My Mans Best Friend, Sampson!

In the summer of 2011, I had just gone thru a horrible time of which I lost two loves of my life. Butterscotch and Oreo were my baby girl dogs that were like sisters to each other. Butterscotch was a Golden Retriever Mix and Oreo was a Bird Dog/Beagle Mix. Butterscotch, I believe was poisoned and Oreo died two weeks later of a broken heart. I was done with having dogs. I was going to live out the rest of my days with out a dog. It had pained me too much and I had no intention of having that pain again.

One afternoon my wife had been talking about getting a cat. Ugh! We had a cat and he died of old age, but for her sake we went to Petsmart and let her look. I heard barking in the back of the store and just wondered what was going on, so I meandered my way back to the sound of the barking. I saw three cages. In the first cage was a slobbering hound and every time he woofed, slobber would expel out of his mouth and shoot about three feet in front of him! Yuck!

There was a quiet dog in the middle and on the other side a Labrador Retriever barking his head off! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark!

My attention went back to the silent dog in the middle. He was a brindle. He was big. He was miserable. He looked at me and the look he gave me  was so sad. It was as if he said, "Look Mister, I don't know you and you don't know me but do me a favor? If you don't take me, just shoot me and get me out of my misery! Please!"

I put the back of my hand up to his cage and he licked me. 

I heard a voice behind me say, "He likes you." My wife chimed in and said, "Can he take him for a walk?" The Lady quickly answered, "Sure!" 

Before I knew it we were out of the store and he was walking by my side. I wanted to know if he knew any thing. I stopped and said, "Sit!" He sat right down. I was amazed! He was intelligent. I brought him back inside after letting him relieve himself and my wife had already signed his paperwork and purchased the items to take care of him. I was a bit humored that she had taken the initiative to do so.

I asked, "What is his name?" The lady with SAAP said, "We call him Big Haus." I told Sonia, my wife, that doesn't fit him. What about Thor?" She shook her head and said, "No, that sounds too much like, Whore! What about Sampson?" I thought about it and said, "Yes, We will call him, Sampson!" 

So, Sampson it is!

As you can see, Sampson is a brindle. A lot of folks are afraid of that but that is just the way God made him. I'm a Bengals fan and as you can see he has his stripes too!

They tell me that he is a Bull Mastador, which is half Bull Mastiff and half Labrador Retriever.

We took him home and I took him to the fenced back yard. I opened up the gate and released him. He loved the back yard because it was so big. He ran and sniffed and come back to me and licked my hand  as if to say, "Thanks!"

I took him inside and showed him around. I let him know in no uncertain terms that he was not to pee or poop in this house. He looked at me as if to say, "I get it. This is not my first rodeo." To this day he has not had any accidents in this house! 

His vocabulary is phenomenal! He certainly knows the words potty, treat, go, sit, stay, down, Doggy Day Care, and Dog Park! 

He loves going to Doggy Day Care and the Dog Park! He loves to play with other dogs! He is more like the peace maker! If there is a fight between two dogs he will usually wind up in the middle of it to break them up! I have only seen him growl at one dog.

This dog was a little Schnauzer and it was a yapper. It was on the other side of the fence but what ever that dog said, Sampson didn't like! So we moved on.  There was a Rottwieller that tried to attack me. Sampson bowled him over like a foot ball player.

 Another problem was that when we took him to the Dog Park he would climb the fence. The Dog Park was divided up between Large Dogs, Medium sized dogs and small dogs. Well, Sampson would get bored of the big dogs and he would jump over in the small dogs to play with them. Of course there were owners there that were horrified and thought that he was going to eat them when he would just lay down and let the small dogs play with them. My concern was that he would hop the fence and go toward the road to be hit by a car.  Finally, I took him home. I was a bit peeved about his action and was telling him so. I remember unleashing him in the kitchen and he sit down and watched me as I gave him the tongue lashing that I thought he deserved. Then he nodded at me as if to say, "I understand, Thank you for bringing this to my attention." I stopped and said to myself, "Oh my God, I'm talking to a dog and he understand me!"

His eyes are so beautiful but in this light he looks more like demon dog! How would you like being a burglar and upon entering a home to see this staring at you? A little unnerving, huh?

He is an inquisitive dog but his coat is the perfect blend to make him almost invisible in the woods.

Sampson, thinks that he is a lap dog. He loves to share the couch with us.

Because he is half Labrador he loves to swim!

One night, I let him out in the back yard and to my surprise, Up and over the fence he went! Again, it was dark! I couldn't see him. I called for him and he didn't come. I ran into the house and called for Sonia. We got into the van and for an hour and a half searched for him diligently calling his name! "Sampson! Sampson!

We came home and I was so dismayed that I was about to cry! I know, a grown man crying over a dog!

The windows were open in the house as I sat in front of my Mac putting out an all points bulletin to my Facebook Friends about Sampson's escape. The wind blew through the windows and cooled my neck. As I was typing I heard the faintest of tinkelings coming from the window. I thought to myself, "That sure sounds like the dog tags on Sampson's collar." Could it be? I ran down the steps and threw open the front door and there was Sampson setting on the porch waiting for me to open the door! He walked past me as though nothing had happened. He nodded at me as he passed me as though he said, 

"Hey, what's up?"

He loves to play in the water! He can do this for hours!

He loves to retrieve as well!

Sampson, is the most unique, incredible dogs that I have ever had the pleasure of being with. Yes, He sleeps with me and wakes me when he needs to go out. He truly is my friend. I hope that you have a dog that gives you this much joy.  If you do, share some photos with me as I have with you. Tell me about your awesome friend!

