Things People Tell Me: Even Dogs Like Getting Toys

I have to admit being on the radio has its perks. For instance, people like to send me stuff. Mostly, people send me music, whether it's their latest demo, album, or homemade cassette recordings of their kid bellowing at a talent show. I've lost count of how many recordings I've received.

Then there are people who send me 'other' kinds of items. Every so often, I get a huge box of Gevina coffee from a very cool guy who will always be happy because he won Superbowl tickets. Since there's always more coffee than I can use, I make all the people I work with happy as well. One fellow used to send me a book of poetry he wrote every day and little knick knacks such as scarfs and paintings. His gifts caused concern from my colleagues tho' since he was locked up in San Quentin. You know, San Quentin. That place they send criminals who do really really bad things to other people? Yep.

One guy gave me a beautiful engraved metal plaque but I had a feeling he wanted a date. And one woman was so enamored of my work, she even sent me a used hair tie, which totally flattered me. Luckily, the used hair-tie turned out 'useful' after all. It seems this was so interesting to one of my friends, she actually requested I give her said hair-tie. Needless to say, I wore latex gloves when I handed it over. I guess maybe she has a hair-tie collection...or something. I didn't ask and not sure I want to know.

For the most part, when people send me stuff, I generally say 'thank-you' and take them home. Sometimes I give them to friends but sometimes I actually use them. The most recent box of swag was really cool. One of my friends had a friend who apparently just started a Dog toy/clothing company called "Wag More Bark Less." I had talked online about adopting my new dog Indy, a most rambunctious Min Pin (Miniature Pinscher) for 45 bucks at a dog fair, so she tipped them off about being a new dog owner.

Just days before receiving my goody box, though, I had gone to Costco and bought a box of dog toys for 15 bucks. I thought they were really cute, but here's what one of the toys looked like after Indy played with it after two days:

Needless to say, I was very disappointed with the Costco Dog Toys. Most of the time, I can count on Costco to give me good quality items. But they failed me this time. I admit that at 15 pounds, with Doberman Pinscher looks, (albeit on a toy scale), Indy can be quite ferocious in his cute way. But you'd think the toy would last more than two days without the stuffing being so easy to pull/tear out by 15 pounds of fierce canine teeth. So I was very impressed when I opened the box of Dog Toys from Wag More Bark Less. After two days of Indy tearing into it, here is a photo of the "Fetch Bone."