Facebook Favorites Calendars!

It's that time of year again!

Each year, we take the 13 (or more) most liked images from our Shot On Site Facebook Page, and put them in a calendar, which we then sell in the hopes of turning a couple dollars of profit, and in turn, brighten up your offices, kitchens, kennels, or outhouses, or the homes of those to whom you gift them.

This year, we're doing something a little different.

We have two calendars! A Dog-themed calendar, and a Not-Dog-themed version. One for the kennel and one for the kitchen, eh? Or one for a gift for that rare non-dog owning friend on your gift list.

We have a limited stock of both, that we will sell for a mere $15 each, postage included. All you have to do it email either Margaret (margaretfairman@gmail.com) or me, (dan@shotonsite.us). We'll then send you a PayPal invoice, and upon payment, will mail out your calendar.

If we run out of our stock, all is not lost. If you'll look over to the right sidebar, you'll see display links for both calendars. These links will take you to Lulu.com, where you can review the calendars before buying, and you can also buy calendars for $17 plus postage.

See? Time is of the essence if you want to save about $6! We're waiting for your emails.

FOR SALE: The Hare-Brained Express (!)

Yes, it’s the legendary motor home that faithfully (with only a few hiccups) carried Shot On Site Photography from sea to shining sea for almost 6 years.  It will make someone an ideal short run dog hauler for field events and shows, while still perfectly capable of the occasional long haul.  Why pay to stay at an expensive hotel? 


              
Things that are new (or new-ish)  - the radiator ; the rear springs;  the tires (6); the alternator; the retractlable awning.
Things that are old, and/or don’t work, or may need work -  The leveling jacks. (parts are no longer available); The 5000W Onan generator will run, and produce power, but has a disturbing knock, which may be a piston rod.  Refrigerator door needs new hinge, but the fridge works great and has recently had the safety recall work performed, so it won’t set you on fire!   Much of the drawer hardware throughout needs replacing.. they’ve just worn out, or fallen out from lack of moisture.  Cabinet over sink needs connection to ceiling reinforced.
On the very last trip we attempted in late 2009, the distributor cap went wonky, which threw the engine out of time, and left us stranded outside of El Paso.  It has been repaired, but does need a tune up (spark plugs and wires were fouled, so it doesn’t run smoothly).
The chassis is a Chevrolet truck. Engine, a 454 cubic inch, with throttle body injection.
Direct inquiries to MargaretFairman@gmail.com, or Dan@shotonsite.us.

Shameless Commercial Hucksterism...

The holidays are approaching fast. Let me make a few gift suggestions:

• All kinds of sighthound wearables, drinkables, and display-ables at our Cafe Press shop
• The hot new 2011 Shot On Site Facebook Calendar.. available here! or use the widget to the right, on this page. (It's a bargain!)
• Have Margaret make you a custom item from a photo we've taken of your dog(s) at any event over the last 16 years. Suggestions available here. Or email: shotonsitemargaret@gmail.com.

These goodies have "collector's item" written all over them... don't be the guy watching Antiques Road Show in 30 years who says, "DOH!!"

After All, What's Money For...?

...If not to spend.

What a story I have for you today.

If you were thinking about coming to our open house this Saturday, but you live, say, on the other side of the country, or even up in the northern part of the state and you didn't have the time to make the drive, I've got great news!

Yesterday, I was clearing brush in the backyard in preparation for fencing in a dog area.  As I pried up a mesquite root, I spied something green underneath.  A bit of digging produced a ragged canvas satchel, and through the many holes I discovered the "green" I saw was cash.  Green bills... lots of them.  We haven't counted it all yet, but I can tell you they're old.. early 20th century.  We think there's a couple hundred thousand dollars here, maybe as much as half-million.  

The local paper picked up the story, and tomorrow we'll be dealing with the major networks.. crews from the Today show and Good Morning America will be here, and of course the local news affiliates from Albuquerque.

Where did it come from?  Well, the Butterfield Stage ran not far north of here.  Billy the Kid was active in West Texas and southern New Mexico.  We don't know.  We don't care.  We just know it's ours!

But we're simple folks at heart.  We're pretty happy with our new place, so we're not going to invest very heavily into any major improvements (except maybe central air!), and we might spend some on a major overhaul of the Hare-Brained Express, but we made a decision to mostly try to blow it all on the housewarming party this Saturday!

Through Margaret's son, Tony, (who knows the DIY lady on the show), we've got Rachel Ray coming to do the catering.  When that news leaked out, we heard from Emeril and Bobby Flay, who also want to come and turn it in to some kind of cooking competition on our back deck!  So friends, the food is going to be spectacular, as are the free blimp rides we've arranged with the Goodyear people.  We'll have lots of wine from the local winery.  A string quartet, fronted by Yo Mama on cello will provide the music during the day, and country rockers, Cross Canadian Ragweed will keep the neighbors (those that aren't here) awake long into the night.

And that's not the best part-

- this is:  If you want to come, just let us know.  We'll arrange for your airfare from wherever you are to the El Paso airport, and then have you choppered directly to our back yard!  We want this to be the biggest party  in New Mexico history!  Be a part of it!

Just email us your itinerary and 

do it TODAY: April 1st.

HOUSEWARMING!!

Y'all come!  Maybe we'll have a rattlesnake round up!

