Fox Hunt was a success for us. The day started out very slowly, but it picked up in the afternoon, and we did better than I'd hoped (and better than Ron had expected). Add to it only about an hour drive away, and definitely a good day.
Except I think the damn eye infection is back, off to call the doctor.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Riveting Price Ruminations
This morning was The Sprout's first day of school for the year, so I waited around to make sure the bus really did show up (it did). And since that meant that I was running late anyway, I detoured over to The Leather Factory store for a stop-gap supply of copper rivets.
Yesterday I ordered three pounds of #9 rivets and burrs from Weaver Leather, at (rounding to whole dollars), $9/pound. At the Leather Factory I paid $10 for 50 1/2"-long #9 rivets with burrs. Cue sticker-shock. According to the postal scale at work, those 50 rivets & burrs weigh 5.5 ounces. Which works out to 145 rivets per pound, which number I used in the calcs below.
We could also use some more #12 copper rivets, which Weaver doesn't carry. So I was exercising my google-fu to find suppliers. I found who I think I bought them from last time, but they sell the burrs ($15 - I think for a half-pound) and rivets ($17/lb) separately, so let's go with what was an average price of a couple other places that sell rivets + burrs per pound.
So, from Weaver, for #9
Yeah, you might notice that I'm wantonly mixing the sizes there. The thing is, from most suppliers, the difference in price vs. size is small to non-existent. Not sure why Weaver has such good prices on #9s, I'm guessing that Weaver moves enough #9 copper rivets that they can buy them cheap.
Anyhoo, the most important thing for me to remember is DON'T BUY COPPER RIVETS FROM LEATHER FACTORY! And I get wholesale pricing at LF, which is generally substantially cheaper than their retail price.
BTW, #9 have a 0.161" diameter shaft, #12 are 0.137", #14 are about 0.1"
Yesterday I ordered three pounds of #9 rivets and burrs from Weaver Leather, at (rounding to whole dollars), $9/pound. At the Leather Factory I paid $10 for 50 1/2"-long #9 rivets with burrs. Cue sticker-shock. According to the postal scale at work, those 50 rivets & burrs weigh 5.5 ounces. Which works out to 145 rivets per pound, which number I used in the calcs below.
We could also use some more #12 copper rivets, which Weaver doesn't carry. So I was exercising my google-fu to find suppliers. I found who I think I bought them from last time, but they sell the burrs ($15 - I think for a half-pound) and rivets ($17/lb) separately, so let's go with what was an average price of a couple other places that sell rivets + burrs per pound.
So, from Weaver, for #9
- $9/lb
- $0.56/oz
- 6 cents each.
- $29/lb
- $1.81/oz.,
- 20 cents each
- $20/lb
- $1.25/oz.,
- 14 cents each
Yeah, you might notice that I'm wantonly mixing the sizes there. The thing is, from most suppliers, the difference in price vs. size is small to non-existent. Not sure why Weaver has such good prices on #9s, I'm guessing that Weaver moves enough #9 copper rivets that they can buy them cheap.
Anyhoo, the most important thing for me to remember is DON'T BUY COPPER RIVETS FROM LEATHER FACTORY! And I get wholesale pricing at LF, which is generally substantially cheaper than their retail price.
BTW, #9 have a 0.161" diameter shaft, #12 are 0.137", #14 are about 0.1"
Monday, August 24, 2009
German Shepherd Dog Show
The show was not a rousing success. Not a failure, either, but not a rousing success. But lunch turned out to be free *and* good (homemade or good store-bought), the people were nice, the temperature was decent and there was a nice breeze through open windows at times (we were inside), it was close to home (Hanover Park), we only brought and set up a limited selection, and it wasn't a long day.
And, of course, there were dogs all over the place. It was primarily an obedience/training show, so they weren't all super-fussy groomed, and they all seemed friendly, too. I don't like that down at the back end stance that GSDs are supposed to have, but these dogs didn't seem to do it like some conformation-show dogs.
