Hi y’all. It was another fairly boring weekend here in Wiesbaden, even though it’s a holiday weekend for us Americans. I wasn’t feeling well on Friday, and spent most of the day in bed, sleeping. Saturday and Sunday, we spent doing some chores and thinking about where we’re going to go at the end of the month, after we see Dr. Blair (our Stuttgart area dentist). It looks like we might go to Bavaria, but it’s not set in stone yet. Bill has to officially get the days off from work. But the dogs have a spot at the Hundepension, and we have our dental appointments. It’s unlikely this will be a problem.
I spent several hours making a new political parody video yesterday. It was a fairly gross, but rather funny video involving taking a dump and seagulls. If you want to see it, you can go to my YouTube channel, if you know where it is, or you can visit my main blog, where there’s a direct link. Fair warning. I am NOT a Trumper. And I think it’s funny, but you might not. 😉
I did want to share some photos of Charlie, our second Kosovar rescue/street dog. He has recently discovered the wonders of our bed. Now, he thinks it’s his. I may eventually regret letting him get up there, but I have to admit, he sure is adorable. Charlie does have some “leadership issues”, though. He pleasure growls a bit, but he also barks. I’m sure he means no harm, but he needs to be reminded that our bed is not HIS bed.
And, of course, I have a couple of Noyzi, too. Noyzi is too big to get on our bed, and is a lot shyer than Charlie is. He usually comes into our room in the mornings and stands next to the bed so I can stroke his face and head and give him copious butt pats. He LOVES that. It’s hard to take pictures of him when he’s getting an affection session, though…
These dogs are the lights of our lives. They amaze us every day with their resilience and ability to communicate what they need or want. Noyzi is especially mature. He doesn’t need a lot more than walks, food, a nice bed that’s his, and some love.
I did have to kick Charlie out of Noyzi’s bed the other night, because he was trying to claim it. Noyzi’s bed is actually plenty big enough for both of them to fit in it, but Noyzi isn’t wanting to share. Charlie has several of his own beds, anyway, that used to belong to our departed beagles, Zane and Arran, who were more his size. But Noyzi is much too polite to make Charlie move, so I had to do it for him. He doesn’t like to fight. Charlie, on the other hand, is a real scrapper. He reminds me a lot of Arran. I wonder if Arran grudgingly sent him to us. 😉
I don’t know what we’ll do today. I know Bill has big plans to buy dog food, so there is that. It’s sad, because there was a time when a long weekend would mean a trip somewhere. But now that we’ve been here for so long, we use them to get things done. At least we have something planned for the end of the month.
As of today, our new rescue dog, Charlie, has been here for a week. Charlie has been spending his first week in Germany with Noyzi and me, because Bill had to go to the States on business. He was in Texas for a few days, and now he’s in Utah with his mom, visiting his daughter, son-in-law and their four children.
This is a pretty special visit for Bill and his mom, because they had little to do with Bill’s daughter or her older sister after Bill divorced their mother in 2000. His absence in their lives was not because Bill didn’t want to be their dad. It was because their mother decided to punish him by alienating the children and telling them multiple lies about him and the nature of their divorce. Through it all, Bill faithfully paid $2550 a month– $850 each for his daughters, and $850 for his ex stepson, who was also estranged from his father, who didn’t pay child support. Ex also has two more children with her third husband.
Maybe it seems wrong for me to mention this stuff on my travel blog, but I never miss the chance to have Bill’s back. People love to blame men when marriages fall apart. It pisses me off that his ex wife denied him access to his children, especially since I would have loved to have been able to have children with him. That couldn’t happen, though, for a few reasons. So here I sit… a dog mom to many and barely qualifying as a stepmom. I have only met Bill’s daughters in person once, and that was in 2003. The older one is still estranged, but the younger one came around a few years ago. Fortunately, she’s a lot like Bill. It’s a pleasure to know her, if only by courtesy of the Internet.
I decided I didn’t want to go to the States with Bill on this trip. I had a few reasons for not going. First, and foremost, I really felt like Bill needed more time to bond with his daughter without me around. He saw her last in March 2020, just as COVID-19 was messing up the world. That visit was just for two nights; it was the first time they’d seen each other in person since 2004. Just after he came home from that trip, everything shut down. Since then, she’s had two more children and moved to a new home.
I also wanted Bill’s mom to visit her. She lives in Texas, and hasn’t seen Bill’s kids since the late 1990s. Bill’s ex wife despises her, and cut her out of the girls’ lives in favor of Bill’s dad and stepmother. So this trip is the first time my mother-in-law is able to see her younger granddaughter in about 25 years. I thought it would be best, given that the trip would be pretty short, that they have some time together.
