Amy’s Gripping Commentary

David shaved his head a few nights ago. I had to help. I think this is going to be higher maintenance than the short cuts with clippers we have been doing for the last year or two. He brought his fancy clippers here but they aren’t behaving quite right, so he decided to dispense with all the hair I guess.

So which famous bald guy is he? He asked if he looked like Bruce Willis but the eyebrows put him more in a Telly Savalas-You Don’t Know Jack-Patrick Stewart-Mr. Clean-Andre Agassi category. At least he doesn’t look like Sloth from Goonies, one of the pictures that came up in a Google images search for famous bald guys!

We finally got a response from the immigration department, and now they want more evidence (back in time) of our relationship to allow him to stay. Time to dig out the old hard drives to see if we can come up with what they want; my purging philosophy means I probably don’t have copies of plane tickets from trips we took together six years ago and even my email has changed. Even harder is that we left anything old and paperwork-y back in the US! It’s frustrating because we’re here spending money and paying taxes (my ability to be here and work is not in question), we’re not trying to get him a work permit, and my employer has supplied a letter in support of his being here with me. We already gave all the evidence that he’s on my insurance and we both have income/bank accounts to support ourselves. Once again, sneaking in would be easier! Harder to do in an island country, I suppose.

By the way, my friend Kathleen has a blog now that she’s here working as well. We’ve been taking some trips together so you might hear about our days in Waterford and Clonakilty faster from her!

I think I’m a day or two late but happy birthday to Grandma! Grandpa loads my blog in the morning and prints new posts for her, so I hope she’ll see it. I’ll post this picture of us from not too long ago, where she complained about my hair hygiene and made us laugh.

I shared that story with my 15 year old cousin after she posted on Facebook that she was recently at Old Country Buffet with Grandma, who told her her haircut was the ugliest one she’d ever seen. I love it! Grandma tells it like it is.

It was always fun to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. You got ice cream and sugar cereal and hamburgers and trips to the mall and painting parties and a cool dog. We videotaped ourselves lip-syncing and dancing and dressing up. Then we’d make her pictures crooked just to hear her holler.

And who can forget this picture I posted on my website over ten years ago: she came all the way out to Massachusetts to see me in college (or maybe it was for graduation?) and, well…

We all raise our glasses to you, Grandma!

Yes, we’ve been on vacation! Before we made it to Iceland a week ago, we had an all-day layover in London (hard to get to Iceland from Ireland), so off we went from Gatwick to explore the city a bit: lunch at Wagamama because it sounded good, then wandering through Covent Garden to a visit at the London Transport Museum. It was interesting but I wouldn’t call it top of the heap for museums. I’ve been to the bigger attractions so we decided to try something new.

We found visiting the outdoor-gear shops (big North Face-type stores) in one particular block a good way to pass time, and we managed not to spend money. We did see a manufactured ice-climbing wall, but I had no idea we’d be doing it for real in a few days!

1. For Mom, sewing machine display at the airport
2. Gate 13. This was after David realized he flew on Friday the 13th and we had been talking about the 13 y.o. boy who was struck by lightning at 13:13 on that Friday the 13th.
3-4. Our very clean, simple, Scandinavian-looking hotel the first night. All the beds are twins to be pushed together if you book a double, apparently, and this was the case in 4/5 places that week.
5. Outside the Keflavik hotel, Paddy’s Irish Pub was the nearest business.
6. Bónus is a grocery chain. I think the piggy’s left eye needs some design work. Thank goodness we got a few groceries because we couldn’t afford to eat out in the expensive restaurants (if you could find one).
7. Gullfoss (Golden Falls). Look closely for the rainbow
8-11. Geysers, including the one named Geysir which became the name of all others in the world. That’s the one I found hot! Strokkur erupted several times while we were there but the bigger Geysir is less frequent.
12. Our silly little rental car (big enough to pick up hitchhikers from Sweden and Czech Republic, though!) was not suited for the kinds of roads the many safari-like vehicles can take. If you note the rear lights, you’ll see the reverse light is only on the right, while the left has a rear fog light in red!
13. For Mom: wristies for sale! I prefer the non-thumb type.
14. More on the types of roads. The ones with an F before the number require 4wd… they get worse from there. We did not go in the highlands at all as a result.
15-19. Þingvellir National Park, where government was established in 930 AD and cracks in the earth show continental drift. #17 shows a pool where unfaithful women were drowned. Apparently men’s crimes were punished by stake burning.
20. I like the funny hat on the 5000 krónur lady. The coins all have fish on them.
21. An expensive meal in an expensive hotel, but at least this one lived up to the reputation, price, and presentation.
22. Our ranch-like hotel. Iceland gets the occasional polar bear who floats or swims in from Greenland.

