Internet! Glorious Internet!! And some critter portraits.

I'm baaaack!  It only took us:

22 days
15 phone calls totaling more than 8 hours (mostly on hold)
6 missed service appointments
6 managers, one manager's manager, and one manager's manager's manager, and
an insane amount of aggravation 

We still haven't sorted out the issue of our bills, and what we will not be paying Verizon as compensation for our nightmare.  What a way to run a business!  I can hardly believe how little all the people I talked with cared.  To be fair, the local Verizon employees who work under contract providing on-the-ground service for the Verizon DSL/Internet company were great, but they cannot provide adequate service when the service center in India is so poorly run that no one dispatches them or authorizes them to do what needs to be done to solve the problem.

But the good news is, between phone calls and hair pulling, I have been taking pictures.  Lots of them!  I guess I will start off with my New York State Fair photos, which I shall release in two posts.  The first?  The critters. 

I'm not one of those people who has to go to the Fair every year, despite that it is right here in my home town.  I tend to go about every other year, and generally walk away horrified by humanity.  It's crazy how shocking Americans can be when they gather in large numbers.  The fashion choices, the way parents treat their kids, how loud and pushy everyone is is downright disturbing at times.

But I do absolutely love to see the critters at the Fair.  They're generally why I go.  This year I took my camera along, to capture some of their personalities in a series of critter portraits.  You can tell me how well you think I did.

First, the pigs.  Can you beat little piglet 'tocks for cuteness?  Such adorable bitty buns!

This is my favorite of all the pictures I took at the Fair (well tied for favorite, along with one of my Midway shots that I will put up in the next post).  I love these two, and how they're smiling as they snuggle. 

A goat, who doesn't look terribly bright:

A llama.  This fellow had attitude.  He was actively growling and charging at people who got too close to him.  I tell you what, a grouchy llama makes me take a step back.  I can see why they are effective at protecting flocks of sheep from predators.

Some sheepses.  It amazes me how many varieties of sheep there are, from this lovely sweet gal:

To this goofy poofy one:

And this curious one:

And I just adore the expression on this one's face.  So serene.

The lighting in the cow barn wasn't conducive to photography without a tripod, but I do love this lady:

And finally, one disapproving bunny:

Up next?  The midway at night.