audreysaudities

O, what a glorius day!!! Yes we can! Go Barack! Woo hoo!!!!!

Tomorrow is Election Day. I can't wait until it's over. This campaign has seemingly been going on forever and I've had enough. If McCain wins, my brain will probably implode. I really don't think I could handle it. I was nauseous and depressed for 2 months after "W'" won the second time. Oops, I should clarify that. I mean when he won the election for his second term. That was actually only the first time he won an election. Anyway, let's just say I am not going to be in good shape on Wednesday if the Republicans steal another election. It could easily push me over the edge.

Speaking of the campaign, do these candidates actually think their recorded phone calls are effective? Do people really listen to these things? I hang up the instant it becomes clear to me that I'm listening to a recording. This generally occurs about 1.3 seconds into the call. They don't have the time to make some calls or come up with living people to make their calls yet I'm supposed to use my time to listen to their recording begging for my vote and warning me that their opponent is a child molesting, devil worshiper who runs over puppies. Right. I really want to spend my time that way. I would really be interested to find out the actual percentage of these recordings that get played all the way through. It has to be really low. Of course, they probably wouldn't be doing it if it didn't work, so maybe people really are that stupid. Maybe I'm in the minority with my crankiness. Still, I have doubts about the effectiveness of recorded messages. It's bad enough that it's a recorded message, but the sheer number of these calls is staggering. I'm up to 2-3 calls a day. In fact, my cell phone just rang and it was yet another one of these campaign recordings. I wish I was making that up. I hung up as soon as I heard "Hi". I didn't even get to the guy's name. That's some real effective campaigning jerk.
Sigh... I can't wait until this crap is over.

Yes, I am rather bummed out about TU losing to Arkansas. I didn't think we had a shot at a BCS bowl – even with an undefeated season, so that aspect of it doesn't bug me at all. I love TU but I’m also a realist and understand where we fit into the national landscape of college football. There’s no respect for our schedule or conference so we’re not getting into a BCS game unless the rules say they have to let us in. I know Utah or Boise would go ahead of TU if they win out so in my mind, TU has always been and still is playing for a trip to the Liberty Bowl. What really eats me up about the loss to the Piggies is the way TU lost. They should have won that game by 2 touchdowns, but stupid mistakes and poor execution cost them the game. And now all these idiotic BCS tools in the media are going to throw out the "I told you so" BS. They're going to talk about how the little guys can't hang with BCS schools and how we were over matched. And that wasn't what happened. All day long, we were in the red zone, then a stupid penalty or turnover or a snap over the quarterback's head would keep us from scoring the touchdown. Arkansas didn't stop us. We stopped ourselves. It was really frustrating to watch because I know TU is better than that. Unfortunately, all the media clowns who will pile on and bash TU don't know what TU is all about and all the brainless idiots who listen to said clowns will believe all the drivel that spews from the media. It's still going to be a great season. I just hate that TU couldn't shut up all the doubters and mid-major haters. In the end, I guess none of that matters. I will always love TU no matter what others say or perceive about them.
Still, the fact that TU let that game slip away is going to eat at me for a few days.

As for the trip to Arkansas, we had a great time even with the loss. We found a cool tailgating spot and the TU contingent was loud and proud. I never got hassled by any Arkansas fans and had an enjoyable game day experience. That calling the hogs stuff that they do was pretty entertaining, but nowhere near as loud or intimidating as I expected. Maybe it was because they had the TU fans way over in a corner behind the end zone where we were barely in the stadium, but that place didn't even seem as loud as TU's Chapman Stadium. It doesn't make any sense since Arkansas's place is more than twice as big as TU's. It had to be because of where we were sitting. Still, it didn't seem very loud.

I really don't have anything else too terribly exciting to share. Oh wait... yes I do. Cinnabar was on ESPN. At the end of the Tulsa/UCF game on 10/26, ESPN was doing crowd shots as the clock wound down and they zoomed in for a close up on Cinnabar. My girl is a TV star. They had no interest in me. It was all about The Bar. All you could see of me was my kick ass metallic gold Chuck Taylor high tops with blue shoelaces. That's probably the best part of me to see anyway. Seriously, those shoes are awesome and deserve national TV time just as much as The Bar. Anyway, I thought that was pretty cool. I have a feeling that won't be the only time Cinnabar makes a national TV appearance. It's not like you see a lot of dogs at sporting events so she kind of stands out. Plus, she’s hella-cute and extremely photogenic. She’s a camera magnet.

OK, now I am really out of exciting stuff to talk about. Things have been pretty routine. Dad and I have been doing a bunch of bike riding. All is still going well with that. We’re up to riding 40 miles now. I think we’re going to stretch it to 50-55 miles this weekend. My ass hurts just thinking about it. I've lost 15 pounds. Yay me! My fantasy football team that I am sharing with Randy is chugging along quite nicely and appears to be a contender. I’m not going to say much else about that due to the jinx factor. Basically, life is decent. So, that's it. I'm off to watch Monday Night Football. Toodles!

I really haven’t felt very chatty lately so I’ve been on a little hiatus. Nothing new there, eh? Anyway, I was just watching game 1 of the World Series and trying to decide who to be for. Once I thought about it a minute, it wasn’t really a hard choice. And the longer I thought about it, the more riled up I got. So, pardon me while I vent…

Tampa fans, you need to bugger off. You play in a dome (lame) and have artificial turf (hella-lame). You have those stupid catwalks in your stupid little dome that redirect balls in play (totally lame). And worst of all, your all a bunch of bandwagon jumping, fair-weather jack offs that don’t deserve a team, much less a championship. You’re all a bunch of cowbell ringing, Mohawk wearing nimrods who have no business calling yourselves fans. Where were all of you during the regular season? You didn’t even bother to show up for that oh so important series with the Red Sox during the last week of August when your beloved Rays were in danger of losing the AL East lead to the Sox. Were you all in line at the team store buying your brand new caps and jerseys in anticipation of the playoffs? Cause you sure weren’t in the seats. There were more Red Sox fans at those games than Tampa fans. Hell, there were probably more empty seats than Tampa fans. You can all bite me. I hope you get swept by the Phillies. It’s sad that such a young, talented and exciting team has to be stuck with the worst stadium and fans in baseball. The Rays have played their asses off and deserve to be in the Series, but the fans make me sick. Now, I know there a few thousand die hards who have been there all along, and that’s fine. I have no beef with you true fans. But the rest of you, please shove your cowbells up your asses, cut the tags off your shiny new hats and shut the hell up. You are not fans.

Ahh. That’s better.

So what’s up peeps? I’ve been up to all my usual stuff – work, TU football, reading and basically wasting my life. But it hasn’t all been status quo for me. Dad and I got a tandem bicycle almost two months ago. It’s a blue Trek T-1000. It is affectionately known to Dad and me as “The Beast”. We’ve been riding our asses off and having a blast. The first time we took off on the bike, we damn near killed ourselves, but since then, we’ve gotten better and better. Before our first ride, Dad rode the bike around a parking lot without me on the back just so he could get a feel for the bike. This was a mistake because it gave him an over inflated sense of security since it handled basically like a normal bike. Turns out, it’s a lot different with my fat ass on the back. I climbed on and we took off. Dad decided to have us go down a little hill to take off under the assumption that it would be easier to get going. This was mistake number 2. The bike shot off faster than expected because of the extra weight. So, we were going to fast and were basically out of control. We were wobbling all over the place while Dad fought to keep us up. I felt like we were going to crash, but I stuck with it and kept my feet in the pedals like I was supposed too. Fortunately, Dad got us under control and we managed to keep going. Only later did I learn that we were about 3 feet from crashing into a curb. We had gone down a driveway and were crossing a residential street while trying to stabilize. We were almost to the curb before Dad was able to make the turn to avoid the crash. A car came up on us during this mess as well, but the guy just stopped while we sorted things out. I think this is an instance where my blindness was an advantage. I knew the car was there, but if I had seen the curb coming up on us, I probably would have panicked and tried to put my foot down. This would have surely resulted in a crash. But, I didn’t see it coming and I trust my Dad 100%. He’s been riding a bike for a long time, so I know I can trust him to keep us out of trouble. You can’t ride a tandem without trust. I have no brakes or ability to steer. My job is to sit back there and pedal while keeping my upper body still so I don’t screw up our balance. All the responsibility is on the captain. I’m just along for the ride.

After that first ride, we got better in a hurry. Our second start was scary because we were both kind of freaked out after our disastrous first start. But, it went fine. We still wobbled a little, but it was nothing compared to our first attempt. The next day, we spent about 15 minutes just starting and stopping over and over again until we got it figured out. Now we take off without even thinking about it. We rarely wobble and when we do, it’s barely noticeable.

Our other biggest challenge has probably been with me having balance issues. I used to ride a bike all the time. My Dad and I would ride together and of course I rode a lot as a kid. But, I hadn’t been on a bike in about 5 years and while I remember what it feels like and was able to jump right into it, my brain had to do a little adjusting. I was somewhat dizzy at first and often felt the sensation that we were turning even though we were going completely straight. The first time we rode, I struggled with this disorientation for the first 4-5 miles before it straightened itself out and I felt normal again. After that, it would happen for the first few miles but would clear up quicker. Eventually, I got to where my dizziness was basically gone. It resurfaced the first time we rode on a windy day and again when I had a cold and was dealing with a lot of head congestion. Now, I’m fine. I haven’t felt dizzy at all in a couple of weeks. I don’t know the actual explanation for all of this, but I suspect that the dizziness was a result of not having a visual reference to go by for balance. I felt like my brain just had to sort everything out and I had to learn to balance by feel. It was an interesting process.

I love riding the tandem. It’s one of the few things I can do where other people who happen to see us have no idea that I am blind. I get to experience just being part of the crowd instead of being a walking freak show. It’s very liberating. Plus, it’s an activity that I can do with no accommodations and where my blindness is a non-factor. It’s great. And as if that weren’t enough, I’m losing weight, getting in much needed exercise and get to spend time with my Dad which is a blast. Riding the tandem with Dad is actually more fun than when we used to ride single bikes together. On the tandem, we can ride together at his pace which is much faster than mine and we’re right there together all the time so conversation is easier. We have a lot of fun cracking jokes and discussing whatever comes to mind. It’s really awesome.

As for times and distances and what not, we started out doing about 10 miles. Last Sunday, we did our first 40 mile ride. Our goal is to work up so we can ride in a 100 mile race together. Our normal ride that we squeeze in after work is 14 miles. The first time we rode that trail, it took us almost 56 minutes. With experience, we knocked a lot of time off as we felt more comfortable with the bike and riding at faster speeds. We recently set our latest personal record for the 14 mile trail which we did in 44 minutes 55 seconds. It’s amazing to me that we have made so much improvement. Of course, that record was set under ideal conditions – no wind, freshly aired up tires and low traffic on the trail. A normal day for us is about 46 minutes. Still, that’s pretty bad ass.

