Mike's Journal

Today, it has been six months since I met Delta and wow, it has flown by. We've come such a long way as a team. I couldn't be happier with my decision to get a guide dog.

These past 6 months haven't been easy. There have been times I was so frustrated I didn't know what to do. When I'd get lost or Delta would test me I was afraid something would happen and the match wouldn't work out. And if that happened I'd have to give her up, which I knew I could never do. I've bonded with her since day one. I love her personality. I feel like we're the best possible match.

I realize now the problems we had are pretty minor. She's a dog with so much initiative; that's why she tested me, tried to get me disoriented to go to a place she knew, got bored with routes, looked over her shoulder when people were around. I don't have any of these problems anymore. She was just testing me, and it was worth every frustrating minute. Even in the past two months, our work has solidified and I just can't help thinking how amazingly smart she is. Last year, I was trudging slowly to class with a cane. Now it's effortless. Delta threads me threw crowds and whisks me around campus. I feel so lucky to have gotten Delta.

It still amazes me how she can be so different in and out of harness. I wonder how they're trained to make that distinction. Out of harness she is such a puppy and I love watching her like that. She deserves time to be just a dog, and she has so many people to play with here at college.

Delta has been a great companion too. Last year I always missed my dogs at home. I still do, but now I have Delta. It's so nice to hav those ears to scratch. She loves to give kisses too. It definitely helps ease frustration and stress to hug her or lay with her.

I can't believe it's already been 6 months. Time really flies. I totally understand now why it takes 6 months to a year to become a fully working team, it's totally true. wE'VE COME SO FAR ALREADY AND I know we have many great years ahead of us.

Here I am, with an LJ update at last. I've been pretty busy lately, and just haven't felt motivated enough to update. I've been having a great summer and things are going pretty well with Delta.

Two weeks ago my cousin happened to pass by my house, since he was picking up a desk he bought, and asked if I wanted to come back to Long Island with him. I thought it would be good to get out of the house for a few days so I went, and ended up staying with my aunt, uncle and cousins from Thursday until Tuesday. My mom came out on Saturday, so I could've gone home if I thought it was too much for Delta but she was doing so well. She was comfortable in the house, and they have a dog and she and Delta love to play. I had a great time out there. The sidewalks are really nice there so I made sure to throw in some routes.

On Monday, I took the train into New York city to spend the night at my cousin's apartment. Delta handled it easily, the trains, subways and all, except for an escalator which scared her for some reason. I was going to call GEB about this, but we've done escalators since then and she was happy to do them. The city was fun, and I got home Tuesday at last.

On Saturday I went to Pennsylvania with my family for a party at a friend's trailer. Since then, I've been enjoying my last week at home before I go back to college on Tuesday, hanging out, sleeping late, going to the beach a couple of times, and shopping for things I'll need to bring back to school. I'm really starting to feel nervous about going back, since having Delta will be a big adjustment. We've come such a long way since I got her over two months ago. She is just such a great dog. I remember the first day I got her when it took me five minutes to get her under a chair. Now she knows what I expect of her and is quick to do things like lie down when I sit in a chair. Yet she still has the same great personality I loved the moment I met her. Her favorite activity is carrying her squeaky toys around the house and pushing them into anyone around. It's so cute. She loves to play, and apparently there's an enclosed courtyard at my school where I can let her loose to run around, which she will love.

I still worry a lot about going back. I know she'll probably do fine, but there are still some things that concern me. She seems to have picked up a habit of sniffing and going for food on the ground, especially when I'm healing her. She never did this during training and man does she pull hard. I have no choice but to correct her hard which kind of bothers me, particularly if someone sees me doing it. It doesn't seem to be as much of a problem when we're working which is somewhat of a relief, although we'll have to see what happens in the dining hall.

Guiding Eyes is sending a field rep to work with me at Binghamton. I'm moving into my dorm on Tuesday, my own room which will be nice, and Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning I'll be working with the field rep. My mobility instructor will also be working with me on the new routes to classes. I'm taking Computer Science Architecture and Programming, Linear Algebra, General Psychology and a music class called Pop Rock and Soul. It's going to be a heavy load.

Since I once again neglected to update my LJ for over a week, I'm just going to write about the important and exciting things that have happened.

The beginning of last week was pretty uneventful. I worked on my route with Delta, and hung out and enjoyed the summer. TO be honest, I'm starting to look forward to getting back to college. It's great to be home but sometimes it is kind of boring.

Anyway, I wanted to be ready for Thursday when my GEB instructors, Kat and Karen came to see how Delta and I were doing. On Wednesday, Kat called to confirm and said that both her and Karen would be coming. That didn't help with my nerves. Delta was doing well, but was doing a few things that worried me. I felt she seemed unmotivated at times, but wasn't sure if it was just me. She was also veering across streets, for example, on my route, I have to cross a side street, then walk up to the next block, turn left and cross the parallel street. Delta was going diagonally across the side street, crossing both streets at once. For the most part I felt everything was going well, but had no idea what my instructors would say.

Kat and Karen arrived at 9:00 on Thursday morning, and Delta was excited to see them. We talked for a while and decided that I would do the route I've been working on, and they would walk behind me to observe. When I started, Delta apparently decided that today wouldn't be such a great day to work, and that looking back at Kat and Karen would be a lot more fun. She walked slow, and all I felt was the harness handle going in and out, in and out. Fortunately, it got better as time went on, but it didn't make me feel any better. She missed the spot I clicker trained her to stop, but I realized this and crossed over to the other side of the street. It was understandable since she was obviously a bit distracted by Kat and Karen. The rest of the route went well, and when I neared the pizzeria she took off. Kat and Karen both said I did great, much to my surprise. They did say she looked back at them quite a bit, but weren't really concerned about it. On the way back, we did some work with the clicker on the side street to try to correct her veering. My friends house is on the other side of the street, and since I clicker trained her there and at the pizzeria those were the places that excited and motivated her. I have to undo that at least a bit by clicking at curbs, the shoreline, etc. I also need to change up the routes a bit and take her different places to motivate her. Basically, I need to raise my expectations and use the clicker more since Delta is "clicker happy", as Kat puts it. Overall, it's a very difficult route, I did great, and they could tell I put a lot of work into the route.

That night, we had a family get together for my 19th birthday, which was the next day. Everyone is in love with Delta. On my birthday I hung around the house since it was rainy, and at night I went to the mall to pick up my new iPod touch. Delta did great in the mall, I could tell she was excited to be in a new place. I had to correct her a few times for trying to eat food off the floor.

