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.

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...

Ashley Simpson: Please sign this petition to help her family

Those who read this space regularly know that my family is frantic with worry about my cousin, Ashley Simpson , who has been missing 40 days now. Both her boyfriend and her landlord reported that she had left with no money, no car, no resources from her Salmon Arm, B.C. home after a domestic dispute over money. Since then, there has been no trace of her. The RCMP now considers this a homicide investigation, but the family has not heard any updates from them in more than three weeks. Just after she disappeared, her father, relatives and friends set out from St. Catharines on a long trek to B.C. to find her. They all left their work, and their lives, intent on finding Ashley who had always kept in touch. It was completely out of character for her to lose touch. Her parents have been consumed by worry. They have been unable to work, and are having a hard time functioning. As a result, they are now relying on donations from family and friends to keep the wolf from the door...

The strange case of Greg Etue

I got out of the daily news reporting game, I'll admit, because I didn't have the stomach to cover the many sad stories that came across my desk. I remember clearly once when I had to call an RCMP sergeant after his young son blew his head off with the officer's service revolver. "Please," he pleaded. "I really can't talk right now." "It was your gun, is that correct?" He slammed down the receiver. I was ashamed of myself. People have a right to some privacy in difficult times like that. I also used to hate having to go to the door of a dead child's home and jostle the competition for a picture. Really, it felt more like ghoulism than journalism. That said, I still believe that these stories must be told in an honest and forthright fashion with all the facts and none of the flourish and emotion that is all the rage in reporting these days. Over the past two years, we, in this community, have been treated to a lot o...

Rose's Cantina

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