The Dog Cafe

arealhuman said:

Congratulations!

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Thank you

Something that brought joy to my heart today - there is a big rope & wood dragon swing in the local park, like this: https://www.play-scheme.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/R-SS007-Dragon-Swing-1.jpg

Today, standing at one end was a boxer. She kept shoving the end of it with her nose, it swung away from her and then back, and she gave it another shove. All the while with a tennis ball in her mouth She was having a whale of a time, but her owner said she gets even more excited doing it when there's children sitting on it. I didn't ask what the children thought, but I'm now rather wishing I got on myself!

Hubby commented, 'So that's how boxers' faces end up looking like that'

Remember our neighbours who moved in next door with three Boston terriers (which went down to two)? They're emigrating to Australia in a few days and not being able to find a buyer for their house, are renting it out. The new neighbours - who sound thoroughly respectable so we shouldn't have to worry about the noise of late-night shenanigans - have three cockapoos! OK, not as good as three pointy dogs of course, but IMO preferable to Bostons (as long as they're not barkers).

The two Bostons are currently in quarantine in Melbourne and apparently doing fine. Then they, along with the whole family, are taking a road trip in a camper van from Melbourne to somewhere on the north coast. What could possibly go wrong?

Gosh that's a big old journey eh!! Good luck with the new fluffballs living next door and hope their people are nice

Glad you have fluffballs living next door. Pip had separation anxiety when I first had him and used to bark . he still howls now sometimes but the neighbours don't mind , thank goodness.

If the fluffballs have separation anxiety I can see me asking if I can pop in and keep them company

That is actually a good idea.

Last month I had to pick my daughter up from Uni, in Kingston. I've done this journey twice before, the first time my husband wrote out nice clear step by step directions( I have zero sense of direction). Myself and daughter set off and I managed to mess up at the first instruction going from the M23 to M25, somehow... luckily she had google maps and she directed us through some lovely country lanes and we got to where we needed to be, phew! The second time we had my god daughter with us, as back up co pilot, and we made it without getting lost. This third time I felt really confident, I'd gone over the map several times, printed off simple instructions, used my highlighter and everything and I'd worked out where I'd gone wrong the first time...

So I set off on my own at 7am, still feeling good. Then it came to going from the M23 to M25 again and I thought I'd got it right, but within a couple of minutes I started feeling like the signs were wrong and I realized I had totally messed up, again!! Uhhhhrrr I hate motorways, you can't just turn around and try again... I pulled into the first service station, took a deep breath, tried to suppress my utter despair and total fear of just being lost somewhere and spoke to a lovely lady who told me to get off at the next junction, go round the roundabout and come back down the other side of the M25, then find junction 9, easy peasy... Headed back up the M25, had total fear I'd gone wrong again so took the first slip road to Orpington...Parked up down a side road, cried a bit, phoned my husband and asked if his friend who lived in Kent(I was sure I'd passed a sign saying I was now in Kent!)could come and find me and lead me to Kingston, unfortunately the friend lived nowhere near where I was... I didn't dare drive into Orpington because I'd probably still be there now! After some deep breaths and reassurance that the roundabout I'd just turned off was the one I needed, I continued my journey...Back down the M25, found junction 9 and finally got off the g*d damn hell road of too many lanes! Phew!!

I finally got to my daughter just after 10am and did cry with relief!!(As did my husband I expect) I can just about laugh now when I think of it, but at the time it really was my worst nightmare! All that night when we finally got home, every time I closed my eyes I just saw lanes of traffic and signs!!

I've just printed off the A roads route, ready for the return journey in September and booked the goddaughter in as co pilot, never ever again am I going on a motorway!! I just felt I could now share this experience... Does anyone else have this problem? I swear I missed out on this directional gift at birth! I can literally walk into a building, turn one corner or go through one door and get lost!

I empathise with you totally, Flobo, we have the same navigational skills Embarrassingly, I've never driven on a motorway - I have a fear of merging in at slip roads. I've never been a confident driver and have had a few near misses in my time, so once MrN retired, I decided the world would be a safer place if I hung up my driving gloves. Which is a pain when I want to go somewhere and he doesn't, but generally we go places together.

