| December 2008 |
December 3 (Wednesday) 6:30 pm
It is the dark time. It is dark when I leave my house and dark when I return again. I don't like it, but I certainly can do
nothing about it. The poor dogs stay in their kennels all day and don't get to see much daylight themselves, except for
what little bit they can see from where they are. But when I arrive home from work they do get a little while to run around
the yard -- albeit in the dark.
These are the days when I use my fireplace. Winter is not my favorite time of year, but I make up for it by using the
fireplace. I love the fireplace. For me the fireplace is plenty heat in winter, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Every
night is like camping out. I've got the dogs and the fire -- man, they ain't much cozier than that!
December 6 (Saturday) 6:15 am
I ran into a problem yesterday at work and had to stay three hours past my usual time to leave. But today is Saturday,
so that makes up for yesterday's issues -- a little.
Even though I haven't had any major issues in a while I still worry about the animals while I am away from home.
Yesterday was no exception, and I was very much relieved to arrive home and find everybody okay. It has been cold
enough lately that the cats who normally stay outside have been coming in nights. Prince and Buddy can't come in
because they are in their pen, but they have a couple of boxes, which cats love, and a couple of warm pillows. They've
always stayed outside voluntarily anyway, so I'm sure they are happy as punch. Still, I wish I could turn them loose; but
I'm afraid they will go back down to my sister's place, and I can't have that.
Another story was featured in the online edition of the Daily Corinthian yesterday.
December 9 (Tuesday) 3:30 am
Friday and yesterday were stressful times at work. Whenever a client has an issue that needs immediate relief, my boss
can get very antsy. "Antsy" is a kind word to use. Nonetheless, the paychecks my boss gives me always clear the bank,
and they are adequate to pay my bills, and with all the unemployment in our country I won't complain about a little stress
at work.
Actually I love my job. I believe that God created me to be a computer programmer. The type of development I do
requires intelligence, patience, innovation, and creativity. Yes, all tho words describe me (LOL). Well, maybe. Actually,
I am aware that not just anyone can do what I do, and the fact that I can eventually get the job done and make the client
happy is gratifying.
But I still find taking care of this motley crew of mine to be far more stressful. Yesterday morning I left for work and after
driving for five minutes realized that I had not left Grace any water. I know that Grace would survive a few hours without
water, and as I continued to head to work I debated returning home to rectify her water situation. Yesterday morning
was extremely cold, I had that problem at work and was extremely anxious to get there and go to work on the problem,
and in the end I turned the car around and went back home to get Grace some water.
Oh, well. Such is life living with animals.
December 10 (Wednesday) 12:45 pm
I would ordinarily not be working on my journal while I am at work, but it is lunchtime, and I suppose that an occasional
diversion cannot be all that bad. It is getting to be very cold outside, and I imagine that it will be quite some time after I
arrive home this evening before I have the fireplace putting out enough warmth to make it comfortable. The rain
yesterday was miserable. Anytime it rains like that I have a cleanup job at home to do, what with animals going in and
out of the house, and yesterday was no exception to that.
Yesterday was very dark and rainy, and today is overcast and very cold. Brrrr.
December 11 (Thursday) 3:00 pm
Well it is nearly time to go home from work. Like yesterday I decided to steal a couple of minutes from work to write to
the journal. I don't feel guilty about it -- I usually arrive 30 - 45 minutes to work each day, and last Friday I stayed an
additional three hours at the end of the day.
I wrote a new animal story, which I have posted online.
Tonight is going to be another cold one! Brrr.
December 15 (Monday) 1:00 pm
The weather was amenable over the weekend -- especially last night. I burned a couple of sticks over night, but the
temperature was quite balmy. Right now, however, the temps have dipped significantly. Tonight is going to be a cold
one.
I have done some enjoyable programming today. Company Christmas dinner will be this Wednesday evening. I
suppose I shall go in to work at a much later time, since it will be close to midnight before I return home.
December 16 (Tuesday) 3:00 pm
Yesterday was cold, and today is colder. The fireplace burned hot last night and tonight will not be an exception. The
animals all bundle themselves into the house on cold nights, and at one point during the night, when I had to get up, I
counted seven dogs and two cats in bed with me. Others were strewn about the room, and there was a lot of snoring
going on.
Oh well.