There’s also a much more selfish reason why I didn’t go. I didn’t want to sit on a plane for many hours just to sit in Killeen, Texas all week. I haven’t been to the USA since November 2014, and I want my first trip back there to be about seeing people I love. I don’t love Texas, even though I still vote there. My decision to stay in Germany turned out to be a good thing, given the recent computer SNAFUs in the US. Bill ended up being stuck in Detroit for hours after he landed in the United States. I’m glad I wasn’t involved with that.
My decision to stay home also means that I can be here with Noyzi and Charlie. It saves us money, and helps Charlie assimilate. However, Charlie really hasn’t needed any help assimilating. He’s fit right in and, aside from a few marking episodes, he’s even managed to be about 95 percent potty trained. He’s picked a spot to sleep in, and is now even using the expensive dog bed we bought in Jettingen for Zane and Arran that barely got used.
Charlie is quiet, cute, enthusiastic, and always super friendly. He was even adorable a few nights ago, when he slipped out the front door and started running down to my neighbors’ row houses. Fortunately, those houses are fused together, so I managed to corner him before he slipped through a crack in a fence near their garage. I wasn’t wearing shoes or street clothes when this happened, but luckily no one was any the wiser.
None of my neighbors have met Charlie yet, and he doesn’t yet have his Tasso tag. It could have been a real disaster if he’d gotten away. Somehow, I think he would have found his way back, though. He’s a street dog, and they are smart and resilient. He wasn’t scared or trying to escape. He was just curious and wanting to explore.
Every day, we’ve taken walks around the neighborhood. He’s getting to know his new environment, and he and Noyzi seem to get along fine. They aren’t total buddies, but they don’t fight or bother each other. Noyzi stays in his room, and Charlie hangs out in my office. I can’t believe he’s only been here a week. It feels like he’s been here a lot longer.
There have been a few very short play sessions. I think Noyzi’s getting a little arthritic, though. He’s been a little gimpy all week, although he does seem to be slightly better than he was a few days ago. We’re going to have him examined by the vet, probably at the same time we get Charlie checked in with a well visit.
My big plan for today involves going to the grocery store. I don’t often go, as Bill usually picks up stuff on his way home from work. So, even though I can walk to the store from our house, going there still manages to be kind of a production. I’ve really fallen into a pretty boring lifestyle lately… It’s kind of stormy and rainy today, anyway.
The good news is, we now have firm plans for Iceland. Bill has already wired the money for our bespoke tour with Iceland Luxury Tours. I booked business class seats on Icelandair a few days ago. So, from August 29-September 7, we’ll be visiting a place I’ve never seen, and Bill only got to see on a very short business trip in 2008. The trip is paid for, and we’re just waiting for the big day to arrive!
I thought about flying on Lufthansa, so we could score more frequent flyer points, but the flights available were significantly more expensive and operated at a less optimal time. Icelandair isn’t in the same rewards system Lufthansa is… but the good news is, it is in Air France’s program. And although I’m in Air France’s reward program, I don’t have any points! It’s been ten years since I last flew on Air France– and that was to go home to Virginia for my dad’s memorial service. So here’s a chance to try a new airline to me, and to score some Flying Blue points.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Iceland. I’m sure it will be enchanting! I can’t wait to take and share the photos. I also have a feeling I’m going to enjoy the people. This tour is costing a bundle, but so far, it’s not as expensive as last year’s Scandinavian extravaganza… That was a longer trip with more people, but less personal attention than what we’ll be getting in Iceland. The tour company gets really outstanding reviews, so I’m sure we’ll be in good hands!
Well… that about does it for today’s post. I look forward to later in the day, when Bill wakes up and tells me about his first day seeing his family. I look forward to hearing from his mom, too. I’m sure she is absolutely delighted!
Edited to add: After I went to the store, I took the boys for a walk, and they met Isabel, our very young and pretty neighbor. Noyzi absolutely ADORES Isabel, and Charlie was happy to meet her, too.
Yesterday morning, we added a new family member to our household. Our new street dog, Charlie, flew from Pristina, Kosovo to join us here in Germany. So far, he’s fitting in beautifully, and getting reacquainted with Noyzi, our sweet, gentle, relatively giant rescue dog, who is also from Kosovo.
