Unemployment Sucks

Being unemployed sucks big time. The one nice thing is my former employer allowed me to work from home for the last 3 weeks. They had no problems with me applying for jobs and interviewing for jobs while still being paid by them. They were both upset that they had to lay me off and are still trying to help me. I have over 200 resumes/applications out. I have had 8 interviews out of those 200 resumes. The large majority don't even respond to my application. I'm currently waiting to hear back from an interview I had on Monday the 21st. She said she was interviewing 8 people and would make a decision by the end of this week. I also am getting my unemployment checks from California which will end July 28th. After that time, I get the thrills of applying with Colorado and their pay is less. It seems that I'm over qualified for most mortgage jobs i've applied for. Two employment agencies told me that they couldn't get me clerical jobs because they couldn't prove I had the skills (WTF). I currently have 4 different employment agencies working to find me a job and no luck.

Sight Seeing in Colorado

I've lived here in Colorado since July 1st and in Colorado Springs since the end of September. There is a lot to see and do here but even though I may have an outgoing personality with strangers, I don't like to go places alone. I recently had a friend from Kansas come over for a weekend and show me a few things to see. Thanks Gary for being such a good friend and showing me so many things. We went to a glass blowing company in Manitou Springs and spent 2 hours looking and I'm sure I didn't see everything. We then took the cog ride to the top of Pike's Peak. Unfortunately, the weather at the top was bad with winds and snow so we didn't get to have a clear view of the surrounding area. We took so many pictures and spent a couple hours that night uploading to a website and to my pc. Sunday, we went to Garden of the Gods and spent over 4 hour driving around as well as walking on some of the pathways. We then went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and spent about an hour or so there. Next stop we went to Cave of the Winds and enjoyed it the tour guide and the tours. We didn't have enough time to go to Seven Falls or the Zoo. Those are things I will go to alone. I can't wait for family and friends come visit and see all there is to see. This summer, my best friend is coming and we're going to go fishing and camping again only this time in Colorado and not in Wyoming. I bought a fly fishing rod and need to learn how to fly fish before he comes here. Guess I need to get a Colorado driver's license too so I can get a fishing license.

2007 in brief......

Wow.. here it is January 1, 2008. The time has flown and trying to remember events of 2007. January I started a diet and was able to lose 45 pounds but unfornuately have gained 20 of it back (sighs). February and March were nothing special, just below average cold temps for a few weeks. April started talking with my best friend about trying to meet for camping in June. May I got an annual review and $1,000 a year raise (whoopie). It was also spent getting camping items put together, making reservations, etc. June Tressy and I spent the most wonderful 10 days with Merrill camping in Wyoming. Both of us were sad to say good bye to him and head back to California. Upon return to get told I was getting a transfer to either Anahiem, CA, Westminster, CO or New Orleans, LA. I choose Colorado and thought I'd have plenty of time to find a place to move to, pack, etc. NOT!!! I was given less than a week to get to Colorado to work. I do have to say Colorado is a cheaper place to live and people seem to be friendlier. I know it's more pet/dog friendly. August was a month of turmoil. After 30 days on the job in Westminster, the company deccided to close 32 branches and Colorado was one. Two weeks later, Tressy got very ill and after $1600 in vet bills, I ended up having to put her down. I was completely crushed. Five days after putting her down, I bought Toto. September I was able to obtain a new job. This job was in Colorado Springs so another move was in store. I lucked out and found a nice townhouse to rent just 2 1/2 miles from work. On my 2nd day in the new place, Toto got sick. Unfortunately, I ended up losing him to Parvo on September 27th. This was 1 day short of having him a month. I'm still trying to recover the price of Toto and vet bills from the breeder but it appears I'll have to file a small claims court against him. October started out a quiet, plain month. I did find a doberman to adopt from a rescue organization. However, she was in Texas and they were only going to let people in Oklahoma or Texas adopt her. Merrill started the adoption process and was going to get her for me. I got lucky and found a breeder in California I had gotten Trooper from in 1991. She knew the person in charge of the Oklahoma Doberman Rescue and contacted her to ask for an exception to the adoption rule. My guardian angels were looking out for me. From the time I filed online to adopt Katy to the time I was told I was approved was 30 min. Her foster mom and dad are incredible people. Her foster dad flew with her to the Denver International Airport to deliver her to me. Katy has been a really special pet and I'd recommend adoptiong from a rescue organization to everyone. November quietly passed by with Katy getting her first exposure to snow and loving it. December was spent making Cookies, Candies, Breads, Jams and Jellies to ship to Merrill. It also meant another birthday. I will admit it was the first birthday of no cards, no gifts but it didn't matter. Christmas Day, Katy and I spent the day watching movies at home in front of the fireplace. I did go to a neighbors for a couple hours. I made fresh pumpking/cranberry bread and a pecan pie to take over. Another first of no gifts and this year I mailed out 30 Christmas cards and got 9 from friends. Out of the cards only 2 were from friends outside of chat friends I've made over the year. I got to work from home from December 24th through today. It spoiled me and now I don't want to go back to the office tomorrow. Last night, I saw the New Year in talking to Angela in Texas and Louise in the UK. We used voice chat on Yahoo and had a lot of fun and laughs. Looking forward to a wonderful 2008 and another (hopefully) camping trip with Merrill. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Last Day of Fall