Over the weekend, my family and I went up to a friends house in the country, which was a lot of fun despite the heat. On Saturday, we went to a lake to swim. I planned to let Delta swim as well, but there were a lot of people there and you had to jump off a dock to get in. Delta would not stop eating grass. Every time I would get her to stop, her head would drop right down again. Thankfully she didn't throw up or anything. On Sunday, we went to a creek and went swimming. Delta went in too and had a great time, playing with sticks, digging holes and splashing in the water. She was afraid to actually swim, though she did do it once. After that she wouldn't go in water over her head, even when I went out there and called her. I think she just didn't know she could swim.

This week has been great so far. Yesterday I walked to the pizzeria again and tried to use some of the advice my instructors gave me. Delta did much better, I think. I'm still going to try and do some new routes. There's a few blocks in my neighborhood with just straight sidewalks, and I might take her there just to build up her confidence. I'm still not sure about places like malls. When I was at the mall last Friday, I tried to have Delta take me to the elevator doors. Instead, she walked past them and took me to an actual door. My mom tried to tell me how to get back to the door but she couldn't figure it out at first. It was probably stressful for her. I don't know the layout of the mall, so I was relying on Delta and on my parents' directions. I'm just not sure what to do in this kind of situation, since apparently I'm supposed to know my routes before doing them with my dog. What do all of you guide dog users do if you need to go to a mall you've never been to? Ask for sighted assistance, or wander around until you find what you're looking for? Right now I do have my family to help me, but I'm curious, since going new places wasn't discussed all that much at GEB.

That's pretty much all the excitement. I have to figure out when I'm going back to school. I should probably go back a few days early so Delta can adjust and I can do some o&m to my new classes. I got Delta switched back to her normal food, so hopefully her stomach problems are over. I'm still tutoring, which is nice since it's something to do so I'm not sitting home like a bum all day. My iPod touch is awesome. I never thought I'd be able to use a touch screen, but it's actually pretty easy. The typing takes a long time compared to typing on a physical keyboard, but I'm hoping it will get easier. Eventually it would be nice to get an iPhone, but right now I'm on a contract with Verizon until who knows when.

Things have been going great for me and Delta. Last week, things started to really look up. On Saturday, I went to a graduation party at some relatives' house, people I either haven't seen in years or have never met at all. I was nervous about how Delta would act, and how people would act on her. I figured since I barely know these people that really they have no reason to say hi to Delta, so I decided to keep her in harness most of the day. She did great, only jumping on one person who came right up to her. It was fun and relaxing, rather than stressful and a lot of work to keep Delta under control as in the past. I even got to work her a bit, as the house was in one of those communities where all the houses are identical and there are perfect sidewalks.

Sunday I let Delta get some much deserved rest, and did the same for myself. Monday I went back to doing routes. I walked to the pizzeria, which I'd only taken her to once before, and she brought me right up to the door. Tuesday mom and I planned to take her for a walk in a nearby town, but it rained so that was washout. The power then went out, so my family and I went out to dinner. I took Delta, and she lay next to my chair without moving the entire meal. We then went to a pet store to buy some fish for our pond, and Delta was more interested in sniffing the floor than the dogs and other animals.

Today, I finally met Delta's raisers. They live in New York city, which is only about a half hour away from where I live. Delta was so happy to see them. I had her out of harness and she jumped over them. They were just as happy as she was. They raised her for a year and a half, so I can only imagine how hard giving her up must have been. Apparently, they called GEB to see if they could visit her and they were told they couldn't. They really wanted to come to graduation, but the June graduation was the only one they couldn't make. I imagine when they found out Delta was to graduate in June, they must have been devastated since they probably thought they'd never see her again. They're so lucky I live so close. We talked for quite a while. They apparently had to walk Delta 2 and a half hours every day and teach her all the commands, like sit, down, stay, heal, etc. They also had to take her to a puppy class, and apparently most of the dogs in the class didn't make it. Their concern about Delta was that the fact she is so puppyish might prevent her from becoming a guide dog. I totally understand what they mean. Despite her intelligence and enthusiasm to work, Delta still does act like a puppy. I'm guessing she'll outgrow this at least a bit. They gave me two of her favorite toys, which are two huge stuffed animals, a horse and a dog, and I mean it when I say huge. She's laying on one right now, and it's almost big enough to be her bed.

Since she didn't get much work today, I dragged myself out to do a route at around 8:00 tonight. Now I'm just relaxing in my room. Kat, my GEB instructor, called this morning to see how I'm doing. She's coming here next Thursday, so I'm kind of nervous.

Here's a quick update on how things are going with Delta.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and Delta threw up a little on my rug at some point in the night. Her stool was also still soft. I called the vet and they told me to not feed her or work her anymore that day. It was over 100 degrees that day so it made sense not to work her anyway. I just relaxed, went swimming, let Delta play in her pool a bit.

Thursday, I fed Delta half the amount of food she normally gets as the vet had instructed. I did a route in the morning. I've been doing the same route since I got home, a few blocks up to my friend's house. It went very well, but since it was so hot I turned around before reaching my destination. I started to see a major improvement with her keeping me at the shoreline. I guess she finally gets that I want her to keep me near the curb. Understandably she didn't do as well on the way back, since it was hot and she'd only had half her normal amount of food. In the afternoon, I went to tutor a friend who I'm working with on learning to use JAWS. Since he's allergic to dogs, I left Delta home. My sister was there the whole time, and she said Delta did pretty well until the end when she started barking a bit. I got back right around 4:00 so she was probably pretty hungry. While I was there, my mom ran up to GEB to pick up more low residue food. She happened to meet the head vet, Dr. Sandler, and she gave us different instructions. Delta will be on low residue food for at least a week and a half, and she is back on the powder that we gave them in class. It turns out she tested negative for giardia, and her diarrhea was probably caused by introducing her regular food too fast. This apparently inflames and irritates the stomach. The powder and the low residue food should help get her stool solid again. Last night, I let Delta loose in my basement to play ball, which she loved.

