Things the Puppy Learned While I Was Out of Town

1. Spooky is a mean, mean cat
2. Not all toys squeak alike
3. To bark like a Big Boy
4. Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun
5. Thunderstorms don't bother me:

Reflections on SHRM

If you are looking for an intelligent review of this conference, please go here.  Now that's out of the way..
I don't like Vegas.  But this was the first time I had the time and the budget to attend SHRM.  Also, this was the first city-wide conference I've attended that was not produced by my employer, so I was fascinated to see how it ran.  Which leads to my first tangent:

At my employer's conference, I coordinate the shuttle bus transportation between the hotels and the convention center.  This is my job because my predecessor (and first boss) had the job.  He had the job because he asked, "What's the assignment at this conference that no one wants?"

A few years ago, I was at my desk on a random day when I got a call from one of my people.  Matt was at the ASTD conference, another city-wide.  He said something like:

"I just want you to know that I have seen what bad shuttle bus coordination looks like, so I know how good a job you do.  Thank you."

So besides making my year, Matt taught me that if I ever attended a city-wide conference myself, Rule #1 was Stay in Walking Distance of the Convention Center.  So we stayed at the Springhill Suites which had three added bonuses:

1. Mini refrigerators for the unbelievable amount of bottled water I purchased.
2. Free breakfast that did not suck.
3. There was no casino in the lobby.

I understand there is also a pool on the roof, but I haven't gone to look for it.   I have been seriously exhausted at the end of each day. 

Sessions started at 7am on Monday and Tuesday.  This was fine, but it meant keeping my body on Central time if I wanted to function.  Last sessions broke at 5pm.  I don't know how people went out and partied at night.  Seriously, people.  I am old.

I barely made it around the Expo - it was enormous.  I found the Giveback.org booth, which was disappointing because they couldn't tell me much about the workplace giving program they were launching.  It seems they were trying to get people to sign up as individuals in advance. However, they did give me a card worth $5.00 in donations so I was happy.  I found a couple of other vendors I wanted to see and otherwise skipped the swag.  But here is what I learned:

The trick is to scan your registration card, so they get an automatic upload of your contact information.  I really felt like none of the vendors wanted to talk about the products - they just wanted to scan the card.  Every other booth was raffling off an iPad 2 if they could scan your card.  It was a bit of a joke.

The General Sessions were great.  Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington (who gave a shout out to Patch.com), Tony Hseih and Michael J. Fox.  I was interested to see how many people bailed out of the session to get into the lines for speaker book signings.  Other interesting sightings:

• An attendee wearing fishnet stockings and gladiator sandals. (Joy actually saw a bare midriff.)
• The Starbucks line was never less than two dozen people long.
• Outside the Keith Urban concert (we skipped it): Guy is wearing a t-shirt and shorts.  Girl is dressed to the nines.
• Star Wars Droid Hunt slot machine (no, I didn't play it).

Flying home tomorrow to clean off my desk and go back on Puppy Duty.  It was a good week.

Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson

Book 33
Thunderstruck has been on my shelf for awhile, I have read two previous books by Erik Larsen and loved them. Then I saw the library had a "Plaway" audio copy. It is an MP3 player that has one audio book loaded on it. The borrower has to come up with a AAA battery and the headphones. So that was worth a try.

I liked that I could tak the audio book anywhere, as opposed to the CDs that I play on my computer or CD player. However. The MP3 player does not tell you how far along you are in the book, which made me crazy. And the device lost my bookmarking really easily. I wasted a lot of time fooling around trying to find my place again. I also may have fallen asleep a non zero number of times while playing it. Not the fault of the book. I always fall asleep on planes and trains.  

Like Devil in the White City, Larson bounces between two stories. In this case, it followed Marconi, the guy that produced, if not actually invented, wireless technology in the form of ship-to-shore cables. Also Harvey Crippen a nice guy that may or may not have murdered his wife who was a horrible, horrible person.

I spent the entire book wondered what the heck these two stories have in common. And perhaps being embarrassed that I was way more interested in the salacious story of the bad marriage than in the dude winning the Nobel Prize for Physics. The stories weren't even running on the same timeline.

