Things I want to do in 2008

Typically at this time of year people list their New Year’s Resolutions.  I am hopeless at keeping my New Year’s Resolutions, so instead I am going to write a list of things I want to do in 2008.

1. Lose Weight

This one is on most people’s lists.  This year my weight was going okay until I got diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  My decreased mobility meant I put on 10kg in a very short space of time.  I want to lose those 10kg in 2008.

2. Resume swimming

Until about a month ago, I was going swimming three times a week, then my fibro flared up and I stopped going.  I need to go back.  I also want to join Wet Ones – the gay and lesbian swim team who do training three times a week at the same pool I swim at.  To join, I need to get some of my fitness back.

3. Get an annual check up and a pap smear

I have never had a pap smear.  This is dangerous at my age.  I need to pluck up my courage and do it.  I should also get a general check up at the same time.

4. Go to the dentist

I have to summon the courage and go to the dentist.  I have not been since January last year.

5. Increase my tech knowledge

In my job I am routinely looking at flash actionscript, javascript and HTML to spot implementation and coding errors.  My knowledge of these languages is only what I have picked up from talking to other people about it.  I really need a solid basis in them.  Therefore, I have to knuckle down and actually learn them.

6. Actually do things

Too many times I think it would be fun or interesting to do things, but I never do them.  This year, I need to actually go out there and do stuff instead of spending most weekends at home sitting on my butt.

Update on Rory

Yesterday afternoon poor Rory was again in pain so back to the vet’s we went for another shot of methadone and a week’s supply of Metacam. The poor girl was completely drugged out, so of course we took photos of her.

This is your beagle.

This is your beagle on drugs.

Today she is doing much better and is in less pain.  The tail is still down, but not as down as it was before and she is showing more of an interest in life.  Then again, she isn’t high on methadone.  She has wandered around the backyard and growled at the people across the road as they were out in their front yard doing things.  How dare they!  She is still extremely sooky and just wants to be near you all the time, which is out of character for her.  Hopefully she won’t decide that being New Year’s Eve tonight to need another trip to the vet’s for pain relief.

Caleb is missing his beagle companion.  There has been no one to run to the front door and bark at things with and no one to join him in looking for cats through the back fence.  He has gone into a bit of a funk.  He has actually tried barking at the front door for no reason whatsoever just to see if Rory will come running down the hallway.  He gives himself away by barking and then looking down the hall for Rory.

Hopefully tomorrow Rory will be feeling much better and back to her normal self – barking at things at the front door and joining Caleb on cat finding expeditions.

Emergency Trip to the Vet’s

All was well in our household and everyone was sleeping soundly until 12:30am when Rory woke up and started rolling on her back rubbing it against the dog bed furiously.  She does this a fair bit – she loves a good back rub.  But this time she didn’t stop.  She paced, she whimpered, she bit her tail and paced and whimpered some more.  Then she started this weird howling noise, like nothing I have heard from her before and nothing I want to hear ever again.  By that point we knew something was very wrong.  The base of her tail was extremely sore when palpated and she just couldn’t settle.

So at 1am, we all got out of bed, dressed, put the dogs in the car and rushed off the emergency vet clinic which is about a 30 minute drive from our house.  For some unknown reason we hit a traffic jam in the M5 tunnel.  Apparently half of Sydney was up at 1:30am going somewhere.  We battled our way through the traffic jam and finally arrived at the Animal Referral Hospital.

Rory got weighed (14.2kg! – You are on a diet missy from now on) and then went in and saw the vet.  After much palpation and being poked in the ass,  she was given Methadone for the pain and Metacam to bring the inflammation down.  The general consensus is that she has done something to her tail, possibly got it caught or bashed it against something.

We got back home at 3am, settled Rory on the armchair as that is where she seemed the most comfortable and headed back to bed.  After a bit of whimpering, Rory settled down and we all got a couple of hours sleep.

The vet from ARH called at about 9:30am to check on Rory to see how she was doing, which was incredibly sweet of her.  Poor Rory is still in some pain, but that definitely has not put her off her food.  As soon as she heard the dog bowls being collected, she was up and in her crate waiting.  Her food (some diced kangaroo meat) was gone in seconds.  She has had a walk around the backyard, growled at someone walking past the front door and is now asleep next to me.  She is in a fair bit of discomfort though, so she will get a another visit to the vet’s today to get some more methadone and some anti-inflammatory medication for the next week.

We think it is possible she has Cold Tail, which she has gotten before.  One of the causes of cold tail is exposure to cold water.   I guess that hose bath yesterday wasn’t such a great idea.