December 19 (Friday) 6:45 am
We had our company seasonal party on Wednesday evening. Of course I did not get to bed until around four hours
past my usual bedtime, but I did manage to get to work yesterday only an hour behind schedule. So I was pretty much
wasted yesterday (sleepy -- In do not drink), and I don't feel much better today. I have gotten myself into a routine of
going to bed early and rising early. I take Poor Richard's advice to heart.
I was thinking about this recently, and I know it doesn't make much sense in general. One of my co-workers declared
how she loved sleeping in on the weekend. She went on about how sleeping in was such a treat. I know how she feels.
There was a day that I felt the same, as I am certain most people do. However, in the past several years I have gotten
into the habit of going to bed around 8:00 pm and waking at 4:00 am. I do this on weekends as well, and quite frankly, I
wouldn't want to do it any other way. As I said, I was thinking about this recently: Some mornings I awake at around
3:30 to 3:45, and when I do I get on up. For me, waking that early is a treat, because it means that I have some extra
time to relax and enjoy life. My schedule is so scrunched up, that any free time I have is a luxury.
Besides. The dogs have gotten so accustomed to my waking at around 4:00, that they are going to be sure that I do not
oversleep. You can count on that!
December 22 (Monday) 6:35 am
The temperature gage said 18 degrees F this morning. It was warm enough inside but brutal outside. I believe I shall
leave from work a little early today. I really don't want to get caught on my way home from work in the cold, after dark, in
the event I have vehicle trouble.
It troubles me that I had to leave the dogs out under the carport this morning. They all have blankets, and they are
dogs, after all, but Willie and Cathy have very thin coats, so I don't now how well they deal with the cold. The time they
were out this morning as I was preparing to leave they did not appear to suffer from the cold. The bigger dogs showed
no discomfort either, but they do have slightly longer coats.
During the night Willie burrows his way under the covers and under me if he can. He is one loving pup, and he loves to
be held. He and Grace run and play and chase each other. She will chase him and catch him, and grab him in her jaws
and drag him around the yard. Then she lets him go, and off he runs! Bouncing and jumping, then right back at her
where she grabs him again. Those dogs!
| I snapped this photo last night immediately prior to going to bed. |
December 23 (Tuesday) 6:30 am
Despite the cold temperature yesterday the dogs were not frozen when I arrived home, but everything else was. I am
quite certain that very few people in urban areas live the way I do. My house is freezing cold most of the time, but the
fireplace does make things cozy. Actually, after I settle in and the fire has been burning for a while the part of the house
where the fireplace is does warm up. Oh, it's not like central heat, but there is something about it that is very appealing.
I know, I know -- it's not for everyone.
Taking a shower in the morning is not fun. One must at some point take off ones clothes, and when one does that when
the temperature inside is around 45 degrees (F), things are not comfortable. But the hot water feels good.
Actually, I would not trade it for anything. Not now, anyway.
Anyways, I sleep warm enough. How can you not be warm when you have a living, breathing blanket made from live dog
and cat fur?
December 26 (Friday) 7:30 pm
Christmas. I confess that I love this time of year. But I am not having success resisting the many temptations. On
Wednesday I bought and smoked an Ashton, a beautifully delicious cigar -- the first cigar I have smoked since March 17.
I enjoyed every puff. Good for me! I have also bought myself a handful of pecan pies, and I intend to gorge myself. I
have behaved myself diet-wise for a long time, so I do not feel guilty. In a couple of weeks I shall be back to my oatmeal
every morning, beans and rice for dinner, and no cigars; so leave me alone for now, and let me enjoy myself.
The animals are all okay. Another story appeared in todays online edition of the Daily Corinthian. Larry has informed
me that he has acquired another dog, and this one has puppies. My, oh my! I have really been a bad influence! I also
received an email from a reader asking for assistance in placing a dog. I haven't replied -- I have to think about the
situation.
I have instituted a new website. I have been thinking about doing this project for some time, so I am not certain where I
am headed with it, but we shall see. The name and address of the site are: www.CorinthPages.com. I shall offer free
advertising to all local business and individuals. I shall not charge a fee for now. I shall have to think on that.
December 28 (Sunday) 9:15 am
The past couple of days have been gorgeous. It looks like we shall continue in the good weather for a few more days at
least. I bought the Toyota Yaris in December of 2007, and have put just over 40,000 on it in a year. Tomorrow or the
next I shall take it in and have it receive a thorough inspection. I need the car to give me 200,000 miles, and I don't want
to be stuck on the side of the road during the next few years.
