180's Out Of The Chute

It's hard to get your agility dog to do 180's out of the chute, even more so than the tunnel, due to its flexibility.  If you call them left, for example, while they're still in there, they tend to veer towards your voice and risk getting tangled in the fabric, especially the little dogs.  If you drive forward and try to scoop them up after they shoot out (pretty fast), they tend to run around you, or into you.  I've been trying to figure out how to handle this maneuver elegantly and efficiently, and I'm asking other agility bloggers to offer suggestions. 

As it happens, I can illustrate this problem with snippets from several videos I took during an Excellent Standard competition at the Kiln trial last month.  The course was designed by Judge Scott Chamberlain.  I've never encountered this layout before. While most dogs made it, much time was lost as they ran wide or even behind their handlers before committing to the next jump.  First, here's the layout:

Now, here's video I managed to snip of just that segment of the course.  (me and my papillon, Maxie, are first, then Lucky Lucy is 6th).  There were other variations and some NQ's as dogs got sucked in by the dogwalk or the jump after 3, or skipped the chute to follow the handler to H1:

Many succeeded but all lost precious seconds with the wide turns.  Does someone have a solution for this?  I'm hoping to hear back.

Upwards and onward,

Maxie's Near Death Experience



Beware!  These bags can suffocate your dog!

 One of the first stories I heard when joining my dog club was from another member who tragically lost her Papillon one night when he didn't come to bed when called.  She found him dead in the kitchen with his head stuck in a doggie treat bag  -- suffocated!  Ever since, my husband and I have diligently cut the bottoms out of every potato chip, pretzel, treat or ziplock bag before we throw it in the trash.  We carefully secure every chip or cookie bag closed before sitting it down anywhere, push in every chair around every table and desk so the dogs can't get up there, plus I moved my kitchen trash can behind a closed door, and don't allow food trash to go in any other can.  I make sure there are no treats left in the pockets of my pants and jackets, turning them inside out if possible, and throwing them straight into the washing machine where the dogs can't smell the residue and stick their noses in there searching for crumbs.

I check on Maxie and Willow's whereabouts every minute or two.  It's pretty easy as they follow me everywhere, but even if they didn't I would do frequent checks.  I'm less worried about the big dogs, but I lay eyeballs on them too, very frequently.

Nevertheless . . . . . . .

I can't control every situation or other people's actions, and Maxie had a close brush with that same horrible suffocation death last night.  Were it not for somebody else noticing his predicament, I would have lost my dog.  Here's what happened:

On Wednesday nights, I bring Lucky Lucy as my demo dog, and Maxie to run the course after the class I teach is over.  I attach Maxie's 4' leash to the foot of my camp chair so he can jump on and off the chair, reach water, etc.  I can't leave him in the car because it's too hot in summer, and he whines relentlessly to be with me, but he is content to be on the sidelines and no trouble at all.  It's just me and my students on the field.

Unbeknownst to me, one of them tossed her duffle bag right next to my chair, unzipped, with an open bag of Bil-Jak Liver Treats inside.  I'm out on the field teaching, another of my students starts laughing saying "Aw, isn't that cute."  I say what, and she points to Maxie.  I'm far enough away, it's night,  I can't tell what I'm looking at, but as I approach closer I realize he's standing there, like a statue, with his head stuck all the way into the bag, confused and suffocating!  I race over and remove the bag.  Maxie stares ahead.  I find out later the bag was about 1/4 full of liver treats, and Maxie had his head in there long enough to eat them all.

People!  It only takes a minute for a 7 lb dog to suffocate!  What if Nicole hadn't noticed him? I doubt I would have gotten to him in time, though I check on him every few minutes.

