When you showed me that menu I was thinking how cheap it was. My last work trip was to the Arctic.
Whine like a baby, now with 500% more drama!
- Thread starter strawman
- Start date
Right, so, an update on our dog.
Well, the dog we're fostering, or have been fostering, or whatever.
I've ranted elsewhere about a cyclist got too close and got bitten. After that we've been wary, keeping him apart from most people and other animals, etc.
last Friday, my mother and niece (10years old, though she looks more like 12-13 - she's very big for her age - and NO, I do not mean "mature for her age", Iaculus
) came to visit. We had lunch, went to the zoo together, went to get dinner, got back everything was all fine and dandy. After dinner, my niece was petting the dog - my wife right next to them to keep an eye - and everything was going great, dog seemed to be enjoying it, she was doing absolutely nothing wrong....when suddenly and without warning, he turned around and bit her on the arm. And this wasn't a warning nip or a playful use of teeth - this was drawing blood and not letting go until my wife pried his cheeks open and dragged him away.
Luckily my brother and sister in law (S-I-L was there too) are understanding and have a big dog themselves, and after a doctor visit everything was sorted out, it was just on the verge of needing stitches but the doc deemed it not necessary. It's healing well, all will be fine.
Anyway, now we have to absolutely keep him away from everyone and everything. He's still here, and honestly for me it hasn't changed much since I was already super alert when walking him and keeping him away from people. Wife's...Not scared, but now convinced that we simply can't provide the amount of support and knowledge needed to help him. The shelter we work with is no-kill, and they offer dog therapy and schooling and so on, but only during working hours when neither of us can possibly get there. I'm home a lot, but WFH does mean I don't always have a lot of time to train with him or keep him busy. And, to be fair, even if I had time - I'm far from an expert. The past small little old abandoned starved dogs haven't prepared me for a larger and more aggressive variation. She's probably right that another foster home with more experienced people who have time in the day as well would be better for him. The shelter has let us know that they don't have any other foster home better suited for him, though - either there's other dogs, or cats, or children, or the people have less time than us. They've suggested bringing him back to the shelter itself, but that means that, outside of 1 walk per day (not guaranteed - depends on volunteers, and obviously he wouldn't be in the "easy and safe to walk" category where there are plenty of volunteers), he'd be locked in a 2mx5m (err, 6ft by 16ft or something) cage half inside, half outside. The therapists could get to him easily and work with him, but all in all the situation would probably be worse for him than staying with us.
We were supposed to go see my parents for the first time in 4 months the coming weekend (oh, and stay over at their place the first time since Corona began)....But my father's old fashioned (and anxiety-riddled due to Parkinson's) enough that he doesn't want to have the dog in house as it's already bitten twice. I understand that, but it does mean that my wife's staying home to take care of him. So, you know, sucky situation all around. There's no clear good path forward. Do we keep him with us a bit longer? But a dog that you can't really trust (he's super cute and affectionate towards us, especially me, though) is a serious source of stress, and it doesn't seem likely he'll get adopted soon. Our work schedules aren't changing any time soon either so we won't really be able to invest more time and effort in him. But sending him off to doggie prison doesn't seem like a good solution either, he definitely won't get more self-secure and obedient and such there.
Blegh.
Well, the dog we're fostering, or have been fostering, or whatever.
I've ranted elsewhere about a cyclist got too close and got bitten. After that we've been wary, keeping him apart from most people and other animals, etc.
last Friday, my mother and niece (10years old, though she looks more like 12-13 - she's very big for her age - and NO, I do not mean "mature for her age", Iaculus
) came to visit. We had lunch, went to the zoo together, went to get dinner, got back everything was all fine and dandy. After dinner, my niece was petting the dog - my wife right next to them to keep an eye - and everything was going great, dog seemed to be enjoying it, she was doing absolutely nothing wrong....when suddenly and without warning, he turned around and bit her on the arm. And this wasn't a warning nip or a playful use of teeth - this was drawing blood and not letting go until my wife pried his cheeks open and dragged him away.Luckily my brother and sister in law (S-I-L was there too) are understanding and have a big dog themselves, and after a doctor visit everything was sorted out, it was just on the verge of needing stitches but the doc deemed it not necessary. It's healing well, all will be fine.
