lifestyle Archives ⋆ John Harrer

Hanging Out with Old People

February 26, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

Hanging Out with Old People

I’m getting my dose of old people once again. My mother-in-law, Rose, is 92 years old and lives in an assisted-living home. We visit almost every day to check on her. My Dad spent the last days of his life in a similar facility. I got to see a lot of him and his old people pals.

It’s common for old people to have a lousy memory. When you mention memory, most people go right to Alzheimer’s. This isn’t that, at least we don’t think so. Her short-term memory is not worth a darn. For example, the facility serves her meals in a restaurant-style format. The waiter comes by, takes her order, and if he’s gone more than a few minutes, she forgets what she ordered.

Rose lived independently until 3 years ago. She fell a few times and needed more attention. My wife’s sister in Indiana took care of Rose for three years. It gets to you after awhile. Sister needed and deserved a break. Luckily, Rose served in the Armed Services during WWII and we hope she qualifies for military aid.

Rose doesn’t remember much of Indiana. It snowed in the winter and she spent much of her time doing what she loves – sitting in her easy chair reading J.D. Robb novels. She reads them over and over and I think each time is a new adventure for her. When I think about her memory it scares me a little. What must it be like to not know what you did 5 short minutes ago?

Complaining vs Lack of Freedom

When I visit we walk up to the Residents’ Library. I have a Phillips Go-Lite which is supposed to help with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and energy levels. While the light shines on her, I have her read aloud. The books are motivational and positive thinking pieces I have collected over the years. I use the readings to stimulate conversations. If left to her own devices, Rose would complain about the staff, meal services, or some other aspect of the facility. From everything we see, it is a very good facility with lots of extra services and caring people.

Rose usually isn’t a complainer. My wife and I concluded she doesn’t like having her freedom taken away and it’s left her a bit sour. Her memory problems don’t allow her to walk very far because she gets lost. She can’t make friends because she can’t remember anyone’s name or what they said. She wears hearing aids, but can’t remember how to put them in, so even if she engages someone in conversation, she can’t always hear them.

A Remarkable Person

Rose knows she is special as one of the “old people”. She thinks she is special for being 92, but in a building full of 90 year-olds, it’s more than that. Rose doesn’t use a walker. She takes no prescription meds. Occasionally, she experiences back pain and indigestion, but -and here’s where her lack of memory works to her advantage – she forgets she’s uncomfortable.

While she was in Indiana she didn’t have much physical stimulation. Her muscles atrophied and she lost strength. She doesn’t enjoy getting up early (9 am) to go to senior exercises classes, but she will walk the halls later in the day. As we walk I call out words for her to spell and she complies correctly almost every time. I also call out basic multiplication, addition, and subtraction problems and she is quick and correct most of the time. Our newest drill is having her spell the names of staff and residents in the hopes she will learn their names. We’ll see how this goes.

Journaling

Rose is a good sport when it comes to my ideas for helping her. In an effort to help her memory we started a journal. She doesn’t write in it every day. It’s difficult to come up with things to write about. She will write about how’s she feeling and sometimes I can get her to talk about an event. It’s fascinating on the days I have her flip back through pages and read her past entries. She recognizes her handwriting even if the words are unfamiliar.

While I’m not sure any of this is making a difference in her memory or even quality-of-life, it is interesting to observe. Seeing how she approaches this stage in her life, how difficult it is to stay positive when her body aches, and the effects of poor memory and reduced motor skills is an inspiration, even when she is not successful. In the struggles against aging, time always wins.

This is What I Hate About Getting Old

February 19, 2018 by jjharrer 2 Comments

This is What I Hate About Getting Old

Getting old robs me of a day. Yep, age just pulled the rug out from under me and stole a day.

A week ago I was up early, had the horses fed, and began to prepare my oatmeal for breakfast. I have to stoop a little to get water from the dispenser that goes in my oatmeal. As I leaned over, I looked up and a sharp pain stabbed me in the lower back. Something tweaked. Bracing myself against the nearby hutch, I winced in pain. Immediately, I knew I had to get horizontal. We live in a small house and it’s not a long walk to the bedroom. By the time I had reached the bed my vision was getting dark and blurry and I felt faint. It took me a moment to figure out which way to crawling into bed caused the least pain. Then, once there I found heavenly relief in the fetal position.

My day was stolen. What had I done? Who can’t lift a glass of water?

It would be understandable if, since I retired 3 1/2 years ago, I had done little to stay active. My typical week includes three trips to the gym, three 2-hour horseback rides, and at least one evening of a 2-hour dance session. Old age brought me down with a cup of water.

Treatment

Many friends and family have had back problems. This happened to me about 5 years ago when I lifted something heavy and had not used my legs. I’m not one to head to the doctor and my bed was so much more comfortable than any waiting room chair. I opted for bedrest and anti-inflammatories. For the next 72 hours, I did very little. I walked around the yard, moved from one room to the other, and mumbled my disgust for this condition to our dogs, cats, and horses.

On the fourth day, I began light duty cleaning the pens. My back was sore and I was forced to stay mindful of every move. It was exhausting. Determined not to let old age think he might have won (who was I kidding, old age will always win), we went for a short horseback ride. The following day was a light workout at the gym as I tested my balance and strength. It’s been a week and I think I’m about 70%.