Today was a great day. This morning and again tonight, Delta's stool was solid, much like it should be. The vet told us to expect it to improve in two or three days, so the food and meds are obviously working. I did two routes, one in the morning and one at night. The temperature was a bit more bearable, and there was a nice breeze, although it was pretty humid. On my morning route, I somehow got lost, and ended up on some random corner I'd never been too. It turned out to only be a block away from where I should've been along the route, but i was totally disoriented. A friend found me without too much trouble. I really wasn't worried, since I knew I couldn't be too far off. This was bound to happen at some point. My friend walked back home with me, and at first Delta refused to go. It was obvious she was distracted by my friend. Eventually, after some coaxing and correcting she went. My friend walked on the other side of the street which actually seemed to work nicely.

For the rest of the day I relaxed, brushed Delta, did obedience, etc. I've been doing obedience every day, either in my room or outside in the yard. After dinner, I decided to attempt the route again. Since I had no idea how I ended up lost this morning, I asked my mom to watch me from the car and make sure everything was okay. Delta forgot the point I clicker trained her to stop at, to cross over to the other side of the street. Mom got out of the car and helped me rework her and clicker her a few times. Since there's no landmark of any kind and no sidewalk I can't do this without sighted help. Delta was again distracted, and it took a lot of coaxing and some strong corrections to get her on track. She would not heal, and kept turning and looking back. I don't know what the problem is, or if I'm doing the right thing. She seems to have a major distraction issue with people walking with me. I may call GEB tomorrow, or if anyone has any advice i'd appreciate it. The good thing is the rest of the route was pretty close to perfect.

Well, that update turned out not to be so quick after all. Perhaps I shouldn't wait so long between entries.

These last two days have been pretty interesting. Yesterday, the fourth, I woke up at 6:00 to feed and park Delta and then slept until around 9:00. I got ready so I could take Delta on a route early before it got too hot. Delta did great. Last week when I came home with Melinda to do the route, I clicker trained Delta to stop at the top of a T intersection so I could cross over to the other side of the road, where the sidewalk started. Yesterday, which was five days later, Delta remembered the spot and stopped on her own, which I think is pretty impressive. She also did a nice traffic check when I was standing at a corner, backing me up away from a car she thought was too close.

Delta is still having a lot of trouble with shorelining which I am kind of concerned about. She stops to show me most cars, but I think some she is taking me around without showing them to me, and then continuing to veer. I'm not exactly sure what is happening, but once yesterday and once on today's route, I found myself in a driveway on the right side of the street. I was originally traveling on the left, so she had to drift across the street, and what if a car happened to come while she was veering? She's doing great on sidewalks though. There were two clearance errors but the sidewalks were pretty narrow so they're understandable. My right side just grazed a tree and a stop sign, so I reworked and she did fine. She also walked me through a sprinkler, which was rather amusing. I backed up fast since I didn't want to get wet, then praised her since she probably thought I was correcting her. I don't think I can expect a dog to clear me around something as fun as water on a hot day.

We are having a heat wave here, which is definitely not helping. I took her out on route today at around 11:00 and it was already ridiculously hot. She was panting noticeably, so much so that I just turned around and came back. I planned to try again tonight but it's still like an oven out there, and it's not cooling down any time soon. I don't know if I should try and work her. I just get the feeling a week off isn't anything we need right now.

Delta was well behaved when my family came over for a fourth of July barbecue. I let them meet Delta, then just had her lie down and mostly she stayed there. Since it was hot, I put her inside some of the time. She's getting used to being alone in my room. Fireworks were set off at night, and Delta did not like them. She didn't bark, but she panted a little and came to me demanding attention. I could tell she was bothered by them. I hope she isn't afraid of thunderstorms as well. I have to say I'm kind of surprised, since she did so well with the noise in New York city.

Overall, things are going quite well. My family and the friends we had over are doing okay at refraining from bonding too much with Delta, although sometimes they can't resist. My dad yelled at her for sniffing once or twice, so I had to remind him not to. Of course, there are the people who just don't get it. When I was parking Delta two nights ago, a neighbor from across the street came by to meet her. The next day on route, Delta saw her and got distracted. She veered into the neighbors driveway, and while I was trying to get her back on track, the neighbor had to butt in. I said "Delta, forward", and the neighbor goes, "Come on!" in that beckoning voice used to talk to pet dogs. I told the lady not to tell Delta anything, and she said okay. So I gave Delta the forward command again, and yes, you guessed it. The neighbor said "Come on!" as if she hadn't heard me. I mean, I tried to be nice about it, but...sheesh.

I let Delta play in her kitty pool again today, and threw a ball around in the water. I think she had a lot of fun, and she cooled off and expended some energy.

That's pretty much the happenings of the past two days. Tomorrow I may call the vet at Guiding Eyes about Delta's stool, as it's still very soft. She did have a stomach problem during class, so I just want to make sure everything is okay.

Today is my second full day home with Delta. Things are going pretty well for the most part, but I have lots of concerns. When I brought her home yesterday I parked her, and went into the yard with her. Mom brought out Luna, our shepherd mix. We were all a bit worried about her and Delta getting along, since Luna sometimes does not like other dogs. It only took a few seconds though, and they were friends. Now they don't really care too much about each other. Delta also met my other dog, a pug named Mocha, but there were no problems there.

Delta was eager to sniff everything in the house, and yanked me around a lot when I healed her. This has gotten a bit better since yesterday. When I was parking her once yesterday she ran onto the grass and started whipping around, so I had to correct her. She hasn't done that since.

I decided to do a route with her, which was probably not a good idea. She veered into the road a lot, which was a bit scary. Most of my block has no sidewalks, so I have to shoreline. I think she is having a distraction issue with my family following behind me. I'll get into this more later on in this entry.

I bought Delta a nice bed, which she really likes, and set up the tie down at the bottom of my bed. Last night, some friends came over. Delta was pretty well behaved, but of course I overheard one of the guys who was over say something like, "Why isn't she listening to him?" probably referring to how I had to tell her "down" multiple times. I tried to explain that she's not in harness, this is her first day home, etc, but it didn't help my confidence much.

Delta slept through the night, and I got up at 6:00 to feed, water and park her. She is starting to consistently not drink water after eating. I hope she's still drinking enough, as this cuts her water intake down by half, since I water her four times a day, two of which are after feeding her. I then went back to sleep for a few hours, as I much needed to catch up on my sleep. I tried to make today a more relaxing day for Delta. I kept her with me most of the time, although I started leaving her alone on tie down for short periods of time. I showed her some toys and let her go in a little kitty pool I bought her. It was really cute. She put her whole face in the water, splashed around, then whipped around out of the pool. She also peed in the water, which obviously wasn't very cute.

