Up And Running.....

No more than 30 minutes ago, I joined the real world again. My power was finally restored and I'm grateful that we survived with barely a scratch. My town was very hard hit with wind, leaving in it's wake power outages and lots of downed trees all over the place, but now that the power is restored I feel anew. I can hardly complain. After three days of no power, I was finally able to put a TV back on and see what happened around me.

Look at New York City and New Jersey. Oh my.

NYU was clobbered and almost all of the dormitories were evacuated due to power outages and flooding. The school will remain closed until Saturday and classes will resume on Monday. Frick is fine, thank God. She and her roommates took the train on Sunday to New Jersey, hours before the rails were closed for the storm (inland not the Shore) to stay at one of the roommate's home. The family has 2 generators, and while they lost power and are still powerless, Frick reports to having generator power and having a ball. They are being treated like Queens and last night she text me, "Porkchops on the grill and macaroni and cheese! Can't get much better than this." I am eternally grateful to that family for watching over my baby girl during the Hurricane.

Frack is pumped...
Day three and no school and I'm thinking that he is liking this. The downside is that Frack's super excellent Golf team was scheduled to play in the State Championships on Monday, but that has been postponed until next Monday, which gives him a few more days to get prepared. GO WILDCATS!

My store never lost power, My Guy's office never lost power and all is well here in the aftermath. Driving to work, I see more and more fences, trees and power lines down, and I'm grateful that my home survived quite well. I'm thinking we are on the road to normal. That new normal I told you about.

Sandy's Not So Dandy

It seems I can remember a time when I thought living on the East Coast was truly a weather blessing. Sure, we get belted with snow in the long and hard winters on the East Coast, but if you live here, that's what you sign up for. We also get glorious, sweltering summers, like the one I am looking at in the rearview mirror right about now. I also remember, years ago listening to National news reports about frequent earthquakes on the West Coast and severe storms, twisters and flooding in the Midwestern parts of the country. I used to think that stuff only happened to other people. The ones out there. Not us here in the East.

But over the past couple of years our luck has run out. It's like payback for all that good weather karma, and we really are making up for lost time, fast. In the past two years alone, our region has been hit with devastating, severe storms, tornadoes (virtually unheard of in these parts) and ice storms more frequently than  previous history will tell. I, myself, have been affected by long lasting power outages at least three times to date. Last week we even had a "4.5  on the Richter Scale" earthquake.

So it should be of no surprise to me that yesterday, it seemed like there were millions of "Chicken Little's" running around the area, cleaning out the Home Depots of batteries and water in preparation for today's Tropical Storm Sandy. I was one of them. Gone is the warm and cozy feeling of hunkering down for a day off with family watching the storm. The fun has been replaced with worry and aggravation over the prospect of long lasting storm effects and the costly damage to homes. And I'd rather not even think about people's safety. It's not so fun anymore.

Preparing for severe weather has become a competitive sport around here and some become the envy of the neighborhood with their storm prowess. Personally, I'd rather be popular in the neighborhood for my grilling prowess, but who's complaining? This has become our "new normal" and I've got to ride it out and say my prayers. Sandy, please spare us all your wrath. These frequent Tropical Storms are messing with our lives and our livelihoods. Last year Halloween was CANCELLED, and if this continues as it's supposed to, this year is not looking promising either. Have you ever? Rescheduling Halloween?

This "new normal" just isn't normal at all. I pray that everyone rides out Sandy's wrath in safety. May the "force" of storm preparedness be with us and not the force of the storm. Please, not the force of the storm.

Crazy Cat Lady

I am SO not a cat person, but these keep going around the Internet and some of them are hilarious!

Happy weekend bloggers and try to stay out of the catnip....

Mars Vs. Venus

If it's true that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then we must really be living on two separate planets. I'm referring to business specifically, but it's also an age old question for the age old battle of the sexes. The answer, it seems is simple; men and women are different. Truth is, it's not really that simple.

Men and women approach business from different perspectives. Both genders can achieve great success, and both genders have unique strengths that can attribute to that success. Because we approach things differently, who's to say there is a template for what equates to success and what does not. Women tend to be more emotional because society encourages a more nurturing woman's role in all aspects of life. So in the workplace or in a position of power is there room for emotion?   Mental toughness is a strength, yet emotion is seen as a weakness? One could argue that it would depend upon the business and the individual, but for some, emotion is what drives their success.

