It’s not that fostering a dog is a full-time occupation — although dealing with the politics of a canine pack can be as consuming as (though much more honest and direct than) dealing with human politics.
I have Robbie — normally the bully of the bunch, but this time remaining blessedly aloof. Clearly he believes introduction of a new female is a problem to be worked out solely by the girls.
There’s Nadja. She’s low dog on the totem pole, but those few privileges she can claim for her own are hers, by damn. She’ll even head Robbie away from the Costco bed I fished out of a dumpster a few months ago. Woe betide any mere new dog who so much as looks in that direction.
Finally, we come to Princess Ava Prettypaws and the new girl, Sweetie. Both are cattle dogs (Ava, having no idea she’s a mix, considers herself a privileged purebred). Both expect to be the one at “Mom’s” knee at all times. Neither is willing to accept that Mom has two knees.
I intended to discourage Sweetie from bonding with me, given that she’s here only temporarily. I had intended to kennel her much of the time and not integrate her with the pack. But turns out she’s one of those dogs who laughs — laughs! — at wire mesh and simple latches. She chewed her way out and integrated herself with the pack on her first morning here. Now my job is just to keep things civilized.
Jake MacGregor’s expression, “Keep your dog pants on!” is having at least some effect.
—–
No, it’s not that fostering a dog is a full-time occupation, but between that and finally (almost) finishing the living room a year after I intended to feels like full-time work. Who knew that climbing up and down a few ladder steps for painting and wallpapering could be as hard on the body as scaling serious mountains?
My thighs know. They remind me with grievous wails every time I sit down or stand up. Climbing stairs? Please. Do not even mention climbing stairs. My thighs will have a nervous breakdown.
—–
So you’ll have to forgive me for having nothing witty to add about the dangers of high unemployment in Europe. I can’t even rouse any verbal indignation over the IRS trying to claim the right to revoke the passports of allegedly delinquent taxpayers. Oh yes, I seethe inside. But even the fact that the wretched provision is (so typically!) buried as usual in some big old must-pass transportation bill can’t draw a loud snarl from me at the moment.
I’m too tired even to bleat.
—–
After dragging butt through a short morning dog walk I did stop at the local greasy spoon and have an enormous, completely disgusting anti-health-food breakfast. That helped.
But really, only Tahiti can guarantee a full recovery. So. Who’s offering? Anybody? Anybody?
—–
And about finishing that living room …
If you’ve hung out in these parts for a while, you may recall that last spring I tore up the really-not-too-bad living-room carpet that came with the house. Expecting to find beauteous oak, I discovered … ghosts of builders past.
You guys offered some lively suggestions about what to do with that weird old floor. I have to tell you, I took none of them. I thought seriously about all those clever things, I really did. But in the end, I decided the problems were just too large. Discovering that the nice family trying to keep the local flooring shoppe alive were having a huge sale, I opted for the easy way out. A couple of months ago, I bought laminate and now I’ve saved up my pennies to get the shoppe to install it.
I made an appointment for mid-April to force myself to finish everything else that’s needed doing in the room. The old barely functioning pellet stove — gone! The truly gigantic, hideous, OMG-who-can-believe-anybody-would-build-anything-this-ugly stove surround — out! The ruined wall behind the surround — patched, papered, and painted. Ceiling painted. Bookshelves and trim painted. Busted baseboard moldings replaced. Or about to be.
Light spotted at the end of the tunnel.
—–
But still, it’s the cold light of a Northwest spring. Tahiti … ah, the light is different there. Warmer. And the gin-and-tonics on the beach are unparalleled.
Seriously. I’m ready. It’s just a matter of time. And money. Anybody out there have a Gulfstream and want to swing by and pick me up on your way to the South Pacific?
You are welcome to come enjoy the beaches of SE AZ. Weather is fine and the sand is warm. You will need to bring your own water, and the umbrella might blow off your drink, but you are welcome.
I imagine that a gulfstream would take a long time to get to Tahiti. First, ya got to rig a sail or out board motor…
But there’s no donate button for a Tahiti fund.
Karen — LOL, wouldn’t it be a hoot? Some people collect donations for needy dogs. Or cancer patients. Or legal defense funds. But me? “Fund my trip to Tahiti! Be sure and throw in enough for the luxury hotel!”