I can't believe today is the last day of fall. The picture here is the same place shown in a previous blog. It's amazing in just a couple months how the trees have lost all their trees, snow everywhere. It's a depressing time of year. My first Christmas of being alone in 7 years. I don't receive gifts except from my one daughter and I've told her to save her money and spend on her kids. I have Katy to keep me company and she's giving me reasons to go outside and walk. Better end this before I get all sappy...

Where has this year gone?

It's been a month since I've posted. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It seems like it was just yesterday I was in Sonoma with part of my family celebrating Christmas. Time seemed to drag when I had a camping trip planned in June. But once we met and started our camping trip the time flew by again. I turned around and looked and it went from July to December, hot weather to snow. It would be better if I had someone besides a pet to share the days with. Doubt that will ever happen so I'm going to start working on my 2008 resolutions and see how many I can keep and how fast I can break others in 2008.

Signs of Fall

Fall in Colorado is so different from Fall in California or Nevada. I've lived in other states but never had the opportunity to be there when Fall has arrived. While walking Katy, I've noticed the changes in the tress along the one pathway. They've gone from solid green to shades of yellow and red. Many have lost their leaves completely while others are holding tight to those bright yellow leaves. It's even surprising to see some olive trees here. They have tiny olives hanging from the branches. The tree in my front lawn lost it's leaves in October when our first mild snow fell. The tree in my patio was full of green leaves but now within weeks lost all. I was told it would be beautiful here seeing all the different seasons. I should take Katy and go for a drive and take more pictures of the changing leaves and other signs of fall.

Will Rogers Shrine

Being new to Colorado Springs, I'm slowly learning about the things to see and do here. Looking out towards Cheyenne Mountain from the Townhouse Complex I live in, I've seen a building far in the distance up on Cheyenne Mountain. I got a new camera and zoomed in to capture a picture of it Sunday after a snow storm here. I talked to my boss about it today and he said it's Will Roger's Shrine. It peeked my curiousity so I came home to do a "google" search for the Shrine. If you want to learn more about it, http://www.cmzoo.org/shrine.html is a site that gives you a little information about the building and it's history.

Doberman Rescue

After spending a lot of time talking with my best friend, I decided to do an adoption for a rescued Doberman. I applied to adopt one here in Colorado but never heard from anyone regarding my application. I also saw the ones they offered for adoption here in Colorado were 1 1/2 yrs at the youngest. I saw one I really wanted but she was listed with Oklahoma Doberman Rescue. I asked my friend if he'd adopt her for me and I almost leaped through the monitor to hug him when I found out he had filled out the application. He had an immediate response asking for a little more information about the dogs he already has. I in the mean time was trying to find some Doberman Associations to contact to pass the word to not buy any Doberman pup from Michael Bennett in Rush Center, KS. I found a breeder in California I had bought a Doberman from in 1991. She was listed also as doing Doberman Rescue.. I called her and we talked for over 2 1/2 hours. She is on the National Board of Doberman Association and a couple of forums. She asked me to email her information about Michael and the Doberman pup, Toto he sold me. She also knows the woman in Oklahoma well and forwarded and email putting in a reference for me to adopt the 5 month old pup I'd found. Two days later I got a call at work and was told to fill out an online application and they would get started approving me. I did so immediately.

