I’m flying solo this week as Neil jets off to the exotic plains of Columbus, Ohio.

I suppose it’s only fair he finally gets his own trip - after all, I’ve been to New York and Las Vegas while he’s stayed behind, holding down the fort.

What I think is completely unfair however, is that he’s going to Columbus (home of the Bluejackets and the Buckeyes and not much else) and gets a celebrity sighting out of it, while I went to Vegas (twice!) and NYC and only managed to get hassled by the mob.

Apparently Currie Graham was catching the United flight from YVR to O’Hare at 8am today.

Then again, I’m mostly useless at actually recognizing celebrities while out and about anyhow.

It only hit me about 45 minutes after the fact that I stood next to Mario Cantone in line at Cafe Artigiano on Hornby one day. And Neil was the one who pointed out I was sitting a mere two empty stools away from Peter Gallagher at Tojo’s Omakase Bar last month.

All this in spite of the fact that I’m the TV watcher in the relationship, while his nose is usually buried in a book or his laptop on the couch next to me.

So I was probably standing next to Paris Hilton in the towel line at the Mandalay Bay pool and just didn’t notice…

Neil and I were planning on taking an impromptu vacation over the Christmas break, partly to try and avoid being home to see if we could postpone closing on our new place until after the GST goes down on January 1st, and partly because we’re sad we won’t be in our new home for Christmas - something we’d really been looking forward to - and wanted some sort of consolation prize.

Then we were told by our Lawyer that there will be a transitional period around the GST change, and while we may have to pay out the 6% tax initially, we can fill out some paperwork to be reimbursed for the additional 1%. Huzzah!

So we re-thought the vacation thing. I’ve been away a lot lately, and Neil is going off to Ohio next week, so another set of flights wasn’t really appealing. That, and with the upcoming moving, new furniture and wedding costs, we could afford a small getaway, but really couldn’t afford to chase the sun.

But dammit, we still wanted our consolation prize!

So we trundled off figuring we’d start looking at new digital cameras, since we were planning on buying one for the honeymoon anyway, and thought it would be nice to have something that wasn’t 2 megapixels and 4 years old to take holiday photos with.

We walked into Lens & Shutter, intending to look at the latest in point & shoot technology. But for the kind of pictures we want to take (travel landscapes, low-light and night-sky shots) we admitted to ourselves what we knew all along - a pocket camera was going to be completely inadequate.

So we started looking at larger cameras - and by that point, in terms of price, one might as well start exploring the world of entry-level digital SLR’s. So we did. And walked out of the store with the Pentax K10D.

Neither of us has followed the world of digital SLR’s particularly carefully, so we weren’t even aware there were entry-level options other than the Canon Digital Rebel and Nikon D80. But Pentax, despite coming a bit late to the digital SLR game, has put out a camera that competes on price with the lower-end Canon and Nikon lines, but competes on features with the much more expensive Canon EOS 30D and Nikon D200. It’s a pretty incredible value for money.

The three pictures in this post represent the 3 best (read: only passable) pictures of the 200 or so we’ve taken so far (wine by Neil, dogs by me).

Next step: picking up a book on digital SLR photography to figure out what all the features mean (seriously, I don’t even know what an F-Stop actually is) and taking a short course on digital SLR photography. Any recommendations?

Neil and I went to the Canucks game tonight - my first attendance at GM Place of the season - to watch them take on the Edmonton Oilers.

The game was unremarkable. Mediocre hockey at its finest. The game was 0-0 (pet peeve of mine - calling a game “scoreless.” There is a score: it is 0-0) through all 3 periods and the 5 minute overtime. The Canucks finally lost in the 3rd shot of the shootout.

What *was* remarkable though, was seeing Greg Neufeld (2nd from the right in the photo), Canadian Idol 2006 and 2007 top 10 contestant as a fellow game attendee. The remarkable part wasn’t seeing him there - after all he is a local boy - the remarkable part was how freaking SHORT he is!

After watching the Idol series and seeing him practically tower over nearly everyone else on stage, it was highly disconcerting to walk past him and see that he’s at least an inch or two shorter than Neil (who is 5′10 and a tiny bit - and I have been explicitly told that I must include the “tiny bit” which is very important!).

But I was seriously expecting Neufeld to ring in around at least 6 feet. Apparently not so.