Later, I called all my students together and told them, AS I'M TELLING EVERYONE WHO LANDS ON THIS PAGE, PLEASE keep your treats safely away from all other dogs, close all treat bags, zip up training bags, close your coolers, cars, trunks, etc.  Not every dog is crated or leashed every single second.  We all know dogs love food and toys and will grab whatever they can reach.  In fact, our Agility Director came over and commented that she started keeping all the treats in her car locked up in a crate after finding a little terrier rooting around in her open SUV, munching on a bag of treats.  But I know most people aren't that diligent.   People leave their SUV's open all the time. I see open treat bags laying on chairs and blankets, in class and at trials.  I recently witnessed a little potato chip bag being blown off the top of a large crate onto the ground, open and half full.  The owner was nowhere in sight, probably thought it was out of reach of most dogs. Instructors should take on the extra responsibility to teach this.

For my part, last year I began using a red Igloo Playmate after training with Charlie, a pesky little Boston Terrier, who could not resist snatching toys and treats out of my duffle bag.  The Playmate has hard sides, keeps things cold, holds everything, and is the easiest thing I've found to open and close.   No zipping and unzipping.  Just push a button/slide the top to one side.  I like that the lid stays attached. 

Still, despite this due diligence, one day Charlie managed to snatch a tube of string cheese that was sticking slightly out of my pants pocket while I was sitting in my chair, and while we chased him around the field trying to get it back, he gulped the whole thing down.  Miracle of miracles, he passed the plastic a few days later, with all the cheese gone, but he could just as easily have choked to death or sufffocated, as these stories illustrate:

•  At a recent trial, we were sad to hear of one competitor's dog who killed himself rooting around under the seat of her van for a fallen treat, got his head or collar stuck, and broke his neck struggling to get out.  She had gone inside for "just a minute".
•  An agility competitor with Rhodesians (big dogs), was unpacking her car into her motel room.  The dogs went in first, then the food box, then she went out for her luggage.  When she returned she found one of her dogs dead on the floor, choked on a piece of plastic out of the food box.  Can you imagine her horror?????

This morning I awoke to Maxie vomiting on our bed.  We later discovered he had vomited on both couch cushions in the night, on my knitted afghan, and my yellow sweatshirt was stained with bloody vomit.  I had to wash diarrhea off of Maxie's culottes this morning.  I'm still cleaning up the mess, and hope to god his digestive system isn't screwed up by too many rich liver treats.  I'll be watching him all day, and I'm very heavy hearted over our close call.  Too close.

Maxie posing as"Walnut Brain"

Let's face it.  Our dogs are basically dumb about lots of things.  We sometimes refer to Maxie as "Walnut Brain", not because he's stupid (no, he's really smart), but because of the size of his little skull.  I mean, how much brains can there be in there? No way can he comprehend all the dangers lurking about him.  Like a child, his safety is in my hands, and now I realize just how much I must rely on everyone else's due diligence to help me protect him.

The only way we can prevent more dog tragedies from happening, in public especially, is for each of us to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.  We each have to project, and predict, and work together, and vow to be responsible pet owners, including looking out for each other's pets.

So please, when you take your dog to a class, trial, or any public place, accept it as part of YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure nothing you do jeopardizes any other dog's safety.  Store your treats safely away.  Secure all bags.  And don't hesitate to correct other handlers when they do something that jeopardizes another dog's safety.  It really does take a village . . . . .

Upwards and onward!

Cross Country Racing

Michele and Jonathan, after the race.

I've never been to a cross-country race, so my mind was reeling with excitement last Saturday morning while attending my grandson's cross country races at Highland Park.  Nathan, Allison and I met up there.  Hundreds of high schoolers from neighboring parishes were bussed in to compete in 2 mile and 3 mile races from about 9-11 a.m.  15 to 20 schools had canopies set up across the landscape. The crowds of spectators were enormous, I'm guessing 1,000.  Parking spaces were scarce and a long ways away. The weather was bright, beautiful, and cool on the 1st day of October.  Thank goodness for that, because the terrain was hilly for the runners and not much shade.

