Yesterday started out as a blah day. Nothing went on and I was looking forward to coming home and eating dinner with my wife, maybe taking a walk while it was still daylight, and finally settling down to two hours of "Law and Order". Well, that did not happen. While the majority of the day was uneventful, things got interesting around 3 PM my time.
At 3:09 PM CST, I received an e-mail (not a phone call, but an E-MAIL) from our customer's internal escalation group. They were asking to have a ticket raised from medium to high severity. Well there are so many things wrong with that I do not know where to begin. Everything we do has a process and we are under contract to follow those processes. If an issue needs reviewed to see if it needs raised in severity, the customer normally calls the help desk and explains the issue. The HD contacts the incident mgr to see if the severity needs raised. if so, he raises the severity and contacts the tech. If not, the customer is informed and that is that. Nowhere am I involved in this process. The customer in question was in Russia and it was past midnight there. However, that is not the worst of it. I was notified SIX HOURS LATER by E-MAIL that the issue needed raised. Not only was the e-mail six hours late, it was sent to the wrong group/person. Rather than responding, I did the politically correct thing and notified the Incident Mgr on duty. No answer on the phone, so I e-mailed them the issue, CC'ing the tech who worked on it and the mgr for the region (Even if this was an escalation, it should not have gone to me...I am only responsible for global issues and my region. This was in Russia and affected 1 person). Since I had not heard from anyone by quitting time (4:30 for me), I drove home. Just as I got home and started feeding the dogs, the Incident Mgr called me and asked me what he wanted me to do about the case. I wanted to say something but I held my tongue. I just told him the customer needed to be notified and the solution put into place. It was a formality, but the tech was just following protocol by asking for the customer to follow the rules. After confirmation that the issue would be looked into, I ended the call.
My wife came home and said she was hungry, but we did not have time to "cook" anything, so she nuked a bag of chicken fried rice and we ate it on the patio, since the weather was nice. We took the dogs out and the Golden wanted to play. She has bad hips and has had one of her ACL's repaired,so running is a no-no. She did her "play bow" and wanted me to chase her and I told her "no!" She was not taking no for an answer so she took off running. Suring her first step, she let out a yelp and started limping. We both knew what it was...
My wife loves that dog more than anything other than God, me, and our son. Seeing the dog in pain and limping broker her heart. The dog is seven years old and has had one ACL surgery. She has the heart of a Golden but not the healthy body of one. Even before she hurt herself last night, she had trouble walking and getting up off the floor. She takes pain pills a few times a week when we see her in greater pain, but we do not want her to live on them.
My wife is taking the dog to the vet to have her x-rayed. She told me that if the ACL is blown, she is going to have the Golden euthanized/put down/put to sleep...whatever term you are comfortable with. My does not feel that she is strong enough to handle ACL and hip surgery. If this happens, my wife is going to have a broken heart and she will grieve for a long time. The Golden is the little girl my wife never had. I like the dog, but my wife is the one who is attached to her. She trained her, she grooms her, she cares for her. I just feed her and let her out a few times each day.
Our other dog, while in good physical health, has issues that I think are similar/related to doggie dementia. He can be sweet one minute and act very weird the next. He stares at blank walls and he lays in the middle of the hallway, causing me to step on him if I am not on the lookout. He is almost twice as old as the Golden. We have had him a long time. When it is his time to go, I am gonna be the one who cries like a baby.
My wife is supposed to call me if the dog has to be put down. I am not looking forward to that call. I almost would welcome the expense over the pain this is going to bring. I know that all things happen for a reason...it may be time for my wife to let go so she can be stronger the next time a major issue arises.
This is going to be a prayer day...and a long one at that.
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