Well I keep seeing this all over the blogworld so I guess I'll give it a try. I warn you, it may not be pretty, may be sad, may be...oh hell, here goes
20 Years ago...(yes I'm old enough to do a 20 years ago..actually I could probably do a 30 and 40 but I'm not gonna tourture myself so there!!!
Lessee....4 years out of college and working for a pest control company in Ft Laud. Courting (read as getting trapped) by first wife (the evil %*%#*& bitch, no anger here mind you). Drinking with free abandon. It was interesting back then. Bars in Ft Laud closed a 2 am then, Hollywood at 4 am and Miami at 6 am. So you could drink your way down the coast and end up at the bleary eyed crack of dawn at (take your pick) 1. Some sleazy strip club in North Miami thinking that you could take one of them home. Fat chance, and even if you did, boy would you be sorry once you'd sobered up. Thank God that I would be so drunk and sloppy that even a 5th rate stripper wouldn't want me. I mean, I had enough problems!! 2. Passed out in the car in some parking lot somewhere in S Fla hoping that you wouldn't wake up dead. 3. Eating breakfast at some place that was cheap and hoping you'd not be poisoned. 4. Driving home with a car load of drunks (driver included) laughing hysterically at the dumbest things you could imagine. 5. Scaring little old ladies at the supermarket while trying to score something that would offset the TERRIBLE hangover you just knew you were gonna have. 'Shcush me, do you know where the ashprin is?? hysterical laughter and giggling while trying to keep a staight face while the sun is poking holes in your brain. Ah, youth...
10 years ago...
Following divorce, move to Maine and New Hampshire, return to Florida, several different jobs etc. Stopping drinking. I mean I did a lifetime of drinking in a few short years. I have barstools all over S Fla with my butt print still on them. But these are stories for another time...
Starting working for the government. Bought a duplex so I could help my dad with his cancer treatments. It was nice spending some time with him, we had had a rocky relationship for many years but we became pretty close and I was glad that we were able to deal with all the shit between before he died. At least I am fortunate to be able say that I have no lingering regrets about our relationship. We talked and said all that needed to be said and when he died we were at peace with each other. It is one of the best things that ever happened to me. If you have the chance to do it. DO IT!! I was no longer drinking but I keep right on smokin' dope. I mean it allows me to relax without turning into a complete asshole. Mind you that's the extent of my substance abuse these days. It used consist of anything I could smoke, swallow or shove up my nose. We're also talkin' about very moderate amounts, long gone on the days when it was a spliff the size of a dog leg.
5 years ago..
Happily ( and I mean happily!!! insert flowers and butterflies and other stuff here) married to my wife. Bought a beautiful place in the country. Spent bunches of money remodeling it. Started on our quest to build the kennel. What a quest! I should have started a blog on that alone. Good thing I didn't, anyone that ever read it would run screaming from the idea of going into business for themselves......However, Dolly and I not being of sound mind, continued.
1 year ago.....
Kennel started!! Hurricaines come....Frances, Jeanne, Charlie, no power for eight days, That's fun for the first night, eat BBQ, play cards by candlelight, snuggle with the sound of rain....oh fine for the first day. Then, freezer defrosts, water running out on my wood floors. Well water, no power, no pump, no water...no showers....washing by pool water. Dogs getting steaks and bratwursts for dinner, they're diggin' it, real meat! All day!! wahoo!! No fans, no TV, no lights, no computer. Finally got a generator and solved most of the problems but it took 6 weeks for the ground to dry enough to pour the slab for the kennel. But progress was being made.
Whew.............
Friday, August 26, 2005
Friday, August 19, 2005
Racoons
I've posted some racoon pics on flickr. You can get to them through the sidebar. We currently have two groups. A large colony of nine that live in the habitat I built out front and the three babies on the porch(!?). We are part of rescue network that rehabs baby racoons and then releases them back to the wild. It's very rewarding (most of the time!). We have to keep the two groups separate for now because the bigger guys will hog the food and beat up the youngsters.
