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Street Urchins Part 3

September 26, 2010 by Brian

I will not forget my first encounter with David. I had been working at the bank for a precious few weeks. Out of the corner of my eye I spied him standing at the door.  David is a little over six feet tall, about two hundred pounds, he has a pocked marked face brown eyes and short greasy black hair. I know all this because as I watched him I figured I had better cement a description of him in my head so I didn’t look like an idiot in front of the police when they asked me for a description.  he seemed to be looking at us, the cameras, the windows, his toes were lined up at the threshold of the door and he stood absolutely rigid. When David finally entered the bank the lobby was almost empty. I looked around to see which of the other four tellers was going to help him. Imagine my lack of surprise when I saw that all of my co-workers had magically vanished!

Okay, so it was throw the new guy to the wolves day. David walked over to my window and proceeded to re-arrange the must have teller paraphernalia, the deposit slips had to be in a perfectly squared pile. The pile had to be two finger widths from the edge of the counter and two finger widths from the edge of the wall and yes he used his fingers to measure. The chain on the bank pen had to be just so, the pen itself had to be lined up along the deposit tickets. All of this was done repeatedly and in silence.

Finally he reached into his pocket and removed his wallet.  He held it up to his face, right up to his large nose.  He opened the money part just a fraction, just enough so he could peer in with one eye, then he closed the wallet and put it back in his pocket.  “May I help you?” He looked at me and removed his wallet again, peered inside it again.  Put it back in his pocket and re-arranged my deposit slips…again. He looked over at my coin tray,  “Do you have any Sacagawea dollars?”  understand he is looking at them in my coin tray, “Yes, looks like I have about eight dollars worth do you want them?”  Once again he reaches into his pocket and repeats the wallet ritual several times.  “May I see them?”  I spread them out on the table.  He carefully looks them over, but does not touch them. “What dates are those two?”  I turn them over so he can see the dates.  He goes back to his wallet ritual.  I look around for some help and I see the tellers have drifted back to their stations and they all had huge grins. 

He leaned in a little, looked around the bank.  “My name is David, but please don’t say my name out loud. I have an account here.  I also have a safe deposit box here.” 

“Okay, Da..sorry, Sir so what is it I can help you with today?”  Back to the wallet ritual.  “Can I have two dollar bills, four quarters and those two Sacagawea dollars? I have a five dollar bill in my wallet.”

“Of course you may, I start to gather the money while he starts his wallet ritual.  Lucky for me I adhere to bank policy, all my bills are face up and in the same direction.  I think David would have had a heart attack had I given him the bills any other way.  Finally he removes the five dollar bill.  I happen to notice it is the only bill in his wallet.  Now that it is out David has to check it repeatedly.  He held it up to the light, front and back, checked it at different angles, he checked to make sure it was indeed only one bill over and over.  He smiled almost shyly as he handed over the five and gathered his coins.  Interestingly, he didn’t even look at the money I gave him.

He leans in again, points to my coin tray, “Is that a half-dollar?” 

Now I have to admit there are times I do things or say things that I’m wishing I hadn’t done while I am still doing it.  And for some reason, perhaps nerves, perhaps a coping mechanism but looking at that half dollar with David standing in front of me I lost control.

“Yes, but I should let you know that it is a magic half dollar'”

“Magic?”

“Yes”

long pause while he is thinking this through.  Over the course of the next five years there would be many such pauses during conversations between David and Myself, sometimes to the point where he had to go sit down for a few minutes while he processed information.

“Magic, how?”

I picked up the coin with one hand and placed it in the other and closed my fingers around the coin.  I looked at David and slowly opened my fingers I watched his face as I opened my fist revealing that the half dollar had changed into a quarter.  And like Braveheart from a few years ealier there was no reaction.  None.  I patiently waited him out.

“That is just a trick, right?”

“Yes”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes”

“Can I see the quarter?”  And once again I don’t know what came over me.  I picked up the coin and handed it to him.  But when he held out his hand to recieve the quarter, it vanished completely.  