In sales, emotion is paramount to hook your audience. The goal is get them excited about your brand and hopefully emotionally invested in it so that they will come back to you, time and time again. Without emotion, consumers couldn't be brand loyal and vendors couldn't motivate them to trust that brand and spend their money. Picking up on client's emotional cues or hints of unhappiness and responding to them help to keep them happy and build relationships based on trust and respect.

On the other hand, when making business decisions, emotion sometimes can cause frustration and removing the emotion from the situation is best advised for making sound decisions. A "never let them see you sweat", kind of thing, and both genders sweat emotionally in business from time to time. Barking back at a co-worker or spouting off a nasty group email, which seems satisfying in the moment, in retrospect is never a good idea.

We are different, men and women, and as such we handle all kinds of situations from different mindset.

Case in point: Take a look at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a room full of men watching the US take out Osama Bin Laden.

A picture is indeed, worth a thousand words.

These Chicken's Ain't So Little

 Check this out. It's hilarious and amazing.  I don't know what I would do.

The Story Of My Life

Whoo hoo, I'm whirling and wizzing right now like I'm on a circus ride.

Yes, I could use a cup of Johan.....

Why You Should Never Eat Chinese Food While Watching A Nail Biting, Down To The Wire, Patriots Vs. Jets Game Later In The Evening

So this is really weird.

I wake up last night at 4 am from a sound sleep, and the word, "esoteric" is in my brain. I'm thinking about the word esoteric, yet I can't define it. Now it's 4 am and I'm thinking, "Is that even a word?" Then I realize that, yes, it's a word but I have no clue what it means. All I can think about is that when I get up, I have to find out what the definition of "esoteric" means.

First thing this morning I define the word esoteric, "Intended for or understood by only a particular group."
Ok, so why this word? Why me? This is getting weirder by the minute.

I dig a bit deeper and come up with esoteric a lot when related to dreams, but I can't really put my finger on why I am dreaming about this particular word. Then I come up with this from The Dream Dictionary:

"If the dreamer in a dream hear a word more than once, then meaning of it can be critical. Word is generally indicated as letter or name. It usually contains a message from the unconscious, which can be clearly heard or read."

Ok, so what's the message here?

Another site says "To see random words like that is a sign of clutter or confusion in your mind - basically random "noise." 

Now this makes more sense.

Random noise.

Understood by only me. Intended for us.

So esoteric....

Hmmmmm.

I think it best to lay off the Chinese late at night.

Slip Of The Mind

I can't believe this, but I forgot to blog yesterday...

I mean, I've been blogging, every weekday for four years now. How could I forget you? I've had days when life gets crazy and I just can't get to it, and then I feel all guilty and I'm sorry, But yesterday? I just plum forgot....and I don't think I've ever done that before. I didn't realize it till about 2pm and then I knew it was too late. Forgive me bloggers, but I'm working on a little masterpiece that I can show you soon, and I'm so inspired and busy, that yesterday I just hit the ground running and didn't look back. There may be a few of those days in the coming week, but I'll be sure to try and lock that crap down.

In other Daily Dandy news, the fashion world's beautiful people came out in droves to Boston's very own MFA to celebrate world famous photographer, Mario Testino's exhibit, "In Your Face". Giselle, you know her, My Tommy's wife and very preggers baby mama, was Testino's guest of honor AND.....she was not looking her best. HA! It doesn't pain me to say it, either. Looks like Mrs. Brady isn't superhuman after all, and yes she is capable of taking a bad picture. Gi said the black Tom Ford dress she was wearing that night, "is the only thing that fits me." (Last time she was preggers, Gi reported to wearing her jeans right up until the birth of son Benjamin, no maternity clothes for her) Well, it's about time she experience what pregnancy is for us mere mortals. And her face looks different too.

Ya, I know, insert your, "you ain't no supermodel, Candy." here and all the "you wish you looked like her" remarks. But I'm not judging. I'm just stating fact (and jumping up and down with delight) Must be a girl this time. Jus' sayin.

I'm on my way to NYC to see Frick! It's parents weekend at NYU and I'm going to see what our hard earned money is being spent on. Can't wait to see her. She was well worth the clothes not fitting, the changed looking face and every stretch mark. I do it all again and endure more if they were all like Frick.

Happy weekend Bloggers, and don't get the wrong idea.
I wish Tommy and Giselle the best of luck and all the joy that a baby girl like Frick can bring.

And the stretch marks too...

The Sole Of A Fairy Tale

There once was a man who made shoes. All of the ladies in the land loved the shoes that he designed and he was made a Prince.