Dolly went out tues morning to give the racs out front some water and inadvertantly left the door unlatched. Escape artists that they are, within a few minutes they were all in the trees and just charging around. She jumped the fence and got most of them just to have them re-release themselves in few minutes. She is no longer allowed to touch the cage! In the process of capturing the escapees she got into poison oak or ivy or chiggers or some sort of nasty, itchy bumpy stuff. She is covered with horribly itchy red bumps and is scratching, scratching scratching. I have to laugh quietly or I'll get blasted! It's funny but I still don't like to see her suffer like that. I'd show you a pic but boy would I ever be in the doghouse if I did!. Anyway, back to the racs. So we eventually recaptured 7 of the little devils but still had two on the loose. Over the last two days I managed to recapture both of them with delicious food and a have-a-heart trap. Although they may look big enough they are not yet skilled enough to find food and water on their own so I knew they didn't go far. They are completely dependent on us until they are 9 or so months old. At this point most of them are still quite friendly and like to touch you through the cage and grab your fingers and shirt. They have the most fascinating hands, large soft pads with articulated thumbs. When they hold onto your fingers it's like velvet gloves. I understand that the reason they appear to wash their food is actually that the water makes their hands more sensitive. Apparently touch is their primary sense.
The little guys on the porch are a panic. They come and fuss at the door when it's time to eat. They watch us as much as we (and the dogs and cats) watch them. I'm not sure who is more interested in who! When you go out to feed them they will come charging from wherever they are and banzai at the food. Milk, banana, omnivore biscuits, grapes, sardines, apple, left-over spaghetti, pear, dog food, cat food actually just about anything.
After the racoons are about 6-7 months old they are moved (that should be fun) to the big release cages out back in the woods and eventually they will be released, wished good luck and that will that until baby season next year!
Just a note about racoons as pets. They are quite cute and affectionate when they are small but as they get larger they can get really mean and quite vicious, particularly at breeding time. Any idea how much fun it is dealing with a cranky 40 lb male racoon in your kitchen? All in all a bad idea and certainly not fair to the racoon.
Dolly went out tues morning to give the racs out front some water and inadvertantly left the door unlatched. Escape artists that they are, within a few minutes they were all in the trees and just charging around. She jumped the fence and got most of them just to have them re-release themselves in few minutes. She is no longer allowed to touch the cage! In the process of capturing the escapees she got into poison oak or ivy or chiggers or some sort of nasty, itchy bumpy stuff. She is covered with horribly itchy red bumps and is scratching, scratching scratching. I have to laugh quietly or I'll get blasted! It's funny but I still don't like to see her suffer like that. I'd show you a pic but boy would I ever be in the doghouse if I did!. Anyway, back to the racs. So we eventually recaptured 7 of the little devils but still had two on the loose. Over the last two days I managed to recapture both of them with delicious food and a have-a-heart trap. Although they may look big enough they are not yet skilled enough to find food and water on their own so I knew they didn't go far. They are completely dependent on us until they are 9 or so months old. At this point most of them are still quite friendly and like to touch you through the cage and grab your fingers and shirt. They have the most fascinating hands, large soft pads with articulated thumbs. When they hold onto your fingers it's like velvet gloves. I understand that the reason they appear to wash their food is actually that the water makes their hands more sensitive. Apparently touch is their primary sense.
The little guys on the porch are a panic. They come and fuss at the door when it's time to eat. They watch us as much as we (and the dogs and cats) watch them. I'm not sure who is more interested in who! When you go out to feed them they will come charging from wherever they are and banzai at the food. Milk, banana, omnivore biscuits, grapes, sardines, apple, left-over spaghetti, pear, dog food, cat food actually just about anything.
After the racoons are about 6-7 months old they are moved (that should be fun) to the big release cages out back in the woods and eventually they will be released, wished good luck and that will that until baby season next year!