Within 30 minutes, I recieved a call back saying I had been approved and would be getting Katy by the end of October. Katy is in a foster home in Houston, TX. The foster mom said her husband works for Continental Airlines and he was going to fly here to Colorado with Katy. I still don't know which airport but I'll be getting them in the next day or two. I may end up driving to Denver International Airport or hoping.. I'll be able to drive to the one here in Colorado Springs.

Katy is being shipped with several of her favorite toys since I had to get rid of all the new toys I had just bought for Toto. She also is being sent with a brand new fleece coat to wear on cold days and nights. Her foster mom grew up in Colorado and wanted to make sure Katy had a coat. I have everything ready for Katy and can't wait for Saturday to come. She'll be 6 months old, spayed, current on all her shots and up to date and on heart worm preventative meds.

I want to thank Dana Johnson, from Danjo Dobies for all her help. Thank you Keisha for your support and the biggest thank you and hugs to Merrill for being an incredible friend.

How Much More Can I take?

I wonder if I upset the man above. First I lose Tressy on August 24th. On September 27th at 10 am, Toto went to Rainbow Bridge and joined Tressy, Tuaca, Trooper. I sobbed after getting home from work. He led such a short life, I can only hope and pray that I made the short time onlife that I had him happy. He deserved to be loved and spoiled. I'm now going to be suing the breeder and trying to do all I can to get him shut down. Toto I owe you that much to make sure he doesn't hurt anymore pups or break anymore human's hearts.

Learning about Parvo

I learned a lot in the last 2 days about Parvo. When I bought Toto I was guaranteed verbally by the breeder that Toto had been given all his puppy shots and was only 11 weeks old. He in his ad said Toto was 9 weeks old. I found out by email from his girlfriend he was 13 weeks when I bought him and too old for ears to be cropped. I talked to the vet the day after I bought him and the vet said he was in good shape. He said Toto would get another Parvo shot at 16 weeks but this was before I found out Toto's true age. Toto was doing great running up and down the stairs, chewing on everything.. being a typical puppy. He was fine yesterday morning but suddenly within 3 hrs after being awake, he got sick. I called a vet at Pet Smart since I was new here to Colorado Springs and talked about Toto's symptoms. They said just make sure he gets water and bring him in on Monday. I messed up by not getting a written contract nor copies of his pedigree and shot/medical records. I'm just hoping and praying that he'll survive this bout with Parvo. I don't think I could handle the loss of another pet especially this soon after losing another one. I'll also be checking a breeder before buying another pet and not buying on a spur of emotion and so soon after the loss of one.

Moving Adventures

Maybe I should just find a nice covered wagon to live in since I seem to have moved so many times in the last 7 years. Or better yet, maybe invest in a nice RV that I can just live out of and pay rent in a park in between moves. Since December 2000, I've moved from California to Maine, Maine to Nevada, Nevada to Arkansas, Arkansas to California, 2 additional moves in California, California to Colorado and now on my second move in less than 3 months to another city in Colorado. The last 2 moves were fast and not expected. A rush job transfer from California to Denver area on July 1st. Company then closing the office down a month later, finding new employment in Colorado Springs and now moving there. The old Willie Nelson song "On The Road Again" sure seems to fit me. Hopefully I won't be moving for a while. I do want to buy a place so that hopefully will be my next and last move.

Toto's New Friend

I decided to name the pup Toto for a couple reasons. One is I've always said I was going to get a doberman and name it Toto so when people ask me "where's Toto" I could call out my doberman to shut them up. Another reason is he was born in Kansas and the phrase "we're not in Kansas anymore" fits him too. This morning, he saw himself in a mirror and I had to record it.

Naming a pup

I had to put Tressy down on Friday, August 24, 2007. It was a heart breaking experience and I spent the day in tears. I had so many close friends telling me I needed to get a new pup as soon as possible. For some reason they seemed concerned that I would do something crazy, which is far from the truth. I've had a lot happen to me in the last few months. I rush job transfer and move from California to Colorado, losing my job due to the branch being closed down within a month after moving, and then the loss of my 4 legged best friend.

