It works with dogs the same way it does with kids apparently.
To get Badge to stop sticking his head in the parrot cage, where he will surely lose an eye, I distracted him with a strip of paper from my business cards. He gladly bounded over and grabbed it then ran off to rip it to shreds. When I looked up Kodi was peeking over the back of the couch looking forlorn.
"Kodi," I said "it's just a bit of paper"
The stare continued, this time with a small wag of tail.
I sighed "Do you want one too?"
Kodi wagged his tail yes and gingerly accepted a bit of paper from my hand before returning to his corner of the couch.
.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Moved, address unknown
So, I keep getting mail from the previous tenants.
I agreed, for the first little while, to take the mail to a neighbour, who would then forward it to the previous tenants who now live in India.
I assumed this was just for the first month or so until they got all their address changes done etc.
Only, the mail never stopped. And it kept coming from the same places, which meant that they weren't changing their address with these places, they were just continuing to expect me to go down the block every week to deliver their mail. It's been nearly 3 months and they get at least one letter of some kind every day. Important stuff too, from the government. So I finally left a note with my last delivery informing the neighbours that I would no longer be accepting their friend's mail and that they need to get their address changed. When the next letter arrived I wrote in bright orange sharpie on the envelope "Moved, address unknown" then, since I was going to the mail box anyway, dropped it in the mail (I'd learned from previous attempts that if you leave mail in your box to be picked up by the mail carrier it just doesn't happen in lethbridge) and went on my merry way.
Today I checked my mail, and pulled out an envelope that said, in bright orange sharpie "Moved, address unknown"
WTF?
Go away mail!
I don't want you!
.
I agreed, for the first little while, to take the mail to a neighbour, who would then forward it to the previous tenants who now live in India.
I assumed this was just for the first month or so until they got all their address changes done etc.
Only, the mail never stopped. And it kept coming from the same places, which meant that they weren't changing their address with these places, they were just continuing to expect me to go down the block every week to deliver their mail. It's been nearly 3 months and they get at least one letter of some kind every day. Important stuff too, from the government. So I finally left a note with my last delivery informing the neighbours that I would no longer be accepting their friend's mail and that they need to get their address changed. When the next letter arrived I wrote in bright orange sharpie on the envelope "Moved, address unknown" then, since I was going to the mail box anyway, dropped it in the mail (I'd learned from previous attempts that if you leave mail in your box to be picked up by the mail carrier it just doesn't happen in lethbridge) and went on my merry way.
Today I checked my mail, and pulled out an envelope that said, in bright orange sharpie "Moved, address unknown"
WTF?
Go away mail!
I don't want you!
.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
shopping is hard
Badger has brand new everything. But he also wrecks everything. Kodi has 8 year old everything, but never wrecks anything (with the rare exception of course). So I was looking at Kodi's old collar, where it has rusted from exposure to sea water so that his ID tags are just barely hanging on to corroded metal, and the worn edges and the stains and faded colour. Then I looked at his leash, also worn and faded, now with chew marks where Badger has grabbed on to it multiple times and I made a decision. I was going to buy Kodi a brand new collar.
Now, everyone ought to know by now, that when it comes to outfitting my dogs I don't do fancy patterns. I also don't have my dogs on martingales, and I don't do plastic buckles. They wear flat 5/8s nylon with metal buckles. Kodi wears green, and Badger wears red. End of story, no questions asked. That is just the way it is. That's how I like it. Don't argue with me about this.
This should, in theory, make buying a collar for my dog simple. Green is a common and well loved colour. 5/8 inch is a pretty standard leash and collar width. So I packed up the dogs and took Kodi to the store while Badger waited in the car. They had collars, and they had leashes, they even had 5/8 collars and leashes with metal buckles. They had lime green, and they had blue green, but they did not have green. Alright, so off I went all the way across town to the other petstore that was open on a sunday and they didn't even have lime green, or blue green! There was no even remotely green collar in sight.
Now, Monika, you're going to tell me, there are more than two petstores in town that are open on Sunday. Yes, you are right, there are. However the other two also sell puppies from puppy mills, something I am openly morally opposed to. The idea of shopping in such a store makes me frown more than not being able to find a green collar.