Just a note about racoons as pets. They are quite cute and affectionate when they are small but as they get larger they can get really mean and quite vicious, particularly at breeding time. Any idea how much fun it is dealing with a cranky 40 lb male racoon in your kitchen? All in all a bad idea and certainly not fair to the racoon.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
ranting, ranting ,ranting
I watched an episode of Law and Order last night about a suburban militia group. Ordinary guys that become radicalized due to the way our government is operating. I was surprised at how much it hit home. I have been saying (a lot to myself) that the REAL problem with this country is the culture of government that we have here. I mean it's all about money and restrictions on this and that. It was reinforced by the receipt of our property taxes statement last night. Looking through the list of "neccassary" expenditures by our local government it is astounding how much money they want. $200+ for the school board!? Let's see, what can I say about this. Several years ago I noticed that one of the nearby schools had a brand new, fancy facade redone for the entrance for the school. Knowing how these things worked it was probably VERY expensive. Yet there are portables in the back of the school! Oh I'm sure there is a very compelling argument for why money is spent this way. I work the for government. I have watched them mismanage, piss away and generally waste an ENORMOUS pile of money in the years I have been here. One example. A year or so ago some overpaid moron decided that a competancy test would be the way to go. So, at great expense they contracted with a private company that developed an on-line assessment that a chipmunk could have passed. They also spent millions building training rooms in all the offices statewide with state of the art computer desks and nice fancy new machines for this test. We all took it once. That's it, once. Then they decided, well maybe we'll go in a dramatically differnt direction since this doesn't seem to have the desired outcome. Millions spent for a test (I heard $6 million) millions more for an enormous number of facilities and computers and furntiure for NOTHING! This is one department in one state in our country! How much overall money is wasted by our government (local, state and federal). We can't provide sufficient equipment for our boys in Iraq but we can build stupid training rooms for dumbass state employees! I hate to be so negative but I'm watching our country get sucked down the drain by politicos that are in it for themselves (wallet, prestige, retirement, whatever) and not in it for our country. Our founding fathers are spinning in their graves at about 200,000 rpm at this point. Don't even get me started on our "justice" system. Well since you mentioned it I will rant some. Have you noticed that it's all about the process of law and not really about justice? Innocent men spending years behind bars for crimes they didn't commit. Prosecutors refusing to reopen cases because someone might look bad (read as stupid, criminal, etc). Hemming and hawing about DNA testing because it might (again) make them look stupid. Overbearing, power hungry cops. man it just seems like such a mess. And what's worse there doesn't seem to be anyone on the horizon that will be any better than the bunch we already have in Washington......., we're doomed..........
However, the kennels doing just fine.......
Upon reflection the above makes me feel like a hipocrite since I, too, feed off the public teat. I guess I better hope that the kennel does well enough so I can get out of here. I would prefer to work with the animals and to help advocate for stronger animal cruelty laws.....perchance we all dream....
However, the kennels doing just fine.......
Upon reflection the above makes me feel like a hipocrite since I, too, feed off the public teat. I guess I better hope that the kennel does well enough so I can get out of here. I would prefer to work with the animals and to help advocate for stronger animal cruelty laws.....perchance we all dream....
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Overly Busy
Well since the kennel has opened we are overly busy. It's rare that we get any time to do much of anything except for the ENDLESS CHORES around both the house and kennel. I'm sure it's because we are not particularly well organized. We have begun a campaign of ORDERLINESS. We'll just have to see if we can pull it off. The problems as I see them
1. We have have just too much stuff. I mean our stuff has stuff. We need to get rid of anything we haven't touched/used/looked at for the last 6 months or so.....
2. We are not organized. We have no real routinue. We get things done as they need to be instead of having A PLAN
3.We spread ourselves too thin. In stead of trying to concentrate on the things that need to get done we keep taking on more. I'm not sure that this one is going to get much better. Most of the extras that we do are animal rescue related and I cannot in good consience let animal die or otherwise be neglected just because it's inconvienent.
4. Dollys' mom needs increasing amounts of care. the poor dear has failing hearing, eyesight, increased confusion (which way is the bathroom, bedroom etc). The cancer and her failing heart don't leave her with much energy and it's very sad to see her continue to decline and of course she gets whatever level of care that she needs. Another one that we cannot change.
