This is Fred. He's my choice to train to become a COVID sniffing dog (see my 2/23 post) should we choose to supplement our commercial janitorial and COVID electrostatic remediation services with COVID detection services.
Fred came from the county shelter with the name of Leo. It happens that my current black Lab, also from the county shelter, also came with the name Leo. (Apparently, policy at the county shelter is to name all male black Labs "Leo"). I thought having two black Labs named Leo would prove confusing, so I called the new one Fred.
Bad decision.
When one is stumbling towards fridge or bathroom in the dark of the night, and falls over an amorphous black mass sleeping at the single most inconvenient spot, it would be efficacious to be able to holler, simply, "dammit, Leo!".
Names are important. Brings to mind a story told years back by Karl, my long time graphics and advertising guy (most of the photos on our website, and attached to this blog, are by Karl.)
Karl's father, the sort of fellow who had several small businesses and occupations going at any one time, had for years a seasonal business called "B Y Citrus". "B Y" stood for "backyard". In early spring, he'd drive around those affluent neighborhoods in North Phoenix and environs that had been carved from grapefruit groves, and still retained a few trees in side and back yards. He'd contract to pick and truck away the harvest. Come summer, he'd come back with a semi and a crew of "pickers", and crates and ladders. He'd sell the grapefruit to the old Sprite bottling plant in Glendale.
So about sun-up one summer morning, Karl found himself in the Arcadia neighborhood - very "old money" Scottsdale - setting up the crew. A regular client, a quite proper matron of a certain age, possessed a great Dane named (I've not learned why) "Dammit". As Karl pulled into her street, along comes a joyful great Dane, free at last - hotly pursued by the matron, in robe and curlers, hollering at the top of her lungs, to the delight of her neighbors, "Get back here, Dammit!"
Names are important.