Anyway, now we have to absolutely keep him away from everyone and everything. He's still here, and honestly for me it hasn't changed much since I was already super alert when walking him and keeping him away from people. Wife's...Not scared, but now convinced that we simply can't provide the amount of support and knowledge needed to help him. The shelter we work with is no-kill, and they offer dog therapy and schooling and so on, but only during working hours when neither of us can possibly get there. I'm home a lot, but WFH does mean I don't always have a lot of time to train with him or keep him busy. And, to be fair, even if I had time - I'm far from an expert. The past small little old abandoned starved dogs haven't prepared me for a larger and more aggressive variation. She's probably right that another foster home with more experienced people who have time in the day as well would be better for him. The shelter has let us know that they don't have any other foster home better suited for him, though - either there's other dogs, or cats, or children, or the people have less time than us. They've suggested bringing him back to the shelter itself, but that means that, outside of 1 walk per day (not guaranteed - depends on volunteers, and obviously he wouldn't be in the "easy and safe to walk" category where there are plenty of volunteers), he'd be locked in a 2mx5m (err, 6ft by 16ft or something) cage half inside, half outside. The therapists could get to him easily and work with him, but all in all the situation would probably be worse for him than staying with us.
We were supposed to go see my parents for the first time in 4 months the coming weekend (oh, and stay over at their place the first time since Corona began)....But my father's old fashioned (and anxiety-riddled due to Parkinson's) enough that he doesn't want to have the dog in house as it's already bitten twice. I understand that, but it does mean that my wife's staying home to take care of him. So, you know, sucky situation all around. There's no clear good path forward. Do we keep him with us a bit longer? But a dog that you can't really trust (he's super cute and affectionate towards us, especially me, though) is a serious source of stress, and it doesn't seem likely he'll get adopted soon. Our work schedules aren't changing any time soon either so we won't really be able to invest more time and effort in him. But sending him off to doggie prison doesn't seem like a good solution either, he definitely won't get more self-secure and obedient and such there.
Blegh.
Not to be overly blunt about this, but - seriously? You're now fostering a dog that has a history of biting, that's caused serious injury to a family member who didn't provoke it. You acknowledge that you're not equipped to train it, your wife isn't comfortable with it, and you're still making excuses to keep it around?
What happens the next time it bites someone while you're out walking it? Or when it decides to bite your wife while she's petting it or feeding it? Or you? You don't understand the dog's triggers, you can't predict when it will get aggressive, and while it sucks that the dog will end up in a cage if you send it back, that's a lot better than what will happen to it if it bites someone who isn't inclined to forgive it now that it has a history of this, right? Or what will happen if it decides to bite something more dangerous than an arm the next time.
You're right about all of that - I don't mean it as an excuse to keep him, rather "it majorly sucks and I wish it were different'.
having said that, what I meant about "it hasn't changed much" is in my stress levels and method of walking.
With some of our previous dogs I could walk with my headphones on, hardly paying attention, and it was fun. Or I'd have to pay attention but it'd be a fun walk. Since the first bite, I've been continuously on edge, keeping him away from anybody, etc - I don't think he's been more than 1m away from me on a normal road since. I meant "I can't do more than I was already doing", not "I don't care that he bit my niece".
It does suck, and it's to your credit that you're concerned about what's best for the dog as well. It also sounds like you're leaning too heavily on that side of things, though - risking the health of your family, friends, neighbours, and strangers out on the street so that a foster dog with a history of unprovoked aggression has more freedom just isn't a reasonable decision, especially when you don't have the tools or training to work with the dog to resolve the issues it's having.
Have you considered a muzzle when you're walking him?
We've been working on muzzle training for the past three weeks, though we're not at the point yet where he'd happily keep it on for a whole walk. Minute indoors is fine.
Commenting this without a quote right after Cheesy1's post...
Fucking hell, this is the second night in a row where I can't goddamn sleep. I missed work today (Monday) because I was exhausted. I just can't sleep at all.
I have many!!
Can't sleep. I use a CPAP machine because I have sleep apnea, but one of the straps on the mask broke. And the sleep therapy place isn't open til Monday.
I think I've grown too accustomed to it because trying to sleep with a facehugger strapped to my head feels weird now.
I think I've grown too accustomed to it because trying to sleep with a facehugger strapped to my head feels weird now.
I should be grateful to have a job. I know. But I hate it so much. I just sit at home and am essentially sending spam emails and making cold calls. I think I'm gonna look for something that at least gets me out of the house.
