For This Next Trick...

We recently passed the one month mark with our larger 4 legged furry charge and are bearing witness to a marvelous transformation of canine behavior. When he first strode through our doors he was a handful. He needed to smell everything inside and out jump around, and be where we were every second of the day. We knew part of it was his adolescence and part of it was being in a new surrounding, but none of that made it easy. Since then we've been attending dog school with the incredible Judy Moore of Canine Behavior Counseling.

Before we started her class we explained some of the things we were seeing in his behavior. She said she has a couple different classes for basic obedience and an Outdoor Adventures class for dogs that need some work on socializing with other dogs before they can effectively learn anything. To ensure he landed in the right class she came out to our house with one of her dogs as a distraction dog, to get a feel for him and recommend the right class. We are now 4 weeks into 6 weeks of the Outdoor Adventure class and we're flat out thrilled with the results. The class consists of a variety of dogs all of them fearful or anxious around other dogs or better yet people, and most of them are bigger than our little Mr. Cecil. There have been a couple rows between 2 of the other dogs in the class that occurred nowhere near Mr. Cecil but completely freaked him out all the same. Other than being exposed and shaken by those incidents, he relaxes a little more with each class and has even made some friends! Sure he still gets ancy being around other dogs but it's less frequent and certainly subdued. There are even times when there are other dogs that are barking or growling and he just lets it go and pays attention to us. In the honor of full disclosure he doesn't arbitrarily look up at us, we tell him to 'watch me' (look at me and we'll give you a treat) before he'll do it.

One of the best 'watch me' instances happened this morning on our morning walk. We were walking down a nice quiet residential street when another dog owner was out with her 2 collies walking up the street toward us. We did the 'watch me' command a few times before they got close, and once they got close one of the 2 collies went over threshold with excitement at the sight of Mr. Cecil. Mr. Cecil for his part looked at the dog for a couple seconds while I told him to 'watch me'. After saying it only twice he looked AWAY from the over threshold larger than he is Collie and stared right at me quietly waiting for his treat! He got his well deserved treat and we kept walking while he kept looking at me, waiting for the vending machine to spit out more doggy deliciousness. Oh that's not all. Nay nay. We have trained him to 'leave it' when we drop a treat on the floor in front of him, and we have him sit and calmly stay while we pour his food into his dish and put it down on the floor. We are amazed at how far he and we have come in the short window we've had him, and we're super excited to include him in all sorts of adventures knowing that he's going to be a balanced well behaved little guy.

To Be or Not to Be

That is the question. About 5 months ago I was let go from my prior employer and have been trying to get back into the industry I called 'what I do' for almost 6 years. I proudly stand behind my work. I also enjoyed what I do or did and I was good at it, the numbers don't lie. That's why I get so frustrated sometimes standing on the outside looking in after so many resumes to my industry mates end up in the wind. I have my opinions on why that is but this is not the place to air that. I'm starting to read the writing on the wall, that the industry I called what I do for so long is done with me. I can't change the circumstances I've been handed, I can only respond, and my response will dictate how I'm measured as a person.

I have a couple ideas for a career path in mind, two very different ones. They both involve some level of a return to the classroom. One involves an expensive and intense return to the classroom, and a pretty nice schedule when all is said and done. The other would involve a much cheaper and less intense return to the classroom, learning on the job and more obscure Presidents rolling in sooner. The first option is becoming a teacher. The return to the classroom would entail a consolidated Masters Degree program at the local college. The program is great, not cheap and cut throat. I also have not taught in a classroom so I don't know if it's something I really like. It does sound really cool though. For the short term I'm in the process of becoming certified as a substitute teacher to test the waters and pull down some more obscure Presidents. The sub gig is basically a requirement before entering the program so hopefully everyone that goes into it knows before they get there if it's what they really want. Wise move Master Luke.

The other path I'm pondering is some sort of trade i.e. plumbing, electrician, general contractor, carpenter, just something with my hands. We own a house. For those that have a house you know how busy they leave your hands. Those that don't own one have probably heard the horror stories and torrid tales of repairing appliances and fixtures and money flying out the door for one thing or another. Low and behold I have found I really enjoy doing those things. In our house alone I've stripped wood paneling and wallpaper, sanded spackled sanded and painted 3 rooms, removed carpeting, replaced the trap on the bathroom sink once, replaced pipes in the kitchen sink at least twice, taken the kitchen faucet apart once (and will be doing it again today to fix a stubborn wobble) replaced the threshold on an exterior door and built a cloffice, installed new crown moulding and trim and fixed window sills. Oh by the way a cloffice is a closet turned into an office. Slick eh? After all these projects I find myself looking for the next project to complete or dreaming up possible things I can do. I've pondered doing something like a trade recently but had thought I might resent it if I was being paid for it. With one of the recent projects I conquered, replacing the threshold, I found myself counting down the days until I could start the project, I was actually excited to do it. It had a few speed bumps along but even with those it was still really enjoyable. I'm realizing that I might not resent doing something like that if I was paid for it and am beginning to embrace the possibility. I love the idea of doing something that has a tangible benefit to society (which is present in both options so the jury is still out on which career path I'll head down.)