You might have noticed that TU is crazy good this year and is currently 7-0 and putting up ridiculous offensive numbers. The talking heads on TV are even mentioning TU as a possible BCS buster. You might wonder what I think about all of this. Well, I don’t think about it. It feels like a crazy dream and I don’t want to wake up. I’m just taking things one game at a time and am focusing on a conference championship. Everything else is just gravy. Personally, I think the BCS stuff is unlikely and am setting my sights on the Liberty Bowl. TU just needs to take care of business on the field and all the other stuff will sort itself out. Whatever happens, this will go down as an amazing chapter in TU football history and I’m just glad I’m around to witness it. So, there you have my official stance on the matter. Now let’s just move on so I don’t say anything stupid and jinx the Golden Hurricane. Go TU!

I saw Flogging Molly again. It was amazing. We drove down to Dallas for the show at the House of Blues. We went down to the front, but on the side of the stage. It had the advantage of being close to the action but without the chaos of being front stage. I had a blast. I sang until I was hoarse. It was the most fun I’ve had at a Flogging Molly concert so far. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but Flogging Molly puts on the Best. Concert. EVER! I love those guys. I hope they continue their trend of coming to Tulsa in the spring. If they do, I’m there.

Oklahoma City finally has an NBA team. It’s very cool and I’m glad to finally have all the Seattle drama over with. I’m not crazy about the name but it could be worse so I can live with Thunder. The uniforms and logo sound underwhelming, but it’s hard to get a feel for it from verbal descriptions. It’s really hard to satisfy my uniform obsession now that I can’t see them. I think for me, missing out on uniform changes and losing video games have been the hardest losses for me to deal with while adjusting to blindness. But, I guess it’s less painful now than it was a year ago so hopefully it will continue to get easier. I still can’t sell my Playstation though. I’ll get there eventually Wow, I just totally bummed myself out. I hate it when I do that. Sigh….

There’s probably a lot of other stuff I could comment on, but I don’t really know how to fill in all the blanks from my long hiatus. So, I’m going to call it a night and go do some more reading. I’m reading the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. It’s about a British army officer during the wars with Napoleon. Sharpe is awesome. He makes excessive use of the terms bugger and bastard. I find this to be endlessly entertaining. I have no idea why. Of course, I am also strangely obsessed with the Napoleonic wars so I’m sure that has something to do with my enjoyment as well. Anyway, bugger off and have a nice day.

Hidily ho, Readerinos!

I'm suffering through an episode of Jay Leno because Flogging Molly is performing on the show later. I can't stand Jay Leno. He's such a whiny little pinhead. And his interviews are crap. It's just painful to watch. If it were most any other band, I'd just Tivo the show and skip all the crap. But it's Flogging Molly who I love so very much, so I will suffer through this garbage. I know Flogging Molly will make my suffering worthwhile.

I upgraded my Live journal account to get some fancy new features for the blog. The most interesting new feature is the ability to call in from my phone and record a voice post. I'm not exactly sure what I might do with that, but I think it has the potential to be mildly amusing. I can't remember the other stuff that I'm getting with the upgrade . It's actually not that entertaining, but it did only cost me $20 for a year, so what the Hell.

Ooh, here comes Flogging Molly. Woo! Ok, they're singing "Float". I was hoping they'd sing one of their more up tempo songs, but considering Leno's tight-ass, mainstream audience, that was probably a safe choice. Don't get me wrong, I love "Float" - it's an awesome song and I particularly love the fiddle playing in it. It's just not one of their frenzied, hard-driving songs that are impossible to sit still too. "Requiem For A Dying Song" would have been a rocking choice and probably pop enough to pass on this stupid show. Still, FM sounded great and blew the roof off the dump. It was awesome and made me forget the rest of that terrible Leno episode. I can't say this enough. Leno sucks.

After work today, I went out in the back yard to enjoy a little time in my hammock. As I was laying there, chillin' in the sun, I was thinking about the Simpson's episode where Homer goes to work for Hank Scorpio in Cypress Creek. There's a hilarious discussion between Homer and Scorpio about hammocks. In fact, thanks to the fine people at The Simpson's Archive I can give you the quote:

Hank: Uh, hi, Homer. What can I do for you?
Homer: Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.
Hank: Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that? Hammocks! Homer, there's four places. There's the Hammock Hut, that's on third.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Hank: There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got
Put-Your-Butt-There?
Homer: Mm-Hmm.
Hank: That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact, they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on third.
Homer: Oh, the hammock district.

Hank: That's right.

Now, that's probably much funnier when you see it in the show, because Albert Brooks, who is the voice of Hank Scorpio, makes that scene utterly brilliant. I also appreciate how Dan Castellaneta just stayed out of the way and kept Homer's responses so simple and deadpan. It's perfection. In the audio commentary on the DVD, they say that Brooks ad libbed that whole scene and Castellaneta just went along. It's just hilarious when you hear the delivery . Anyway, my whole point to this story is that when 5:30 rolled around, I went inside to see which Simpsons episode was on in syndication here and it was that very episode that I had been musing about in my hammock. Isn't that creepy? I think so. I stayed in an watched it of course. That's a classic. Good times.

OK, I'm done. I actually didn't have anything to say. I just wanted to distract myself from Leno. I'm going to Tulsa tomorrow for TU's Spring football game. I'm pretty excited about it. I am so ready for football season. I may not get much out of the game since I'm pretty sure it won't be on the radio, but just hearing the guys smack each other around will be fun. I can't wait. I'll pop back in later this weekend and report on the game.

Later.

Today at work, someone who works in the building asked one of my co-workers to ask me how they could donate to a guide dog organization. Now, on the one hand, I think it's awesome that someone would be sufficiently impressed by my dog and me working together to want to give money to an organization (which anyone can do by visiting www.guidedogs.com). But, why didn't this person just approach me and ask me directly. That is so annoying. I don't have the plague people. Stop freaking out about how to talk to blind people already. It's not a big deal. I know I'm blind so there's no need to tiptoe around it. I can talk just like anyone else. I'd rather answer a few polite inquiries about blindness than be treated like I have leprosy. Sightlings can be so goofy sometimes.

Since I'm kind of in a ranting mood today I'll get a couple more things off my chest, starting with my annoying talking clock. I have a talking alarm clock that wishes me a good morning/afternoon/evening, tells me the time, the date, the indoor temperature and finishes off by telling me to have a nice day. It's bad enough that the clock is ridiculously verbose, but to make matters worse, it is also nauseatingly chipper. It takes a good 20 seconds for the clock to get through all of that information when really all I want to know is the time. And chipper is not what I want to hear at 6:00 in the morning. Why oh why can't I find a simple talking alarm clock that just gives me the time without trying to be my best friend. I have a talking bathroom scale that is equally annoying. It says "hello" and "goodbye". Just shut up and tell me how fat I am! I really have no need for polite talking appliances that like to engage in chit-chat. It boggles the mind that so many talking gadgets are so wordy. The clock was so annoying that I quit using it after a month. I'll just use the alarm on my phone. At least my phone just sticks to the facts. I'm still using the scale but I usually end up cussing it out because I'm annoyed by its politeness , especially since there seems to be an implied "fat ass" after the "good bye". Stupid, bitchy, judgmental, synthesized voice.

Next up:

Dear AT&T,

please stop sending me email notices to let me know that my April bill is ready. I figured that out with the first email notice. The second one was redundant and the third one was just nagging. You'll get you're money on time. You always do, so relax!

Love,
An Annoyed Customer.

And my final complaint for the day goes out to the marketing geniuses who altered a perfectly fine Elvis song into "Viva Viagra". Was that really necessary? Now every time I hear "Viva Las Vegas" I'm thinking about some shriveled up old dude with malfunctioning equipment instead of the happy sounds of slot machines and bad lounge singers . That song is totally ruined for me now. Thanks a lot, jerks.

Enough of that, now on to my boring life. I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar. I've been working on it for a few weeks now and am making steady progress. I spent a weekend with my Grandfather up in Oologah and he showed me lots of stuff and gave me some good exercises to work on. Someday, I hope to be good enough to play in front of people. Maybe I'll start up a band, get a mo hawk and have my very own groupies... or maybe not.

TU won the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. 99% of the country is unaware that this tournament happened because the national media didn't acknowledge the tourney's existence, but it is still a nice accomplishment for a TU basketball program that is trying to bounce back after several years of sucking. I really felt like TU had a shot at a NIT bid after finishing the season strong, but it didn't happen. In many ways, the CBI tourney ended up being better. Things fell into place for TU to get to play all its tourney games at home. They used the home court advantage to build confidence, gain tournament experience and give TU fans a reason to believe that TU basketball is on the way back. I know the CBI is a minor tourney and didn't get much coverage outside the hometowns of the competing schools, but in my opinion it was just what TU needed. That CBI championship will pay dividends next season thanks to all the extra practice and experience our returning players picked up. Plus, it was a nice reward for the Seniors who went through some awful seasons at TU.

The parents and I made it up to Tulsa for 3 of the CBI games. We would have made all of them, but Mom and Dad went on a cruise (jerks!). I have to say, the games we made were a blast. The Reynolds Center hasn't rocked like that in a long time. Game 3 of the championship series was absolutely nuts. It was sold out and the fans were on their A-game. Fun times. I'm looking forward to next season and to be honest, I haven't looked forward to a TU basketball season in 5 years. I hate to admit it, but I'm basically a fair weather fan when it comes to TU basketball. I always try to keep up with what's going on, but I'm not as motivated to take the trip to Tulsa for basketball. I'm not sure why. I think it's because I'm just not into basketball generally. It's an Ok sport and a nice diversion between football and baseball season, but I just can't get myself as worked up about it. Football is another story. I'll gladly journey up to Tulsa for the crappiest of football as long as the helmets say "Tulsa" on them.
And that's why Dad and I were one of about 500 people who actually saw Keith Burns' last home game as Tulsa's coach. Actually, I believe I attended every home game during that unfortunate Burns era. Now, that's dedication. Anyway, It feels good to have the football and basketball programs on the right track at the same time.

I got Randy a Netflix subscription for his birthday. He's really gotten into watching movies since he upgraded our speakers. It was an excellent idea and Randy is really enjoying his subscription. He's always trying to get me to watch movies with him, but I just can't make myself do it. I know plenty of blind people who still enjoy movies, even without descriptive video, but I'm just not there yet. Every time I think about watching a movie, I get bitter and depressed because I know what I'm missing out on. I really enjoyed the visual aspects of movies and having watched a few as a blindy, I'm finding out how much the visual elements of a movie add to the experience. I always took it for granted, but now I really miss the costumes, scenery and effects. It all contributes so much to the story. In the 2 years since I lost my vision, I've been able to work through a lot of my grief and anger issues. For instance, I enjoy sporting events, concerts and a lot of other stuff just as much as before and I can enjoy my experiences without feeling sad about what I'm missing. But for whatever reason, I'm still hung up on the movie thing. I'm also still hung up on the video game thing. I've been trying to work up the nerve to sell my playstation for about a year and I still can't do it. I unhooked it and started to pack it up once, but I started crying and couldn't finish. I guess I just need time. Some of the loss that goes with blindness is easier to get over. I'll probably get to the point where I can part with the playstation and enjoy a movie one of these days. But considering that I'm getting all misty just writing about it, I think it will be awhile. I'm glad Randy enjoys movies and I certainly don't want him to stop watching them because of me. I just hope he understands and will let me work through my issues at my own pace.

