Tag: pets

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Take a Stand

I actually woke up pretty early today, but made myself go back to sleep to catch up on some hours. Eaddie eventually got up, so I made us French bread bacon and egg sandwiches, which turned out super delicious. Then we played with the dogs for a bit before I took a shower and went to the old house to pack up some more stuff.

Dad was over there working in the yards, and helped me load up the last TV stand I had over there. Then I loaded a couple other bigger things into the car before coming back in to pack a box while I called Optimum to cancel service. That phone call was a whole ordeal, as it usually is, and I ended up keeping it for now, with two months of free service, a lower bill for a year, and a subscription to HBO Max.

I finally headed back home just as Summer was coming home from work. Eaddie was gone when I got there, but I got everything unloaded, and Summer showed up just in time to help with the TV stand. She got started on the dinner she started to make yesterday, and Eaddie brought Eli over for dinner. I fed the dogs while I was outside, and Muad’Dib kept wanting to be fed kibble-by-kibble, which I was happy to do. Dinner was great, and then we watched X-Men: Days of Future Past before bed.

The hunt is back on.

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Case o’ Grillies

I ran pretty lean on food today with only a McGriddle on the drive in. It rained pretty hard for most of the drive, but cleared up after I got there. I didn’t get into anything too serious again because I had a few people in and out for a while in the morning. I tried breaking my day into shorter sessions to focus, but it wasn’t super successful.

Near the end of the day, I noticed a whole case of prepackaged, grilled cheese sandwiches left out in the kitchen. I asked Steven, and he said they were probably being thrown away, so I snagged them and stuffed them into my freezer. There were some with obvious mold, but I ate two that looked okay, and I haven’t died yet.

I worked a little late, but made a quick drive home. I finally got my free Gold Peak Tea from Casey’s, and then stopped by the old house to feed the fish. Noah got home just as I was coming into the house. Summer got home a little bit after that, and found me playing with the dogs after she had a shower. They ate quite a bit while I was sitting with them, and Stilgar was still hungry after three cups. Muad’Dib ate slowly, and then felt like he had to guard his bown from Stilgar, so I slowly fed him a few kibbles at a time. He took them so gently from my hand.

Summer went in to scramble an egg for dinner, so I ate the leftover chicken, pasta, and potatoes. Then I took the dogs out for a quick walk to my parents’ house. I let them pull pretty hard while I rode the Onewheel behind them, but they weren’t super well behaved. They’re still too easily distracted, and disobedient when I try to correct them.

We circled through to see Dad, but Mom was asleep, so we headed right back home. It was a bit of a struggle, but we made it. I did a load of laundry, Eaddie made it home late, and eventually made it to bed super late.

Stop it!

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Zoomin

I got a couple biscuits this morning to last the day full of online training webinars. Johnny called and interrupted the first one to say that he was called and offered the Hector job even though he never applied. He was all wound up over the drama and strange nature of the position, but I told him it sounded like it could be a really good opportunity depending on whether he could make the pay work and how self-motivated he was.

I really didn’t get into anything else at all. The Veeam call lasted forever, so there just wasn’t time apart from the couple interruptions I had throughout the day. Summer had dinner going at home, so I went home for that after stopping at the old house to feed the fish.

Noah and Eli were both there as well, but I didn’t see a whole lot of them. We all ate a pretty good, but overly lemon-peppery chicken, cold pasta salad that you’d take to a potluck, and some really good asparagus.

Noah went to his room pretty early, Eli left, and then I took the dogs out for a fast run around the cul-de-sac. It was still super humid and hot, so they wore out quickly. Overall, I did a fair job of wrapping the day quickly.

Wrapped

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Twisting the Night Away

After being ill for so long, and exhausted from overexerting myself all day, I still could not sleep last night. I tossed and turned in a damp sweat, with cold burning in my nose from sinus trouble. My mind reeled in restlessness, and even when I would occasionally doze off, I would wake up in some delirious state, half dreaming, half in some anxious panic.

