Zeffiro's

There are some very good Italian style eateries back east. Pasquale's in Candia NH comes to mind---wonderful food. Best pasta Faggioli I ever had, and the minestrone is excellent also. And Flatbread Pizza in Portland ME---good wood fired oven crust pizzas.

But we just had lunch in a place that will give either a run for their money. Las Cruces is where one might fantasize over Mexican cuisine but Zeffiro's Pizza Napoletana will make one believe they found a little Italy. The minestrone was excellent and the pizza------we had the "Capricciosa" with fresh mushrooms, kalamata olives, prosciutto..............as good as any I've ever had. And the pirate dogs who had been confined in the Nargle absolutely scarfed the crust we brought them.

So even though there's snow on the ground (got a couple inches overnight) it's very warm in the tummy right now...........

Holiday Travel 2009

Watching MSNBC this morning---news about the terrorist they caught in Detroit. And the flooding at Reagan International in Washington DC. I guess I really should keep watching. After all, there's got to be a connection. You know what Dick Cheney and all the Republicans will come up with---

"Late in the night (or early Sunday morning) the Saturday after Christmas, twenty-four towel headed ayrabs separated themselves from the surveillance cameras and crammed into the men's rooms in the U S Airways terminal. Quickly and stealthily they stripped off their headgear, shouted Allahu Ackbar', crammed the towels into the toilet, and flushed like mad and all in unison. Needless to say, this disrupted the plumbing system, causing massive backups in the toilets and urinals. One of the older pipes, targeted for replacement in the new transportation infrastructure federal over-spending project (commonly knows as a bail-out bill, just what was needed in this case) burst. It seems the money was held up by Republicans on the oversight committee. Water cascaded from the ceiling and shorted out computers, causing flight delays and cancellations. Poor affluent Amerikans couldn't make their flights to the Caribbean to extend their holidays. All kinds of flight delays, mucking up travel as bad as the weather last weekend. And all this in sympathy for their Al-Qaeda compatriot in Detroit. Beware Amerika!!! Once again the Arab hordes are at the gates............Raise the alert level and be prepared for even more abuse at the hands of the TSA."

Thanks, Dick and Georgie W. Now for the latest about Kate Gosselin and Tiger Woods, could it be???, our Hollywood reporter Sleazeellen Hemroid..............

Unreformed

This morning the Senate passed the health care reform bill. 60-39. Who was missing?? Was this 40 Dems and 20 Repubs in favor?? As Aerosmith says, DREAM ON.

Now that the bills are through the nonsense of quorum calls and cloture resolutions and all the other b.s. that our representatives use to avoid governing and making hard choices, what did we get?? A political deal where any Dem senator who wanted could get some pork or special consideration for his/her state!! Abortion reform? Insurance pools? Less responsibility for the state and more for the Fed on Medicaid?

What about all the millions of baby boomers who would like to retire but can't get reasonable cost health insurance? What is so bad about a Medicare buy-in at 55? That's what all federal employees basically get for their health insurance. If it's good enough for Senators Liebermann, McCain, and Nelson it should be good for the rest of us!!!!

Now there will be a conference committee to blend the House and Senate versions into a bill that can become law after Barack Obama signs it. So to Nancy Pelosi, John McCain, John Boehner, Joe Liebermann, Barry Obama----before you go any further, please, over the Christmas recess, read Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy and learn how a LEADER acts.

The American people want HEALTH CARE REFORM not political hash. Early buy-in to Medicare, a public option for health insurance, reform in how medical professionals are compensated (pay for results, not number of procedures). This is not too much to ask and we, the people, deserve better than what we've gotten to this point!!!!

Merry Christmas

Dad's cousin sent him this, he shared it with us, and we thought we'd share it with all of you!!!! Please click on these words:

"Merry Christmas"

We love you all!!!!

from the Pirate Dogs

Anton Chico

Any self-respecting gathering of more than one chihuahua should have an Anton Chico. We don't---but hopefully the humans will add one soon!!!!

The story of Anton Chico is one that brings tears of pride to those of our proud canine race. It isn't enough that chihuahuas defeated Aztec slavers and those who sacrificed dogs to Quetzalcoatl. These valiant dogs moved north into New Mexico and secured the area near the Manzano mountains for the humans who followed them. Part of that was enabling the fortress of Don Salvador Tapia to colonize the area he named after the chihuahua who led him there---yes, Anton Chico was that dog. He led the people who repelled the Texans seeking to claim the land as part of their state which they believed should encompass the entire watershed of the Rio Grande. Were it not for this brave chihuahua, Albuquerque might be in Texas :-( Then what?????

So long live Anton Chico, noblest of the small dogs!!!! And this is the reason all families with multiple chihuahuas must get one named Anton (or Antonia--we are not misogynists) Chico!!!!

A true testament, written as inspired by the verbal history of chihuahuas by Bertequila, midshipman and chronicler of the Pirate Dogs.

Reality?????

My brother sent me this link to a story about "Student Day" in Iran. Remember when those days were a celebration of learning, a time of joy?? Now I guess we can add Opening Day of Hunting Season.......

Then there's the ever politically correctly minded Harry Reid comparing the Republicans to slave owners. Please don't take this wrong, but I see his point. He was comparing the obstructionists of today to the same class of politicos in the mid-1800's. Reid is just ham-fisted like his House counterpart Nancy Pelosi. If we get the programs we need to reform health care, fight global warming, get the economy back under control, it will be in spite of these two "leaders" not because of them.

We won't comment about Tiger except to remind readers that absolute anything corrupts absolutely.

Yesterday it snowed and we had a little ice storm on the high plains. Today the winds hit 60 mph. Please tell me again about NM weather---how warm and cozy we have it.........

Leny has developed a stubborn disobedient streak that manifests itself on Sunday when I leave LC for the work week in Clovis. She sits by the truck, refusing to come indoors. If we get insistent, she rolls over on her back, paws up like she wanta her sharpradorial belly rubbed. She hates my leaving as much as I do............

So enjoy whatever reality you are inhabiting. Got your Christmas shopping done yet??????