Cab Rides and Grooming

So nothing seems to have come of the competition! It's sad, but I wasn't holding my breath. I always think at the back of my mind that nothing worthwhile comes easy. And this would have been far too easy, so I plan to create my own luck and push forward with my plan. To keep writing this blog, keep plugging away at the social media, and get every publisher out there to see my work- oh and not forgetting self publish it on my own.

Which reminds me- go follow on twitter @haloandflake to get updates on the critters everyday activities!

So let me just share a little bit of today with you.

Halo and Flake look pretty dishevelled- they last had a groom in November, but don't let this deceive you. They are bathed fully every week, their low hung bellies are washed after every walk, they are brushed and spritzed daily! So it is with surprise that today we were met with such disdain.

Now normally I drive, but due to some apparent mishaps in the showroom, my car has not been delivered on time. This means mostly walking or taking the tube and bus, but today we needed to get a cab. The groomers we go to used to actually be owned by me. I'm not sure if I told you in a previous post that Halo and Flake have single-pawdedly changed the course of my life and one of these such occasions was starting my own grooming parlour.
I was 21, and in a property career I fell into by accident, but always felt, and still do, that I can achieve great things on my own. Well not totally on my own, but certainly not having to work for someone in the traditional sense. Anyway, a fleeting thought about how expensive it is to groom two curly white dogs, I decide- meh, I can do this myself. So whilst keeping down my regular job, my partner and I researched for some suitable premises- a park was necessary nearby. Then a chance talk with the bank to see if a loan was possible. Some google research about grooming products, equipment, and an job advert or two later we somehow did it. Everything folded together and the shop became ours. It wasn't a walk in the park - excuse the pun- we worked 7 days a week, we had dozens of dogs around us and with us. A huge Alsation lived in our tiny one bed flat for weeks at a time, a slobbering hound followed us step for step and knocked our bins over to eat the remnants, a hyperactive spaniel pee'd on our bed and resulted in a long stint sitting in the laundrette watching the duvet spin round! We had no weekends, no holidays and we even roped my sister into working with us.
Eventually, two years later once we'd established the store, got over 300 clients on the books, and became the best groomers around we decided to sell the shop. I'll tell you now that we didn't give it up easily, it was sad, but with happiness the shop is still thriving, and the new (well not so new any more) owners are doing a phenomenal job!

So on our way here this morning, we needed to get a cab. A certain popular chain of cars was called to collect the three of us bright and early. They rhyme with maddison tree! A grubby, uninterested looking chap was sitting waiting with his hazard lights on. I approached him and confirmed who I was and where I wanted to go. Then he saw them. Halo and Flake. It was like I had two rats on a lead not two cute little pooches.
So he started ranting and raving about how I wasn't allowed to transport dogs in a cab, that no one would come next time! He unceremoniously shoved them into the boot and huffed and puffed his way across London.
How sad I felt, sad that this numpty couldn't accept the creatures. They sat like silent little mice, not even making a peep. They were clean from home. They don't slobber and they don't shed hair. I know people who are far filthier and nastier then these animals. In today's society you'd think people would be a bit more open.  Perhaps if he accepted the love of a creature too he wouldn't be quite so miserable!