The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
So, does Carbon have jet lag? Does he get a second wind at around 7pm? Is he waking up all night and looking at the clock—is it morning yet? Only half past midnight???
It's been a week so we're both over our jet lag now, thank goodness. Carbon was fine with sleeping - probably because he seems to sleep most of the time anyway - and of course he can eat ANY time. What took a while to calibrate was his poo times! He was pooing on German time for quite a while. It also took a week for him to start taking himself off to bed at his normal time. He was relaxed by up with my Dad earlier in the week, but the last two nights he goes off to bed around 10pm which is his normal thing.

Whatever I dress in, smart, casual or scruffy, Germans speak to me in English the moment I walk in the shop/room. :unsure:
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You look VERY English, Mags. Doesn't matter what you wear. :D

@Boogie I once had my hair cut by a German hairdresser. After that, people talked to me in German until I managed to get it restyled.
What does a German hairstyle look like? I don't really notice as I'm there so much - I guess I don't see what is right in front of me! The biggest thing I notice when I go to the UK is how many older women bleach their hair white blonde and fry it to death in the process. It's one thing that inspires me to keep my grey - better grey than fried!

When I'm in Spain, most people assume I'm German. That makes sense, though, as 90% of the ex-pats and visitors in the area I live in are German. Foreign = German and I'm clearly not Spanish. When I'm a proper weight, I likely could be taken for German a lot of places but at my current weight I definitely look American. Plus my make up - very few German women are as devoted to eyeliner as I am. :LOL:
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Carbon and I made the long trek up to Reno (Nevada) today. Normally it is a 4-5 hour drive but it took seven due to the traffic. We passed three accidents and a brush fire, plus normal Friday afternoon stuff. SF Bay traffic is bad news, or as Carbon would say, "No bueno!"

Besides the traffic - and a COMPLETELY different way of driving than most of the places I drive - what struck me were the billboards. So many slickly produced massive boards for marijuana. Now that it's legal in California, it's getting the full on mega-millions ad agency treatment.

As soon as you cross the border into Nevada, it all turns to ads for casinos, which are legal in Nevada but not in California. Reno is like a mini-Vegas with massive high-rise casinos jutting out of the otherwise very modest downtown. That's pretty much Reno: a lot of normal 'burbs, casinos, cowboys and brothels. The latter is also something that is legal here and not in California. Brothels aren't in town but rather on the outskirts in so-called "bunny ranches" which are usually just a collection of very un-exotic pre-fab buildings out in the desert.

We arrived at my friend Mimi's house much later than planned. We're both early-to-bed types so Carbon had dinner, I had a tour of her new house, we had a chat, Carbon terrified the cat (or vice versa, who knows) and then we all went to bed. My kind of Friday night! :LOL:

Now I'm in Mimi's amazing guest room and ready for a wonderful sleep. Mimi must have been a first-class hotelier in another life, because she always has comfy sheets, fluffy pillows and towels and stocks her guest room with everything you didn't even know you needed. No offence to my Dad - he tries really hard - but I'm really going to enjoy a proper bed here for a few days. And the wonderful company as well.

Tomorrow it's breakfast out and then we're going to a local guide dog fund raiser event with Carbon. It's just a little thing (dog walk, costume contest, guide dog demos, etc.) but hopefully will be fun for us and great practice for Señor Carbon. :)
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
I read this and thought 'goodness, Emily doesn't know what day it is' because it is SATURDAY arvo here.
It's entirely possible that I don't know what day it is. :giggl:

That’s not good news, we are going there soon
Depends on where you're staying and where and when you're going every day. If it makes you feel any better, the UK also has terrible traffic so by and large you may see the SF Bay and think, "I don't know what Emily was talking about: this is just normal!"
 

Lisa

Moderator
Location
Alberta, Canada
California traffic....ugh. It’s one of the reasons I like the Coachella Valley...traffic is do-able!

Agree about the marijuana billboards...I noticed that too. Cannabis was also recently legalized in Canada, but I don’t see quite the same level of advertisement for it, here. Mind you, I live in hick-town so we basically have less than a handful of billboards around town.
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Hola todos! Here is my latest adventure: a big, big, big store with so much FOOD! Si, si, we also went to a service dog event before the big store. I met many dogs - especially many fellow service Labradors - but the best part of the day was this big, big, big store. I am in love. Can one be in love with a store? No matter, it is la verdad - the truth - I am in love.

Forum dogs unite and DEMAND that your humans take you to the big, big, big food store. It is truly where all Labradors must go to find true olfactory nirvana! (Si, I know those are big words for a humble Spanish Gentleman Dog, but what can I say? One must embrace one's inner genius).

 
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