Progress

Feel lighter today.

Day over at Jenn's

Got over to Jenn's today, but it was a struggle to do so.

The plan was ride the Eazyride to behind the BP at Glendale, and catch a bus from there. Only the cap that held the cover on the throttle fell off! I stopped the bike immediately and after ten minutes, found the two bits that'd fallen off. Without them, the cover over the throttle was held on only by my hand.

I packed the bits away for later examination (might be able to get them back on tomorrow) and continued on to the BP. Locked the bike up and then discovered I'd missed the bus by 5 minutes. Decided to check out the Salvation Army op-shop until the next bus came. Missed buying a fold out sofa (better than the one I have) for $80, but found a wooden Shogi board for $3 and a book on "Royal Scandals" for $2, so that was good (especially as I have a Shogi set at home but with only a paper board).

Caught the 101 direct to Jenn's, but got there a hour later than she expected. She was better than last time I visited. Her mother was there which was just as well as we both had to help her into the toilet. Jenny used to use a wheelchair to get to the seat but now she needs to use the shower chair (with a hole underneath) to go. Her physical condition is deteriorating more all the time.

Not a cheerful subject, but better to be honest than pretend otherwise. And we can still joke about things, so even though she's in a difficult situation it's not hopeless. I left after 2pm when she needed to take a nap (her mother left first) and did some browsing at Jesmond. Then caught a bus back to the BP and rode home.

I think I need to pop over sometime this week and see how Jenn is. I worry about her. She's been told that if she can't get into/out of /off the wheelchair and her bed and/or sofa, that they'll put her in hospital. I know she doesn't want that.

Hallie's Handicap

Hallie, being the American Staffordshire pup that she is, likes to "escape" and run up the street and explore. Neither Kevin or I am keen on that happening.

A while ago, Kevin came up with a solution, which he called a "handicap". He put a leash on her and tied a large object (big enough so that it would stick in the pet door, or a gap in the fence) on the other end. The first object used was the side of an old D-I-Y storage box - this was a square wire grind about 10cm wide. This was fine to start with but the wire was thin and broke into segments  that cut and snagged on things.

After a while I I found some replacements. They were circular metal wire pot plant stands. Both had wheels on but I removed these from the larger thicker base, while leaving them on the smaller, thinner one. The small one (with wheels) would get attached while she was inside, and the larger (with no wheels) while she was outside. It worked for a while.

But Hallie lost the small one when she ran under the house and it snagged on something. The large one stood up well, but Hallie has grown and when she runs around she just pulls it about like a toy, even though the object is heavy and solid. This is how she ripped the grill of the fly-wire door. This is how she caused damage to various objects in the house (including my fan last night). This is how she injured my right foot too the other day, when it swiped the back of it.

Got sick of that, so for a few days I replaced the stand with a plastic milk crate. It worked, wasn't so destructive, but stuck in everything. Today, after jenny's I bought a steering wheel cover at Big-W and Kevin put this over the stand. It seems to have reduced its destructiveness and Hallie even held it in her mouth for a while. It might work better with an inner padding of cut hose as well. We'll see.

Any suggestions how else we can stop the bitch escaping (we hope she'll grow out of it)?