zosianicola's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T-giving T-morrow I did it! I made it to Thanksgiving! And ever since college I have known this fact: once it is Thanksgiving it is Christmas. So I think I will make it to Christmas. Actually, my home-grown proverb was: once it is Halloween it is CHristmas, but that didn't work so well this year. The time between halloween and now dragged, and did NOT zoom past. I had a crisis of sorts with Mydog, wondering if he is too smart or determined for me, or if my lifestyle is too self-absorbed to include a smart dog. I posted a plea for ideas on the dogster.com standard poodles group page, and got LOTS of good advice. With that advice and with my experience in child-raising, I think we will make a new start, and two days after this new start things are going well. I decided Mydog (and I also) needs more and longer walks. Since I can't walk outside of the condo confines in the dark (wymin haven't taken back the night yet, I fear) I'll walk him every lunch time, and give longer walks on Monday Wednesday and Friday, when i don't have to be at work early. I will buy him more toys to keep him occupied, and I will remember to treat him like a little child who is learning the rules, not like a teenager who is flaunting the rules. Yesterday and today we had very successful walks, lots of good behavior, lots of heeling right at my side, AND he has picked up knowing to "finish" (for non-dog-owners, come back around me and sit down at my left side when i stop because he is going too far ahead) without my even having taught him a word for it. He learned it because of the way the Rob Cary dog trainers (where we had puppy class) teach you to turn around and pull the dog the opposite way when he is pulling ahead, and that just naturally leads to a "finish" kind of action. We went to the park this morning and even though we saw 5 other dogs and there were thirteenumpteen new smells, he behaved beautifully. One of the other poodle owners suggested putting that hard plastic sheeting that one puts on the floor under one's office chair, pointy side up, along the edges of the counters to keep him from jumping on the counters. I will try this. Balloons work but i can't do anything on the counter with balloons in the way, so I get rid of them before their job is complete. At work yesterday I gave two of the most difficult lectures. The Biology kids learned about photosynthesis---egad, that is tricky stuff. it has quantum mechanics, redox chemistry, thermodynamics and metabolism all rolled together----and the Biochemistry kids got to learn how to derive the Michaelis-Menten equation. You'd think I could write that lecture in my sleep, since I have been an enzymologist for 25 years, but it actually was one of the harder lectures to write. i guess because I really wanted to make it simple, logical, easy to remember, and interesting. I found a recent paper on p450 hydroxylation of one of the diazepam anaesthetics, with interesting Km's and Vmax's, to use to try to appeal to my almost totally pre-med audience----but heck it is Thanksgiving week. they are tuned out. Several of them had med school interviews this week and last, so they are focused elsewhere. We got in the car and on the road by 2 yesterday, and even though I stopped at a grocery store to buy a bird (decided not to go out for Thanksgiving) we hit this little burg at 4:45. we are happy to be in bonfire land, just because there is a back yard and a brother dog and a husband person! 8:50 a.m. - 2006-11-22 --------------------------------------------------------- bread, sticky buns, grading, "friends with money", dog fun
a substitute activity - 2007-07-17 |
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