Taking advantage of a foggy night to have some fun with my green laser pointer
8s exposure of the laser being waved around randomly
1s exposure of the laser being swept across the camera’s field of view. Slightly enhanced with Gimp to make the beam more visible.
Slow sync flash and 1s exposure
The Baker’s Dog: Taste Testing
The dogs received a present courtesy of Paul Reynolds at The Baker’s Dog today: a sample of Paul’s new doggie Oreo-type cookies for taste testing and a mixed gift bag of dog biscuits.
Note: the dogs would like to say that the mixed gift bag had absolutely no influence on how well they enjoyed the doggie oreos (I suppose I should call them sandwich cookies or something to avoid trademark infringement). They happily enjoyed all of the treats equally.
The new sandwich cookies are pretty substantial: two of the lamb and rice cookies dipped in carob with a solid yogurty type filling between them. They look pretty tasty, and I have to admit I was tempted to nibble on one because they looked so good. I’m not sure how many calories each one would come out to, but these probably aren’t something you want to give your dog lots of or you’re likely to end up with a very chubby dog. They’ll definitely appeal to dog owners looking for a tasty wheat/corn free treat (me being one of them) to reward their dog with.
On to the taste testing. Simba and Barkley aren’t exactly the most discriminating eaters, so they gobbled down their cookies right away and came looking for more. Simba did pause a little bit to lick the carob coating before eating his though. Nala is much more discriminating and had to sniff and lick her cookie a few times before eating it.
Nala’s a pretty messy eater and ends up dropping crumbs all over the place, which Simba is always more than happy to help clean up.
Nala making sure to get all the crumbs she dropped.
Final verdict: based on how fast the doggie sandwich cookies disappeared, two paws up. Barkley is still sniffing around looking for any crumbs that might have been missed.
Paul, the dogs will be very disappointed if these don’t become a regular item.
The Baker’s Dog: Doggie noms
The dogs have thoroughly enjoyed their treats from The Baker’s Dog, especially the Lamb and Rice ones. The lamb and rice cookies are small hard cookies that the dogs seem to really like. First they crunch crunch crunch, then sniff around for any crumbs they might have dropped and lick them up. Then they look at me hoping for another one.
Nala was a little sceptical about the PB and Honey treats at first. When I first gave one to her, she took it, then dropped it out of her mouth as if to say “what the heck is this?”. She usually does this any time I give her something new though and eventually decided it was good to eat. The other dogs didn’t hesitate at all before downing them. I’m not sure they even chewed.
While The Baker’s Dog probably won’t replace The Good Dog Bakery as my dog treat source, mostly because they’re just down the road from me (and they also sell some pretty rocking treats that the dogs love), Baker’s Dog will definitely be on my list for regular purchases. Paul Reynolds has done a great job setting up the online store and making the online purchase experience fun and easy, especially with the custom labels. In fact he made it almost too much fun and I ended up sending out gifts to a few dog owning friends before I made myself stop.
Sending out bags of treats with a picture of your own pet(s) couldn’t be simpler. Create an account for yourself at the store and add the treat of your choice to the shopping cart. Adding a photo is as easy as uploading the photo and selecting the region that will be printed on the label. There’s a one time fee of $4.99 for each photo, and after that you can use it on as many bags as you like and as often as you like. You can even share the photo with others (they won’t have to pay the fee) so they can use it for their purchases.
Two paws up (any more and the dogs would fall down) for The Baker’s Dog. Go visit them, online or in person if you happen to be in the Myrtle Beach area.
2008 Year end synopsis
I tend not to dwell too much on the past, but I felt like going through my blog entries for the past year and decided to try and summarize the past year from my blog’s perspective.
January: Acceptance tested 20+ x-ray units in less than two weeks at MUSC’s Ashley River Tower prior to opening. Became an uncle again. Signed up to volunteer with Wild Heir Labrador Rescue. LCB blogger meetup with “tweeters” showing up for the first time.
February: Got my first foster dog. Made it to SEWE for the first time. Finally ditched the 17″ CRT monitor for a 22″ LCD for my computer.
March: My first foster got adopted. Desk decluttering project.
April: Went to Seattle to visit sister and brother for the first time in 5 years. Decided to dump cable for a month (ended up lasting about 3 months). Got foster dog #2. Got to handle new birds at the SC Aquarium.
May: Visited a tea plantation without having to leave the country. Saw Kids in the Hall live for the first time.
June: Celebrated a year of Linux on my desktop at work and 5 years of blogging. Joined up with fellow Linux users.
July: Nala was diagnosed with a mast cell tumour and successfully treated. Touched by FSM. Apple store opened. Started my Lowcountry Dog Park Tour project.
August: Foster dog #2 adopted. Door spiders.
September: CSCLUG’s first event, demo day. Had a visitor arrive. Got foster dog #3. Blog and photo gallery got a new home.
October: 4 dogs, 1 house. The Great Rain of 2008.
November: My take on the election. Went to Chicago for RSNA.
December: Deep dish pizza. Nuff said. Broken gamma camera. Oysters and good company. Doesn’t get much better. Is it really December?
Lowcountry dog park tour: Hazel Parker revisited
On the first visit to the Hazel Parker dog park, I discovered it was still being worked on. Today (being the first day of vacation), I decided to head back over there and see what progress had been made.
The dog park is open now, and doesn’t really look much different than when I was there last, aside from having operational dog-lock gates. They aren’t latched though, but that may just be a temporary thing. Several benches strategically located underneath the trees provide a spot for people to sit and relax, and over in the corner is a water fountain.
Although the park is fairly long, it would still be pretty easy to throw a ball too far and out of the dog park, especially with the aid of a Chuck-it. The park would be very well suited for smaller dogs and dogs that aren’t that much into running around. People with more active dogs would probably find more satisfaction (as would their dogs) heading to one of the larger dog parks like the one at Hampton Park or James Island County Park.
