120909

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Under the Miss ~ eltoe

The ongoing photo journal of Katoba Dobermans' 2009 "Miss & Mister" Litter ~ DPCA Futurity Nominated for 2010

It is 10:35pm
You will NEVER guess how this day progressed.
I had fallen asleep this morning ... FINALLY, and was thankful for that time to rest, as I concede, now, that I am truly SICK.
The dogs did not make a sound for nearly 2 hours - not like them :) - they got BIG brownie points for it though.
The phone rang and I got up to answer it ... it was a puppy owner and I needed to be there for her.
During the course of our conversation, Tyler began making some strange sounds - not crying, (he has been doing a bit of that since his best friend, Logan, died),
but a different sound - almost like an annoying alarm of sorts - so I listened as the pups were whining - and they NEVER whined before ... NEVER.
Barking - oh yes, they can be vocal (especially Erica) - but never had I hear them whining like this ... and I was a bit worried.
So, while still listening to the caller, I looked around into the dogs room and saw that ALL of the dogs were standing up and now staring with big eyes.
Oddly, nobody was moving - the boys had BOTH shredded their dog beds and had two giant nests, (normal for Cahill but NOT for Tyler). And again ... nobody moved
... it was like time was standing still but I was moving. Usually when i go to the door area of their room, they come rushing to the edge of their pens or jump up in
excitement. But NOTHING and the puppies had big round eyes of panic. THIS was WEIRD.
So, I walked down the 6 steps into the kennel room to see what was going on ... when, suddenly, I heard the rug make a "squish" sound ... and then I felt moisture
under my feet. Oh my gosh ... there was a HUGE puddle in the middle of the tile floor. Within seconds, the water was moving, and starting to rise.
I hung up the phone and immediately went into panic-mode - not how I usually respond ... but THIS had NEVER happened to me before.
The hot water heater was in the laundry room directly in front of me ... that must be what is leaking, right?
Literally, within less than a minute, the entire floor had a layer of water in it and I could hear water running from somewhere.
I realized I was now standing in water with a space heater plugged in less than 15 feet from me ... yes, plugged in, and running.
I ran through the garage door and flipped the breakers off to the entire house. No power ~ no electrocution!
I followed the water sound to the hot water heater and turned it OFF. The sound did not stop.
I ran back out to the garage and shut off the natural gas flow to the house.
The water in the dogs room was now covering my feet and they were standing in it.
First and foremost was the care of the dogs - the house can be repaired, but they do not know how to swim :).
I could NOT just throw them all out the back door to the freezing cold ... the boys would fight, the girls would become frenzied, the puppies would get hurt ...
... or worse.
I went back to the garage and grabbed all the crates I could that would fit into the living room.
I rushed to set them up (five soft crates and three varikennels) ... then I filled each one with a dog, (two pups in one of the Varikennels).
Then I went back downstairs where the water now covered my feet to my ankles, and was now flooding into the puppy pen which contained 15 cubic yards of shavings.
Oh God, what a mess this was. Where to begin?
I called Todd, told him what happened so far and he said I should call the fire department for an emergency water shut off - and said the FD's had been responding to
the same type of calls all day from the station he was at. But, did I want to be in THAT group of people, or try to just do this alone.
Had i not had a head full of snot and been half delirious at that point, I would have been able to swallow my pride and call but I was sure there were others who need
the help more than I at that time, so I was giving this a shot, now that the dogs were safe. I would get the water off and start the clean up and worry about repair later.
I opened the back sliding glass door, at which time water gushed out the door and immediately began freezing to the ground.
Then I began searching for the water shut off valve. Can you believe there is NOT a shut off valve IN the house or garage ??
It had to be shut off at the meter in the front yard.
I called the water company to request an immediate shut off - explaining we were now flooded. The girl at TacCityWater said it would be at least 3 hours before they
could send someone out. Were they kidding? The dimwit on the phone told me how "easy" it was just to do myself at the meter, and then gave me "permission" to do
so, and THEN she told me to call back if I had any more questions told me she would put me on the 'list' of service calls, and THEN she hung up on me.
I wanted to drag her through the sawdust gunk - dog bed fuzz floating - flooded basement ... by her hair !!!
Nevertheless, I grabbed the giant wrench she said I would need, and headed for the meter.
I had no idea how whiped-out I was until I opened the meter lid and laid on the grass to reach in ... and found I really wanted to pass out right there on the frozen
ground. I was soaking wet and shaking, and all I wanted to do was keep my eyes closed ... and die ... RIGHT THERE in my front yard.
Nevertheless, I stuck my arm in the frozen spider infested gummy slugsicle box and hooked up my wrench. The meter was literally ticking like a stopwatch.
i used every bit of strength i had - and even on a weak day, I am stronger than most women - but to no avail ... the lever would NOT budge.
I called the water company back, getting the automated system, which proceeded to put me on hold for 17 minutes before cutting me off. WORTHLESS MORONS.
I called Todd again, and I was a wreck - feeling helpless ... I STILL could not figure out WHERE it was coming from as it still sounded like the hot water heater - but it
was OFF ... and without being able to shut the water off. it was now GUSHING into the downstairs ...gallons at a time.
I began tearing down the dogs pens and taking the pieces out the back door.
The mess the dogs had made with their beds was ... a MESS and i just grabbed the garbage can and began filling it with the fuzz etc.
I grabbed all the dog toys and threw them in a basket (priorities ya know); took as many of my books and magazines from the book shelf and moved them up higher;
