Positive People

Often it is the people a veterinarian works with that "makes or breaks" his ease of having a good day.

Last weekend I attended the Winchester Bridge rededication with my vet tech CL and her small son. It was great to be there because the bridge is neat and it was an historic event. But we left early on because it wasn't very interesting for the small son. We returned to my abode and had some valuable discussion about the place we work. The small son was much more interested in the keyboard at my apt. and the playground out back. CL is nice to work with.

Sunday evening I was sitting at my table putting a puzzle together, or some such, when the answering service called. There was a horse that needed attention -- the owners were concerned that her gut had become twisted. They found her in a sweat and unwilling to lead.

Prior to my arrival the wife inquired whether my truck has 4WD (Yes), as the horse was out in the pasture and didn't want to come in.
I picked up the wife at the foot of their driveway and she directed me to the field -- a hay field with lush grass and a steep hill. The horse was at the top of the hill, so I popped my trusty Dodge Dakota (er, well, not mine but my company's) into 4 Lo and was soon making my own path curving around and up the hill. The hill provide an exquisite view of the nearby valleys. The weather was pleasant and the lighting idyllic. Aside from the reason for being there, it was a nice setting and good for the soul.

Amid jokes (which are highly accepted by the vet -- makes the job not nearly as tense) offered by the husband (you know, like "Round bales were outlawed in Pennsylvania... because the horses couldn't get a square meal."), I evaluated the horse for lameness and colic. Aside from a high heart rate, I noticed no evidence of the latter. Gut sounds were good, gum color pink and non-toxic, the horse was not trying to roll or go down.
But, she sure did not want to walk. And she kept shifting her weight from foot to foot. I hoof-tested all 4 feet and found a couple sore spots, no obvious toe pain to indicated really bad founder. However, this horse was very sore on her feet -- no matter what the hoof testers "said" -- this horse was sore and took some decidedly lame steps when walking on harder ground.
Turns out she was on lush pasture 2 weeks longer than normal because the owners were preoccupied with some other issues. Tentative, working diagnosis: beginning founder.

I gave her a shot of banamine to ease the inflammation and pain, and they were able to walk her off the hill and down to the barn, away from the instigating lush grass.

The owner apologized for "ruining my evening", apologized for calling me out on a Sunday.

But I assured them they certainly did not ruin my evening. The drive was superb, the countryside picturesque, and the people really good to work with. And their horse wasn't colicking.

Manic Mare

Last week I went to check on a newborn foal -- conformation, blood antibody levels, presence/absence of hernias, infected joints -- the whole bit.
A nice drive it was, but prior to my arrival at the ranch I was told that the mare was a [pill], trying to bite and kick at people. So, as I drove I prayed -- prayed that I would be wise and make no unfortunate moves, prayed that I would not be injured. I'm willing to be brave when it matters. But veterinarian though I am, I realize that unless I am wise my occupation may be cut short in an instant.

I arrived at the ranch, parked, and assessed the territory. Granted, I've met most of the dogs from this place, and they've all been nice to me -- but that was at the clinic and you never know what might be lurking. Pondered for a while... one of my patients walked up (a Borzoi (dog)) to say "hi", seemed to remember me. Heard some sounds in the barn -- investigated -- just horse noise. Saw some people in a red car -- waved to them as they drove out the lane.

No one around seemed to know the vet was coming, no one ventured forth to meet me. Hence, I called the number I was given to call. I should mention that I called this number on my way to the ranch, and the person didn't know I was coming. Had no idea a vet was needed. Said person said she'd call another person to meet me there. Okay, good.

So, called this person again. "Is there a red car there?" says she. No, I just waved to it as it drove out the lane.

Finally, red car returns. Wasn't the right red car. Girl inside car was very nice, offered to hold the horse but later decided to be wise and value her life. Then offers to get her little brother.

The little brother was very nice and the horse liked him. But she was still not going to easily go along with our plans. The halter was falling off, and the little brother was a little too short to effectively put it on. So, we had a nice discussion about school and sports and horse stuff as we waited for someone else to show. Another little boy came out. We wandered out in the pasture, picking our way around the mud and across a large ditch. We found the remainder of the afterbirth and took a look at it. The dogs had eaten the part (chorioallantois) that vets like to analyze for completeness, so no value there. We discussed umbilical cords and which sack goes where. Then one of the boys picked up the afterbirth and ran after the other boy with it.

A couple other ladies showed up and didn't desire to risk their lives...

And then the main owner showed, and decided enough was enough -- she wanted the foal to have its shot and that was that. Definitely braver than I. Throwing caution to the wind, she entered the stall, dragged the foal out, and shut the gate. Well, sort of shut the gate. It didn't have a latch, and the mare was whirling around in her stall trying to find a way out. I hurriedly checked the foal, on super alert lest at any moment the mare blast through the stall entry and bear down on me.

