I'm trying to get the required IRS wording typed into the articles of incorporation. He's crouched under my legs next to the couch and grabs at... pen, coffee table, pen, fingers, de-sissalled scratch ball, coffee table leg, blanket, coffee table corner, de-sissalled ball, wrapper, jean clad knee, network cable, paper recycling bag, pen, couch arm, chair arm, human arm, bottom of couch, pen, knee, sweater button, pen... He looks up mouth opening and closing like a guppy. He must chew something. It starts all over again. And then there's me, "No, no, no, no, ouch, no, no, no, no, where did you get that?, no, no, no, where's the kitty?"

It's been a busy couple of weeks but when I try to list what I accomplished the list is very short. Everyone else has already blogged about Thanksgiving in Kentucky. It already seems so long ago. This week I've been working on a business plan and the official paperwork for the new nonprofit as well as doing a lot of e-mail networking with digital divide and computer refurbishing groups. I can't decide on a name. I need to decide soon as in the next two days. This moments leading choice is Computer Reuse Project.

Puppy Update or Puppies have two speeds - stopped and hyperdrive
Despite the fact that the puppy was able to circumvent the gate system we instituted while we were away for Thanksgiving, the pet sitter was able to contain the damage to our livingroom. We lost one of the books we brought back from World Fantasy but not one we were going to read, at least not unless I got desparate which does happen. We also lost one of the corners on our coffee table. I can't wait until the chewing period is over. The puppy had his vaccinations last week and promptly vomitted in the car on the way home. He also peed all over the floor in the vet's reception area. We had two other field trips, one to the pet place so I could get him a new collar (he's already outgrown the one he came with) and he peed all over the floor. The other trip was to my parents' house to get their new internet connection going. He vomitted in the car and then peed and pooped on their carpet. Cute as he is, he is not quite ready for social outings. We are now allowed to take him outside the yard on walks but we are not allowed to let him have contact with other dogs until after his booster shots next week. In the meantime, he pounds out his energy on the cats. I was a little worried about how rough he was on our oldest cat. It's not uncommon to see him pulling the cat across the floor by the skin of one cheek or his tail while the cat makes these unholy agony noises. I found someone else had posted on one of the discussion boards on puppy behavior that her dog and cat play the same way. She has decided that since the cat not only doesn't run away but actually solicits the fighting, the noise is just an act. I've come to the same decision.

'Rents come into the twentieth century
Last week, I helped my dad pick out their first home computer and set it up for them. They both have e-mail addresses which they didn't have since they retired in January. I've been doing some on-the-phone tech support as my dad tries to remember everything he's forgotten how to do during the past year. I remember him saying that he didn't miss e-mail at all this past spring. You forget how fast it piles up and how much junk people send you when you don't have it. That may be true, but isn't it annoying when someone doesn't have it?

Setting up the internet and running all the updates took a lot longer than we planned and I was driving home at 12:30 that night. The temperature sign right by the freeway entrance said it was 4 degrees. All that day, I'd had to scrape ice off the inside of the car windows. That cold. We were cozy driving home, though, since I'd let the car warm up before getting in with the dog. The air was hazy and it made some of the city lights weird. They went up straight into the air like transport beams or some other sci-fi special effect and danced up there like the Northern Lights. For a second I thought that was what they were since they appear to the north. Very lovely.