January 26, 2005

January 26, 2005

C.A.R.E. Centre & Livingston, Texas

DAY 222

 

Today was another beautiful day. When we drove through town early this afternoon, the temperature display on the bank read 78° .

Today was one of the more satisfying days of our time here at C.A.R.E.. We spent the day doing things for participants that actually had some impact on their well being and welfare. Of course, every thing we did today was behind of the backs of the Centre's administrators. I started with my dog nail clipping clinic. I was going to conduct this clinic at a preset time, in the parking lot, but that proved impractical, so I just went from rig to rig of the people who expressed a desire / need to have their dog's nails clipped. I started with Rudy's dog Cody ( fat stupid dog ! ). No problem, Cody flips over on his back to have his ample belly rubbed whenever I approach him. OK ... rub, rub, clip ... rub, rub, clip. Next it was over Warren and his fat lab, Sheila. These old folks must be feeding their dogs a bit too much ! Sheila was jumping all over me until Warren put a hand gently on her head, and she calmed right down and sat still while I clipped her nails. Another one, no problem.

I diverted over to Arley's, because Joanne was going over to see him about something, and she had asked me to come over and attempt to reprogram Arley's TV satellite channel selections for him. Well ... OK ... an hour and a half later, I managed to finish deleting the 2 channels he wanted deleted. A manual would have helped. They sure don't make electronics very intuitive to work with these days.

By then it was noon, and time to head into town with Rodney, for lunch at Texas Pepper. Rodney had presented us with a gift certificate to this restaurant a week or so ago, in appreciation for walking Ginger 3 times a day for him. We had an excellent lunch in this Tex-Mex restaurant. Over lunch, we discussed how best to have Ginger's needs attended to after Joanne and I are gone. We don't want to involve the Centre in these discussions, because they will just "strong arm" Rodney into parking Ginger at a kennel, as they did before Christmas. At Rodney's urging, starting about a week ago, we changed from walking Ginger three times a day, down to twice a day. Rodney thought that if Ginger could be conditioned to needing to go out only twice a day, it would make things easier all around. With only one "accident", the very first day, Ginger has adapted. So ... we are going to ask one of the semi-permanent volunteers, who has three dogs of her own, if she will undertake to walk Ginger every morning. Rodney has difficulty with the coolness of the mornings. For Ginger's evening outing, I proposed Rodney put her out, outside the rig, on a tie-out, and just leave her outside for 5 or 10 minutes. He thought that was probably workable, so as soon as we returned, I set up a tie out outside his motorhome for Ginger. I gave him a nylon tie-out that we had, which is obviously of no use to us with Bo. He's already chewed through a nylon tie-out ... twice ! We bought a chain tie-out for Bo. I checked Ginger's nails, but they didn't need clipping. The groomer we took him to a few weeks ago must have done it when she gave him a haircut.

Mary Lu, who has three dogs, and had expressed a desire to have their nails clipped, changed her mind, so it was on to Jan, and her Dachshund, Jazzy. Gee ... Jazzy's nails must have been an inch long ! Jan said she hasn't been able to cut Jazzy's nails without the help of her husband. I think he died about three years ago ! I wonder if it's possible Jazzy's nails haven't been clipped in all that time ? Anyways, Jazzy was another no problem clipping. When I finished with the dog, Jan asked me if I could try to solve a car problem she was having. She had recently had an oil change, and since then, she has had a dashboard "problem light" showing. I checked the light, and it was some sort of strange symbol that if I used a lot of imagination, might resemble a radiator with low fluid. Why don't they just print "check coolant" or something other than these hieroglyphic symbols ? I topped up her coolant level, and her dash light problem was gone. She thinks I'm a hero ! Magic performer, travelogue slide show presenter, dog nail clipper, and car repairman !

Back to our own trailer, where it was time to give Bo a bath. He was stinking like ... well ... a dog ! This was our first bath for Bo. He behaved very well, although the trailer bathroom is a bit cramped for bathing a dog. Much to our surprise, when he's soaking wet, and all his hair is slicked back and off his face, we realize he looks very much like a Miniature Dachshund. Especially his face and head. We now think he is likely a Yorkshire Terrier crossed with a Miniature Dachshund, maybe even the Long Haired Miniature Dachshund. As soon as I was finished rinsing him, and he shook once, he looked like a slightly thick Yorkshire Terrier once again. It has been a long time since I've had the joy of watching a dog do the after bath "dry off happy dance". It makes me laugh ! Just like Nikki our Bichon Frisé who died a couple of years ago, Bo prefers to do his drying off dance on the duvet on our bed.

DSK