Mentally Insecure

It’s a bit depressing. Because I can’t figure what I had done to cause the tweak, I’m not sure how to prevent it in the future. Every time I bend my body I wonder if a rogue nerve is going to be pinched and send me into mind-numbing pain. This recovery, if it stays on track, will be one of the quickest rebounds in my memory of the few instances in my life that this has happened. But the change of direction of my day, from going great to instant pain, from feeling good to barely being able to stand, has me troubled.

Getting Old and Working Out

Lying around for three days gave me time to think. I remembered working out when I was younger and compared it to my workouts today. When I worked out in my teens, I remember about 10% fatigue and 90% muscle-building. That doesn’t mean my body built a lot of muscle. My body seems resistant to the idea. The workouts made my muscle sore as you would expect from a workout, but my muscles didn’t feel depleted.

Now, in my 60’s, it seems there is 90% fatigue and only 10% muscle-building. If I work out too long or hard my muscles feel tired the rest of the day. Working out doesn’t seem to offer much of a payback, but what’s the alternative? Even skipping a few workouts seems to deplete my already diminishing muscle mass. Stopping altogether can’t be an option.

Over the last 2-3 years, I’ve tried different “styles” of workouts. I’ve reduced the amount of cardio training because I find it the most fatiguing to the rest of my day. My legs get worked on horseback and dancing, so I focus on trying to build muscle in my upper body and core. I’ve experimented with negative reps, heavy-weight low reps, light-weight high reps, and combinations in between. What I’ve noticed most is that nothing seems to make a substantial difference.

I’ve used the same Tanita Fat-monitoring scale for twenty years. There has always been a debate about the accuracy of these scales and measuring body fat. By using the same settings consistently (on this scale it is “Adult”, “Male”, “Athlete”, and “Height”), I feel I can get a consistent picture of how my body has changed over time. It’s not much. In October of 2014, the reading was 148 lbs, 10%. In October of 2017, it was 150 lbs, 11%. And, my weight has rarely varied more than 10 lbs from these numbers since I purchased the scale in 1995. (By the way, I don’t really believe my body fat is that low. I’ve had it measured with calipers and it is closer to 25% range.)

Changing Diets

When I counseled people coming in my health food store, one of my tenets was to adjust your diet to your stage in life. It was obvious to me when I was younger that someone getting old needed a different diet than someone young and active. While not a vegetarian. my diet during my 30-year health food career was high in vegetables and grains and low in meat. I’ve always enjoyed eggs and never worried too much about fat or cholesterol.

Since retiring, my wife and I have experimented with a few different diets. One high in beef and lower in grains, which we maintained for about a year, made little difference in either body composition or muscle building. We have abandoned that style of eating and prefer the easier digestibility of fish and chicken. Our diet still contains a good amount of vegetables and fruits.

Here’s What I Hate

Getting Old. I thought if I wrote this out, I would come up with a solution for getting old. Reading it over, I haven’t. Yes, getting old is inevitable I suppose, but it’s not supposed to happen to me. At least, not while I’m watching.

There’s really only one defense to getting old that I can see. And, it is only a defense, not a prevention. Keep trying to buck it. Like playing a game of tug-of-war with a stronger opponent, keep pulling back. Dig in your heels. Hold on. Old age is going to drag us into the muddy middle eventually, but don’t let it happen without a fight.

A Tale of Two Mockingbirds Orville and Wilbur

February 12, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

A Tale of Two Mockingbirds

Editor’s Note on “A Tale of Two Mockingbirds Orville and Wilbur”: This was my third speech for Toastmasters. In it, I was working on some of the suggestions I had received from my second speech. Getting comfortable in front of an audience and keeping their attention were the main suggestions were the focus.

It was a fun story that actually happened to us. The challenge was cutting the story down to no more than 7 minutes. There was a lot that was left out because of the time constraints.

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow Toastmasters, and welcomed guests. Today I have for you a story of survival, perseverance and the love of a good woman.

It was June 4th, 2003. My wife, Ranae, and I had just sat down for dinner when the phone rang. Our neighbor was frantic. A baby mockingbird had fallen from its nest and our neighbor was sure it would be eaten by one of the rogue cats in our neighborhood.

Now, it should be noted I was our block’s veterinarian. If you had a problem with your car you talked to James across the street. If your lawnmower wouldn’t start, that was Charlie at the end of the block. A legal problem, that would be Cesar who worked at the Sheriff’s Dept. Me, I was animals.

I had worked as a vet tech in my youth. Bird-saving wasn’t my forte. As a matter-of-fact, though I had tried many times, I had never been successful. However, to calm my neighbor, I carried the tiny thing home. Then, once my wife, saw it, she fell in love. Now, I needed a miracle.

Of course, I didn’t reach for the “miracle” thing right away. Changing expectations would be the much easier course of action. “You know, honey,” I said, “I don’t think there is much we can do for this little fellow. He likely won’t make it 48 hours, but we’ll give it our best try.”

She looked at me with those loving eyes and said, “We’ve gotta save him.”

