Hazing Links
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Phone Numbers
Office: (530) 823-3628
Fax: (530) 885-6132
Mailing Address
1431 Merry Knoll Road
Auburn, CA 95603
Auburn, CA 95603
Dog & Whistle Goose Control
Serving greater Sacramento and neighboring Foothill communities
Unless noted otherwise, all content and images © Dog & Whistle Goose Control 2010. All rights reserved.
Potpourri
This page is dedicated to odds and ends, people and businesses we admire, and just generally fun stuff ...
The Dog & Whistles’ Scottish Links
Some traditional recipes and holiday suggestions … as we prefer not to rent a car when we travel, locations and accommodations are geared towards access via walking and public transit. Accommodation recommendations are always reasonably priced and of good value.
Mince & tatties Brett’s favorite meal after a long hike across the moors in a wind swept rain.
Stovies Combined leftovers of previous day’s roast dinner, typically cooked in a beef or chicken stock.
Haggis Oatmeal mash boiled with various, often undefined sheep innards, served with Neeps (mashed turnips). We didn’t care for it, but perhaps if more seasoned or peppered it might be to our liking.
Oban, Argyll Gateway to the (Western) Isles, Oban is a port town with ferries to the Inner & Outer Hebrides. Oban is located at the end of one branch of the West Highland rail line, about 3 hours northwest out of Glasgow’s Queen Street station. (Note: Train cars separate at Crianlarich with one line branching west to Oban and the other line continuing north to Fort William and Mallaig). Accommodation: Glenburnie Guesthouse located on the Corran Esplanade waterfront, 10 minute walk north of the rail/bus station. Very nice with splendid hosts, Graeme & Allsyon Strachan.
West Highland Way A 95 mile way-marked walk starting at the outskirts of Glasgow northward to Fort William at the foot of Scotland’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. We would classify the overall degree of difficulty as easy to moderate. Plus, many sections are accessible by rail or bus so you need not walk the entire way. We did it in two separate trips, breaking at Tyndrum, as we didn’t want to devote a continuous week to walking. The linked WHW web site has a wealth of information. If interested in making the walk, email us and we’d be happy to share our experience, including recommendations for accommodations.
Fort William Known locally as “Fort Bill” and situated at the base of Scotland’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis, the city is the northern terminus of the West Highland Way and is served by bus service and ScotRail. It is a full service town with a multitude of shops including a number of hiking outfitters. Accommodation: Thistlebank B&B (operated by Mrs. MacNicol), Tel: 01397 702700. Unfortunately no website or email, but centrally located on Cameron Road just a few blocks above the city centre.
Inverness We didn’t spend but one day in Inverness, but it made a wonderful excursion from Fort William. After four days of walking, it was an enjoyable 1-1/2 bus ride north on the A82 along the west shore of Loch Ness. Nice shops and a beautiful parkway along the River Ness run through the city centre.
Stirling We came by Stirling as a last day’s stopover prior to departing Scotland as it is close to both Edinburgh and Glasgow. There is an outstanding walking route about the city’s old wall site. A number of the Castle’s buildings were under renovation in 2008, but the nonetheless the Castle is still well worth a visit. Accommodation: Munro Guesthouse on Princes Street, 5-10 minute walk from rail/bus station, shops, historic district. Nice accommodations in city centre.
People and Businesses We Admire
Following are people and businesses with whom we have consistently been provided outstanding service and products.
Copies and Printing Services: Superfast Copy in Auburn, CA. Outstanding service and great reproduction work.
Golf: For a great deal on high quality golf balls visit GolfBallPromo.com - presently they have an offer of 90 golf balls (30 sleeves) for just $30 .
Mediator: For mediation services in Northern California, contact Claudia Wrazel, Certified Mediator at Wrazel Mediation in Sacramento, California. Phone: (916) 492-9050; Web: wrazelmediation.com
Free or Inexpensive Software Utilities
Following are PC based software utilities we have used and enjoyed for years. They are easy to use and quick to load. If you find a freeware utility of value, please consider making a donation to the software developer. Disclaimer: Software titles are referenced here without warranty and you, the user, assume the sole risk of installing and using them on your computer.
File & Folder Renaming: Renamer is a powerful batch renaming tool with easy to navigate commands. A principal feature over other file renaming utilities is the ability to rename folders. By Denis Kozlov http://den4b.com
Create PDF files: PDF995 converts any file to .pdf format by way of “printing” the document. The PDF995 print driver has proven reliable for us in creating PDF files of word docs, spreadsheets, photos and even CAD drawings. PDF995 can be used free of charge with a re-occurring message to buy the software each time you use it. Or, for $9.95 you can buy a key which disables the message. To perform tasks on PDF files such as to extract pages, combine PDF files, add watermarks, use the related PDFEdit utility. The developer has a host of additional software utilities , some of which are free and without advert. Omniformat, a file conversion utility, is one such additional software we use. http://pdf995.com
Graphics Viewer: XnView is a freeware graphics or image viewer with batch renaming and batch file conversion ability. It has some image enhancement features, though its primary use is for viewing, organizing and converting image files (be sure to download the n-covert feature). http://xnview.com
Screen Capture: PrintKey 2000 (v. 5.1) replaces and enhances the screen capture in Windows. You can capture the entire screen or just a portion to print or save as a graphics file. PrintKey 2000 is older software and while still available for download as freeware, it is no longer supported by the developer. Alternatively, Printkey-Pro (which we’ve not used) is available for a nominal cost. http://www.webtree.ca/newlife/printkey_info.htm
Malware Protection: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware provides malware (adware) protection for your computer. For the freeware version you need to update your definitions manually or for a one-time fee of $24.95 you can purchase the full version which updates your definitions automatically. Reviews rate Malwarebytes Anti-Malware superior to malware protection from Norton, McAfee, etc. http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php