Noyzi and Charlie are both about six years old. They were both rescued in 2018, when they were puppies, by our friend Meg, an American who has rescued many street dogs in Kosovo. When we took in Noyzi in 2020, Charlie was also supposed to find a new home in Germany. However, his home fell through, and he spent the next few years in limbo, being cared for by a foster family in Kosovo. Kosovo, like a lot of Eastern European and Balkan countries, has a pretty big problem with street dogs.
A couple of years ago, when Meg visited Noyzi at our home, she told me about Charlie. At the time, we still had Arran, our very devoted and extremely jealous beagle mix, who was having trouble adjusting to Noyzi’s presence after we’d lost Arran’s buddy, Zane, to lymphoma. I remember when Meg first told me about Charlie, and I had this feeling we were going to end up adopting him. But, at the time, Arran was still very much with us, and he would NOT have appreciated another dog coming to live with us at that time.
We lost Arran to lymphoma on St. Patrick’s Day, 2023. In the past, we’ve been quick to adopt new dogs after we’ve lost one. But it’s harder for Americans to adopt pets in Germany, thanks to shelters not trusting us to take them with us when we leave. Now, of course Bill and I would not consider abandoning any of our animals in a shelter unless there was an extremely good reason and no other feasible alternative. I would actually say never— but I’ve learned it’s best never to say never. However, not every American who lives in Germany is as dedicated to their pets as we are, so the rest of us get a bad rep.
I do want to write a quick word about this issue. Sometimes people who work with the US military or government do have to re-home their pets due to situations beyond their control. Sometimes they have to move to places where it’s impossible to bring their pets with them. And sometimes it’s simply much too expensive to move the animals. The costs can suddenly change, as can the rules for shipping pets. Shit happens. But because so many Americans have ditched pets at pet shelters in the military areas of Germany, Americans are often discriminated against when they try to adopt from German shelters. I know there are exceptions, though… especially when Americans can get a German to vouch for them. And I also know there are Germans who would vouch for Bill and me.
In any case, although we knew we wanted to adopt another dog eventually, we weren’t in a hurry. Losing Arran left a big hole in our hearts. But then last fall, Meg asked me if we would be interested in adopting Charlie, who was still waiting for a home. I asked Bill, and he quickly said yes. So the process of moving him to Germany began. I knew Noyzi wouldn’t mind it if Charlie came to live with us. He loves other dogs!
Bringing a dog to Germany from Kosovo isn’t a matter of simply putting them on a plane. They have to have a special blood test before they can come, and there’s a waiting period. Then there are the actual logistics of the move, which involve traveling through several countries by car, or flying on a plane. When we adopted Noyzi, we met Meg in Slovenia. That was quite an adventure, as she was bringing other dogs who would be adopted by Americans. You can read about that saga by clicking here.
Charlie had already taken and passed the blood test back in 2020, but because so much time had passed, he had to have another test done. And then we had to coordinate logistics for getting him here. At first, we thought we might have him by April, but that didn’t happen. The weeks went by, and I wondered when we were going to be able to meet Charlie. Not that his foster family minded, as they were very attached to Charlie. Now that he’s home with us, I can see how they got so attached. He really is adorable!
Meg finally decided to go to Kosovo this month, although her plans for how to get Charlie to Germany were kind of fluid. Would she be driving or flying? She worried about the temperatures, as it’s not safe to fly animals in very hot weather unless the airline has temperature control in the cargo hold. Lufthansa is usually pretty good about this, as are other European airlines.
Then there were our schedules to consider. Bill left this morning to go to Texas and Utah and he’ll be gone for ten days. We have plans to go on vacation at the end of August-early September. We wanted time to break in Charlie and allow the people at our Hundepension to meet him. And then there’s just the reality that dogs don’t live as long as most people do, and time was getting away from us. So Meg decided that she would fly Charlie to us yesterday, since she has plans to go home to the United States for vacation.
Meg booked an early flight from Pristina to Vienna, then onward to Frankfurt on Austrian Airlines. I remember when she sent the itinerary, and I was a little skeptical that she’d be able to make the layover, which was only 35 minutes. If she hadn’t had Charlie, yes… it would probably be possible. But he had to go through security again once they landed in Vienna. Then there was the big IT Windows screwup that affected air travel everywhere.
Charlie about to be loaded on his flight to Frankfurt from Vienna…
Fortunately, Austrian Airlines did a great job in getting Meg and Charlie on the next flight, which arrived in Frankfurt yesterday morning a few minutes early. But they didn’t get Meg’s bags on the plane, and then they had to wait for the cargo folks to get Charlie to the baggage area. That took over an hour. But finally, they showed up, and there was our sweet new rescue dog, sitting quietly in his kennel. We loaded him in the kennel in our car, drove home, and prepared to introduce him to Noyzi.
