H1N1
Whatever you do, don't catch this virus. It's an ass-kicker. Been down with it since Thursday. Still have a fever after four days! I slept most of the past 24 hours and it hardly blunted the viral fury. Bleah.
Maunderings
Nanochiggers could be anything since nobody has seen them. They aren't flies (no see'ums are tiny flies, I think). They hop around in the grass (consensus is they live in the grass). They bite some people a lot too, just like Meems. But I am pleased to say that the orange peel-ethanol spray does work. Not 100% but what do you want from homemade? She has just a handful of bites on her and is not scratching all the time.
G has requested pics of oleanders. When I feel a bit better I'll take the camera on one of our walks. We have white and pink varieties. They can get quite large. I recall that California uses them as highway centerline plantings. Eucalyptus grows well in California and I was wondering if it would do well here too.
I have been looking around carefully and want to add to my flora and fauna lists: chocolate brown ants that are at least 1 cm long (huge), itty bitty bees (which means there are more moths than I've probably seen too but they are nocturnal most likely), and how could I leave off palm trees? They are the quintessential plant that grows in salty, hot, poor soil conditions. They are by far the largest plant out here.
The satellite dish installer came yesterday--at 9pm! We have a long holiday (called e'id) coming up, four days off from work plus the weekend, and stores close during this time--I wanted to have the installation done before then so between TV and the camp library I wouldn't go crazy. Most expats leave the country during both of the e'ids (this one comes after Hajj and the other is after Ramadan). I hauled myself out of bed to watch him get everything set up. He ran through a bunch of instructions with me but in my fever-addled state I forgot them at once. I've never in my adult life had cable or satellite TV so this will be all new for me.
I got my multiple exit/re-entry visa on Saturday morning (first day of our work week, remember). I have to leave KSA to activate it so I'm tentatively planning a trip to Bahrain to do some shopping and people watching on Nov 30. It's still e'id then but the stores re-open. More on this adventure as the planning unfolds.
My first paycheck should be deposited in about 5 days. I already got the detailed paystub via email from Payroll. My rent for November is a whopping USD 130. I have been stretched terribly thin and have been living on credit most of this month. Having cash flow again will be a relief. I have debts to pay off (DSL, I'm looking at you! And the rest of you know who you are too!).
Upul just came to walk the dogs. I'll try to snap a pic of him when he returns. The dogs are settling in wonderfully. Mimi still pees in the study in the afternoons but I've started putting down paper towels for her and she pees on those. Not a perfect solution but we are taking baby steps. I got to see how the dogs react to Upul (I usually don't see him at all) and they seem to think he's just fine. He told me that Harry brings him a toy to play with almost every day! Aww!
9 comments:
Please spoil yourself, relax, and get well. Sorry that this is a typical mother's response, but it's what I do. Love you!
VAMom
oh my! and after all that running around for your vaccinations before you left. I did hear that they are worried of huge outbreaks from all the folks going there for haj and then carrying back to their homes. i bet mimi and harry are happy to have you around so much though!
re: mimi peeing, try a diaper or a washable rug. want me to send you one of those washable floor pads they sell at petsmart? the more she does it, the more she will want to pee there. has she ever been out of her crate while you work before? i'm so glad they are happy to see upul - what a huge help!
herding today sucked. crash has lost his confidence for some reason we can't determine. anyway, he was a total flake today and now i have learned why susan didn't keep him, this is going to be a HUGE hurdle and could keep us out of trialing for a long long time. ugh.
Feel better, and no worries about debts until you are feeling confident that you can, okay?! its just gonna sit in the bank anyway. (oh yeah, when you get internet and we can talk I'll update you on my changes at work.)
-DSL
oh no, you got sick, how awful. With all the changes and setups and all, now you have to deal with that shit. Sorry to hear that, hope you're on the mend now.
Jealous about the cable TV, although Jeff and I are seriously considering splurging soon on it, simply because regular TV is barely coming in. Even with the converter box and amplified antenna, the sound and visual skip and can't watch a segment of anything uninterrupted for more than 10min. Very annoying!
A person I know uses a box with wood shavings (like for hamsters) for puppies to learn not to pee just anywhere. Maybe Mimi could get used to that? Can't believe she won't hold it till you get home, do you think it's all stress?
