mja blog

  • Dog snore

    Did my mad do-gooder thing today ferrying dogs around. Early start to get Choc to Animal Welfare for desexing operation. Choc is a 12 mth chocolate coloured Staffy with white toes, like Ebony, and big ears that fold over in cute sort of way. She has already been rehomed, but had her op rescheduled after she came into season. If left to the owners, I don’t think they would have bothered, so it is a comforting thought that there is now one less dog having unwanted litters.

    Dropped Choc off, then back to Laidley to pick up Rok and Murph. Rok is a big boofhead Staffy/Bull Arab x, Murph is a sweet young Ridgie x.  These two boys came to us from the pound in the last couple of weeks, still looking for homes, although things look good for Murph. They got their shots and chips and as I dropped them back to Ludelle, heard the good news that some people are coming to see Murph tomorrow, strong possibility of adoption.

    Quick stop on the way home to bank last weekend’s sausage sizzle takings, then stuck into some work on my assignment (last one!) for a couple of hours until it was time to go and pick up Choc. Embarrassing to be told by the vet nurse that Choc is riddled with fleas and they had to spray her so they could operate. She didn’t have fleas when she was with us 😐

    Back home again, and a couple of hours break until I had to head out again to work’s AGM. A good turn up this year, about 30  or 40 people and several local councillors present. Auditor addressed the meeting, didn’t seem really happy about having to stand in for the Treasurer again! Last year we had no Treasurer, this year the Treasurer was away on holidays. He said some nice things about our financial management, said we were one of the most professional organisations he’s worked with, a few heads turned to acknowledge me and some colleagues behind me patted me on the back, which was really nice.

    The annual reports we’d been working on came out really well, and Ros gave a presentation using the powerpoint I’d prepared – but ran into a couple of technical glitches, the projector decided to cut out. Quick-witted Ros quipped that we needed a grant for new AV equipment.

    One of the meeting attendees on the night was a dog! He was a beautiful big black labrador, in training to be a companion for a disabled person, there with his handler Garry, who works at the Bargain Centre. He was wearing a vest with an “L” plate stitched on it, very cute. Of course I bent down to meet him as soon as I clapped eyes on him, and was quickly told by Garry, it was totally the wrong thing because he was in training mode.

    Did manage to restrain myself from patting the dog, and got to sit next to him during the meeting, he was very well behaved during the meeting although all the talk sent him to sleep and he was actually snoring towards the end 🙂 Garry said he is teaching the dog to help with chores like retrieving the remote control, and removing socks and shirts. He will be in training for 18 months, the last six months he goes down to Sydney for final intensive training before placement.

  • Annual report

    When will I learn to stop putting my hand up when I see that something needs to be done! I offered to work on the annual report at work, which is going to be a big, fiddly job of formatting in Word.

    We are going for a heavily templated format, with lots of pie charts and graphs to display the many various statistics and figures. I am half relishing the thought of getting my teeth into this, half dreading it because I want it to look good.

    Feeling a bit down today, listening to colleagues happily chatting together while I am working solidly away, feeling weighed down by the workload. All work and no play, sometimes I feel like the stereotypical bookkeeper or accountant. Fastidious and boring.

  • Another wednesday

    Have noticed I am developing a pattern of writing here on a Wednesday, my day off.

    Today I took a couple of dogs to the vet at Rosewood for their microchips, Eva the happy Bull Terrier and Jamie the gentle black Labrador. I’d hoped to take a third dog, Gravel because there had been a strong enquiry about him, but Gravel and Jamie ended up having a go at each other, and I didn’t want that in the back of my car! It was a shame because this meant that Gravel was unsuitable for the person who wanted him as a companion for their little male poodle.

    Both dogs were very good getting chipped, not even a flinch. Took them back to Ludelle and took off again, she had some help today. Cleaned the car and did some washing; did some work on my assignment. I am now down to my second last assignment, which is very exciting. Not long now till I’m finished.

  • Minor exhaustion

    What a day! physically and mentally it has been quite a strain.

    I intended going down to the kennels to help exercise the dogs down there, but got a message from Ludelle that there was a dog at Ipswich pound that we needed to rescue, having been originally rehomed by us, and the owner not interested in collecting it.

