Dagmar, this sounds like a tough situation. It's hard to lose a friend in this dog, but with the owner acting the way she is you are doing the right thing to look after your business and your other dogs that go on that walk. I'm glad you were able to find another dog walker that you know will watch out for this dog.
Speaking of irresponsible dog owners, I found out recently that my dog's first owners got another puppy. Shouldn't there be a rule? If you can't take care of one dog, you can't get another one. They didn't abuse my Emma, but she was an energetic puppy (I'm sure you couldn't guess that ) and they gave her away bc teenage son didn't take her out enough. I hope they take better care of this dog than they did my Emma.
Welcome Ishbel! Barring any unhealthy behaviors/plans we're pretty accepting around here. Whatever works, works, and different things work for us all. Great pic! I love off-the-shoulder and one-shoulder tops.
Bargoo, I hope there are no ill effects. I was shocked when I found out that grapefruit can reduce the efficacy of BC pills from 99% to 94%. That's a big 5%! I don't eat grapefruit much. Makes me sad bc I love it.
Shannon~I'm glad the box arrived and I hope you get over your illness soon.
I'm terrified of coming down with the flu before or during my upcoming trip! Yesterday I went to Target and loaded up on Airborn and another similar thing called Halo. I got throat lozenges and cold medicine to bring along just in case. I got hand sanitizer, too. The flu isn't horrible here in California, but it is in Florida where we'll be for a day and everyone knows how germy airplanes are!
Dagmar-- what a sad situation. I'm glad the alternate dog walker is willing to take the dog on so it will at least get walked.
I'm very grumbly at the scale. I was 126 on Tuesday, 127 yesterday, and 128 today. Really?! This with Bikram each day, eating on plan, etc. I weigh on Saturday and I'm dreading it but I guess I still need to do it. I'm quite sore and puffy so I still think it's a lot of fluid retention but I'm not sure why or what to do about it-- you would think 90 minutes of sweating a day would get it out!!
Thanks for the warm welcome...I don't expect to many judgements here but I guess I just a little timid.
I've had to defend my eating habits for too long (which hasn't been THAT long), which I'm sure as a maintainer you all completely understand. I'm learning that as lonely as I sometimes feel...I know I'm not really all that lonely I just have to pay attention to who's making good choices like me (look at all of you!).
dagmar sorry about that senior puppy :/
Chris I can dig bozos and have been called one in the past
Well, I definitely have strep. Dr confirmed it. DH is working from home today to take care of me. Drove me to the doctor, as I wasn't very steady on my feet this morning. I've been running a fever now since last night, didn't sleep well last night. Most of the night was spent bouncing between hot and sweaty and cold chills. I was covered in sweat when I woke up to get dressed for the doc. Going to be a fun few days.
Strep throat is the worst! Hope the drugs kick in fast, and you feel better soon, Shannon.
Megan, volunteering at a shelter weekly for the past 20 years has made me realize just how clueless pet owners really are. I'm sure Dagmar can confirm this. With that said, I, too, hope that the new puppy doesn't end up searching for a new home.
Regarding daily weighing, one of the reasons I don't do it is that I know when I lift weights the next day the scale will go up by a few pounds. For some reason, even though I know it's related to the weight lifting, I get discouraged, which sets me up to say to myself, oh, what the ****, just go out and get a full-fat frappacino. I do try to weigh weekly, though, but only after an exercise rest day.
[Edited to say: Oh, cool! In the 10 years I've been on this board, I've never said anything that would make the **** kick in. It's strange that the other word for Hades gets "bleeped," considering what you hear on TV these days.]
Too funny Sheila! I've been censored once or twice but always for weird words. You've been on the board for 10 years? That is an accomplishment!
Shannon-- my experience with strep (usually) is that the antibiotics kick in and you feel better quickly-- I hope that's the case for you.
I think that one of my goals this year is to become more outgoing and social. I've said this before and tried somewhat, so I was contemplating what I can do. Since the girls are out of the house and dh travels so much, I'd love more friends. I have work friends but we don't get together socially. My plan is to try to be friendlier/outgoing at bikram yoga (since I see the same people so often)-- strike up conversations, etc.-- and see if anything comes of it. I'll check back in later in the year and see if my experiment produces anything....
Ishbel, my workload is infringing on my play-time on my laptop, which means I'm offering a warm but belated welcome to you. And no, I'm only gonna come after you if I think you've gone off the deep end & your mental or physical health is threatened.
Dagmar, there's our respective tradeoffs again: You get to walk on the picturesque shores of Lake Ontario when I'm hunched over a screen all day. But you are a caretaker, and your living is relationship-based. There is love here: your love for your dogs, your love for your job. So your business decisions are always gonna be fraught & intensely personal. I think that, since the dog does seem to be looked-after by another caregiver (though I hate the idea of a dog being put out on balcony to pee -- hope it's a separate unit, as I wouldn't want to live downstairs from the substance abuser), you can consider this purely as a business decision. You have to run the business well or your own well-being is in jeopardy.