Then someone says, "Order one online" and I resist the urge to rant about how if I could buy a collar in my dog's absence and be gauranteed of it's fit and colour, then I wouldn't have brought my dog to the store with me at all. I hate taking my dogs in to petstores because that is like taking a small child to a toy store where they aren't allowed to touch anything and doesnt have a public washroom. No matter how solid Kodi's obedience is, taking him to a store full of bones, food, treats, toys, and the smell of other dogs' piss results in me doing nothing but yanking on his leash and demanding that he smarten up and sit still and not whine while I try to read the ingredients on puppy food. If I could just go buy him a collar, then I wouldn't have to go through that! But I do, because I can't, I tried, it doesn't work. A collar labeled 5/8 inches turns out to be something like 6/8 or 7/8 and instead of 16 inches long its either way too freaking big or too tight because I don't believe in the one finger rule. It's my whole hand or bust when it comes to a dog that only wears a collar to carry ID and occasionally clip a leash to. But it also shouldn't fall off his head when he bends down to eat. Everytime I buy a collar in Kodi's absence it is not right in some way, which is why he still wears a collar that he's been wearing since he was 6 months old. At least I can manage to pick out the right colour, but if I ordered online, even that would be a toss up, what looks right on my screen falls to that stupid disclaimer of 'colour on screen may not be exact colour of product' and I'd probably just open the package after waiting 6-8 weeks for delivery to find either a lime green collar, or a blue green collar, that is either too big, too small, or too wide because no collar company knows what 5 freaking 8ths actually is!
Maybe I'm too picky, I don't know, but I'm not buying the fancy dog beds, nice dishes (half the time they eat out of my dishes) great toys, or anything like that, so shouldn't I be allowed to be just a little picky about well proportioned, properly sized and nice classic coloured collars?
.
Now, everyone ought to know by now, that when it comes to outfitting my dogs I don't do fancy patterns. I also don't have my dogs on martingales, and I don't do plastic buckles. They wear flat 5/8s nylon with metal buckles. Kodi wears green, and Badger wears red. End of story, no questions asked. That is just the way it is. That's how I like it. Don't argue with me about this.
This should, in theory, make buying a collar for my dog simple. Green is a common and well loved colour. 5/8 inch is a pretty standard leash and collar width. So I packed up the dogs and took Kodi to the store while Badger waited in the car. They had collars, and they had leashes, they even had 5/8 collars and leashes with metal buckles. They had lime green, and they had blue green, but they did not have green. Alright, so off I went all the way across town to the other petstore that was open on a sunday and they didn't even have lime green, or blue green! There was no even remotely green collar in sight.
Now, Monika, you're going to tell me, there are more than two petstores in town that are open on Sunday. Yes, you are right, there are. However the other two also sell puppies from puppy mills, something I am openly morally opposed to. The idea of shopping in such a store makes me frown more than not being able to find a green collar.
Then someone says, "Order one online" and I resist the urge to rant about how if I could buy a collar in my dog's absence and be gauranteed of it's fit and colour, then I wouldn't have brought my dog to the store with me at all. I hate taking my dogs in to petstores because that is like taking a small child to a toy store where they aren't allowed to touch anything and doesnt have a public washroom. No matter how solid Kodi's obedience is, taking him to a store full of bones, food, treats, toys, and the smell of other dogs' piss results in me doing nothing but yanking on his leash and demanding that he smarten up and sit still and not whine while I try to read the ingredients on puppy food. If I could just go buy him a collar, then I wouldn't have to go through that! But I do, because I can't, I tried, it doesn't work. A collar labeled 5/8 inches turns out to be something like 6/8 or 7/8 and instead of 16 inches long its either way too freaking big or too tight because I don't believe in the one finger rule. It's my whole hand or bust when it comes to a dog that only wears a collar to carry ID and occasionally clip a leash to. But it also shouldn't fall off his head when he bends down to eat. Everytime I buy a collar in Kodi's absence it is not right in some way, which is why he still wears a collar that he's been wearing since he was 6 months old. At least I can manage to pick out the right colour, but if I ordered online, even that would be a toss up, what looks right on my screen falls to that stupid disclaimer of 'colour on screen may not be exact colour of product' and I'd probably just open the package after waiting 6-8 weeks for delivery to find either a lime green collar, or a blue green collar, that is either too big, too small, or too wide because no collar company knows what 5 freaking 8ths actually is!
Maybe I'm too picky, I don't know, but I'm not buying the fancy dog beds, nice dishes (half the time they eat out of my dishes) great toys, or anything like that, so shouldn't I be allowed to be just a little picky about well proportioned, properly sized and nice classic coloured collars?
.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Looking forward to
putting on my new shoes in the morning.
I know they'll get wrecked at work, but omg new shoes and the idea that walking won't be painful tomorrow.
I also treated myself to new socks and remembered to drop off a sponsorship request while I was at the Running Room. Let's hope they send t-shirts or something for the raffle.
.
