frosty week

 a bit of fog the other day and today a cold wind blew through.  no walk today, wind tends to spook the moose and it was really chilly with that wind chill.  i took the dogs to PetSmart instead.  soon after we entered Rio decided it was a good time to pee.  she has never done this before...man was it a huge puddle of pee!! quite embarrassing.  i think she has avoided her outdoor treks due to cold temps, she's a master bladder holder...but time ran out at the store.  some nice lady was kind enough to hold both dogs leashes while i used pretty much every paper towel they had to clean up the lake Rio had left...she pee'd again right after we walked out the door.

 she should be good for a few weeks now.  of course, i have noticed she has woken me a up a few times this week to fill the water bowl upstairs.  diabetes?  i would think she would be drinking and peeing more often though rather than just large amounts at one time.  will watch her this weekend and see if i'm just imaging things.  otherwise she seems find and is eating well.

 these first ones are from a walk gasline/powerline/tank trail with LS the other day. fog came and went as we walked. it was really socked in by my place, amazing how it can clear just driving up a road a bit.

 thought today was going to be my last PT appointment, but this past week i've had increased pain/spasms near the stab sites.  had PT today and she felt like i had some scar tissue building up and that i also had some muscle atrophy of the tiny muscles above my knee so even though i felt like i was doing a great job getting out and walking i still should be doing some more focused exercises on these muscles.

 i'll work harder and add in these exercises and then will return the week after i have my vein procedure...so fun this aging stuff.  oh well  in general i'm walking up to speed and distance for most part.  will have to get to that gym and start building my body up and i wouldn't be opposed to dropping a few extra pounds that seem to have migrated to my arse.   so more ice and ibuprofen this week.  probably just added stress working on my feet as i do.

 finished off the "Gilmore Girls".  spoiler but i was quite happy with the ending.  Luke and Lorelei together again and happy!! i'm good with that. some folks just take longer than others to figure out the love stuff...i can't say as i've ever figured it out.

 WARIS had a good week with the petition flying at times.  we are currently up to nearly 7500 signatures on the petition.  i feel like it at least gives me some credibility...it's not just me out there wanting these walrus watched over.  of course, the note we got from the new commissioner to the various group leaders had the basic message of we hear you, it's not in the budget, if you have 100,000 bucks we are open to taking it to fund the sanctuary.

 https://www.change.org/p/governor-walker-fish-and-game-commissioner-cotten-fish-and-game-director-dale-return-funding-to-round-island?recruiter=218974871&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

if any of you out there wish to sign the petition....the link is above.  hope it works.  i added the new director of habitat division.  will need to send him an individual email.  

 so the WARIS rollar coaster continues.

 nice to have a few nights off of work.  lots of WARIS stuff to try and get to, phone calls, letters, emails.  that stuff is never done and it's revolving and repeating all the time.  for sure a labor of love...who would have thought growing up i would be fighting a battle for walrus.  life just goes the way it goes and you have to be willing to flow with it.  i think you have to be willing to just say yes and go for it some times.  it keeps it interesting.

 one of the ER docs months back had noted me showing some co-workers the travel channel sasquatch clip.  not something people forget i guess...so i added walrus advocate to the list this week.  worked ER one night sandwiched by two nights in the adult ICU.  not a bad week.

 the Jordanian pilot who was held captive by the barbaric ISIS group was put in a cage and burned alive.  horrible, horrible, horrible.  of course, Jordanians were outraged and several captives held by the Jordanians were hung within 24 hours.  a brutal world we live in...pretty sad what humans are capable of doing to each other let alone to the other creatures that live on the planet.

 there was some outrage at the burning of the pilot from the Muslim communities...of course, there was this part of me that thought...so there is a limit, a cut off when the Muslim communities will finally speak up and say this is brutal, this is not Islam.  doesn't seem to happen when suicide bombers are killing innocents and children, or when women are being stoned to death, or killed by families because they are an embarrassment because they were raped.  it doesn't seem to happen when women are victims of genital mutilation or all the various tortures that are inflicted on people in the name of jihad?oh...did i forget to mention beheadings?   i know, they are scared and no doubt frustrated and angry at how twisted their religion gets by these nut cases...but still, it was comforting to actually hear the outcry from that part of the world and think that maybe there is some hope for civility to have a chance.  i'm not holding my breath though.

 on a more positive note...a cute little harbor seal was found in Homer, stranded on a beach.  he was taken to the Sealife Center and was found to be blind.  cute videos.  they are training him as obviously the little guy will not be able to return to the wild.  not sure where he will end up but he seems to be adapting.

 apparently a well known broadcaster created a war story that turned out to not be totally true...my patient last night was watching Fox news all night...torture for me.  i have no idea how this came to be the case with this broadcaster...seems impossible to remember it all that different, but sometimes fear in a situation clouds a memory of the event, and ego could also play a part.  sometimes people come to believe a certain version of an event that turns out to not entirely true.  it's not always intentional.  i have some memories from childhood that when family has gotten together they have recalled the same situation very differently.

 too much news these days is more commentary than facts.  i think in years past many journalists used to get degrees in history or political science rather than  journalism.  often, they care less about facts or fact checking and more about the moment and ratings and such.  hope the facts are close and if not, it will blow over super fast in most cases.

 i think we have an actual See's Candies shop in Anchorage now.  one local nursery/gift store has for years carried  some basic sees boxes of chocolates...but it looks like they now have a real store there...i must add this to my list of critical errands to be run this weekend!

 yesterday Blossom and i did a little loop out in N. Biv.  blue skies and cold air...so pretty!!

 the new Governor is slashing budgets...making my job to protect the walrus even tougher.

 these cold weeks have been tough on the homeless.  it's a cold, wet place out there.  trench foot...frost bite..it's an ugly and painful thing.  stay warm out there...so many of the homeless are vets, many are alcoholics and drug addicts, but some of them are just folks with no support and bad luck or bad decision making skills.  toss in some with chronic mental health issues.  it's a mixed bag out there, but a tough life for all of them.  admittedly, i prefer to stick to saving the walrus.  sometimes i feel a brief wave of guilt about that fact.  i try to be kind and respectful to all, treat everyone equal.  it's not always easy but you have to feel good about yourself at the end of those 12 hours.

 it's getting later. who knew.  not much sleep today.  napped a bit but today was a recovery day it seems more than a productive day.

 hopefully i can get more accomplished on these days off.  i have a WARIS list to work on.

 always love the frost, it really can start to cake on to any twig out there.

 these are some light through frost photo's

 keep doing little muscle strengthening exercises today as i sit or watch tv or whatever i'm doing.  try to isolate this situation and improve my strength.  i shall overcome my little scar tissue/atrophy issues.  good PT appointment though.  happy i took that week off as i think it did help the PT and I hone in on the problem and address it before it really becomes an issue...still very repairable at this point.

 loved the light through the frost...so pretty.

 the sun is setting later and later and coming up earlier.

 the dogs enjoyed their visit to the pet store....they are pretty easy going pups.  good thing.  hopefully we have better weather tomorrow and can get out and enjoy.

 Blossom...such a cutie!

 frost is everywhere...so cool looking.

thankful for: A.  a good PT who is helping me get ready for a summer of hiking.  B.  to have support and a warm place to crash at night...would be hell trying to get warm out there all night with this wind.  C.  a happy ending for Lorelei.  Rory is young, i was chill with that outcome for her.  good night