Calling all Visually Impaired people

so, this post is mostly what it says, and intended for visually impaired people, because i am looking for a bit of advice. In particular, i would be seeking advice from those of you, who have a guide dog. I want to know, when you got your first dog, where were you living? at home? in halls of residence at some college? in your own apartment/house? Those of you who have dogs and live with parents, i wouldn't really be looking for your stories, because as those of you who have looked at this blog before, know, my first dog came home to a family situation, and this just did not work out, just my situation. I'm thinking of moving out, into a house/apartment share, and then applying for my second dog. Ideally of course, i would love my own apartment, but current economic times dictate that circumstances are otherwise.

Opinions much appreciated, as well as your own stories. Do you think sharing with other people and having a dog can work out? do you think it's necessary for the first year of the partnership for it to just be you and your new guide?

Look forward to reading your responses.

9 months later!

So here i am again, this time 9 months after my last post, i swear i really have to start writing here more often. An awful lot, once again, has changed since my last post. I'm writing this on a mac. I've completely switched to apple products now. i have an IPod, an IPhone, and now, a beautiful new macbook air. I pimped it up a bit, so i intend on making it do as my main machine for a long time. The great thing about this mac, is that it's completely built around flash storage, which means there are no moving parts at all in the machine. It's ultra slim, portable, and so light i can't get over it! to learn more about macbook air you can check out, http://www.macbookair.com

I received a custom made case for my macbook, from a company in america, San Francisco to be precise. if you need any sort of custom cases for computers or phones, do check out http://www.sfbags.com you won't be disappointed. Their service is absolutely fabulous.

Now my major news for the moment. i have had a job coach from fas for the past few months, but it is proving difficult for her to find anything in the way of jobs for me. The reason i got her in the first place is because of my disability. As it is so quiet on the job front, i'm very seriously considering going back to college next year, to get a degree. I also want to apply sooner rather than later, for my second guide dog, so looking at ways of making that happen. I haven't decided what i will do yet on the dog front, but i will have updates in future posts.

A rant, and an update, but mostly a rant!

hi all,
this post was meant to be a nice somery of the weekend me and paul had, but it's that and a rant now, unfortunately!
On thurrsday me and paul went for a few drinks to a pub in town we always go to, and it was nice, nothing eventful happened, on that day anyway! Friday, we met up with a friend, and i got a little drunk and left a bag behind me with some clothes in, this was a little inconvenient, but i managed to get around it haha! Then on Saturday we went down to carlow for a friend's birthday, and i have to say, a very good night was had by all! Then yesterday we went for food when we got back to dublin, then i just waited with paul till he got his bus, and yes, i did get the bag back, for all people wondering how that story ended!
The trouble started, then, when i came back, and was just telling those at home of how the weekend went, and that i had left the bag behind, it was meant to be funny, not be the cause of a huge drama! i was told we should keep our whits about us at all times, we, being a collective we, as in, all blind peple! i would really appreciate comments via twitter or however you want to give feedback, but please tell me that i'm right in thinking, that anyone, no matter what their disability, is, and should, be able to go out and get drunk if they want, and isn't a sighted or fully able boddied person as likely to leave something behind in a pub after a few drinks?
also today, i wanted to register with fas, just to see if i could find a few hours work, and now it looks like i can't go because there's noone to bring me! I would go myself, but unfortunately have no money for taxis, so i'm depending on other people, god i hate that!
Lastly, remember just a few days ago, i wrote about what a wonderful time i had in cork? Well(and this is my decision before anyone thinks it isn't), i have to move out, and have some sort of stable activity that i'm doing, work, a course, for example, in order for this second match to work, but i can't even tell my parents that i need or want to move out, and why? because they think it's an outragious idea that i would move out, say for example, into a house share, because that's not being independent, so i'm stuck here, because i can't find a job, so i can't have the mobility aid of my choice then, just because they think it's ridiculous that i would want to move out!
thoughts on anything i've written here are welcome, Till next time people...

my guide dog adventures!

so hello there! I suppose i should say hello to all my twitter followers, who have hopefully come from the link i just posted!
whether you have or haven't, your equally welcome to read about the amazingness(if that's even a word) that's been the last 24 hours for me!
I got up at half 7 yesterday(not having slept till well after 2 the night before), got on a train and came down to the national head quarters of irish guide dogs for the blind(IGDB) for a further assessment, which is what one must do before pursuing a guide dog application.
My aim in doing this, was to find out what went wrong the last time, and hopefully prevent it for next time. so down i came, not knowing what to expect, and not knowing at all how fabulous the next 24 hours were going to be!
The first thing I did yesterday was to do a short handle walk, this was mainly to update and refresh my following skills, which i was complemented on which was nice. then that was it, till this morning.
this morning, then, i got to walk with a golden retriever, and this for me, was absolutely fabulous! the walking pace he had was just so relaxed and laid back. At this point i was thinking, that's the dog for me! then, this afternoon, i got to groom a retriever also, and this was interesting for me, as it was quite different to the lab which i'd been used to before. After this, i walked again, with a retriever, this one was a female, she two was just amazing! so relaxed and laid back, and the perfect speed for me, just like the mail from before.
I know that even if it is not a retriever i get matched with, that the pace they had, is exactly what i want. i do feel, because of the retriever's calm temperament, that this is in fact the dog which would be for me, but we don't have that much control over things! Even the walking pace makes a huge difference, and at least if nothing else, the basics would be there, so i'm feeling very positive about the whole thing!
It's up to myself to get a suitable environment and become settled enough in order for a guide dog to have ruteen work, so that will be my motivation, as well of course as wanting the independence! Watch this space people!

