Ner's Random Musings on a life of interesting insights

There are two constants, at least two that I can think of now, that, like the setting and the rising of the sun, prevail always; today I got to experience both. First, government plods along slowly, deliberately, cautiously, bureaucratically, and in most cases, forward. Secondly, Wednesdays are and hopefully will always be fried chicken day at the DSCR "Center restaurant" i.e. the cafeteria. I've been working with DLA now about 13 days, and just got word that all of my adaptive technology has now arrived and I will, god willing and red tape notwithstanding, have computer and network access. IN my job, it is necessary to have network access because all that you do is done on the computer, a military computer. So while waiting, I've pretty much finished a phone list for our devision chief, made lots of friends and got to know others around the workplace, ane read five maybe six formidable books. Currently, I'm finishing the third Twilight book by Stephenie Meyer, and though the series isn't something I'd normally read, it's sure peaked my interest and made my netless days slither by more quickly. It will be a welcome surprise to start my training. They say that I'll wish to remember these days of doing nothing but reading, and I will, but I've been doing nothing much of importance in the last six or mor months when it comes to being productive, and I'm looking forward to becoming a productive member of the American workforce. I was slightly worried when Cathy, the EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity Office) came down, I assumed to tell me about the technology. "Well, I have some good news and some bad news. What would you like to hear first?" I asked for the bad news first. She told me that it would be four more weeks until I got my technology. All I could think was a series of thoughts--darn ... well, I guess I can read more books ... oh well. So straight faced, I said "OK, so what's the good news", and then she relented and said that it was all here and that she wanted to mess with me. I guess I've played too much poker in my day to give Cathy and the two other bystanders who are also my friends from near her office the thrill of watching me peel myself off of the ceiling with rage. It was still funny though, and I'm getting tech, so it's all excciting.

I continue to take the van service to and from work, and besides the few times that I have to wait for the van in the heat, it's been an enjoyable experience.

I've met some really nice people at work, and they will probably make the working day much more barable. They alerted me about fried chicken day today in fact, because they knew that fried chicken was my favorite. Because I don't do it often--eat fried chicken that is--I dashed down there and got it to take back to my desk. The chicken was pretty good--expensive but good--and I'll have to do it again sometime soon.

My writing is extremely disjointed right now so I'll close soon, but the person who shares the cube with me to my left has a periodic table hanging up on his bulletin board. WThere's so many chemists and chemical engineers that work there, that we find humor in odd ways. So it's with this little tidbit that I close my entry. My cube number when equated to an atomic number on the periodic table equates to elemental symbol PT, platinum. My cubemate's element is platinum, and the guy across the way in our setup is herbium. I think that if I have more spare time in the coming tdays, I'll include elements with everyone's cube number--just because I can :P!

Well it's now been seven full days that I've worked for the Federal government. I still haven't gotten a computer or software to use the computer, but that has finally been ordered today, so perhaps I'll actually be able to do more than read books and meet people soon. I've been tasked to do some time studies on processes that they use in the office, so I've been filling my time keeping and recording it, all while wasting time watching people do their work. Actually it's been pretty educational, at least on the little I've been able to accomplish, and I can't wait to get my hands on a working computer so that I can input something into the system. The people here are very nice, and I'm learning from everyone, especially in the department of keeping a positive outlook in the workplace. Someone tole me that "this is the best place in the world to work" and that made me glad I accepted the job and moved all the way across the country to take it.

Today's major highlight at work was getting my CAC (Common Access Card) ID Card. It basically is your passport to the federal and military world at the Department of Defense and allows you to not only get onto the center (and any other military installation) but also allows you to get into your computer. It has your picture, finger prints, demographic and personal data, encryption data, and other info stored on its computer chip. Lose it, and it's apparently an act of Congress to get it back. It's going to stay in it's little holder when I'm home, and I'm going to try really hard not to lose it because when a Federal employee tells you that it's going to be an act of Congress if you lose it (I've heard this twice), it probably will be. Plus, losing it means that you probably won't be able to do your work or get to work for that matter. It's a rite of passage for any new employee, and though it didn't involve initiation or strange rituals, it was still neat to give up my visitors badge and become a real employee.

The Seeing Eye rep came today for my followup visit to Richmond. We walked from the front door to my desk several times and it's all become more clear as to how the building is layed out. There are multiple ways to get from the front door to my cubicle, and Velvet likes to cut through the middle of the building sometimes to get me to the door, but Dave and I are working on getting her to pick one way and stick with it. That's why we've been doing it over and over again, and why she's dead tired tonight. Her taking different and less obvious routes to places within the building but still arriving at the correct destination reminds me of the circuitous routes my GPS tells me to go when I'm trying to play navigator to Holly when she's driving.

Tomorrow we're going to work on some work here near the complex--walking to Food Lion, and the shopping center that has several other places in it--and then we'll go to the center and work there for a while.

It's maddeningly quiet here now. Holly and her brother left on Sunday afternoon, and now I'm having to do the lonely bachellor thing. She's planning on coming with her family to go to Washington D.C. for the day on Saturday, and it will be really good to see her. It's amazing how much you miss a person when they've been with you--uninterrupted--for a couple of weeks, and then--loneliness. I'm managing though. I'm not sure I'm eating as healthy as if I had Holly here to keep me eating more vegetables and healthy foods--I ate Hamburger Helper today--but I try to hit all fouor food groups with every meal, and that's a start. I shudder to think that I've probably got four meals of Hamburger Helper left. So who can guess what I'll have for lunch tomorrow?

Well, I guess I should get to sleep before I have to get out and travel in the concrete jungle of bureaucracy and hazardous material logistics. More soon, and sorry to have not answered comments until after I post this entry. When I get to actually do my job, perhaps my entries will become more interesting. Perhaps they'll just get deathly boring depending on how mind numbing my job is. Time shall tell.

I've been so busy with moving etc. that I haven't written since finally finding out that I'd be moving to Virginia. Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to read about my apartment hunting and subsequent move. I can distill it all down to "moving sucks" and continue onward. Suffice it to say, I've found an expensive but nice apartment (what's not at least marginally expensive in the Richmond area), and I am officiially employed by the Federal government.

My Mom took me here to VA and had to leave two days after getting here because of a training thing she had to do. It was surprising how hard it was when she left, not because I was not going to be with my Mom anymore, but because with this move, it was a permant thing. I'll go home, but I don't know when that next time will be. I still miss things at home, but as I've started working, I've become a bit less homesick. When Holly and her brother leave on Saturday, it's probably going to get harder again. I've dealt with harder things in life though, and I'm sure I can handle it. Being alone will truly suck, and I'm looking forward to the day soon when I'll have a lifelong companion in Holly to be with.

Yesterday and today have epitomized the fact that days like that allow you to learn lots, but also are very sucky, especially when you get lost as much as I've done. Holly was with me yesterday to help me fill out forms, try to orient me to the rat maze that is the building that I work in, and just generally be supportive. Today, she just dropped me off, so it was all me, and boy did I pass the getting lost test with flying clors. Each building here has been converted from being a huge long warehouse to an office building. All they did was pretty much take the 1000 foot warehouses, put carpeting, air condition, system furniture, and some permant walls and rooms in, and voilla, an office building. Each building is divided into bays for organizational and sanity purposes, and each bay is divided up into an insane grid of squares, which is then divided up with four desks in each square. What makes this setup hard is that as you travel down the building's length, it's hard to tell where to turn to get to your particular row of cubicles, and then finally find your cubicle, so I spent lots of time today telling people where my cubicle was (building number, bay, and cubicle number), and they'd direct me. I felt like a lost child sometimes. People that have been working there for twenty years or more say that they still get lost. I just find it amazing that I can walk (and I've never done this yet) through the whole building from end to end, from the most part, going inside. My building, building 33 is geek grand central for DSCR (Defense supply Center Richmond) (we have IT, engineering, and other departments I haven't discovered yet), and it's also got the cafeteria and fitness center in it, so it's actually pretty neat to be in a relatively central location. If I can map the building in my mibnd, I should start to get an idea of where I am in space and in the cube grid, but that will take time. At least there's a grid of cubes now, apparently in the past, there was an 1000 foot building with row upon row of desks.

Velvet has been turning heads and continues to amaze me and otherse. Because I have no idea where I'm going, she gets confused along with me. It's useful for the dog if I can give her firm commands, but if I have no idea where I'm going, I generally don't do too well with that. I'm hoping that the Seeing Eye will come down to do a follow up with me at some point soon, so that maybe I can try to orient myself and Velvet to the building's insides and the surroundings of the base. I think we'll do OK, but the school's followup services would be greatly appreciated right about now. I'm just thankful that they exist, and that they are so willing to come down to help out.