So, I have taken the following steps to see if we can get some of ths under control.
1. I have purchased a Palm Pilot to try to get organized, put all the obligations on it and get through the list each and every day
2. Try to taclke each room at a time, Go through it and decide whether we REALLY cannot live without this or that.
3. Try to get things done earlier in the day to hopefully free up a little time to breathe.
One other annoying thing is that because we live in the country I cannot get broadband. I have to live in the land of dialup. it'snot so bad for just reading the mail and reading newspaers and such. When it comes to uploading pictures and stuff it SUCKS. I can get one or two pictures up on flickr before it gives me the message "you are not connected". Crap! I am connected, it's just dead SLOW. I have looked at the satillite service but it is still quite expensive. I am looking at Wildblue, a new sat internet but again it's like $500-$600 to get connected (equipment purcheses etc) and then $50 or so month. Hard to justify that kind of expense. Oh well, I'm just livinlife...............
1. We have have just too much stuff. I mean our stuff has stuff. We need to get rid of anything we haven't touched/used/looked at for the last 6 months or so.....
2. We are not organized. We have no real routinue. We get things done as they need to be instead of having A PLAN
3.We spread ourselves too thin. In stead of trying to concentrate on the things that need to get done we keep taking on more. I'm not sure that this one is going to get much better. Most of the extras that we do are animal rescue related and I cannot in good consience let animal die or otherwise be neglected just because it's inconvienent.
4. Dollys' mom needs increasing amounts of care. the poor dear has failing hearing, eyesight, increased confusion (which way is the bathroom, bedroom etc). The cancer and her failing heart don't leave her with much energy and it's very sad to see her continue to decline and of course she gets whatever level of care that she needs. Another one that we cannot change.
So, I have taken the following steps to see if we can get some of ths under control.
1. I have purchased a Palm Pilot to try to get organized, put all the obligations on it and get through the list each and every day
2. Try to taclke each room at a time, Go through it and decide whether we REALLY cannot live without this or that.
3. Try to get things done earlier in the day to hopefully free up a little time to breathe.
One other annoying thing is that because we live in the country I cannot get broadband. I have to live in the land of dialup. it'snot so bad for just reading the mail and reading newspaers and such. When it comes to uploading pictures and stuff it SUCKS. I can get one or two pictures up on flickr before it gives me the message "you are not connected". Crap! I am connected, it's just dead SLOW. I have looked at the satillite service but it is still quite expensive. I am looking at Wildblue, a new sat internet but again it's like $500-$600 to get connected (equipment purcheses etc) and then $50 or so month. Hard to justify that kind of expense. Oh well, I'm just livinlife...............
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Birthdays and stuff
The 26th was my bros' b'day. Went over to his place and ate paella and watched everyone get drunk. A most humerous evening. It's interesting being the only non-drinker at these events,I'm the one that remembers everything....much to others consternation (haha). This weekend we celebrate my mas' b'day. We're going to Tims' Thai, mmmm, much good food and they let you BYOB so all is cool.
We will be in the yellow pages come October, full color ad and listings in two places!. Even though we are doing better than I expected at this point it is time to go the next level. Since this book comes out in October we'll be in the book for the holiday season! I hope we are so busy that we have to turn people away! Wouldn't that be nice!! Not the turning people away, the being busy natch.
Also we have taken in a charity case for the animal pound. A little Jack Russell that was involved in a domestic violence case. The woman has had to flee into hiding and was unable to take her dog. After being in the pound for the last 3 months Bob has asked whether we can board her for a while until this all settles down. I had always wanted to do this since I read about cases where the animals were left behind and killed/tourtured since the wife and kids weren't there. I'm glad to be able to help. It has it's own rewards.
