New Years Eve...

It was pretty much clear to me, that New Years Eve wasn't going to be particularly fun for Gina. During the afternoon walk Gina wasn't too worried about the smaller fireworks, but she really didn't like them. The loud fireworks they really scared her and she did really want to get away from them. Daisy was the same way so I expected Gina to behave the same way as Daisy used to do. But nothing could be further from the truth. Gina has different way of reacting to fireworks when she is in my apartment. She barks at the fireworks. But with lots of talking to her and with goodies I could get her to calm down.
As a precaution I did take Gina for her evening walk around 8.30 pm, that way she should be good till 3 or 4 am. Once we got back I prepared all the goodies for the upcoming night. At this time the fireworks weren't too bad and I could clam Gina down by talking to her. I did prepare the food for the midnight meal. In the past couple of years it has become somewhat of a tradition to have Gulasch as a midnight snack on New Years Eve.
By 11 pm the fireworks really loud and I wasn't able to talk Gina down. So I put her on the leash and walked around with her in the apartment. That helped her for some time. But as the fireworks kept getting louder and so I went with Gina into my bathroom and closed the door. After all this is the quietest room in the entire apartment. But of course a dog can hear the fireworks going off and that really stressed her. Talking her down didn't work at that time. Of course I did feel sorry for her, but that really wasn't going to accomplish anything. So I had to come up with a different approach. Offering goodies helped, but not to that degree I would have liked to. So I used Gina's playful side and also the fact that she does love to do nose work. And these 3 components taken together seemed to do the trick. At least for most of the time. And Gina really seemed to enjoy the game and she seemed to pay less attention to the fireworks. But it meant that I spent the time from 11 am to 1 pm with Gina in the bathroom. So I missed the actual beginning of the new year. But I really didn't care too much about that. The important thing was that Gina made it OK trough the worst part of the night.
At 1 am the worst part of the fireworks was over. So I tried to go back into the living room with Gina. Turned the TV volume a little more up and that seemed to do the trick. With some coaching Gina jumped onto the couch and after some petting she rolled up next to me and slept off all the hectic and stress of this evening. I did have my midnight snack and the Gulasch was just yummy. After the meal I opened the bottle of champagne, that I had planned to drink at midnight. So I did have it at 2 am. But that really didn't change anything for me. All in all it was not a bad New Years Eve, but for next year I might consider renting a cabin in the mountains and spend New Years there, where there are no crazy fireworks.

Gina's first Outing in the snow...

The past 7 days or so the temps out here had been freezing. It's actually the first time this winter season in Vienna that it had been that cold for a longer time. Last night it started to snow slightly. While I'm generally not a big fan of snow in the city, it does give a completely different feeling to the holiday season. 

When I got up today there were a couple of inches snow on the ground. It' always fun to walk trough fresh powder. So I decided on an outing with Gina in the snow at a local park. We had to take tram and subway to get there, but that was no issue at all for her. At first she checked out the snow and didn't feel too excited about it. But soon she got the hang of the white stuff and did really enjoy herself. And the longer this outing lasted the more excited she got about the white powder. Jumping and bouncing around. Way more that what is good for her, since it has only been 1 week since she had one of her claws pulled. That last thing I wanted for her to be in pain or that the wound would start bleed or get infected again. So I had to calm her down quite a number of times. 

There is something I don't appreciate about other dog owners. The know fully that their dogs have to be on a leash in the part at all times. But especially with snow nobody seems to care about that. And of course there were a couple of instances when Gina did react very strongly towards other dogs. Meanwhile I know how tries to deal with it. First she tries to avoid the entire thing. If that doesn't work, she lies down and gets ready to get after the dog. Usually I'm fairly good in defusing such a situation by just walking into a different direction with her. But there are situation when you just can't avoid it. And there was one dog owner who particularly pissed me off. I didn't just cuss at him like a sailor, but I threatened to punch his fucking heart out if he wouldn't put his dog on the leash right away. Apparently I must have been really mad and really convincing, since it took less than 5 seconds  for that owner to put his dog on the leash. I don't like getting that way, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do!

Meet Gina...

Those of you, who read my Blog regularly, know that I adopted Gina on December 26th. But I never really got around to introducing Gina to you guys properly. So here it goes:

Gina is a Aussie Shepard Mix. And she's 3 1/2 years old. That means she is barely out of being a doggie Teenager. She is still very playful, has considerable endurance and at times she tends to play too rough for her own good. But that's something that doesn't bother me. I know how to get her down from that. This dog is highly intelligent and really looking to build a relationship and is seeking lots of physical contact. Training with her is fairly easy since you can use her playful side and she loves to work for food.
But of course this dog has quite a number of quirks. She doesn't exactly take goodies gently and she does guard food. She has made quite some negative experiences with other dogs. She doesn't care too much for smaller dogs and they usually aren't a problem. But she is afraid of bigger dogs and has figured out that attacking first won't get yourself hurt. That's something I'm currently working on. She has no problem riding in public transportation. But she really dislikes the muzzle. But with the the muzzle issue I've made quite some progress with her so far. And she definitely isn't a dog for a first time dog owner. This Aussie Shepard requires an experienced dog owner and someone who stays calm even if she misbehaves.
Here are a couple of pieces of info about Gina's past. She has been adopted out 3 times so far. Every time to an allegedly dog experienced owner. But did get returned quite quickly to the shelter again.
With owner number one she really tried to build up an relationship, but wasn't allowed to sleep in the same room. So she was whining and that was reason enough to return her to the shelter.

Owner number two had nothing better to do than use the muzzle as a punishment device. Every single time she misbehaved she got the muzzle put on her. Didn't take long of course that she tried to avoid getting that thing put on her. With the end result that she is showing the teeth every time you try to put the muzzle on her. And she isn't particularly fond of having anything put around her neck. And if someone where to overdue it she is going to snap at you. But still showing an incredible amount of restraint. No blood, no indents in the skin. Just to let you know that's too much for her to handle at the moment. After the issue with the muzzle she got turned into the shelter again.
With owner number three it might have worked out. But this family had smaller kids and they were used to chase their previous dog and hug the previous dog at the neck. And Gina isn't really fond of that. To let someone hug her around the neck the necessary trust has to be built up. The kids didn't understand doggie language and the parents didn't pay attention either. So Gina tried to keep the kids at bay. Showing the teeth didn't work and so she snapped at them. Nothing happened. No indents in the skin...nothing. But the poor girl had once again to go back to the shelter.

This time she got put into Wiener Tierschutzhaus, where she had been about 1 month when I came into her life. I became her sponsor/guardian and worked with her. We built up in a very short time a relationship based on trust. I worked with her on the muzzle issue. That something that works good one day and not so good the next day. But I'm not giving up on her. That will take quite some time. We grew together very quickly and after the sleepover that went perfectly, the shelter staff said that she should go home with me. She spends a lot of time with me an loves to sleep on the couch right next to me. And yes she enjoys sleeping with me in bed as well. Apparently it makes her feel secure. What I've learned about her so far, is that this dog is slightly snoring...but it just sounds cute. And she is having quite some wild dreams when asleep.
I will keep you guys posted on the progress.

Signing the Adoption Papers...

Today Gina hat to be back at the shelter by 1 pm at the latest. We started the morning with a big round around the block. Getting the harness on Gina was no problem at all. I walked her without the muzzle, since I really didn't want to have the muzzle put on her twice within a couple of hours, knowing how much she dislikes the thing. After we got back it was time for some quick breakfast. Then we relaxed a little before getting ready to head out. I got dressed and Gina let me put the muzzle on her within less than 10 minutes. Riding the tram was no issue at all. By the time we got to the shelter it was about 11.30 am. I was going to look for Sandra or Eva to talk about how the night went. While I was walking Sandra came around the corner an asked me how the night has been. And I told her exactly how it was. As far as I'm concerned it went really great. We talked again about my timetable. The fact is that I have 10 day to get Gina used to the place. And at this point I said yes to bringing Gina home at this point. It makes it easier for me and Gina, doing the adoption now than by the end of January. Sandra asked me to take Gina for a walk as the VET appointment won't be till 1 pm and putting her back into the kennel is just counterproductive.
So Gina and I went for 2 large rounds out in the field and although it was pretty breezy Gina and I did have a lot of fun. Walking at Kellerberg really gives you a great view of Vienna's south side. By the time we headed back to the it was about 12.45 pm. I sat down in one of the waiting rooms and gave Gina a couple of goodies. At 1 pm we went looking for Sandra and found her right away. Then we alkyd up to the VET's office. We had to wait a little and Sandra I got to talk a little more about Gina. She gave me a couple of tips how to help her with staying by herself. And she added that she doesn't think that Gina is going to have much of a problem with that. And we will continue seeing Gina's current dog trainer, since that is going to be paid Rescue Group that adopted Gina out two 2 completely unsuitable homes, before she got turned in at Wiener Tierschutzhaus. Of course that is financial benefit, but would never ever be deciding factor for me. Finally we got called into the VET's office. Gina has already all the basic shots. The one thing that she doesn't have yet is her rabies shot.

