Jan

3

How to record streaming audio and video

Filed Under Internet goodies, Productivity, Resources | 3 Comments

I’ve been frustrated recently with my lack of technical knowledge about downloading from the internet. I signed up for an online course that provided the lessons in streaming video and streaming audio. When I signed up, I understood that I would be getting downloadable files and transcripts. Not so. Everything is streaming.

I tend to work offline far more than online. I like to download stuff, copy it to my laptop, and deal with it wherever I happen to be, rather than be chained to my internet computer.

So it is exceptionally frustrating when I have paid for something that can’t be downloaded. A search of the internet to find a way to download streaming files didn’t find anything useful. I really wanted to download these particular files, because I paid a lot of money for the course and the presenter was not willing to change the format although he originally promised to do so (note to readers: if you offer anything, you MUST pay attention to your customers’ requirements and requests – this guy didn’t do that, and now I have a bad impression of him and his business).

I had downloaded a free program called Audacity before, for another project, but never could get it to work correctly (I told you I’m technically challenged in some areas!). Using Audacity, I could record the stream, but the recording was so soft that I couldn’t actually hear it, even with the volume as high as it will go.

So I started to search online for tutorials on how to set up and use Audacity to download streaming files (since the literature on this program says it will do that). One tutorial suggested a free recorder if you can’t get Audacity to work, so I checked it out.

It’s wonderful!

The program is called Freecorder, and it works as a toolbar in your browser, so I’m thinking it’s probably cross platform (although I’m not 100% sure of that).

The tutorial that mentioned Freecorder suggested that you download Freecorder 3, because it gives you choices about the file format you want to record to. So I downloaded and installed Freecorder 3, and immediately struck problems.

First, Firefox wouldn’t install it, because it doesn’t have valid updating files (or something like that).

So I tried it in Internet Explorer, which installed it just fine, and appeared after I closed IE and then opened it again.

But when I tried to record something, it threw me into an update page for Freecorder – every time. With a sigh, I downloaded Freecorder 4.

The sigh wasn’t justified. Within seconds, I had Freecorder 4 installed and recording streaming audio as an mp3 file. Who cares about whether the mp3 format is lossy or not? It did what I needed it to do!

Freecorder doesn’t seem to have a lot of tweaks available: the Settings panel doesn’t have a lot to it. But it’s easy to use, and it works. Apparently you can also use it to record videos, although I haven’t tried it for that.

Freecorder will record whatever is audible from the computer, so if you talk while the Record button is pressed, it records your voice. That’s handy when you want to make a short note to yourself, or if you have trouble writing and can speak it easier than write it. Or you could record yourself singing a song, or whatever. I saw a YouTube video that showed how it will also record two things at once: I haven’t tried that with Freecorder 4, and I suspect the YouTube video is talking about Freecorder 3, but it probably still does it – cool, huh?

Of course, the program has limitations. As I said above, the settings are minimal (made to be idiot-proof, perhaps?). You don’t get a chance to say where you want the resulting mp3 files to go for each download: in the Settings panel you nominate where to put them and that’s it. If you wanted to change the destination folder, you’d have to go into the Settings panel each time. There are probably other limitations of which I am not yet aware: I only discovered it this morning.

Disclaimers

Please note that I am not advocating downloading copyrighted streaming audio or video if you do not have a right to do so. If you do, that’s piracy and it’s illegal worldwide. I downloaded these files because I had paid for them.
I have no affiliation with this program or its creators. I am posting this simply because I found something that gave me a solution to a problem. Your mileage may vary.
I have no idea what else is out there that will do this job. I found this one, it works, I like it.

If you know of something similar, please let us know with a comment.

Dec

13

Every day you live is a special occasion

Filed Under Death, Grief, Philosophy of Life | 4 Comments

Today is my father’s birthday. If he had lived, he would have been 83. Although he has been gone for three and a half years, I saw something that he would have liked the other day, and for an instant thought about buying it for him for Christmas. Then I remembered. And I felt like I had lost him all over again.

