At the pound.

Jen and I have been going and volunteering at the local animal shelter Saturday mornings for the last few months.

I'm not bringing this up now to tell you what a great guy I am... (And besides... there are plenty of other things that make me such a great guy...) I'm talking about it now because, as a writer, it's too good a source of material not to use.

We've been getting there for 9:00 AM, usually with a quick stop for caffeine... Nine is pretty early for us on a Saturday. Jen usually plays with the kittens. I spend my time with the dogs. Some of the animals need exercise. Others just need to get used to being around people again.

There are a surprising number of purebreds that show up at the pound. I guess that's a function of where we live. Not many mutts find homes in the NK, so there are fewer mutts that escape or are abandoned.

I love walking the dogs. It's good exercise. They're always happy to see you. And you get the benefits of pet ownership without having to clean up after them or buy them food (it's kinda like having weekend visitation rights).

I've actually been sad a few times when I come back and one of my favorites has been adopted. I know that probably sounds a little selfish, but it's tough not to form some attachment to the animals. You want to make sure that they'll be taken care of and that they're going to a family that is good enough for them.

Unfortunately, I can't turn off the planning part of my brain. So part of me is always thinking about what else I can take away from this experience. If I ever were to go into business for myself, it would probably be something related to photography... But if I was going to go into ANOTHER business, I'd like to do some kind of dog grooming or doggy daycare thing. So, I find myself observing how they manage inventory and supplies, estimating what the sunk costs are, and what levels of staffing it would take to manage something like this (a doggy day care wouldn't be exactly the same as an animal shelter, but there are enough similarities to make the comparison exercise worthwhile).

Anyone want to go into business with me? I’ll need someone to work clean-up detail.