This shot is not required by law to have in Austria. It's only required if you were to travel beyond Austria's borders. But of course it's a good thing to have your dog get a rabies shot, especially if you intend to do a lot of hiking with her. And that's something I plan on doing anyways. Gina got her physical exam and a clean bill of health. The VET told me that I could have the rabies vaccination at their office for free, if I were to do that within the next 3 month or I can have my regular VET do it. Then they handed me Gina's Vaccination Passport. Sandra was really impressed how calm Gina was during the entire VET visit. She told me that we make a good team. Then we walked to the office of the shelter. I showed my ID and proof of residency, paid the Adoption fee and off we walked. Of course there was plenty of time for Sandra to say good by to Gina.
Once we got of the tram, I took Gina for a large round around the neighborhood and than we settled in. Gina found a cosy spot right next to me on the couch. Pretty soon she was curled up next to me and sleeping. But every once in a while she did show me her affectionate and her playful side and the side of her that desperately is looking for physical body contact.
The walk before heading to bed was without any problem and this night was much easier on Gina than the previous one. She found herself a great spot right next to me.

The big Sleepover...

Today was going to be the big day for Gina and I, and the beginning of phase 2 as well. Since the shelter was open during business hours I got there at my usual time...about 1.30 pm. Had a little chat with Sandra, one of the shelter employees. We then did the paper work, so that I was allowed to take Gina for a sleepover with me. Sandra told me to take one of Gina's blankets and a couple of her favorite chewing snacks with me. And of course I took advantage of the offer.
Went into Gina's kennel and she was very excited to see me. Putting the harness on her was no problem at all. With a couple of high quality treats and some affection she let me put the muzzle on her as well. And it didn't even take too long. Once we were done we started to head out. Said good bye to Sandra and then went for a full round in the field, although it was starting to rain. But the idea was to drain some of Gina's excess energy and to make the sleepover easier on her.
We headed over to the tram and again riding the tram was no problem for Gina at all. When we got of near my apartment I took Gina for a stroll around the neighborhood to make her familiar with the smells and sounds. After that we headed to my apartment.
I know introducing a new dog to your apartment can be tricky. But Gina just checked out the entire place. With a couple of goodies I showed her Daisy's doggy bed and the bottom portion of the Daisy's transport box that I had put into the living room as well, just in case Gina wasn't going to like the doggy bed. At first Gina just stayed in the middle of the living room. But pretty soon she found the perfect spot. Right in the middle of hallway. The prefect spot. Everyone has to go past her, if you were to leave. Once I settled down on the couch it didn't take long for Gina to join me. First she tried it on the floor right next to me and then she found her spot on the couch. Changing places between snuggling up right next to me and staying by herself, but still very close to me.
Our evening walk was OK. We did it without muzzle, since I couldn't convince Gina to put the muzzle on her. I tried for about 30 minutes. In the end I really didn't want to put it on her by force. This would be completely counter productive. So the muzzle is still a hot button issue and will require a lot of patience and a lot of work. Feeding her was no problem. Just mixed some dry food and some wet food put the bowl down and walked away. I know from the guys at the shelter that Gina is guarding food. And boy is she wolving that food down. So getting her to stop guarding food is going to be something that's going to take very long. But they way I fed her that was very easy and right now is just a question of how you manage it.
I really wanted to take Gina for a walk before heading to bed. But this time she completely refused it. She didn't even want me to put the harness on her. So I just let her be. Later it occurred to me, that I had never tried to put the harness on her just wearing my shorts. She has only experienced that me wearing my Camou-Pants.
Once I turned the lights off poor Gina got a little nervous. She wasn't whining, but just very unsure. Walked back and force and couldn't find the right spot. A couple of times it seemed as if she had found the right spot, but this only lasted for a very short amount of time. She didn't like the spot on the floor right next to me too much. But eventually she found a spot right next to me at my feet where she just curled up and stayed there most of the night. That is until I turned over. After that she spent some time on the floor right next to me as well. Around 5 am or so she jumped back into bed with me and slept right next to my pillow. This is the first time when I realized that this Aussie Shepard is slightly snoring. But it's cute.
So all in all this sleepover went very well. Much better than I actually thought it would be. There are 2 things that did bother her. The sound of the elevator stopping and kids running by the apartment door. Especially of the latter she really isn't a fan of.

XMAS Eve...

Once I got back from my vista with Gina, I relaxed for about 1 hour. Had already done most of the prep work for my XMAS Dinner 2 days before the 24 th. The only thing left to do was to give the mayo-potatoe salad and the sauces the final touches.
Once that was done I warmed up the soup for the fondue & prepared the table. Popped in Star Trek Voyager and started with my XMAS dinner. It felt much more lonely since this year I didn't have anyone over and Daisy, my partner in crime, is no longer around. But all things considered I did enjoy myself and I had prepared a very tasty meal. 3 different kinds of meat (beef, pork and chicken), homemade mayo-potatoe salad and 4 different sauces. The bread of course was store bought. Just was not in the mood to try myself on baking bread.
Well about 2 hours later I called it an end to my XMAS dinner. And boy, I did eat way too much. Nothing exactly new. After I had cleaned up parts of the mess I continued watching Voyager. So all in all it was not a bad XMAS Eve.

XMAS visit with Gina...

Today was my XMAS visit with Gina. When I talked yesterday to Sandra, one of the shelter employees, she let me know, that all dogs had to be back by 2 pm. After that they would hand out the XMAS packages to the dogs and take pix of them for the shelter.
So I headed out earlier than usual and got to the shelter around 11.30 am. Gina was excited to see me. Walked into the kennel gave her some attention and the harness was on her in no time. With some high quality goodies and some affection she let me put the muzzle on her without much of a fight. She wasn't happy about it, but she let it happen. Gave her some more high quality treats through the muzzle and then we headed out. Originally I had planned to to do some basic training with her in one of the facilities enclosure areas. But since it was already noon, we didn't do that. We headed out into the field and Gina was doing very well. But due to the fact that stage 2 will be starting very soon, we headed out to one if the local tram lines. I knew from the shelter employees that they had worked on that with her and that it wasn't much of an issue for her, but I really wanted to see that for myself. Walking to the tram was no issue at all. She really didn't mind the tram stopping either. Getting onto the tram and riding it for a couple of stations was no big deal as well. It's like as if it were second nature to hear.
We got off the tram after 3 stations and just as luck will have it we missed the tram back to our place of departure by one minute. So we had to wait 15 minutes for the next tram. Again riding the tram was no issue at all. So I think Gina won't be having issues with the other tram lines and the subway. After we got to our place of departure we headed back into the field to complete our round in the field, since we had only done 1/2 of the round so far. Again it was a perfect walk in the field. By the time we headed back to the shelter it was about 20 minutes before 2 pm. I put Gina back into the kennel, give her some more treats before heading back home.

Getting ready for stage 2...