When someone dies, the world loses. The family loses. Friends and loved ones lose the opportunity to be with that person, to talk to them, laugh with them, confide in them, advise them and find out what they know. The person’s entire knowledge banks and memories are lost – unless they were preserved in some way – books, photos, diaries, blogs even.

Have you seen the movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson called The Bucket List? I watched it on DVD last week. It’s about two men with terminal cancer who write a list of things they want to do before they die. And then they go out and do them. Both of them waited until they were dying to do some things they had wanted to do all their lives.

Why wait to do what you want?

When you are dying, it’s probably too late. If you’re dying of a disease, you might not be well enough to climb a mountain or learn a new language. If you die suddenly, it’s definitely too late.

Every day you are alive is a gift. Don’t let it pass you by.

A friend sent me a message from the Dalai Lama today. It says exactly what I wanted to say in this post, so I have quoted it here:

Today we have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences but less time.

We have more degrees but less common sense, more knowledge, but less judgement.

We have more experts but more problems, more medicine but less wellness.

We spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, read too little, watch too much TV and pray too seldom.

We’ve multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too little, and lie too often.

More leisure and less fun … more kinds of foods … but less nutrition …two incomes but more divorce …fancier houses, but broken homes.

That’s why I propose that, as of today, you do not keep anything for a special occasion, because every day you live is a special occasion.

Search for knowledge.

Dec

10

If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you

Filed Under Coaching, Philosophy of Life | 3 Comments

“If you don’t know [what's wrong, what you've done, why I'm upset/angry], I’m not going to tell you!”

Has anyone ever said that to you?

How did you feel?

My usual response to this exceptionally stupid statement is “What the …?”

A couple of weeks ago, someone left an organisation that I’m involved with because she had some issues with how it was being run. That’s fine, but the person had never given any indication before her resignation that she was not happy. The remaining members of the organisation were left scratching their heads in bewilderment. What did we do? How could this have been resolved? And more importantly, why didn’t the person say something????

It’s like being told “If you don’t know, I’m certainly not going to tell you!”.

What a stupid thing to say. I’m not, nor do I know anyone who is, a mindreader. I can’t know what you are thinking unless you actually say it. Why do people do this? I actually heard a senior executive say this to a subordinate one day. Say what? An executive telling a junior that she’s not happy about something the junior has done/not done, but won’t say what it was? How crazy is that?

I used to be a Conflict Resolution Trainer with the Conflict Resolution Network. One of the first principles of conflict resolution is to actually address the problem. No-one will know there is a problem unless someone says something. Problems cannot be fixed unless they are addressed.

It would have been much more productive for everyone if the person who left the organisation had said something to someone about how she was feeling. Then the person responsible for the behaviour that caused the distress could respond. No one knows how someone else is feeling. No one knows for sure what else is going on in someone else’s life. There may have been only one instance of the issue, or several different issues. It may have been because the person who unwittingly caused the distress was having a bad day, or was under a lot of stress, or was distracted, or was simply misunderstood. No one will ever know, because the issue was not addressed.

The bottom line is that conflict can often be handled well if the distressed person actually says what is wrong.

How many times have you done or said the equivalent of “If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you”?

Don’t you think there is a better way?

Speak up if there’s something bothering you. You’ll never get resolution if you don’t actually address the issue.

Nov

15

Blogging Buddy Circles are good for business

Filed Under Blogging, Business, Resources | 9 Comments

I belong to a Blogging Buddy circle. It’s a great way to get comments and internet exposure for you and your business.

What is a Blogging Buddy Circle?

A Blogging Buddy Circle is a number of people who visits your blog on a regular basis, and make constructive, useful comments on it.

Why do you need a Blogging Buddy Circle?

If you need traffic, a Blogging Buddy Circle can help you get some.

If you want to know that someone is reading your blog, having Blogging Buddies reassures you that your writing will not go totally unnoticed.

If you want to tailor your blog posts to what people want to read, comments and feedback from your Blogging Buddies can steer you in the right direction.