I can't do any work at all until I get security access to the system, and then after that, get an access card which is both your id and has a computer chip in it that allows you to access the computers. Without that card, there's no way to get any work done. I'm also waiting for JAWS and Kurzweil to come, and then I'll have to wait to get the IT people to install it all. So I went to the new employee orientation class today, and I'll be attending it for a short time. It's informative but boring at times, but it's better than sitting and doing nothing.

Before I go, and I need to go soon so I can get to bed and get up tomorrow for my first ride with the van service that the county provides (Holly took me in and back today and yesterday), I had a funny experience in my inprocessing to become a federal employee. At the end of filling in all of the forms etc., you have to be sworn in. I went through the process with about seven or so other new employees, and when we got to the swearing in part, they told us to read aloud the swearing in session. It wasn't until Saturday that I got my cable turned on, so I didn't have time to fill out the forms or put them on my Pac Mate. So though I paid complete attention to what was said, I so just moved my lips like an idiot to it all. They said they't just trust me that I'd defend the Constitution etc.

I'm ceasing to make sense, so I'm going to post this and get to bed. 5:30 or 6:00 will come very soon. I think, I hope, that as I get into a routine of work, that I won't be as tired as I have been when I get home so that I can write more again soon.

We took Fiona to the vet yesterday to get her heartworm medicine and have her yearly vaccines. The vet told me that she needed to have her teeth cleaned, so she went in to have them done. Seems that one of her premolars was cracked, so it got pulled. Poor Fiona is very groggy, tripped up on morphine and laying in my bedroom. I have no idea how the tooth got cracked, but the vet thought it was a good idea to have it removed, so I'm glad we had it done.

I got word from DLA about my job. Seems that the step increase that I requested because of my masters degree and extre experience was disapproved. What does that mean? Well, I come in on the lowest step possible. Though there's room for promotion, I jump two grades per year, it was still kind of sad that I wasn't able to come in with the added value of having my masters. I thought about writing a "what am I really worth" or "what worth can I put on myyself" essay but then decided against it. I know that I learned a lot while getting my masters. I also know that this is a good starting job, I hope, and that Holly and I will manage with the starting salary I'll be making. A job making some money is better than doing nothing, which is what I've been doing for a while. It's a job thab that I know I will be able to do and do well, so I decided to officially try to throw my money hungry side away and take the job so that Holly and I can move forward with our lives. Thinking positive is the only way to do it I think.

My voice continues to be MIA, sI I went to the doctor today. Got some antibiotics and cough syrup, and so I'm hoping that I'll feel better soon.

haven't been able to work with Velvet much lately because my Mom has been moving to a new classroom, and my Dad has been busy working and cleaning up the yart which, with our recent rains, seems to grow in feet per week rather than some more sane unit of measure.

We're still planning to take a trip to Richmond to check things out. Still need to firm up the details of our trip.

Well, that's all I have the energy to write about. More soon.

I feel ok, I've been better, but my voice has gone downhill. DLA HR called me, and I could hardly talk. With the EEO (Equal opportunity Office) called me to talk about what equipment I wanted, I could hardly talk to them either. And when we went to the Texas Roadhouse with some friends of ours, I had a really hard time communicating. I also had a hard time communicating to Velvet that eating peanut shells on the floor isn't what I want her to do. I managed to extract a few before I put her into a virtual headlock with foot on leash, and hands around her nose, and she got the picture. I'm currently living on Musinex, Benedril, and lots of liquids. The annoying thing is that I have energy to do things. I have to teach Sunday School at church this Sunday, and I hope I sound, and feel better. I'll push through--I always do--but it may kind of be painful.

Like I said, I talked with EEO and they're going to talk to the IT office to see if what I requested will be able to be used on the computer system. I still have some time to pick what I want, but I'm thinking that I've got at least an initial idea of what I need. Then I can think of other things that won't necessarily be essential, but would be useful to have later on as I go to my training duties every month.

Tomorrow, I don't have anything huge planned except for remaining as silent as I can and planning my lesson. I might create a phone post just to demonstrate my patheticness, but that might bring people glea to make mun of me. I talked to Holly today, and she said that I sounded cute. My throat sure doesn't feel cute, but whatever.

More soon.

My life flashed before my figurative eyes when the director of the chemical engineering graduate school and my advisor called me today.

"Noel, are you sure you have enough classes to graduate with your masters?"

Here I was, job in hand, and I didn't have the required classes? What am I going to do? At least the job doesn't require a masters but still.

Turns out I was co-enrolled at the end of my bachellors degree. I filled out the paperwork to get it processed as my masters degree and the graduate school lost the forms. Luckily, copies of the forms were made and so we'll wave it in their faces and make them make the changes so that I can get my degree. All that counts is that I got the letter from the department head confirming my GPA and MSCHE status. That will ticket me with some meager leverage to increase my pay scale. I feel like I deserve more than I am probably going to get, but it is a start, and as I stay there, my salary willl mushroom appreciably.

Got the today, and all of the TV claims are correct. I never gbet much hair from Velvet with the grooming implements we got at The Seeing Eye, but with the Furminator, I had a ball of fur with a packed diameter of about two inches when I was done. It just kept coming off and coming off in really fine little clumps. The way it works is that it catches the undercoat in it's fine little--bladelets???? (I can't think of any other word for it), and you just take the fur from the tines and go through the coat again.

Also got a Kong Xtreme for Velvet since she tries to kill everything that she gets as far as toys, and she's putting it to its test right now. Wiat a funny puppy. She makes all kinds of noises when she chews that thing. I just hope she's not able to get any chunks from this undestructible one. She's very posessive with it, and won't let Zim get her toy which is good. Fiona lets the little dog dominate. There's definitely a pack order that's forming with Velvet being off leash.

That's all I've got now. I'm glad things are coming together. Now if I can just convince them to help with moving expenses, things will be golden and I'll be in my happy place. More soon.

It's really sad to hear the gas prices right there up with the prices of oil and the stock market. Today the price has inched to 3.95m and whether you drive or not, the prices do effect.

So I've got an effective or "report" date for Richmond. They usually want you to be there 30 days after they officially give an offer, but since my Mom's going to Australia and will be back on the 2nd of July, and since I need help moving, we got it moved to July 21. I'm kind of excited. We're still working on salary details, mostly because my masters hasn't posted officially yet, and because since it's not official, an official transcript won't work to prove my masters, How's that for bureaucracy and redundant systems. Holly and I are planning on visiting Richmond in the middle of June to scope things out, and hopefully find a place to live for a while. Lots of decisions, lots of things to do, and lots of stress. But I think I can handle it.

Velvet's now completely off leash in the house now. The cat and Velvet sniffed each other a bit yesterday, and I think they're getting to know each other. Gabby is still very wary, and Velvet has to hold her water, fire, and brimstone to leave the poor kitty alone, but I think wee're progressing.

I'm not planning much today but watching some of the Deadliest Catch episodes I had the Tivo record while I was away at The Seeing Eye. I've also got some form of marginally nasty crud which I'm trying to shake. If I can get all the negotiation and craziness done with DLA, I get to process myself into federal government service. Signatures and letting of blood for signature and soul transfer most likely happens when I report to Richmond. It's a nice day outside, so I might hang out on the porch for a while too. Just trying to enjoy my peace and quiet before my job.

Days until Job -- t-53 days give or take

Every time I touch Fiona, I realize how old she's getting. I've noticed that lately even more ... I don't know why. I guess I should be used to her laying around all the time, but when you compare that with Velvet, she seems like she's very slow. I decided to get out a dog biscuit for all of the dogs just to see if she was feeling ok enough to get up and run over to me, and indeed she got up and ate the dog biscuit. I can't tell if she's actually sad that I've got another dog--she still lets me pet her and likes it, but it's still not the same.

I've been doing well lately except for it's difficult because I haven't been able to talk to Holly much lately. She's been taking care of her Grnadmother and can't use the phone much. I guess I took it for granted that I could talk to her every day because now that I can't, it's very difficult for me.

This weekend, my sister, brother-in-law, and Romey, my six month-old niece, came over to spend the Memorial Day weekend with us. We all had fun, Velvet especially, playing games and generally having fun hanging out. We even had time enough in the evenings to have a three day Mexican Train Dominos tournament. Usually when I play the rest of my family, Kelsea and Philip especially, I've gotten unlucky with a hand or two which throws my point total way off. For some reason, luck was smiling on me this weekend. In a set of six games, I got almost 110 points which barely won. I don't mind losing ... I love Mexican Train whether or not I lose or win ... but this weekend was pretty sweet. It was great to be together as a family and much better than my lonely afternoons here at the house during the week. At least before I got my job, I could job hunt, now all I do is read books and listen to talk radio. Don't get me wrong, I love reading and listening, but I'm looking forward to the land of the work week and occupational headaches and stress.