It was interesting to wait for Meg in the arrivals hall. We saw a lot of stories in action. The cutest one involved a little girl with a rainbow painted on her forehead. She held a sign that read “Hallo Papi.” When her Papi finally showed up, she ran to him and he swept her up in an embraced, then kissed her mother. It was so sweet to watch!
I also watched a dog reunite with a man who must have been her favorite person. He came into the arrivals hall, arms outstretched, and she ran to him, showered him with kisses, and then greeted everyone else in their party. Then the whole group left the airport with great joy among them. I think if you need a pickmeup, hanging out in an arrivals hall could be an interesting pastime.
Anyway, back to Charlie’s arrival home. We think he and Noyzi will co-exist nicely. Noyzi is kind of a loner, and he spends a lot of time in his “bedroom”, which is also our entertainment room. But he likes other dogs, and doesn’t seem to be the jealous type, as Arran was. Noyzi is the biggest dog we’ve ever had, while Charlie is the smallest! They look like Rocky and Bullwinkle! Charlie also has hind dew claws. We’ve never had a dog with those before, either.
He’s got dew claws on all four legs!
When we got Charlie home, I called Noyzi down from his room to go outside. We brought Charlie out to the yard, only letting him out of the kennel when Noyzi was there to meet him. They touched noses, sniffed butts, and Charlie went around to inspect his new surroundings. He was definitely a lot less nervous than Noyzi was when we brought him home in 2020! He was delighted to meet all of us, and very quickly made himself at home.
As I write this, he’s sleeping on the rug behind me. He’s learned to go up and down the stairs, marked a few things in the house, and slept in a bed with his foster dad’s shirt on it. After I finish this post, we’ll take our first walk around the neighborhood. I have a feeling he’s going to charm a lot of people, because he’s got such a sweet, sunny personality. It almost feels like Zane and Arran are both visiting us through Charlie.
Noyzi doesn’t seem bothered by Charlie. The two of them almost had a play session last night, although I think Noyzi might be dealing with a slight case of arthritis. He’s been slightly gimpy lately until his joints warm up.
Below are some of the best photos from yesterday.
So far, Charlie seems very happy to be in Germany. He’s been through some tough trials. There’s a scar on his back from when he was a tiny puppy. Two girls found him and begged Meg to save him. Meg has told me she thought someone had tried to kill Charlie when he was a puppy. Charlie somehow survived, in spite of that person’s cruel efforts to end his life. Obviously he was meant to be here.
I said this when we took in Noyzi… who by all rights should have died on the streets of Pristina. Imagine the odds that a dog from the streets of Kosovo would end up living with Americans in Germany! And yet, here they both are… living with Americans in Germany. Both of them have done what may have seemed truly impossible. I guess their story is a life lesson we can all learn.
Here’s a video of the experience so far…
A video of Charlie’s arrival to Germany from Kosovo!
I just took them on their first walk. They did fine together. Charlie will be one of the locals in no time!
We had a very low key Independence Day this year, because I had my very first colonoscopy this week. Those who are interested in knowing the story of that can click here. For the purposes of this post, I’ll just say that I’m glad it’s over, and the doctor didn’t find anything concerning. However, he has yet to address the reason I came to see him in the first place. He also started the procedure before I was unconscious. I’m a bit pissed off about that, along with some other issues going on right now.
Anyway, I started the week doing the bowel prep, then I had the procedure, and the days following were spent recovering from the shock of it. Bill had to work on Wednesday, although he took Tuesday off to make sure I went to the appointment and drive me home afterwards. Actually, I could have driven myself, because they used Propofol to knock me out, and it didn’t leave me groggy at all. It even said on the paperwork I could drive home if I wanted. I never drive, though, unless I have a specific reason.
Thursday, Bill was off work, so we went to the weekly market. We brought Noyzi with us, too, since it was early in the day and he likes to go to the market. It’s good practice for him to learn how to behave in public. There weren’t that many people at the market, nor did they have a lot on offer. The vegetable guys weren’t there, nor was the fish monger. The Metzgerei truck came, as did the ice cream, bread, and Mediterranean Feinkost guys. The wine stand was also open.
