Eating Out at Chili's

I took my dog sitters out to dinner a few nights back, using the two $25 Chili's gift cards I won at the New Iberia trial last weekend. My guests included John, Audrey, Laura and her 10 year old daughter, Portia.  We decided to take advantage of the "2 entrees and an appetizer for $20" plan, plus an order of chicken fingers for Portia.  I kinda thought $50 would cover that, but by the time we added drinks, tax and tip, the bill was $70!

$70?????????  I was livid by the time I got home.  How can people spend so much money on restaurant food?  Burn thru $70 in 1.5 hours.  Of course my people are worth that and more, and I had gift coupons, but I got to thinking what else one could buy for $70 that would last a lot longer -- like a new pair of Gortex tennies, 6 weeks of agility lessons for my dogs, a half tank of gas in my RV, enough groceries to feed me and John for a week.  But there it was, a Thursday, and Chili's was jam packed, with a full waiting room and quite a few families with children.  How especially do young families afford to spend so much money eating out?  Me, I prefer home cooking and a big fat savings account.

And I was disappointed in the food.  They no longer bring chips and salsa to the table. Portions were small. Broccoli was frozen. Chicken fingers had a weird batter and the corn on the cob was mushy.  My mango/tilapia had one cube of mango on a thin filet about the size of a coaster.  John's chicken fajita meat looked boiled, not grilled and his bell peppers were overcooked.  Audrey's salad had no green leaves.  It was all iceberg lettuce.  The service was mediocre.  We had to go looking for the waiter several times.



L to R:  Lucky Lucy as a puppy, Maxie,
Pepper propped up over Maxie's back (he does that),
Willow with her "pom pom" tail.

The best thing that came out of the event is that Portia brought her crayons and entertained herself by drawing a composite picture of my dogs, cut it out and presented it to me.  I intended to make a refrigerator magnet, but my laminating machine ate it and I've just spent an hour disassembling the machine and prying the plastic off the roller then trying to iron it back flat.  Here's a photo of the crumpled up piece.  Sorry, Portia but it's still the first time anybody drew my dogs, is mighty cute and I'm keeping it.

Upwards and onward!

New Iberia Agility Trial

Maxie: 6 runs, 4 Q’s, 1 QQ, 2 2nd place, 2 3rd place, 49 MACH points, MXB and MAB TITLES, 6 videos
Lucky Lucy: 6 runs, 3 Q’s, 1 QQ, 5 MACH points, 6 videos



Our setup, right at the entrance. 
Each support beam has a 30 amp hookup and water.
Unfortunately,
the asphalt parking lot was studded with limestone rocks,
which is going to hurt us later.

It's Valentine's Day weekend and I'm off to a trial, leaving my sweetheart at home. We agreed to postpone our celebration til Monday night. After a 1.5 hour drive, and another 1.5 hours to set up the RV including my fenced yard, I was completely settled in 3 hours.

The Sugarena has electric and water hookups on every metal beam front and rear of the arena.  I was one of the first to arrive at 4 p.m. Thursday so I got my pick of spots right at the entrance, not far from the rings. No need to set up a crate space, which saved me lots of effort, and the dogs were warm and comfy between runs.  Sweet!  These hookups are new. The weather was cool, crisp, and dry.    Furthermore, most other RV'ers parked in the back or way to the side, so I had the whole front to myself.  The dogs seemed calm and happy.

I got several compliments on my fenced yard, and discovered that by bungying my 2 little wooden tables to the outer corners, was able to increase it's stability when Lucky lunges against it.  So much so, I didn't mind leaving them alone outdoors for short periods. It's always been bungied to the awning uprights and the 2' x 4' table, plus the white strips on top keep it mostly stable, but it needed more.

Temps in the low 40’s with wind early mornings and evenings, in the 60’s during the day. So glad to have my Trapper’s Hat! Still need to work on looser layered clothing that doesn’t make me feel stuffed in a sausage skin. Also need warmer, looser lounging clothes for evenings when taking the dogs out. I had to stay dressed in my day clothes for enough warmth.

Dogs ran small to tall all weekend, and Maxie was the 1st 8” dog on the line all 3 days, Lucky the 2nd 24" dog.

Friday, Feb 15, - Trial started at noon so I stayed up til almost midnight Thursday night, and slept in til the dogs woke me up for breakfast at 8. I'm on vacation!  Maxie's first run wasn't until 2 p.m. He Q’d in Jumpers with a 2nd place win and pretty fast times.  NQ'd in Standard by entering the weaves on the wrong side. Otherwise a nice run.  Lucky miraculously Q’d in Jumpers -- with 2 seconds to spare, then scratched in Standard with several WC's and R's, like she didn't want to be in the ring.  Curious.  I earned 1 raffle ticket for gate keeping T2B, and won a $25 gift card to Chilis’.

Maxie with his placement ribbons, and a
purple ribbon from Mommy for his 11th QQ.

