Tag Archives: nightmare TDYs

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The waiting is the hardest part…

Today’s featured photo was taken at our neighborhood Rewe, which appears to be very gay friendly… The Rewe could use an Apoteke.

A week from now, barring any disasters, Bill will be home from his latest TDY. For some reason, this one has been harder for me than the previous ones have been. I think it’s a combination of the many months we’ve been locked down, bored, and the many weeks he’s had to travel on business. This time, he’s half vaccinated. At the end of the month, he’ll get his second injection. I’ll get mine on June 9th. Then, maybe we can start doing some normal stuff again. As Tom Petty used to sing, “the waiting is the hardest part”…

One of many great singers from my youth who have died since I’ve lived in Germany. I always seem to be in Europe when icons die. I was even in Europe when Princess Diana was killed, back in 1997. It seems to be my destiny to spend time here.

I had a bit of unexpected drama last night. On Friday, we got some new toys for the dogs. Arran had recently destroyed a little blue gorilla that he loved. It was a Kong toy, so it had lasted awhile, though not as long as some of the others we’ve had. I try to cycle the really damaged toys out, even if they are much beloved. I don’t want the boys chewing on toys that are raggedy because they can end up swallowing things they shouldn’t. That seems to be especially true in Noyzi’s case. A few months ago, he swallowed part of an old toy that had been three pieces. Arran had long ago shredded the other parts of the monkey– the toy part had come from– but there was still a leg with squeakers in it. Arran would play with it.

At the time that happened, Bill was at home. He took Noyzi to our vet; they gave him a shot to make him vomit; and he puked up the part of the toy he’d swallowed. It was an old toy, though, so I have been careful to get rid of the ones that get too torn up. Friday, I gave the boys four brand new Kong toys. Kong toys are known for being very tough. But the raccoon toy I got the other day was not as sturdy as the other rope toys I’ve been giving them.

Last night, I came downstairs at about 6:00pm to find that Noyzi had “skinned” the toy raccoon, leaving the head and tail, and the rope innards. I was glad he hadn’t destroyed the head, since that was where the squeaker was. But he had apparently swallowed the “fur”. Fortunately, this particular toy, by design, didn’t have a lot of polyester batting in it.

Immediately, I started thinking I’d need to get him to the emergency vet– Tierklinik Hofheim, specifically, since our vet wasn’t open. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get him into Bill’s Volvo. He’s too big and cumbersome for me to get him into the car by myself. I don’t think he’s too heavy… he’s about 63 pounds, and I can lift that. But he’s long and tall and not very cooperative. After a few minutes of trying to wrestle with him, I gave up.

Then I went looking for hydrogen peroxide, which can be used as an emetic in dogs. I thought we had some on hand, but it turned out we didn’t have any. And Germany, unlike the United States, doesn’t dispense things like hydrogen peroxide at the grocery store. You have to get it at the Apotheke. It also costs a lot more there than it does at US stores. So I went looking to see if any nearby drug stores were open. The one at the nearby Globus was open, but when I tried to get there, I got turned around and wound up in a strange neighborhood. I’m not used to driving Bill’s car… I would have driven mine, but it’s in the garage, and the Volvo was in the driveway. Then, when I got back, I couldn’t get the car parked in the driveway again. I know I should have been able. The Volvo has cameras and park assist, and of course, GPS… I can’t get used to using those things. I don’t trust them.

So I worried all night, although Noyzi was pretty much normal. I came down in the middle of the night to check on him, and he greeted me sweetly each time. I obsessively read a bunch of articles on the signs of a blockage, and finally got ahold of Bill, who said if I needed help with Noyzi, someone from the office could come over. This morning, I found Noyzi lying on his back with his legs in the air. When he saw me, he rolled onto his side and wagged his tail. I kept hoping he’d poop… because again, “the waiting is the hardest part.” A good poop is a good start on the way to recovery from something like this.

I just took the boys for a short walk. It was a short walk because it’s raining. Just afterwards, I let Noyzi in the backyard. For some reason, he doesn’t like to go potty when he’s taking a walk. Arran is just the opposite. Anyway, after a few minutes, he came out, took a whiz, then took a fairly normal looking poop with bits of toy in it. I suspect there might be more bits in his next constitutional, but at this point, I’m not too worried about him needing emergency vet care. He seems to feel better, too, even though he wasn’t that distressed in the first place.

I guess I’ve learned a few things from this experience. The first thing is that we need to train Noyzi to get in the car by himself. If it had been Arran (or the late Zane), it wouldn’t have been a problem getting the dog loaded. Both Zane and Arran fit in the Mini, too. But Noyzi needs the Volvo and has to ride in the cargo area. He needs to learn to get in by himself, because I’m not getting any younger or stronger.

Next– I need to buy some hydrogen peroxide to keep around for these kinds of emergencies. Noyzi has proven that he likes to eat toys. All of the new ones are out of reach, for now.

Next– I need to stop being such a luddite. I have yet to embrace GPS technology because I find the voice prompts distracting and annoying. But the GPS could have gotten me to Globus last night. And the park assist could have gotten the Volvo into the driveway. I have been able to park in the driveway before, by the way, but I was not in the right frame of mind for it last night.

I need to drive more, too… I just don’t enjoy driving if I have nowhere specific to be. Hopefully, with the availability of the vaccines, that won’t be so much of a problem for too much longer.

I was feeling pretty frustrated, though. I’ve been in Germany for years and I know how most things work here. But I’m still getting to know this area where we live, mainly due to the COVID-19 nightmare. I don’t know a lot of people up here, so being here alone is pretty stressful. I have fewer people to call in case of emergency. And I’m really tired of Bill’s constant business trips. The good news is, he thinks they’ll be done after this one… at least for the time being. I hope he’s right.