You find out very near the end that (SPOILERS)

the wireless technology that Crippen didn't know existed allowed Scotland Yard to apprehend him fleeing to America.

This is not my favorite Larson book. But I don't know if it was the stories or the delivery that made it less satisfying for me.

Shakespeare's MacBeth

My friend, John Wilson, is finishing up a run in Roundhouse Productions' MacBeth.  As I type, so my blogging about it will be of no use to him.

The most interesting thing about this interpretation is the use of green screen technology to add some layers.  I don't think I am a purist exactly, but I found it more of a distraction.  It might be that the tech operator was a couple of beats off. But it also drew my eye away from the action, when there was action.  Points for trying something new, because it was rather cool.  But not necessary.

Another creative bit was adding "combat witches" to the cast.   They held the actual swords, creating the sound effects, while the actors mimed the action.  The director talks about it here, with more symbolism than I had pegged it.  But it also makes very effective use of space.  In a small theater, men wielding swords in various directions can be treacherous.  I appreciated that.

Overall, I really enjoyed this show.  I'd go back and see them again.  If it isn't Point Break.

Product: Big Sexy Hair Dry Shampoo

Yesterday, I had the day off of work.  I was on puppy training duty and had several errands to run before I went out that evening.  And I had an appointment for a facial.  While the aestheticians try not to get soap and oil and stuff in the hair, it doesn't always work.  On the average day, I don't much care. But again, I was going out that night and wouldn't have time to shower again.

In a bag of samples from somewhere, I had a small bottle of bigsexyhair dry shampoo.  Seemed as good a day as any to try it.

The instructions are to spray it at the roots, wait two minutes and brush it through.

Now, I didn't have big expectations.  I didn't try to do my hair for real after using it.  But for what I needed, which was to take the oily look out and freshen it up, it was great.  The scent was rather strong, such that I wouldn't ever use it and then walk right out the door.  But since I was going outside with the puppy regularly, by the time I left for the night I was in great shape.

Blankets 27 and 28

I have several posts churning in my head, but little time to post them, so for now, you are stuck with another blanket post.

With the fleece blankets, there are three ways to fancy them up:

1. Awesome print
2. Creative stitching
3. Interesting yarn

As creative stitching is not an option for me, I generally go for a great print:

I've bought four of these for Project Linus and managed to snag this one back in the "prepared fleece swap".  Loops & Threads yarn from Michael's - leftover from a previous project.  Three rows of single crochet.

Then I found some solid color pieces of fleece in my pile.  So I broke my rule and bought yarn just for a fleece blanket.

This is from Red Heart Yarn's Kids line.  I think "Kids Line" is just another way to charge more for yarn, but I had 40% off, so whatever.  This was called "Dandy Candy".

I think the end justified the means here.

Due to the Puppy Schedule, I will be taking a day off on what happens to be a Project Linus Fleece Doctoring Day, so I will be able to see how it is all done.  If not be of any practical use.

Another thing I recently learned is that Joann Fabrics, takes competitor coupons.  I have been spending way more money there lately than at Michael's.  

I am going to take some more yarn on the road and see what I can get done.

Blanket 26

This was supposed to be my first "scrap" blanket: using yarn leftover from other projects.  Then several colors in Bernat's satin line went on clearance, so it is a Scrap and Clearance yarn blanket:

I did circles rather than rows because I have no concept of how far any given amount of yarn will go.  My mother says it looks like a baby throw rug.   But it is soft and colorful and I am sure there is a kid out there that will appreciate it.

The colors Meadow and Cyan were new yarns, Lavender and Sage were leftovers and Banana was both.

Back to Juggling

I've been thinking lately about revamping the blog.  It was created, you might remember, early in my graduate program as a class assignment.  I was rather worried about how I was going to get it all done and still manage to be an active volunteer.

Then I finished school, folded in the 50 Book Challenge stuff I'd been doing on LiveJournal and talked a lot about traveling for work and getting my finances together.

Not the theme of the blog.  Last night, though, I had a moment.