When I was about to leave the shelter, one of the employees pulled me aside. She told me that she really can see Gina building up a relationship and bond with me, and that she is much less hectic with me. We talked about the entire muzzle issue of today and it's exactly what I thought to begin with. Gina will have good days and bad days. And it will take a long time until she forgets about the bad experiences with the muzzle.
I told her that I was under the impression that stage 2 wasn't going to happen for another couple of weeks. While that is true in theory, it's always a call the shelter employees have to make. And they think that I'm ready for stage 2. The second stage of the program is an overnight stay. There you can see how the dog is doing outside the shelter environment, how the feeding goes and how the night is going to be in general. And if that goes well you have to decide at which point you're going to take her home permanently. And since I don't have any plans for XMAS zu beging with we agreed that Gina would be staying from the 25th to the 26th with me.
But before that was going to happen I head pick up some doggie supplies. I wasn't able to go out to MegaZoo, therefore I would have needed a car. So I checked my cell and figured that one of the closest pet stores would be in Vienna's 7th district. Went there right from the shelter and picked up semi wet doggie food and an alternative to the muzzle, that I plan on trying out with Gina. I picked up a leash as well, since the Daisy's rope leash might not be the best choice for an fairly reactive dog. And just to be on the safe side I picked up a harness as well. I picked one in the size that I thought would fit Gina, but of course I wasn't entire sure, since I never looked at the size of her harness at the shelter.

The Muzzle is a Bitch...

On Monday the shelter is closed and that gave me some time to get some last minute grocery shopping for XMAS done. Had already done the major part, but there are always those minor things you keep on forgetting and since we have 2 vacation days out here where all stores are closed, that can be a royal pain.
But today I headed back to the shelter to work more with Gina. Like the previous days Gina was very excited to see me. Jumped up on me and rubbed herself against me. With a couple of goodies I had put the harness on her in no time. I expected the muzzle to get fairly smooth as well. But that's where I was mistaken. Not this time. Today Gina really didn't want to have that muzzle on her at all. She moved her head away and if that didn't do the trick she put her chaps up. So the only thing you can do is to deescalate the situation and let her calm down. That must have gone on for about 15 minutes our so. Then when I just though she is going to let it happen...she just snapped at my hand. Nothing really happened. You couldn't even see an indent. So I let her calm down. And petted her instead. That helped in calming her down and she did enjoy the attention. And so I tried again. And Gina was not happy about that and snapped at me again. Again nothing really happened. Just shows you that she has learned how to make the muzzle go away. But she does show considerable restraint. This time I just sat with her for quite some time and gave her lots of attention and some high quality goodies as well. And suddenly, although I didn't do anything different as before, she finally let me put the muzzle on her. Of course you could tell that she wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but she did let it happen. 30 minutes putting on something as simple as a muzzle. I guess I really have my work cut out and it did remind me how much work I used to do with Daisy when I got her from the shelter. I've just gotten used to a fairly well rehabilitated dog.
Gina and I went then to the training enclosure to work on same basic commands. And of course she got goodies through the muzzle. Then we moved outside the facility to some work in the field. The area had considerably dried up and we did do some good work in the field. For most parts she is fairly easy on the leash, although she still needs some training on the short leash. The thing that will take time to address is her reaction especially towards bigger dogs. Daisy was pretty much the same way and it really takes time.
After 2 hours I put Gina back into the kennel, gave here a couple of goodies before heading back home.

Second Outing with Gina...

Today was the second Outing with Gina. Good thing that I'm currently on vacation as it makes that much easier. When I got to the shelter I had a quick chat with on if the shelter employees. And I was going to try to put harness and leash on by myself. Walked up to her kennel and Gina was excited to see me. Gave her a couple of goodies before going into the kennel. I sat down right next to the wall in the kennel and let Gina come to me. At first she was a little hectic. But with some goodies she let me put on the harness pretty much without any trouble. That really surprised me. I let her eat several high quality goods out of the muzzle, always keeping in mind that this dog is guarding food. A few goodies more and showing some affection and Gina put her head on my knee and let me put on the muzzle. I was really surprised. Didn't expect to happen for that so quickly. But of course you could see, that she really didn't like that thing, but at least she let it happen. So I gave her lots of praise and some goodies while she was wearing the muzzle. Hopefully over time she will realize that the muzzle isn't necessarily something bad.
After that we went on our way. First up was the a short outing at one of the training enclosures. But nothing to strenuous, since Gina had recently broken on of her claws and had to have it pulled. Going out into the field was out of the questions as well, since it has recently rained and that area was pretty much soggy and muddy.
So I trained with her basic commands. I even removed the muzzle in the training enclosure and with a lot of patience and some coaxing she let me put it back on her.
Then we did some walks on the ground of the facility, but had to stay away from dirty & wet areas as good as possible. The last thing you want to do is to give her an infection. After I had hung out with her for about 1 1/2 hours I put Gina back in her kennel. Of course she got lots of attention for having been such a good girl. Again I gave her the last few pieces of the high quality goodies left in my bag, before heading back home.

First Outing with Gina...

Those of you, who read my blog regularly, know that yesterday I signed the paperwork to become the sponsor/guardian of a Aussie Shepard named Gina. Today was going to be our first outing. Being a sponsor means, that you have to work on the baggage, that the dog you're responsible for comes with. And of course you have to build a relationship and trust with that dog. 

For the first outing one the of shelter employees put the harness on Gina. Getting the muzzle on would have been the next step, but Gina had other plans. She just has a huge aversion against the muzzle and it will take quite some work to make her forget the negative experiences with the muzzle. This will be very important to work on, since without her wearing a muzzle she is not permitted to leave the grounds of the shelter nor is she allowed to ride on public transportation. And especially in  city like Vienna it is necessary that a dog can ride on public transportation as well. 

So Gina and I went to one of the training enclosures and started to get to know each other. The good thing is that she is interested in me and really did like the goodies I brought with me. She is very intelligent and with goodies easy to teach. But the muzzle is an entirely different story. She just really dislikes that thing. And if you overdo it then she is gonna show off her teeth. 

Turns out that she really does want to be near to me, regardless how much she dislikes the muzzle. I think that is a good foundation to build on. Of course I know that this is not going to happen over night and that it might take a long time.

After 2 hours of working, playing and giving praise to her, I decided to call in the day and walked her back to her kennel. Was no problem at all getting harness and leash of her. Walked out of the kennel and gave her some more goodies before heading back home.

Appointment with the Dog Trainer...

Today I had the appointment with the dog trainer regarding the Aussie Shepard that I had decided to become sponsor/guardian. I left work at 11.30 and took a cab. This was much quicker than doing that by public transportation. I met with the dog trainer and she told me some of the basic quirks about that Aussie girl. We talked a little about my experiences with dogs. Since this girl is not exactly a dog for a first time dog owner. One of the reasons you have to become a sponsor/guardian for that dog first is, that she has to build up a trust. This girl hasn't had it exactly easy. But I don't mind a challenge. Daisy was a lot of work and in the end she turned out great.
We then went to an area at the shelter where she could just roam around. Yes she is an Aussie Shepard with quite some energy and being in a shelter environment isn't exactly helpful for her either. Got to talk to guy who has been training with her basic commands. Got some more info about her quirks and about some negative experiences that girl has already had. And then we went for an about 1 hour walk outside the facility. And she walks mostly fine on the leash. Yes of course she does pull like a freight train in the beginning. She just wants to get rid of her energy. And it takes time to get used to a new guy handling her. But all in all she was doing just fine. And I really enjoyed myself. The important part will be building up a relationship with her and she needs to learn to trust again. The 2 big things that I will have to work on with her are the ability to ride tram, subway and bus and her aversion towards the muzzle. It is going to be an interesting time.
When the walk was over I got to put her back into the kennel and of course I did give her quite a number of doggie goodies. And she really liked them. Then we walked over to the office and I signed to contract to become Gina's sponsor/guardian.

Bringing home Daisy...

Today was going to be another not so easy day. I had gotten the phone call that I would be able to pick up Daisy's remains. I had opted not to have her ashes be buried at the pet cemetery on the outskirts of Vienna. It's just too much of a hassle to get there and I really wanted to have her home with me. That way she can become an part of my apartment.
So I left work early and headed to the pet crematory. Got there in time and picked up her urn. I had opted not to see here one last time before she got cremated. Yes it would have cost more, but money isn't the issue here. But I had said my good byes to Daisy when the guys from the pet crematory picked her up.
So the only thing left for me was to bring her remains home. It was actually a lot easier than I had thought it would be. I know exactly which corner of my apartment is going to become the "Daisy corner". And I really do like the urn I had picked out for her. And I've gotten several positive comments about Daisy's urn.
So Daisy has finally come home!

