Canine Cam Catastrophe

Thursday was to be the day that Canine Cam produced the evidence.  I was going to outsmart the dogs.  Since it seemed as though Argie would sleep all day, I would put the camera on Sadie.  I excitedly put the collar and camera on Sadie, put the gate up and told the pups to have a good day.

This is the best picture that I got from Argus.  Evidently he's once again lounging on the floor.  I figured that from Sadie I would get something other than the floor.

 

Like I said, she got the collar and the camera, and I went to work.  The mistake I made Thursday was not going home at lunch.  I gave them the whole day to be alone.  This was the first time in over a year that they were free on the inside. 

 

I've always told people that Sadie is my smart dog, Argus is the good looking dog and well, Jake is the Perfect Dog.  So, here's what happened as best I can figure out.  Sadie, once she realized we weren't coming back, began conspiring.  She showed Argus that she now had the camera...he responded by rolling over. 

 

Prancing around with the camera, Sadie saw a myriad of things to do.  Click went the camera.  Sadie checked out all the magnets on the refrigerator, click.  Every fifteen minutes of Sadie's exploration was caught in pixels.The Army has a motto of "No Man Left Behind," dogs have a motto of No Evidence Left Behind.  Evidence such as the photos neatly stored on her neck.

 

Sadie looked at Argus who was now - well, he hasn't moved for an hour or so - Psst, she said, help me get this thing off of my neck.  Argus didn't have to work real hard, as the human (read as me) didn't bother to resize the collar, so it slipped off of her head with relative ease.  Sadie methodically went about chewing up the camera, and the collar that it came on.  She then set about exploring and chewing, chewing and exploring. 

 

Suffice to say, there is no more canine cam, and of course no evidence of what the dogs were into.  Next though is the web cam.  Stay tuned for the next installment of Canine Cam, the motion pictures.

Priceless

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What was I expecting?

As many have seen and heard, I have three dogs.  Perfect Dog and two shepherds.  I've been working very hard to acclimate Sadie and Argus to life inside without supervision.  It's been a long road full of tuff love.  I love the dogs and my husband says tuff, they're going outside.

 

We did the conditioning, leaving them for minutes, then working it up to hours - always returning so that they get a sense of security.  Argus is all for security, as he's been off of Puppy Prozac for some time now.  So, when I saw the Canine Cam...digital camera to clip on dog collar, I was thrilled.  I can set the camera to take pictures every one, five or fifteen minutes.  The camera holds up to 35 pictures and connects to the computer by USB. 

 

Today was the big day...first day alone ALL day.  I don't know who was more excited, me to be utilizing such state of the art technology, or the dogs, not having to entertain themselves outside for 8 hours.

 

Eleven a.m. roughly marked the day's half way point.  I was so excited to go home for lunch, with gas at $1.86 per gallon, it was a trip I could make.  Onward home I went.  I told a couple co-workers who knew about Canine Cam that I was going home.  I went in the house and was met by two snarling dogs.  I checked for damage...none.  I took the camera off Argus and put the two outside.

 

I plugged the camera in, placed the photos into Picasa, selected the edit view and then nothing.  I tried all of the digital enhancement gadgets available.  Only one photo is halfway worthy of publishing and that's my kitchen light.  I didn't fool myself into expecting anything worthy of Better Homes & Gardens, but shoot something more exciting than proof of a 4 hour nap would have been good.

 

I put the camera back onto Argie's collar.  Hopefully he'll catch Sadie with her paws on the counter and her nose in the icing.  Then at least I'll have something to laugh about.

800-Give Life

I try to expose my children as much as possible to processes that children and some adults may find unpleasant. From the time each was born, they went to the dentist with me for the semi-annual cleanings. I have no trouble getting them in a dentist chair, and sometimes have a hard time getting them out of the office.

Last night they were both with me when I donated a pint of blood. I really don't understand what the difficulty is for people. Case in point, after September 11, 2001 the Red Cross had more blood on hand than they could use. Now we once again hear about blood shortages. As one who consistently has to have my blood spun to see if I am eligible, image my embarrassment when I sat down yesterday and told the nurse that she should bypass the drop test and just spin me. The nurse smiled and said, we don't do that anymore.

I then asked, since when? Which right away clued her in to the fact that I don't "come there often". Since July she told me. The bigger embarrassment followed - I haven't donated blood since March 2008. I'm not quite sure why giving a pint is so difficult for people. It's very tedious, answering questions and all - but for the most part, the process has been automated.

For those needle phobic, I've only had to stop the digging once. If you drink plenty of fluid (water) before donation, your veins pop right up. Except for one or two, I've never had any issue with the needle pushers. For most adults, the actual donation procedure only takes about 5 minutes.

