Thursday, May 08, 2008
Rain, Rain, Rain, Go Away
OK, the rain and flooding is getting a bit much. We are truly saturated. And I guess I am losing more dirt - except for the weeds - at the farm.
On Tuesday, I headed to OK thinking there was a new dog there but their guidelines were a bit more complicated and she wasn't available until this morning and I couldn't go down there this morning. Plus, it's a long way to go if the dog isn't there. I will see if she is still online later today and maybe check that there were just lots of calls and no one actually came. I understand that the animal control facilities, esp. the high kill shelters, have no choice but to take the first-come, first-serve. I am learning a great deal about how rescue works and at least I'm trying to rescue a pup.
The good news is that there are obviously lots of eyeballs on Petfinder.
And don't forget the end of the semester grading that's also swamping me. . .
On Tuesday, I headed to OK thinking there was a new dog there but their guidelines were a bit more complicated and she wasn't available until this morning and I couldn't go down there this morning. Plus, it's a long way to go if the dog isn't there. I will see if she is still online later today and maybe check that there were just lots of calls and no one actually came. I understand that the animal control facilities, esp. the high kill shelters, have no choice but to take the first-come, first-serve. I am learning a great deal about how rescue works and at least I'm trying to rescue a pup.
The good news is that there are obviously lots of eyeballs on Petfinder.
And don't forget the end of the semester grading that's also swamping me. . .
Labels: adoptions, dog, Petfinder, rain, rescue dogs
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
It's Tuesday
The Electronic Records Advisory Committee meeting went well - especially getting to know some of my fellow committee members better. Everyone has such interesting areas of expertise and there is always something new to learn.
I ventured to St. Louis over the weekend to meet Beau and Maggie and Aunt Dorothy, of course. Dorothy is a great person and is doing outstanding work being both an adopted mom and a foster mom. Beau and Maggie were quite cute and adorable and very sociable but the feeling just wasn't right - I think primarily because two active young pups is a bit much for me to handle right now. I visited with Doc late yesterday and he gave me some other pointers but also said not to overthink it all - my heart will know when I meet the right pup. And I do tend to overthink on lots of things but am trying to do more listening to my gut.
On Sunday I ventured to some area shelters and the facilities of the Humane Society of Missouri are simply outstanding - it's clear they are doing a great job with the animals and providing a conducive environment for adoption.
Seeing friends in St. Louis Saturday evening for dinner at Maya Cafe was also fun. We never would have met one another without TAH grants.
I met with my face to face class yesterday for the last time before the final next Monday. The final will be all multiple choice as one way to get students ready for the Praxis II 0081 test now required for graduation to ensure we have the desirable pass rate. I enjoyed talking with some of the students individually about their future plans.
Then, after visiting with Doc, I made it out to the farm in time to do some of the outdoor work, including planting some transplanted ivy, before the big storms came in for the next two days. Later today I will call around to some of the area shelters and maybe go visit some of them. I found a possible poodle for me online when Doc was looking with me but she is already in a foster to adopt home. The right one will come along, I'm sure. However, as you already know, patience is not one of my virtues.
I ventured to St. Louis over the weekend to meet Beau and Maggie and Aunt Dorothy, of course. Dorothy is a great person and is doing outstanding work being both an adopted mom and a foster mom. Beau and Maggie were quite cute and adorable and very sociable but the feeling just wasn't right - I think primarily because two active young pups is a bit much for me to handle right now. I visited with Doc late yesterday and he gave me some other pointers but also said not to overthink it all - my heart will know when I meet the right pup. And I do tend to overthink on lots of things but am trying to do more listening to my gut.
On Sunday I ventured to some area shelters and the facilities of the Humane Society of Missouri are simply outstanding - it's clear they are doing a great job with the animals and providing a conducive environment for adoption.
Seeing friends in St. Louis Saturday evening for dinner at Maya Cafe was also fun. We never would have met one another without TAH grants.
