The United States is being oppressed with a heat wave.  Honestly until yesterday I didn’t think it was all that bad.  Yesterday though was the pits, the air is so thick it feels like you should be swimming in it!

Since it was so hot I thought, let’s skip the walk and take the dogs swimming.  We went to the state-owned boat launch at the local lake which is about an eight minute ride.

Sampson isn’t such a big swimmer.  He went in and laid down for a minute and was fine.  Delilah LOVES the water; she loves to fetch and swim and thoroughly enjoys herself.

I had her on the 30 foot leash, so I can wade out and keep tabs on her.  Once I am comfortable that she isn’t going to swim across the lake, I drop the leash and eventually work myself up to taking her off leash.  I am fully aware of the risks associated with having her drag a leash in the lake and have no problem swimming out to unhook her if peril threatens.

We had only been there a few minutes and she had maybe five or six throw/retrieves when the CT DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) Officer pulled us out and told us NO DOGS at the boat launch!

WTF? Seriously?

Me being the good little doobie that I am, grabbed her leash and picked up the camera and her fetch toy.  I heard Chet open his mouth (I cringed a little inside) and heard the officer say, “$75 ticket.”

My inner bitch screamed, “Shut your effin pie hole.”  The one who has control of my mouth said nothing.  Instead we started walking back towards the car.

Apparently Chet wasn’t mouthing off to the guy and thankfully we didn’t get the ticket, instead Chet engaged in about a 10 minute conversation with the guy.  Who ended up telling us how to get around it.

As long as Chet or I are fishing or boating at the boat launch, the dogs can be swimming in the water.   How messed up is that?  It doesn’t make any sense to me.  The dogs can be in the water if we are fishing (with hooks I presume, which pose a potential hazard to hooking your dog.)  If we had a kayak and Chet had paddled out into the middle of the lake, the dogs and I could be on shore swimming.  Or the dogs could be swimming behind the boat.  But no boat + no fishing pole = no dogs.

I am currently working on a car antenna that will double as a fishing pole.  Drive up, unscrew the antenna, tie a plastic hook on the end and viola the dogs get to go swimming!

Follow-up Friday

Oh The Horrors – Update on Ranger:

He is presently in a boarding facility, he was neutered yesterday and will be posted (I am assuming for foster/adoption) this weekend.  Quote “He is enjoying his freedom from a 6×8 room that was cleaned with lysol everyday.”

Good People, A NASCAR Race And A Dog Named Chase – Update:

I think I got a bit of sun burn on the back of my right arm, but all in all I think I have cooled down a bit from that very hot race!

Hooray For Hollywoof – Author’s Note:

I was amazed that one of my readers had the same original thought as to who the Hollywood persona’s would have been for my dogs.

“I think Delilah is like Britney Spears – she went thru a tough time, but w/the right people in her life & the support she needed, she made it through. & the first person who came to mind for Sampson was Hugh Hefner! Classy & fun loving!”

Thanks Michelle!

No matter where you are, try to keep cool.

Ever wonder what your dog’s Hollywood counter-part might be?   Kahuna’s K9s organized a Blog Hop requesting people find a Hollywood counter-part based upon the dog’s personality. 

I found out about it from Kristine at Rescued Insanity, who thinks her Shiva is Joan Jett the rock star.  I totally agree; in my humble opinion Shiva is a rock star!

I am a day late and a dollar short to the Blog Hop (the link is closed already.) 🙁  But that didn’t stop me from trying to determine who my dog’s Hollywood persona might be.

For Delilah I first thought of Lindsay Lohan, who may have been a counter part for Delilah when we first got her;  but certainly Delilah is in better shape right now.   Besides, Delilah wouldn’t like wearing an ankle monitor.

Aside from Delilah’s physical beauty, I thought about the beauty and complexity of her personality.  Sweet and loving when it is cuddle time, hysterically funny and amusing when it comes to food or playing and bad to the bone when she needs to defend herself and her own.

Who else but the stunningly beautiful Lucy Liu, who shows off her sweet and vulnerable self in movies such as “Lucky Number Slevin,” her comedic timing in movies like “Shanghai Noon” and her bad-ass side in “Charlie’s Angels” or “Kill Bill.”

Photo courtesy of Poster.net

Sampson was a bit easier.  He can at times be a bit goofy, yet he is always dashing and debonair, always the ladies man and more handsome as he ages. 

I initially thought about Ashton Kutcher, I mean does it get much goofier than that?   But while he is goofy and handsome, he’s still a little on the young side to say he gets better looking with age.  Sorry Ashton, I will have to reserve judgment for another oh 20 years or so.

So I thought about who really has gotten better with age and could only come up with one person; the legendary Sean Connery.   From the scattered but loveable Henry Jones Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to the dashing and handsome James Bond in any number of 007 movies, Sean Connery is the perfect Hollywood counter part to my Sampson.  And yes, Sampson does like his martinis “shaken, not stirred.”

Photo courtesy of elitistmagazine