I had a 6 day vacation, today being the last day.
And I did next to nothing. Just sat inside, played video games, or surfed or watched YouTube stuff. Could've gone biking. Didn't.
Wasted 6 days just like I've wasted any vacation days. Just like I wasted my whole life.
And I did next to nothing. Just sat inside, played video games, or surfed or watched YouTube stuff. Could've gone biking. Didn't.
Wasted 6 days just like I've wasted any vacation days. Just like I wasted my whole life.
I messaged the doctor to get my asthma medicine refilled because all this smoke is messing with me, and they said since it’s been over a year since I saw them, and they want me to come in for an appointment before they refill it. Guess why I haven’t been in? Guess what’s still a problem and still getting worse?
No thanks. Refill it and I’ll see you when I feel comfortable. I’ve had asthma my entire life. Seeing you isn’t going to change how I manage it.
No thanks. Refill it and I’ll see you when I feel comfortable. I’ve had asthma my entire life. Seeing you isn’t going to change how I manage it.
I used vacation time to wash walls yesterday. Wild party over here!!
You can't do a virtual appointment? That is what I am doing.
figmentPez
Staff member
I was about to make a post laughing at how Campbell's soup redesigned their labels for the first time in 50 years, and made only the tiniest of changes....
Then I learned that they put out NFTs as part of this marketing campaign, so fuck them. I'd like to hurl a can of soup at whatever energy wasting hunk of silicon they used to make those worthless strings of bits.
Then I learned that they put out NFTs as part of this marketing campaign, so fuck them. I'd like to hurl a can of soup at whatever energy wasting hunk of silicon they used to make those worthless strings of bits.
Ugh. Was watching a movie with the wife. Tivo'd it (well, the local equivalent - it played on TV and we set it to record).
Because of scheduling issues, apparently it ran long. We always tape an extra 15 minutes, but still, we missed the last... 5 minutes? Not even that, maybe 2.
A total first world problem, but sooo annoying. You know how it's going to end, the bad guy is defeated, now it's just denouement... And that's missing.
So I go to look on line, and I can't find it. Plenty of sites claim to have it, but it's always the old version instead of the new (1976 Asterix and the 12 works, rather than 2008 Asterix and the Olympics), which is a completely different movie.
And, no, I don't mean for someone to go out and find it for me, it really isn't worth it for 2 minutes of "oh, he gets the girl in the end", seriously. It's just a whine that TV should get their scheduling in order, Dammit.
Because of scheduling issues, apparently it ran long. We always tape an extra 15 minutes, but still, we missed the last... 5 minutes? Not even that, maybe 2.
A total first world problem, but sooo annoying. You know how it's going to end, the bad guy is defeated, now it's just denouement... And that's missing.
So I go to look on line, and I can't find it. Plenty of sites claim to have it, but it's always the old version instead of the new (1976 Asterix and the 12 works, rather than 2008 Asterix and the Olympics), which is a completely different movie.
And, no, I don't mean for someone to go out and find it for me, it really isn't worth it for 2 minutes of "oh, he gets the girl in the end", seriously. It's just a whine that TV should get their scheduling in order, Dammit.
Yeah, they filled my prescription but still want me to come in some time, which I will. Just annoying.
Apparently my routine filling (which I've had several of in the last few months) isn't going to be covered by Medicaid for... some unknown reason. And I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do about it: I can call them and appeal the decision, but I don't even know why it was rejected: am I over some limit? If I was, why didn't the dental providers notify me as I approached it?
I might be shit out of luck, but I have no way to pay for it.
I might be shit out of luck, but I have no way to pay for it.
Another nonsensical insomnia fueled Twitter rant. Too lazy to copy/paste each tweet/paragraph.
It's not nonsensical. It makes perfect sense. I mean, you're not wrong about what's going on. And maybe it would be a lot easier to (mentally and procedurally) deal with Climate Change if (y)our brain(s) weren't simultaneously being forced to deal with the economy, energy, politics, social anxiety, and so on. You're feeling overwhelmed because you ARE being overwhelmed.
Unfortunately I got nothing for you on how to feel less overwhelmed. The world's going to shit in multiple ways and too many of the people with the capacity to alter that trajectory seem to be willfully and consistently turning a blind eye to that fact (presumably for their own selfish reasons), but anyone who tries to shame you for getting upset at this? Don't listen to them. You are PERFECTLY JUSTIFIED in feeling upset about this. It's a very upsetting thing! Saying you shouldn't be upset about this is like someone trying to tell you not to be sad about Diomedes, happy about riding, or scared of needles. That's the whole thing about your emotional system... feelings will come to you unbidden and independent of the thought process. They just happen.