Ms. Vegas bunny has been through quite a lot lately. After infections in both feet that spread badly in one leg, she had her rear left leg amputated just over a week ago. We considered her senior age and ongoing upper respiratory issues, but her wonderful caretakers in the States said she still had the will to fight and a lot of life in her, so we opted for the surgery. It was apparently the right decision because she seemed relieved to be rid of the pain after surgery and her other foot is getting better with attentive care. Vegas still isn’t up hopping around on her remaining leg, but she scoots around her enclosure, eats well, grooms constantly, and the surgical site has healed great, so we have high hopes for her future. At some point she needs to learn to get that other leg back under her and hop on it, but it’s bandaged right now and probably hard to manage.

We were able to do a Skype video call tonight so I got to see how she’s doing. She was lounging like nothing happened! Hopefully she’ll be up and hopping soon. I feel far less worried about her knowing she has such capable nursing staff!

Two weekends ago, David and I did an all day sea kayaking course. Our group picnicked on Sandycove island which got smaller and smaller as the tide came in, saw a seal poking its head out in the harbor because boats mean fishermen feeding them, and explored caves in the cliff walls from Kinsale Harbo(u)r down to the Old Head Pier. Neither of us fell in! Can’t say the same for some other guy who was adjusting his shirt one moment and slipping into the sea the next. I was INCREDIBLY exhausted the next day; not sure what was up with that but it made work a challenge.

Wildlife was mostly cormorants, jellyfish, and mussels, plus all the seagulls. Anyway the kayaking was fun but I opted out of course day 2, while David and our friend Kathleen did that this past Monday. They had to practice getting back in after intentionally falling out of the boat, and it doesn’t sound like the water was particularly comfortable even with a wet suit!

Flashback: I found a disposable 35mm camera at a petrol station (€12!) and used it during kayaking, then found a place in town that actually develops fillum. (That’s film but we can’t get over the way it’s pronounced here.) Fortunately the processing was cheaper than the camera itself. The pictures aren’t the quality I’m used to with my digital, but the risk of drowning a good camera was too high to try for snazzy photos. Also, I didn’t think paying a fortune for a special case to take my camera underwater was worth it.

And now, time to reminisce about working nights at Qualex… are they even still in business? [nope!] On busy summer nights we’d develop, print, cut, and package 40,000 rolls of film. The slowest night still had 15,000, the amount of film used by northern Indiana, southern Michigan, and a few remote MI towns that flew in their orders! The couriers would drive to every pharmacy, grocery, and photo shop within a couple hours and that’s how all your next-day and two-day processing happened. Didn’t matter if you took it to Target or Kroger: same place made it into prints.

At the time I couldn’t predict there wouldn’t be a market for any of it just a few years later. Those nights in factories make me appreciate where I am now! I did enjoy that kind of work, though.

Here you go, scanned fillum photos!

Time to complete the roundup of our Dublin trip in June.

1 Creepy statue of children that’s supposed to be in honor or memory of them…
2-8 Dublin Castle, mostly palace-like, where the Brits ruled locally for centuries and it’s now used as a government facility (rather more Irish now). There were excavated remains of some of the old walls and moats from the older castle.
9 Typical evening: computing in the hotel. That thing on our feet wasn’t very wide and was at the end of the bed. What is it for?
10 Ikea! Our first trip. David has been very anti-Ikea at home (he wanted to build high quality furniture, not buy cheap stuff), but he admitted they have a lot of neat design ideas and when you need a desk and have no tools, you have to branch out a bit. I was disappointed we got there so late that we couldn’t explore the acres of stuff and eat in the restaurant.
11 Merhorse (?) lamp post, near Trinity College I think
12 Mr. Bagpipes, for “anything that requires the unique sound of the bagpipes”
13 Rainy shopping area. There was also a women’s running event in town that day so we were surrounded by freezing wet people in shorts and participation medals
14 I always pick up street rubbish in a top hat
15-19 St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which dates from the 1200s, including Jonathan Swift‘s grave and an amazing tiled floor. Handel’s Messiah was first played here according to what we heard when we were there, but there is some disagreement when I look into it online.

