if you ever want to learn about determination all you have to do is walk two basset hounds. i love walking my dogs but i hate it when they see a chipmunk. they are a pleasure to walk until they see those small furry vermin. when they see a chipmunk they go after it with all the strength they have, which is quite substantial. since they weigh nearly fifty pounds each they are decent size dogs. unlike a labrador or other dog of similar weight the basset’s center of gravity is about six inches off the ground. it’s like have a small tractor on a “choker” collar and a leash. speaking of “choker” collars i need to point out that once they see a chipmunk my bassets apparently no longer need to breathe and therefore they no longer seem to view the “chocker” collar as a deterrent to running. the only thing my bassets care about in those moments is the chipmunk and they dig into the ground with the determination of a mountain climber about to summit. i weight 185 pounds and these two dogs do a pretty decent job of pulling me along towards any chipmunk they want to chase. my only hope is to i slow my two dogs down long enough for the chipmunks to disappear. it takes all my strength to accomplish this goal. once the little “rat” vanishes my dogs are suddenly more than happy to continue our walk. i’m sure they are secretly doing all of this as a joke on me.
SIDE NOTE – i’m still trying to figure out the phone situation for the church. if anyone has an idea for aquiring a church phone number on a low budget without a physical address i’m all ears. skype won’t work because they don’t have a local number for stevens point. i’ve looked through a couple of internet services tha offer voicemail services but none of them have a local number either. the other options i can think of right now are vonage or a local cell phone but both of these cost a little more than i would prefer for something that will merely be voicemail.
SIDE SIDE NOTE – i am very excited about the movie “into the wild“. jim got me hooked on jon krakauer’s writing. if the movie is true to krakaeur’s story of the life and death of chris mccandless then it will be great.