Yesterday, I went to a Memorial Day get-together at a friend from church's house. There were a whole bunch of people there, and a whole bunch of food. It was a good test for Velvet, because we were outside the whole time, and so I again realized how much Velvet likes to chew on everything, especially sticks. The thing about Velvet is that when I take something that she's chewing--like a stick or a toy--she'll give it up willingly, so it wasn't a big deal, but it was interesting to watch her gnaw on a stick like it was a nylabone. I'm sure she ate part of the stick, especially the second stick I took from her. She sniffed at the little family dog that was there, but wasn't too distracted by him. She seems like she's content just to hang out. Whenever I get up, unless she's deep in sleep (that happens much of the time), she'll come to attention. It was in the mid 80s, and the sun was shining, the whole huge yard is covered with trees, and that made it very comfortable for all humans and dogs.

I've started letting her off leash in the house. This is a day or two sooner than the two weeks that we're proscribed to keep our dogs on leash arrest, but I wanted to see how she would do, and unless someone opens up the front door, a new person comes into the house, or one of the other dogs wants to go outside, she generally sleeps at my feet without me asking her to "rest". I still keep her on leash at the table, and I'll put her on leash at the end of the day when my parents come home, but I definitely consider her behavior now to be greatly improved in the house compared to when I first brought her here. Her feet still skid on the smooth wooden floors which is highly amusing.

I haven't been able to work Velvet much lately which really is distressing to me. I can't do anything about that though but adjust her food levels for her lower activity level, and work her whenever someone has enough energy and/or time to take me somewhere I can work. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to my Mom's school again, so it will be nice to work her there. She seems to be getting better at the routes within the school, and that's great practice for later on when I'm in an office atmosphere.

And that's about all I can think to write. It's not raining now so Zim, our little dog, is calm now, but as it thunders periodcally, he likes to stick to me like glue needing for comfort. Fiona and Velvet just sleep. And that's what I'm going to do here in a minute after I post this, take a nap.

I'm writing from my Mom's school where we had an interesting experience which I had to write about. Since semester tests are going on, students can go home early, and teachers are free to do work in their rooms after the students leave. This opens up the normally 30 minute lunch to a more sane amount of time, and so most of the teachers go somewhere for lunch. My mom and I decided to go to a Mexican place in town which has a franchise close to where we live, We've been to this place before, but without my dog.

( Noel and Velvet's big adventure )

Velvet's done really good work here in the building. She's now pretty patterned to going through the cafeteria completely rather than going into the serving line. On the way to the office, I had a clearance issue with a row of desks that was in the hall, but we reworked it a couple of times, and she finally avoided it well.

In the room, Velvet has a tennis ball of her own that she's been playing with. I let her off the leash here in the room for the first time to run a bit and be supervised by my Mom, and she continues to be fascinated by the tennis balls put on the bottom of the chair legs to dampen scraping noises on the concrete floor. Those balls haven't dampened her spirit enough to keep trying to wrench a ball off of one of the chairs, but having all of these balls around does confuse her a bit when she plays with her ball and she loses it. She just has a lot of balls to choose from, and it's hilarious to watch her try to find tge ball that isn't mysteriously stationary. When we come into my Mom's room, she always wants to try to go into the first door we come to from the front door. I found out today that that door leads to the inschool suspension room. I don't know what Velvet's trying to tell me, but there's got to be a veiled message in there somewhere that I can infer right? Silly puppy!

My security clearance paperwork is finally done. I spent most of yesterday finishing all of the form fields and going back and forth with the security person at DSCR (Defense Supply Center Richmond), and we believe that now, it's correct. My errors weren't huge, but I was mismatching some dates, and that would have caused problems with the screening process, especially with my eployments running for example from 2007 to 2005 when I really should have entered the dates from 2005 to 2007. So now my life can continue, or not, since I'll be just waiting to hear back from DLA to determine when the clearance has completed. At least I'm not trying to get a secret or a top secret clearance--those can take up to 3 years to complete. So, at most, I'll be waiting for six months. This seems like a long time, but I think I can handle it. If I can make sure to find places to work Velvet, I'll be ok that is, because working on the road where I live is, at this point, still not possible.

Church on Sunday went well. I have most of the people there trained to not pet the new dog, but people were definitely curious about her. All of this adjustment process is education not only for handler and dog, but it's an education process for the public as well. I just look at these things as a few more fun challenges.

( The last two days of training with the trip to the airport )

There's a first for everything, and yesterday, my first was that we got into a slight wreck on the way to the base to work Velvet. It was, as I said, slight, and Velvet, myself, and my Dad are ok, but it was an experience, especially since it could have been worse if the person who refused to yield to us at the base gate right in front of the guards had hit my door rather than hitting the right front fender. Needless to say, after an hour of sitting in the warm truck, a citation was issued, and we went on into the gate. The odd thing about it was that it was literally 20 feet from the gate and the guards saw everything. The older lady felt really bad about it but what's done was done. All Velvet did when it happened was sit up, then after she realized that nothing that interesting and ordinary (in her calm dog brain) was going to happen, she laid down and went to sleep. The airbags did not deply, and even if they had, she was laying in the floor boards so would have been ok, but it was kind of freaky since I've never been in an accident with a guide.

It didn't phase her though. Her work on the base was really great. We crossed a few intersections, one with an island, and though wary of the traffic, she did well. We probably walked about a mile or so in total, basically tracing a path and then retracing it back to the injured, yet drivable truck.

This morning, I'm going to go to church. I have some time, so I thought I would write this entry. It should be interesting to see how she reacts in church, especially with the billion kids that will be all interested in my new dog, but I'm sure, as always, that it won't phase her too much, especially with her work clothes (the harness and leash) on. We don't stand up and sit down too often in the meetings, sometimes never, so that should be helpful and causing her to, like many of the older--men especially--go to sleep.

I spent much of yesterday filling out, or refilling out I should say, my security form. I had it about half filled out on Thursday night, and since I don't have Acrobat, couldn't save the form. Thursday night, my computer decided to go onto Microsoft Update and update itself (oddly), and after rebooting itself at 3:00 A.M., powerless to do anything in my sleepy state, I lost the form. I'm close to being back to where I was, but it was still painful, especially since I had to call some people back that I'd missed. My friend Neil and I went to Chili's last night, and again, Velvet did well. She only went after one piece of food, and I caught her before she could ingets it. I'm still not sure if I would trust her in a steakhouse/salloon where they throw peanut shells on the ground, but maybe we'll get there.

Friday I went to high school with my Mom who teaches there. They are getting to the very end of the year, so it was pretty laid back, morseo than usual, in her classes. We worked the perimeter of the chool building, and we even practiced a cafeteria line. After going through the line at lunch time, she didn't want to go through the cafeteria, but kept steering me to the actual line. Perhaps she feels that I need to gain some weight?

After school, we went to the police station in town to get my fingerprints done. She put her feet on the counter once, probably since the officer who did the printing talked to her, but that was the extent of her revelry. I thought it was really cool that my fingerprints were done in the main interrogation room. I wouldn't let the officer put the cuffs that were attached securely to a custom built hulk of a counter, but it was still cool to play with them and roll them around on their rail. Apparently they can cuff five or six people at a time, and apparently, according to the officer, "Not even the strongest convict has been able to break it--and we've had some ruffians in here". It could have been a growing fish tale, but I doubt it. That thing was solid.

Provided I don't take a long nap this aftternoon, expect an update from the last two days in training. Until then, later.

Well, I'm home. I haven't had energy to write today because I'm so tired I can hardly think. My legs are tired, and my body generally aches from the side effects of training at The Seeing Eye.

This is not necessarily a good thing, especially since at 6:50 this morning (yes, I got up at 5:30 central for park time even though I didn't have to), the DLA called me and gave me a tentative job offer. Basically, this means that I have to get my security clearance organized, and then once that's done, we can start negotiating salary time to start etc. I'm excited, but the whole thing still ahsn't sunk in really, probably because I'm still recovering from class.

The flight went really well--better than I expected actually. Dogs who haven't flown before many times stand up or get restless when you take off or land but Velvet practically slept through most of the takeoff and all of the landing. We got to Little Rock late (an hour late) so that was slightly annoying.

Velvet seems to be doing well. When we got here last night about 11:30 pm central, she was very excited and tugged on her leash, desperate to sniff through and over all of the nooks and crannies throughout the house. She met Fiona and Zim (our little dog) and they seem to be getting along just fine. We keep the dog on leash for about two weeks from the time they first go home. It's definitely a period where the dog will test his or her owner, so when that happens, it's best that they be on leash so that you can bust them when it happens. Velvet's feet have already graced our counters and my Mom's and Dad's pants legs, but she was busted sufficiently fast enough so that maybe she won't do it too often. After that two weeks, it's anybody's guess how she'll act, but the leash time gives an opportunity for us owners to lay down the law.