Friends were doing searches and I started looking on craigs list as well as checking out animal shelters, pup adoptions programs here in Denver area, etc. My roommate and I had plans to go looking at Petsmart this Saturday if the pups shown online Friday were something I was interested in. I was really considering getting a lab and not another doberman. However, my best human friend, who was in love with Tressy, told me I should really stick with a dobie since I was so familiar and comfortable with them. He suggested adopting a young rescued dobie and I found a male that was 1 yr old and a female about 2. The shelter never responded to my emails or phone calls. In the mean time, another friend found 2 ads in the Tulsa OK newspaper and gave me the information.

I'm guessing someone above must have been directing this or my guardian angels were helping me out. I called both numbers and spoke to one of the sellers. He said he wanted $1000 for his females and $850 for males. I thanked him but said due to unemployment and the death of Tressy I couldn't afford to buy one of his dogs. He said he'd still like to meet with me on Tuesday and let me look at the pups he had with him. It turns out he and his wife had been in Southern California with one of his Blue male studs and also had a litter of pups he was selling. He'd sold several and was taking them to their new owners. He ended up calling me 5 times on Tuesday and finally made a good deal for me. He dropped the price of the black male dobie pup to $550, said he'd take $200 in cash and give me 30 days to pay the balance. If I didn't have a new job in 30 days he'd let me make $50 a month payments. I haven't named him yet. I keep waiting to see what name fits his personality. Everyone I talk to so far suggests calling him Apollo or Zeus. I laugh and say no.. one of my favorite old TV programs was Magnum PI and therew were 2 male dobermans on the program named Apollo and Zeus. So for now, this cute pup is nameless.

My best friend...how long will she last?

Tressy is my best friend.. my 4 legged best friend. She's been through so much with me since I got her in 1999. She's a well seasoned traveler and everyone who meets her falls in love with her. She's so loveable and cuddly. I've only seen her growl and get serious about biting someone 2 times. The first was in Maine when 2 men came walking down the hill and she was trying to get away and was going to bite them. She wanted them no where near me. As soon as they were out of sight, she calmed down and wanted to lick and jump all over anyone else that came around. The next time was my old boyfriend in Arkansas' baby sister. Tressy would growl and snap at her everytime she came to the house.

She'd never been sick until recently. After moving to Colorado I took her in to the vet after she started having a cough. She got her rabies shot, an update on her parvo and I had them test for heartworm. A few days later they said she tested positive for heartworm and to bring her in the next day for xrays and additional blood work to see how bad her infestation was. The night I found out about the heartworms, she started coughing almost none stop and to the point of gagging. The next day she could hardly breath and the coughing continued. The vet thought she was having an allergic reaction to the heartworms and gave me predisone for her breathing and antibiotics. The next day she got worse and he told me to take her to an ER vet clinic 20 miles away. She was so bad they had to help her walk back to the treatment area. She was put on oxygen and given a shot of morphine. It was almost 3 hours before I could see her. My roommate called and came by with her boyfriend to check on Tressy. She was hugging me and crying about Tressy being so sick. The first vet I talked to said she didn't think Tressy would make it through the night but to call and check on her throughout the night. They are a 24/7 365 clinic but oooooh so expensive. They wouldn't keep her until I put down a deposit on her bill. I was able to get approved with a credit company for a card with $600 limit and they used that as my deposit. They quoted me a total just for 24 hours of $1200 to $1500.

My best human friend had been texting me on my cell phone to get updates on Tressy. He was waiting online when I got home and spent 2 hours talking to me to get details and to make sure I was ok. He told me he'd be on the next day to see how she was.

When I went back I brought her home against their recommendation. She really liked one of the vets and he walked outside with me and let me know to tell the local vet to call him and he'd tell him what treatments to give Tressy so I could save money.
They believe she has a heart disease that happens in large breed dogs like dobermans. They say they think she is having congestive heart failure and all they can do now is keep her comfortable and when we can't, put her down. She has been a fighter and now that I have my king size bed up compared to the twin she's even more happy.

When she does pass, my best friend and I discussed and decided what to do with her ashes. I'll cremate her and put her ashes in a cedar box with a wolf painting on the lid. It's one that I got when he and I were camping in Wyoming in June and Tressy was with us. It was the last place she got to run wild and be totally free and she was so happy. We thought it would be appropriate to have her ashes in that box.

I just hope I have her with me for a long time yet...