OK, time to finish up on a happy note. Rancid is playing at the Cains Ballroom in Tulsa this June. I'm giddy and already have my tickets. Rancid has been at the top of my list of bands I'd like to see in concert who I haven't seen before. After I go see Rancid, The Bouncing Souls will move up to number 1 on that list. Come on souls, come within driving distance of Oklahoma City.

I meant to post this yesterday. Go to this link and click on the link for the video entitled "Campus Life". This video was filmed while I was at Guide Dogs for the Blind and they used a bit of the interview I gave while I was there. I'm usually not too happy with the way I sound in interviews, but I was in the zone for this one. I had just returned to the lounge after a great workout with Cinnabar and I was flying high when the public relations chick cornered me and asked for an interview. So, if you're wondering why I'm so uncharacteristically perky in the video, there's your answer. I am also extremely proud of the fact that I am wearing my Duff Beer hat during the interview. I was wondering if the quality of my words would outweigh the fact that I was wearing an ad for fictional beer on my head. Personally, I always feel smarter in that hat for some reason, so I am sure that the hat is responsible for my coherent statements. That hat is bitchin'. Enjoy!

As usual, I've been lazy/distracted and now I'm way behind with the updates. The distraction was due to my Dad introducing me to the novels of Nelson DeMille. I read "Up Country" and couldn't put it down. I've made it through 3 more of DeMille's books and am in the middle of a fifth. I have been spending every bit of my free time reading. I can't make myself stop. So once again, AudreysAudities has been put on the back burner, but on the upside, I've been taking notes, so at least I won't forget anything.

First, I should probably tell you about the eye surgery that I was rambling about in my last update. Everything went fine, but unfortunately, it didn't work. I'm not surprised nor am I particularly bummed out about it. It's what I expected and I still think it was a good gamble.
The surgery process was fairly uneventful, or maybe I've done it so many times that it doesn't seem like a big deal. Anyway, the weirdest part was having Cinnabar with me before and after the surgery. She attracted a lot of attention. The nurses in recovery were enamoured with my dog. They all gathered around chatting about their dogs and stuff. Seriously, there were 3 or more people gathered around the whole time I was in recovery. I don't know if anyone else was getting any care, but I have to say, I got top notch service as well as a nice audience when I tossed my cookies.

More interesting than the surgery was my follow up visit with the Hunky Retina Guy the morning after my surgery. We got on the elevator with an elderly couple who were also heading up to see HRG. On the ride up, the lady who had noticed my eye patch said, "I guess we're headed to the same place." Then Randy commented that the only reason I went to HRG was because I thought he was good looking. Then the lady said in a serious and slightly menacing tone, "Get in line behind me, honey. He's mine." It was so unexpected that I was kind of in shock. After mulling it over for a second, I decided not to protest because I'm pretty sure she would have kicked my ass right there on the elevator if I had argued with her. She really sounded like she meant business. It was awesome and hilarious.

Christmas was good. I was in a much better mood this year and kind of got into the Holiday spirit. I even decorated Cinnabar's harness handle with some Christmas lights. It was awesome. The presents were awesome too. I got Sirius Satellite Radio from the parents. It's great. I love all the music choices and all the sports. Sirius has the rights to the NFL which makes it the blind person's NFL Sunday ticket. It rocks. I got a kick out of getting to listen to the Seahawks radio network. I can't wait until next season. I also like getting to follow the Hornets. I miss having them here, but at least I can still listen to the games on the radio. I also got a bitchin' Red Sox sweatshirt and a cool TU sweatshirt. Cinnabar got the little boots that I've been wanting to get for her and an an awesome travel bed that will come in handy for road trips and sporting events. I also got a new CD burner to replace my busted one so I'm back in business for making mix CDs. I could go on, but I already sound like a spoiled brat, so I'll just move on.

I bought myself a Christmas present. I got a new cell phone and some new speech software to go with it. I am now using a Nokia N75 with Mobile Speak. I had been using a speech product called Talks on my old phone. I think I like Talks better. It seems like Mobile Speak responds a little sluggishly and it doesn't talk as fast or as clearly as the speech synthesizer on Talks. I'm getting used to Mobile Speak though and the differences are becoming less glaring. I probably just prefer Talks because I was used to it. Mobile Speak is a good product and it is a lot more customizable than Talks which is really nice. The phone is a flip phone which I prefer to my old phone. The battery life is pretty weak but I am basically happy with my purchase. However, I am not happy with the AT&T
center for customers with disabilities. How can a department that is supposed to address the needs of customers with disabilities send out a phone and adaptive software without providing instruction manuals in an accessible format? All I got for the phone was a print manual that is useless to me. I got nothing for the Mobile speak software but was able to find the users guide on the Internet. It wouldn't be that hard for AT&T to make electronic text manuals for their phones. In fact, They have many phone manuals on their web site. But they didn't have mine. I raised Hell with anyone who would listen to me but never got a satisfactory answer. One chick told me I could call Nokia for a Braille manual - like I really wanted to wait that long. Fortunately, all Nokia phones basically work the same, so once I finally figured out where all the important buttons were, I was able to figure the phone out on my own. I also had some issues with the license that was given to me for Mobile Speak. After 4 calls to AT&T and lots of frustration, I finally got it worked out. All I can say is that the Center for customers with disabilities has gone downhill since they switched from Cingular to AT&T.

The parents, Cinnabar and I made the trip to Mobile, Alabama for the GMAC Bowl. Tulsa pounded Bowling green 63-7. It was fun but I felt a little guilty because I think TU ran up the score a bit in an attempt to break a number of passing records. I think the records are cool and everything, but I still felt a little dirty after the game. I tooled around on a Bowling Green message board after we got home and their fans were pissed. I can't really blame them for hating us. I would have been pissed if things were the other way around. I'm torn by the whole thing. I'm happy about the records but it was a bit tacky. The rest of the trip was fun too. We went to Biloxi to gamble, ate some seafood, went to a bitchin' parade and visited an old fort. We snagged lots of moon pies an Mardi GRAS beads at the parade as well as a stuffed fish and several footballs. I discovered that Moon Pies are tasty and got to make Cinnabar wear blue and gold Mardi GRAS beads to the football game. It was cute. Except for losing at the slots and spraining my ankle at the fort, It was a great trip.

And now we're up to February, "The Month of Audrey." It started off with a trip up to Tulsa to see Flogging Molly. Once again, it was amazing. Flogging Molly puts on the best live show I have ever seen. They're great on their CDs, but they
r about a hundred times better in person. It is a life altering experience. They played several songs off the new album that comes out on March 4th and they all sounded great. I can't wait to get the new album.

I couldn't take Cinnabar to the Flogging Molly concert because it's too loud and wasn't a good environment for a dog. Since Randy and the parents went to the concert too, I had to find a dog sitter for The Bar. Dad works with a cool chick named Michelle who raises puppies for Canine Companions, Inc. and she was nice enough to watch The Bar for me. She has a lab that she raised for CCI that got bounced out of the program for some random reason at the very last minute. As it turns out, her dog, Scotty, is Cinnabar's nephew. His Grandfather is Cinnabar's dad. Anyway, Scotty is a great dog and according to Michelle, he always runs the show around other dogs. But Cinnabar went into his house and turned Scotty into a pile of mush. He spent the whole night following Cinnabar around like a lovesick teenager. He let her walk all over him. She took toys from him and even kicked him out of his bed and he didn't care. He was totally smitten with Cinnabar. It was hilarious. Michelle said she didn't even recognize her dog with Cinnabar in the house. When I went to pick Cinnabar up, she was parading around the house with a toy in her mouth like she owned the place. She kept running up and down the stairs and even dropped her toy from the top of the stairs to watch it bounce. She didn't miss me at all or even seem to care that I was there to pick her up. She clearly enjoyed herself and was in very good hands while I was away.

The Parents took me to Las Vegas for my annual birthday trip. We left on a Saturday. The Friday morning before we left, I woke up with a nasty stomach virus. I don't want to get into a lot of detail here, but I had unpleasant fluids shooting out of both ends. I stayed home from work Friday and spent most of the day in the bathroom. It was not cool. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to make the trip, but I was determined to go. I think a large part of illness is mental so I just set my mind to work on getting better. I stopped throwing up Friday so I decided to tough it out and make the trip. I was a bit worried about the plane ride. That's a long time to not have access to a bathroom. Yeah, I know there are pissers on the plane, but that is about the last place in the world that I would want to do what I was fighting off. I spent the bulk of the flight with my buttocks clenched, but I made it. I spent the first 2 days in Vegas camped out in casino bathrooms, but I finally got it out of my system. I did lots of gambling and didn't lose very much money so I consider it a successful trip. I had a great time and really enjoyed cruising through the casinos with Cinnabar. She did really well with all the distractions and seemed to enjoy all the extra work.

Next up for the "Month of Audrey" was my actual birthday on the 23rd. It was a pretty quiet day. I spent most of the day reading then went to Outback Steak house for dinner with Randy and Mom and Dad. After dinner, we went to Mom and Dad's house for cake and presents and watched the first half of the Memphis/Tennessee game. Randy got me Some cool Red Sox Crocs and a Red Sox t-shirt. He also got me the bitchin' jeans that I wanted. After the festivities, Randy and I went home to watch the end of the game. I was pulling for Memphis since they are in C-USA with Tulsa, but it didn't work out. Still, It was an amazing game and was very entertaining. After the game, I went back to reading and stayed up until 1:30 in the morning so I could finish my book. I told you I am hooked on Nelson DeMille. I need help. All in all, it was a good birthday. I kind of enjoyed doing nothing all day long. It was relaxing.

And now you're all caught up. The "Month of Audrey" is winding down but March is shaping up to be a good month as well. There's the new Flogging Molly album and a new B-52's album to look forward to. I'll also be going to see NOFX and the Dropkick Murphys in concert. Then there's the awesomeness that is March Madness. It's all good.

So I think I've covered everything. Oh, yeah, there's one more thing. That fantasy football team that I was thumping my chest about was not all mine. My Mom owned half the team. While I did all the research and made most of the decisions, Mom was involved in keeping me from totally spazzing out and doing really stupid stuff. I bounced ideas off her and when I was getting too antsy about wanting to do deals, she calmed me down and made me realise that I was trying to do too much with the team. Basically, I managed the team and she managed me. And trust me, I am a handful when it comes to fantasy football. So, I was wrong to claim all the credit for the team's success and I apologize to my Mom. What I meant to say is that "OUR team" is the fantasy football champion of the world.

OK, that's it. Toodles.

