Go team Venture!

I'm sleepy and I've been waking up with a headache. At first I thought it might have been the new glasses and the fact that we don't have any more soda, but Liz is having the same problems I am, so it's decidedly because of the annoying dog in the yard behind us.

See, I like dogs. I have a dog. I don't mind dogs barking during the day, because, let's face it: dogs are prone to bark.

But when there's a dog that barks NON FREAKING STOP all night long? I draw the line. I'm baffled that the owners of the dog aren't bothered by this, because Liz and I are getting woken up by this dog, and it keeps us up for sometimes hours at a time. The only way I'm able to fall back asleep is because I'm so dead tired, and this has been going on since we moved in!

I'm confounded as to why this dog hasn't been reported by any of the neighbors. I think Angel is getting tired of it, too, because she started barking back last night, and she NEVER barks unless there's a person she doesn't recognize.

It's a good thing I don't have to get up in the morning, or I'd be REALLY peeved.

I think there was something in the air last night, Fernando, because Liz had a crazy dream, there have been a number of weird dream posts, and I'm here to add to it. Mine wasn't that long, unfortunately, but it was reasonably bizarre:

I went to the bank with Brittany Spears, because she needed to deposit $10,000 and... I was there to chaperon, apparently. I dunno, I had no actual reason to be there. Umm... that was pretty much it. After that I came home and yelled at the neighbor dogs. Which is something I need to ACTUALLY do, because they, like clockwork, start barking at 8:30.

That's about all I have to say about that.

Yes, it's time once again for Nathan's Adventures in Public Transportation!

So, I'm riding the light rail home, and everything is going as normal. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there's a crashing sound! Everybody's like "WTF mate?" The driver gets out to inspect. At first it seemed like we had hit a car at the crossing. Police, fire trucks, and ambulances all showed up. Further investigation was posed.

What turns out happened is this guy in a truck SLAMMED into the guard arm at one of the crossings, thusly bending said arm and smashing it into the train. Apparently the guy was really hurt. As it turns out, this guy has been on the loose for awhile doing similar things: running into vehicles, trains, etc. Only this time he wasn't as lucky to get away from it, because, as I said, he was really banged up. As far as I understand it, he's going to the hospital, and once he makes a recovery he's off to jail.

What a fun city we live in.

React Rocker: worst Guitar Hero controller EVER. I really wish we had either a) read reviews before going to Best Buy, or b) learned from the fiasco we had with the Pelican wireless controllers. Eesh. It's... well, first of all, it's smaller. That seems nice for like... Liz, because she has shorter arms. But then you realize the fret buttons are spaced further apart. And they stick. And the strum bar sticks. And the tilt sensor isn't as functional. And I KNOW it's not just ours, because I read the reviews hoping maybe it was just a lemon or something. No, we're not the only ones.

Well, we're definitely learning our lesson now. No more third party peripherals. In our defense, that was the ONLY option. Apparently no retail place even carries the Red Octane controllers. Probably due to the fact that Activision now owns them, and they're just working out... something.

I don't know. But we're returning it tomorrow, because this is ridiculous. It's just no fun to play with it. It cramps the hand more than the regular controller! Hopefully we can get a full refund and we'll just... save it for a real one. Or store credit works, because we love Best Buy.

It's almost like Guitar Hero is all I talk about anymore.

Setting the stage: I walked to McDonald's for dinner. Two very perplexing things happened, and I really can't decide which trumps the other:

1) There was a car parked on Pennsylvania, filled with nothing but mannequin heads.

If that wasn't enough wtfery...

2) While waiting to cross Colfax, some kid grabbed my ass, said "ew" and walked away.

What the crap.

So, I'm trying to figure out what on God's green Earth could possibly possess a person to start blasting mariachi music at 4:30am. I don't mean blasting like... your neighbors can hear you. I mean blasting like... people for 20 blocks around can hear you. And it was radiating from somewhere near our apartment.

So I yelled at him from my apartment.

That'll show him.

I'm not sure which I hate more: the dog, dogging my heels (wakka wakka), or the cat, constantly under foot and stopping randomly to clean herself.

I was entirely ready to come home and rant about how shitty my job had suddenly became.

We had a meeting at like 2, where we basically got a tutorial in how to use a template. Made me feel like I was being treated like a retard, first of all. Secondly, it pissed me off, because basically it was them showing us that we were being denied any kind of creative liberties. Templates blow. I do not want to USE templates. So, after the meeting, I spent a good hour or so being pissed with Matt about how this suddenly became a job that any moron could do. I was ready to quit and get a retail job. The guy who was giving the tutorial came in and asked us for our feedback, and we both expressed our disdain.

About an hour after that, my immediate supervisor, Brandon, came in, and told us not to worry. He too realized that this new form could have been done by anybody pulled off the street. He told us, straight up, that this was basically the plan. Our new job, once this system gets fully integrated, will actually involve more design than just the websites and brochures.

So, I'm not all that pissed. Sadly, by the time this system actually gets integrated, I'll be in Oklahoma.

Oh well.

Fri Mar 23, 12:16 PM ET

ALBANY, N.Y. - Rat poison has been found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, a spokeswoman for the State
Department of Agriculture and Markets said Friday.
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Spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden would not identify the chemical or its source beyond saying it was a rodent poison.

ABC News reported it was aminopterin that may have been on imported wheat used in the pet food. Aminopterin is used to kill rats in some countries but is not registered for that use in the United States, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency. The chemical, also a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses.

Officials from the agriculture department and Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center would not immediately confirm the ABC report but scheduled a news conference Friday afternoon to release laboratory findings from tests on the pet food.

The
Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation was focusing on wheat gluten in the food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins, the FDA said.

State and
FBI officials said they knew of no criminal investigations in the case.

The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been several reports of kidney failure in pets that ate the recalled brands, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.

Menu Foods last week recalled "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.

Menu Foods is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville. The company also makes foods for zoo cats, but those products are unaffected by the recall.

The company's chief executive and president said Menu Foods delayed announcing the recall until it could confirm that the animals had eaten its product before dying. Two earlier complaints from consumers whose cats had died involved animals that lived outside or had access to a garage, which left open the possibility they had been poisoned by something other than contaminated food, he said.

Menu Foods planned a media teleconference for later Friday, a spokesman said.

A spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was not aware of any criminal investigation involving the tainted food. FBI spokesman Paul Holstein in Albany said Friday he was not aware of any FBI involvement in the case.

"I don't know where we'll go from here," he said.

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods and is available at http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm. The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information: (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.

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Associated Press writer Andrew Bridges in Washington contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

FDA pet food recall information: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html