A New Breed of Wi-Fi: Pablo the Data Dog

By RUSSELL HUFFMAN

Did you know you can get a Wi-Fi signal from a Great Dane, but you can’t cruise the Internet with it?

Oh, let me explain.

I was recently getting ready for an East Mountain High School basketball game when I realized I couldn’t find a couple of my SD cards for my cameras. As I looked, it became clear they weren’t the only ones missing.

Over time, I had acquired about a dozen SD cards of various sizes, and “suddenly,” I was down to three. I searched high and low. The usual spots like my office desk (never gets used), in a jacket pocket, and the side of my camera bag proved fruitless.

I quizzed my significant other, Gail, if she had put them somewhere.

“No, if you would put your stuff up where it belongs, you wouldn’t have this problem,” was her response.

Safely out of her hearing, I muttered, “I did. They were right next to my laptop on the dining room table (my real office), and I didn’t move them.”

Anyone who knows me knows I might have moved them. Still, after further searches, the cards were nowhere to be found.

I made do with what I had that night. After the Timberwolves extended their school record winning streak, I was culling through my photos when the power briefly went out.

I went back to work and then noticed a notification that I had new Wi-Fi connection options. When I clicked on it, a notice said that one of my special Wi-Fi SD photo cards had launched a connection signal.

It was one of the cards I was missing!

Ten minutes of searching revealed nothing, and then I got the idea to see if the bars on my phone would go up or down as I went around the house. There was only one bar in the kitchen, but as I got closer to the back bedroom, I got a full signal.

Our Great Dane, Pablo, was lying on his blanket across the bed, and as he is always super curious, I shooed him out of the room to look for the SD card. Then I noticed the bars on my connection status had dropped down to one.

Surely, not!

I followed Pablo into the living room, and the bars on my phone went up again!

You’re probably starting to put some of this together now. A tall dog, a kitchen table, and SD cards that might smell a little bit like KFC.

I’m sure Pablo thought to himself, “Scooby Snacks,” as he slurped down several thousand images and gigs of data.

Thankfully, Pablo suffered no harm from the incident, and, oddly enough, the Wi-Fi card appears undamaged, but the discoloring and smell have led to its permanent retirement.

I’ve got some new cards now, and I store them at eye level.

Although unscathed by the incident, Pablo sometimes gets a faraway look in his eye, as if he is thinking about ordering new chew toys from Amazon or the extra-beefy kibble.