Looking for a Miracle

We didn’t know anything about mockingbirds. But, the one thing I had now that we never had before, turned out to be the miracle I needed – the internet. “What does Google say about how to feed mockingbirds, Babe?” Mealworms. Okay, mealworms. Where do we get those? A bait store. Huh. There’s one less than a mile away. “What do we do, chop them up?” Feed them whole? Really? Okay, I’m in.

I made the worm run and got back with a buck and a half worth of mealworms. We held one in front of the fledgling. Nothing. Could they even see? Smell? Maybe I should cut it in half. It looks so awfully big compared to such a small bird.

It took us awhile, but we finally learned if we bumped the box, the baby would think mom had landed on the edge of the nest with food. Jostling the box trigger the baby bird to open its mouth. We put one end of the worm in, the baby did the rest.

Two days later, our neighbor called to say another baby mockingbird was found. Now, we had two beaks to feed until they learned to fly. We named them Orville and Wilbur.

Worse Than Taking Care of a Baby

For the next four weeks, it was feeding a worm every two hours during the day. The boys grew slowly. We just weren’t as good as Mom and Mother Nature. To hasten the process, I developed a “training system”. I bought a small bell and rang it before feeding a worm. In no time at all, they associated the ring of the bell with meal time.

Ranae and I worked together. One of us would hold Orville and the other the bell and the worm. We stood a few feet away and rang the bell. Orville flew! Landing clumsily into my hand, he gobbled the worm. Wilbur had a little more grace and finesse and soon we were standing ten feet apart as the birds flew to the sound of the dinner bell.

A few weeks later we moved the exercise outdoors. The boys – we had no idea of their actual sex – the boys were flying well when a light gust of wind caught Orville’s wing and bent it backward. The poor guy was grounded.

Wilbur is Good-To-Go

As the days went by, Wilbur kept flying and getting stronger. The extra time in the nest had helped him advance more quickly. A friend stopped by on a beautiful, warm July Saturday afternoon and we brought Wilbur out for a training run. He was feeling good and we probably overdid it. Once he had his fill of mealworms, he took off for the tallest tree in the neighborhood. He spent his first night outside. The next morning I rang the bell. Wilbur came flying in, but wouldn’t land on my hand. I placed a worm on the sidewalk for him. He thanked me for the meal and headed north. We were now batting .500 in the saving-mockingbirds department.

After a few weeks of R & R, Orville got his wings back and we continued training. Late in August, after a particularly large feast of mealworms, Orville headed for the top of our mulberry tree.

Orville Continues to Visit

The next morning at sun up, I rang the bell with a meal worm in the palm of my hand. I wasn’t sure which direction he came from, but I could hear him crash into the Mulberry tree above me. I held still. He squeaked. I rang the bell. Whoosh! Orville landed on my fingertips, snagged his favorite treat, tossed me a wink and a nod, then flew off.

For the next month, I would sit in my lawn chair at sunrise and sunset, worm in one hand, a bell in the other. (The sunset session also often included a cocktail.) Almost without fail Orville would land and snack. We had imaginary conversations of his adventures – he was getting along fine. He said he ran into Wilbur once in awhile, but that Ole Wil was too proud to take handouts. Orville claimed we had the best worms east of Union Ave.

The Final Visit

As time went on, the days got shorter. Our cats discovered I was chumming a feathery meal for them twice a day and surely wanted to take advantage. Orville noticed the cats, too.

It was early October and the weather was turning cool. I hadn’t seen Orville in a few days. It was taking him longer and longer to fly in. Did mockingbirds fly south for the winter, I wondered? The light was failing, the sun was setting. I continued to ring my bell and I had plenty of worms left. As I gathered my worms and bell to head inside, I thought I heard a familiar rustle in the tree above me. One quick ring. One last visit. Orville said he’d found a girl and needed to settle down. I told him I understood. He grabbed a worm one last time, took an extra lap over our house, and headed for the tallest tree. Both Orville and Wilbur had learned to fly!

My 3 Tips to a Healthy Life

February 5, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

My 3 Tips to a Healthy Life

Editor’s Note on a “Healthy Life”:

This is my first speech after the Icebreaker Speech. I chose to talk about “Tips for a Healthy Life” based on my experience of owning a health food store for 30 years. The purpose of this speech is to receive an evaluation (that would probably be more critical than the Icebreaker), take the comments and suggestions from the evaluation and incorporate them into the next speech. This speech was limited to 5-7 minutes.

Madam Toastmaster, my fellow Toastmasters, welcomed guests,

There’s nothing in conversation today that brings a greater diversity of opinions than politics, religion, and health. The first two topics I would not touch with a ten-foot pole, but I had the privilege of standing behind the counter of our downtown health food store for 30 years and I would like to share with you my 3 tips to a long, healthy life.

Now, I’m not going to bore you with statistics of double-blind, randomized, meta-studies, or the latest research demonstrating coffee is good for you, no wait, it’s bad for you, hold on….what month is it? Yeah, I think it’s good for you now. As a proprietor, I learned about my customers’ families, work, and lifestyle. I saw many grow up, some grow old, and sadly, a few pass away. Customers became friends. I want to share their secrets of success.

