Small Victories, Big Smiles

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jijifer
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Small Victories, Big Smiles

Post by jijifer »

For 2 years, I was scooter only. Something sitting on my shoulder in early March kept whispering to me that I couldn't maintain scooter only safely, that I needed a car. So I took my car into the shop to get it back on the road. 6 days later, my dogs and I were attacked by a vicious pitbull ( for a 3rd time in 7 months) only this time the pitbull jumped on me, pulled my 14 yearold chihuahua from my arms and tore him up in seconds. My car was still in the shop and I had no way to take my gravely injured dog to the vet. I got a ride. Linus lived but not without several weeks of critical care. I got my car out of the shop the day Linus was able to come home from the vet and parked my scooter the last 2 months while I took care of him. I just didn't want to risk needing to be home 10mins quicker or something and felt like I failed him by not having a car when he needed me. Luckily a dog's love is unconditional.

about week 2 of that ordeal, my friend, Neiko, was doing a story on scooters for a community access channel and San Diego and asked if she could interview me. This is what she filmed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIRb6_kj ... ture=share

I get a little choked up when she asked me to talk about my depression and I didn't realize I was petting my scooter but it had been parked for 2 weeks at that point and I missed her. I'm glad she got this on record because I swear my Buddy saved my life.

Then today got a little sweeter as I rolled over 20k. I should have hit it months ago but life threw me a curve ball. It felt so good to be on my scooter today. I had 50miles to go when I departed for work this morning. Tonight I had to do a little detour to hit it but I really wanted to swell with pride about 20k so detour I did.

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the one thing that got cut out of the final edit was how the friends I've made because of scootering changed my life for the better. I met 3 really terrific people on my first meet up group ride ever. Wayne has been my scooter adventure friend for 2 years and we've been all over together! I've met a few of you in-person. It's really amazing how friendly scooterist are. I've made more friends scooting the last 2 years than sum total of all the other years since college (let's call that 16 years).

we've got something really special here, folks. I hope you see it, too. In our scoots, in our scootering, and in the people we meet along the way!
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pugbuddy
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Post by pugbuddy »

I watched the video and thought it was great. I am glad to know of all the positive things that have come into your life or been emphasized in your life through scooting! God bless you and yours Jen!
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Post by Lotrat »

What's with the pitbulls in Carlsbad? My neighbor down the block had her chihuahua killed by one too. Crazy. Congrats on being famous and congrats on 20k. That's pretty impressive.
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Post by peabody99 »

congrats on your milestone, and finding happiness with your scooter-I can totally relate. I am so sorry about the attack and hope you and Linus recover fully.

edit/add- I saw my Buddy in the clip on the grand opening :P
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Post by BootScootin'FireFighter »

great video post Jen! I hope Linus recovers too. Wishin' you the best for many thousand miles more. It's nice to have support from the mayor down that way, surely that will have some positive impacts and changes working in favor of all riders in SD. Be safe and thanks for sharing :wink:
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Post by SteveK »

Now this is a great story. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by jasondavis48108 »

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. I hope your puppy makes a full recovery, I can't even imagine how traumatic that must have been. It really bothers me when I hear stories like this cause I'm a big fan of the pit bull breed. If they arn't raised by savage idiots they do really make wonderful companions and family pets.
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Post by SteveK »

Now this is a great story. Thanks for sharing!
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jijifer
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Post by jijifer »

jasondavis48108 wrote:I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. I hope your puppy makes a full recovery, I can't even imagine how traumatic that must have been. It really bothers me when I hear stories like this cause I'm a big fan of the pit bull breed. If they arn't raised by savage idiots they do really make wonderful companions and family pets.
I have a lot of love for pit bulls, too. This idiot owner has not raised this dog well and it has been horrifying each time we've been attacked, this last one haunts my dreams to this day.

for 2 weeks it wasn't clear if Linus could keep his leg - it was nearly ripped off. His back was torn across the width of his back. How he survived is simply a miracle. He regained much of the use of his leg just the part below what I refer to as his wrist seems to be lame but he's learned to throw it out so it lands flat as he walks. He can jump up but not down because that leg gives when he jumps down.

The infection he picked up while at the vet robbed him of his hearing and that breaks my heart the most because I love to sing to him.

But yes! he's doing so well considering!!!

The owner of the dog spent a few nights in jail when he failed to appear to his criminal hearing. He plead guilty but indigent so he's supposed to pay me $50/month for 7.5 years. Department of Animal Services as deemed the dog 'dangerous' but it remains two doors down with the negligent owner. If he fails at anyone of he requirements to keep a dangerous dog, the dog will be put down. I do not rejoice in that but I would rather this idiot realize he's going to get his dog killed and he should give to someone (far away) that will take care of the animal properly.