Saturday, Feb 16 -  Up at 6 a.m. Maxie on the line at 8 a.m.  Maxie QQ’d, with a 2nd and 3rd place win.  Darnit, the hosting club offered no purple QQ ribbons!  Lucky scratched both runs, one with so many errors I removed her from the ring. She was totally distracted. I had noticed her licking her right front paw incessantly Friday night and all thru Saturday, leaving wet pools of slobber on the couch and bed.  When we did our traditional hand shake and she gave a cry, I felt sure a lodged stone or bruized paw accounted for her dismal performance Friday afternoon and Saturday.   She would not let me examine it, but by Sunday she wasn't licking it any more, which is maybe why her performance improved significantly with a QQ.

Lucky Lucy's 3 Q's and a purple scarf from
Mommy for her 3rd QQ.

Sunday, Feb 17 – Up at 6 a.m. Maxie on the line at 8 a.m. Q’d in XJ with a 2nd place.  Lucky, to my absolute amazement, QQ’d!  She barely made course time both times, one with only 2 one hundredths of a second to spare, but walked/ran clean and made it. I earned1 raffle ticket on Saturday for gate keeping but too late for the raffle.  They gave it to me for the Sunday raffle plus another, and I won another $25 gift card to Chilis’.  I'll use these cards to take my husband and our dog sitters out to dinner.

Composite videos, with commentary, will be posted when I get enough time.

GOALS SET/GOALS MET:

• a QQ for Maxie and 35 MACH points, which earns him both bronze titles: MAB, MJB.  All that and more accomplished - 4 Q's, 4 placements, 1 QQ, 49 MACH points.
• a Jumpers Q for Lucky.  We did a QQ, and 2 Jumpers Q's, which was beyond what I expected.
• get all my videos taken without stress.  That happened thanks largely to Karen Des Roches and others who stepped up and offered to help willingly.
• Get Pepper used to the trialing environment.  He seemed OK with the noise, let several people hold him, sat in the bleachers a long time, and pranced about like the wild man he is.  He doesn't mind the noisy, bouncy motor home, a great relief as he used to throw up in the car as a young puppy.
• Relax and have fun.  Yes, one of my best trials ever in that regard.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Rhonda Crane was a very pleasant judge.  Her courses were "melodic".  They flowed beautifully and while challenging, were not tortuous. She nested her Open and Novice courses so they could be built with just a few changes from the Excellent setup, making the course builders' jobs much easier.
2. I'm always trepidatious about those limestone parking lots.  How can the dogs not get bruised paws? I must try to avoid them whenever possible.
3. I came home with the outside of my shins aching something terrible.  Someone speculated it's because the hard packed dirt had no "give", like running on concrete.  Do I need to train for that?
4. Gift Cards: I really like the way this club gave out a raffle ticket for each class worked, with a drawing near the end of each day.  (Plus, they also gave out a $5 lunch ticket to spend at Concessions.) They had a range of gift cards from Starbucks $25, Burger King $10, Subway $15, Chili's $25, plus an assortment of agility books and T-shirts.  At other trials I've also seen gift cards offered instead of raffle items, where you purchase tickets for $1, or 6 tickets for $5, or 15 tickets for $10, etc., with cards for Home Depot, Pet Smart, and others included. Much easier for the hosting club to pull cards together (and possibly members would donate cards) in lieu of the extreme hassle of hauling and assembling hundreds of raffle items.
5. Maxie would easily have 20 QQ's by now if it weren't for his hesitation in those darn weaves!  Lucky would make course time way more often.  I've begun to suspect it's the white metal spacer bar that throws them off at trials.  We don't have those at home.  I'm going to paint my spacers white and see if that helps.
6. Most interesting maneuver I learned was in MS on Sunday, second to last obstacle was a 20' tunnel going under the dog walk and pointing straight to the exit.  Very few handlers reached the end of the tunnel before their dogs did, resulting in D veering left to find H (like Maxie did), and taking a WC at worst.  Only way to do this well was to cross before the tunnel and run like hell, which few did.  I noticed it from the stands, and corrected my own performance by the time Lucky ran and she Q'd by 2/100th of a second. A bobble there would have killed her Q. I analyzed video snippets of several people doing this below.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• The road to Lafayette is bumpy as hell in Lafayette and I-10 out of Lafayette towards BR.  They need to fix that road. Good thing I had my cabinets bungied shut because 2 of them popped open slightly and scared Lucky so badly she raced up and jumped over my gate to hide under my drivers seat, with her butt almost touching my gas peddle and I could not budge her, and me on the Atchafalya bridge.  I managed to pull off at the Atchafalya Welcome Center a few miles up the road and calm her down, then chained her up so she couldn't reach me, but that could have been a disaster.
• Label everything.  I left my new Trappers Hat and gloves on the workers table.  By the time I remembered, the crew had packed up and left.  I hadn't labeled them but I emailed the trial sec and she has them.  She'll bring them to me in Monroe.  If I'd have labeled them, someone would have found me and delivered them.
• I'm comfortable as Gate Keeper, but on Saturday I was handed the gate list and envelope of scribe sheets for a large T2B class.  I taped up the list and people began checking in, but when the scribe was nowhere in sight and only 5 minutes to go, I began to sort the the big stack of sheets according to the list as best I could (never done it before).  Many people hadn't checked in.  Those marked ABS I pulled those sheets.  Oops, I was just supposed to mark them ABS and leave in correct order.  Those Moved I moved into the new order.  The unchecked people I left in order and waited to see if they showed up.  If they didn't by their turn I  ran over to the scribe telling her to mark them ABS.  It was controlled chaos.  Next day I was visited by the Trial Sec, who very nicely thanked me for a good job but in future please do it differently . . . . . . . Yes Ma'am!
• Next day I asked the Gate Keeper to move Lucky from 2nd to last (about 5 dogs down) on the 24" running order so I could film a friend running late in the 20" jump height. The gate keeper happened to be a judge, and OMG, how she fussed me for that! "Oh No, you don't get to move because you want to film somebody. You have to have a real excuse, like a conflict getting your 1st dog put away and your 2nd dog on the line on time. If you miss your run in the correct order, you will just miss your turn."  Again, Yes Ma'am!  But then, I'm glad she wasn't gate keeper on Saturday when I didn't get Lucky to the gate on time and the friendly Gate Keeper just moved her to the bottom, as I've done for numerous people in the past. Didn't know that was a wrong thing, especially in a friendly game.  I've seen people move themselves to the bottom and never give a reason why.

