Odds and Ends

What's been going on here:

Yesterday I spray-painted the outdoor dog pen - it was starting to rust. I staked up a huge tomato plant I have in the garden. I took the puppies out for their walk. I worked on the novel I'm writing. I watched tennis. Took a few mini-naps.

Today, the puppies went to see mom and dad. I did laundry. Washed some dishes. The puppies didn't want to get out of the carrier when I brought them home, so they slept in it the rest of the day. Except for a brief moment when the dragged the newspaper out of it and shredded it. Then they went back to sleep in the carrier. I may have to get them a crate of some kind to sleep in. I don't want to give them Phoebe's crate. I want something smaller, more den like for winnie and pj. Worked more on the novel, watched this thing about Harry Potter. Didn't understand a whole lot of it since I've never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. I'll probably watch Dateline tonight and the interview with JK Rowling. Weeded the garden. Cleaned the bathtub and toilets.

The puppies were terrors today at mom and dad's when it came to doing their business. they just did not want to use the puppy pads. I was cleaning carpet all morning. They are in their rebellious teenage period.

A Good Walk

I took Winnie and PJ out for a walk today. They are getting more comfortable with being outside. They don't like their harnesses too much but they put up with them. They had a good walk - walked down around to the front yard and played with Steffi. Winnie escaped from her harness but she didn't know it. She was busy playing with Steffi. So, I hurried up and got her back in the harness.

I'm taking the harnesses to mom's tomorrow so she can sew more velcro on them. They are still too big for Winnie and PJ.

Headaches and Purse strings

I've noticed that after West Virginia passed the law that makes you sign your life away to buy a box of Sudafed, there was an increase in copper thefts. I guess the people who would have been making meth have now turned to stealing copper to get their money. Well, on the news last night, there was a story about this elderly woman who went to sleep one night, woke up the next morning and found she didn't have any water. So, she called the water company and when the water people came out to her house to check things out, they discovered that someone had crawled under the woman's house and had stolen all of her copper plumbing.

Way to go WV - you may have reduced the meth crime, but you've increased thefts. And we all still have sinus headaches.

Pretty Good Saturday

Got up and went to the store this morning. Spent more money than I needed to because I had coupons to use. Read the epilogue to the last Harry Potter book to see how it ends. Everyone's been talking about it for weeks so I just had to find out. Not that I've ever read any of the Potter books. But I know the names of the kids in the book so I scanned the pages to see what happened to them.

Got home and watched the third round of the British Open golf tournament. Winnie's honorary daddy, Sergio Garcia, is leading going in to the final round.

Worked on my romance novel that I've been writing for over a year. I'm on what I think might be the final pass at editing and revisions. I need to get the synopsis and query letter written and mailed out.

I took Winnie and PJ for a walk today. I put them in their little harnesses and put the leads on them and took them out. They didn't pull me in half today. And they were ok for a while. Tried to play with Steffi. Met Lapcat. But Winnie for some reason got scared so I picked her up and then PJ's little tail drooped and I got her too and brought them inside.

On the back of an insert to the Saturday paper, there's a Dell computer ad for laptops. I'm thinking about getting one. But I don't want to jump into it and get one right away. I am the one who took months to decide to buy a $7.00 purse.

Earlier in the week I got a check for my one day of jury duty that I had last week. On my excuse slip that I have to turn in to my employer it says that jurors will be paid at the end of the term. Well, the end of the term is October but I got paid this week. I think I should take that slip and tell them that since they paid me that means I'm done with jury duty. LOL. I could try to sue, but no attorney is going to take a case that pits them against the judge and the circuit clerk. LOL.

I kept meaning to take a nap today but never did get to it. Between cooking a turkey for Steffi and watching golf and then taking the puppies out, I just didn't have time.

Bad Fritz!!!

I took the puppies outside tonight on the leash. They didn't know how to walk around at first. They were scared and not used to being tied together by the leash coupler thing. But they eventually moved around some and wiggled a lot and kissed steffi and tried to love on Fritz. But Frtiz growled, snapped, and rolled Winnie. Winnie yipped like he was killing her. So, I took the puppies back in the house and left fritz and steffi outside. Winnie's fine. She was just scared. Fritz, however, is going to have to come to terms with the puppies. They are here to stay.