So it's been a long haul since March 22nd. I couldn't believe how close I was to 20K when I started up my scooter yesterday. I thought it would take several days to hit but it only took 1!

Then today Neiko gave me the link to her news piece and it all came full circle. good stuff!
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Post by Skootz Kabootz »

Awesome Jen. Good all the way around and you sound great on TV! I'm so glad you are riding again. As you know scooting has also helped me to get through three of the toughest years of my life. $3 of scooting fun can be worth millions. Here's to another 20,000 miles of smiles Jen. Hope we get to ride together again soon.

[EDIT: Had to edit this to say that what I meant was that it is awesome that you are back Jen. You and I have already chatted about Linus. Didn't want this to sound like I was without caring for the poor little guy. Happy to see you back Jen.]
Last edited by Skootz Kabootz on Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by CWO4GUNNER »

Your in my prayers. Great story, great scooter, sorry for the Chiwa. I cant believe that poorly Pit bull is allowed to stay deranged 2 doors down with the same owner. Be very careful, this does not sound good. You should go get yourself some animal pepper spry or a tazer gun, I know Cali does not allow you to carry but you need to protect yourself from this dog who may be conditioned to attack by his owner.
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Post by jijifer »

CWO4GUNNER wrote:Your in my prayers. Great story, great scooter, sorry for the Chiwa. I cant believe that poorly Pit bull is allowed to stay deranged 2 doors down with the same owner. Be very careful, this does not sound good. You should go get yourself some animal pepper spry or a tazer gun, I know Cali does not allow you to carry but you need to protect yourself from this dog who may be conditioned to attack by his owner.
I have 2 kinds of pepper spray with me when I walk by dogs. A gel if it's windy a fogger if it's not. I'm worried I'll have a heart attack before i can use them. I sometime find myself tearing up when I hear dog tags behind me. I think I'm more traumatized than Linus. I'll be happy when that dog is gone, I'm sad to say.

BUT! I think scooting every day will get my mind back on track. Today was perfect. 3miles of my 6 mile commute is along the Pacific Ocean. I'm really lucky in so many ways.
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Post by CWO4GUNNER »

As a retired pepper spray and small arms instructor I can tell you that you will not be able to use those unless you condition yourself with personal self training. Self becasue its easy to do. Its best if you use a pepper spray training can nut you van also use a small squirt gun. Just the action of you pulling out the squirt gut to fire at dog size objects and even man size targets while taking your walks or in the privacy of your yard at silhouette targets will condition your ability to respond tremendously. Just a few minutes of conditioning every week and when the real thing happens you will act instinctively and effectively.
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Post by michelle_7728 »

jijifer:

I was getting ready to sign off, as it's after midnight, but something made me check the forum one more time, and I'm glad I did!

I am so sorry for you and your little dog. I have had dogs all my life and know how attached we can get to them. They are truly one of our greatest gifts.

I used to have a Cocker Spaniel. I had to put her down due to an inoperable tumor under her spine a while back, but a couple of years prior to that, I was going out to walk her and one of the neighbors had a couple of Shar-Peis that were viscious and he let roam and had been terrifying the neighbors. One of the neighbors (I heard later) had even had to run back into their home to get away from the dogs. (Fairly sizable dogs) Anyhow, as I closed the door behind me to take T'Pring for her walk, I turned around and here these two dogs were quietly and seriously running right at us, about 15 feet away and coming fast (you know how you can tell when a dog is running at you in attack mode...). Luckily I had my pepper spray (I think it was the powdered form, but I can't remember) ready and sprayed it when the dogs were only maybe 5 feet from me. Immediately the dog in the lead stopped, put it's head down, snuffled a couple of times, then turned around and trotted back the way he had come. The other dog followed it. I'm guessing the owner must have finally gotten a clue that it wasn't safe to have his dogs run wild, when they came home that day snuffling, as he didn't do it any more after that.

To this day I think both of us would have been attacked had I not done that. And now I know just how affective it can be.

A couple of years later my husband and I were on vacation in Montana, and found that the rangers used high powered pepper spray there to handle the bears, so you see it really works!

I'm glad you got your car fixed--it's good to have something for emergencies, cruddy weather, and hauling large objects!