I got up with my alarm, pushed back and got up a little later and still got to the door on time. Both of the Murano keys were gone. I screamed. Summer yelled back to take her car, so I threw the things she had in the seat into the floor of the garage and left. I picked up a burrito from Sonic and made it to work a little bit early.

The admins saw me. First day off-contract. Will I get a paycheck? They’re normally deposited around this time of the month. I haven’t gotten anything yet. Labor laws dictate that I must be paid for the time that I’m there, and nobody has run me off yet. It feels like I’m playing a rich or stupid man’s game of Chicken.

I made it through the day with a bowl of ramen and a cough drop. I finished up the last few minutes at the elementary and then headed home a little early. Who can stop me now?

I fed the fish and slowly made it home. Eaddie and her friend Autumn were at the house for the night. I changed clothes and settled in for a little bit. Mom was making Phở, which wasn’t the eggplant soup I anticipated, but welcome nonetheless. The girls would be making dinner, so I’d go by myself since Summer was working a little late. Then Noah called to “warn me” that a “strange hairy dude” was going to come by and drop several boxes of his things off at our front door, and that he would be along afterward on his bicycle.

I roped up the dogs and we hit the road on the Onewheel. We made good time to my parents’ house with the runs. Both kinds. I tied them up in the back yard so we could eat, but then I had to get them home in the hot humidity. They made it with plenty of energy after they had some time to rest, so I hoped they’d be too tired to mess with anything overnight.

All three kids were in the kitchen making “food” and “noise.” I dried up the sweat and sought refuge. Eventually sleep.

I’m with stupid.

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Bye Week

I could feel something in the back of my throat Wednesday evening, and by Thursday I had a 103º fever that Tylenol would only coax down to about 101º. I ran the full gamut of chills, heat flashes, body aches, and eventually sinus and chest crud. Dad brought me a COVID at-home test that was advertised as having a propensity for false-negatives, so it wasn’t COVID. Maybe.

I remember getting out on Friday with Summer to take Kevin his birthday present to the airport, but we didn’t stick around for pulled pork. I stopped by the old house to check on the fish, and in hindsight I should have left the automatic feeder on. We made it back home, and the next thing I remember doing is getting out late to pick up some burgers from Sonic. The pickle fries were awful.

The fever never let up, but between waves of medication I felt well enough to watch The Secret of NIMH on Saturday, and then out of nowhere, the fever was gone on Sunday morning. Recovery was nearly as rough, with more crud in my chest than anything else. I felt gross and sweaty all day, but I had a shower and brushed my teeth.

Summer had mowed in the morning, so she left it to Eaddie when it came time to walk the dogs. She didn’t mind, but said she couldn’t walk both alone, so I went with her. It was immediately obvious that they hadn’t been properly walked in my two week absence, as the line was taught nearly the entire time. We made it about halfway to my parents’ house, which was already a longer route than Eaddie wanted to take, when she had to stop to scoop some poop, so she insisted that it was my job to walk the dogs alone the rest of the way. She might have reconsidered if I had pressed, but I had more fight in me for the dogs than for her.

We gave them a drink at my parents’ house, and then headed back home. It was a hot struggle, and I was completely drenched in sweat, so I took a cold shower and finished up my laundry. The dogs were fussy outside, and tore into the bags of potting mix on the porch. I went back out to discipline and clean that up, and left the hole they had dug under the north fence for another day.

If you do nothing, bite your tongue when I do.

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Half Asleep

I slept for nearly 12 hours last night, though I woke up a couple times with a pretty bad headache. Once I got around, I felt much better for the rest. Someone tagged me in a lost dog post on the Nextdoor app, but upon checking, both of our dogs were still home. They had gotten into more stuff again, so I’m having to deal with random chewed up garbage all the time.