Jury Duty

Well, I got picked for jury duty. Booo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now for 4 months straight I am being held hostage by the county circuit court. I have to be available just in case I am selected to be part of the jury selection process each week. Basically, every Monday I have to call a phone number and listen to a recording to see if my name is there. If it is, I have to report to the courthouse the next day with about 30 other people and of this group, the court will choose the 12 jurors and 1 or 2 alternates.

It's ridiculous to be tied up this way for 4 months. Even the defendents get bail but not us jurors. Luckily today all the trials they had scheduled for the week were settled with plea agreements today and I only had to sit in the jury room for 3 hours doing nothing but missing work. They started out with 26 indictments for this court term and so far that I know of, 6 have been settled. There may be more that I don't know of. One that was settled was a murder case which might have taken a couple of weeks so I'm glad that one isn't on the docket. Maybe I won't have to do much this time.

I think they have at least 101 people in the jury pool and probably more. The sign in sheet that I had to sign my name to this morning had numbers beside our names and the numbers were not in order. The highest on the list was 101 so I'm thinking that at least 101 people have been pooled for jury duty.

The court will pay $40.00 a day to each juror who has to be called to the courthouse and they dont' take taxes out. Some people in the jury room were under the impression that this means they don't have to report the jury pay to the IRS. I don't think it's the case that if no taxes are taken out then you don't have to pay taxes on the money. I have to pay taxes on my interest income from my bank accounts. If any IRS folks are reading this, email me and let me know about reporting jury pay. You'd think I would know this as I have an accounting degree, but tax regs are a whole different animal. You could have a 4 year degree just on the US tax code.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read the episode summary on wikipedia for the final episode of Doctor Who that has Rose Tyler in it. It sucked. She tells him she loves him, but he doesn't get to tell her. I watched the first few minutes of the next episode and it was horrible the way the Doctor missed her. She has to come back. Someone tell Billie Piper to forget about being typecast. There's a story to tell and only she can tell it.

Celebrating July 4th

Today, in honor of July 4th and the celebration of America's independence from England, I declared my independence from bath tub soap scum. Yes, it was a hard fought war with toxic tub cleaner raining down on the enemy, but in the end, freedom prevailed. Clean at last, Clean at last.......... you get the idea.

Yuck

Winnie and pj chewed more holes in this little white cabinet I have so I went out to the porch and got a box to get some cardboard to tape on the cabinet. The cabinet is one of those put it together yourself kind with a cardboard backing. Well there was something in the box. I poured it out and a little mouse plopped out. It appeared to be one of those plastic toy mice that the cat would play with. BUT, it had teeth, feet, and a round wirelike striped tail??? I don't remember any toy mouse having feet. Or tails like that. So, I threw this mouse outside into a black square planter that frames the big sink hole next to the porch. There was no way I was going to pick it up to see if it was a toy. I scooped it up onto the cardboard and carried it outside that way. Toy or not, it's gone now.

Vet Check

I took PJ and Winnie to the vet today for another round of vaccinations. The vet checked their poo and found some microscopic worm evidence so he gave them a half a pill each and he's going to check them again in three weeks. The vet said the worm issue wasn't bad considering all the weight they've gained. Their next visit to the vet should be the last one for vaccinations. Weigh in: PJ gained from 1.6 pounds to 2.3 pounds and Winnie gained from 2.4 pounds to 3.4 pounds.

I set up the exercise pen next to the doggie gate that blocks one entrance into their nursery. This gives them about twice the play room. But, I have to be in the exercise pen with them to make sure they use their puppy pads. That's not going too well. They are only so-so on remembering to go back through the gate to use the puppy pads.

And they get to see Steffi more when they are in the pen. I expect them to someday learn how to climb up the pen and try to escape. It wouldn't take much for them to do it.

Other vacation news and notes: I've been working on the golf themed romance novel I wrote last year. Buying the flash drive last week inspired me to work on it. And the U. S. Open golf tournament.

