Auckland election September 2010

Auckland is becoming a "Super City", meaning that we will no longer have separate councils for the different areas of the city. For example, I live in Waitakere, which has different rules about the sale of alcohol in markets than Auckland.  Once we become part of the super city, maybe I'll be able to purchase a bottle of wine at the grocery store. Who knows- there will certainly be both good and bad changes.  The new city needs a new mayor, so the election material came in the mail on Friday.  My husband pointed out these two winning candidates:

This is just too funny to be fake! This guy:

1. Left school at age 14. Who wants a mayor with such a minimal education?
2. He has smoked pot for 30 years, leaving school because of pot.  I can't imagine how he could avoid physical (and mental) damage from smoking unfiltered weed containing over 400 chemical entities.

Despite his admitted "criminal" behavior,  I'd vote for him before I'd vote for the following guy:

Abortion is legal in NZ, and I don't see any reason why it won't stay that way. I had a look at the statistics, and there aren't any discernable differences in the number of abortions in NZ compared to other developed countries. This guy is obviously a religious lunatic who can't discern where religion ends and civic law begins. Acording to the Libertarian Party newsletter (Oct '04), the Christians Against Abortion only put canidates up for local office elections, where they could have ZERO impact on abortion if elected.  

Apparently there are 23 candidates running for the position of Mayor.  Personally, I want to vote for the person who will make it a priority to build rail transport to the airport and the north shore, but I have no idea who that is.  I am not alone- "Rail to the airport has emerged as the most important transport priority in Auckland in the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey on the Super City." (Herald DigiPoll)
For the most part, I avoid getting invoved in politics, because I get annoyed with idiots. But I will vote.

The bitch is pregnant!

My female Rottweiler, Ruby, (aka Sahne Cherry Tart, BH) is the pregnant bitch.  She being of the canine persuasion, I can freely use the word "bitch" with accuracy. She is from Sahne Kennel in Auckland, NZ.  I first introduced Ruby in my blog here, when we got her as a pup. We co-own her with her breeder, Rita Grenyer. Rita is shown in the photo below, with Lincoln, Ruby's puppy daddy.

His registered name is Star's Copyright at Von Sahne, call name "Lincoln". He was the only pup from a litter sired by American Champion Goldshields Feature Presentation, CD, CGC, BH (these are obedience and temperament titles), and this will be his first litter in NZ. I think that the pups will be beautiful, and Lincoln will give Ruby a bit more substance. Both dogs are very well put together and have lovely temperaments. Ruby's half brother is Ch Nighthawk's Born For Highwood. Ruby's other half brother is Ch Thunder Ranch's Quash of Nighthawk, who is showing great dogsport ability, besides being gorgeous.

These 3 dogs share the sire, Can Ch Crusade Encore Von Sahne. Rita owned this dog and he was exported to the USA. Here in NZ, his frozen semen sired a litter from a bitch with some Schutzhund (aka dogsport) titled dogs in the pedigree (Ruby's dam, NZ Ch Tart n Tights of Marqee).

Ruby's puppies are due at the end of September, and we don't know how many to expect. We're hoping for 6- that would be enough. Here's a picture of Ruby in the whelping box my husband and I built and lined with linoleum for easier cleaning. 

This will be a new experience for all of us. We've owned 4 Rottweilers since about 1993, but never bred a litter because of the huge responsibility. I would have liked to have a puppy from Bacchus, the dog I titled to Schutzhund 3, but I never found anyone with a bitch that wanted to use him. Ruby is a very easy keeper, healthy, and a joy to have as part of the family, so I feel confident that she'll be a benefit to the breed.