working out for Disney

[ajrwdwgirl]

That's what they have here....the housing lotteries. Although here, it's a waiting list in some cases, and there are some for student housing, and some just for regular standard housing. The house we are in now was a lottery system. We had been on a waiting list system for 3 years and were still at the very bottom of the list. You couldn't really get a place from the list unless you had been on the list for decades, and the majority of apartments and houses that weren't associated with a list weren't affordable. We had gone to every bank there was for mortgages. My husband is an engineer, but since I'm a foreigner and was still learning Dutch, I couldn't work fulltime. Unless you had 2 full time workers, you couldn't get a mortgage for anything more than a one bedroom apartment in a bad part of town. And student housing pretty much works the same way....you pay an initial fee to get on the list for housing in a particular university city. E's is probably one of the easiest ones to get into, because it's less desireable. It's not like most university cities....there's not much of a night life there, not much to do. Students don't go to Wageningen for the parties...they go because it's the place that offers their major. This is why it's also known as the "nerd" school. I didn't know this until I was talking with someone and they asked if E knew what she was going to do for college and I said she was going to Wageningen, and she said "Oh that's the nerd school." which totally makes sesne....that fits well with E. And I asked E about it and she said totally, yes...everyone knows it's the nerd school. People who like to party won't go there....they want to go to like...Amsterdam, or Utrecht. You only go to Wageningen if you are serious about school and don't care about the options for parties. Then when she went for an open day, the tour guide was showing the kids the biotech and molecular life sciences building and was saying that was where all the REALLY nerdy people were. And when the Biotech guy showed them the building, he showed a joke that one of the molecular life sciences people had written on the board and commented that the molecular life sciences people are really weird. He didn't know that was what she wanted to study. So basically, she's in the nerd major at the nerd college. But going to this school reduces the risk of not being able to find student housing....there are still issues, but fewer than at other schools. If she decides to get a room at some point, it shouldn't be as hard or take as long. But there are no dining hall options at universities here. You are on your own. Student housing is generally like a small apartment where you share a bathroom and kitchen with several people. There's no meal plan because there's no dining facility. And I don't know about proximity...I don't think it's necessarily on campus. Actually most universities here don't really have a "campus" as such....the buildings are spread throughout the city. E's actually does have a campus and there's a bus from the train station to the campus, so commuting is really easy and she doesn't really have to ride her bike very far. But some places will be miles from classrooms, so everyone has to bike everywhere.

Sounds like the "nerd school" is the place to be those people are going to do great things! Also reading this made me think if some Romance STEM books and I wondered if you or E have read any? The author I like is Ali Hazelwood, they can be a bit racy but it is nice to see a focus on women that are serious about their science careers looking for love.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Checking in with an upper body workout and a very long walk. It was so gorgeous outside, I lost track of time. My son texted me to ask if I was OK.

I made banana pudding yesterday and it never set up. The cream part was like melted ice cream. I couldn't figure out why, I followed the recipe to a T. I was cooking dinner tonight and I saw a box of instant pudding in the cabinet. It all made sense then. My husband did the shopping this weekend and he accidentally bought cook and serve pudding, but he went back and bought the instant pudding. I made the pudding with the cook and serve. The boxes are so similar. I did eat a bit, but honestly, the texture is off-putting. I was going to throw it out and my son stopped me.

 

[Sans Souci]