Velvet met Gabbie, the family cat, and as one of the instructors suggested, she's currently hanging out, voluntarily, in the garage. Velvet was really excited and tried to play with Gabbie when she was inside, so she's still a bit freaked out.

I haven't touched my harness since I got here, so I still don't know how Fiona will react to someone else wearing a harness, but I suspect it will go fine. something that especially struck me was how different Velvet feels than Fiona does. You'd think that I wouldn't forget how Fiona feels--coarse but thickfur on her back, but goldenish hair everywhere else--but since I've been petting Velvet a lot over the three weeks, I've become accustomed to feeling her short hair. Fiona also gained some week over the years that I had her caused partially by my fault and partially out of my control, so that was striking as well. I'm going to try to keep Velvet's weight relatively constant, and we're going to try to drop Fiona's weight a bit so that maybe we can buy a few extra months of life for her. She's still very healthy though, so we'll see. I stilldread losing her and wonder why dogs can't just live forever.

My Mom moved Fiona's bed into the dining room, but when I told her that I thought that Fiona would like being in her usual spot with her bed in the corner in my room. I don't know how long it'll be that way, but the two dogs seemed to coexist well last night, so we'll have to see for tonight.

I have to write about the past two days of class. There is stuff to write about, but for now, I lack energy.

I don't want to play down this job offer. I've been working so long with my education, and this will be my first job, but I'm almost too tired to be extremely excited. I know for one thing, I'm too tired to keep filling out this form. It's eight pages, and requires me to, in my sleep deprived state, remember all of the places I've lived in the past seven years and remember and/or compile addresses and numbers of people I knew at those places. I need to talk to the security guy in Richmond tomorrow about what exactly I need to be writing downn (in other words, can I get out of this stuff). Unfortunately, with 9/11 getting security clearances of any type (I require a noncritical sensitive clearance) is difficult. At least I'm not getting a top secret clearance. Thouse things take aeons to get.

Our continuing challenge will be to find places to work Velvet. I can't walk safely (I don't think) on the road near our house, so will have to figure out alternate places. I'm going to go to my Mom's school tomorrow to show her off and also work her a bit in town. We also have to get my fingerprints done, sow e'll do that in town.

Well, that's all I have the energy to write about. I'm thankful that I've now got a job, and that Velvet seems to be, at least now, socially adjusting to being here at the house. We'll see how her work is tomorrow, and we'll also see, in my next entry, what I did the last two days in class. More soon.

Well, the past day and a half haven't been hugely eventful, but they bring me a day and a half closer to going home and therefore to the next phase in our training, and they warrant writing about.

My visit with my new friend, Kevin, from Morristowngreen.com was really cool. Not only was it a good opportunity for me to meet someone new, but it also gave me some much needed non-dog related outside contact with the world. We took a couple of trips around the leisure path, giving him an idea of how dogs work close up. Kevin also took some pictures of us to put on the site which may appear here as well. Let's face it, I haven't posted many pictures of Velvet and I on my journal, so this was good. In our nonwalking, nonphoto snapping spare time, we hung out in the lounge where we chatted with the people and their other visitors about technology and life in general. It ended my Sunday very nicely, even if it got a bit cool and windy in the foliage and trees around the leisure path.

( Dog Massage )
Today was pretty picture perfect as Velvet's work went. In the morning, we went on a route where we tested her street crossing and street entering abilities, and as always, clearance issues here in Morristown. She got right out there today. Seems as the New York City elixir cured her of her boredom and caution to enter the street. We don't want her, or I for that matter, to get too cocky about travelling, but I'm glad we're doing loads better.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the land of the Blue h*** (Wal-Mart) to test how Velvet would follow an instructor around and through aisles, harness through isles and around tight corners, and all that kind of store stuff. Again, pretty darn close to perfection. Too bad we have to leave soon and throw us into an unfamiliar area. I think we'll be ok.

( The mystery of my arm, and the advent of the new handle )

( the intricacies of Going home )


All I know is that I'll have to pack tomorrow, and no matter what I'm packing for, I hate packing with a passion.

And so that I have enough energy to pack, I better close this and head to bed. I'll have to test out my new harness handle in actual real world working conditions. The leisure path was a good test, but it didn't help test things like stopping for streets, curbs, steps, and that kind of thing. My arm should be better with the ergo harness handle though, and if that's the case, I know I'll be a happier, less numb, and less tired person tomorrow evening. "forward" to tomorrow!

Last night I was so tired because of the trip. It was a good tired though, but because I didn't want to do it on Sunday, I did my laundry, wrote Fiona's puppy raisers a three page letter, unjammed and reset the laser printer, and helped with some computer issues, I had no energy to write a New York Trip entry. SAure, I left my laundry to the last minute, but that'll never change. Today is Sunday, and thus a day of rest and relaxation for both us and our canines, and save for maybe a trip around the leisure path a time or two, I think we'll take advantage of the opportunity. the MorristownGreen online editor is also coming by to visit, and since we have no access to my family except for via phone or internet because they live in Arkansas, contact from the outside world that's not connected with training or an en route contact is very nice.

Especially in the mornings, Velvet likes to blow off steam by going literally crazy, running around in circles, prancing, dancing, and gallivanting around the room. One of her favorite things to do is to hold her Nylabone in her mouth while doing this, and when she's feeling particularly spunky, she'll flip over on her back, all four paws waving, her body slithering side to side. We've had a few more bed incidents, but she seems to respond really well to my sharp reprimand "off!" She acts as if I've smacked her sometimes, but I get my message across. She's improving, but this means she plays on the hard floor, and since we've been allowed to let the dogs off of a stable tie down, play time sometimes gets more rough that I'd like it to. This morning after one of these sessions, I was petting Velvet and generally looking over her condition when I found a huge goose egg (hematoma) on the top of her natural bony knot on her head. They say that this probably was caused by hitting her head on the floor when she was playing. It apparently doesn't hurt, and it'll go away in a couple of weeks, but hopefully I can keep her more calm so she doesn't hurt herself again. There's apparently another dog in class that has a hematoma, so it happens, but even though dogs feel pain different than we do, I still want to try to prevent any more gratuitous head banging in the future.

Now to yesterday, and the main subject of this entry, New York. ( the trip with picture )

I think I'll be ready to head home for another set of challenges on Wednesday night, four days away. I wasn't sure if it'd be possible a couple of days ago, but I think she proved that we could do it. I don't think Velvet knows what's coming, but I think she'll like it at our house. She'll have to school Zim, our little dog, and she'll get to meet the cat, but knowing Velvet, she'll probably find it adventurous and fun.

I need to take an adventurous and fun nap really quick before lunch, so I'll post the menu for yesterday and head home. I didn't eat lunch here, but hey, what the heck, I'll type that in too, Why not?

More when it's there. Onward, and most importantly "Forward!"

( Menu for yesterday )

I think that only a Seeing Eye grad and ex-college student would understand my predicament. Yes, I really like high caloric food with names I can't pronounce. Yes, it's nice to know I'm eating gourmet non-frozen food three times a day. And yes, when I asked them how their bacon was so flat and perfect this morning, they said they laid it out on parchment paper and put it into the oven to perfectly bake/fry. Ex-college students don't have time to go to such great lengths, but I enjoy cooking, and I greatly appreciate it, especially when we're talking desserts. But ex-college students, those of us who enjoy a spot of grease now and again, enjoy a spot of unhealthy artery hardening greatness from time to time. The more famous the fast food joint, and the most recognizable the food stuff, the better. What I'm trying to say is that this food is absolutely amazing. I forgot to post the menus thereby ruining the diets of many by temptation, but I hit the wall today and hit it hard, the Seeing Eye Fast Food Craver's wall that is. I had to have some grease, I was in the mall food court, and the time was well ... then.

( The Mall saga: The Getting of the Pizza )

We've been given the power as of tonight to let our dogs off leash and see how they do for short periods of freedom around the room. Velvet has done well with this so far, and I'm getting good at keeping her excitement level down a bit so that she doesn't cannonball around the room going crazy. She responds very well to spoken scolding, and I think if I'm consistent, she'll be golden. Fiona is very sneaky about getting things like food from the table, or generally misbehaving. She knows that she's not supposed to do something, but she knows that if she does it really quiet, I won't catch her. Velvet's much more direct and loud about things, and I hope it stays that way because I'll be able to nab her and continue to lay down the law.

Today was, minus the rain, a very good day. As with all trainees and dogs here at The Seeing eye, we have peaks and valleys of greatness. we all go through good periods and bad--especially when we first start training, and also when we get home. I'm just goad that we're away from a trough now, and headed uphill Let's just hope that the uphill trend continues as we travel in New York City tomorrow for the ultimate test of our progress. It's hard to imagine that I got Velvet on the 28th of April, 11 days ago. We've taken a few steps backwards from time to time, but we're so so far ahead of where we started. We've got a ways to go yet, and it won't be all roses and tulips, but I think we're headed in the right direction now.