After eating dinner and hanging out with my best friend for a while, my mom, dad and I went to a park to work Delta. I figured it would be easier to start out simple, with a straight path with few turns or obstacles. I told my parents to stay far behind and let me walk up ahead, which they did. Delta just did not want to concentrate. I would tell her "forward" and she would sort of walk in front of me and around my right side, or just ignore me altogether. I prompted her repeatedly and directed her with the leash, and eventually she would go, but she walked slow and without motivation. Sometimes she would stop altogether, or walk me onto the grass. She also peed at the beginning of the route, so at first I thought her work would improve since she'd relieved herself but it did not. I gave her plenty of encouragement through verbal praise, but she really wasn't working like she normally did. My parents told me that she was looking back at them, even though they were way far behind. I don't understand this, as they really haven't bonded with her. They haven't fed her, watered her, parked her, held her bone for her, or...anything. This really scared me, a lot.

When I got home, I decided to do part of the route I did with Melinda the other day, completely alone. It was a complete turnaround from what happened in the park. She stopped to show me every car, and kept me near the shoreline most of the time. I gave her plenty of encouragement, and treated her when she stopped at cars, found curbs, etc. She also had a pull again, since that was pretty much gone at the park. I didn't walk for very long, as I still don't know what the problem is, but I do feel relieved. In the park, it was as if she forgot all of her training. Hopefully some other guide dog users who read this can give me some advice. My plan is to work on the route I know again tomorrow, without anyone following, and see how it goes. If I continue to have problems I'll have to contact GEB, but what can they do? I've heard too many horror stories and I'm really panicking right now. Delta also had some diarrhea today, but her stool was a lot better when I parked her before our route, so I don't think it should've impacted her work.

I really don't know what to think right now. I was told it would be stressful but I didn't expect this, and I don't feel prepared to deal with it.

Well, I can't believe it, but today was my last day of guide dog training. Tomorrow I'll be heading home.

This morning, we did obedience and distraction work outside. The distraction was several bowls of chicken. Delta stood up once but overall did extremely well. We then had to walk back inside and pass Kat, who was holding a bowl of chicken, and there was one of the floor as well.

After breakfast, I hung out for a while and around 9:00 we went to a bike trail. I have to say, this was one of my best experiences in training. Delta for some reason really wanted to pull, so I let her. The instructors told us not to jog, but we were doing it anyway. I was flying down the path. There's really no better way to describe it. We were not working one on one with the instructors; they were walking with us just to ensure everything was okay, so for once, I was pretty much on my own. Right then, I knew everything I had to go through, and will still go through to get Delta and learn how to work with her is completely worth it. I could never imagine doing anything even close to what I did on that bike path with my cane. There is just nothing like it. I trusted Delta completely then, and I have no idea if there were obstacles in the path. If there were, Delta cleared me around all of them.

The rest of the day was free to hang out and pack. Melinda read me my final summary, which is a description of how Delta and I work and things I need to work on. If I call GEB for assistance and speak with a different instructor, they will have the summary to refer to. AMong other things, the summary stated that Delta is very willing to please, and she is very responsive to clicker targeting. I definitel have seen this, and it will be very helpful to have her target things when at college. When I worked at Pace the other day, it took only one or two reworks with the clicker to teach her to stop at a certain intersection of paths. I can do this with doors, buildings, etc. as well. The fact that she is willing to please also means she needs a lot of support, which I really hope I'm giving her.

I did some packing, hung out with the few classmates I can actually stand to be around anymore, and willed the day to go faster.

Here I am, on Friday morning. All the other graduates have left. Since I'm local, my mom will be picking me up at 8:30. It will be a long day. I will have to introduce Delta to my other dogs and let her get used to her new home. I might do a short route tonight, but mostly I just want to relax.

Today was our last busy day of training. This morning, we had obedience, and for our distraction, one of the instructors pretended to be an annoying person with a peanut butter sandwich. The sandwich was quite real though, as far as I know. Delta wasn't distracted.

After breakfast, we loaded up in the vans and headed to Pace University to do college campus travel. I was first to go out, and it went quite well. I had to utilize everything I learned, clicker training, suggestive turns, going through doors, stairs, elevators, etc. I seem to be having the most trouble with suggestive turns, as apparently I am not graceful and need to be more clear with my commands. It got better as the day went on, though. I practiced clicker training her to stop at intersections in paths, there were some distractions such as chickens in a paddock that didn't hold Delta up at all, and I practiced sitting in the library. I also went into a classroom, and had Delta target an empty chair. She still remembered the command, even though I taught it to her over a week ago and haven't used it since. I'll need to figure out the best place to sit in my classes that is safest for the dog and also easy for me to hear the professors. Apparently, the back near the wall is usually best, but obviously that isn't a great idea with my hearing impairment.

After the college route, Melinda and I went to my house to do some work in the neighborhood. I brought Delta into the house with my pet dogs shut up in the bedrooms for now. She was really interested in sniffing anything and everything. It was good to get some of that out of the way, though I think she'll sniff a lot until she gets used to the smell of my dogs and cat. I gave her water, and took her out front to where I'll probably be parking her, off my front curb.

I started with a route to my best friends house a few blocks away. It's not an easy route, since my block has periods of no sidewalks so I have to shoreline. I have to say, shorelining isn't easy, but the route went pretty well overall. It's going to take a lot of practice. Guide dog users have told me that it takes six months to a year to really become a team, and I see what they mean.

Knowing where I was definitely made things a lot easier for me. I did different routes throughout my training, never doing the same one more than once or twice. There was really no chance for me to learn the layout, so I was depending on my instructors to tell me where to go. Obviously, I feel much more comfortable working in a familiar place.

I did some clicker targeting to have her find a point where I have to cross over to the other side of the street, my friends house, and my house. My mom tagged along to watch how I did things, and I think she was pretty impressed. I made it to my friends house and introduced Delta to him and his family. I then headed back to my house. The return route went very smoothly. I showed Delta the backyard and she was pretty interested in eating grass, though this might be because of the medication she was on, apparently. Yesterday was her last day of that, and I'm in the process of switching her back to regular food. I have a pool in my yard, and we discussed getting a gate put in so she won't jump in. It'd be great if she could swim, but the pool is above ground and has a liner, which she could rip with her claws.