The mare DID blast through the stall entry, pushing the gate aside. And did I ever run. Yep. Shore did. One of the boxer/pit mixes ran after me and I thought (or rather, felt -- no time for worded thoughts) "Oh great -- escape from the mare only to be mauled by a dog." I jumped up onto a panel on the side of a pen, and realized the dog wasn't bent on attacking, at least not once I quit running.

The mare initially stood by her foal, but later went maniac and ran out of the barn. She raced around the barn to the other side, through the large doorway, back into the barn. Wouldn't focus enough to find her foal. Ran back out of the barn after bearing down on a couple dogs (as if they were the cause of the problem).

It was a manic mix of dogs (about 8 in total), children (including a couple toddlers), and adults, with one crazed horse running frantically around. Pausing momentarily to grab a bite of grass, rather lost without her foal.
"Send all the kids and dogs inside before someone gets run over!! " someone yelled, but this was not heeded. "The mare doesn't care about anything."

It finally dawned on me that we could block the mare out of the barn (turns out we could only block one doorway, so we hurried lest the crazed mare return), finish with the foal, and let the mare back in. Which we did. There was nothing amiss with the foal, and all was well.

Wee Wild Weekends

I haven't made it up to my church in Hubbard for a while. There's been too much going on down here.
The weekend after I went to California, the Sharon Mennonite BI folks swung into Winston, OR to give a program at the Winston Mennonite Church on Sunday evening. I looked forward to housing a few girls at my house. Unfortunately, my house did not appear to be welcoming them on Saturday morning. I tackled it, and drastically improved its appearance. It actually looks somewhat respectable now.

The SMBIers were a great boost for our small community. The church was completely packed out -- pews filled, extra chairs crammed into aisles -- who knows what the fire marshal would have said. Attendance was considerably more than our typical 18-20 people. The singing was excellent, and the people kindly.

The girls were fun to house at my place. The drive -- aha -- to my apt was, er, shall we say crammed, squished, knees up to steering wheel, hard to drive, et cetera. My fault because I didn't clean out the back of my car prior to going to the service. I had intended to, but that waren't enough.

We ate pickles, popsicles, and Cheese Puffs (the "natural" kind) Sunday night as one girl read aloud my favorite Dr Seuss book The Lorax. If you have not read this book, you should. And if you don't care about the Truffula Trees, there's something unfortunate about you.
We ate strawberries, canned whipped cream, and shortbread for breakfast (with some healthful items), and then returned to the Winston MC in the mornin' sun.
And then they all drove away and we were left to our sad selves.

***

The following weekend (April 19), my brother and friends J and L G came down for the weekend. We did a short hike east of Roseburg -- hiking up to Watson Falls as the snow drifted down around us. There were icicles galore from the waterfall mist, and the nearby foliage was encased in ice. Very neat.

We had a grand snow-ball fight in the parking lot near the trail, and then proceeded up to Diamond Lake. The snow banks grew as we traveled along, and eventually there was snow on the road. We observed the lodge at Diamond Lake, and then went for a stroll along the lake. Er, maybe we went for a stroll on the lake. It was kind of hard to tell because the lake was covered in ice and snow.

One of our group, JG, trekked far out onto (presumably) the lake, attended by encouragement to be wise (e.g. to not fall in). All was well as he returned from the trek... and then he investigated near the boat ramp. He was just saying that he would not advise us to go over there, when the substrate he was on fell through, and he with it. He struggled to not go all the way in, but, alas, it was to no avail. He reports not knowing if he was all the way to the bottom, but he was soggy up to the waist and his poor digital camera had significant problems. In the split seconds that followed, my brain pondered rescue attempts but thankfully these were not required as he pulled himself out.
A pair of coveralls had been brought along and came in handy.

The rest of the weekend was relatively uneventful. We ate Italian food, looked at pictures, went to church. On Sunday afternoon I sang tenor (!!) in a recital of various songs along with the Roseburg Concert Chorale. I don't sing tenor very well -- not used to reading notes in that range or pitching down an octave from the treble clef. But it was a good exercise for me and many things were learned in the practices preceding the performance. It will be enlightening to receive the recording.

Comments

I question my depth perception, conscious proprioception and vestibular function at times.

A couple days ago I ran my head into the wall as I was going around the corner.

When my eyes are closed it is harder to keep my balance.

When my head is upside down, I seem to judge distances to be less than they are.

Not to mention all the times I whack my hands on table/wall/etc.

NCNG Project

A couple more comments about the visit to California...

I visited the NCNG (Nevada County Narrow Gauge, or "Never Come, Never Go") historical museum, as I always do when going to Nevada City. My grandpa and grandma have spent many hours volunteering there. Grandpa gets involved with restoring train cars and you-name-it, and Grandma used to work in the gift shop.