I took lots of videos but there was so much to take in, I only got a moment's footage of my own grandkid at the end, which you'll see in the composite video below.  But that turned out not to be my only subject.  I found the whole event fascinating, especially gratifying to see so many kids participating, not as in days of old when only a select few made the varsity team and the rest of us sat on the sidelines.  "We've come a long way, baby", in recognizing the value of participation and inclusion.

I also got the proof I needed that real runners do get airborn, they land heel first, and their back feet kick up behind them!  I've been asking for a Running Coach (see previous post).  This helped.

Here's a composite of snippets from all the footage I took at various stages of various races, including the start, middle and nearing the end of Jonathan's race:

I have simply GOT to get a faster computer, a better video camera, and better video editing software!  It took me a whole day to make this 4 minute video!  And COX had better get their act together, too.  Their broadband delivery system is woefully inadequate and I'm going to dump them the minute I find a better alternative.

Jonathan nearing the finish line.

I include one still shot from the video, for those of you still on dial-up who can't play the videos I post. Just letting you know (Mom and Dad), you are really cramping my style! 

I heard Jonathan came in 27th, a very respectable finish, but anyone that finished has my respect. Nothing like being shown up by a herd (or is it hoard) of teenagers.

Nathan, Maxie, Willow

Of course I brought Maxie and Willow, and  they were, as always, a conversation piece.  I heard people exclaim "look, twins", "how cute", and "can I pet your chihuahuas".  Very few recognize the Papillon breed, and nobody I told about Maxie's and my sport had heard of dog agility!   We've got a ways to go to get our message out about agility.  I'm proud that anybody, even the physically challenged, can participate in my sport.  I'm proud that I, at last, can say . . . . . "I have a sport!"

Another thing I'm proud of is Willow, who used to huff, pant, grunt and become overheated just walking around the block when we first got her, did perfectly fine walking around for 2 hours in all the excitement.  Down from 16 pounds to 8.5 in the past 2 years, I take this as a solid sign that her heart is truly healthy again.  This is most gratifying, especially as she is indispensible as Maxie's crate mate at trials. Gotta have her!

Upwards and onward!

Running Coach

Jonathan at center, neither boy connected to his shadow.

With all the videos I take, I can study how various agility competitors run.  Most of us can't run!  We take small steps, don't lift our knees, don't swing our arms, don't lean forward, and we certainly never get airborn like the young atheletes in this photo.  There are a few exceptions, especially with the young girls, but very few. 

Since most of us have no occasion to run in our daily lives, who can blame us?  And we certainly don't get any coaching in this department in our agility classes.  I never see anybody warm up before their runs, so no wonder we see a lot of knee and back braces at every trial.  So I've been putting out the Universal Call for a running coach, meanwhile doing what I can to coach myself. 

In answer, this past Saturday I had occasion to attend my 14 year old grandson's cross country race in Baton Rouge, and filmed hundreds of teenagers running (next post).  As the still frame photo of Jonathan confirms, these kids definitely do get airborn.  I watched coaches warming up their teams with sprints, insisting upon waist-high knee lifts that result in more of a cycling rather than a scissors action of the legs, cross overs where the rear leg must lift high as it comes around front, and backwards sprints.  All these young atheletes have two feet off the ground at some point during their trajectory, resulting in less friction and them able to cover more ground.

1/2 # sandbags can be removed
to lower weight

I had already put it together that knee lifts are important, and to that end John bought me some Gold's Gym 2.5# adjustable ankle weights (Wal-Mart $6).  I have been walking around the house with 2# strapped to each ankle a few hours a day.  Gracious, 2# weighs a lot!  For the first week or so, they made my thighs and buttocks burn!  Now I hardly notice them.  You can buy a lot more expensive Re-Bok ankle weights off of amazon.com for $19, but these Gold Gym's do fine, adjust from 1/2# to 2.5# each,  and are comfortable enough.

I'm also practicing taking giant steps around the yard as I lift my knees.  It looks dorky but I can feel the stretch to my inner thigh.