I don't know what we're doing in the city, but whatever it is, it promises to be pretty fun. It might even involve a trip into Central Park, which I've never been to. I'm headed to bed "early" tonight, because I don't think I'll have time to take multiple naps tomorrow, so I'll close here. Onward, upward, and most importantly "FORWARD!"
( Menu )

I remember once when I was going between classes, and once when I traveled from class. Both of those times it was raining, and both of those times I dripped, but today, Velvet and I dripped. I probably could have drank the water that slid lazily off of my nose. I don't like to use the hood on my rainjacket because I depend on my ears to navigate and listen to traffic, so it generally collects on my head when it rains a lot and finds the path of least resistance and helpful gravity, down my nose and face.

I went on second trip, which was great since I got to take a nap. When we went out it was just sprinkling. When we got where we needed to be, it was still sprinkling. As I waited for the person in my group before me to go, it ceased to sprinkle and started to pour. Needless to say, by the time Velvet and I got back to the van after our trip, we were both absolutely soaked.

We did mostly practicing street crossing to try to convince Velvet to take initiative and go into the street when I tell her to go. It's hard to do this, especially when I'm trying to trust her that she's not hesitating for traffic issues by the method of intelligent disobedience. She did very well, and we're definitely progressing. We've got some ideas on how we might help her, and me for that matter, and so we might work on some things, especially when we go to New York City tomorrow.

Because it was raining, we did our street work for a short distance and then did inside work in the courthouse--stairs up and down, elevators, and metal detectors. She's a very cautious dog, and she didn't miss a down staircase or an up one. She also did perfectly in navigation in and around small groups of people.

Overall, the trip went well ... I just wish she would pick a spot to pee and just freaking pee, especially in the rain. When we got back, we stood out there waiting for some pee action. She squatted four times, but ... nothing.

I hope I get some new extra towels, because I had to use both of them to get us both acceptably dry. I still look like a drowned rat, but before, I think I looked more like a drowned hippo, and hippos are hard to look drowned. It's probably a bad analogy, but I think a picture, no matter how badly composed has been painted.

This afternoon we'll work, thank goodness, in the mall, so no outdoor work this afternoon. Back this evening.

This entry is insanely long, so I've cut it to pieces to save space on friends lists for those reading on livejournal. Yikes I need sleep, but it's been a darn good entry to get down. Sometimes writing about things as they happen helps me work through things much better than keeping it all to myself. What's more therapeutic than writing it down, and oddly for me, and along this experience here at The Seeing Eye, sharing it with others has been very useful.

The day started out a rainy, gross, misty, and generally soupy day. I wasn't looking forward to it because of the forecasts of scattered showers for the whole day. When it rains here, unless it's a hurricane, thunderstorm, or tornado, we go out. I haven't been here during a snowstorm though I came once right after one, but I think that unless it's a b lizard and they haven't ploughed sidewalks, you work too. So, consequently, a train and bus trip wasn't on the top of my "want to do" list this morning, especially because I knew that we had to wait in unsheltered areas for short periods, hopefully.

( first strip )

( afternoon trip )

Just a note, I've been writing this entry from a bit after dinner time (6:00) until now, about 10:00. The quality will probably suffer as I continue, but I feel like I really need to write, so I'm going to continue to push through.

( The Vet Visit )

( Harness assembly and Fiona transition )

( The Night Trip )


And with that, and a long entry behind me, I need to rest and recover. Perhaps tomorrow will be a soggy yet good day. Maybe it won't be soggy, but somehow I doubt that will be the case. I know one eventuality that will happen, and that will be the calling of my soft bed.

Before I go into today, behold ... pictures of me and Velvet. These images aren't resized. Perhaps once they are uploaded, I can make scrapbook resize them when you view them, but for now ... they could be a bit large. But maybe I've fixed it.

( Click here to view )
Today went well for the most part. Velvet didn't eat any bread rolls off the table, the food continues to be good, and for the most part, my last solo went well. I remembered the route, and Velvet did well, but she ran a street that looked like a driveway to her. Luckily, we didn't get killed, so all was well.

We continue to have problems as we enter the street. Jim says this is normal, and that since she'd gotten traffic checks before, some of them close, that she has been hesitating, sometimes to the point that I'm having to coax her with praise and lots of pats out into the street. I know that it's safe, so now we just have to get her confidence up that I will be safe if we cross when it's safe. It will happen soon enough, but it's still hard for me to deal with. I knew that I would have a time where I it wouldn't be perfect and easy ... every new student has these times ... but I was still hoping it would be perfect. Not that fast I suppose :), but life hasn't always been that easy for me all of the time. We'll make it through, but for now, I try to think of the positives.

In the afternoon after going on the solo, we went into RightAid (Spelling probably incorrect) and we tried her out around isles, in a small crowd, and at a counter. Once we got to RightAide, she performed perfectly. She even did well on the way back from there, making the crossings with not much hesitation. Tomorrow, we may be doing busses and trains which is always fun and helps to excite the dog a bit.

We had a veterinarian lecture tonight which I thought would be a bit on the boring side, but was actually informative--to ma. I asked several questions, which probably prolonged the meeting a bit, but I hope that they were not only helpful to me, but also were ones that others might have wondered about. We learned lots about flea, tick, and heart worm preventative, along with that other favorite topic of ours, bones and toys, and many things I'm too tired to recount here. The main thing I took home is that it's very important to keep up our dog's health, and, since we're trusting in their eyesight so much, have their eyes checked by a veterinarian opthamologist regularly. I didn't do that with Fiona, but didn't know that veterinarian opthamologists even existed, so now I know. My vet told me about a cataract she had developed about six months ago, and I wonder if I'd have found out sooner by seeing a specialist. Again, I guess these lectures are there to help us to relearn and remember things we've forgotten or newly found or researched stuff that wasn't known for our last dogs.

My room smells like a tack foom now. I put on the first coat of oil on my new harness and leash this afternoon, and I was surprised to experience that the oil brought that charactaristic leathery smell you get with new leather. The only problem with the oil is that it's thin and ... well ... oily, and it's hard to get off of your hands and clothes if you spill it on them. It's hard to keep off of your hands though, so you just deal with it. Without a good oiling, these leather things are less resistant to water, and they tend to crack and break down before they should. You're supposed to be able to oil your harnesses periodically, and I know you can, but I never did in the ten years I worked Fiona.

Well, that's all I can think of now, plus, it's getting really late. More soon.

( Menu )

Today was a good day, it was a tiring one opf course, but what day isn't tiring in the dog training marathon that seems to be my experience here at The Seeing Eye.

We ran two runs of the Elm Street Route, and they went ok. The morning run seemed to go better than the afternoon, but that was not because I didn't understand where I was going, but because we had some unscripted traffic checkes in a crazy intersection, and that made Velvet extra-cautious. There were portions in the afternoon route where I had to coax Velvet into the intersection to get her to cross. This whole coaxing thing is really a hard call to make though for this reason. The dogs are taught to intelligently disobey the "forward" command, or the command that makes the dog go forward. If it doesn't look safe from the dog's point of view to cross--if the dog is concerned with traffic--they just won't plain cross. Since the instructor was there and since I thought it was safe, we knew that she was just a bit shy about the busy street, so we coaxed her onto the crossing. This whole process is very hard for Velvet to deal with, so I used a lot of hugs, pats, and praise to lift her spirits so that she would work for me effectively and not grudgingly. I know that once we finish the solo on this route tomorrow and go to freelance, she'll pick up her step and prick up her ears simply because we'll be going to new places and not just retracing our steps over and over again. It's boring for the humans, and boring for our canine friends too. It's a necessary part of the process though, so we'll tolerate it.

I got a call from DSCR today on the way back from first trip. They wanted forms filled out and filled out quickly plus they wanted a transcript. I can't figure out why they needed a transcript, but I sent it aby email anyway. The nurse on duty was nice enough to help me fill out the simple "are you a criminal? etc. etc." forms, and then she was nice enough to fax them to the main headquarters of HR. Man, the people here at The Seeing Eye are so nice. Anything that they can do to keep you happy and productive in class, they'll do it, even if it has nothing to do with dogs. I think I'm one step closer to getting an offer, at least I hope that's the case.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but last week midway through class, the place on my face that sometimes gets numb without notice got numb. It's not a good time for it to do this, because I don't want something medically screwy to happen to me while I'm training because I want to go home on time and with my dog. The numbness radiates from the upper top right lip and into my right nostril. It doesn't effect my work at all, but it's highly annoying, and I feel like I'm slobbering out of the right side of my mouth. Envision being numbed by your dentist 24 hours a day. The numbmess this time versus last, is being accompanied by a slight tooth ache. If I were home, I'd go to the dentist, but I think it's more trouble than it's worth for now. They didn't figure out what was causing it before, so I hope next week when I go home that I can get some answers. Anyway, my mouth is still numb, and my tooth still hurts, so it's very annoying and painful.