We actually tried to go cliff walking at Howth nearby on our last morning in Dublin before going home, but the fog was so incredibly thick we couldn’t see the road, let alone any cliffs or water. Some other time! ‘Tis a weather dependent country sometimes.

Would you believe I’ve written FIVE HUNDRED posts? The only interesting thing I found for 500 at Wikipedia is that’s about the year when they stopped burying people in catacombs.

I spent four minutes making that stellar chicken picture, too.

Some quick stats: I’ve had this domain (as website, since blogs weren’t invented yet!) for nine years. We had 1104 visitors in the last month. For the top 25 searches coming to my site, there were seven variations on my name. Other notable searches were vegetarian poop, cymbal-playing monkey, paperclips are more useful than, “happy chicken” indianapolis, and baby huts for guinea pigs from pet stores in glasgow. Visitors came from 65 countries, at least since I switched to the new stats service a couple months ago.

STOP THE PRESSES! It’s also four years to the day that I started blogging! This deserves another fine piece of art.

I feel like carp. I mean crap. That is an excellent illustration of one of my ailments, bizarre goings-on in my arms and hands that keep me from typing well. Sometimes it hurts to use the computer and that in combination with other crappy health stuff means not a lot of updating here. I have thousands of pictures to present but I can barely scroll through Facebook.

Vegas bunny is quite ill and is having a ridiculous surgery on Thursday. I’m worried about her.

This month sure sucks so far. Next!

1. The hydrangeas here can’t pick a color. I know they vary based on soil acidity, but the variety here is amazing and often occurs on the same plant.
2. I don’t think these were the intended diners when the pet store put out this dog food.
3. General Tso’s Tofu
4. The thing that trims the hedgerows
5. Stuffed portobellos and campers
6. Walter lounges

I have to admit I’m rather enjoying a year’s vacation from yard work. It’s kind of strange to see the landlords out in the yard garden doing all the pruning and weeding, but I feel like I should close the curtains so I’m not watching them slave away for me. I was cooking dinner a couple nights ago while they were outside working and wondered again how I found myself living in another country, in a house I don’t pay for, driving a car I don’t pay for, while other people clean up my yard. (To be fair, David does the mowing here, and I don’t miss that either.)

The term “American Dream” came to mind; my dad used to say that a lot in the context of all sorts of things people want or do (not just manifest destiny/pulling up by your bootstraps stuff, more as irony or social commentary). It’s funny that working hard and getting lucky in the US led to my American Dream happening on another continent.

On that note, we are still working on David’s immigration stuff. Ireland is skeptical of our living in sin despite my employer’s benefits blessing (in case I dump him and he becomes a burden on the state, I guess), so his passport doesn’t allow him to be here more than a couple more weeks. Conveniently we have booked a trip to Iceland on the day his Irish stay expires and I wonder if we’ll get all the remaining paperwork sorted in time or if he’ll be living in Eyjafjallajökull for awhile.

P.S. Thanks, Grandma, for your letters!

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A few pictures from day three in Dublin (I’ll catch up someday):

These are all from Kilmainham Gaol. The jail was built in 1796 and used until the 1920s. Men, women, and kids stayed in it, and many famous political prisoners passed through (or were executed on site). I found the jail very interesting. You may recognize it from several movies and a U2 video.