Will all this make a difference in my speed around the course?  All I can do is wait and see.
Upwards and onward!

Jump Training with Lucky Lucy

Jump training with Lucky is easy because she loves to retrieve.  Throw the ball, she brings it back.  Throw it over the 2 foot high garden fence, she puts 2 jumps in for every throw (there and back), and she will keep this up until your arm is worn out.  We limit her to 20 jumps a day a few times per week, and figure we could keep her in shape for years even if we were crippled in a wheel chair!  I finally got a video of this activity, and using slow motion, you can really see her powerful physique in motion.  It's amazing how much effort goes into a dog jumping obstacles.

Now if only I can transfer her enthusiasm for this game onto the agility course!

Upwards and onward!

Kiln Agility Trial - The "If Only" Trial

Lucky's AX title ribbons

Maxie: 6 runs, 1 Q, 1st place, 20 MACH Points
Lucky Lucy: 6 runs, 1 Q, 2nd place, NEW TITLE AX

"If Only" moments are those we all tend to review and review and kick ourselves for. My weekend was full of them.

To start with, 12 runs and only 2 Q's.  Have I ever done this bad?  And almost every NQ was only one tiny mistake, or in Lucky's case, no mistakes just exceeding course time.  If only I had made one small adjustment this way or that . . . . . on each run.

If only we had left home 45 minutes earlier or not taken the scenic route to Kiln, we wouldn't have had to pitch the camper in a downpour.

If only we hadn't pitched the camper towards one end of the mounded RV slot, we wouldn't have been in a ditch 3" deep in water.

If only the clip I was using to hold my hair back during Maxie's 2nd run on Friday hadn't started falling out at jump 14. In the split second it took me to decide whether to grab it or let it fall, I lost my concentration, handled jump 15 as if it were 16, and went to 17.  Maxie ran fast and perfectly, but we missed a QQ.  If only I had used a different barette. . . . If only I had worn my cap.. . .  If only I had tied all my hair back in a twist the clip would have held . . . . if only I had let the damn thing fall without wondering whether the judge would make me stop to pick it up.  I flubbed up.
If only I had the endless energy these other competitors seem to have, I could have joined the RV'ers for their Friday night communal meal, but I was too exhausted.  Saturday night I mustered enough energy, brought whatever I could scrape up (cantaloupe, herbal cheese), and enjoyed their terriki chicken on a stick, grilled shrimp, shishkabob, big salad and some champagne.  It was very relaxing.  Everyone was animated and friendly. The talk was all about lure coursing, hunting and herding dog training.  I got on the RV email list to help plan future meals.

If only I had taken the time to kill the wasp nest I suspected was in the eves of my camper before leaving home, But I was in a hurry, feeling lucky . . . . . being stupid.  I paid the price on Saturday afternoon while tying my tarp to a corner post.  I got stung, within 3 hours my hand swole up so you couldn't see my knuckles or wrist bone, and the Benedryl I took that night and the next morning gave heart palpitations all day Sunday.  Fortunately, my RV neighbor had some wasp spray and I used it to knock out the nest.  But  somehow 6 groggy wasps found their way inside, over the next few hours I found them crawling on the walls and sheets, had to squish each of them with a towel, inspect every inch of the camper carefully, and now I have to set it up when I get home and caulk those holes.

If only I had taken Maxie to do his business before his last run on Sunday instead of volunteering to work the novice class, he wouldn't have gone behind the tunnel and peed, and got us whistled off.  Not a great way to end the weekend.

TRIAL NOTES:
The trial must have been advertised locally, because several observers showed up.  I met a very interesting elderly gentleman in a scooter, who trains search and rescue dogs in Slidell.  He was the first soldier in Vietnam with a rescue dog, and very active in changing the military policy of leaving war dogs behind.  It's a cause I believe in, and offered to help him spiff up his website.  We'll see where that takes us.

