It's Dry Here

I'm glad it's Friday. I'm glad the weekend is here, and I'm glad I can sleep in tomorrow. Today was a good day at work. We found out our merit increases (i.e. raises) so I was very happy with that. It's always nice to find out you'll make more money. But with more money comes on more expectations/responsibility so it's a trade off.

I bought a humidifier for my apartment because the air is VERY dry here. When I blow my nose, blood is there and Walter is constantly drinking water and chewing on his back legs. The vet found no skin problems, I think his skin is dry and irritated. My skin also is also very dry so I know his must be. Hopefully this will help.

I'm supposed to help a guy I work with move tomorrow. I'm watching his cat right now. Her name is Harley and I've been watching her for the past week. She's a sweet cat, but likes to wake me up in the morning by rubbing her head against mine. It's cute, but not at 6:30 in the morning.

Goodnight.

Black Friday

I didn't take part in Black Friday, other than staying home and taking care of Walter. Walter is going to have to stay in South Carolina until Christmas because of some misunderstandings regarding the pet policy at my apartment. My building is reserved as "pet free" while the rest of the complex is not. Since I took the last 1 bedroom they had when I moved in last May, that's where I was put...in the pet free building. I did not know this, so I will have to switch buildings so I can have Walter in the building.

All the more reason renting is a waste of time and money. When it's all said and done, what do you have when you're done? Nothing. Ownership of a house is the way to go, and the way I want to go when I have enough for a decent down payment.

I'm sad I won't see 4 weeks of Walter's puppyhood. I am glad though that he will be able to be around 2 other dogs and different people in those 4 weeks though so he can become well socialized. Socialization with many different people and other dogs is very important for a Shar Pei, more than most other breeds. They are very loving but become attached easily to a close group of people and become protective. I want Walter to be protective of me, but open to other people also. So far he's doing a really great job at letting others hold him and he likes seeing other people.

Bear and Walter are already best friends...

Pictures of Walter

Walter had a big day today. I stayed outside with him keeping him active for a good part of the day. We went for a walk, and played in the yard. He wants to sleep a lot, and I try to keep him awake so he'll sleep more at night.

He went to the vet today and got his shots and a checkup and everything was fine, even his eyes. We went to Petsmart to get a collar, treats, and small tennis balls. Bear came with us and everyone stopped and wanted to hold Walter and they loved him. He's such a good boy. He still hasn't used the bathroom in the house at all and is good about going outside. Bear and him are becoming good friends too. Below are some pictures I have of him so far.

Welcome Home, Walter

Yesterday I got my own little Shar Pei: Walter Matthau Smith

He is so cute and when I saw him I knew he was the one. There were 2 litters available, and I had originally wanted to see a blue male she had in the 1st litter. I liked him, but I saw Walter looking at me and he was SO wrinkled his little butt cheeks were folded down. I thought he was just the best. I've already taken a lot of pictures, but I forgot to bring my battery charger home for my camera so I am taking pictures with my mom's camera and my dad'd camera, so I will have to wait to get the pictures uploaded.

He really likes to sleep, and he likes me to hold him and cuddle him. He likes Bear so far, Bear likes him even more. He also likes tennis balls so far, like Fuji did.

More information to come!

Harder Than Babies

First of all, my posts have been lacking because my internet/cable was down yesterday. Internet is so essential for me. I even woke up in the middle of the night last night, just thinking "gosh I don't even have internet right now" and it just bothered me for some reason. Like when you can't sleep because something just isn't right.

A technician came out today to fix my cable and said the problem was someone opened up the cable boxes on the side of my apartment building and cut my cable. He said it looked intentional, and that he thought Comcast might have done it because I just switched from Comcast to AT&T. I don't care, as long as it's working now.

Now..what's harder than babies is choosing a dog! Atleast when you have a child you just get one, and whatever it looks like you have to love it. Dogs are so hard to choose from. I'm sure I'd love them all. I have decided on a Shar Pei as a breed...that is set. I want a male, that is 90% set unless I see a female that just takes my breath away. I have been contacting breeders for about 2 weeks now asking around. I have 2 breeders narrowed down: one in Canton, OH and another one in Tennessee. I'm going to look at the puppies in TN when I come home for Thanksgiving. If I do like one, I will be taking it back on the airplane with me as a carry on pet. It's $80 to do that, but I might have to. The flight from GSP to Detroit is only 1.5 hrs and it's nonstop, so I think the puppy would be just fine. The ones in OH I could drive to, but it's about 3.5 hrs away. It's such a hard decision. The one I really like in TN is a "blue" Shar Pei. Blue Shar Pei's are a rarer color, but it's a really pretty blue/gray color. The ones in OH are fawn with black masks.