If you want to create or be part of an online community that helps its members to grow, Blogging Buddies are a good way to start.

What are the benefits of Blogging Buddy Circles?

All of the above, plus more traffic to your websites/blogs if you comment consistently. There’s no point in being a Blogging Buddy if you only receive comments – you have to make them too.

How does it work?

It’s an agreement between bloggers to visit and comment on each others’ blogs on a regular basis. You sign up, and then you start commenting on each others’ blogs. Simple as that. You can set up a one-on-one Blogging Buddy relationship, or you can set up what I call a Blogging Buddy Circle, which has more than two members.

How do I set up a Blogging Buddy Circle?

If you don’t know anyone online, you could start by leaving comments on blogs you like. You might get a reply! Use that first contact, if appropriate, to ask for a Blogging Buddy relationship.

Contact everyone you know who has a blog that has some sort of connection with your blog, your business or your hobbies. Say that you are setting up a Blogging Buddy circle, and ask if they would like to participate.

If you belong to a discussion group that is relevant to your blog, your business or your hobbies, send out a request for Blogging Buddies.

How to make it work

You need to decide realistically how many blogs you are willing to visit and comment on regularly.

Decide how regular is regular: once a week, once a fortnight, once a month? What will fit into your regular schedule?

Decide, on the basis of your answers to those two questions, how many people/blogs you can comfortably handle in your Blogging Buddy circle.

It might help to have one person being the Keeper of the Blog Addresses if you have a fairly large circle. In my Blogging Buddy Circle there is a wonderful lady who has the list of blogs on a page of her website, and regularly posts changes. It makes it really easy to visit all the blogs on your designated Blogging Buddy day(s), because you can simply go to one web page for all the links. Bookmark the webpage, and you’ve got it made.

Best practice for blog commenting

Today I found a very helpful blog post from Noel Lyons about how to comment on blogs to get the best return. It’s http://www.noellyons.com/blog/5-simple-steps-to-branding-yourself-online/ . It talks about how to comment on blogs and what to include. For instance, when you make a comment, you’re always asked for your name. Noel suggests that you put something else after your name – a short description of who you are or what your business or blog is. This sounds like a really useful idea to me, and I’m going to start implementing it.

Introducing My Blogging Buddy Circle

Here are my Blogging Buddies in no particular order. All of these people are professional coaches. Some of them have a couple of blogs. How they manage to keep two blogs updated as well as run a coaching business is beyond me: I have enough trouble keeping five websites and a blog updated regularly as well as run my coaching and editing business!

Build Your Coaching Business by Melody Campbell

Teaching you to build your coaching business is the most important thing I do!

Healthy Body Healthy Brain by Suzanne Holman

New Path For Life by Elaine Lockard

Success in life and business while living with chronic pain

So Baby Boomer by John Agno

Life coaching tips for confident and independent baby boomers

Right Line Blog by Renée Barnow

Words that work at work

ECI Learning Systems blog by Dave Meyer

Developing teams and leaders to energize and engage your workplace

Webmaster Tool Center by Tammy Barbee

Webmaster resources

Mend Your Money by Cindy Morus

Offers simple, practical advice to people looking to improve their finances

The Web Lady by Tammy Barbee

Computer Resources for small businesses and solopreneurs

Coaching By Doris by Doris Helge

It’s all about you!

Coaching Biz Tips by Kathy Mallary

Getting into high gear about the stuff that matters most

Get Hired NowTM America by Judith Auslander

A 28-Day program for landing the job you want

Wise Heart Coaching by Judith Auslander

More resources on Blogging Buddies

There’s a lot more to Blogging Buddies than this post mentions. For instance, lots of people have only one buddy at a time, and use them as a sounding board, a proofreader or a co-author. A quick search on your favourite search engine will bring up several mentions of Blogging Buddies. Here are some excellent ones.

It’s all about the conversation

Find a Blog Buddy

10 Reasons to Find a Blog Buddy

Comments?

