You know how I had been wondering what shit I’d have to deal with next now that the dogs are quieter? Well, yesterday we heard a shot fired, and I was like, great. I knew it. I just knew the freeloaders in back here would be back to their shooting soon enough, or that something would happen. But Tom, who can hear out of both ears, assured me it was coming from up at the summit where the goats are. Since there was only one round fired, I don’t doubt it. The freeloaders would fire off several rounds like they were doing target practice (besides trying to piss people off and get attention).

So not long after I got up this morning, I heard the dogs going off. I went out and told them to be quiet, but it didn’t work as well. I thought someone was driving up to the house, but then I saw the freeloader’s dogs come down the side opposite the driveway and disappear down in the ditch, heading to their place.

I wanted to call the pound right then and there, but Tom was still sleeping. Then I saw Brandy. She came up to the porch, then slowly sauntered back up the hill to her pups.

That’s when I got Tom up and insisted we call the pound and Maryann as well. But as he pointed out, if we called the pound, they’d take Brandy, too. So we just called Maryann. First he took a walk up there to see what he could see. He didn’t want to get too close to the house cuz Whiskey was terrified. He could see that he has a little doghouse, but he couldn’t see the puppies from where he was.

So after Maryann came and went up to make sure those vicious “spitbulls” didn’t kill the puppies, she came down here. It turns out that Brandy’s supposed to be loose during the daytime, and only Whiskey’s tied up. With the puppies in the garage, I guess there’d be no way for Brandy to get in and out on a chain without getting tangled up and possibly injuring the puppies as well. Someone’s been coming early in the morning to let her out, then again around noon, then in the evening. This is when they shut her up in the garage.

Once again, I just don’t get why someone who’s never home would want dogs. I also don’t get why people don’t build dog fences. I can understand if they can’t afford to fence the entire perimeter of their property, but a small fenced-in area for dogs seems perfectly reasonable and affordable to me. This way the dogs could move about without the restrictions of a leash, and they’d be safe from other animals and unable to wander off. But they can’t keep Brandy chained or stuffed in the garage 24/7, though Maryann says they will if they have to till Jesse gets back to deal with it in a few days.

I don’t mind Brandy coming down here as long as she’s quiet. I know her now and she’s not the problem. The problem is the fucking freeloader’s dogs. I KNEW damn well they’d be a problem again in time. Typical fucking freeloaders, too. They do what they’re supposed to do for a while after people complain, then I don’t know if they just figure that because they’ve been playing by the rules for a while that they’re automatically entitled to break them or if it’s just the thrill of being defiant or what it is that causes them to do shit like this. All I do know is that another complaint needs to be lodged in order to get another 4-6 months of not having to deal with Jesse’s dogs being stirred up by them or myself woken up when they come barking onto the land. Once again I can’t run out there for fear of being jumped by
these beasts. I doubt they’d attack me, but you never know.

I’ve come to know Jesse and Maryann a little better, and their dogs too, but I’m sick of having their responsibilities fall upon us. HE owns this land, and Whiskey and Brandy are HIS dogs. So HE should be here to deal with his own dogs and the fucking neighbors himself.

Maryann said it’d still be okay to call the pound and that they wouldn’t take Brandy as long as she was on her own property. She seemed shocked to learn she came down here. And who knows where else she goes. Does she go down to the well by the property line? Down the drive towards the main road? I thought she may’ve come down here because she knows us now, but Tom thinks she might’ve been looking for the other dogs to protect her territory. But the other dogs are much bigger and could kill her easily. They dragged Whiskey down the drive, as Maryann said, and he’s even bigger. He wasn’t full-grown, though, when it happened.

I wonder if the shot we heard yesterday was someone trying to shoot them. If so, I’m sorry they missed! I WILL call the pound next time I see them, and Tom said not to worry if he’s asleep or not.

I swear something woke me up last night around 3:00, but I don’t know what it was or if I was just dreaming. You KNOW you’re cursed as hell in the sleep department when you’re not sleeping much better in the country than in the city. The only difference is that it’s much more peaceful here overall. It seems there’s always something lately, and I haven’t been sleeping any better at night than in the daytime.

Anyway, when I was telling Maryann I run outdoors at times and would now have to do it indoors and that I lost 20 pounds, she said she could see that. Then we were cracking up when she added that Tom put some on and that I gave him the weight I lost. Yeah, and it looks like I’ll be giving him another pound, LOL. I’m just a tenth away from 126 pounds! I guess the reason it’s going slower and slower to the point that I think it’s stopped is that I’m now within just two pounds of a normal weight range and so my body doesn’t really consider itself overweight anymore. Well, I do! So hopefully it’ll keep dropping. I’d still like
to get to at least 110.

She also commented on the wind chimes and how her car’s so low that the front fender got snagged on a curb.

A few hours after Maryann was here we picked up the mail. Still no CD, and now I’m told that the first one I got was probably the second one that was sent, and so now we’re back to not being sure if they’re stealing our mail or not, but we are going to take the two free months at the other place, then we’ll decide what to do from there.

I did get a sample of Caress body wash and a razor that’s sort of embedded in a small bar of soap. It’s kind of hard to use, but it’s different. I also got a letter from Mary letting me know all’s well and that she’s hopeful for June.

After we picked up the mail, we walked across to the store and I did what I usually do when I hit a new low on the scale – I binged! I had a bag of Jelly Bellies and some Fritos, LOL!

When we got home Tom cut his hair. He thinks that he could start getting calls for interviews soon, but that he probably won’t get a job till July or August. That’s what my vibes are saying, so we’ll just have to see.