Anyhow, Greg, in case you google yourself (or if you know Greg and/or google him): you still rock the casbah, even though your stature is somewhat diminished from what I expected. I still think you should have won and your voice is like buttah and if you actually become as famous as you deserve (and therefore completely unreachable to a commoner such as myself) I will bump John Cusak from top spot on my laminated list (he’s getting a bit long in the tooth now anyhow).

And now I must go start researching other TV personality and assorted celebrity heights. Next thing you’re going to tell me Tom Cruise is only 5 feet tall.

Oh wait….

I made it back on Thursday from “Fabulous Las Vegas” and am so incredibly glad the crazy travel time is over. Now we can get on with crazy running time and crazy moving time and crazy wedding time - hopefully in that order.

Vegas was good, though was really all work. And while I love what I do, it doesn’t make for very interesting blogging, so suffice to say I rocked the casbah with my trade-show-fu, and didn’t do much else. Quick hotel review: THEHotel at Mandalay Bay is really nice. So is Mandalay Beach. But the two are a 1/4 mile hike through the casino/mall apart. You have been warned. Quick restaurant review: Alize at the Palms is really not worth the money. Sensi at Bellagio really is worth the money.

Running update: I haven’t run since the day before I left for New York. I feel like a whale out of water - all floppy and useless and struggling to breathe. Now that I have the time and inclination to do anything but work and sleep, I’m going back to Week 2 of the Couch to 5k program.

Moving update: We finally dealt with securing our mortgage. No I don’t wanna talk about the rate (which, like all rates at this time, is atrocious). I also don’t wanna talk about how the GST is going down another 1% 2 weeks after our current estimated closing date. It’s ok, I didn’t want those thousands of dollars anyhow. We are trying very hard (and mostly succeeding) to be Zen about it all, since we can’t do anything about it anyhow.

Wedding update: Our engagement announcement ran in the Province and Sun last weekend (November 3 & 4, 2007). Thanks again to everyone who called/emailed/sms’d to pass on well-wishes. I’m not entirely sure how long the online version runs (I think I remember my mom mentioning 3-months or so), but you can also see it online for the time being here. Other than that, planning keeps on keepin’ on keepin’ on.

Oh, hi there. I kindof disappeared for a bit didn’t I? Rest assured, I was not mugged, nor did I get lost. I was, however, hassled by the mob.

It’s fairly well known ’round these parts that the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre labor department is pretty much run by the mafia. And I’m not even joking. It’s not wiseguys walking around in Armani suits or anything - but these guys are definitely connected. You do not mess with them, or the system.

They are the exclusive (and I mean exclusive) supplier of shipping, handling, construction and electrical labor in the building. You play by their rules.

You do not touch anything. You do not “take away” their jobs. This includes repairing shoddy workmanship and plugging in your own lights/tv’s (again, not kidding).

For the most part it’s ok - you sit around your pile of half-assembled structure and crates and wait a lot for things to be done. It’s pretty standard that any one of a number of laborers will show up with a work order, look at it, look at your stuff say “I gotta go get a tool/part” and disappear for 2 hours.

But, with a huge heaping helping of patience, I persevered and our booth was constructed relatively competently and in plenty of time for us to get ready for the show opening. Another company with a setup near us wasn’t so lucky - they had shipping troubles, and when their booth arrived late, they tried to expedite things by starting construction themselves. They were then blacklisted by the labor who refused to put up their booth and also wouldn’t let them (these guys are masters of intimidation) do it themselves.

Eventually, after the foremen decided the offending exhibitor had suffered enough, they constructed the booth in just the nick of time. The exhibitor was finally firing up their laptops (one of the few things you can do yourself) when the show floor opened.

Anyhow, we figured we were out of the woods, and had our booth ready to go. Then our video guys showed up to capture some footage of our in-booth demos. And they pulled out some extension cords and got ready to plug in their floodlights.

And that’s when fucking Tony Soprano shows up. “Whoaaahh you? Whadduyuh think ya dooin’? WHOOSE YO’ BAWSSS?”

HOLY SHIT

We unplugged and put away the lights posthaste and apologized profusely. And that was pretty much the end of that. If we’d wanted the lights, it was made abundantly clear that we’d have to order a contractor to plug in the extension cords. They didn’t say what would happen if we’d refused to take things down - but none of us were interested in finding out.

So we shot our video on battery, sans extra lighting.

And ever since, I’ve had an unshakeable urge to watch the Godfather.

I’m leaving for New York City tomorrow morning at ass o’clock - so I’m finishing up some last-minute laundry and packing.

I have the sneaking suspicion I’m forgetting something. Of course I have no idea what. My list seems complete, and I have all the items on it ready to go.

