Evil Lurks Around Every Corner…

And Maggie is the shining light of truth and justice. Yes, the meter reader is in the neighborhood. Maggie’s arch nemesis. Maggie has this uncanny second sense about his arrival. She just ran outside barking viciously. The meter reader’s car is parked just down the street as he makes his rounds from house to house.

“Maggie! Come inside!” I hollered out the back door hoping to shut the dog door to avoid any mishaps.

This just emboldened Maggie to bark louder and even more viciously.

“I am just protecting us, Andrew,” she seems to impart.  “How dare he defile our back yard with his presence.”

Hah! I Beat Ya to the Punch Maggie!

I looked up from this computer and saw the meter reader in my neighbor's yard reading their water meter. I quickly jumped up, walked briskly into the kitchen, and locked the dog door in the laundry room. Maggie almost immediately knew something was up and started barking. I've got the house opened up today as it is so warm and beautiful so Maggie got out on the porch and went apeshit bananas as he opened up the fence to her yard. I noticed the meter reader was carrying an axe handle today. I am always worried Maggie will try to nip at his heels and he will hit her in the head or hurt her in some way.

Oh, Charlie? Why Dost Thou Forsake Me?

Charlie didn't show up until 9:30 last night. I had almost given up on him. I had the nods as I sat at this computer looking out the window for his arrival. It was way past my bedtime. Maggie had given up her vigil as well and gone to sleep on the bed. She gave Charlie one helluva show when he finally arrived, though.

"I lost track of the time moving furniture," Charlie told me sheepishly over the phone about 9:20. "I am headed your way."

At least I no longer have to wait for my medications when Charlie and my father are late. I had smoked my last cigarette 2 hours earlier, though, and was jonesing for my next fix.

Bed? This Weekend Maybe?

Charlie and I have to move the old bed and then move in the new bed. I am hoping we will get this done this weekend. Charlie has already given me a footstool hoping Maggie will use it to jump onto the bed.

Maggie's Arch Nemesis Arrived...

There is one thing that gets Maggie's panties in a twist more than any other thing. It is the meter reader. All our meters, except the water meter, are on the back of my house within the fence. Maggie wasn't brave today and it tickled me. She stood at the dog door with her head stuck out and barked viciously for about 30 minutes. A big smile formed on my face and I started to laugh at Maggie's timidness. The meter reader exited out of the fence on the other side of the house and Maggie tore out the dog door viciously barking with new found courage. Usually, Maggie is trying to nip at his heels as he brandishes a big stick and fights her off. I usually try to shut the dog door, but he is on foot and I don't hear the gate open in time.

I Missed the Early Worm...

Maggie and I both woke much later than usual at 9:30 AM this morning. We were in the bed around 8 PM last night so we got lots of good sleep. Sleep is such a wonderful thing if you are prone to insomnia like me. I have felt really blessed these past two weeks to be getting a good night's sleep.

I scrambled some eggs and made cheese toast this morning. Mrs. Camille's words echoed in my mind of her astonishment about how many eggs I buy a week. Dad will roll his eyes and say my cholesterol is probably higher than hell.

I then got on Facebook to see what everyone was up to this morning and overnight. I am dabbling in it again, but it can be overwhelming for someone as sensitive as me. I no longer write about my personal life on Facebook. I save that for my blog where I have a smidgen of anonymity. I do immensely enjoy all the model railroading pages on Facebook, though, and can spend an hour looking at them.

Addictions Be Gone...

I am wearily tired of being addicted to things.

• For a few weeks, I was addicted to over the counter flu remedy. I would drink two little cups every morning and get a buzz. I cut that out over a week ago. 
• I was addicted to Diet Cokes and I have now gone two days without them. 
• Dad was giving me six Benadryl every night for anxiety. I was supposed to only take two every few hours, but I would take all six after my father left and would get a nice buzz. It was my idea and we have now cut them down to two a night taking one less a week. Two more weeks and I will be off of Benadryl. The withdrawal has been pretty hard to bear for such a seemingly innocuous drug. 
• I also smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and now I am down to one.

Progress, but not perfect.

Don't worry! It's a Good Thing. Not a Bad Thing...

It is happening again. I am cycling mentally. For the past few months, I've been going to bed at 4 am and sleeping to 4 or 5 pm in the afternoon. Today, I am up and wide awake at noon.

Let's hope this means I am moving towards a more diurnal existence. The sunshine feels fine and wonderful shining through my window onto my face. 3 am in the morning was beginning to depress me. Amazingly, I feel fine right now after only five hours of sleep.

I am also keeping a keen ear out for my Guatemalan yard care extraordinaire Lopez Landscaping who usually come by my house on Tuesday Afternoons. I want them to spread pine straw in my flower beds. They always keep a few bales of it on their trailer. Last week, they trimmed my shrubbery and trees and it looks very nice.

The day just gets busier and busier. The meter reader must be in the neighborhood as Maggie has barked up a storm all morning -- vicious, snarling barks. She's a little dog that wears big dog pants. She will bark like this until the meter reader has moved on to another neighborhood.

That Little Scoundrel...

The Meter Readers came today and left the left side fence open. I was sitting here at this computer when I saw Maggie once again scratching her back on the grass in the front yard. Birds gotta fly and fish gotta swim. I got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was also so very damn livid. School had just let out and the neighborhood streets were saturated with cars as the elementary school is just down the street.

Dammit! We Have a Hoodlum On Our Hands...

I finally enticed Maggie in with some tasty and expensive cold cuts (Black Forest ham). Food is the only way I have found that works reliably. Maggie can think with her stomach sometimes. I let her smell it first and then she quickly followed me inside through the front door. The door slammed shut behind her as I sighed in incredible relief. If I were a cat, I would have just lost one of my nine lives.

What did Maggie want once I got her inside? Yes, it was more food. I put the rest of that ham on a paper plate and sat it down on the floor in the laundry room by her usual food dish. She ate her regular dog food as well.

I can't make the call myself because of my phone phobias, but I am getting dad to call city utilities tomorrow or Monday about what happened. This is the second time they left the fence open.

Swing Low... Sweet Chariot...

We''re making progress as the trash man came on his usual Wednesday run today and Maggie didn't bark incessantly for an hour. She was sound asleep in the back bedroom and I was on the computer in the front computer room. I took this opportunity to clip her nails after closing the bedroom door. She is slicker than a greased pig at the county fair during such ordeals. I've got to keep her in enclosed spaces to be able to catch her. It breaks my heart having her be so skittish towards me. She sees me coming and thinks medications, ointments, or something similar. She flies out that dog door to escape.

The Sacred Ground Has Been Defiled...

I was sitting in my Laz-E-Boy recliner with ye olde iPad when Maggie's ears pricked up in alert. Guess who showed up at lunch?  Yes, Maggie's arch-nemesis the meter reader arrived stirring Maggie up into a frenzy and getting her knickers in a twist.   I have never heard Maggie bark more menacingly than this.  I noticed he was carrying a long wooden staff I assumed to be his anti-animal weapon.

image credit:  https://www.cacareerzone.org/profile/43-5041.00