I was talking to a lady today who is from Pennsylvania. She was complaining profusely about the heat and I was like "what? It's GORGEOUS" and she looked at me with complete disgust and said "it's 87* That is almost NINETY! In APRIL." and I just shrugged.
She was also stressing over her dog (an Australian Labradoodle) jumping up on people. I pointed out that labs AND poodles are notorious for jumping if not trained properly (as are most dogs, but anywho) and she was like "oh NO, he's not a labradoodle, he's an AUSTRALIAN labradoodle, which is a mix of 4 breeds, so he's really only 1/4 poodle, plus he's a FIFTH generation Australian labradoodle, so the personality traits of labs and poodles shouldn't play into it anymore.
Less than 5 minutes of research on the australian labradoodle club page leads me to believe the dog is probably inbred (or as the AKC would call it "line-bred") seeing as there are only 8 "certified" stud dogs within the club (naturally there are probably three or four times as many stud dogs, but these 8 are "Certified" and only about 6 of them look like the same "breed" of dog.
Not to mention there is an "infusion" of Irish water spaniel and cocker spaniel, which means SOME, not an equal percentage. And breeding a straight mix to the exact same breed mix over and over is NOT at all likely to "breed out" traits that BOTH breeds share. Kind of like breeding golden retrievers and an Irish water spaniels together and expecting the mix (even into 5 generations!) to not have a high tendency to like water.
Don't get me wrong, I love mutts, and I would rather see a world full of mutts than one filled with inbred, unhealthy AKC registered purebred dogs. I can also appreciate the desire to combine different breeds in an effort to create healthy PETS, but I do not like when people flaunt these designer breeds as if they are special, or recognized breeds. There is NO breed standard for labradoodles except that they are a cross between labs and mini OR standard poodles (and occasionally water spaniels, cocker/english spaniels, and curly coated labs). Hell, for all we know Oscar could be a labradoodle. There are so many different sizes/shapes/coat colors, textures, etc to create a breed standard.
My point? It's a mutt. a 5th generation mutt. Don't snub my mutt (probably several generations of mutt!) because yours has a fancy name.
Side note: "Walkaway" by the Wood Brothers is lovely.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Today
At work we had a "town hall meeting" to meet with the new president of the south area. Thanks to bad timing on my part, I was essentially toasted for the majority of it. NOT INTENTIONALLY. I ate two packs of oatmeal before leaving and took my pain meds (we're going on a week now and I thought I had built up at least some tolerance. In addition I took HALF of the dosage). Luckily I have a very understanding manager who shielded me from embarrassing myself and guided me through the whole shindig (yes, it was that bad).
Pain medicine is really frustrating. The OTC stuff isn't really strong enough to take the edge off right now, but anything beyond that I can't handle and end up higher than a kite for HOURS. Or did I miss the boat and that's how they work?
Anywho.
I had another stellar lesson today, on Stella! I've ridden the mare three times now and I really like her. She's got an honest, jump, is pretty easy to regulate, does flying lead changes, bends when asked (reluctantly), and is pretty responsive. She jumps REALLY round though, and with a lower head carriage. Generally not a bad thing but the trainer was remarking on how well I ride her, and how many women she's thrown right over her head. One of the women in the class asked why, and I can absolutely see it. When you're over the jump there really isn't much "horse" in front of you. So she already jumps forward and round, and if you're caught off guard AND she jumps big, plus she's round and low up front, there's nothing to grab on to. A lot of horses there's a little bit of neck to hold onto and keep your balance but with her it's just the ground.
Doesn't really bother me much.
Things I'm working on:
1. Keeping my hands closed
2. Staying in "half seat" aka two-point
3. Not playing with the reins (would generally be solved by fixing #1 since my playing is generally me shortening the reins because they side through)
4. Strengthening.
Overall I'm pretty impressed with my current progress and I'm continuing to build my confidence. The class is somewhat scattered with skill level, and I went from the lower jumps to the higher jumps (within the class, still only about 3"-6" difference at most).
I love it though. I got a little nervous today seeing the bigger jumps and the more technical stuff but I just sucked it up and I rode well and even kept my seat when Stella chipped in on one jump and took the other one long.