said good bye to the chair in the corner as well as the vaccuum cleaner and the washer and drier that were now sitting in several inches of water ...
And went to work in between "sweeping water out the back door" and tearing down the dog pens. Cleaning up the puppies pen was an adventure in itself.
Then I did it ..............................................
"911 ... what's your emergency"
Within minutes, the fire department arrived. i knew two of the three men, but they were gracious enough to treat me like any other! I was a MESS - soaking wet and
filthy dirty at that point. Crying and gross, and still ... sick as I could possibly be.
It took two of the boys-in-bunkergear to get that water meter lever to turn ... and they had the big t-bar tool ... the lever had become moist and was frozen in position.
They checked to make sure the power and gas had been shut off properly ~ not to be insulting, but clearly, as sick as I am and as frazzled as I was they were doing
their jobs. While there, the radios were going off repeatedly - some addresses were right on my street. Th three of them were going out to get their industrial brooms
to start the clean up. WHAT??? I said i could do it, at which time they said that is what they had been doing all day and they were there to help. Having been in their
shoes ... er ... boots, I was frequently dismayed over the able-bodied people who waste the skills and efforts of the fire department to clean up a mess such as this ...
so, I told them that this is a neighborhood of mostly retired, older military folks ... they were the folks who were going to be needing them far more than I.
I appreciated them turning off that water flow more than they could imagine ... I could do this clean up (I hoped), and I sent them on their way.
The one firefighter state that the leak was NOT coming from within the hot water heater but behind it in the wall. I was CLOSE !!!
They left - after getting to pet the pups - and I immediately dove in, (true pun intended), to what had become a tremendous mess.
i took apart the rest of the dog pens; kept sweeping water out the door; I tore down the 9' x 12' puppy pen and all that was in it ... and began scooping out the sawdust
mush that was quickly becoming pasty and cement-like; And I swept and swept until my feet were frozen and my arms were burning.
The back patio had become an ice skating rink and the shavings from the pen were washing out to the yard in large clumps, making frozen piles.
The enitre contents of the kennel room was now piled up on one side of the patio, next to the garbage cans I had pulled around ... and now EVERYTHING was frozen
solid to the patio. Hours had gone by ... the water lever was down low enough that I could resume power and gas to the house.
I took space heaters up to the living room where I had put all the dogs in crates for faster direct heat.
With the downstairs door opened for hours, the water causing moisture in the air, and no power or heat for that period of time, it had now dropped to 47 degrees
inside the house ~ and while it was much warmer than the 20-something outside ... it was still chilling to the bone.
The pups were happy to get some light as it had been dark for a couple of hours by then.
By a little after 9pm, I had gotten the worst of the clean up don and had been able to place a space heater it the rooms to begin some dry-out.
NO plumbers were coming out tonight I was certain, so I decided to wait until morning to start my search.
I sent a text meaage to Todd telling him I had conquered this stage of the disaster. I was mad at him for not being here to help me - this was huge and I am now far
beyond being just sick ... I am truly closer to dead (ha). Truthfully though, after almost 2 decades of marriage and more than 30 years of knowing how his work
schedule and commitments, this is how things happen. He does not have the luxury of calling his boss and saying that he is going to jaunt home to check on things or
help out ... just not the kind of career he chose. I have to be sympathetic to that ... just as he has to be sympathetic to my frustrations with it.
Today, was HELL on earth at home ... not just for me, but for EVERYONE who burst a pipe, flooded their house, had to do the clean up ... alone ... SICK, and who had
a houseful of dogs to take care of in the meantime.
I could not be more grateful to Tyler for his "whaling". I now know what his "warning and alert" sound is. He is a dream come true.
ALL the dogs were patient and accommodating to the crate situation. The puppies are not as happy but doing just fine.
Until this is all said and done, my living room will be just like Seattle's "Tent City" ... but with crates; the dogs will have to be rotated out to play in the house & the back
yard in a different way; then, when all is fixed, each dog will get a pen of his/her own again .. and there will be no puppy pen anymore.
As for the dogs going outside tonight: the front yard is not fenced so I am going to have to walk each of them in the front yard to potty before bedtime ...
... the frozen over back patio is simply too dangerous for them to have to run across.
No, I do NOT want to deal with my babes being injured ... especially not on top of the adventure that was "TODAY".
All will be better in the morning ... unless, of course, I die of pneumonia before then
As this night comes to a close, I have to admit I would love nothing more than a hot bath and a warm bed to climb into.
But, without water, that hot bath is not an option ... I have already decided to go to the gym first thing in the morning ... mostly for the shower :)
And as for the warm bed ... since Todd is at work ~ not so much !
I gave myself a sponge bath with BABY wipes of all things ... hey, if they can clean a babies butt, well ... works for me :)
So, I am retieing to the sofa that had become my sickbed refuge anyway ... and I will be able to sleep in the room with all the dogs ...
... it is truly incredible, just how much body heat is generated in a 20 x 16 room with that many Dobermans in it.
I let Erica and Violet up onto the sofa with me ... and now they are sleeping.
Whil I really wish Todd were home, and I wish this had never happened,I wish this was over.
Now, I am more sick then ever. Can't even see the screen very well. Burning up. Exhausted. Today needs to end. I need to hug-a-pup.

