Barky Dog, Episode IV

We've turned in paperwork and met with the Animal Control officer, and the neighbors gave statements, one which was KILLER, see below (click to enlarge):


See? It's just not us! Thanks Rod.

Things are changing for the better, finally a little silence when we're outside watering or have the windows open or pleasantly taking a morning dump. The Animal control people seem to act quick, and this has been observed at least twice to my knowledge:


That's Officer Heidi's (she's about 4' 9") truck. Go get 'em Heidi!! Amy the mail lady has been spying for me :)

The only other thing to mention is that last Saturday, while watering on the hill, a dog was yipping on the OTHER side of the Yippee Dog's house. The Teacher Beacher was out there and saw Tracy on the hill and yelled over (but actually nicely): "I just want you to know that's not *MY* dog that's been barking!!"

Yeah, we know. Amazing you can tell the difference though, ain't it? Why can't you hear your own dog bothering the neighborhood!?

PS: Did anyone catch the Star Wars reference?

Will I have to bail Tracy out of jail?

Good neighbors! Since we've moved in to this house, we've been battling a little shitty Jack Russell terrier and it's owners. The dog is a yipper, and they leave it outside and it yips from sun up to sun down if allowed. Because of the triangular property layouts, they live in the next cul-de-sac, but the corner or their property meets the corner of our property, so there's really one house and very little space between us.

The first problem was partially resolved. Many months ago, the dog would just walk through their fence (bar type, not wood or chicken wire), cut across the three feet of the other property (which is a neighbor that also complains), and lands on the top of our hill and comes down and barks at my three quiet dogs and me whenever we were out. Apparently we are a threat. No exaggerating, if I opened the back door and my dogs went out, the yippee dog could somehow hear them walking and the barrage of yips were on. It kept getting on our property, and when it took a crap on my patio, I had enough and went over and had a little chat. They put up chicken wire, which stopped the doggy trespassing, but didn't solve the yipping.

Fast Forward to June. YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP!!! At what time? 11:30PM!!! Tracy was heated, she was looking forward to sleeping in and was about to go to bed. Not now, a dog is barking! In her robe, she stormed over and pounded on the door. No answer. Chicken or no one home? 6Am the next morning: YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP!!!! Oh man is she pissed now. Walked over again, pounding on the door, no answer. She's had enough. Calls to the HOA, calls to Animal Control; yeah, they know the house. Letters would be sent, etc etc. Not good enough for Ms. T. She started a petition. On the Saturday before Father's Day, we walked around their cul-de-sac and attempted to get signatures. Of the two people that answered their doors, neither wanted to get involved (spineless people!). One guy said he didn't hear it (wha???????) and an immediate next door neighbor said "I don't want to go there". Regardless, the lady got word of it. Sunday while I was talking to my Pop wishing him Happy Father's Day, I hear yelling. Seems that Jennifer thinks it's our problem, and has come over to bark at Tracy herself! The conversation went something like this:

Are you the lady with the three Golden retrievers?

You must be Jennifer.

What do you do with YOUR dogs when you're not home?

What does THAT matter?

If you've got a problem with my dog, you need to come TALK TO ME!

*I DID*!!! I came over TWICE! AT NEAR MIDNIGHT AND at 6AM!

Well I wasn't home, I was whoring myself out at a bar! (Note 1)

You need to control your dogs. I'm tired of them barking and waking me up!!

Oh yeah, what are you, from California? (Note 2)

Huh?

My dog isn't the problem, YOU'RE the problem. And we BOUGHT a bark collar! (Note 3)

It's kinda blurred, but there were a few "F*** you's" thrown in, and then the lady went to the neighbors and started crying "Don't make me get rid of my dogs again". Yeah, it's happened before.

Note 1: I kinda assumed this, I may be wrong.
Note 2: This was really said, help me here.
Note 3: If it's not a problem, why'd you buy a bark collar?

So this is a month ago. It got AMAZINGLY better very quickly. How nice. Wow. But not for long. Whether the dog got used to being shocked, or the batteries went out, or they took it off, I dunno. We also saw it with a muzzle once, but the yipping is back. What we know is they don't care.

This morning at 6:15, it was yipping again, protecting whatever it is it's in fear of losing. YIP YIP YIP! Tracy stormed to the top of the hill and glared over. The Boy-Toy that lives there came out, brushing his teeth (or teefe), and the FOLLOWING ensued:

Tracy yells over "6:15!! It's a little early isn't it?"

To which the BT replies "The problem is... you opinion is one we don't care about"

Nice! More phone calls are being made today. Fun huh?!?!