It was our first month owning the store. The previous owner, Bill, was working with us to learn the daily operations and introduce us to our clientele. We were near the front counter where we could see cars pull up to the curb when this cruise ship sized Buick comes rolling up. Bill looked at me and said, “This is Mr. Keister. He gets a case of Black Cherry Juice for his gout every month.” A big man, Mr. Keister, with an equally big smile, cast a shadow as he came through the door. “How’s everybody doing?” he bellowed. I would later learn Mr. Keister was 80 years old. He shopped at our store for 15 years and at 95, his eyesight was failing, but his smile and good cheer never wavered.

Tip #1

Determine to be happy. Smile. Life will throw you curves for sure, but you don’t have to swing at them. And, if you need help, I think it was Mark Twain who said, “The best way to cheer yourself, is to cheer someone else up.”

It must’ve been around the third or fourth Christmas when one of my favorite customers, Libby, came in holding a large platter filled with all sorts of holiday treats. Libby was an excellent cook. At the time, I didn’t cook much. Many of the ingredients she used were purchased from our store. I asked Libby if she was worried about the sugar, fat, and calories in her treats.

“John,” she said, ” I know every ingredient in the recipe and every single one is wholesome. Why shouldn’t they be wholesome when mixed together?”

This made sense. She told me she never bought frozen or prepared food. Everything she made herself. Libby encouraged me to learn to cook. “And, when you do, John, make sure you share!”

Tip #2

Eat wholesomely. It doesn’t have to be labeled organic. If it has a label, read the ingredients. If you can’t pronounce them, or if any have more than 10 letters, move along. Oh, and it’s “OK” to occasionally splurge.

One of the oddities of observing from my vantage point was the people who came in knowing they had vices – sugar, smoking, drinking, even drugs. These folks were looking for ways to counteract the negative effects of their lifestyle. A man named Joe announced to me one day that the doctors told him he had emphysema from smoking. Then, he asked, “What herb can I smoke to help my lungs?”

“Are you going to continue to smoke?” I said.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Well, I’m not sure I’ve got anything to help.”

“Oh, sure you have. We just haven’t found it yet.”

Joe kept looking but he never found his answer in time.

Tip #3

I believe we inherently know what’s good and bad for us. Be honest with yourself. Avoid those things that hamper your health and performance. Stay away from the dangers you know.

People make health more complicated than it needs to be and you only have to look at the diet section of any bookstore to know that is true. Fit for Life Diet, The Hollywood Diet, The Adkins Diet, The Paleo Diet are guides that lead you away from, not to a healthier life. If I put a glass of water next to a diet coke, you know which one is better for you. If I put an apple next to chocolate cheesecake, you know which one is better for you. Am I saying NEVER have a diet coke? Never have cheesecake? Absolutely not! Those successful in maintaining health keep a mental ledger of good things and not-so-good things dealing with their body. The easiest plans are the simplest. Keep your health plan simple. Do the good things, avoid the bad and you’ll live a long healthy life.

Indy Our New Dog From The Shelter

February 1, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

Indy Our New Dog

Rusty

It was time for a New Dog. Rusty, our Queensland Heeler, passed away last December and it was time to get another dog. We like keeping two dogs at the house. They keep each other company. The contrast of personality is fun to observe. Maybe, I should say, we NEED two dogs.

I’m convinced that in the natural order of things, dogs’ lifespans were set to be between a decade and a generation. We measure the periods in our life by the dogs we’ve had. There was “Love” as a toddler, then one of my favorites, “Spot” as an adolescent. What a fun dog he was. He was the family dog, but I think I may have spent the most time with him. We went a lot of places and had many adventures. Spot would pull me around on my bicycle and my skateboard. Oh, how he seemed to love being a sled dog! As an adult, there were Smokey and Boomer, Casey and Murphy, and Max and Rusty. All pretty darn good dogs too.

Each one lasted a decade more or less. One of the gifts dogs offer is to help us get accustomed to losses of a higher order in our lives – if that’s possible. I’ve often wondered why, in the span of my lifetime, 60 years, the lifespan of humans has increased substantially. The life of dogs is about the same as it was when I worked for a veterinarian way back in high school. Like I said, it’s the natural order of things.

Max helping Rusty

Rusty Helping Buster

Moving On

Rusty was 13 years old. I knew she was not long for this world. The decision to adopt a shelter dog was easy. My days of raising a purebred are behind me. Ranae, my wife, wanted to get a shelter dog, too. She didn’t like walking through the kennels and asked me to pick a good candidate.

We wanted another male dog. Rusty was our first female and, while she was an excellent dog, we felt boys were easier to deal with. Just a feeling.

We didn’t want a huge dog. Buster is about 75 lbs and big. As we age together, it could be a challenge to handle him. We couldn’t choose a small dog either. Buster would think we brought him a chew toy. No, New Dog would have to be in that mid-range of 30 -45 lbs.

Buster is a short-haired dog. We got Buster after Max, our Australian Shepherd. Max took constant brushing to keep him looking good. And, a handsome dog like Max deserves to look good. But, he shed and that’s a bit messy. So, short or medium hair was on the list.

Age Consideration

If we’re careful about how we do it, we can have one dog in his later years, and a younger one. The younger one keeps the older one more active and, who knows, maybe the older teaches the younger a little about life and how to behave. We did not want the trials and tribulations of a puppy. The potty training stage and the chewing no longer have the appeal they once did. In my 50 years of owning dogs, this was only the second time I have not started with a puppy. The first was Rusty. Side note: Rusty grew up next door to us and I got to watch her grow. When the family moved, they couldn’t take her.