Carolyn and the girls went home. It's much quieter and and a little lonely without them. However, they did take several new household members with them. The two kittens that had been abandoned and a german shepard mix from the local pounds New Hope list. Basically it is a last chance list. The animal is due to to euthanized (read as killed, after all that is what it is, euthanized my ass, I hate sanitized expressions). Anyway, I digress, the animals are available for $10! Neutered, shots etc. A great deal, we have two for the kennel, a dog and a cat.
Well gotta go back to work so, till later.....
We will be in the yellow pages come October, full color ad and listings in two places!. Even though we are doing better than I expected at this point it is time to go the next level. Since this book comes out in October we'll be in the book for the holiday season! I hope we are so busy that we have to turn people away! Wouldn't that be nice!! Not the turning people away, the being busy natch.
Also we have taken in a charity case for the animal pound. A little Jack Russell that was involved in a domestic violence case. The woman has had to flee into hiding and was unable to take her dog. After being in the pound for the last 3 months Bob has asked whether we can board her for a while until this all settles down. I had always wanted to do this since I read about cases where the animals were left behind and killed/tourtured since the wife and kids weren't there. I'm glad to be able to help. It has it's own rewards.
Carolyn and the girls went home. It's much quieter and and a little lonely without them. However, they did take several new household members with them. The two kittens that had been abandoned and a german shepard mix from the local pounds New Hope list. Basically it is a last chance list. The animal is due to to euthanized (read as killed, after all that is what it is, euthanized my ass, I hate sanitized expressions). Anyway, I digress, the animals are available for $10! Neutered, shots etc. A great deal, we have two for the kennel, a dog and a cat.
Well gotta go back to work so, till later.....
Thursday, July 28, 2005
another update
Well, lets see, where to begin...Carolyn and the girls are here for the week. It's so nice to see Dolly and her daughters getting along. Life is really too short to be pissed off. Went to Wild Waters with Maria, Carolyn and the four kids (Dolly and me of course), had a blast. Even at my advanced age I enjoy the water slides and all the kid stuff. It's more enjoyable with the kids though, their enthusiasm is infectious!! Too bad that they need to leave on Saturday. However they will be back in October! Whoo-hoo!
The kennel is doin' great considering that we haven't really advertised. Thats exciting. I CANT WAIT until I can quit my day job........
There were some kids over by the kennel last night, claimed to have run out of gas but were doing a lot of hollering so I ended up calling the cops to come check it out. By the time they got there, it didn't take too long tho, they were gone. At this point Dolly was apparently hollering at me to find out who it was, couldn't find her gun, couldn't rack the shotgun and ended up pissed at me! Go figure. Sometimes I just cant figure people out. I mean, sorry I didn't hear you, I was talking to the cop, his motor was running and you were a loong way away. I'm a little deaf (too much rock'n'Roll? in my youth?) Anyway, I'm doin' the man of the house thing and I get the cold shoulder. I give up, I'm sure it will pass but what the F***? I'm sure some of you ladies are thinking "men!" well I'm sorry but I can't figure things out like this with no information. Jeez...
The kennel is doin' great considering that we haven't really advertised. Thats exciting. I CANT WAIT until I can quit my day job........
There were some kids over by the kennel last night, claimed to have run out of gas but were doing a lot of hollering so I ended up calling the cops to come check it out. By the time they got there, it didn't take too long tho, they were gone. At this point Dolly was apparently hollering at me to find out who it was, couldn't find her gun, couldn't rack the shotgun and ended up pissed at me! Go figure. Sometimes I just cant figure people out. I mean, sorry I didn't hear you, I was talking to the cop, his motor was running and you were a loong way away. I'm a little deaf (too much rock'n'Roll? in my youth?) Anyway, I'm doin' the man of the house thing and I get the cold shoulder. I give up, I'm sure it will pass but what the F***? I'm sure some of you ladies are thinking "men!" well I'm sorry but I can't figure things out like this with no information. Jeez...
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
More pics
Uploaded some more pics of the kennel. It's really comin' along. We have Carolyn and the grandkids here for a couple of weeks. It oughta be a fun time. More later.....