Bathing Dogs in the Sunshine

Today was Bath Day- that dreaded day that dogs all over the world fear.  Since having to give up vet nursing, we get a mobile dog wash to come over to our place.  This morning, the lady came at 9:30am, but finding nowhere to park her car with her dog wash trailer attached, she decided to come back at 4pm when there are usually more parking spots. She came back at 3:45pm, but alas, no one had moved their cars, so we had no choice but to postpone it for another day.  Unfortunately due to her heavy schedule that other day was January 26th.

The dogs, especially Rory with her love of sleeping in the garden beds, really needed a bath.  We have bathed them a couple of times in the bathtub, but bathing a German Shepherd in a bathtub is bordering on the ridiculous.  So being a hot summer’s day, we decided to get out the garden hose and bath them in the backyard.

The dogs hated it.  They hate bath times normally, but today their hatred was even greater.  A cold garden hose was not the warm hydrobath that they are used to and have come to expect.  They were outraged by this dramatic drop in standards.  Rory is one of the most expressive dogs I have ever met and her most expressive emotion is indignation.  It is amazing the number of things that a small beagle can become indignant about.  Today’s bath really brought out this emotion.   We were all treated to her famous “you suck!” glare and have been receiving the death stare ever since.  Caleb, whilst not very expressive, made his thoughts on the whole situation very clear with his ears and tail down looking for all the world like the most abused dog ever.

However, the dogs are now beautiful and clean and got a good brush out.  We spent about an hour sitting with them in the garden whilst they played and dried off.   They are now asleep on their respective couches trying to erase the painful memories of Bath Day.  It is so much easier when the dog wash lady does them.

Bloggers worth blogging about

Welcome to this new column where I profile bloggers whose blogs I read on a daily basis and that I highly recommend you check out.

First cab off the rank is the lovely Maggie Mason and her blog Mighty Girl.   I first stumbled upon Mighty Girl about 18 months ago and it made me laugh til it hurt.  It immediately earned a place in my bookmarks list and then when I finally got my head around RSS, on my Google Reader.  Her blog is about her observations about life, her family and interesting things she finds on the Internet.  She also runs Mighty Goods for those of you who are retail orientated as well as Mighty Junior which focuses on kid centric goods.  She is one busy lady.

I really enjoy her blog because it feels like you are sitting and sharing a coffee with an old friend in a trendy San Francisco cafe.  It is full of humorous stories, great photos and interesting facts.  Maggie is currently living in Argentina for a couple of months so her blog is full of interesting tidbits about life in South America and the differences between American and Argentinean culture.

Please head over there and give her blog a read, you won’t be disappointed that you did.

Movie Review: The Golden Compass

Based on the Phillip Pullman novel, “Northern Lights”, this movie tells the story of Lyra and her journey to rescue her friend Roger from the Gobblers and to fulfil the Witches’ prophesy. This movie looks absolutely gorgeous and they have captured the feel of the books. My main fear with translating the books into a film was that they wouldn’t be able to get the daemons right and that the child casted in the role of Lyra would not be able to act. I am happy to say that my fears were unfounded. The CGI department did wonders with the daemons and they are everything I imagined them to be when I read the books, and whilst Lyra is not the Lyra I had in my head when reading the books, Dakota Blue Richards does a great job.

Unfortunately this film suffers from trying to pack a complex novel into just 120 minutes and hence everything feels rushed. The characters, especially Lyra, don’t grow and learn as they did in the book and thus you miss some major character development which leaves you feeling a little distanced from them. You don’t feel like you have been on a long epic journey with them, more like dragged from one plot point to another. Whilst I can understand the film makers trying to get everything into a neat 2 hour film to please a younger audience, they really should have extended it out to 180 minutes. There was enough going on to keep any 8 year old upwards glued to their seats for an extra 30 minutes. This would have allowed some time to truly get to know the players in this adventure rather than a brief glimpse of them.

Those going to see the film without reading the books may have a much different reaction to the film than fans of the books have. I would love to hear what you think if you have seen the movie but not read the books.

This film is ideal for kids about 8 and above and for all adults who enjoy a good fantasy movie. It is the perfect film to get kids wanting to read the books – and I love any form of media that makes kids want to read. The Phillip Pullman novels are brilliant and I thoroughly recommend them to any lover of fantasy – both kids and adults. Like the Harry Potter novels, the books can be read on several levels – the kids will enjoy a fantastic adventure story full of magic and daemons whilst adults will enjoy the philosophical ideas that these novels contain.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a holiday that seems to confuse the hell out of most Americans I know.  It is only celebrated in Commonwealth countries and basically is a good excuse for an extra day off to recover from Christmas.

