Tag: dog

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Puppy Wrangler

I woke up pretty early, and the dogs were out in the front yard, so I brought them back in and found where they had dug a big hole and broken a part of the fence to get through. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do, but I put some stuff in front of it and went back inside and finished up some leftovers and laid down for a little longer. Eaddie eventually got up and went to meet some friends that would eventually be coming over to the house.

I eventually had to get cleaned up so I could meet with a guy from Nivo Solar. Summer came home early and was making a cheesecake when he showed up in the afternoon. I went outside to talk with him for a bit, and as I suspected, our roofline would be sub-optimal for a solar installation. I really didn’t want panels on the roof though, just because of the structure issues we’ve already had, plus the possibility of having to move panels around if the roof ever needed repairs. He scheduled another meeting for Monday since he was going to have to rework the design of the array.

I went to my parents’ house later in the evening for dinner since Eaddie and her friends had gone out to eat and Summer wasn’t hungry. The dogs spent most of the afternoon next door with our neighbor Suzanne, since she was out working in the yard. They came back when I called once, though Stilgar needed some help squeezing his belly under the fence. They got out another time or two, and at one point got stuck in the void between us and our back-yard neighbors. I rode the Onewheel around to Ridgewood to bring them back home, but they got distracted by Nick and Jessica’s dogs as they were walking the neighborhood. Summer came out with a leash to help me, but by that time Jessica had already turned around to help me walk them back a little ways toward the house.

The night seemed to drag on a bit, and I was exhausted. I should have gone to sleep early, but instead I ended up trying to clean up our clogged printer some more. I’d love to sleep, but there’s just too much to do.

Maybe some day I’ll get to take a morning walk with these dummies.

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Pupperunny with Extra Flees

The dogs were out again this morning, but came back in without much fuss. They just moved the boards around in the giant tree-shaped gap in the fence. I tried to fix it up, but I didn’t have a whole lot of time to really make a difference and I figured they would get out again. I took a shower, got my bagel, and made it to work.

I bounced around a lot today, and didn’t really accomplish anything of importance. It was all tangents today. The only frequent thought I had was to find a supplier for custom rope clamps so I could start a dog leash business and sell them for 80 bucks a piece.

Dad came to see the school after spending some time with Uncle Rick on Petit Jean. I was pretty proud of the facility, but mismanagement had seen an embarrassing number of things fall to ruin.

Eaddie had her band camp concert in the evening, so I ran home after stopping at Casey’s for a freebie and the old house to feed the fish.

Eaddie found Muad’dib outside, but he was gone again by the time we needed to leave for her concert. I rode down a couple houses looking for him, and got stopped by a kid selling solar. I accidentally gave him the electric bill for the wrong house, and I’m not sure I’m interested in what they’re selling anyway, but I guess someone else will come see me about it tomorrow. By then, we were in a rush to catch up to Eaddie, who drove herself. Summer and I picked up Dad at his house and then made it to Witherspoon.

Autumn and JoAnn were there, but both unpleasant, and it upset Summer. I had to suppress all of my thoughts into inside-thoughts, or else cause a scene. The concert was good, but loud from the front seat in that auditorium. It’s tough to find a good place to sit, because I like being able to pick Eaddie’s part out of the rest of the band, but being so close makes everything too loud to enjoy properly.

We dropped Dad off at his house, and saw the dogs in the neighbor’s yard on our way home, so they followed us back. I tried to have Summer put Muad’dib on the leash, but he ran across the street for a while. We chased him around until he finally decided to come home, and then I ripped a picket off of the fence so I could reattach it in a less-broken way. Summer went to bed and I had a sloppy joe for a late dinner. Then I sat with Stilgar outside for a while before coming in for the night. Eaddie was out late with friends, and snuck in while I was still outside.

Maybe a neuter will help.

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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?