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Update (finally)
Well, I certainly have been the big slacker about updating this. I can see why folks will stop. It reaches the point where it's like, what do I say now???? Anyway, I had a good week, it was nice to have Tim come and visit and he and I and Andrew played much, drank much and otherwise partied our faces off. I still managed to get a bunch of work done around the kennel and the house. I was most proud of the new racoon habitat I built for the (now 7) coons we are raising. Or I was was until I realized that three of the little varmints found a way out. So now we have 3 young racoons hiding in the trees in the front yard. I will go to FWC and get some capture cages and set them on top of the habitat and try to capture them. They came down to eat the food we left out for them but they are *not* going to allow us to hand-catch them. These three are the unfriendly ones. 2 we had for a while and one was just given to us 2 days ago. This ALWAYS happens when we build new cages for them. The little devils are really sneaky and if there is a way they will get out.
I also am wrestling with my mother-in-laws toilet. I replaced the malfuntioning innards and now the tank leaks.....I hate plumbing. I will give it one more shot to fix and then I will throw my hands up in frustration and give up. Really adult wounldn't you say. Sorry but I don't mind working around the house and getting things done but I find it really dissappointing when things blow up in my face.
The kennel is doing pretty well off just the 3 day ad in the paper and referrals from our vet. We should have our signs up by the end of the week and hopefully that will increase biz some. I sort of like the slow start. It's very hard on Dolly to manage both the house (with her mom) and the kennel and all the other shit that needs doing around the homestead. Poor woman is exhusted half the time. It's even more frustrating that I have waste time here at the House of Dumb each day. I still have the following things yet to do (current list)
Salt in the water softener
Get the cages to (hopefully) catch our escapees
Install the water softener at the kennel
Build the counter at the kennel
Top the runs (some dogs climb!) (new ones, in and out)
Order the sunshade for the new runs
Fix the horses stall (he's busy knocking it down)
Worm the goats
Move the blasted riding mower out so Sears can come and fix it (yet again)
Continue to work with Peachtree software (biz software for the kennel)
Move one of the computers over to the kennel
Clean the porch (our previous racoon storage area)
Mow the lawn when Sears comes and fixes the riding mower hopefully Wed( mow you say? what's the deal, it's about 6 acres and now about a foot tall, I'll take a flare gun and some provisions with me in case I get lost)
Fix the *&^%%$*&;*&^%% toilet
Not to mention things like catboxes, dinner, bills blah blah blah etc
And you wonder why I sound so down sometimes? Thank God there are two of us!!
See you later...........
I also am wrestling with my mother-in-laws toilet. I replaced the malfuntioning innards and now the tank leaks.....I hate plumbing. I will give it one more shot to fix and then I will throw my hands up in frustration and give up. Really adult wounldn't you say. Sorry but I don't mind working around the house and getting things done but I find it really dissappointing when things blow up in my face.
The kennel is doing pretty well off just the 3 day ad in the paper and referrals from our vet. We should have our signs up by the end of the week and hopefully that will increase biz some. I sort of like the slow start. It's very hard on Dolly to manage both the house (with her mom) and the kennel and all the other shit that needs doing around the homestead. Poor woman is exhusted half the time. It's even more frustrating that I have waste time here at the House of Dumb each day. I still have the following things yet to do (current list)
Salt in the water softener
Get the cages to (hopefully) catch our escapees
Install the water softener at the kennel
Build the counter at the kennel
Top the runs (some dogs climb!) (new ones, in and out)
Order the sunshade for the new runs
Fix the horses stall (he's busy knocking it down)
Worm the goats
Move the blasted riding mower out so Sears can come and fix it (yet again)
Continue to work with Peachtree software (biz software for the kennel)
Move one of the computers over to the kennel
Clean the porch (our previous racoon storage area)
Mow the lawn when Sears comes and fixes the riding mower hopefully Wed( mow you say? what's the deal, it's about 6 acres and now about a foot tall, I'll take a flare gun and some provisions with me in case I get lost)
Fix the *&^%%$*&;*&^%% toilet
Not to mention things like catboxes, dinner, bills blah blah blah etc
And you wonder why I sound so down sometimes? Thank God there are two of us!!