From the pictures: 1. monument to the 1916 Easter Rising leaders, blindfolded and with their charges listed at their feet
2-3. Front entrance, with closeup of the snakes and chains above the door
4. Intake ledger from the Great Famine years, with trespasses including “about to commit a felony,” “stealing three loaves of bread,” and “common prostitute annoying the public.”
5-7. Cell doors and halls. Prisoners would get work to do through holes in the walls, like pieces of rope to tear apart into strands. Other work at the jail included breaking rocks. #7 shows the three levels of prisoner areas.
8. A main hall and cell area, built in an oval and letting in a lot of light, which was supposed to improve criminals’ dispositions.

When we visited this jail/museum, I finally bought David and myself cards that get us in free to lots of state-operated heritage sites around the country. You have to sign your name and record the location of purchase on the back and then record the same information each time you use the cards at new places. I loaned our cards (tsk tsk) to my mom and her friend when they visited so they could save on admission fees. I was humored that someone actually looked at the card and asked my mom how she liked Kilmainham Gaol and how long she was in Dublin, which caused her to lie about it, and then her friend wasn’t in on it and said they’d never gone to Dublin… ah, the jig was up!

It’s been a weird week, a combo of sad and reflective and sick of work and then doing ok until someone asks How are your dogs? I had been managing Casper’s terminal illness for months, but the last few weeks became more urgent and sad. She went from playing with Walter to having to be syringe fed in a matter of days. There was actually some relief when I made the appointment and spent the day with her last Monday, but counting down the hours and then being unable to explain to Walter where she went was gutting. Then when I finally got myself under control a few days later, I felt guilty for not being a wreck 24/7 and wondered how her life had been shortened by moving her to Ireland and changing her diet and even stuff I did five years ago. Despite knowing it was coming for months, it all seemed to happen so fast. Even cuddling with Walter just doesn’t measure up. Casper was my heart dog and he is not and as much as I love him, we don’t have that connection.

In the end David and I were with her, and I tried to make that decision when her days were more bad than good, and I know it was the right thing. Still sucks though. We are already remembering her quirks in a happy way, though. I wonder when I will see another doggy love nibble or nosing of the radiator or the fun police again.

I do want to thank everyone who sent kind words here, on Facebook, and through email… I appreciate them very much. Even if I’m a little more animal-focused than most people, I’m comforted that others recognize how important the bond can be (and so many of you are dog people that I know the feeling is understood).

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Tried to keep ourselves busy the last few days… we went to a surprisingly well-attended concert in the pouring rain last week, Chicago brothers Hypnotic Brass Ensemble who were opened by a Nigerian group. They played at Charles Fort just up from our house. I think most of the people there had bought their expensive tickets ahead of time or they wouldn’t have braved the ridiculous weather. We were given free tickets so it was more of an adventure to us! David gave up before I did; we had all our fancy technical rain gear on, but mine’s all new and his seems to have lost some of its waterproofness over the years. Rain pants FTW! I love them.

Kinsale in better weather this week

Yesterday the weather was better than at the concert (though not exactly good), and we reattempted a hike in Co. Tipperary in the Galtees to Lake Muskry. We took Walter there a few weeks back and discovered it was mostly through sheep country and dogs aren’t allowed. Would have been nice for my fancy Hiking in Ireland book to have mentioned this fact… at least now I know to expect dogs not being allowed just about anywhere we want to trek. He’s a good dog but I can see why farmers wouldn’t want a dog among their livestock, plus they might shoot him or leave out poison, and that’s just not fair to chance.

Anyway, the wind howling through the valley hurt our ears but we trudged through the sheep paths and made our way up a ridge where there was a corrie (lake) suspended in the hills. It was a neat hike and we’re glad we went, but we didn’t do the whole mountain loop because it was just rather crummy out. The sheep were skittish when we got near and some of them can really run fast! David got to play with his backpacking GPS for the first time. The maps are too expensive but at least it can keep a trail of breadcrumbs running so you know how to get back.

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
Anatole France

Rest in peace my sweet sweet girl. I couldn’t have been blessed with a better friend.