That's what they have here....the housing lotteries. Although here, it's a waiting list in some cases, and there are some for student housing, and some just for regular standard housing. The house we are in now was a lottery system. We had been on a waiting list system for 3 years and were still at the very bottom of the list. You couldn't really get a place from the list unless you had been on the list for decades, and the majority of apartments and houses that weren't associated with a list weren't affordable. We had gone to every bank there was for mortgages. My husband is an engineer, but since I'm a foreigner and was still learning Dutch, I couldn't work fulltime. Unless you had 2 full time workers, you couldn't get a mortgage for anything more than a one bedroom apartment in a bad part of town. And student housing pretty much works the same way....you pay an initial fee to get on the list for housing in a particular university city. E's is probably one of the easiest ones to get into, because it's less desireable. It's not like most university cities....there's not much of a night life there, not much to do. Students don't go to Wageningen for the parties...they go because it's the place that offers their major. This is why it's also known as the "nerd" school. I didn't know this until I was talking with someone and they asked if E knew what she was going to do for college and I said she was going to Wageningen, and she said "Oh that's the nerd school." which totally makes sesne....that fits well with E. And I asked E about it and she said totally, yes...everyone knows it's the nerd school. People who like to party won't go there....they want to go to like...Amsterdam, or Utrecht. You only go to Wageningen if you are serious about school and don't care about the options for parties. Then when she went for an open day, the tour guide was showing the kids the biotech and molecular life sciences building and was saying that was where all the REALLY nerdy people were. And when the Biotech guy showed them the building, he showed a joke that one of the molecular life sciences people had written on the board and commented that the molecular life sciences people are really weird. He didn't know that was what she wanted to study. So basically, she's in the nerd major at the nerd college. But going to this school reduces the risk of not being able to find student housing....there are still issues, but fewer than at other schools. If she decides to get a room at some point, it shouldn't be as hard or take as long. But there are no dining hall options at universities here. You are on your own. Student housing is generally like a small apartment where you share a bathroom and kitchen with several people. There's no meal plan because there's no dining facility. And I don't know about proximity...I don't think it's necessarily on campus. Actually most universities here don't really have a "campus" as such....the buildings are spread throughout the city. E's actually does have a campus and there's a bus from the train station to the campus, so commuting is really easy and she doesn't really have to ride her bike very far. But some places will be miles from classrooms, so everyone has to bike everywhere.

This waiting list doesn't seem very conducive to starting a family. Multiple times a week, I am reading articles about how replacement fertility rates are down in industrialized countries, yet I see very few public policy incentives to have children. Are you supposed to have children while living in a one br apartment? Obviously, it's a complex issue, but making people wait decades to get a home is one facet to this issue. You'd think with all of the screeching coming from economists about people not having enough children, they would present actionable, viable solutions. I know towns here and there offer tax breaks for families to have multiple children, but you need to have housing for multiple family members first. You can't expect a couple to have 2-3 kids in a one BR flat. Anyway, I went off on a weird tangent. Sorry. lol (I am not a "pro natalist". I just think every one should do what's right for themselves.)

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello

I did a lower body workout this AM. Actually, @HouCuseChickie inspired me to do a Caroline Girvan YouTube workout.


It was tough, but doable--a nice mix of weighted moves and bodyweight moves.

I got tickets for MNSSHP for the 22nd over the weekend. I got in just under the wire, because it sold out the other day. I changed hotels (again). We had been booked at Sheraton Vistana. but my husband had started getting emails from them about attending a timeshare presentation. My husband's not going to be around, he's there for a conference. So, he got another email about attending a timeshare presentation and he pulled the plug on staying there. So, he found a room at the Renaissance on Hotel Plaza Blvd, that used to be the B Resort within his per diem. I think only the past month or so it became a Renaissance. I am curious about how it is.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

That's what they have here....the housing lotteries. Although here, it's a waiting list in some cases, and there are some for student housing, and some just for regular standard housing. The house we are in now was a lottery system. We had been on a waiting list system for 3 years and were still at the very bottom of the list. You couldn't really get a place from the list unless you had been on the list for decades, and the majority of apartments and houses that weren't associated with a list weren't affordable. We had gone to every bank there was for mortgages. My husband is an engineer, but since I'm a foreigner and was still learning Dutch, I couldn't work fulltime. Unless you had 2 full time workers, you couldn't get a mortgage for anything more than a one bedroom apartment in a bad part of town. And student housing pretty much works the same way....you pay an initial fee to get on the list for housing in a particular university city. E's is probably one of the easiest ones to get into, because it's less desireable. It's not like most university cities....there's not much of a night life there, not much to do. Students don't go to Wageningen for the parties...they go because it's the place that offers their major. This is why it's also known as the "nerd" school. I didn't know this until I was talking with someone and they asked if E knew what she was going to do for college and I said she was going to Wageningen, and she said "Oh that's the nerd school." which totally makes sesne....that fits well with E. And I asked E about it and she said totally, yes...everyone knows it's the nerd school. People who like to party won't go there....they want to go to like...Amsterdam, or Utrecht. You only go to Wageningen if you are serious about school and don't care about the options for parties. Then when she went for an open day, the tour guide was showing the kids the biotech and molecular life sciences building and was saying that was where all the REALLY nerdy people were. And when the Biotech guy showed them the building, he showed a joke that one of the molecular life sciences people had written on the board and commented that the molecular life sciences people are really weird. He didn't know that was what she wanted to study. So basically, she's in the nerd major at the nerd college. But going to this school reduces the risk of not being able to find student housing....there are still issues, but fewer than at other schools. If she decides to get a room at some point, it shouldn't be as hard or take as long. But there are no dining hall options at universities here. You are on your own. Student housing is generally like a small apartment where you share a bathroom and kitchen with several people. There's no meal plan because there's no dining facility. And I don't know about proximity...I don't think it's necessarily on campus. Actually most universities here don't really have a "campus" as such....the buildings are spread throughout the city. E's actually does have a campus and there's a bus from the train station to the campus, so commuting is really easy and she doesn't really have to ride her bike very far. But some places will be miles from classrooms, so everyone has to bike everywhere.