Hugs to Mr Opportunist, the Harry Man and figuring out how to get the most of of Upul. Bet the guy gets a kick out of Harry's relentless fetching frenzy ;-)
TO ROVER MOM: I feel your pain and the chicken shit on the sheep. Took me over 6 months to get my bc girl to even want to be around sheep. Had a very bad experience at a herding seminar and a jackass instructor. She's still afraid of men shepherds and a sorting stick. Kinda really sucks when you're trying to split the sheep. But got better with time. A good friend actually helped me to rebuild her confidence by literally letting her bite the sheep and go for them. Good luck.
No, Mimi has never been out of her crate for that long. Part of it is establishing a new routine and that takes time. There is no physical reason she can't hold her pee for 5 hours at a time. She is getting better and now only peeing in the afternoons, not before Upul comes at 11am. And she's not doing it every day. She was pooping and peeing in the house every single day. Now we are down to peeing every so often.
Remember, any solution has to be based on something I can purchase here without going into town (diapers is a good suggestion but not sure she'll pee on them).
Actually, I think she will stop this behavior over time. She just needs to learn the timing of the new routine.
I've heard people describe really odd behavior in their dogs when they move. Imagine what this must be like for your dogs. Not only a completely different location, with what may have been a traumatic trip, but their pack has completely changed too. It's got to be a pretty big adjustment. I'm not sure I'd survive it with just peeing on the floor!
Anne, it's interesting that you mention that. I wonder quite a bit what their flights over were like. My god, they actually put them on the luggage carousel in Dammam!! I was stuck in the line for my visa so didn't get to witness that mess. They were super excited to see me after almost 18 hours apart but not particularly traumatized that I could tell. KLM has a special pet service when you go through Amsterdam. I suspect some crate cleaning occurred but no way to tell for sure. Even though they were on the same flights as me, I really don't know what their trip over here was like for them.
Really, they do seem to be adjusting well. It's a shame Mimi can't run around and stretch her legs a bit but the stupid bitch has never had a recall that I could make stick. So on the leash she stays until my two years is up and I get to move into a house with a yard. Small, but at least it would be a yard.
And yes, so I'm cleaning up pee on the tile floor. If that's the worst of Mimi's adjustment process, then that's okay.
I flew with a few people from Utah to AKC nationals in TX in 2002. I didn't fly a dog, but there were 4 in crates in cargo from our group. Once we got to Houston, they directed us to a garage door to pick up the dogs. When they raised the garage door, there sat all four crates, stacked in two tiers. All four dogs saw their masters at exactly the same time, and they all had a look of utter amazement on their faces... like they never thought they'd see their masters again. It was hilarious.
I remember being on a flight years ago where we could hear a dog barking and howling from cargo the entire flight!
It would be interesting to see the trip from the dog's point of view.
Oh, and I'm taking a Really Reliable Recall class with Skeeter. It's based on the DVD by Leslie Nelson. It's all about building a conditioned response. The program itself is quite simple. I'll let you know what I think of it. At the end of the DVD it has a special section on working through the program with Hounds, Northern breeds and TERRIERS!!!
That's what it would have to be, wouldn't it--a conditioned response. She was pretty good at trials and I stopped worrying about her running off from the ring itself. But if there is something that catches her eye, Mimi has no impulse control at all and she immediately lunges for it. There are so many ground living birds and of course all of those darned feral cats that she is almost in a state of breakdown when we go walking sometimes. I remain skeptical that any training program is going to remain rock solid, even if reinforced daily, in the face of that.
We were delayed in the immigration lines for so long that someone pulled all of our flight's luggage off the carousel, including my dogs and a fairly disgruntled cat that was also on our flight. I could tell when Mimi spotted me because her crate started rocking!
BC Insanity - thanks! Crash is just a very soft border collie and has had an easy time of it to date. He is great at the outrun, lift and fetch and has completed all the first levels for AKC and AHBA. But, he is now getting frustrated because he has to do something that isn't as natural for him, like actually PUSH the sheep on his own. Wow, I never knew it could be so hard! Anyway, I have to balance being nice, with being commanding and clear and he has to learn that it is okay to not succeed. More as we progress!
And yes, I know a lot of folks who have been put off by harsh herding instructors. Its more about knowing your dog. While griping is not acceptable, it can be if its not done dangerously (for the dog or sheep.) I encourage crash to nip when he feels he needs to because it is him making an attempt to PUSH the sheep!
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