First Steps

Abandoned by his partner in the wilds of Alaska, Peter is pretty much at the end of his rope. He has a cabin falling down around his ears, two young babies to care for, and too much alone time to think about his situation. It's enough to make a man rethink wanting to be a dad.

Park Ranger Chad thinks Peter could use some help, especially when fire and weather warnings make him wonder if Peter's little cabin is going to make it through the year. When he takes Peter and the babies in, he finds out that the attraction the two of them felt on their first meeting has the potential to be a lot more. Can he convince Peter that they can do more than keep each other warm?

Abandoned by his partner in the wilds of Alaska, Peter is pretty much at the end of his rope. He has a cabin falling down around his ears, two young babies to care for, and too much alone time to think about his situation. It's enough to make a man rethink wanting to be a dad.

Park Ranger Chad thinks Peter could use some help, especially when fire and weather warnings make him wonder if Peter's little cabin is going to make it through the year. When he takes Peter and the babies in, he finds out that the attraction the two of them felt on their first meeting has the potential to be a lot more. Can he convince Peter that they can do more than keep each other warm?

You were bought from a backyard breeder before we fully understood the need to support only reputable breeders. Your legs were too short; your tail docked too short; over the years, your nose turned liver with a black splotch in the middle; your gait was like a rabbit. Yet you had personality plus, an active and happy little girl your whole life who was always ready for a tummy rub, tracking down critters in the backyard, protecting us from thunder and those animals on TV, and helping us dry off after we showered. You kept all of our other poodles in line and never failed to tattle on Bonnie when she tried to counter surf while we were relaxing in the den. You got so much joy out of simply living.

As a puppy, we remember how you would grab mouthfuls of your food, run into the den, and then spend the next 10 minutes playing with each piece individually, throwing it up in the air, batting it around, pouncing on it, and then finally eating it with such relish that only you could display. Or how you would pick up the water bowl and bring it from the kitchen into the den when you thought it needed to be filled. You were a jumper and climber extraordinaire. Baby gates didn’t stop you – you were jumping them at six months. There was not a table anywhere that you did not find a way to get on.

Despite your short legs, you were the fastest little poodle we ever saw and up until almost the end you were still tearing across the yard at breakneck speed, flying in the air for at least six feet as you jumped the small step up between the two patio sections.

The years were kind to you and, thankfully, you enjoyed good health except for that cranky patella that occasionally acted up in the last few years and your minor kidney problem. When you fractured you jaw in June, you never cried or yelped in pain and endured it all with your usual grace and good disposition. We tried our best to keep you healthy and whole, but, in the end, it just wasn’t enough. How could we know that the sprain in you bad leg and the reaction to the Metacam were the precursors of something more ominous? As usual, your blood work was perfect, but first the x-ray hinted at and then the ultrasound confirmed the worse: a mass in your spleen. We remained hopeful, but surgery dashed our hopes. All your other internal organs were good, but there were nodules outside the spleen near the stomach and, with the lumps that had appeared over the last two days on your hip and back, we knew what had to be done. At twelve years, the doctor confirmed that the chances the mass was benign were small. We so desperately wanted to keep you with us, we debated removing the spleen, but we knew the odds were well against you having a decent recovery and quality of life. We absolutely were not going to subject you to misery for a few days, a few weeks, or a few months more because of our selfishness. As you lay sleeping peacefully on the operating table, we said our goodbyes and allowed the doctor to usher you from this life.

So ends an era in our lives and marriage as Ivory was the last of our original four. Unexpected loses, whether human or poodle, are always the hardest. Ivory, we cannot believe that you are gone, especially so soon after Rusty last year. Your place at the head of the bed between us is a gaping hole. The house is too quiet. Our hearts are broken in two. We are thankful that you lived a healthy and happy life. You brought us great pleasure in sharing our lives with yours. We love you always.

A CJ6180GCH 18m low entry rear-engine articulated bus build by Changjiang-Bus-Corporation (CBC)-Iveco on an Iveco chassis

CJ6180GCH is the first mass-produced step-less articulated bus in China. This model is generally considered specially-developed for Beijing BRT Line 1 opened in the end of 2005---indeed, the only 50 units of CJ6180GCH are all assigned to that line.

The chassis of CJ6180GCH (also the chassis model) is introduced by CBC from Iveco Buses, now part of Irisbus. Derived from the well-established Iveco 391, CJ6180GCH chassis is not a completely original 391---most European Iveco 391s apply a rear-mounted transverse engine, while CJ6180GCH applies the T-drive design (rear-center-mounted, longitudinal engine), due to the inexperience of manufacture and maintenance related to transverse engines. The power train consists of an Iveco F2BE0682F*B 310hp Euro III diesel engine and a ZF 5HP502C 5AT gearbox with integrated retarder. All axles are Iveco products, although the conventional driving axle is uncommon on city buses in Iveco’s homeland. The linkage between the sections is no wonder a German-made Hubner electronically-controlled hydraulic articulation bogie. In general, the EuroRider provides a comfortable ride implied in its name.

CBC acquired the exterior pattern of Marcopolo Gran Viale by the contract of Marcopolo minibus manufacture; then CBC created a duet of Iveco chassis and Marcopolo body on CJ6180GCH. The three doors are on the left side, but the first and the second doors are a little narrower than the third. As the result of longitudinal engine arrangement, the step-less area ends at the rear axle---two steps lead to the raised floor behind the third door. However, wheelchair space and baby seats are both available. All destination displays outside are magnetic, presenting the origin, an arrow, and the terminal or “Short-line” plus the actual terminal. On the back of the side destination displays installed the electronic station indicators inside the passenger cabin. Notice the windows of CJ6180GCH is tinted brown---from 2006, tinted windows no longer appears on new buses in Beijing, reason unknown.

With CBC diminished and Iveco joined Irisbus, CJ6180GCH has gone out of production, and the 50 in Beijing are carefully treasured".

In the picture, Fleet No. B0016 (BRT buses, code 0016, actually operated by Division 2) has just pulled out of the origin station Qianmen (Zhengyang Gate) in the heart of Beijing to the South of Tian’anmen Square. The 50 CJ6180GCH Euroriders are numbered B0001 to B0050. The prototype is actually a right-side-door version, but now it is believed to be one of the 50-unit fleet. 50 articulated buses were far away from the enormous flow along BRT Line 1---the dispatcher frequently borrowed a variety of regular buses from other lines in the beginning months of Line 1.

For information about Beijing BRT Line 1, please refer to: