jacko the weblog » jackson

California Biodegredation

chris — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 07:03:39 +0000

While browsing the pet store the other day I picked up some refill doggie bags (and I’m not talking the kind of doggie bag you get in a restaurant) for our little Bags on Board dispenser. I was pleased to see that these bags were now “100% Biodegradable”. It wasn’t until I got home with them that I realized this was “except as defined by California”. And this is a pity, because Jackson poops almost exclusively in California.

Looking now, their website doesn’t actually mention the biodegradable thing (although you can see the little red stickers, and in fact these stickers don’t have that little disclaimer).

It turns out that this is not the fault of slacking Californian anaerobes, but legislation passed recently by the California Assembly which apparently is the first piece of legislation anywhere to put legal limits on the use of the term “biodegradable”. According to California, something is biodegradable if the ASTM Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics says it is. Unfortunately it costs $30 find out what that says.

Our Dog’s Dumb, but Lovable

chris — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:55:09 +0000

Jackson’s getting older, but he’s certainly not getting any wiser. When I got home from work tonight, this is how he greeted me.

What’s that around his neck? It’s the lid from my daughter’s trash can. How did it get there? Well, you’ll have to ask him. But it’s a safe bet that there was a candy wrapper, or a chewed piece of gum, or some other tasty morsel in Natalie’s trash which was simply irresistible. How long was that thing around his neck? Again, you’ll have to ask him. It may have just happened before I got home. He may have gotten that thing stuck on his head 5 hours earlier.

Funny thing is (as if this happening wasn’t funny enough) he didn’t seem to mind it at all. While I was digging around for my camera to record this proud moment, he was busy doing his happy-to-see-you-please-feed-me dance.

See the photo full size!

A Spotted Thirteen Pounds

chris — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 07:41:12 +0000

Digging around in some boxes tonight came across this amazing discovery. It’s a photo (pre-digital!) of Edie and me and Jackson, just a day or two after we picked him up from the farm. Here we are at Bullwikle’s house, introducing him to his new uncle, Trafalgar, the weimaraner. Jacko was eleven weeks old and weighed thirteen pounds. He was tiny. Well, our cats didn’t think he was tiny, but it’s hard to imagineg that this dog was ever that small. (date of photo: April, 1995).