Now I will agree that you should not allow yourself to be RULED by your emotional reactions, because other people will absolutely try to manipulate you if you do ("What are you, McFly? ...Chicken?"), though your comments pooh-poohing the idea of chaining yourself up sounds like you already understand this. Great!. But HAVING emotional reactions, no matter what they might be in response to or even what they might be*? That's perfectly legitimate.
--Patrick
*Emotional reactions are just that: Emotional. Nobody should ever feel guilty about what emotion they feel. All those AMAs about "Is it wrong to feel..." -- it's not wrong. It's NEVER wrong, Full Stop. Inappropriate to display, perhaps, but that's totally a social thing, not a moral one.
Dog was adopted on Wednesday, by a guy with a lot of room, no other pets, no children living at home anymore, lots of experience with dogs. He was clearly informed and told multiple times about Lucien having bitten a few times, how scared he is, and how he really needed to let Lucien first feel at home before introducing other animals or guests. He was really looking forward to the challenge, he was going to keep him, make him all better.
You can probably tell where this is going.
On Saturday Lucien was back at the shelter, because, shock and surprise, the very first night the guy had visitors over, and Lucien bit one of them, and now he doesn't trust Lucien anymore.
THE BLOODY DOG DID EXACTLY WHAT WE TOLD YOU HE WOULD DO YOU DIPSHIT.
Obviously he's not an easy dog. Of course he'll be a handful, especially at first, to get to know him, earn his trust, learn to read his signals, all that. It'd have been perfectly fine to say, no, I want a dog that's a bit easier. Nobody would've thought bad of you. Really. But taking on a dog knowing he's bitten before and we don't have a history for him, knowing he's been abandoned and has trust issues, then abandoning him after a first strike, which, frankly shouldn't have been possible if you had listened to us? Yeah, that kinda makes you an asshole. So I guess either he didn't believe us, or thought we were exaggerating, or thought he Knew it All and we were just a bunch of incompetents...I don't know.
Anyway, we've decided to let him stay at the shelter this time rather than go get him back. I wouldn't mind taking care of him again, but he needs more and more professional support than I can give him. He's been assigned a fixed group of 2 professional dog therapists and 3 dedicated volunteers, and they'll work with him for a few weeks until he may be adoptable again. Such a shame, he's such a cutie and (despite the biting) mostly really a lovely and playful and smart dog.
You can probably tell where this is going.
On Saturday Lucien was back at the shelter, because, shock and surprise, the very first night the guy had visitors over, and Lucien bit one of them, and now he doesn't trust Lucien anymore.
THE BLOODY DOG DID EXACTLY WHAT WE TOLD YOU HE WOULD DO YOU DIPSHIT.
Obviously he's not an easy dog. Of course he'll be a handful, especially at first, to get to know him, earn his trust, learn to read his signals, all that. It'd have been perfectly fine to say, no, I want a dog that's a bit easier. Nobody would've thought bad of you. Really. But taking on a dog knowing he's bitten before and we don't have a history for him, knowing he's been abandoned and has trust issues, then abandoning him after a first strike, which, frankly shouldn't have been possible if you had listened to us? Yeah, that kinda makes you an asshole. So I guess either he didn't believe us, or thought we were exaggerating, or thought he Knew it All and we were just a bunch of incompetents...I don't know.
Anyway, we've decided to let him stay at the shelter this time rather than go get him back. I wouldn't mind taking care of him again, but he needs more and more professional support than I can give him. He's been assigned a fixed group of 2 professional dog therapists and 3 dedicated volunteers, and they'll work with him for a few weeks until he may be adoptable again. Such a shame, he's such a cutie and (despite the biting) mostly really a lovely and playful and smart dog.
Dave
Staff member
Just filled out a job application for a position I would probably really enjoy. It's a corporate trainer position. Changed my resume and cover letter specific to the job, filled everything out, hit send, then went to my next search. Found something kind of meh, but I'm not all that picky right now. Opened my resume & cover letter documents...and I'd forgotten to hit save on the cover letter. So while the autosave caught the title and text, the return address on it still reads a different company name. FUCK!