“Is that also a magic trick?”

“Yes”

“You are sure?”

“Yes”

“Where is the quarter?”

“Right here” Reaching into the air with an empty hand and producing the quarter at my finger tips. “And the half dollar is right here” Tossing the quarter into my hand, closing my fingers around it, and when I open them the quarter has changed back to the original dollar coin.

I’ve done this a zillion times to people, before David and after David, but to Davids credit he earned my respect in his next move, he did something nobody had ever done before and have not done since.  He reached into his pocket and counted the change I had given him earlier.  He looked up at me and smiled.

“I like you”

“Thanks your alright yourself”

“See you next time”

Much to the relief of everybody in the bank David became my customer.  I spent five years at that bank, and I think it is David I miss the most.

Posted in humour, Lifes Observations | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Street Urchins Part 2

September 22, 2010 by Brian

Picking up from my last post,  Vancouver, like everywhere else has its share of characters.

The Sweeper:  he was an odd dude, nobody was sure about him.  He would just stand there. Now and again he would put his hand out.  Occasionally he would get upset if you didn’t give him money,  I call him The Sweeper because I was in my office and I heard the manager of the video store ask him if he would like to earn a little cash by sweeping up the sidewalk in front of his shop.   “No” came his response, “I really don’t want to work”.  I guess begging pays.

Braveheart: I was in the shop one day cleaning the display cabinet and this guy walks in.  I knew he was schizophrenic the moment I saw him.  It was a cool cloudy day and he was wearing really dark wrap around shades, when he walked his knees hardly bent, his arms did not swing, his back ramrod straight.  Not only was he schizophrenic he was off his meds.  We had the following conversation:

Me: “Hey, how you doing?”
Him: “I am Braveheart and I’m afraid of no man”

 Shit

“Well Braveheart, that is good to know.  Can I help you with anything?”

All I could think of was my cousin who works with schizophrenics I really could have used a little help. I also remember the bandage on my cousins face when one of his patients punched him in the nose.

 “What type of magic do you have?”
“Magic tricks, for entertainment.  Here let me show you.”

I showed him a trick, there was no response his face never showed any emotion. He didn’t move, when he spoke only the lower part of his face moved. It was spooky.
 
“Is that a trick?”
“Yes, did you like it?”
“Has anyone been bothering you?”
“No, everything is fine.”
“Well if anybody does, I am braveheart and I am afraid of no man”
“Thanks”
“You do good magic”
“Thanks”

Months later this guy comes into the shop he introduces himself as Steve, he looks familiar, but not.  He tells me he just came in to say hello and to say he was sorry if he scared me.  He then explained that he came in earlier in the year calling himself Braveheart!

The Con:  Once again in the magic shop. This time there were two other magicians with me.  This scruffy guy who hangs around the mall comes in. 

“Do you have a fiver for five loonies?” 

Loonies, for my non-Canadian friends are Canadian dollar coins

“Yup” as I reached for the cash register I noticed he was holding his loonies like they were poker chips so I couldn’t really see them. I held out my hand for the loonies but he refused to part with them.

Him: “Give me the fiver and I’ll give you the loonies?”

“I don’t think so!” but I was curious, so I held the fiver just in front of him where he made a grab for it, at which time I pulled the fiver back and knocked his hand that held the loonies, four loonies and a washer fell to the counter. I looked at him, scooped up his money and his washer and handed it back to him while motioning him towards the door.  The other customers began to chuckle, “Dude, look around, you are in a magic shop!  Did you actually believe that was going to work?”

Of course I can’t leave good old State College out of the picture, after all, State College is called the Happy Valley.

Table Thrower:  Early in my short lived banking nightmare career I had to go stand outside the bank at a table we had set up with giveaways for returning students.  This greasy long haired freak of nature, complete with tattoos, bad body odour, scars and more than a few needle marks comes weaving up the street and of course he is heading straight for little ole’ me.