If you really want to have fun with the process, take a friend and have a pint race. This will require the cooperation from the nurses, but all they have to do is make sure you both are ready to go at the same time, and then pull the clamps in unison. The first one to fill their pint wins.

If you drink enough water before you go, 4.5 minutes is not unreasonable. When you're done, you get a cookie or two, a cute little bottle of water, and the satisfaction of knowing that you very well may save a life. My children will continue to accompany me, and when they're eligible, I'll accompany them.

Mud Pups!

When it rains, it pours.  (Sorry Morton's)  I have two shepherds who haven't yet earned the ability to stay inside all day, so they have a kennel area, complete with dog house for their daily enjoyment.  These two though, haven't quite learned to come in out of the rain.

 

Here's Argus in all his muddy glory.  I've not looked to see how bad the area is, but they sure must have had fun.  Fortunately there's a shop nearby that has self serve bathing areas just for muddy puppies.  I can't decide if they like the bath so much that they purposefully roll in the mud to go there.  Sadie is the sable shepherd and she was just as dirty this time.  But I'm happy to say that they're both soft and clean staying warm inside. 

 

 

Princess Paint picked pastel

After five long and arduous years, it was finally time to paint Sarah's room. The elephant in the room, so to speak, was the wallpaper. Dad's theory, use the paper tiger to properly remove the wallpaper prior to painting. Mom's theory, enough Kilz and the paper disappears.

As you can see, one coat of Kilz is not going to make the paper disappear. So we cracked open gallon number two, put on a fresh pot of coffee and started the process again.

This time though, I called on Sean to provide us with some comic relief. We told him he was comic relief, really he was brought in as a running back. That's football speak for a gopher. However Sean jumped at the chance to be a running back, so euphemism it was.

Sarah, project manager in training, never stopped asking about out timeline. Saturday was the first deadline, her girlfriends were coming over to spend the night and she wanted her room completed by then. Start on Tuesday - I could be done by Saturday. That gave me a nice casual time line. A little paint on this wall, a little paint on that wall.

Alas, there was to be no leisure painting. Sarah was determined that Tuesday was paint day and that was it. I then instructed our runner to get Princess Paint her own roller. Princess Paint then went to work. We were on coat number two of the primer. But already she was getting excited. Five years is a long time to wait for paint.

I would like to say that I looked and looked for a house that was decorated specifically for the furniture that I was bringing with me. That's not quite the story, but it is how everything turned out, everything that is except Sarah's room.

Her room was decorated in primary colors, and Princess Paint was more of a pastel princess than a primary princess. She was very patient though and only began politicking for paint this past year. Hush, I would tell her - we'll get it done. Trying to bypass mom she would ask her dad. His answer was when the wallpaper comes down, the paint will go up.

As you can see, Mom didn't wait for the paper to come down, instead she waited until dad left town. Comfortably watching the snow fall in North Dakota while attending Army school, her father has no idea what we've been up to. After all, I am well positioned to claim innocence. I didn't buy the paint or the tools. I just applied the paint to flat surfaces so it could dry. Paint that is still in it's can, never dries.

After happily announcing that all the blue tape has been removed, and commissioning her brother to help put everything back where it belongs, Sarah is eager to go to Target and pick out some accessories. Her Aunt Debi has provided her with the means to decorate, in the form of a gift card. I told Sarah that I would double her money if she got an A on her test. Fifteen dollars for a B and I'll provide transportation to Target for a C. If she get's a D or an F she'll have to try to talk Grandma into bringing her home from Target. A grade lower than a C does not qualify for round trip transportation.

Ohio

Many years ago (read as decades) my uncle ran into some very judgmental people in the Cleveland area, which has tainted his opinion of the entire state of Ohio. I've tried and tried to change his mine, to illustrate that in the 21st century, we're not all that bad. Then election year 2008 rolls around and I'm at a loss for words.

A judge not more than three weeks ago ruled that the homeless can register to vote utilizing a park bench or other such landmark as their 'home address'. Now, explain to me Batman, how they are to prove their residency like the rest of us must?

I've let that roll around in my brain until it became a waste of good time to try to find logic in the ruling. Then the "big" news story became the length of lines people are standing in to vote early. Help me dear logic, to explain what these people are thinking. They are waiting in lines upward of five or six hours to avoid waiting in line on election day.

I have now conceded my defense of Ohio. I have a hard enough time not using "I was born blonde" as an excuse when I don't understand. So, if anyone can assist me and explain these two nuggets of information, I welcome the response.

RE: Comment

I have no issue with allowing the homeless to vote in federal elections - this would eliminate the "proof of residency". However, there has to be a better way to regulate the vote once aspect. Perhaps the ink on the finger as they did in Iraq. Something needs to be done at the onset to eliminate the possibility of abuse.