In Australia, Boxing Day is a huge day for those interested in sports with the Boxing Day Cricket Test Match being held and the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.  For those whose interests are more retail orientated, today is the start of the huge Boxing Day sales where all major stores offer their post Christmas stock at ridiculously low prices.

However, for a lesbian geek, today is extremely important as it is the day when the holiday blockbusters premiere.  In previous years, we have had Lord of the Rings and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  This year, we have The Golden Compass and I will be heading off tonight to see it.   To say I am excited is an understatement.  I have been eagerly awaiting this film since it went into production.  Lelak and my fellow 30 something lesbian geek friends Veronica and Fiona will be joining me for a night of popcorn and a fantasy film – it is almost like a yearly tradition.  I also really want to see Enchanted (yes, I know it is a kid’s film), because the trailer always has me in fits of laughter.  Also on our list of must see films is No Country for Old Men.   It is going to be a movie going week this week.

An Australian Christmas Lunch

I have just arrived home from celebrating Christmas with Lelak’s family.  It was a very Australian Christmas lunch comprising of a large Jewish family, a lesbian couple, an Indian Christian pastor and an Asian boyfriend.  Very multicultural. The afternoon would have been quite lovely were it not for Lelak’s cousins’ two children aged 4 and 2, who were frightened of our dogs and therefore screamed the entire afternoon.  For four solid hours these children screamed that high pitch scream that only children can produce everytime the dogs were in their line of sight.  In a small backyard, this was all the fucking time.
From my previous post, you know how good my dogs are with kids and this time they were just as good, if not better.  My dogs tried their very best to ignore the kids and keep out of their way, but it was damn near impossible.  Things were made even more fun when Lelak’s brother Julian turned up with his two dogs – a Kelpie cross and a German shepherd.  The kids were practically hysterical.  So, we put them (the kids) in the pool enclosure, since they wanted to go for a swim all day anyway.  They were quiet for a whole five minutes and then the screaming started again because the water was too cold.

The whole gathering let out a huge sigh of relief when they finally went home.  After that, the rest of the lunch was lovely.  We got to see the gorgeous wedding pictures of Lelak’s cousin Jessica and her new husband Shine.  It was a traditional Indian wedding and the clothes were just so beautiful.

By five o’clock, poor Rory was absolutely exhausted.  She had missed out on her midday sleep and her afternoon sleep as there was just too many people around doing interesting stuff like eating food.  In the end, she was doing her very best to sneak off and find somewhere quiet to have a sleep.  Even Caleb looked completely worn out.   I must admit I was feeling pretty worn out too.  So we said our goodbyes and headed home.  The dogs are now crashed out on the couches fast asleep and Lelak and I are on our computers.  It is going to be a quiet Christmas night at our house.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and sharing with me your fantastic blogs.  Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends! I hope Santa brings you something special this year.

 

Being On Call on Christmas Eve

I was supposed to only be on call one day over this holiday period, but due to technical difficulties diverting the phone, I have wound up being on call for the entire holiday period.  This does not make me happy, but that’s life.

Of course, only 15 minutes after being told I am the sole point of contact over the holiday period, I receive my first tech support call.  The issue itself is one well known to me, but will take a call to the poor soul on call from the development team to fix.  But whilst I am on the phone to the client, the dogs decide that this is the perfect time to go and bark loudly at whoever or whatever decided to walk past the house.  Now the client thinks I am at the office and my office does not have two extremely loud barking dogs.  There I am trying to sound extremely professional whilst sitting in my front room when two dogs go flying past to bark loudly at the front door.  It is loud and noisy and ruins any hope of sounding like I might be at the office.

“Sorry, that’s my dogs”, I hurriedly explain whilst trying to shh my dogs by waving my hands about.  My dogs who have spotted the cat that dared to walk past the house refuse to be quiet.  More hand waving that happens to connect to doggy bottoms manages to bring things down to a more tolerable level.

“Are you at home?”, my client asks and I can tell she is trying not to laugh.

“Yeah,  sorry about that.”  I apologise.

Fortunately, my client is amused by the whole situation.  Then I realise that I don’t have access to my work email and the client needs to send me things.  My boss reassured me that I would not need access to my work email account as I would only be providing phone support and not email support.  I should not have believed her.  Reluctantly, I give the client my personal email address and  that destroys any shred of professionalism I may have possessed.  How ever tame your home email address is, it is not even remotely professional and besides who wants their clients knowing their home email address anyway?

Now, I have a professional sounding gmail address set up and the dogs have been warned about barking at the front door (though I doubt they listened to any of my lecture).   I am ready to face the onslaught of holiday tech support phone calls – that is until I discover something else I have forgotten.