Anyway, back to dogs. I was so tired this afternoon, that I almost wished I hadn't decided to accept the invitation to speak to the Orientation and Mobility instructors, but it turned out well. The three of us fellow class members talked for about an hour or so about why we got our dogs and why we chose The Seeing Eye. I thought about writing about why I chose The Seeing Eye and to get a dog, but I'm getting to the point where I am getting too tired to type, so I think I'll forgo that for another day. They didn't ask too many questions, but I think that the three of us did enjoy the whole thing. Tomorrow they will be able to actually work a dog, and from what I've heard from other instructors I've talked to, that's a really neat experience.

I'll start by talking about the good parts of dinner. We had stuffed chicken breast, sauteed vegetables with a dinner roll. Concentrate if you will on THE DINNER ROLL. Usually, we work our dogs down to the dining room and our particular tables with our harnesses. When we get to our table, we push our dogs under the table, and put their noses facing outward from the table. I was having issues with getting Velvet under, so it took me longer than usual to push her under. Apparently, she saw the dinner roll on the bread plate on the table because as I was turning her around to push her under, she decided she really wanted that roll. The next thing I knew, she had her front feet on the table and the whole roll was in her mouth. Ten years of managing a dog has given me really quick hands, so I was able to get the roll out before she ate it, but I was still pretty shaken, because I've never had a dog do that to me when I was holding her leash. Fiona's always been really sneaky, but Veltet? No. I scolded her, and one of the instructors said I did good, and that I didn't let her win, and that it was ok. He came over a bit after and told me to go down and give her love and hugs because she looked very very sad. Dogs are amazing, because once I petted her and got on the floor with her, she was all waggy and happy. I just hope she learned a lesson because paws on the table will not be allowed at my house.

( on picking up poop, how do I do that? )

We got our new harnesses tonight. We're supposed to oil the leather much like you do with saddles, but we thing I've got the wrong size of harness for my dog, so I have to wait to get the right side before I oil and clean it. It will take three coats of oil, so I hope to get it sooner rather than later. The harness I'm using now with Velvet is an old one that's been used before by other dogs. They give us old harnesses so that we can work our dogs quickly rather than being harnessless for a while. They are simple to put together, but they take time to "break in". I still ahven't given up Fiona's harness, so I have three harnesses hanging on my door. It looks like a tack room here in my room. I think I'll be able to handle giving up Fiona's harness soon, but I just can't do it yet. It's just hard.

So that's about all I can think of or have energy enough to write about. Perhaps with starting freelance, I'll feel better tomorrow night. I hope my tooth gets better over time ... if it gets worse, I'll be forced to see a dentist here. More soon.

( menu )

I don't think I've been this tired or achy since I last came to The Seeing Eye. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, and my joints are stiff. I'm not complaining, because this pain, this discomfort, is important. It's something that I can refer to as progress. I know for one thing, Velvet's currently laying on her mat fast asleep, and I'm not too far behind her. This entry won't be long, because it's late, and because I keep getting phone calls from people I want to talk to. It seems every time I lay down to try to sleep, my phone rings, and I'm up another half an hour. So I'll write a more complete entry tomorrow.

Today went well. We started the Elm Street Route which, as I said previously, wasn't too hard for me. It's got some difficult intersections with somewhat unpredictable traffic patterns, but otherwise, it's easily memorizable. We did it twice today, and we'll do it two more times before soloing on Wednesday morning. On my first trip, I got about three traffic checks which were all unscripted, and which Velvet handled really well. One idiot pulled in front of me, blinkers off, and Velvet stopped before Jim even saw her pull across. Fun stuff. After those Elm Street trips, we retrains start the real fun of training ... freelance. Freelance is where we get to do things like working in stores, finding doors and exits, going into New York City, riding busses and trains, and that kind of thing. These are things that you generally plan to do in your daily routine, and they really test how your dog will do in those situations and teach you how to work your dog in them as well.

( The meeting, and how I almost jumped off of a nonexistent cliff )

We've got orientation and mobility instructors coming here tomorrow to experience The Seeing Eye and it's training process. They're all basically learning how to be O&M instructors--to teach blind people how to get around using various aids like canes--and The Seeing Eye pays for their trips and for them to be able to work with a dog. They asked me bo be one of the three retrains that will be aon a panel to answer questions from these soon-to-be teachers. I'm kind of excited actually, and will be looking forward to hearing what they all have to say. We also get to have lunch and dinner with them as well, so perhaps we'll get to know them a bit before they leave on Wednesday afternoon.

Well, I've written much more than I had planned, so I'm headed to bed. Tomorrow, I'll write about other random facts and observations I've had with my training. I'll also try to explain just how I can pick up after my dog. It's fascinating, and I promise, won't be that gross. I also want to rant about people who use their cel phones and cut you off while you're trying to do a route. So all of those things and more tomorrow, if I can survive waking up for park time tomorrow morning.

And, to annoy those who like being annoyed, and to anhunger those who wish they were eating what I ate today ...
( The menu )

I'd forgotten how "lazy" Sundays here at The Seeing Eye are. We got to "sleep in" until 6:30, at which time they bring the feed to us, and then we take the puppies out to park. Then everything, our schedules like lunch and breakfast etc., is delayed an hour. Unless there are other circumstances, we don't have to go on any trips besides trips downstairs to park our dogs.

( A quick note on parking )

So I really didn't do anything today but play with and hang with Velvet all day and sleep. I feel like a Grandpa these days as I've been getting up really early and going to bed around 8 or a bit after. I doubt my schedule will recover ... mentally I doubt it will ... but I know from experience that slowly, it will moderate if the dog lets you that is. If you, like myself, have a dog that likes to wash your face early in the mornings, plan on throwing away all of your alarm clocks, because your dog will--like clockwork--arouse you with kisses and an urgently wagging tail. If this alarm clock fails you, you could have ... um ... problems. This morning didn't greet me with a face washing, but I did sleep until 5:34, which is better than I usually do (I usually wake up at 5:00 on normal days, giving me enough time to get dressed before we have to run downstairs).

We had an opportunity to go to church today, but I chose not to go since I didn't want to leave my dog by herself. Next week, they'll let us go with our dogs to church, and I may do that--I haven't decided.

Tomorrow, we'll be starting a new route, something they call the Elm Street Route. Let's just hope there won't be too many nightmares along the way. As far as I can remember it, the route isn't too onerous for us humans, but is challenging for the pups. We shall see tomorrow.

I've continued having fun talking to the kitchen staff and my table mates in Spanish. I'm starting to get more of it back. What a deal! I'll get a new dog, and have a chance to brush up on my Spanish at meal times. Love it!

I got a message from the Pres of teh Seeing Eye. He was very appreciative of me reporting the problems with the intercom. He said that the new interface box probably wasn't shielded as good as it should have been byt he maker, and that he'd call them and get them out here to shield it as to not have this problem again. There's one thing about the Seeing Eye that I really enjoy, and it is that they really listen to their graduates. I love the fact that they listen to our suggestions and complaints. It's us that they serve, and in my humble opinion, they do a great job, and this is a good example of such. I'm sure that the system will eventually get fixed, even if I'm not here when it's operational. Though I was embarrassed, it was good to know that they still listen to the students.

Lunch today was pork medallions with pear sauce, and dinner was a hot pastrami sandwich. Both were extremely tasty, as usual.

, time for me to hit the sack so I can be ready to feed and water my puppy. I also have to be somewhat awake so I can do the other part of my morning ritual, talking with a couple of the guys in the lounge while sipping on a hot chocolate. More soon.

An oh ... last but not least. A big welcome to those at The Morristown Green who has picked up my "blog" for publication during my stay at the Seeing Eye. I don't know if this is a good thing--I can be a boring writer--but it's an honor to bring this experience to a wider audience in the greater Morristown, NJ area. This is still my journal, and I'm still writing this stuff down to keep everyone abreast of what's going on here (family, friends, and others), but it's also here to help me remember the experience. Nothing will change as to how I write this, it just might be read by more people than usual. Again ... welcome.

More soon.

I decided to go out in the Mens' lounge to write this entry. Part of The Seeing Eye experience is a social one. It's necessary to remove yourself from your room occasionally, bring your dog along, and either talk about what went right or wrong about your experience, what's annoying you, or just relaxing after your long trips. So though I'm the only one in the lounge now, and though it's late, I'm here so I can get out of my room. Plus, there's a nice couch here that I can use.