Best wishes for both you and your pup. (okay, at that age I know they aren't puppies any more, but we still consider them to be our pups, right?) :D
Past bikes: 08' Genuine Buddy 125, '07 Yamaha Majesty 400, '07 Piaggio MP3 250, '08 Piaggio MP3 500, '08 Aprilia Scarabeo 500
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jasondavis48108
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Post by jasondavis48108 »

jijifer wrote:
jasondavis48108 wrote:I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. I hope your puppy makes a full recovery, I can't even imagine how traumatic that must have been. It really bothers me when I hear stories like this cause I'm a big fan of the pit bull breed. If they arn't raised by savage idiots they do really make wonderful companions and family pets.
I have a lot of love for pit bulls, too. This idiot owner has not raised this dog well and it has been horrifying each time we've been attacked, this last one haunts my dreams to this day.

for 2 weeks it wasn't clear if Linus could keep his leg - it was nearly ripped off. His back was torn across the width of his back. How he survived is simply a miracle. He regained much of the use of his leg just the part below what I refer to as his wrist seems to be lame but he's learned to throw it out so it lands flat as he walks. He can jump up but not down because that leg gives when he jumps down.

The infection he picked up while at the vet robbed him of his hearing and that breaks my heart the most because I love to sing to him.

But yes! he's doing so well considering!!!

The owner of the dog spent a few nights in jail when he failed to appear to his criminal hearing. He plead guilty but indigent so he's supposed to pay me $50/month for 7.5 years. Department of Animal Services as deemed the dog 'dangerous' but it remains two doors down with the negligent owner. If he fails at anyone of he requirements to keep a dangerous dog, the dog will be put down. I do not rejoice in that but I would rather this idiot realize he's going to get his dog killed and he should give to someone (far away) that will take care of the animal properly.

So it's been a long haul since March 22nd. I couldn't believe how close I was to 20K when I started up my scooter yesterday. I thought it would take several days to hit but it only took 1!

Then today Neiko gave me the link to her news piece and it all came full circle. good stuff!
It's good to hear that your dog is doing well. I can't believe they didn't put the dog down or at least take it away from the owner as it sounds like this is nowhere near the first time this dog/owner has been a danger to the community. It's also good to hear that you where able to get back on the scooter and find some solace in riding and your riding community. I know that, even though I'm horribly introverted in person, the MB community has been an amazing place full of amazing folks, including you jijifer :) congrats on hitting 20k, that's like 5x what I have if you combine both my scoots :lol:
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SteveK
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Post by SteveK »

Size does matter. I had the unfortunate opportunity to have to "gas" a black bear in the backwoods of the North Woods region in New Hampshire. We were primitive camping there with bear barrels and all. Were very careful about the scents and scraps of food, never ate or cooked within 100 yards of our bivvy hammock site. Followed all the rules of the forest to the letter.

This one bear out of the group just kept charging (a false charge they learn to get you to drop your pack and run). Didn't gas it then. But during the night I felt it probing the underside of my calf, thinking I was a food bag hanging in the tree, while sleeping in the hammock. That was it for us, too close for comfort. Out came the spray and we had no problems there on forward....

Anywho bigger is better. This can be bought at the local EMS or REI and was quite helpful that one unfortunate time. The pattern and reach is remarkable.

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?pr ... 43.3835286
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Post by michelle_7728 »

Yep, the rangers used a pepperspray canister that was 8-10 inches tall. I got one like theirs for when we were hiking in Glacier Lake National Park. Luckily we never had to put it to the test, as that would be a bit more adrenaline than I would have wanted to deal with. :shock:

Impressive that you kept your cool...not sure what I would have done, in the same circumstances...
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Re: Small Victories, Big Smiles

Post by ericalm »

Congrats on hitting 20K and so glad to hear Linus is doing well.
jijifer wrote:the one thing that got cut out of the final edit was how the friends I've made because of scootering changed my life for the better. I met 3 really terrific people on my first meet up group ride ever. Wayne has been my scooter adventure friend for 2 years and we've been all over together! I've met a few of you in-person. It's really amazing how friendly scooterist are. I've made more friends scooting the last 2 years than sum total of all the other years since college (let's call that 16 years).

we've got something really special here, folks. I hope you see it, too. In our scoots, in our scootering, and in the people we meet along the way!
+1! I count jijifer among the really awesome friends I've met thanks to scootering. My life and social circles now are not what they would be if not for riding.
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Re: Small Victories, Big Smiles

Post by Skootz Kabootz »

ericalm wrote:Congrats on hitting 20K and so glad to hear Linus is doing well.
jijifer wrote:the one thing that got cut out of the final edit was how the friends I've made because of scootering changed my life for the better. I met 3 really terrific people on my first meet up group ride ever. Wayne has been my scooter adventure friend for 2 years and we've been all over together! I've met a few of you in-person. It's really amazing how friendly scooterist are. I've made more friends scooting the last 2 years than sum total of all the other years since college (let's call that 16 years).

we've got something really special here, folks. I hope you see it, too. In our scoots, in our scootering, and in the people we meet along the way!
+1! I count jijifer among the really awesome friends I've met thanks to scootering. My life and social circles now are not what they would be if not for riding.
+2!
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Post by jijifer »

michelle_7728 wrote:Yep, the rangers used a pepperspray canister that was 8-10 inches tall. I got one like theirs for when we were hiking in Glacier Lake National Park.....
my friend, Matt Truszkowski, was killed by Grizzlies in Glacier Lake National park the summer of 1997. I wouldn't have Linus (chihuahua) if it weren't for Matt.

