Monday, October 3, 2011

Gone To The Dogs


A busy, doggy weekend.  Left Friday after work for Ohio for a quick trip to see Nati's pups.  Nati is a sister to Chs. Bennett, Rita, Sam, & Can. Ch. Lucy, and this was her first litter.  This picture only shows the three black pups and one of the livers, but there were actually NINE pups, although one spent the weekend at the emergency clinic because she had a freak accident during BAER testing.   We stopped down to see her Saturday afternoon, and she went home Sunday afternoon after my departure, so my litter pictures don't show her, and she's a beauty.

Nine bilateral hearing pups, no blue eyes, no patches.  Nice numbers indeed!  We spent Saturday evaluating puppies, taking puppy pictures and talking dogs.  Ann's family bred and showed Dals when she was a teenager, and when she decided to get back into the hobby she contacted a longtime Dal person who she remembered from back then.  Carol put her in touch with me, and the rest is history.  Delighted that Nati finished her Grand Championship handled by Ann, and then produced such a lovely litter for her.  Several nice show potential boys and a some absolutely stunning girls.  Could easily have brought a brown girl home - good thing they were too young!

Ann lives in the town she grew up in, in a 200 year old farmhouse that her family has owned for generations.  We had a lovely Italian meal sitting at the bar in a local restaurant, and the people on the next stools recognized her from church, although they had never met before.  Interesting people, and we had a very nice time, along with an excellent meal - except for the chocolate chips in the Tiramisu!   Whose idea was that, I wonder?

My flight was an adventure, starting with a serious pat down at the Minnesota airport - heightened security, or just chance?  The TSA people were all very nice, so it was no big deal.  Return flight left late, and when we were almost to Minnesota I could feel us doing a big U-turn and the Captain came on an announced that due to engine problems we were being rerouted to Madison.  Ron was tracking the flight on the computer and thought we were closer to MSP than Madison, but who knows the reasoning behind the decision.

We were met by fire trucks, and three guys dressed in HazMat suits and looking like space creatures.  They came up with sensors and checked the engine on my side of the plane (for temperature? was it overheating?).   There was only one later flight to Minnesota scheduled for Sunday, and there were no rental cars available, so our options were few.  Fix the plane, take a shuttle bus to Minnesota or wait and fly out on Monday - if there were seats available.  Ugh.  The mechanic took over an hour to arrive, and we all wondered around the airport or sat in the bars.  A lunch voucher for $6.00 does not even buy a sandwich at airport prices. Three hours later it was announced that things were fixed, and we were soon back in the air and on the way home.

I hate flying.  Never scares me as I figure if we crash, we die, and that's that.  Just hate all the waiting around, the lines and how long it takes to get anything done.  I don't resent the security procedures, since the reason for them is valid, but I do hate how long we often have to wait to endure them.  At least the Cincy airport was practically empty on Sunday morning and things went quickly.

The puppy pictures are on a flash drive so hopefully I can get the new computer figured out quickly and put up a page of puppy pictures.  Eric assures me that he will arrive with the new computer tonight.  We'll see.

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