Saturday 16 April 2016

A funeral, a tracking thingy and a pesky conundrum

Today I went to the funeral of a man I knew for most of my life. He died suddenly which I suppose if you had to go that would be the way. He was 80 next birthday. But he was one of those people that was always 'old'. At least so it seemed. That cannot be of course but so it seemed. The last time I saw him was at another funeral. It seems to be the way.

A new I.D law for dogs came in a few weeks ago which stated all canines had to have a little grain of rice sized chip be entered under the skin. Last Thursday I was in town and happened to be passing a vet and thought why not, it'll have to be done eventually so why not just get over it.
I was certain, as was my mother, that she had been done by the rescue place I got her. But it seemed no. Any hows if she goes baa-loo-baas next October with all the fireworks and heads for the hills she can be IDed with the chip when found.

I have the images chosen for my exhibition in May. What I haven't made up my mind about is if I should simply allow space around the outside, say the difference between A2 and A3, and simply spray glue the photo paper to foam board. Or attach the image to 1.5mm picture mount card allowing similar dimensions, A2 card with an A3 hole.
You see I've decided that making frames isn't a good thing at all. No one else is doing it. At least, not unless it's those cheap looking frames you see that makes IKEA look really swish.



12 comments:

  1. I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend. I think you are right about passing quickly as opposed to battling with a terminal illness, awaiting death - for both the person and their loved ones. As much as not being able to say goodbye to a loved one is hard, the emotional toll of the other is worse, imo.
    It's good that they have required the chips as a law. Not only for helping locate lost dogs, but also to locate terrible dog owners. I don't know about there, but we have so many unwanted to dogs who are left to their own devices by their people. Those people can be brought up on charges if they are known. Rigby is chipped, but it's not required for licensing here.
    I have no advice for frames. I've seen exhibits both with and without frames. How many will you be doing? A simple frame is a good way to tie all the photos together if they aren't distracting in any way. But just backing can be quite artistic looking too. Have you done an internet search of what other gallerists have done? I'm sure you have, but if not, that might be helpful. :)

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    1. I think the chipping of the dogs is a bit of a gimmick. They don't give a hoot that I get my Jess back not do they care that anyone else gets their pooch either. What I haven't been able to plumb is the precise reasoning.

      On the frames I like the idea of the mounts. But equally I like the idea of putting them on archive foam core backing.
      But Now I feel a bit of an idiot for putting all the work into the other frames when I could simply have backed them or/and put mounting frames if I wanted to go the extra. Still I wanted the story of a window. C'est la vie, eh.

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    2. Oh, you don't think they will care about scanning the dogs if lost? That's a shame. I can't imagine they're in the pocket of the "chipping industry". :) I know all the rescues and animal control/pounds here always check the chips as their first step. More times than not, the dog isn't chipped, but I do know that if mine were lost and then found by someone, I feel pretty confident that it would help. She's also tagged on the collar as well, but you never know. The biggest issue would be catching her if she were to get out. She's not a fan of being caught. ;)

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    3. No-no, they will work it right enough. What I'm querying is the flannel they produced for establishing it in the first place.
      Yes, getting Jessy to go close to someone would be an issue too. She's friendly but stand-offish. It's rare indeed that she'll come close to anyone that she can be petted. She's very much my girl.

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  2. I lost my mother to a long gruesome illness and my dad died suddenly. Each was incredibly sad and the latter was certainly a shock but as I look back I would say that way is preferable.

    Chips for dogs is a great idea for fhe reasons stated by Kimberly.

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    1. Sorry to read about your parents, but I do think for the person tiz better to just pop off. A lingering isn't very kind to the person.

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  3. It is always sad to lose a friend. Interesting insight into those who seem old to us--people I grew up with and I think, wait a minute, they were younger than I am now...

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    1. Yeah, that one is a bit of a shocker.

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  4. I'm sorry for your loss. I've found that age is a relative thing and it's often about perspective.

    I've never had a chipped animal (to my knowledge, since the majority have been strays). I might opt for it if I ever get another purebred.

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    1. Mmmm, I thought she was chipped at the rescue place. And I think I asked the vet to scan her before. But I totally forgot that. And in fact it's really only a half memory.

      Yes, oddly it was a loss for I liked him. But it's years since I was in any regular contact with him. I saw him last year at a funeral but it was perhaps 20 years before that I saw him.

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  5. My condolences on the loss of your friend.

    As a conservative, I am mostly against things forced upon us by the government but in the case of dogs, I would make an exception. It seems like American culture is big on pet dogs but with a culture of both of a couple working to make ends meet, it gives the dogs plenty of free time to get lost. In our town Facebook page, there are a half dozen posts every day along the lines of missing dogs. Most eventually get found that way but it really clutters up the internet. How nice would it be just to drop it off somewhere, get a scan and then the owner gets a phonecall.

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    1. I'm inclined in that direction myself. I find most impingements by local and central government is little more than a make work for underused civil servants.

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