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Sunday, January 22, 2006
Dawg School
Today the kids and I trekked down the road to Petsmart to take little Leroy, the Boston Terrier, to his first day of school. Dan and Benny did the honors as trainers. All did a good job. Leroy was a good pupil. Benny behaved.
This was my first chance to see what clicker training amounts to. It's a good idea. I was surprised how well it worked on all the puppies.
Some of the puppies looked to be a bit long in the tooth for the class. One in particular was big and aggressive. It tried to chomp and intimidate the next dog in line...successfully. Its owner was quite chagrinned.
A little old man helped me try to find a particular brand of dog treats. Dan was running through the sack of treats he'd brought and I thought he'd better have more. So I couldn't find the desired type and this little old fellow was halping me. We got talking and he accompanied me back to the dog class and stood watching with me. When the overly aggressive puppy really got rocking and rolling, the old guy says, "He'll be in my class soon."
Upon inquiry it turned out that he teaches the class for delinquent dogs, the problem dogs, the ones whose owners are more than half way to thinking, "Time to go to the pound." He said that the aggressive dog had originally been entered in his class at the suggestion of the person who interviewed the owner. Then this lady got home and thought about it and called back, wanted her dog put in with the regular puppies because she was insulted that her dog might be considered a problem.
HA! By half-way through the class, she'd gotten down from her high horse and was sorry she'd brought the dog out in public where it embarrassed her to pieces. She had to sit on the floor with the dog and it lunged and snarled and barked and bit at everything within reach. She was more than a little afraid of her dog and it had no respect for her whatsoever. In my opinion, it needed to be taken home and taught the meaning of the word NO before she tried to go public with it. I never saw a dog more in need of a firm owner.
In all, this little excursion made me kind of proud of how Porque Choppe is doing. I haven't taken her to any classes, but I've been working on her and she's a far nicer dog than she was last March when she came home with me. I don't use a clicker and I don't use treats, but little Porque is coming right along. What it is, I'm the alpha dog in our little dog pack of two. As Cesar Millan says, "The alpha dog doesn't give any of the other dogs in the pack a treat, but they're happy."
A few times when I tried to use treats, the treat was all that Porque was thinking about. She didn't start to think until I put the bits of roast beef back into the fridge. Now I give her a treat every day when we get back in from her long walk. It's just a little snack, not payment for being good. As soon as I release her from her harness, she rushes into the kitchen and sits by the cupboard where I keep dried chicken strips. I take out a treat and toss it into the dining room onto the carpet. Porque grabs it and runs into the living room, hops up on the sofa, partly disappears under an afghan, and quietly enjoys her favorite food.
I don't have anything against anyone else's use of treats while trying to train their dog, but for me, it's silly. When I want Porque to listen to me, I don't distract her with food.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Respectable
Today the Christmas tree came down and went back to its lair in the garage. Benny worried about my tree. The Netzer tree, of course, as with all other things Netzer, was properly managed at the correct time. The other day Benny tried to talk me into taking down my tree saying, "Let's do it. I'll help." I thanked him but decided to leave the tree to someone able to hoist its sections apart. That thing weighs a ton. Today Lydia took apart the tree and William, my yard worker, stored the tree in the garage.
William happened to be here locked in mortal combat with the area at the side of the house. It is full of roots and little stumps. Today William was determined that all stumps and roots would go byebye. He was out there excavating and sawing and chopping and hammering most of the day. In places he dug up the area so deeply that he was down in a hole well over his knees. I assured him that he needn't take the job so seriously but having begun to get rid of the stumps and roots, he persevered.
So the Christmas tree is gone and the ground is getting prepared for spring planting. Looking more respectable all the time, here.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Confusing
This week I hired people to build a railing on each side of my porch steps and to clean out my back yard in preparation for the privacy fence I want built. I expected to pay by check, but, at the last minute, had to run to the bank for cash. They don't have a bank account, cannot get one, and, so, would be unable to cash a check.
At first I scorned this absurd idea, "WHAT? Sure you can get a checking account. Who ever heard of a bank that turned down money?"
This morning over breakfast coffee I began with Wachovia Bank Online. Hm...in order to get a checking account or to establish a savings account, you must have a social security photo-identity card.
These young people don't have drivers' licenses. How could they get a state identity card? Well, they'd have to present a birth certificate as well as proof of residency. Oops.
Can't present proof of residency if you only shack up in a vacant garage, don't have an address where people send bills...don't actually have an address at all. They're here. They've been here for a long time, but can't prove it.
OK. I guess those kids won't be getting a bank account. Come to think of it, I don't see how they'll ever get one. They aren't eligible for housing because they don't have any of the paperwork a landlord would require. No one is going to rent to a tenant with no documentation. No utility would hook up phone/water/heat for just a guy who said, "Here's some money. Hook me up."
This suspicious world where everyone has to carry proofs, it's a tough time and place if you're young and in trouble. Who but someone like me would hire these folks? When might they expect to see themselves indoors with heat, a bathroom, and a telephone? How can they ever hope to rise above the most hand-to-mouth poverty?
Once more the plight of the homeless has me vicariously scared, thankful that my life is so comfortable, worried about an underclass of undocumentables born and raised in the USA but unable get on the road out of poverty because they lack the necessary paperwork.
There's that public outcry about undocumented aliens in the USA, using government services but not paying taxes. What I had not considered prior to this week is the bad situation of USA citizens who can't prove that they belong where they are and...worse, who won't maybe ever be able to assemble those proofs because of an inpenetrable web of requirements.
Monday, January 9, 2006
Projects
Today's so hot that I had to turn on the air conditioning...January 9 in Norfolk. It was a good day to begin my next home improvement project.
