Tag: dog

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Walk the Dog

I got out early this morning and rode through the neighborhood again just to see if I could find any sign of the dogs. No luck, so I showered and headed in to work. A $3 steak bagel is a pretty hearty breakfast, and I enjoyed my coffee when I got there. I spent the morning trying to make sense of some more of the Ubiquiti stuff, and finally had a bit of a breakthrough in the afternoon. Now I just need to learn Linux.

Summer went by the animal shelter around lunch time to look for the dogs, and assumed people would be back afterward. It wasn’t until she spotted a volunteer coming by that she learned they were actually closed for Juneteenth. Luckily they did recognize our dogs, and said they were picked up at Sequoyah Park, soliciting pets from children.

Summer loaded them up into her car and just took them to the wash with her since she didn’t have time to run home. I went home after work to change, and then took the leash so I could bring them home. I had treats, but Muad’dib was still super averse to the collar. Stilgar took to it alright, and I walked him around the property a bit. I went back in and tried to take Muad’dib out again, and he just cowered down on the ground every chance he got. There was one brief moment that I thought he’d do alright, and he seemed to do better when Summer was nearby, but I nearly had to pick him up and carry him. It wasn’t until we got to the car that he jumped right in.

I went ahead and took him to the house and covered up the holes under the fence. He ran under the deck and refused to look at me, so I went back for Stilgar. He didn’t seem to mind the leash at all, so when we got back to the house, I took him for a walk around the block. He did super well, but I guess now I need to get poop bags for that. I met some folks just around the corner that chatted with me for a bit, and said they had seen the dogs wandering the neighborhood before. When we got back near the house, Muad’dib started howling and crying from the fence in a way I had never heard him act before. When we got inside, he acted like he had hurt himself somehow, and he had a couple bumps above his right ear. It took him a while, but he warmed back up to me over the course of the evening.

Eaddie got home as I was cleaning the dog dust out of the car, and we went to pet the dogs for a bit longer. Then I came in to eat a sloppy joe before bed.

It’s not just a yo-yo trick any more!

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Digdog

I checked on the dogs as soon as I got out of bed, and they had already dug their way out. I figured they were hanging out with a neighbor, but I never saw them when I eventually left for work, and neither of the girls looked for them in the morning. It was a long day at work without knowing anything.

I had another bagel and kept fairly busy with some more trivial stuff that may have actually been clues as to what keeps breaking parts of my network. Then at the very end of the day, I walked in on Harry watching a Strong Bad video in his office. I had to laugh, because I had just texted Gary a GIF of Salad Fingers earlier in the day. I told Harry that we hadn’t had much time to build rapport with one another, but that we were going to be good friends.

After work, I fed the fish and then headed home to try and find the dogs. I probably rode over 10 miles on the Onewheel, but forgot to start logging my ride at first, so I think I captured way less than half of my total ride. I stopped by my parents’ house once just for a quick break, and then again later to eat since Summer wasn’t hungry when she got home.

I lingered around outside for a while, but never saw or heard anything. I did find a couple other dogs loose in the neighborhood, so maybe they’ll still turn up, but I’m not particularly hopeful. If they don’t come back, I hope they find a better home.

Good boys.

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What’s the Deal with Negotiations?

Eaddie left for band camp and said the dogs were out again. I was ready to walk out, and Muad’dib came running back, but Stilgar was nowhere to be found. I had to leave, but Summer eventually found him. Everyone made it back, but I don’t think it took them long to get out again.

McDonald’s has had their bagel deal the past few days, so I had another one for the drive in. I had plenty of time to make some coffee and settle in, but then I saw an email from Harry that he was finally ready to meet with me after I had been trying to pin him down for basically the entire year. I had to update a few numbers before I could see him, but then Kim walked in with the boys and talked to me for a little bit before she had to go turn in some paperwork.

