We are officially moving on to another plan for the 2023 pet calendar, as it’s now close to mid-March and still no sign of calendar paper stock at Cafe Press.
Balloon Juice peeps sent in hundreds of photos of their pets, and a whole lot of time and effort was spent on our end communicating about photos, sorting photos, designing the photos. And now we have these beautiful calendar files, but no paper, so no calendars.
Would anyone like to buy a .pdf version of the calendars?
When we sell a calendar on Cafe Press, $10 goes directly to the pet charity, so we will “sell” the .pdf version to anyone who is interested.
… and by “sell” we mean that you would make a donation of $10 or more to Athenspets through our BJ thermometer. If you want Calendar A and Calendar B, then the donation would be $20 or more.
If you’re not normally a calendar purchaser, but you would enjoy just looking at the calendars, by all means do so! And if you are included to throw $2 or $5 into Walter’s Fund, all the better, but not necessary. All these beautiful and beloved creatures got all dressed up for the calendar, so to speak, and they deserve to be seen!
Plus, we have a special treat in January this year, an all-Cole page, which I included here.
The starting amount for the Athenspets thermometer as of this morning is *$4,251. We normally raise about $3,000 for the pet charity through calendar sales, so I’m hoping that we can get the thermometer to $7,500 though the sale of the .pdf versions of the calendars.
We’ll be on the honor system for the calendar “purchases”. There’s no need to send me proof of donation. If everybody gets to see their wonderful pets (and everyone else!) in the layout, and if we can get Walter’s Fund up to where it would have been with calendar sales, then we will be happy.
*It’s worth nothing that the amount in the thermometer is not the amount that is currently in Walter’s Fund – the thermometer shows how much we have raised for them in total, and the thermometer amount isn’t reduced as Walter’s Fund is used to help various animals with emergency care.
Update: To download a file:
On a laptop, if you Ctrl-click, you can choose to download the file.
On my iPhone, I just did a long press, and “download linked file” came up as an option.
I assume the same would be true on a tablet.
Acts of Kindness: Facing The Challenges
WaterGirl
I especially 💕 Jedi Lily, Lily in bed, Sweet Rosie, and adorable Thurston. Poor Thurston, the red-headed stepchild. Steve is majestic, as aways.
Old School
What a great looking bunch of animals!
Here’s a printable calendar for people who want those pages as well.
WaterGirl
@Old School: That’s nice!
oklahomo
The paper shortages have been insane. Part of my job is ordering millions of envelopes a year. What was once a 6 week lead (4 if I asked nice) went to 3 months in mid-2021 and then 6 months in some cases in November 2022 . Not to mention the price of paper just keeps climbing.
SuzieC
I’ve never before seen such a beautiful collection of cats as in Calendar B. (suzieC, servant of Duder and Draco here.)
SiubhanDuinne
As I would have done with the paper calendar, I’d like to give a calendar to friends (whose five cats are pictured). Is there a way* to do this?
*An easy way, compatible with my insufficient computer skills
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: yes, you can send the file as an email attachment. I’m at the vet’s right now, but I can make it easy for you and just send you the attachments by email.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Thanks!
WaterGirl
@SuzieC: oh yay!
WaterGirl
@oklahomo: that seems crazy! I don’t understand it.
oklahomo
@WaterGirl: Supply chain woes, plus I was told by one of my vendors a lot of feedstock that would have been used in paper production went to make chipboard and other stuff when the housing boom flared up. I suspect it’s a case of a lot of things went upside down from the pandemic. Whatever the reason(s), the envelope factory just couldn’t get paper in a timely manner.
WhatsMyNym
Good article — I just included the paragraph headers.
What are you telling your customers about the paper shortage?
Let’s take a look at the reasons behind the fragile nature of papermaking’s profitability.
1. Paper mills operate on razor thin margins…
2. It’s difficult to turn them back on…
3. There are more profitable products for paper mills to make…
4. Pandemic pushed mills over the edge…
5. Thanks, Putin…
By Heidi Tolliver-Walker
Published: February 1, 2023
kalakal
A shame about the paper but it’s great to see all the lovely pics. I’m biased in favour of calendar A as it has my Cobweb & Burma in it but I’ll allow that B has it’s charms 😀
oklahomo
@WhatsMyNym: Thank you for that link; I can share it with dumbfounded clients who don’t understand that the days of last minute projects getting done in a few weeks are gone and probably for good.