So I continue to ask, how hard would it be to teach a little class or write an instruction sheet on how to change your place on the list?  How to put scribe sheets in order??????  Gate keep??????  Time??????   Scribe??????  I hear over and over people say they'll "do anything but scribe", including this weekend.  Getting it wrong affects a team's score, so it's serious stuff.  Learning to watch the judge instead of the dog is hard for some, and scribing what the judge signals instead of what you think you saw is another level of difficulty.  Marking the wrong sheet with faults and time would be a sin.  I propose at the very least providing a laminated chart on every scribe table showing the judge's hand signals. Who knows those starting out?  AKC provides such a chart, shown here, and linked to here. I'm going to print up and laminate a few for our club, plus give them out to Gate Stewards at every trial I go to from now on!  Enough of this nonsense of not systematically training people, then fussing over not having enough volunteers and/or fussing them for getting it wrong.

 

Despite all this complaining, the Acadiana Kennel Club did an outstanding job rounding up volunteers.  I know it was a tough haul for them, but they enlisted some outstanding helpers from other clubs.  If not yet, I hope future Trial Secretaries, Chief Course Builders and Gate Stewards get comped for their trial entry fees or other financial compensation.  They work very very hard all weekend on top of trying to run their dogs.

Next trial in 2 weeks, in Monroe, LA. I look forward to another cool weather trial.

Upwards and onward!

RV Improvements - Geico Insurance Comes Through

Several weeks ago I turned my RV into an older neighborhood here in town to make a simple U-turn.  Big mistake.  An old oak tree reaching out over the road scraped my roof up pretty bad.  I didn't notice much of a scrape or think much of it until weeks later when it rained for 10 days and my master bed got soaked (down to the waterproof mattress cover, that is).  I dried my bedding and took it to a trial that weekend, then brought the RV to the shop where it's been for the last 3 weeks.  Picked it up a few days back.

Much to my amazement, Geico insurance covered a whole new roof to the tune of $6,000.  All I had to pay was my $500 deductible, and I didn't even pay that.  Sweet.

While they were at taking off the old A/C and skylights to install the new roof, I had those replaced with a larger (15,000 BTU) A/C and thermostatically controlled overhead vents.  Of course I had to buy those, but the labor to remove the old and install the new items was included in the insurance.  And when the old roof was stripped off the workmen noticed some rotten wood near the front, which I paid to have replaced while it was exposed.  It ended up being a much bigger job but the cost was far, far less than if I hadn't incurred damage from that oak branch.

While it was in the shop, I had the 22' electric cord replaced with a 35' cord, had them replace all the plastic seals around the cargo bins (the old plastic was brittle and falling apart), seal the windows, fix the generator (the air filter was filthy and the carborator needed a good cleaning but the Onan unit, they said, is still strong and one of the best on the market), and repair the drain pipe in the fridge.  So now everything is supposedly ship-shape.

John picked up the tab for our part of the repairs as my Christmas present, and ended up spending only half what he thought it would cost when he was planning to pay only for a new roof.  Now that is a very, very, very sweet deal.  I was doubly gifted!  And so was he.

One thing I can say about motor homes, from past and present experience, is DON'T GET ONE unless you have considerable savings set aside for repairs.  And realize they aren't designed to save you money over hotel costs.  Their attractiveness is simply in comfort and convenience, and staying in places where you could not stay otherwise.  You pull into a rest area or commercial parking lot and fix a sandwich or take a nap or pottie break any time you want.  You don't have to bother checking in or out, or unloading your stuff into a hotel room then packing the car up again the next day.  You don't have to drive 5-10 miles to and from hotels at trials. You sleep in your own linens, sit on your own pottie, and eat inexpensive meals from your own fridge.  For a home body like me, and with dogs along that few hotels will accept, that's an enormous convenience.  Plus, the RV community that shows up at trial after trial, becomes a sort of RV family that shares communal meals and helps you out when you run into a problem.  That's a real plus for me.  I like my time alone doing my own things, but I don't like being stranded.

So now I'm packing up the unit, ready to head out this weekend for New Iberia, then two weeks later to Monroe for more trialing.

