So a scared dog walks into a car...

In September of 2008, we experienced a hurricane.

I know that sounds odd, since we live in Indiana.

But when Hurricane Ike ripped through Texas, it sent storms and wind all the way up through Indiana and Kentucky.

That weekend, we were home at my parents' house in Kentucky. We had to drive back to Indiana through the Hurricane.

Debris scattered the roads. We passed many places where there was no electricity.

But the worst of it for us happened about 20 minutes away from home.

On the interstate, the wind whipped part of my weatherstripping off the top of my car. As we drove, it flung down on the roof of the car with load and repeating BANGS. We stopped as soon as we could, at a gas station that looked like it was the only place around with power. We bought electrical tape and borrowed a pair of scissors and taped the weatherstripping back to the top of my car. The electrical tape is there to this day.

The damage was done, though.

Oh, no, not damage to my car.

Damage to Layla.

The weatherstripping was too loud, the wind was too loud, the drive was slow and tense because of the debris.

Our dog that normally slept the whole way home has been nervous in the car since then.

Panting. And more recently, trying to dig in the seat to get underneath something. Getting off the seat to it on the floor of the backseat.

We finally decided we needed to do something.

My cousin, our vet, suggested we get her a crate for the car so she can feel enclosed and safer.

We went to look at crates.

They are $80. So we decided to try something else.

Hence, the trial of the dog seat belt.

The dog seat belt is a harness that you put on your animal. The harness has a loop on it, and the seat belt to the car goes through the loop and clicks in, leaving the dog seat belted into the car.

On the box, the large dog sits patiently. Almost like a human, a big smile on his face.

Stop and consider this for a minute. We were going to attempt to put a seat belt on our dog. Because dogs just seem like they would like something like that. On our dog. I shake my head at our foolishness.

We slipped the harness on Layla in the parking lot of the pet store. We wanted to try the contraption out on our short drive in town before we take her out of town. Surely she would like not slipping around when the car makes turns and stops.

Not so!

Layla. Hated. The. Seat Belt.

First she wriggled right out of the harness. And looked at us with a smile. We put it on tighter and buckled her in. Hal even sat in the back with her.

More panting and general dog stress and anxiety.

So Hal found and purchased a $20 soft carrier that folds up and has loops so the seat belts can buckle the carrier into the car.

Layla did not like the idea of the carrier at first. It looked suspiciously like a crate. We don't use a crate here anymore, and while she always liked her crate and will go into it with no problems, I don't think she wanted to show too much enthusiasm.

So I crawled in the crate.

(I didn't fit.) This became apparent when I tried to crawl OUT of the crate and got my butt stuck. I had to wriggle out like a demented snake.)

My silly crate tricks did the job and she doesn't mind it.

But the big test will be tomorrow.

Safe Crate vs. Dangerous Car.

I can't wait to see who comes out on top

Sunday Snapshot: Alaska at Night

Oldies but goodies! Here we experience Alaska at 11 p.m. from our boat on our honeymoon. Notice the sun is finally setting. Alaska is so unbelievably beautiful. I recommend anyone to go there.

This is a series that Hal may have taken. Regardless, I want to print them out and hang them somewhere. I'll get around to that. We've only been married for 3 and a half years.

Six Word Saturday: Work

Work all day, Thankgiving to play!

(Seriously, I have dug myself into a hole of procrastination and I've spent about eight hours trying to put a dent in it. I have done some substantial work. I still have A LOT more to do. I'm hoping to get enough done that I'll be able to relax during the break. Which means I'll be working pretty much constantly until we leave on Tuesday.)

Bad Haiku Friday: In honor of New Moon

Twilight is horrid
Vampires do not sparkle
Bella is a twit

Technology

I can't tell you all how much I love that I can watch things on the Internet.

Like last night's Glee. Or old episodes of Secret Life.

Especially UK basketball games.

I spent the first year here huddled in front of my computer listening to games on the internet radio. This was hard for me. We only get UK games if they are the national games, of course, as most IU people don't really care about UK games.

But now we can watch them online. And we have figured out how to hook up our computer to the TV so it's like we are watching them on the TV!

How did we ever live without the internet?!

Opossum

One of my Korean classmates had a creature he had never seen before on his back porch.

Our Tanzanian student, who lives near the Korean student, saw the same creature. She thought he had a new pet. The creature stood there frozen, staring at her.

Both were mystified. The Korean student took a picture of the creature.

"Well, what does it look like?" we (another American student and I) asked them in the grad lounge today.

A thought occurred to me.

"Was it an opossum?" I asked.

They were both confused.

"Does it look like a big rat? With a tail that doesn't have any fur?" we asked.

"Yes!" They replied. "But it was big."

I spread out my hands on the table.

"Yes, about that big."

"A Possum!" We exclaimed.

They don't have possums/opossums in Korea.

You learn something new every day.

Typing

Lots of drama going on at school right now, but I'm not going to write about it here. Suffice to say, everyone (me included) has bad attitudes right now.

On happier notes, I am most addicted to a computer game. What kind of game, you may ask. Well, it's not anything cool like Myst or World of Warcraft or even Return to Zork (although I was highly addicted to Zork back in the day). It's not even Bejewelled or Farmville or Mafia Wars.

It's a facebook game called Typing Maniac.

What does it say about me that I am addicted to a game that scores you on how quickly and accurately you type?

I'm pretty sure it says "Major Dork."

I guess I'm used to this title by now. I can't help but play it. I'm currently the leader out of my friends, although I assume that's because they are all normal and got tired of it before they cared enough to get good at it.

And I should be good at it. I've typed since I was a young kid. I remember typing a 99-page story on the computer in 7th or 8th grade (not in one sitting, of course). I wish I still had it. I'm sure it was horrible. I worked and worked to learn how to type. We had computer class in grade school with Mavis Beakon, well, the class was with another teacher, but Mavis Beakon was the computer program typing instructor. My gut tells me that I loathed Mavis, but I cannot recall why. In high school, we had and entire year of typing when we were sophomores, and the first semester was ON A TYPEWRITER. Please, a typewriter? I'm happy to report that the students at my school now have one semester of typing, and it's in a computer lab. Not to mention the hours and hours I spent typing as a reporter, journalism major, and creative writing major. And now I'm in grad school, home of the gabillion-page paper.

Typing is my blood, man.

(I'm sounding more dorky by the minute.)

So anyway, I'm addicted to Typing Maniac. I play it often. It is a great way to relieve stress, which is very important right now (you see that? I brought it back around to school drama. I am so good!).

What games are you addicted to?