Perhaps you can think of something I haven’t?

And if not, leave me a comment with something fun to see or do in NYC. I’m staying in Times Square, and will get my share of good eats. My evenings will probably be busy with parties and schmoozing (with work people - so not quite as glamorous as it sounds), but I’ll have some weekday daytimes free to sightsee and shop. I plan on using at least one of those to go for a run in Central Park (yep - still doing that running thing).

What are your top must-see’s?

I’m going positively squirrely lately with the lack of home-improvement/beautification efforts happening around my domicile.

Since we’re moving in a few months, all of that kind of stuff has been put on hold. There’s no point spending our hard-earned cash on things that likely won’t work out in a completely different space.

But who can say no to free!

Duane Storey’s giving away 8×12 prints of his beautiful photography to the first 20 people who post about his new photo blog.

So here I am!

We’ve got art in our place from Korea, Japan, China, England, Italy and Sweden (if Ikea prints count) - but nothing local so far.

I’m thinking this one would be a beautiful start to a local collection on our walls.

Go check him out - you’ll be glad you did!

So Neil and I went on a canoeing/camping trip.

Oh my holy hell.

Honestly, I had a good time - but I’m not particularly pleased with:

-the guy who rented us canoes
-the BC Forest Service
-those who use their campsites regularly
-mother nature

We did the Sayward Lakes canoe circuit, which has been advertised all over the place as perfectly suitable for novices. The recommended time for the journey is 3-4 days, and we allowed 5, so we figured we’d be good with the time and our levels of fitness and experience.

Boy were we wrong.

Well, not so much us - but this is definitely not a trip for novices to either canoeing or backpacking. Or those who have a strong aversion to poor planning, bad direction or piles and piles and piles of shit.

For those not “in the know” - canoes come with wheels these days. They fit nicely in the bottom when you’re paddling, and strap to the underside for portaging. So you’d expect that the person renting and instructing you on the use of said wheels would tell you the correct way to use them. You’d be wrong. We were told to put the wheels on the back 1/3 of the canoe and pull it along behind us. Because we’re bumping down root- and rock-covered trails, the wheels would bump bump bounce off the narrow back end. Not to mention the incredible amount of effort required to pull the canoe (loaded with our stuff) through the forest.

Thankfully we met another canoeist along the way who had his wheels right under the middle of the boat. After we tried that method we found the canoes were much easier to maneuver, dealt with the weight much better, the wheels actually stayed on and portaging was all around much more pleasant.

So now that we’ve figured out the wheel situation, you’d expect that an advertised canoe portage trail would be suitable for the wheels that everyone is allegedly using. You’d be wrong again. In various places there are logs over the trails (unstrap the wheels, lift the canoe, strap back on), the corners are too narrow to get the canoe around, there are dangerous downhills (tricky to walk down, let alone wrangle a canoe on wheels without letting it go). In one shining example, we canoed down a canal, only to find that there was a giant log at the output to the next lake! We had to precariously get out of the canoe onto the log, drag the canoe over some bushes (growing out of mud) around the log, and put back in (covered in mud of course) without falling in the lake and/or tipping the canoe.

But we made it. Because at least the trails, while difficult, were well marked and the map was easy to follow, right? Oh no - wrong again. Trail markers were mostly nonexistent. When they were visible they were in stupid places (like 6″ off the ground), or faded out to grey so they were nearly impossible to see from any distance. One part of the trail (Twin Lake and Swamp Channels) had very little direction on the map or trail (we were “lost” for a good 2 hours), and finally sent us over 3 beaver dams to get to the next lake. Sorry Beavers. Nevermind the danger of leaving people to “find their own way” in the woods, the destroying a dam thing just can’t be ecologically sound…

At least the camping was nice, though! Except, not so much. I understand that part of the allure of visiting a BC Forest Service campsite is the fact that they’re a) usually fairly remote and b) usually free. The downside to that is the fact that they rarely had any facilities. No worry - people will just dig a hole. Except they don’t. The campsites are COVERED in landmines. People seem to just shit where the urge strikes them. It’s completely gross. Add to that the fact that our dog fancies herself a turd-burgler - we learned pretty quick we had to keep her tied up in camp, or risk having her run off and return with an upset tummy and some VERY bad breath.

So the canoes sucked. The trails sucked. The campsites sucked.

At least the weather was nice? Hahahaha. Of course not. There was rain on the first night, and record breaking rain on the 2nd night. Raindrops falling so hard and thick that they hurt.