“Hey, you have to do this shit for your job?”
“Yeah pretty much”
“Wouldn’t catch me doing this shit!”
“Ahh, well, bills to pay family to feed, gotta do what I gotta do.”
“You get paid extra for standing out here with this shit, you should you know’
“Well, it just goes along with the territory, it is not so bad.”
“I’m telling you, this is just shit, shit work, shit pay, you should quit! Lets throw this table and all this shit into the street.”
“No really its fine thanks”
“Whatever but I’m telling you its shit!”

 In the end he was right.

Benny:  I know we already had a Benny, but this guys name was Benny. Everyone in downtown State College knows about Benny.  He has an orange jumper and is harmless, but crazy.  So he walks up to the teller next to me, “Miss, do you have 4 quarters?”  Katy, being new, young and naive gives Benny the quarters. Benny thanks her and walks out of the bank.  The rest of us are busy laughing.  Katy, looking at the empty lobby with that bewildered look in her eye, “But…b…but he didn’t give me a dollar!”  Yes Katy that’s why you get the money before you give the change, especially to the staggering, swill smelling homeless guy!

 And then there was David. David and I were buddies. David is also the topic of my next installment. Street Urchins: The Saga Continues.

 Thanks for reading.

Posted in Lifes Observations | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Street Urchins Part 1

September 19, 2010 by Brian

My last post, I Don’t Take Pennies got me thinking about other ‘street urchins’ I have come across.  Not all of the following are necessarily homeless, but they qualify.  After page three of my first draft I realized that this topic was too long for one post so I’ve broken it up into three segments, (so far).  Hope you enjoy.

The corner of Van Horn & Victoria in Montreal Quebec is a cultural melting pot, often times the older Jews and Italians can be seen standing on the corner solving the worlds problems, One block is home to many Jews, another is the Vietnamese, The Greek’s live up the street, the blacks down on the other side.  There are the Indians, (from India, not native Americans)…in short, the rainbow of skin tones is always in full bloom. There are no less than four bus stops, a metro station, a school, a strip mall, magic shop, bakeries, drugstores banks, dollar stores and restaurants of all ethnic styles.  It really is a wonderful thing.  Of course with that comes the cast of characters’:

The Walrus:  My brother gave him this name.  He is a very large, very dirty, Walrusy type of fellow.  He does have a tooth, it is round and pointed and sticks out of the center of his mouth.  He was often found just standing at the corner, just standing.  For all I know he is still there, odds are however he is no longer alive. Much to my horror I walked into the Jewish Bakery and there he was behind the counter.  The woman in front of me asked him for a challah, (type of bread) and she wanted it sliced.  He reached down picked up a twist tie and put it in his mouth like it was a toothpick. He reached up with his grubby hand and took down a wonderful looking fresh Challah loaf and placed it into the slicer.  He never thought to put on gloves so I was already shuddering.  He then slid the bread off the slicer and into the plastic bag.  He then took the twist tie out of his mouth and used it to seal the bag.  As he turned around the lady left, I left and so did the two people behind me.

Benny Hill:  Benny Hill looked exactly like Benny hill and he would walk up and down the street I never heard him say a word, I never even saw him stop.  He would walk all hunched over wearing the same tan button down shirt and brown pants.  What made Benny interesting was his shadow. An elderly lady, presumably his mother would always follow him from a respectable distance.  They never spoke when I saw them, never even acknowledged one another and it took some time for me to realize that they were connected, but where ever Benny went, mom was sure to follow.  It did happen one day that I passed Benny on the street and mom was nowhere to be seen.  I waited but she never appeared.  I continued to see Benny but I never did see his mother again.  I’m thinking she must have been watching from above.

Spare Change: This lady was on a mission, she knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask. “Excuse me, can I have two dollars and thirty seven cents?”  The next time would be different, “Excuse me, can I have 41 cents?” Once she stopped me on the cross walk…’Excuse me, can I have seven dollars and twelve cents?”