Upwards and onward!

Kiln Trial–January 10, 11, 12–1st Trial of 2013

Maxie: 6 runs, 3Q’s, two 2nd place, one 3rd place, no QQ’s,  44 MACH points, 5 videos
Lucky Lucy: 6 runs, 3Q’s, 1QQ, MX TITLE, 7 MACH points, 5 videos

Kiln is generally a great place for RV’ers.  But 9 days of rain made for slushy grass, water filled ditches and puddles to slosh through. My freshly washed Papillons were filty at the first pottie break, and my freshly vacuumed interior was tracked with red sandy mud within minutes.  Fortunately I had old sheets to drape over the upholstered furniture and floors, except the dogs thought them great opportunities for digging. Worse, due to hard rain, we had left home at 4:30 p.m. instead of 1 p.m., which put us there to set up at dusk. While trying to maneuver into a high dry parking spot, I backed over a water spigot and broke the pipe.  It began gushing, we got drenched finding the cut-off valve, the ditches flooded even more, and a whole line of RV’s went without water Thursday night thanks to me. They were not very happy, but the repair guys had it fixed by next morning. Since I carry my drinking water, plus half a tank of water for flushing and rinsing out my coffee cup, and towel bathe or take showers in the arena, I don’t really need water, but I found out some others rely totally on their city water connection, even to flush. 

What I DO NEED is golashes!  Everybody had some but me.  My socks and tennies were soaked, so I made sure to dry my feet as soon as I got in.  And I had plenty of shoes and socks for a dry pair every day.

While packing at home between raindrops, I had discovered a new leak over the bed had dampened the quilt, sheets and mattress cover, fortunately in time to put them all in the dryer.  I had to protect the bed in case of further rain with a vinyl tablecloth.  Good thing John promised me a new rubberized roof as my Christmas present (sweet), but I haven’t done that yet.  Now I’m motivated. This makes 2 leaks now, at each dome roof window, caused by me driving under a low hanging tree branch and making huge scratches in the roof.

Due to the anticipated difficulty pottying the dogs in mud and rain, I decided to bring only Maxie, Lucky and Pepper. Willow screeched in torture as the rest of us departed! John reported she laid by the door for 3 days waiting for our return.  But it was a lot easier managing just 3 dogs.  Her travelling days may be numbered.

Ring conditions were horrible.  Even under cover, the ring dirt was saturated, and the more we tromped on it, the more the water rose.  Here’s how it looked by Day 3.  I’m surprised no one slipped, but I know I ran slower each day, and neither Maxie nor Lucky liked having cold wet feet. You can hear squishing on the videos.

Despite all these and other problems, I felt totally calm. I attribute some of this to working on my mental game, as outlined in my previous post.

FRIDAY.  (dogs ran small to tall, only one ring.)
Maxie was my first dog to run, but not til around 9 a.m. after the FAST class.  So I got to stay up til 11 and watch some TV.  My new air antennae was picking up 8 channels and all came in well despite the weather. I popped open a beer, watched a cooking show, and slept like a baby all night. I don't generally drink on trial weekends, but if this works again, I’ll replace my half sleeping pill with beer!

Maxie had a smoking good XS run, very fast, with a few bobbles but no saves required.  Alas, he took a wrong course near the end.  It happened so fast, I didn't see it coming.  Just an imperceptible push, or not enough pull, on my part.  Even with that WC, his time was 8 seconds faster than the 1st place dog.  I could hardly keep up, but I felt great and never got lost or rattled.  It was the most memorable run of the day despite the NQ.  His XJ run was clean and solid, with a 2nd place and no bobbles, and while an analysis of his SCT and personal time showing he ran even faster, it didn’t feel as fast as that first run.

Lucky Lucy got what I thought was her 1st QQ ever, running faster and surer in both XS and XJ, walking the weaves, but at a faster walk.  She didn’t get distracted.  We felt connected.  Her jumps at 24” were pretty, with ample clearance.  (I found out later checking her records, this was actually her second QQ!) To celebrate, I joined the Red Stick gang at the nearby Delsey’s Seafood restaurant, and bought the table some appetizers. I made Q’s out of the onion rings to decorate. And brought some hush puppies home for Lucky.  The food at Delsey's was somewhat pricy but huge portions and delicious.  Lots of items on the menu, and the best onion rings I've ever tasted, served with a dipping sauce made of Ranch dressing, wasabi, and cayenne pepper.  It kicked ass!

Karen, Christina’s mom, was thrilled to video my dogs on Friday if she could also video her daughter. What a sweet deal.  Too bad she’s just there for 1 day. I hate scrambling for people to take my videos.  I want a mom along who wants to record my every run!  But I if I brought my mom to a trial, she would soon be bored to death “watching dog after dog do the exact same thing”.  It takes a practiced eye to see the endless variety we see. No one but us knows the difficulties we face attempting the miracle of a clean run.
 
SATURDAY: (dogs ran Tall to Small, Lucky on the line at 8 a.m.)
Lucky earned her MX title!  That’s 10 Q’s in Masters Standard (what used to be called Excellent B).  She only had .87 seconds to spare in her XS run, but she made it! Her XJ began with a whimper but ended with a blast.  After falling asleep in the weaves and NQ’ing, she noticed the tripple bar jump, which she loves, and decided to run the rest of the way.  The half run that was good, was very, very good. That's a sequence I'll play over and over in my head.

