It is Sunday...

It is Sunday.  About 11:00 AM.  About 1 month before we leave for the North East.  Not sure if I had posted this previously, but Mom's dog, Schatzie, was diagnosed with diabetes last October. 

Well, we have a pet sitter, and I have sang his praises in the past.  I still think he is good... but I now need him to take care of Schatzie while we are gone.  This is going to take extra effort on his part, since it is imperative that she gets her shots at the same time every day (twice a day, 12 hours apart). 

Well he came over last week to see me go through the routine, feed her, give her the shot, and then give her a glucosamine pill.  He only came over for the evening routine, which differs slightly from the morning routine.  He also had pizza.  Which George went out to pick up. (since I don't drive anymore, and it would cost about $7.00 more to deliver it)

While George was out, I proceeded to show him the shot, and basically the routine.  Which by the way, I have discussed with him many times, and he has assured me that I had nothing to worry about.

Until now.  Let me now tell you everything he had to say ... all of which was negative.  Totally negative...

His responses to my actions or what I said will be indented and in blue.

• I cook for Schatize.  She is diabetic, and when you buy the prepared dry food (all canine diabetic food is dry) she will not eat it.  She does not like it.  If she does not eat, she can not get a shot.  If she doesn't get a shot she gets sick... I can't make it any plainer than that.

•  Wayne said:  "Well this won't last, I can't tell you how many clients I have that have tried this...."  (pointing at the container of food I prepared) "and they get tired and go back to feeding canned food."

          I explained that this was not a choice I had... If I didn't cook, she didn't eat.  I also explained (patiently at this point) that Schatzie could not eat canned food.

• At this point, I am buying the ingredients, and preparing Schatzie's meal, and storing the ingredients and the finished product in the freezer.  This is taking up a lot of space.  However, at the appointment that we have for Schatzie this week with Dr. Martin, I will ask him if she seems to be doing well, and if her Fructosimide blood test comes back good, I will be buying a freezer, so that I have the room to store everything.     

• Wayne said:  "Oh that is very smart, you will be gone during hurricane season, what if the power goes out?  Then what do you think will happen? Last time a hurricane went through, the power was out here for over a week."

Needless to say I was starting to get frustrated, so I said, "...call us, and we will take care of it, until we get home, you will be able to handle this."  That was just responded to by a shrug.  So the next thing I said was "...well then my only solution is why don't you just cook for her every day... how is that?

• Needless to say I went to get the needle, and the insulin, and fill the needle.  Schatzie is on a fairly high dose of insulin twice a day, 35cc's.  I told him that it is best if he fills the needle each time he gives her a shot, since the solution will settle if you pre-load the needle and take them out as you need it.  I show him how not to shake the bottle, and make sure it stays cold, so don't leave it out on the counter, and that he needs to be careful, because the bottle/vial made of glass will break if it falls on the tile.

• Wayne says:  "Oh boy she takes a very large amount of insulin, cats only take 1 cc.  You better have enough insulin here for me, so I don't run out."

While I was explaining how to mix up the insulin, not to shake it because it will cause bubbles, and destroy the integrity of the insulin... he was more focused on amount of insulin I was filling the needle with.

• I started to give Schatzie the shot, and she whimpered a little, which is not all that unusual.  I tried to explain to him that you have to inject the needle slowly, because the insulin is cold, and it is less painful.  The best thing to do is to count and you should be finished between 10 and 15 seconds.

• Wayne says:  "She cried because you were awful close to her spinal cord.  You have to be careful of that."  I started to tell him " I wasn't close to her spinal cord, because you give the injection under the skin.  You pick up a handful of skin, and insert the needle (which happens to be very short, btw) below your thumb, so you are no where near her spinal cord."  Wayne seemed annoyed by this and responds immediately with "I watched you, you started with the needle horizontally, and when you were finished the needle was vertical.  That means it was injecting her spinal cord.  That is a very sensitive area on animals, and you want to stay away from there."

