The jet lag monster had me in its grips until late afternoon. But, that makes sense, late afternoon in California is morning in China.
Why the title Shawna! on this post? Because she scared the you know what out of both of us today.
Today, I decided, was the day to recommission the hot tub. I've had all the maintenance work done over the past weeks so now it was time to get it going again. It has been filled with water for a few weeks so the teak could soak and swell and make itself watertight. Frankly, it has been dry since the autumn before Mary's symptoms appeared so that is 2.5 years.
First step, drain the two week old icky 'saturating' water. With the help of gravity, that takes several hours.
Two, clean the filter. A 30 minute job
Three, go buy new chemistry. Three plus year old stuff can be questionable.
Four, fill the tub. Using a garden hose, that can take well over an hour.
Five, as the jets are nearly submerged by the rising fresh water, turn on the heater. This involves going downstairs, turning on the pump and setting the soaking temperature. The temperature indicator show the starting point of our tap water here is 61 degrees as I set the use temp at 99 degrees As I climb back up the stairs, Wiggles is barking and dancing and acting nuts.
"Oh, white dog, what IS your problem?" I say to the deaf dog. "It's too early for dinner". I realize she is not dancing towards the open door and the feeding area. Rather she is dancing towards the hot tub. Strange, I think.
As I walk towards the tub, the water level is still a good 1.5 feet below the rim. (The tub is set nearly flush with the deck.) I see something my brain cannot process at first. What is that large shape in the water? Moving, doing laps? Then it hits me, its Shawna! She fell in! Now Shawna has been around the hot tub since it was installed six years ago so clearly her balance is still not good after her bout with old dog vistibula disease last year.
My next thought is hypothermia. 61 degrees for a seventeen year old dog is too cold.
As I get down on my hands and knees to grab her, I see she is vey tired already and having a tough time keeping her mouth out of the water. She is starting to drown! I reach for her and miss the first time. The second lap I grab her and pull her to the side of the tub, holding her by her rib cage so she can cough and breath--which she does. Finally I lift her and run her into into the utility room sink to soak her in warm water to get the chill off of her.
Her heart is racing, she is having trouble breathing and she is shivering like there is no tomorrow. I am thinking heart attack any second now--she is 17 years old!
After towel drying, I turn away in preparation for using a hair dryer. With my back to her, she jumps off the 36 inch high counters! So now I am thinking major bone breakage plus a heart attack.
But, no! Shawna is fine. She has been quietly laying in front of the fire for the past couple of hours--and she is very much alive.
Shawna!
Pat
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Location:Los Gatos
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