It's been so long...
Lets see if I can recap recent significant events in my life.
Brian had a birthday on Thursday (Happy birthday, Brian)... and we went to the Dave Matthews Band concert on Friday... we had a nice birthday potluck on Saturday night... and that was our weekend. But in other news...
Last Tuesday, Jackson was attacked by a stray dog!! We were taking our normal evening walk when out of nowhere a stray dog ran up and attacked Jackson and bit him on the back several times! I screamed at the dog and tried to chase it away but it wouldn't back down. Eventually Jackson slipped out of his collar and leash and snapped back at it, causing it to pause for a moment. I grabbed Jackson and we darted up the hill. It followed us for a short distance but then stayed put.
The dog in question looked like a Chow mix. It was a solid sandy color, with a dark colored mouth. It had a ragged blue collar on, but no tags, and it smelled horrible and was visibly filthy and emaciated. It had thick, mucus-like drool running from its mouth.
I got Jackson home and we gave him a bath, because in the few seconds that the stray dog had its mouth on him, he reeked to high heaven. While we were giving him a bath we found the bites; he had two puncture wounds on his back so we had to take him to the vet for a reboost of his rabies shot.
Then, to make matters worse, this happened. I called Worcester Animal Control to report the stray, and they asked if Jackson was licensed in Worcester. When I said no, they told me I had to go to City Hall that day and license him. I looked the fees up online and it didn't seem so bad; $8 per year for a neutered male. I went down to City Hall and told them I needed to register my dog. While the clerk was getting the form, I saw a sign that said that the licensing year runs from April 1 to March 31st... which irritated me because I knew I'd have to pay again in a few months.. but THEN below that on the sign it said that if you're paying after May 31st, you owe a $15 LATE FEE for the year!! So that would be $28 for less than a year... THEN the clerk asked me how old my dog was. When I told her he was 6, she said I'd have to pay for all of the years he wasn't registered!!! In all it turned out to be 47 freekin dollars to get him licensed... and I'll have to pay again in March. Bah! Stupid bureaucratic fees. It's not like the City of Worcester has provided any kind of service to Jackson since we've lived here. If there was a dog park or something that they operated out of the fees collected from licensing, then I'd be more tolerant. Anyway...
My gladiolus flowers are finally blooming! I cut some yesterday and brought them in to work today. I just took pictures with my cell phone, so they're not that great, but you get the idea. I grew all of the ones in this bouquet except for the dark purple, the hot pink, and the maroon one (we had some store-bought glads at home already and then someone brought Brian some for his birthday, so he wanted me to take a few of the store-bought ones to work too). The exciting thing is that this is only the first few... I probably have at least 8 times this many that haven't bloomed yet. Yay glads!!
Brian had a birthday on Thursday (Happy birthday, Brian)... and we went to the Dave Matthews Band concert on Friday... we had a nice birthday potluck on Saturday night... and that was our weekend. But in other news...
Last Tuesday, Jackson was attacked by a stray dog!! We were taking our normal evening walk when out of nowhere a stray dog ran up and attacked Jackson and bit him on the back several times! I screamed at the dog and tried to chase it away but it wouldn't back down. Eventually Jackson slipped out of his collar and leash and snapped back at it, causing it to pause for a moment. I grabbed Jackson and we darted up the hill. It followed us for a short distance but then stayed put.
The dog in question looked like a Chow mix. It was a solid sandy color, with a dark colored mouth. It had a ragged blue collar on, but no tags, and it smelled horrible and was visibly filthy and emaciated. It had thick, mucus-like drool running from its mouth.
I got Jackson home and we gave him a bath, because in the few seconds that the stray dog had its mouth on him, he reeked to high heaven. While we were giving him a bath we found the bites; he had two puncture wounds on his back so we had to take him to the vet for a reboost of his rabies shot.
Then, to make matters worse, this happened. I called Worcester Animal Control to report the stray, and they asked if Jackson was licensed in Worcester. When I said no, they told me I had to go to City Hall that day and license him. I looked the fees up online and it didn't seem so bad; $8 per year for a neutered male. I went down to City Hall and told them I needed to register my dog. While the clerk was getting the form, I saw a sign that said that the licensing year runs from April 1 to March 31st... which irritated me because I knew I'd have to pay again in a few months.. but THEN below that on the sign it said that if you're paying after May 31st, you owe a $15 LATE FEE for the year!! So that would be $28 for less than a year... THEN the clerk asked me how old my dog was. When I told her he was 6, she said I'd have to pay for all of the years he wasn't registered!!! In all it turned out to be 47 freekin dollars to get him licensed... and I'll have to pay again in March. Bah! Stupid bureaucratic fees. It's not like the City of Worcester has provided any kind of service to Jackson since we've lived here. If there was a dog park or something that they operated out of the fees collected from licensing, then I'd be more tolerant. Anyway...
My gladiolus flowers are finally blooming! I cut some yesterday and brought them in to work today. I just took pictures with my cell phone, so they're not that great, but you get the idea. I grew all of the ones in this bouquet except for the dark purple, the hot pink, and the maroon one (we had some store-bought glads at home already and then someone brought Brian some for his birthday, so he wanted me to take a few of the store-bought ones to work too). The exciting thing is that this is only the first few... I probably have at least 8 times this many that haven't bloomed yet. Yay glads!!