 At this point I have had enough...  George is out getting the pizza, and my patience is gone, finished, non existent.  Basically I have moved on to think, what can we do...should we kennel her?  Should I find another pet sitter?  Should I take her with me?  Should I cancel my trip?

• Wayne then asks me:  "What time is her last walk?"  So I said "9:30 / 10:00 at night.  You have lee way on that."  Wayne then buries his face in his hands, and says, "Well that just isn't going to work!  I have another client on the other side of Oviedo, who has their last walk at 10:00.  If I have to be here at 7:30 to give a shot and a walk, then at the other place at 9:30/10:00 to walk that dog, then back here to walk Schatzie, I might as well camp out here.  I just don't know how this is going to work.  And I have to be here at 7:30 in the morning to give her a shot...?  I just don't know how this is going to work.  September is filling up quickly, which is not a bad thing... I just don't know how this is going to work."

To say I remained silent only responding to him a few times when I had to, is a pretty honest statement.  To me, he was looking for any reason not to take this job.  Unfortunately for him, that means he is losing a customer, and a helper for when he is over loaded with work.  George has covered for him over the last few months, and Wayne owes him over $500.  A credit we have been carrying to go against what he would charge us when we went away this year. 

We have been using him for over 10 years.  We have recommended him to others, we have helped him on various occasions and not just in reference to pet sitting.  Not to mention the fact that we told him about Schatzie as soon as she was diagnosed, we told him about this trip to NY in September in December of last year.    


George said I am obsessed, and I am getting upset over nothing.  Maybe I am, but none the less, I have to live with this.  I am not going to be a very pleasant wife or vacationing partner for him, if this is not addressed with in the next two weeks.


All I can say is if I am being an ass hole...so be it, then I will shut down, and you know what happens when the ass hole shuts down.  I am planning the whole trip.  I have contacted everyone.  Set up the itinerary.  Scheduled all the appointments.  At any point in time, I can just as easily stop...  he can go if he wants to.  I will stay home.  I can be a real ass hole... watch me...








 

A new beginning...

Here I am 53 years old, retired because of a medical disability.  I am not complaining.  Not at all.  I am not rich in the monetary sense, but I think I am rich in other ways.  I have a good husband, who loves me and I love him, and we have the same values.  We have a nice home, we have good friends, and we have good family.  Those are things you can't buy with money, except for maybe the house.  However, you can't buy a home. 

We are planning our next yearly trip to the Northeast.  Why the Northeast you might ask, to visit family.  Mom would come with us in the past, in fact she made 3 trips up north with us, out of 4.  We will miss her this year.

We were going to stop in Baltimore to see the Red Sox play the Orioles, but we planned this trip late, and there weren't that many good seats left.  So we decided not to go.  We were also thinking of going to Colonial Williamsburg.  Will not work this year.  We can always plan that maybe next year by itself. 

This year we are going to the Steuben Day Parade in NYC.  When I was younger we would do this every year with my Dad.  It was one of our trips to "Meca" so to speak.  I think Mom was looking forward to going also. 

Our friend Hans Jurgen gave us a bunch of stuff for my car.  Flags and what not, that will adorn the Volkswagen on our trip into NYC on the 17th.  I will be sure to post lots of pictures.  I am really looking forward to going.  I am hoping that a lot of relatives will be going with us.  We could possibly go to the Plattdeutche Park Restaurant on Sunday, but it is usually soooooo packed with people, it may not be worth it.  I know last year it was.

So those are the big plans I have coming up.

Kind of sad all the changes that have happened recently.  Mom passed, Mathie passed, Wesley passed.  Lot's of big changes.  But I guess that is part of life.  It just kind of happened all at once for us. 

Well, I am planning on ending this year with a bang.  A good bang.  It started pretty sad, and just kept going from there.  Now we have a chance to turn it around.  The economy is pretty bad, and the people in Washington are pretty worthless, more than usual.  But the things that they can't effect, like losing family, and long time companions (Mathie and Wesley) showed me that they really don't really count unless you let them.  I don't plan on letting them hurt us this year.  We have had our share.  We really have.  I plan on proving how insignificant they are... to the best of my ability.