When Sprout was maybe 5-6 we went to a Siberian Husky show. We were standing by a ring watching obedience, he got tired of standing, and sat down on the floor. The nice little red-and-white bitch in the ring fixated on him, then did a right-angle turn and made a beeline for him. Oops...guess she needed a little more work. :)
Sprout didn't disrupt any of the obedience trials this time around, although I heard people saying a lot of dogs were doing poorly on the off-leash obedience stuff - not doing the jumps on the retrieves at the right time, running off to see someone on the sidelines, and one pup that was described as doing the transition from sitting in front of her handler to heel bass-ackwards, but very cute (I think that was one I watched - if so I agree on the cute!).
And, of course, there were dogs all over the place. It was primarily an obedience/training show, so they weren't all super-fussy groomed, and they all seemed friendly, too. I don't like that down at the back end stance that GSDs are supposed to have, but these dogs didn't seem to do it like some conformation-show dogs.
When Sprout was maybe 5-6 we went to a Siberian Husky show. We were standing by a ring watching obedience, he got tired of standing, and sat down on the floor. The nice little red-and-white bitch in the ring fixated on him, then did a right-angle turn and made a beeline for him. Oops...guess she needed a little more work. :)
Sprout didn't disrupt any of the obedience trials this time around, although I heard people saying a lot of dogs were doing poorly on the off-leash obedience stuff - not doing the jumps on the retrieves at the right time, running off to see someone on the sidelines, and one pup that was described as doing the transition from sitting in front of her handler to heel bass-ackwards, but very cute (I think that was one I watched - if so I agree on the cute!).
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Back to Work
Busy busy this afternoon - since I was cutting straps for leashes and collars for the dog show tomorrow, I also cut out belts. We didn't quite get them put together, but we've got another week for that.
I feel like we flailed around a lot and didn't actually accomplish as much as we could have today. But we did get leashes and collars done, and after dinner we packed the truck. And I found another side of black latigo, so I straightened out the edge and we'll throw that in to take with.
I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough hardware, but I found a stash of the buckles I use for 1" collars, and I had more swivels for leashes than I remembered. The big problem turned out to be rivets. We are dreadfully short on #9 copper rivets. Had I realized it early enough I could have run over to The Leather Factory store, but that didn't happen. Oh well, I can always sew things together.
I feel like we flailed around a lot and didn't actually accomplish as much as we could have today. But we did get leashes and collars done, and after dinner we packed the truck. And I found another side of black latigo, so I straightened out the edge and we'll throw that in to take with.
I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough hardware, but I found a stash of the buckles I use for 1" collars, and I had more swivels for leashes than I remembered. The big problem turned out to be rivets. We are dreadfully short on #9 copper rivets. Had I realized it early enough I could have run over to The Leather Factory store, but that didn't happen. Oh well, I can always sew things together.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Summer Slump, Continued
Looks like I need to get to work, we've got the GSD Training Club show on Sunday, and we still haven't put together the leashes and collars for it. Guess that's Saturday's project. Sprout isn't generally enthused about going to events, but this one he is - but I know he just wants to flirt with the other puppies. :)
And, since we won't be distracted by DucKon any more (resigned from the ConCom last night), I see no reason not to do Fox Hunt next Saturday. Erm. I think we have enough merchandise.
Home today, recuperating from a late night last night and not enough sleep the last mumble days. Zzzzzz...
And, since we won't be distracted by DucKon any more (resigned from the ConCom last night), I see no reason not to do Fox Hunt next Saturday. Erm. I think we have enough merchandise.
Home today, recuperating from a late night last night and not enough sleep the last mumble days. Zzzzzz...
Monday, August 10, 2009
Looky looky! New Bloggy!
Since LJ's picture storage/uploading makes me crazy, and this blog is for Otter Necessities, I've started Yet Another Blog for general picture-posting. And here it is, dracos-otter-pictures.blogspot.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