Summer was working from home, and I was pretty hungry for some lunch, so I ended up going to Burger King to get a big bag of food. Eaddie was already awake but wasn’t hungry, so Summer and I were the only two that ate any of it. I had the best shower I’d had in a week and then took the dogs for a walk to my parents’ house to help Dad move the refrigerator out of its little nook so he could investigate a hiss and some possible steam. The dogs did pretty well, and weren’t completely chaotic when tied up to the deck. Stilgar took a dip in his pool when we got back, and then I tried to do a little bit of training with them while they were hungry.

Noah came back over after work, since he’s been driving our Pathfinder. Eaddie spent most of the day in her room while Summer worked. I eventually had to go back to help Dad move the refrigerator back into place, but I just took the Onewheel instead of walking the dogs again. Mom was hungry, so they decided to get some Taco Villa. I went with Dad to pick that up, and then headed back home in the dark after we ate.

Everyone went to bed pretty early after that. The kids took the dogs out for another walk while I was gone, so even they were pretty tired and just slept on the porch.

It’s all just noise.

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We’re in for Some Chop

I was on the verge of crashing all day long, but still stayed up late trying to get things back into order. We rolled out of the hotel and hailed a Lyft as we walked down the hallway. The ride was quiet, and traffic wasn’t bad at all until we got right into the airport. Evidently there was a convention for the National Federation of the Blind this week, because I’ve never seen so many white canes in my entire life. It was interesting to witness them traveling through such a hectic environment that even we struggled to navigate, and I’m sure they appreciated the time to see each other face-to-face.

We timed things just about right, so we had plenty of time to get through security and grab some pretzel breakfast sandwiches from Auntie Anne’s. I watched part of Dune: Part Two on the first flight, which was pretty smooth. We had just enough time in St. Louis to switch planes, and then I watched a bit more during our much more turbulent flight to Little Rock.

Eaddie wanted Mexican food for lunch, so I found a well-reviewed place called Tortas Mexico in North Little Rock that had some of the best food we’d had all week, at a third the price. I felt rich. Then we continued home, unloaded, and played with Muad’Dib for a bit before Eaddie and I went to get Stilgar from the vet.

Muad’Dib seemed a little happier to see us specifically, while Stilgar seemed happy to see anybody. He did pee a little in the excitement. The lady that helped us was really concerned that we might have lost Muad’Dib, but I told her they simply didn’t have room to board both of them while we were gone, and we decided to make sure the younger spirit was kept safe.

Stilgar wolfed down a whole bunch of food, as though he hadn’t eaten anything all week. We played with them for a bit, and then I went inside to unpack and get things in order. Noah came back after work and Summer had a talk with him about some responsibilities, but you could tell he was just sitting in silence to receive the lecture.

Once I had things put away enough, I took the dogs out for a roll through the neighborhood on the Onewheel. They did really great, but I did finally see worms in Muad’Dib’s poop. He had to stop a couple more times on our journey to and from my parents’ house. We didn’t stay to visit for too long, and made it nearly all the way home before Stilgar got too hot and tired, and flopped onto some cool dirt. He refused to move, so I tried to get Summer to bring us some water. She and Noah walked up the wrong street, but it didn’t matter because a girl came out of the house across the street from us, and her dog ran at us full-force off-leash, which got Stilgar up and full of energy immediately. They wagged and sniffed, and then we were on our way home.

One or the other of the dogs kept chewing on potted plants I had on the deck, so I repotted what was left of one of them. Hopefully having both of them here again will settle them down overnight, but more importantly, hopefully they can’t get out of the fence again.

The ants we had in the master bathroom looked to have moved on, but after just a short while they came back. They went straight for the bait, but I wish I knew what triggered them to come back in the first place.

Finally down for the long snooze.

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Silly Dog. Fence Is for Rabbits!

I awoke to another call about our escaped dogs. They happened to be in the same neighborhood, so I got over to them and they ran up to the car. They didn’t even hesitate to jump into the Murano for the ride home, and now I’m thinking they just like riding around in a car. I took them for a walk around the block, but Muad’Dib couldn’t get enough. I was still exhausted though, so I went in and tried going back to sleep for a bit, but never had a good time with it. Summer got up and made eggs and corned beef hash for breakfast. Eaddie slept in, and I was more than a little jealous.