Melinda and I headed back to Yorktown. After lunch, I got my going home packet and tags for Delta's collar. We were given dog food, tie downs, heartworm medication, our class photos, and some paperwork and other information that will be emailed to me. The rest of my day was free. Some friends from scouts came to Guiding Eyes for a tour as part of a requirement for a merit badge. When they were done with their tour, they came to my room to meet Delta and hang out for a while, which was nice.

I'm utterly exhausted, getting up early and lack of enough sleep is really starting to catch up with me. Some people can get by day after day with 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I'm not one of them. Tomorrow we'll be working either at a park or on a bike path in the morning and we have the afternoon off. Friday morning, I'll be heading home early. Then, the real adventure begins.

Yes, it's day 23, not 22. Because of a numbering screw up, the last four entries were numbered wrong. It's all fixed, though.

Today, I started out the day by missing obedience. Apparently, they all decided to go outside, so when I went to Alumni Hall no one was there. Sure, I was a few minutes late, but... Anyway, I ended up just doing it in my room. After breakfast, we went to Pepsi Co headquarters. Apparently, Pepsi Co is a corporate sponsor of Guiding Eyes, and their headquarters in Purchase, New York has a garden with lots of paths, fountains etc. that make for good distraction work. The place was about a half hours drive from the school. Delta did well, but really loved sniffing and eating the grass. Controlling her was a lot of work. Still, it was great, and I had a lot more freedom to work her and make decisions since we weren't one on one with instructors. There were also some cool sculptures of people, a garden trowel, and other strange things that we were able to touch. After our walk, we sat on a patio for a while, watered our dogs, and then returned to the school for lunch.

This afternoon was grocery store work. Delta easily maneuvered me through the aisles and around clearances, and although she did sniff things a "hup up" got her right back on track. She even made it through the dog food aisle. We then went to Pet Smart, but I didn't buy anything, as I'd rather go when I get home and have more time to look around. Delta lay under the bench, despite all of the squeaky toys and other distractions.

I had chicken for dinner. Seriously, if I eat any more chicken I think I'll go crazy. Also, the drama here has reached a whole new level and it's just pathetic and sad. I'm glad I'll be out of here by Friday. Tomorrow we'll be doing college campus travel at Pace University, and I may possibly be going home to do work in my neighborhood. After 7:30 water and park I worked with Karen on the slicker brush. Delta was a lot more tolerant of it, and I used food rewards to show her that she was doing what I wanted from her. We could tell she didn't like it very much, but it was a major improvement from when she ran to the end of her leash and cowered.

Today, after the usual morning routine we went to White Plains. It was oppressively hot and I was last to do my route. We took the van to some street about 5 minutes away from the lounge and worked from there. I did two traffic checks. This is when someone drives a car in front of us so I can get a feel for what Delta will do. The first time, it felt like she was distracted since I didn't know what to expect, but on the second traffic check I got the hang of it. In that case, she stopped and backed up, but she could also just stop, or speed up, depending on the situation. The route was pretty close to perfect, aside from the fact she needed to pee on route. We don't want her to get in that habit, so we tried to make her wait until we got back. She waited until we were about twenty feet from the van.

After lunch, we went to the Jefferson Valley mall in Yorktown. It was great to work inside, since it was ridiculously hot. I practiced escalators, elevators, stairs, and walking around the mall. We worked into Macy's, and through a section of the store with lots of breakable items. Delta easily got me through it, and even stopped to show me a tight clearance. Melinda didn't tell me until later about all of the delicates...so I got through it without even knowing. This is one of the great things about working with a dog.

We sat and waited at some tables in the mall, and got back to the school at around 3:30. The rest of our night was free. I had barbecue chicken and french fries for dinner. Tomorrow we will be doing grocery store training, and some other things as well, and Wednesday I'll be going to my neighborhood to work.

Nothing very interesting happened on Sunday. I spent a lot of time relaxing with Delta. My dad came to visit in the afternoon and we went out to lunch. I did playtime with Delta before 4:00. All the toys were scattered around the floor and she found this one bouncy ball she liked, and played with that the whole time. At night, I did laundry, fell asleep with Delta for a while, had to get up to get my laundry and fell asleep for the night pretty early.

Today, Monday, it's back to work. I'm not sure what we're doing. I can't believe I go home this Friday. I'm really not sure how I feel about that. One of the things that bothers me is how little we've been working our dogs. We work them to one meal a day, to and from vans, and on two routes. I'd say on average they work maybe an hour a day, and most of the day they're not working at all. We haven't worked in two days. We don't work them around the building, and we can't work them in the White Plains lounge. I've gotten little practice going around buildings, aside from to and from meals and the vans, and I haven't practiced the "to the chair" command either. I suppose we have all the tools to do these things on our own, but still, I think we should have been working a lot more, and honestly I expected that from training. At college, I'll have to work her to three meals a day, to all my classes, and to anywhere else I want to go. I'm sure she can handle it, but one would think training should be more intense than the actual working life of the dog, right?

Perhaps I shouldn't be complaining about this at all. I know it's logistically impossible to do more routes; but why not let us work our dogs in the building? Why not allow and encourage us to go in and practice finding chairs? It's not as if I have a big room full of chairs at home to practice that. For some people it's right back to work after they leave GEB. I have the whole summer to practice things with Delta, but I'm lucky.

I'm writing this on Sunday, the next morning, as yesterday was a really long day.

Yesterday was graduation. We were up at 6:00 to feed, water and park, but we did not do obedience. After breakfast, groups of us went over to the Planet Dog run to let our dogs play (this is the run we took them to on Wednesday). Four of us went over and our dogs played together to let out some energy before graduation. Delta is really starting to bond with me. At times she was more interested in me holding her bone so she could chew it than the other dogs. It was so nice, but I had to get her to go run around since we needed them to let out energy.

After playtime, we had practice for the graduation, and went over how the ceremony would go. We then did water and park, ate lunch, and I got ready for graduation, which started at 1:15.

It was a nice ceremony. Some of the graduates spoke, a few of us did a song we'd been working on for a while now, and the puppy raisers were recognized. We were given diplomas, or perhaps fake diplomas would be a more accurate description. They were blank envelopes, just for show. My guess is this is done in case someone ends up not going home with their dog.

I had a lot of family and friends visit me, which was by far the most important thing for me, to see everyone and let them see Delta. After graduation she was pretty well behaved, but I could tell she was anxious to get off leash. A few of us went back to my room and I let her loose. She went nuts. I let this go on for about 5 minutes, and put her in her crate to relax.

