Coffee Klatch

On my way home from work today, I passed the Nation of Islam Mosque on East 38th Street, like I do most days, and was rather amazed at the topic of this week’s speaker:

According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), here are the top ten dog breeds in the United States, based on the number of dogs registered in 2004 (via InfoPlease):

Top Ten Dog Breeds in the U.S.

1. Labrador Retriever (146,692)
2. Golden Retriever (52,550)
3. German Shepherd (46,046)
4. Beagle (44,555)
5. Yorkshire Terrier (43,522)
6. Dachshund (40,770)
7. Boxer (37,741)
8. Poodle (32,671)
9. Shih Tzu (28,958)
10. Chihuahua (24,850)

(As long as they don’t cross a bulldog and a shih tzu!)

Click the dog names to see pictures of and information about those breeds.

(BTW, it’s funny that the official name of the German Shepherd is “German Shepherd Dog.” Like people would confuse the dog with a German person who’s a shepherd!)

Current music: Resta in Ascolto, by Laura Pausini

This morning I spent a while with SBC Yahoo!’s Live Chat support. My first comment was that I was having difficulties changing the personal information on my account. The second (immediately following) was that when I go to a particular page under “My Account,” I make the changes, click “Save Changes,” but no changes get saved. After 15 minutes of extremely slow discussion, I described AGAIN the problems I’m having and the tech asked me, “You could please tell me if you are unable to make these changes?”

I’m not trying to change big, tough things. I moved this year and I just want to change my TIME ZONE, for crying out loud! I change it from Eastern to Central, click “Save Changes,” and no changes get saved. It really shouldn’t be rocket science. I STILL haven’t been able to remove alternate email addresses that haven’t even existed for over a year.

I wish I could say it was the first time that SBC’s tech support was that dim when I interacted with them, but unfortunately, I’m seeing a pattern. [sigh] If it’s anything more than procedural (like “where do I click to log in?”), their Live Chat techs are clueless and end up referring you to their toll-free phone number (available during office hours only). Problem is, I’ve talked with them at length in the past, and they’re not much brighter. We may be up to a 30-watt bulb there, but it takes a 40-watt bulb just to power a Lava Lamp!

Dang!

Current music: Citizen of the World, by David Arkenstone

On Saturday, 1 October 2005, the World Beard and Moustache Championships were held in Berlin, Germany. There were 17 different categories and over 230 men participated in this biannual event. Yahoo did a photo slide show from this year’s event.

I’ve included a couple of pictures to show you what some of the contestants looked like. Be sure to visit the official website to learn more about the Beard and Moustache Categories, the results from 2003’s competition in Carson City, Nevada, and especially THE GALLERY!