Posts Tagged ‘dogs’
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Puppy Love
Havoc is getting bigger by the day! She will be 4 months old on Tuesday and is reaching 40lbs
Since John is gone, he asked me to take pictures of everything and since some of them are pretty cute, I thought I’d share.
I'm Sitting, Please throw ball now
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This is not the same country
For starters I’m not freezing to death. On average, its been about 20 degrees warmer throughout the entire day. Last time I was here we endured temps that hovered in the high teens and low twenties but now the nighttime low is in the 40s. This is simply too odd. I’ve got a bunch of cold weather gear but I don’t know if I will even need it. I’m going to hold onto it just in case irony strikes – it always seems to strike when I’m not prepared.
We also have some brand new buildings that are nicer than the ones I have back at home station. We may be a little short on supplies mostly due to transportation issues but we can make do with what we have. I’m working at Inspection so this is a welcome change. I’ve done inspections in my building but I haven’t worked in an inspection shop so I have a few things to learn. I shouldn’t have any problems picking it up as I go.
The food is better and its served in a bigger building. I didn’t think the food could improve but it did.
The gym has doubled in size since I was last here.
I haven’t heard a single mortar hit yet (knock on wood). Last time I heard 8-10 hits on the first day.
I am away from Jessica and my kids (the dogs) – that is, by far, the worst part of the trip. I’m not going to count the days because time seems to slow. I’ll be back home in May and all things considered its not that far away.
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Leaving home
It’s that time once again. I’m set to get on a plane and travel half way across the planet away from everyone that I know and love.
I’m headed to Iraq for another 4 month stint in what should be a relatively easy trip. I’ve got my bags packed and this time my trip will be all about distraction and self improvement. I’ve got textbooks for two classes and some workout gloves so I know what I will be doing with my spare time. I should have lots of it. It’s probably going to take 3-4 days to actually get there so I won’t be able to update this for a bit.
The dogs, Duke and Havoc, will have to keep Jessica company while I am away – I’m going to miss her greatly. Luckily for Jessica, her family is nearby and she has friends all over the place. Hopefully they’ll keep her distracted enough so that the time passes quickly.
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Dogcatraz returns
We were out of town for Leanne’s birthday when we got the call. Hello, we have your dogs.
We headed back to Lakewood and picked them up from the wonderful people that had wrangled them. They had crossed a major road but were no worse for the wear. We got back to the yard and found that they had discovered a new way to break out. They decided to tunnel out of the yard. They were just hanging out in the back yard and weren’t confined to their kennel before the breakout. They simply decided to tunnel under the main gate to the back yard. We don’t know what spurred the jailbreak but we think someone decided to jump the gun and start shooting fireworks a week early. Did I mention that it’s illegal? Bastards.
They are confined to the kennel at the moment but I’ve got to make some upgrades tomorrow. The only way to further fortify the place, save for guard towers with high powered assault rifles, is to prevent the tunneling. We’ve got to prevent it the only way that we can – concrete. Damn dogs – at least they are safe.
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Running with the dogs
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America’s Hat
For the second year, I’m spending my Thanksgiving north of the border in Princeton. BC. The trip is a bit of an avant garde camping trip but I really enjoy my time here. Our hosts, Richard and Paula, are kind enough to feed us twice a day and let us hang out. We don’t have very many stressors save for trying to decide if we’re able to eat seconds. I’ll try and take some photos of while I’m out and about but for the large part I’m just going to laugh, eat, relax, and play with the dogs. It looks like it’s going to be a good time.
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The new normal
Last Thursday I went under the laser and got my vision corrected. Most people that get corrective surgery get LASIK and notice immediate results. Due to the thickness of my cornea and the military’s restrictions on LASIK I got PRK, a surgery that requires much longer recovery times. At the moment, I am sitting 3 feet away from my monitor and I can see what I am typing – unaided. My vision is still quite blurry but I have been told that it will improve with each day. My vision will probably stabilize in a month. This is the new normal and its kinda weird.
The surgery was bizarre – they numb you and mess with your eyes for fifteen minutes and then its all over. You don’t feel anything and you really don’t feel any pain until 6 hours after the surgery is complete. The pain, as best as I can describe, feels something like getting 20 eyelashes in your eye at the same time. They give you good dope and numbing drops to deal with the pain and after a while its not that bad.
I’m extremely sensitive to light and my eyes do get tired quickly. I did get the “bandage” contacts removed earlier today so that should help with the fatigue of my eyes. Things will only get better over the next few days.
The recovery process sidelined me last weekend and prevented me from going to a dog race in eastern Washington. There won’t be another race until January but at least I’ll be able to see that one with my own eyes.
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I thought my dogs were bad
A few months ago we had a few “problems” with the dogs trying to escape. I rigged an elaborate and probably excessive enclosure around and above the kennel to thwart any further escape attempts. I can’t imagine trying to stop the dog in the following video from escaping. This dog has done the impossible. The feat is Houdiniesque.
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A Day for the Dogs
Today I volunteered for an event with the K9 Scooters NW club. It was a pull training course. Basically, you bring your dog and all day we teach you and your dog how to pull. We get them fitted with a harness and you both get to learn about scootering together. It’s usually a really fun and interesting clinic to help with; today was no different. We were short on volunteers so it was just Sue, my mom, and me. But there were only 3 dogs signed up so it worked out perfect.
We got a good chance to work one on one with each dog, and they all did VERY well. Most of the time people bring their out of control, exercise deprived, dogs and say “here, make them run” but today we had 3 very well behaved pooches.
It got pretty warm so we didn’t push the dogs too much, but boy did I get the work out. One of the last stages of the clinic is hooking the dog up to the scooter and having “master” ride the scooter, while we run with the dog. It was a challenge but I seemed to keep up with Quincy, the 2 yr. old black lab, pretty well.
They all did a great job and everyone was excited and eager to learn. It’s always nice to see a person a their dog find an activity that they can have fun with together.
Here are some links for more information about the scooter stuff ( in case you have no idea of what I speak!)
Meg C.’s advice on hyper dogs!
And here’s a little shameless plug for an AMAZING, One of a Kind company to get all the gear you need for your doggy escapades!!
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Electrified Dogcatraz
I had to stay late at work today – joy of joys! They provided me and my car a ride home because driving tired is as bad as driving drunk. Imagine staying up until 3AM – yeah – that’s the level of tired I was experiencing. I had consumed copious quantities of caffeine but the net result was a frantic heart and a barely functioning brain. My body was trying to stay awake but my brain had already hung its hat up for the evening. Jessica’s parents came out and made some “modifications” to the dog kennel and the back yard while I was asleep. I knew they were coming but I was unaware of when they arrived and when they left – when I’m asleep the red army could overrun our country and I wouldn’t have a clue.
The yard is now completely surrounded with hot wire – Texas had old sparky – Washington has dogcatraz.
Try and get out of that one Lick – I dare you.
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