Decision time in 2016 for the Presidency of these United States.

Well, it's about that time again. The time for the TV Commercials to flood us with Political rants, information, and conjectures. Yes, the 2016 Presidential races are coming. I dread them because I am sickened of the prospects to this race. Hillary Clinton, Chris Christie, Joe Biden and whomever else has the money to run.

That really is the case isn't it? Who has the money to run? Can you believe the Millions and probably Billions of dollars that it takes to run a Presidential Campaign? If you are just a regular Joe like me you have no chance to run! You have to get your name out there. There are TV spots and commercials. There are News stories to break and leak.

Then there is the party. If you aren't a part of the Republican or Democratic party then you are probably wasting your time and effort as well as your money.

If you are an Independent or something else you are more like an after thought or a joke because no one seems to care about a third party.

Then there are the issues. War? Same Sex Marriage, Marijuana use, Abortion, and Immigration reform.

I would like to speak just a bit about Immigration reform.

Now, I'm NOT a politician but just a concerned citizen. Here goes.

I have followed this for some time now and I am amazed by the rhetoric of what I hear and see.

Here is what I believe. If you are a citizen of another country there are rules and protocols that must be adhered to so as to become a United States Citizen. There are no short cuts.
My Mother in Law, Sigrun Dufa Edwardsdottir Goodwin came to these United States with her Husband John Goodwin. John was a soldier with the United States Army, stationed in Iceland. She had to apply for her citizenship. She had to take a test. She had to be sworn in. She did all of that for her dual citizenship. Dufa was very proud of her accomplishment! As she should have.

I would say that 95% of the people who call themselves Americans were either born here or immigrated here. We are a country of immigrants. We are different in our cultures, blood and religions but we are one as Americans!

I believe if you were smuggled into America there are somethings that you can not do. I don't believe that you should get welfare, or money to start a business. I don't believe that you should get Social Security. Truly, I believe that you shouldn't get anything except a one way ticket home! I'm not trying to be mean or indifferent but it's not right that you get an express ticket to the front of the line when there are good honest people standing in line doing the right thing.

Yes, I do understand your plight. If you were in Mexico and were being payed $25 dollars a week for a job, I understand why that you want to come to America. I understand that you want something better for yourself and your family. I get it. I'm understanding that if I were in your shoes that smuggling into America would be tempting. The stories that I hear of people that swim across the Rio Grande or are stuffed into Vans and trucks to get across the border amaze me!

Remember folks there is a right way and a wrong way of doing anything.

Here is my problem though with Immigration reform. Now, that we have illegals here that have been here for decades and their Children were born here. There is a problem. Those Children are Americans by birth! There are also the case of those who are here illegally but who serve our country in combat. I believe if you fight for these United States, you take an oath to protect the United States and it's Constitution. I believe that those people should be honored as Americans. I'm just saying.

So, getting back to the race for the President. Who should we vote for? Should we vote a woman into the Presidency? I believe that we are ready for a Madame President. I don't know if it should be Hillary Clinton or even a Sarah Palin. I certainly don't like Sarah Palin as President. She was a horrible Governor for Alaska. She resigned in the middle of her Governorship to do a TV show. Really?

My concern is that we get a President that takes us back 50 years. I don't want to rescind! I want to move forward! Environmentally, Economically, Globally, Equality we should be moving forward!

In our foreign policy, we should be working on that as well. We the American people should NOT be the Worlds Police! We are stretched super thin in our fight to save the World! Think about it. We have a presence in Germany, who is our friend! How long will we keep that post? What is our mission there? Why are we still there?

We still have a presence in South Korea. I get it, there is a major problem with North Korea and our presence is needed there.

We have a presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are in a war on Terror, right? Is it me or is the Taliban a remnant or a change of name from the Mujahadeen? I'm confused on that.

Now there is a war in Assyria and we have Assets that are for that theatre of war.  When does it stop? We have assets that are close to Iran and now Iran's Navy is moving war ships into that area!

We have billions of dollars that are being issued to countries for wars and things that happened decades ago.  Why?
We have monies going to countries to help the hungry but we have hungry people here in the United States! There are children in our public schools that are turned away from the table because their parents are late on the lunch money. How sad.

We have fell behind in our educational listing in the world! Our students our falling behind in their studies. It blows my mind that when it come to education that India is bringing the talent in science and medication. China is far exceeding us in Cloning. Germany is again top of the class in engineering! We are like in 15th place in the world.
We need to ramp this up, if we are going to succeed in the future. It also frightens me that we are first in the world in school shootings. Horrible!

So these are just some thought in regard to our State of the Union, looking forward to our 2016 race. Please political parties, you can do better in the Political Picks that you are giving us. Are there no other picks then these?

What should their qualification be? Yes, I believe that they should be American born but what other things must they be? I don't believe that they have to be a lawyer. I don't believe that they should even had a political back ground. I do believe that they should have a working knowledge of how laws are passed and how are political system works. I don't believe that they must be a religious person since Church and State should be separate. I do believe that they should be an honest person and a person with conviction. I believe that this person must have good character in terms with the law. I don't believe that there is a perfect candidate but there should be someone that stands for truth. I believe that they should be a person that has knowledge of foreign policy and what is going on in the world. I believe that they should be someone that wants to balance the budget. I believe that they should be someone that has a yearning to rebuild or to better our infrastructure! I believe that they should be someone that wants to look at all of the options when it come to energy. Also, that they price of that energy does not compromise the health of the American people to exploit that energy.

Well, I know that is a tall order but those are the things that I am thinking about today. Have a wonderful day and enjoy yourself. Celebrate Life.