![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I have two-and-a-half hours of dog walking with four dogs lined up today, all on the north shore. It's getting a little chilly, so I'm wearing my arm warmers, which I really adore. Then, this evening, I have three hours of volunteering with the dogs at EAS. Yay doggies!
I was doing a walk today and had another issue. It was the same building I wrote about earlier where I got the wrong code for the lockbox and had to go through ridiculous loops to get the walk done. Today, I got the keys from the lockbox and found that the exterior door locks must have been changed or something. I tried all the doors all over the building and it didn't work on any of them.
I was frustrated. I was going to have to contact support yet again. Then I paused. I considered options. I said "Screw it. I'm tired of having to get help on these things even though it's not my fault. There must be a way I can get in here. It's not like I've never snuck into an abandoned building to take photographs before."
And there we go. It hardly took 15 seconds.
When I walked the dog, I stuck a piece of cardboard in to block the gate latch. I was ready to climb in again if necessary but it was there when I got back. The dog was wonderful and I had a great time with her, so all is well!
I was frustrated. I was going to have to contact support yet again. Then I paused. I considered options. I said "Screw it. I'm tired of having to get help on these things even though it's not my fault. There must be a way I can get in here. It's not like I've never snuck into an abandoned building to take photographs before."
And there we go. It hardly took 15 seconds.
When I walked the dog, I stuck a piece of cardboard in to block the gate latch. I was ready to climb in again if necessary but it was there when I got back. The dog was wonderful and I had a great time with her, so all is well!
A Chaotic Day of Dog Walking
May. 8th, 2017 05:47 pmI have to tell you this story before I forget it.
I had three walks today, all pretty close to each other and timed with half an hour between. Easy to get to by bike. Yay! (I love having a job that lets me bike around the city!)
I got to the first walk fifteen minutes early and started looking for the lock box with the keys. I couldn't find one on the street despite thorough searching. Then it occurred to me to look in the alley. I found a Wag box there, but it was the wrong one. The client's code was four digits, and this box only had three. I tried using different three digit parts of the four digit code, but that didn't work. I walked around the building again and texted Wag to ask whether there were two clients here and if there was a second box I couldn't find. I called and left a voice mail too, saying I was worried about making my next walk. Then, because the client had texted me earlier in the day to give me some info, I texted zir to ask for a pointer toward the box.
Some time passed, during which I anxiously circled the building more times. Wag texted me back with the code I already had; the wrong, too-long one. Then the client texted me to direct me to the box. It was the one I'd already found. I said that I thought that might be the case, but Wag seemed to have given me the wrong code. Zie gave me the right one, which I passed on to Wag to update their notes. By that point, it was nearly time to leave for my next walk. I told the client that I was so sorry this had happened, and that I'd do a short walk right then and come back after my other walks to do a full one. Zie was happy with that, and said that as long as she got to get out and pee, all was well.
I got the keys from the box and looked for the door to the apartment. This building is like a maze. Three different sets of exterior stairs on each side of the building, and no numbers on the units. I tried a door on the first floor, then realized there was someone looking at me through the half-circle window at the top. I was so started that I stepped back, stumbled, and hit my head on the barred fence separating the building from the next one over. I tried a few more doors with no luck. I think I scared someone inside one unit, as after I tried the lock, I heard the deadbolt close. Finally, I went around the building and in through the front.
Vega, the dog I was there to walk, was an adorable, excitable, 30-ish pound, not quite fully grown puppy. Not just excitable; very excitable! So excited that when I let her out of her crate, she excitedly peed on the floor. I started trying to put her leash on her, and that got her more excited, and she made small puddles elsewhere, as well as in her crate. I figured I was going to be late if I walked her, and at this point she'd peed anyway. I cleaned up with paper towels, put her back in, and left for my next walk.
I made it there with five minutes to spare and looked at the info in the app. Several notes on where the dog was and such, but no info on access to the house. I looked around and found no lockbox near the front door. I walked around to the side and couldn't find one there either. I texted Wag. "Wag," I said, "I seem to have angered the dog-walking gods today. I'm at my second walk and there's no lock box, nor any info about how to get in. Can you help?"