I met with my face to face class yesterday for the last time before the final next Monday. The final will be all multiple choice as one way to get students ready for the Praxis II 0081 test now required for graduation to ensure we have the desirable pass rate. I enjoyed talking with some of the students individually about their future plans.
Then, after visiting with Doc, I made it out to the farm in time to do some of the outdoor work, including planting some transplanted ivy, before the big storms came in for the next two days. Later today I will call around to some of the area shelters and maybe go visit some of them. I found a possible poodle for me online when Doc was looking with me but she is already in a foster to adopt home. The right one will come along, I'm sure. However, as you already know, patience is not one of my virtues.
Labels: adoptions, dog, farm, grants, human society, rescue, shelters, St. Louis, TAH
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Redbuds in Bloom
We had a short period of rain today and it now officially smells like spring. The redbuds are just gorgeous.
I emailed the city again this morning about the drainage blockage dating back to some construction behind us over a year ago. About an hour later, I saw a city car out front and had a nice conversation with people who seem to understand what needs to happen so that I'm not living in a swamp.
And there was the potential for more good news but the mud flaps I've been waiting 11 months for did not fit in an acceptable manner even to the GM service techs. There was double-sided sticky tape and gaps that would not only collect dirt and gravel and road debris but also encouraging the paint finish to get scraped up. So, back on went the generic mudflaps. The engineers have just had trouble resolving the new style running boards with the mudflap design.
Another situation is resolving itself and I am not left being the bad guy and have been in fact thanked for my extensive efforts on behalf of this organization.
I was able to get in some more heavy duty weedeating but will not head out to the farm given the hail possibilities. I had hoped to hunt for morels since they seem to be popping up all over. We're not supposed to get any super warm nights so maybe I can find them next week.
The best news from yesterday is that I finished all my grading even though it took me until after 7pm to do so. But I came home without that weighing on my mind. It's continuing to amaze me how students think grades are a debate and how students spend more time gaming the system and losing in the short term instead of understanding that the instructor operates on more than just raw points. But sending a 300-word email about less than 5 points is probably not a student's best option - but pointing that out to them only creates more havoc. So, I offered to do an entire regrade of all assignments and adjust all late papers instead of just this student's latest one. He's forgetting how much slack he has been cut and so arguing about 5 points that won't actually make a difference in the hundreds of points being offered is just not the best option. It's also interesting to see how some students think just by doing the work and meeting minimum standards earns them an A while most of us consider that average, or C.
I'm off to the Western Social Science Association meeting in Denver tomorrow. An econ colleague is going with me and two old friends and at least one new friend that I met at the OAH will be there.
Oh, I talked to Doc the other afternoon about Beau and Maggie. I pushed hard enough that he finally said he'd like me to get a puppy so that I have more influence in forming their personalities. It's made me think a bit more along with the advice he gave about how to check them out before I bring them home. I'm supposed to talk to their foster mom tonight and hopefully that will help me come closer to figuring out whether I am better as a one-dog house or a two-dog house. In any case, I have a room reserved for the first weekend of the month and will hang out with friends in St. Louis after I meet the dogs and do some thinking about what works best for everyone involved. This is so hard but worth it in the end. I can't believe I haven't had a dog at home for 5 months . . . it just doesn't feel the same - even though I'm trying to stay busier than usual.
I emailed the city again this morning about the drainage blockage dating back to some construction behind us over a year ago. About an hour later, I saw a city car out front and had a nice conversation with people who seem to understand what needs to happen so that I'm not living in a swamp.
And there was the potential for more good news but the mud flaps I've been waiting 11 months for did not fit in an acceptable manner even to the GM service techs. There was double-sided sticky tape and gaps that would not only collect dirt and gravel and road debris but also encouraging the paint finish to get scraped up. So, back on went the generic mudflaps. The engineers have just had trouble resolving the new style running boards with the mudflap design.