A few weeks ago I stopped to talk to a young couple who've been working on a house nearby. They claimed to be jacks of all trades, so I showed them the hideous, unbelievable mess in my back yard. They said they could get rid of all the car parts, tree trunks, broken glass and metal, weeds, etc. and then put up a nice privacy fence around my newly cleaned up space.
Today they showed up at 9:00 A.M. and worked like dogs all day until 5:00 P.M. I went to Home Depot and bought all the stuff they said they needed for this job. Over the course of the day, I heard little hints and bits here and there which made me uneasy. I walked Porque Choppe around the corner to the house where the young couple has been working. Their ex-boss was there with a guy who's going to plaster for him. Together we had a thorough discussion about these two young people.
Seems that they've been homeless and are now shacking up in a garage. They have no transportation. Someone must drive them to all their jobs. Both of them are under 25 but they've done a lot of hard living.
Once again I am impressed by how fortunate I am, how thankful I should be. I've never been in the dreadful plight of these two, up against it in such a real way. In their place, I would be depressed beyond redemption, but they're cheerful.
About 1:00P.M. I went out and told them that in my opinion they should stop and eat lunch. There was no need for them to go on doing that kind of terribly hard physical work without stopping to eat. They looked at each other and then she said, "Oh, no. That's alright. I'm not hungry." He chimed in too, "Not hungry." I insisted that they stop and eat their lunches. Finally the truth came out. Not only did they not have lunches, they hadn't eaten for two days...no money.
Well, you know what happened next. I fed them until their sides creaked. I have no idea whether at the end of this week my yard will look better, but I do know that God sent these kids my way so that I could keep them from starving. I'm always glad to hae a chance to pay back a tiny fragment of all that God has given to me. If I gave with both hands for the rest of my life, I'd still die in debt.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Festivity
My Christmas card to you and everyone else is here.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Christmas Eve
This year my house looks like someone here is going to have Christmas: nine and a half foot tree, decorations on mantles, candles, wreath. Tonight I'm going to early service in order to view the annual children's pagent. Someone coming over for dinner afterward. I'm making quiche in a Christmas tree mold/ read and green salad, roast beef baked in marinara sauce and at the last minutes sprinkled with green peas. Then the annual Christmas Eve film festival; this year all six Star Wars movies. Ho-ho-ho.
Well, no, it isn't all that cheery with my family away, but it will have to do. We expect to catch up with Christmas after the first of the year.
Friday, December 9, 2005
Getting Chillier
Well, the eastern seabord is in the grip of a nor'easter. Strong winds, freezing temperatures and tons of snow, sleet, freezing rain. However, here in Camelot we merely had some overnight rain. Woke up to a temp of 60 in my backyard. The maple tree two yards away has finally begun to turn color. Norfolk sits in an odd little tuck of the terrain which does not get cold and snow. Just half an hour north of here in Colonial Williamsburg the temp is 32 right now. Not in Norfolk, though.
I am torture-testing a couple of cheap palm trees I bought last winter. Over the summer they sat on my porch. This fall I tossed them out behind the house near the hose outlet so it would be easy to water them. They're looking good even though one of them is the Washingtonia Palm which supposedly only survives from Miami on down. I would really like to have palm trees in my yard but hesitate to invest since there are only a few types that should do well here if wrapped over the winter. One encouraging fact is that all over Norfolk are homes topped by towering palms far too big to wrap.
Today I've got to suck it up and act like I'm well. Having been sick as a dog for the last three weeks, this won't be easy, but now I have to get dressed to go out and shop. Tomorrow is the day when Angel Tree gifts are blessed at church. Lydia kindly offered to go buy my gifts for me, but I thought last night about how she'd manage all that stuff plus two little kids. Thing is, she talked me into buying a bike for one little boy and a bike is a hard-to-manage parcel for a woman with two little kids to hold onto. The children on the Angel Tree list are quite pathetically poor. So the recommended list of gifts is stuff like socks and sweaters, etc. Each child, though, is allowed to request what they'd really like to have. No kid wants socks. One little boy wanted a bicycle. It never occurred to me to go ahead and buy one. Last time I bought a bike it was for Lydia and even way back then, a new Schwinn was over a hundred dollars. Lydia, however, has sniffed around and she says that at Walmart a child's bike is buyable for around fifty dollars. So, what the heck, that's a small price to pay in order to make Christmas morning thrilling for one little boy. Today I need to help go get that bike.
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Tis the Season For Some Doggie Squeezin'
Went to Target and bought one each of their doggie outfits in little Porque Choppe's size. Fortunately she likes to dress up. Unlike dogs I've known who would chew their clothes off, Porque wears them enthusiastically. The other day we tried out her new Santa suit. She and Benny posed together and it's hard to say which is cuter.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Yay!
This year I did the National Novel Writing Month thing along with Lydia who weaseled me into it. I finished my novel ahead of the deadline and feel astonishingly good about it considering what drecch that story is. You know, it got so that I needed to be sitting and typing. I recommend this to everyone. It's so empowering to realize that you can actually get that many words down on one subject. Who knew? And as far as the story goes, the surprising thing is to find that if you just begin, the story happens.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Autumn in the South
Here it is, November 12. That is getting into chilly time up north. In Norfolk, Virginia, however, this is just another warm month like all the others. What do I mean by warm? Thank you for asking. Warm is when tomato plants are covered with blossoms and there are many green tomatoes. Warm is when the flowers planted in the spring are still blooming themselves into the ground. It's warm if the grass is still growing so fast that it has to be cut at least once/week. Warm is a temperature so high that a car sitting in the sunshine will be very hot when you open the door. All of those indices of warmness prevail here in November Norfolk.
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