I got a response from the client from my first walk, to whom I'd accidentally sent that message instead of to Wag support. Zie let me know I'd texted the wrong person, and that zie was sorry that the gods were not with me today. I thanked her, apologized, and sent the message to the correct recipient. Wag said they'd look into it. Meanwhile, I kept going back and forth between the front and side door, looking for a lock box. I went into the alley behind and found an open gate into the backyard, so I went in there and tried the patio door. I walked back to the front and passed a man who may have been looking at me suspiciously as he walked by. I contemplated how Wag walkers explain themselves if questioned by police. I sat on the front steps and waited.
Wag responded and said they had no info either and would try to get in touch with the client, who had failed to fill out the info. They gave me the client's phone number to try too, so I called and left a voice mail. No luck all around. While waiting, I asked how to handle my first walk. I wasn't sure if I get paid for doing the walk after that, but I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get dinged for a no-show or something. After a little discussion, they moved the walk to 3:00 so I could log it then when I went back. Yay!
Twenty minutes after the start time, I let Wag know I was going to my third walk. They said that was find and they would mark it as cancelled and give me the $10 short-notice cancellation fee for walkers. I wondered what was going to go wrong with my third walk. Fortunately, the answer was nothing. It was my fourth time visiting those two cute little fluffballs, and all went pretty smoothly. At one point, I was leaning down to adjust a harness and somehow the leash clip popped loose. I'm not sure what that was about, but I quickly dove for the ground and grabbed the dog. No real fear of losing him, but I did manage to tear a hole in my jeans and scrape my knees slightly. We had a nice little walk on the beach. Grover decided to roll in some bits of leaf, but I think I got most of them out of his fur. I got face-licks from Cookie as usual; yay!
I biked back to walk Vega, who was actually just a block away. I got back into the unit, let her out, and watched her start making puddles on the floor again. I figured if I stopped to clean up, she'd make messes as quickly as I could clean, so I got her leash on and rushed her outside.
We had a nice half-hour walk around the neighborhood. Puppies are just adorable! Everything is wonderful and fascinating! They don't quite understand how their bodies work or how big they are. Vega tried three different openings in a barred fence separating her from some pigeons before concluding she wouldn't fit. An elderly woman with a lot of dog experience stopped to interact with her. Vega was scared of a lot of things at first, but warmed quickly.
When the time was up, I walked Vega back to her building and tried again to figure out which door it was. The client asked that we use the back door to avoid annoying the landlord, and I knew it was on a fourth floor landing. I thought it was the middle set of stairs, so I started up them and Vega balked. I cajoled and encouraged, but to no avail. So I picked her up and walked up the four flights, where I arrived at the wrong door. That dog was clearly smarter than me. After we climbed back down and walked over to the next stairway, she happily climbed it with me.
We got back in and I gave her one of the treats the client told me were in the fridge for her. While she ate, I cleaned up the pee that was around. Finishing that, I filled out my report card for her people, and put her back in her crate. As I did, she peed on the floor again. So I closed her crate, cleaned up again, and left for home.
On the way up in the elevator in my building, I leaned heavily against the wall and then rested my head against the elevator panelling. That felt kind of funny, and I realized I have a small bump where I hit my head on that fence. Of course, when I got into the condo, Piper insisted on going for a walk!
I'm pretty tired, but in an hour we have a school colleague of Danae's coming over in for the first time for games, so I have to do some cleaning! And he likes Factorio too!
I had three walks today, all pretty close to each other and timed with half an hour between. Easy to get to by bike. Yay! (I love having a job that lets me bike around the city!)
I got to the first walk fifteen minutes early and started looking for the lock box with the keys. I couldn't find one on the street despite thorough searching. Then it occurred to me to look in the alley. I found a Wag box there, but it was the wrong one. The client's code was four digits, and this box only had three. I tried using different three digit parts of the four digit code, but that didn't work. I walked around the building again and texted Wag to ask whether there were two clients here and if there was a second box I couldn't find. I called and left a voice mail too, saying I was worried about making my next walk. Then, because the client had texted me earlier in the day to give me some info, I texted zir to ask for a pointer toward the box.
