[NAGDU] Intro and great news

[Jen]

Hi Stacy,

I'm so sorry for your loss ... it's never easy to do what you did, but I'm sure he knows you love him...

Congrats on your new dog!

Jen

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Stacie Hardy - NFBHOU via NAGDU
Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2017 10:33 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Stacie Hardy - NFBHOU <shardy at nfbtx.org>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Intro and great news

Hello Amanda,

Welcome to the NAGDU Family! As Raul has said, we're anxiously awaiting 
the arrival of his dog. I'm currently with my second guide dog, a black 
lab from GEB, nnamed Cash! I received my first guide dog, also from GEB 
on July 4, 2002. Ascot, who now looks down on us from Heaven completely 
redefined independence for me. He and I were a team for 8 years. I had 
to put him down in August of 2010 shortly after he had been diagnosed 
with acute lymphoma. 11 weeks later, I was meeting Cash. We celebrated 6 
years as a team in November of last year. Cash is not only a wonderful 
guide dog, but he's taught me that one can certainly trust another guide 
dog. We certainly have lots of adventures together and are expanding our 
family with the addition of Raul's guide dog. Please feel free to reach 
out to me with any questions. Best of luck to you and we look forward to 
hearing your exciting news in the near future.

Stacie Hardy <shardy at nfbtx.org>
President: NFB of Texas Houston Chapter
Voice and Text: (346) 704-0190 or (832) 779-7477

"A question never asked is an answer never known"
"Live the life you want!"

On 2/2/2017 9:18 PM, Raul A. Gallegos via NAGDU wrote:
> Hello Amanda, like so many others have said, welcome to the list.
> Regarding finding work, what I can say is, keep at it and it will come.
> Regarding the NFB, that's wonderful to hear. The NFB for me is like an
> extended family, the other guide dog users are like a subset of that
> family itself. As I write this message I am not yet a guide dog user.
> However, my dog is arriving as I type. I get him tonight and begin home
> training tomorrow. I applied to GEB last May and because of my work
> schedule and other things, we all decided to do home training. I just
> recently arrived home from attending the Washington seminar with many
> other Federationists and it was a lot of fun. If you go to National
> Convention this year, I hope to see you there. My girlfriend, best
> friend, and co-worker, Stacie is also on this list and also a guide dog
> user. We are very excited about my new dog soon and we are acting just
> like expecting parents. Earlier today we went shopping for the dogs and
> spent way more than we should have, but it was all worth it.
>
> Take care and write again soon.
>
>
> --
> Raul A. Gallegos
> Assistive Technology Trainer - RGA Tech Solutions
> Voice and Text: 832.554.7285
> Office: 832.639.4477
> Personal Email: raul at raulgallegos.com
> Work Email: training at rgats.com
> Twitter: @rga7285 and @RGATrainer
>
> “Any teacher that can be replaced with a computer, deserves to be.” -
> David Thornburg
>
> On 1/28/2017 10:52 AM, Amanda Markham via NAGDU wrote:
>> Hello all. Very happy to be finally joining this list. My name is
>> Amanda and I live in Michigan with my fiancé who is also on this list.
>> Jeff Crouch. I have been a cane user since about 3 years of age.
>> Within the last couple of years, I've joined the NFB in hopes of
>> gaining self-confidence and more independence. Since joining, I've
>> been to two national conventions and have come away from them with a
>> sense of adventure. A need for discovery and a goal to push myself
>> beyond my comfort zone. I used to be one who didn't mind staying in
>> the house, playing games on my computer. Although from time to time I
>> still do this, A need to get out and go places is part of my daily
>> life now.
>>
>> I joined the NFB shortly after completing college at ITT Technical
>> institute and receiving my associates degree in information
>> technology. While some aspects of college were great, others were not.
>> I had to have sighted assistance for almost every assignment because
>> there programs would not work with JAWS. My other issue came when I
>> could not get my textbooks in a format that I was easily able to read.
>> Things on the accessibility front were never resolved and I passed
>> with a 3.50 GPA. It's going on 5 years now that I've been out of
>> school and while I'm enjoying no homework, I'm finding it very
>> difficult to find a job.
>> I've had several interviews which I either received rejections from or
>> never heard anything back at all. While this is frustrating at most,
>> it drives me to keep going. To keep looking. Explore different avenues
>> and skill sets. Most days are spent job searching now. I do mmake an
>> effort to get out at least once daily, finances and weather allowing.
>> I did work with our agency for the blind here in Michigan, but have
>> recently closed my case for medical and other personal reasons. One of
>> which being that I felt they at this time, cannot do more than what I
>> am already doing for myself. But enough about that, let's move onto
>> the great news shall we?
>>
>> Since joining the NFB and gaining more self-confidence, I have been
>> pondering the idea of a guide dog. I was dating Jeff when he got his
>> first dog and seing not only the interactions they had together but
>> how the dog enhanced his independence really inspired me. Last Summer
>> Jeff unfortunetly had to return his dog back to Pilot because of some
>> safety issues. In August he applied to GDF and inspired me to do the
>> same. So I have! I filled out both the pre application and online
>> application and just received my paperwork in the mail Thursday. Just
>> 2 days after having my home interview. I was nervous at first about
>> the interview. I was afraid I might say or do something that would
>> lessen my chances for getting accepted. But throughout the interview
>> and walk, I realized that if not for doing more traveling now than I
>> used to, there's a good chance I'll get in. I realise they stil could
>> say no, but that's okay as well.
>>
>>
>
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