WTF?

Posted in Lifes Observations | Tagged , , | 5 Comments »

I Don’t Take Pennies

September 15, 2010 by Brian

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts Perfect Magic Vancouver was located up stairs in a strip mall.  At the bottom of the steps just outside the door our resident beggar always sat on the little stoop asking for change. 

It was a beautiful summer day, nice and cool, the type of cool you get after a rainstorm.  I opened my two windows as wide as I could, breathing in the crisp air. 

 Through my open window I heard the beggar speak, “Excuse me Sir, could you spare some change?”  In my mind I could see her holding out her styrofoam coffee cup jingling the few coins, her cigarette in her free hand, (she didn’t care much about the smoking ban).

Much to my surprise the voice responding voice was Shawn Farquhar’s.  Those of you who know Shawn can tell you his voice is unmistakable as is his manner of speech.  And he is a very giving person. 

I rolled my chair over to the window and peered through the slats in the blinds.  Sure enough there was Shawn digging through his pockets and asking the beggar about her day.  He spent a few minutes chatting and started towards the door that leads to the steps to the magic shop.  As he was about to open the door the beggar calls back to him.

 “Excuse me Sir, thank you very much but I don’t take pennies”.

“Excuse me?”

“Here Sir, you can have your pennies back.”

Shawn looking like a deer in the headlights

“But…”

“No Sir, pennies are too much to keep track of and they weight too much so I don’t take them. Here take them back.”

  Having sorted through the change and extracting the pennies and holding them out to Shawn

“B…but you are begging for change!  What do you mean you don’t take pennies?”

Holding out her hand with money, a beggar in reverse

“I don’t take them Sir”

“Well then give it all back!”

“I’ll take the silver it is the pennies I don’t want”

“But you are begging!  Did you know 5 pennies make a nickel? Why not keep the pennies and give me back my nickel?’

“Because, I told you Sir, I don’t take pennies!”

Shawn steps through the door and up the stairs into the magic shop only to be greeted by me with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

Posted in humour, Lifes Observations | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Third Times A Charm

September 13, 2010 by Brian

Twice before Sequoia has managed to escape us!  The first time was from my wife who was home alone at.  That time Sequoia managed to get loose from her leash, (as my wife tried to untangle her from the banister).  That ended with a dead rooster, (not ours as we don’t have roosters).  The second time Sequoia escaped from me as I tried to untangle her from the banister.  That ended a few hours later with my wife patrolling the roads by car and me running through the woods halfway down the mountain with a hotdog in my hand calling for a dog who while started out going down the mountain, managed to circle around me and settled down on the porch of the people who owned the above mentioned rooster.

Well, I’ve heard that things happen in three’s.  I don’t believe it because shit just keeps happening and we group them into three’s, we may as well group them into 11’s because if its not one thing its another.  But here we are, several years later and yes Sequoia escaped again.  This time however was different.  She escaped while my mother-in-law was untangling her from the banister.  Okay, so it wasn’t that different I only said it was for dramatic effect.

My wife and I are watching TV, (something on Video On Demand) nice and comfortable in our recliners.  My mother-in-law is outside untangling the dog. When she went out I was getting a bad feeling and was already trying to stand up when I heard the call.  “SHE’S LOSE! SEQUOIA IS LOSE!”  As I am getting my shoes on I can hear the dog running back and forth across the deck.  My wife hears the same sound.  ‘Open the door!” my wife yells.  I dive for the door, the hope being that I can get there and coax Sequoia in before she heads off the porch and into the woods.  Success!  It was raining.  Sequoia, the princess of the husky world doesn’t overly like the rain and she makes a bee-line for the door.  I almost lunged for the collar but held back, logic being if I lunge she may step back outside.  In a matter of seconds she is in the house the door swinging closed behind her.  Crises over!  Not so, oh no, nothing in life is that easy, Sequoia and the cats never occupy the same space at the same time.  When Sequoia is in the main part of the house, the cats are locked in the bedroom.  In true husky form Sequoia is a hunter.  Anything smaller is prey.