Casper, July 2000 – 12 July 2010

Casper’s not having a very good day, but she ate a little and is resting. I’m spending as much time as I can with her. I went on a mission to Cork today to find some supplements for her but I’m striking out so far. I did find an Asian grocery and I think I finally have something similar to the Szechuan sauce I cooked with at home! They also had hot chilies, which are very hard to find here. Irish cuisine is indeed bland. I was at a home improvement store today that had a package of “hot and spicy” seeds to grow at home: mustard greens, spicy lettuce, and three other plants that aren’t hot or spicy either. The sixth item was a chili pepper which seems to qualify, but wasn’t a hot variety anyway.

Last night was David’s band’s first gig. They alternated with a couple other guys at the Bulman, a pub down on the water in Summercove, a few blocks from home. One of the other performers was an ass but David seemed to enjoy the event and it was a nice evening out with good music. A friend from home recently arrived to work here for awhile so she and I met up with a couple other expats and drank a lot of beer on empty stomachs (kitchen was closed!).

Second full day of wind and rain… everyone at work says “summer is here!” We’re hoping for a little better weather tomorrow. It’s like a constant mist that comes in all directions at the same time, making it difficult to stay dry. Today was somewhat unusual in that it actually rained hard in a general direction for awhile like at home. Never thunder, though! I heard it once a couple months ago. Instead we get the wind howling down the chimneys.

Casper is hanging in there. She has many hours where she’s just tired, some where she won’t eat, some where she’s vomiting, but she is still able to get around on her own and sometimes seems like her old self. The vets don’t seem hopeful at all but are willing to work with me. I am learning what I can online (fortunately I found a helpful group when she was diagnosed) and requesting medications, but a lot of things just aren’t available here. A couple of European members of the online group have given me some tips but it sure would be easier (not to mention cheaper) to get supplements and supplies in the U.S. Customs restrictions prevent shipping a lot of items.

Her blood values continued to decline even on IV at the vet for almost four days. This was the first time her phosphorus went high, and her creatinine is four times the upper limit of normal. I chose to bring her home because she couldn’t stay there indefinitely, she wasn’t getting better, and the scariness of being away from home is of course a significant factor for my old, shy dog. Quality of life can’t really be great when she’s in an e-collar after chewing on her IV line (leaving her with a swollen, painful leg) and she can only see me for an hour a day, not at all on Sunday, and I don’t believe anyone is at the clinic overnight when they don’t have emergency cases. If her numbers can stay where they are, she might limp along for awhile now that we’re cooking for her and giving medicines and subcutaneous fluids. (Pretty much no one does that themselves here but they were willing to sell me the stuff to let me try. I’m glad I’ve done it before! Plus one of the vets here is from Michigan so she’s sympathetic to American-style vet care.) She could still crash in a couple days, but others with dogs this sick take it one day at a time, so I’ll try.

I was also referred to a holistic vet and I’m considering that approach. I’m a little afraid to jump right in and I wish he were more available for the supplements I’m familiar with rather than going through the entire process, partly because I feel I’m desperate for certain items I can’t get on my own, just to see if there’s a chance she will make it for awhile, and I just can’t concentrate enough to answer a bunch of questions about her background when I fear that dog left last week anyway when her condition worsened. Maybe I just can’t get the analytical side of my brain (that might be the only side) to shut off. Focusing at work has been a challenge but I’m thankful David is at home to keep an eye on her and help during the day.

She hasn’t played with Walter since she came home but she did do her wag-and-bark at David and Walter wrestling, so that’s something, and she’s barking at the doorbell and meeting me when I come home. Walter is being gentle with her, mostly.

I’ve nursed a lot of rabbits and guinea pigs through illnesses, but I feel rather novice now. I’m glad I learned to take charge with vet care and make decisions comfortable for my situation and wishes. The vet reviewed quality of life markers as well and those basics are helpful when things look bleak. It still surprises me how much her ups and downs can affect how I feel all day.

Casper has been in the hospital since Thursday and is only getting worse. I’m bringing her home tonight but I don’t know how long she will be with us. Please send good thoughts for her and that I’ll get through it.

:’(

(as Grandma says)

Sorry for the absence… been on vacation for a few days with my mom and her friend who are visiting Ireland. Poor David stayed home with the pups but he’s probably happier there anyway. A couple teaser shots:

near the Black Fort, Inishmore, Aran Islands

Slea Head, Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry

Mom baby-talks the baby sheep