"Omigod! Is that the same dog?"

She'd brought her puppy in for grooming when I brought Bao, and we'd commiserated about burrs, brambles and the desert. Two hours later, Bao and I were just leaving when she arrived to pick up her baby.

Amazing what Ginny and Amber (our groomers) can accomplish in two hours. Clipping, shampooing and a revitalizing creme rinse make all the difference. Bao pranced and preened. He knew he looked good again. Bao likes looking good.

Afterwards, we came home and watched the stock market fall. The current economic scenario is scary, even though I have no stock. Instead of giving $700 billion to the Wall Street players who got us into this mess, Bao thinks the government should lend it to the people whose mortgages are being foreclosed, so they can continue making their payments, stay in their houses -- and keep their dogs.

Apparently, lots of people are having to give up beloved family dogs because they can no longer afford to feed them, or because they've lost their homes and their new landlords won't accept pets. That is just so mean. We're all Americans, and we're all in this together. You'd think in such difficult times, people lucky enough to still have property to rent would be willing to cut less fortunate folk a little slack.