All weekend between runs one lady laid back in her recliner and played with her Apple iPad 3G.  She's got perfect internet connection, can surf the web all she wants, handle her emails, read books, compose, upload docs, take photos and videos, stream movies, etc.  Way out here in the boonies!  It's just a huge iPhone, except it can't make phone calls. I am pee green with envy.  If only I had $900 to burn!  Not having an internet connection for 4 days sucks!

My air conditioner struggles to keep the camper cool past 85 degrees on these treeless, asphalt RV campgrounds.  By Saturday afternoon the roof fabric over the beds was hot to the touch. I had been planning a possible fix for this problem, so I rigged up a silver reflective tarp over the big bed roof to see if that would make a difference.  It really did.  Problem resolved.

I learned that Mississippi Mavericks, the host club, is down to 2 or 3 members.  Most everybody has quit!  Seems there are conflicts among the leadership that need working out.  Swamp Dog Agility, on the other hand, seems to be blossoming.  Apparently they enjoy teamwork, and do all sorts of stuff together besides dog agility, such as tubing and kayaking.
One lady brought her Lure Coursing machine out each evening for anybody to try.  I wrote all about the experience in my previous post, here.

Trial Site Summary  (see links):  The restrooms/shower area is complete, as is most of the construction we encountered last year, and I like that the sites are on grass, not limestone or asphalt. Made a huge difference in the heat factor.  What is with these RV park designers that they cut down every single tree???  Have they no appreciation for shade or grass?

Willow (left) and Maxie (right) ringside,
resting up for the next round.

GOALS MET:

• Lucky's AX title
• Maxie's 8th Q in XS towards the 10 needed for his MX title.

GOALS SET:

• One more XJ Q for Lucky, and her AXJ title.
• Two more XS Q's for Maxie, and his MX title.
• One more QQ for Maxie by November to reach the 6 he needs to qualify for AKC Nationals next year.  Unfortunately, he won't have the 400 MACH points by then, with just 267 right now.  If only AKC hadn't changed the rules mid year that no longer double 1st place MACH points, and 1.5 2nd place MACH points, we might well have made it.  Still, I'll get as close to the goal as possible.
• A few more QQ's for Maxie in 2011, leaving fewer QQ's to achieve in 2012 to reach MACH (CHampion status) next year.

Upwards and onward!

Motivation - Building Lucky's Drive

In my previous post I showed Lucky highly motivated by Lure Coursing -- giving chase to a white plastic bag!

Here I compare that video to this one of Lucky 1st agility run this past weekend in Kiln, typical of most of her runs where she exceeds course time but otherwise runs clean, it is becoming glaringly obvious to me that motivation is a major missing ingredient of her performance.

To watch video, click arrow:

Maxie is a whole different story.  He is usually very enthusiastic, most often exceeding course time by 5-20 seconds and often placing, unless I make a mistake.  Here's Maxie, running the same course as Lucky's video above, with a Q and 1st place, and 20 MACH points (meaning he ran the course 20 seconds faster than allowable course time).  His course time this run 54 seconds, compared to Lucky's 79 seconds. 
To watch video, click arrow:

With those long legs, Lucky could outrun Maxie any time.  It's all about M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N!  Building Drive has to become my most serious focus for her agility training.

No doubt in my mind, Lucky is a natural athelete.  She loves to run, fetch, tug, kill armadillos, chase goats, and now, run after lures. Whenever I have her tug toy in my hand in practice, she runs fast, weaves fast, races across the dogwalk, and stays focused. She's an enthusiastic jumper, too, when something she wants is on the other side.

So my challenge now is unlocking the secret to motivating her on the agility course like she's motivated at home. The scuttlebutt is that all this mental gymnastics is great for delaying the onset of alzheimers, which certainly motivates me to keep at it!

My writeup on the Kiln Trial will be my next post.  Some things worth mentioning happened there.  Then I'll post a video on Lucky's enthusuastic jumping exercises at home.