Maxie scratched in Jumpers, missing the weaves, but Q’d in Standard.  His times were good, not counting slow weaves.

SUNDAY: (dogs ran small to tall, Maxie on the line at 8)
Maxie Q’d in Standard, NQ’d in Jumpers, again popping out of the weaves, otherwise clean. His times were slower, I suspect due to muddier conditions. I know I was walking fast more than running.

Lucky NQ’d both runs, seemingly tired and not focused.  Her first run XS she stopped on top of the A-frame, plcking up Ken's scent in the stands, went down and headed for the sidelines trying to get to him.  Lucky has a serious thing for Ken.  We always have to arrange for Ken to disappear during Lucky's runs, but we both thought up in the stands was far enough away.  NOT. This is developing into such a problem, we may have to stop training together on weekends.  Lucky literally quivers and whines looking in the direction of his RV whenever I let the dogs out.

Didn't get video of either of their last runs.  Couldn't find anyone willing to take them.  I have to quit letting that bother me, but I feel I'm missing valuable information I can use to improve.

There's going to be a fun run in 2 weeks at the same arena.  I'm going.  I can't wait to show some of these agility folks how fast and well Lucky runs when I'm carrying her toy, and I pray someone will take her video then.

I'm having trouble with my AVS Video Editing Software.  I discovered that one of my USB ports gives an unreliable connection, resulting in problems with voiceovers, and it sometimes takes forever for these huge HD videos to load into the program.  After futzing with it for several days and trying Windows Movie Maker again, I got AVS to produce something.  It's still better than WMM.

Maxie's Composite Video, with commentary.  I learned that as Maxie improves, I no longer need to push or pull him very hard to get him to veer. I have to become more subtle in my corrections.  Without watching the videos, I probably would not have picked up on that.  Also need to time my front crosses better.
Lucky's Composite Video, with commentary. I managed to capture a segment in slo mo showing Lucky's beautiful 12' jumping stride, which no one seems to notice but me.  I may have a long ways to go with her enthusiasm for trialing, but I know I've got great jumping skills to work with.

GOALS MET/GOALS SET:

• My goal of another QQ for Maxie was not met, but we racked up two more Q's in Standard and 1 in Jumpers, leaving only 1 more to go in each class for his Master Bronze Agility Titles - MXB, MJB.  (25 Q's in a class)
• Lucky's 2nd QQ was a great achievement, plus her MX title. I don't know how long it will take us to get MXJ with 8 Q's to go, but I WILL GET HER THERE.
• Work on my mental game.

Otherwise the weekend was full of too many oddities to mention, including a see saw whose end got stuck in the mud leading to many fly-offs, how few dogs qualified in class after class, and some turse comments.  The courses were not that difficult, but some of those border collies were running wilder than usual.  Was it the weather?  The barometric pressure?  The wet ground? Handlers unsure of their footing?

There was one magical moment worth sharing.  My friend Sue Cohen handed me a thumb drive with info for a story we're working on, said she needed it back tomorrow.  I promised to download it that very evening, and stuck it in the bottom of my wagon on my way into the ring.  But when I got the wagon back to the RV it had vanished.  I searched high and low to no avail, then retraced my path to the arena, searching the ground.  About tearing my hair out, I told another RV'er about the jinx, and she suggested I look up St. Anthony prayer (patron saint of lost items) on my iPhone, say the prayer, and see what happens.  Said her mother swears by it.  So I went back to my RV, lit a candle, and did it.  Here was my prayer:

     St. Anthony, St Anthony, please come around.
     a thumb drive is lost and can’t be found.
     Dear St. Anthony, I pray
     Bring it back without delay.

Within 5 minutes, a voice said “look in the basket on the table”, where I found a thumb drive I had lost 3-4 months back.  I have NO IDEA how that one got into the RV!  Apparently, one has to be very specific in wording ones prayers to St Anthony.  I repeated the prayer saying “Sue’s thumb drive”, then a little voice told me to look again in the duffle bag I’d already gone through 3 times.  I did, and there it was, sealed in a ziplock bag!!!!!  I will not be forgetting St. Anthony's Prayer!

Is there a patron saint for agility?

Upwards and onward!

My New A-Frame

My new light-weight A-frame, on wheels,
matches my 9' yellow tunnel.

Last week one of our club's newer competitors posted notice she was selling all of her agility equipment.  Her border collie had been diagnosed with epilepsy and displasia, preventing her from pursuing the sport further.  It was very sad.

At the same time, it was a boon for several of her clubmates who bought the equipment at half-price or less -- jumps, tunnels, table, weaves, baby dog walk, sand bags.  Our club scored a steerable A-frame mover, very well built, heavy gauge steel, and brand new, which we have sorely needed but could not afford at full price.

I drove over immediately to look at the equipment and possibly make purchases for myself and others.  I presumed it would all sell fast, and most of it got snapped up quickly. Clubmate Ken and I returned with his big van a few days later to pick up his tunnel, tire jump, table, the club's A-frame mover, and my stuff.