The meeting went more or less how I predicted. He appreciated my Seinfeld references in my agenda, and I held strong with my side of the negotiations. He wanted a signed contract, and I wasn’t willing to sign the contract they offered. He fidgeted as I made my “presentation,” and then we had more of a discussion once I was done. By the end of it all, he thought to suggest a $50,000 salary plus a $10,000 merit-based bonus to get me to sign for one more year. That sounded alright, but I also asked for the autonomy to work from home at my own discretion. He seemed agreeable. Now we’ll just have to wait and see what I’m offered, because he seemed anxious to get something in writing before the first of July.

I missed lunch because my meeting carried on so long. Harry has trouble getting to the brass tacks, and talks in circles quite a bit. Luckily the lunch lady had some pizza and broccoli bagged up, which I assumed she was taking home. Summer was having a rough day, so I talked on the phone with her for a while. Then I wrapped up the day tinkering with the Ubiquiti equipment that Todd had returned. I don’t know how long that rat had that stuff, but they had dirt from his chicken houses all over them. I wasn’t pleased.

I eventually made it back to town and fed the fish before getting home to eat some leftovers and then patch holes in the fence. I screwed some wood into a couple places the dogs had been getting out, and I think we have a fair chance of keeping them inside now. They’re resilient, but hopefully not diggers. If this holds, we’ll have a better chance of starting some real training. Then all we’ll lack is time. While I was out there, I picked up some branches that a couple country bumpkins had cut out of the neighbor’s tree, and Stilgar helped me carry them to the brush pile. At first he was tugging back, but then he actually helped drag them the same direction, and then even went to get one of his own, but only made it about halfway to the pile before giving up.

The tree trimmers stopped to ask if we wanted any limbs removed that were leaning over our house. At $40, I knew they weren’t insured, but they seemed to have been doing an alright job so far. As I watched them work, Nick came home and I formally met the neighbor. Evidently he worked at Two Rivers for a few years before I got there, but had since moved to Lamar. We chatted for quite a while, and then exchanged numbers before going in to find refuge from the mosquitos.

I wrapped up, and Eaddie came to chat with me for a while when she got home. With any luck, we’ll still have two dogs in the back yard in the morning.

Doggy Jail.

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Tank of Least Resistance

I had a massive headache all morning, but Summer saw a post on the Ring app that our dogs were out wandering the neighborhood, so I had to ride around to try and find them. I took several laps around the neighborhood and never caught a glimpse. My feet started hurting really badly, so I came back home and walked to the back yard just to make sure they hadn’t come home. They weren’t back there, but they were in front of the garage when I came back around the house. They must have seen me somewhere and followed me back.

I fried some eggs for French bread sandwiches, and then Summer really wanted to mow. I tried to find how water was getting from the cold to the hot lines, and with Summer’s help, we eventually tracked it down to the master shower mixer. I tried to take a cold shower since we didn’t have a water heater, and it was much colder than I remembered from the other night. I tried a couple times, but just barely managed to get myself wet. Of course Summer had to outdo me and take one herself.

My parents had eggrolls and noodles, so we went over there for a late lunch. When we got back home, I decided that it would probably be best to just stick with a water tank for now. I’ve always wanted to switch to tankless, but the lack of a regulator, need for a larger fuel line for either gas or electric, need for a more substantial vent if we went with gas, and the likelihood of the work being pushed back a week for the actual work to be done convinced me that I just needed to get something done today.

I poked around in the vent to see if I could get it reattached. Dad came over when we couldn’t find where the vent actually left the house, and we found it in the secondary attic. Summer and I went to Lowe’s to try and pick up a replacement water heater, but Dad had to meet us there because there wasn’t a soul in the store that knew a thing about plumbing. We eventually just settled for a couple parts, and headed home.

The girls were able to help me lift the tank high enough that I could wrap straps around it and lift it the rest of the way. It was a super tight fit, but having a 50 gallon tank instead of a 40 gallon tank should let us keep the set temperature a bit lower, or at least keep us from running out so quickly in the winter. Dad came back over to help hook everything up after I got it in place, and I was finally able to take a hot shower before bed.

Sometimes we trade dreams for convenience.

