Alex heard from....sort of....

Alex tweeted one thing yesterday: "Today was my first training walk with Cosby. It was very interesting. It will take getting used to though."

 That was it. No blog entry. No text message. No text pictures of Cosby--good thing I took screenshots of Cosby while Alex and I were talking the other day or I still wouldn't know what he looks like (and be able to share the pictures on my Facebook album!)

 I'm going to rename the dog Cujo---because I just know the only way Alex would pass up using technology to its fullest extent would be from being consumed by a mean, rabid, crazy, Stephen King horror story dog named Cujo. The tweet was probably the last missive sent before CosbyCujo clamped down on Alex's hands, then proceeded up the rest of his body to finish consuming him.  

Well, I guess CosbyCujo didn't actually eat his new human since Alex sent out an email this morning to his Civil Air Patrol cadets letting them know why he will be gone this month: Hello cadets: I wanted to brief you all on this last week, but the weather had other ideas, and so I am sending out this email instead. I will not be at any CAP meeting in March, and may miss the first one in April as well. While this should not impact you much, if at all, due to what I hope is assiduous use of your chain of command, you should know that Lt. Nesler is effectively in charge while I am away. 
As stated, you should be using your chain of command, but if anything has to be elevated to a senior member level, he is your point of contact. I will have cell and internet access, so you may still receive notifications from me (such as the Wing Conference - don't forget to sign up!!), but I will not be there in person. 
 In addition, I feel it only fair to tell you why i will be gone, so no one is overly surprised when I return. I am traveling to New York to receive my first-ever guide dog, and will undergo a four-week training course there. Obviously, this means that I will henceforth be bringing a (very well-trained) service dog to CAP meetings and events, which is why I wanted to give you all a "heads-up" in advance. Part of my training will include details on working around other people; put simply, though: I ask you all to not touch or interact with the dog in any way, as difficult as that may be. This is extremely important: no interaction at all. If any of you have a phobia of dogs or any other concerns, I invite you to pass them up your chain and I will do my very best to resolve them, though it may take me some time to get back to you. 
I welcome any and all concerns or comments, and there are no stupid questions, so please pass along anything you feel needs to be answered. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Again, I will be able to provide a more thorough briefing once I get back in April. Until then, Lt. Nesler is the acting DCC at weekly meetings, and aside from that everything should run as normal. I wish you the best in your academic and physical fitness tests this month, and I apologize in advance that I will have to miss March's promotion ceremonies. Regards, Capt. Alex Hall ME035 DCC/APAO mehgcap@gmail.com 
 I copy-and-pasted his email. 

 I just love the way Alex inserts "big words" into his emails to teenagers. I had always encouraged both my kids to use "big words" all their lives; I never used a "dumb" word in place of a bigger word. Now, it's pay forward/back (depending on your viewpoint!) as Katie and Alex use "big words" as a matter of speaking and expect others to understand. Good for them! However, I do applaud being able to insert the word "assiduous" into ANY sentence. 
So listen up, CosbyCujo......your commands might start sounding more like college essay words for "sit" "stay" "heel", etc. Since I can't think of any longer words to replace them, I'll just leave it at that. Time to check Twitter and his blog once again for any new updates....then off to work.