Upwards and onward!

Lure Coursing with Lucky

Each evening at the Kiln Agility Trial this past weekend in MS, Sharon McD of Swamp Dog Agility set up her Lure Coursing Machine in an adjacent field and invited any and all dogs to give it a go.  Lucky had tried Lure Coursing a few months back and shown little interest so I wasn't expecting much, but she tore out after the lure this time, twice, and was rarin' to go again!  Her second run, my friend Donna D. operated my camera and did a great job tracking the whole run, which is NOT easy. (Click arrow to play video.)

In my next post you will see a video of Lucky's 1st agility run of the weekend in Kiln, typical of most of her runs where she barely runs and exceeds course time.  It is becoming glaringly obvious to me that motivation is a major missing ingredient of her agility performance.

I tried Maxie on the Lure Coursing track, and he wanted nothing to do with it.  Ran away from it as fast as he could and begged a complete stranger to pick him up!  All Maxie needs is a reasonable expectation of FOOD, though, to run like a maniac.

With those long legs, Lucky could outrun Maxie any time.  It's all about M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N!  Building Drive has to become my most serious focus for her agility training.
My writeup on the Kiln Trial will be my next post.  Some things worth mentioning happened there.

Upwards and onward!

Lucky's Herding Instinct Test

Lucky herding goats, off leash, with Roberta

Yesterday Lucky and I went out to Roberta McKowen's 1,000 acre ranch in Zachary, to test Lucky's herding instincts. Robbie, Judy and I were there from 9:30-2, and besides practice, we actually helped Roberta work the sheep a bit, moving them from pen to pen and getting the females heads painted with red dots.  I learned that Lucky is a "header", i.e., she goes for the head, and that while she nips at the face and throat, she doesn't actually bite.  She also shoulder butts, which she does with FoohFooh all the time.  All good, I'm told.  Roberta thinks she'd make a fine cattle dog.


Lucky on a long line herding sheep, with Robbie

Well, I have no cows and no intention to get any, but I guess in my spare time I could read up on AKC's requirements for a herding title.  It appears there are several different kinds of herding, each requiring  different training.  

Lucky runs agility because I ask her to. It's MY THING. She complies, and competes at Excellent level, albiet without great enthusiasm, and will get her Masters. But she comes alive, I mean totally focused, when fetching, tugging, or killing armadillos, and I saw that same level of excitement yesterday when she was chasing the goats and sheep around.  It kinda bothers me not to provide her with opportunities that trigger her highest innate abilities.  I feel I must trade her that for her doing agility with me.

Here's a video of Lucky in the pen with Roberta and the goats:

How she didn't get trampled to death, nor even suffer the slightest scratch, I have no idea.  And I'm not at all sure what her intentions were, running up in between all those legs.  Was that herding, or simply chasing???  So much to learn.

For the longest time Lucky was spooked by that stick Roberta carries.  We were walking in the field when I first turned Lucky, on leash, over to Roberta. Lucky went up ahead, and Roberta immediately whacked her on the chest. Lucky cowered and tried to slink away and behind, and became so leary of the stick I feared she would never participate.  It took her several tries to give chase because all she did at first was try to stay away from the stick, but she got somewhat over it as this final video shows.   Lucky has never been whacked and I don't like the idea of poking or prodding her, either.  It could make her mean, destroy her gentle trusting nature.  She backs away at home whenever I pick up a fly swat or yard stick.  Personally, I think I could train her to go behind, around, out and away, and "exert my authority", without the stick. But when the kill instinct takes over, it might take a whack or two with a stout stick to get her off of her "prey".  Now I know why the biblical shepherds carried their crooked staff!  It wasn't a walking cane as I always assumed!