Canceling Christmas altogether...

Well, I was considering canceling all XMAS celebrations altogether. I am just not in any Christmas spirit at all. With Daisy having just passed away I really didn't have much intention to celebrate Christmas. And I wasn't going on my Christmas vacation. So there really didn't seem to be any point to it. And the weather doesn't help with the XMAS spirit either. It's about +10 C (50 F) outside. Feels more like early spring. Would love to see a white XMAS in Vienna. But it really doesn't look like this is going to happen. So I had to think what I would be doing with the 3 XMAS holidays. In the end I came up with a compromise.
There will be no XMAS tree and no decorations. It just doesn't feel right. But there will be my traditional XMAS dinner on the Christmas Eve and there should be plenty of left overs for the 25th and the 26th.

Canceling my flight reservations...

Well, today I finally got myself to cancel my flight for my planned XMAS vacation. With Daisy passing away and some other issues I really didn't care enough to even cancel the flight earlier. And of course there still was a tiny part of me that still hoped that I would be going. It probably would have been good for me, to get some distance to certain things and would have made it easier for me to let really of of Daisy. Originally I planned to visit a friend that is very dear to me. But due to personal reason this is not going to happen, at least not at this time. I won't be talking about the reasons, since this is definitely not the place for it.
It still makes me a little sad. But it is what it is and there's nothing I can do to change that. But right now I'm so not in the mood the celebrate XMAS. Just don't feel that way. I will be off work till January 4th. The good thing is that I don't have to work, as lately my work has been getting really on my nerves.
Today I called the airline to cancel my flight. Couldn't figure out how to do it online and I didn't have the nerves to figure their website out. Gave the airline a call and of course they made me wait for about 12 minutes or so. But eventually I got a hold on one of their operators. The cancellation process was pretty much painless. Of course I won't get back the entire amount. But it's better than nothing.

Being mad at friends...

Well, I did think a long time about this particular blog post. I was going over it in my head and considering if I should be writing it at all. But in the end I decided to do so.
It all has to do with Daisy's passing away. I did get quite a number of responses from friends far away. I did appreciate them all and it really meant a lot to some. Some of those guys who chose to send their condolences I've actually never ever met in person. But there are quite a number of people that I thought of close friends who just couldn't get themselves to write 3 simple words: "I'm so sorry". All of those people have my cell number and my email address. And I do know that the majority of them almost religiously scan their Social Media feed. And yes it really made me mad. Actually I'm still pissed at them.
But if I should dare not to have anything to say about their personal drama and their so called life...I would never ever hear the end of it. That's why I said to myself: "enough is enough". I'm not going to care about their drama anymore. I won't be giving a rats ass about their childish insecurities and don't expect me to be there for them if something really bad should happen to them. The only thing I would have to say then is: "Karma is a bitch"!
This entire experience really showed me who my real friends are. The rest of my so called friends can go and fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned!

Setting up an appointment with a trainer...

I thought the whole weekend on and off about this particular Aussie girl I had seen at the local doggie shelter. She doesn't look anything like Daisy and doesn't look anything like the dog breeds I had in mind, but she has quite a lot of character traits in common with Daisy. Maybe that's what really draws me to her. When I thought in the past couple of years what kind of dog I would be getting after Daisy had passed away. There were 4 breeds that came to mind:
Aussie Cattle Dog, German Shepard, Labrador, Golden Retriever, but it is very difficult to find an Aussie Cattle Dog out here. But I guess you only know that's the right dog for you when you see it in person. And with that Aussie girl I had just the feeling that this just might be the right dog for me at this point in my life.
So I set up an appointment with a trainer at the local doggie shelter. To see her for a longer period of time than just for 15 minutes. It will give me the opportunity as well to talk to the trainer about the character traits of this particular dog. I was made aware of the fact that this girl had been at a couple of foster places. And this girl is a guys dog and doesn't do too well with women. She has a pray drive for birds especially and it will take time for her to warm up. So I will have my work cut out for me. But I do look forward to challenges like that.

A trip to the local doggie shelter...

Well, today I did something that I thought I wouldn't be capable of, since it has been just one week since Daisy had passed away. The plan was not for me to look for a new dog, but rather to to help a friend find a doggie companion. The local shelter is open on Saturdays from 1.30 to 5.30 pm. We got there around 2 pm. And we made our first walk through the entire shelter. And boy there are lots of dogs. that are in desperate need of a home. After that my friend had narrowed it down to 5 dogs and of course he wanted to see all of them. I was convinced that neither of them were right for him. They were either way too high energy for what he's looking for or they require an experienced hand. But being a good friend I let him figure that out for himself. And finally one of the shelter employees asked him what he was looking for. Together we narrowed the doggie profile down. So he finally got his time to spend with 3 medium to low energy dogs, that fit much better to him and his lifestyle.
My friend had asked me a couple of times earlier why I didn't want to look at dogs. I just felt that it was too early. So, while he was busy interacting with the dogs the shelter employee and I got into a conversation and she wanted to know what the deal is. I told her that Daisy had passed away 1 week ago. And she just said, when the right dog comes along you will know it. Regardless how long or short your grieving period has been. So she asked me what I was looking for. I told her German Shepard, Labrador, Bernese Mountain Dog, Golden Retriever. I didn't mention a Aussie Shepard or Cattle Dog, since they're difficult to find out here to being with. As it is with 2 people loving dogs our conversation continued and at some point it came up that I had quite a number of years experience with an Aussie Cattle Dog that was anything but a piece of cake. And as soon as the word Aussie fell, she asked me if would allow her to show me a very special Aussie girl. So I did agree. When she brought her out, the Aussie girl looked nothing like Daisy. But the behavior was so familiar. It really reminded me at a young Daisy. About the time when she first shed her big fears and came out of her shell. This dog was sweet & affectionate. Highly intelligent and had quite some energy. And of course she has the typical Aussie quirks. Hectic and needs someone to work with her physically and mentally. Likes body contact when she decides to. And of course cats, ducks etc. really get her going. No wonder that she hasn't found the right home yet. She's a great gal for someone who just loves long hikes and doesn't mind to deal with a dogs quirks. Didn't take long for her to come over to say hello. And the shelter employee said to me I think you two guys would really hit it off. The 30 minutes I spent with that Aussie dog really made me happy and feel good. Haven't felt that good for at least a couple of weeks. And it's really an amazing feeling.
Could I've been persuaded to take her home with me? Quite easily. But it wouldn't have been the right time to bring a new dog into my life. But she asked me to keep an open mind and think about it. And knowing myself I will. My friend finally picked a dog and I think they will work out together very well. On the way back we picked up some supplies he hadn't thought off and introduced the dog to his new home. I spend about 2 hours with them before heading back to my apartment. And the time I spent with that dog made me feel really good and it was amazing that this good feeling stayed with me for the rest of the evening. And of course it made me think periodically about that Aussie girl who so deserves a good and loving home. And of course it makes you think...is it too early or might this just be the right dog. At this point I'm still not sure how that is going to play out in the end. There is one thing for certain. Regardless how much it hurt to loose Daisy, I will be getting a dog again.

Shiny....