If you’d like to add your experiences to this discussion, tell us how commenting on blogs has helped your business and whether you belong to a Blogging Buddy Circle or have a single Blogging Buddy, or none at all. Read more

Oct

21

Reliability, Reputation and Team 100

Filed Under Business, Customer Service, Project Management | 3 Comments

fencing I recently hired a contractor to erect some fences on my property. I did it the right way – I contacted several fencers, and asked for quotes.

The first round was woeful. Some of the fencers didn’t bother to turn up, some didn’t give me a quote after they came and looked. One person gave me a ballpark figure seemingly plucked out of the air (which didn’t give me a feeling of confidence about his competence!).

I got frustrated with all this, and rang a few more fencers. This time I told them that I wasn’t getting any joy from other fencers, and asked if they were reliable, would turn up when they said they would, and would actually give me a quote once they’d turned up. Of course, this lot all said they were reliable, would turn up on time, and would give me a fair quote.

The first one didn’t show.
The second one didn’t answer his phone.
The third one said he’d come next week, but then I had to chase him three times for the quote.
The fourth one said he’d call me.

Then the second one called back. He had missed my call, but did actually call back. He came that afternoon, gave me some advice and wrote out a quote on the spot. Nice! But he was very expensive, and I didn’t feel comfortable with his attitude.

To cut a long story short, I finally hired a fencer, more than two months after I started the process. He had some good ideas, his prices were mid-range, and although he talked a lot, I liked his suggestions.

He rang last week and said he’d be here first thing on Monday morning, i.e. 8:30 am. I rang him at 10:30 on Monday morning to find out where he was. He’d been hung up at the office doing paperwork, but hadn’t bothered to keep me informed.

He finally arrived three hours late, and said that he’d get the posts up for the dog pen that day, and the wire up the next day.

But he and his assistant only spent two hours here on Monday, and there were only two posts in the ground when they knocked off for the day.

The next day, they arrived at 9:30 am and left at 5:30 pm. But every time I looked out the window they appeared to be chatting to each other rather than constructing the fence. They left with all the posts up, but nothing more done.

Today I rushed out to do errands before they were due to come and install the wire. After I got home, I received a phone call to say that his supplier had given him the wrong corner braces (or some essential part), and that they were not in stock, and wouldn’t be here until sometime next week.

Say what?

Why didn’t this contractor, who proclaimed loudly to all and sundry that he is a professional and reliable, CHECK THE SUPPLIES BEFORE HE GOT HERE? Why didn’t he tell me there was a potential problem yesterday, when he discovered the discrepancy?

Okay, there’s another fence he can get on with while we’re waiting for the parts.

But no. He doesn’t have all the bits for that fence yet either.

???????????????????????

Now call me silly, but I really can’t understand why a professional wouldn’t check that a delivery is correct. And why didn’t he check before he got to my place? And why didn’t he say something to me last night when he left, rather than ring me this morning, when I had rearranged my day to be here, and say he won’t be here?

AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Okay.

Deep breath. This happens all the time. But it shouldn’t.

How does this tale of incompetence and woe relate to All Paths to Victory?

Simple.

If you want your business to thrive, you’ve got to make the customer happy.

When you have contracted to provide a service or a product, you need to do everything you can to make the customer happy. You need to make sure that whatever you need to complete the job is delivered on time, and you need to keep the customer informed at all times of progress. I don’t care whether you’re a fencer, a plumber, a builder, a rock star or a trainer, those same rules apply.

You wouldn’t expect to pay for tickets to a rock concert, only to be told when you arrive that the lead guitar has a broken string and there aren’t any replacements available, would you?

