Let's Try This Again! Good Morning! It had to be multi-purpose! It's first job, to get the pups home from the Vet in the crate they were delivered in! I ended up not getting the rental car... had driven the Xterra home from he shop, to the store and back etc etc. Instead, I left an hour early with a back up plan. I didn't really expect to purchase the first day out but I wanted the Xterra present just in case. I drove some F-150's and loved them. I drove a Tundra and looked at the Tacoma. Never planned to go to Nissan but as it turns out, it was my last stop and where I parted ways with the Xterra. In the end, the Frontier fits my needs. Although small, my preference for mileage and parking, it's got a 6500 pound towing capacity which will suffice for towing my horse trailer. It's got a bed for hauling plywood etc. And a built-in flip out and down tailgate extender for hauling kayaks etc and can accommodate 5 people. But most importantly at the moment of purchase the back seat area was large enough to accommodate the crate.
I was in the process of paperwork, watching the clock with mind going 1000 mile a minute, considering the need to stop midway in the process to go get a smaller crate. Clayton, my salesman equip with measuring tape, continued to insist the one I had would fit. As time ticked away, feeling stressed, I told them I was going to have put everything on hold, go pick up the pups and would come back. Clayton asked me if I was sure I would make it in the Xterra stating "I started it up"! LOL!!! I asked if they would tow it back if I didn't make it... he said it might end up being the case! As it turns out, in a rush, we emptied the contents of the crate (shavings) into the back of the Xterra alongside the rest of the mess it had become... embarrassing really...! And he fit the crate, which fit like a glove I might ad, into the back of the Frontier. Five minutes later I was on my way, feeling strong, with a promise to return to finish up the deal! Phew! Another job done with about 5 minutes to spare! Well Hell! What A Day!When things don't go exactly according to plan some of us pull our hair out and some of us pull our big-girl panties up and dig in! I suppose I fall somewhere in the middle but lean heavily toward the latter! Most of you have probably figured that out by now. So, on the road this morning I made it just beyond Citra before experiencing car problems. Never a welcome experience but not at all welcome under Florida's sun in a black vehicle with five young pups crated in the back. The problem... or I guess I should say a multiple of problems occurred rather abruptly. My check engine light came on... within seconds the power steering became more like manual steering and within just a few short miles the car was doing the chug a lug chug a lug at approximately 20 miles an hour on a 65 plus mile an hour road. Being familiar with the area I knew there was a convenience store around the bend and thought with any luck at all I could make it. I did... and while it was the right thing to do for myself and for the pups I'm not sure it was the right thing to do for the ole Xterra. Once I parked with the back end sheltered by a hedge row of trees my car was smokin' and sounding quite ill. I called Dr McBrides office to notify them of my troubles and flat out asked them if there was anyone in the office that could come and collect the pups for their scheduled crops. Anyone that I knew that would possibly be able to help in any form of timely fashion was working. Sam, who is a key player at the office and who's always been sweet and helpful thought about the locations of her fellow employees and fortunately was able to fulfill my request. Marina showed up about a half hour later and took the pups off my hands. Unfortunately though, when I called a half hour later to assure the pups arrived I was told that since they were getting a late start Dr McBride wasn't sure she'd be able to get them all done. I thought about my options and asked that they forgo the health certificates... that I could obtain them at my local Vet but that the local Vet couldn't crop. I then decided that if a pup had to be held back it should be Purple. She was the last pup sold and I found myself reverting back to the "sometimes things happen for a reason" thought. Maybe she as meant to stay with me after all! Ha! From there, as I sat in the convenience store parking lot waiting for a tow I contemplated the day. I had some work to do as I thought about the need to pick the pups up before closing and then to deliver and pick up round two on Thursday knowing all the while all of it was likely going to have to be done without my previously trusty vehicle. Where to start? Fortunately my insurance covers towing so that was easy. One call and done! But where to tow it to... I don't have a mechanic. What I did have though was knowledge of a shop owned and operated by the husband of one of the women I work with. Kayla is a woman I adore and fully respect as an upstanding and morally right individual. Thinking anyone married to her has to be equally morally upstanding and not likely to take advantage of a women who knows nothing of cars, I decided to take it to Jerry's S&M Automative and Performance. I knew things were bad enough that the problem required someone I could trust. As for the car, as it turns out and what was readily discovered, began with a blown water pump.. they said " it really blew"! They had never seen one with such a large whole in it. As a result they couldn't even test the engine without first replacing the pump because as they poured water in -it ran out just as fast. She also had a broken belt of some kind or another and in order to get to the water pump the timing belt would have to come off and be reinstalled as well. Unfortunately there was no way to know how much damage had been done to the engine from