The biggest change....

I've been in Nevada for 9 months now, and sometimes still can't believe we made the move. It doesn't seem like 9 months, yet in some ways it does. To date I'm still fighting the overcharges with the moving company, still don't have nary a tool or most garage items unpacked, haven't found (or looked for lately) my crock pot or EPROM programmer. When I do open up a box, I'm often struck with a sense of "Huh! Forgot about that!". Since there are no built in bookshelves like the old house, most books are still packed up. As are lots of things I probably don't need. Will I ever be unpacked?

But it's feeling like home. I no longer flip three light switches looking for the right one, and I can drive home without really looking for my street. My dogs are happy. I love my kitchen. But I tell ya, I'm still lacking PEOPLE. Some KC friends still seem close, others dropped me before I left town, it was kinda weird. Why is it that some people that you rarely saw in person, can no longer pick up the phone or email just cause you moved? In some ways I guess they were never good friends. And I'm not finding good friends here, but I've also kinda given up trying, at least as much as I was 6 months ago. Yeah, there are people that I like & seem OK, but too often I feel like I'm a third wheel, which is a feeling I've ALWAYS hated. One guy has turned out to be a real loser, and it's sad cause he could be OK if he wasn't always so full of bullshit. Another squirrelly guy has actually turned out to be pretty OK, despite being a bit of a loner and a conspiracy theorist. Thankfully we have pinball in common. I know my neighbors about THIS MUCH more than I did when I got here, but I've gotten to know my mailman fairly well. Who woulda guessed?

I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, and that means outdoor work. I actually miss mowing, and a garden is right around the corner! I was a long cold winter and I'm ready for a change. It's supposed to hit 70 today to really give us a taste of things to come. I'm sure in 4 months I'll be bitching about the 110 degree temperature, but I'm going to enjoy the time between.

Looking at my life, this is definitely the biggest chance & change I've ever made. Quitting my corporate job, getting married, buying a house, etc were all huge events, but nothing like this one. I'm still surprised.

(This ramble was brought to you by early morning Folger's)

The US Postal Service

I shouldn't make it sound like there's nothing but assholes here, quite the opposite. Much of my griping about people are what I experience through the Internet. The anonymous blanket email can give you brings out the jerk in people. No need to be polite, just get to the point: "wheres my order??!!!?!?!?!?!". How much effort would it have been to say "Hi, can you check on my order?". Not much. Pressing the Shift key I suppose. And when emailing a short demand, the mix of question marks and exclamation points are supposed to indicate displeasure, anxiety and urgency. Yeah, I get it, you're impatient.

But that's not this blog. Let's talk about my mailman. (OK, she's usually a gal, but it's also still a manhole, get over it.) To date she has changed her routine to pick up my packages daily, makes a point to pet my dogs, hands me my mail quite often instead of sticking them in the community mail box, took and handled an international package for me, brought me supplies, had her boss come visit to thank me for my business, and just overall has been SUPER nice and appreciates my business. Oh! And I have her phone number in case I need something. This, in contrast to Kansas, where I received the following paraphrased letter:

Mr. Tom Svec:

Blah blah blah your recent online pickup requests are not scheduled in advance and do not include number of packages. Requests must be received by 2:00 am on the day your pickup is scheduled and must include the number of packages ready for pickup

Explanation? I'm a burden on the mail carriers end-of-day sorting routine. I figured out that I add 5-10 minutes. Maybe. I could do it in 30 seconds. I also figured out at the time I had spent tens of thousands in postage. Even though I'd often even carry my packages to his truck, I'm a burden. They want me to either call in daily, or take my packages directly to the PO. Smart.

Now I'm in Reno! I received the following, letter AND gift!

Now, the actual GIFT was a joke, it made me laugh, but it was the whole POINT of it all. In case you can't tell, it's a cardboard letter scale, if your letter weighs more than what slot it's in, it tips over. This sitting on top of my digital scale which anyone mailing 20 packages a day is likely to have. HA. Still, the whole EFFORT made me "Welcome to Reno". And they spelled my name right.

Hello Neighbor!?

I finally met another neighbor the other day. Exactly 7 months, 6 days and 27 minutes (where HAS Pushing Daisy's gone!?!?) since I've moved in. She didn't exactly introduce herself, she was looking for one of her little shitty dogs that roam the hood quite often. Yip yip yip. I hadn't seen him/her, but offered to look in my back yard. Do I know her name? Not really. E-something-A. Anyway, Mitch had the perfect scenario:

N: Have you seen my leetle dawg?
Me: (Lifting and looking at bottom of shoe): NOPE!