He’s perfectly happy. This was what he looked like last night, as I was fretting.

Anyway, I think Noyzi is going to be just fine. I guess I need to watch him more closely when there are toys around. At least until he learns that toys are for playing with, not eating. Sometimes, though, I do miss how things are in the United States… not that I’m hankering to move yet. I just want Bill to come home and fix me a martini and tell me it’s all gonna be okay. Just a few more days to go.

Edited to add: Two more dumps littered with toy debris have appeared… and they were both perfect. After each one, Noyzi seemed even happier and more energetic.

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Another week alone and locked down…

I don’t have a lot to report this week, other than I bought a new laptop for traveling… if we ever do again. My old one functions okay, but it’s almost seven years old and it was time for an upgrade. It arrived a few days ago and I’m still breaking it in.

The weather has been pretty yucky the last couple of days. I expect rain today. I even saw a prediction for snow, although I don’t think it’s quite cold enough. The wounds on my knees are mostly healed up, and I expect by Friday, when Bill comes home, they’ll be nothing but slightly tender scars. I did take a few photos this week. Here they are…

  • Last Sunday, it was sunny. Church was open. I didn’t see this sign out today.
  • The town seal.
  • A few months ago, they took out the stand where the clubs would do the wine stands…
  • They put in a fountain.
  • I heard the next project is a public toilet facility. I’m not sure why…

I am really missing being able to travel, eat out, and do fun things. I’ve missed discovering local gems and writing about them. And when Bill is out of town for weeks, it sucks even more. He’ll be home in a few more days. Hopefully, by the end of the month, the lockdowns will lift a bit more and we can have some fun somehow.

On the plus side, Noyzi is fitting right in and is a delight to have around. Every day, he gets cuter and funnier. He’s still terrified of the TV, though. Arran continues to be cranky but lovable. I’ve stopped dreaming about our next destination… for now, it’s a big deal for me to put on a mask and go to the grocery store.

COVID-19 SUCKS.

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One week down…

I’ve been quiet on this blog since last week, mainly because I’ve had pretty much next to nothing to write about.  I guess I could have written about last weekend’s wind storm, which blew dangerous winds across Germany and other parts of Europe for several days, but I’m not sure what I would have had to say about it.  I mean, I pretty much holed up in the house for that.

By Tuesday, the winds had died down.  My dogs badly needed a walk, so I took them for a quick one on Tuesday morning.  When I got home, I was confronted with a notice that the GSL delivery guy had tried to drop off a bottle of butterscotch liqueur I ordered from Amazon.  Naturally, he showed up during the 30 minutes all week that I wasn’t in the house.  Murphy’s Law was at work!  To get the liqueur, I’d have to drive to a kiosk in Bierstadt, an area with which I am still sadly unfamiliar, and present my passport and the notice slip within 8 working days.  I suppose I could do it, but I don’t really want to.  The liqueur cost about 15 euros and I’ve been on the wagon all week anyway, so I think I’ll just let them return it.  I’d call them to attempt a redelivery, but I didn’t see that option listed, which, to me, is a real con to using GSL for shipping.  Seriously… I could go and get the liqueur, but what if I couldn’t?  What if I had no way to get to the kiosk?  Seems to me, they should at least attempt one redelivery.

One thing I tend to do when Bill isn’t home is regress to childhood eating habits.  Before I was married, I used to make nice meals for myself in my kitchen.  Now, when Bill is TDY, it’s all I can do to just get through the meal.  So I tend to eat a lot of soups and sandwiches.  This time, I’ve been especially bad.  I actually ordered Kraft Macaroni & Cheese from Amazon.de (rather than going to the commissary to get it).  I was kind of curious to see if it had changed since my college days, which was when I tended to eat it, or a generic equivalent, the most often.  As you can see… it’s the same stuff.  It tastes the same.  And yes, I make better mac & cheese from scratch, but for some reason, this chemically laden crap is, oddly, a comfort.

I bought five boxes because they came in a set.  Once they’re gone, I’ll probably not try it again for another twenty years or so…  If I’m still alive and have teeth.  This stuff is definitely kid friendly and I don’t mind it when I’m feeling like a baby.  I may have to make some from scratch later, now that I’ve learned how to use the oven.  

A couple of shots from one of the balconies, showing the mercurial skies after the windstorm.  The sun was finally making an appearance.  Our view is less enchanting in this house.

 

I have filled the time reading, and rebuilding my main blog, which I moved to a new address a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve also been watching movies.  Last night, I had a Richard Pryor double feature: The Toy, from 1982, which also starred Jackie Gleason and future porn star, Scott Schwartz, and Critical Condition, from 1987, with Rachel Ticotin, Bob Saget, and Joe Mantegna.  Both were pretty crappy films, although I made up for their crappiness by also watching Children of a Lesser God and Broadcast News, both of which starred William Hurt.

At about 4 o’clock yesterday, the doorbell rang.  I opened it to a man bearing flowers sent by my long suffering husband, Bill, who is enduring overnight work shifts at Grafenwoehr until March 26th.  I am fantasizing about our next “real” vacation that lasts over a weekend, requires airplane travel or even train travel, and doesn’t include our sweet, but demanding dogs.  This morning, I was awakened at 3:00am, 4:55am, and 6:30am by my pooches, who needed to go out to do their business and then demanded to eat.  Bill usually handles them in the wee hours of the morning, because he’s often awake anyway.  When he’s not here, the duty falls to me.

And yet, as wonderful as Bill is to have at home, he sends me flowers when he’s away…

 

Well, I’ll try to be productive over the next week.  Maybe I’ll come up with a list of travel tips or some other newsy topic that doesn’t actually require any travel.  Eleven days to go until this nightmare TDY is over and spring is here.

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