It was a whopping 23 degrees on my back patio this morning. I have an energy level of ZERO today and was NO fun for the puppies ...
their "play" is completely different when I am not interactive - they are not nice and are quite competitive when I am not the focus they are just a pack. Tells me that
these guys are QUITE capable of being good performance dogs as when I AM involved, they are focused on ME - even as a group situation. But again, without
direction and focused playtime ... they were a cold agitated pack-of-pups.
Not fun for the most part so it did not take long for them to want to come back into the house.

Any little bit of exertion calls for a rest time for me today. Good Lord ... what IS this nasty visitor to my non-immune system? As someone who refuses to take pills or
other meds anymore, I have to admit, for means of comfort and minor relief, I have become a fan of the following two products:
Exedrine Extra Strength Headache, (acetaminophen, aspirin, caffiene)
Vicks Nyquil Cold & Flu *red, (acetaminophen 500, dextromethorphan 15 mg, doxylamine succinate 6.25 mg)
Todd had to go to work today, so once I got the dogs all settled for a late morning rest time, i brought just Misty and Echo upstairs with me for some cuddling time.
The dogs all seem a bit edgy, unsettled today ... hmmm ... could it be becase they have not seen me feeling quite like this before?
Also, gIven the fact that they are also still sad and confused over the loss of Logan, (some days I forget they are mourning as well), that would attribute to their actions.
Pups are still spending time in their pen to play and sleep when not outside or upstairs with me ... today i am grateful the big pen is still up ...
... i really need some time to rest and get rid of this 'thing' that just won't work itself through fast enough!
I wish Todd were home. I wish I had more energy for the dogs today. They are all so perfect. I wish I had the energy to call the prospective homes today. I've got nothing

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Thank you, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue ... I appreciate your quick response and assistance in shutting off the water main.

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If you are interested in being considered for one of the show prospect puppies available, (Zzzen, Soleil, Breeze),
please begin by filling out the questionnaire, (below).
Email it to Kathy at katoba@comcast.net. Please do not leave anything 'blank' on the form.
Kathy can be contacted at 253.312.4839.