So is it any surprise that after night two, Neil and I bailed? The entire group decided to cut across a logging road that bisects the circuit and head back to the starting point. If the weather improved or the group was up to it, camping would continue at sites on the lake where we initially put in so at least we were somewhere familiar, shit-free, and within reach of the cars should the situation not improve. Neil and I took that opportunity to finally escape the rain (which it did for one more night) and actually ended up spending the next two days at his parents’ lodge instead of camping. That was entirely pleasant and relaxing. The rest of the group had a great time on the last night as well - the weather cleared right up and the lake itself was gorgeous.

So while I’m definitely still a fan of camping, and definitely still like canoeing - I have a strong suspicion that in my world, never again shall the two meet.

Camping Gear

Originally uploaded by peechie.

In anticipation of our upcoming canoe/camping trip, Neil and I went out this past weekend to stock up on supplies.

We’ve both done our fair-share of camping, though it’s all been car-camping - the backpacking thing is pretty new to us. Of course, that meant we have gotten away with owning bulky, heavy camping stuff and reappropriating household goods to see us through the trip.

Luckily, we’re going with a pretty large group (Neil’s family), so we didn’t have to equip ourselves with an entire backpacker’s arsenal of necessities. His parents are taking care of food, and have all the cooking tools, plates, utensils and dehydrated foodstuffs we’ll need for sustinence over the five days.

It also helps that we aren’t strictly backpacking, we’re canoeing, so things that would normally be a very bad idea (a regular-sized tent and sleeping bags) aren’t really that big a deal.

The big “areas” we’ve taken responsibility for, for the group, are clean water, first-aid, and ropes (this whole hanging food from trees thing should be interesting).

And between equipping ourselves with that, the necessary technical clothing (I may be okay with not showering, but I am NOT okay with not having dry socks or clean underwear) and a few other convenience accessories - holy crap it starts to add up.

And so, to lessen the burning feeling as funds leech away from our bank accounts, I figured I’d at least get some joy out of it by opening up a wee contest for my entertainment and yours!

Guess how much all the stuff in the picture cost!

If you click through to the flickr photo, there are notes on the details and quantity of each item.

All goods were purchased at either 3Vets or MEC. I can also tell you that the most we paid for any item on there was $75.

Leave your guess in the comments. All guesses must be in Canadian dollars. Winner goes Price is Right style - closest without going over.

The prize will be either a $10 MEC card (locals only, and you must give me your mailing address) or a $10 online gift certificate to Amazon (.ca or .com - depending on where you are).

I’ll post the winner when we return, on August 16th.

Happy guessing!

UPDATE: And the winner is Yvonne with a guess of $900, closest to our astronomical total of $987.50 (after tax). I couldn’t believe it either - everything we purchased fit into a single laundry hamper - but I think Neil’s $41-per-pair fancy-schmancy underwear might’ve had something to do with it…

Thanks for playing along - and it all did come in pretty handy on the trip, which I’ll get to in the next post.

Oh gentle readers, I am stymied!

Neil and I are heading off on a canoeing trip next week, and are trying to figure out exactly how we’re going to get from Point A to Point B with as little hassle and expense as possible.

I’m convinced there must be a reasonable way to execute the plan - but I’ll be damned if I can figure it out! So I thought I’d turn to y’all and see if the collective Watercooler readership is smarter than I am (which I figure is highly likely).

Here are the details:

We must get from our apartment in Kitsilano to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal with ourselves, 2 backpacks, 1 suitcase and the dog.

–> A taxi is going to be about $60 - I know it’s a long-ass ride, but it seems like there must be a better option

–> We can’t take the bus with the dog (unless someone knows some dog/bus-fu they can share? At 75lbs she is just slightly too big to stuff in a carrier and haul onboard)

–> We could get a co-op car (round trip costs about $30), but one of us would have to return it to its original location, then bus back to the ferry (probably 4 hours of driving/bussing all together - and our time is worth a LOT more than the cab-fare to avoid that)

–> Renting a car and paying to leave it at the ferry terminal for a week is just dumb and far more expensive than $120 in taxi rides. Can you do a 1-way rental from Vancouver to West Vancouver?

–> We can’t think of any friends that live nearby who
a) have cars or access to cars;
b) are available midday on a Wednesday;
c) are in town next Wednesday;
d) would willingly drive from our house to Horseshoe Bay and back for the price of gas and a bottle of wine.
(If you are such a friend, please let us know - we haven’t asked because we didn’t want to impose!)

