scenic rural location and thus never really felt the need or had the driver of cable broadband to invest in an internal wifi router, aggravated by the fact that straight routers independent of a built-in ADSL modem haven’t been that common. Just after Christmas last year, we finally replaced our standard phone and internet services with a satellite connection – complete with big ugly dish on the west-facing side of the house – from Farmside. It’s still quite a novelty being free of the study to surf anywhere in the house, even – wow – in bed!

I don’t remember the weather but it must have been cold as the fire had been on all day – whatever the weather, it’s almost always warm inside as the house has been designed as a real heat trap in winter – but opens right up to keep us cool in summer (next time we actually have one) – so it’s not like we need to huddle around the fireplace to keep cosy. It just happens to be that it is right by the couch that faces directly onto the TV.

So getting back to Kirk…as I said we’ve had him since he was a little little puppy but he’s probably closer to me because he used to come to work with me when he was little rather than be left outside with the other dogs on a large and (then) unfenced section. I had my own office and it’s not like there was a mass stream of people queuing up to visit anyone in the doctrine/lessons learned world. So Kirkie’s kinda bonded more with me than anyone else…what that means is that every once in a while, he’s gets a bit angsty and follows me around like a shadow. If I shuffle so much as a foot along the couch, he’ll get up walk a whole half-step and then thunks (it’s like he just switches his legs off and drops) down on the floor at my feet again.

So when I’m on the couch and the fire’s on, Kirk will usually be crashed out on the floor right by the fire. You may have noticed that Kirk is a large black dog and you’ve probably already joined the dots with his heat-absorption abilities. He’ll lie there for an hour or so, slowly baking before having enough of that and lumbering over to the water bowl in the kitchen where being hot, he slobbers down a couple of litres before resuming his position with his head on my foot. So what this has to with Mundane to Meaningful, WordPress Challenges and the like?

Well…just as that inaugural Weekly Writing Challenge email chirped into my inbox – I was watching JAG by the fire – big Kirk sicked up over my feet….no surprise really after he’d just slurped up a litre or so of water from the bowl in the kitchen. I let him outside, just in case there was more to follow, and mopped up his mess – mostly water so not too bad. When I let him back in, he loped over to the ‘scene of the crime’ , sniffing all a round it, almost like he wanted to make sure it was all cleaned up…and was really quite embarrassed by his little whoopsy…

Sometimes Kirk and his offsider, Lulu, appear so human…you really wonder what is going on in those big heads; why these massive carnivores dote on us so much…what did someone say recently? That we should aspire to be the people our dogs think we are…? So when Kirk trails me around the house, squeezes into tiny space under my desk or between the coffee table and the couch, just to be closer to me, I can cut him some slack because he’s my mate…

He makes me sound like a doofus sometimes…