I have survived the killer ice storm. We lost several limbs off the pecan tree, but luckily, they didn't do any damage. We lost power last Monday, got it back Wednesday, lost it again Friday and got it back for good on Saturday. It was crazy. Fortunately, Mom and Dad never lost power so we had a warm place to stay. Considering that there are about 100,000 people in OKC who still don't have power, I feel very fortunate to have gotten through it so easily. We were lucky to get power back so fast after our second outage. Randy happened to see a couple of trucks from the electric company near our neighborhood and talked them into coming over. They fixed the problem right away. If Randy hadn't done that, we would probably still be without power. I don't know how he gets away with stuff, but Randy can talk anyone into anything. It's amazing.

I realize this information is coming out of nowhere, but I am having another eye surgery today. It's not really a big deal. The Hunky Retina Guy is going in to try to clean out some scar tissue and replace the oil that is in my eye. If everything goes well and my retina is still in decent shape, there's a chance I'll get a little vision back. It wouldn't be much, just shapes and shadows at best, but every little bit helps. I decided to give this a shot since I really have nothing to lose. I can't see anything except bright light. The light I do see is totally useless to me and actually kind of irritating, so what the hell. If it works, I might be able to get enough vision back to give me a little information about my surroundings and if it doesn't work, I'll still see nothing. Plus, even if I don't get some vision back, at least swapping out the oil should take care of the pressure that has been building up in my eye. If I don't do this surgery, I'm always going to wonder what might have happened. I think always wondering about it would be more annoying than going through the surgery and have it not work. I feel OK about the whole thing. I'm a little nervous, which explains why I've been up since 4 o'clock this morning, but otherwise I'm fine. HRG seems pretty pumped up and glad to be doing the surgery so that has kept me pretty calm this time around.

Speaking of HRG, when I saw him three months ago, my Mom went with me just for jollies and ended up telling him about AudreysAudities.com. Naturally, I turned many shades of red because of all the HRG stuff I had written. When I told him he was known here as the Hunky Retina Guy, he had a good laugh, so that helped to calm the minor freak-out that was going on in my head. Still, I was concerned that he'd read it and think I was a crazy stalker or something (I'm not). I went home and read all of the HRG stuff I had written. It wasn't as crazy sounding as I had remembered, but still, I'm a little embarrassed by my silliness. As usual, I think I'm getting worked up over nothing. He read it and seemed to enjoy all my nonsense, so I guess it's not a big deal. Really, I should just be happy that people actually read this crap. I bet if you add up my friends and family and now the HRG and some of his staff, I might be up to double digits in readership. I rock.

I won my fantasy football league. It was a totally improbable season for me. My team really wasn't very good because for reasons I can't understand, I completely suck at drafting for fantasy football. Fortunately, I'm good at correcting my mistakes during the season. Of the 15 players I drafted, only 3, Joseph Addai, Chad Johnson and Jeff Garcia, remained on my team at the end of the season. I started the season 0-2 and was in last place. I was practically suicidal over the crappiness of my team. My quarterback was Phillip Rivers. I lost my number 2 and 3 running backs (Carnell Williams and Sammy Morris) to injured reserve. I was so desperate for a quarterback that I made a stupid trade for Vince Young and gave up Thomas Jones. Yeah, Thomas Jones licked ass most of the season, but at least he was healthy and as it turned out, I could have used a healthy body over a worthless quarterback. I made up for this bonehead trade by getting Drew Brees for Rivers after week 4. Brees and the Saints got hot and suddenly I was finally scoring some points and started to have some hope for a respectable season. I scrounged on the waiver wire for running backs. I used Kenny Watson for a few weeks while Rudi Johnson was down. Then I used Maurice Morris for a couple of weeks. Inexplicably, someone dropped Jam al Lewis so I snagged him for a late season push because I was clever enough to know that Cleveland had a totally cupcake schedule leading up to and during the fantasy playoffs. All my agonizing and dealing paid off. My team got hot when I needed a push to get into the playoffs. I finished up as the 3 seed.

I had a monster week in the semi-finals to take out the Tom Brady/Adrian Peterson team. It helped that Peterson had his worst game ever, but even if he'd had a normal game, I still would have won thanks to monster weeks from Brees, Addai, Lewis and the Green Bay Defense. I scored 119 points in the semi's which was my highest point total of the season. It was sweet.

I went up against my Dad in the finals. I had an 11 point lead going into the late games. The only player I had left was Addai, while Dad had Tony Romo and Marion Barber. I figured I had no chance to win. After all, Romo has been the number 2 fantasy QB and has been good for 3 or more touchdowns most of the season. There was no way I could survive Romo and Barber. I was already telling myself that a second place finish after the crappy team I drafted was better than I could have hoped for. Then Romo totally stunk up the place and Dallas totally abandoned the running game. Who knew Romo would bring his girlfriend to the game and have a total meltdown? It's a festivus miracle! And now, the Screamin' Beavers are fantasy football champions. I feel like I should send Romo and Jessica Simpson a thank you card. It was so awesome and typical of my season. I'm not going to lie, I've been getting greasy wins all season. After all, I did win a game by 5 tenths of a point during a week when I only scored 50 points and the guy I was playing was the only team I out scored that week. I got greasy again when it mattered most. I might be greasy, but I am still the fantasy football champion of the world. Yay for me.

Wow, this has killed a lot of time. It's 8 o'clock. Only 4 hours until I have to be at the hospital. I am ready to get this show on the road. The waiting sucks. I'll be back with a surgery report as soon as I am coherent enough to write. Anesthesia messes with my head, so it might be a few days before my brain is at full power again. Hopefully, it will all turn out OK. Later.

Not that you care about the sacrifices I make to bring such high quality crap to the Internet, but I spent 2 hours on this dam update and had created a masterpiece. All I had left to do was run a final spell check and it would have been ready to post. Then, my damn Pac Mate crashed and I lost almost everything. It was very tragic. So, I have now spent another hour plus trying to recreate my ramblings from memory. Stupid Pac Mate. I guess that will teach me to save my work regularly while I write.

As I feared, TU got beat at the C-USA Championship game by UCF. It was just like the first game. TU looked overwhelmed and out of sync all day. I don't know what it is about UCF, but TU doesn't match up well with those guys. UCF was well prepared and made TU look like a bunch of chumps. UCF's defense was hammering Paul Smith all day. It was pretty ugly. TU had their chances, but just couldn't get in a groove. I was afraid we were going to get stuck with a trip to the Hawaii Bowl with the loss to UCF but I was pleasantly surprised when TU got an invite to play Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama instead. Getting the better bowl game (better in my opinion anyway which is really all that matters) helped to take the sting out of losing the championship game. The GMAC Bowl is close enough that TU should have a decent turnout from the fans most importantly, me. Woo!), and I think it has a better pay out. If the GMAC doesn't pay more than Hawaii, it's still better for TU from a financial standpoint because TU won't have the expense of flying the team to Hawaii.

I'm all set for the trip to Mobile. We've got tickets to the game and reservations at a hotel that is right on the GMAC Parade route. My grandparents are going to meet us in Mobile and we're going to shoot over to Biloxi to check out the casinos. TU football and gambling all in one fabulous weekend. It's going to be sweet. I can't wait to hit the road.

So my worries over the Thanksgiving dressing were totally unjustified. Mom did a fine job with the dressing. It wasn't the same as my Grandma's, but it was good. I managed to eat a ton of it, so it must have been okay. I was more bothered by the change itself rather than the quality of the dressing. I really don't like change. But, I suppose it's inevitable and I should just quit whining about it. Of course, that's probably not going to happen, but at least I'm aware of my shortcomings. Self-awareness is a good thing.
Anyway, sorry for all the bitching, Mom. Your dressing rocked.

Major news flash! Flogging Molly is coming back to the Cains Ballroom in Tulsa this February. I am so freakin' excited. The last time they were in Tulsa, I was blown away by their show. I've mentioned this before, but Best. Concert. EVER! I can't wait to see them again. And as if that wasn't already awesome news, the new FM album comes out in February too. Sweet! February is shaping up to be a great month. There's the FM concert and album, my birthday and a trip to Vegas. And let's not forget leap year which I find to be amusing for some reason and Presidents' day which gets me a much deserved day off work. All this February goodness is enough to make me overlook that craptacular sap-fest of a fake holiday also known as Valentine's Day.

Whoa, I was just channel flipping and came across the Tennis Channel. Tennis Channel? Really? How is that possible? Tennis is lame and there's entirely too much grunting. Who watches that? I can accept that tennis is a nice hobby for many people but I don't see how that carries over for a need for a network devoted to tennis. That's more absurd than the Golf channel. I think golf is boring too, but I also know a lot more people who are golf junkies than I do tennis people. Golf, for reasons I can't understand, at least seems popular enough to warrant a network. Of course, tennis does have its sweaty, scantily clad, hot chicks so maybe that's how tennis gets its audience.

Stephanie and I went out Christmas shopping yesterday. It was a productive trip. I got most of my shopping done. I still need to make one more trip to grab a few more things, but all things considered, I am pleased with my progress so far. I'd say I'm 75% done already. That's pretty good considering I used to be one of those people who did all their shopping the week before Christmas.

Cinnabar got some good work in on our shopping trip. She stayed pretty focused and kept herself out of trouble. She did rip a really nasty fart in the middle of a crowded store, but a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do. I can't give her grief over that. At least their were no fatalities. It was a really nasty fart though. I know it was her because she had ripped one in the car a little earlier that caused me to black out for a minute. Plus, dog farts have a very distinctive smell to them. You really can't miss a dog fart.

Did I really just write a paragraph devoted entirely to dog farts? I'm so sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me.

We're getting pounded by a really bad ice storm right now. It's about 27 degrees outside and it's pouring freezing rain. There's even thunder and lightening. It's crazy. The weather dorks are comparing this storm to the one we had in 2002. I lost power for 3 days during that one and there were trees down everywhere. It took a couple of days for the roads to be cleared of all the fallen trees. I hope this storm isn't that bad, but so far, it's not looking good.
Although, it is looking very promising that the Governor will close State offices tomorrow, so yay for a bonus day off work.

That's all I've got for now. Tune in next week for updates on the Ice Storm of Death and a potentially entertaining anecdote about the Hunky Retina Guy. I'd tell you why it's potentially entertaining, but that's part of the anecdote. Plus, now I've got you all wondering what the Hell is going on so you'll keep coming back for more. Later.

I keep thinking I'll get on here and do a big ass entry to catch up on the past 2 and a half months, but I've finally come to the realization that it's just not going to happen. Instead, I'll do a quick and dirty, half-assed synopsis of my activities since I last wrote so many months ago. Yes, it's lame, but it's better than nothing.

Cinnabar and I graduated from GDB, met the Bar's puppy raiser, Shelby, who is awesome, and went to the Cal vs. Tennessee football game with Shelby. Cal won. It was bitchin'. I also met Cinnabar's Mom, Omega, at graduation. The Bar and Omega seemed to be happy to see each other, but who knows? The Bar is happy to see any dog so I'm not entirely sure that the Mom factor changed the experience at all.