overheating -the result of the short distance I drove it with NO water without first replacing the pump. Problem number two... or three maybe. Jerry's shop is located in Williston and the availability of rental cars, as I found out, is is pretty much non-existent. The length of time I sat on hold during the discovery process though is what truly amazed me. I called Hertz which supposedly had an office at the Williston Airport. I didn't even know Williston had an airport... Certainly wouldn't expect one. Anyway, I think I sat on hold with Hertz for roughly an hour listening to the song "Happy" -getting more angry by the minute! Once connected, I was told they didn't offer pick up service... the only company that did was Enterprise. Trouble is, I had previously called Enterprise while waiting for the tow only to be told they had a limit of a 5 mile radius for pick up. When I got to Jerry's though, he assured me he had a client who had in the past used a pick up service and was sure they used Enterprise. So we called again thinking maybe I had originally called the wrong location. That's when the run around and really long holds began. I'd dial the Williston Rd number and for some reason it kept looping back to the Ocala office. Not sure how many times that happened but several. And each time there was a lengthy hold before I got a chance to once again talk to someone @ the wrong location. I'm talking waiting on hold for two to three hours throughout the course of the day... listening to their advertisement about how they were a family owned company in a sea of corporations and all about how they valued and cared about their customers. They talked about their pick up and delivery service whether it be from your home, an automotive shop etc etc, failing to mention anything about the 5 mile radius. Their recording "We've got you covered" I must have listened to at least a hundred times. Finally I spoke with someone who booked a reservation and scheduled a pick up. I believe she was from the main office but I failed unfortunately to get her name. I was then transferred me to a number where I was supposed to get confirmation of time of pick up but before transferring me she stated she had it scheduled for 1pm. The holds began again. When I finally got through, I was informed they had my reservation but knew nothing about pickup and again I was told about the five mile limit. Seriously! Jerry was as amazed as I was about the length of time I sat on hold and finally said, if I waited much longer i could probably just drive on out.... As long as the car didn't immediately overheat as soon as they got it all back together. I big and uncomfortable if! Midway through the day, when I finally gave up on the whole rental car idea, I began to think about the pups and the clinic closing. Would I make it on time? Would things somehow miraculously all come together. Things were looking fair around 2:30 when I decided to call and check on the pups. After our conversation in the morning I wondered how many pups were done and needed to find out exactly how late the office was manned. I was disappointed to hear only two were done and that was all that would be done because afternoon appointments were booked. I was now nearly to the point of tears or simply giving up... but neither of those options were afforded. At the end of the day, with an hour left to spare, the car was back together. Jerry and I took her for a short spin. It looked as though it would hold... at least for now. The general consensus though was that I should consider a new vehicle. It's a matter of time. Time likely being somewhat of the essence. During the course of the day, when I wasn't waiting on hold I had been updating the group, reading posts and answering questions on the Facebook "litter page". At the time I didn't know which pups were cropped and which left natural but I let it be known that not all would be done. One option would be for a pup to be claimed on time and cropping arranged by whoever was willing. Option number two... a delayed pickup and a crop done by a vet recommended but one who I'm unfamiliar with. I just kind of threw the options out there, not expecting any takers but hoping for the best. Adelle took the bull by the horns so to speak and said if Ruger was one of the ones left out she'd be willing to look into having him cropped closer to home. Miraculously, as it turned out, Ruger in addition to Purple was the pup left natural. Natural but prepped for surgery with shaved or clipped ears. The hair is still there but I noticed the mousey grey look of them almost immediately. Adelle has a consultation with Ruger and her chosen Vet on Friday and if satisfied, Ruger will be cropped via laser on Monday. I informed Sarah via FB messenger that Purple didn't receive her crop but that she had the option of picking her up and arranging her own crop. I was surprised when she jumped at the chance to pick her up, un-cropped, tomorrow. I assumed she wouldn't want her under those conditions and Purple might remain mine after all. But once again it's simply not in the cards. The music video I post today is posted simply because it keeps appearing in my life. It has a catchy tune and while I've never really picked up a meaning or story from the many times I've heard it, it reminds me that sometimes we have to choose to be happy despite times when the odds of remaining so seem to be against it. When I sat listening to the tune while on hold today I found their choice of song a little ironic as well as somewhat irritating. But it brought forth some memories and some things to think about while I waited. It brought to mind a video release by my employer of many of my co-workers dancing around their various units to the tune of "Happy". It reminded me of Kayla, Jerry's wife -my co-worker who ultimately led me to Jerry. It also reminded me of my sister who, for