Weekend Adventures

I haven't been running or surfing due to the Great Upheaval at work. This is causing the dawg to run amok. We had to get out this weekend.

The wife headed to work at 8am on Saturday and the dawg and I headed to Dawg Beach. I wore my swimsuit as the last time we went to the beach the Dawg swam for the first time with a little encouragement from me. I was extraordinarily careful to not lock myself out of the car this time.

We had the usual great time. A number of people commented on how big the dawg is (up to 90 pounds now). I suppose he was in the top 5% size-wise at the beach Saturday. One of the great things about the big dawg is how gentle he is with the little dawgs. At one point a tiny little yapper charged him and I could see the look of concern on the other dawg owner's faces. Not to worry, the big dawg assumed the playful-puppy-position and they had a blast chasing each other around the beach. Until burly-tat-man arrived with his pit bull.

I have been around enough good-natured pit bulls to know that they aren't all bad. I have also read enough about pit bulls to know that they are a "bully-breed" and should be approached with caution. BT man's pit bull joined the fray and the lil' yapper got spooked and barred his teeth. This is usually the point at which my big dawg backs off or goes looking for another playmate. Not the pit-bull though.

The pit bull went for the yapper and things escalated pretty fast. One of the yapper's owners scooped him up in her arms to separate the two but the pit bull had death on his mind. The pit bull lunged at the yapper in the woman's arms, caught one of its hinds legs and attempted to pull the yapper from its owner's grasp.

That's when everyone within 15 feet of the incident, including myself, lunged at the pit bull. Burly-tat-man got there first and pulled his dawg off the yapper. He was very apologetic but no one - and I mean no one - was interested in his apology. The crowd shot him looks of scorn and the gathering dissipated. Rule number one of dawg parks: If you can't control your dawg, don't bother showing up. The Dawg and I were done anyhow so we headed for home.

By the time we got back, I had just enough time to pick up the house and change the laundry before heading to a double birthday party for our friend's 3 and 7-year-old boys. A couple hours into the party, I sat down on the love-sac and passed out.

Sunday morning, we did the usual routine. CBS Sunday Morning had a segment on Annie Lennox that reminded me of a segment on her on one of the special features discs for Lord of the Rings. We pulled the dvd out and watched it - which then reminded me of a segment dealing with all the horses that were used in the movie. I thought the wife would appreciate it so we watched that. By that time, the wife had to head to a function with some work-mates. I begged off and planned to work around the house for the rest of the afternoon.

There is something almost insurmountably difficult in lazing around until two on a Sunday and then starting chores. I couldn't do it.

I popped in the second and then third Lord of the Rings discs and watched until I went horizontal on the couch. The wife had to wake me up when she got home.

As I get older, I think that stress effects me more. Maybe its because the stakes are higher. All I know is that since all the madness at work began, I have been exhausted most of the time. That doesn't mean I sleep though. I have been awake since 12:30am this morning.

At 2:30 I gave up, pulled on some sweats and sat down at the 'puter. The cat came out - which is unusual - she normally sleeps like the dead all night. Then the wife staggered out for a glass of water - followed by the dawg, who wanted to know what was going on. And there we were - the whole family - up at 2:30am.

The girls (wife and cat) have since re-retired to the bedroom and the dawg is unconscious at my feet. Just me clackety-clacking on the keyboard waiting for the start of another stressful week.

Man-o-man.