THE END! Well kinda....

Sooo it's been about a month since I've updated the blog (bad Erin! bad Erin!), and I've already been home for almost 2 weeks! This will be my last entry I guess, so I will be sure to catch you all up on the last two weeks of the internship this time around. :)

I will be starting another blog or two since I'm kinda addicted, but they prob won't be quite as fascinating as this one. The one that I have set up already is just a training log for my escapades with my Border Collie, Maggie Mae, so it's very different from this one. The addy is: http://multipurposedog.blogspot.com ; feel free to check it out if you'd like.

Now on to the update!

The last two weeks of the internship were a whirlwind! The highlight, by far, was my trip to Orlando and the National Detector Dog Training Center there. I flew out of DC around 9am, got into the Orlando airport around 11am, and met my contact, John, near baggage claim. John and I hopped in the government van and drove off to the Center.

The Center is smaller than I expected, only housing for 35 dogs and one large training room, but they do get a lot accomplished in the small space. There are two auxillary buildings offsite as well; the primary use for these buildings is cargo and vehicle search training as well as special projects.

John introduced me to some of the trainers, staff, and current human trainees before heading off for a grand tour. I got to check out the classroom/instructor offices, training room, kennels, and exercise yard. The Center recruits beagles for passenger search and larger dogs, usually lab mixes, for cargo, border, and mail search. Almost all of the dogs trained are rescues from shelters or private homes and are trained to detect contraband agriculture articles. Drug and bomb dogs are trained elsewhere.

All dogs go through a rigorous screening process, so if they get to the Center they are generally good candidates. The program has about an 85% success rate with dogs that have passed the initial screenings, but little data has been kept on these details, so this is a rough estimate.

After lunch, John and I got to see some training with the large dogs in a cargo and vehicle setup. Despite the high temperatures, the dogs were impressive and the instructor I worked with was wonderful. The students were in good spirits.

All dogs go through about 5 weeks of basic training before being paired with their new handlers. The dog-handler teams complete a 10 to 13 week course before a final performance evaluation and graduation.

Back at the main building, I learned more about the enrichment programs for dogs in training. Dogs are given time in exercise pens with other canines, toys are rotated in the kennels, and some dogs are given access to an agility training course for additional stimulation. While there, I didn't see a single dog that appeared unhappy or depressed.

Before I had to leave, Craig, one of the other instructors, let me work with one of the dogs waiting to be partnered with a handler. After setting up a baggage arrangement, Craig showed me how to help the dog pick up scents and focus on the task at hand. After a few mistakes I got the idea and the dog I was working started focusing better. I had a blast!!

After that exercise, John and I set up two boxes, one target, one non target, to start basic training with a new dog. Target items are citrus, apples, mango, beef, and pork; non targets are anything other than target items, including cheese, honey, chicken, pasta, etc.

The dog I was now working with hadn't been worked on scent yet, just obedience, so it was up to me to start things! All dogs were clicker trained, so I was in my element. After a few reps, John thought it looked like the beagle would prob end up as a good detector dog given his responses. Very cool!

After getting a copy of the dvd on screening dogs for the program, John took me back to the airport for my flight out at 6:10pm. I was back in DC by 8ish, and back to the apt by 9pm!

I had a great time and I might, if things work out, be going back in the future for a longer visit.

Other than the Orlando trip, I also got to shadow an inspector (spent a day at a research facility, no major problems found; I learned a lot as usual), have lunch w/ my boss' boss (got a new project that may last past this summer and learned some interesting details about how he tries to manage people), and finished up filing everything HPA related lol.

Emily and I met up for dinner in Old Alexandria and we had fun eating at a little Thai restaurant and getting ice cream down the street. We stayed out until about 10pm and I didn't get home until 11ish!

The Thursday before I left DC, my new friend Gretchen, who raises and trains service dogs for Fidos for Freedom, and I met up after work and went back to her house for dog training videos, talk about all things canine, dinner, and obedience practice observation. It was nice to meet another crazy dog person, talk about training methods, and play with a few dogs.

Overall my internship has been wonderful. I loved the variety and the people - def time well spent, and hopefully I can keep in touch with everyone down the road.

Hope you enjoyed the trip along with me despite info delays!

Ciao!

Famous Dog

Forgot to mention that Gryffin is now online (and no he doesn't have AIM, the whole no opposable thumbs thing kinda makes typing difficult); I submitted his pic to an anti Breed Specific Legislation website and they put it up yesterday or today.