My wife is scooping up one of the cats, two are on the kitchen table Sequoia is heading for the bedroom where there are two more.  I manage to get my hands on the wet wooly coated husky and pin her against the sofa where I can get a firm grip on her collar.  There is no cat in her mouth, now the crisis is over.

Thank god Video On Demand has a pause button!

Posted in Lifes Observations | Tagged , , | 4 Comments »

Life Savers

September 8, 2010 by Brian

As I said on a previous post the magic shop in Vancouver was located on the second floor in a strip mall, on the other end of the mall was a large drug store.

One sunny afternoon Shawn Farquhar walks into the shop.  For those of you not into the magic scene, Shawn is a huge player in the magic field in fact in 2009 he was named the Grand Prix World Champion Of Magic, The International Brotherhood of Magicians named him the Stage Magician and Close up magician of the year, making him a two time champion in the same year.  He has also worked on the X-files, Highlander, The Fly II, he as performed on the Ellen DeGeneres show.   More importantly he is a friend and a really nice guy.  

Shawn comes into the shop one day and as usual we spent a good deal of time shooting the breeze and talking some business, we were making plans to bring in a lecturer (Daryl) to give a lecture for the local magic club.  Just before he leaves Shawn mentions that he is going to stop in the drugstore and probably perform the effect ‘lifesavers’ when he goes to pay.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time because Shawn is always performing.

‘Lifesavers’ is an effect that was designed to be totally impromptu. The magician walks into a store getting ready to pay for his purchase, checks his pockets only to find that he can’t find his wallet.  Magician looks around and spots the lifesavers, picks out one package and opens it in front of the cashier, after the first few are pulled out something can be seen protruding from the center, a few more lifesavers are removed and it becomes clear that the object in the lifesavers is a five dollar bill.  Which the magician uses to pay for his purchase” For you magicians I believe the effect can be found in Michael Weber’s ‘Life Saver’ book.

Approximately twenty minutes later a few of the employees from the drug store come into the shop carrying 4 boxes of lifesavers.  They explain to me that this guy walked into the store bought a few things but couldn’t pay.  They go on to explain, that this guy then looks at a few rolls of lifesavers picks one opens it and there is five dollar bill inside.  This ‘guy’ proceeds to explain to them that Lifesavers is having a secret promotion and they put a five dollar bill in certain rolls of lifesavers.  Not only that, this ‘guy’ told them that the rolls are marked and the guy in the magic store knows what the mark look like.

The employees, hesitant to ask me about it opened about a dozen rolls before they summed up the courage to come to me with lifesavers in hand and ask me which ones contained the five dollar bills!

 Thanks Shawn!

Posted in Lifes Observations | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments »

90th Post

September 6, 2010 by Brian

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know that every 10th post is more about me and what I’ve learned in my previous posts or at least something to that effect.  Unfortunately I’ve got nothing, nada, zip.

So let us discuss the new fridge.

Our fridge is 30 years old and runs constantly. Our electric bills are getting higher and higher. It is time!

My wife has been looking for quite some time and now it was time to go shopping for real.  The issue is the old one is so small.  A new one, complete with bottom freezer and an on the door water/ice dispenser placed where the old one stood would mean a 10 thousand dollar re-model.  We do intend to re-model we are just not there yet.

My wife suggests that, at least for now we place the new fridge on the opposite wall where the microwave is and place the microwave where the old fridge stands.  The fridge would be free standing size would not be a limitation and we would not have to re-model the entire kitchen at this time.  Sounds like a perfect plan, doesn’t it?

Just as we find the fridge we want, we learn that Lowes is offering 18 months same as cash financing. A quick trip to Lowes is in order.  They do carry the fridge but it is almost $500.00 more.  The sales guy investigates and finds that the other store had the older model.  This one actually has two icemakers one in the door and one in the freezer the other only had the one in the door.  Was this worth $500.00? Nope!  This salesman however is determined not to lose the sale.  He gives us the new model at the price of the old one.  Delivery and installation is free, and the 5 year warranty was cheaper than the other guys.