Today's Goal

I took Tressy out for a walk this morning and as usual took one of my cameras with me. For some reason I've been fascinated with all the wild sunflowers and been snapping pictures like crazy of them. I keep seeing the building in this picture (the red brick building) and my goal for the day is to find out what that building is. I guess I'll leave for work early and drive that way to look for signs.

I found out I'm water

What is the element of your soul?

Water You are Water. You are usually a very calm person. You can usually be very level-headed about things. Don't be mistaken. You may be calm, but if someone stirs the waters, you are quick to react, but you usually won't unless it's of dire mportance.

How do you compare? Take this test! | Tests from Testriffic

Life without AC

When I moved to Colorado, I was so excited that I was moving into a house that a) had a bathtub and 2) had air conditioning. I've been in 7th heaven just being able to soak my achy shoulders and muscles whenever I want in the tub. A shower is great but not when you want to just light some candles, put on relaxing music, get a glass of wine and soak in a nice hot bubble bath. The air conditioner here died on Sunday afternoon and the house has been in the 90's for the most part. Of course, my room has been cooler. I brought my portable room air conditioning unit with me from California. It was such fun carrying it up the stairs. It weighs at least 60 pounds and I was carrying it by myself. I keep my room dark for the most part to help keep it cool. I run the ac unit at 80 in the day time while at work and down to 72 at night when I get home. I have the ceiling fan on 24/7 and I also have a small tower type oscillating fan next to the bed. My 4 legged daughter stays in my room during the day and I want to make sure she says cool. My roommate's room is like an oven and downstairs isn't much better. Last night she was hinting that I should pay to fix the air conditioning unit. I told her no way, her sister who is our landlady is responsible for fixing it. If it's not fixed.. not my problem, I at least have my portable unit for my room. Her parents are downstairs now and seeing if they can fix it. I'm curious to see what the final result will be tonight... Will post an update when I know.

HP TECH SUPPORT SUCKS

I have an HP desktop that I have had for just under one year. You'll see in a previous blog how I have had problems before and had to ship to HP for a new hard drive. I spent 1 1/2 hours with a tech who kept having me do the same thing over. I told him I'd been online with a tech Saturday but kept quitting a disconnect on my lap top with the tech. He kept concentrating on my monitor. I told him to take the book and shove it up his ass and to stop and listen to what I was telling him. I finally demanded to speak to a supervisor and he said no .. not until I answered every one of his questions and did what he told me to do. I told him if he valued his fucking job he better put his supervisor on the phone. My problem with the computer is once it is shut off, it will not turn on until I have disconnected the power cord then held in the power button for 5 seconds, plug back in the power cord and hit the power button again. This makes it boot up and work. They kept saying it was solved when it would boot up when you hit restart. I kept saying no.. not fixed and they weren't closing my case since it wouldn't start normally. The supervisor said I had to go through the steps with him from start. I said he could again go fuck himself.. that I was calling HP, writing a letter to HP, documenting the date and time of my call.. sending emails to everyone I know about their tech support, going to make a page and make sure it's seen by as many as possible. He told me I couldn't do anything like that and started asking me questions.. i told him to bend over drop his drawers and stick his manuel up his ass then hung up on him.

Washer's and Dryers are just too complicated

I found this weekend that I'm behind the times whenit coms to modern washers and dryers. My landlady has apparently the latest. The washing machine is all open.. nothing in the middle for my clothes to get caught on, it determines the water level after sensing the size of the load. The one thing I really wasn't prepared for was when I started to put my clothes in the dryer. Suddenly the washing machine started communicating to the dryer on what kind of clothes it has just washed and the size of the load. I found this out by watching the dryer come on and the lights between the two flashing. It was just down right scarey. Both will even tell you after sensing the load and what you've programed them to do how long of a wait you'll have before done.

Our Dog Run Friend

The last couple of days I've heard 2 birds making a lot of noise talking to each other.. or at least I think that's what they've been doing. I finally remembered to take my camera with me when I took my 4 legged daughter out for her morning walk. Just before getting to the dog park, a hawk flew over us, circled and landed in a tree near us. Once we got inside the dog park and Tressy was running free, the hawk flew over and sat on a limb near the fence and watched us. Once in a while it would squawk at us but watched our every move. I was able to stand just below it and take pictures. If we moved too far away it would fly to another tree to be closer to us and watch what we were doing. Now I need to find out what kind of hawk this is.. and if male or female. Then come up with a nickname for it.