We had a couple of glasses of local wines and enjoyed the sunshine. Noyzi said hello to a couple of dogs who also came. Basically, that was it. I did hear some fireworks going off from the post. We live maybe ten minutes from there. We also heard from the lady who is having us rescue another Kosovar dog. What we know now is that it’s been delayed again. But that’s okay. We’re not in a rush.
Yesterday, it was kind of chilly and cloudy, but I decided to take some pictures of the creek in our village. I remember thinking to myself, as someone who has lived in Germany for a long time now, that a person can get used to their environs and miss the really neat stuff. We have a couple of interesting old houses in the Dorfplatz that I know I’d miss if I lived in one of the many cookie cutter neighborhoods in the United States. I think the purple flowers were what attracted me and caused me to take these photos, in spite of the clouds… I’d like to live near the creek. I enjoy the sound of rushing water… except for when I have to pee.
My German friend says the historic house in the featured photo looks like an old schoolhouse. She looked up our village and learned that it was, in fact, built by a teacher and is known as the teacher’s house called Villa Breckenheim. It’s right by the creek.
Bill has been in contact with the tour operator in Iceland. I think we’re close to booking, my health issues notwithstanding. I feel like fucking off of the doctor’s visits and just living life until I just collapse somewhere. What’s the point? I feel like it’s all just going to hell, anyway. But at least I live in a pretty German village.
My update on our upcoming travel plans is… currently, we don’t have any!
There are a number of issues that are preventing us from making summer travel plans in 2024. The first one, and the most annoying one, is that once again, our Hund Pension is not answering the phone or email. This has happened before. They had issues with their phone system. I’m not sure if that’s the problem now, but it’s made planning travel impossible. I’m disappointed, too, because Memorial Day is coming up and we were hoping to get away.
The second issue is that we are expecting to bring a new dog into our home. Like Noyzi, this dog, name of Charlie, is from Kosovo. Noyzi and Charlie actually knew each other when Noyzi lived down there. Charlie has to travel to Germany, though, and that has been a trick to arrange. He might be up here next month. Perhaps it will even be in time for my birthday. We’ll see. But we want to make sure we’re here when he finally arrives. Then, once he gets here, he’s going to need some time to get used to us and settle in.
And the third issue is that I am finally– after 14 years– planning to see a doctor. I’ve been having some issues with my stomach for quite some time and I’m finally going to get the issue evaluated. I know some people think that’s crazy, especially since I have a background in healthcare. But the fact that I have a healthcare background is one reason why I have been dragging my feet on going. I hate dealing with doctors with a fiery passion… and because I have a tendency to struggle with depression, I get apathetic about life.
The doctor I’m planning to see is a local gastroenterologist… so that should be an intriguing experience for me. Bill has been to some German doctors. This will be my first. I suspect he will want to do some tests that will cause my anxiety levels to go off the charts. I suppose I’ll do what he suggests, if it means my stomach will stop cramping my style. That way, I can enjoy traveling again. Maybe it will help me get my voice back to normal, too.
Anyway, that will happen next month, and depending what the problem is, it could mean I’ll be busy with other stuff this summer. I have a feeling I might end up having surgery. Hopefully, I’m wrong. The upside is, I can write about the experiences here. I’m sure some people will be interested. I know people love reading about our nude spa experiences. 😉
We still have hopes of going to Iceland this year. That was planned for the fall. I hope to go to Spain, too, although maybe not until after the summer ends. I just hope the Hund pension picks up the phone, soon. Otherwise, we might have to go back to finding dog friendly pensions. I would rather not do that, since Noyzi is so big. On the other hand, he’s a good traveler, and doesn’t make as much noise as Zane and Arran did.
Although the weather warmed up a lot this week, we had a pretty nasty storm on Thursday night that cooled everything down again. I wasn’t sure if Bill and I were going to want to go to the wine stand last night, because the weather was still kind of iffy. But, as the afternoon wore on, the temperature went up, and the sun sort of peeked out again. Bill and I decided at the last minute that Noyzi would be joining us at the wine stand.
I know a lot of Americans have a hard time grasping why anyone would want to take their dog anywhere public. Or, at least that’s the impression I got on a recent social media post, during which I got shamed for admitting that we take Noyzi out sometimes. Here in Germany, it’s a normal thing to take your dog with you, especially if the event is outdoors. Noyzi does get nervous in new situations, but it’s good for him to be exposed to other people, dogs, sights, and sounds. It helps him become a better canine citizen.
Besides, he’s a great ice breaker. Germans seem to love him. And really, what is NOT to love about this dog? He’s very charming in every way. 😉 And he’s obviously very comfortable in this environment, especially when he’s in his bed.