The Prince's shoes were very special, and the ladies who wore them felt like a Princess. (that was after they went up a size and endured wearing them more than a few times) Because the shoes were so petite and so compact, the shoes were not comfortable at all. But the ladies didn't care. They had never seen such beauty and they had to have the shoes. The torture and pain that the Prince's shoes cost these fair ladies was but a small penance to pay for the magic that the shoes provided.

Not only were the shoes beautiful in every way, but they were branded with a red sole, the trademark of the the Prince and his Kingdom of quality. All the ladies coveted the red sole...but not all the ladies could pay the steep price for the red sole. If a lady was spotted wearing the red soled shoes, she was immediately thought to be an aristocrat.

The Prince's shoes were so sought after, that China began to knock off the red soles and sell their petty imposters in the village. But they couldn't fool the ladies that easily, for the devotees of the Prince could never mistake an imposter for a real shoe of the Prince.

One day the Prince came down to his Kingdom and provided his people with the pleasure of meeting him. He even signed a newly purchased pair of red soled shoes, and dedicated it to each lady. Even the commoners came out to meet the Prince and every woman in the land was found to be counting her shillings as so to come up close to meet the Prince and take home a piece of his Kingdom.

It was, for the ladies, their very own Cinderella moment, with their very own Prince. And every lady who left the Kingdom with their red soled shoes lived happily ever after. For that day.

Sloppy Joe's

So I've been working on this project lately and I'm noticing that more often than not, people in the business world just can't seem to get it right. Like, when did doing a good job become a task? Why is it that customer service has now become an audible sigh*, and a snippy attitude for a mistake made on their part? And I'm seeing this all over the board...not just with one company, but multiple.

My mom always taught us this mantra, "Do a job, big or small; do it right or not at all." Even my childhood friends will repeat it back to me and tell me that they always remembered it. I just don't get it. I'm not insinuating that I am perfect, because I'm not. Far from it. But I do take pride in my work and when I make a mistake? I'm on it and apologetic till it is resolved. It's a better model for efficiency.

I'm dealing with large corporate companies, but the mistakes, and stupid little sloppy mistakes, have been a constant with almost every company I have dealt with. I find that I spend way too much time, chasing down the rep who made the mistake to correct it then refund me the money and then get me the product I originally intended. And all with this audible SIGH*... Like I'm the pain in the ass?

Do your fricken job, and I'll do mine. Believe me, I know what my job is and I do it well.

Yeah, I screw up. We all do. But the difference is I am accountable, and my customer service is paramount to the success of my business. If I made my customers feel like they were being a pain in the ass? I would not be in business today. Period.

Do your Goddamned job.!! It's that easy, and don't take it out on me when you screw up with my MONEY.

Cuz I'm on to you and I'm taking notes.

Opening Up Pandora's Box

Oh, I know I'm gonna get a ton of flack from Bama and Heff today, but I don't care. I'll ask them to reserve judgement and please know that everybody is different and has different tastes in music.

Sat night, I'm out with some high school friends having fun. We are at one of our friend's bar for a mini reunion type get together. After hours we are lucky enough to have the joint to ourselves, and someone puts their iPhone in the music system and puts on Pandora.

The requests start pouring in. Since the girls were in control of the music, "Donna Summer Radio" was added to Pandora and the party immediately started. We heard disco hits that brought us back to our carefree days of our high school youth. It was like a karaoke parade of music we hadn't heard in years. Things might have gotten a little "Coyote Ugly", and ketchup bottles were center stage as our stars were shining bright. Haven't had that much fun in a long time.

And just so you know guys, there was also ZZ Top, The Monkees, Bon Jovi and Judas Priest playing on up in there too!! I even added a few to my personal playlist. Never know when you might need a Donna Summer song to get you through a tough workout.

The music was great, but the time spent with old friends? It was priceless.

Knee Deep In It

Myra Rhodes, a little old lady living in Great Baddow, Essex, answered a knock on the door one Friday, to be confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner.

'Good morning, Ma'am,' said the young man. 'If I could take a couple minutes of your time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum cleaners.'

'Go away!' said Myra brusquely. 'I'm broke and haven't got any money,' and she proceeded to close the door.

Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed it wide open. 'Don't be too hasty,' he commanded. 'Not until you have at least seen my demonstration.' And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure onto her hallway carpet.

'Now, if this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this horse manure from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat the remainder.'

Myra stepped back and said with a smile, 'Well let me get you a spoon, young man because they cut off my electricity this morning.'