Oh, yeah. That’ll go down real well …
Matt, another. I’ve seen the beaches of Arizona. You can have them.
But oh, guess I should have checked the mileage capabilities on that Gulfstream. I was picturing leisurely island-hopping with plenty of refueling stops. But come to think of it, there really aren’t that many islands between here and there.
I would love to take the lady to the South Seas on my little ole’ sail boat… alas, cash flow problems allow me only to take you to view it before auction, and then on to a Happy Meal and a six pack of Bud. It’s all waiting for you here. 😉
The Gulfstream V has a range of 5,800 miles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulfstream_V
Should get you there in style. I’d love to help out but my Gulfstream is in the shop for an overhaul, (in my dreams). Tahiti has always seem to me like it would be a neat place to visit. Alas, it’s too far to walk. 🙁
Hm. Where else have I met a dog who liked to dig out under fences? And when we finally hauled enough rocks to prevent that, she tore out the chain link with her teeth. And then didn’t even run away or anything, she apparently just did it to isolate herself from the food and water. Name sounded like … AVA something, as I recall…
Gulfstream, as in jet aircraft? Doh, I was thinking the shiny aluminum skinned trailer once popular with snowbirds in this area. My bad.
LOL
Think positive! You’ll get to Tahiti before I do.
As for “disgusting anti-health-foods” one can never have to many of those when it comes to boosting one’s spirits 🙂
If they ban sugar, I will be on my way to Tahiti regardless of how impossible it is to get there.
Joel — That was Nadja, I believe. Also known as El Destructo — the dog who broke out of a crate and ate the wall of my house (including metal corner bead) the first day I got her. But yeah … I remember now. She’d bust out of Gitmo, then be sitting right there waiting when we got home from errand-running.
Matt, another — No worries, it lead to some interesting factoids (thanks, Woody) and some day-brighteningly weird imagery.
naturegirl — Pick me up on your Gulfstream as you fly by, please?
EN — Make it a bottle of tasty plonk and you’re on.
Done!!!
Hey congrats on taking in a new dog. We have resuced 4 kavazs.
But only one at a time. They are too big for my house to have any
more than that.
One other note of bad news. I think that the supreme court said
to day that the police have the right to strip search you, if they
haul you in. Even for a very minor infraction. Like not haveing your
tags for your dogs. We don’t. But you get the picture
But I think now we live in a police state.
Have fun with your new house.
Blessings,
Debby
Learn to sail. It is possible to get a free boat. Thing is, you need to put in a lot of work to get it ocean worthy. And then, it’ll take months to get there. Think the fur kiddies can “hold it” that long? : )
Jim, did you mean free boat anchor or just free boat. Or are they one in the same? 😉
Claire, do you have another stove to replace the pellet one, or are you doing without a stove entirely? And, as we’ve seen the “before” pix of the L-R, will you be showing us the “sfter” pix?
Pat, I don’t have another stove to replace it. Probably, when money permits, I’ll add a propane heater of some sort — either an inexpensive “ventless fireplace” mostly for emergency use or (should I win the lottery) a real, vented Lopi stove. The main heat is electric baseboard. The pellet stove wasn’t working well and since it was useless as an emergency backup (requiring electricity), I Freecycled it to a man who repairs and re-sells them.
And yep, I’ll blog some after pix. 🙂
Jim, I share EN’s view of free boats. And I think the boredom and terror of ocean sailing would make me scream. I did a fair bit of sailing on San Francisco Bay when I was in my 20s. That was enough. Fun. But often tense with a lot of screaming and cussing by the boat’s owner at us mere winch-rats. Been there, done that.
When I go to Tahiti, someone else is going to have to do all the work, and that’s that. 😉
A friend just sent this to me and I thought I’d pass it on to you guys… may be old but I hadn’t come across it:
“Dogs Welcome”
A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote: I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?”
An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who wrote: SIR: “I’ve been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I’ve never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I’ve never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I’ve never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you’re welcome to stay here, too.”
You’re absolutely correct. I meant Nadja, but said Ava. Brain fart, I guess.