The current project in the work barn is the fabrication of a steam-powered locomotive. It seems they are designing it basically from scratch, making as many of the parts as they can and outsourcing for those which their machining equipment can't handle. Grandpa has been doing the wood work for the cab, and providing technical knowledge for the mechanical function. They are going to use a steam generator instead of a boiler to produce steam, which will then be routed to the pistons that drive the wheels. There's a lot of interesting physics involved to make the wheels go the right direction -- including a separate, smaller piston that directs the steam to the right side of the big piston. (I think this is called a double-acting engine -- e.g. steam goes to both sides of the big piston at various times.)

I also learned something about lubrication -- apparently they put the oil in with the water in the boiler, and this oil goes with the steam to help lubricate the pistons. Part of why this works, perhaps, is that oil has a greater affinity for metal than water does.

Anyway, pretty neat stuff.

Spring in Cali

As it turned out, I had a much better time and did more interesting things in California than I would have if I'd taken Friday off.

I embarked shortly after 5 am on Saturday, and enjoyed a glorious drive through the Sacramento Valley in the cool of morning. (Not that it got hot that day.) I split off I5, enjoyed pumping my own gas for a change, and headed through Chico and Marysville. As I neared Nevada County, my excitement level mounted. The land of my youth. Nostalgic.

I navigated up Red Dog Road (where we used to live), and took Pasquale Road to my grandparents. I had a feeling it would get me there, but had forgotten to remember how very windy it is. I think my parents bought their old '84 Bronco there, but that is probably not true.

I spent the day with my grandparents -- driving down to Scotts Flat Reservoir (the recreation area of which has undergone a lot of upgrades since I swam there in 1990); visiting Lost Mine Lake; eating food and showing pictures from my Mongolia extravaganza. Above all, my trip was an attempt to find my brain and not think very much about work for 3 days. This day was a good start.

Sunday morning I visited Nevada County Christian Fellowship -- the church my family first attended when we moved to Nevada City. They used to meet in the NC high-school, but now have their own building. Aside from that, a lot of things haven't changed. The worship style seemed very similar, and a number of the main attendees from 18 years ago still attend. That's pretty amazing, considering how many times my family has moved since 1992.

I wanted to see our friends the Salisburys, and was in no way let down. Bo even preached a dialogical overview of salvation and played the harmonica in the worship group. It was great talking to him and Denise.
I also had the ticklish thought that our old friends the Nunninks, whom I hadn't seen for 16 years, might be present... and as it turns out, Levi (my brother's old playmate) was one of the first people I saw in the parking lot and his wife the first person I talked to. It was, as Dad would say, a significant emotional event.

The grandparents and I, for lack of much else to do, went to the Teddy Bear Convention at Miner's Foundry. Now, I think I was more interested to look around the Foundry than to look at the teddy bears, and I daresay my g-parents weren't very enthralled with the stuffed beasts either. It is difficult for me to imagine how someone could be so incredibly excited about teddy bears. I just don't get it. The teddy bear circus out back was amusing, however.

On Monday I sorrowfully took my departure from the grandparents (which brings to memory that I very rarely cry unless for some selfish reason; that is a problem -- but maybe it is sort of normal). I didn't leave Nevada County until close to 2 pm. I drove by our old house on Red Dog Rd (it looks much worse than it did when we lived there -- it is even complete with a couple beater cars), our other house on Gethsemane Ln, the old library, the courthouse, NC Elementary. And then I took forever finding Mount Saint Mary's School, which I attended for 3rd grade. The day was sunny and wonderful, and I really would have preferred to stay there except on deeper analysis. Now that I am old and responsible and have a job, Roseburg is a better place to be. But someday perhaps I will return to the mountains.

On my way home I imposed upon my Uncle Dave (and his mother-in-law) for a short but nice visit. I stretched my three day weekend out as far as possible, but made it home before midnight on Monday.

Scheduling Shenanigans

Last week my old friend EV got married in TN. I really wanted to go, but there was no very feasible way to get to Altamont, TN in time for the wedding. Yes, I have a bone to pick with Friday weddings... but I know that is the custom in many churches. It just makes it very difficult for honest, hard-working souls like myself to make it. Anyway, on Wednesday I was still toying with the idea of going but then came to the realization that not only was it unreasonable, it was nigh impossible. So I bought no ticket and made plans to go see my maternal grandparents in Nevada City, CA. And good thing, because...

I had informed the power that is that I wanted Thursday night off from being on call, and that I would be taking Friday off (which is standard practice since I worked the previous Saturday).

On Thursday evening, it came to my attention that they were expecting me to work on Friday, and the day was booked full. As it turns out, apparently I am supposed to write in my days off on the scheduling calendar (interesting what I learn after 9 months of work). My office manager was very nice and called our relief vet to see if he could fill in on Friday.

He could not, so it was very good I had no plane ticket for Thursday night. What a waste that would have been.

I rearranged my plans with the maternal grandparents, and prepared to embark for the Golden State on Saturday.