Elka updates.

Elka's foot has healed, so she's going into daycare tomorrow and Friday; then returning to a Tuesday/Friday routine.

Awesome.

I had the home visit from Golden Bond yesterday; it went very well, except that the senior golden the lady brought with her was not really pleased with Elka's puppydom. I got Elka under control and all was well. It was a great lesson for her and she was exhausted from the mental stimulation.

I did let the daycare know about the fostering situation, and they just said to be careful about aggression issues; that if Elka got attached by a dog at this stage, it could be very damaging for her mentally.

The foster system for GB is really good, so I'm not worried about that at this stage.

Good times, good times. I think I may take a drive into Portland tomorrow and check out Seahorse - one of the reef stores around here. It's a bit of a hike but with Elka in daycare, it gives me time to do so without worrying about her.

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Golden Bond Rescue

A few weeks ago I put in an application to foster for Golden Bond Rescue. This morning, the foster coordinator called me to let me know the application was good and that in the next 10-12 days, I'd hear from someone local about a home visit. They need to see I have a fence and a good, dog-friendly house, and meet everyone that would be living with the foster.

Of course, I have a new fence; a totally social puppy, and two crazy cats. I expect the home visit will go swimmingly =) They bring a dog as well to see how my current residents do. I'm only a little concerned with Elka's handling of a new person in the house; she's been going through a "I don't like new people in my house" stage - but she'll be fine with another dog. Silly puppy.

It was a good way to wake up. Oh, and I've also decided that, unless I just can't separate with one of my fosters, my next dog will be a Tamaskan. It's a new breed - with the main goal to make it look like a wolf with no actual wolf content:

Known for its wolf like apperance, the Tamaskan Dog has no wolf content, contrary to popular rumour. The Tamaskan is sweet natured and good with children and small pets, this has made them a favourite with UK wolf lovers. Tamaskan dogs are highly intelligent and need constant mental stimulation, with the correct training they can excel in obediance, agility and even heelwork to music as well as their original function as a sled dog.

They sound perfect, no? There's a breeder about 15 minutes away, actually, who is having a planned breeding in Winter, 2009; so hopefully I can get a puppy through her once they're read. There are only 4 registered Tamaskan breeders in the US, so this could be quite a hard quest.

Exciting times, whee!

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Important Lessons

Tonight I learned some important lessons:

• Lifting a 37" tube television is hard not just because of weight, but because of bulk
• Lifting such a thing is possible
• Lifting such a thing is possible if one considers that it is much different to lift something momentarily to waist high than it is to lift such a thing above one's head.
• Attempt such shenanigans before moving the really heavy dresser that you can't get the tv on because you'd have to lift the tv above your head - before moving said heavy dresser.

A single woman such as myself can accomplish many things - but getting this tv onto a full-sized tall dresser is not one of them.

Oh, and lastly?

• Attempt this before drinking two glasses of wine.

That is the end of tonight's adventure. I now have a television on a bedside table (as opposed to a really tall dresser) so that I can watch a movie from bed. To get it up higher I'm going to need about 5 minutes of help.

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I love Freecycle!

So, I get emails as they're sent into Freecycle for my area. Occasionally some gems show up. Yesterday a 37" working television showed up, and it was only 10 minutes away. The catch? The remote is missing.

I picked it up and the two gals loaded it into my car. It's a tube television, so it's big and heavy. Today I managed to get it from my garage into my bedroom by carefully rolling it.

I dug out my unused PS2 and its cables, and brought it in. Hooked everything up and 'lo and behold, I could watch movies in my bedroom!

So, this evening I called Verizon and ordered a standard definition set top box. It's $6/year, and the tv is only standard def, so that's fine. This is pretty awesome; depending how much I watch,j I'll probably upgrade and get a plasma to mount in the bedroom. For now though, this is going to cost me almost nothing for a working solution.

Lovin' it!

Elka gets the bandages of Saturday - it did turn out to be a wart. I'm pretty tempted to not go back to the dog park with her. 2x/week to daycare, and she's great at home with me getting 2x walks/day. The daycare checks the dogs and monitors them and it's a safer environment than the park. I could set up playdates for her here. Of course, I personally enjoyed the dog park, so meh. It's almost winter anyway; we'll see. I may ask my vet about it, but that's certainly where she got the wart - from a dog at the park with one.

I'm lovin' work; have felt much more productive since my vacation, which I really did need. The reef is working out - currently working through some cyano issues, but we'll get through that, no problem.

Still waiting to hear from Golden Bond about my foster application. There's a golden at Bonnie Hayes that I've been sorely tempted to go meet, but it has some already known skin conditions, and with Elka's foot and her training still underway - I don't think it's the right time. Still, I do think about him a lot.

But things have really settled here. Elka is fantastic and life is relatively calm. I kind of want to savor this before I bring in more chaos.

Mom visiting for Thanksgiving, looks like. Tuesday-Tuesday, taking advantage of my 2 days off.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

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Site updates, Elka updates, others? Maybe!

First - last Friday an infected bump was found on Elka's toe. The daycare thought it was a wart, my vet thought it was a foreign-body infection. Antibiotics and medicated shampoo haven't helped - it's gotten bigger. Today Elka stayed in for a biopsy. She wouldn't stay settled for the biopsy with light sedation so she's being put under gas anesthetic. The major protrusion is being removed and being sent in for analysis - the swelling is staying. I hated leaving her there today. :(

I got a Deltec MCE600 and Aquaclear 500 set up on the reef and it looks a hundred times better, though needs some major fine-tuning. I've never used a skimmer before, so this is a big step. A happy one.

I've been getting a lot of manual spam on here, so now, comments by guests go into moderation. If you're logged in, the comment goes live immediately. So register if you want to comment regularly, which I'd love for you to do.

I have all new appliances in my kitchen and they look groovy. Also new light fixtures and a new fan.

Mali is doing well, as is Kayne.

I have a huge, nice desk finally in my loft and it doesn't look so desolate.

Work is going great.

It's sunny out! At least for now.

That's all, I think. =)

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