Fur Daughter Recovery

On Friday afternoon as I was getting ready to have the dog take me for a walk there was a change of plans. When she got up from her nap beside me at the computer she was having difficulty standing up as her hind legs weren't working right and she was walking to one side. She didn't appear to have any pain but a very confused look on her face and readjusted her stance wider as if she was walking on ice. I took her outside to see if her leg was just asleep and she fell down repeatedly. Almost brought tears to my eyes. Her back, hip and legs seemed in alignment and there were no tender spots though so I was thinking in terms of a CVA (cerebral vascular accident or stroke) or TIA (transient ischemic attack or mini stroke). I called the vet who was booked for the rest of the day but was given an appointment for the next morning. The receptionist was very kind but said "well, she is an old dog if she's 10" and I took exception to that as she is still very puppy-like. I went for a solo walk which just felt lonely and had myself psyched up for all kinds of bad decisions as fur children are part of the family. Within two hours however the symptoms had completely subsided and she was her usual self without the bemused look. She did get to spend the night (even though it wasn't inclement) in the mudroom though. The morning was a very tense trip (as she has panic attacks in a vehicle) to the vet who checked her very thoroughly and diagnosed a bone/soft tissue misalignment similar to a slipped disc in humans. If it reoccurs and doesn't settle spontaneously she'll prescribe prednisone (popular Rx for critters) but it may never happen again. So the transport was more stressful than the news.

After that intense news here is a great link for a smile - also known as 'fractured English'. I shouldn't be too smug though as I don't have a great command of Mandarin myself:

http://www.engrish.com/

Speaking of world travels, this weekend in the travel section of the newspaper I found an article by Nicholas Rapp. He is traveling around the world having made the trip from New York to Buenos Aires putting his Land Cruiser on a boat to South Africa, flying across to pick it up and now making his way north headed for the Middle East. Here is the link to his blog:


http://transworldexpedition.com/

As well as adventuring vicariously through him, you can also donate $ for gas through PayPal to assist with his trip. My favorite quote of the paper article was in reference to what kind of gun did he carry? "well, I have no gun. I keep pepper spray handy, but running away when I need to is still my best plan" which surely translates no matter which country you find yourself in eh?

The men in my life are having travel adventures today as well, not necessarily as exotic as Asia or Africa or even that unusual in this household but....

I was awoken at 8 a.m. - on a Sunday which happens to be my day off - to the sounds of two middle aged men sounding like two kids getting ready to go outdoors and play. Which they were as they readied themselves for the trek (hopefully) in to camp. Due to the extreme flooding and road closures they had been unable to access the recreation property and I have spent my four of my five days off providing B&B services. This morning the road closure sign had been removed as apparently the bridges had been inspected and cleared and they were in high spirits. The prep required several calls to the prodigal son who hadn't found his way home last night but apparently was on his way to the shore from 'wherever' to work on lobster gear. There were accusations of missing ramps to load the 4wheeler and gas cans, wet clothing and towels found in the buddy seat from the son's trip in to camp in October while we vacationed western parts and several calls to the accused. The preparations took over an hour, a good lot of the groceries and baking from here, made lots of mess with the mud and sticks tracked in on the boots and lots of reminding required from moi "do you have newspaper to start a fire etc?". I was pretty excited myself to see the back of them but I was more into making sure if they were able to access the camp, they didn't forget anything essential and actually stayed there until Tuesday as planned. I handed over the waterproof camera for documentation of the flooding, wished them well and smiled as I watched the truck, two 4wheelers and camo clad lads exiting the driveway in the sunshine.The plan is that they'll either be back within a few hours or not home for two days. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

A few moments later as I was enjoying a cup of tea and the newspaper,  the phone rang. It was the only son asking for the plant employee's phone number as he had run out of gas just past this fellow's house on the way home. Why he hadn't chosen to get gas last night on his way to 'wherever' is a mystery. Thankfully he was rescued on his way shortly, not requiring a maternal pickup this time. Ahhh.

Well since my walking partner is up to speed having been taken on a test run yesterday we should be off. I find it hard to concentrate while those sad brown eyes are staring at me and the large sighs are issuing beside me.

Back to work tomorrow for two LDs but I won the lottery when the ward clerk phoned yesterday to ask if I'd like to have Wednesday night off as there were too many staff. This is not a question usually asked of me as I am only third from the bottom of the seniority list and the time off question is seniority list down but...the most senior staff asked declined and the other was actually a newer hire. Of course I'd rather have a day shift than a night off but....beggars cannot be choosers and I'll take having the time versus being paid out. Here's a link which I've copied from Facebook so I hope it works which captures a bit of the nursey stuff:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1285733963202&comments&ref=mf

Not sure if you have to be on Facebook to access it or not.