Nerd school sounds like a good thing. I think some has to be tied to the culture of the country as well. While there are schools in the states that are notorious party schools, the reality is that even the most academically selective schools have a pretty robust party scene. We used to do a number of things with the kids from Cornell and they partied like rock stars. I remember us spending the night at one of the fraternities because every guy that lived in house had two rooms. They had a regular bedroom in one wing and a study room with a bed in another wing. The common areas for parties and other social gatherings were in an entirely different wing. Basically, it was a party castle that also worked well for them if/when they wanted to study. An old friend of mine went to Smith (one of the Seven Sisters) and she was one of the wildest people I ever met. I've also heard crazy stories from friends whose children recently attended Yale and Princeton.

The housing part at least seems like it'll work well for E in the long run. I don't know what next year will look like for K. Bike theft seems to be really common on campus, living in the dorms as a sophomore seems to have its challenges, we'll have to see what costs and locations look like for apartments, and it's too early to know if she'll pursue the RA route.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Good morning and happy Thursday.

It's been a slow week. I did a light workout on Sunday morning, but dinner that night made me sick. I didn't connect it to me feeling unwell until I ate my leftovers on Monday. It's made me feel sick to my stomach all week and any physical exertion really messes with me. I had to go into the office yesterday and just walking from my car across the catwalks to the escalators and elevators had me feeling queasy and breathless. I'm going to try some light biking tonight to see how it goes.

I think the hydrocolloid band-aids and debriding are also working. The one week and two week comparison photo differences are pretty impressive. Even the day by day progress pics are pretty significant. I think it'll still be another couple of weeks before I can seriously entertain the possibility of a shoe with a back, but I'm gaining optimism. Other than that, we have a pretty busy schedule coming up. Between softball camps, tournament play, and Kendall visits/travel...it's going to be busy!

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning and happy Thursday.

It's been a slow week. I did a light workout on Sunday morning, but dinner that night made me sick. I didn't connect it to me feeling unwell until I ate my leftovers on Monday. It's made me feel sick to my stomach all week and any physical exertion really messes with me. I had to go into the office yesterday and just walking from my car across the catwalks to the escalators and elevators had me feeling queasy and breathless. I'm going to try some light biking tonight to see how it goes.

I think the hydrocolloid band-aids and debriding are also working. The one week and two week comparison photo differences are pretty impressive. Even the day by day progress pics are pretty significant. I think it'll still be another couple of weeks before I can seriously entertain the possibility of a shoe with a back, but I'm gaining optimism. Other than that, we have a pretty busy schedule coming up. Between softball camps, tournament play, and Kendall visits/travel...it's going to be busy!

Oh, no. I hope you're feeling better. Food poisoning is the worst. It can take so long before your stomach feels "right" again and you can eat normally without your stomach feeling like it's a cauldron of acid.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

This morning I did a full body dumbbell workout. I went for a walk. because it's so beautiful outside. The humidity is creeping back in, though. It was only 76 when I went out, but I got fairly sweaty.

I think I need to start using my light box. I am exhausted all the time and pasta is showing up on my weekly meal rotations quite frequently. lol I probably should have started 2-3 weeks ago before I got to this point.

 

[MinnieM123]

Hello-

This morning I did a full body dumbbell workout. I went for a walk. because it's so beautiful outside. The humidity is creeping back in, though. It was only 76 when I went out, but I got fairly sweaty.