As if this week hadn't already been tough enough on me, but my laptop decided to die on me as well. Maybe not completely. That thing has been doing that for several weeks now. Works just fine and the next day it just decides not to start anymore. Running the repair routine always shows the same result. One major component is missing or can't be extracted from the the backup. 1 or 2 days later it runes the repair correctly and the laptop works for a another couple of days, just to act up the same way again. Even resetting it to factory default settings doesn't change that weird behavior. Reinstalling Windows 8 completely from scratch doesn't really solve the problem either.
And today I really had it with that thing. So I decided to go back to a Mac. It was pretty clear that a MacBook Air just doesn't fit my requirements. Therefore the processor is too weak as far as I'm concerned. So it was clear that I would be getting a MacBook Pro. By the time I made that decision I wasn't exactly sure which MacBook I was going to get exactly. I was sure that I would most likely go for one with a Retina Display. So I checked online I found the one that seemed to fit my needs and my budget. Right after work I went to one of the local Apple retailers, since Vienna doesn't have an Apple Store. Checked if they had what I was looking for and they did.
Here are the major specs:

• 13" MacBook Pro
• Intel Dual Core i5, 2.6 GHz processor with Retina Display
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB PCle-based flash storage
• Intel Iris Graphics

And I spent about 1500 bucks on it. Just call that an early XMAS present for myself. Got home and unwrapped the shiny package right away. Wasn't expecting any difficulties getting the thing running. But that's where I was slightly mistaken. First of all the install script runs an English keyboard and mine is of course in German. This akes some getting used to. And with the basic installer script you have to get used to using the "command" keys as well since the keypad isn't quite installed yet. That as well takes some getting used to.
My next problem was my Apple-ID. I knew I had set up one and I even knew the eMail address I did it with, but I had not the slightest clue about my password. So I used my phone to reset the password and get access to my Apple-ID again. After that it was all smooth sailing. And I do remember why I was a big Mac fan. The install routine is quick and mostly painless. The system runs quick without any hang ups. And I love having lots of my favorite Apps back without having to start up my old iMac. There are things that amazed me the most. First of all it is the speed. There is no difference in the processor speed between my old laptop and my MacBook Pro. But boy is that MacBook Pro fast. absolutely love that. And the second thing that's absolutely amazing is the battery life. I mean 9 hour battery life for continued use is not bad at all. The battery of my old laptop usually didn't last for more that 2 1/2 hours. And that was really sucky. Looking at my old big fat laptop I can't believe how thin the MacBook Pro is. And it is absolutely silent. No idea how they do that, but it's really amazing.  So I'm definitely going to have lot's of fun with my new MacBook for the a long time.

Going back to work...

Today was the first day I had to go back to work after Daisy had passed away. This should prove to be one weird day. It started right in the morning. As soon as I got up I immediately looked at Daisy's empty bed. That's where she would usually be in the morning ready to go far a walk. While preparing breakfast I expected her just to walk around the corner to investigate what I was up to. But nothing of that sort happened of course. I went trough the same motions when taking a shower in the morning. Then I got ready for work and of course I did what I always used to do in the morning. Walked over to the couch and got ready to give Daisy a good bye kiss. But of course the couch was empty. When walking out the door of the apartment I almost said good bye to an empty room. Is a routine to let Daisy knew that I was going out to work.
On my way to the tram I met one of Daisy's senior doggy friends...almost made me tear up. As long as I keep busy and don't thing about her I'm kinda fine. I really couldn't have cared less about my work day. Not entirely sure what I was doing all day long, but it did keep my busy. Of course I barely said any word at work. -and I was pretty happy that the phone was barely ringing. The last thing I needed was a bunch of customers calling getting on my nerves with some stupid shit.
I chose not to go an my lunch break. I just wanted to avoid to let my thoughts wander...would probably just make me think of Daisy. So by 5 pm I left work and headed back home. The first thing I did when entering the apartment was to announce to an empty apartment that I was home. Another habit I picked up while Daisy was still around. I guess it will be not that easy to break this habits. And it will be a constant reminder that my companion animal is no longer around. And just to prevent the question. My apartment still just feels like an apartment and not like a home and it feels equally empty as it did yesterday.
But there is some positive development as well. I can look at pix of other peoples dogs and it still gives me joy. Just love to look at a cute doggie face.

Taking care of Daisy's funeral arrangement....

Today I received the call from the pet mortuary. And that was not exactly a call I was looking forward to. Usually I take the few personal calls I receive during my work hours in the office. But taking this call I walked out of the office. The girl from the pet funeral company was very nice. I did have a pretty clear idea for what I wanted for Daisy.
I chose to opt for a single cremation. I didn't want her to be cremated with other animals. I just wanted it to be her ashes. It's more expensive, but I really didn't care about the costs. Only the best for my companion animal. And I did choose a urn that really looks visually appealing and is appropriate for the occasion. I could have opted to pay for a pet grave in Vienna's Pet Cemetery, but I chose not to. It's not a question of money, but the pet cemetery is on the very outskirts of Vienna and not that easily accessible by public transportation. And I really want Daisy's ashes back and incorporate them into my apartment. To some that might sound a little weird, but it's not an uncommon practice in parts of Austria's rural communities. And to recreate something like that is something I had in mind.
When all that was done, I got the total of all the funeral arrangements. It came up to a little over 500 bucks. I didn't even think about that twice. I gave my OK and the pet mortuary was going to send me the invoice by email and of course I was going to transfer the money the same day. As soon as the receive the money they will be going ahead with the funeral arrangements.

Calling the Pet Mortuary...

Today it was very difficult getting myself to call the pet mortuary. I just kept pushing it out. But of course I knew I had to deal with it at some point. But as long as Daisy was lying in her bed I was almost fine. Of course every time I started to think about what had happened and that we hadn't gone out for a walk I kept tearing up. Rationally you do know that she is dead. But your mind can play evil tricks on you, giving you the impression that she is just asleep. And petting her coat felt as soft as it has always been. The only thing was that you were petting a cold dog.
By the late afternoon my heart finally had gotten the message, that Daisy was no longer with me. Once she really gets starting stiff, petting her no longer felt like petting my companion animal. It's more like petting a plush toy. So I jumped online an looked up pet mortuaries in Vienna. There are 3 companies and with one of them I felt most comfortable. And they did have a 24 hour pickup. So I gave them a call and they were going to send by a driver within in hour.
So this gives you time to say your final good byes. You don't realize how often you can say good bye to a companion animal and how often there are different thoughts in your mind. The driver arrived, took a look at her and was going to bring the pet coffin to my apartment. We put her in together and I realized that I was still supporting Daisy's back. Rationally thinking there is no point to that. She is stiff anyways and she doesn't feel any pain any more. But that's just something I had to do. I was glad that the driver asked me to help him carry Daisy to the car and not have her rolled away on a trolley. That way I put her in the car of the pet mortuary and finally let her go.

I then walked back to my apartment with the paperwork in hand and the office of the pet mortuary would call me on Tuesday regarding Daisy's funeral arrangements. When I got back to the apartment it really felt empty. When I looked at Daisy's empty doggy bed I still could see her indentations. Walking into the kitchen an thinking about cleaning her food bowl out, I just started tearing up again. I guess it will take several days until I'll be able to do that.
So I tried to distract myself a little. Checked a little on my FB timeline, but still don't have any clue what I was reading there. But it did calm me down and I was able to look at the homepage of the pet mortuary in more detail. And that did give me better idea what arrangements I wanted to have for Daisy. And no, they're not exactly cheap. But I want to have a decent funeral service for my companion animal.
Thinking about Daisy's last 6 month and certain songs immediately made me tear up. So I put my iPod away. Watched some DS9 instead. But it really didn't give me any joy. It must have been at that time, when I realized how empty this apartment is without Daisy. It's not that she has been doing much lately. Just her being there made all the difference. Now this apartment feels empty. It no longer feels like a home...a major component what made it a home is missing right now. This gonna be a quite difficult adjustment.

R.I.P. Daisy...