Gryffin's pic is the second one from the top on page 21 at www.sorryagain.com if you wanna check it out. I used one of the first pictures I took on my digital camera. :)

Annnnnnnnnnd it's Saturday Again

Wow only six days since the last update lol I'm slowly getting back on the horse I guess. :)

Nothing spectacular at work - finally nailed down my trip though. Ended up having to set it up so that I fly in and out of Orlando the same day unfortunately - couldn't find housing and the Disney thing fell through. I'll get to see the detector dog training center though and that was the whole point of the trip originally, so that's good. My boss' boss has told me to be sure to inquire about possibilities for next summer since they used to hire people when he worked with them more closely. And yes hire means actual pay!!! We shall see.

I was going to go on an inspection but had to reschedule due to the inspector's unexpected change in plans. It worked well though because I felt like crap on Thursday and ended up not going to work. In the afternoon I did manage to feel well enough to go to 14th St. and check out a new pet supply place: "Essential Pet". It's owned by the same person who owns the only 24/7 dog day care in North America (next door), and I got to talk to her for a bit. Very nice store (got a new treat bag for the dog training obsession) and it was nice to talk to another 'dog person' lol.

Friday was a half day so I got home around 1pm, surfed a bit, read some in my book, took a nap, then was a bum for a few hours. Ended up going to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Shane, some of the interns from his office (Victoria and the two Bens), and Lawrence. It was opening night I guess, so we ended up catching the first show that wasn't sold out....at 11:15pm!!! It was a good movie and Depp was amazing as Willy Wonka, not to mention the neat visuals and amusing Oompa Loompa songs. :) I didn't get home until close to 2am. It was very nice to get out with some new people and 2 am really isn't *that* late... I swear!

Today was laundry day for me; the weather was crappy so I didn't go out for fear of getting soaked again like I did two or three times in the last 10 days. It's actually lightning and rumbling out right now; def a very impressive light display outside my window.

Commuter Diaries

This is something I wrote at the spur of the moment after a ride on the metro....enjoy!!

I sometimes wonder what other people are thinking about on their morning commute. It's interesting to watch people in the morning - walking, riding the metro, on the shuttle. Some people are easy to read and others not so much. There are those lipsynching to the music from their iPod or hurridly walking, newspaper in one hand, cup of coffee in the other.

I know that my morning commute seems to be a time, albeit broken frequently by metro stops and time schedules, when I can reflect on past and upcoming events: work projects, people I miss, places I want to go, etc. Sometimes I forgo the thinking for reading, though I invariably return to my thoughts when I'm walking.

There's just something about that time of day that triggers behaviors different from those of any other time or place.

I may never know what others are thinking, but I will always take pleasure in my own unique morning habits.

Back by Popular Demand!

Well I'm finally back! My T&T paper is safely turned in and it feels like a giant weight off my shoulders. :)

The last 10 days have been relatively uneventful work wise; I have the poster project handed off to a design person, I'm running downtown tomorrow to get the file for another poster that needs to be updated, I started a project to design a tutorial on Friday and am still waiting to hear back from people before I can get started, and the FOIA requests are still waiting on input from one of the vets on staff.

Last weekend was cool what with the 4th of July and all. Saturday I didn't really do much except laundry and trying to work on my paper. Sunday was more of the same really. Monday, however, was pretty spiffy even though it was a hot one.

Jeanna, Monica (Jeanna's friend), Kim, Debbie, one of the other girls from our floor, and I went to the parade. It started about 11:45 and we got there just as things started moving. I got a good view because I'm short, so I took some nice pictures on Jeanna's camera. It was super hot in full sun and no breeze; a few of the girls left about 40mins into it due to the heat actually, and I left about 15 mins before the parade was over. I ended up getting a slight tanline even with my 45 spf sunscreen because I sweated so much off.

After the parade I headed back to the room to chill for a bit. AC is sooooooo nice during the summer in DC. :)

Around 8pm Jeanna, Monica, and I made our way to the Mall to find a place to watch fireworks; supposedly things fill up quickly with an average attendance of 700,000. We waited in a long line to get through security; I was glad I didn't bring my messenger bag because it would've delayed me a bit. Once through security, the three of us found a nice place to sit on the grass about 1/2 way between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. We could just barely hear the music from the Capitol so that was nice. The fireworks started at 9:10pm, but were over by 9:30pm...I was expecting more! The fireworks they did have were fairly standard, but there were some neat ones and there's nothing like seeing them behind the Washington Monument.

