Cinderella and the Itchy Pug

Now that Pearl has decamped our house for a life of fancy treats and pool parties, it's time to read the new room. In just a few days, we went from a household of dogs that seemed to run on energy drinks to one that looks like a cannabis bistro.
As I write this, Sophie and Viggo are both lallygagging under the kitchen table, opening an eye now and then when I get up to stir the soup. Occasionally, Viggo, the 90-pound lab, tries to hump Sophie the pint sized pug, who reacts by lunging at him like a disturbed rattlesnake. He takes it all in stride, and lopes over to the table and falls from a great height in sleep mode.
The first day after Pearl left for the Logans, I was heartbroken. I hadn't felt that sad in a long time. Rehoming a dog, especially one as special as Pearl, is not a decision one takes lightly. I felt like my heart had been blenderized and was sinking into my toes.
It's been nine months since the fighting between our nine-year-old pug and Pearl, the two-year-old Aussie, turned our house upside down, and required sequestering of both dogs for periods of the day.
We were always on edge, always on high alert in case a door was opened accidentally and a Gladiator-style fight ensued. We'd managed, so far, to keep the peace. But when Rick's dog died, we knew we'd found a home for Pearl, who has been renamed Luna since Rick's Czech wife Jarmila was unable to pronounced the "P".
I now know we made the right decision. Pearl was always a princess and demanded that kind of treatment and she simply didn't get it here bookended as she was between an old pug and a young chocolate lab. When Rick called to say that Pearl/Luna was out with mama and going to a pool party, my mood changed and I felt good again. Pearl had realized her little dream. Within minutes of her arrival, she had morphed from Ella the floor cleaner into Cinderella attending the ball in a pumpkin carriage.
This week, I turned my attention to Sophie who has been scratching herself silly with allergies. I had a conference call with our vet and he recommended some very pricey pills and lotions that I started to give her two days ago. Miraculously, the regime is working and she is finally sleeping through the night instead of leaping, bolt up right, and mashing the hell out of her ears, and shimmying like Chubbie Checkers.

Sitting quietly with my own thoughts last night, I realized that sometimes I use the dogs as an excuse to shut myself off from the world. I've been pretty depressed for about a year since I lost my job, and the pandemic didn't help. The dogs always gave me the right amount of distraction that allowed me to get out of my head. Now that I've had time to think, I'm trying to put together a plan so that I don't just fester and die in my chair in the grips of video games and CNN.
On July 2nd, I'll turn 64 which is, in my view, a shitty birthday. You're not quite an elder, not quite just "middle aged". Having watched several very good friends leave this world not much older than me, I know I have no time to lose. If I'm going to do anything with my life, I better get started.
On Monday, I got new glasses which is always an indication that I'm getting ready to go back to work. And today, I'm visiting a spa just for the heck of it. On Friday, I'm meeting a friend I made on Twitter for patio drinks with a side of gossip.
Funnily enough, the universe must have noticed that I was forging a new path, and setting positive intentions for myself. I got hot leads on a couple of good jobs -- the first in a whole year.
I'm excited for the future for the first time in a while.
While the dogs are sleeping, maybe it's time to get this party started.

Ashley Simpson: Don't Let Her Die in Vain

Six years ago, I was combing through my Facebook and I saw post from my cousin Julie Major. Her brother and his wife were frantically looking for their daughter Ashley who just days before had Facetimed her mom saying she was planning to return to her home in Niagara. Ashley never made it home. She was murdered in cold blood in her home in Salmon Arm then buried in a nearby field. It would be five and a half years before her body was located, and her boyfriend was charged with second degree murder. Today, Ashley's urn has a sacred spot in her parents' home, and Derek Favell is in jail awaiting trial by judge and jury. The trial is expected to go into next year sometime. This has been an agonizing journey for Ashley's friends and family. The pain has never stopped, and the wounds are broken open every time the family has to sit through a series of pre-trial proceedings. Fortunately, this ordeal will end but the pain will never wane for the people, including me, who have b...

Ashley Simpson: A Father Remembers

I have asked Ashley Simpson's family and friends to give us a glimpse into the life she lived before going missing nearly a month ago. Here is how her father John remembers his sweet girl. Ashley was a treat when she came into this world, a smashing 9lbs 8 ounces with a head full of hair and nails that needed to be clipped. She has made many friends in her journey of life and continues to make them as we speak. She has made this world a better place by her love of mankind and this place we call Earth; unfortunately this life she has lived hasn't been the best for her. She has suffered through unbearable pain and suffering through her menstrual cycles. She has cysts on her ovaries that make those 10 days a living hell. She had one of her ovaries removed when she was just 14; the other they won't take out till she is 40 or older. Years of hell for my Ashley. I so feel her pain every month but she doesn't quit, doesn't give in. That'...

What Bell isn't telling you about Fibe TV

Update: This week, we switched back to Rogers after spending far too long using Bell's crappy television service. For those with Bell, read and weep. For those considering Bell, think twice even if you hate Rogers. RS I've always been an early technology adapter. I had a Betamax. That tells you everything (if you're over 50 at least). My first computer was a "Portable". It weighed 40 pounds and I had to lug it around town on a gurney. I've been through probably 15 computers in my lifetime. Apple is the best. It's also too expensive so I have a piece of shit HP, the one I'm writing this blog on. I've had cable, internet and now Netflix. American Netflix . That's how far ahead of the curve I am. I get all the newspapers for free. How? I disabled my cookies so they can't track me when I'm on the newspaper sites. Even the New York Times hasn't cottoned on to that trick. Hahaha. That will be a fifty buck consulting fee. Bein...

Rose's Cantina

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