Maroon(ed)

I'm having a lonely moment. Roland is at work and I just got some emails from back home. It wasn't until I got to the last line of the email that I sort of lost it. Its amazing what impact simple words like "I miss you" can have. I miss a lot of things about Michigan, but mostly the people right now. I need to find a way to meet some new people down here. Unfortunately I've never been very extroverted so that task seems fairly daunting right now. Perhaps I should think on that when I am less morose.

Good Jorb

I was all tippity typing away on a post and Bleys came along and turned off my computer by stepping on the power strip on/off switch. Bummer.

Its official...moving...sucks. I've been unpacking for two weeks and I'm still not done. Mostly what's left is the stuff I didn't have a place for in Michigan either so I guess that's fair. Its just that Roland and I got rid of a full stall of a garage worth of stuff before we left and we still have too much to fit in a nicely sized apartment. Ah, the loss of a basement. Part of the problem is that our storage space in stuffed to the rafters with boxes that Mayflower still hasn't called about picking up. When they are gone I think it will be easier to find places for everything.

Clean Sweep moment: If what you need is storage space for stuff that you will rarely/if ever need shouldn't you consider just getting rid of it? I need Peter Walsh to come and help me! Too bad I'm not terrible enough to get on the show.

Other shows I would love to be on:

What not to Wear - I've been wanting to change my hair for a while now (I'm one of those haven't-had-short-hair-since-4th-grade-people) and would love to have Nick Arrojo find me a new 'do. Plus $5,000 for new clothes!

Overhaulin' - Best reason my car should be overhauled: Its a Focus

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Who wouldn't? If I found some land couldn't they just come in a build me a house?

Weird Florida Moment - No bottle deposit

I recently finished The Chronicles of Pern. I enjoyed it but felt like as soon as I got into a story it ended. I'm on to The Renegades of Pern, so far its a little disjointed, but I think that is on purpose. We'll see how I like it.

Viva la difference

Ok, so I recently moved to Coral Springs, Florida from Grand Rapids, Michigan (and yes I do seem to have a penchant for living in cities with two names). Hence my all day mission to find a new veterinarian. Let me just start by saying that I am what we are going to call an "involved" pet owner. If you choose to read "pain in the ass" pet owner that is your point of view. I want to know the what AND the why of what is going on and I have the anatomy/physiology background and animal care experience to understand if the vet is willing to take the time.

I was blessed to have one of the best in the business back in Michigan. Doc Swift would see staff pets and she was freakin' awesome. She would always listen and take our observations seriously. The vet I had chosen before I worked at the HSKC insisted that Bleys merely 'liked to have his head scratched....a lot.' Horse-pucky! Doc sent in an allergy panel and he is totally allergic to fleas (a Cavalier thing) and somewhat allergic to wheat. Wheat, you say, what does that matter, dogs don't eat pasta. Ah, but take a look at your dog food bag. Most of them have some form of wheat as the first or second ingredient. So we switched him to Eukanuba K/O , have him on Frontline every 21 days instead of 28 and Sentinel every month.

We start our day by sitting down and writing out a list of things to discuss while visiting area facilities (retentive...yes). Then we go to the AAHA website to find some practices. I had also asked for some recommendations from a couple of local Cavalier groups and gotten the name of Dr. Cindi Bossart whose facility was not on the AAHA list. I decide to visit that one and one other to start. I call both facilities:

Battle: Phone Call
Wiles Road Animal Hospital - you can come in anytime, but between 12 and 2 would be best as the vets are in surgery then.

Animal Hosptial of Fort Lauderdale - you can come in anytime except between 12 and 2 as the vets are in surgery then.

Do we see a difference already? Wiles thinks I should come when I CAN'T speak to the vet, while Lauderdale thinks I should come when I will be more likely to be able to speak to the vet.

Desicion: Wiles -1/Lauderdale +1

Next, we go to Wiles and Lauderale. I will ask for a tour and to ask questions at each facility. In location Wiles has the advantage as it is only about 10 minutes from our apartment (Lauderdale is like 3o minutes). Also some of our best friends in Michigan have the last name Wiles, so that a bonus.

Battle: Initial Visit

Wiles - Fairly pleasant greeting, person with a really irritating voice doing something on the computer at the front desk is not so nice, but incidental. Woman (who does not introduce herself) takes me on an extremely brief tour of the place except for the boarding facility. Why can't we go in there? Oh they are doing some special cleaning as its a Monday.

In my head - why didn't you say that on the phone when I asked about getting a tour?
We go back to the front where I these questions among others:

Q: My dog has allergies to fleas and wheat, how does the vet like to handle that?
A: Well, on your first visit you could discuss that with the vet.
Q: Which vaccines do you recommend?
A: That is something you would need to discuss with the vet on your first visit.
The final straw:
Q: My dog is on prescription food, Eukanuba Kangaroo and Oat...
A: Oh we don't carry that.

At this point I see it is pointless to go on. The reason I came in was to get answers to these questions BEFORE I chose the vet, not after. If you are wondering the correct answer to the last question would have been 'Oh we doing carry Eukanuba, but we could see about getting your dog on such-and-such which we do carry and does not contain wheat.'

At this point I am very discouraged. That was a horrible experience and say to myself as I get in the car "sheesh, you don't really want me to be a client do you?"

Lauderdale - Immediately greeted by Jim (who turns out to be Cindi's husband). He takes me on a tour, very friendly, shows me all the rooms, kennels, surgery suites. Personally introduces me to all 5 vets that are on that day including Cindi. Cindi takes a good 10 minutes to chat with me about my dog and my concerns, answers all my questions, and even chats with me about a food I didn't know about for heart health. They have Eukanuba K/O in stock and Jim spends a total of probably 30 minutes just with me (and I don't even have a dog with me).

Decision: Wiles -5/Lauderdale +6

Overall Score: Wiles -6/Lauderdale +7

Final thoughts: What a difference between the two clinics. I can't imagine going back to the first place, or not going back to the second place. I just hope she can come close to Doc!

Lickity Split

Greetings from Florida! Let me just say that I don't particularly wish to drive from Michigan to Florida or vise versa again anytime soon. Bleys travelled very well although I don't think I like the harness I got very much. It had a tendancy to rotate around his body becuase of the uneven pressure of the seatbelt. I was thinking about getting a car seat, anybody out there have an opinion?

Roland and I arrived yesterday and did the whole lease/walkthrough thing. Our apartment is nice, but still an apartment. I miss our house (ex-house maybe, I wonder if there is as much paperwork to get a divorce as it does to divorce your house), I hope Veronica and Joe are enjoying the place. I miss a lot of things at the moment, I suppose it doesn't do to dwell on them.

Small world thingy for the day: the guy who installed our cable modem just spent the last four years getting his degree from Ferris State University! Go figure.