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Seven Trains Later

Both of the dogs were gone this morning, and I found the front gate open. I assumed the neighbor accidentally didn’t close it all the way, so I took the Onewheel around the block and found them not far away, running through the streets. As soon as they saw me, they came running and I just rode home with them right behind. I thought it was a pretty good response, but Muad’dib eventually disappeared again in the afternoon.

I spent the morning cleaning up the creeping vines on the fence, so the gate was much more accessible. Then I trimmed the rose bushes so they weren’t sticking out over the walkway. Our backyard neighbor Josh handed me a bag of homegrown blueberries from their garden and we traded phone numbers. I continued to sweat profusely as the sun got higher, so I came inside for a shower. After the shower, I heard a water leak alarm and found the water heater standing in a pan full of water.

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a jumble. Dad came over to take a look at the tank with me, and we started draining it. I warmed up some leftover roast beef for lunch when Summer got home, and then Dad came back over so we could pull the old tank out. We really wanted to go tankless, but the earliest anyone could come even look at it was Monday. We figured we could deal with cold showers for a few days, but needed to replace the washer in the shutoff valve, so we went to Leonard’s for that. Then Dad had to leave for his old friend Dave’s art show.

Ronda and Steven were cooking at their new food truck, so we wanted to go support their soft-open. We took that food back home to eat, and then tried to catch Dad at the art show. He was already gone, but we wandered around the gallery with wide eyes. I told Summer he was good, but I don’t think she believed me when I told her how good.

After that, we went shopping for a couple things at the house, and we also looked for some better dog collars and leashes. Walmart didn’t have what we were looking for, so we went to T.J.Maxx and found a leash and a squeaky toy. Perhaps we should have waited, because Ross actually had a better selection. Five Below had nothing. It was all garbage.

We ran home and I met up with Dad again to try and pick up a super cheap tank heater that was on clearance at Lowe’s, but they couldn’t find it on the floor. We grabbed a plug for the hot water line instead, and sealed that off so we could at least turn on water to the house without it coming out uncontrollably from the wrong pipes. I tried to track down the faulty mixer that was letting cold water back up through the hot lines, but gave up about halfway through the house.

I was exhausted and sticky by the end of the day, but at least cold showers are on the table again, and I can wash my hands after petting the dogs. Hopefully they’ll stick around for a walk in the morning.

When it rains, it leaks some more.

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Roped Up

I actually managed to leave a bit early today, and grabbed a bagel on the way to work. My first order of business was to review camera footage to find who took my network equipment. Failing that, I just texted Todd and he fessed up to it. I don’t know that I believe he just “borrowed” it out of a need, more than “took it” to see if I would notice. At least I should be getting it back now, and I went ahead and placed a couple cameras in the core closet.

I spent much of the rest of the day building maps in VI MonitorPlus, so hopefully finding the right camera will be a bit easier now. Otherwise it was super quiet all day long. Becky said they were leaving a little early, so I didn’t wait behind.

Eaddie said she was going to Clarksville and Summer said she would be home a little late, so I fed the fish and then headed home to play with the dogs. Only Stilgar was around, and I considered that Muad’dib might have just run off for good. I put a leash on Stilgar and took her out for a walk on a rope to the end of the street. She did pretty well on the way out, but got stubborn on the way back and didn’t want to move. Maybe it’s the name. Stilgar fit when it was a scruffy-looking boy, but I don’t know if it’ll still be a good name for a mother, if that’s really what’s happening.

Once we got back home, I took the Onewheel around the block to look for Muad’dib, and ran into the neighbors as they walked their own dog down the street. She said he had been chilling out on their porch, so she returned him. I think he got out a couple more times in the evening, so I’ll need to fix that since the girls haven’t been able to do it themselves in a week’s time.