We had refreshments in the dining room, and there was a kennel tour going on, so we all went on that. We were allowed to pet all the dogs, and I think all of my visitors really liked it. I saw Belgium, the dog I had for a day at the beginning of class. I don't think she recognized me though.

After the tour, I went and got Delta out and we went over to the gazebo to hang out and talk. Delta was very well behaved, and everyone loves her already. It's hard, since I still really don't know how much I should allow them to touch her and play with her. I really don't think the instructors were clear about this at all.

all of my visitors left soon after. They were going back to my house for a barbecue, and if I went I wouldn't have been back in time for 7:30 water and park. Instead, I went to my aunt's house, since she lives close to the school to had dinner and hang out. I arrived back to the school at around 7:30, and hung out with classmates for the rest of the night.

Today is a rest day. My dad is coming up to visit, and I'll do play time with Delta. I also have to try to figure out why she's afraid of the slicker brush. When I was grooming her yesterday she bolted when I tried to use the brush. In the past, she'd tolerate it most of the time, although she'd sometimes try to bite it.

This one is going to be really short. I'm tired, and need to get a good sleep as tomorrow is graduation.

Was up for the usual stuff. Ate breakfast and we headed to a small town called Mount Kisco. We waited in a Starbucks, and I was the last one to go out on route. The route was simple and uneventful.

In the afternoon, we did a route with shorelining and the dogs had to wear their booties. It was a disaster. I had to have the leash out almost the entire time. Delta hated the booties so much that she just wasn't listening, was veering out into the street, etc. I just panicked and had no idea what to do. It got better toward the end. I think the dogs can pick up that we're stressed out. She still needs more practice in the booties, and I feel I need more practice shorelining.

Tonight we had a lecture on dog massage. Delta really liked it and totally relaxed.

I found out who Delta's puppy raisers are. They sent me an email since they can't make it to graduation tomorrow. The good thing is, they are from New York City. They really want to see Delta and I have no problem with that. They were nice about it, and basically said that if I wanted nothing to do with them they'd have no problem with it. I think the puppy raisers deserve to know where their dogs end up and how they are doing. GEB leaves it up to us if we want to keep in contact, but I definitely will. No wonder Delta did so well in the city. She was raised there.

Tomorrow is graduation, and a lot of my family and friends will be there. I'm looking forward to it.

Today was our trip to New York city, It was very intense but it was great, and definitely helped my confidence with working with Delta. We got up at the usual time, but didn't have to do obedience, which was nice. After breakfast, I got ready and was in the first group going down to the city. At 8:05 we loaded up into the vans to head to the train station.

I worked Delta up the stairs and onto the platform. We waited around for a while and the train arrived. The seats were big enough so that our dogs could lie in front of us or under the seat. Delta was great. She just rested or slept during the hour long ride. We arrived in Grand Central station at around 9:50. I worked with Melinda, and we all split up and did different routes, some people on subways, buses, or both.

I took the subway from Grand Central to 77th street on the Lexington line. I had to work Delta through the main terminal. Right away she started leading me toward some stairs, which weren't the ones we wanted but it was still cool to know that she would show me things like stairs and doors in an unknown place. It was my first time doing escalators as I didn't have a chance to do them in White Plains. We have to heal our dogs onto the escalator, and tell them let's go to have them run off ahead of you at the end, which is the hard part. It went quite well, considering it was my first time. I also encountered turnstiles to get in and out of the subway stations. The first time the leash got caught on the bars and probably startled Delta, but the second time it was fine.

The subway was ridiculously loud and crowded. I felt pretty bad for Delta while we were standing on the platform and the train was coming in. To say it was loud would be an understatement, and she just stood calmly through it all, I have no idea how. I didn't get a seat at first, so I had to hold onto the pole and have Delta sit between my legs. She was a bit uncooperative at first, as she wanted to lie down. I don't blame her, but this is a bad idea in subways which are often dirty, and she could get trampled on. A few stops later I did get a seat.

I got off at the 77th street stop, and had to go up some stairs and through a turnstile to get out onto the street. I then followed 77th east to Third Avenue. It was so thrilling to actually cross a New York city street independently. I would not have had the confidence to do it with my cane. Perhaps it would have been possible, but with Delta by my side I feel much safer.

My hearing impairment makes it more difficult to hear traffic, but Melinda even said I have gotten more confident with assessing the traffic. I was able to make a correct decision and cross Third. I then turned left, and head north on third. The route went very smoothly, aside from a clearance error outside the subway station I did not have to correct her. At one point, Melinda told me there were dogs up ahead. Then there was a noise behind us that startled Delta and she jumped. I thought she was going after the dog so I corrected her, and felt bad, as usual, but this was a pretty minor incident, considering what we were told to be prepared for. That is to say, lots of distractions, which did not happen for me. I'm amazed at how Delta can cope with all the noise, smells, and general action in the city.

There was one street where Melinda had to tell me when to cross because of a jackhammer making loud background noise, and 80th street which I stood at for 5 minutes trying to read the traffic. At around 83rd, we caught a bus up to 94th and the restaurant, which was our destination. The bus was crowded, but there were no problems working it. Someone started asking me about my dog. I'm actually surprised I haven't encountered more attention, I'm guessing most people just stop and stare, rather than come up and talk to me, or perhaps the instructors scare them off. Near the restaurant I gave Delta a chance to park...in the street. I guess it was a parking zone or something, but it seems kind of dangerous.

We did a lot less walking than I expected, but the city is intense, it was hot, and we had limited time. The trip gave me a good taste for city travel and showed me that I can do it,, which is most important. Melinda seemed happy with the results, which of course makes me happy. Sometimes I feel as if I have no idea what the instructors are thinking about how the matches are working. Especially after my first match failed, it's really nice to have that reassurance.

After eating lunch of chicken fingers at a restaurant, my group and I got in the van and headed back to Yorktown. The van drove the afternoon group down, we all ate lunch together and that group would work from the restaurant back to Grand Central, and take the train back to Yorktown. I arrived back at around 2:00, and relaxed in my room. We placed orders for vet supplies, which I received tonight. I ordered heartworm medication, front line which is a flea/tick preventative, a dental care kit, a grooming spray, and some food bowls. Everything, except the bowls, was covered by a fund of $250 a year given to us by GEB for vet care and supplies, which was nice. For me, I can get free vet care, since I live only a half an hour away from the school and can just take Delta to GEB's vet hospital.