I brought The Bar home. She didn't seem to enjoy the plane ride but we made it. She was much more at ease on the second flight so I have high hopes that she'll be OK with flying in the future. I guess I'll find out in February when we go to Vegas for my annual birthday trip with the parents.

The Bar and I have settled into a nice routine. She gets along fine with Horatio, she's adjusted to her new environment and she and I are making good progress with the bonding and learning to work togetherstuff. She gets pretty distracted with sniffing, greeting people and eating stuff off the ground, but I've been working with her and she is getting much better. It's frustrating at times but the occasional flashes of pure brilliance and perfection from her help me to get through the not so perfect times. Once we get through the growing pains, Cinnabar and I will be an awesome team. The Bar is extremely intelligent and should mature into a very good guide.

My interactions with the public now that I have a guide dog are weird. When I used a cane, people stared a lot and generally seemed freaked out and were afraid to talk to me. I don't know why people react that way. I know that most of the time, I am the first blind person that most people meet, but come on. I'm still a person. I just happen to be blind. It's not a big deal. People need to relax. Anyway, now with the dog, I have minor celebrity status everywhere I go. I constantly hear people talking about my dog. And countless numbers of random people have approached to ask about my dog or tell me stories about their dog. It takes a little getting used to, but I'm doing OK with all the extra attention. The weird thing is that I'm now basically invisible to the public. It's my dog who gets stared at now, not me. I'd say it's an improvement. I feel better about myself thanks to the dog, so it's all good.

The Bar has been to all of TU's home football games this year and has been great. She doesn't give a rat's ass about the noise or crowds and just chills out during the games. She doesn't even react to the loud-ass storm siren that gets blared over the P.A. system every time TU scores a touchdown. She is officially a football dog. She rocks!

The Bar is a big hit at work. She has her very own corner in my office and spends the day sleeping and chewing on her toys. She is loved and admired by everyone in the building.

Randy had surgery on his hip. All went well and he has worked hard with his rehab and is making amazing progress toward a full recovery.

Work is fine, the parents are fine, Lou got a new job (Congrats!), the Red Sox won the Series (WOO!) and my fantasy football team is a constant source of frustration and anxiety.

So, there you go. You're all caught up now. On to the present.

Dad, Lou and I are driving down to Houston this Saturday for TU's big game against Rice. TU wins the West division of Conference USA with a win so hopefully all will go well. I'm really psyched about this year's team. I love our new crazy air-it-out offense. Our Defense is a concern, but at least TU's games are fun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another trip to the Liberty Bowl, but I have my doubts about beating UCF in the conference championship game should we get there. First things first - go kick some Rice Owl ass.

I'm looking forward to pigging out tomorrow and watching football. I'm a little stressed out about the dressing though. My Mom is making it this year instead of my Grandma. Mom is a good cook and everything, but come on! My Grandma has been making the dressing my whole life and it's awesome. I understand that my Grandma is 76 and ready to retire some of her Thanksgiving cooking responsibilities, but you just shouldn't screw with the dressing. It's the most important part of Thanksgiving. I cannot get on board with this new plan. (I love you Mom and I know your dressing will be great, but you know how I feel about dressing. This is really hard for me.) Anyway, I'm in a much better place emotionally for the Holidays this year and am ready to get the festivities under way. Bring on the food and the time away from work!

So, that's all for now. I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving and I'll be back soon with what will hopefully be less sucktastic updates to AudreysAudities.com. Toodles!

It’s been a crazy week. I’ve been writing bits and pieces in my limited free time but haven’t had time to proof read and get things posted to the blog. Hopefully, I’ll have enough time to get caught up now. We finished up a little early today so I have about an hour before I have to be in the relieving circle with Cinnabar.

We have had a pretty easy day today. This morning, we practiced walking on a country road with no sidewalks. We were on a semi-remote road and as I discovered, there were lots of bees. I got stung on the arm and I thought Cinnabar might have been stung too. Now I’m pretty sure she didn’t since she hasn’t had any kind of reaction. We had a swarm of bees following us around everywhere. It’s a miracle I was only stung once. The bees seemed to be attracted to my bait bag and probably also to my perfume. It was a stressful walk, but we did really well under the circumstances. The nurse checked out my arm and cleaned it out of precaution, but I’m fine. Just a little bee sting.

After running from bees, we got to go to the mall and have lunch in the food court. It was kind of stressful being in a mall I Don’t know. It’s hard to get oriented in a big echo filled space like that. But we survived and I got to have a cheeseburger and some chicken McNuggets, so that was cool.

After lunch, we did some more practice in an area without sidewalks. This time it was in a residential neighborhood so there were curbs to trail and lots of parked cars and trash cans to get around. Cinnabar rocked the parked cars. She’s supposed to go up to the car and show it to me and let me direct her around it instead of going around it on her own. A lot of dogs try to cheat and just go around the car, but Cinnabar showed me every one of them. We did have some trouble with a tree limb that hung over into the street. Cinnabar ran me into it three times and I had to keep reworking it with her, but we got around it eventually. It was a pretty stress free walk and was totally bee free as far as I know.

OK, so I got today out of the way. Now I can catch up on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. When I last wrote, I was feeling a lot of doom and gloom, but I was able to rebound and work my way through it. I got a lot of comfort and support from talking to the retrain students and some of the staff and was able to get over everything that happened Monday. Cinnabar and I are still having occasional minor mishaps but those are normal mistakes for a new team. We’re learning and will be awesome before long.

Tuesday, we did our first freelance route since our disastrous trip on Monday. Cinnabar and I went to the pet store. I was going to buy some booties, but they didn’t have any. It was a very small local shop so they didn’t carry a lot of your more exotic pet supplies. I did buy a package of doggie clean up bags so that my trip wasn’t totally pointless. I had a little trouble getting back to the street from the parking lot but with a little help from an instructor, we made it out and went back to the lounge. It wasn’t a flawless trip, but all of our street crossings were right on so I felt really good about the route.

We also did a route through City Hall where we practiced stairs and riding elevators. I need a lot of practice on the stairs. It is really weird following a dog down stairs. I feel totally clumsy, but it will come with practice. There was a fountain outside of City Hall that Cinnabar was really interested in. She got quite distracted and I had to use a collar correction to get her attention. They weren’t kidding when they told me this dog loves water.

Wednesday was pretty cool. We made our first trip to San Francisco to work a route. We walked down Chestnut Street where there are lots of boutiques, Café’s and pedestrians. Cinnabar got a little distracted by a couple of dogs, but for the most part she did really well with all of the activity around us. She even passed a really tough test when we walked by a small child who was carrying a bagel. The bagel was right at nose level. Cinnabar looked at it but kept on moving. I was so proud of her. We also rode the bus while we were out. It was so cool taking my dog on the bus with me. I’m still not used to the fact that I can take my dog everywhere. It’s so much fun.

we did a night route Wednesday after dinner. They dropped us off on a corner and we had to walk back to the lounge in the dark. It was kind of awesome. It wasn’t that different for me since I can’t see anything useful in the daylight, but being alone in total darkness with my dog was kind of creepy. I haven’t been out by myself after dark since I lost my vision so I was a little uneasy at first. There was a stretch where there was no traffic and no pedestrians around so all I could hear were crickets. It was cool and creepy at the same time. Cinnabar didn’t seem to mind the darkness. If anything, I’d say that she was pretty excited about working in the dark. She was pulling harder than normal and I had to really insist that she slow down. We did good on all the street crossings and made it back to the lounge in one piece. Our only real mishap was totally my fault. She approached a curb and stopped. I was thinking I had found it since I was expecting one of those goofy flat curbs. But it was a real curb and I slid off it kind of awkwardly. I instinctively let loose with a string of profanities, completely forgetting that there was an instructor lurking there on the corner. I’m sure whoever was there was either amused or horrified by my antics. The cursing was of course at myself and not my dog. She rocks.

We went back to San Francisco Thursday morning. We went to a busy financial district. There was a ton of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. I was really impressed with how well Cinnabar and I glided down crowded sidewalks without bumping people. We were zigging and zagging all over the place. It was so fun. We rode some escalators and learned how to get through a revolving door. There were pigeons around that Cinnabar had a hard time ignoring, but for the most part she stayed focused on her work. We had to rework a few errors, , but it was a fun route. Our biggest error was when Cinnabar ran me into a handrail that caught me right in the ribs. We were moving at a good clip so it didn’t feel real good, but I kept my cool and just reworked the error. That kind of stuff will get better with time.

After we finished, we got to chill out in Starbucks while we waited for the rest of the class to finish. I had a Carmel Frappuccino. It was awesome. I don’t think I have mentioned this yet, but my roommate and one of the retrains convinced me to try a frappuccino and I am now officially addicted. It’s probably a good thing there are no Starbucks near my house. I love these things and they come in so many awesome flavors. I get one every time I get a chance to go into Starbucks. I’m
Almost as obsessed with them as my roommate, but not quite. That girl is all about her Frappuccinos. It’s hilarious.

We got the afternoon off yesterday. We were supposed to have a workout, but the training staff was sensing a lot of fatigue from the class and gave us the option to rest in the afternoon. I decided to stay in because my knee has been hurting quite a bit the past couple of days. I can walk through it, but I figure a little rest will help me get through the rigorous workouts during week 4. They really stress the fact that they are interested in seeing quality routes, not quantity. I kind of feel like a wuss, but this is the first time I have accepted an offer to rest and I think it will be better for me in the long run.

I found out lots of fun stuff about Cinnabar this week. Her puppy raisers live near San Diego. She shared her puppy home with a Great Dane and a Shihtzu . Her puppy raisers took her to the beach and she had a blast playing in the waves. I also learned that her mother, Omega, belonged to GDB and her father, Hemet, is a stud from Canine Companions Inc. CCI is a service dog school that provides assistance dogs to people with various types of disabilities. Apparently, Hemet is quite the stud and has produced many high quality dogs for GDB and CCI. I also met with the vet here at GDB to go over Cinnabar’s medical history. She has been quite healthy and has only had a couple of minor ear infections and an allergic reaction to a be sting. It wasn’t serious. She just had some swelling in the face. The vet said it was pretty common and wasn’t a life threatening allergy. She also got a bump on the head while playing in the kennel but she healed up just fine.

I went to the gift shop here at GDB and bought a bunch of cool crap for my dog. I got some leash luggage. It’s a cool little pouch that attaches to the harness handle and is great for carrying around little essentials like poop bags, a head collar and a clicker…. Which reminds me, we had a clicker training seminar Wednesday. It was really awesome. We are learning to teach our dogs certain behaviors using the clicker method of training. Basically, The instant the dog performs the desired behavior, you click then give a food reward. It is all positive reinforcement and involves no corrections so the dogs love it and learn really fast. The first behavior we are teaching is to get the dogs to find an empty chair. This behavior will come in handy when looking for a seat in waiting rooms or on the bus. Cinnabar did great. She was taking me to a specific chair after about 15 minutes of work. Now I’ll do the same thing with lots of other chairs in various locations to get her to generalize her idea of what a chair is. This is a really powerful technique and can be used in many applications. I can teach her to find stairs, handrails for going down stairs, pedestrian crossing buttons and all kinds of other cool crap. Clicker training is used on all the dogs in the early stages of their training, but my class is only the second group of students to be taught how to use it. I have used clicker training in the past with Horatio, but I am really getting a lot of benefit from this formal training on how to do it correctly. I can’t wait to teach Cinnabar all kinds of crap. I might teach Horatio some new tricks too.

