the strange hours of the night shift

 will head to bed again soon.  finished my work stretch and i have a few days off.  i was sleepy after the walk, errands and dinner so i crashed probably at 7:30pm and woke again after 12:30 am sometime.  lazing about, not sleeping so i opted to just get up and write a blog post.  hope to head back to bed for a big after and get my sleep schedule a bit more normalized for the rest of my days off.  it is peaceful at night though. dogs are pretty chill

 this picture showed up in my memory feed the other day.  always a favorite of Rio Catalina.  i made several winter coats for her, she's wearing the booties and she is also sporting the knee brace she wore for a few years.  such a sweet dog.

 moose viewing out the window at work last week i think.  looking down from the second floor. 

 this week i was on call again one night and then in ICU for two nights...wait i think i was in CICU and then in ICU...yes, how quickly we forget.

 the pups woke me up the other day as there was some action out in front of the house.  there are these small dogs whose owners apparently allow them to wander the neighborhood on a regular basis...so annoying.  this one appeared to have been shaved recently.  when i looked outside to see what the dogs were going on about. i saw this small dog in the street.  it was been stalked by a large raven.  i watched wondering if a raven would attempt to take a small dog like the bald eagles are known to do...well that raven then gave it a try.  a bit of a bluster of activity and the raven flew off without the dog...just another reason not to allow your dog to roam free...especially a small dog

 a few other entertaining moments in the life of dog ownership this week...a few friends came by to check out the new kitchen.  as i have dogs and a dog door i told them that removing their shoes wasn't needed at my place.  they removed them anyway, which is the courtesy in Alaska as in many other places.  we chatted, the dogs came and went in and out of the dog door.  when the friends went to leave...one pair of shoes was no longer at the front door.  Tuskers relocation services....i hunted down the shoes and retrieved them.  one in the living room, the other had made it out the dog door.  silly dogs.

 another day i was loading the dishwasher so the door to it was open.  Ivy came over to check it out.  as she leaned over, her tag caught on the lower rack.  as she moved away the rack came away with her.  spastic flailings ensued.  dishes and dog flying all over.  thankfully, no dishes broke and aside from a tiny patch of fur missing all is well.

 today was major traffic on the trails.  the pups did really well with their hold ups and stays or just going "off trail" while folks cruised past us.  such well behaved pups.  :-).  proud moments for sure.

 stopped by the new REI store today to get my new state parks pass and check it out.  it's pretty sprawling...

 they do have a place for our lecture and an employee there was kind enough to allow me to check it out.  waiting to hear from the guy who makes the schedule and see if we can find a date that works. 

 my friend LS helped me get this home so i have loaded it with tools this past week...step one in re-organizing the garage in preparation for being able to park inside. pretty fancy took box, but i felt my tools had earned a place of honor for their role in the kitchen remodel.  nice to have tools that have worked on a project larger than hanging photo's. hoping i can put them to good use again on other home projects

 foot warmers.

 gotta get brave and do the taxes soon.  from all I'm hearing it sounds like many are upset as they owe taxes...this is many who are middle to lower income as the wealthy I'm sure have no complaints...that is what happens when a capitalist society is turning into an oligarch type society.  I'd rather go more towards a capitalist socialist trend than for us to dig deeper into a society run for the purpose of increasing wealth on only a small percentage. amazing how many will lay aside their own interest in the quest to assist the super wealthy.  the only thing i can figure is they hope to one day find their way into this elite bracket...not very likely.

 was thinking the other day...as i see so many who are drug addicted come through the hospital doors....there is a not small percentage of home grown Americans who are addicts and therefore pretty useless to our society.  made me appreciate the steady stream of immigrants who can come here and actually be productive, who have that incentive to improve, learn, push their children to be productive and successful.  sadly, many of our own are becoming lost souls.  many like to blame immigrants for the failings of our nation...but in many cases our nation is failing because of greed, selfishness and a sense of entitlement of it's own citizens, those born here. 

 you would think the competition alone would cause those who were born here to push harder.  failing schools, the impression that kids are "special" even when they have done nothing.  a push against kids being required to do chores, to not work until after they graduate from college...i think we are seeing the failings of these practises.

 i remember years and years ago attending a friends kids softball game.  no matter what the kids did they were cheered.  you dropped the ball, no big deal, great job, great effort....have we raised wimps? a the time i asked my friend, what will happen when these kids get in the real world and are told they are failing at a job?  will they go cry to mom and dad? 

 I'm happy we had freedom as kids.  we did not have hovering parents.  we did not have schedules.  we were required to do basic things like our own laundry, making our breakfasts without any promise of allowance.  we learned life skills through trial and error, while now i see many kids who are not allowed to do things that it was just assumed I'd do at a young age.

 over protection, fear...i don't know.  I'm not a parent and i know things have gotten tougher in this new world with computers and all, but still....I'm sure the social scientists have a lot to chew on from these past 30+ years.

 several pleasant and pretty walks this past week.  got some good mileage in.  always good to get a mental break from the drama of life and stress that comes with that. 

 being single does mean i can mostly be protected from drama, which i really appreciate.  quite grateful for that this week

 there seems to be some arsonists loose in town.  several fires these past few weeks. thankfully, it appears that a ring alarm system caught a pair of arsonists on tape...clear views with the one guy even saying the other guys name.  this same pair were then caught on the police car devices wandering around as the fires were being fought.  it appeared the one guy may have gotten a bit burned.  they have a photo out of one with his name so hopefully these fools will be caught soon.

 the Lego's of the dog owner world. I've been taken down on many occasions by these dog chew toys.

 we have a dog pool session coming up next week.  always fun.  the dogs love it and i love that they come away with a bath. 

 the island has money for staffing this summer so that is good news.  it is year by year at this point and with our current trumpian administration in AK now things could become pretty bad.

 this is the view i woke to the other afternoon.  Ivy looks pretty comfy.

 great to have such happy dogs. i have no worries about them getting into it with other dogs.  they aren't perfect though.  they relocate shoes, Ivy is known to jump and be a spaz, but that is preferred to other dog issues. a  lot of training has gone into making them the dogs they are.  i could improve in my training techniques but i have learned a lot over the years with dogs. the dog breed does have an impact in overall behavior.  the human element is a huge factor as well though. being aware of your dogs strengths and weaknesses and acting accordingly is key. 

 it's the same with humans. we need to try to be aware of our own strengths and weaknesses.  we also need to be accepting that we have both strengths and weaknesses. we are not perfect but we are also not failures.  we need to accept all aspects of self. work on the things in ourselves that we find over time to be weaknesses but also accept some level of failings.  accept that we are not perfect beings and never will be.  embrace our quirks, try not to dwell on the imperfect moments.  some times the hardest failings to accept are our own. 

 surround yourself with those who accept you for your strengths and your weaknesses.  who do not expect you to be more than you are.  who are a positive in your life and who can help you be the best you. it's also important to be able to accept criticism, to be open to the failures of self.  that can be tough for all of us.  you can't attempt to improve in yourself that which you are not aware of or that which you refuse to acknowledge.

 there is no shame in imperfection.  blaming others rather than looking inside mostly hinders your own prospects for growth.  off to attempt round two of sleep...before the sun comes up

thankful for: A.  being an imperfect being in an imperfect world B.  letting go of trying to be perfect C.  the entertainment of dogs and the support of friends