Another situation is resolving itself and I am not left being the bad guy and have been in fact thanked for my extensive efforts on behalf of this organization.
I was able to get in some more heavy duty weedeating but will not head out to the farm given the hail possibilities. I had hoped to hunt for morels since they seem to be popping up all over. We're not supposed to get any super warm nights so maybe I can find them next week.
The best news from yesterday is that I finished all my grading even though it took me until after 7pm to do so. But I came home without that weighing on my mind. It's continuing to amaze me how students think grades are a debate and how students spend more time gaming the system and losing in the short term instead of understanding that the instructor operates on more than just raw points. But sending a 300-word email about less than 5 points is probably not a student's best option - but pointing that out to them only creates more havoc. So, I offered to do an entire regrade of all assignments and adjust all late papers instead of just this student's latest one. He's forgetting how much slack he has been cut and so arguing about 5 points that won't actually make a difference in the hundreds of points being offered is just not the best option. It's also interesting to see how some students think just by doing the work and meeting minimum standards earns them an A while most of us consider that average, or C.
I'm off to the Western Social Science Association meeting in Denver tomorrow. An econ colleague is going with me and two old friends and at least one new friend that I met at the OAH will be there.
Oh, I talked to Doc the other afternoon about Beau and Maggie. I pushed hard enough that he finally said he'd like me to get a puppy so that I have more influence in forming their personalities. It's made me think a bit more along with the advice he gave about how to check them out before I bring them home. I'm supposed to talk to their foster mom tonight and hopefully that will help me come closer to figuring out whether I am better as a one-dog house or a two-dog house. In any case, I have a room reserved for the first weekend of the month and will hang out with friends in St. Louis after I meet the dogs and do some thinking about what works best for everyone involved. This is so hard but worth it in the end. I can't believe I haven't had a dog at home for 5 months . . . it just doesn't feel the same - even though I'm trying to stay busier than usual.
Labels: adoptions, city, classes, conferences, Denver, dog, dogs, drainage, grading, students, teaching, weedeating
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Sunday - More Progress
I was able to get another chunk of course prep done yesterday - finally getting some of it done early. Each semester I overwhelm myself trying to figure out new approaches to the requisite topics covered in whatever classes I'm teaching. From now on, instead of teaching a class that is usually almost 90% new each semester, I'm going to tackle new topics and new teaching strategies as I run across them and not put myself under the gun almost every week of every semester. Working smart instead of working too hard, maybe?
The students at my university hosted their annual international food fair. I had some great Indian Behl from the African students and some interesting crepes and Charlotte cake from the Russian students and some potstickers from the Chinese students. And it was fun to see some familiar faces.
Not unusually, I got off to a late start this morning with the time change. I went to the humane society just before noon and the poodle pup was back. He had had to have surgery - not something genetic, thank goodness, and probably just a possible fact of being abandoned. I waited til last to play with him. He's a cute little guy but I'm not convinced he's full poodle - his hair isn't quite curly enough and there's white at the front of his two toes and a bit on his chest and the rest of him is black. I gave all but one of the two more shy dogs treats and stayed longer than I had planned because of the poodle. I called my friend June because I had mixed emotions - he didn't seem to be "it" but I felt guilty leaving him. She reminded me that if he was the right one, I wouldn't be thinking about it so hard. And new poodles do show up every week on Petfiner. As Aaron at the shelter said, he won't have any trouble finding a good home and will go right away. Oh, I did hear back from the Fluffy Butts foster mom but the more I think about it, I'm just not sure about two dogs. I can carry along one dog lots of places that two won't go and my guess is that most dog-friendly hotels will prefer only one per room.
I have some prep for tomorrow to do, work on grading, and my taxes to do for Tuesday. All before I leave.