Installation does not mean they will install a water line for you.  It means they will hook it up to an existing water line.  Did you know they have a do it yourself ice machine water line kits?  The do, no tools needed.  I love tools. I hate pipes.  How can you hook up a water line to a brass pipe without tools, without cutting into the pipe adding a valve?  I’ve done this before, sometimes it goes easily enough. Other times we have to break out the rain gear. Tools or not, I do have to crawl under the house, in the crawl space, with the spiders. I’m no fan of spiders.  

If we go under the house then there is the added issue of freezing water lines.  We would have to insulate around it and add heat tape all of which means more time under the house.  We could call a plumber and there goes $200.00 dollars when the ‘no tools DIY installation kit is less than $25.00!  Hello spiders, here I come.

My wife suggested we don’t bother going under the house.  We can tap into the water line under the sink and snake the water line behind the oven, dishwasher, and counters and come out the other side a few feet along the baseboard and voila, no spiders, no insulation, no heat tape, and bonus I get to use tools for the no tool hookup.  I get to cut through the counters.

Our dishwaser and oven are side by side, I installed the dishwasher so I know the last thing I want to do is pull it away from the wall. I figured I could pull out the oven and it would be an easy thing to snake the water line behind the dishwasher.  I didn’t remember the wall between the dishwasher and the oven, but there it was. Now I had to somehow snake a water line through a ¼ inch hole in a wall maneuver it blindly behind the dishwasher and feed it through a ¼ inch hole on the other side.  What should have taken moments took a few hours and many swear words.  Victory however was mine!

I was sweating as I hooked up the no tools valve to the water line.   I was holding my breath as I turned the screw and felt the pin pierce the copper pipe.  I almost cried when I backed the pin out of the hole and heard the water fill the line.  I jumped for joy when there were no leaks and water flowed. All the while my wife was comfortably asleep in front of the TV, my helper for this endeavor was Floyd and as wonderful as Floyd is, he does not have opposable thumbs and therefore was not really any help at all.

As the Lowes truck pulled up to the door I began to wonder.  Will the fridge get through the door?  We probably should have measured!  It was really close there was no room to spare, if the wires on the back of the fridge were any thicker we would have had to remove the front door.

Both my wife and I are guilty of shooting first and asking questions later.  Yes we knew it was taller, yes we knew it was wider what we really didn’t realize is that it is a foot deeper.  As we sat in our living room and looked into the kitchen we both wondered the same thing.  Holy shit! There is a monolith in our kitchen.  We both really liked the fridge and were really excited by it, but it is now the focal point of the kitchen.  It is a behemoth that cannot be missed! 

It took a good hour before we got used to it.  Before we saw how it really does fit into the kitchen. Yes it is big, yes it dominates but somehow the kitchen looks better, cleaner more functional.  In an odd way there is more space.  We had to move the table so our chandelier is now off centered at the moment. (There is a fix for this and it probably requires tools).  

In the end we are very happy with the new addition to the family.  The water tastes better so we don’t have to buy bottles and jugs of water anymore.  We have two ice makers so buying ice is a thing of the past.  The power company will give us $35.00 and remove the old fridge and the government will give us $50.00 as the new one meets the energy star requirements.  And our electricity bills should go down.

Of course for the next 18 months I am working for the fridge, but the beer is cold and we have hard ice cream again.  And the constant hum in the kitchen is gone.

fridge, not yet settled in

Posted in Lifes Observations | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

The Devil You Say?

September 1, 2010 by Brian

The more I write about the trials and tribulation about life in the magic store, the more I like it, and slowly the memories are coming back. Not all are about the magic and probably every retailer has such stories. I claim no exclusivity of the strange retail experiences.  I do have to be careful as not to take stories away from my mother’s blog, However I am more than willing to share.