I tried calling the vet and a couple other places to see if anyone could take both dogs for the duration of our vacation, but the closest thing I could find was our own vet, who could only take one dog. I knew then that I would have to fix the fence issue for real, so I picked up Dad and we went to Harbor Freight for some bold cutters and Lowe’s for some welded wire fencing. They had a few different options, but we went with the fencing for rabbits on account of how much cheaper it was, and I figured it would do the job well enough. It was a little easier to bend than the other stuff, but I think with enough staples it should hold.

After we left Lowe’s, I dropped Dad off so he could take care of some stuff, and I went home to get some containers to bring home some rice for lunch. Then I picked Dad back up and we got the wire fence installed. There were still a couple places that could have used some work, but I think overall we have a pretty good chance of thwarting their next escape plan.

I let Dad take the Murano home and I rode over on the Onewheel to swim. Without any recovery time, my whole body has been aching, and I hate the thought that I’ll struggle at Disney now because of it. I’ve got exactly no time left to recoup.

When I got back home, Eaddie and I tried to clean house and she packed her bags. I had to go back across town to pick up a shirt for Summer and fix the fish feeder, but I forgot to return our unused bolt cutter. I also forgot that we had technically tried to use it to cut a twisted wire that was holding the fence roll together, and noticed a small mark on the tip of the cutters that made it pretty obvious that something had actually been cut.

As soon as I got back to the house and got out of the car, my phone slid out of my lap and onto the driveway where the back glass shattered. Most of the glass was contained, but I was mad all the same. I suppose this is what the insurance is for, but I hated that it happened at such an inconvenient time.

Eaddie and I eventually took the dogs out for another walk while we waited for Summer to come home from work. Then I took a shower and Eaddie brought Noah over to housesit. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens tonight.

haustion

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Dog Caller

The tags I engraved last night worked and I awoke to a call from a couple, John and Becky in the Pinecrest neighborhood, who had Muad’Dib and Stilgar. It tickled me that John said he was very familiar with Dune, and could only read Stilgar’s tag, but knew that the other must be Muad’Dib. Summer and I got up and drove over to get them, but she ended up just walking them around the block to get back home. They had pulled out the board I nailed up yesterday, so I had to secure it better.

After that, Summer had some work to do from home while I had some coffee and caught up on a bunch of bills. Eaddie eventually made it home from her birthday sleepover with friends, and then Summer and I left to run some errands and do some shopping. We stopped by the old house first so I could try and find my automatic fish feeder and see if I had a cooling towel to take on the trip. I noticed the tiny peaches were ripened on the small tree by the front walkway, so I had Summer pick a bunch while she waited for me.

From there, we checked out Tractor Supply to see what they had for dogs. All of the electric fences they had “for dogs” were buried cable with electronic collars, but Dad suggested a proper electric conductor to shock them away from the fenceline. Next we stopped by Walmart and picked up a few things for the trip. They had one of the collars I liked on sale, so I went ahead and grabbed it too. Then I wanted to stop by Shoe Carnival to see if they had any better walking shoes. I wasn’t willing to pay what they were asking though, so we continued to Hardee’s for a quick dinner before Summer had to go conduct a staff meeting.

I dropped Summer off at the wash, ran to the old house for a bit, and then went to Lowe’s to spend some rewards cash I had earned. They happened to have some charcoal on sale, so I was basically only out of pocket for the tax. By the time I finished looking around there, Summer was done and I took her home.

It seemed less awful outside when we got there, so I took the dogs for a walk by myself around the block. Stilgar kept pulling on the leash, which has been uncommon for him. Muad’Dib did pretty well, but they both struggled with attention, and only minded me when it suited them. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to break them of that. When we got back to the house, Stilgar was happy to take a swim, but Muad’Dib sat down in the driveway and didn’t want to move. If I hadn’t been drenched in sweat, I would have taken him out a little longer by himself, but it was just miserable. I tried to make up for it inside, but he just went under the porch and sulked.