Today I lost Daisy. My companion, my partner in crime and my best friend. I've had friends, close relatives die. But nothing could have prepared me for what I would be going through. That must be what it feels having your kid die. And this is without a shimmer of a doubt the most difficult blog post I have ever written.
But let's start at the beginning. Yesterday around 9 pm I noticed that Daisy was getting particularly restless and trying to inch closer and closer to me. She only does that when she is in pain or scared. So I picked her up and put her between my legs on the couch. And she felt much better and much safer there. And of course she got lots of loving, attention and lots of petting. We did take a couple of good pix of her. And when I looked at her eyes I saw that the spark was gone. The fight was out of her. And I pretty much knew that she wouldn't make it trough the night. But for now she was feeling not too bad. There were times when she did press her legs against me. I did the only thing I could do. Try to comfort her and give her love and attention.
Daisy did something that she would have never done otherwise. Just stay there between my legs and put her head on my thigh. And she seemed perfectly content with it. All was good until 2 am. Then her breathing started to get heavier and heavier. And for no apparent reason she started painting. That was something very difficult for me to watch. Right there I did hate myself for not having put her to sleep the previous afternoon. So I put her on the floor, thinking the cool floor might make it easier on her. But Daisy just got so restless, that I picked her up and spent with her on the couch. Didn't help with her breathing and panting, but she was much, much calmer.
So I spent the time giving her love, attention and lots and lots of petting. Every now and then she put her head up breathing particularly heavy. But I did notice that the breathing was getting more shallow. No wonder. How much fight can be in a 17 1/2 year old dog. I still think it's a privilege  that my special man was chatting with me during that time. At least I wasn't alone.
Around 3.30 am I thought it was over. Daisy tensed her entire body up. Her tail standing straight in a 90 degree angle away. I've never seen anything like that. But she just kept on fighting. I tried to comfort her as good as I could. And at 4 pm the fight was over. Her body tensed completely up. Daisy raised her head one last time. Took 2 barely noticeable breaths. And it was all over. I saw it in her eyes.
I held her and cried the next 10 minutes into her coat. Still feeling for some breath. Then I grabbed the stethoscope to listen for any sign of a heart beat. But there was none. Then when it hit me, that my poor girl had gone from me. I took her in my arms, kissed her pretty CowDog face, petted her and cried the next 20 minutes into her coat. Then I layed her down on her in XMAS colors dressed up doggy bed. I really just sat there and stared at her for half an hour or so. No idea how long it really was.
My eyes all read an puffy. I don't remember having cried about anyones death so much ever. At 5 am I wrote an email to my VET, thanking him for his work and kind offer and informed him that Daisy had passed away. I still hope that having Daisy die at home with lots of love an attention make her more comfy than having stuck a needle into her leg on a cold table at a VET's office.
I don't know how often I kneeled during the night at her doggy bed and just cry in her coat. It's like getting your heart ripped out while you're still alive. And everything seems like a daze. Nothing seems to be real. Words and phrases just make you cry uncontrollably. No death of a relative no breakup of a relationship ever was that painful for me. Nothing seemed able to take the pain away. Focusing on different things didn't help either. So I just got drunk. I guzzled down one beer after the next one. Don't ask me how many. I don't have the slightest clue. I really hoped it would make me feel nothing. But that's just not how it works. It gets you drunk and eventually it gets you to sleep. It might even get you a hangover. But it doesn't make you feel nothing and it so doesn't take away the pain.
Now comes the equally painful task of having to deal with the aftermath. Like calling the pet mortuary, making choices on funeral arrangements and canceling Dais's stay at the boarding facility over XMAS. Not looking forward to those tasks.

The results are in...

Today at 10.30 I called my VET and asked if there was news on Daisy's blood results. But he hadn't gotten them back yet. But he promised to call me back if he had gotten them till noon. But this being a Saturday there was a possibility that I might not get them at all today. I had noticed a difference in Daisy. She no longer seemed to care about going out. Out of the door she just peed on the sidewalk and peed. Then wanted to turn around to head back in. I did her make to walk at least a couple of steps. But then I turned around since she no longer cared about her surroundings. So I headed back to my place and Daisy found herself a place in the living room. I pretty much knew at some level at this time, that this is probably the final stage and that I will have to make a decision to let her go pretty soon.
Daisy was doing OK. Yes she was throwing up here and there, but nothing major like the last night. The only think I noticed around 4 pm was getting more restless. Shortly after that my phone rang and it was my VET. HE is really an awesome guy. He went in his free time back to his VET facility to check on the Daisy's result. And the news is all bad.
Daisy's blood sugar is above 750. That's beyond bad. Her kidneys have completely shut down. Her suprarenal glands are barely functioning. And her liver is starting to shut down. All that together makes her throw up. At this point there is so much wrong with her that with meds alone there's nothing that can be done. Putting her in intensive care would just be prolonging the inevitable and actually be cruel. And he did offer me to come down with her and have her put to sleep right away. But I just couldn't. I hadn't properly said good bye to her. My head was there already, but my heart wasn't. My VET offered me that I could call him during the weekend to have Daisy put to sleep. I spent the next 2 hours crying about it and spent lots of time comforting and petting my poor old girl. Then I called the VET back and told him that I really needed this one night with her and we set up an appointment for 2 pm the next day to have Daisy put to sleep. I emailed my Ex the bad news since I really didn't want him to find out via Facebook. And of course I would be there during the entire procedure. Not an appointment I was looking forward to.

A terrible night for poor Daisy...

This is the only possible way to describe this evening. When I got back from the store to get chicken, Daisy had thrown up again. But this time it wasn't clear then most of the time. Usually the most she throws up is water. This time she threw up mostly stomach fluid. So off I went with the cleaning routing. And that stomach fluid is sticky. I didn't torture poor Daisy with another bath, just cleaned her paws.
Then I went the get the chicken started. When it was done I tried  to convince Daisy to eat at least some. But she just put her head away an refused it. I even tried it with a piece of pastry, but she didn't even want to sniff it. She just ignored it. At that point I knew there was something seriously wrong with her. Because I never could get her to leave a piece of pastry alone on the floor for 5 minutes and especially not for a couple of hours.

That what I did realize is, that Daisy was a little more alert due to the injection but she was kinda restless. Haven't seen her that way in a long time. As the evening went on the attacks of her throwing up continued. It was all stomach fluid. And it was hard to watch. Since there is nothing you can do about that. The only thing left to do was to clean the mess up and give her lots of attention and lots of loving. I finally got her to drink a little bit of water. At least with the few sips there is a better chance that she keeps a little of that water down. When I went to bed at about 4 am my poor girl had at least thrown up 12 times or so. That really made my heart hurt. And at some level I knew if the VET can't find cure for Daisy's problem quickly, that I will have her put to sleep. The one thing I was not going to do is to watch her slowly waste away. That's just cruel and she deserves so much better.

VET appointment...

Today I had decided to take Daisy to the VET. She has been having a very hard week. She hasn't touched her food since last Sunday. I barely can convince her to eat goodies or even ham. Everyone who knows Daisy is aware that she is always up for goodies. On top of that she has been throwing up at least 2 or 3 times a day when I'm at work. So it's pretty much every day the same routine. I clean up the accident, then I clean the throw up off Daisy since she is now longer capable of getting up by herself especially when it is wet and then I take her for her walk. And no she no longer enjoys her walks.
I took her to the VET. Luckily my wet is just about 1 block away from me and Daisy seemed to have a better day today. She only seemed to have thrown up once while I was at work and she was walking much better today. The VET looked at her and asked me if she has been always that lethargic. And I told him that she has been that way for most of the week. Told him the entire story. He didn't her anything wrong with her heart or lungs. He couldn't touch in mass in her belly either. But she had lost 8 lbs during the last week. And she isn't drinking that much either. Every time she does she pretty much throws it up shortly after that. So the VET took a blood sample and marked it urgent. We hopefully should have the results back by tomorrow. She doesn't have a fever, but rather a slight under temperature. The VET gave her an injection that hopefully will give her the appetite back and combat that lethargic state she's currently in. He gave me an advice that I should try to give Daisy boiled chicken.
So I slowly walked Daisy home. And with the injection she seemed to do a little better. I decided not to attend my tax class tomorrow since I really want to get Daisy started on treatment as soon as the results are in. That's something only dog owner and dog lovers will understand. Our dogs come first!

The big talk with the boss...

Today was the big talk with the boss. To be exactly with the boss and the junior boss. While it is very difficult to talk have a properly working relationship with the boss...it's much easier to talk to the junior boss. She at least has a decent understanding of accounting and can talk in civilized manner without exploding every 5 minutes. My boss reminds me way too much off my dad and I had to deal with his antics for far too long.
He threw several thinks in my face. Some of them are true. Others are only partly my fault. At least the junior boss listened to the complaints on my part. They made it clear if things don't improve there will be changes. At that point I really couldn't care less if they would let me go or not. I just don't think it's fair to dump 70% of the accounting work on one guy. Not exactly sure what the other 2 are doing with their 38,5 hour work week.
When I got home I jumped on the internet and looked what other open positions are out there. And there are enough opening for accountants and payroll accountants out there. She I might just start sending out my resume again. The reason why I didn't quit is, that I gave my word to my superior that I wouldn't quit. I didn't think it was right to have such a conversation when the superior isn't there to way in and give her side of the story. So in the end I set a deadline for myself. If things don't improve by the end of March 2015...then I will the one who's gonna make some big changes. When it comes right down to it I pretty much had enough of that "monkey circus"...that's the only proper way to describe the company I'm currently working for.

