Last Updated on: 25th February 2014, 05:43 pm
Well, today could be a very interesting day. I’m trying again to get a guide dog, and I’m going through another interview, and I’m nervous as hell. I’m nervous because this is an important part of their deciding to accept me. But more importantly, I’m nervous because this will be the second time I’m seeing this same interviewer guy, and the last time he saw me, well, I didn’t do too well.
Long story time. Right after I lost Babs because she got sick and had to be retired, I, your resident bull-headed moron, decided I was ready for another assessment from another school, even though I was still grieving Babs, Babs’s retirement wasn’t completely settled, and I’d just started to get into the swing of life after a month away.
I remember the day. It was drizzly and rainy. I was nervous. The brochure said the walk I was supposed to take this guy on so he could see that I was a competent traveller was to be four-eight blocks one way. But I lived downtown and everything I needed to find was less than four blocks away. He showed up, and couldn’t find my entrance. I came out to get him, but left my cane inside. Of course, he didn’t recognize me. So I had to go back inside and get my cane before he realized, oh that’s her.
After talking a while about the program, and him getting mad that Babs’s situation wasn’t completely resolved, we left for the walk. Of course, when I reached my destination, it was too short a walk! So, he had me turn down another street, and cross another street. After a few loopdy-loops and crossings of streets I’d never crossed before, in downtown where the traffic lights are weird, I was lost, confused, and frazzled! Then, it started to thunder and lightning! We had to duck in and out of buildings, which made me even more confused…so needless to say, I bombed the interview!
A year later, here I am, moved to a new part of town. I’m starting to get to know my area, and purely by accident, I end up learning about a perfect route for the interview. I’m just starting to learn it, and bang! He calls and offers to come up and assess me, and if I don’t take it, he won’t be able to come back to this area for another two months! This wouldn’t be a bad thing, except it would push my trip down to train until January, which would have me and fido come back to the land of the great white north…when it’s very white, as in covered in snow, which might be a bad time for Fido to be learning about his new home, especially since he’s from California.
So I take a gulp, take a gamble, and say, sure come up here. I start madly practicing the walk I’m taking him on, and most of it is all cool, but there is one scary street that I need to go practice because it’s psycho and hard to figure out and I want to have it down. And I see on the weather network that it’s supposed to rain today! So wish me luck, hope it doesn’t thunder and lightning, hope I can get this street straight in my head this morning, and hope I don’t bomb all over again! Better yet, I hope I have good news in about a week to post up here!