Today and yesterday have been absolutely insane as far as working the dogs. Yesterday, we ran the Maple South route twice. I did well yesterday, and psyched myself out for today, where we ran the route solo. In most cases, when you do a route with an instructor, they stick with you. There job at first, is to walk close by your right shoulder and out of the dog's view. This way they can not appear as an obstacle (the dog walks on the left side of you in most cases), and they can still give you cues and tips on what you can do more efficiently or better to help the dog work with you more effectively. They also tell you things like the layout of the route, what streets are coming up, things like that. On a normal route, you do it three times or so with instructor help, but each time you do the route, the instructor helps less. Then, the first Saturday comes, and it's your job to solo the route.

Soloing is not graded. It's not a test. They won't, and haven't, kicked anyone out because they did the route better or worse than someone else. The solo offers an opportunity to increase your confidence with and trust in the dog while allowing the instructor to observe you and fix problems that might happen at home. My solo went reasonably well. Velvet made a few mistakes, but she didn't run me into anything at all. The only mistakes happened with turns, and not going up to curbs. Part of these things could have been my fault, but I think what I need to do is be more cognizant of where I am and where I am going. I also need to communicate to Velvet where I want to go. Sometimes, I don't know where I want to go and that seems to confuse her and make life hard for both of us. I forgot, for instance, that I was on the last lap. my instructor If Jim hadn't told me to "suggest right" to get to the van, I would have gone too far. Thank goodness for GPS is all I have to say.

Today we had no dog distractions, traffic checks, or simulated barricades. Yesterday however, was a different story. They brought out the Toyota Prias (don't know if I spelled that right), and tested the dog's and our reaction to that traffic. Priases are very quiet because they spend some time using gas, and some time using electric. When the car is in electric mode, it's whisper quiet, making it hard for us to hear where the car is ... that's where the dog comes in. Yesterday, Velvet did great with it all. Every day, I become more proud of the Velvet doggie. I may even start to call her the Velvenator, or maybe the Velvenatrix, because she amazes me at how cool she is. On the Maple South route, there's this really big lip in the sidewalk that could be a tripping hazzard for me. The first time I went on the route, I told Jim tha tI wanted her to stop at things like that so we showed her by having her sit down at the offending curb and praising her, that we wanted her to hesitate there. After a couple times of doing that, she's been stopping for the crack, and I have time to make sure my feet clear it. Amazing! Fiona did this too in most cases, but it still amazes me how cool these dogs are and how they do it all because theu love you and want to do things right.

We got access to this really nice walking trail they call the leisure path as well today. It gives us an opportunity to walk around with our dogs, and continues the bonding process. The instructors have to run the path with us to make sure that we can do it well with our dogs, and after that, we can use it during the day time. It's 1/3 of a mile, and a good little jaunt that's pretty mindless fo the human and the dog. Basically, it's a relaxing walk. After the solo this morning, and the leizure path this afternoon, I was glad to relax this afternoon though.

I did my laundry last night, and was glad I didn't have to fight the mass, or will have to fight the mass, when everyone wants to do laundry late on Sunday evening.

I used the amateur radio downstairs, probably for the last time in a while this afternoon. It seems as if I'm known for something every time I come to The Seeing Eye, and today was the day. ( Man, this is embarrassing )

We switched to a new place in the dining room today. This helps to not only socialize us with new people that aren't in our group, but it gives the dogs a chance to tolerate other dogs as well. I've got two of the Spanish speakers at my table, and me and another guy speak marginal Spanish, so I'm really enjoying speaking lots of Spanish. There really are some cool people in this class.

For another episode of Oh the things that Velvet does to make me smile. I was downstairs getting done with grooming Velvet. When we got done, she got really excited, as she does when I scratch the special spot on her butt, but this time she decided to get really excited and jump around like a jack-in-the-box. Then she decided to grab her leash like it was a tug-of-war toy, and we chased each other around the hall ... me trying to get her to let go of the leash (which was connected to her mind you), and her just trying to be extremely cute. I just got out of the deal more tired than I was before, which was pretty darn tired.

And that's about all I can handle to write about now. Tomorrow's a "no work" day, which will be nice. We even get an extra hour of sleep, but I'm staying up because Velvet didn't pee tonight at park, and so Jim's taking us out again to see if we can get her to pee so she doesn't pee on her mat because of the extra hour. I'll probably wake up at the same time, but who knows. I know I'm tired now, so I'm going to end it here, go outside, and head to bed. Mmmmm, bed will be nice.

After yesterday's travels, and our final trip along the simple Maple Ave. route, I wasn't tired. Today however ... well that's a different story.

Velvet really is a good worker. We traveled in an area that goes first through a residential area, and then into one of the main streets in town. I think that the route in total is about ten blocks ... not a hugely difficult thing to do. Throw in traffic checks, barricades placed purposely onto the middle of the sidewalk, and dogs placed just to create distraction areas for the guide to avoid, can and has made me tired. She did well avoiding the barricades and with some gentle verbal prompting got past the dogs. Traffic was a bit on the difficult side as she seemed to, at first, stop me too close to the traffic.

Out in the wild, I would normally avoid all audible traffic. We are taught to listen to traffic flow and respect it. The dogs aren't necessarily taught to actively listen for traffic, but they are taught to respect it. I don't know the fuill details on how they actually do this because I haven't experienced it, but I do know that when we got too close to the car which was driven by another instructor out of an alley or driveway, the instructor tapped Velvet lightly on the nose with a newspaper much like you might with a ... wait for it ... misbehaving dog. Because she'd been swatted every time we'd been checked, when the final check came on our final block, Velvet actually put us in reverse and actually turned away from the car. Dog seem to live in the moment yet they remember the important things, so after I really praised her, she continued to surge down the home stretch.

She's my second dog, and she ceases to amaze me as to how dogs are intelligent enough to actually figure this stuff out. It's amazing to me, for instance, that they can see well enough to go around holes and people talking on cel phones, slow for rough patches, and even remember the smell or look of the vans we use.

I've found that Velvet is a very sensitive dog toady--much less sensitive than Fiona. Pull too hard on her leash, and it really actually hurts her feelings--I really do believe dogs have rudimentary feelings--but a firmly stated "no" does the trick just as well if not better. I corrected her too hard with the leash today, and it took us ages to find the room afterwards because she'd lost focus and the drive to work with me. I felt really bad about it, so sat with her and petted her for a half hour or so until I felt like she was better. I just worry that I'm going to ruin the tentative bond we have, so I don't want to screw it up too badly. I fell like I should know this stuff ... that I should know how to work a dog ... but she's a new dog and every dog has a different personality, temperament, and sensitivity. She's still a good girl, and she still wags her tail when I come over and let her go between my legs, so I think we're back to where we started off, especially since the incident happened during lunch--a couple of hours before going on our second trip. She wouldn't have worked for me at all if it'd broken her spirit too much, but she worked superbly considering.

In the Velvet is Funny department. She was throwing her Nylabone around yesterday (she likes to throw her bone for herself), and it hit either the wall or the bedframe and shattered. I shouldn't say that it completely shattered it just broke in half, but for one of those plastic bones, that's pretty amazing. Any little bubble in the plastic creates a stresspoint, so that's what happened. No, Velvet isn't that strong or annoyed at me :). They say that this has happened before, and I should have a new one by later this afternoon.

Also, in the Velvet is hilarious Department ... We had strawberries and shortcake with whipped whipped cream for dessert today with our turkey club sandwiches--mmmm. I was bending my face down to get Velvet up and get her ready to go, and I guess I had a bit of whipped cream still on my face because Velvet licked it off for me, right there in front of everyone in the dining room. The person who was serving our table thought it was hilarious and cutem I more thought it was hilarious, cute, and a bit on the gross side.

We really had a great meeting last night. I enjoyed being able to talk, much like I enjoy writing, about my last guide. I didn't cry, but came close. I know that the Fiona chapter of my life isn't completely closed yet, but having a neat dog like Velvet really helps me get through it. I'm just glad I'll at least be able to see Fiona again when I get home.

Food, as I've said, continues to be good. It was fried eggs and bagles for breakfast this morning. I can't remember what's for dinner, but I'm sure it will contribute to at least some marginal weight gain in my future.

In all of this training, I fit some working on thesis time in, and I think that I've got it close to being done, and changes implemented from my thesis committee. It's all up to Bob my advisor to do his thing, because we've got to finish it by tomorrow ... or else.

That's about it for me. I need a nap, seriously ... and this isn't even finishing the first week. CRAZINESS!

I have about an hour until we need to go out again, so it should be plenty of time enough (I hope) to give an update on what's going here.

