We did another neighborhood walk with Bonnie, Snoopy and the fosters Millie and Dolly.
The rental that we’re still stuck in while the house is being renovated is in another part of the Glen Cove neighborhood of Vallejo. We enjoy some of the walks in the area, although the foxtails this time of year are still a big worry, as well as burrs, which seem to be ubiquitous.
Former adopters from HSNB took Vondra in as a foster-to-adopt candidate, so we wish her the best of luck. She had a rough start, but is completely healed from the stitches and her hair is growing back in.
Once again this year, I tabled for a little while with fellow volunteers at Humane Society of the North Bay. Here are the pictures I took:
Here are some of the pictures fellow volunteer Lisa Szucs took:
After a lovely lunch in downtown Suisun, a group of us from the Norcal ACLU Chapter had the privilege of meeting with State Assemblymember Lori Wilson to discuss pending legislation in Sacramento, including measures such as the problem with masked and unidentified “officers” and preventing assistance to the unhoused from being criminalized, which some municipalities have attempted to do. Assemblymember Wilson and her staff were terrific, as always. This was my third time meeting with her in the last few years. The other two times for me were with the American Heart Association on tobacco industry legislation. I love melding minds with such dedicated activists. From left to right are Kaila, me, Assemblymember Wilson, Tanisha, Cliff, and Kimberlee in the group photo.
These pictures include the decor in the waiting room and pictures Shea took of me. I didn’t dress up too fancily, but it was worth seeing what I looked like. I ditched the blazer because it was 100 degrees in Suisun that day. I look drunk in one of the pictures, but you get the idea..
I stopped by the Vallejo JFK Library’s Joseph Room, where they were hosting a Health Fair. I tabled a bit with Tobacco Free Solano (see my T-shirt), who I’ve volunteered with as a Co-Chair for several years.
The video below is a little video panorama of the Health Fair that the Vallejo JFK Library was hosting in the Joseph Room earlier this week. I made to that Tobacco Free Solano was in attendance since it was only a tiny blurb in the Vallejo Weekly. This was early on as it was getting set up, but a very cool idea and networking opportunity for local agencies and other non-profits.
I would give them a D+. I’m very impressed they did NOT have the cigar event on the schedule this year. Whether it took place unofficially I did not hear.
There was some signage that the resorts and bar used, but I still had to approach at least a dozen people over the week with blatant disregard for the explicit signs that they were sometimes smoking immediately under. Most apologized to me, which I was not expecting.
Here is the pool at the West Sonoma Inn. Three VERY temporary signs (yellow) were there to tell people to only smoke in designated areas, but there were guys smoking on the edge of the pool all week. Some of them told me that they were told that smoking in the FIELDS was okay, so I had to point them to the one designated area, which is under redwood trees and on the premises. I do not believe this location is appropriate, but an accommodation, much like the one at the Triple R in the parking lot. Here is that “designated” area at West Sonoma Inn:
At the bonfires it was EVERYWHERE and while some of the guys tried to stay off the most crowded areas off the sides, but these assholes were smoking combustible commercial cigarettes at Ground Zero. Unbelievable. I guess next year I need to take far more footage and pictures to document better, but I was TRYING to enjoy my vacation.
The Woods, which had the most explicit signs that said “this entire property is smokefree,” had people smoking AT the pool right under the signs (until I confronted them), some of them went off to secret area between fences until I confronted them. One of them told me “it’s just a vape.” What is this? 2017? People actually staying at the resort were also observed by me (Room 4) to be smoking openly right in front of their doors. I guess it was repugnant for them to smoke in their own rooms against policy, but they wanted to share their passive smoke with every passerby.
Many of my friends were unfortunately some of these vapers. I told them the rules generally, but I did not want to be the constant bringer of bad news either.
One of the ironies is that a former heavy smoker friend of mine who now smokes a vape with zero milligrams of tobacco, miraculously, was at this booth. Notice that it raises money for Sonoma Health? Raising money for (gay men’s) health is, after all, the origin of the non-profit Lazy Bear Fund. I also feel that it should not be the responsibility of volunteers and board members to enforce the law in a town that obviously violates it 365 days a year. The onus should be on the resort and bar owners.
I did ask my friends who volunteered and I was assured that they had a STERN lecture to have people only smoke in designated areas, but no one was deputized to actually ask. I was in a long line to get into the Woods and I heard my volunteer friend ask everyone to not bring any glass into the pool area. I asked if he was reminding people that there is no smoking on the property at all and he sort of dismissed me that there were signs. I asked if they were reminding people to respect the signs and another friend of mine in line behind me said he would “rather breathe second hand smoke than step on glass in the pool.”
“Well guess what?” I said, “We can have both!”
Before pictures:
The “after pictures” come after we had a LOOONG night. We’re calling her Vondra for now. She’s a young adult and very sweet little Shih Tzu-type dog. We started grooming her without my understanding the seriousness of her situation. For the first time with an emergency comfort groom, I got too close to the skin and injured her, so we took her to the vet to get a couple of sutures on her front knee. I was guilt-ridden even though she barely seemed to notice it. I was able to get around her genitals and most of her body, but when she was under anesthesia, the veterinarians continued to try to get this poor baby out of her remaining prison of her own hair (see before pictures). They then admitted that they themselves cut her a few times and even razor-burned her skin trying to get her to a comfortable state, which made me realize that this was beyond our control. I’m not kidding when I say there were living plants embedded in her extreme fur mats, which were on almost every inch of her body. She is the most neglected animal I’ve ever groomed. She had to be in pain. She is much more comfortable now. I know she will eventually be beautiful, but her health comes first. Shea and I will foster her until she gets what she needs medically and gets adopted.
My friend and neighbor, Satish (Sam) Chohan, published a book called “Trojan Horse – Democracy Hijacked.” We got our copy at his book signing at the local JFK Library here in Vallejo. He’s on the Board of Glen Cove Community Association with me. I’m so proud to know him and volunteer with him as he and his lovely physician wife always have great ideas for our community!
You can buy his book on Amazon here!
When you see Dolly on the right, you can see why she reminded me of a certain Snoopy, who survived my house fire. When I saw her a few times at the shelter, it was a no-brainer when I was asked if I would consider taking her home for some rehabilitation as a foster dog. She’s been so wonderful and has flourished despite being surrendered to the Humane Society of the North Bay.
These are the “Before Groom” pictures of Yogi, a recent surrender at Humane Society of the North Bay, who needs a permanent home. He was very patient with me as I trimmed his long hair with Shea’s assistance. He was a little anxious and deserved a better reception than the two fosters gave him, but he is taller than all the other dogs in the house, so it probably helped him not be intimidated as much as he otherwise would have been. When I first met him in the shelter, he kind of resembled a (cute) sloth in his crate.
Here are pictures of Yogi after he got groomed. I think he really loves his summer cut, which I suspected I would not get done in one day, but I gave him several breaks so that he could overcome his anxiety.
