I know, I know, my daily blog has turned into more of a monthly blog. Hey, a blind guy has got to get paid to. I now write regularly for The Dog Whisperer, so please do visit http://www.cesarsway.com and just do a search for my name Brian Fischler, and you can pull up all of my articles there where I write all kinds of articles including a column about going through Guide Dog School for the first time, and Celebs and Their Biggest Fan, a column about what else celebs and their dogs. Interviews that have been published have been with Jenna Elfman, Denise Richards, Joe Pantoliano, Gabrielle Anwar, Kearran Giovanni, Henry Winkler, and Callie Thorne with many more soon.
Be careful what you tell your dog. On Monday, I kept telling Nash that we had an exciting day planned for Tuesday. I went to bed Monday night early for me at about 130, and at 450AM, I was awaken by Nash shaking himself awake. This never happens, so considering that we had an eventful day planned for Tuesday, I wasn’t thrilled, but what are you going to do. When you tell a smart dog like Nash that he has an exciting day ahead, he is going to get up at the crack of dawn all ready to go. Needless to say, we drank a lot of coffee, or should I say, I drank a lot of coffee, Nash doesn’t need the pick me up. We headed to Grand Central station at 10am to take the Hudson line to Yorktown Heights where Guiding Eyes For the Blind is located. I have gotten pretty good at navigating Grand Central Station since I have given into the realization that I have to ask for help to find my way around. It was very uneventful getting to our train except for Nash trying to eat something off the floor of Grand Central. Yuck buddy.
Along with taking Nash to Guiding Eyes for a spa day, I had a real fun day planned, as I had to go to the DMV to get my ID renewed. I can understand why a driver’s license expires, not sure why an ID card expires. Did I stop being me all of the sudden? My Aunt Lona was meeting us at the train and she was kind enough to meet us on the platform, as the platform at Croton Harmon is so narrow that a sighted person has to be careful not to fall off it.
My Aunt, Nash, and I headed out to lunch before going to Guiding Eyes. My Aunt told me when we were sitting there she went to say hi to Nash, and that Nash looked at her, then looked at me as if to ask is it ok? Pretty amazing considering my Aunt is someone that Nash knows pretty well. We had a very nice lunch, and then headed off to Guiding Eyes.
We hadn’t been to Guiding Eyes in quite awhile, and I have to admit, I kept thinking is Nash going to think hey wait a minute why am I back here, and where did Brian go? Yes, I over analyze things. It isn’t very often that Nash and I are apart, so being apart and Nash being at Guiding Eyes, I had to wonder if he thought he was being returned? Nash was there to get a bath and his nails clipped, a doggy spa day.
My Aunt and I didn’t have the same fun planned, as while Nash went into for his treatment, we headed off to the DMV.
Amazingly, we got in and out of the DMV in about 30 minutes, and yeah, being blind and standing there with a cane, I had to say, “I’m here to get my drivers license.” I’m sure they never heard that one before! That was the extent of excitement at the DMV.
We needed to go shopping, but we went back to Guiding Eyes before going shopping, as I was feeling a little guilty about leaving Nash there. I had let Susan the woman who trained Nash know that we would be there, so if she had time, I know Nash would love to see her, and vice versa. When we got back to GEB, Susan was already there with Nash, so I know the guy had to be happy to see a friendly face, but I think he was much happier to see me when I walked through the door. I got a little talking to as Nash does need to lose weight, and yes, we are working on it. It has been a really tough year living in the boonies, and not having anywhere to go. Susan got to play with Nash for a little bit, and we plan to go back in February, as I want to show GEB that Nash has taken the weight off, and he will be do for another spa day, as it had been much to long.
We headed off to the mall, as I needed a new winter coat. It occured to me that my main winter coat was now 13 years old, that’s in human years, and it might be time to retire it. My parents wanted to get me a new coat and snow boots for Chanukah, and when you’re blind it’s really best to shop with someone who can see. Not that I wouldn’t look fantastic in a pink polka dotted winter get up!
I was expecting the mall to be a zoo a week before Christmas, but amazingly, it wasn’t that crowded at all. We were at the mall that Nash and I trained in when we were at Guiding Eyes. It was so empty, I’m not sure how all those stores stay in business, so navigating the mall with my Aunt and Nash was very easy. After going through a few stores we finally found a great jacket and then winter boots. Living out in the boonies, if it snows or storms real bad, I will need the boots. Funny thing is I have never owned a pair of winter boots, as I never needed them. Wow, those things aren’t fun putting on and taking off. Maybe when I have to wear them, I can get Nash to help tug them off.
My Aunt was so nice to make some food for me to take home with me, so after stopping by her house, it was back to Queens. It was so nice of her to drive us home, as taking the train and then having to rely on Access A Ride to get all the way home can be a nightmare, and an all day event.
Overall, it was a very nice day, and there really isn’t anything better than having a nice clean smooth doggy sleeping in your bed.
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