Before we went to the wine stand, Noyzi took a very deep nap… An hour later, he was up, and we took our walk past the crazy creek! Lots of rain has made it run very high.
We got the wine stand at a little bit past six o’clock. At first, Noyzi was a bit nervous. He hasn’t been in public in awhile. They also just added a book schrank to the Dorfplatz, which he had never seen before. When a boy opened it to retrieve a book, Noyzi was very startled by the sound and the sight. Bill took him over to check it out, and after that, it wasn’t so scary to him anymore.
After about 45 minutes or so, a couple of locals came over to say hello to Noyzi. He was a little timid at first, but quickly warmed up. It’s amazing to see how much he really loves people and wants to be friendly. There was a time when he was petrified of men. Now, after the briefest hesitation, he wags his tail and eagerly says hello. He also loves Bill now, and begs him for belly rubs every night when Bill comes home from work. I’m still the queen bee, though, and he listens to me a lot better than he does Bill.
I got a few photos of last night’s festivities. They aren’t super exciting shots, but we did have a really good time. Breckenheim is such a friendly town, and people are very social. That’s probably why the photos aren’t that exciting. We were too busy chatting.
Noyzi was shedding even more than usual last night, so he got a bath this morning. I don’t know what we’ll do today. The weather is a bit overcast, but it’s not super hot outside. Maybe we’ll go to a Biergarten or something. Noyzi would love that.
We ran into our neighbor on the way home. She’d asked me earlier if I’d ever heard of a Texas seasoning sauce called Dale’s. I hadn’t… but I said I’d asked Bill. When I found it listed on Amazon, I decided to order some. I told her we’d hook her up. It’s a good way to keep neighbor relations healthy. She mostly talks to us when she wants American products… but as long as it keeps the peace, it’s not a big deal.
My “street dog”, Noyzi from Kosovo, sitting on the rug next to my computer, striking a pose…
First thing’s first. I’m happy to report that my left eye is back to normal now. It only took a few days, rather than the couple of weeks predicted in the articles and videos on the subject of subconjunctival hemorrhages.
I was going to make one of my usual music videos yesterday, having discovered the wonderful Peggy Lee last week. Well, I shouldn’t say I “discovered” her, per se… I had heard of her. I just never bought much of her music and listened to it intently. That changed last week, when I covered her version of “Blue Moon”, a song I never really had much affection for, until I heard Peggy do it.
One of the three songs I did last week… I ended up buying a big a Peggy Lee album.
After I did a version of Peggy Lee’s cover of “Blue Moon”, I came across her song “He’s a Tramp”, from Lady and the Tramp. I haven’t seen that move in decades, but I am a committed dog lover, and I loved Peggy’s sultry purr. I decided to try it yesterday… and since my eye was only about 90% healed, I had Noyzi from Kosovo star in the video. I happened to have a few candid Noyzi clips from around the house… I thought it would be easy to throw them in a movie made on my new computer. Well… I was wrong. But I did manage to make the video on my older laptop. Below is the end result.
There’s a long instrumental intro… but it’s a short video.
It was sheer luck that his wiggly butt matched the tempo of the song. It was hard to manipulate the clips on the laptop, since I don’t have a magic mouse for it. I need to research how to fix the settings on my computer so I don’t have the same issue adding clips to my videos on the desktop machine in the future. I think it has something to do with permissions. Whatever it is, it’s a highly annoying problem, especially when I just want to make a quick video without a lot of fuss. I wish I were more of a technical guru.
Here’s a fun factoid. Noyzi loves watching videos, especially if they have any type of animal in it. He will watch animals of any species whatsoever, but he especially likes watching other dogs. When I played the animated version of “He’s a Tramp” just to hear how Peggy Lee did it, Noyzi came in and stood next to me. He was watching the video of Peg, the shelter dog, singing about the Tramp who broke doggy hearts with no compunction.
I wouldn’t say our Noyzi is really a “tramp”. He’s actually the best behaved dog we’ve ever had, in spite of his being a “street dog”. He’s clean and very quiet, and never has accidents in the house. He doesn’t get into the trash or break into the basement. Most of the time, I barely know he’s here. He loves people, car rides, other dogs, and seeing and doing new things, and he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. I just thought his cute little tail wag would be perfect for that song! And it gave me an excuse not to put on makeup for my weekly music video.
By the way… my guitar playing is coming along. I might even be ready to do a guitar video soon. I just have to iron out some technical issues first.