I bought 6 small tunnel sandbags for $10, and a home made light-weight A-Frame in LSU colors for $200 -- what I offered when nobody else wanted it because the metal frame is sway-back, the rubberized coating is coming loose, and the bare wood will eventually rot.  It isn't competition grade.  Nevertheless, I got to thinking that the frame, being made of channel steel, could be reinforced, straightened and re-used when the current top is replaced, and the unit, as is, is adequate for training my wee little dogs at home.  The tipping point for me to purchase was when I realized the way it was constructed, the wheels and axles I had on my old wooden A-Frame would slip right through the tubes at the bottom.  Also, she agreed to reduce the price down from $550.



Underside construction,
wheels hold it 1" above the ground,
1" square tube top and bottom
allows my axles to go through
the bottom ones.

It took John an hour or so to finagle the A-frame into the back yard (no easy task as fencing had to be removed).  It took him an hour or so to swap out the wheels (wing nuts were rusted on, of course), but now I have a light A-frame which I can wheel back and forth across the yard to mow underneath.  I don't have to wait for John to get home or someone to come over to help me move it.  The wheels also keep the A-frame itself from direct contact with the ground.  In the lawn where it had been sitting, one end had sunk about 3" under the ground and grass had rooted in the rubberized surface.  It took me about half an hour to tear out the grass. 

I still need to repair and re-glue the rubberized surface and paint the wood.  I'll probably use epoxy on the glue project, and spar urethene exterior varnish on the wood.  I may wait until it's cooler.

I tested it out this morning, and even though it's much lighter than my old solid wood A-frame and has a good bit of flex, the weight of the dogs hitting the upside or pushing off the downside, even Lucky's 50 lbs, doesn't roll it, so I don't need to chock the wheels.  But I could if I needed to for a larger dog. 



Dogs L to R:  Lucky, Pepper, Maxie

Maxie & Lucky seemed thrilled to have an A-frame again, and Pepper zipped right over it too, at full height, without the slightest need of encouragement.  Getting Maxie and Lucky to stay on top for a photo was difficult, with many a STAY, HALT, STOP, KISS ME, PLEASE STAY WHILE DADDY TAKES OUR PICTURE. I didn't realize how well they have internalized our NEVER PAUSE AT THE TOP rule!  They clearly didn't feel right about it.  Good!

Maxie (top), Pepper (bottom)

I even managed to crop a really cute photo of Pepper and Maxie posing together at the top. Too bad it's not sharp.

We are all feeling lucky today.  Now when will Lady Luck send me a dog walk I can afford?  The wooden one I built has rotted out in only 3 years. I don't want another wood one, but it puts a real crimp in an agility dog's lifestyle not to have all 3 pieces of the contact equipment handy.  For my dogs, at least, they are the most fun.

Upwards and onward!

My 65th Birthday

John, Michele, Nathan, Allison, Audrey

Taking a break from the doggies, I invited friends and family to join John and me in MidCity for "White Light Night", touring the shops and art galleries for their annual open house (which happened to fall on my birthday), culminating in cake and ice cream at Audrey's, who lives just 1/2 block off the art district.  Weather was cool, crisp and clear, and breezy. "Standing room only" trolleys were running every 15 minutes up and down the strip, crowds of people were strolling about and excitement was in the air.  Shops were serving wine, cheese, grapes, gumbo, dip & chips, and other assorted snacks.

Nathan, Allison, Audrey, John and I started out together and took the trolley down to Circa 1857, but we played phone tag with the others and never hooked up until we met up at Audrey's at 9 p.m.  She had cooked chili and salad, which turned out great because nobody got enough free food.  Turns out, most of the spread was at the other end of the line in Jefferson Plaza. Circa 1857 had a cash bar and restaurant open for business, but we weren't buying, and the music was so ear-splitting loud and the crowds so thick, we left there quickly.  My nightclubbing days are definitely over.

Nathan brought 2 fancy birthday cakes (one chocolate and one rasberry), and some adorable candles, there were gifts and lovely cards despite my saying "NO GIFTS", and everyone took photos with their iPhones, from every angle, including taking iphotos of people taking iphotos.  The only photos I took are these two, and they're the only ones I have at the moment.  If I can ever round up the others, I plan on creating a Windows Live Photo Slide Show and seeing if I can embed it here for Mom and Dad to see.  I'm always looking for material to experiment with.  Oh, and the cakes were from Fresh Market and especially the Rasberry one was "to die for".

Nathan and Allison gave me a gorgeous Miyabi 600D chef's knife to replace my broken MAC knife (which lasted 25 years), a knife sharpener, and a lovely pot of Paperwhites. Of course, John gave me my new Camera, and I gave myself this new laptop.  Audrey contributed cash towards my new video editing program. Alice sent a most delicious smelling candle. Laura promised Atlas Shrugged, the movie, when it comes out in Blueray, and I promised to give another party for viewing that so it looks like my birthday ain't over yet!  Mom and Dad, Sis and several others called or posted birthday wishes on my Facebook wall, wherever that is (I've never been there).  Lots of cards.  So it was a very pleasant event.