After dinner, I practiced getting booties on Delta since I missed that lecture since she was sick. The booties are used when it is very hot out, since the sidewalks and streets heat up and are uncomfortable for their paws. They're also used to protect against snow and salt in the winter. Delta did not like having them put on her, which is not unusual. I was able to get them on eventually. She did this funny hop at first but then started to walk more normally. I heeled her down the hall and back, having her sit and treating her when she walked normally and in the proper position.

Delta again made it through the night without any accidents. She's also starting to park more regularly. As of a few days ago, I'm pretty comfortable figuring out whether she's doing number one or number two and when. we've been picking up after our dogs for a while now, and it's really not that hard.

I hung out with some classmates, practiced the song for graduation, and am now ready for bed. It's been a long day. I have no idea what's in store for tomorrow, but my guess is traffic checks.

Today, compared to other days here, was a lot more relaxed. I'd say this is only because tomorrow is the big day, that is, New York city day. Delta again made it through the night with no accidents in her crate. She's still on low residue food and a bunch of meds, but she's doing a lot better. The morning routine was as usual. Delta is getting better and better at distraction work; that is to say she didn't get up at all, rather than getting up once or twice. Yes, she's always been great at handling distractions. We had breakfast, and headed out for Katonah to do a route and train platform work.

I was in the first van and went out on route right away with Melinda. It was already getting hot out, of course. Delta did great, aside from a few distractions and she was a bit hesitant on some turns, but by the end of the route I did a perfect turn with her. I'm still learning when and when not to correct her. The difficult thing as that we don't know these routes as we know our home environments, so it's not always easy to tell whether our dogs are right. I'm getting the hang of working with her in general, making clearances, etc. How am I really doing? Am I ready for the city tomorrow? Honestly, I don't know. I'm just trying to go with the flow as much as possible, since obviously asking those kinds of questions gets me nowhere.

At the end of the route we went onto the train platform. We had to go up two flights of stairs, make a turn and go down two flights. Delta ran the first set up stairs a bit, but after a rework she stopped at all of the stairs perfectly, even on the return trip. The platform had two edges where trains could pull in, with a shelter and various other signs and objects in the middle. We worked down the platform, and Delta even slowed down and stopped to show me the shelter since it was a narrow clearance. There is a tactile strip about three feet away from each edge. We worked near the left edge with Delta between me and the edge, and she kept me to the right of the strip most of the time. When I reached the end of the platform, I had Delta wait, and made a right turn to face the right edge of the platform.

Now came the scary part. I had to tell Delta forward, toward the edge. She is trained to do what is called intelligent disobedience. Rather than go forward, she had to either stop, or cross in front of me. Delta did this perfectly, turning in front of me and leading me right back down the platform at the tactile strip. I was never even close to the edge.

After the route we came back to Yorktown and I hung out, did 11:00 water and park, ate lunch, and then our dogs all got bathed. I went over to the kennel with Delta and helped bathe her. She then got a chance to play in the dog run, which has turf and lots of toys. Two other classmates and I sat in chairs and watched our dogs play together, Delta, another yellow lab female and a black lab female. It was nice ; I really think dogs should have a chance to run and play off leash. They're working dogs, but that doesn't mean they are not dogs.

After letting Delta run, I parked her and relaxed in my room until feed, water and park at 4:00, and relaxed some more until dinner. Dinner was fish and french fries.

At 6:00 we had lecture about the city trip tomorrow. I will be in the morning group, meaning I will take the train to the city and work the 50 blocks to the restaurant where we will all be meeting for lunch. Obviously I won't be walking 50 blocks, I'll be doing buses and/or subways as well. I'm looking forward to the trip, and am glad I'm going in the morning. There's nothing like the thrill of actually taking the train into Manhattan independently. We'll be with instructors one on one, and there are no doubles. Not that that's new for me, as I haven't done a double yet. I'm guessing this is because of my hearing impairment and it would be difficult to hear my instructor from far back behind me.

Tomorrow will hopefully be interesting and fun. We were warned our dogs will react differently to the city, there will be lots of distractions, etc. We have to brings our halties, or head collars, which I may or may not have said I don't like very much. I mean, how would you like wearing something that restricted your ability to open your mouth? Cat also apparently told some people their dogs were not city dogs. I'm not one of those people, so I'm hoping Delta will be up for it. Even though i'll primarily be doing college campus travel, I don't rule the possibility of doing city travel.

Well, another day of training has just slipped by, and on top of that I may be going home 2 days early. Will get into that later on in this entry.

Delta made it through the night without any accidents in her create. This is a great thing, and hopefully she's getting better. This morning was the usual routine, park, feed, water, park, obedience, distraction work, breakfast, for anyone who doesn't have it down yet :). On the way back from breakfast, Delta found my door easily. although this isn't exactly a hard thing to do since my door is first on the right. I'm not sure how to train her to show me doors or go to specific doors. The instructors haven't really covered it too much.

For my morning route, I worked with Cat and we walked to Dunken Doughnuts. This was my first time bringing Delta in a store and she did great. I got two delicious glaze doughnuts, and of course that made the trip even more worth it. The walk to the shop was almost perfect, but on the way back to the lounge Delta kind of slowed down a bit. We think this was because of the heat and all the meds she's on for her stomach making her tired, and Cat said I did a good job of encouraging her. She fell fast asleep when I got back to the lounge.

Aside from this, Delta seemed to feel better overall. In the afternoon, I worked with Melinda in a residential neighborhood in White Plains, which consisted of both shorelining and sidewalks. This is a lot more challenging than city travel. I did clicker training with her to have her stop at the street corners where there weren't sidewalks so we could indent and cross. The work got easier and better as time went on, so I think I just need more practice with country travel. I may be going home 2 days early from training to do work in my neighborhood, since I live so close. I think this is a great idea and hope it works out.

After dinner, which was fried fish for me, we had lecture, a continuation of the going home lecture and on train platforms which we will be doing tomorrow in Katonah. We discussed feed, water, and park schedules, when to give our dogs freedom in the house, and introducing our dogs to other pets. Most of it wasn't new to me, since I've lived with dogs all my life (i.e. I know not to leave small objects and food around that my dog could get into). I will write about platform training in tomorrow's entry. Tomorrow afternoon our dogs will be getting baths, and a chance to run around a dog run.

