Saturday, February 23, 2013

My Camera is broken

I'm so heartbroken, I broke my Nikon D80. I have never once dropped my camera, and I have had it for over 6 years. I am now in the market for a new camera, and of course I will buy a Nikon! I have had 2 Nikons, my DSLR D80, and my traditional film camera and N55. How many dogs have I taken pictures of with that wonderful piece of equipment. How many lives have been saved because of  my love of photography. I am in no way good enough to be a professional, but  I still LOVE my camera, and have joked with people that it is worth more than my vehicle. I would be much more heartbroken if my camera were lost than if my car were lost...but now it is broken because I dropped it. I have no-one to blame but myself.

The peaceful scene that I missed, was seen as I was driving to Valley View, just north of Denton today. I rolled around a corner on a back country road, and saw this absolutely beautiful view that made me want my camera so bad. I contemplated trying to capture it with my cell phone, knowing that the scene would not be the same through the small screen of my smartphone. What I saw was a tree graveyard, with puddles the size of small ponds. Several trees were standing as if they were the lone survivors of this great massacre....I wasn't sure if they were the reason for the massacre or if they were standing over their fallen comrades wishing revenge upon those that delivered the fatal blows that dropped so many. The tree skeletons were such a stark contrast to the sandy bottom that was seen between the puddles and the shiny water with the sun striking it at the exact right angle to make it shimmer, but not ripple. It was as if the water was actually a lot of different sized mirrors placed all around before the massacre of the trees.


Even though it was such a sad scene to see so many trees that were down, it was also a very beautiful view that I really wanted pictures of. Will the pictures in my head fade over time? I'm sure they will, but maybe I will make it out to this partially dried up lake bed near twilight to capture the massacre of the trees. Now the question is what camera will I chose? I am leaning toward the DSLR Nikon D3000 that captures video, too. It is not so new, but then again my D80 is not new, and it was an amazing camera that served to save lives very well!


Nikon D3000 10.2MP DSLR Bundle with 18-55mm Lens and 55-200mm Lens, (Google Affiliate Ad)




I also wonder about the smaller bodied cameras now....are they better than the traditional "Point and Shoots" of the past?


Nikon J1 10.1 Megapixel 10-30MM VR Lens White Digital SLR N1J1WHTOM (Google Affiliate Ad)


I would love input from anyone that might have any of the cameras that I am interested in.


~Jennifer

Nikon D600 Dslr 24-85Mm 24.3Mp, 24-85Mm Vr - Digital SLR Cameras (Google Affiliate Ad)Nikon 

D7000 16.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S (Google Affiliate Ad)


Nikon D800 36.3MP Digital SLR Camera - Body Only - Cameras & (Google Affiliate Ad)


Nikon D800E 36.3MP Digital SLR Camera - Body Only - Cameras & (Google Affiliate Ad)

Nikon D3100 18-55mm VR Lens 14.0 MP Digital SLR D3100KITOM (Google Affiliate Ad)

Nikon D7000 16.2MP Digital SLR Camera - Body Only - Digital SLR (Google Affiliate Ad)

Nikon D7000 16.2MP DSLR Camera Bundle with 18-200mm VR Lens, Bag, and (Google Affiliate Ad)

Nikon D600 Dslr Body 24.3Mp Fx Cmos - Digital SLR Cameras (Google Affiliate Ad)

Bittersweet Home Visit

Original Post: 02/20/2011

So tomorrow I go to do a home visit for Eva, I am SO nervous. I have done quite a few home visits, and have approved plenty...as well as not approved a few. But, this one is bittersweet...Eva is my little sweetie, she has been with me for over 6 months...she came to me as a scared little girl that had NO training. She is now a sweet girl that is very well mannered, knows her commands, and confident. 


On one hand I know that this is the right home, but on the other hand every bad scenario goes through my head about what could go wrong. I know that this is my paranoia getting the better of me. This family LOVED Eva when they met her, and she seemed to love them. (The real test was that when they were holding her leash, and I walked away she did not freak out and go crazy trying to follow me...she simply watched me walk away and turned her attention back to them) I have a very good feeling about them, so there is no bad feeling, it is just the fact that I will miss her. 

It is so heartbreaking, but at the same time a happy event to find a foster that you have loved and cared for a permanent furever home. It means that you can move on and help another...but will she feel that I abandoned her, just like her first family did? She is SO attached to me, is she going to get there and act out because she thinks I gave her up? I know this is ridiculous, but it makes it no less emotionally hard to let her go. Every foster that I have helped, took a little piece of my heart with them to their new home. But, after a couple of days, and a positive report I will move on and begin to help them next one that is so sick, scared, or needy. I will love them as if they are my own....and let them go when the purfect furever family comes along for them in the future. (-:

It does get easier...I promise.  

Hectic Day...over stressed

Original Post: 02/16/2011
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So it is mid month and I am a day late getting everyone their heartworm preventatives...yesterday was jam packed so I scheduled it for today. It is SO hectic trying to get Ivermectin into the mouth of 11 dogs...the Ivermectin tastes bad, so they don't like it. But, man it is SO much cheaper than buying Heartguard. For the price of 3 months of Heartguard for ONE dog, I can buy enough of the active ingredient Ivermectin for 20 dogs for a year. When you are on a budget, that is what you do....so by being on a budget, I get to wrestle 11 Pit Bulls to give them their Heartworm prevention. LOL!