While none of my dog club friends showed up, several sent regrets and Birthday wishes. It's nice to know I have made some friends in the club, but nothing beats the neighbors upon whom I rely for support at any time of day or night, for any kind of problem whatsoever, and who never forget my birthday nor miss my parties. Audrey, Laura, and Schuyler, you're the best!

Some gifts come in strange ways.  In Circa 1875 I saw the perfect large cabinet for hiding away my doggie gear in the den -- unfortunately it was a Louis XIV era piece with a price tag of $4,800!  A gorgeous old cabinet with deep shelves and solid doors, which finally gave me a mental picture of what I want.

One kind man said he couldn't believe I was 65, said "you look 50ish", and that was a fine present, too!

Had to feed the dogs their dinner at 5:45 instead of our usual 8 p.m, so this morning they were up at 5:45 pestering me to roll out of bed.  I finally figured out they were starving.  12 hours is about their limit between meals.

65, still feeling girlish, and looking forward to at least 30 more years of fun and self-improvement no matter how old I look! 

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!

Online Courses/Tutorials/Communities

In her recent post, Susan Garrett claimed to be the first dog trainer to present a dog training course via online tutorials (Improving Your Mental Game, Recallers, Puppy Peaks).  I don't know if that's true, but there is no doubt that online tutorials of any kind are a new phenomenon (last 10 years), great for distance learning, and can reach a world-wide audience. 

Thru the Cajun Clickers Computer Club, another club I belong to that's doing great work in our community, I now work with some very dedicated volunteers bringing computer literacy to hundreds of local folks. One of CCCC's recent projects is to encourage members to take advantage of the thousands of Online Tutorials available, mostly free, and to guide them through the process.  For it turns out, many people won't complete tutorials on their own -- they are more successful with shared experiences.  At home they get stuck on one point they don't understand, don't have anyone to ask questions to, and eventually give up.  I think that's why Susan Garrett sets up online "communities" for each course, so her students can talk about their problems, brag about their successes, express gratitude, and share what they know.  Online communities, videos, audio, and contests make the online learning process feel more "human".  Smart move, Susan!

I recently completed my first free online tutorial, Powerpoint 2007, from GCFLearnFree.org, and after about 9 hours of watching videos and doing assignments within the program, I ended up with an ability to put together a pretty good Powerpoint presentation.  The course was interesting, well organized, graded by an instructor, plus I will receive a Certificate of Completion that counts for Continuing Education Credits.  I look forward to signing up for their Excel 2007, Word 2007, and Windows 7 classes.  I had the additional advantage that John is taking the Powerpoint course too, a few lessons behind me, and it is funner with us both working the program.  I will one day attempt to insert a Powerpoint presentation into this blog.

I also have the advantage that Phil C, the CCCC Education Director and a good friend, is setting up some Wiki pages, another relatively new internet phenomenon, also free, for his Online Tutorial students to enjoy their own online community around these courses.  I'm helping him fiddle with that, too.  Whew!  So much to learn.  So much to do.  So much new stuff coming at me, it's like standing in a peach orchard at harvest time.   So much fruit you don't know where to start picking. It boggles the mind.

Upwards and onward!

Why Do I Blog?

Two days ago, on the day of my blog's 1st anniversary, it so happened that Google's Blogger Buzz forum leader asked the question: 

Why Do You Blog?

After reading the other bloggers' comments, I gave it some thought, then posted my own comments:

"I've been wondering why other people blog, and these responses are illuminating! It seems we all want a chance to sort thru and organize our thoughts, record our lives, examine our feelings, share our insights, express ourselves, and be heard! Many times my blog is the only sounding board I have, it lets me speak my truth whenever I'm ready, take as long as I want to develop and edit my points, it remembers everything I said, and reflects me back to myself! That is extremely satisfying. In fact, after I've blogged about something to my satisfaction then people ask me how some episode went, I frequently respond "I just blogged about that.  Go and read it."  I don't feel the need to talk about it anymore.  If I do end up talking about it, my descriptions are more concise because I've thought it through.

The publishing world and news editors have for too long had exclusive power to pick and choose what gets published and shape the culture with their selections and omissions, their rules, their preferences and prejudices. Blogging, YouTube, and social media are now leveling that playing field such that we might finally get a truer picture of what appeals to, concerns, and interests the human race. The silent majority has found it's venue, and the free flow of ideas, the desire for community, people wanting to share what they know, in their own voice, and make their mark, is very confirming to me of an intelligent, benevolent, generous, and diverse free society."

The Google Buzz Team and all the 100+ contributors gave me a unique 1st anniversary gift -- I felt they were raising their voices in toast and encouragement for my own straightforward, undiluted personal expression, and for me that could spell another, perhaps bolder year of Upward and Onward!

Y8W25WD2558Y

Maxie's 4th Birthday

Continuing from yesterday's post on the 1st Anniversary of this Blog and Maxie's 4th Birthday, I woke up yesterday eager to make a pile of heart healthy Oatmeal Cookies in papillon shapes!  After trying my hand at shaping and baking a whole dog, I realized the baking process spreads the cookies out considerably, so I settled for 1 cookie shaped somewhat like a papillon head, sitting atop a pile of regular cookies.

