I'm Baaack!!

All is well in my little piece of the world, I just took a break from blogging. The last month has been routine, but interesting.

I can now talk with my son over in Korea over the internet. The time difference is a bitch, but when I work graveyard it's something to do during that 1 to 3 AM lull. If I'm home, and up, we can use the webcams, though the video delay can be a little disconcerting if you pay too close attention.

It's good to be able to see and talk to him again.

My wife came through town a few weeks ago for a couple of days before heading back to Montana. It was good to see her again, but she's better off up there and I ain't going to live anyplace that has temperatures in the single digits. Not to mention there really isn't a thriving oil industry there.

Had to put my poor 19 year old cat "Belly" down. (I didn't name him) Cancer got him. Even though most of the time it was like we were two roosters in the same hen house, I miss the bastard.

Got another dog. A Pit/Lab mix. Sweet as hell, but she's 1 1/2 years old and full of energy. Shannon was loved by the family I got her from, but her training was a bit on the harsh side so she still cowers if I speak loudly to her. She'll fit in as she gets more comfortable. She's smart enough. Ralph, my other dog, was able to teach her the dog door in one day (Thank the gods)

Here is the best pic I've got of Shannon. If I crouch down to try to snap a shot, she's in my lap and all I get is a close-up of a dog nose. Got plenty of those.



Finally, Here's a pic of the mountains over my little valley from my drive home from freezing my butt of at work last night. 35 degrees at 3AM and for a SoCal boy that's more cold than I like.



That's how I like my snow...UP THERE. It's pretty to look at, but getting up and going out to dig my truck out before going to work...I'll pass.

This Is Boid

That is Boid. He's my computer companion. He sit in his cage kinda behind me at my computer desk and talks to me...constantly.

He really isn't "my" bird. My son was working at a pet store a few years ago and even though we had two cats and two dogs, he decided he needed his own pet and brought the bastard home. I was not thrilled.

Like most teenagers, he was never home and we felt sorry for the poor little creature being stuck alone in Chris' room all time, so we hauled him out to the kitchen and stuck him on top of my filing cabinet.

I had never been around birds before and all I knew about them was they crapped a lot and were noisy. Well he does crap a lot, but noisy he ain't. Outside of mild chirping, either at me or his reflection in his mirror, he's pretty sedate.

There is his once a day freak-out. He'll hang upside down from his perch and rapidly "exercise" his wings, then clamber all around his cage screaming, but this last only about 2 minutes and then he just goes back into chirp mode.

He did escape once about 6 months after we got him. Front door open and bird out of his cage, he saw sunlight and headed for it. Gone in 15 seconds. I just wrote him off as crow food.

The next day I was working in my driveway and kept thinking I heard him, so I started calling his name and every time I said it, he'd chirp back, I just couldn't locate where it was coming from. He'd spent the night in our neighbors eucalyptus tree two door down. I got an extension ladder and managed to catch the bastard. I guess once out in the wide open, he decided his cage seemed a lot less confining.

With my boy in the Army for the foreseeable future, I guess the bird is mine. It seems like all my animals somehow just get dumped on me, but I love them all.

Cockatiels live about 25 years, so I don't know who gonna last longer.

I'd bet on Boid.

Too Funny

These people were always finding water all over their pool deck and furniture, every time they came home, after being away for a few hours. They thought the neighborhood kids were watching for them to leave, and using the pool. However, they could never catch them doing it. So they set up their video cam. This is what they recorded.......



HT to my Facebook Friends Sareda and Linda

This reminded me of one of my dogs, Tori, a Shepard/Collie mutt that I had in High School. My parents had a pool and Tori loved to swim! So much so that in the dead of winter (if there is such a thing in SoCal) when it was night, 40 degrees and the pool wasn't heated, would run out the dog door, jump in the pool, swim a lap, run back into the house...then shake off.

Good thing I loved her, because there's nothing better than a damp dog getting the foot of your bed soggy on a nice winter evening.

Just Fun Today

Work is good. I'm on graveyard shift (which I like), and I've just missed the rains that are passing through. Nothing on TV at night so lots of cruising the net and reading between rounds, which are every 20 minutes right now due to trying to sell natural gas and having to manually operate a valve to keep the pressure and flow right. No biggy, it's something to do.

A couple of thing I ran across:

Why engineers have dogs



Just a song that was hanging in my head this morning

Incubus - Love Hurts



Think I'll go buzz the ATM. I'm going to start pulling cash out to shove in an envelope for my trip to Georgia for Chris' graduation from Boot. If I don't start setting the money aside in small chunks now, I'll spend it somewhere else and come March I'll be scrambling.

My Best Bud

See! I do have a friend.

This was taken a while long ago at one of my son's Little League games. We found Ralph there, he had been living there for about a week off the garbage cans full of half eaten hotdogs and such. Animal Control had tried for two days to catch him, but no luck. We had a black Lab at the time that we always brought to the games, and this dog just seemed to like her, or us and kept hanging close by. One night after a game, I decided I wasn't going to come back and hear how that poor Shepard got hit by a car yesterday, so we stayed till everyone else left and the lights went out in the park. It took about an hour and a half of sitting very still to get a rope around his neck, but second it was on, his attitude was "where we going and don't leave me behind."

He was dubbed Ralph because he had a look on his face that made you think that was what he was going to do. It started out as a joke, but it stuck.

From his reactions to certain people and things we "deduced" that his previous owner was a mean woman who kept him chained and would yank his ears for punishment. It took about 4 or 5 months before he was comfortable around my wife, my boy...no problem, he could roughhouse with him and it was play, if my wife tried to play, he'd just shy away. Leashes were just tolerated at first just because that meant going someplace. If you just gave a toying tug on his ears, for almost a year, he would yelp like you'd kicked him and he'd run away. He didn't like hugs for a long time either, always leaning away from you. These have all passed now and I hope his doggie brain has forgotten them completely. You can bear hug him, yank his ears all you want and the sound of a chain means road trip/walk.

For the next six years I never went anywhere without him. I was the Manager at work so I made the rules, and my dog became the unofficial mascot. Vacations, pet friendly motels were the rule. Weekend long family gatherings, if my dog isn't welcome, I won't be there.

Ralph is about 12 years old now and when I had to change jobs four years ago, he became a house dog. He's a lot wider now, but I still see him as that stray we found in a park so many years ago.

P.S. We have another hound, two cats and a bird, and I'm sure you are eager to hear how we "acquired" these misfits.

Who'd a thought?

This is one of the funniest things I've seen since....the last time something was the funniest. I just couldn't believe a snake climbing a tree to get away from a rabbit.

Dogs and Cats

This sounds very resonable to me.

Excerpts from a Dog's Daily Diary:
8:00am Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30am A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40am walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30am Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00pm Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00pm Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00pm Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00pm Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00pm Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00pm Wow! Watched TV with my master! My favorite thing!
11:00pm Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary:
Day 683 of my captivity: My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat,while the other inmates and myself are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.
Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. The audacity!
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released --and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded! The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. The captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe....... for now....

Hattip to Hujonwi