canem latrantem

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I have an annoyed little dictator sitting uncomfortably (for me) on my feet, because I need my lap to write. I took part in a panel discussion hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society to review grant applications from researchers. I volunteered to participate as a Patient/Survivor/Caregiver reviewer on the panel. It's a group of ~ 40 people, mostly scientists and researchers, and we each had to view 5- 6 applications (3 scientists and a PSC.) We're spending 2 days to go through 55 total, and it's fascinating. I, sadly, don't understand the details of the science, but I'm learning loads. I learnt, for example, that marijuana contributes to breast cancer in men, and it's almost impossible to replicate male breast cancer in mice. Of course, the first lesson was the rate of that cancer in men! Anyway, I spent the day on a Zoom call, so no puppy! Hence tonight's sulks. There are 275 applications that made it past the first screening, and maybe 40 will be funded for 3 years. The birthday puppy got a stuffed toy, and he's quite happy ripping open the package, and chewing on the label. He's very contradictory- happy with his gift, sulking at me!

Doing 7 hours of Zoom today was surprisingly tiring. who'd have thought it? Yes, I know, all of the work from home people complained about these calls, but you didn't mention how exhausting an all-day video call can be! That aside though, it was a really interesting session. Let's see what my energy is like tomorrow. At least 3 of my grant applications will be discussed tomorrow, so I'll need to pay closer attention!

A couple of years ago, we got Jerry a toy that held up to his aggressive chewing for almost 2 years. So I got him another one of the same type for his birthday. In the 20 minutes that I've been writing, he has chewed a hole in it... Small dog has a lot of teeth! Sigh... Good night-I'm being scratched so it's time to focus on the monster.