The Most Important Characteristic

Buster

Our New Dog would need a good attitude. The biggest challenge was to find a dog with the right temperament. Buster is a handful. He is protective. He is relentless. He is dominant. And yet he can be fearful. He is the most complicated dog I’ve ever owned. Yes, and he’s unpredictable at times.

While volunteering at the shelter for 16 months, I got to observe many dogs. Walking through the kennels, some dogs barked, some sniffed, some shied away. Often, I would hang around the kennels watching and observing different dogs. Would they bark? Wag their tail? Lick? Could I tell their personality through stainless steel bars?

The Search

The New Dog search began at the County Shelter. Like I said, I volunteered there for 16 months. Sometimes there are a lot of dogs, but none fit the criteria. That’s just the way it is.

Next stop SPCA. It was only a few miles from the County Shelter. Their dogs are $100 compared to the $40 for the County Shelter dogs. With neutering, vaccinations, microchip, and free vet check this is still a good deal. I had to be somewhere soon but walked around looking for potential candidates. I found a couple and talked the gal behind the counter. Have you ever just gotten a bad vibe off of someone? I’ve owned dogs for 35 years, I worked for a vet. I know my way around. When I asked about adoption, I thought that would shine through. Instead, I felt she was talking to me like I was in the 10th grade and I’d never owned a dog before. I told her I would be back for a meet-and-greet with a few of the dogs.

The City Shelter was next. Their dogs were $20 and had the same amenities. I found a Queensland Heeler and set up a meet-and-greet. He was about 3 years old. The meet-and-greet is tough. The dog has been in its kennel for who knows how long. Now, it’s out in the exercise yard where every other dog that had been there had either shit or peed. Asking him to focus on a human is a tough task.

Meet-And-Greet

The meet-and-greet is crucial. You have a limited amount of time to discover this dog’s personality. A kennel worker is with you at all times. How do you make the best use of this time? This is the procedure I practiced when I volunteered at the County Shelter:

We had to walk the dogs from the kennel to the exercise yard. I did this with a nylon lead and watched how the dog followed me. It often was a tough walk. These dogs had been locked in kennels all day and this was a taste of freedom. Once in the yard, I turned them loose to explore.

Our shelter preferred we limit the exercise to 20 minutes, so the first five belonged to the dogs. The next 10 were mine. I’d reconnect the lead and we worked on “heel” and “sit”. Very often the whole dog’s demeanor would change during these 10 minutes. A good percentage of dogs seemed to appreciate the exercises. Their heeling improved. Then, the last five minutes were theirs to do however they wished. After the heel-ing exercise, most wanted to be closer to me.

The Queensland at the City Shelter never showed any interest in heel-ing or me after 15 minutes. Some dogs are not a match. It’s not the dog’s fault. It’s not mine. It’s often difficult to move on, but I do.

Finding the One

I return to the County Shelter a week later. Finally, I think we have a good candidate. He’s a young, perhaps a year old, Queensland/Shepherd mix. He’s happy. He’s somewhat submissive, yet he has a quiet confidence in his kennel.

We meet-and-greet with Ranae and things look good. He loves people and really comes out of his shell quickly. We ask the shelter to hold him until the following day so that we can prepare Buster. They agree.

The Meeting

The following morning it’s raining. We bundle up and take Buster for a 3-mile walk. Luckily, the rain let up to a drizzle and we didn’t get too soaked. We’ve taken a little of the “edge” off Buster too.

Next, we took Buster to a dog park near the shelter. The rain was light and intermittent. Ranae stayed with Buster while I headed to the shelter. I returned 20 minutes later with the new dog. The new dog was happy to be free of his kennel. Buster was getting a little bored having no one to play with at the empty, rain-soaked dog park. They played and romped around for another 30 minutes. The New Dog, or “N.D.”, (later converted to Indy) got put in his place a couple of times. He was undeterred and Buster wasn’t too rough on him.

They both went in the truck. There was some jockeying for space in the cramped back quarters. They were a mess from running in the rain, wet grass, and mud. We got home without incident and now the two dogs are getting along fine.

Indy

Who Let the Dogs Out – Pet Overpopulation

January 25, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

Toastmaster Speech

Editor’s Note:

My last speech at the Pathways Level I module is about dogs. The goal was to prepare and deliver a well-researched speech, quoting sources and including statistics. This speech was delivered 1/24/2018 at Toastmasters Downtown Bakersfield.

Who Let the Dogs Out – Pet Overpopulation

Americans love their dogs! From Lassie to Rin Tin Tin to Spuds McKenzie, the dog is man’s best friend. There are an estimated 78 million dogs owned in the US according to the American Pet Products Assn. Nearly 48% of all US households own a dog. But, let me ask you this, are we their best friend?