Some time passed, during which I anxiously circled the building more times. Wag texted me back with the code I already had; the wrong, too-long one. Then the client texted me to direct me to the box. It was the one I'd already found. I said that I thought that might be the case, but Wag seemed to have given me the wrong code. Zie gave me the right one, which I passed on to Wag to update their notes. By that point, it was nearly time to leave for my next walk. I told the client that I was so sorry this had happened, and that I'd do a short walk right then and come back after my other walks to do a full one. Zie was happy with that, and said that as long as she got to get out and pee, all was well.
I got the keys from the box and looked for the door to the apartment. This building is like a maze. Three different sets of exterior stairs on each side of the building, and no numbers on the units. I tried a door on the first floor, then realized there was someone looking at me through the half-circle window at the top. I was so started that I stepped back, stumbled, and hit my head on the barred fence separating the building from the next one over. I tried a few more doors with no luck. I think I scared someone inside one unit, as after I tried the lock, I heard the deadbolt close. Finally, I went around the building and in through the front.
Vega, the dog I was there to walk, was an adorable, excitable, 30-ish pound, not quite fully grown puppy. Not just excitable; very excitable! So excited that when I let her out of her crate, she excitedly peed on the floor. I started trying to put her leash on her, and that got her more excited, and she made small puddles elsewhere, as well as in her crate. I figured I was going to be late if I walked her, and at this point she'd peed anyway. I cleaned up with paper towels, put her back in, and left for my next walk.
I made it there with five minutes to spare and looked at the info in the app. Several notes on where the dog was and such, but no info on access to the house. I looked around and found no lockbox near the front door. I walked around to the side and couldn't find one there either. I texted Wag. "Wag," I said, "I seem to have angered the dog-walking gods today. I'm at my second walk and there's no lock box, nor any info about how to get in. Can you help?"
I got a response from the client from my first walk, to whom I'd accidentally sent that message instead of to Wag support. Zie let me know I'd texted the wrong person, and that zie was sorry that the gods were not with me today. I thanked her, apologized, and sent the message to the correct recipient. Wag said they'd look into it. Meanwhile, I kept going back and forth between the front and side door, looking for a lock box. I went into the alley behind and found an open gate into the backyard, so I went in there and tried the patio door. I walked back to the front and passed a man who may have been looking at me suspiciously as he walked by. I contemplated how Wag walkers explain themselves if questioned by police. I sat on the front steps and waited.
Wag responded and said they had no info either and would try to get in touch with the client, who had failed to fill out the info. They gave me the client's phone number to try too, so I called and left a voice mail. No luck all around. While waiting, I asked how to handle my first walk. I wasn't sure if I get paid for doing the walk after that, but I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get dinged for a no-show or something. After a little discussion, they moved the walk to 3:00 so I could log it then when I went back. Yay!
Twenty minutes after the start time, I let Wag know I was going to my third walk. They said that was find and they would mark it as cancelled and give me the $10 short-notice cancellation fee for walkers. I wondered what was going to go wrong with my third walk. Fortunately, the answer was nothing. It was my fourth time visiting those two cute little fluffballs, and all went pretty smoothly. At one point, I was leaning down to adjust a harness and somehow the leash clip popped loose. I'm not sure what that was about, but I quickly dove for the ground and grabbed the dog. No real fear of losing him, but I did manage to tear a hole in my jeans and scrape my knees slightly. We had a nice little walk on the beach. Grover decided to roll in some bits of leaf, but I think I got most of them out of his fur. I got face-licks from Cookie as usual; yay!
I biked back to walk Vega, who was actually just a block away. I got back into the unit, let her out, and watched her start making puddles on the floor again. I figured if I stopped to clean up, she'd make messes as quickly as I could clean, so I got her leash on and rushed her outside.
We had a nice half-hour walk around the neighborhood. Puppies are just adorable! Everything is wonderful and fascinating! They don't quite understand how their bodies work or how big they are. Vega tried three different openings in a barred fence separating her from some pigeons before concluding she wouldn't fit. An elderly woman with a lot of dog experience stopped to interact with her. Vega was scared of a lot of things at first, but warmed quickly.