Shannon, it's a shame that the price of a take-it-easy day is being deathly sick through it. My recent hot flashes have renewed my sympathy for fever-and-chills sufferers. Get well soon. Soup could play an important part in your recovery, no?
Sheila, finally, I'm harking back to your post on meeting sometime for a long walk or hike. I'm pretty sure the park you visited with the lake and the carriage paths is the Rockefeller Preserve. The Rockefeller family had a mansion on the grounds which later burned down. They built an extensive network of carriage paths for driving their gorgeous sets of horses. Within the past 20 years or so, the Rockefeller brothers gave it to NY State parks system. (I have seen David Rockefeller walking there once or twice & always wished I could say thank you, but you don't want to disturb people, you know?) This place is much-frequented by runners. In fact, the Kenyans train there. So you'll be schlepping along at your usual pace, sweating your way up a hill and some large greyhound of a man will WHOOSH past you. And you think: "Ah, so that's what an Olympic-calibur runner looks like. I feel privileged to have some of the pebbles he displaced roll up against the soles of my sneakers." Yeah, so we should totally meet up there sometime for a walk-and-talk. I have to see how many trees Sandy took down. Haven't been up there since this past summer, when I made my "I'm Back Downstate" pilgrimage. But it's one of my favorite places in all the world.
Michele, it's so hard for me to think of you not being outgoing or social enough, because you give so much light and warmth and attention to this board. But I wish you well, as I am struggling with the same thing. I have turned down two invitations to go out & pick up lunch someplace. Not for fear of food choices -- they both involved the Fairway salad bar, which would be an easy place to eat -- but from working through lunch hour. I have to stop this.
saef, michele, can we organize a peer group of 3 who just aren't socially up to par? You would think since I "talk" so ,much that I would be at ease in a group, not so. I enjoy people but am not comfortable initiating a conversation. I recently joined a book club for the same reasons you mentioned, Michele. Nice group of ladies and I have no trouble talking about the book we have just read but when the meeting is over and the rest have formed little conversation groups I just can't walk over and join in. I am usually the first one out the door after the meeting for that reason. I am really a social klutz.
Perhaps I'm socially awkward as well. While there are some people that I meet that I have an easy time talking to, there are others that I can't. I don't know if it is due to them being more outgoing or if we have so much in common that it's easy to swap stories.
My joining Wine Women Palm Springs should be an easy way to meet others, but until I've met more of the members, it isn't easy to do. I met the woman who organizes most of the monthly dinners. I've met the representatives from the charity being awarded that night. Those are easy--it's kind of their "duty" to mingle with everyone. But a lot of the others have been around so long and they don't necessarily embrace the newbies like me. Thankfully I had a friend at the first dinner and I'm bringing people with me to the next one at the end of January. I hope I remember some of those that I sat with last time!
ARRRRGH!!! My client took me downstairs today and introduced me to the building manager, got me an entry fob and a remote for the garage (she has a parking spot), and was in the act of tracking down more upstairs door keys when I left with the dog.
She is so different when sober. ARRRRGH! I kept looking down into the dog's face (he's going blind so his brown eyes are huge and sad and melting now) and thinking OK I can do this. For him I can do this.
DH is gonna KILL me. But I love all the dogs I walk and this guy won't be with me for that much longer. How could I say no the those eyes?
dagmas, You are doing the right thing. If this lady drinks as much as you say she probably doesn't know what she is doing half the time or at least doesn't remember what sha was doing.
dagmar, I have a friend who works in dog rescue and I always tell her she's doing god's work (even though we're both atheists). You're trying to do what's best for this old dog, so big props to you. Too many pets deserve much better owners than they have.
saef, 'twas I who mentioned the park with the lake. I just used the google and think it's Minnewaska State Park, which is near Ellenville - much farther north than I thought (my friend said lots of NYC folks go there, so I thought it was closer). But the Rockefeller Preserve sounds lovely. I was just thinking I'd love to see Kykuit again - what a view! Those Rockefellers knew how to live.
Shannon, I hope the drugs kill that strep quickly. Fever is the worst.
All this talk of being more social has reminded me that I signed up to meet a bunch of strangers for dinner at Panera next Monday. I joined a meetup group for women over 40 and this will be my first event with them. I think of myself as a sociable introvert - I enjoy chatting with people, once I convince myself to leave the house. I figure I'll get a good Caesar salad out of it, if nothing else.
I too am socially awkward, unless I'm at the dog park. I guess it comes from not having kids, or a house, or hobbies - you know, those things people generally talk about..
) and they gave her away bc teenage son didn't take her out enough. I hope they take better care of this dog than they did my Emma. 
(that's me kicking myself)