One of my goals in retirement is donating time to worthy causes. When, in late 2015, I heard Nick Cullen, the Director Kern County of Animal Services, declare he believed the County Shelters could reach No-Kill status by 2020, I decided to pitch in. Kern County Animal Shelter has an active roster of 40-50 volunteers who typically donate 10-30 hours a month performing basic animal care, helping with clinics, providing creature comforts, and assisting in grooming and socialization. As a volunteer, one generally starts at the bottom. With nearly 300 animals being housed at the Fruitvale Shelter, the bottom was washing dishes.

Making a Change

After a couple of months of dishpan hands, I moved to socialization. One afternoon the Volunteer Coordinator asked me to meet the Director.

“Return to Owner”, or RTO is the measure for how many dogs picked up as strays, were returned to their rightful owner. The County wanted to increase their dismal RTO and had learned of my experience working in social media. Nick Cullen challenged me to establish a program.

In March 2016, my team of three volunteers launched the Kern Pet Detective. Our goal was to post to our Pet Detective Facebook Page, high-quality photos of the dogs that were classified as strays and brought to our shelter. We felt with the proper use of social media, we could get word of lost dogs out to the public reaching as many as 20,000 people in the Kern County Area. Anyone looking for their dog on social media could do a quick scan of our page and see if their dog was at the Fruitvale Shelter.

The Latest Research

In researching this project I learned some very sobering facts. While no national organization is responsible for tabulating statistics, the American Pet Products Assn. estimates that 3.3 million dogs enter animal shelters every year. About 1.6 million are adopted by new owners. Nearly 670,000 dogs, or 20%, are euthanized. Nationally, only 620,000 are returned to their owners. Think about that for a moment. Of the total number of dogs brought into shelters, more are euthanized than returned to their owners.

Now, it can be said that some people will just dump unwanted dogs and others through carelessness will let them run away. Some may no longer be able to afford them and simply turn them loose. But any way you look at it, far too many dogs have owners who aren’t looking to get them back.

Making a Difference

In our first year, the Pet Detective Program did make a difference. According to the Annual Report from Kern County Animal services the RTO in 2015 – the year before Pet Detective was established – was 6.9%. In 2016, after only 9 months in operation, the RTO increased to 8.6%.

More importantly, there was a side effect no one had anticipated. The Pet Detective Page had grown to 2,500 “likes” and had a weekly reach of 20,000 page views -substantial numbers for a grassroots, community-oriented, volunteer-created social media page. Members of the community were exposed to photos of dogs they would not normally see. They were telling their friends, neighbors, and relatives about them. The adoption rate for the County Shelter increased from 26% in 2015 to over 36% in 2016. Not all of the increase can be attributed to the Pet Detectives, but we did do our part.

Once a dog is brought into the Kern County Shelter as a stray, the County is obligated to hold it for 5 days. After that, it is moved to the adoption wing in the hopes a member of the public will adopt.

Adoption Is a Bargain

Adoption is a good deal for the public. Three years ago I purchased a dog from a breeder for $200. Three visits to the veterinarian for shots, worming and a microchip set me back $150. Then, to have him neutered cost another $150. To top it off, I bought his county license for $60. Add that all up and it equals $560.

When a member of the public adopts a County Shelter dog, they are neutered, have been chipped, vaccinated and licensed. The cost? Usually less than $50. Last week, our family adopted a year-old Queensland mix at a cost of $40.

Libraries and animal services are the forgotten orphans of municipal governments. They are the first to suffer budget cuts when times get tough. When libraries get cut, we get fewer books. When animal services get cut, there are more animals on the streets. I was surprised how much County Animal Services relies on the community of volunteers, rescue groups, and foster families to reach their goal.

Our local animal welfare groups are doing a good job. There’s still a lot more to do. Education about spay and neuter and the responsibility of pet ownership will continue to be the biggest challenges. With the help of a lot of dedicated people, who knows, maybe we can convince a nation of dogs that we deserve to be their best friend.

More Time To Write

January 22, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

More Time To Write

Now that I’ve slowed down the podcast production, I hope to have more time to write. Yeah, I know. That’s what all writers say. Whether more writing occurs remains to be seen. But, I will have more “time” to write.

I had set a goal to produce one podcast a week, every week in 2017. That may not sound like much. Producing a 40-minute show is me. One guy. One guy setting up the interviews, doing the research, recording the conversations, editing the conversations and publishing them. Then, there was the social media, the website, and a bunch of little things to produce and maintain. I did it every week for over a year.

My hope was to build a listener-ship and generate some ad revenue. It didn’t happen. It takes a minimum of 20,00 downloads a month to even think about ad revenue. While we came close a couple of months, we simply could not get over the hump. I could list off a litany of reasons why we didn’t draw more listeners, but after five years of production, it comes down to one thing – compelling content. Well, I should say, lack of compelling content. And, that could be because I cast my net too wide. We talked about all aspects of horse ownership. Our topic list was broad, everything from Mustangs to working equitation. The things I wanted to know more about were the things I knew little about. Yes, I used the show for my own education.

For the most part, podcasting was fun. The difficulty in finding guests, guests that could talk, and guests that would draw listeners was a challenge. Many of my guests came on the show as a favor. Some had something to promote, but most left the promotion to me.

A Unique Niche

Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m going to make an observation about horse owners. I’ve observed it in other pet owners, too. Here it is: they enjoy talking about their horse more than listening to others talking about their horses. So, a show where other people come on and talk about their horses loses some appeal. I could have remedied this somehow, but I could not figure it out.