Big Changes at Work ??

There might be some big changes at work. The entire thing started during my Thanksgiving Vacation. My direct superior and I do have a very good working relationship and we do know each other on a personal level as well. So she called me Tuesday during my vacation to inform me that there has been an incident. And begged me not to overreact when the boss is going to talk to me next week. I promised that I will try my best not to overreact. The one thing she is afraid of most is that I get so pissed of and quit my job.
Here are the details. I kinda aware of the fact that certain account statements have not been recorded for a number of month. It would have been my co-workers responisbility to make me aware of that fact. Yes, it could have occured to me as well...but it really isn't my job to control those kinds of things. Face is, that about 3 weeks ago my co-worker and I were looking for those account statements everywhere. And the statements were nowhere to be found. So I told my co-worker to get copies of the statements from the credit card company and then do the recording of the statements himself. He got the the replacement copies but didn't record the expenses. Another co-worker needed the information, but instead of talking to one of us he had nothing better to do than to talk to the boss himself. That's in my opinion just childish. Suddenly the original account statemnets appeared in my trays where I specifically know that I didn't put it there and I know as well that I looked through that tray 3 weeks ago. Someone had them apparently and doesn't want to take responsibility for it.
I do have a good idea how that conversation is gonna go next week. The boss is gonna yell around...and as soon as he does I don't listen to him anyways. The he's gonna try to tell me about accounting procedures and I will tell him what is fact and what isn't. And will be pointing out indirectly how little he actually knows about accounting. That the boss doesn't like that, is something I can understand. But the truth has to stay the truth, regardless of the consequences. And knowing how conversations like that have gone with other co-workers in the past, I'm pretty sure at some point he's gonna result to personal insults. And that's something I'm not going to stand for. Besides that personal insults are explicitly forbidden by law. And if my boss tries to tell me something about the quality of my work I will have to tell him, that he has neither the knowledge nor the qualification to evaluate the quality of my work. And things might go downhill from there. So there is a good possibility that I'm gonna quit my job. Criticism based on facts is one thing, yelling and personal  insults is an entirely different thing. And I'm not gonna stand for the latter one.
But I'm not a guy of rash descissions. I know enough about workers comps and unemployment comps to figure out at what time and with what amout I would be able to collect unemployment. And I also looked into regs for giving notice to quit my job. Fact is I can only do that by End of December without getting any penalties. With that being said I have enough vaction days left that I would probably only have to work for a couple of days in Demcember and the rest I would be using my paid vacation days. And of course I calculated how much unemployment I would be able to collect. And it turns out it's enough to pay for housing and untilities. The rest of the living costs would have to come out of my savings. But fortunately I do have a nice savings account and could afford that.
And the more I thought about it, the more positive aspects I could find. Being 2 month off work would mean that I could have my VAT & Corporate Tax Specialist Certification much sooner than while working full time. I do know the direction I want to go and fact is that from the point of my career my current job isn't getting me anywhere. I've reached the maximum that I can reach in this company. Lots of the stuff I know I can't really use in my current job and not using a knowledge means that you slowly start to forget it. And that's not somehthing I'm particularly fond of. And truth to be told there are currently quite a number of job openings in accounting in Vienna. So I really wouldn't be scared to take that step.
Taking a couple of month off would allow me to focus on developing and setting up a second stream of income, that might become quite important in the near future.
You might say that I'm currently at a crossroad. It's not entirely clear where it's gonna go, but it's definitely an interesting place to be in.

Finding a new Boarding Facility for Daisy...

Today I was going to check on the reservation of Daisy's Boarding facility during my XMAS vacation. Turns out that there was a miscommunication and that they only reserved a spot for her for December 22nd to December 26th. That really didn't help me. And end of November being a little late already..so they couldn't find a place for her for the rest for the duration. So I canceled the entire reservation. Good thing that I have travel insurance just in case I can't find a boarding facility for Daisy. Even sent one my best friends a text message if she knew a bording facility she can recommend, but didn't hear back from her right away.
So I called up quite a number of boarding ficilites in Vienna, but they all came back with the same result: "We are full". So I managed to to find 2 boarding facilities outside of Vienna. The closer one couldn't tell me right away if the had a spot left, but promised they would get back to me within a day. So I called the one further away. Is about 40 miles from Vienna. And they did have a spot for her. If time hadn't been of the essence I would have waited. But in this case I booked the place for as well and got a booking reservation back within 1 hour. So now Daisy is set to go to a boarding facility while I will be on my XMAS vacation. Still haven't figured out the details on how the get Daisy there. Not having a car in that situation sucks. So I have to choose if I want to take a rental car for one day or if I rather want to take public transportation, what means that a 40 mile trip is roughtly gonna take 2 hours. Still not sure what route I'm gonna go...and it will depend on the weather for December 22nd as well.

Final Dentist Appointment...

Today was the final dentist appointment and both, upper and lower dentures, would be put in. The appointment was at 3pm and I got there about 20 minutes early. So I thought I would have plenty of time to catch up on my social media. But that wasn't exactly true. They called me in right away and I only had to wait for about 5 minutes or so.
We put in upper and lower dentures. The upper onces were a prefect fit and they had already been perfect the day before. The lower dentures were a much better fit than the day before. But they still didn't fit perfectly. Took some adjustments at the dentures themself and a little grinding down of one thoot. where one of the metal brackets will be sitting. And it was a way better fit this time. Of course it feels weird. Not so much the upper dentures. They're fine and not that much different from the cosmetic fake tooth I used to have. The lower dentures are a different story. It just feels like you're having an aweful lot of metal in your mouth. According to the dentist it take quite some getting used to that. Can take up to 30 days. And yes it sounds weird hearing yourself talk with the dentures. And yes you do have to practice a lot of talking. Got thing that I love to have conversations with my dog. And I don't think I'm having that many problems talking, since those are only partial dentures.

Truth to be told it's going to take some getting used to talking especially with the lower dentures in, since they don't fit that tightly by nature as the upper ones. And this tooth replacement I am even supposed to wear during the night.
When I got home I had the dentures in for some time and they felt actually OK. Later that evening I tried my first meal with them. OK, it was a rather soft meal. And it worked somewhat OK. Still feels a little weird, but it's gonna take time to get used to it. Can take up to 30 days to fully get comfy with the dentures when eating meat. But so far it has been OK. The only thing that I'm not particularly fond of are the tiny bits of food under your dentures...that's just not much fun. But I guess that's a small price to pay considering that I was loosing my fillings every couple of years because of those missing molars.

Round 6 with the Dentist...

Today I was supposed to have my final appointment with the dentist. But we all know that things don't always work out as planned. This appointment was at 11.30 am. This didn't bother me since I had taken this week off. On the one had I've over 50 paid vacation days left and needed to take some of them before the  become void. After all if you haven't taken your vacation days in quite some while, after 3 years they become void. And the second reason was that I like to have the Thanksgiving weekend off. That's something I've gotten used to doing since I moved back from the States.
So I got to my appointment in time. And I didn't even have to wait long. First we tried the upper partial dentures. And they were a prefect fit. And that was the real biggy for me. Since I really don't like the missing front tooth. It's one of the reasons why I'm not smiling in many pix. The lower partial dentures weren't that good of a fit. The brackets just weren't fitting over the teeth the way they were supposed to.
So we did have to cast another mold of my lower jaw and the dentures had to go back to the dental technician, to have the problem taken care of. And we did set up another appointment, that hopefully will be my last dental appointment at least regarding the partial dentures.

Round 5 with the Dentist...

Today I had another appointment with the dentist. This appointment was at 8 am in the morning. Usually I don't like appointments in the morning just in case he needs to drill in one of my teeth and I opt to have a local anesthesia. That's why I prefer my dentist appointments in the evening. But this time they were only going to put in the crown, so a morning appointment didn't bother me.
I got there right on time and they romoved the temporary crown and put in the new on. That went off without a hitch. But turns out it wasn't completely perfect so the dentist had to make some minor adjustments to the upper teeth in order to make it perfect fit. It was done in about 20 minutes and headed into work.
The one thing I didn't expect was that my gums were going to bother me for the next 2 days. But finally the pain wore off and everything was fine.