So, to be professional you need to ensure that you:

keep the customer informed every step of the way
turn up when you say you will
do the very best job you can
make sure that any supplies you need to complete the job are checked when they are delivered, and rectify any problems immediately – the customer should not ever know that your supplier let you down – you should be on top of everything all the time

Expand your network

Something that puzzled me about the fencing contactor is that he appears to use only one supplier. This seems to me to be a potentially dangerous practice. To keep your business afloat, especially in these economic times, wouldn’t it be a useful thing to expand your network of suppliers and other people who could potentially help your business? You could set up arrangements with other service/product suppliers whereby you call each other or refer to each other when there is a problem that you can’t fix, or when you have too much work and need a sub-contractor, or simply when someone you meet needs something that can be supplied by someone in your network. Coaches trained at Coach University (as I was) call this the Team 100 Program. (Click here to email me about ways we can work together to create your own Team 100.)

Be ultra-reliable

People don’t give repeat business to people who aren’t reliable. Yes, that’s right, I said people who aren’t reliable. Businesses are made up of people, and if you, as the customer, deal with someone who is incompetent, rude, clueless or unreliable, that gives you the impression that the entire company is like that.

To be ultra-reliable you have to

train your staff
put failsafe systems into place, so that you can get the supplies you need when you need them or somehow ensure that you provide your customer with the correct service/product on time, every time
have a company culture of reliability
make the effort to be reliable – as soon as you are unreliable, there goes your entire reputation.

These points apply even if you are a sole trader. It’s sometimes harder to be ultra-reliable when you are a sole trader, which is why you need a Team 100.

What is my opinion of the fencing contractor now? Well, not so good, as you might imagine. So this person has ruined, not only my entire fortnight, but his own reputation. I won’t be recommending him to others.

Bottom line

To be reliable and keep a good reputation in business, you need to go out of your way to make the customer happy. If you’re unsure of how to do this, or you want to create failsafe systems for your business, or if you want to create your own Team 100, email me now.

Oct

1

Do not join internet giveaways!

Filed Under Internet goodies | 5 Comments

I’ve joined many internet giveaways in the past few years. The opportunity to download products for the price of being put on someone’s mailing list is too good to pass up.

Or so I thought.

But I’ve discovered that, every time I join a giveaway and download “free” products, two things happen:

I get put on more mailing lists, which I then have to either allow to clutter up my hard drive or spend time unsubscribing to them all; and/or
Along with the “free” products, I download viruses, trojans and other electronic threats.

The last time I joined a giveaway, I ended up having to get my hard drive reformatted to get rid of all the malware it had in it. Then I had to take valuable time to reinstall all my programs and settings. Then I had to scan my backups for viruses.

Lucky I had a backup.

I joined another giveaway yesterday. The day before, my computer was clean. Now it’s not.

So that’s it. Joining giveaways is not worth it. The free products are not free. Their price is too high.

There’s only one giveaway that I trust, and that is Mark Hendrick’s 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. Even there, I have to be careful.

So the lesson for today is this:

Don’t join giveaways, either as a contributor or as a member. It’s not worth the potential damage to your reputation (if you are a contributor) or your computer (if you are a member).
Keep your computer anti-virus software up to date, and check your computer regularly.
Keep your essential files backed up at all times.

I’ve learned my lesson.

Sep

27

You can do everything when you’re healthy

Filed Under Coaching, Philosophy of Life, Productivity | 7 Comments

I woke up feeling fantastic this morning. I don’t remember the last time I did that. I’m up and rarin’ to go. Can’t wait to start the day.

This is very unusual for me. I have a chronic illness, which I’ve had since 1995. It seems that it’s not going to go away. So when I wake every morning it’s more a case of asking myself what doesn’t hurt, and how can I drag myself through the day without hurting more.

What’s different today? Yesterday I started a course of antibiotics. When I’m on antibiotics, I always feel fantastic. The difference between how I feel on antibiotics and how I feel normally is phenomenal. I’m two completely different people.

Feeling fantastic means that I accomplish more. Everything I do is faster, better and easier. My mind is clearer. My body can last longer.

When I’m feeling healthy, I am the person I want to be.

When I’m unhealthy (which is most of the time), everything is hard. I still get stuff done, I still accomplish my work and my goals, but it takes far more effort, it takes longer, and I have to work in short snatches.

You can get so used to feeling off that you don’t realise how much it’s affecting you.

