New foster Jonah from HSNB is available for adoption. This very sweet and adorable wired-hair terrier mix adult has been with us for a few days and is a joy to have around. He plays with our other two fosters, the litter mates Calvin and Hobbes, as well as Snoopy. He’s growing on Bonnie as well, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he wins her over.
Video compilation of Jonah’s first days while we foster him and his interactions with Bonnie and Snoopy and the other two fosters, Calvin and Hobbes.
My friend Jeannette brought over two of her dogs to get groomed. Zorro was moving around too much for me to take pictures of him after he was groomed, but in this video you can see him and his father, Peanut, who now have their summer cuts ready to go.
We had handsome doxie mix PeeWee with us for about two weeks to “rehab” him and let him enjoy being in a home. I’m so proud that another foster dog that I could have easily fallen in love with did so well at his meet and greet today. He will be spoiled by his new family who he immediately took to. A sweet couple in Sonoma came to Vallejo to meet another dog, but their meet and greet didn’t go so well. Out of an abundance of caution, the adoption coordinator suggested I bring PeeWee and it was an instant connection.
Also while I was at the shelter, Drew and I posed with a regular donor who brought tons of toys of the shelter animals!
Happy black-and-gold themed birthday to Marc with a “c”! I am finally getting the pictures from his birthday party last weekend! I got my bling on with some tie clips trying to be creative at the last minute! Marc was so engaged and popular that evening he isn’t in any of these pictures, I’m afraid, but he is in the video.
In a gorgeous building in San Leandro I was honored to join in person today a very rewarding event. After 2.5 hours of sleep because of a work event last night, I managed to drive over there. The annual award meeting of this coalition took place. I wanted to be there in person knowing I was to be one of the honorees. I’m proud to work in Alameda County, even though I haven’t been a resident for five years. It’s so important that we work on coalition building throughout the Bay Area, California, the rest of the USA, and all other countries to fight Big Tobacco, which still gets away with selling POISON.
Here is the video of my acceptance that Shea captured. Unfortunately, the dais is off-camera in this video, but you can hear me talk about some of the many ties my family has had to Alameda County since I was a young child.
Happy Name Day to me and all my friends and relatives named Joe, Joseph, Giuseppe, Giuseppina, Guisy, Pina, Pino, Pepe, etc.! This depiction of Saint Joseph has a beard similar to mine!
Name days are a big deal in Italy, where most of my relatives live, especially the ones named Joseph or Josephine. My mom was the first born of my grandfather, Giuseppe, so she was named Giuseppina. She went by Pina.
I was the first grandson of the 28 first cousins on my mom’s side, so I had to be named Joseph too, even though it was the English version.
Calvin going for a ride around more than once on the top of the garden chair and over my shoulder.
This video starts with foster Calvin and blind Bonnie on the hill and ends up with new foster PeeWee on my lap. He is settling in well as he just needed a break from being crated at the shelter. What a beautiful doxie mix he is! Available for adoption right now at HSNB!
We recently met with our contractor to level set. Two big updates came out of the meeting.
The move-in date is realistically August 2025, which is painful. Five more months of this limbo.
Perhaps most amazing is that he assures me that based on his opinion after seeing thousands of home fires and that of one of the fire inspectors, the third and final theory as to what started the fire is this:
The red line drawn on the left side of the back deck is representative of a wire UNDER the wood which I never knew of and which I doubt the home inspector would have been aware of. I did not even know there was a plug there. It’s on the opposite side of the electrical panel that I was aware of on the back deck. It was an extension cord that was plugged in apparently from years ago. It had live electricity. Over the years rodents may have very feasibly chewed on that wire. This does explain the extreme damage to the kitchen area where my refrigerator even melted, although there was certainly plenty of damage to go around. This also explains why some of the items on the opposite side of the deck (what I call “ground zero”) are actually NOT THAT DAMAGED. I have been able to repaint them and have them as decorations once again. I previously thought that was random.
This helps me to cope with that trauma. After the fire inspectors ruled out arson, the preliminary report 24 hours in called it an accident and electrical anomaly. That report thought it was the couch with a charger and extension cord that caused the fire. The previous “final” fire department report determined that it came from the back deck, but on the right side. Before the very first report the guilt and questioning were consuming me, not to mention the blame I had for others. There are still countless things that could have been done differently that day which would have yielded a very different outcome, but it’s not productive to run through those constantly.
I have the honor of succeeding our Vallejo mayor Andrea Sorce as a Vice-Chair for United Dems of Southern Solano as of our meeting this past week. Hopefully I can help to make a difference in this way with this local Democratic club. Understandably she’s a little busy with her mayoral duties, so I’m glad that I can step in. She, like so many others, were there for me when the horrible house fire happened last year. She was also on the curb of my house with Slater as it was still aflame to hug me while I awaited the fate of my dogs. I think most of you know, many did not survive. The mattress Shea and I sleep on every night, my home office desk and some of the shelves I have were donated from these great friends and neighbors. I knew she’d be a great mayor when she called me a few years ago and asked what I thought of the idea of her running. Here’s to a brighter future locally even if the chaos is still unfolding in DC for now.