Joy in FL
I just bought our two calendars. Our animals are so wonderful.
zhena gogolia
I hope you keep posting this daily. I’d like to get one but I have not 20 seconds to spare today or tomorrow.
stinger
That pic of Rosie + Dad Cole is one of my favorites ever. I already have an Albatrossity calendar for 2023, and as a pdf I can enjoy these forever without (additional) house clutter. I’m in for both–knowing I’d get the aforementioned pic put it over the top!
Oh, and there’s Henry! Mwah!
Shelleyl
Water girl,
I added 40.00 to the rescue’s thermometer- how do I download the pdfs? And sorry, but I’ve lurked so long I don’t remember my Nym
raven
Artie!
WaterGirl
@Shelleyl: Hi there. Are you on a phone, computer, or tablet?
WaterGirl
@stinger: I love that one, too. So much love in that photo, going both ways.
stinger
@Shelleyl: I can tell you how I did it (Firefox on a Mac):
Click on either link, and the PDF replaced the BJ site (I wish it had opened in a new tab, but that’s fine).
The PDF has a toolbar, and one of its icons is a file folder with a down arrow. I clicked on that, and got to choose where on my computer to save the PDF to.
That was it!
ETA: Then to return to BJ to, perhaps, download the other PDF, just click on the browser Back button.
WaterGirl
On a laptop, if you Ctrl-click, you can choose to download the file.
On my iPhone, I just did a long press, and “download linked file” came up as an option.
I assume the same would be true on a tablet.
stinger
@WaterGirl: And two somewhat gruff personalities hiding two sweetest of hearts!
WaterGirl
@stinger: Perfect description!
WaterGirl
@Shelleyl: I added instructions up top as an update.
zhena gogolia
@stinger: Thanks! Just downloaded. I’m hoping I can send a check to somebody.
Manyakitty
Awesome! Now I need to get my act together. 😂
daize
Thank you, WaterGirl. Downloaded and donated.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I dropped $25 into the kitty(doggie) fund and will snag the files. Too bad there’s no cardstock but we do need to wipe! ;)
WaterGirl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Priorities, I guess.
BruceFromOhio
Gee, what a great idea.
WaterGirl
@BruceFromOhio: were you the one who suggested that a couple weeks ago?
WaterGirl
Wednesday evening comments start here.
sab
Don’t want it, can’t use it because I am a luddite and my calendars are on paper. I can always see the pups and kits online.
However, most of this calendar activity was to help support this year’s chosen rescue. Where can I send my bucks?
WaterGirl
@sab: You can donate through the thermometer that is up top, in the post.
sab
@WaterGirl: Thanks. Will do.
sab
@WaterGirl: We at BJ are very, very lucky to have you.
Do not think that we take you and the other front pagrrs for granted. Busting yourselves every day. For a story that might be importamt.
CaseyL
Will be happy to get pdfs of both calendars, when I get paid Friday :)
WaterGirl
@CaseyL: Go ahead and get them now, you can donate when you get paid!
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: maybe you can us a paper industry update from your friends at AF&PA!
I haven’t been to a paper mill in…almost a week now…and business does seem to be slowing down. I hear that the market for container board has fallen off a cliff.
Another Scott
@Steve in the ATL: “container board”
Made me look…
Everyone knows that, of course.
Cheers,
Scott.
jackmac
The post was pretty deeply buried by the time I saw it last night. Downloaded PDFs of my guys and made a donation.
Thanks for posting again.
raven
@jackmac: Hey, I posted a pic of my old man when he was the basketball coach at Benton in the mid-50’s. Did you see it?
It was after your posts about great names and the Hebron team.
Wolvesvalley
I sent a donation and downloaded the files for both calendars.
HinTN
WaterGirl – I really love the work you all did organizing these pictures of our loved ones. It’s excellent work. It’s too bad Cafe Press couldn’t come up with the stock so they could document my year. I’ve put in $100 for Athens Pets.
HinTN
@raven: High school boys can look so goofy!
WaterGirl
@HinTN: Our guess at this point is that Cafe Press has written off calendars for the year.
But our guess may be wrong.
We are keeping an eye out and if they get paper in, we can definitely make it available for sale in WordPress. We have already done 99.9% of the work involved, so we really have nothing to lose by doing that. Even if only a few people actually order them.
Appreciate your kind words for beth and me, and your $100 donation to Athenspets!