Eaddie had gone out with Eli for a bit, but she made it home and we all wound down. I helped her compose a response to Beth’s beckoning for her to spend her senior year in Wisconsin. Sometime after Midnight, I heard dogs barking and went outside to find that ours had gotten into the neighbor’s yard again. At least they hadn’t gotten any farther, but they ignored my calls to come home, and even stopped barking as though they were trying to hide. Concerned they might have left the neighbor’s yard, I rode around the block but then heard Stilgar barking again, so I headed home. This time they were happy to meet me at the fenceline where I had barricaded them out already, so I let them back in and then attached yet another board to the fence. This is like some kind of reverse Stockholm syndrome by which I want to keep them the more they try to escape.

Checklists of Checklists

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Ten Mile Search

The dogs woke me up super early with some barking, but they were just laying on the porch. As soon as I opened the door, they mauled me and wanted to play, but I was too sleepy and went back to bed. The next thing I knew, Eaddie was up checking on them and they had vanished through a new, large hole in the fence. I got up and rode around looking for them, and found Muad’Dib pretty quickly, but could never find Stilgar. Muad’Dib followed me home, but stopped a few houses down to hide in someone’s garage. I ended up knocking on her door to see if maybe Stilgar was in there, but she didn’t seem terribly happy about the dogs being loose every day, and there was no Stilgar. She mentioned she had called animal control on them last week, but they were never picked up.

Eaddie came and took Muad’Dib back home since I couldn’t retrieve him without a leash. Then I rode the block several times, blowing my dog whistle to try and attract Stilgar. Eaddie left to spend her birthday with some friends at the lake. The day just kept getting hotter and I eventually gave up for long enough to take a shower. I called the animal shelter, and their answering message said they would be open until four on Saturdays, so I ran across town to check there. A couple of girls were sitting in a dark office just hanging out, and they recognized Stilgar immediately. They had seen posts on Facebook from people that had seen them. Evidently he ended up on my parents’ side of the neighborhood, so I ran back to try and find him.

Summer got home from work, and I still couldn’t find Stilgar while I was driving, so I went home to get the Onewheel again and took Summer’s car to my parents’ house so I could start from there. I got up to the top end of Camelot, and Stilgar was panting in some water on the front porch behind a couple kids playing in a kiddie pool. The father said he had been sitting there for quite a while, so I ran back to get the car and took him home. He was so hot and tired that he just laid down in the front seat while I pet him.

With everyone back home safe, I knew I had to get collars. All we had seen were plastic clips, but I wanted a collar with an actual metal buckle. Summer and I tried to go to Price’s Town & Country, but they were closed, so we went to La Huerta to get some food. Then we went to PetSmart, T.J.Maxx, and Ross. We didn’t see anything that we absolutely loved, so we started to go to Tractor Supply, but we both got belly aches and decided to go home instead.

After a break from the heat, I went back out to Atwood’s to see what they had. They did actually have a surprising variety of collars, and I ended up picking a simple, cheap, blue one for Muad’Dib. I would have liked it to be wider, but the wider ones were all too long. They happened to also have kiddie pools, so I grabbed one of those and stuffed it into the car for Stilgar.

When I got back home, I filled up the pool and then took the dogs on a walk to my parents’ house to borrow Dad’s engraving tool. I poured sweat the entire time, and it was absolutely miserable. The dogs did pretty well on my 20-foot double-ended leash, but ultimately what I wanted for two dogs were two really short leashes for discipline. They did alright, but they still got distracted several times.

We got back home and Stilgar laid in the pool to cool off. I went inside and engraved my phone number onto their rabies tags, and then spent the rest of the evening researching GPS collars. If I can’t keep them in for now, maybe I can at least recover them more quickly.

Great. Dog subscriptions.