I Don't See No Stinkin' Fat Lady Singing

I may not be as young as I used to be, but I know I'm not as old as I sometimes think I am.
So, I now wake up with a few new aches and pains that may not have been there last month. So what? The laugh and expression lines that once formed and then disappeared, now have become a permanent part of my face, forever. Should I not laugh or smile? These only serve to remind me that I chose to live a life to the fullest.

To my BFF Danny, I say, we are closer to the middle than we are to the end, so let's rejoice in that.

In answer to your question: NO, puffiness around the eye area does NOT mean you are getting old and losing your youth. Unless you think you are getting old and losing your youth, then I can't help you. But I think I know you a bit better than that, and I think I need to break this issue down for you so you can see for yourself.

THE FACTS:

Puffiness around the eye area is the presence of excess fluid (edema). The contributing factors are numerous, but the most common are here:

• Diet-caffeine and sodium are killers. Too much caffeine and foods high in sodium can all make your eyes look even PUFFIER. Alcohol can cause fluid to pool under the eye, and foods like canned veggies and canned soups, high in sodium can be the culprit.
• Sleep Habits: Sleeping flat on your back, without a pillow, can cause fluid to build under the eye area. Try elevating your head by adding another pillow to your head at night.
• Medical condition: It's quite possible there is something else going on here. Abnormally low levels of protein in the blood, a kidney condition or too little thyroid hormone are mentioned as possibilities for periorbital oedema. Talk to your doctor, have your blood pressure checked, your urine and your blood tested to determine any of these things. 
• Allergies: Most certainly the most common in all the research I read. And here's the thing you can have allergies and not even know it. When you react to allergens, histamines are released.  They can cause swelling in the face, especially around the eyes. An antihistamine may help with swelling, but you would be better served knowing exactly what you are allergic to and avoiding it. 
• Yes, AGE: Heredity and age can be contributing factors to puffiness in the eye area. When the skin under the eye becomes thin, it begins to sag and eyes look more puffy and tired. But I don't think that's the culprit here. 

Bottom line, you are not old, so stop thinking you are old because then you will become old. Good thing you have me to remind you, because I'm just a few paces behind you in this marathon we call life. 

And we ain't goin' anywhere. 

You can best believe that when we get there we will be fabulous. 

This is the way I plan on being when I get there...

I Was Just Thinking....

What is it about a cat fight?

From an early age, our mothers taught us to act "lady like". Well, most of our mothers, but it was sort of an unwritten rule that a girl should act a certain way. They told us to act demure, speak softly and if we had a point to make, to speak succinctly and assuredly, so as to get our point across. Be eloquent and make people listen to our logic, and above all always keep our emotions in check. At least in public, for one would never want to be considered one of "those girls".

With the dawn of the new Millenium, social media and reality TV, those social mores, taught by years of mothers before us, have basically gone to the dogs...or the cats, because in this day and age, it's the "cat fight" that gets the attention. By today's standards it's the squeakiest wheel that gets grea$ed, and "those girls" are fast becoming reality starlets with publicists and posse's to prove it.I'm not saying this is the way to go, either. What I am saying is that it's a fact that a cat fight translates into TV ratings and magazine covers, and why?

Take for example the Real Housewives franchise. Bravo built an entire TV network on cat fighting, bad behaving, supposed "housewives" who look to have it all and then some. But that wasn't good enough or interesting enough, and the Bravo exec's quickly realized that it was the most controversial housewives, the ones who made those cringe worthy moments happen, that the viewers really wanted to see. They wanted to talk about their bad behavior on social media sites and in blogs and fan the flames for more bad behavior.

Probably the most notorious example of a  Real Housewives cat fight moment was when controversial New Jersey housewife Theresa Guidice famously flipped a table. It was the flip heard around the world.
This clip is NSF and contains expletives.

Theresa then  went on to become even more famous with her "Fabulous" empire of cookbooks and products, and she continues to cash in on her notoriety today. Look at NeNe Leakes from Real Housewive Atlanta. She's parlayed her bad girl, no nonsense, "oh no she didn't" image into a full on Hollywood acting career.

But before the bad behavior on Housewives, there was the man who built his image and fortune on cat fights.  In 1991, a then almost unknown Jerry Springer launched "The Jerry Springer Show". I'm sure the intention of the show's original premise was good info, interviews and discussion, but it's producers soon realized that the shows about tawdry, controversial subjects were leading them to much higher ratings and bigger revenues. 22 years later, the show is simply nothing more than a cat fight boxing ring, complete with bells going off and hair weaves and wigs flying.