Summer eventually made it home, but wasn’t fit to go out anywhere. I had a coupon for some cheese dip from Stoby’s, so I went out to eat by myself. It was quiet there too. When I finished, I headed home and pet on Stilgar some more, but Muad’dib didn’t come around. He was probably in the neighbor’s yard again. Maybe Summer will have a new home for him soon.

dip

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Doggone

I was about 30 minutes early for work today. Then I saw Stilgar walking down the street about a block away from the house. Muad’dib was right around the corner, so I tried to wrangle him first. I got him into the trunk of the Murano, but he was in the front seat the moment I got back into the car. Of course he ran out as soon as I stopped for Stilgar, so I decided to run back home to get the Pathfinder for ease of transport. As luck would have it, they were wandering back toward the house, so they saw me as soon as I approached the end of our street, and then ran after me as I backed the car all the way back into our driveway.

I got them through the gate, but then Muad’dib was sitting there staring at me in the garage when I walked back out from washing my hands, so I walked him through the house and out the back door. I knew he’d be right back out, but I had to get to work. I stopped for gas and had trouble at the pump, but I eventually made it to work about 15 minutes late.

It was a quiet, lonely day, and in the afternoon I discovered that two pieces of equipment were missing. One was the Ubiquiti USG-Pro-4 from either my office, or possibly from when I left it in the server room. I looked everywhere for it, sure that I had left it somewhere. Then I realized the cloud key, or whatever it was, which had been mounted in the core rack was also missing. I looked back at some pictures and saw that it wasn’t there when Ben came down last week, and my security camera only goes back a couple weeks past that. Hopefully I can find who took it.

I headed home late, fed the fish, and eventually made it home where Summer had dinner ready. Dried chicken. It really was awful, and I don’t know why she cooks it that way every single time. I couldn’t even finish my bowl.

The girls never found Chani all day, so I feared the worse. They said they looked under the deck, but they didn’t look hard enough. I actually got on my hands and knees, and found her dead under the lowest part of the porch. She was covered in flies, and must have died the night before, or at least early in the day. I had no idea what could cause her to take such a sudden turn, because just two days ago she was happy and playful. Then yesterday they said she was feeling a little bad, and by the end of the night she would barely move. I could just barely reach her, so I asked Summer to go borrow a shovel from Dad while I got gloves to fetch her. Of course she hadn’t even gotten shoes on before I was ready to move Chani, so I had to go get the shovel myself or otherwise move her twice.

When I got back and ready to dig, Summer wanted to be outside playing with Stilgar while I was trying to dig a hole, which just made me even more mad. Muad’dib kept going to the neighbor’s yard, and Stilgar ran out when she came to return him. Then I had to chase them down as they ran after people walking up and down the street.

I finally got the hole dug, and carrying Chani across the yard wasn’t as unnerving as I had feared. I’ve always been a bit squeamish about dead things, but she was a good dog and deserved to be handled sweetly. I placed her the best I could, then covered her up. I milled about afterward, kicking dirt off my shoes and doing other chores like taking the trash to the curb. I took another look at Stilgar’s belly, and I’m pretty sure what I thought was a peepee was really just an outie of a belly button. I guess we have more on the way.

Eventually I came inside and sat under a cold shower for a while. The dogs were out of food, so Eaddie went to the store to get some more. She came back with a 46-pound bag, so I guess we’re in it for a little while.

Holes are hard to dig, no matter the size of the dog.

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Depeared

The dogs were still here this morning, but Chani wasn’t feeling well and was hiding under the rose bush when I left for work. Eaddie came out throughout the day to try and pamper her, but I think whatever has her feeling bad will just have to run its course. Stilgar was pretty lethargic when I first picked them up, so I’m assuming they all just got sick at some point. We made sure to pour out any stagnant water, so we’ll see what happens.

It was another quiet day at work, and I mapped out all of my switches. I’m still trying to plan new VLANs, so it may be a little while before I’m ready to assign static IPs. I guess I could at least assign the ones that connect my core to DHCP, but I just don’t want to get ahead of myself.

Dad wanted help cutting down the Bradford pear tree at the old house, so I went straight home after fighting through the bunch of idiots on the bridge. One crash involving airbags, plus like six cars blocking the intersection was just too much stupidity for one day.