I did not burn a fire last night, since the temperature was in the 50's. But it was cool enough this morning to get one
going. I hope I can get myself out and cut up another dead tree or two and gather in enough wood to last me through
the rest of the winter. I am anxious to see my electric bill. I have not used the 220 unit in nearly a month, so I expect the
bill to be considerably lower than usual.
I shall lay low on the new website for the time being. I want to make sure that I have the purpose of the site clearly set in
my mind before getting too involved with it. My thoughts right now are that perhaps I could offer free advertising on the
site, and run a fund-raiser occasionally and ask for donations to support the site. We shall see.
I am feeling that I should like to actually do some work for Inventiv, the company where I am employed, during my
vacation. I left a problem unsolved, and I cannot stand to do that. My mind will not leave me alone. I have worked on
the problem in my mind everyday since I left the office on Wednesday.
I received good news about the hen I rescued. Larry and his wife, Melinda, adopted her and have been taking very
good care of her. Her feathers have come back, and she is getting along right well with the many other chickens that
Larry and his wife have. Melinda named the hen "Grace," and she keeps a fascinating blog on her activities around
their farm, and there are some great pictures on it.
December 29 (Monday) 5:30 am
I have written a new "Critter Chronicle:"
A few months back I entered an online writing contest. The rules were simple: The story can be no more than 200
words, and must begin with the phrase: "It was a dark and stormy night ..." I finally received an email informing me that
my story has been published.
I received an email from my former co-worker, Otis. He informed me that he and his wife, Debbie, had acquired a puppy,
which had been a stray in their neighborhood. Otis related to me a short story about how they captured the pup, which,
even though she is a black lab, is anything but acquiescent. Here is an excerpt from the email:
| Debbie was able to pet her today. "Baby" made no attempt to bite her, but she is still very afraid of us... |
Deb and I have a question we hope you can answer... regarding taking in strays.
Just before Thanksgiving we saw a new puppy on our street running loose. We assumed it belonged to one
of our neighbors. But after a few days we realized she was very thin and living in the drain pipe beneath out
next door neighbor's driveway. We attempted to approach her to feed her by hand, but she would not allow
us anywhere near her. She would either take off up the street running away from us or go into the drain pipe
so that we could not get near her. So we would set out a dish of dog food for her and leave it there for her.
She would only eat it after we left.
As you may recall rain started coming down around Thanksgiving and has not let up much since. Debbie and
I setup Shelley's old cage on our front porch, covered it with a tarp and placed bedding material inside for
"Baby" (that's what Debbie started calling her and that's her name now) and a small 75 watt light bulb fixture
that we could turn on to give her a little warmth and a dry place to stay while it rained.
I guess that "Baby" is about 10 to 14 weeks old . She was very thin when we started feeding her, but we have
continued to feed her and she has filled out very nicely. She loves to play with Bailey and tries her best to be
friends with Wilson and Shelley. She acts just like a little puppy around them. However, she still will not let us
approach her.
With concern about something happening to her I setup a pen in our backyard. I captured her on Christmas
Day and we have been trying to get her to accept us. We go inside the pen, she retreats inside her dog
house to the furtherest corner and will not have anything to do with us. We try to get her to take food from
our hand, but she just stares at us with a fearful look. We leave the food in her pen; she will only come out to
eat it after we have gone back in the house.
We will continue to be gentle with her to entice her into joining our family, but we wondering if in your
experience you had a dog like this? Are there any other tricks we can use to win her over?
Just before Thanksgiving we saw a new puppy on our street running loose. We assumed it belonged to one
of our neighbors. But after a few days we realized she was very thin and living in the drain pipe beneath out
next door neighbor's driveway. We attempted to approach her to feed her by hand, but she would not allow
us anywhere near her. She would either take off up the street running away from us or go into the drain pipe
so that we could not get near her. So we would set out a dish of dog food for her and leave it there for her.
She would only eat it after we left.
As you may recall rain started coming down around Thanksgiving and has not let up much since. Debbie and
I setup Shelley's old cage on our front porch, covered it with a tarp and placed bedding material inside for
"Baby" (that's what Debbie started calling her and that's her name now) and a small 75 watt light bulb fixture
that we could turn on to give her a little warmth and a dry place to stay while it rained.