Apologies to Ava.
Joel. No apologies to Ava necessary. I’m sure she would like to be seen as a dog who can destroy chain link with a single rip of her mighty jaws rather than as a delicate princess who can’t even properly tear the flesh of a 40-pound interloper.
Ragnar — AWWWWWWW. And totally agreed.
I’ve never understood, for one related thing, why so many rentals forbid dogs but allow children. Yeah, I know there are often laws preventing property owners from discriminating against children. But which is more likely to shove six stuffed animals and a wad of modeling clay down a toilet? Dog or child? Who’s more likely to decorate a wall with Magic Marker? Pummel a neighbor with a plastic baseball bat? It’s a mystery, the discrimination against Canine-Americans.
Canine-Americans…I love it!! I’ll be using that from now on.
On those ventless gas heaters-here, they’re about $200 + installation(if you do it yourself, the costs of the plumbing bits you’ll need). Supposedly, they’re bad for you(exhaust fumes are coming in the room with you), but they work great. A little store I go into is heated solely by one. Almost totally quiet(a slight hiss). I have relatives that heated their homes (in part) with kerosene heaters for decades, with no apparent health issues. Most of the places were aging shacks, though..not very airtight.
I got seasick on the end of a pier once-never really cared for boats after that. A spaceplane to a orbital hotel sounds cool to me.
I used to work rental maintenance,and they did allow pets under 20 pounds. The reason pets aren’t allowed in a lot of places that too many owners don’t take care of them, and when they gotta go, they gotta go..which can be gross over time. It’s been my observation that the vast majority of pet owners do take care of them, but the few that don’t ruin it for everyone,as with many things.
I meant BOAT. There’s a Yahoo group for it. But like I said they need work, sooooo they’re not really “free” as you’d probably have to put some money into them to make them good for you.
Too bad about your boating experiences, Claire, many people, even with kids, manage just fine sailing for months between ports. All you’d have to do is stop off at Hawaii and you’d be halfway there and then its a little south-east heading from there to Tahiti. Who knows? Maybe you’ll stash something on one of the many tinier islands that dot the South Pacific for an emergency gulch. ; )
(sigh) is that what my headstone will say? ‘keep your dog pants on!’
I’d take you to Tahiti,but I only got two numbers on the MegaMillions last Friday.I’ll keep trying. 🙂
Oh, Mike. Excuses, excuses, excuses. 😉 Well, I got zero numbers on Megamillions (having not bought a ticket) and I still aim to go to Tahiti. See? You just can’t let these little setbacks stop you.
And Jake MacGregor — you whine piteously, but as I recall you went to considerable lengths to encourage me meme-ify “dog pants.” Yep, you brought this on yourself.
I just read this http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4233473/Cops-smash-car-to-save-toy-dog.html and am laughing so hard I forgot what I wanted to say here….
naturegirl — LOL yeah. I saw a version of that this morning, too. Gads. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or marvel that the police agency involved actually fessed up to their own idiocy and immediately agreed to pay to make it good.
In this country, the cops would have arrested the car owner for …. something. You know, disorderly conduct or giving the appearance of locking a live animal in a car or whatever. Then after dropping the charges, they’d have investigated themselves, exonerated themselves (“procedures were followed”), and made the poor stuffed-animal owner sue to get his window fixed.
Well now that you’re a member of the handicap dogs club you’ll find that a lot of places will let the no dog thing slide when you really tug on the heartstrings…I’ve taken my 3 legged pekeingese and my 1 eyed whatever she is to so many no pets allowed places…”I know theres not supposed to be pets but he can’t get far as you can see…you’ll never know he’s there” (Which is BS, by the way, but they don’t need to know that he’s faster than a dog with 4 legs). Once had the manager of a costco come out and call an employee an animal hater and an asshole for telling me to take the dog elsewhere…in hindsight, now that I’m a little older I realize that the food section of a grocery store is probably not the place for a nappy little dog that walks with a limp and I can see why they didn’t want him on the for sale furniture but yeah, same goes for hotels and stuff…you should try it.
Oh and on your way to Tahiti you need to stop by my island for a weekend!
I could arrange a room in Fiji. No help on getting there though.