And that is about where we left off.

Anyone out there have any brilliant ideas, or are looking for something to do next Wednesday midday?

If you know me, you know how much I love Love LOVE food and wine. And the absolute highlight of the trip was dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. It’s one of few restaurants where the quality of the food is not inversely proportionate to the quality of the views. We were incredibly lucky to get a reservation there - I called from the Airport on Friday before we left, and the caller before me had just canceled their Saturday reservation. Otherwise it’s generally weeks to get a weekend sitting.

We had the tasting menu and accompanying flight of wine - and let me tell you, there are only a few things in this world (which I won’t mention, since my Mom reads this, but you get the idea) better than the taste and mouth-feel of amazing food with perfectly paired wines.

I’m mostly posting this so I can go back and reminisce over the menu at some point, but for the curious (because I know there are at least a few food/wine nerds reading), here’s what we had:

Amuse Bouche: Tomato Gaspacho, Rabbit Confit on Crostini, Crab Cake
Champagne - estate and vintage long forgotten

Cold Foie Gras Torchon, Duck Prosciutto, Fig Compote
Trimbach Reserve, Pinot Gris 2003, Alsace France

Maine Lobster, Fennel Remoulade, Herb Salad
Schafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 2005, Napa

Braised Filet of Halibut, Artichoke, Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2005, Loire Valley France

Roasted Rack of Lamb, Confit Eggplant, Tomato Tart, Tarragon Jus
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Alexander Valley

Crispy Michigan Farmstead Artisanal Camembert, Almond Apricot Petite Salad
Wedell Pinot Noir 2004, SantaRita Hills California

Eiffel Tower Dessert: Neil had the Apple Strudel, I had the Chocolate Sampler
Clos Uroulat Jurancon 2004, France

It was all just as good as it sounds - possibly better.

In point form, because I am still damn dehydrated, the plane was very delayed last night, and I’ve got lots of work to do:

Destination: Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada! (but oh the desert is dry! I feel so, so crusty)

Airline: West Jet - Captain Dave missed the runway on the first approach in, so we got an extra roller-coaster ride and some sore ears upon arrival (can we say 1,000-10,000 feet in 3.6 seconds?)

Hotel: Planet Hollywood (Formerly the Aladdin) - yay for the birthday upgrade! We got a junior suite on the 50th floor

Shows: Random comp tickets to Jay Leno at the Mirage on Friday (6th row centre) and bought tickets to Blue Man Group on the 28th

Sights: It was too damn hot to walk around much, so we pretty much stuck to the Centre Strip - Bellagio, Paris, Bally’s, Flamingo, Mirage

Shopping: Oh the shopping! I can’t wait to go back in November (work-trip for DevConnections) to load up again!

Fooding: Amazing Birthday Dinner at the Eiffel Tower! Six course tasting menu with accompanying flight of wine and beautiful views.

Relaxing: I’m glad we brought the bathing suits anyway, because we spent most of Sunday in the hotel pool before heading to the airport.

Gambling: we watched lots of tables, but with minimums starting around $10 and my severe lack of any skill at card games whatsoever, I figure I’ll practice at the casinos here a bit longer and try gambling on the next trip. We did hang out at the penny slots for a while to take advantage of the free drinks though!

And that’s all she wrote folks - I’m in love with Las Vegas, it really is like Disneyland for grownups, and we’re already planning our next trip!

Honey-Moon that is.

Both Neil and I are getting itchy feet again, and the uncertainty around my work situation has meant that we’ve had to keep our travel planning fairly limited in terms of destination and duration.

So what does one do when they can’t plan for a vacation in the immediate future? Plan for one in the not-so-immediate future instead. We booked the major airfare and a custom, private tour for the first part of our honeymoon over the weekend!

The plan is to fly out of Tofino either Sunday evening (March 30) or Monday Morning (March 31) back to Vancouver. The evening of the 31st, we hop on another plane to Morocco! We’ve got a 12-day itinerary with a private guide and A/C Land Rover at our disposal for the duration (I’ll post details after the jump). After that, we’ll make our way across the water to Spain, and hopefully spend the next 6 days recuperating while lounging in a villa near the Costa del Sol before flying from Malaga back to Vancouver on April 18th.

So, of course I have questions for the intrepid globetrotters out there:

Killing Time: Have any of you been in the British Airways executive lounge at Heathrow? Is it worth the price of admission? Both arrival and departure flights have 3 hour layovers there, and the Heathrow cattle-pen isn’t really all that awesome for just hanging out in.

