Saturday, September 09, 2006

The good with the bad

Yesterday proved that you get the good with the bad and you have to take both with grace.

First thing in the morning we got a parking ticket for parking in front of our house. Our street is on the trainline access point. You can only park in these bluestone bays which alternate on the left and right. Now a LOT of people park outside the bluestone bays which is a public danger. But the police never come and ticket them. Nooooo.... when they came down here for the first time in 5 years, they decided to ticket the homeowners parked in the bluestone bays which are 2P zones - but the only other street parking is 2 streets down. The folks parked in actual parking spots not being a hazard to anyone. Think we can get anyone to deal with those parking outside the bays though? NAH! Grr! So we got a ticket.

So already stressing about the freaking ticket, the car was due for a oil change so I dropped it off and walked home. Got a call - some kind of hose thingie needs replacing. Great - go ahead. I hope it doesn't cost a bundle. Got another call. The bit that fastens the hose thingie on is old and broke apart when they tried to remove it. It too needs replacing. And they can't get the part till Monday. ####!!!

I have Freestyle in Dandenong tonight!!! Okay, no probs, we'll take the train. So I bundle Laurent up, grab the dog, grab the husband and we boogie down. We did pretty well and were video taped so I may be able to post a little view of what my girlie has learned in 6 lessons in the next week or so! By the time we finished though and walked back to the train station it was 11:20 and the less-than-savories were out. They're sitting here flashing gang signs, fighting, screaming and trying to act like homeboys. DH is flipping out that these are gang bangers and I'm sitting here thinking yeah.... right. Drop these little white-boy middle-class, wanna-be bad assess off in the middle of Detroit at midnight and we'll see how bad they really are. :rolls eyes: Posers. But still not anyone I want to sit my 11 month old next to and feed him!

Halfway home my math skills reappear and I add 2+2 and get 4. Car not back till Monday. I have a herding event Sunday. Aw, CRRRAPPPPPPP!!! Now what am I supposed to do? Even if I could hitch a ride with someone (doubtful) the carseat is in our car which is locked up at the autoplace! That means a trainride and hike out to Skye.

To make matters funner, Laurent and I are both still fighting this miserable chest cold. It's mostly gone for me, just have no voice and an occasional cough. Laurent has still got a runny nose, cough and a serious case of the grumpy-clingies though.

On the upside (hey, I take my happy where I can get it!) our last night went off fairly well. I completely made up a 'routine' (haha) on the fly and we did okay. We're still a long way from competing but the only thing we HAD to do for this was heeling, a 360 and a rock-back step. We also did a few other little tricks and didn't fall on our faces. They gave us a nice certificate and treats for completing our course which was nice as well and much appreciated by Sierra! (Well, the treats anyway... the certificate was more my thing!)

C'mon universe, can't you cut me a little break??? It can be our little secret, I won't tell a soul - promise!

4 comments:

No one said...

Oh crap! Sounds like you've had a bit of a bad run the past couple of days, except the bit about doing good at the thingy in dandenong (that was a bloody long way to travel on pt!)...

Yk, as a sidebar, I just love the way you write!

Also, on your last post - coz I'm too lazy to publish this then go open another window to post - how exciting! I'd LOVE to meet your dogs one day! And it would be so cool if your brood grew this year too! So, are you looking at getting one or two dogs? And you wouldn't have an issue with getting a one year old dog???

Amanda O. said...

Yeah, ol' Murphy has really been out-doing himself lately! LOL

I'll have to have everyone over sometime for sure... Nic is spoiling for a chance to cook for a party anyhow. *G* If it's after I get the dog/puppy I'll probably draft everyone into helping me socialize him/her, fair warning! Of course you're also welcome just to come play with the dogs anytime though! LOL

I will only be getting either one of these pups OR the next litter OR the 1 yr old! I'm intending to show as well as do sports I already love (herding, agility, obedience, freestyle, tracking) and the way I train/socialize a young dog is labor intensive, plus I have two other dogs to train so one is plenty to keep me busy and poor! I adore this bloodline as it produces everything I like in terms of temperment, personaility, working style, health clearances and conformation. I'd considered importing a dog from this bloodline when I found out about this breeding having just imported one. Saves me a lot of money and hastle as buying/importing is cost several thousand dollars easy.

I have no issue getting a 1 year old! I've adopted dogs at 9 years old and they bond perfectly well with you! Also bear in mind this is a responsible breeder who has poured years of time, love and effort into breeding these dogs. Part of being a responsible breeder is breeding for temperment and socializing them so I'm not worried about that. (You can't show or sport a dog who isn't decent mannered around people, dogs, crowds and weird stuff happening because events have all those in spades!) Also, these pups represent such an investment in time and love, no responsible breeder is going to sell to a home that isn't a perfect match in terms of temperment and personaility or hide anything about the dog because they want it to work out. Responsible breeders do not sell a dog to you just because you want it, or have the money as money/sale isn't their motivation. Good breeders never even break even let alone make a profit, it's too costly to do it correctly. They want to look carefully into you, your lifestyle, your training skills, what sort of temperment you'd get along with etc. to carefully match owners up with dogs who will fit into their family and stay in that home for the rest of it's life! :-)

No one said...

I dream about dog training, but I'm not sure I have what it takes... My mum got a well bred (but not show worthy) poodle when I was 16, which she promptly turned into a rather neglected pet, and I felt it was such a waste!!! My Aunty breeds and shows poodles and I played with the idea, but never having the "set up" (not driving makes it hard to get to events)... Maybe when I'm a lot older and kids have moved out (and Dave is too incompassitated to whinge about it)...

Jayne said...

Oh Lord..that's Dandenong for ya. Too many wanna be "home boys" around there for comfort! :D