i

i expect great things...

good related story

for th enewcommers.... we gave a dog to a kid in nh...did well.. til the boys started grabbing the tail of the dog.. we... 5 of us made an apt to see the principal one morning at 9am...  she came out of her office and waved her hand at us "i don't have time for you " and my blood boiled... so i came home and got on theweb and asked everyone to go buy pink envelopes-- 2 of them-- and here is the address for the superintendent of schools and here is aht address for the principal.  mail them about tuesdy...  and the post office reported thousands of pink envelopes-- and the phone rang--  the principal had found time to talk to us... she said   "i had no idea"-- i really wanted to  give her a pie in the face... why did she have no idea-- and why did it take thousands of pink envelopes  to have her pay attention to bullying..

she does now.

.....

we had a volunteer here yesterday who bounced in ... with enthusiasm-- she had been very busy working and dealing with a challanged  child- that she came here for a few minutes to herself...... wanting to help---i gave her a long distance job-- and we got into  her workplace and their attitude to charity giving.... i shared with her -- concept of lifesavers for policemen standing on street corners directing tragffic... and she got right on othe concept... -- it really is a very simple way to move one person's day to a happy mode.. and there is no one  who owns a car that can not afford  to keep a few  rolls of lifesavers in their car... police are welll accustomed to people pulling over asking directions- so the 6  seconds it takes to slow up and hand them a roll of lifesavers should  be no big deal..

soooo all of you... get on the program...

if we have 38 states on the cake program.. lets try for 52 with the life savers..  somebody should write to the lifesaver company  and see if we can have a truckload... ( did i really say that??)

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speaking of truckloads... the purina is due here about the 18th-- i did cut down the load last time and we now have a nearly empty shipping continer... 17 bags of puppy, and i had to go buy 10 bags of adult..  boy do we appreciate purina...

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  friday----i asked everyong on staff to carry a yellow card (my favorite the 5 x 7 folded in thirds for the back pocket) and write down what they do all day to see if we can rearrainge some of these jobs.. my job is to sit around and drink coffee-- and  i am good at that..  but i watch---and think...

beecause the  place must still operate on the .. if it needs doing do it... philosophy --- that  lends itself to a randomness that is of  questionable effecienty ---no one is at fault-- except me for not trying to figure out a better way...and the  other is prioritization..--

here's some examples

-- grace as generic "floater"  --- noticed a hole in the fence-- went to the barn for some hay string and fixed it.

if there had been no other solution it would have been the right thing to d o... fence holes are right up there with bleeding breathing... for  pending disasters.. however--  ryan... who is  more teh grounds keeper was back dragging the parking lot from the  tractor's heated cab.-- heck ... i can back drag the parking lot from a cab that is probably more heated than the area by my desk.  ryan should fix the fence.. and grace should do more grace things.... which with her background she is far better at discovering.

i am thinking-- and this is with 2 days cards only....maybe we shoulc consider reviewing the job descritpions which ADI made us provide--- and i did -- kicking and screaming all the way...

so maybe pam-- should  assign volunters  to work with people.. who's job it is to see the completion...

megan should not be  running around laminating certificates -- we know  when the people are coming..   linda is in charge of that  paper stuff...  megan should be playing with the puppies  even for the few minutes it imight take to laminate teh certificates....  most of the time linda is doing things which  she can push a save biutton and go baci to.

or she can mail the new ones.  somehow megan is a dog person...

 grace should definitly put up and design teh decorations----- but taking them down is better done by those less talented... of which we have many.... including me.

classic.... ryan was screwing in a new flap on a door.... and a dog was in the way-- someone suggested getting a peanut butter filled kong to distract.  so he stopped and stoood there....  before the dog got the kong, 5 people were involved...-

then there is the inertia problem... stuff is neatly put on shelvess.. where it stays... a person may be sitting on the floor with the pups, just waiting for them to make a poo.... but th e poo picking devices are across the room neatly stored on the shelf.  WE KNOW IT IS COMING.. KEEP A ROL OF TP WITHIN REACH.. IT WILL SAVE LAUNDRY...

it is kind of like lucille ball in tthe candy factory... more comes faster than you can deal...

 or mommy coMes in and turns circloes looking for a spot to lie down ht is not damp-- she would like a new fluffy-- and we have plenty--  they too are across the room on the shelf- byt the  time someone gets upa  dngets one she is resigned to damp living....  not good.. and it is only organization that is  the problem...

in the nutshell-- do you keep the bandaids in the bathroom , or in the workshop where you get wounded????

we have that problem  big time.  the huge stack of fluffies is clean and ready... on the shelf- in the cellar ---but none within reach of the puppies area .  there is much rethinking that is needed there.

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problem really is... we ain't a small outfit any more...

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Hi Carlene, 

Today Clark and I went to Findlay Market in Cincinnati. This is a big indoor/outdoor public market, with several individual shops and a long hall with local grocers and vendors selling their food. I had actually never been there, despite living in Cincinnati all my life. A couple years ago, we had some friends in town and they went to the market with my mom. I didn't go because I knew it would be crowded and the aisles were pretty tight, so it would be too hard for me. I have always wanted to go, though. So today we decided to try it out. I thought it would still be difficult, but it wasn't at all, thanks to Clark! He was perfectly behaved, even around all the food, and there was actually plenty of room for us to walk up and down the aisles.  

One of the vendors asked me, "So how many times a day do you get asked if he's a Dalmatian?" And then he pointed behind him to a picture of his Harl. :) We laughed about all the questions and comments these dogs get out in public.

Also, this weekend last year is when I first visited the farm. I never imagined how much life could change in a year, and I am beyond grateful. Clark keeps me moving forward everyday, and we're not stopping!

Caroline