See you later...........
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Midvacation
It's wednesday, half-way through my vacation. It's supposed to be 95 degrees. The weather channels web site just shows an orange box and the word hot. So, we'll escape to the movies, I have wanted to see War of the Worlds since I saw it was coming out. I just love that apocalyptic end-of-the-world kind of stuff. I like this story since I first read it as a kid. We've sort of been working at the kennel and other chores during the day and playing at night. It's been nice...
The kennel is doing as well as I could expect for a new business. Dolly groomed her first dog on Monday (a boarder) and so it goes, Slowly but surely we are getting the business. It is really exciting to watch it happen. I can see that we will be getting busier as time goes along. I mean we only had the one ad for the 3 days and no follow up advertising. We should really see the inpact when the new phone book comes out and we are in the listings. I guess we'll need to fork over the cash to yellow pages.......They are effective.
The kennel is doing as well as I could expect for a new business. Dolly groomed her first dog on Monday (a boarder) and so it goes, Slowly but surely we are getting the business. It is really exciting to watch it happen. I can see that we will be getting busier as time goes along. I mean we only had the one ad for the 3 days and no follow up advertising. We should really see the inpact when the new phone book comes out and we are in the listings. I guess we'll need to fork over the cash to yellow pages.......They are effective.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
The 4th
Ah, the second day of my NINE days of vacation! That includes the weekends of course but I still like to count 'em. Tim made it up and we stayed up much later than planned catching up. Missed church this morning but Dolly was tired (bed near 1) and so was I and we don't need crankiness this weekend. We'll try for Wed night. Ma, Francis and Andrew and Melissa will be over for BBQ (hamburgers and brats, mmmmmm) this afternoon. 4 tenants in the kennel, oh I forgot the rabbit...We'll board anybody! It's getting late, this house is a pigsty and we got company coming. I guess I'd better get the rest of them up and begin the festivities!! Happy 4th all!!
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Soon.........
At long last this week is coming to an end. The House of Morons has sent me to (in order) DeLand, Daytona and Jacksonville for 2 days in a row to help with training. A lot of driving....I really wanted to be here to help Dolly with the kennel. We have more dogs! It's really exciting. Our sun shade for the kennel arrived. A large sheet of screening material to cover the outside portion of the runs to protect the dogs from the BLAZING HOT sun. Good news is that I am off all of next week, Tims' coming up, my brother has the week off also. That will be nice.
I'm still pretty torn up about Loki. I guess it's good that I'm so busy now that it doesn't leave me time to reflect. I have been dreaming about him though.....It's odd, I generally don't dream about the animals (usually dont' dream period). I guess I will ultimately end up missing him terribly. Although we have numerous other pets/animal friends there was always something very special about him. I'm too heartbroken to tell Loki stories right now, ask me later and I'll be happy too...He was a very non-typical pooch, much more human than dog. And I'm not just anthromorphisizing (sp again)....bye for now....
I'm still pretty torn up about Loki. I guess it's good that I'm so busy now that it doesn't leave me time to reflect. I have been dreaming about him though.....It's odd, I generally don't dream about the animals (usually dont' dream period). I guess I will ultimately end up missing him terribly. Although we have numerous other pets/animal friends there was always something very special about him. I'm too heartbroken to tell Loki stories right now, ask me later and I'll be happy too...He was a very non-typical pooch, much more human than dog. And I'm not just anthromorphisizing (sp again)....bye for now....
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Friday, June 24, 2005
At Last!
The Kennels open! The ad was in the Gainesville Sun today and will run through Sunday. Oh boy, I sure hope I know what we're getting into. I hope plenty of $$$$$$$$$$. We'll see though. Dolly checked the messages this morning be4 her mothers (cute the be4, huh?) dr's appt and we already had a call, a woman wanting several weeks for her 3 dogs in August. Yahoo! I'm between hopleless elation and having to shit. Is it always like this? Never been an entrepaner (there goes the spelling again) before. It's sort of exciting. I better get going, I think have to go to the bathroom........