Sigmund, my Foster Grey, has spent a few days with another volunteer (more on that later).  It didn't go very well and she and I agreed that she would bring him back to my house in the morning.  After we hung up, Kay said:

"Why don't you just go get him now.  It's still early."

My answer was:

"Because I tomorrow night, I am going to the Refuge to pick up Joker.  Wednesday, I am going to the Refuge for my regular night.  Thursday, I am going to the close down the Refuge and go to the Library.  I have two meetings on Saturday and am leaving town on Sunday.  I would like to just sit here. "

And make a Project Linus blanket, but whatever.

But that is when it hit me - I have a lot of balls in the air right now.   And I am managing them.  But seriously, there is nothing like a puppy to make you look at everything and feel tired.

Too Much Yarn

The Project Linus people, and my own mother, will tell you that there is no such thing as too much yarn. 'Cause we're going to use it all, right?

Just like I am going to read all of these books "sometime".

Yarn is overflowing from its designated storage area in my house.  I have officially implemented a double-discount purchasing rule - I will only buy yarn when it is on sale and I have some other discount on top of that.  My first "scrap yarn" blanket has become a "scrap and clearance yarn" blanket.  It is going to be much prettier, anyway.

However, since I've been buying all of this yarn I have spent rather less money in other places.  Such as:

1. I have not purchased a single handbag in all of 2011.
2. I quit buying DVDs (although I really want to pick up True Blood Season 3 right now).
3. I haven't been in a bookstore in over three weeks.
4. I even blew off the last book sale at the Arlington Heights Library (although I did go to the Borders clearances a non-zero number of times, so this one probably doesn't count).
5. I've stopped the random toy shopping for the nieces and nephew.  They have enough stuff.

Thank you for indulging my self-rationalization.  Perhaps I can return to the daily puppycast tomorrow.

Adopting the Puppy

As I mentioned, we went nine days without a dog before we cracked.

As a rescue volunteer (albeit with exotic parrots), I am committed to pet adoption. I also understand that my home is not the best for every dog. What with the cat and an African Grey parrot. Not every dog can manage with other pets.

There is also a question of adopting a puppy or an adult dog. There are pros and cons with both. We just went through end-of-life with a senior dog, so I hope you won’t judge me for wanting a younger dog, but I have also had great experiences with adopting an adult that was already housetrained and could adapt quickly to my home environment.

I went to the Internet. Petfinder.com is a great website that pulls together information on adoptable animals from shelters across the country. It allows searches by type of animal (cat, dog, bird, etc.), size, approximate age and even breed. There are profiles on the available pets including any information the rescue has gathered (like whether a dog is known to be good with kids) and pictures. Most also have links to the rescue’s website.

I talked with two different rescues about different dogs and decided to go with Wright Way Rescue, which has an adoption center in Niles. Wright Way rescues dogs and cats from downstate shelters with very high euthanasia rates, including an awful lot of puppies.

The process was interesting. I put in my online application right away. Many rescues, including the one where I volunteer, ask people to complete the application before meeting the animal. This is particularly prevalent in rescues where pets are primarily in foster care, or don’t have open hours for the public to visit. I know it turns off some people, but I also understand why it is a good idea for some rescues.

In Wright Way’s case, the dogs are driven to Niles from downstate, so they look for some reasonable reassurance that a family is serious before putting the animal through the trip. However, the benefit offered in exchange is that Wright Way offers the option to “reserve” a dog or cat – meaning they will hold the pet for you while you are waiting for an appointment to meet. In my case, I reserved a puppy a week ago that wasn’t yet available because he was too young.

On the day of the appointment, Wright Way asks for a good 60-90 minutes of your time in order to meet the pet and go through their orientation video, with time for questions. In my case, the questions were about crate training, which I have never done before. They also have a supply shop onsite, with proceeds going to support rescue efforts. It is worth noting that Wright Way has lost the lease on their building in Niles and is raising funds to purchase a permanent facility.

At the end of the appointment, I had adopted the puppy.

There are lots and lots of rescues out there doing great work. There is a huge need for volunteers, fundraisers and foster homes. And I hope you will consider pet adoption as your first option.

Adapted Post for Patch.com