Clothing With a Message

I don't usually promote fashions available from CafePress that don't make us a buck or two, but Patrick has designed some pretty cool gear with a message some who read this blog don't want to hear.  Doesn't mean it ain't so.  Check it out- he's selling with 0 markup, and he's letting you copy the art on the blog to make your own... whatever.  I'm going to make a shirt!

Google "Chrome"

Seemingly rolled out with little fanfare- I happened to see a little blurb on a Google page- there's a new web browser in town. And it's excellent! Google Chrome.

I installed it yesterday, and so far it's performed flawlessly.  Every control is simple and intuitive.  I think there's a "help" button somewhere, but I haven't needed it.  There's very little garbage on the toolbar, which gives you a bigger screen area for content.  (See the screenshot of this blog page, above.)

And speaking of content, the web pages open at broadband speeds.. and I'm using EDGE/GPRS, which is only about twice as fast as dialup.  

It has a nice memory feature, that keeps track of the number of times I go to a website, and all the most - visited are shown on the front page when you open the browser..  so I better keep some variety in the porn surfing!

I tried Firefox some time ago.  It was OK, but there were some issues that irritated me.  I think it was a problem that had to do with .pdf files.  Haven't opened any .pdf's with Chrome yet, so I probably shouldn't speak too soon.

Give it a try.  It's free.   From download to your monitor only takes about 5-7 minutes; which is amazing in itself.

And now tonight's entertainment, which is in no way relevant to the subject, other than it has the word "chrome" in the title.  Take it, Melissa....

Mr. Happy Tooth No More.

I brush every day; use one of those Oral B spinning, vibrating brushes. Floss nearly as often, and use an anti plaque pre- rinse, and a Listerine clone after. I don't drink sugared soft drinks, and I avoid fruit juices. I visit my dentist every... uh. Hmm. Yeah, I visit a dentist every
20 years or so....?

Okay, so I have a scheduling problem. It's associated with a recurring financial problem.. I can't afford to go t0 the dentist. No big, I thought, having only one emergency since my last root canal, sometime in the early Nineties.

Well... last month, while parked in Texas, watching TV and eating popcorn, I noticed.. my tongue noticed.. a big hole in the middle of a molar that wasn't there before the second handful of popcorn. This was a cause for concern. But not enough for emergency concern. There was some pain, but not the kind you associate with exposed angry nerve endings... more just uncomfortable. I figured I could just chew on the left side until we got to our Wintering spot in New Mexico. Which just happens to be 30 miles north of La Paloma, Mexico. Home to several English-speaking dentists, optometrists, pharmacists, etc.

I made the appointment with Dr. Oscar Daniel Perez at American Dental Care, located just a block and a half from the border, behind the famous Pink Store, (where we would have an excellent lunch afterwards, and use our free Margaritas coupons).

Border crossing from New Mexico into Paloma is, we'll say, informal. Park the car at the Duty Free shop in the US, and just walk on in to Mexico. (Returning would take only slightly longer).

For reasons I still don't quite understand, Margaret requires a dose of antibiotics prior to dental work, so we went first to one of the many pharmacies on the main drag. It may be of some interest to dog owners, that we picked up a 50-count package of Cephalexin, 500mg, for all of $4 and change, US. Just about any drug that's not a narcotic is available over the counter at great prices. The prices in Mexico would continue to amaze us, after our visit to the dentist.

When we arrived at the office, there were only a handful of people in the waiting room; all Yanquis like us, and either full time RVers like us, or dwellers of the borderlands region. It's easy to see what Dr. Perez's target demographic is.

Margaret was just getting her teeth cleaned. I was getting my teeth cleaned and, I thought, getting my filling repaired. That's when everything started to go south... figuratively speaking.

Dr. Perez looked at the tooth and what remained of the filling, and found evidence of decay around the gum line. He advised that it would be better to get a crown, than repair the filling, because I would just be paying for work on the same tooth twice. That made sense to me.

Then Dr. Perez's partner (and wife), Dr. Karla Marmolejo, commenced to cleaning my teeth. She promptly hit a nerve in the wrong side of my mouth, swabbed on some topical pain killer and went to work again, then stopped. She had a long conversation with Oscar in Spanish and he then took over.

This is where the real bad news starts. He told me there was a line of brown material over most of the gum line, top and bottom. He thought at first it was tarter, except it wouldn't come off. It's tooth decay. He's not sure why it's so prevalent, hazarding a guess about minerals in water, but whatever the reason, it's there. It will need extensive filling.

The good news is... or part of the good news is, it's not an emergency situation, (except for the original crown thing). I can get it done in stages, and since we'll be living here it won't cause a scheduling issue. I'm getting the crown done in two weeks, before we pull out of Deming for the last big road trip with the Express. The rest will be done over the next year, after we've moved into the Mountain House.

He wrote out an estimate. That's the second part of the good news. To see what all this would cost in the US, click on the amounts:

Bridge. 4 teeth... $600

Extractions. 2 $50 each

Porcelain Crown. 1 $150

Fillings. 12 (yeah, TWELVE) $50 each

So there you have a brief report on my very first visit to Mexico. I'll be saving a lot of money, and tequila is unbelievably cheap at the Duty Free.

And speaking of Duty Free.. this one came as quite a shock to someone who's used to the Duty Free shops on the way to Canada. Here, you park your car in the lot, go into Duty Free, buy your $12 Cabo Wabo, walk into Mexico, cross the street, walk back into the US, get in your car and go home. Get drunk.

We're going to like living here.