My cable went out yesterday and a tech came to fix it today. He asked me if another tech had been there because my the exterior wire to my cable had been unplugged. I said no, maybe it was a raccoon or possum? No, definitely human. He fixed it and 20 minutes later it went out. I went out to check and the asshole bf of my neighbor was there fucking with the cable box. I told him that he messed up my cable and to rehook up my cable. "In a few minutes." No, now. "I don't like how you're talking to me." I don't like my cable being shut off. Now. So he fixed it but I called Comcast to report fraud. Fucking asshole. There's 10 people in a two bedroom (it's a duplex). They've fucked around with parking, a pit bull (no dogs lease) and leaving 20 toilets in the front yard cause the dad's a junk dealer. I am calling property manager tomorrow. What a fucking dumbass. I'm a good neighbor. Super quiet, bought their kids bday and Xmas gifts. Fuck them now.

I posted a while back about how my IL's dog should have been put to sleep a year ago. Well, they finally did put her down a couple weeks ago. She was a 15 year old shepherd. She was incontinent and in obvious pain. They finally put her down when she could no longer stand up. They still have another dog - a 7 year old labradoodle. Well, now they are talking about getting another dog. But "something smaller." I just want to scream. They are fine now, but they are also in their mid-70's. A small dog can easily live for 15 years. They are not even considering that in 15 years, they probably will not be in a place to care for a dog. And they are not talking about adopting an older dog, they're talking about getting a puppy from a breeder. I get that they love dogs. They've always had one (or usually 2). But I think at this point they are just being selfish.

I love both city and country. But I'm happy in the middle. Suburbia! My parents live out in the country and I love to visit-we ride go-carts, shoot guns, fish, etc. I love camping. But I live 30 minutes from beautiful museums, parks, professional teams, great shopping, fun stuff for my kids. And our neighborhood is lovely where people walk their dogs, ride bikes with family and know each other.

I couldn't live in a city. Country Mouse all the way. I don't even like to visit cities. Even the clean ones. *shudder* Too many people, too much noise, too much stuff going on in general for me. I like my dogs and my gardens and my hiking trails. I like my starry skies and my forest noises and my quiet sunrises. I like that the loudest noise I hear while I'm picking berries is my own voice yelling "Yo Bear" every so often. Because they eat berries too, and bears scare the shit out of me. Even though I'm a country mouse. :)

I posted a little while ago about the woman who constantly asks where I got my stuff. I'm going to get real creepy on you here...she went and bought (online!!!) a puppy the same breed and color as mine (rare). And to cap it all off? She's the person whose house is covered in fur and insists people can't tell she has dogs. You can't make this stuff up.

The stupid things DH has brought home - the things I've been pissed about - have invariably turned out to be good things. Kinda drives me nuts. The two big ones are 1) A puppy. He brought home a black lab puppy and showed the kids and I didn't know anything about it until I got home from work. We already had a dog. I was pissed. That dog turned out to be my DS's best friend all through his childhood, and one of the best dogs I ever met. We lost him last summer and my DS, a grown man now, cried like a baby. 2) A tractor. A big-ass 1940's Ford tractor with ALL the attachments. WTF?!?! It didn't even run! I was pissed. Well, he fixed it and we use that damn thing ALL the time. It's crazy how many uses that thing has. From grading the driveway to turning a compost pile - it saves us so much time and work. Me, on the other hand? Yeah, I brought home a gallon jug of mustard. It turned out kinda like the banana pepper incident. Go me! LOL

My DH once bought a dalmation. We already had three dogs at the time and had not discussed bringing another into the fold. It was a full-grown dalmation, not a puppy. It tried to hump everything in sight, chewed up his shoes and peed on our furniture. Two weeks later he admitted he'd done a dumb thing and rehomed it.

I'd say the only way you'd really know if your house seems like no dogs live there is if all your visitors are surprised by the presence of an actual dog. And they exclaim surprise in words. While not brushing furballs off their pants.

My mom and dad were always like that about their dogs, too. Supposedly, you couldn't tell they had 5 dogs in the house. Yeah...except for the omnipresent puddle of pee and pile of dog crap somewhere in the house at all times, the constant yapping, and the thick coat of dog fur all over the furniture and clothes. Yep, no dogs here!

Those of you with aging dogs, I know how hard it is. I've been there. I've had to put beloved pets to sleep. It's horrible. But whatever you do, please don't keep them around for selfish reasons. My IL's dog is 15 years old and should have been put down a year ago. She can't get up on her own, she can barely walk and is in obvious pain when she does, she incontinent. etc. But my IL's just love her and can't bear the thought. I get that, but I really think it's just cruel and selfish at this point.