I guess that "Baby" is about 10 to 14 weeks old . She was very thin when we started feeding her, but we have
continued to feed her and she has filled out very nicely. She loves to play with Bailey and tries her best to be
friends with Wilson and Shelley. She acts just like a little puppy around them. However, she still will not let us
approach her.
With concern about something happening to her I setup a pen in our backyard. I captured her on Christmas
Day and we have been trying to get her to accept us. We go inside the pen, she retreats inside her dog
house to the furtherest corner and will not have anything to do with us. We try to get her to take food from
our hand, but she just stares at us with a fearful look. We leave the food in her pen; she will only come out to
eat it after we have gone back in the house.
We will continue to be gentle with her to entice her into joining our family, but we wondering if in your
experience you had a dog like this? Are there any other tricks we can use to win her over?
A big goof: that is what I am. Or so says a girl with whom I work. To be sure she spoke only in
jest, but as the saying goes: “Many a truth is spoken in jest.” Nonetheless, I suppose that it can
be assumed that I am one big goof. Some even question my manhood. After all, I have found a
way to inundate my life with a collection of raggedy, discarded, unwanted, and otherwise unloved
vagabonds. At latest count there are 11 dogs and 13 cats.
Well, I don’t fear for my manhood – after all I am a steak and potatoes, cigar-loving, woman
chasing, regular kinda guy, but I am also a regular pushover when it comes to rescuing nearly
every stray dog or cat that I can manage to catch. But the Big Goof does not stop at rescuing
dogs and cats. I recently rescued a beautiful black game hen from the jaws of a neighbor’s dog.
Fortunately for me, since I know nothing about chickens, I have a friend who agreed to take the
bird off my hands and nurse it back to health. Imagine that. Rescuing a chicken!
Well, I am happy to report that the bird has regained its good health and its feathers (it was pretty
badly chewed up), and she has even managed to acquire a name: “Grace.” I saw a recent
picture, and Grace was happily pecking away at the floor of her chicken pen along with a flock of
other likewise, busy birds.
But dogs and cats and chickens aside, I found myself recently staring into and studying with intent
interest some activity that I happen to observe taking place inside my fireplace.
Read more ...
jest, but as the saying goes: “Many a truth is spoken in jest.” Nonetheless, I suppose that it can
be assumed that I am one big goof. Some even question my manhood. After all, I have found a
way to inundate my life with a collection of raggedy, discarded, unwanted, and otherwise unloved
vagabonds. At latest count there are 11 dogs and 13 cats.
Well, I don’t fear for my manhood – after all I am a steak and potatoes, cigar-loving, woman
chasing, regular kinda guy, but I am also a regular pushover when it comes to rescuing nearly
every stray dog or cat that I can manage to catch. But the Big Goof does not stop at rescuing
dogs and cats. I recently rescued a beautiful black game hen from the jaws of a neighbor’s dog.
Fortunately for me, since I know nothing about chickens, I have a friend who agreed to take the
bird off my hands and nurse it back to health. Imagine that. Rescuing a chicken!
Well, I am happy to report that the bird has regained its good health and its feathers (it was pretty
badly chewed up), and she has even managed to acquire a name: “Grace.” I saw a recent
picture, and Grace was happily pecking away at the floor of her chicken pen along with a flock of
other likewise, busy birds.
But dogs and cats and chickens aside, I found myself recently staring into and studying with intent
interest some activity that I happen to observe taking place inside my fireplace.
Read more ...
December 31 (Wednesday) 8:30 pm
The last day of 2008, and LSU is up on Georgia Tech at halftime by the score of 35 to 3. Hopefully, I am not jumping
the gun here with the outcome of the game still 30 minutes away. The Chick Fil A game ued to be called the Peach
Bowl, and LSU won the very first Peach Bowl by beating Florida State. I don't recall the exact score and am too lazy to
look it up, but the score was something like 31-27. I recall that John Ferguson, LSU's regular radio play-by-play
announcer did the honors for the T.V. version of the game that year.
Anyway, today was cold, and I have the fire going really good in the fireplace right now. I managed to pull a couple of
trees out of the woods, plus I cut one up while I was in there. I shall go get another tree or two, and hopefully I shall
have enough wood to get me through the winter. I do love the fireplace.
Happy New Year, and I shall see you next year!