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!

Doggy musings!-the 2 week edition!

Hey everyone! it's zonta here, lots to tell you in this post, you'll understand why as i go, its been a heck of a two weeks around here! I've finally made it to the computer! i think, but can't be certain, that mum's asleep, so better make this quick, i've been warned against going on the computer, i got in big trouble last time i was caught looking at her emails! Don't know what the fuss was about though, there wasn't even anything interesting in there! Anyway, the week before this one, i did lots! On monday, we were just mostly getting ready for aftercare, for anyone who doesn't know what that is, that's when someone comes to look at me and mum walking, and tells me how great i am and how well i'm doing! On monday night, Mum did have a little chat, saying we were going to walk tomorrow, and that i had to be very good, but she always says that so i was just thinking "yeah yeah ok whatever!" on tuesday morning, it was raining, and i didn't really enjoy my morning trip to the run after my feed like i normally do, because i got all wet! soon after this, a friend of mum's came, and picked her up, and we both went to a coffee shop, i think that's what its called anyway! Mum left me in harness, and i had to lye down very quietly, and be really good, i'm supposed to be good in all coffee shops and places like that, but sometimes i get bored and chew my lead, mum hates it when i do that, but if i'm bored, what else am i meant to do like! Anyway, at this coffee shop, i had lots of people coming up to me and rubbing me and telling me how pretty i was! I loved it, and it was good they knew how pretty i was i thought! we don't get enough recognission for being pretty us guidedogs! On tuesday afternoon, thankfully the rain stopped, and we went out on what i thought was a normal walk, but found out was aftercare later on! when we got as far as a field that was on the route we were doing, all of a sudden, mum stopped and took off my harness, next thing i knew, my trainer was there, the one who had trained me to be a guidedog, i couldn't believe it! I was happy to see her, but had kind of forgotten her to tell you the truth! we went to the field, and i think she must have been trying to show mum how to do something with me, because i had a long lead for a few minutes which i always enjoy because it means i get to have a good sniff about! After that mum and this girl walked home, and when we were outside my house, i wanted to eat a bee, but wasn't aloud, its soooooo unfair! then on wednesday i had to go to this place full of music, i don't like that much either! then mum went into this tiny room, and i had to sit there while she played, guitar i think it's called, i didn't like it at first, i tryed to bark to get her to stop but she wouldn't, so eventually i decided it was just easier to settle down! thursday we went and got food, and i went to the vet for the first time, it was interesting, then i had a free run, i love those! then friday, i got to go out and see horses!
saturday, we went to this place where mum's friend lives, i think they might be a bit more than friends though, they're always hugging and stuff, i hate that! i always bark, but just get told shhh, why doesn't she understand i just don't like when she gives anyone else attention! I got to have lots of free runs in this place, it was huge, i really did feel like i had so much more energy than usual though, strange i thought! I did have a bit of a time of it down there, when we arrived, mum found out that i had chewing gum stuck to my bottom and my tale, i ended up having to go to the vet and get it taken out! I didn't mind much, always great to be swept off your feet by a big strong man i always think! Then on sunday morning, mum fed me as usual, and then we went back to bed, and i spyed a tissue in the bin, which i ate! Turns out that wasn't the best decision though, i got really sick afterwards, i learned that lesson the hard way, no more tissues for me, well, unless mum's silly enough to leave them lying about that is! then on sunday afternoon i had more free runs before i came home, and i even took a little trip to another garden, how cool was that! this meant i got to get scooped up, for the second time, this time by mum's friend! then we came home and eventually i settled down for the night and went to sleep.
Now onto this week! nothing much to tell till saturday i'm afraid, as most of my week this week has been spent indoors, because mum found out she had bought the wrong food for me! no wonder i had so much energy! i had to stop eating that one and go back on the one i was eating before, i'm ok again now thank god! but this meant i didn't get to do much going out at all this week! till yesterday that is! Me mum and her friend, paul is his name, he plays with me sometimes, he's really fun when he's not hugging mum that is! We went to this place where there were all these people, and dogs just like me! It was cool! I wanted to talk to them and ask, "do you do the same thing i do"? but i wasn't aloud! because i was wearing my harness, which means i'm working, i had to sit or lye quietly and be good, which i did after a little while, i was bored being told to sit down so figured i'd just do it without being told! It was cool though because even though i didn't get to talk to the other dogs that much, mum would give me these yummy treats for just sitting or lying there, i must do that more often i think!
Today we are just chilling out and i think mum will probably groom me today because i think we're going out tomorrow!
Now i better hurry up and get off this thing before mum wakes up!
wags and woofs and thanks for reading!
Zonta x x

Zonta and other stuff!

Ok so what's went on this week then... On monday, as i wrote last week, i went to the college to do the orientation i had scheduled, i had rang twice, but when i went in, they were cleaning so i couldn't do it, was so frustrated! Then myself and my resource worker from NCBI(national council for the blind of ireland) came back to the house, and she had some tea seen as our orientation attempts had been unsuccessful, and we got to talking about my various ups and downs with zonta, after that, i did a walk, which she accompanied me on, just as a pair of eyes(not a guidedog instructor) very important to clear that up, and she was able to tell me some things about the walk, some of which didn't really please me, so much so that when i came home, i rang irish guidedogs, and was given some tips which i've since implemented, and things have gone fine since thank god! Tuesday paul came up, me and zonta got wet on a trip to the shops to get him, all because a bus driver forgot to tell him when he was at the proper stop! On tuesday night, we played at a benifit for a friend of our's brother, i don't think it went fabulously because i didn't do enough practice, but i'll know better for next time! On wednesday, i played at a barbeque in the NCBI, and had to struggle some more with zonta's dislike for music which i'm not impressed by at all! On monday evening i was trying to pick out stuff to play for the gig, and she was barking at the music i was playing, not not good! but anyway, the barbeque turned out well in the end, and we even got a taxi home, and zonta settled right down, in fact, i think i could safely say she was the most settled she'd been that night in that taxi! Thursday was nothing much really, paul was meant to go home, but because of a music technology workshop which was on the following day, he stayed up that was great! On friday then, we went to the msuic workshop, it was fasinating stuff! in the morning, we learned about braille music, and in the afternoon, we learned all about a program called sonar and the way in which jaws can interact with it thanks to a set of scripts which have been developed. for anyone who doesn't know, jaws stands for job access with speech, and is the screen reader widely used by blind people to help them access the internet and other aspects of a computer. Paul definitely wants sonar, and i would love it two it would come in handy for college! today then i met a friend in town and zonta was absolutely amazing! She behaved absolutely fabulously i'm so proud of her today! Really feel we're going from strength to strength!
Next week, my biggest thing is that i'm starting classical guitar, i cant wait! I got some guitar cd's today, so will enjoy listening to those!
I will write next week to tell how things are going, i also have an aftercare visit from guidedogs two so that should be interesting!
Till then, thanks for reading!