Musings

Finally, Zach the white russell terrier, is now … somewhat …. become … more or less …. part of the family. Nearly 12 months ago when he joined the family, he was one angry dog. He didn’t like to be touched on his backside, any side where he can’t see you coming. He sat by the front door hoping to go out. If I wanted to go out he would become aggressive, showing his teeth and growling quite loudly. If I approach him, then he would attack, ie bite. And I’ve been bitten by him 4 times already.

He looks really cute but in reality he’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He would be lovey-dovey one moment and the next, he would be growly, showing teeth. Trainer Alfred came and saw his behaviour. He said Zach is showing insecure dominance. He’s unsure so he’ll try to dominate first, be bigger than the bigger dog.

So to teach him to be submissive, his possessions – his bed in his basket, his toys – were taken away from him. He had to sleep on the floor and he wasn’t allowed to spend the night in the bedroom.

Zach and I were to go to Alfred to get training so that Zach would be more controllable. Turned out our busy schedules didn’t allow us to do that. So both of us learnt to live with each other. I learnt that he doesn’t like to be surprised, neither does he want to be threatened with the cane. So I’d to use voice ie tone of voice to tell him I’m angry or happy with him.

So I raise my voice if I’m angry that he’s barking too much. I let him know when I was going to touch him, and I would stroke him firmly and I wouldn’t pull his ears or his tail. So now he’s much better and I can actually play with him. He would give me his toy and we would play fetch and retrieve. He would turn turtle and let me scratch his belly.

On Sunday came a tipping point. He’s in the kitchen when I was preparing dinner. I told him to go out of the kitchen and he did. Backed up and sat outside the kitchen and acted as the door guard.  I’m quite happy that of the progress we’ve made but still the lessons with Alfred will start next Sunday.

After 3 nights of thunderstorms and a heavy morning shower yesterday, the electrical network in my home called it quits last night. Came home late after watching Star Trek – excellent movie – I switched on the air con and there’s nothing. Oh, I thought, it was the same trip that had occurred several times before. I went to the electrical switchboard and switched it on again. 

2 minutes passed and as I was talking to Zach, my jack russell terrier, the lights went off and there’s a burning smell. S***. Groped my way to a side table to look for my torchlight – I keep one in each room – switched it on and went to check the switchboard. Had to muscle up a lot of courage to do this, cos don’t want to find sparks flying around cos it would mean a fire in my store room – which had lots of dog food and towels – very combustible items. 

All the main switches were done and turning them up didn’t turn the lights on. So had to call the electrician at midnight. He needed 30 minutes so in the meantime, I sat with a beam of light from the torchlight and my 4 dogs. So quiet, a little breeze coming in from the front door. Can’t turn on the TV, hi-fi, or surf. 

A-ha, I brought out my iPod and the stereo X-mini Max capsule speakers and played Marvin Hayes and Sarah McLahan. They kept me company until well after the electrician came and went – he took 45 minutes to put things right. Lucky for me, iPod is always charged, it’s the only consumer electronic device that worked in the house, apart from my handphone. And of course, the sound from the X-mini Max speakers, made by local company, Xm-i, was fabulous. Light and small, and affordable at $68.

What a movie! It’s really good, full of action and bravado. The two main actors Chris Pine as Captain James T Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock are excellent in their roles. They reprise the original versions played by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (who has a cameo role as a much older Spock!).

I’m a Star Trek fan having watched the series on TV since I was in school. Pine’s Captain Kirk is a younger version of William Shatner’s role. The way he looks, tilts his head and his language, all match that of the original Kirk. Spock is as anal as all Vulcans are. But he’s good too. 

Much better than Wolverine. I only admired Hugh Jackman’s body, muscular and lean. Other than that, it’s a so-so. 

You’re going to be spoilt for choice this weekend since Angels and Demons is opening tomorrow. Straits Times gave this movie 3 stars. So if you’ve to choose which movie to see this weekend, I would say Star Trek. You won’t regret it.

I’ve noticed in the past few months many people using netbooks. I define them as the ones that Nicholas Negroponte first came out with as UMPC – ultra mobile PCs – with a 6 inch screen. The size has in the last 18 months changed from 6- to 10- to 12-inch screens.

Made popular by Asus and Acer, these netbooks were touted to be good for surfing, emailing and maybe skyping and little else. It’s just too small to work on it for a long time. I just find the shoulders would be too pinched from having to hold your hands close together to type on the small keyboard.

Increasingly, I’ve seen a lot of kids using them, not for school work but for viewing YouTube video clips and movies. Mothers would leave the kids with the netbook in McDonalds or a cafe and go off and do their errands or supermarketing. The kids would access Youtube or watch the movie that’s been downloaded into the netbook. Not a bad idea.

There’re quite a few nice ones on the market. I’m attracted to the Sony Vaio which are really nice and cool. But I’ve no reason to buy one. In today’s tough times, better to have cash in pocket.