OK, so back to my shopping at the gift shop, I got the leash luggage, a rain coat for Cinnabar, a tug ring for us to play with and a blinky light to put on Cinnabar’s collar at night so we will be visible. I’m having way too much fun shopping for my dog. It’s ridiculous. And the sad thing is that I’ve thought of a bunch more crap that I want to buy for her. I am such a sucker. I’ll buy anything.

We started picking up after our dogs yesterday afternoon. I had my first opportunity to pick up poop this morning. It was semi-traumatic, but not as bad as I thought. I got a big laugh from the instructors and my class mates when I blurted out , “ Yay, I popped my poop cherry!” It was so funny. It was one of those moments where I kind of forgot that I needed to be on good behavior and it just came out. There was a brief moment of stunned silence followed by hysterical laughter. It was sweet.

Whew! I think I’m all caught up now. I kind of feel like I might have forgotten something since so much has been going on, but I can always add it later. Toodles for now.

Oh, what a crappy day! This afternoon, Cinnabar and I went on our first freelance route. That means that I picked the destination, planned the route and was given a time limit in which to get to my destination and come back to the downtown lounge. The instructors backed off and left us on our own to work things out. They were lingering nearby to swoop in if we got into trouble, but the plan was for us to do the route independently. Unfortunately, Mike had to do a lot of swooping in for me today. I totally screwed this one up.

I decided to go to the Lighthouse for the Blind. They sell lots of crap that blind people use, like canes, talking clocks and that kind of thing. I didn’t have anything in particular that I was shopping for, but I figured I might find something useful and it was a good place to become familiar with in case I decided I really did need something while I’m here.

So, the place is about 4 blocks from the lounge and we had 45 minutes to make the trip. I hauled ass out the door with a full head of steam. I got to the first street crossing and made the same damn mistake I made on Saturday. I got in too much of a hurry, misread traffic and crossed on a red light again. I was so pissed off. The trip was all down hill from there. On the next street crossing, Cinnabar totally flew over the down curb without stopping. The curbs in San Rafael are really flat, so it is not that hard to miss them completely. So, Cinnabar took me across a street and I didn’t even realize we were in the street until she stopped for the up curb. That is totally ridiculous for me not to realize that I had crossed a street even if the curbs are flat. . By this point I was seething with rage. I was really freaked and was having trouble trusting Cinnabar when we approached streets. I was also second guessing myself on my traffic reading abilities. I was totally flustered and frustrated. I made myself go into the Lighthouse just to give myself a chance to chill out. I bought some new sock locks (doohickeys that keep your socks together in the laundry so they stay matched up and you don’t lose them) while I was there and checked out a few other things but I really wasn’t in a shopping mood.

I calmed down a little, but I was still pretty much off my game on my way back to the lounge. Cinnabar missed another curb, although it was an up curb this time, so that’s not as scary. It’s not a good thing, but at least I wasn’t out in the middle of the street without realizing it. I also became rather hesitant and indecisive with my street crossings. It was a ginormous mess. I was devastated by the time I got back to the lounge. As far as I am concerned, that route was a complete disaster. I am surprised they didn’t just take my dog away and send me home. I totally sucked ass and am lucky I didn’t get us run over. I tried to keep myself together, but I just couldn’t do it. I was kind of upset for awhile but I’m better now.

I suppose I should focus on the fact that even though I had all those issues, I still made it back unscathed. But I am pretty hard on myself and my ability to accept my mistakes is somewhat lacking. I had a chance later to talk to some of the retrain students and the peer counselors who are GDB grads. They all told me to relax and shared some of their horror stories and made me feel better. They all pointed out that I have been using a guide dog for less than two weeks and I am supposed to be making mistakes. If using a guide dog were easy, they’d just ship them to your house and send you some instructional CDs. I have made a lot of progress in those two weeks and seem to be handling the dog pretty well so all of this stuff that I am dealing with should improve with experience. It’s just hard to look at it that way after a day like today.

I think it is pretty significant that I have screwed up trips by rushing through my first street crossing twice now. I have to break this trend. I really need to focus on cooling my jets when I start a route. Cinnabar is always so ready to go when we start out. She hauls ass and actually goes a bit too fast so that I feel like she is dragging me down the street. I let her excitement and impatience get to me and become too impatient myself. That is clearly getting us into trouble. My goal for tomorrow is to control the pace when we start out and focus at my first street crossing. Instead of thinking of the trip as one event, I am going to try to think of it as a bunch of little trips connected by street crossings. I must make myself start every block like it is my first one. If a block goes bad, I have to forget about it and do better on the next one. Conversely, if it goes well, I need to forget about it instead of letting it get me over confident.

I am planning to go to the pet store on my route tomorrow. It is a shorter trip and will give me plenty of time to slow down and focus on what I am doing. It will also give me a chance to pick up some things for Cinnabar like booties and poop bags. Yes, I said I am buying booties for my dog. Laugh all you want, but the pavement gets really hot and all the dogs have been dancing around while waiting to cross streets. Guide dogs aren’t like pets. Pet dogs have the freedom to keep moving on hot pavement or seek out shade, but a guide dog has to stand still for several minutes at a time for traffic and spends a lot more time on pavement than your average pet. Cinnabar’s comfort is more important to me than fashion sense, so I’m getting booties. Anyone who thinks that’s funny can bite my ass.

My class went into San Francisco yesterday for a little outing. This was a sightseeing trip, not a class work thing so I didn’t get to take Cinnabar. We went to fisherman’s Wharf for a little while. The trip was kind of disappointing. We spent more time driving there and back than we actually spent at the Wharf. We went to a chocolate store and a t-shirt shop, then loaded up and went back to school. Most of the class went and we were taken by a couple of nice volunteers who take students out once per class. I heard some trolley cars driving by which was kind of cool, but I didn’t really get that much out of the trip. Places all look the same to me now and I am still trying to figure out how to appreciate new places.

Cinnabar wasn’t too happy about me being gone for 3 hours. She shredded her rug that she sleeps on. I am really going to have to work with her on this chewing business. I think she will out grow it as she matures and as she gets more comfortable with me, but it is definitely something I will have to monitor.

I’m off to bed now. I am so ready for this day to be over. I need a fresh start. Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow with some good news. Later.

Sorry I skipped out on my updates yesterday. . The day was pretty hectic, but it was also pretty cool. We did what they call a traffic route. Basically what that means in a nut shell is that an instructor was following Cinnabar and I around in a minivan and trying to run us over. OK, he was trying to create close calls, but it did kind of feel like we were being hunted down. The cool thing is that every time he darted in front of us or came at us, Cinnabar responded quickly and kept us both out of danger. Most of the time, the van would come flying out of or into a driveway in front of us. There was also at least one instance where he turned right on red in front of us as we were making a street crossing. Cinnabar would just stop on a dime and wait for the car to pass. Her reaction time is really good and I was reading her well and was right with her. The coolest traffic check was when the instructor whipped into a driveway and cut us off, then he started coming toward us. Cinnabar walked backwards as the car kept coming at us. I backed up right with her. It was really amazing to see her do that because it is very un-natural for a dog to walk backwards. Their natural instinct would be to turn and run. But Cinnabar hung in there right with me and backed us away from the danger. We also had a run in with the minivan where it came barreling at us out of a driveway as we crossed in front of it. Cinnabar just picked up her speed and pulled us out of the way. It was so cool. The experience really gave me a new appreciation for my dog. I have already been doing pretty good with trusting her, but after seeing that, I know I can trust her with my life. Her training is incredible. I just can’t get over what these dogs can do. They’re so smart

Yesterday I also had my individual weekly meeting with my instructor. I was told that I am making very good progress and am handling Cinnabar very well. I felt like we were doing really well, but it is still reassuring to have the feedback just to make sure I’m still on track.

Today was kind of a rough day for me and Cinnabar. We went on a route this morning and kind of got thrown off kilter early in the route and never really totally recovered. It all started when we encountered a car backing out of a driveway. There was also a construction barricade right in our path to complicate things. I think Cinnabar might have been extra cautious about the car because of the traffic route we did yesterday. So she took us around the barricade to the side farthest from the car and closest to the street. There was more room to pass on the side away from the street but the car seemed to spook her a little. I was pretty distracted by the car too so I totally lost my orientation . Cinnabar couldn’t get around the barricade so she took me to the curb of my parallel street. I was thinking we were at the next intersection and didn’t even realize we were facing in a different direction. The instructor helped me figure it out, but I was pretty hacked off at myself for losing focus. Cinnabar really didn’t do anything wrong. It was my loss of orientation that got us into trouble. The fact that she wanted to stay away from the car was understandable considering all the close calls we had yesterday. It’s totally normal for her to react a little differently for a few days. We would have been ok if I hadn’t lost track of what we were doing.

So we finally got back on our way, then we got to a street crossing. A couple of things were going on with me at this point. First, I was still fuming at myself over getting all mixed up earlier in the block. Secondly, I think I am getting over-confident with street crossings. I feel so much safer with Cinnabar at my side than I do with a cane that I may be getting a little careless while analyzing traffic sounds. So, I listened to the traffic, heard a car move and gave the forward command. Cinnabar went and we got across the street just fine, but I realized I had crossed at the wrong time and had just crossed with a red light. Fortunately, It was an intersection with light traffic, but it still not something I want to be doing. I was really ticked off at myself after that. The instructor was totally cool about it and told me to let it go because no matter how good your mobility skills are, people still make mistakes sometimes. That’s true and I know that it’s not something I do a lot, but it always makes me mad when I do.

So now I was seething with rage. All these mistakes were on me and I continued to praise Cinnabar for her work, but I think she really sensed my grumpiness. Her pace slowed way down and I had a really hard time getting her to speed back up. I could also tell that she wasn’t moving with her normal confidence. We were just out of sync for the entire rest of the route. I am really going to have to work on letting things go. My bad vibes really affected my dog and I felt horrible about it. She didn’t do anything wrong but because I was irritated, she got uncomfortable and probably thought I was mad at her. I felt so guilty.

After we got back to the dorm, I spent a lot of time playing with Cinnabar and giving her lots of positive attention. We went to the fenced in paddock area so she could play off leash and I sat down in the floor with her and gave her a nice belly rub. She is a very forgiving dog and seemed happy as ever to be with me. I hated to end my week with a bad workout, but I just have to let it go and let my dog know that she can count on me for love and consistent and fair handling.. Everything is fine now and I am looking forward to Monday so we can go out and kick some ass together again.