At the end a helicopter flew over shining his spotlight down on the people - kinda nerve wracking actually. The crowds were crazy on the way back. I found out later they used them to test the DC emergency evacuation plan! I was impressed by the police horses standing stock still in the middle of honking traffic, tons of people, and helicopters overhead. Now if only my horse could do that!

A few people have asked me how the London attacks affected me in DC since I ride Metro daily to and from work. I have to say that I have noticed very few changes, pretty much only a few more security officers at the stations I frequent. It was pretty odd to be riding the Metro only a few hours after the attacks and thinking about what all those people had to deal with, but at no point did I truly feel scared or nervous about something similar happening here. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing.

Yesterday I did a ton of stuff as well. Jeanna's mom had come in via train on Wednesday, so she, Jeanna, Shane, and I took a trip to Arlington Cemetary together. I took lots of pics and posted a few throughout this entry. We saw the Women in Military Service Memorial (very impressive building), the memorial to all the troops killed in the War on Terror (quite touching, especially because this memorial is so new and has pictures of those who were killed; I think it may become the Vietnam Memorial of my generation), JFK's grave, the Lee house (on the hill w/ great views and a very talkative ranger who told our group all about the Himilayan Cedar by the house), the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the grounds in general. It was a ton of walking, but very interesting and definitely worth the approximately 3 hours we spent there.

After the Arlington trip, we all split off; Jeanna and her mom headed off to the monuments, Shane took off for a meeting, and I went to the Museum of Natural History.

At the museum I saw two exhibits: Mammals and Bones, reptiles, and insects. The mammal one was cool because you got to see all types of animals up close; the only thing better would've been if they weren't stuffed. :) I learned about our first mammalian ancestor - nicknamed Morgie - in a kids video on evolution. In the other exhibit, I spent the majority of my time in the Insect Zoo - live bugs all over, including huge tarantulas and all sorts of odd critters. I felt sooo tall around all the little kids. I only skimmed the skeleton sections because they weren't moving and once you've seen a few they start to blur. On my way out of the bug zoo I walked through a temporary exhibit on Greenland. There were some GORGEOUS photos of the landscape and culture as well as some neat pieces of 3D art.

On my way home I stopped at the sculpture garden next to the art museum (pics of the fountain and art museum behind below) and dipped my toes in the fountain after taking some pictures in the evening light; very relaxing!!

The picture of me that you see at the end of the post is actually a reflection of me in a sculpture I found on my way back to the dorm. The building on its side is also reflected in the same sculpture.

Today was another lazy Sunday - did laundry and played catch up. :) I'm officially half way through my internship and I'm already planning for next summer!!

Oops!

I haven't forgotten the blog I swear!!! I've just gotten behind and now I am working on my Trinidad paper. I'll update the blog on Wednesday or Thursday I swear! :)

4 in 1 special!

I can't believe I haven't updated this blog for 4 days -- I don't even have a good excuse for not updating you all on what I've been doing recently. Here goes:

FRIDAY:

Work as usual, nothing really new there except for the office picnic at noon. I met a few people from other departments, ate lots of good food, and discussed dogs w/ one of the vets (Wendy, I think) from a department that AC works closely with. It was nice to meet lots of people in a casual setting rather than in the hall or in the break room and the convo with Wendy was interesting, even if I got put on the defensive for not going to vet school and considering a dog from a breeder as the next addition to my pack lol.

I got to leave work early since everyone else was working from home in the afternoon; got home around 3:30pm or so. :)

Bummed around for the rest of the evening.

SATURDAY:

Got up early and headed to the White House for a tour. I found it quite overhyped and rather disappointing. I'm glad Lawrence got us an appointment -- I would've been mad if I had waited in a long line for the 'tour'. While it was neat to be inside the famous building, the tour was self guided and only went through about 7 or 8 rooms in the East Wing. The rooms were smaller than I expected and very traditionally styled (which I did expect). Luckily there were only a few spots where the walkway was crowded so I was able to get an unobstructed view of the rooms for the most part and didn't feel rushed.

Note: no bags or cameras of any kind are allowed and there are no facilities to leave them at while taking the tour!! Jeanna and I ended up switching off who went on the tour and who stayed outside w/ the bags. The tour took us each about 30 mins, so no one was too bored waiting for the other.

On our walk to the White House, Jeanna and I passed the Treasury Building and Lafayette Park. The Treasury is a very impressive building; the park seems rather small and non discript.