With topics like. "You Stole My Man and Then Had His Baby!" and "Bad Girls Oiled Up", it's just a matter of minutes before the fist-a-cuffs come out. Security is present, but they are more like the referee's in the ring, "keeping it clean". Springer even admitted in 2000 to Reuters in an interview, "I would never watch my show. I'm not interested in it. It's not aimed at me. This is just a silly show." Yet he cashes those silly checks.

Is the phenomenon of good girls gone bad enough to keep this detrimental behavior alive in the public eye? The answer remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure. I am part of the problem, not the solution. As long as I continue to watch these train wrecks happen, they will continue to produce them for my/our viewing. And I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.

Rock For All Ages

Wow.
Right, they didn't reinvent the wheel here, but I sure had a good time. So shoot me.

Rock of Ages was a two hour long rock and roll anthem to my youth. I loved it because I didn't have to think about it too hard. I just had to sit back and be entertained. Beside the fact that I could name all the  bands and sing along to virtually every jukebox song that was played out in musical form on the screen, the cast of Hollywood heavies made it an even more enjoyable rock and roll adventure. Oh I know, Rock of Ages was panned by the critics and it opened to minimal box office success, but I would venture to guess that this one will grow some legs and spark new life on DVD.

For me, it was two things; the music, oh the beautiful music, and the cast. Let's start with my favorites:

• Paul Giamatti. The guy is an anomaly by Hollywood standards, but he has truly perfected the "slime ball, scum bag" role to an art form. He's so despicable and disgusting (that heinous ponytail,  ewww) that I hate to love him and love him I do. My visceral response to his work only leads me to believe the truth and the truth is that Giamatti is genius.
• Alec Baldwin. Hello? Is there any comedic role this guy can't turn into gold? As an over the hill rocker who stayed too long at the party, Bourbon Room owner Dennis Dupree, Baldwin and his loyal side man Lonnie (Russell Brand) gave one of the movie's comedic high points with REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight this Feeling". 
• Russell Brand? He just played himself, with a spot on makeover of a hair band groupie, which is why it was no stretch. His warm and fuzzy Lonny is the emotional anchor that binds this story together and serves as the comic relief. 
• Then there's Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, a resurrected Axl Rose type of rock God. Cruise nailed it and for me, the guy plays this role so dark and so sexy that I was left almost searching the iTunes store for Arsenal/Stacee Jaxx songs. It's such a departure for this Hollywood Marquee player, that I once again am amazed by Cruise and his brilliance when he throws something different at me. See: Tropic Thunder

The rest of the cast rounds it out quite nicely. While I enjoyed the performances of Julianne Hough and a somewhat unknown Diego Boneta, and Malin Ackerman and Catherine Zeta Jones, this one belonged to the big boys. 

And the music. 

The climactic finale, with the rock and roll anthem of today, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" was predictable but nonetheless enjoyable. It somehow managed to sound fresh and uplifting, but for me it was Cruise who made it new. 

Again, I'm just a sucker for a Rock and Roll story for all ages. So shoot me. 

Green To Red Christmas Experiment

So I have three poinsettia plants left over from last Christmas. Their hearty red leaves have, at this point, all turned green and they are thriving. I have them in a sunny window and they have grown to become quite beautiful.

But they are green, and they are poinsettias. Shouldn't they be red?

Now that fall has arrived on our doorsteps and the mums are in pots outside, I have been looking at the poinsettias and wondering if their leaves will turn back to a beautiful, deep red in time for St. Nick in December. So I googled this question to see what to do.

Lots of stuff came up, and what I found was that I just may have caught these beauties in time to make it work. The overall solution was this:

In order to get, or force a poinsettia plant to turn red you must eliminate it's light. The flower formation, key to turning the leaves from green to red, is triggered by periods of darkness. During the day the plant needs bright light to absorb energy for color production, but at night they must not receive any bright light for a minimum of 12 hours.

So what do I do? And is it even worth all the trouble? I could just buy new red ones and be done with it, right? Or I could keep them green and just keep them where they are, thriving and see what happens. The curious soul inside me thinks I should experiment with at least two of the three..

I then found this:
"You have to shorten the day light it receives. In high school I worked at a green house and we raised 50,000 plus poinsettias a year. Starting around September place it in the closet around 3 pm and take it out around 7am. This will force the leaves to turn red. Its a lot of work, trust me I know after all the years i worked in the green house I have never bought a poinsettia since."

What would you do bloggers?