I'm not sure which one I'll pursue. I'll do a lot of research and talking with people and most importantly talking with the Tremendous and Lovely Wife and deciding what works best for us. For now I have some finishing touches to do on the crown moulding and a stubborn wobbling kitchen faucet to fix before I study for my sub teacher certification test. 5 extra credit points if you remember how to calculate the volume of a cylinder.

Happy Matrimony

So this post is long overdue. It's been awhile in the making due to one thing or another and alas it's finally here. After much anticipation and a constant chorus of 'WHEN?!?!' in our household our wedding pics have finally arrived!! Our marvelous photographer the fantastic Clare Norton has completed the tedious task of editing and sifting and organizing all the moments of our most beautiful day. She handpicked a fistful for a nice album and put the rest on a series of DVD's for us so we can print or wallpaper as we please.

Time stood still on that day in September and as easy as it might be (doesn't everyone have 1.21 jiggawatts of electricity at their disposal?) we can't hop in the Delorean and revisit that day. All we have to remember that day are our memories and the wonderful images captured by a bounty of cameras. Here is a snapshot of the Awesomeness!

Behold the Threshold

I don't remember when I realized that the threshold to our seldom used front door was decrepit, but I do remember thinking we should fix it before it snows. I knew I'd need some tools that we didn't already own and aside from being used for the task at hand, they'd be helpful for other jobs around the house. So a trip to the hardware store and we're a circular saw and speed square richer. I also picked up the threshold itself along with all the other parts I knew I'd need and circled yesterday as The Day, the day before the rains came to conquer it.

You could tell by looking at the threshold itself that it was in pretty bad shape but what I wasn't able to discern was the state of the boards underneath. Once I removed the old threshold, front fascia board and the boards behind it I found a robust any colony having their own little party in there. They had beat it up some but I think the moisture was the primary culprit. The sub sill and boards underneath appear to extend into the framing of the house behind the siding, and I have no idea how far back the punky wood runs. Does it run to the corner of the house? Does it stop in the next few inches? Is it on both sides? Do I feel like stripping down everything on the front of the house to get it all out? Not really. I decided to do what I needed to to finish the job and seal the living daylights out of it and hope it holds for the time being. Dismantling the front of the house looking for rotted wood is a job for someone else some other day, perhaps when we put a second story on the house.

With fascia boards in hand I covered the wood in borax (rot and insect repellent extraordinaire) threw down a vapor barrier and slapped them in. When I took out the old threshold I discovered that it was original or most likely was original to the house: it had a top and bottom horn on both sides and the casing for the door extended out over and was flush with the top of the threshold. So there are only 2 ways that threshold and that door arrived at their final resting place: by building one side of the door frame put the threshold down and finish building the other side of the door frame and then dropping the door in. The other option would by building the two sides and bottom of the door frame and then sliding the threshold down from the top and then finishing the frame and installing the door. They dropped a cool 11 nails into the top of it (mysteriously only a couple went into the sub sill as well.) They even nailed through the studs into the ends of it. What the hell were they expecting would happen to it? Were they going to hang elephants from it? Anyway we've discovered it's a very sturdy house.

So after hearing about all the home improvement excitement the elder version of myself stopped by to join in the power tool wielding party. We tried slamming the threshold into place but realized the casing was blocking it, so a few well placed swipes with the jigsaw later and the threshold popped into place. I ran some expanding foam up underneath it and managed to get a thin coating of it all over my fingers. This stuff doesn't come off, I did heed their 'wear gloves' warning but then took them off when I thought I was done got some on the can in the process and soon it's too late. I'm contemplating taking fine grit sand paper to my finger tips so I don't spend the next few weeks with tufts of pet hair stuck to my fingers. At least the threshold won't budge. Even with all that fine handiwork done it's not quite finished yet, I'm going to slap a finished fascia board on it next week after the rain stops and it's had a chance to dry out. I'm pleased with the outcome and am kind of excited for the next home improvement project that comes our way. Hopefully it'll involve using the new circular saw. If not I might just turn it on and wave it some scrap wood for good measure.