Australia Blog 13- OCD

AUSTRALIA BLOG 13- OCD


It has been raining almost every day, the river is up and there are flood warnings on the news. The first clear day this week I rode my bike three blocks down to Cheep As Chips, a little dollar store that has junky little discounted stuff, when I say junky, I mean crappy. Josh and I renamed the store Cheep Ass Crap, never the less, it’s a good place to go when you need something cheep. I was pleased to find a backpack for ten bucks. I brought it home, put Roo in it and wore it around the house to get him used to riding in it, in hopes that he could join me on bike rides. He seemed not to mind at all. I tied a short leash to the handle on top and fastened him in, just in case he decided to bail out. We took our first ride down the block and he still didn’t seem to mind, so we rode all the way to the park across town along the river. The flood waters were up, covering most of the bike trails and part of the road to the back of the park. We rode over to the skate park on the other side where there were kids on bikes and skate boards also enjoying the clear day, I stopped at a bench, unsnapped Roo’s leash and put him on the grass in case he needed to pee. That is the last thing he wanted to do, curiosity had gotten the best the courageous dog, trapped in his small puppy body, he chased after a group of boys who rode by on skate boards, barking and growling and wagging his tail. When he was sure they had fled the scene, he strutted back to me with his head held high.

During another break in the rain last week I took Roo to the book store, locked my bike outside, went in and bought “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, a book I have been anxious to read. The lady who helped me find the book didn’t even notice Roo in my backpack until I was checking out. I was afraid they might kick me out, but instead, she had everyone come over to pet him and say hello. We rode down to a little café on the river to sit on the patio and read my book. Just when I finished the first chapter, it started to rain. I threw Roo back in his backpack, jumped on my bike and headed for the house before it started pouring. The rain picked up quicker than I had hoped, so I stopped in the park under a tree to wait it out. There was a guy standing under the tree, also waiting out the rain who told me he was an accountant on his way to a job interview. After a brief conversation, he told me that he used to pick up shifts bartending at the GV Hotel, that it’s a great place to work, and that I should head over there and apply. The rain broke again, I thanked him, wished him luck in his interview and headed home to change clothes, dry my hair and go down to apply for the job.

It went well; I talked to the manager who seemed very interested in hiring me. She told me to sign up for the bartending class, equivalent to the TABC Certification, and they would give me a call next week. I went down to the TAFE, which is the little community college in town, and signed up for the next class, which is Thursday.

Josh has settled into his new job at the equine hospital, the people he works with are great and he is getting the hang of the way they do things around there. When he works late, I take dinner out to him and try to feed anyone else who is still there. When he is able to come home, I have dinner started by the time he gets home so that he can eat and get some sleep before having to leave again for foal care. I usually throw on a pair of boots and a warm jacket and go with him to help. Last week, on the 2 am shift, we took care of a little foal who couldn’t stand or nurse on its own. Like most of the ‘dummy foals’ they treat, she was on oxygen and a feeding tube, alone in a stall next door to the troubled mare, laying on a thick pad, and covered in blankets to keep warm. Josh held the mare while I milked the sweet mama who hadn’t taken her eyes off the little foal laying in the stall next door long enough to touch her alfalfa, and whose stall door was marked with a sign proclaiming, “this mare kicks and bites”. After receiving its milk through the feeding tube, we lifted the foal to its wobbly feet and held its head while it attempted to nurse. It has been rewarding helping Josh and seeing the babies become strong enough to stand and nurse on their own. This week that baby and mare got to go home.

Friday night Josh and I met up two of the other vets he works with; Kristie and her husband Garrett, and Carl. Kristie’s husband had come in from Melbourne for the weekend and it seems we were all in need of some cold drinks, live music and good company. We met at the GV Hotel and had a great time. The next morning, we had planned to go to Melbourne for the day. Roo and I let Josh sleep-in to make up for the lack of sleep he had gotten during the week. When he and I get up for foal care, it’s no big deal for me because I can come home and sleep, but Josh had to be back at work by 6 am, so it doesn’t leave much time for sleep on his behalf.

When Josh finally came out of his sleep deprivation coma, we left to spend the afternoon in Melbourne. Roo sat on the center consul and napped on top of the emergency brake the entire way. I snapped pictures of bridges, skylines and trolleys in the roads while Josh concentrated on driving. In Mel, not only do you have to focus on keeping left and looking for traffic lights in unfamiliar places, but you also have to make sure not to be hit by a trolley. We found our way down to the bay and paid $10 to park. We walked down the shore line, on a trail between the beach and the restaurants, stopping to let Roo run and play. He met other dogs, lots of people who wanted to say hello and discovered that digging is great fun.

At this point, I would kill for Mexican food, particularly some homemade salsa with jalapenos, and to drive on the right hand side of the road, in my beloved SUV, sitting in my leather seats, texting at a red light, relying on gps, with no anxiety about turning the wrong way or being pulled over for driving without a license.

However, I am getting more comfortable with driving, turning on the left side, knowing where to look for lights, exiting to the left, using the blinker on the right side of the steering wheel, looking the opposite way before pulling out and using backward roundabouts, while yielding to the right.

The smallest things that you take for granted, which become routine, have also taken a while to get used to, like actually cranking the car, turning the key all the way while pressing on the gas, I am not used to that because my car at home cranks it’s self automatically. It still takes me a few tries to get the car started. Pumping gas or petro rather, is also much different. There is no way to pay at the pump, and the actual pump won’t sit in the tank and auto fill while you wait in the car for it to cut its self off. You have to hold it there, while holding the handle down the entire time, then walk into the store and stand in line to pay. If you know me, you know I don’t like to go into convenient stores unless I have to and that I keep hand sanitizer in the door of my car for especially for gas stations.

There are a million other tiny things that all add up to a bizarre discomfort for a person of habit with a slight case of OCD. If this doesn’t build character, and appreciation, I don’t know what will.