July 31, 2008

Thoughts for Thursday - This is Tucker and other news

Everyone has been asking to see a picture of Tucker and here he is! As you can see, he probably needs to go to the groomer's. I'm not sure he's ever been, so we might do that tomorrow or sometime next week. Right now we're working on potty training, sleeping through the night without whining and what he's allowed to chew.

Potty training is actually going very well. Sunday evening and Monday he had a few issues with peeing and pooping on the carpet or bathroom floor. Fortunately, Weyrd got some good suggestions and Tucker had no indoor incidents on Tuesday or Wednesday!

Tucker is also learning to sleep through the night without whining. Sunday night he whined all night and Weyrd got very little sleep. Having a new puppy and not sleeping much the first night, in combination with Weyrd's new multivitamins led to a few days of feeling queasy and wondering if a puppy was a good idea (this leads to loss of appetite and weight loss on Weyrd's part which isn't so bad). However, the multivitamins have been discontinued (yesterday) and Tucker hardly made a peep last night, so Weyrd is feeling much better about puppy ownership today.

By the way, things that work are using the dog crate (it's cozy and ultimately calming) and wearing an old t-shirt and then putting it in the crate with him. We're now working on leaving him in the crate for a few hours during the day to build up to 9 hours or so by day. I'll probably get a kennel at some point in the next week. A neighbor has two dogs that are a bit bigger than Tucker and they are very good with being in their kennels while she's at work. She says dogs sleep alot more than people think (until they own one) and with a kennel there's room to get up and move around and play with small toys. With a portable kennel, I can put him in the living room where he can look outside and also watch Animal Planet (another friend does that with her dogs).

Chewing is another issue. The vet's dog trainer said to keep him on his leash during times outside of the crate so I can control where he goes and what he does. Unfortunately he likes to chew the leash, so I may get a lightweight chain for that purpose. He's also more comfortable with me, so he thinks I might be a giant chew toy...um...No Tucker! Right now he has a nubby ball, a rope with two knots, a chicken liver flavored rubber bone and for the crate he has a buddy to lay on that has a tail for chewing. He also has two towels (one in the living room and one in the crate) and my old t-shirt. So that's the news about Tucker for now.

In other news, I finally got a reasonable explanation regarding the job situation. The gal in charge of the whole department is dealing with several new people and attempting to NOT tell them how to do their jobs. First she has a new HR director (and last year the district got a new Finance Officer) so they didn't know what to do regarding paying me hourly and had to meet and draw up proposals. Now all of this would be moot, if the gal she hired to be our department coordinator would just hire me on a regular salary contract. That's the gal who is working on "forming a team" and she feels uncomfortable pulling the trigger until she has a pool of applicants to match up together by areas of expertise. Unfortunately for her, no one is applying for the other position, so the gal I've been talking with said at some point she thinks they'll convert me from hourly to salary but she wants her new coordinator to come to that conclusion on her own (so as to empower her).

And actually as I have mentioned before, I prefer the hourly independent contractor pay (a 1099 contract), if the pay is the same as what I got last year. Because, the annual amount for full time is slightly more pay than I would get with the value of salary and benefits combined. The only issue with being on an hourly contract is that it's less certain long term and I'm not sure what they would do regarding raises if they kept me on a 1099. If they decide to keep me on a 1099 contract, I will set up an additional retirement plan for the self-employed to sock away more money than I can with just my Roth IRA. That's the news for now. When I have a signed contract of some sort, I'll provide an update!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tucker is a cute little furball.

There is something to be said for the kind of independence that comes with being a contract worker rather than salaried. Hope it works out for you.

Anonymous said...

adorable pup. don't clip him yet... he'll be a totally different little guy. as far as the chewee preference. it took months before my muttlet found favorites... even with the sharp little puppy teeth she preferred furry, shreddable toys. still does. won't touch a 'faux' bone for anything, no matter the flavor. and just assume you'll lose at least one shoe someday soon.

TheWeyrd1 said...

Citizen...Tucker would thank you for the compliment, but he's discovered raw hide chews and is a bit busy right now. I'm sure I'll have another blog post when I actually have a contract to review...

Lynt...thanks for popping by! See my comment to Citizen regarding Tucker's new favorite chew toy. So far he's not enamored with stuff toys...yet...

LostInColor said...

He is a cutie pie. I luvs puppies! Sounds like you are doing great with the training.

yenbar said...

Tucker definately suits him..very cute!..but get him to the groomers!
I hope he doesn't decide to use your nice furniture as a chew toy when you aren't looking.We need a video of him in action next.

TheWeyrd1 said...

Lost...thanks!

Yen...one of my friend's owns a Bichon (which is where Tucker found the raw hide chews) and she trimmed his butt hair for me...lol At some point in the next week or so I'll probably do the groomer's thing, but I have a limited budget until the job kicks in.

Anonymous said...

OMG he is cute as hell... adorable little furball... I'm sure he is a busy one too!
good luck with puppy training and I hope this thing with your job comes to an end (a good end that is) very soon...

TheWeyrd1 said...

Hey Ariana...nice to see you come up for air! He's definitely cute! He's getting comfortable now, so he's trying to push me around now...lol The job stuff is finally moving along. They're finishing up the legal crap, since I'm one of the few new folks to the district that will be on an independent contract for the time being. They have me scheduled to start next Thursday, so hopefully I'll be greeted with an actual contract at that time.

Jdancer8 said...

He is adorable...very cute---needs a wee hair cut but I'm sure hes just happy to be in a comfy home with someone to love him---as for the job situation---at least you have some sort of idea that you will be working with them...I mean it is august and school starts soon....Catch up with you Monday :o)

TheWeyrd1 said...

J...I start reviewing files next Thursday for the charter schools and hopefully they'll have a contract ready to sign by then. Tucker's first grooming will have to wait a week, since the gal I was referred to is on vacation this coming week. That's okay, I had his butt trimmed in the meantime and I have puppy shampoo, so tomorrow or Wednesday he'll get a bath.