When the time was up, I walked Vega back to her building and tried again to figure out which door it was. The client asked that we use the back door to avoid annoying the landlord, and I knew it was on a fourth floor landing. I thought it was the middle set of stairs, so I started up them and Vega balked. I cajoled and encouraged, but to no avail. So I picked her up and walked up the four flights, where I arrived at the wrong door. That dog was clearly smarter than me. After we climbed back down and walked over to the next stairway, she happily climbed it with me.
We got back in and I gave her one of the treats the client told me were in the fridge for her. While she ate, I cleaned up the pee that was around. Finishing that, I filled out my report card for her people, and put her back in her crate. As I did, she peed on the floor again. So I closed her crate, cleaned up again, and left for home.
On the way up in the elevator in my building, I leaned heavily against the wall and then rested my head against the elevator panelling. That felt kind of funny, and I realized I have a small bump where I hit my head on that fence. Of course, when I got into the condo, Piper insisted on going for a walk!
I'm pretty tired, but in an hour we have a school colleague of Danae's coming over in for the first time for games, so I have to do some cleaning! And he likes Factorio too!
Dog Walking
May. 5th, 2017 10:23 pmI did two 60 minute walks and a 10 minute potty break today. I put a new Gator Hardshell tire on my bike yesterday and did a minor tuneup, so I could use it for work. I rode it 4.3 miles to the first walk on Pratt in Chicago with Grover and Cookie. (Love the names, and they're adorable little things.) On the way back home, a job popped up in Skokie that looked like I could get to it. I snarfed it and changed course westward. That ride was about 6 miles, where I got Wrigley out for my first hour-long walk. Biking home from there was 3.7 miles. I took the car to my evening walk, but that was the second 60-minute with Blu. So that's about 14 miles by bike and 7 by foot today. This job is good exercise.
Things took longer than planned with Blu. The Wag! app has an interface that leads to me keep tapping "end walk" before putting the keys back in the lockbox. I did it again. Since this would have been the third time getting support from Wag! on this issue (and last time I said "It won't happen again!"), I was embarrassed. I was pretty sure I remembered a couple of the numbers, and it was one of the old 3-tumbler boxes instead of the newer 4-digit ones. So I started brute-force cracking it. I was wrong about remembering the numbers apparently (funny how memory works), but it only took me a little over 300 attempts to get it open.
Then, on the way home, support contacted me to ask whether I'd put Blu in his kennel. I hadn't; was I supposed to, I asked? He was loose when I got there, and there were no notes about doing that. Turns out that this was a cover for Blu's usual walker, and when it's a cover, the notes from the owner don't transfer over. So totally not my fault. I drove twenty minutes back to put Blu away, and was thanked profusely by support.
I'm still processing how I feel about that. Did I do it because I want to be a good employee and look good? Because I was scared of being seen negatively by the company if I didn't? I guess some of both. It wasn't my fault, but I suppose you could argue that it's my responsibility. Anyway, I finally got home at 9:30 from a walk that ostensibly ended at 8:00. Still, I had a fun time walking around the edge of a forest preserve with Blu, who's a younger, very excitable bully breed dog.
*yawns* So tired. But I made $50 today!
Things took longer than planned with Blu. The Wag! app has an interface that leads to me keep tapping "end walk" before putting the keys back in the lockbox. I did it again. Since this would have been the third time getting support from Wag! on this issue (and last time I said "It won't happen again!"), I was embarrassed. I was pretty sure I remembered a couple of the numbers, and it was one of the old 3-tumbler boxes instead of the newer 4-digit ones. So I started brute-force cracking it. I was wrong about remembering the numbers apparently (funny how memory works), but it only took me a little over 300 attempts to get it open.
Then, on the way home, support contacted me to ask whether I'd put Blu in his kennel. I hadn't; was I supposed to, I asked? He was loose when I got there, and there were no notes about doing that. Turns out that this was a cover for Blu's usual walker, and when it's a cover, the notes from the owner don't transfer over. So totally not my fault. I drove twenty minutes back to put Blu away, and was thanked profusely by support.
