Sunday chat

    • Gold Top Dog

    Sunday chat

    I can't drink my coffee fast enough, it is so good this morning. Have I ever mention how much I love my keurig? I still can't get over how much fun Las night was. I totally was expecting to hate every minute of it but I can hardly wait to do the next one. Being a bar tender for a night was a riot. Today is sar training day. I was supposed to host but our cadaver handlers wanted to set something up special for all of us. Should be interesting hehe. Younever know what they will have up their sleeve. I am using today as a level 3 mock test though. All abbie and I have left are our tests then we will be deployable on searches. She isn't being consistent lately though with her indications. Until she is I am not going to ask for the real test. So today will be a check to see if she is ready yet or not. Thankfully the weather has cooled a bit. It is not supposed to be 66 today which is good working dog weather. I hope the blood sucking mosquitoes won't be so bad but with all the rain we have had I don't have high hopes.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I'm at flyball practice. I had no intention of ever coming back, but a team mate asked me to come. I'd rather be at home in bed. Hopefully this goes okay.
    • Moderators
    • Gold Top Dog

     Humid and blustery today - no storms yesterday but it sure seems like it will be stormy today.

    I am sooo tired but I have to be out pretty much all day again (11:30 to about 6) My sinuses are painful due to the barometric pressure and I really want to just nap and laze away. Ah well recharging my batteries will have to wait for another day. It looks like I have a few quieter days this week. As an introvert I really need quiet, solo time or I can't beat the exhausted feeling.

    Bugsy ran crazy zoomies this morning. Made me smile BIG! even though as per usual he was smashing up my flowers in the process LOL I was happy to not have to tell him to stop being so happy!

    Cathy I meant to say I agree re the stove.

    Tracy I am happy Ruby had fun - I am sure she'll enjoy going each and every time. Bugsy was always overly amped at classes but once he got a task he focused well. Without the task he was a nightmare LOL

    DH is cleaning the kitchen, wahoo!!

    This is a great story - just have some tissues handy LINK

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    We've had some storms move through early this morning.  Not a lot of rain at our house.  I hope the areas that flooded last week didn't have a deluge. There are still a lot of very poor families who lost everything in last week's flooding who are sturggling with where they go from here.  The people in OK must be feeling completely shell shocked. :(

    Karen, I saw that story and yep, tissues are needed.  I'm sorry you don't have a chance to be lazy today. 

    The volunteer meeting was interesting.  This group is well intentioned but struggling financially because their 501C has not been approved. It's ridiculous that the process is so agonizingly slow and the recent scandals in the IRS will only make it worse.  I know several non profits who have been waiting more than a year.  It's hard to get any corporate donations without the 501C status.  We kicked around different fund raising ideas.  The CEO is quite a chatter box and very well intentioned but somewhat scatterbrained.  I had given her some info months ago about an event who wanted them there but it was never followed up on.  She's stretched pretty thin and is desperately in need of help.  It was disappointing to her and the rest of us that most of the people who signed up to volunteer didn't show up for the meeting. Why offer if you're not going to follow through? 

    • Gold Top Dog
    JackieG
    It was disappointing to her and the rest of us that most of the people who signed up to volunteer didn't show up for the meeting. Why offer if you're not going to follow through? 
    Oh man, I can't tell you how many times I've said the same thing. I think people are flakey about commitments in general and when it's a volunteer type thing, it's even worse. It sure makes it hard to plan anything that requires a lot of help. I'd volunteered to work the Horse Expo next weekend and even though we'll probably be in the midst of our move, I told DH I'd made the commitment and I'm keeping it. It'll be interesting to see how many of the others that signed up will actually show up.

    Agree about the poor people in Oklahoma. I really hope the weather gives them a break. Did anyone see the footage of the 2 day old colt that was found after the last tornadoes? They named him Twister. I'm guessing his mom was no where to be found :(.

    It'll be in the 90s again today so I need to get a walk in for Shane before it heats up. I hope everyone has a great day!

    • Gold Top Dog

    cakana
    Did anyone see the footage of the 2 day old colt that was found after the last tornadoes? They named him Twister.

    I saw that, Cathy.  What a miracle and of course, I love the name. :)   When I first saw them carrying the colt I though he was dead and almost changed the channel. 

    I stopped volunteering for many years for that very reason, Cathy.  I'm like you and will keep a commitment no matter what unless I'm physically unable to be there.

    • Gold Top Dog
    kpwlee
    This is a great story - just have some tissues handy LINK
    Great story!! *sniff*
    • Gold Top Dog

    Jen -- I hope things go okay there today for you!

    Yup -- zoomies and flower beds are not a good combination.  I've given up planting things in Ruby's "track area."  I planted some pansies a couple weeks ago -- not a spot where Ruby runs, but she lies in the sun there.  I figured the pansies might be able to handle her stretched out on them rather her paws pounding over them incessantly!