Friday Funny

Two lawyers were walking down Rodeo Drive, and saw a beautiful model walking towards them. "What a babe," one said, "I'd sure like to screw her!" 

"Really?" the other responded, "Out of what?"

http://www.101funjokes.com/funny_dirty_jokes_3.htm

A Bunch Of Crap I Could Have Written Full Posts About But Didn't

• I fell asleep during the debates last night. What the hell is wrong with me? Shouldn't have had that second glass of wine;). Heard it was a sleeper anyway. Romney made Obama look like a little girly man and that was early on, from what I saw. What's your take on last night's debate? Did it change your vote?

• The Red Sox (I can't believe I'm going here) are done for the season. Stick the long awaited fork in them, FINALLY. You haven't heard much about them this season at The Daily Dandy, and there's good reason for that. They truly sucked. I don't think I have watched a full game since late July. The calls for Sox manager Bobby Valentine's head have been heard loud and clear, especially today. If I were him, I'd be looking for a quick way outta town. (if he hasn't left already)

• For all you dog lovers out there, check out this story: "Susie" a cute, white, female poodle mix, was hit by a car in Taunton, MA and immediately became wedged in the front grill of the car. The driver, unaware that he had struck a dog, continued driving for another 11 miles. He even crossed state lines into Rhode Island with Susie still stuck in the front grill. When the driver became aware that the dog was stuck, he drove to the nearest police station and the dog was immediately removed. Unbelievably, the dog sustained a concussion and  only minor injuries. Susie was recently reunited with her owner. I gotta ask, how do you not know that you've struck a dog with your car?

• I love this best of all....This is Carter, who uses a wheelchair. His dad made him this for Halloween:

Gaga Worth The Weight

I gotta say bravo to this Lady.

Lady Gaga has admitted to gaining 25 lbs this summer by indulging in her dad's home cooking at his newly opened NYC eatery. Good for her. Leave it to Gaga to put a positive spin on the pressures of weight gain. I'm not really a Gaga fan, but one can hardly miss her. Her larger than life persona took over the music industry and she was everywhere, but I've got to hand it to her on this one. She knows she's gained weight and she doesn't care what you or I think.

Admitting to problems with bulimia and anorexia since the age of 15, Gaga released this statement after coming under fire from the media and her record label.





She has a eloquent way of humanizing the issue and putting it into perspective, doesn't she?

And they say that looking good is the best revenge?
Check out Gaga yesterday in Milan.

25 lbs heavier and still sexy. I say, you go girl! Ain't nothing wrong with being Born that Way.

Dog Gone Brilliant!

So I've got this new dry cleaning service that picks up the dry cleaning one day and delivers it to my door a few days later and I'm very happy with their service, so far. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about my dogs.

I leave a purple bag on a hook, filled with the dry cleaning, twice a week for pick up and lately I notice that my dogs will go berserk, barking furiously when the big purple van pulls into the driveway. The barking is not unusual. My dogs bark at everything that passes by; runners on the street, people on bikes, UPS and Fed Ex trucks, but not like they do when the purple van shows up. I can always tell when the Zoots guy is here because they go crazy; like they are up scratching and clawing at the window crazy.

Today I needed to ask my dry cleaning driver a question, so when I heard the dogs causing a rukus, I knew he had arrived. I carefully stepped outside and shut the door behind me, but it just barely drowned out the mayhem that the dogs were creating on the other side. I proceeded to talk to my pleasant driver and take care of business. When we were done, I apolgized to the driver for the dogs and I said, "I'm so sorry. I'm not quite sure what it is about you or your van, but my dogs seem to have a problem with you."

The driver smiled and said, "Oh I'm sorry. Well, would you please give the dog these?" In his hand he held two Milk Bone dog treats. " I always leave them on the front porch stoop, by the bag and I don't want to forget today." he said.

It was like a light went on in my head. I sort of chuckled and asked him to wait a second and I walked over to the door and let the clamoring, barking dogs outside. The same two dogs that were ferouciously clawing to get out  immediately turned into calm, sweet,  tails wagging dogs who went over to the driver and gave him a hearty welcome. I immediately understood. They were friends, and their Pavlovian response to the purple van was not at all what I had thought it was. My dogs wanted their twice weekly treat from their new friend the dry cleaning guy.

I was happy to know that my dogs aren't at all ferocious. In fact, it just solidified the "man's best friend" thing in my mind. Because before today I'm not sure that the driver understood that when he visited my home to pick up/dropoff , he was being anxiously awaited by his two new best friends.