It has been an exceedingly unpleasant day, and tomorrow is not looking much better. (No, nothing to do with my computer, which is largely going according to plan.)
So here is an exceedingly pleasant Alaskan Malamute.
I need two of these guys tonight. One so I can bury my face in his fur, and the other one to paff me gently and repeatedly about the head and shoulders with his tail.
Got my replacement hard drive (well, actually an SSD) and have spent most of the day setting it up. Consequently, I don’t have access to my photo library at the moment. With any luck, I should have the last of the stuff I need to get my computer back in tip-top shape by this coming Thursday or Friday at the latest. If you are curious about the details of my computer modifications, look at the text after the dog picture. If not, please feel free to skip it; I won’t be offended, I promise.
The dog picture in question is a bit of a cheat: it’s from a dog park in the East Bay. However, I thought it was pretty, so you get to see it.
You can't tell what breed he is, where he is, what position he's in, or anything else about him... but you can tell he's happy.
For anyone who is curious about the details of my computer modifications: I have opted to get a new SSD for my laptop, to replace the hard drive. The hard drive is working fine since I reformatted it and remapped all the bad blocks, but I am still cautious, and anyway this gives me an excuse to get one, which I’ve been wanting to do for ages.
I chose an OCZ Vertex 3, as the highest-performance and most future-proof drive I could get: it has a 6 gbps interface, so the next laptop I get will be able to use it to its fullest potential, but it should do fine in this one as well.
Since it is significantly smaller than my internal hard drive, I have decided to remove the optical drive from my computer and replace it with a hard drive, which will be used for bulk storage of photos, video editing stuff, and my iTunes music library. (Using a bracket made for this purpose by Other World Computing.) When I’m not editing or posting photos, listening to music, syncing my iPhone, or editing video, I can keep the hard drive spun down and just use the SSD.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how this works. Keep your fingers crossed for me… there’ve been a few people who have had problems with this model of MacBook Pro and SSDs, and of course two internal drives is an unsupported configuration, though it should work in theory.
Can’t tell if this pup is pure Staffordshire, or if he’s mixed (with pit bull, maybe?). Sure has a dignified expression, doesn’t he?
Sleek grey beauty! Such a happy pup.
I guess mini Aussies are relatively new. I must admit that thus far, I haven’t been terribly impressed: I’ve met a few of them, and every single one of them has been terrified of me.
At least, up until I met Rami Ferrari, the incredibly awesome tiny little fluffy Australian shepherd who loves everybody. I think this pup has singlehandedly changed my opinion. He even has a facebook page, so he can find more people to give him cuddles.
My first look at Rami. At first I thought he was going to be just another timid mini-Aussie.
And then I saw this and my heart melted. Look at that happy face! That dog couldn't possibly be a scaredy-cat, could he?
Nope. No scaredy-cats here. Rami loves everyone!
Sweetest little pup ever. If I had him, I'd never have to worry about finding a dog-friendly apartment in SF: what landlord could possibly resist that face?
If you’re wondering why I post so many Yorkies… well, for one thing, they’re a very popular dog in the city. I guess it’s partly because they’re small enough to keep in a small apartment, and partly because they’re generally some of the politer (and less terrified) of the really tiny dogs.
The other reason I post quite a few of them is because, well… admit it: they’re adorable.
They always look like they're in the middle of a really bad hair day, but somehow can make it work. Like those tousled movie stars.
Aww. Someone re-wetting a coldwetnose!
I can't remember if this is the Yorkie I saw running around playing with a tennis ball or not. It was ridiculous: the Yorkie couldn't fit the ball in his mouth so he just pushed it around with his nose, at high speed.
I’ve been hunting one of these pups for ages, ever since Autumn and I saw two of them wandering down Franklin Street in Pacific Heights a couple of years ago. I finally found one, and it turns out it was almost certainly one of those very dogs, two years and half a city away.
They’re so elegant. They make me think of the Russian nobility. You know. Minus all the blood and, uh, weirder bits.
Borzoi are also known as Russian Wolfhounds. They make the Irish ones look awfully scruffy and giant and clumsy... although, let's be honest: if I was up against a wolf, I know which one I'd want on my side.
They look as streamlined as greyhounds, but that long floofly fur must come in very handy in the Russian winters.
Nothing can smile like a borzoi.
Another new breed for me, the Korean Jindo dog, named after Jindo Island, off the coast of Korea. They’re a feral dog type (think dingo) from that island, which is getting a bit of popularity here in the states.
I am told that Mickey is a bit of an ambassador, having been on television in connection (somehow) with the San Francisco Giants, although I can’t find any mention of this online. Nonetheless, he’s clearly a handsome devil, either way.
Mickey was just chilling out underneath a park bench, while his dad sat on top of the bench. They both looked like they were right where they wanted to be.
Pretty face. Actually interesting how similar they ended up to a dingo. Maybe a little less awkward-looking, though.
This is Trout, the pup that Autumn dogsat this weekend. I’ll be posting more of him later on, but right now I’m still hashing out the last of my computer problems, so all you get is a little taste of Trout. (And yes, Trout is an East Bay dog. But I’m sure he’s been to San Francisco at least once. 😛 )
Trout is part pit bull, part border collie, part Lab, and part something little (since he’s smaller than any of those dogs. Rather than say all that, though, I’d rather just say he’s a new breed. Maybe we could call it ‘fishdog’, with the official breed name ‘Troutulous Ridiculousus’.
On the up side, so far it looks like my computer fixes are working, so things should be back to approximately normal (albeit extremely busy at work) tomorrow.
More Trout, less blurry, later this week, I promise.
I am having some serious computer issues. Like my laptop’s hard drive has gone south in a big way.
The good news: I have a very current backup. (Like, I don’t think I’m missing a single file.) The bad news: I still don’t have a damn hard drive to replace it with, at least at the moment.
Hopefully be back up and running soon.
Hmm. Nope. Not a clue.
Whatever he is, he looked awfully disgruntled...
...especially for someone who obviously got (and loved!) so much affection. Must just be a facial features thing.