I also noticed that some of the dogs have runny poo...yes, those of us in rescue watch the poo carefully. So, I mixed up some Albon and dosed everyone. I am so paranoid about them getting Coccidiosis. Coccidia is SUCH an easy thing for them to spread around, and healthy dogs can carry it without showing any symptoms. It has been referred to as an opportunistic disease, that means that it strikes when a dog is stressed or their immune system is already down. I mix it with a supplement that tastes like bananas, it is a bit easier to get them to take the Albon than the Ivermec, that's for sure...(-: 

So, I am dead tired after exercising everyone, rotating everyone, getting medicine passed out, and updating records. WHEW....all in a days work. (And, I don't get paid for it, in fact I usually get to buy the meds out of my own pocket...how's that for a deal!) Now, if I could get some fosters to help out, then I would be set. Think about wrestling with just one dog for 5-10 minutes to give them shots, check them over and get them whatever medicine they need. Now multiply that by 11...not to mention that it takes at least 5 minutes in between to rotate them and get them situated. Doesn't seem so bad to just foster 1, now does it? (-:

More Paperwork....such fun

Original Post: 11/18/2010

Does the paperwork ever end? *sigh* I have been getting some help with filing the paperwork for our 501c3, and it seems that we are neck deep in red tape. I have never really been good at paperwork, so this amount of paperwork is really intimidating. I am really committed to making this the best rescue, and to saving dogs, so the paperwork will be done, but it doesn't mean I have to like it, right? (-:



We officially have our EIN, a bank account, and a DBA in the state of Texas. Wow, we are really on the way to being an entity all our own. Ok, well, I have to go to the post office to get our PO Box today. So, have a good day, and remember


"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" 
~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Saving puppies

Original Post: 11/12/2010
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We got word that a good person north of Denton has saved a couple of puppies from a very bad situation. Their parents are still there, and she is in the process of getting them out of the situation. We are frantic right now, we are trying to find a foster that will take in 2 puppies that are scared and just need a little love. The parents of these puppies were beaten and abused, now the jerk is in jail. But that does not stop the bad situation for these babies. They are now abandoned, and are in danger of  being shot by the local sheriff, although I haven't exactly figured that one out yet. We are trying our hardest to find a way to save these babies, but it seems that time is working against us. Why does it seem that the ones that have had the hardest time, just can't seem to catch a break. 

Taking care of paperwork

Original Post: 11/12/2010
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Wow, there are a LOT of hoops to jump through to get a rescue going. We are currently working on getting our bylaws and stuff set up, I'm so excited. We now have a PO Box, a Secretary and a Treasurer. (-: Now we just need more foster homes. We have a few, but there are always more dogs than there are fosters. UGH!



I have been working on T-Shirts again on Zazzle, my next website to conquer is Cafe Press. I would love to find someone that is really web savvy, and would like to take care of some of this stuff. Pretty soon it will be a tax deductible donation. (-: 

Feeding so many....

Original post: 11/09/2010

So, sometimes we get donations from people, and sometimes we buy food from a supplier at a discount rate. The supplier gives us the broken bags, leftovers, etc...for a certain amount of money at a very discounted rate. We are trying to raise money for food, but it seems that it always comes from one of our pockets. Feeding is one of the cheapest parts of rescue, and sometimes it is difficult to keep up. I would love to find someone that is willing to just take over getting donations. That would be awesome...that person would not even have to deal with dogs. I guess that is our next step, to find someone to help us get donations. 



As for the food, we will continue to trudge ahead and keep the food can full. (-:

Beau

Originally posted 10/25/2010

Today we took in Beau. He is a cute little guy, with the cutest ears! He is about 3 years old, and was found by a good samaritan that helped him out. What would have happened if they had taken the little guy to the shelter? Well, Beau would have had little to no chance to make it into adoptions, that's IF he stayed well and didn't get sick. Not to mention that he was un-neutered, so that is a strike against him. Then it depends on how many other dogs are in the shelter. If they are overcrowded then his time is even more limited. The odds are that Beau would have been euthanized, and would have never come out of the shelter alive. Going into the shelter is sometimes a death sentence...and no it is not fair. Sometimes these guys are just lost from their owners, who didn't chip or tattoo them, or even do something as simple as put tags on their dog. We are lucky that Beau was saved and brought to us. We don't always have room, but if people would just spay and neuter their pets, take care of them for life, and well, just be responsible, then we would have more room. Heck, we wouldn't even need to be here. 


We really need fosters and volunteers so we don't have to turn down any needy dogs. Please email us if you would like to foster a bull for us! You will really be saving a life!

Trials of Rescue

Originally posted: 8/10/2010

Today has been just like every other day when it comes to rescue things. We have about a 100 emails asking us to take a dog, we figured out that we are $1200 in debt, we have 3 dogs to alter, and we are out of shots. Wow. 



On a positive note we had someone donate $20. It's off to bed for our rescuers.