    I'm the same way about volunteer commitments and have been very frustrated when people say they'll help with something but bail out later.  Or, they stick around but don't really do anything useful or productive.  My experience has been that there are always people who end up being the super-stars in a volunteer group, while others sit back and let those folks carry most of the burden. 

    One time a fellow volunteer made fun of me at a meeting once because I had highlighted a bunch of stuff on a report that the organization's staff had given us.  I said something about it being a habit I couldn't shake from when I was in school, and it helps me remember key data.  She kind of scoffed and said, "Oh, I don't even read the stuff they send us before meetings!"  I so badly wanted to say, "Then maybe you shouldn't be serving on this committee."  Some people just want to put something on their resume about being volunteers, I think.

    My favorite radio station in Portland has something they call "Sunday Brunch" on Sunday mornings.  They play mostly mellow music (it's an adult alternative station -- not easy listening or elevator music).  They just played three of my favorite perfomers in a row:  Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, and Amos Lee.  So good!

    Another sunny, dry day here.  I'll head out for a walk with my friend in a few minutes, then find a reason to putter around in the yard and enjoy the fresh air.  The indoor chores may get neglected!

    • Gold Top Dog
    That was a very nice story, Karen. Whenever I hear about stories of children with cancer and other major illnesses, I wonder how parents deal with that.  I cannot imagine being in that position.  My friend has a coworker who lost her daughter a year or so ago (at age 4) to cancer.  The ups and downs throughout her treatment had everyone in their office on the roller-coaster of emotions, and they weren't even family.  I also don't know how people work in pediatric oncology -- it must require tremendous strength.  Thankfully there are people who want those careers!
    • Gold Top Dog
    Love Mumford and sons!

    The volunteer groups I have been a part of have been pretty good as far as participation goes but they have all been established groups. It is probably doubly hard for groups just trying to get off the ground.

    Abbie did well today! Now I am sitting in the woods waiting for others to work. The birds are singing the wind is blowing the sun is shining. Couldn't ask for anything better. Relaxing! We did find a super you fawn. Abbie nearly stepped on it but never knew it was there which says a lot for their camouflage abilities. I guess real young fawns don't have any scent which I would say has to be true. Pretty amazing stuff to think they don't give off any scent.
    • Gold Top Dog

     It was okay. Luke did well until he was getting too hot. I guess I'll let them use him for July. Then he is really, truly done with this team. I am not putting him on the lists for any other tournaments. The only reason the person really wanted me to come is that if Luke doesn't do the one in July, nobody does. I did at least get the word on a lure coursing tested that one woman's club is hosting in October. I think I'm going to try one with Luke, but it would have to be when it definitely won't get too hot for him. This person is leaving the flyball team too. She's already decided where to go, and I may end up with that team as well, but I am not deciding yet. How many people have to leave for them to get it, I don't know. I did debate not letting him go in July, out of spite. There is a dog on the team who can't run for crap and makes constant errors. He's going in June, but they couldn't bother to find a spot for my dog who can actually run (Luke got more points in his first day of racing than this dog has gotten in 5 days of racing). The dog just makes tons of errors, and makes the team get no points. Would it be wrong of me to ask if this dog is going? I really don't want to waste my time and money to get no points and be frustrated all weekend.

    For two years, my friend and I were directors of a race. In year two, after seeing how busy we were in year one, they decided to get us more help. In our first year, we had no issues with our volunteers. We used a lot of high school students, but also used our friends and family, and other friends and family of members of the organization whenever we could convince them to do it. We had zero no shows, but one kid got sick and had to leave early. We brought donuts for the kids (because we had to send them out on the course before the food tent was set up) and made sure to round generously when we signed off on their hours. In year two, someone else was in charge of securing volunteers. The person actually in charge of getting volunteers didn't follow up with the high school kids, thus many were no shows. She also refused to accommodate special requests (putting friends together, giving sit down jobs to those who requested or who we knew could not stand for a long time). When my friend and I were in charge, if we could not put two kids together, we at least put them near each other so that they could stand together until the race started and walk back together at the end. Luckily, City Year reached out to us last minute and showed up to help. If they had not shown up, we would have been totally screwed. Whoever volunteered to secure food from the bagel place forgot to confirm a few days ahead of time as they had arranged when they did it. My mom went in to pick it up, and they didn't have it ready for us. Luckily, because they had dealt with us the prior year, and I made sure to frequent the place a bit in the months before hand, they threw together some day olds for us. We also had secured food from a ton of other places. After that disaster, I bowed out of ever doing it again. They actually turned it into a much bigger even now which would be way too big a liability for me to be involved with. We did well the first two years, earned a few thousand the first year, and doubled it the next year. Last year, they raised $126,083 (I think that is before expenses, I don't think the website counts that). If I hadn't raised my hand and volunteered to do it in the first meeting to get ideas for fundraisers, they wouldn't have tried it. Nobody was willing to take on something that big. Now they obviously continue it because it raises a ton of money.