I checked on the dogs, and Muad’dib was returned to our back yard by the neighbor just after I came back inside to wash up. I thought I’d take one of them with us to cut down the tree, but after getting both of the boys into the truck, they mauled me in the driver’s seat and I just had to put them back in the yard. I picked up Dad and we made relatively short work of the tree. Evidently we got a new gas meter as a result of all the utility work in the area. Mom was home when we got back, and they decided that Dad would come to Arby’s with me for their 5 for $5 deal. We got our food and then I dropped Dad back off at home before I finally caught up with the girls.

They were back from their hair appointments, and Summer and I ate while Eaddie brought Chani inside to see if some cool quiet would help. She wouldn’t take any food, and would only stick her chin in some water before eventually going back outside. After Eaddie ate, the neighbor came over again with Muad’dib and I talked to her for a bit. None of us were sure who was responsible for the fence, but I’m not sure either of us care enough to do more than patch it for now.

I spent some time with the dogs, vented at Summer, watered some plants, and eventually went to bed.

Maybe baby pineapple?

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The Three Houndini

The dogs left again sometime between being fast asleep on the porch at three in the morning, and when I got up for work at five. Eaddie went out to look for them while I was in the shower, but didn’t have any luck. I made it to work a little bit early, but not nearly as early as I wanted. The morning went by pretty quickly, though I kept wanting to fall asleep. I hardly saw anyone all day, which was both good and bad.

Summer had dinner going, so I fed the fish and made it home. Neither she nor Eaddie ever saw the dogs, but I looked down and back up, and they were all three sitting on the porch. I had to assume they were in the neighbor’s yard.

Eli was with us all evening for sloppy joes, and then drove Eaddie to meet us at the dog wash again. Stilgar had stuff all over him, and I couldn’t tell what. On top of crusty stuff, he was full of stickers from the yard that wouldn’t come out. At least he smelled a bit better when we were done. The neighbor brought Muad’dib and Chani out of her back yard again when we got back, and Chani seemed a little more sluggish than before. She’s been pretty quiet, but it seemed worse. I’m sure they’ve been passing something around, or possibly getting sick from stagnant water.

I rode the Onewheel to my parents’ house to try and sew up some pants, but Dad didn’t have any grey thread and I just headed back home for the night. I wound down quickly so I could actually get to bed by ten.

Unrested

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Crabby

I woke up early to try and beat the pups before they got out, but I was still too late. I wandered around outside a bit and then saw them right outside the gate. The neighbor said they had been in their front yard all morning, so I shuffled them back inside. They were out of food, so I got dressed and went to the Neighborhood Market for some more. I picked up some breakfast sausage as well, and made myself some eggs and a bagel to go with it. Summer wasn’t ready to eat when she finally woke up, so I just took a shower and got ready to meet my parents for their trip to Fort Smith.

The first order of business was to drop off some mint at the Midland Market Oriental food store. Then we dropped Mom off for a nail appointment and then I went with Dad to the magic club meeting. They had a show-and-tell with their assorted magic wands and canes, and the disappearing cane stole the show. I ended up holding Larry’s phone so Patrick could see things in a video call. Mom finished up, and we were eventually the first ones to leave so we could get her.

Our next stop was Red Lobster where I could finally get the crab and lobster I had dreamed of all week long. The restaurant was pretty empty for being dinner time, but the food was great. It really makes me sad that they’re doing so poorly, because I’ve always loved eating there.

Afterward we went to a couple Oriental food stores, but Truong Son was closed and we ended up back at Midland for what we needed. It was a super short trip though, and then we headed home.

Eaddie and Eli were out front with the dogs, who all had bright, new collars of blue, red, and pink. I was pretty frustrated, because Summer and I had just talked about how we needed to have a family conversation about the dogs when I got back, and here they were making purchases without me. On top of that, I found that Muad’dib and Stilgar both had choke collars, which was absolutely not what I wanted for them. Chani’s was too big, and I later found her with her with the collar strapped between her jaw and the back of her teeth so she couldn’t close her mouth.

I made Eaddie clean her room and then tried cleaning up some random things myself. I finished up some of Allen’s wine as the girls wrapped up their evenings, and eventually got to bed.

Half thoughts and half naughts.