cycas

And the latest is that our hero (I hope) Billy the Engineer is waiting while endless mountains of data are copied from the backups, and has ordered a pizza... Wish I'd given the server a spring clean this year, I'm sure that half the stuff backed up is old stuff but now all of it will have to be copied...

Yes it is. I reported it down at 1:30 and was told they were working on it. I rang again at 3pm, and at 4pm, and at each time was given what sounded like a hopeful progress report. The server admin swore blind to me at 4:30pm that they'd tried to get the whole thing to reboot and were now restoring it from a backup and everything would definitely be back within two hours absolute tops: I rang back at 7pm to be told nothing had been put on record and they would have to start over : I made a fuss and *finally* got a call from a real engineer at 8pm claiming that nobody had told him anything about restoring anything from any backup previously, and whoops. To say I am fuming would be the understatement of the decade. The engineer says that he was supposed to clock off at 7:30 but will work late because this is a screwup at their end. Once again, I am relying on one individual rather than what SHOULD be systems to stop this happening. I am just hoping it's all back by the morning or people are going to be screaming at me. I think the lesson of this is that actually, being a nice polite and considerate customer doesn't pay off. Only when I started to get nasty with them did I actually get someone off their fat arse, and was allowed to speak direct to someone who had the permissions to get things sorted. Don't buy anything from Webfusion...

Awwww, poor Dopey cat. Hope it's nothing too serious. Suma Bungle ate his breakfast with too much gusto this morning and then came in and projectile vomited all over the rug. He's now washing himself and looking very smug. Oh, forgot to wish griff luck with the ear. Hope they don't find a bug in it.

Very sorry to hear this. Goodbye Ruby.

Love that first one of Logan with the ears!

Anyone who needs a dose of cute should go look at those staffy pups Palomino has just posted in Dogs Needing Homes. How cute and wrinkly are they!

Aww, congratulations! And how sweet that Tess is Dennis's new buddy! Even if Bobby and Molly don't ever love Dennis, I reckon they will probably learn to live with him eventually: he hasn't been with you all that long, after all. I have 6 cats here in three pairs : there is always some grumping between the different pairs from time to time, but in general they eventually worked out how to live together. We did a lot of 'time outs' to begin with to teach them what we would not put up with.

Az will be round in a jiff, he adores hazelnuts. We are just getting to the end of the season where we have to keep stopping on lead walks cos he has found one and needs to stop walking to concentrate on cracking it open with his teeth and getting the insides out... Hope you feel better Alicia.

Hello Sam! And everyone! Duke has learned to do a 'down' but only in my study. Apparently it's impossible to do a down anywhere else.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Snowy settling into his new home : http://twitpic.com/2zgvon How cute is that!

There's frost in CORNWALL! In OCTOBER! I'm sure this never happens, normally we don't get frost till December or more likely January... I think the world may be ending! If they've had this down on the coast as well then people will be stocking up for an Ice Age. Panicccc! Paniiiiiiiic!

I think you just have to accept that some people really don't want to try. They don't want to spend money, they don't want to make an effort, they just want a magic 'fix this' button to be pressed. It's unfortunate that sometimes that attitude affects the welfare of their family or pets. I don't believe that people who have money to spend are necessarily less likely to spend it, or less likely to make an effort. Some of them do, some of them don't. There are some people who make huge efforts on no cash, but others... well it's easy to say 'If I had the money I'd...' when you are never likely to be called on it. I have found in business as well as rescue, that there are some people who will always jib at paying money for a good job done honestly and well, and those people will often create endless inconveniences for themselves, refuse to take advice and sometimes end up spending more or giving themselves more (expensive) hassle in the long run. All you can do is help the people who actually want to be helped and don't let the rest of them take up more of your time and energy than you can spare.

Wow he is a big boy now. Looks like a big cuddle!

I've been trying that one, but unfortunately he is a lurcher rather than a greyhound, and rather than going 'down' in a sensible manner, he tends to fling himself down and sort of flollop on his side then wave his legs in the air. I may try capturing that at some point as it's quite amusing, but it's not quite what I'm aiming for here. I may be driven to this one yet! I tried that, that's what I did with Az and he got it instantly, but Doop stands up if you move his front feet. Or falls over... I shall try the Purplemog targeting thing and see how that goes I think.

I have been trying to teach Duke to lie down on command, but so far have not had a lot of luck. I taught him to sit using the 'lift a treat over his head' approach and he worked that out quite quickly. But trying to get him to lie down, I have the problem that he can quite easily put his nose on the floor while standing or sitting. I tried to get him to go under my knee, but I can't make an arch that he thinks he could get through! I am trying on carpet and he's (surprisingly) unpicky about where he lies down, so I don't think it's the surface. Any tips ?

I would not have thought anyone will be burgling our house with GinormoDoop in residence, he does an excellent impression of a pack of angry rotties, at least until the door opens... Mind you, Az does his best, he sounds quite daunting as long as you can't actually see him. Mollydog never barks but does mug the postman for cuddles, she is definitely not a guard dog. for your mum Karen, hope the visit isn't too grim.

She is clearly an Adorable-eared Brindlyperson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3q2iZuU5WM&feature=player_embedded I rather liked this. The BBC has flaws, but my goodness it has done some good stuff too. Furious arguments going on across the land now about what's included and excluded, I am sure (we've already had the debate at our house!)

Chortle!

Thankfully, they are intact. I'd be so cross if he'd eaten my Mammut walking boots, I love those boots! I think it means that he knows I love my walking boots! I have bought a Stevia plant - it has these naturally sweet tasting leaves which are loads sweeter than sugar. I must say I was rather expecting it to be overhyped, but I've had a nibble, and it's true, the leaves are incredibly sweet, it's like a saccharin plant! Weird! I bought it as a curiousity really to grow in a pot, but I might try putting a few of the leaves in a cake instead of sugar, see if that works. Though I think sugar probably does other stuff in cake apart from just making it sweet...

In dog bed this morning : 1 blue Croc, 1 beige Croc, 1 Hunter wellie, 1 farmers market wellie, 2 Mammut walking boots. And one ginormous foster lurcher, looking guilty...

I hope the owner is OK too. How sad they had to be parted.

Best wishes to Karen's Mum, that sounds seriously scary. Pain pain go away thoughts for Mags, nothing worse than mysterious pains that can't be pinned down.

Haven't walked the dogs yet. Duke has just picked up his collar and brought it to me. I think this may be a Hint.