After a slow start here in LA end of last week, we've been movin' and a shakin' yesterday and today. So many problems big small, some solutions, well thought out, haven't been successful. A lot of hurry and wait as Larry has just returned from a convention in Vegas and has a lot of contacts to phone, orders to nudge, and other various and sundry tasks that also need immediate attention. Once we've agreed to which imagined solution we are going to attempt, I can often execute the plan. For some, he has to actively participate, though I try not to let him just do things for me. Anyway, everything is coming into place.
If you haven't read my last blog about Vegas at WordPress (
http://gracelessgranny.wordpress.com ) titled "Fun and Games in Las Vegas," some of next information might not make sense.
THE COOPER FRONT
Most important to me, I mean I've got to get him squared away so I don't have to leave him behind. I'm taking complete advantage of his confusion about being somewhere besides home, and the clinginess that has come with, and his training is coming along quite quickly. He's been able to heel without a lead within two days for about two blocks. Now understand he's tall enough, and I am short enough, that his collar is quite literally at my hand level. In those brief moments where might reconsider staying at my side, it only takes a quick clasp of my hand and I have either his collar, or a chunk of fur, or both. That being said, he's not seeming to be in need of such grasps yesterday or today. I generally keep him on a leash. I just feel a dog is best trained when the leash is unnecessary, and at this point he needs to be that well trained in order to meet the huge number of people, families, and situations we may encounter without bringing some untoward issue to fore.
Additionally we are installing a second vent window in the trailer at about eye level for Cooper when he is laying on the bed, like he is supposed to when I have to use the trailer for a temporary kennel for an hour or two. This extra vent just barely lets the outside world be seen and it should feel more like a room. Oh, and we've got a nice little clip on fan that moves the air nicely. LA has been quite overcast and drizzly, with occasional down pours, so the heat issue cannot be tested at the moment. In other words, is a second window and a fan enough to take on Las Vegas on a 90 degree day, I don't know. It's a start.
One last thing I did was to clean the car. Doesn't sound like a chore on behalf of a dogs comfort, however in trying to tackle the disaster that had become the inside of my car, I flipped down the back seats to loosen and remove the stream of dog-fur-lint-yuck, that had built up in crack. Aha, now look at that, looks almost like the back of a station wagon. Dogs like the backs of station wagons and UVs better than people seats, maybe he'll like this better. He seems to love it. He sat in there for 2 hours while I went in and out of sight, around the building, and whatnot as I attended the next issues in line. He never cried, barked, howled, or tried to dig himself out, all things he has been struggling with. There's hope.
Cooper did have one truly disgusting and destructive outburst. While we were out to dinner on Sunday, just up the street, half hour tops, Cooper managed to rip to shreds the entire lower half of one of the back trailer doors. The outside sheet metal was fine but all the paneling and even a quarter inch or so of one 1x2 support stud were shredded in a heap on the floor, red stained from the his bloody paws where he'd continued to try to dig his way out in spite of the business ends of self-tapping metal screws that were now fully exposed. That area has now been plated over with some heavy sheet aluminum that he can't shred,. . . okay that's yet to be tested, but I'm pretty darn sure he can't.
THE RIDE OF EQUIPMENT
Once on LA freeways it became evident that some of the equipment was not maintaining in its prescribed positions as well as they had on open interstate freeways, and yes that my half-way graceful way of saying, "LA freeways suck." The mast twice jumped the hooks at the ends of the straps that suspend it from the trailer ceiling supports. Fortunately, that big heavy captain's bed caught the fall both times. The mast damaged the bed a tad, but the mast is fine, thank goodness. One dent in that mast set up and I'm dead in the water. Dents and telescoping poles just do not make a usable combination. I'd end up with a really expensive bundle of useless tubes. After a couple of tries, I think we have that resolved. It's still suspended next to one wall, but it is also now strapped to wall so it can't jump anywhere. Because I'm so protective of that mast, I've put heavy foam bumpers between the wall and the mast, then its strapped down snugly.
Otherwise the equipment and all the living requirements seem to going pretty well. Tomorrow I'll be doing some maintenance instructional videos for Larry's new product, I hope. It was supposed to be Monday, then today, now tomorrow; but again, it's understandable, some of the parts required for some of the installation videos have not arrived yet. I'll also do some stock photos of the products, and a presentational video (I'll be recording not on the video per se).
After that I'll be installing a big bin on the trailer tongue for a deep cycle battery, we'll wire that up with a toggle switch so it can charge while the car is running then disconnect from the car's battery when I'm using the deep cycle electricity in the trailer. That way the deep cycle doesn't inadvertently drain the car battery. That bin will also solve the minor problem of where to put the propane stove and pot and pan, where I'll be able to get to them without having to empty the trailer to open the drawer they are currently in.
LIVING IN THE TRAILER
Yes, it is so tightly packed in the trailer that I cannot keep all three sets of drawers clear to open at one time. Considering that and the fact that the equipment has taken top priority, living in it isn't bad. I'll grant you that living on a bed, rather than having a chair, or heaven forbid a rocker recliner, can make the small of my back feel every one of it's 50 years for about 5 minutes after exiting the trailer. Sleeping is fine. I've felt reasonably safe even though my doors are 10 feet or so from a busy street. Poor Larry has had to explain to a few folks it seems, that he did offer me a room in his house. And he totally did, but I have to live in the trailer while I'm here because right now is when I'm around his shop, his expertise, his patience, and he needs something from me so I feel like I'm bartering rather than imposing.
I think one more day, maybe two on these traveling issues. Then I've been told about a place kind of up in the mountains near here where newly homeless with vehicles "camp" together on the road. It seems from what I'm told, (and please, I won't know till I look, so I could be getting incorrect information) that unless the fire danger is high, no one disperses them. I mentioned earlier that it's cool and wet in the LA area encouraging me to think there's a chance they may be there, if this is quality information.
Thanks again for all who are sticking with me during this boring nuts and bolts part of the test run. I look forward to making it worth your while soon with video and focus on social and political issues, instead of trailer, travel, and dog issues.
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