My roommate, Jessica took her dog to the paddock after dinner tonight. After she got back to the room, she discovered that she had stepped in some dog crap and tracked it into the dorm. It was so hilarious watching her freak out over the mystery poo on her shoe. I think she said “Ew” about a hundred times. It was funny because it wasn’t me. I was at least nice enough to give her an empty grocery bag so she could put it over her hand and not have to touch the shoe when she cleaned it. We were both cracking up.

Speaking of doggy doo. Cinnabar took two dumps at the morning relieve today. It was her first double poop. I was so proud. I was getting kind of jealous because some of the dogs in our class take two or three dumps every time we go out. Of course, next week, we have to start picking up our dogs crap so being jealous is clearly the wrong way to look at it. My dog usually only dumps once or twice a day, so I’ll have less crap to clean up. Woo. But as long as someone else was doing the cleanup, I was having some volume envy. I know, it’s gross and messed up. I blame my father. He always goes on an on about the qualities of a good dump and volume is the most important factor. He has warped my fragile little mind.

Tomorrow is another day off. My class is going on an outing to San Francisco. We are going to hang out in Fisherman’s Wharf for a few hours. I think it will be pretty fun. Most of the people in my class are pretty entertaining. We have a pretty good time together and get along well. Unfortunately, we aren’t allowed to take our dogs off campus yet, so Cinnabar will have to stay here. I hate having to leave her. I am so used to having her now that on the occasions that I have to leave her in my room, I always feel like I have left the room without putting on pants or something. It just doesn’t feel right. But, the instructors say it is good practice for the dogs to spend time alone. Someone will check in on her periodically so I know she will be fine. She’ll probably just sleep the whole time. I think I’ll take her to the paddock before I leave so that she can run around and wear herself out.

I’m exhausted. I have to get my ass in bed now. They weren’t kidding when they said that this was a intense program. I’m worn out but loving every minute of it.

Life with Cinnabar just keeps getting better. Today, they drove us to a location about 5 blocks from the downtown lounge. The instructors told us the route back to the lounge, but instead of walking right with us, they spread out and positioned themselves at street corners to keep an eye on us from a distance. They didn’t interfere unless there was trouble. So, this was the first walk where Cinnabar and I were basically on our own. I was really nervous for some reason, but once Cinnabar and I got moving, I settled down. I grew more confident with every step. Cinnabar was rocking her A game on the route. She nailed the route. She hit all the curbs perfectly and we didn’t have to rework any errors. Our only mishap was when I accidentally stepped on her back foot during a turn. I got her pretty good and she jumped out of the way. I stopped and gave her lots of love to settle her down and let her know that she did the right thing. She forgave me right away and we got back on our way. We made it to the lounge without having to get any help along the way. It totally rocked. I was flying high when I got back to the lounge. It was so incredible to make my way through in a strange town, on a new route and succeed. It was a total team effort. Cinnabar and I are really starting to gel. It’s the most amazing thing I have ever done.

After we got back to the lounge, I was asked to be interviewed for an informational video the GDB is making to help prospective students decide if the guide dog lifestyle is right for them. They asked me about my experience so far and how I felt about the staff and my classmates. They also asked why I decided on GDB over other schools. Since I had just gotten back from my walk, I was very bubbly and enthusiastic which they totally loved. The interviewer and the camera dude were both pumped about my level of enthusiasm. It was kind of cool. I hope Cinnabar and I make the final cut. That would be pretty neat to be on an informational video.

Last night, Cinnabar and I posed for our team photo. I got dressed up and groomed Cinnabar so she would look beautiful (ok, more beautiful.). The photo will be on my GDB ID card and I was able to buy some prints for myself. I hope it turns out well.

We are done for the day, except for the final relieving opportunity. Cinnabar and I are going to chill out and relax this evening. They have a massage therapist who comes in once a week and does massages for a dollar a minute. I figured I’d give it a try and signed up for 20 minutes. My neck and shoulders have been a little stiff so I think I might get that worked on. So, that’s it for today. I’ll check in later. Have a lovely day!

Wooooooo! This little dog of mine is so incredible. We just had the most awesome walk. I feel so great. I might be high. Cinnabar rocks my world. I can’t get over how much fun it is to walk with her.

We are working longer routes now. We are doing what they call the basic route through downtown San Rafael. I have made the trip 4 times and I finally have it down. It’s so much easier to work the dog when I know where I am going. Things are going so much smoother now. It’s awesome. This afternoon we totally kicked ass. My instructor said we did great. I’m so pumped. I’m so ready to go out again.

Yesterday I learned how to brush Cinnabar’s teeth. It is hilarious. Her toothpaste is poultry flavored and she loves it. Her tongue was flying all over the place while I tried to brush her teeth. It tickled so much and I just giggled the whole time. I think I got more toothpaste on her snout than I did in her mouth. I think we’ll get better at it but the first time was just silly.

This week we had 12 more people join the class. They are all people who have had dogs before and are coming to retrain with a new dog. They have their own set of instructors, but the dorm, cafeteria, lounge and relieving circle are now much more crowded. I have met several new and interesting people. I have enjoyed talking to the retrains and hearing about their experiences with retiring dogs. It sounds like it is going to be really tough, but I knew that going in and will just have to deal with it when the time comes. For now, that is a long way off so there’s no reason to dwell on it.

Nothing much else to report. Cinnabar and I stay pretty busy and are both using up all our excess energy. But I have no complaints. Cinnabar and I are both digging the extra activity.

Cinnabar and I had the day off from training today. I don't know which one of us had more trouble dealing with the inactivity. Cinnabar has so much energy and making her take the day off was not easy. She was bored and restless all day. I took her out to play and walked her around the building but I could really tell she wanted to do something more intellectually stimulating. She is a little bundle of energy.

As for me, I was antsy to go walk with her again. For now, we're not allowed to use our dogs for guide work around the building. We have to be supervised by an instructor until we're good enough to work on our own without screwing up the dogs. I'm chomping at the bit to take the training wheels off and cruise around campus or something. But I don't want to get in trouble so I am patiently abiding by the rules. I suppose the instructors know what's best for me and Cinnabar but we are both itching to get turned loose.

This morning, Cinnabar and I went to a seminar about T Touch for dogs. It's basically doggy massage. I know it sounds like tree hugging hippy crap, but most of the dogs totally relaxed and passed out on the spot. Cinnabar is of course the resident class clown and was squirming and trying to play with me and the other dogs. I think it might be something that she could learn to enjoy, but I'm learning that things which require my dog to be still, like grooming and ear cleaning for instance, are best attempted before bedtime. Cinnabar never really settles down and gets totally relaxed until after her last relieving trip. She is going to wear me out. I think I have just found myself a new exercise program.

Well, I guess that's about all for now. We're getting into the serious walking tomorrow so my dog and I are off to bed.

I had the most awesome walk with Cinnabar today. We were working together so much better than yesterday. I am blown away by how fast my dog is figuring stuff out. We had a bit of trouble with turns yesterday, but she had a much better idea of what she was supposed to do today and I could tell a huge difference in her confidence. I also did a much better job correcting her and helping her understand what I wanted. We’re starting to really communicate with each other.

Cinnabar makes me feel so good. I feel like a normal person walking down the street instead of a clumsy blind person who sticks out like a turd in a punch bowl. It’s so great to be noticed because of my dog and not because I’m running into something. I got a kick out of hearing people checking out my dog. We were moving too fast for them to stop us for a chat, which rocks, but I still picked up bits of conversations of passers by commenting on my dog. It made me feel really proud.

I had my first individual meeting with my trainer today. It’s something they do here to keep everyone aware of their progress and gives us a chance to address any concerns that come up along the way. My meeting went great. My trainer said I was doing well with Cinnabar and that we were right on track in the program. I felt like we were doing good, but it is comforting to have a little assurance.

I learned some interesting stuff about Cinnabar from one of her trainers. First of all, I found out that she loves water. She’ll get in a pool or play in a hose and has a ball. I’m glad to hear it. She’ll fit right in at the lake and in Mom and Dad’s pool. I also learned that when Cinnabar was being sassy and misbehaved during training, the instructors called her Cinnabutt. That cracks me up. I totally understand why they would do that.. She can be a little butt at times. She tries to get away with stuff all the time and I really have to be aware of what she is doing. She has already chewed up her new fleece mat that she is supposed to be sleeping on. She also got into trouble today during obedience training. We were doing her obedience practice with an intentional food distraction (a saltine cracker) on the floor near enough to be in striking distance. She ignored the cracker briefly. I got her to heel, then sit, but as soon as she did her first down, she lunged for the cracker before I knew what was going on. We set up the distraction again and started over and she got it right the next. Time. Hopefully she has learned her lesson, but I definitely have to be on my toes with her. She seems like she is just looking for trouble all the time.

We got dog toys today, so I was able to have a little fun time with Cinnabar. She really had fun and seemed to appreciate the chance to just be a dog. We played tug with a tug ring and she bounced a Kong toy around. Then I let her gnaw on her new nyla-bone for a while. She loves to chew. I’ll have to stock up on nyla-bones for sure. She really likes to get rowdy when she plays. She is a 57 pound puppy when I give her the chance. She’s hilarious. I’m so glad we finally got to start having some play time. It really seemed to help her relate to me and helped her relax.

We have the day off from class tomorrow so I am going to take Cinnabar to the paddock to play for a bit. I haven’t had an opportunity to take her over there yet and give her a chance to play off leash. I think she’ll have a blast. I also plan to spend some quality time at the pool. Other than that, I have no big plans and hope to chill out and get rested up for next week. Things are going to start getting tougher next week but I have no doubt that Cinnabar and I will get through it with ease. Toodles for now.

I just finished my second workout of the day with Cinnabar. We are still trying to get used to each other. Walking with her in harness is so different than I imagined. She’s much more squirmy feeling and pulls harder than I expected, but she is so great. We’re kind of uncoordinated right now, but I could already tell a difference between our first walk and our second. I think it’s kind of like learning to dance. We are just trying to figure out how to stay in step.

Walking with her is amazing. Even with our early clumsiness, I feel like a new woman with my dog at my side. We fly down the street and get around obstacles with ease. I can move as fast with her as I could when I could see. It’s incredible. All the frustration and anxiety I feel when I’m traveling with a cane is gone. It’s awesome. I can’t wait to walk with her again and see how much we have improved.

I’ve been so excited about my dog that I haven’t talked much about the rest of my experience here at GDB. The rooms are nice and roomy. I share a room with a cool chick named Jessica and her black lab, Goldina. Jessica is from Vancouver, Canada, which totally rocks my world. I love Canada and all Canadians automatically get a thumbs up from me until they prove themselves to be unworthy of such high regard. Jessica and I get along well. She appreciates sarcasm and has a good sense of humor.

