HANNAH, NICKI, AND A LOT OF FRUSTRATION

5 October 2008

Well, "Chola" and "Chimi" are now "Hannah and Nicki." 

Today was Petco Day and Ashley wanted Chola to go to Petco.  I felt just terrible about it.  She has just barely started to feel comfortable here and she gets very nervous if she has to be away from her puppy for any length of time.

In fact, last night I made the mistake of letting her stay out of the cage when I went to sleep, but discovered that she not only had to have the puppy in her immediate vicinity, but me too, so she was torn about whether to stay in the family room with Chimi or go into the living room with me.   Instead she just picked a spot midway between the two rooms and barked.   "Bark................bark................bark."  Letting me know that I needed to be with her. (She does this when Chimi gets stuck somewhere).

I tried sleeping in the recliner, which satisfied Chola, but I couldn't get comfortable so went back to the living room.

"bark.................bark..................bark."

Finally, I put them both in the cage.   She whined a little, but then went to sleep and slept through the night.  I just have to resign myself to putting them in the cage each night, which is actually better and will make it easier for a new family, whenever she finds one.

So this afternoon, I put a leash on her.   She planted all four feet firmly (or as firmly as you can on Pergo) on the floor and refused to budge.  I carried her out to the car and Walt drove.  She trembled like she had a fever all the way to Petco.  We got out of the car and the feet planted firmly again.  I just hated leaving her there, but I did.

When we returned, 3 hours later, she was sitting straight up, behind the chair of the girl who was in the pen with Chola and the other dogs, and still trembling.

Then one of the volunteers told me that we were going to have to change her name.The people who turned her into the shelter were Mexican and turned her in because they were returning to Mexico.  Apparently "Cholo" is a term for a tough Mexican gangster, and in the interest of being politically correct, a name change was recommended.  They told me they were going to list her as "Sweetpea," but that I could call her whatever I wanted.  I was just as happy anyway.  I was never wedded to Chola. 

I am currently reading a book called "Hannah's Dreams" (about a zoo elephant caught up in the controversy over shipping her off to an Elephant Sanctuary vs. keeping her at the zoo) and decided that this dog looked like a "Hannah."  With Hannah renamed, I decided to rename the puppy too.  I don't really know where "Nicki" came from, but it just seemed to fit.

Neither dog responds to a name and both will come to "here, Puppy," but it's nice to have a name to distinguish one foster set from another!

As I write this, I am EXTREMELY frustrated.   I cannot get a full internet connection and I don't know why.  Walt can on his computer upstairs.  It connects to DCN for e-mail and downloaded two (of 10) e-mails, but then says it has lost connection.

If I try to go onto a web site, it half loads and then just sits there forever until it tells me that it has timed out.  It's times like these that I wish I knew how to really troubleshoot.  But I don't.  All I can do is reboot, or turn the modem off and on again, but none of those things have worked.

I am HOPING that I can get onto the   internet using the laptop and piggy-backing wirelessly onto my neighbor's connection.  If that won't work, I'll be downtown looking for an all night wi-fi place where I can post this journal entry.

I just HATE it when things like this happen.  And of course they always seem to happen late at night in the middle of the weekend, when you can't really reach people until Monday.

And worst of all, my winning streak at Free Cell seems to be over.  This is definitely NOT my day!

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Tom, Bri and I had a Skype conference yesterday.

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MILES TO NOWHERE:  76 miles