I think I need to start using my light box. I am exhausted all the time and pasta is showing up on my weekly meal rotations quite frequently. lol I probably should have started 2-3 weeks ago before I got to this point.

It's September, so the humid days should really start to disappear. Maybe you just need more natural sunlight to boost your energy. As for carbs -- we all love carbs, no matter what time of year!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Oh, no. I hope you're feeling better. Food poisoning is the worst. It can take so long before your stomach feels "right" again and you can eat normally without your stomach feeling like it's a cauldron of acid.

Thank you! Each day it gets a little bit better, but I'm still not 100%. While being up in the middle of the night with tummy issues is the main culprit, I do feel that some of my exhaustion can be attributed to the darker mornings. The crazy schedule and related stresses surely also cannot help. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the dog next weekend.

We're headed to Norman for family weekend and there are two systems that will be in the Gulf that may combine forces towards the end of next week. I don't want her at boarding again if there's a decent possibility of a storm but taking a dog on a road trip isn't the most enjoyable experience. Kendall would love to see her and the cost to have her at the hotel for 2 nights is the same as 4 days at boarding. It would also keep me from feeling obligated to buy pricey football game tickets.

 

[Songbird76]

Sounds like the "nerd school" is the place to be those people are going to do great things! Also reading this made me think if some Romance STEM books and I wondered if you or E have read any? The author I like is Ali Hazelwood, they can be a bit racy but it is nice to see a focus on women that are serious about their science careers looking for love.

I don't think either of us have read any...I had never heard of them! E isn't so much into romance books, though. She's more into fantasy, historical fiction, dystopian. But I'm sure she'd be willing to give them a try. I'll look them up! Thank you!

 

[Songbird76]

This waiting list doesn't seem very conducive to starting a family. Multiple times a week, I am reading articles about how replacement fertility rates are down in industrialized countries, yet I see very few public policy incentives to have children. Are you supposed to have children while living in a one br apartment? Obviously, it's a complex issue, but making people wait decades to get a home is one facet to this issue. You'd think with all of the screeching coming from economists about people not having enough children, they would present actionable, viable solutions. I know towns here and there offer tax breaks for families to have multiple children, but you need to have housing for multiple family members first. You can't expect a couple to have 2-3 kids in a one BR flat. Anyway, I went off on a weird tangent. Sorry. lol (I am not a "pro natalist". I just think every one should do what's right for themselves.)

It definitely makes it difficult...we couldn't have kids while we were living with my in-laws. That was one of the biggest reasons we wanted to find a home and why we started on the list where we eventually got our house.

But, over here, there are quite a few families living in small houses. The houses here are generally smaller than what we're used to in the US...the Netherlands is a tiny country. There's not enough room. So they make houses smaller. There are families with 6 or 7 kids living in 3 or 4 bedroom houses no bigger than ours, and I feel like OURS is too small.

And, our government has a system where you get money for having kids. I think they pay it quarterly, and it's just deposited into your account. I think it does depend on how much you make from your job, so we get less than someone who works in a lower paying field, but it increases by how many children you have, too. One of my coworkers was saying that if you have 3 or more kids, you can get a LOT of money that way. And really, your mortgage isn't going to increase because you have more kids, and people will pass down clothing and such so they don't have to buy more. And if you are getting 300 for one kid, and 800 for 2, and it just keeps increasing, you can make a lot of money by having kids. I don't know...I wouldn't want to rely on that...something happens and you lose your job, how will you support all those kids, even with the government supplement? But people do. I just saw someone today who had a son in E's class back in elementary school. She has 5 kids now all living at home, though the 2 oldest are through school and they don't get money for the oldest anymore because he's 18, but they live in a house similar to ours. The kids must all share rooms. It might be a 4 bedroom house, but the bedrooms can't be very big then. It doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable, but to each his own, right?

 

[Songbird76]

Nerd school sounds like a good thing. I think some has to be tied to the culture of the country as well. While there are schools in the states that are notorious party schools, the reality is that even the most academically selective schools have a pretty robust party scene. We used to do a number of things with the kids from Cornell and they partied like rock stars. I remember us spending the night at one of the fraternities because every guy that lived in house had two rooms. They had a regular bedroom in one wing and a study room with a bed in another wing. The common areas for parties and other social gatherings were in an entirely different wing. Basically, it was a party castle that also worked well for them if/when they wanted to study. An old friend of mine went to Smith (one of the Seven Sisters) and she was one of the wildest people I ever met. I've also heard crazy stories from friends whose children recently attended Yale and Princeton.

