Van travel with dog, a close companion

On a cross-country travel, I learned just how close I can be to a dog. The reason was simple: Tom Bold was traveling separately. So, Sherman had to rely on me as his companion. Top shot: he insisted on sharing my computer desk in the van. For him, it served as a head rest. And that's what my lap was, also, when driving. Photo below is hard to make out...but that's the scene when an 80-pound dog wants to sleep on the front seat. He has to stretch out across the space between seats and put his head on the driver's leg. Sherman, like most dogs, would really prefer a bench seat in a pick-up truck.


© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Personal Technology: but someone else's personal event

Besides being a striking study in black and white, this photograph documents another shattered iPhone. Oh, it still works. But I've now seen similar sight for older owners of iPhones, younger owners of iPhones, and in-between-agers, too.

I am certain that I dropped previous cell phones. I had one that frequently split into parts when it hit the pavement. But I could always snap it back together. (One challenging day, that phone scattered into enough pieces that I had to scoop them into a plastic bag. I carried it into the lecture hall, held it high, and was rescued by a student who volunteered to reconstruct it for me. I wouldn't be surprised if it were her most productive and happy day of the semester.)

Of course, with the iPhone, the risk is higher. It shatters instead of scatters (good) but it also resists reconstruction....

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Remarkably Memorable Pet Store

Portland no doubt has many fine attributes but the one I saw up close is the welcome to dogs at this Nature's Pet store. Notice the cat scratching post that I was thankful Sherman did not scale. Notice the water bottle that provided him with refreshment on a hot September day. Notice the propped open door that, yes, he entered without hesitation.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Remarkably Memorable Market

There are a few remarkably memorable markets in the country and the Sanitary Public Market of Seattle is one of them. Seattle in sunshine is equally memorable. Sights/sites include the original Starbucks and more people in sandals than I've seen in a long time.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Travel in the Sherman Tank

Travel in the Sherman Tank has nothing to do with military history. We bought a minivan for the dog (the rationale for which is clear to me although admittedly for decades I didn't understand why other people did this) when he grew to such a size that he blocked our entire rear view in the Prius. The minivan solved that: Sherman can stand but we still have clearance above his head. Until today. En route to a relative's house, with boxes filling the back of the van, we once more had blocked rear view. That's because Sherman simply jumped atop the boxes and rummaged merrily through the contents. He is big. And curious about his environment. We can hardly wait to get him back to the floor of the van.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Corporate and Kid -- Welcome Home, Troops

Over Labor Day weekend, I saw my first Welcome Home, Troops display at an airport. Just hadn't run across that before, and this one was minus the actual soldiers. Several hallways of a DFW Airport reception area were plastered with a mix of corporate and child-decorated signage. There's a level of energy in such a display that has nothing to do with its size (although I suspect a large airport could make a small display appear even smaller). I have absolutely no idea what happens afterward but I hope a few families take home some of the signs.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Spartan Lodgings a Plus

We have adopted (a dog) and adapted (to dog life). So, that means that our new favorite motel chain is the Red Roof Inn. It is spartan. It is plain. Those are great characteristics for a room where a dog will sleep on vacation. Sherman cannot find anything to chew on. We stay only at hotels where he is legal. Our recent stay, just a couple of miles from a big dog park, was in a facility that allows dogs up to 80 pounds. We drove to Houston quickly as Sherman weighed in at 79 that week.

So far, we have not had to pay a deposit or extra fee. I imagine we'll make that a goal.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

When Coach is Roomier Than First Class

My DFW-BWI-DFW round-trip flight had the expected "full-up" first class sections. Yep. Every seat taken. So, it was the ride in Coach (both directions) that was superior. I had my own row of seats (both directions) as did the majority of passengers (both directions).

You couldn't miss the message on those planes. But just in case I might be unobservant, I could rely on the article in USA Today that I read during take-off: American's lay-off of 921 flight attendants and Southwest's reduction in routes are "examples of airlines trying to cope with a steep drop in air travel." The article went on to provide startling statistics but I had my own in view.

I had one more surprise on that flight: the announcement that "We no longer accept cash on board. We do accept these cards...."

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.