Dog Revalations and Car is Still Dead!

The car is way dead, it turns out. Transmission blown. Poof. Like that. Sadly, this comes only about a month after we dropped $1,300 on a new timing belt, spark plugs, and a belt tensioner. The cost will be somewhere in the vicinity of $1,000 to fix the transmission, and that's with the used-parts kit. The suck of all sucks with this is, right now the car is worth nothing*. If we drop another thousand dollars into it, it may run for another 30,000 miles... or we may blow a rod the week after the repairs are complete. If we do end up sinking the money into the car, we can at least recoup the cost of the repairs and a little more (hopefully). This should give us enough time to have a functioning car that will allow us to drive around and look for another car, then sell this car, and buy another. Bleh.

Did I mention my not liking cars? No? Well, truth be told, I don't like cars.

On a lighter note, the voting for the crazy fact about one of the many dogs Mandy watches is closed. It seems that the readers are going with the patriotic, 9/11 people-saving dog.

DOG!

The truth is, the dog is a Thompson, of the Hunter S. variety. Yes, Bodi's owner is the ex-wife of Hunter. Hunter's son, he keeps his dog at the day car too. I hear ego-Googling is up, so it's likely that these people will come across this blog and find out the secret identity of their dog is now in the requisite domain of the interweb tubes where any Hunter-obsessed sicko can find it. Sadly, these are the times we live in. I don't get a chance to interact with many bona fide celebrities, let alone their dogs, so I hope you'll grant me leave to indulge in this particular instance.

Hunter's dog! I don't love the man. I've never met him. And from what I understand, he was an absolute bastard to interact with in real life. That makes sense, considering how crazy and reckless his writing is. On the other hand, being a bastard and a being a good writer seem to go hand-in-hand. What I can say is I like his writing. He was a great social mover and shaker. Like me, he hated hippies and the laziness they embodied.

*Update: It actually is going to cost $1,500, and we've decided to go ahead with it. I'm not totally sure why, but there it is. Again, hopefully, this will be the last major repair on it for a year or so, and we can continue to drive it. If it bothers us, we will sell it and hopefully break even with these repairs. The transmission is totally gone. Nothing salvageable. It should be done today, so when we get it back, I will post about how it drives like it always had, except a little faster due to the lightness of our wallet. Bleh.

Just a dog...

By Richard A. Biby

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog." They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog."

Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," but I did not once feel slighted.

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understand phases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise." "Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.

Because of "just a dog" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.

"Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a human."

So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog." just smile, because they "just don't understand."

"Just Dogs"

"I'm going to blow up the ocean!"

Mandy summarized the arrival nicely. The trip was great. Some days the wind approached gale-force strength, so the sailing was absolutely amazing. We had the Schooner running at near it's maximum speed, if not at it a couple of times.

There were plenty of opportunities for picture-taking, so we ended up with nearly 1,000. I have been working on a client project since returning and haven't had any time to sort through them, remove blemishes, and uploaded. If you're chomping at the bit to see some of the photographs, I would direct you to our friend's Flickr stream where they have posted their own photos. The whole lot, and they're both good photographers, so I would check out the pics if you get a chance.

Canadacow's Flickr Stream

I don't think I'm going to post a full synopsis of the trip. Partially because I'm going to really busy for the next few weeks and partially because I think it would loose something in the blogification. It was great. I would (and will) do it again. I recommend the Steven Taber to anyone who has a good sense of adventure, good food, and a love for the outdoors.

Some quick updates, since we haven't done one of these in while:

Mandy
Classes have started, and she's doing great. She's taking a light load this semester and probably next. This is primarily due to us having to wait a year to establish ourselves as residents of Colorado, thereby cutting the cost of her tution by a third.

She's working at a Doggie Daycare center about a 1/2 mile from our doorstep. She takes care of dogs, hugs dogs, and cleans up the dog's poo. She loves it. Of course, there is no way to avoid getting a dog when we move into our new digs when this lease is up, sometime around December or January.

Me
I've been getting more freelance work through clients around Denver and back in GR. I've been involved with a 48-hour film project, a couple of commercials, and some editing work. The city seems to be a good place for picking up this kind of work. My hope is that all of this small, freelance stuff will provide me with networking opportunities that will lead to a full time job of sorts.

I have been courting with an amazing 3D display company based out of London (the UK one, not the Ontario one). They build displays for research, goverment, and civilian use. I am flying out to NYC on Thursday to meet with the owner and tour the Hayden Planetarium in hopes of securing a job with them. This opportunity is amazingly awesome and I'm trying me best to not get my hopes too terribly high, but damn, it's awesome. At the very least, I will get a free trip to NYC and a tour of simply the most bad-ass planetarium in the world. Hopefully I'll know more on Friday and will be able to share. Keep your finger and toes crossed.

Cats
The cats are doing great. They seem a little plumper since Mandy's parents dropped by, but who can blame them from spoiling them meat byproducts? The cats are so cute!