I'm still processing how I feel about that. Did I do it because I want to be a good employee and look good? Because I was scared of being seen negatively by the company if I didn't? I guess some of both. It wasn't my fault, but I suppose you could argue that it's my responsibility. Anyway, I finally got home at 9:30 from a walk that ostensibly ended at 8:00. Still, I had a fun time walking around the edge of a forest preserve with Blu, who's a younger, very excitable bully breed dog.
*yawns* So tired. But I made $50 today!
Hurt Dog Update
May. 4th, 2017 03:49 pmI did two walks today, including with the dog I mentioned earlier with the too-tight shirt. Her owner had left me a note thanking me for catching the problem and left some spray out to apply to the wound if she's licking it. And she was no longer wearing the shirt. I feel so much better!
Looking more closely at the dog's leg today, it's a wound that would give me concern. I wonder how long it's been like that. Hopefully it will start healing.
Getting face-licks from that little dog makes me so happy. Even more so now that I feel like I may have helped her heal and feel better!
Looking more closely at the dog's leg today, it's a wound that would give me concern. I wonder how long it's been like that. Hopefully it will start healing.
Getting face-licks from that little dog makes me so happy. Even more so now that I feel like I may have helped her heal and feel better!
Another stressful dog situation today happened with the same place I couldn't find the key last time. I started walking with the two dogs, but one of them was continually stopping to lick at a foreleg. I investigated and found that the stretch fabric shirt thing he was wearing was too tight around that leg and was rubbing his skin raw. I tried to adjust the position somehow, but the dog got defensive when I touched around there; and understandably so!
This is just a ten minute "potty-break" walk, so you'd think it'd be quick. I hope it will be in the future. Today, after getting back inside, I spent a while with the dog in question. I got the shirt off and looked at his foreleg, which seemed in good shape; just irritated where the sleeve end had been. So I tore the hole open just slightly at a seam and tried to put it back on. The dog was opposed to this idea and made his opposition clear. I spent fifteen minutes or so alternating between trying to get the shirt on the dog and calming him down when he got too agitated with me. I got several bites on my fingers which, while not of the actively trying to do damage variety, were definitely warnings, not play bites. But I finally got the shirt back on him and put him in his crate to calm down. Before closing it up, I leaned in close and got lots of kisses from him, so I don't think he holds a grudge.
I'm anxious that I did something wrong. That I misinterpreted the dog's behavior, or that the shirt wasn't actually too tight, or that the owner will be upset that I tore the hole bigger, or will be offended that I talked about the problem in my report card (I did not mention that I enlarged the hole; just that I 'readjusted' the shirt). All sorts of stuff to worry about. But I believe I did the right thing with the information available. And as Danae said, the worst thing that could likely happen is that I'll lose this recurring job. I can live with that.
I've had continual low-grade anxiety as I get used to all this new stuff, and incidents like this don't help matters. I hope it gets better as I go along and that this will be a growth process for me.
This is just a ten minute "potty-break" walk, so you'd think it'd be quick. I hope it will be in the future. Today, after getting back inside, I spent a while with the dog in question. I got the shirt off and looked at his foreleg, which seemed in good shape; just irritated where the sleeve end had been. So I tore the hole open just slightly at a seam and tried to put it back on. The dog was opposed to this idea and made his opposition clear. I spent fifteen minutes or so alternating between trying to get the shirt on the dog and calming him down when he got too agitated with me. I got several bites on my fingers which, while not of the actively trying to do damage variety, were definitely warnings, not play bites. But I finally got the shirt back on him and put him in his crate to calm down. Before closing it up, I leaned in close and got lots of kisses from him, so I don't think he holds a grudge.
I'm anxious that I did something wrong. That I misinterpreted the dog's behavior, or that the shirt wasn't actually too tight, or that the owner will be upset that I tore the hole bigger, or will be offended that I talked about the problem in my report card (I did not mention that I enlarged the hole; just that I 'readjusted' the shirt). All sorts of stuff to worry about. But I believe I did the right thing with the information available. And as Danae said, the worst thing that could likely happen is that I'll lose this recurring job. I can live with that.
I've had continual low-grade anxiety as I get used to all this new stuff, and incidents like this don't help matters. I hope it gets better as I go along and that this will be a growth process for me.