I forgot to write about how Delta got away on Sunday. I was grooming her in the grooming room and I had let go of her leash. She must have seen something, and jumped off of the bench and ran. My friend and I chased after her down the hallway where we thought she'd gone. Delta wouldn't come, and she usually has great recall. As it turned out, Cat grabbed her and hid her from me! Apparently, she's known to take dogs that get away back to her room and keep them there, so that we'd have to knock on her door to get our dogs back. So I got lucky.

Today was an interesting day here at Guiding Eyes. In the morning, I did my usual activities. For our distraction work after obedience, Cat walked around shaking a bag of treats at our dogs. If the dogs sat and stayed we'd give them a treat. Delta wasn't easily distracted at all, it was great.

After breakfast, we headed to White Plains. I did my morning route, and it was uncomfortably hot. I worked with Melinda from the lounge and we were picked up as Delta wasn't feeling well. The route went well though, I only had to give her one correction for going up onto a grassy area.

After lunch, we headed back to Yorktown rather than do our afternoon routes in White Plains. My classmates did a shorter country route, but I didn't work Delta since she has a stomach virus. Since Saturday, all of us have been treating our dogs for giardia, since one of the dogs tested positive for it. Delta has been either throwing up or pooping in her crate since Saturday, so today the vet examined her and they think she has the virus. We're adding on more medications, as apparently some dogs show more symptoms than others, and as I understand it, giardia sometimes causes other stomach bugs. Hopefully she'll be better within a few days.

There was a lecture in the afternoon. The first part was on booties for our dogs, which they wear in extreme temperatures or when there is salt on the sidewalks. I didn't attend this part since Delta had to rest before seeing the vet. The second part of the lecture was on going home and having our dogs adjust to the new environment. We have to start with small routes, so I need to plan out a few that I can work with her on when I go home. Melinda mentioned taking me to my home area a few days early since I live so close, so I hope that works out.

After a dinner of roasted chicken, I hung out with my classmates and we worked on the stuff we'll be doing at graduation, including a song we're playing with me on the saxophone, some guitars and some singers.

I'm now about ready to sleep. I went to let Delta out of her crate but she was so tired she didn't even move. I still have to wake her up to park.

These last two days have been pretty uneventful, so I decided to combine them into one post. Also, was tired last night and didn't get around to writing an entry.

Yesterday we did our usual morning routine. After obedience we had a dog and a toy distraction, and Delta did great. I then hung out in the morning and before lunched, practiced going through the revolving door. It isn't that difficult, but I can see that they'd be kind of dangerous. This door was moving slowly since we were pushing it; revolving doors in actual public places move a lot faster.

After lunch I did my country route. Shorelining with a dog is pretty cool. It was extremely hot out though, so the route was kind of frustrating, as the heat is certainly uncomfortable for the dogs and makes it difficult, for me at least, to concentrate.

Last night I left GEB with my family to go to my boy scout troop's Eagle Dinner. My friend became an eagle scout last night, and he asked me to be his escort for the ceremony. I had to escort him in and out of the room, and up to get his award, as well as some other stuff. Obviously I couldn't bring Delta, so I was stuck with sighted guide. I didn't bring my cane either, I haven't used it one single time since dog day. It's now in the closet, where it belongs. I got back around 11:00, as the ceremony went later than expected, and my instructor was not happy, since she had to park Delta twice. I apologized of course, but I made this commitment long before I came to GEB, and if I could, I would have taken Delta with me.

There is also a whole lot of drama happening here, as it tends to when 14 people are cooped up for such a long time. If anyone really wants to know what happened, they can contact me, as I'm not going to post it here.

Today, I had play time with Delta. She loves playing fetch with all of the toys. I think it's great for her, since she has a lot of energy and needs a way to release it. Sometimes at night she jumps around and barks, or runs around with her bone. It's the dog's way of relieving stress. The rest of the day, aside from obedience and lecture, was free time for us. Lecture was about the upcoming week. we will be doing escalators, traffic checks, and on Thursday we will be going to New York City. That trip is optional but I want to go, just for the experience, if nothing else. Traveling in NYC is something I could never have done independently with a cane, and I want to do it with Delta. I really think she can handle it. Traffic checks should be interesting. A traffic check involves the dog having to make a decision to get me out of the way of a moving car. I think someone will be driving a car to purposely create a traffic check, to give us the opportunity to get a feel for how our dogs react.

My parents and sister came to visit and we went out to lunch. I got spaghetti and meatballs, one of my favorite foods. The food here is great, but I needed some food from "the outside" for a change.

Tomorrow will be back to working in White Plains, in other words, long, long days. I can't believe my training is half done already. I'm actually starting to look forward to going home, particularly with all the drama.

Today was probably the longest day yet. We were up at the usual time for park, feed, water, and park. After obedience, a dog was brought in for a distraction. Delta handled this pretty well. This distraction work uses something called counter conditioning, that is, we give our dog a treat for sitting and staying rather than being distracted, therefore making ourselves more interesting than the distraction.

After breakfast, we loaded up into the vans for Katonah. I was in the first van. The ride was about 15 minutes long and I was first on route. Delta was phenomenal, I only had to give her maybe two corrections, and I worked very well with her. The route was some street crossings and sidewalks, and there were a few dog distractions, which Delta did quite well on.

When we returned from Katonah, we parked our dogs and had lunch, which was grilled chicken for me. After lunch, we took our class and individual photos, which took about 2 hours. I also did my introduction for the video that will be played at graduation; I had to say my name, where I'm from, my dog's name, etc.

After photos were done, I headed over to the vet hospital for Delta's exit physical. Delta was born on April 17, 2008, and her parents are Alex and Quarry. She weighs 57 pounds, and her target weight is 58 pounds. The vet gave Delta some shots, and determined that she is perfectly healthy.

After the vet physicals I parked Delta, relaxed for a bit, and fed, watered, and parked her again. We then had a vet lecture, which discussed keeping our dogs at their target weight, preventing heartworm, fleas and ticks, among other things. I could use some recommendations on what food I should give her. Right now she's on Iams, but the vet said as long as it is a name-brand food it's fine. I want to give her something of good quality, so if Iams is a good food I'll just leave her on that.

After the lecture we had dinner, which was hamburgers and baked potatoes. We then had some free time, until it got dark and we headed out for a night trip in Katonah. The route was the same one I did in the morning and it was a breeze, it just felt so great. I hung out in the van for a while and we headed back to Yorktown at around 9:30. I hung out in the coffee room with some classmates and am now ready to head to bed. It's late, so tomorrow I will likely be a zombie.