The housing part at least seems like it'll work well for E in the long run. I don't know what next year will look like for K. Bike theft seems to be really common on campus, living in the dorms as a sophomore seems to have its challenges, we'll have to see what costs and locations look like for apartments, and it's too early to know if she'll pursue the RA route.

Bike theft is almost a sport in the Netherlands, and it's country-wide, not just on college campuses. It's bad. Most people here use bikes as transportation. I ride my bike to work, the kids ride their bikes to school....there was just an article in the news last week about how the big cities are trying to combat bikes being parked illegally at train stations. There are tens of thousands of people who need to park their bikes, and they have these bike racks that are 2 levels, so there's like this platform you put your bike on and then lift it into place above your head and lock it. But there are people who can not do that, like elderly people, or kids with e-bikes that are heavy. So people don't use the upper level as much because it's not convenient. So then instead of using that space, they park wherever they can shove it in, and it's not good. Theft is also very common at train and bus stations. A lot of people will "decorate" their bikes to look very....distinctive, so that no one will want to steal it. Others buy such a cheap bike that's in rough shape so that it's not worth stealing. We just had to get E a second bike so she has one in Wageningen and one here. She rides her bike from home to the train station, takes the train to Ede-Wageninging, then catches a bus to campus, where she has her other bike. But I parked my bike at the station one time a few years ago to take the train to meet with some friends and I came back to flat tires. Someone just slashed my bike tires at the station. And it's a common thing....that's why people buy what they call a "Station bike" that's basically a clunker. No one is going to want to steal it, and it's not fun to vandalize it because it already looks like a piece of junk.

 

[Songbird76]

Today was the day!

 

[Lilofan]

Bike theft is almost a sport in the Netherlands, and it's country-wide, not just on college campuses. It's bad. Most people here use bikes as transportation. I ride my bike to work, the kids ride their bikes to school....there was just an article in the news last week about how the big cities are trying to combat bikes being parked illegally at train stations. There are tens of thousands of people who need to park their bikes, and they have these bike racks that are 2 levels, so there's like this platform you put your bike on and then lift it into place above your head and lock it. But there are people who can not do that, like elderly people, or kids with e-bikes that are heavy. So people don't use the upper level as much because it's not convenient. So then instead of using that space, they park wherever they can shove it in, and it's not good. Theft is also very common at train and bus stations. A lot of people will "decorate" their bikes to look very....distinctive, so that no one will want to steal it. Others buy such a cheap bike that's in rough shape so that it's not worth stealing. We just had to get E a second bike so she has one in Wageningen and one here. She rides her bike from home to the train station, takes the train to Ede-Wageninging, then catches a bus to campus, where she has her other bike. But I parked my bike at the station one time a few years ago to take the train to meet with some friends and I came back to flat tires. Someone just slashed my bike tires at the station. And it's a common thing....that's why people buy what they call a "Station bike" that's basically a clunker. No one is going to want to steal it, and it's not fun to vandalize it because it already looks like a piece of junk.

Somewhat similar my friends live in NJ earn 6 figure salaries on Wall Street , drive very nice cars but when they drive to the train station to catch the train to NYC, they drive their " station car " aka multi several year old beater car that one may think again of stealing.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Bike theft is almost a sport in the Netherlands, and it's country-wide, not just on college campuses. It's bad. Most people here use bikes as transportation. I ride my bike to work, the kids ride their bikes to school....there was just an article in the news last week about how the big cities are trying to combat bikes being parked illegally at train stations. There are tens of thousands of people who need to park their bikes, and they have these bike racks that are 2 levels, so there's like this platform you put your bike on and then lift it into place above your head and lock it. But there are people who can not do that, like elderly people, or kids with e-bikes that are heavy. So people don't use the upper level as much because it's not convenient. So then instead of using that space, they park wherever they can shove it in, and it's not good. Theft is also very common at train and bus stations. A lot of people will "decorate" their bikes to look very....distinctive, so that no one will want to steal it. Others buy such a cheap bike that's in rough shape so that it's not worth stealing. We just had to get E a second bike so she has one in Wageningen and one here. She rides her bike from home to the train station, takes the train to Ede-Wageninging, then catches a bus to campus, where she has her other bike. But I parked my bike at the station one time a few years ago to take the train to meet with some friends and I came back to flat tires. Someone just slashed my bike tires at the station. And it's a common thing....that's why people buy what they call a "Station bike" that's basically a clunker. No one is going to want to steal it, and it's not fun to vandalize it because it already looks like a piece of junk.