Even minor ailments have an impact on your performance.

I’m not the only one who has found this out the hard way. Here are some more examples.

One of my PhD Coaching clients suffered terribly from headaches. When she was given the correct treatment, the headaches went away and she surged forward with her dissertation. She had not realised how much her life and performance were affected by her headaches.

Another of my PhD Coaching clients had dental problems. She was in pain, but didn’t realise that it was affecting her performance. I encouraged her to get it checked out, and lo and behold, when the problem was fixed, she felt fantastic and finished her PhD earlier than expected.

You can do everything when you’re healthy. If you’re unhealthy, it takes a lot more effort and a lot longer to do things.

So make sure you are as healthy as you can possibly be:

eat the right things, and in moderation
do the right amount and type of exercise
drink lots of pure water
maintain a healthy weight
get sufficient sleep
get a medical checkup
get a dental checkup
have fun
create a support or social network
maintain a life/work balance

It will make a world of difference to your outlook, your accomplishments and your life.

I’m not saying here that unhealthy people can’t perform and can’t accomplish their goals. I pull out all stops when I have a deadline to meet in my editing business, but it usually leaves me drained. The author of the book-turned-into-blockbuster-movie Sea Biscuit had the same condition that I have, and she wrote the book while flat on her back in bed. A colleague of mine recently attended the launch of her new local history book in a wheelchair – she also has this condition.

So unhealthy people can perform and produce, but it’s much harder. People with ill health have to work harder to accomplish the same as healthy people,and it takes a heavier toll.

Victories happen faster and easier when you’re healthy.

So get healthy.

What can you do this week to boost your health?

Sep

23

How to finish 2009 with a bang, not a whimper

Filed Under Coaching, Internet goodies, Procrastination, Productivity, Project Management, Resources, Taking Action | 3 Comments

I first met the work of Gary Ryan Blair when I was in the middle of my PhD candidature. He has some cool gadgets and suggestions for achievement.

Now he’s running a 100 Day Challenge to finish the year with a Big Bang. Have a look at this video:

Here’s some more about Gary Ryan Blair’s 100 Day Challenge:

Change Your Life in 100 Days

What if I were to follow you with a camera crew 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the next 100 days while you went for your goals?

I bet three things would happen…

1. You would START doing the things you say you need to do.

2. You would STOP doing the things you know you shouldn’t be doing.

3. You would MAKE monumental performance gains and change your life.

This is ALL possible through the discipline of accountability. Accountability serves and protects your character, credibility and commitments. It ensures that what you want to accomplish gets accomplished. (That’s what personal coaching is all about: accountability.)

Throughout every area of your life it’s important to understand that ALL unfinished goals, projects and relationships are the result of broken promises, unfulfilled commitments, and lack of accountability.

With that in mind, I wanted to share with you an exciting opportunity to achieve every goal you set, to enforce ultimate accountability into your life, and show you how you can make monumental performance gains. I’ve signed up, and I’m excited to get started.

Gary Ryan Blair, otherwise known as The Goals Guy, has put together a fantastic comprehensive approach to goal setting and performance enhancement.

It’s called the 100 Day Finish Strong Challenge and it begins on September 23rd, which happens to be the final 100 days of the year.

The 100 Day Finish Strong Challenge is a structured 14-week performance improvement program where challengers compete against themselves to achieve a number of challenging goals and finish the year strong.

Free Special Report and Video

Gary is offering a powerful special report for free which is titled: How to Create Your Own Big Bang!

This report is worth its weight in gold as it shows you how to create huge performance gains quickly. I encourage you to get your copy right now.

So what are you waiting for? The clock is ticking and if you want to seriously improve your life and corresponding results, I encourage you to check out the 100 Day Finish Strong Challenge today as it will be one of the smartest decisions you’ll make all year.

I’m in it. How about you?

Sep

20

One extra hour

Filed Under Coaching, Procrastination, Productivity, Project Management, Scheduling, Taking Action | 5 Comments

What could you do with one extra hour?