Names for males I like (for a Shar Pei): Walter or Henry. I think I have to pick and old man's name for one. If I did get a female (highly unlikely) I would name her Chikorita.

I'll be flying back on Saturday. Tomorrow is the last day of work before vacation!

Welcome Home

Today Dawn got a new Shar Pei that she named Bear. He's 4 months old and darker and redder than Fuji was. He looks fun and soft, I wish I could see him in person.

I think tomorrow I will buy the bicycle I wanted to get and start riding.

Sad Day

I couldn't sleep well last night. I couldn't fall asleep first of all, then it was the sleep where your mind isn't asleep, but somewhere else. And then, when you wake up, BOOM the thought that you couldn't espcape is right there when you wake up. That thought for me was Fuji, our Shar Pei. He had been missing since Sunday and was nowhere to be found. Today while at work (I'll get to that later) I started to think about him again...where he could be, if someone stole him, if he was hurt etc. So I called me my mom at my desk and she broke the news, he had died. He was in our garage the whole time and was apparantly hit by a car, came back to the house and died in our garage. Not the primary garage, but the 2nd garage we don't use much. Cosmo was trying to tell my mom for a few days by walking towards the garage, and crying. She went in today and found him.

I'm really sad because I loved him a lot. And, animals are always so hard to loose, other than close family members or friends. They're just so special, dogs especially. I will miss him a lot, and I'm sad I didn't get to see him one last time.

Work was actually annoying (a little) today, partly because I had that on my mind, and partly because of people's attitudes and bureaucracy that was rampant. I was given something to do, which is good, I'm glad, but it was more busy work for me because I had to SIT for about 5 hours total and WATCH the drafter draw what I was telling him because I don't know the CAD language he was using. So that was hard, and the fact that he was Romanian didn't help either. I finally got a laser pointer and sat back, and pointed at the screen so he could see what I was talking about. I know that sounds snooty, but leaning up, and back, and up, and back, and up again because he didn't understand gets real old after about an hour.

Then I had a meeting with an engineer and our accounts manager. That was just annoying because it was drama that wasn't necessary...a lot of hard language and demands. Not what I want to hear. So I didn't leave until around 6:00. I missed the bank, so I still haven't deposited my paycheck. I then went grocery shopping and had the pleasure of waiting in a line at Meijer's. You can go on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...5:00 pm, 11:00 pm...it won't matter. You'll wait a good 15 minutes in line to pay them for their overpriced food. Lastly people today at work were being pretty lazy, just sitting around and complaining about how morale is low, and how they're tired...again, not what I want to hear today.

The engineer I work with is a nice guy, he's my "buddy" assigned to me to get me accustomed. Now, I don't want to judge to hastily or jump the gun, but he isn't really showing me what he should, in my opinion. For example, we have lots of forms and formal items to present on each project, and reviews to complete etc. Well I questioned if he'd like me to go ahead and check on getting a form taken care of since it was over due for the project. He just said "ehhh, nah, I mean, I don't do those because it doesn't help me get the product designed, so I don't do it". Well, that's nice for you, but I'm organized and want stuff done when it's supposed to be done, and I don't like having a million things in my "head" instead of on paper, filed away. The accounts manager I mentioned earlier actually is a lot like me I'd say, but a little more dramatic and demanding, so he wants to be organized which is good. I think that's why he was so demanding today, is because he's been in the dark too long.

Atleast I have things to do tomorrow to stay busy. I'll miss you Fuji.

Suprise

Suprise, Michigan doesn't tax groceries! But, we have the highest gas in the nation at $3.29/gallon down from $3.50/gallon when I moved here. But, even though I pay more for gas I got 2 boxes of Special K Red Berries at Kroger today for $4...beat that!

At lunch today I was asked if I could drive up to Saginaw (about 95 miles north) to pick up some parts, and bring them back. Sure! I get paid mileage, and I don't have much to do now so I went. Michigan can be boring to drive though because there aren't really any hills, and the interstates out on the country areas are in really bad shape with potholes and cracks everywhere. Actually, in the Detroit area a person died when a piece of concrete broke off an overpass and landed on their windshield killing them. That's how bad some of the roads are. Many other cars were struck by falling concrete from overpasses that just breaks off.

I really really want a pet. A pug, to be exact. I just can't right now, well, I can, but it's just to expensive and it would have to stay here all day while I'm at work, but I could let it out at lunch. I saw 2 seperate ads for pugs in the paper. My fish is fine for now I guess, but I can't hold him or play with him or pet him.