Here’s a very quick post about last night’s wine stand, which was blessed with sunshine and relatively warm temperatures (for a change). Recently, we’ve been bringing Noyzi, the Kosovar wonderdog, to the wine stands. We hope to get him a little more socialized and used to crowds, noise, and people.
Noyzi has made a lot of progress since we adopted him in October 2020. When we first got Noyzi, he was afraid of most people, especially men. Now, he’s still a little nervous and skittish, but he clearly loves people and wants to interact. And he’s very gentle– not a single aggressive bone lies in his massive doggie body.
We probably would have gone to the wine stand last night, no matter what, but we did have a good reason to celebrate last night. Bill got a very nice raise yesterday. He gets them yearly, but this year, it was double the size of last year’s raise. So we definitely raised a glass or two to that.
We got to tell Noyzi’s story to a German couple who were intrigued by him. They spoke a little English, we spoke even less German, but we still managed to bond over our street dogs. It turned out the couple has one, too. I think they said theirs was from Romania.
Noyzi was pretty fidgety at the wine stand last night, but a quick walk around the Dorfplatz helped him calm down a bit. I think by the end of the summer, the wine stand will be old hat to Noyzi and he will be much better in public places. After about an hour, he was settling down enough that I thought he might even lie down, but we never quite made it to that point.
We met another guy with his big brown dog, Sam. Noyzi and Sam hit it off famously. As we were leaving, Noyzi made a point of saying goodbye to his new canine village friend. One thing that makes Noyzi good at the wine stand is that he’s relatively quiet. We seldom brought Zane and Arran to these events because they were both pretty loud and obnoxious, and they had each other to hang out with. Noyzi is a totally different kind of dog, and I think he will eventually become really good at these gatherings.
Below are a few photos from our excursion to the Dorfplatz… I also included a couple I took yesterday morning on our walk.
And here are a couple of short videos… One is of Noyzi as we were about to go to the wine stand, and the other is of our very full village brook, which is really rushing right now. I suspect that pretty soon, the heavy rain will stop, and the creek will be much shallower and slower.
Noyzi used to be afraid of leashes and Bill. Now he loves both, and enjoys excursions. He likes people and other dogs, too, even if he is a bit nervous.
The creek is FULL. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this high.
As I wrote on my main blog yesterday, I was kind of dreading yesterday. When we still had Zane, I took him to the vet all the time for allergy shots. It got to be quite a grind, which I found kind of nervewracking. That was when we still lived near Stuttgart, and our vet was a several miles away. It wasn’t a big deal to drive there, obviously, though I don’t do a lot of driving anymore. I’m not sure why I’m like this now. Before I got married, I used to drive all the time. But then I got sucked into this stay at home wife gig, and I don’t get out much anymore. It’s not because I can’t go out, though… more like I choose not to. So, having to drive Arran the very short (even shorter) distance to the vet is kind of anxiety producing, especially in the COVID era.
I made a point of not getting to the vet too early yesterday. Noyzi demanded a walk, so I gave them one. Then I put Arran in his “seatbelt” harness and loaded him into the Volvo. Ordinarily, I would have driven my Mini, but it’s parked in the garage, and accessing it would mean moving the Volvo out of the driveway and getting my car out. And while Arran fits fine in the tiny back seat, getting him in the car when he’s mobility challenged, and there are only two doors, isn’t that easy. It’s a lot simpler to put him in the Volvo, since he doesn’t have to crawl over the driver’s seat to get in the backseat. I no longer have the upper body strength to simply drop the top and put him over the car door. There’s also a concrete barrier on our driveway that makes it harder to access the backseat.
We got to the vet at about fifteen minutes before our 11:00am appointment. I picked up a beeper from the receptionist and sat in the car with Arran until it went off. It was noticeably chillier this week than it was last week, although the skies were as overcast. Arran slowly ambled into Haus B, a part of the vet clinic I had never been in before. Arran’s regular vet wasn’t in this week, so another vet gave him his treatment. I liked her. Weirdly enough, she kind of reminded me of Mick Jagger. No, not necessarily because of her looks, but more in the way she carried herself. And her face and coloring bears a slight resemblance to his. I know that’s a weird observation, but I don’t mean it as a put down. I think Mick Jagger is an amazing force of nature! Anyway, she seemed somewhat easier to talk to, and less rushed. I don’t really know the vets at our office well, because Bill is the one who usually takes the dogs. But since Arran is getting chemo, I guess I’ll be getting to know them better.