It was warm enough (51 degrees) to wash the car this afternoon and then I ventured into cleaning out the main component of the garage cabinets. Most of the stuff actually in the cabinets (and not on top) was put there when I moved in thirteen and a half years ago. As I picked up everything, I thought "why am I still keeping this?". And, as I've been learning from research and actually cleaning over the last few weeks, sometimes it becomes very easy to identify the emotional tie of a particular object and remind myself that the tie is not going to go away just because I throw away a thing. I wiped out the cabinets and put a great deal of the stuff on top the cabinets in them - where they should be. Now to get some more mice bait to put at the back to deter them if they get in the garage again next winter.
The students at my university hosted their annual international food fair. I had some great Indian Behl from the African students and some interesting crepes and Charlotte cake from the Russian students and some potstickers from the Chinese students. And it was fun to see some familiar faces.
Not unusually, I got off to a late start this morning with the time change. I went to the humane society just before noon and the poodle pup was back. He had had to have surgery - not something genetic, thank goodness, and probably just a possible fact of being abandoned. I waited til last to play with him. He's a cute little guy but I'm not convinced he's full poodle - his hair isn't quite curly enough and there's white at the front of his two toes and a bit on his chest and the rest of him is black. I gave all but one of the two more shy dogs treats and stayed longer than I had planned because of the poodle. I called my friend June because I had mixed emotions - he didn't seem to be "it" but I felt guilty leaving him. She reminded me that if he was the right one, I wouldn't be thinking about it so hard. And new poodles do show up every week on Petfiner. As Aaron at the shelter said, he won't have any trouble finding a good home and will go right away. Oh, I did hear back from the Fluffy Butts foster mom but the more I think about it, I'm just not sure about two dogs. I can carry along one dog lots of places that two won't go and my guess is that most dog-friendly hotels will prefer only one per room.
I have some prep for tomorrow to do, work on grading, and my taxes to do for Tuesday. All before I leave.
It was warm enough (51 degrees) to wash the car this afternoon and then I ventured into cleaning out the main component of the garage cabinets. Most of the stuff actually in the cabinets (and not on top) was put there when I moved in thirteen and a half years ago. As I picked up everything, I thought "why am I still keeping this?". And, as I've been learning from research and actually cleaning over the last few weeks, sometimes it becomes very easy to identify the emotional tie of a particular object and remind myself that the tie is not going to go away just because I throw away a thing. I wiped out the cabinets and put a great deal of the stuff on top the cabinets in them - where they should be. Now to get some more mice bait to put at the back to deter them if they get in the garage again next winter.
Labels: adoptions, animals, car, clean, dogs, food festival, garage, humane society, international food, rescue, wash
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Saturday at the Humane Society
Today was a good day at the humane society. Someone adopted Baxter before I even had a chance to sit with the little guy. A sad story turned joyful quite quickly. A couple brought in a little lhasa apso. Their daughter had moved to TX and had just left the dog behind and the landlord had called them to get it. Sammie is just the sweetest little buy - but no sooner had I put him up on petfinder than a family took him home. Luckily little man! And Molly went to a home that had adopted a beagle from the shelter last year. Xavier the chow/shepherd pup is back - apparently blind in one eye because of a genetic defect - but you can't tell it in how he acts. I tried to walk a few of the dogs and Coby became the lap dog this week - he's an affenpinscher. He actually gave me a few kisses on my hand. I tried to get the scared group - including Dr. Pepper - to warm up to me but I'm just not out there enough. I could tell I really missed being out there last week. I kept meaning to leave and then the rush of people that ended up adopting came just after all but the main worker left. I am definitely a smaller lap dog type of person. I did take Sweetie for a walk - she's a lab/shepherd mix and all her puppies were adopted. Chandler the cat got an earful from me when he swiped his claws at me when I didn't even know he was there - later I had to help make sure a little boy didn't get too close - he was getting down on his level and with this cat, that's not good and definitely dangerous. It was funny when Xavier went over and barked at him more than once. (Can you tell dogs rule in my world? People own dogs, cats have staff . . . . . )
Labels: adoptions, dogs, humane society, pups, saturday
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