I love getting the opportunity to try new things with Isaac.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Tunnel Dog
I LOVE how this pic turned out!
Isaac got to play in an agility
tunnel at the dog park a couple days ago. It was his first time with a
tunnel and at first he was hesitant. I tossed a treat in and he went in
to get the treat and came right back out. A short time later, he went
in voluntarily and discovered the tunnel was full of interesting smells.
I love getting the opportunity to try new things with Isaac.
I love getting the opportunity to try new things with Isaac.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Can You See at All?
A couple days ago, I went to urgent care for a sinus infection.
After I explained why I thought I had a sinus infection and described my symptoms, the doctor asked, "Can you see at all?"
I was confused because I hadn't said anything about my eyesight.
I said, "My eyes are fine. I think I have a sinus infection." I was thinking, problems seeing are not common with sinus infections, right?
The doctor said again, "You can see?"
Then he gestured towards Isaac.
Mind you, I was sitting there reading a book (print, not Braille) when he entered the exam room.
My friend Peggy says she is glad to hear that sinus infections do not in fact cause blindness.
After I explained why I thought I had a sinus infection and described my symptoms, the doctor asked, "Can you see at all?"
I was confused because I hadn't said anything about my eyesight.
I said, "My eyes are fine. I think I have a sinus infection." I was thinking, problems seeing are not common with sinus infections, right?
The doctor said again, "You can see?"
Then he gestured towards Isaac.
Mind you, I was sitting there reading a book (print, not Braille) when he entered the exam room.
My friend Peggy says she is glad to hear that sinus infections do not in fact cause blindness.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
He's Not Allowed to Sniff?
Several weeks ago, I took a friend to this church-run thrift shop to get some things for her son. The shop was small, crowded, and slightly musty-smelling. Isaac loved it. He found it full of enticing aromas and was unable to resist sniffing a bit.
This was after I lost his prong collar and before I replaced it, so I was having some trouble correcting him and preventing the sniffing.
Oh, and they had a cat. A fat tabby cat, in the store. Isaac was very excited to see that. The cat, less so.
Anyway, at one point I said something to Isaac about knocking off the sniffing because he knows better and the church lady running the shop looked surprised and said, "He's not allowed to sniff?"
I told her that he is allowed to sniff when he's not working, and that he gets plenty of off duty sniffing time, but that he's not supposed to be sniffing things in a store.
She seemed really surprised and maybe slightly disapproving. I don't know if she thought it was unreasonable to expect a dog not to sniff or didn't know it was possible to train a dog not to sniff or just didn't understand why he shouldn't sniff in a store and had seen other dogs labeled service dogs that sniffed or what.
This was after I lost his prong collar and before I replaced it, so I was having some trouble correcting him and preventing the sniffing.
Oh, and they had a cat. A fat tabby cat, in the store. Isaac was very excited to see that. The cat, less so.
Anyway, at one point I said something to Isaac about knocking off the sniffing because he knows better and the church lady running the shop looked surprised and said, "He's not allowed to sniff?"
I told her that he is allowed to sniff when he's not working, and that he gets plenty of off duty sniffing time, but that he's not supposed to be sniffing things in a store.
She seemed really surprised and maybe slightly disapproving. I don't know if she thought it was unreasonable to expect a dog not to sniff or didn't know it was possible to train a dog not to sniff or just didn't understand why he shouldn't sniff in a store and had seen other dogs labeled service dogs that sniffed or what.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
The World I Want to Live in
Yesterday I stopped at a gas station that was across from a hospital. A
woman was asking people in the parking lot if they could help her out
with a couple dollars because she had just left the ER and need to fill
two prescriptions.
She said she'd fallen and injured herself, and I could see one eye was very swollen and bloodshot. I wasn't sure it looked like it was from a fall, but what do I know? It looked painful and I believed she'd just come from the ER. She was still wearing the plastic bracelet from the hospital. She offered to show me the prescriptions so I would know she wasn't lying, but I told her I didn't need to see them.
She said she'd fallen and injured herself, and I could see one eye was very swollen and bloodshot. I wasn't sure it looked like it was from a fall, but what do I know? It looked painful and I believed she'd just come from the ER. She was still wearing the plastic bracelet from the hospital. She offered to show me the prescriptions so I would know she wasn't lying, but I told her I didn't need to see them.
I had a $20 bill and a $1 bill on me. I started to give her the $1 and
then gave her the $20 as well. It just felt like the right thing to do. Whatever I would have spent that $20 on, I figure she needed that medication more.
It just did not seem right to me that someone would be injured enough to go to the ER and then have to stand outside and beg for money to buy medication. There is something wrong with that. I do not want to live in a society that does that to someone.
When I handed her the $20 bill, her eyes got teary. She asked if she could hug me and I hugged her and told her I was sorry it was so hard and sorry she had to do this to get the medicine she needs. She said, "It is hard." She told me she has a job, not a good job but a job, but didn't have any money until payday. Which apparently was not yesterday .
She said she'd gone to work that morning but had been in a lot of pain and also was having trouble seeing out of her injured eye. She also mentioned that the light was really bothering her eye. So she left work to go to the ER. She said they did a CT scan and other tests at the hospital and told her she really needed these medications. She was afraid of experiencing lasting damage to her eye if she didn't get the medications.
It was a bright, sunny day yesterday and it did not escape me that she was standing out in the bright sunlight, begging for the money to get the medicine she needed.
There is something wrong with a society that would make an injured person beg on the street for money to get medication. Whatever you think should be done about health care in this country, surely no one thinks this is right.
And this is not the world I want to live in. I want a better world, a kinder world. A world where people do not think it is OK for an injured person to have to beg on the street for money for medication.
It just did not seem right to me that someone would be injured enough to go to the ER and then have to stand outside and beg for money to buy medication. There is something wrong with that. I do not want to live in a society that does that to someone.
When I handed her the $20 bill, her eyes got teary. She asked if she could hug me and I hugged her and told her I was sorry it was so hard and sorry she had to do this to get the medicine she needs. She said, "It is hard." She told me she has a job, not a good job but a job, but didn't have any money until payday. Which apparently was not yesterday .
She said she'd gone to work that morning but had been in a lot of pain and also was having trouble seeing out of her injured eye. She also mentioned that the light was really bothering her eye. So she left work to go to the ER. She said they did a CT scan and other tests at the hospital and told her she really needed these medications. She was afraid of experiencing lasting damage to her eye if she didn't get the medications.
It was a bright, sunny day yesterday and it did not escape me that she was standing out in the bright sunlight, begging for the money to get the medicine she needed.
There is something wrong with a society that would make an injured person beg on the street for money to get medication. Whatever you think should be done about health care in this country, surely no one thinks this is right.
And this is not the world I want to live in. I want a better world, a kinder world. A world where people do not think it is OK for an injured person to have to beg on the street for money for medication.
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