My tale of woe
Feb. 24th, 2010 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ghost2I haven't posted in a while, and now I'm doing it to bitch and moan. I'll come up with a more positive post for next time. Today, though... well, today has sucked, and I've only been awake for six hours.
I was already kind of feeling sorry for myself because I'm not going to Gallifrey this weekend. I thought I would cheer myself up by going shopping today. So I had been planning all week to go out this morning for a special sale that began today at my favorite store. I woke up early (for me, that's before 9) and looked out the window to see that it was snowing like crazy. Snowing, for the third day in a row. Thanks for that. Really, I appreciate it.
Next, I went to let the dog out of his indoor kennel (a large crate) so that he could go outside. Sequence of events:
1-I knelt down beside the kennel.
2-I opened the kennel door.
3-The dog stepped out onto the carpet.
4-The dog peed on the carpet.
5-I yelled: "NOOOOO!"
6-The dog turned his head and bit me in the arm.
7-I yelled: "NOOOOO!" again.
8-The dog finished peeing on the carpet.
9-I lost all of my authority. Wait. That was probably the first step.
At that point, I could have cheerfully killed the little bastard. He is a small and old dog with teeth to match, but he scratched my arm, left a big bruise, and drew a little blood. And I hadn't even touched him, just yelled at him. BTW, it's not as if he tries to hold it all night and was bursting with need when I let him out this morning. No, he soaks his kennel every single night without fail. I don't really care about him doing that, because it's a kennel and it's fairly easy to clean. But peeing on the carpet and then biting me? Son of a bitch!
So the dog went back in the kennel, and I went outside to shovel, mostly to keep myself from strangling him out of sheer anger. It so happens that he bit me on the same arm that I injured last weekend. Naturally, because I'm right handed, it's my right arm. I somehow strained something in the elbow/wrist area, and it hurts to pick up anything that weighs more than a few ounces. It also hurts to open bottles, put on clothing, or, you know, SHOVEL SNOW. I cleared the sidewalk anyway, for the fifth time in three days.
Then I got my things together and walked to the bus stop with the intention of going shopping. Fifteen minutes later, after freezing my ass off, with a nasty wind whipping at me and the bus more than ten minutes late and visibility sucky, I gave up and limped back home. I cleaned the carpet, shoveled some more, and let the dog out of his kennel again. AND HE PEED ON THE CARPET IMMEDIATELY. AGAIN. IN A DIFFERENT PLACE.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
At least he didn't bite me that time. But still: son of a bitch!
I cleaned another section of carpet. I also eventually went out to shovel the sidewalk for the sixth time in three days, because another three inches of snow had fallen. And I looked at the snowy driveway, which has a good six inches of crap on it, and I made a narrow path from the house down to the street a hundred feet away, and then I quit. I really, truly quit. I am not shoveling the rest of the driveway. No vehicles use it anyway. My arm hurts, and it's too much work. I am completely over winter. Snow is disgusting, and I despise it.
Current status
Dog: in kennel for foreseeable future
Me: nursing sore arm and bitching on LJ
And how are you all doing today?
I was already kind of feeling sorry for myself because I'm not going to Gallifrey this weekend. I thought I would cheer myself up by going shopping today. So I had been planning all week to go out this morning for a special sale that began today at my favorite store. I woke up early (for me, that's before 9) and looked out the window to see that it was snowing like crazy. Snowing, for the third day in a row. Thanks for that. Really, I appreciate it.
Next, I went to let the dog out of his indoor kennel (a large crate) so that he could go outside. Sequence of events:
1-I knelt down beside the kennel.
2-I opened the kennel door.
3-The dog stepped out onto the carpet.
4-The dog peed on the carpet.
5-I yelled: "NOOOOO!"
6-The dog turned his head and bit me in the arm.
7-I yelled: "NOOOOO!" again.
8-The dog finished peeing on the carpet.
9-I lost all of my authority. Wait. That was probably the first step.
At that point, I could have cheerfully killed the little bastard. He is a small and old dog with teeth to match, but he scratched my arm, left a big bruise, and drew a little blood. And I hadn't even touched him, just yelled at him. BTW, it's not as if he tries to hold it all night and was bursting with need when I let him out this morning. No, he soaks his kennel every single night without fail. I don't really care about him doing that, because it's a kennel and it's fairly easy to clean. But peeing on the carpet and then biting me? Son of a bitch!
So the dog went back in the kennel, and I went outside to shovel, mostly to keep myself from strangling him out of sheer anger. It so happens that he bit me on the same arm that I injured last weekend. Naturally, because I'm right handed, it's my right arm. I somehow strained something in the elbow/wrist area, and it hurts to pick up anything that weighs more than a few ounces. It also hurts to open bottles, put on clothing, or, you know, SHOVEL SNOW. I cleared the sidewalk anyway, for the fifth time in three days.
Then I got my things together and walked to the bus stop with the intention of going shopping. Fifteen minutes later, after freezing my ass off, with a nasty wind whipping at me and the bus more than ten minutes late and visibility sucky, I gave up and limped back home. I cleaned the carpet, shoveled some more, and let the dog out of his kennel again. AND HE PEED ON THE CARPET IMMEDIATELY. AGAIN. IN A DIFFERENT PLACE.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
At least he didn't bite me that time. But still: son of a bitch!
I cleaned another section of carpet. I also eventually went out to shovel the sidewalk for the sixth time in three days, because another three inches of snow had fallen. And I looked at the snowy driveway, which has a good six inches of crap on it, and I made a narrow path from the house down to the street a hundred feet away, and then I quit. I really, truly quit. I am not shoveling the rest of the driveway. No vehicles use it anyway. My arm hurts, and it's too much work. I am completely over winter. Snow is disgusting, and I despise it.
Current status
Dog: in kennel for foreseeable future
Me: nursing sore arm and bitching on LJ
And how are you all doing today?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 07:56 pm (UTC)Sorry to hear the weather's so lousy, that your arm is sore, and you're not going to Gallifrey.
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:20 pm (UTC)Tomorrow is going to be a good day, to make up for this one. I've already decided that. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:01 pm (UTC)Sorry you're dog is being a pain and you apparently got all the snow we were promised.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:25 pm (UTC)In general, we've had a far better winter than last year, but this week hasn't been a nice one. And that dog... I handfeed him! I mash up his food with a fork to make it easier for him to chew. And he goes and bites me. That's gratitude for you.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:31 pm (UTC)You might want to look into getting some behavioral advice on how to deal with the dog -- it sounds to me like his peeing on the carpet is all about marking territory, and that and the biting might mean that he's challenging you for "alpha" status in the household. In other words, those behaviors might not go away on their own. The good news is, dog behaviorists deal with that all the time, and they can help you.
Good for you for leaving the snow unshoveled! I think you need to do something just for yourself for the rest of the day. What's your favorite way to de-stress? I like hot chocolate and videos, myself.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:45 pm (UTC)I do have a big canister of hot chocolate in the cupboard, and some DVDs I want to watch.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 10:01 pm (UTC)Kennel it is, then! :D Hope he doesn't give you too much of a hard time between now and then.
I do have a big canister of hot chocolate in the cupboard, and some DVDs I want to watch.
Enjoy -- you've earned it!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-25 11:48 am (UTC)Oh, I wanted to say - I got your Christmas card a couple of weeks ago! It was so brilliant and lovely and put a huge smile on my face. So I know you're having a sucky time right now, but I wanted you to know that you made my life a little better. ♥
no subject
Date: 2010-02-28 03:26 am (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed the card. It was the first time I printed out cards from home, and I had a lot of fun picking designs and selecting special photos for the recipients.