Once back at the dorm, we headed out for our Saturday habit -- grocery shopping!! Once we got back, I did some research for my Trinidad paper and played online.

Around 8:30pm or so we went downstairs to watch movies and were there until about 11:30pm. Met two law students who are interning and studying in DC and talked to them for a bit - they live right down the hall I found out, so we might end up doing something with them again sometime.

SUNDAY:

Got up late (12:30pm lol), ate breakfast, and spent the whole day in the room researching for my paper and generally being a bum.

Sunday night was another movie night with Jeanna (a few guys showed up too but I have no idea who they were lol, just that they live in the dorm as well and speak Spanish).

MONDAY:

Work again. I'm running low on things to do, so I think I may talk to my boss about getting a special project to work on. I talked to him today and it sounds like I will get to shadow an inspector sometime next week -- def looking forward to that!!

The fire alarm went off at work today, so I got to walk down 6 flights of stairs in heels, stand in the hot, humid parking lot for 20 mins, and then climb back up the 6 flights of stairs (too impatient to wait for an elevator w/ all the other people in the building). What an experience!

This evening Jeanna and I wandered about the Mall -- probably walked about 3 or 4 miles I would guess. We saw a lot and I took a ton of pictures which I will try to share in the near future. The World Adult Kickball Association was holding their tournament on the Capitol end, there were numerous softball games scattered about, tents were set up for the Folklife Festival, and there were a lot of people wandering like us or being ambitious and running on the path around the Mall. We walked from the Capitol end to the end near the Washington Monument (impressive in the setting sun), then headed back toward home when we noticed storm clouds gathering in the distance.

I got some awesome pics of the Capitol and various buildings in the setting sun in front of a backdrop of dark clouds -- I LOVE my camera!! I even got to use the night setting to catch some neat views of the reflecting pool near the Capitol in the twilight. :)

Now I'm hanging out in my room listening to the radio and trying to figure out whether I should go to bed now or later lol.

Filing Queen!

Well I was back at work today after my adventures of yesterday. I actually was looking forward to being back in the office lol -- that hasn't happened to me for a while.

Today was pretty normal: a little internet research, filing (almost done w/ my main task there, hence the title), emailing, etc. Tomorrow is the first annual office picnic. :)

I talked to the Deputy Admin and it looks like since I'm just an intern if I wanna go to Orlando I'll have to pick up my plane ticket there and back since the higher ups don't want to give one intern more than the others or something like that. I'm doing some research on all that's involved and with some help from my contacts and my parents I hope I can figure something out that will make everyone and my bank account happy. Wish me luck!!

Tonight Jeanna and I headed out to Chinatown/Gallery Place to get some stuff at CVS and food for her at one of the little restaurants. I ended up finding new sunglasses (woo hoo and they're polarized too), even though I can't really wear them w/o being blind for another week or so since I have to wear my glasses for a while due to the whole eye thing. They aren't as cool looking as the old ones, but they were cheaper and I think I can still wear them running, so it's all good. :)

Back at the dorm, Jeanna and I headed downstairs to watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals -- I left at half time so that I could call Scott, but he's not home for some reason, so I figured I'd update ya'll.

The Joys of the DC Health Care System

So last night I was on the phone and was hit by a wave of what I now know as 'vertigo' -- it sucked.

This morning I figured I should prob talk to a dr about the occurance and my eye stuff so I went downstairs to see if I could get some info on urgent care places from the person at the desk. She called the Student Health Center but they won't take non Georgetown students, so they told her to look stuff up online. She logged on and found a place nearby and gave me the number. I called them and was told I needed an appointment and they didn't have one until tomorrow at 9am (no way am I missing more work!). She referred me to the ER. I called the ER and they were estimating a 2 hour wait, so I said 'what the heck' and hopped the metro to Foggy Bottom and GWU Hospital.

The people there were quite nice but, bottomline, I wasted 6.5 hours - they told me I had a viral eye infection (nothing to do but wait) and maybe a slight infection left over from a cold in my inner ear (nothing to do but wait), causing the vertigo. BLAH!!!!!!

I met a guy from Baylor in the waiting room, so at least I wasn't totally bored out of my mind for 6 hours, but that and the nice staff were pretty much the only not sucky parts of the whole experience. Why on Earth are there no clinics for urgent care in the DC metro area?!?!?!

Needless to say, I was pissed enough that had anyone tried to mug me or something on my way home, I probably would have beat the crap out of em!

Yay for the day being pretty much over! :)