Romps and Roombas
12/24/09 17:09
December 24, 2009
Rather an opposite type day to the peaceful one before. It started with the realization that I needed to change the locks. Made scrambled eggs with toast. Barely had the food hit a plate than we had a dog fight. Pinta Bean did not want her breakfast and Willy-Chu started eating it before I could retrieve the bowl. They smashed an aloe vera plant in the den, toppled the DSL modem, then had rounds in the kitchen and living room, no serious injuries... Timeout in the yard for Willy and in a bedroom for Beanie smoothed the ruffled fur.
I launched the den’s Roomba, which cleaned up the area nicely before it got stuck under the little modem/router table. Too many wires defeat those clever wheels. Breakfast was quite cold by then. Before I could eat anything Oso arose and rapidly pooped on the floor before I could get him outside -- in dealing with the pugilists I had forgotten to urge the old fellow out the back door.
Found a locksmith to take care of seven locks, and while waiting for him discovered that the dogs had pried a board loose in the “dog run” area along the south side of the house. Naturally the one place where I cannot go because of a high step up and across an irrigation pump! So I decided to place Willy-chu into his brand new backyard pen while the locksmith had doors open, to prevent the canine cutup from making a mad dash for it. The man arrived in the yard as I was backing down the hallway. Concentration impaired, the back wheels of my monster power chair ripped a bedroom door off its hinges, swinging it into the hallway, blocking me. A wrestling match ensued. When at last I got to the front door to let the young man in he spotted the protruding door, gave me an odd look, and trotted down the hall to move it out of the way for me. Ten minutes into Joseph’s visit Willy-chu danced jauntily through the back door with a few tender spots around his eyes. So much for the second round of enhanced dog pen security.
A friend showed up with a few groceries, bless him -- so I armed him with a hammer and asked him to bang in the nails on the loose boards. He came back after a long while, reported that he had hammered in a lot of loose nails along the line, and that the dogs were loosening up the cinderblocks below the wood... Help me, Lord. I cannot see a sign of that from where I can view the area from the end of the “run”. The friend departed with dark mutterings about the need to “get rid of that dog.” Which reminded me of how the contractor's disgusted crew mumbled, while hammering in huge metal spikes to anchor the chain link two days after they built, then reinforced, the pen, that “Willy is a bonehead about escaping.” At the time of those comments two big fellows were sledging in concrete spikes on one end of the pen while Willy’s big nose and paws pushed out the other end... Nor could I discover where my Houdini had escaped today, unless it was a six inch space between the security fence and the phone pole that supports the tin roof, beside it. That would be a good trick for a 95 pounder with heavy bones! Canine contortionist? Later I shoved a heavy roll of woven wire up against this little space on the outside of the pen -- labor of love and wonderment.
I must put Willy back into that pen and watch him from a distance. I may have to get another anchor and cable to put him on when I need to leave the place. Can’t leave him inside -- the house would be trashed, gnawed, chewed, spit out and up. Yeah, maybe he needs more exercise than I can give him.
Later decided to run the bedroom/hallway Roomba -- which cleaned nicely till it got stuck under the bed, had to be retrieved, then proclaimed that it needed its brushes cleaned. Gathered up the tools for that job, and promptly managed to drop a tiny yellow plastic “nut” from the end of the brush into the half-full trash bin... Spent a hateful 15 minutes sorting by hand through the soil and many broken pieces of aloe vera along with coffee grounds, a yucky avocado, papaya and orange peels, eggshells and various wrappers. Horrid! Only found the nut after sifting repeatedly through the crumbles in the bottom of the cardboard box into which I had slowly emptied the wastebasket’s contents. Helpful Household Hint from Emily (forget Heloise): Never take apart Roomba brushes directly above the trash.
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