The Economics of Owning a Dog

My co-worker Tony and I frequently chat about what the “real cost” of owning a dog is. Since my impulse purchase of Reggie, he’s asked me to closely track exactly how much money I spend on having a dog. He initially asserted he thought total cost of ownership over a dog’s lifetime was around $40,000. I thought that sounded way too high.

Although I haven’t meticulously kept track of every expenditure on Reggie, after this weekend’s purchase of a high-quality vacuum (the Eureka Comfort Oh! for $150, which I’m quite happy with thus far), I decided to do a little modeling work to show how much a dog ends up costing its owner. My assumptions are pretty conservative – $40 per week for a dog walker, about a bag of food per month, $15 per month each for doggie poop bags and dog treats and so on. I’ve estimated the capital spent in the first year on one-time items to be $2,355. These include the purchase price for the actual dog ($900), spaying and micro-chipping ($500), first year vaccinations ($200), puppy crate ($125) and so on. I’ve also modeled the expected annual expenditure, which turns about to be around $4,523. Assuming a 12-year life, the cost of owning a dog with my current model turns out to be $56,631. Good thing I didn’t produce this model before getting Reggie…

The US Soccer Team Loses in Azteca Stadium (Again)

Yesterday, the US men’s soccer team fell 2-1 to Mexico in a World Cup qualifier. Prior to entering the match, the US’s record at Azteca Stadium was 0-22-1 stretching back to 1937. Hopefully the stadium will never be used in an actual World Cup match (for any of the team members that are superstitious). What is the longest losing streak by a major sports team in a stadium? A question to ponder and email me about!

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters

A great place to grab a cup of Joe and experience Bird Rock. It offers caffeine and a working Internet connection, which I am really excited about at this point in time.

Rough Week For Reggie

Even worse than the technology difficulties I've experienced over the past week are poor Reggie's challenges. As you can see from the above picture, she's developed some kind of weird pink spot on her lip. Initially I though it was a bruise. I've stopped crate training her and let her have the run of the kitchen, hallway and bathroom when I'm gone. My friend Jen generously lent me her EvenFlow fence, which I use to keep Reggie out of the living room (so she doesn't eat the couch and rug). I spilled her food one morning last week and as I was picking it up, kicked over the fence, which fell right into Reggie's face as she was running towards me. I initially thought it was a bruise from the fence but it doesn't really look like a bruise. We'll have to see what Dr. Lindsey says about it this week if it doesn't look better.

Poor Reg is also experiencing extra goopy ears, probably from all the swimming we've been doing. She shakes her head more than usual and I've been cleaning her ears two or three times per day this weekend. She is not a big fan of getting her ears cleaned, poor kid. Hopefully the lip and ears heal up ASAP. If they don't, we're off to the vet this week.

Two Weeks to the AFC

With time ticking down to the AFC half marathon in a couple of Sundays, I did one of my last long runs this weekend. Nine and a half miles from La Jolla, down through Bird Rock, the neighborhoods of PB, to the boardwalk past Crystal Pier and back. It was a good run but my body feels like it hits the wall between miles seven and eight. Which could make the last several miles of the AFC kind of tricky. Should be interesting to see how it goes. From what I've heard, the first five miles are a nice easy downhill trek starting in Cabrillo National Monument, through downtown and then a steady uphill climb for two miles to finish in Balboa Park. I'm already mentally prepping for the last two miles to be pretty tough. Inspirational suggestions would be lovely if you have any...

Relay For Life in Coronado

Yesterday was the big Relay for Life down in Coronado Island. Team Pete raised a total of $3,375 with my supporters chipping in a solid $200. Thank you again everyone who donated and supported this great cause. The event itself was a lot of fun, and I spent a couple hours down in Coronado with the team yesterday. There was live music, led by the next generation of rock stars. Two kids, who were probably 12-15, were rockin' out some serious tunes and taking requests from the audience. I have confidence they'll turn out to be great musicians in the near future.

I dedicated my walk to my Uncle Mike, who lost his battle with leukemia more than seven years ago on December 27, 2001. It was on my 21st birthday and a really tough loss for everyone in our family. Uncle Mike, wherever you are right now, Blondie sends out a "Can of corn." Hope things are well and we all miss you.

Q: When Isn't Technology Great?

A: When it doesn't work as planned.

Over the past week, I feel like half of the technology-related products in my life have malfunctioned, which has led to lots of frustration. It started last Saturday morning with my iPod Shuffle. As I was sauntering toward the meet up with my running group, I realized my Shuffle had died. Given you can now get an even smaller Shuffle which holds up to 1,000 songs for $79, I figured I should go ahead and upgrade. The new Shuffle doesn't have any buttons on it; you control it through the headphones. Two runs into my new Shuffle, the headphones malfunctioned and I now have to go back to the Apple store again. Ugh.

Time Warner is on my short list of most hated companies. My Internet connection stopped working about a week ago and I haven't figured out how to fix it yet. That alone is incredibly annoying; however, to add insult to injury, my DVR box keeps randomly resetting in the middle of show playbacks. Each reset takes about 10-15 minutes, making it really annoying to try to watch any show I have recorded. I need to call and get both of the problems diagnosed, but the pain and waiting that comes with calling Time Warner has historically been very high (and long), which has led me thus far to continue putting it off. Ugh.

As we speak, my computer's mouse has stopped working so I now have to use the touch pad, which annoys me. Hopefully all my technology will be up and running again ASAP.