To top it off, the horse world almost takes pride in avoiding technology. It takes jumping a few hurdles to get a podcast. (It’s easier now than it was when we began in 2012, but it is still a challenge.) This will change as a new generation of horses owners grow up with the technology. I don’t have time to wait.

Networking

Besides my inexperience as an “on-air” talent, I lack networking skills. None of my horse friends wanted to join me on the podcast. I thought it was enough to be able to rub elbows with talented trainers and horsemen, travel, and explore the horse industry. Thinking back, perhaps it would have been better to have “revenue generation” as a goal too. When I talked to friends about joining the podcast, their first question was, “Is there any money in it?”

In their defense, their horse knowledge was already way above mine, so their need to learn was not nearly the motivator as it was for me.

Still, I need to get better at networking.

It’s Not the End

By announcing the end of weekly production I have more free time to write. I can still produce shows and call myself a podcaster.

I’m working on one right now. I’m taking a different approach. More editing is involved, but my hope is to have a better product. One with more compelling content. It’s probably too late to get more listeners, but I’ll have more fun.

Now to Write

What to write about? I’ve tried my hand at fiction. Making stuff up that’s believable is even more difficult than podcasting. I may give it a try again. For now, I think I’ll attempt at putting down my thoughts about health and living. I owned and operated a health food store for thirty years. That’s where I have my 10,000 hours as Malcolm Gladwell would say.

Look for it in the coming weeks. If you have a question, leave it in the comments section. I could use it for inspiration. I may need it.

Toastmasters and Public Speaking

January 6, 2018 by jjharrer Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note:
In September of 2017, I joined the public speaking group, Toastmasters. As part of their program, I’m encouraged to stand up and speak in front of our group. The topics and types of speeches vary. This was my first Toastmasters speech and is called the “Icebreaker”.

The Icebreaker Speech

Madam Toastmaster, fellow members, and guests….

I’d like to tell you a little about me, the events in my life, and how a term from Improvisation called, “yes, and…” has impacted my journey.

First, by the numbers, I’ve been married for 36 years. We have no children but have 3 horses, two dogs, and 5 cats. Animals are a big part of our life.

The Importance of “Yes, and…”

Life is something of an Improvisation and ‘yes, and…’ is a key component, even if things don’t always work out. I returned to Bakersfield in 1977 after making a mess of my post-high school years. I got a steady job and said ‘yes’ to my best girl, Ranae, and we were married. Side note: Guys, if you make this decision correctly, all the others come very easily.

My Dad owned an oilfield machine shop downtown. When oil hit a record high $30 a barrel in 1982, he invited me to buy into the company. It was just the two of us. I didn’t know anything about machine work, but he promised to train me and I said ‘yes’. Three months later oil plummeted to $7 a barrel.

As luck would have it, there was a health food store across from our shop and I was a regular customer. One day I asked the owner how to go about opening a store of my own, which I hoped to do after Dad retired. The shopkeeper said he turned 65 in 3 months and was looking to sell and retire. I said ‘yes’ and we were in the retail business.

I worked mornings and evenings at the store and daytimes at the machine shop. Ranae was the face of the health food business and, though we struggled for a number of years, things got easier. Dad retired and we sold the machine shop in 1995.

With increasing health insurance costs for the self-employed, Ranae took a job with the County Tax Collector’s office in 2006, to ensure we had medical coverage. I continued to operate the store.

A New Type of Adventure

In 2005, through a series of events that make a great story – unfortunately too long to tell here – I said ‘yes’ to buying my first horse. To make a long story a tad bit shorter, I immediately figured out I needed to learn much more about horsemanship if I were to survive the experience.

I studied a DVD program developed by Clinton Anderson and Downunder Horsemanship. We visited trainers and participated in clinics and rode our horses a lot. Although we had owned Ranae’s horse our entire married life, we both knew little about horsemanship. To develop our skills, we sat in our garden after every ride, sipped an adult beverage, and rehashed not only our horses’ behavior but our riding skills as well.

We thought these were valuable conversations that could help any new horse owner and, when podcasting was in its infancy, I began recording and posting our conversations on iTunes. The Whoa Podcast about Horses and Horsemanship was born.

A Change of Careers

The writing was on the wall for brick and mortar retail stores. I knew I would soon have to say ‘yes’ to closing the store we had owned for 30 years. But I wanted there to be an ‘AND’. I took several photography classes including a photojournalism class at Bakersfield College. I had also produced several horsemanship videos on our YouTube Channel.

When a friend told me that a uniquely Australian horse-sport, called Campdrafting, was coming to the US, I pitched several Australian equestrian magazines to cover the event. One said yes. The wheels were in motion to close the store and I sped up the process in order to travel to Colorado to begin my new career as an equestrian journalist. I went on to have two articles, along with photos, published in the Australian Stock Horse Journal. Later, I would find it more difficult to enter the American equestrian magazine market.

One Thing Leads to Another

I focused on the podcast and, after covering a mustang training event, I was invited to participate as a trainer the following year. Of course, I said yes. On June 14, 2015, a horse, born and raised wild for 10 years, was loaded onto my horse trailer to test my correspondence-school-horsemanship skills. I named the horse ‘Scratch’ partly because of the several scars he had earned living in the wild and because that’s where we were both starting from…Scratch.