The vet drew some blood to make sure Arran would be medically able to tolerate the chemo. After a few minutes, she showed me the results. Arran’s red blood cell count is still low, but his reticulocytes– immature red blood cells– are on the rise. That means that his body is responding to the anemia and making more red blood cells. In the meantime, “young” cells are being released into his bloodstream. This is a good finding, because it means that his bone marrow is still functioning and trying to repair itself. If there weren’t more reticulocytes being released, that would mean his body wasn’t responding and had “given up”– aplastic anemia. I’m sure in the short term, it would mean he’d need a blood transfusion and in the slightly longer term, it would mean he was on his way to the Rainbow Bridge.
After the happy news that Arran’s regular vet’s fear that his bone marrow was irreparably damaged (she had communicated this in an email to Bill) was incorrect, Arran got his second IV push of Vincristine. Haus B is a slightly less “house like” environment than the main office is, so I sat in an area next to a window and watched as many people brought their dogs for treatment. Dr. Konrad Blendinger, the man who, with his veterinarian wife, owns the practice is a vet who does highly specialized reproductive medicine for dogs. He mostly only sees dogs who are being bred, and it looked like some of his patients were waiting for him yesterday in Haus B. It was the first time I’d ever seen him in person, although I have seen him performing music in locally produced videos. I’ve noticed that part of German culture is having hobbies, and music is apparently one of his! We have that in common.
Arran was pretty calm during the chemo. He laid on his side and took the drugs like a champ, only managed to pull the cap off the port, which wasn’t a big deal. The female “Jagger” vet expressed mock dismay, then covered up the port until she was ready to administer the medication. After an hour or so, we were finished, and I loaded Arran into the car, asked for a bill (which wasn’t yet ready), and drove home. Bill came home a few hours later, and they had a lovely reunion!
The dogs were so happy to see Bill, as was I!
Arran has responded very well to the treatment so far. His lymph nodes have gone down; he’s stopped coughing and gasping; his poops are mostly very normal; and he’s eating like an Olympic athlete. He still can’t jump on the bed, but he clearly feels much better. We still don’t know how much this will cost, but it’s been so nice to see Arran behaving more like himself. To be very honest, I think if we hadn’t started treatment last week, he might not be here today. The disease was definitely starting to progress. My main goal was to make sure Arran wouldn’t die without Bill– his favorite person– by his side. Now, it looks like that will be what happens, but we aren’t sure when. But then, that would be true for anyone, wouldn’t it? As this week’s events in Ukraine have shown us, one never knows when death will occur.
Anyway, we’re just going to enjoy this time, and do what we can for our sweet Arran. I think this experience will teach us a lot, not just about canine cancer, but about cancer in general. The drugs he takes are the same as what many humans take when they have cancer.
Arran and his favorite person!He sure looks good.
Not to leave out Noyzi, below is a video I made of him reacting to The Handmaid’s Tale, as Serena had her baby. He was very curious and empathetic. Noyzi is a true gentle giant.
Noyzi is a big, sweet, Balkan goofball.
And a couple of photos of our regal Kosovar rescue, Noyzi, who is now living his best life in Germany. He sure has come a long way!
This time of year, especially during a pandemic, is for the birds. The weather is wet, cold, and yucky. Add in the crazily contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, and Germany’s ever changing pandemic rules, and it’s tough to keep a travel blog going.
We did have a couple of fun developments this week, though. The less exciting one is that Noyzi and Arran got baths yesterday. That may not seem like a big deal, except that it was only Noyzi’s third bath in his lifetime, and he’s already about three years old. He was getting kind of stinky. I keep watching dog grooming videos on YouTube, and the groomer is always talking about how important it is to groom one’s pets. I decided that it was time for Noyzi to get a bath, and we decided to bathe Arran, too. Now, both of them smell much better, and Noyzi’s coat is all soft and shiny. He likes baths, too, so that’s a good thing. I would hate to have to wrestle him in the tub at his size. He’s a big boy. Incidentally, Noyzi loves to watch dog grooming videos. He’s as fascinated by them as I am, although for different reasons.
The more exciting development is that my husband’s daughter found out that she’s expecting another son in a few months. She announced the gender in a really cute way… using pink and blue ice cream cups. I know she’s excited, as are Bill and his mother, who were kept out of her life for many years. I am excited too, I guess. I knew she was carrying a boy, just like I knew she was pregnant before she announced it, just because Bill had said she looked like she was glowing on a Skype call back in September.
I’m feeling a little down today, for a lot of reasons, so I’m going to keep this post short. I hope next week, I’ll be a little less depressed.
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