Washingtonians

[ReiMiraa]

the really akward part is that he is in 2 of my agriculture classes and is in my lab group in one of them....

-sigh- why do i attract weirdo's? is there a sign on me i cant see? i thought coming here i had escaped the curse from HS, and CC....

this semester here i am working hard to make friends (because i was sick most of the time last semester and became an isolationist....) and this happens. why me? in 2 weeks at my social group counseling meeting i am so going to ask and propose how to approach the issue. this falls along the homework i have with types of assertiveness...

 

[Ogress]

Well, I waited at the school for 30 min this morning for the principal, but he was in a meeting. I had to get to work, so I left the letter and a few photos and a business card and he called me a short time later. This is what happened:

DD's bus was late... it was not at the school, so he went into his office to make some calls and find out where the bus was (It was late because the driver was dropping off the middle school kids, discovered the flooded street, the flood signs ahd not been put out yet. She had to backtrack 5 miles and start her route from there.) The principal asked the Yard Duty to watch the kids while he tracked down the bus. In the mean time, the bus showed up, would not allow DD on so she told the duty she was going to ride her scooter home. The Duty told her to go slow due to the terrible weather, and she let her go! The principal said he never would have allowed this, and he was not aware that Olivia did not go on the bus.

I asked who the duty was, thinking it must have been someone who thought we lived nearby. Turns out I know the Duty and has been to my house more than once. I don't know what she was thinking. Maybe she just was not thinking. I've had run-ins with her in the past though - only person at the school I have ever had issues with.

Her son and my son are the same age, and 4 years ago she screamed at my son while he waited in the bus line and told him he needs to buy her son a new pair of $320 glasses because she claimed he tripped her son. (she was not an employee of the school at the time). My daughter witnessed the incident with the mom at the bus line, as did a parent who called to tell me about it within minutes of the incident. I called the teacher to ask if the boys were having trouble in class and asked if she noticed any aggression in Alex. Turns out, not only were the boys having trouble in class,but she winessed the incident where the glasses broke. The Duty's son and another boy sat down at a table with Alex at lunch and taunted him repeatedly until Alex got up, threw his lunch away and ran out of the building. The 2 boys followed and continued teasing (Alex has HF autism, very much like Aspergers Syndrome). When Alex ran out of the building, he tried holding the door shut with his foot, but the 2 boys pushed through tripping over Alex's leg. The boys were reprimanded at the time (but not Alex). I called the mom and told her if she had an issue to please call me directly, and not to scream at Alex like she did. I told her Alex's side of the story and said I would be willing to pay half for the glasses as he should not have blocked the door. I also asked her to confirm the story with the teacher. The teacher met with each of us separately and she told me that the boy frequently picked on and teased my son. My son for the most part ignores him, but sometimes he reacts. (since Alex has been very young, I stresseed that it is NEVER okay for him to push or hit because of the huge advantage of his height and size, he could really hurt someone and be labeled as a bully since he is different). The future school Duty never called me back for half the eyeglass $, but I always felt a cold resentment from her. I was PTA treasurer the next year and I didn't like the iciness, so I tried to improve the relationship. I don't want our sons interacting, but I wanted her to know I had no hard feeling toward her. She had a catalog party sales business at the time, so I bought some stuff from her on a couple of occasions as a peace offering, and she delivered them to my home (she'd just drop them off at my porch and call later to tell me she had been there).

Anyways, I'm hoping it was just absent-mindedness that she allowed DD to go home by herself, and not that she's still carrying a grudge.

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
I HATE when they do that! It has been my experience that if there is something truly abnormal or bad, they would contact you, even if it meant calling at 3 a.m. to get you back in immediately. If your doc can't be there to make a call, someone else will. I've even had one track down a friend of mine to when he could not reach me. (He knew my friend was a mutual friend of one of his employees) If it is something like an inconclusive result, or a reading that is slightly elevated, or bacteria in the urine sample you gave, the call will not be as urgent, and they will try again in the morning.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Well, she was egg bound. I went to work and talked with our vet and she told me that we needed to treat her as soon as possible as she could die from this. So I went back home (not far, thankfully) and got her. The vet could tell without doing anything else that she was egg bound. We took an x-ray, just to have for our Kid trips. The vet just reached inside the hen and pulled the egg out. The hen was pretty dehydrated....I think the BR bitties have not been letting her near the water bowl....so now there will be multiple bowls set up. She also got some subq fluids at the clinic. She is up and scratching for bugs and green shoots in the yard right now as we speak....She looks good. I will just keep an eye on her for the next few days.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

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On MY side of the mtn:
We do have a few swamps, mud holes. But are lakes are pretty clear. During run off they are almost thick brown muddy...really icky. Different lakes have different colors and different looks. We have alkali lakes, white rings around on the rocks/bank and the lakes are pretty clear. High elevation lakes are almost crystal clear and you can see the bottom. Spectcle Lake (opens for fishing this weekend) is a "messy or dirty" lake. It has a tendency to "turn" regularly and has a lot of millfoil (sp?) in it. Palmer lake is huge, deep, and beautiful. Very cold. Conconully is a fun lake/reservoir...the kids love to swim in it. Lots of deer around it. Bonaparte is another fun lake. We are going to go to Curlew Lake this year and do some camping.