I know they'll get wrecked at work, but omg new shoes and the idea that walking won't be painful tomorrow.
I also treated myself to new socks and remembered to drop off a sponsorship request while I was at the Running Room. Let's hope they send t-shirts or something for the raffle.
.
Snow Day
The best part about spring snow storms is that usually by the next day it is warm enough out to go play.
So we played.
How's that for energy, Kim?
Hard work though, time for a good nap while I did paper work.
.
So we played.
How's that for energy, Kim?
Hard work though, time for a good nap while I did paper work.
.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
"Because I have seen better days"
My shoes have broken laces, and have holes where my toes push through. Clean socks go in and come out dirty no matter how short of a time they are inside.
Some guy dented my car by 'giving me a push' today, not listening when I tried to tell him that his bumper is too high and would hit my hood not my bumper. Yes, the loud 'crack' got me unstuck, but no, it was not 'helpful' and he knew it too, because he got all wide eyed and drove away real fast.
I have exactly one pair of jeans, and they have holes in them that I fear will soon turn to splits and make them unwearable also, leaving me pantsless.
The driver's seat of my car is worn through so that I am sitting directly on a metal bar when I drive and my leg still aches from the trip to Lloyd and back.
In the words of Dr. Grant in Jurassic park "babies smell" and apparently having babies makes some people completely unable to cope with their own jobs.
All the food in my freezer thawed during the power outage and I had to throw a lot of money in the garbage. Money that I could have used to buy new shoes, jeans, added to the down payment on a new car.
But, I have a roof over my head, my heat is back on. I have a dog beside my chair, and for the first time, a puppy voluntarily curled up by my feet. Bonding is slow, neither of us seem willing, but it is coming.
No, I'm not great at the moment. I'm working through more than just the problems of material things. There is uncertainty about my career choice, about my place among my friends and within my hobbies, I feel out of some loop but it is quite possible that the loop is my own creation, and only I can see it anyway. I'm not 'great', but I'm hanging on to 'ok' perhaps I'll be great tomorrow.
"Because I have seen better days. There will be better days. I have victory built in to history."
Some guy dented my car by 'giving me a push' today, not listening when I tried to tell him that his bumper is too high and would hit my hood not my bumper. Yes, the loud 'crack' got me unstuck, but no, it was not 'helpful' and he knew it too, because he got all wide eyed and drove away real fast.
I have exactly one pair of jeans, and they have holes in them that I fear will soon turn to splits and make them unwearable also, leaving me pantsless.
The driver's seat of my car is worn through so that I am sitting directly on a metal bar when I drive and my leg still aches from the trip to Lloyd and back.
In the words of Dr. Grant in Jurassic park "babies smell" and apparently having babies makes some people completely unable to cope with their own jobs.
All the food in my freezer thawed during the power outage and I had to throw a lot of money in the garbage. Money that I could have used to buy new shoes, jeans, added to the down payment on a new car.
But, I have a roof over my head, my heat is back on. I have a dog beside my chair, and for the first time, a puppy voluntarily curled up by my feet. Bonding is slow, neither of us seem willing, but it is coming.
No, I'm not great at the moment. I'm working through more than just the problems of material things. There is uncertainty about my career choice, about my place among my friends and within my hobbies, I feel out of some loop but it is quite possible that the loop is my own creation, and only I can see it anyway. I'm not 'great', but I'm hanging on to 'ok' perhaps I'll be great tomorrow.
"Because I have seen better days. There will be better days. I have victory built in to history."
Monday, April 12, 2010
Badger!!!!
I just planted those bulbs before the weekend!
They JUST started growing while we were away.
Stop pulling them out!
.
They JUST started growing while we were away.
Stop pulling them out!
.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Rink necked doves
Exist no where in the wild. They are a completely domesticated species of dove, formed and bred in captivity.
So... why are there two living in my back alley?
People are so irresponsible.
But, on the other hand, Lethbridge, as far as I know, lacks a place that accepts small animals and birds. They take cats and dogs, but anyone deciding that they no longer love their rabbits, birds, gerbils, and other small pets have two choices, advertise on kijiji, or open the cage outside and hope they just 'go away'.
If I could afford the cash and the time, I'd be that place. But I can't.
So... why are there two living in my back alley?
People are so irresponsible.
But, on the other hand, Lethbridge, as far as I know, lacks a place that accepts small animals and birds. They take cats and dogs, but anyone deciding that they no longer love their rabbits, birds, gerbils, and other small pets have two choices, advertise on kijiji, or open the cage outside and hope they just 'go away'.
If I could afford the cash and the time, I'd be that place. But I can't.
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