| May 2008 |
May 1 (Thursday)
A little behind on my journal. This has been a busy week at work. Ordinarily, since I am already on the computer, touching up the
journal is no problem, but as I said, we have been very busy at work.
I strung some electric fence wire this week. Hopefully, that will discourage Sam and Oscar from going over the fence.
May 2 (Friday)
I had trouble sleeping last night due to an unresolved problem in one of the applications on which I work. Actually, one of the stored
procedures was simply not working; however, there were no warnings or errors or error messages, and I had nothing to tell me what was
going wrong. So I took that problem home with me yesterday, and it was with me as I slept, and when I awoke this morning, I ..., well, you
know what I mean.
After a couple hours of work this morning I found the problem: a misspelled word. That is the way of it sometimes. You can work
through the most complex algorithms known to man, then get tripped up over the simplest of things. Oh well.
Here is a picture of the house in which my family was living way back in 1954 when I was born. Eat your heart out.
May 3 (Saturday)
Today was a beautiful, sunny, although breezy day. I tried to do some mowing, but I broke a belt on my mower. So I'll have to get that
replaced. I guess I'll try and do it myself. I think I can. In the meantime I strung electric fence wire along the top of part of the front yard
fence. Hopefully Sam and Oscar will come to not enjoy going over the top of the fence.
May 6 (Tuesday)
I arrived home yesterday to find Sam and Oscar outside the fence. Ho Hum. I put them (with Scamp) inside a 10 x 10 kennel when I
leave in the morning. When I arrive home, the kennel is still there; the gate is closed and latched; and Scamp is still inside the kennel;
But the other two dogs are lounging outside the kennel! Ugh!!!!
Cathy may need some more vet attention. She seems to be having some throat problems. She gags a lot and I notice that she eats a
lot of grass. She may have worms. I keep an eye on the animals for parasites, and I Ivomec them regularly, but she is a beagle, and
beagles can eat some strange things.
I saw Buddy and Prince yesterday morning. It sure is good to see those two! Buddy is such a good kitty! And to think of him making
meat out of my hand just a short while ago!
May 8 (Thursday)
I arrived home yesterday to find Sam and Oscar outside the fence. Ho Hum again. How are they getting out of that kennel? It is 10 x 10
and 6 feet high! I dunno.
All animals are okay, healthy, and happy, and that is just fine by me:
BKI and BKII and Smoky hang out outside mostly, and were doing fine when I left for work this morning. Smoky recovered from his ordeal
very well.
Cleo is doing fine and recovered from her ordeal. Pinky is as ornery as ever, and Princess still demands my attention as soon as I arrive
home.
Cougar is doing much better since he had his teeth fixed. Tiger is still as sweet as he always was. Thumper and Pete still get around
the front yard and pretty much stay out of trouble.
Boots comes as goes as usual. I saw Prince and Buddy when I went to feed them. That Buddy! How I love that guy!
Cathy is doing just great. She is such a happy puppy! Bonnie and Clyde are hanging in there, and appreciate the fact that they got
their teeth fixed. Scamp is sweet and has been a good puppy. Fred still rules the roost. Lu Lu barks at everything that moves.
I am doing well, thank you.
May 9 (Friday)
I arrived home yesterday to find Sam and Oscar not outside the fence. I may have figured it out. I do believe that they are getting into
the house (the kennel opens on one end to the carport -- there is a four foot fence between them and the back door). From inside the
house they navigate over a gate into one of the rooms where is a much smaller pet door than the one in the back door. They escape
the house through that pet door and from there they are into the yard outside the fence. I can't figure how Oscar gets through that
smaller pet door, but he does somehow.
Anyway, I had set up a couple pieces of another kennel to trap them into a small area once they got outside the house. When I arrived
home there they were: trapped and looking very embarrassed.
In the meantime I found two 8-week old black lab puppies on my way home from work yesterday. They were in the middle of the road.
They were very clean. A lady pulled up behind me as I was gathering the puppies, and she asked if she could take them. She said she
would deliver them to the shelter if she decided that she could not care for them herself. I was only too glad to comply with her request; I
have enough (too many!) dogs already.
May 13 (Tuesday)
We've had some really, fine weather lately. I've spent some time outside working in the yard, mowing and weed-eating. I really enjoy
watching the dogs run and jump and play, chasing each other around the front yard. We have had a lot of rain, and the grass and
everything else is so lush and green. To see the cats and dogs all healthy and happy makes me happy.
May 15 (Thursday)
Very wet today. But that is okay. We had some kind of drought last summer, and that was very stressful on the local flora as well as
fauna. My grass is actually green again! The front yard is beautiful, and watching the dogs run around, chasing each other brings a big
smile to my face.
Speaking of smiles ..., there are some sad faces today in China and in Myanmar (formerly Burma). An earthquake has done some
serious damage in China, killing and burying several thousand souls, and the tsunami in Myanmar has taken a very large toll, also. It is
difficult to imagine such grief. In the US we have been fortunate so far. The "big one" cannot be far away.
May 17 (Saturday)
I just can't catch a break. Shortly after I arrived home yesterday a young boy knocked on my door. He was holding one dog and had
another behind him, and he asked me if I was missing a couple of dogs or knew of anyone who was. To make a long story short, I now
have two more dogs. It is my intention to deliver them to the shelter, but I had hoped that I would not have to leave the house this
weekend.
These two guys look to be in very good health and have no obvious signs of disease. I see no ticks or fleas and no mange or worms.
One of the dogs looks like a minipin (miniature doberman pinscher) with a rich chocolate-colored fur. The other looks like a Jack Russell.
I already have 8 dogs. I do not need 2 more!
May 17 (Saturday Evening)
I DID catch a break. The dogs' owner showed up, and babies and parents are happily reunited! Whew!
Here are some interesting photos I took today. I made a visit to the vet to get some medicine for Cathy. She is very infected with
tapeworm.
May 20 (Tuesday)
Well, our two new friends are back with their mommy and daddy, and my brood are back to being normal. New additions -- especially
pups -- always throw things into disarray around here for a few weeks until everybody gets adjusted to everybody else.
The weather is warming, and I am getting out and about in the yard more, which is a very good thing. I am getting some much needed
exercise now. My blood pressure is greatly improved, and the yard is looking great!
May 29 (Thursday)
Wow! More than a week has gone by since I last wrote in my journal. I guess no news is good news. I have been very busy at work,
solving the world's software problems. The animals are all doing fine, or so it appears. I left home this morning without having eyeballed
Pete, and to be honest that has had me a bit worried today. It seems that I nearly always eyeball him at sometime around the house
before I leave for work.
It appears that I have solved the problem of Oscar and Sam escaping the fence. Neither one has been out in some time. The fence is
working out great. The dogs have a nice big area in which to run now, and it is a great relief to me to see them running and playing.