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
... I think I'll go check my BCM, just in case. Glad you got that one resolved. How did the vet "reach in"?

4 days in a row now I have 10 eggs from 11 birds. Everyone but the BCM, unless the BCM lays ordinary brown eggs and I'm missing it because I am expecting something dark.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
Most, even in flood, are sparkling clear due to clay soils and constant "flushing"'
Sparkling clean, clear and fantastic waterways & lakes here.
Wonderful drinking water, mostly soft.
You will love it.

That is great news that almost all are clear, but what stood out in your post was soft water. We don't drink the water that comes out of the faucet in Oskaloosa, we fill our 7 gallon water containers up at Wal-Mart. Soft water, cool.



From the head water guy in our town
"Our water comes from well down in the bottoms. Very high mineral content. This means HARD water. City of Lawrence shoots for a hardness of 100, ours is 325 +. This mineral content also carries a small amount of taste aswell.
"

If you are going to be living in the Colville area....you will have hard water.

CL has soft water....Not on this side of the mtns.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
My BCM has laid only one egg, and that was the day after we brought her home. I too was thinking there may be something wrong, but she is behaving perfectly normal and does not seem to be in any distress. I felt just in case, not that I would know what to check for. she didn't feel any different than my other birds. Maybe it is just transplant shock, or maybe the breed are not reliable layers. The Sussex is laying fine. The Bantam Cochin has not laid an egg yet, but she and her roo are content with a new coop and a 10' X 10' covered run all to themselves. None of the birds appear to be in any distress to my untrained eye.

My BCM is not being picked on by the others (the Sussex is). The BCM was acceptesd fine into my flock and hangs out with them. She is not as good with people and runs from DD and I when we reach to them, where my hens run up and squat, and the Sussex follows me like a dog, but does not do the squat thing. The banties look to see what goodies we bear, and then decide if they will allow themselves to be pet or picked up.

The BCMs at my house are taking there sweet time to lay also this year. I didnt have them under a light is why. I wanted to let them have a time off this winter. They will lay but your right they dont lay eveyday. Plus they do need to get use to there new place and feel safe. As to her not comming to you that will take time and also I dont pick my girls up becasue you have to remember Im allergic to them. At my place they free range during the day on more than a acre and than tuck them self's in at night in the coop.
Ive never had a problem with them getting egg bound but this doesnt mean it cant happen.

Oh, heavens....this is not your fault. She had the stress of moving, the stress of being introduced into a new home, the BR bitties were not being nice. I had multiple food sources for them, but only the one water ....I think she got dehydrated and all these components did not help. I needed to go and buy more oyster shells (got them...and everyone has a full supply). She is doing well and is out chasing Matilda, Sophie, and Juliet right now. Emily has started to be accepted into the BR bitty clan...I don't know why they have been picking on Amelia so much. I have been letting everyone free range as much as possible to go in and out of each other's runs to get used to one another.

Also, I wanted to tell you.....I cannot necessarily walk right up and pick up one of my hens...but almost all of them (and Emily and Amelia and the 3 babies are learning) that when I make my chickie girl call to come a runnin. The staff at the vet office was amazed at how tame she was...she sat still and behaved WAY better than some of the dogs and cats that come in. She was quite the lady and was VERY well behaved. Amelia made quite an impression.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
That is up to you...what do you want to deal with? She may end up liking spicy...or it may hurt, which in turn will make her cry, which you would have to console. LOL. Been there done all that. Have fun.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
I don't know if anyone has helped you here yet Teresa~but what I have done in the past, and I have had several egg bound hens is bring them inside.. use a dog crate or something... Put her in the sink with warm water so she is sitting in it, let her sit in it for a long time too... I usually keep adding warm water. The warm water, the warm house should help her relax. KY is good around the cloaca since you have it. I have also used Olive Oil in a pinch. It sounds like you are doing everything correctly, it may just take some time. If you go to my blog and read about "Cee Cee's Ordeal"... you will see how egg bound a hen can be. She actually had a soft shell egg that had started to adhere to her oviduct and was stopping the whole process. it actually took a pinky to rotate the regular egg, and in the process that loosened the soft shell.... it was pretty dramatic. Lots of warm water + KY mixed with it enemas.

Thanks Jbear....I cheated...I took her to the doctor and they took an x-ray.. The x-ray was actually very cool. The vet was able to just reach in and take the egg out. Amelia just seems fine now.