Also under the killing time umbrella, we’ve arranged for extended leisure time in Fes and Marrakech - any suggestions for must-see and don’t-bother sites? Same question for Southern Spain - though nothing too taxing of course.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles: If you’ve travelled between Africa and Spain, how did you get from point A to point B? Our options seem to be Plane or Train/Ferry. Plane is slightly more expensive (by $75 each or so). Ferry ride is 6 to 9 hours.

Home, Sweet Home: Any advice for places to stay in southern Spain? Must be self-catering, so we can privately gorge on Serrano ham and Sangria. Neil definitely wants something beachy, but we both agree that we’d prefer to be a little off the beaten path so we’re hopefully not lumped in with the droves of packaged-tour pink Brits who flock to the area to soak up the sun.

Wardrobe Crisis: Again, in an effort to be as inoffensive as possible, I’m looking for suggestions on what to wear in Morocco. The country is primarily Muslim (with a few Berbers and even fewer Christians thrown in for good measure) so I must be mostly covered. Other than stocking up on long linen pants and skirts and a large hat for the sun, what would y’all suggest? Bonus query: recommendations for comfortable, non-sneaker footwear?

Watch your Language: Between us we probably have enough French (which is similar enough to Spanish) to get by in that department. However, we’d love to get some Arabic under our belt before we go. Is there anywhere in Vancouver we can take some conversational Arabic classes - or a good “book on tape” program anyone can recommend?

Shutterbugs: We’ll need a new digital camera before we go. Something with enough power and options to take effective night pictures (remote control, long shutter speed settings), but not fancy enough to be inconvenient to carry or attract unwanted attention from those who’d prefer to relieve us of it.

Thanks in advance for answers to those, or any questions I’ve not thought of yet! And of course, after the jump, our Moroccan itinerary:
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You know, I had a WAY better title for this one, but do you think I can remember it? Of course not.

Anyhow, I’ve been really excited to write about this, but was waiting for everything to finalize and the training to finish before I put it out there for internet posterity.

Sasha is officially a Hospital Visiting Dog with Pets and Friends! We visit the GF Strong Rehabilitative Centre one night a week.

I really enjoy volunteering and giving back to the community, but I’m socially awkward enough that my stint volunteering solo in palliative care a few years back was painful for all involved. I’ve undertaken some other volunteer projects both big and small, but they all had a finite term, so I’d have to find something new time and time again.

And this time, I really wanted something I could do with the dog. When both Neil and I are working (and even when I’m not, because I’ve been out of the house a lot this week) I feel pretty bad about leaving her at home alone so much.

A few months back, I saw a random blog post where the author mentioned something about therapy pets. So I started googling and found a local organization.

Now therapy or assistance animals and visiting pets are entirely different entities. Therapy animals are those that have been specifically bred, raised and trained to offer assistance to people with disabilities. They’re the labs and shepherds you see who accompany those with vision or other physical impairments, have been trained to recognize seizures and offer assistance for other purposes. These are working dogs, not pets.

Visiting pets are just that, they visit. They’ve been screened for temperament and training, and go with their owners to hospitals, hospices and other care facilities to visit with (usually long-term) patients. They offer a change of routine, a distraction, and unconditional, wet, hairy love.

It’s incredible to see how much a happy dog lights up the faces of people who are facing a really tough time. Especially those who are facing significant life challenges, away from home, friends and family (and their pets!) for extended periods. It’s sad, but so many of these patients, without anything else to do, will just go to bed after dinner (at about 6:00pm) out of sheer boredom. A visitor of any sort (two legs or four) is exactly the kind of thing worth staying up for.

And Sasha is a pretty perfect dog for the job. She’s unfailingly friendly - usually more interested in people than other dogs even, and always more interested in strangers than the humans she sees every day - in a very gentle way. She’s tall enough to stand up on her hind legs and visit people who can’t bend down out of bed to reach her, and is happy to just sit and be scratched on whichever bit of her is within reach.

Honestly, the people we’re visiting care far more about the dog than the human at the end of the leash - and that’s exactly how I like it. Sharing my happy dog with people is way more rewarding than just forcing my awkward presence upon them.

If you’ve got a pet you’d like to volunteer with, a facility you think could use some animal visitors, or just want to know more and perhaps support the organization - go ahead and check out Pets and Friends, or look for ways to get involved in your local area.