I swear I've developed ADHD since I had covid, which is apparently a thing, which has made me even more easily distracted than before

I can empathise 100%. Thank God for satnav. Wasn’t invented in the 70s when my best man and I got onto the wrong motorway on my wedding day. Panicking like mad and running around service stations looking like out of work conjourers in our morning suits (hired, of course). We eventually got onto the right motorway to see my future wife and her matron of honour sweep by in the Rolls. What fun. Our 50th next month. Has been a hoot.

JudyN said:

I swear I've developed ADHD since I had covid, which is apparently a thing, which has made me even more easily distracted than before

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Ive always been slightly off with people but since covid...

Well ...my daughter bought me this pin. Im seriously thinking of putting it on my jacket.

I have a great sense of direction. But Mr F can get lost - proper lost - in Tesco.

I can get lost coming back from the loo in pubs, even before I've had a drink!

Threr was a time when we were in Prague (I think) and Mr F went to a loo. To be fair, it was in an underpass so there were several exits. But I not exaggerating when I say I had to wait 45 minutes. I mean, how long does it take to check four exits?

JoanneF, your husband has my sympathies as indeed does everyone who is directionly challenged.

@Flobo - did I miss something, no phone with satnav? Even if you don't fix it to your windscreen you could have it giving audible directions from your seat. Your story reminds me of a time before we had satnavs and I travelled a lot. I used to carry paper maps and have to stop regularly to see where I was. I remember going to an office in Bristol once and got totally lost, was on the phone to someone there, tellig them what I could see and they talked me in! Took ages and they had the patience of a saint.

I much prefer motorway driving, its so much easier - once on the road its easy mostly, no turns-offs, roundabout, narrow lanes etc, just a straight line ahead. This time last year my commute to work was around 200 miles and 5-6 hours in the car before starting work. I mentioned to my wife over the weekend how much I miss that! The drive was OK, and I felt fresh when I got to work. Different story coming home though.

arealhuman said:

did I miss something, no phone with satnav?

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yes I have a phone, it has google maps, don't think it has sat nav(I am also technologically challenged!). I did open the maps thing but couldn't make head nor tail of which way up I was or manage to make any sense of it unfortunately... It really just panicked me more! I think if I had got it to work and talk to me I still would of been shouting 'what this left? What lane do I want? Are you sure? Have I missed it??' And on the other hand I also worry that I am far too literal to have sat nav...

And yes going into a toilet somewhere always baffles me too when I come out!

With the rising awareness of adhd and autism(especially how it presents in women), I have come to the understanding that I am probably both... it certainly explains a lot!!!

It is nice to hear I am not alone in having missed out on the sense of direction thing! Thank you!

Google Maps = satnav I don't have my phone with my now, but I'm sure, like in most satnav apps, you can set it to track up, so the arrow that represents your position always points up and the map moves around this, which is the easier way I think of seeing where you are and where you're going. Like you say, sometimes they can let you down by saying "take the next left" as you're on top of the turning or have passed it. The thing I like the most is, if you get lost after setting your destination it will always get you to where you want to go. The caveat is unless you tell it to avoid certain roads (e.g. narrow lanes or even motorways) you can end up getting sent down some awkward routes! Always have a backup - I still carry a UK atlas in my car, just in case.

I use Google Maps to direct MrN sometimes if we're going somewhere new. Mostly it works, though I'm sometimes thrown when it suddenly changes scale. Though MrN often overrules it because, as arealhuman says, it can take you down some crazy rat runs. It's useful for spotting traffic jams ahead and if they're unavoidable, you can see how long they can go on for.

@Flobo, though I said I seemed to have developed ADHD after getting covid, looking back, I realised I've always ticked a lot of boxes for both autism and ADHD. I told my mum and thought she'd laugh and tell me that was ridiculous, but she said, 'Well that would explain a lot.' Oh....

@JudyN it was after my daughter got an adhd diagnosis through her uni to aid support ( though not through her doctors, strangely she hasn't got round to it!!) and becoming aware of the fact it's highly likely inherited, that led me down the path of discovery... I spoke to my mum about it and she said, oh I do that and I'm like that etc etc... It's been an enlightening journey to say the least!

@arealhuman thankyou! I will endeavour to practice it... I have printed out the A road route for my next trip to Kingston, maybe I'll set it up(as I have back up in my passengers)and try it out.