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Errors
I have noticed that my spelling is really bad sometimes. Just goes to show that I am so dependant on my spell-checker and I don't use it with this. It comes from being in a hurry and trying to post. It is sooo hard to keep up with the 25 hour days I have now. Gotta run
Monday, June 20, 2005
I am sore......
Well, finally (well very nearly) finished the &^%$$%^&* floor in the lobby. 700 hundred square feet of tile with, of all things, BLACK GROUT. I know why they get $1.50 to $3.00 a square foot for tiling. It took me 4 days too get that done. I can assure you I won't be doing that again soon. I'm a bit long in the tooth to be on my hands and knees for 4 days (no jokes OK?). Anyway I must admit it looks magnificent and was ultimately worth the effort. I just wanted to bitch about how sore I am. Makes me feel better.
Dolly has spoken to the newspaper and the ad for the kennel will be in this weeks (thurs, sat and sun) Gainesville Sun. I am psyched! It will go out to over 150,000 readers. I hope we know what we're doing.... Talked with the sign people and we should be moving ahead with that. Too bad I have to come to the House of Dumb for the day and waste my time. Well, at least I'm getting paid.
Our first guest. Black Lab named Mykola (?????) seems to be enjoying her visit. Since she is the only pooch she gets lots of personal attention and walks and so forth. While I was doing the floor she had the run of the kennel and amused herself with stepping in the cement if I didn't throw her squeaky toy for her.
I do have the July 4th week off. I have an old friend coming for a visit and will attempt tp dragoon him into helping me some with the kennel. It appears that my week off will be split between working at the kennel. Kennel tops, counter tops, transitions, etc etc and partying in th evening. It should be a busy weekend.
I know I keep promising pictures.......some day soon.......
Dolly has spoken to the newspaper and the ad for the kennel will be in this weeks (thurs, sat and sun) Gainesville Sun. I am psyched! It will go out to over 150,000 readers. I hope we know what we're doing.... Talked with the sign people and we should be moving ahead with that. Too bad I have to come to the House of Dumb for the day and waste my time. Well, at least I'm getting paid.
Our first guest. Black Lab named Mykola (?????) seems to be enjoying her visit. Since she is the only pooch she gets lots of personal attention and walks and so forth. While I was doing the floor she had the run of the kennel and amused herself with stepping in the cement if I didn't throw her squeaky toy for her.
I do have the July 4th week off. I have an old friend coming for a visit and will attempt tp dragoon him into helping me some with the kennel. It appears that my week off will be split between working at the kennel. Kennel tops, counter tops, transitions, etc etc and partying in th evening. It should be a busy weekend.
I know I keep promising pictures.......some day soon.......
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Finally
It's been a little while since I posted last but a lot has happened since then. We had our final inspection yesterday! We passed. We are now open for business! Dolly has her first dog (paying!) as a guest. 18 days! We are most excited. I took a couple of days off of work and put together the kitchen and wired the tops of the runs and began work on the tile in the lobby. I have that about 70% done so I have my work cut out for me this weekend. I will try to post more pictures as we go along but time is always short, short ,short. More later........
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Awesome
This is the most thought provoking and disturbing site I have seen in a looong time. Makes you think about your secret
http://postsecret.blogspot.com
http://postsecret.blogspot.com
Flicker Photos
Finally figured out how to do this (sort of) but kennel pics are at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinlife/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinlife/
doh!
I had mentioned earlier to leave a comment if you would. I just realized that I have an option to restrict the posts in place. Dumbass. It should be fixed now.....
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
OK we're movin" again
Met with the Fire Department and got them to meet me half-way. Just a little limerock on the access road and we're good to go!. Contractor was there and we have the dirt coming today and should be able to get our final soon (this week?? maybe). This weekend has the tile and stuff coming so I'll be doin' all kinds of stuff (real work, not this pathetic burecratic bs that I usually do). Pics to follow........
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