The food here is quite tasty. I was hoping I might lose weight with all the walking that I’ll be doing, But now I’m thinking I’ll be doing good not to gain weight. We had salmon for lunch that was just awesome. We always have a nice dessert at lunch time and there is lot’s of good variety. Oh yeah, they make the most awesome salads. The veggies are very fresh and they also have lots of variety in the salad choices. Everything has been great. I can’t say enough nice things about this place. They’ve got their stuff together. They’ve thought of everything and have made my stay very pleasant.

That’s all I’ve really got to say for now. I’ll be back as soon as I have some interesting stories to share. Later.

I have a guide dog!!! Woo hoo!!! I don’t even know where to start. This whole day has been so amazing. I guess I should start by introducing my new dog. She is a yellow lab named Cinnabar. The name is kind of goofy, but it is growing on me already. She is 22 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 57 pounds. She will turn 2 on September 24. She is very lively and curious. She wants to sniff everything and everyone she sees. I have been having to give her lots of corrections, but I can already tell that she is starting to respond to me and understand what is expected of her. She seems really smart, but that’s to be expected of a guide. She is very soft and affectionate. She licks me on the face every chance she gets.

My time at GDB so far has been great. It has been kind of intense, but the staff is really patient and supportive and has made the learning process as easy as possible. It has been really hard to focus during the first few days because I have been giddy with anticipation about getting my dog. I didn’t think Dog Day would ever get here. It has been much worse than waiting for Christmas. I haven’t been able to sit still and when I was finally able to get to sleep, my dreams were all about dogs. It’s been torture, but it was worth the wait.

Dog Day has been crazy. We had breakfast, morning lectures, some obedience practice and then we went to downtown San Rafael for a Juno walk. (Juno is an imaginary dog that they use to teach the basic commands. It is either an instructor holding the dog’s end of an empty harness or an instructor carrying a rolled up rug with a collar attached to it. I have to admit, I felt kind of silly giving commands to an empty harness while walking around town, but I guess you have to learn somehow.) We came back for lunch then had a lecture about what to do when we met our dogs. After that, they announced the dog matches and I learned that I was getting Cinnabar. I wasn’t crazy about the name and was kind of jealous of my classmate who got a black lab named Jackson, but it wasn’t long before the name started to sound better to me.

After the announcements, we all waited in our rooms for an instructor to take us to meet our dogs. They came for my roommate first and I was just going insane. I paced back and forth until she got back and they finally came for me. I sat in a room while I waited for my dog to come in. I didn’t know what to expect and I was shaking I was so excited. She finally barreled into the room and immediately jumped up on me and slobbered all over my face. I was totally surprised by that. I wasn’t expecting such an energetic dog. She was all over the place sniffing and squirming. It was overwhelming. Then I got my wits about me and attached my leash to her collar. I walked her back to my room and sat on the floor with her for a while to pet her and get to know her a little bit. She was very curious about her new surroundings and took a little while to settle down. We spent some good quality time together, then I practiced walking down the hall with her heeling at my side. The instructors were creating all kinds of distractions and I had to give her several corrections to get her attention. But it didn’t take long before I noticed that she was getting the message that I was in charge.

After our walk, I fed her and gave her some water. Then we headed outside for our first relieving trip. She wasn’t too interested in relieving on our first trip and only peed a tiny bit, but I’m happy to report that on our last relieving opportunity tonight, Cinnabar gave birth to a brown baby boy. Her first little gift came at about 8:37 PM Pacific time. I’m sure you all really wanted to know about that. It’s no big deal right now because the instructors are just shoveling it up for now, but soon, I’ll be introduced to the joys of picking up dog doo. It’s a small price to pay for having such an amazing animal.

After dinner we had a seminar about grooming and I brushed her for the first time. She was very squirmy and didn’t seem too interested in being groomed, but I think she will enjoy it more once she gets to know me.

So that was basically my day. I don’t think words really do it justice. She is now laying here at my side while I type. She seems a little impatient about being here so long, but I think she will get used to it eventually. It is so weird to think about how my life just completely changed today. I will have this fuzzy little body by me everywhere I go for a long time. She will depend on me as much as I will depend on her. It’s kind of scary thinking about the responsibility I have just taken on, but at the same time it’s just mind-blowing and thrilling to be starting this new life. I can’t wait to harness her up for the first time and start learning how to work as a team. I’m kind of overwhelmed by it all.

So, that’s Dog Day. Cinnabar and I are off to bed. We have to get up early for the morning relieving opportunity. My days of sleeping in are officially over. Now it’s rise and shine at 6:30 a.m. to feed, water and relieve. We’ll check back in from California as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

Stephanie (AKA "Lou") and I went on a road trip to Dallas the weekend before last. We used to do crap like that all the time, then we got married and it became hard to find time for such shenanigans. We decided it had been too long and made plans to ditch the husbands for the weekend.

We hit the road Friday after work. We stopped in Norman and met Lou's husband, Mom and brother at the Greek House, home of the world's most awesome Gyros. (Yes, my diet totally went down the toilet on this trip. I don't want to talk about it,. but rest assured that I'm back on track now though.) After dinner we briefly got back on the road. Then we stopped at an interesting bathroom. It was a gas station/bar-b-q restaurant. The bathroom stalls were made out of that wavy steel stuff that they make metal buildings out of. I'm sure it has some technical, manly name, but alas, I have no idea. I know that it is some kind of steel, it's wavy and my Grandfather has a shelter in his pasture for the cows that is made out of this same material. Anyway, the point is that this bathroom was interestingly rustic but also very clean and pleasant to pee in. As an added bonus, it had some very nice smelling soap which kind of made my day because there is nothing I appreciate more in a public restroom than nice smelling soap.

After the bathroom stop, our drive was pretty uneventful until we got into Dallas. We were cruising along real good with our Map quest directions, then all of a sudden, there were no exit numbers or highway signage. We couldn't find any signs at all. So, we got lost. I blame the State of Texas for their invisible signs. We went into a hotel for directions and were told that we weren't as lost as we thought and that it wasn't our fault because that section of the highway wasn't marked well. And that was from a local, so I feel justified in passing the blame for our disorientation on the State of Texas. . Stupid Texas!

Our hotel was right next to the Ballpark. We made it to that general vicinity and could see the ballpark. But for reasons I can't figure out, we simply could not find this hotel or the street that it was on. We called the hotel for directions and the guy had no idea what the Hell he was talking about. Then we stopped for directions and got no help. I was starting to think this place was invisible. I felt like we were searching for the Island on "Lost". We drove around the Ballpark about 5 times then all of a sudden, we were on the street we had been looking for for thirty minutes. I think Lou must have just been worn out by this time because there is really no reason why this should have been so difficult. We finally checked into the hotel about midnight.

We slept in the next day. We had planned to get up at 8, but Lou and I were enjoying the peace and quiet of our hotel room with no husbands or animals to wake us up. We finally got up around 9:30. By the time we were ready and had made a quick stop at the computer in the lobby for directions, it was lunch time. We ate at Red Lobster and then went to see Ocean's 13.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering why we went all the way to Dallas and then wasted a bunch of time going to a movie when we could have done that at home. Well, the reason we went to the movie is that there are several movie theaters in the DFW area that offer movies with descriptive video service (DVS). DVS comes from the same folks who do closed captioning for the hearing impaired. Instead of captions on the screen, there is an alternate audio soundtrack that features a narrator who describes the action for the blind and visually impaired. The narration is very detailed yet quick and to the point. They get a lot of bang for the buck with their choice of words and only give description during breaks in dialogue. It's really impressive to me how much information gets passed along yet, it doesn't feel obtrusive or interfere with the movie. It's very well done.

To hear the audio description, I get a special headset from the theater. The audio description is transmitted by radio signal in the theater and is picked up by a receiver in the headset. It's pretty cool. The headphones are kind of uncomfortable and I had to keep my head in a certain position to prevent static, but it was better than sitting through a movie and having no clue what's going on. I had seen a movie on VHS that had an audio description, but this was my first time to use the system in a theater. I really got a kick out of it. It was nice to be in a movie theater again. The description filled in all the visual details and I was able to enjoy the movie and understand what was going on. Obviously, I'd much rather be able to see the movie, but at least this way I can go to a movie and feel like I'm getting my money's worth. You just don't think about how hard it is to follow movies and TV when you can't see it until you are forced to deal with it. It's very frustrating, especially to me because I have always been a movie/TV junkie. Anyway, we don't have any theaters with DVS in OKC, so I decided to take advantage of it while I was in the area. It was time well spent. In fact, it was so enjoyable that I think I am going to write a letter to AMC and try to get them to put DVS in one of their theaters in OKC.

After the movie, we hauled ass to the Ballpark for the Rangers game. We had totally bitchin' seats thanks to Dad. He knows a guy who hooked us up with seats right behind home plate on row 21. It was sweet. Of course, the game looks the same to me no matter where I sit, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of taking up a great seat while knowing that there are plenty of guys up in the nosebleeds that would give up a testicle to have my seat and who would probably have a fit knowing that a perfectly awesome seat was being wasted on a blind woman. (OK, a testicle is a little much. Maybe if it were the World Series, but since it's Texas, we all know that's never going to
happen. You get my drift though.) . And in any event, Lou enjoyed the
great seats and we saw an incredible game. The Rangers were playing the Brewers. They were down 3-0 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th then scored 4 runs off a walk and a bunch of greasy singles to win it. It was awesome. Plus, there were a couple of incredible defensive plays. It was a lot of fun. I also really enjoyed the radio broadcast. The play by play guy was very detailed in his description of uniforms and individual uni related quirks by the players. It was really good for my uni obsession. I can't obsess over stuff like who's wearing their pants legs pulled up and such so I am always appreciative of radio guys who give lots of uni related detail. I really miss watching for guys wearing stirrups. I wish they would track that in box scores or something. Even better, MLB could just make stirrups mandatory. Stirrups rock.

We slept late again on Sunday. The plan was to go see "Knocked Up" in DVS. We had lunch and then went to the theater. Unfortunately, the information I got from AMC's website was incorrect. The theater we went to didn't have DVS even though the company's website said it did. The manager was very nice and gave us directions to another AMC down the street that had the service. He also gave us some free passes for our trouble which was very nice of him. We tried to get to the other theater, but with traffic and stop lights, we couldn't get there in time. We decided to just cruise around the mall for a little while instead.

After hanging out at the mall, we headed home. We made it out of town without getting lost and had an easy drive home. It was a good trip. It doesn't seem like we did very much, but Lou and I enjoyed our quality time together and had a blast. We're hoping to make another trip before baseball season is over.

As for this past weekend, I didn't do much. Randy went to the lake with some of his buddies and I chilled out at home. I went to my cousin's bridal shower Saturday afternoon. Then, later that night, the parents and I went to the casino. I lost Thirty bucks. Stupid slot machines. But we had fun, so I really can't complain too much. Sunday, we tried to kick back by Mom and Dad's pool but the weather didn't cooperate. We still had a nice day. We bought some crab legs and had a bitchin' Father's Day dinner.

I think I had something I wanted to complain about, but damn if I can remember what it was. Maybe next time. Later.