about getting from point A to point B in the most interesting ways possible

If you're a large woman in America, your whole life is an opportunity to feel self-conscious, embarrassed, resentful and way too big. You can hide in the corner or on the couch, you can go to therapy, or you can put on your lycra bike shorts and get out there and move.
—Jayne Williams, Slow Fat Triathlete

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June 23, 2005

Poor Zoe! permalink

I just have to hold on. Today, and tomorrow, and then it's the weekend.

I'm relieved, really, to have an appointment today with my meds consultant. Exercise seems to be a good stress-release, but only for about as long as I'm doing it. The fact that I'm having these rolling panic attacks, well, I'm hoping something can be done, short of me jumping into the Willamette. After all, the Willamette is filthy.

I decided today to do an experient. I scooted to work, and I timed it. I came in early today, so I was battling less traffic. 14 minutes to get to the garage, and parked. 6 minutes to walk to work. So, 20 minutes. Within 30 seconds of how long it takes me to bike to work.

Scooting is fun, heavens knows, but bicycling is exercise and fun and (the way I do it, it's) silly. I'm pretty sure it's faster than taking the bus, too, though on the bus I get to read or knit.
Obey the Pitbull!
...
Last night we had some excitement. We were watching TV, us and the dog and the three cats, all piled on the couch, and I heard something rattle on the front porch. We had our windows open, and there are lots of dead leaves on the porch that I need to get rid of. I'm looking out the window, thinking, is it a rat? is it a cat? And suddenly our neighbors' pitbull's head pops up in the window.

Zoe, said pitbull, is full-grown, but tiny, about the size of a Jack Russell, except built like a football player. She is just a wiggling happy pile of love, and she's so homely that she's cute, and she seems to adore us, because she's over in our yard all the time. It worries me that Zoe's owner is so relaxed about her being loose. We live on a fairly busy street, in a neighborhood where loose pitbulls are usually something you want to stay away from. And, we do have neighbors who have an equally lax view of keeping their dogs contained, and their dogs are mean!

So Sweetie, who has shoes on, goes to take Zoe back home, as we always do. I'm like, honey, you're recovering don't do that!, because he'll spend the next half-hour trying to get back to normal breathing, but he's out the door before I can stop him. And all of the sudden, I hear the sounds of a dog fight. Oh, good.

I run outside, and sure enough, a loose dog that was being walked, twice or three times Zoe's size, is attacking her. There's still no sign of Zoe's person, though the guys with the bigger dog manage to pull him off, and Sweetie picks up Zoe and takes her to the house. Zoe's person is all, gosh, thank you, and I'm thinking to myself, you've got to contain your dog.

Poor Zoe!

Posted at June 23, 2005

Comments

We have a neighbor that lets their dog roam. The poop is annoying - the day I see the carcass out in the busy road behind their house is the day I go tell then they aren't allowed to care for animals! UGGH!!!!!

Posted by: neca at June 23, 2005 09:30 AM

Poor Zoe, indeed!

Why don't people who have fabulous and loving animals appreciate them and take better care of them??

GRRRR...

Posted by: Jill at June 23, 2005 09:49 AM

Omigod, don't even get me started on pit bull owners!! I think they have something seriously freaking wrong with them to choose that breed, number one. Two, they're uniformly clueless. GAH! There are tons around here, all out of control. And I'm a big-time dog lover, don't get me wrong.... but they make me crazy.

Posted by: Nancy Toby at June 23, 2005 07:15 PM

Zoe would have a hard time in Germany these days. Pit Bulls have to be on a leash and muzzled when out in public. At home they can't be running around loose either (must be in fenced in area, warning signs etc.). Germany is also trying to pass a mandatory leash law for all dogs in public (even the cute little ones). On the other side the latter is not a bad idea as I have almost been bit several times while running, usually from dogs whose owners let them run on ahead in the forest and don't keep an eye on them (by the way there are signs all over the forest saying that the wild animals are carrying rabies and that all dogs HAVE to be on a leash). Sometimes I think it would be better to put the leash on the people and let the dogs walk THEM. By the way I really do love dogs, I just hate inconsiderate dog owners!

Posted by: Jack at June 24, 2005 12:38 AM