Four months later we competed against 7 other trainers, six who made their daily wages training horses, and we placed 4th. While it didn’t all go smoothly, I demonstrated the bond we built by riding Scratch bridle-less in front of a packed arena while I was blindfolded.

None of this would have been possible without saying ‘yes’. And, the ‘yes-es’ not only came from me, they came from everyone who helped me along the way. So often in this world, we don’t have time or energy to take on another project or learn another skill and our default answer shifts from ‘yes’ to ‘no’. Fight the urge to decline, embrace the new endeavor and say YES, AND see where it takes you. My most recent Yes brought me to Toastmasters.

Mother Nature is Cruel

February 25, 2016 by jjharrer 10 Comments

Mother Nature Needs a Better Calorie Counter

Mother Nature is amazing in the things she does well. She figured out how to let the chameleon change color to protect itself. She puts white on the back of bobcat ears so predators think they are seeing a face with eyes instead of a back of the head. Female horses stop ovulating in the winter so their babies, who are born precocious, will enter the world in spring when the grass is rich and plentiful.

When Mother Nature misses, she misses big time. Take for example the eating requirements of husband and wives. My wife, Ranae, and I have been married for 35 years. I do most of the cooking now simply because I enjoy it. It’s often difficult preparing food for just two people. The thought of leftovers doesn’t appeal to me, although I’ve come to accept it.

I seem to be able to stuff my gullet without increasing my overall weight. On the other hand, I can get so involved in a project that I’ll postpone eating for hours. I simply forget. Ranae gets cranky (good thing she doesn’t read these).

Ranae’s caloric requirement are so much less than mine. We have similar activity levels, yet I need so much more food than she. If she doesn’t watch her intake carefully she is penalized unfairly by Ma Nature. I would have thought the girls would have bonded a little closer over this issue. Maybe she did try to do something, but it backfired. Maybe when women reached menopause they were suppose to burn more calories and Mother Nature just screwed up.

While we owned the health food store this was a common problem in the Hispanic community. A Hispanic man would come in because his doctor told him he was too fat and at risk for diabetes. My suggestion would straightforward; cut back on portions and lay of the sweets. His response most often was that his wife would be offended if he didn’t not eat. She would spend a good part of the day preparing the meal and his job was to consume. Quite often he found his way into eating himself into gout, arthritis, and obesity.

While it was most obvious in the Hispanic community, I think the problem is universal. The problem is that the person preparing the meal gets their feelings hurt when the food is not eaten. Add this to the trend in restaurants to increase portion size and it’s no wonder America is having to loosen its belt.

As we near the end of Winter, Ranae has made it known I have to prepare less food. My mother is rolling in her grave while Mother Nature sprouts all sorts of wonderful delights in our garden.

Politics Offers a Lesson

February 20, 2016 by jjharrer 5 Comments

Politics Offers a Lesson

First, let me say I’ve never written a political blog post. I don’t care about politics or who becomes president. I believe it doesn’t make a bit of difference who is in the White House. The bureaucracy is so huge, one man can’t make a difference. I believe that government is best left to fixing roads and defending the borders.

But there is a lesson to be learned about this election, just keep trying. Back in my younger days, before I became jaded and cynical (just kiddin, I’ve always been jaded and cynical about politics), I thought the government needed to be run more like a business than, well, a government.

That was a long time ago (for me). Pierre “Pete” duPont threw is hat into the ring. Mr. duPont, of Dupont Chemical fame worked for the giant corporation for seven years before coming to politics. Pete wanted to get welfare recipients into the workforce, allow people to fund their own retirement in exchange for less government benefits, and require students to randomly take drug tests and if they failed the test, they lost their license. Oh, and he wanted to end subsidies for farmers. duPont finished next to last in the New Hampshire primary and dropped out of the race. I thought his ideas made sense, but never got a chance to cast a vote for him. Talking about ending farm subsidies in Iowa, while bold, is not likely the best politics. That was one of the reasons I liked him; he wasn’t the usual politician.

Ross Perot came along in 1992. Another businessman with a lot of money, Ross wanted the country to be run more like a business. He wanted a balanced budget, a stronger war on drugs, and town hall meetings to discuss the serious issues of the day. Ross spent a bunch of his own money on his campaign. He took donations, but had a $5 limit. Again, not run of the mill politics. While Ross came across as a tough and savvy businessman, he was manhandled as a politician. In the summer before the election he was holding his own against Bush and Clinton. The found was to attack him and he dropped out. Quit. Then he jumped back in in October. The country had supported him because he hadn’t been wishy-washy and then he was.

The Donald is in the race now. I think he is spending his own money. He seems to have touched the heart of one segment of the electorate. He’s making people nervous because some say he has a chance to win.

The lesson of politics: Keep trying. You want blacks to be free, keep trying. You want women to vote, keep trying. You want gays to be able to marry, keep trying. You want a businessman to be President, keep trying. If it doesn’t work the first time, repackage it and try again. If it doesn’t work the second time, change the name a bit, and try again. Eventually you’ll figure out how to make it happen.

Now, if we could just find a way to get those roads fixed.