Boo, Hiss

I have to do Jury Duty during July thru October. 4 months of not knowing where I'll be from one week to the next. Sure they will pay me every day I serve and sure my employer will also pay me, but my work is going to pile up sky high. It isn't like someone is there to do my job when I'm gone. The only ray of sunshine that could come from this is if I can miss the statewide conference that I have to go to for work. I would have to spend a couple nights away from home for that and if jury duty gets me out of that, then at least there's one positive. With my luck however, I'll have to do both. Yuck.

More pleasant topics:
Took the puppies to mom and dad's today. They played and played. As it's Fathers Day, I got dad a present. It's one that both he and mom can use - a wireless mouse. Dad tried to tell me that it wouldn't work on their computer, that's because he thought you were supposed to plug mouses in to the headphones jack. Apparently he tried to plug mom's other mouse into that jack and somehow forced something in there and believes he's broken that jack for good. That is such a man thing - rather than thinking it might plug in somewhere else, he tries to make it fit.

Pulled 6 ticks off Fritz yesterday, three today so far. Brushed him and cut some of his hair. I didn't do any laundry today since I'm only working two days this week. I can catch up on the laundry then.

This Week

What's been going on this week? The puppies are pretty much the same. I found a tick on PJ and she hasn't ever been outside to get one. I figure Fritz brought it in the house. He's had tons of ticks this year. I pulled 5 off of him just in one day this week.

My computer crashed the other day. I got the message "disk boot failure. insert system disk and press enter." I was thinking I would have to take it to a repair shop and I would probably lose all my stuff, but before I did any of that, I just unplugged all the cords from the CPU and let it sit there for about 45 minutes. When I plugged everything back in, the computer worked. So, I didn't have to take it anywhere and I didn't have to insert any system disk and press enter.

This morning I bought a 2 GB flash drive at walmart and I've copied my most important files to the flash drive: my pictures, my novel writing, my firefox profile that contains all of my internet bookmarks. I'd really be up a creek without my bookmarks.

I only work two days next week. Wednesday is WV Day, we get that day off and then I'm taking Thursday and Friday off. Friday, the puppies have to go to the vet for another round of vaccinations. Hopefully, they will be weighed again and I'll get to see how much they've grown. And Wednesday, I think I will try turning the puppies loose in the house. I had them in the exercise pen this morning with a puppy pad, and PJ peed on the carpet. I think she's a little slower than Winnie. I will have my work cut out for me when I turn them loose, keeping an eye on them and herding them to their puppy pads.

Pen

I ordered a dog pen for the puppies and it came yesterday. It was already assembled, all I had to do was set it up and I did that in the living room. Last night I had the puppies and Steffi in there and Steffi did pretty well considering. Today I had the puppies in the pen and Fritz was in the house. He barked and growled a lot. I might put him in the pen with the puppies in a day or two. Give him a few more opportunities to get used to them being in the pen before I do though.

And I got the harnesses for the puppies. They fit Winnie, but they don't fit PJ around the belly. She's still too small. I might have to put more velcro on them to cinch them up tighter for her.

Speaking of pens, I'm penned in, so to speak, here at the house. Dad bought more furniture he doesn't need at an estate sale and brought it up here. I don't know what's going on in his head, but he's bought tons of stuff over the last couple of months. There's more furniture in this house now than there was when he and mom lived here.

In Defense of Paula Abdul

PJ got under my feet and I kinda shoved her into a roll. So, it's entirely possible for Abdul to have tripped over her chihuahua.

B-Day and other stuff

Mom claims she doesn't already have the present I got for her birthday. It is a 2 cd pack of gospel music. The cake was good. I had two pieces with chocolate low fat ice cream. The puppies had fun playing at mom and dad's. But when it was nap time, Winnie cried. I think she wanted her bed at her house. I don't think she wanted to sleep at her grandma's house. But she ended up napping some there. I've never had a dog to get homesick before. But then, Phoebe was the only other dog I've ever taken anywhere. All our other dogs have always stayed home unless they were at the vet.

So, I ate too much again today. But I did work out too on the treadmill. I plan to go back to the diet tomorrow too. And to work out. Tomorrow will be a long day. Before work, I have to go to walmart. After work I have to go to the post office to pick up a package and then to Around the Farm to get more no chew spray. At least I won't have to water the garden tomorrow. I did that tonight. It's not even my garden. It's dad's.