Matt knew my mother's chihuahua and hated him. While I had committed to taking a puppy from the litter, when the time came, I was 23 and scared to death of the commitment (that I thought was 8 or so years). When it came time to go pick out a pup, I brought only 1/4 of the cost and Matt, figuring he'd be my nay sayer - talking me out of the dogs.

We go and to meet Linus (called sug-sug then) and his 2 brothers and were told Linus was possibly retarded. He was the ugliest, too, but the sweetest. Still I wasn't sure I was ready for a mentally disabled dog, so I put 25% down on his brother and said I'd be back over the weekend with a crate to get him - never planning to come back. Matt pulls me aside and asks what is going on. I tell him my plan and he says he's not leaving there without one! WHAT?! he's supposed to be the nay-sayer!!

Matt put down the other 75% and faced with creature that would know me at *gasp* 30, I picked Linus. He was SO tiny. Fit in the palm of my hand. His ears didn't stand up yet, his bark was just a squeak. Linus and I both tossed and turned and whimpered all night - him because he was away from his family, me because I was committing to something for a long time. By morning we were best friends, in it together come what may.

Matt left that summer of 97 to do an internship at Glacier National. On the 5th of July he went on a hike solo and was never heard from again. I believed for YEARS that he pulled a Chris McCandless and was successfully living off the land in Alaska. Matt was obsessed with that story and always said he would either be a million or dead by 25. He was 25 and not a millionaire. The dogs never picked up his scent out of the parking lot. I was SURE he hitched out of there to live off the grid.

there were reports of a momma grizzly and 2 cubs acting aggressive toward humans in the search party for Matt. the next summer that trio chased down another park employee (http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/18/scien ... tml?src=pm)

I know I wouldn't have Linus today if wasn't for Matt on 1/04/97. I'll forever be indebted to his sweet soul for making sure I took a chance. I wish Matt had bear spray that day but there's still a small piece of me who believes he is alive and well off the grid.
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Re: Small Victories, Big Smiles

Post by jijifer »

Skootz Kabootz wrote:
ericalm wrote:Congrats on hitting 20K and so glad to hear Linus is doing well.
jijifer wrote:the one thing that got cut out of the final edit was how the friends I've made because of scootering changed my life for the better. I met 3 really terrific people on my first meet up group ride ever. Wayne has been my scooter adventure friend for 2 years and we've been all over together! I've met a few of you in-person. It's really amazing how friendly scooterist are. I've made more friends scooting the last 2 years than sum total of all the other years since college (let's call that 16 years).

we've got something really special here, folks. I hope you see it, too. In our scoots, in our scootering, and in the people we meet along the way!
+1! I count jijifer among the really awesome friends I've met thanks to scootering. My life and social circles now are not what they would be if not for riding.
+2!
Backatcha! From the first ride after a long Tahoe Weekend to that last one where we defied death (imo) through those amazing LA Canyons. You are some of the goods ones!!!
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Post by Coffeejunkie »

Congrats on hitting 20K.

I'm glad your little friend is on the road to recovery. You're right doggie love is worth every dime. :D
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Post by rsrider »

Lotrat wrote:What's with the pitbulls in Carlsbad? My neighbor down the block had her chihuahua killed by one too. Crazy. Congrats on being famous and congrats on 20k. That's pretty impressive.


+1 At the rate I'm going I may hit 20K in 2031.
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Post by GrittyTacoman »

Late replying, but wanted to chime in that I liked the video piece and thought Jen represented scooterists well! Props for your honesty about the depression and how something as simple as getting out in the fresh air on your scooter can help. :) Appreciate your contributions to MB.
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Post by jijifer »

thanks all. I have loved every mile on my scooter. Ok. riding through a few bee swarms not so much but those were only a handful of yards, not a mile so I don't count them :)

I'm glad you all see we're on to something special with our buddy love :)
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Post by jcbud »

Great interview you did and very glad to hear your little friend is OK and on the mend. Safe travels for another 20,000.
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