For the end of this post to make sense you also have to understand that I am Jewish.  Keep reading it should make sense.

The shop in Vancouver was located in a strip mall, up a flight of stairs.  Really if you were not looking for it, you would never find it.  I had Bobbie Looney one of the most talented people I’ve ever met paint up a sandwich board which was placed on the walkway so people could find me.  

So, I am minding my own business when this old lady, complete with bonnet and cane walks into the shop.  And she really had to work to get up the few steps she probably should have been in a wheelchair.  In any case she came in with a purpose!

“So” she makes the statement, “This is a magic store?”

“Why yes it is. Are you interested in magic, or perhaps know somebody who is?”

“What sort of magic do you sell here?”

“Oh quite the variety…(getting that feeling that something isn’t kosher) all for entertainment, like David Copperfield, you know, card tricks, coin tricks, tricks with rope all kinds really. Here let me show you something you might find amusing”

“OH NO YOU DON”T!  Magic is the hand of the DEVIL!”

Blink

“Not this kind, there is no ‘higher power’ doing the tricks we just make things happen by sleight of hand, by showing and telling you one thing, but secretly doing another, here I can show you its…”

“No, it is the hand of the devil. THE DEVIL I’m telling you”

Okay I know its best not to argue just nod and smile and grin stupidly but sometimes, I’m just not programmed that way.

“No, no it is not, it is just sleight of han…”

“That’s what he would have you believe…(she nods knowingly) but you can repent, and I will pray for you”

“Thank you very much, but really it is not necessary, after all I am one of the chosen ones”

And with that she was gone.  Best trick ever! I vanished the closed minded. Top that Mr. Copperfield!

Posted in Lifes Observations, Magic | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

Ice Cream Social

August 30, 2010 by Brian

Every Friday in August, Wiscoy, a local pet supply store hosts an ice cream social for dogs.  Free ice cream for dogs and people, and it all raises money for the SPCA.  Sequoia loves sitting around growling at all the other dogs. This year however she seemed to have found a friend, Ziggy.  Here are a few pics.

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Border Crossing

August 29, 2010 by Brian

A few years back my wife and I were crossing the border from Canada to the US, there was a line but it wasn’t too bad.  As we waited we made sure our papers were in order, green card? Check, approved picture ID for my wife? Check, vet records for the dog? Check, receipts for the Canadian beer from the duty free shop? Check.

On a previous trip when Sequoia stuck her head out the window all the customs guard asked was what country she was from.  She is a Siberian Husky so I was tempted to say Siberia, but every once in a while I think before I speak and I answered, ‘United States’ The customs agent told us how beautiful Sequoia is and sent us on our way.

This time was different we finally got to the little booth and were asked the appropriate questions, the whole time however the border guard was eyeing Sequoia, “Is that a husky?” he finally asked.

“Yes , she is a Siberian husky, here are her papers and rabies cer…”

(ignoring the papers we offered) “We had Dobermans growing up, I always wanted a husky, I was told they are a handful”

“Yes, they can be, they are prey driven dogs, they love to run, outside they always need to be on a leash or in a ken…”

“Is it a male or female?”

“Female, her name is Sequoia”

(opening the window further as the customs officer tried to crawl into our back seat)

“Oh Sequoia you are sooo soft!  Are all huskies this soft?”

(looking out the rearview mirror watching the line behind getting longer)

“They are all pretty soft, but Sequoia has a woolly coat while others have….”

“Right now I live in an apartment so I really can’t have one, but once I move into a house I am getting a husky! Welcome back to the States and enjoy the rest of the day”

I keep thinking to myself that I really need to get my expired passport sorted out so I don’t have to worry about it the next time we go back to Canada.  On the other hand it would be easier just to roll down the window and let Sequoia stick her head out as our trackrecord shows that as long as the customes agent gets to see Sequoia our paperwork is not really an issue.

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