Tag: timid dog

So, What’s New?

I’m still here, writing blog posts in my head nearly every day. Yes, I know that’s not how it works.

So, what’s new with me? I’m waiting to find out whether I’ll be going to the office, working from home, or just not getting paid at all. I’m a contractor, and my contracting company sent us an email saying, “Don’t go to work sick,” and “Let us know if you are unable to work,” and nothing at all about giving us any sick days. I’m MUCH luckier than a lot of people; I earn a decent salary and have enough money in the bank to get by for a while, though this means any thought of a vacation later this year is out the window.

The theme parks are all closing for at least two weeks, and I think that’s when shit got real for a lot of people around here. Disney NEVER closes for more than a day or so, if a hurricane is absolutely bearing down on Central Florida; and even then they’ll just watch the situation and stay open if possible. The parks are all closing until the end of the month (at least for now) and this is truly unprecedented. I’m wondering what will be going on with the Star Wars Race Weekend, which is now a month away. A week ago I’d assumed it would be happening, now, who knows? That’s the speed of events these days. I’m going to keep training, in my lazy, half-assed way, because walking by myself is a fine form of social distancing.

Schools are closed for the rest of the month. Delaney’s dance competitions are canceled. Everyone is stressed and exhausted, all over the world.

The last three years have been incredibly hard and depressing already, as many of us were forced to confront the reality that a lot of our fellow citizens are actually shitty people. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by the hoarding of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, because no, “we” are not better than this. “We,” are also incredibly fucking stupid: there’s no liquid hand soap available, but plenty of bars of regular soap sit untouched, next to the empty shelves.

Changing the subject: Gidget. I’m working on socializing my shy little dog. She’s getting much better about not freaking out when a neighbor stops to chat, but if I take her out of the security of my immediate neighborhood she still has issues. Yesterday I took her for a walk without Sophie, just around the streets outside my condo community. Quiet, residential, lots to see and sniff, she was having a great time and we made it halfway around the block when: OMG!! A MAN!! DOING YARD WORK!! He was several houses away, but I saw her start to tense up when she saw him, so I decided to cross the street, to put a little distance between us as we passed him. We were on the other side of the street when he paused, smiled and said hello.

Gidget froze, turned, and started dragging me back the way we came, with all the force her little barely 8 lb. body could muster. This walk was DONE. Then, HORRORS! We had to walk past a FedEx truck, and the FedEx man said hi to her and said she was so cute! Well, we had NO choice, we had to flee!

Gidget believes social distancing should become permanent.

    One of the “benefits” of this strange new world we all find ourselves in is that it may give me time to finally work on this blog, and on the other blog that, so far, exists only as notes in my journal.

    Extreme Makeover, Rescue Edition

    I was cleaning up a random stack of paper in my office when I came across the flyer I saw online that led me to the little dog formerly known as Gizmo.

    Gidget was freshly groomed on Wednesday. This time, we went with a Yorkie puppy cut – a bit shorter than the last style. It really brought out her Yorkie side.

    She’s still a shy little princess, though. I need to work on her socialization. She’s a happy and perfectly behaved little princess at home, but outside, she shivers and hides and is absolutely miserable if anyone notices her. She loves to go for walks as long as it’s just us and the squirrels, but any other human is a source of fear and suspicion. My downstairs neighbor talked to her yesterday, and she trembled violently, then dragged me toward our door.

    One reason I opted for the shorter puppy cut ‘do this time was so we could get a couple more weeks between the trauma of the groomer.

    My groomer is wonderful, I’ve known her for years, she used to groom Murphy. She was very understanding of Gidget’s fears, and let me know as soon as she was done so I could pick her up early.

    Hiding in the back of her crate, waiting to be rescued.

    I joke about it, that her first family must have lectured her constantly about “stranger danger,” because even the mailman is not to be trusted, but I need to get her out more. Maybe we’ll start going out for coffee, just the two of us. She may always be on the shy side, but I’d like to see her enjoy the world a bit more.