whatever reason, posted the original video on Facebook just a day or two after I'd seen the one released by my Employer. And today, as I listened to it over and over while on hold, I thought of Scott and Yellow. Shortly before he left for Kentucky he informed me they were still struggling with names but that he and his wife were considering naming their pup "Happy". When I got home, I read comment to my last blog post confirming their pup will run with the name! I loved it when I first heard it and I love it even more now. It sounds sweet and kind and happy is the disposition I strive to create in my Doberman pups. The name somehow seems meant to be and I find happiness in that. Despite what the day threw at me, there remain many reasons to be happy. Right now I'm simply happy to be home -dogs at my feet and a pack of pups fast asleep! Good Night A question... is it just me or is there an usual amount and placement of Yellow in this video ? Based on my last post regarding photos I didn't want any of you to have excuses for not photographing your pups so I made sure to get mine done! It was a race against time to get the last of them complete before it got dark but I did it. I didn't say anything about getting them posted. Don't think that's going to happen tonight. Still need to go through them and select my favorites but I think I got enough good ones to add a few to each page. As usual some pups where more cooperative that others but I think it helped that everyone was worn out following our visit from Raul and Yvette. It was a free for all as I released the whole pack from their confines when they came to see Gunner. Raul did a good job of engaging them in play with a few of their toys and most took it from there and played on their own or with each other while Raul and Yvette gave Gunner a little extra attention. It was another great visit. We've got a fabulous group of people waiting for these pups and it warms my heart to see the interactions between pups and people. Again, I hope you all have a great weekend... your last quiet one for a while. With the exception of Cathy and her husband anyway. When taking deposit on Tara, I agreed to hold their pup until they completed a previously scheduled vacation. So Tara will stay with me a little longer and I'll have some photos to add to the group page until the 20th. I'm sure Cathy and Earl will appreciate seeing their girl along with all the others. Here's Raul and Yvette with their boy Gunner... They came with camera in hand and promised to share some photos to the litter page. Hopefully they got some good shots and you'll have a little fix of puppies while you wait for mine. I've enjoyed seeing the ones each of you have posted.  Not all that evident yet but seems to be held in check. Maybe a slight improvement. Such a good lookin' pup blemish or not. But the blemish must go! Go blemish! Go!!!  In the event anyone reading my blog has e-mailed me via my contact form and not received a response, I apologize. I make every attempt to answer all emails whether I have available pups or not. Just yesterday I discovered my mail coming from Weebly Web has been going to my spam folder. I wondered why I hadn't received any inquiries about Purple when I listed her as "probably available". It wasn't evident I wasn't receiving my mail until I asked Sarah, whom I'd been communicating with via Facebook, to email me via the contact page so I could gain access to her email address. When I checked later and found no mail but a Facebook message indicating it had been sent it dawned on me to check spam. I hindsight I realize now I haven't been getting notice from Weebly about comments posted to my blog either. Not sure if the problem lies with Weebly or my AT&T settings and I'm not quite sure how to fix it. At least now I know to check my spam folder on occasion. Again, my apologies and although they may be late I'll look through the folder and try and answer recent mailings.
Almost there puppy people! I know I should be taking weekly photos but I'm flat out exhausted! Had some energy to do it yesterday but the weather wasn't cooperative. I still have tomorrow and I'm determined to get week seven up! Please wish me the luck needed to get some cooperation from your soon to be shadows. If I can accomplish the task I'll accept no excuses from any of you about how "they move to fast" or how they're "constantly at my feet" etc. etc.!
They are challenging though. :-)  I've been begging for rain and we are getting it! I can almost hear my pasture breathing a sigh of relief and I'm hoping some dilution will freshen the air around here.
For today... at least for a while, we're forced inside. The pups could probably handle a drenching... they are Dobermans after all... but my camera wouldn't fair well. All joking aside, the babes don't seem to mind a light rain but those of who know them, know Dobes in general are basically fair weather dogs opting to bask in the sun rather play in a puddle. Knowing that, I don't want to push my luck with the littles. So, today, to stay busy which is something I have truly mastered I'll take advantage of my indoor time by getting some of last weeks photos uploaded and maybe do a little cleaning. I had pretty much given up on the latter. Muddy paws have once again done me a number! Even the little ones. Prior to the downpour, I allowed the pups the experience of another drizzle and man were they fired up when I brought them in! Probably enjoyed the cool temps ushered in by the storm. My plans of taking our weekly photos are going to have to wait a spell but I did manage to get some pretty good ones of Tan when we returned from the Vet. His tail wasn't up but I attribute that to being in somewhat unfamiliar territory. I give him credit for a willingness to explore. :-) He's a good boy! Bald patch and all. |
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