Roberta's "balance the cookie on her nose without eating it" comment was referring to something she said earlier about well trained herding dogs' "wanting to kill the sheep, but not killing them", and that Lucky did well stopping the chase when told to. She said the most important thing a herding dog needs (besides herding instinct) is a rock solid drop or sit on command, and a 100% reliable recall.  We are already training those at home.

When I got home I watched some herding training videos on YouTube, very interesting, all informing me that while the dog needs a strong "desire to chase", herding isn't about chasing at all.  Roberta repeated several times that teaching a dog to herd is far more difficult than teaching agility.  I can't imagine that.


Spider Lillies, September 18, Old Hammond Hideaway

It was a very interesting day, and very generous of Roberta and Robbie to give so freely of their time. Roberta invited us to come back "anytime" and mentioned herding ducks, which I'd like to try Lucky on when the weather gets cooler, which it's about to do. 

In fact, when I was loading up the car to go a-herding, I saw these native spider lillies had popped up alongside my driveway. I quickly snapped this picture.  These intricate flowers, so beautiful, have been blooming in my yard every year for 38 years, and always let me know when fall is on the way.  They never fail to thrill me.
 
Upwards and onward!

Laminating Machine Finds Me



GBC Heat Seal H-4325 Laminator

Sometimes just when I feel beat down and underappreciated, in this case underfunded by those I'm trying to help the most and unnecessarily overworked by that woeful underfunding, the Goddess rewards me with a fabulous gift - in this case a brand new laminating machine!

Here's how it happened:
Doing my very best to weather'n'wear proof everything in the new Publicity Booth I'm building for my dog club, I found it essential to laminate every single piece of signage, protecting many color photos and newsletters that would otherwise be subject to staining and water damage and almost worthless within a use or two.

I started laminating everything at Kinkos, but even at just $2 a sheet for 8.5"x11", and $4 a sheet for 11"x17", and arranging everything as close together as possible for maximum value per sheet, I quickly ran up an $80 bill!  Almost half my allotted budget!  And I wasn't even finished.  An impossible situation!  Very discouraging!

Has put me way over budget, and out of pocket.

Mercifully, a clubmate came over to see the booth-in-progress and offered to laminate the last 15 pieces for free, using her employer's machine.  I hate mooching off of employers, but I need them QUICK, so last Tuesday I headed across town to her office to get this job finished.  Alas, the first sheet we fed into her barely used, still under warranty laminator got jammed in there and never came out.  Project aborted.

Next day she called the company, they said throw the unit away and they'd send her a new one.  Not worth fixing, they said!  So, she tossed it off to me.  John took it apart, removed the jammed paper, and now it works perfectly fine. So I have a $220 GBC Heat Seal H-4325 Laminator, practically brand new, for free!

Of course, I still don't have any laminating paper, so I shopped around this entire morning and discovered Office Depot prices are outrageous!  Amazon.com has the best prices, so I spent $55 with them and now must wait 5 days for a lifetime supply to arrive (have to order in quantities of 100 sheets/box).  Meanwhile, I need about 15 sheets TODAY if I want to complete my project in time for the booth's debut on September 24th, but my friend is out of the office.  Waiting for mine to come in, I'll be cutting things mighty close.

All this running around, scrimping, saving, canniving, begging, repairing damaged discounted items, just to save my club a few bucks they can well afford to spend, takes much of the fun out of the project and makes me question why I put myself in this situation?


Which is why I think the divine hand graced me with my free laminator -- to lift my spirits and remind me to be ever-joyful. Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  And I just found out, my friend has mailed me the 15 sheets I need.  I should receive them tomorrow by Priority Mail . . . . . another unexpected gift, and I feel so much better!

. . . . . . . Now, dear Goddess, can you also please send me a servicable professional copy machine that enlarges, reduces, does legal size, and multiple pages?  Mine has been broken for months and is unfixable, I can't find another one I can afford that does all I want, and not having it handy really cramps my style. I've made so many free copies for all my friends and clubs for so many years, surely I deserve a free copy machine by now!

Upwards and onward!