bored bored bored!

well i promised i'd write yesterday on twitter after writing that i'd bought the new All Angels album on itunes, so here i am! the album is fabulous, full of all those beautiful lushous harmonies the girls have come to be famous for! this album is called fly away, and it's said the girls were inspired by american music, and the hope they felt when the new american president came into power, and this album even includes a tribute to america's first lady, which is a beautiful version of the folk classic, Bob Dillon's "Blowin in the wind", i think this is my favourite on the album, another one which is fasst becoming a favourite is "Deep River" i'm assuming it's a folk song, but the beautiful harmonies and orchestration featured here turn it into something perfect to relax with after a hard days work, or just when your feeling stressed, it's so beautiful, like the rest of the album as i've already said. also featured are beautiful versions of the classic from "Westside story" "Somewhere" and "Send in the Clowns". one last one that again i had never heard, and is absolutely beautiful is "I dream of jeannie", that's definitely worth buying the album for on it's own, as the harmonies make the voices really shine here, this track on it's own gets 5 out of 5 stars!
there is also an a capela peace featured on this album, as on their others, and it beautifully showcases the elliquent and beautiful harmonies which the girls have mastered even more since the first album! the track which is a capela on this album is the beautiful "simple gifts" which i'd never heard before yesterday, but it's really beautiful! I would recommend all fans of all angels buy this from the irish itunes store, the quality is actually very good, and it makes transfering music so easy when you've bought from itunes, and using jaws 10 and itunes 9, it's completely acccessible! Those who haven't got access to the irish itunes store, it's out in the UK on monday, so you can preorder from amazon.co.uk now and it should be dispatched then, or just buy from 7digital or do it the old fassioned way, and if your brave enough venture out in this ridiculous weather we're having! you'll not be disappointed anyway, weather this is your introduction to the girls, or like me, you've been waiting for this for ages, it's definitely been worth the wait!

speaking of the weather, this is day 5 being stuck in for me, as it's cold, and snowy and slippy outside, but i must say now it's really starting to get to me! It's so annoying to not even have the choice to go out, and everything is just starting to get me down now, i even snapped at poor paul yesterday because of it, the weather has a lot to answer for! I really do hope it clears soon, but it doesn't look like it's showing any signs of doing so any time soon! because of not being out, my only big news really is the album!
So till next time, thanks for reading, and do buy the album!

the next day or so and what's happened over the past couple!

So since sunday, not a lot's happened, and on monday and yesterday, i stayed with a girl who i've been best friends with for hmmm, 17 years! her name is chelsea, and she's one of my best friends in the whole whole world! I might give her bebo address in a later post. She has two dogs, socks, and ozzy, i think i'm beginning to like ozzie more than socks, he's just sooooo cute, i fed him icecream last night and he loooooved it!
i'm going home today to see all at home, and hopefully get some money, which is always good! I should also be recieving my new visa in the next few days thanks to permanent TSB again for that lucky escape! Tomorrow me and paul are going away just for anight to the fabulous 4 star carlton abby! All staff are friendly there, and the food is good two, and they are always lovely and never make a fuss about showing us here there and everywhere! Check their site out at http://www.carlton.ie and see for yourself!
That's all for now i'm afraid, but i'll write again over the weekend or something with more updates, and on an ending note, i like to say thanks to Tori(hope i spelled your name right) for her lovely comment, check the post before this one for a link to her live journal!
chat soon peeps,
XX

a huge huge update!

So my god! just where do i begin! So, so much has happend since i last posted, on behalf of poor little zonta! Sadly, an awful lot of stuff happened, which i won't go into here, but regretably, zonta has now gone back to cork, she's been gone about 3 months now, and i miss her terribly, and do hope to have another guidedog in the future, for sure. you can hear me talk about zonta, among other things, and singing two on stuart lawler's podcast at: http://www.stuartlawler.ie/podcast
The college course which i wrote about in earlier posts didn't work out either, and i'm now putting all my energies into looking for a job. Paul has now moved up to dublin! This is fabulous and we see each other loads now!
in other news, i've just over the past few days had a very lucky escape from an internet scam! Everyone avoid:
http://www.myhomecommute.com
It's to do with home businesses, and is a scam, i learned this the hard way, but thanks to permanent tsb who are fabulous, the chrisis was averted!
I will write soon again, and thanks for reading!