Yesterday turned out to be one of the worst barking days ever. It totally sucked! Jesse didn’t come back on the motorcycle till 4:00, so the dogs just took an unusually long break in between barking fits and it wasn’t a case of him returning while I had the headphones on. They don’t normally go more than 10-15 minutes without barking, but because they’d already been at it for hours they were probably tired.

He actually roared back around 4:00, then turned around and left in the truck and we had to deal with yet another barking spree, this one for 4 hours! So we ended up having to listen to this shit on and off for 12 hours! I almost felt like we were back in the city again. We didn’t have to listen to stereos, slamming doors or screaming kids, but the only way I could stand it was to drown them out with the sound machine or blasting music. There was no hope of getting the peace and quiet we came here for till he finally came back for good and by then I was almost ready to crash.

I called up there a couple of times just to make sure no one was home as we suspected and that they weren’t just sitting around and letting them go crazy, but no, no one was home.

I wish he’d get a roommate that was always home! Better yet I wish he’d come down here! I’d really like to have a word with him about this shit. It’s weird that after spending 4 months hoping he wouldn’t come down and bug me or wake me up, I’m now wishing he would come down here. And it’s also weird that except for Kim, I spent so many years living for the moment when our neighbors would take off, and now it’s the other way around. I dread it when he leaves!

Today it’s been quiet so far, but I can’t deal with this shit much longer. If I don’t lose it first and kill them, then we need to either let him know what’s going on or hope to have an extra $80 real soon to get that anti-barking device. I had told Tom I was worried that the device wouldn’t work, but he said that if it can detect barking down here, then the dogs could hear the frequency it puts out up there, which I guess is something that’s supposed to annoy them as much as fingernails scraping against a chalkboard annoys people.

I swear, though, you can run, but you can’t hide from the barking if you live in the West! Or if you’re Tom & Jodi S.

Tom removed the chicken wire I had wrapped around the rat’s cage. They’re definitely too big to get out of it, so there was no point in keeping it there and having its ends poke me and snag my clothes.

I had $1.75 in auction credit that I won many months ago, and so I bid $1.50 on an old used horseshoe to put above the door for good luck. The one we had in Oregon sure kept us from disaster. It didn’t keep us from being annoyed with all the noise in the area, but it kept bad things from happening, so hopefully I’ll win this one and it will keep us safe. It still has a few days to go.

We’re also listing 9 things today. A basic Tonner doll, a board game, a Superman action figure, a trio of books by the same author, some coins, a talking interactive figure from the Ice Age movie, a pair of shoes, and something else I’m forgetting. If this Tonner doll sells – and I can’t believe it wouldn’t at just $29, lousy economy or not – then we’ll list about 6 others.

Yesterday I only had a 60-calorie yogurt and one TV dinner. I had Marie Callender’s beef tips, potatoes and green beans that was on sale. Not eating for so long really makes your food seem tastier. Even the green beans were good!

Today I got up at 9:00, had yogurt at 2:00, and will have my one and only meal of the day at 6:00 which will be chicken nuggets. Knowing I have that to look forward to helps.

I dropped back down two pounds to 135 pounds, and hope to be 133 tomorrow. Maybe I’ll do this for a few days each week. I haven’t decided yet. I just want to get into the 120s once and for all!

The stimulus plan they just passed says we’re going to be getting an extra $25 a week, but who knows when it’ll actually kick in?

Later…

I’m listening to quite a frogfest going on out there right now. If only I could see dogs the way I see frogs! The frogs croaking up a storm isn’t the least bit annoying to me. Today we were compensated for yesterday’s barking, though, so that’s nice. I never heard a single bark all day. I wish it could be like this every day!

We ended up with 9 listings on eBay, 3 of which are coins. We couldn’t list the watch just yet because it needs a battery, but we’ve listed the doll (Glinda), the action figure, the Ice Age toy, the board game, a trilogy of books, and the shoes. In less than 3 hours the doll had 4 watchers, but we’ve learned not to get our hopes up by watchers. Nothing matters unless someone actually makes a bid!