Sleep in?
Watch television?
Play a computer game?

Or could you

Read a book?
Walk the dog?
Write a letter?

How about:

Work on your business plan.
Write out your goals.
Have quality time with your family.

There are many activities you can do in an hour. An extra hour per day would allow you to do many extra activities, so it would be a good thing, right?

But where do extra hours come from?

Take a look at the first list above. These are activities that you could curtail to find an extra hour. These are passive activities. They are about being, rather than doing. They don’t necessarily have a purpose. They just are. They are often default actions when we are too lazy to do something constructive.

The second list contains active activities. Like the first list, they are ego-centric – centred around you. Unlike the first list, they have a purpose. You walk the dog so that both of you benefit from exercise. You read a book to relax or learn something. You write a letter to communicate with someone. These activities are about the present. They are good to fit into your day.

The third list is also an active list, but this one contains activities that are all about the future.

When was the last time you sat down and planned your future?

If you’re like most people, you haven’t. Most people drift through life and wonder why it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Those who revel in life and accomplish what they want in life are those who plan their future.

Victories are planned.

So, this week, to gain your victory, find an extra hour to do some planning.

Sep

5

Pets are not human!

Filed Under Uncategorized | 4 Comments

I am amazed at how blind some people can be about their pets. Don’t get me wrong: I love my pets and they are just as much a part of the family as the humans are.

But I know that they are not human.

Many people are silly about their pets. They allow cats and dogs to sleep on, or in, the bed with them, they dress them up, they talk baby talk to them (and there’s nothing wrong with any of that, if that’s the way you like it). But the silliest thing is to think that their pets are just little humans, and can do no wrong.

Wake up, people!

The reason I’m talking about this today is because there have been many instances in recent weeks of dogs roaming around the countryside where I live. They are coming into my yard at night and eating my dogs’ food (my dogs currently sleep in crates in the garage, because of the weather – see this post); they are making messes all over the yard; and they are disturbing my dogs during the day. When I try to approach the dogs, they run away – straight onto the road.

I live in a rural area where the speed limit is 70 km per hour. Drivers don’t expect to have to look out for errant animals on the road, and therefore drive along over the speed limit without paying much attention. Several times over the past weeks I’ve had to flag down a speeding car because someone else’s dog was on the road and refusing to move. A few weeks ago, my niece’s cat was run over in the dark – exit one cat.

I’ve spoken to some of the owners of the dogs and have received incredulous looks. My dog doesn’t go out of my yard, they exclaim. One lady told me that her dog won’t even go down to the dam on her property without her. Well then, the dog must have a doppelganger with the same distinctive collar, because she’s been on my property at night many times. Her owner didn’t bother to close the gate, because she thought her dog never left her yard. Just today, another lady told me that she didn’t know the dogs were getting out. Well, duh, you don’t have fences – of course they are getting out!

Why are people so stupid?

Just this morning, I found out who owns the little dog that has been giving me nightmares over the past two weeks by coming onto my property, getting a fright when my dogs challenge it, and then running onto the road to stand and bark at me, while cars speed down on it. The owners didn’t know it was out of the house. Then a few minutes later, two small children rode down the road on their bicycles, accompanied by two dogs who were not on leads (which is illegal in this country), and the mother was trailing along on foot about 100 metres behind the kids and the dogs. The kids were about four and nine. What was this woman thinking? Not only could she not control the dogs, but she couldn’t control the kids either.

I’ve heard that dogs have about the intelligence of a two year old human – they understand some words, but they have no sense of personal responsibility, they have no road sense, and, and get this, people, THEY LIKE TO ROAM. EVERY dog will roam, given the chance. It’s what dogs do. So do cats, and goats, and horses and every other animal.

So please, PLEASE, make sure your animals are safe and cannot get out of your yard. Make sure you have secure fences and closed gates. Make sure you know where your animals are at all times. It’s part of responsible animal ownership. And above all, don’t think that your pets are angels. They’re not.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, we will resume normal programming.

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