Yesterday and today, we went out on what they call here the Maple Route. It's the first route that everyone whether new at getting a dog from here or a second timer like myself goes with their new dog. It's not a particularly exciting route ... it's pretty much a straight shot down the street a few blocks, and then up the other side. It's designed so that we get to know our dogs and so that they get to know us. It's a good route, but this afternoon will be the last time and that'll be kind of neat. This morning's traffic lecture introduced traffic checks--a controlled traffic situation designed to test you and your dog on how they might react to traffic--and on this upcoming trip we get to experience traffic checks for the first time with our new dogs. Traffic checks always freak me out because the instructors do things like turning in front of us in a street crossing (as someone might do when they run a light), pulling out of driveways, etc. This is all to make sure that when we get out of this tightly controlled situation here at school, we can be safe if and when it happens to us out there. That doesn't mean it's not scary at times for both of us. The dogs have had lots of traffic training, so I'm sure it will be fine.

Velvet's been working very nicely lately. She seems to have lots of energy, and as we get along, she's gotten more playful. Velvet's favorite thing to do is run in circles between my legs as I scratch her butt. She does this while holding her nylabone, which seems kind of dangerous, especially as she's running around in circles with bone at face height. Silly puppy.

Food continues to be really good, but what else should I expect eh? Today we had ham and Belgian waffles for breakfast, and these really tasty Tuscan grilled cheese sandwiches (bread, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and basil) and minestrone for soup. Tonight will be simply Celestial for me with grilled ribeye steak for dinner. Crazy. We're having a meeting with the counsellor person here at the school tonight to talk about our experiences with getting a new dog after retiring another one, and I wonder if she's really coming for the steak. I'm really looking forward to the meeting. As the days go on (almost two days now) I notice how much Velvet is doing for me, a guy she doesn't even know, and I've come to terms with the fact that Fiona will be there for me when I get home, but for now Velvet is and will be my guide. I guess I"ll just have two best friends, and I'm ok with that. It will be good to talk about the whole experience though, and that's what this meeting's designed to do.

Another milestone and an exciting thing for us students--I can't say so for the others but I know I'm excited--is that we actually get to use our harnesses inside the dormitory starting today. This is a great thing because I won't have to worry about falling down the stairs as I heel, or have the dog follow, me. When I'm not using the harness--when I'm not holding the harness--the dog is not guiding me, and therefore ti's all me. But when they actually let us pick up the harness and have the dogs be at the helm as it were, it will be beneficial for us and the dog. The dog will feel, hopefully, as if they're bonding closer to us, and I'll be able to feel like I can trust Velvet. Everything--the training, the sequence of events such as when they les us work our dogs inside the dorms, is set out for a reason, and it's great coming back the second time because I understand this reasoning more completely. The next milestone I get to look forward to is getting to Let Velvet hang out in my room off leash. The won't happen for a while, but I'm sure she'll enjoy it. I'm sure that will introduce another challenge, that of keeping her from bounding on the bed as she's put her paws on the bed a time or two.

Another thing I forgot to mention. Velvet has three other sisters in class, Vixen, Vance, and Vegas. They're all v names, and that's because each letter is alphabetically named as they are born. I'm sure that it's hell when they get to the z litter :). From what I can tell from talking to their owners, all of the siblings act alike. I'm sure their personalities are all different, but it's kind of neat to know that Velvet's brothers and sisters made it through the intense program here.

The weather has been cool yet breezy ... nice jacket weather in the morning, and sweatshirt weather in the afternoon. This is much better than the gulleywasher we had on Monday.

I used the amateur radio equipment here last night. Though the band was completely (mostly I should say) dead, and though it took me about an hour to figure out the Kenwood in the radio shack desk, I've figured it out which will help me get back on the air at least.

And that's about all I can think of to write now. But there will be more, and it'll come soon.

P.S. Velvet is a really loud dreamer. She even growls when she dreams. I don't want to hear her for real barks and growls ... positively scary :).

Before I go to boring yet essential traffic lecture, I thought I'd write and say that an entry update as far as what's been going on will come when I have a break. We've got a trip into town (our third on this route), then lunch, then I should have some time to write. What I wanted to say mostly (and this is odd because I usually don't write this journal for the audience) but is to thank everyone whose commented so far. I've had a hard time finding time to write much less comment, but know I read them and love getting them. I'll write you all back when things calm down. They will.

More this afternoon.

It's almost like having a nwe child I suppose. On the first night, you're up later than you want to be, and every noise that the baby makes, you wake up. I did get to bed reasonably early--about nine--but kept waking up, first because there was a nose in my mouth and face at about 3:30, and then after that when Velvet made some crazy whiny "When are you going to feed me" noises. Good times. It was nice to not have to wash my face this morning--Velvet took care of that for me, then she threw her nylabone (by accident I hope) at me and it hit my head. Craziness.

We did one trip around the leisure path, a walking track that winds around the campus here. Every new dog team makes this trek. It's an easy one for the dog and the human, and the dogs like getting out. Velvet did well, and didn't run me into things on the first walk, so I guess that's the first step to ultimate exceptance. The Nylabone thing concerns me, but hey, this whole master doggie relationship is a two edged sword at times.

I got to groom her for the first time last night as well, and she seemed to tolerate it ok. I actually think that the grooming experience helped her to acept me more and start the bonding process.

I'm feeling a lot better than I was yesterday. I haven't stopped thinking about Fiona, but Velvet is such a sweet puppy that I can't help but to give her the respect and love that she deserves. It'll be neat to see Fiona again though for sure.

( There's nothing like the smell of parktime in the morning )
It's time for breakfast, so I need to go. I'll expound on this whole thing later.

I'm sitting next to Velvet, a black labrador and golden retriever cross. We're not good friends yet but I gioe we will soon be. She's been whining a bit so as I type, I have one hand on keyboard and one hand on her. More soon after a while.

I'm not sure whether I'd like to curl up into a ball and take a nap, or if I should just sit here and meditate as I write. I remember last time I got my dog, I was really nervous, but this time I'm past the point of nervous and almost to the point of being sick. I keep telling myself that I'll be ok, that I'll accpt this dog fully and unconditionally, but then I think of Fiona and that's what makes things hard. That, and they're bringing dogs down in about six minutes. I requested to be last to get my dog, not because I want to delay and make my wait more painful and hard, but because I think I just need a bit of time. I've got my door open, and I'm just waiting, remembering, and most importantly, getting ready for this new dog. It's not an enviable position to be in, but I hear that it's normal to be stressed out, and it could get worse as we actually train. At least this afternoon will be a time that I can get to know my dog. I know that there's no myth to the fact that dogs calm us all, and I'm hoping that my whole apprehensive attitude will change in the next few minutes. There's a guy whose in my group who is getting his fifth dog this time, and he tells me that "it'll be all right". I sincerely hope that is the case.

For the minute now, this place is heavy with anticipation and excitement. Some people are standing out in the hallway waiting, while others have holed up in their rooms. I'll be holed up.

And as I hear the first dog bark, I'll close. It's time!

So ends another day, and so it puts me one more day closer to meeting my new dog.

The dog handling session was pretty interesting. In our little group, we met three dogs: a yellow lab, a golden retriever, and a German shepherd. I was surprised at how well I was able to handle the dogs, even the more high strung ones. It was also helpful for me to meet these dogs because it got me more excited and warmed up to the idea that I would be getting a dog tomorrow. I still have moments where I think back on my time with Fiona and wish she would live forever and be able to work forever. Sometimes I worry about how the new dog will work, how I'll get along with him or her, how we'll interact. I worry that I'll compare him or her to Fiona, that I won't give her a fair chance to succeed as my guide. Meeting these three dogs helped me immensely. We didn't get to find out their names--mostly because my instructor had a possibility of placing these dogs into our class, and names here are top secret things only to be revealed the Monday after getting here.

Tonight was a "wine and cheese" social event. I spent part of my time playing on the extremely out of tune piano, but then couldn't stand it anymore and just sat down. Jose and Alfredo, two of the Spanish-speaking students sat by me, and once they found out that I could marginally speak Spanish, we had a great time chatting. It's really been neat to have these Spanish-speakers in class because not only do I get to remember Spanish, but they get to practice English as well. It's also neat to see how the training process works for these Spanish speakers, and it will be extra interesting to see how those students interact with their dogs.

The secret is out now. People know that I am pretty tech savvy, and that I have Windows Vista. So, since I like helping people, I was able to set up two laptops to work with the wireless internet here. I don't mind helping people at all with their computer problems ... I just hope they don't call me at 2 A.M. or something to ask for help. You never know, stranger things have happened :). I'm just glad I can help people out.

It's late now, mostly due to the fact that I stayed up and talked trash with one of the instructors and another guy in class (not my class), so I'm tired, and we're going to be required to get up (sleeping in mind you) until 6. I'd planned to go to bed earlyt, but since I'm actually doing something here unlike what I've been doing at home, I tend to stay up later.

( More doggie explanations about classes and tomorrow's plans )


Sleep calls.
( Today's gourmet from TSE )