NaBloPoMo

Follow-up: Pet Botanics Healthy Omega Treats

April 9, 2010 by kathi

You might remember that Freya and Axel got the opportunity to taste-test Pet Botanics Healthy Omega Treats last month, courtesy of Cardinal Laboratories. The Duck flavor treats were very well-received.

Unfortunately, the two pet-supply stores that I usually shop at do not carry these treats, and I haven’t yet taken the time to speak to a manager to request them. Yesterday’s errands took me to a store that is right next to a PetSmart, so I stopped in to pick up a few items. This PetSmart carries two flavors of the Healthy Omega Treats: Salmon and Chicken.

The Chicken flavor was as well-received as the Duck flavor in our original taste test. But the Salmon flavor was an even bigger hit. Who knew Rottweilers would like fish so much?

Freya and Axe are hoping for more taste-testing opportunities in the future, so if you have a favorite dog treat for them to review, please do tell!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 9 of 30)

Laptops everywhere!

April 8, 2010 by kathi

So on Saturday, I mentioned how nice it would be if a large-screen MacBook Pro fell out of the sky to replace my aging iBook G4.

Well, that didn’t happen, nor did $2,500 fall out of the sky so I could go and buy one myself. But I did get an email earlier this week advertising an instant rebate on the 13-inch MacBook, putting the price well into a range where the money could fall out of my own wallet without too much stress. I took that as a sign that it was indeed time to replace the aforementioned aging iBook G4.

So before picking up my newly repaired pretty red VAIO laptop from the SonyStyle store, I made a stop at Micro Center to buy the MacBook. Yes, I know, the buzz says that an updated version of the MacBook Pro is imminent. I suppose I could have waited for that, but that would just circle back around to needing more money than I wanted to spend. The MacBook brings me up to speed and into the Intel zone, and I don’t feel I’m sacrificing too much for the lower price.

If you don’t visit here often, you may also be asking why one person needs two laptops. Technically, you should be asking why one person needs four laptops, since I haven’t actually gotten rid of the iBook or a totally aged Compaq laptop running Windows 98 yet. But I digress. A long time ago, I told myself that when I was able to comfortably afford to have both a PC and a Mac, I would. That happy day arrived, and I don’t ever intend to be without one of each again, unless things really go to hell in a handbasket.

Now that I have a Mac (and a PC, for that matter) that will be able to handle it, that brings me back to my whole inner debate about Adobe Creative Suite 5. If the business can justify upgrading CS2 to CS5 for my use, I’m guessing it will be a $600 upgrade. That will happen only if our major clients also do the upgrade.

If there is no business reason to upgrade, it will be on my dime. Then I’ll have to decide whether I want to upgrade at all (cost $0), upgrade my Windows version of CS4 (I upgraded from CS2 to CS4 a year ago, so guessing at a cost of about $600), or purchase a full new Mac version of CS5 (guessing at a cost of about $1,800). Yikes.

I’ll be watching the CS5 announcement on Monday, April 12, with great interest. But the actual product release date hasn’t been given yet, so there is some time to continue this inner debate. I’m personally guessing summer 2010 for release. Let’s see what happens!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 8 of 30)

Good updates!

April 7, 2010 by kathi

I got two good updates today!

First one is dog-related, of course. As you read last week, one of Freya’s scores for her UKC URO2 title was recorded incorrectly as a non-qualifying score. I heard from Beth at UKC this morning, and everything has been straightened out! She heard back from the judge, whose records agreed with mine and showed a qualifying score for Freya, and corrected the official results. Freya’s URO2 title is now official and the paper certificate will be sent out tomorrow.

Second one is that my pretty red laptop is ready for pickup a few days sooner than I expected. I was told it would take about a week, but I got the call that it was ready just a little while ago. So I will have it back at home tomorrow evening, minus the irritating noise from the defective cooling fan.

All good news!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 7 of 30)

The World’s Largest Carousel

April 6, 2010 by kathi

“You’re heading for I-90,” said Wednesday. “Follow the signs west for Madison.”*

That’s a route I’ve driven many, many times. And there are quite a few other familiar places in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, one of my favorite books. What’s not to like about a story that takes you all around the vast Midwestern wasteland, to places where the old gods have been living for all these years, and to an inevitable clash between the old and the new?

I’ve mentioned before that I am nobody’s fangirl, and that I really don’t have much emotional investment in anything that I’m not personally involved with. I don’t rabidly adore any sports team or celebrities. My only slight departure from this was going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show fifty-plus times (heh, you didn’t know that about me, did you), but that was more about hanging out with my ~~psycho~~ emotionally-invested friends than being truly involved myself. I helped a couple of people sew some pretty authentic-looking costumes (you didn’t know I could sew, and actually very well, either, did you) and that was really my biggest fun. Oh, and time warping, but only people with no soul would think that time warping is not fun.

But back to American Gods and the fact that there is going to be an American Gods weekend. On Halloween weekend. OMG! At The House on the Rock. OMG!!

Like many who have lived in this sector of the vast Midwestern wasteland for any length of time, I’ve visited the House on the Rock. It was sort of unintentional as the destination on that trip was supposed to be Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin. I did end up at the intended destination, but was definitely glad to have taken the detour to see the strangeness and the wonder of the House on the Rock.

Wasn’t it worth it, worth anything, to say that you had ridden on the World’s Largest Carousel?*

The World’s Largest Carousel is one of the attractions at the House on the Rock, and plays an important role in American Gods. Normally, no one is allowed to ride the carousel, but reportedly a few lucky attendees of the American Gods weekend will be able to do just that.

Like I said, I am nobody’s fangirl. But if I could ride the World’s Largest Carousel, that might even change.

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 6 of 30)

More randomness

April 5, 2010 by kathi

I’m having a little trouble focusing on dog training topics tonight, so I’ll need another day of semi-randomness, I think.

Even after a few warm spring days, I’m always hesitant to store away winter clothing until April is completely over. Tonight, though, it was rain, and large quantities of it, that put outdoor activities to an abrupt end.

We don’t leave the grill out year-round, so the first grilled food of the year is always a bit of a special treat, even if it’s something pretty basic like tonight’s bratwurst. As an aside, I really love our current grill, a Weber Performer. It is a charcoal grill with a propane starter, and I like it much better than either a gas grill or a regular charcoal grill.

Anyway, timing was almost perfect. The food was ready but the wind was starting to come up, so we went inside to eat. Just a little bit later, lightning was seen and thunder was heard and massive amounts of rain came pouring down, along with some hail for a short time. I say almost perfect, since the grill didn’t get put away before the rain hit.

The dogs went out for a quick potty trip during a break in the rain, and when I see their ears flapping in the wind, my mind always flashes for a moment to the Rottweiler who took a tornado ride a couple of summers ago. It didn’t get quite that bad tonight.

Still, the predicted weather means I’ll have to get creative with indoor training. This is supposed to be a serious training month for Freya. She seems to be laughing at me as I type that, though, so she might have other plans.

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 5 of 30)