Time Away

We had what may be our last vacation before the storm hits. Knowing the full-frontal assault that is a new business, we scheduled two brief visits to see family in Chicago and Louisville. Now we are hunkered down, ready for the hordes of clients and patients to come our way. Our frequent flier miles are used up, the travel agent has been put on notice, we've tidied up all those loose family ends. Bring us your tired, your poor, your Fluffies and Mittens, yearning to be spayed.

All Hail the New Regime

Today is the first day that Dr. Karnia is a full-time employee of the Scottsdale Cat Clinic. Up until yesterday, she had still been working for her previous employer while planning and building our new clinic in her off hours. Well, she wasn't building it herself, despite all that experience she gained volunteering at Habitat for Humanity. But she was working into the wee night hours after her day job, ordering equipment, designing web pages, ordering more equipment, posting job ads, and ordering more and more equipment. Today, however, marks the first day when she can now run the clinic during normal business hours. We suspect that with all this new free time she may indeed grab a hammer (or perhaps a scalpel) and eagerly help the fine men and women covered in plaster dust and paint.

Happy Valentine's Day

If you love your cat, make sure he or she gets the best care possible.

Our Valentine's day plans were scrapped when the youngest member of the Cat Clinic team decided not to take a nap in the afternoon. The extensively planned craft day with stickers, glitter, paints and chocalates fell apart amidst the pleading and crying. Instead, we purchased new software. Cat Clinic customers can rest assured that you are under the finest administrative care that Microsoft and Intuit can offer.

Drywall

The drywall is up and the clinic starts to look like a place where we could do business. Here you can see the treatment room and on the far side, the surgery. We ordered our sign yesterday, along with some "Coming Soon" banners to hang in the windows. If you are driving by Miller Rd, you should see them sometime next week.

Shirts

We created our first Scottsdale Cat Clinic T-shirts. Now everything we do while wearing these shirts counts as a business expense...right?

You may see us wandering the streets of Scottsdale with these sharp new outfits. Please feel free to ask us about the clinic or tell us about your cat. And hey, if you can't resist the cool threads, go ahead and buy one for you...your loved ones...everyone else you know. Consider buying a few thousand and donating them to the local school district.

Insulation goes in

This view is of the reception area as the insulation goes up. We can't have the kitties getting too warm or too cold.

Here is a shot of the boarding room...

Laundry List

We spend a lot of our days running through a long check list of things to be... well, checked off. Dr. Karnia, still working for another clinic, leaves each morning with a list of things we have to do before she returns. Here's a typical example from today.

--Call about the progress on the outdoor sign
--Check with the post office about mail forwarding snafu
--Deliver a copy of the lease to the accountant
--Follow up on the yellow page ads
--Call insurance agent about insurance question
--Talk to bank about reimbursing for invoices
--Discuss with contractor the cost for gas lines for oxygen tanks
--Find out why the treatment table isn't in the plans for cabinetry
--Compare quotes on computer equipment
--Email pictures to web designer
--Stop whining and just do it

That last one seems to end up on every daily list. The lists are long, and while each item always looks like it will only take a few moments, almost none of them ever do.

Yet, the clinic moves forward, each day sees new things up and ready to go.

P.S. We had a fun time watching the first quarter of the Super Bowl. After that, the game wasn't as much fun. Go Bears! 2008 in Glendale!

Floor Plan

The floor plan that changed the world. It was hard to fit a 4000 square foot clinic in 2000 square feet, but we did it. You can't quite see the detail in this shot, but if you look close enough--and squint your eyes and perhaps take a shot of bourbon--you can see:
--a spacious reception area
--three exam rooms
--a large boarding room with lots of windows for cats to gaze out and people to gaze in
--an isolation room for sick and contagious cats
--a large central room with a room divider creating a pharmacy on one side and treatment room on the other
--a surgery with windows onto both the treatment room and the outside world
--x-ray room
--two offices
--and a cozy lounge complete with washer, dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator.

There's a lot in there, but because we only treat cats, we could make the clinic a little cozier, a little more efficient, and a little nicer.

Pharmacy

This shot looks along the pharmacy wall towards the business center. On the left side of the central wall will be the treatment center including the dental sink and digital dental x-ray machine.

One of the reasons we chose this site for the clinic is the preponderance of windows and natural light. The treatment center will have natural light for most of the day, as will the boarding areas and the reception room. Even the surgery (just visible in the far left corner of this photo) will have natural light.