I guess the more an area relies on bike usage the more you're going to see brazen thieves. When we went to visit Arizona State, they had physical box-like bike cages with manned guard booths. So, I guess they elevated their approach to the problem. The girls' middle school (well, the old building) had a bike pen. It had high fencing, security cameras with front office alerts and it remained locked during school hours. I had worried about my kids having nicer bikes, but when Sam was in elementary, it was typically the cheaper bikes that were stolen. Sam was riding a really nice Specialized trail bike back then, but it was the big box store BMX bikes that always went missing. That's crazy about your tires being slashed. I guess some people just have nothing better to do. Ugh.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

The last workout I did was Friday. I have been in Phoenix since Saturday. It's hot. While we were flying down, I got a message from Marriott that my room was assigned and it was an upgrade to a Mountain View. This was the view.




I say was because we had a connecting door to another room where the guy in the room was fighting with his wife/gf and was on the phone with his HOA. He was swearing so much and shouting. The soundproofing was really poor, we could hear conversations at regular conversational levels, which means they could hear us, too. We started whispering because we didn't want to be heard. lol My husband asked to move and they did, the view is not as nice--it's very private though. It's in a far flung corner of the resort and there is no connecting door. It's so quiet. <3 The room is bigger and has a bigger patio, too. I am not too bothered about a view from the room. There are mountains everywhere. They were really receptive to helping us. We just didn't want to hear fighting, shouting and swearing while trying to sleep. lol

I am going to try to get to the gym tomorrow.

 

[Songbird76]

I guess the more an area relies on bike usage the more you're going to see brazen thieves. When we went to visit Arizona State, they had physical box-like bike cages with manned guard booths. So, I guess they elevated their approach to the problem. The girls' middle school (well, the old building) had a bike pen. It had high fencing, security cameras with front office alerts and it remained locked during school hours. I had worried about my kids having nicer bikes, but when Sam was in elementary, it was typically the cheaper bikes that were stolen. Sam was riding a really nice Specialized trail bike back then, but it was the big box store BMX bikes that always went missing. That's crazy about your tires being slashed. I guess some people just have nothing better to do. Ugh.

Yeah, and the Netherlands relies on bikes a lot more than the US does. Bikes here have built in locks. I had never seen that in the US...I always had a chain lock, but people can just cut the chain. Here, they tell you to use both a chain lock and the bike's own lock, because if you don't use a chain lock, people will just pick up the bike and drive it away and they will break the lock off of it. If you put a chain lock through the tires, they can't do that. I've never had a bike stolen *knock on wood* but I know people who have.

 

[Songbird76]

I keep getting derailed with my workouts. I don't get enough steps in when I have to work, so I keep planning to go on long walks on my days off, but then I keep getting called in on my days off, and if I don't, we end up with a major thunder storm and it's not safe to go out. And they are doing construction, so I had to double back several times on Monday to find a route home where I could actually get through....it's really frustrating. That reminds me that I need to make sure I allow extra time to get to work tomorrow. I'm just struggling to get my workouts in.

 

[Songbird76]

I FINALLY got out for a walk today. It wasn't raining, I didn't get called in to work extra hours, and I had nothing else I HAD to do. So I went for a nice long walk, and I got to pet a really good doggo who was doing a great job protecting his home and family. He escaped his yard to come check me out, then after sniffing me, he let me give him scritches and he just wagged his tail and ran circles around my legs. His owner came around the corner apologizing and telling me to be careful because he's very strong and pushy. But he was just a sweetheart and wanted to come say hi and make sure I wasn't a threat. I often see dogs on my walks, but they are usually on leashes and I don't dare to ask if I can pet them, so I was very excited to get to give this one some love. It was a really good walk!