Picking up Daisy...

Today was finally the day that I had planned on picking Daisy up from the boarding facility. But of course I couldn't do that in the morning, since I really didn't want to pick her up and drop her off at my apartment again. So I had planned on doing that in the evening after work. What I didn't plan on was having an dentist appoint right after work. But since that was an appointment regarding my dentures...I really didn't want to re-schedule that.
I left work around 4 pm and headed to the dentist. Turns out that the crown they had planned to put in wasn't ready due to a screw up the the dental technician. So the dentist looke if there were anything else to do. But luckily for me there wasn't. By the time I was done I was almost certain that I could pick up Daisy. So I called a cab and headed for the boarding facility. Rush hour traffic actually wasn't bad at all and I arrived at the boarding facility just in time. I got to talk a little with the owner and they really liked the absolute senior resident of the facility. I walked into Daisy's room...and boy was she pissed. She didn't even look at me. No wagging tail no greeting...nothing. I put colar and leash on her and walked her to the cab. Still no reaction from Daisy. Put her into the cab and headed back home.
We than walked through the apartemnt and Daisy checked things out. She finally went to drink. I realized how badly Daisy was smelling. Like a dirty dog. And Daisy doesn't smell that way even if she hasn't taken a bath in  month. But that was something that had to wait. I took her for a long walk and Daisy slowly started to come around again. Familiar sounds and surroundings did the trick. But not sure why she really had quite some diarrhea. I really felt bad for her. Once we got back home it was bathing time for Daisy. At first she didn't like it...as usual. But then she just let it happen. Lots of water and lots of doggie shampoo finally wached the stench out of Daisys coat. After that of course she got a couple of doggie cookies.
Slowly Daisy was even up for some petting. But for that she has to come on her own. And she did. Didn't take too long for her to finally go on her doggy bed an crash in a deep sleep. Then I knew everything was fine again...my old girl was finally home again and feeling secure. And it looks like Daisy's separation anxiety is not back with a vengeance.

Business Trip - Day 2..

Day 2 of my business trip to Germany started off with me having a fairly lengthy breakfast. Way more than I eat during a regular breakfast during my work week. But boy did that hotel have a lot of stuff to choose from. And I did so take advantage of that. During my breakfast one of my co-workers showed up and joined me. And we did have some work related chat during the breakfast.
After breakfast we checked out of the rooms and waited for one of our colleagues who was running a little behind. We than took a cab to the comapny that were in charge of your accounting software. Found the place without many problems and soon thereafter we sat down in the company's conference room.
They started with their basic introduction about the software. Many of the things they were talking about were complete news for 2 of my co-workers. At least that's much as I gathered from their facial expression. My superior and I had a couple of questions during the period of the software introduction.
But the more we moved on to more complicated taskes of the software the more I stopped the guy and asked him one question after the next. At times I thought I was really slowing him down. But the point was to get as much information out from this business meeting as possible. My 2 other co-workers seemed to be at a loos about the subjects we were talking about. Good thing lunch break was about to start.
We headed over to a local restaurant and had sume very jummy food. And it's always fun having a conversation about non-work related topics. After about 45 minutes we headed back to the conference room.
As it turns out the company who did the inital setup of our accounting software screwed up several times royally. And it will take some convincing to make the boss see, that there are some serious changes necessary. Including changing the company who does the tech-support for the accounting software. We than ventured into mor difficult areas of the software. Especially when it cam the tax related task and tasks of the autu-payment feature for accounts payable and receivable, I really had the impression that 2 of my co-workers were kinda bored. That don't know anything about that. But I asked that guy tons of questions and I really got a stuff of information out. And even while we were there I knew of a nuber of procedures that have to change in order to make things run more smoothly. By 4.30 pm we were done and the cab waited already to pick us up. We headed during rush hour to Stuttgart International airport. Took us about 1 hour to get there. We checked in and grabed a completely overpriced snack to eat. My co-workers did some shopping in the duty free shop and than we headed to the gate. Just to find out that the departure of our flight was going to ge delayed for about 30 to 45 minutes. That really didn't make me a happy camper. But there's noting you can do about that. We did finally make it onboard the plane and it took about 1 hour to get to Vienna. We then got another cab to get back to our company where 2 of my co-workers had their cars parked and I to the cab to my appartment.
By the time I was finally home it was about 9.30 pm. I put some of the clothes away and then grabbed a cold beer out of the fridge and relaxed a little on the couch. But I couldn't really relax at first. There was something very important missing. Daisy was still at the boarding facility. Although Daisy is 17 1/2 years old and her excitement only lasts for very short periods of time...the apartment felt just weird and empty actually. After a late evening snack an a second beer I finally headed to bed. I'm so looking for ward to picking up Daisy from the boarding facility tomorrow. And yes, I really don't like a apartment without dog. It's just too weird.

Business Trip - Day 1...

Today was the day that I had to go on a 2 day business trip for my company to the get all the details about upcoming changes in the update of our accounting software. And it was also time to voice some things of that software that I wasn't particularly happy about, if there isn't a differnt way to address certain accounting issues. This was the reasin a couple of co-workers and I had to go on a business tripp to Karlsruhe/Germany.
The day started as pretty much every other day I have to work. Got up went with Daisy for her usual walk and then I had breakfast. I had already packed the suitcase on Sunday. I had booked the cab to pick me up at 7.15 amd and they were supposed to call me 5 minutes prior to their arrival. The one thing that didn't happen was the call. So the cabbie rang I still had to get fully dressed. Grabbed the suitcase and called for Daisy. But she was so confused that it took some convincing that she was going to come with me. Put her into the back of the cab and off we went to the boarding facility on the outskirts of Vienna. It took us about 40 minutes to get there.
I walked with Daisy into the facility and we had to wait a couple of minutes for Daisy's room to be ready. But all the doggy smell and all the barking got the better of Daisy. She just set down on the floor and peed. Although she had just been out 1 1/2 hours ago. I dawned on me that this place might bring back some distant memories of her time at the shelter. She walked with me to her room. I stayed with her there for a couple of minutes, but she so didn't show any interest in the room or the fact that a little garden area came with that room. She didn't even care about me petting her and she didn't even look at me when I had to walk out of the room. That was actually pretty hard for me, as it made my heart heavy. I then filled out all the paperwork and arranged with the facility manager, that I would pick up Daisy on Wednesday between 6 and 7 pm.
I than took the cab to work. The entire fun with the cab cost about 50 bucks. Lucky for me it was a kinda busy workday and that way my thoughts weren't constantly with Daisy. By 3.30 pm my co-workers and I had to leave for Vienna International Airport. A cab picked us up at work and we got to the airport in no time. We had already checked in online prior to our arrival and were going to check our suitcases as carry-on. That way we didn't have to stand in line. All the security requirements are getting more and more ridiculous. Most of the requirements I'm still used to from my time living in the States. But to take a way a persons shaving cream when there's barely anything left in the can...well that's just pointless. I joked about it..."and so I will be unshaven for 2 days..". And I don't that serious anyways. We than sat in the transit area and enjoyed a drink, while waiting for aur flight to be ready for boarding. The flight was uneventful. But I still love the taking off and landing part of flying. The snacks you get on the 1 hour flight to Stuttgart are just a joke. Before offering me the choice between an apple or a small bar of chocolate...don't offer my anything at all.
At all that time we were never asked to show our passport. But you still have to carry it with you, since you can be checked for your passport. We got off at Stuttgart International Airport in Germany and had to figure out a way to get from there to Karlsruhe. The don't offer a Airport Taxi Driver service between those 2 cities. So one of my co-workers found a cab for a reasonable fair and we went to Karlsruhe. Took us about 45 minutes to get there and then we checked into the hotel.
After we had checked in we agreed to meet 15 minutes later for dinner. So we went to a local beerhall nearby and had some good German food and some tasty beer and got to talk in a non-work setting. All in all day 1 of the business trip went of without a hitch. Around 11 pm we called in the night and returned to the hotel. I checked my eMails, Twitter and FB and was very happy that the Roaming Feature of my cell worked without any problems. Before heading to be I got to chat with my special guy a little and that made it less weird not having Daisy at my side. And I really did miss her company.