Willow (L), Maxie (R)

I dressed Max and Willow up for a little photo shoot.  They were not terribly thrilled and the smell of the cookies was driving them crazy, but they were patient with me and I got a couple of decent shots.  Then I stuck 4 candles in the cookie pile.

Maxie (L), Willow (R)

John, myself, our house guest Wy Ming, and all 4 dogs gathered around the kitchen table, we sang Happy Birthday, and of course I blew out the candles for Max, wishing for many, many more.

John and Maxie, Wy Ming and Willow



Lucky (left), Fooh Fooh (right)

Then commenced an eating frenzy with 4 dogs at my feet, waiting for their morsels.  I am SURE they knew it was a party the way they pranced around. 

Particularly adorable was when Max and Willow did the tango. 

The whole party took all of 15 minutes.

Maxie and Willow TANGO!

For everyone else the party was short and sweet, for me it lingered on as I reviewed and processed a lot of really cute photos which are now posted to my Family Web Albums, here.

It's been fun over the years fashioning Maxie's little cakes from whatever was around the house at the time. I've never done a birthday cake for any of my other dogs. Don't know why. Maybe it's because we designated Valentine's Day as Fooh's birthday and we are already including him in that celebration. Or maybe Maxie's cute little face just lends itself to being sculpted. How would I make a Lucky cake? A Willow cake?  They'd rather have a frozen chicken neck anyway!

Sorting birthday photos today, I took a little trip down memory lane regarding Maxie's earlier cakes.


His 1st was a store bought carrot cake in a little tin.  I think it cost $1.00  I decorated it with plastic balloons with a wallet photo of him on top.  John, Audrey and I went with Maxie, Willow and Fooh to Highland Road Observatory, the dogs ate the cake, then we all went hiking in the woods, then fig picking. 

Maxie's 2nd birthday -- no cake, no party.  My brother Fred had died and my niece got married at my house during that period, and I simply lost track of the date.  Shame on me!

Maxie's 3rd birthday cake I used an upside down shortcake, with torn ham for the ears, carrots sticks for the ear feathers, whipped cream for his blaze, and raisins for eyes and nose.  Just whatever I could find around the house.  Again, a little party at my house with John and Audrey, nothing much, some photos to mark the event and let Maxie gobble up the whole cake, carrots and all (excepting the raisins)!

I love it that Maxie and the blog have the same birthday. I don't remember planning it that way, but how fitting.  And you'd be surprised how often he sits at the keyboard with me as I write about our adventures.   As I mumble to myself, he probably thinks I'm talking to him.

Last night John also brought me a little bouquet of flowers and a FoohMax Agility Blog Happy 1st Birthday card.  That was sweet!  It has sat by my computer all day and helped make me feel very happy despite the week of rain we're having and my dental appointment tomorrow.

Upwards and onward!

Weave Relays

Weave Relays are a great way to build a dog's muscle memory for running the weaves at top speed, and I try and put both of my dogs thru this exercise at least once a week.  It's a lot of fun and gets them all revved up.

So, here's 2 videos, one of Maxie doing Weave Relays With 2 Trainers, then another of Lucky doing Weave Relays With 1 Trainer.  Maxie's 2 step is perfect for his small size.  Lucky, a larger dog, has also chosen to be a 2-stepper, which is fine by me. In the interests of time and file size, I cut out about half of the repetitions from these videos, but they do not tire from 10 to 20 reps.  They are actually disappointed and fuss at me when I say "Game Over".  My dogs stay interested because there is food involved.  I don't give a treat every single pass, but most of the time I do.

Trainers at both ends should stand back several feet from the opening, and change their position along a left/right line, so their "send" is given from different spots and the dog has to enter from a variety of angles.  If the dog messes up, don't give a treat, just send them back through for another chance to earn a cookie.  After they catch on, you don't even need to send them.  They just go.  And go.  And go.

2 TRAINERS

ONE TRAINER:

 

Not shown in the video, this exercise should be handled from both sides of the weaves, and as the dog's love of weaving increases, introduce a jump before and after, etc.

Speed It Up
This same relay game can be played with 1 or 2 trainers over the dog walk, the A-frame, a tunnel, a jump-tunnel-jump configuration in a straight or curved line.  Even puppies catch on quickly to this game.  I call it "Speed It Up".  One day, I'll create videos of these:
Dog Walk Relays
A-Frame Relays
Tunnel Relays

Upwards and onward!

Blog Symbols

Blogging inspires deeper contemplation and more thoughtful consideration and analysis of my activities and events, which is probably why I like doing it.  It helps me to live life more consciously and remember things.

I've found some small images to mark categories of thought that come to me while blogging.  I started adding these yesterday and will endeavor to add them to past pages whenever I happen to visit them again, and I may add more symbols as new categories appear.

 

Idea: whenever I get an idea that's new to me.

Rant: whenever I get on my bull horn and go on a rant.







Musings: things I'm ruminating about, reasoning thru, speculating on.

Gift:  Something I am given thru the generousity of another person, or by some divine intervention.  It is important to acknowledge our gifts to keep them flowing.



Other symbols I'm thinking of adding - thoughts, resolutions, prayers, journeys, achievements, milestones, epiphanies, miracles, pointers, keys, messages.