I have bruises

Okay, so most of you who know me would know by now that bruises aren't that uncommon for me. Due to my normally klutzy nature, a new one always seems to pop up every week or so, most often on my shin, although it should be noted that somehow I managed to bruise BOTH my big toes (so much so that the toenail fell off on my left foot- whoops).

But enough about bruises. They're relevant, but not for a little bit here. So- work! Yes, I worked my traditional 10 hour shift yesterday at the kennel. I was terribly tired yesterday for some reason, so before noon I was already into my second can of diet coke of the morning. Yesterday was one of those lovely days that I was called to work up at the front desk- Yay!!! It's far more enjoyable than doing battle with laundry or bathing dogs and ending up soaked. I found out yesterday that one of my co-workers had to give one particularly hyperactive dog a bath and came out soaked. Being the nice person I am, I simply laughed and told the person who told me that I would've paid someone just so I got out of giving that crazy dog a bath. But anyway- desk. So there's a crew of about 4 receptionists that work up at the front routinely, and yesterday morning I had the distinct *pleasure* of working with the one who considers me fairly much inept. Of course, it didn't help that all the calls I answered, it seemed, were from clients who wanted outlandish things like info if a dog had any labwork done within the past year, or wanted to get their kitten declawed and neutered and get all the shots involved... Ugh, it was a mess, and I felt inept by the time that lady left, since she was always wanting to check over my work. *sigh* The afternoon perked up, though, when the other receptionist took over for the AM one, and since I really like working with the afternoon receptionist a great deal better, it was all good.

The only real headache that I ever encounter up front is when the pet owners are inept. Just like you see people in the grocery who's kid is just hollering and banging their fists in agitation against their mom's shoulder screaming that they want those cookies NOW and that she'd better buy them... well, you get the picture, but anyway, just like some people do not need to be parents, some people really shouldn't be pet owners. I had to deal with this family who wanted to board their three dogs, none of which appeared to be current on vaccinations, then cancelled a reservation for one of their dogs then wanted to reschedule that one dog... Ugh, suffice to say it was a mess. Anyway, I must've spent half my time up at the desk calling two different animal hospitals trying to get shot records (since heaven forbid you take all your dogs to the same freakin' clinic), finding out that one of the dogs was in the system under a different last name, calling the owners who say that, oh yes, all our dogs are quite up to date on their shots, fielding calls from the owners (where, by the way, the husband apparently didn't ever tell the wife what the heck he was doing about all this, and vice versa), listening to their crazy household going on behind them, hearing about how this family couldn't come to a conclusive decision about how best to get the dogs vaccinated, and what they should do, and everyone's got an opinion on what's supposed to be done...

In short: utter. chaos.

In the end, I left the desk around 4 to help in the back again, doing the closing stuff for the kennel area, and these people were still not in the system, although I had started them around 10:45 that morning. Sad.

So, as I go into the back, I'm pretty carefree. Take out dogs, oversee things: shouldn't be bad, right? I totally forget how one of the vet techs had come up front to regale us with the story of how difficult one of the dogs was to get into his cage after getting the nasal bordatella vaccine. But don't worry: I'm soon reminded. We let out our big group, and as they're all coming back in, it's me and the new kennel worker who are scrambling about, trying to herd these big dogs back into their runs and shut the door in time so they don't get back out. Usually you have maybe one challenging dog that you have to kind of shove inside and close the door really quickly on, but it's not so bad.

And then, there was Kobe.

Kobe is this massive yellow lab, who you'd swear is related to some sort of tank, except for the fact that he slobbers EVERYWHERE! He had just come in that morning, so none of us really knew what he was like, especially not me, and so I go grab him by the collar and start to bring him towards his cage like I do for every other dog. Except this is Kobe, and about 5 feet from his cage door, he plants his butt on the concrete floor (which, thank the lord, is the smooth and somewhat slippery stuff) and refuses to budge. Okay, fine: some dogs are difficult, and this is his first night here, I reason. Sure- fine. I'm kinda frustrated with the dog, since there's like a scabillion other things that need doing and I really want to get going closer to 6 than 6:30 like what usually happens, and so I just gut it up and start pulling the dog to the cage. I fancy myself fairly strong, so I'm okay with dragging. We get into the cage, I let go, and he darts out the cage door. Damn it. Take 2: I hold onto his choke chain this time and attempt to maneuver my way out while another kennel staff holds the cage door this time, but this stupid dog will NOT stay in, and is pushing against me trying his hardest to get out. I can't hold on to his collar with more than one arm, since I'm rather flattening myself up against the wall to make myself as narrow as possible so I can squeeze out the gate, but with every inch I gained, he gained one, too. So I end up banging my shoulder into the gate as I try to get out, pushing the dog back all the while, whang my wrist in the process, all while realizing that this dog has slobbered all over my once dry pant leg. Obviously, I did get out, but not before hitting more parts of my body than I did when I fell down the stairs once. It. Was. Unfun.

Anyway, aside from all that, I have a relatively light day today. Just a 2 hour shift at the tutoring place in terms of work, and I'll be free until Saturday, when I work again. But I'm happy, at least I get tomorrow off, and I didn't have to work up there today: 22 dogs were supposed to be coming into the kennel today, which to give you a guide is probably more than we see come in in a week. Yup- people love their dogs, but not enough to take 'em with or get them home on time. I think I got 3 phone calls in 2 hours yesterday from the front saying "So-and-so's owner called, and so-and-so's gonna be staying with us another night." Seriously people: I understand, your flight gets delayed, it's gonna happen, but would you please dispense with this notion that we've got unlimited room??

Anyway, /endrant, and I'll go toddle away to retrieve my freshly ironed pattern pieces. (Check the other blog for an idea of what the heck I'm talking about).

Cheers!
~r