Bath Day

Since I decided I was going to clean my bathtub today, I thought I would bath Fritz and Steffi in there first. They needed baths. I got a lot of loose hair off of Steffi and Fritz smells better. Yesterday I cut fritz's hair. I thought he might be a little cooler with a trim. So, I cut his hair around his neck and his belly and his hind legs. He doesn't look bad, but I'm sure a professional groomer would cringe. Oh well, Fritz doesn't care what he looks like.

Winnie and PJ are still chewing up puppy pads. I use the no chew spray, but sometimes they just ignore it. And I'm running out of no chew spray. The farm supply store in town sells an off brand and I got some a few days ago. I'm going to have to go back.

I ordered a wire pen for Winnie and PJ last night. It's a 10 panel, 2ft wide, 2ft high pen. And I can add another pen to it later if I want it bigger.

Tomorrow is Mom's birthday. And it's Sunday which means it's my usual day to go visit her and dad. Winnie, PJ and I will be going tomorrow and bringing a present and a card with us. The only thing is, I think the present I got for Mom is also something I bought for them for Christmas. I'm putting the sales receipt in the bag with the present in case Mom wants to return it.

Back to the Vet

Winnie and PJ went back to the vet today for their second round of vaccinations. PJ was weighed and she went from 1.4 pounds to 1.6 pounds. Winnie went from 1.9 pounds to 2.4 pounds. I don't think PJ's going to get to 6 pounds like the seller said she would. They did fine with the shots and so far they have no worms. They got to meet a husky type dog at the vet's office. Their tales just wagged and wagged. And they got to meet three kids who were there with the husky type dog. Their next trip to the vet is on the 22nd. I might take that day off. We get June 20th off for West Virginia Day. That's a Wednesday. So, I might take Thursday and Friday that week off too. I don't know why all holidays can't be on a Monday or Friday every year. Or better yet, if the holiday is on any day other than Monday or Friday, then the employer gets penalized by giving all employees an extra day off. I like that plan.

You Can Tell There's a Full Moon About

Tuesday, I found a small black snake on my sidewalk at my house. Killed it. Dad said "where's there's one, there's more. They're after water since it's been so dry." While that was comforting to know that there were other snakes out there, I thought, "Well, I could dig a hole in the yard and fill it full of water. Then the snakes shouldn't come to the house."

Wednesday, I came home to find Lapcat had killed some big animal and left the animal's internal organs on the stairs and sidewalk. I had to get rid of those as soon as I got home. Then Lapcat had the nerve to come to the porch and beg for catfood.

This morning, the puppies tore up a puppy pad even though I had sprayed it with bitter apple spray. I guess I didn't spray enough of it on the pad. They were good to make more work for me on a workday.

Tomorrow evening, the puppies have to go to the vet to get round two of their vaccinations. They are supposed to be checked for worms too. The vet gave me one vial to collect a sample. But I have two dogs. So, I've put some of the other sample in a ziploc bag. I don't think they have worms. I think the worm medicine the seller gave them before I brought them home worked.

I don't want to think about what else can happen this week. I hope things die down and become very uneventful.

Puppies' Day Out

I took Winnie and PJ to mom and dad's today. They played, and played, and ran circles. They used their puppy pads too. I brought them home around 10am and they've been sleeping ever since. They are worn out.

PJ Has Regressed

She is not using her puppy pads as well as she was during my week off. At first, I thought it was just that she couldn't find a big enough clean part of the puppy pad, but tonight she had clean puppy pads and she still did her business on the floor. I think it's that whole "you left me so I'm going to stand right here at the gate and act out" thing that Phoebe used to do. I have a feeling that this weekend, I'll be sitting on that floor, butt hurting because I don't have any padding there anymore, watching her and waiting for her to do her business so I can pick her up and put her on the puppy pad. Tomorrow isn't going to be good for PJ. Mom and Dad are going to a doctor's appointment in the afternoon so the puppies will be alone for much of the afternoon.

Work sucked today. First day back from vacation is never fun, but this time it just sucked. I didn't even wait a whole day before having to argue policy. I should just take the money I've saved for a house and go back to college. Get a fun degree in something that doesn't suck the life force right out of you.