To say that something up there is still determined to beat me over the head with other people’s dogs is an understatement! Let me back up to 6:30 Wednesday morning first when Whiskey went off. It took me forever to get him to shut up because he was going off on something behind the house. This made it harder for him to hear me over his racket, and I didn’t want to shout too loud and wake Tom up.

Yesterday morning, however, two of the renter’s dogs came barking onto the land. They were actually on their way down in back, as is their usual route. Sure enough, they shied away from Tom as he went out and headed toward them. The dogs did look thin, but I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say they’re malnourished. I think that’s just the way these dogs are. I also had to wonder if I was yelling at the wrong dog the morning before which would explain why the magic words didn’t work right away, though I’m pretty sure it was Whiskey and that he just didn’t hear me right away due to where he was.

So after listening to their incredibly obnoxiously loud barking coming from just down in the ditch, I realized it was during business hours and decided to try calling Animal Patrol. I got a hold of a woman and the conversation went something like this:

ME: Hi, who can I report a couple of loose dogs to?

HER: You’re talking to her. Can I get your name and address?

(I give it to her, and the name/address of the dogs’ owners)

HER: And are you sure this is where they live?

ME: Yes. They’ve been complained about before by our landlord who lives just up the hill here. There are two large brown dogs. I know they’ve had up to 3 in the past, but we’ve been seeing two of them lately. One’s a pit bull and one’s missing a back leg. One also wears a blue collar.

HER: Okay, can I get a call-back number from you?

(I give it to her)

After we hung up we never did hear back from them, but we did hear a few more barks from in back. After about 20 minutes we heard nothing. With our shit luck, though, they never could catch the dogs, the freeloaders were out, and they’ll just ignore whatever calling card might’ve been left for them. Meanwhile, I hope Jesse’s here when they come barking onto the land tomorrow since he probably won’t be working being the day before July 4th. Then he can deal with the fucking things for once. But he won’t stay home longer than to sleep!

I still think the only way we’re going to be able to take care of these dogs and probably every other dog we’ll have to live with is to get a gun and shoot them. But we can’t afford a gun right now. This is why I’m hoping they either lost the dogs or have been ordered to tie them up before that typical defiant mood of theirs sets in once again and they turn them loose again in another 4-5 months when we might have extra money for a gun. I don’t know if it’s just defiance or if they figure that the next time around no one will complain or what, but I’m sick of this shit! If dogs didn’t bark I wouldn’t care so much. But they’re too damn loud. Especially at a time when we have our windows open. Typical testy, pushy, rude, inconsiderate freeloaders!

The only thing that makes me hesitant about a retirement community is that while they may not let their dogs run around loose there, and while they take them indoors at night, this is still the West. So do I really want to go back to having them just a few feet away from our place? They’re gonna toss them outside at 6am and basically forget about them until sundown, leaving me to be the one to have to deal with it. I need a quiet place for writing and most of the things I do, but even if I didn’t, I hate to have to sit and listen to such annoying racket! But a retirement community is better than the mainstream where anything goes, including lazy freeloaders, blasting music, wild kids and a million other nuisances.

The freeloaders aren’t the only ones with dogs that are putting us out. One of Jesse’s dogs chewed on a faucet and turned the water on and drained the tank while he was at work. I guess the water pressure was low for a while. And of course Jesse wouldn’t dare pick up a phone and tell us that way, so he came down on the ATV, no doubt psyched to have an opportunity to bug us and check us out while he was at it. After all, he hasn’t been down here in a few weeks, so I figured we would be due for a visit. I think the only reason we went for a couple of months in the winter was that it was cold and rainy. Anyway, I managed to sleep through it all even though I forgot my earplug.

He said he’s also using ditch water to fill the tank faster, so don’t drink from the sink for a couple of weeks, cuz that’s how long it’ll take for it to empty out of the tank. So now we’re put out by his dogs, too. Tom filled up our spare water bottle. My shower stunk like hell, sorta like burnt rubber. As Tom said, he probably used an old garden hose that had been sitting around for a while.

All in all, these are small stresses compared to back in the motel and even last winter when Tom was first laid off, but it still gets old. Especially the dogs. Every single fucking place I’ve ever lived in since leaving New England has had a problem with dogs. I don’t miss living there, but I miss a society that doesn’t think that dogs don’t belong indoors.

Been back on the vitamins for a few days now and now I’m not so sure there’s a connection with my weight. Yesterday I burned 180 calories in 50 minutes, but I don’t think my ass will ever get used to this bike seat. It’s a little better, though. Today I only burned 100 calories cuz I knew I wouldn’t be eating much anyway.

Created a dream blog on Blogger (not the kind I have when I’m awake), but couldn’t remember any dreams to document once I got up.