Obviously I had some "personal business" to take care of today instead of hanging around on the computer.

I took the dogs to see Santa Claus today at one of the local animal-oriented businesses in Reno, which was using the money raised from selling the pictures to help in cat rescue.

Tony and Sam went with me right after they opened this morning at 9. The landlord went with me so I wouldn't have that much difficulty handling the two dogs. Thank God there wasn't a long wait, for it was very cold outside to meet Santa and have their pictures taken.

Since Sam was the tiniest, he got to go in first. The photographer got a nice close-up shot of him. Then Tony got his picture taken, and while the photo is okay, it would have been better if he had been shot with a zoom lens.

While I was waiting for the pictures to be processed, Sam couldn't hold himself, and he headed over to a tree to do his number two. Several of the women working there looked in amazement and remarked Sam was doing a headstand up against a tree while taking a poop. It was hard for them not to laugh.

When the pictures were processed and I paid for them, the dogs and landlord were certainly relieved to get back to the car. I didn't put sweaters on the dogs, for I thought the event would be held indoors.



In the afternoon I headed over to Sparks for the annual Hometowne Christmas Parade. This time I brought my camcorder as well as one of my cameras, and thank God I finally had enough money I could go out and buy a new battery for the camcorder. I paid about five dollars more for this one, but it's much larger and lasts twice as long as the old battery.

It wasn't as cold this year at the parade as last year, but it was still a bit nippy. As usual I went to the end of the parade route, which is the best place to be without all of the crowds. I did take some still pictures, but I mostly recorded it. I didn't tape every single thing, but I did record the animal entries, the marching bands, and the floats.

Near the beginning of the parade I noticed there was a truck pulling a BOAT, for cryin' out loud, and coming around the bend. I couldn't figure out why in the hell there would be a boat entry in a winter event. But as the boat approached, it finally "dawned" on me what the entry was. It was the grand marshal for this year, none other than Dawn "Mary Ann" Wells, of Gilligan's Island fame. I wasn't able to get much of a still picture of her, but I did get her on the camcorder as she looked my way and waved. She looks very good for being 66 years of age, certainly better than I look at 50.

Wells was born and raised in Reno and was once Miss Nevada (I believe in 1959 or 1960 or thereabouts). What I'd be interested to know is if Wells Avenue in Reno is named for a member of her family (or possibly for her). It's a couple of blocks from where I live.