I love riding like this again. So much. I do however wish I had the ability to do a little self-schooling, just on the flat. No stirrup work and stuff like that.
Car payment coming up. SCARY.
Pain medicine is really frustrating. The OTC stuff isn't really strong enough to take the edge off right now, but anything beyond that I can't handle and end up higher than a kite for HOURS. Or did I miss the boat and that's how they work?
Anywho.
I had another stellar lesson today, on Stella! I've ridden the mare three times now and I really like her. She's got an honest, jump, is pretty easy to regulate, does flying lead changes, bends when asked (reluctantly), and is pretty responsive. She jumps REALLY round though, and with a lower head carriage. Generally not a bad thing but the trainer was remarking on how well I ride her, and how many women she's thrown right over her head. One of the women in the class asked why, and I can absolutely see it. When you're over the jump there really isn't much "horse" in front of you. So she already jumps forward and round, and if you're caught off guard AND she jumps big, plus she's round and low up front, there's nothing to grab on to. A lot of horses there's a little bit of neck to hold onto and keep your balance but with her it's just the ground.
Doesn't really bother me much.
Things I'm working on:
1. Keeping my hands closed
2. Staying in "half seat" aka two-point
3. Not playing with the reins (would generally be solved by fixing #1 since my playing is generally me shortening the reins because they side through)
4. Strengthening.
Overall I'm pretty impressed with my current progress and I'm continuing to build my confidence. The class is somewhat scattered with skill level, and I went from the lower jumps to the higher jumps (within the class, still only about 3"-6" difference at most).
I love it though. I got a little nervous today seeing the bigger jumps and the more technical stuff but I just sucked it up and I rode well and even kept my seat when Stella chipped in on one jump and took the other one long.
I love riding like this again. So much. I do however wish I had the ability to do a little self-schooling, just on the flat. No stirrup work and stuff like that.
Car payment coming up. SCARY.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Doctors
I've always thought I had a fairly high tolerance for pain, and that doctors are terrible listeners.
My current doctor working with my jaw is even more evidence as such. He made it VERY clear my jaw pain is "from a direct injury" and interrogated my response as "it started to hurt one morning when I woke up." He asked multiple times if there was ANYTHING I could have done to have caused this, anything I could think of that could have injured my jaw, and aside from punching myself in my sleep, NO. I wanted to be a sarcastic bitch and tell him it was from giving head to a very well endowed boy, but I was too frustrated and in far too much pain to open my mouth without bursting into tears.
It was clear he wouldn't have believed anything I told him anyways, so whether or not I told him the truth (that i woke up and my entire right jaw/cheek was swollen and painful) or lied (it was from a jell-o wrestling match that got violent) it wouldn't have mattered.
So here I lie, a heating pad on my face, my right jaw/gums/cheek tingling, without the ability to eat hard, solid food, or yawn without lots of pain. Not to mention the fatigue, queasiness and misery that comes with taking steroids and strong pain medication, but my neck and head also feel like they are in a vice being squished.
My follow up is tuesday, but I think I'm going to call monday and throw a temper tantrum.
My current doctor working with my jaw is even more evidence as such. He made it VERY clear my jaw pain is "from a direct injury" and interrogated my response as "it started to hurt one morning when I woke up." He asked multiple times if there was ANYTHING I could have done to have caused this, anything I could think of that could have injured my jaw, and aside from punching myself in my sleep, NO. I wanted to be a sarcastic bitch and tell him it was from giving head to a very well endowed boy, but I was too frustrated and in far too much pain to open my mouth without bursting into tears.
It was clear he wouldn't have believed anything I told him anyways, so whether or not I told him the truth (that i woke up and my entire right jaw/cheek was swollen and painful) or lied (it was from a jell-o wrestling match that got violent) it wouldn't have mattered.
So here I lie, a heating pad on my face, my right jaw/gums/cheek tingling, without the ability to eat hard, solid food, or yawn without lots of pain. Not to mention the fatigue, queasiness and misery that comes with taking steroids and strong pain medication, but my neck and head also feel like they are in a vice being squished.
My follow up is tuesday, but I think I'm going to call monday and throw a temper tantrum.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