    Buddy is a beautiful animal, big Bull Arab, lovely nature. He just curled up in the back of my car after I picked him up.

    Got him settled into his new temporary home at the kennels, then proceeded to walk 6 – 8 dogs. Good opportunity to practise the techniques I’ve learnt from the “dog whisperer” Cesar Millan. Pleased to see some improvement in my handling of the dogs.

    Having a short spell between dogs, Ludelle informed me about some tragic news in her family – just last night one of her sons had been killed in a car accident only streets away from home. I was shocked and amazed that she was there telling me this and carrying on her normal work. There was only an instant when I saw the crack in her self-control, a brief glimpse of pain in her face when she gave me the news.

    Trying to give her as much support during this hard time for her. I had already planned to do a bulk buy up of dog food, so after we finished at the kennels I went into Gatton Aldi, who offer the best value at the moment. It saves us some money, also saves Ludelle the time and effort of having to go up to the supermarket in town each day to buy food. By the time I had finished offloading most of the cans at Ludelle’s place I was feeling exhausted by the day’s exertions.

    I planned to write more about this day but it can wait for another post.

  • Day in the life of

    Today is a Wednesday, which is my day off from work. This is the day I always say I will do my housework, and catch up on study assignments. I also make myself available for Brave Dogs errands.  Here’s how my day went today:

    6.30 am – Out of bed, threw on some clothes and took dogs for a run around the yard (they ran, I walked), then fed the hungry critters. That kept them quiet for a while!

    7.45 am – Onto my second coffee for the morning, logged onto computer to check emails. A text message on my phone from Brave Dogs about taking a couple of dogs to the AWL vet for desexing.

    8.30 am – I’m on my way to the old pound to pick up Rocco and Gyppi, it is their turn to get desexed. 

    9.30 am – Have dropped off the dogs at AWL, on my way home I have made a detour to the homebase group of shops and I’m checking out Trade Secret, Fantastic Furniture and Spotlight. 

    11.00 am – Have bought a few things – polo shirts for H, some discounted toiletries and a nice quilt cover for our bed. Rounding off my shopping with a fresh coffee and slice of passionfruit cheesecake!

    12.00 pm – Finally home again after a couple more stops to check the post office for mail and pick up some bread and milk. Couple of Brave Dogs phone calls, both good – one of the dogs has found a home, an employment agency is sending us some voluntary workers and needs our certificate of insurance.

    1.00 pm – Finished updating the Brave Dogs web site with new info, added the desexed dogs to Pet Rescue site (they only take desexed dog listings). Now for the housework!

    4.00 pm – vacuumed, mopped floors, dusted for three hours! Fitted in a wander around the yard with the dogs; I had left Spook unattended and she destroyed a pot plant (rose bush – not a big one) and had somehow unplugged the electric lead from the water pump!! thank goodness the power was off. Cleaned myself up, then back onto the computer, doing some Brave Dogs book work – preparation for the AGM this Saturday and making a couple of calls to find out what bills need to be paid.

    5.00 pm H. home, with Spook’s new kennel in the back of his ute. It is a solid plastic cast dog house and the colour matches our house. Lets hope she doesn’t chew this up like she does all the plastic plant pots!!

    That’s about it for the day; had a stir fry Beef with Black Bean Sauce for dinner. Now just finishing off some book work, and then will turn in for the night. Back to work tomorrow!

  • Not-for-profit treasurer resources

    As volunteer treasurer of a small association, and paid finance coordinator of a much larger one, am always on the lookout for useful and relevant finance tools. A couple I’ve find recently:

    • Mango’s Guide to Financial Management for NGO’s UK-based but still relevant for NGO/NFP organisations here in Australia, would be useful for new treasurers and/or committee members trying to get their head around financial management. For me the section on budgeting was invaluable, provided some fundamentals that have not come up in my formal study
    • Acclaim Software’s Cashbook Complete this is a free or low cost accounting system (depending on the version installed) developed here in Australia. I have just started using this for the small association I’m with and was blown away by the simplicity and flexibility of the system. I’m trialling the free (home) version, which is adequate for our needs because we aren’t registered for GST, it includes basic cashbook and budget modules.