From 2 dogs to only 1

From 2 dogs to only 1

Dharma is still struggling after losing her buddy last week. She’s stuck to me like a glue ball. Although she will sometimes lie down without touching me, she has me in her sight 100% of the time.

She still looks for Gracie each time she goes outside. She still stops to smell her bed even though I cleaned it with bleach and a water hose. She looks so sad…

Dharma misses Gracie

But it is getting better!

It’s been at LEAST 6 months since we’ve had a full night’s sleep — until last night. Gracie would typically wake up about 3:00 AM and stir for a more comfortable position. That would always wake up Dharma who then whined to go outside. With nothing to wake up Dharma, she slept the entire night through. That translated to 8.5 hours of me snoozing last night.

I have mixed feelings about upping the puppy count around here again. I know Dharma would love the company, but I’m just not sure I’m ready.

it’s just so very quiet…

it’s just so very quiet…

It’s true you can be sad and relieved at the same time. That’s how I feel. No more panting and struggling to breathe, sweet Gracie made her way to the rainbow bridge yesterday.

Along with old age, Gracie developed laryngeal paralysis. Basically, the flaps of her larynx stopped working properly and she panted to breathe. Not just panting — this was sucking in air sounds so loud you couldn’t hear TV in the same room. Of course, the more labored the breathing, the more scared she would get which made her try even harder to get air.

Her mobility was also declining rapidly — generalized paralysis is just part of the path of this particular health problem. The last couple days were rough and it was obviously time.

Not sure how old Gracie was when we got her, but she was part of our family for more than a decade. I miss her loudness and her neediness — but am relieved she’s not struggling. She sure was a good ole’ soul.

Sweet Gracie
a day in the life of… ME

a day in the life of… ME

Today was not an ordinary Monday. We all have crazy days, right? I had one today and sure hope this isn’t a sign for what the rest of my week is going to be like.

It all started with a text from Metronet letting me know they would arrive in 15-minutes. I figured that was plenty of time to let Gracie and Dharma out before the action started.

But… that’s WHEN the action started. Two tiny birds had gotten into the patio room (someone left the door open). Dharma had one dead in half a second. The other was frantically banging into windows to get free while Dharma chomped and I screamed. That’s when the doorbell rang.

Then… no Internet for hours. My Apple watch continued to send warning notifications — your front door camera has lost connection… your back door camera has lost connection! Alexa was pissed and kept telling me she couldn’t connect and Mr. Google was whining in the other room about his connection.

Then, we had gymnastics…

Colette at gymnastics.

While there, a little girl got hurt — and then another. One was a toe and the other was full-on drama. While that was going on a very nice lady sat beside me and now I know everything about her family, her dead husband, and her battle with Lupus.

By 8:00 PM ET I was done! I unplugged from life and took a nap on the couch. Of course, now it’s almost midnight and I have the big-eye. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! 🙂

bad service is profitable

bad service is profitable

If true, there are a few companies making a profit from me. My current complaint is Metronet. I’m about |-| close to the “breakpoint.” If you’re playing along at home, that’s corporate jargon used to define how far customers can be pushed before their heads explode.

Did you know that some companies equip call centers with software that analyzes a caller’s tone of voice and pace of speech to determine how upset the person is? And… did you know MANY companies crunch data and use artificial intelligence to determine exactly how angry a customer has to be before they bail? Oh… and they push right to that point.

We wonder why customers are so oftentimes rude, right? Well, maybe that’s because customers are being conditioned to feel the only way to get what they pay for is to demand it.

Take me for example — I found out today that although I’ve paid Metronet for 1000Mbps service for almost THREE YEARS, the equipment they installed for me isn’t even capable of providing that! The second I mentioned switching back to Xfinity, (who also has pathetic customer service), my charges were prorated and techs will be here Monday to install new equipment.

In the meantime, my download speed is a whopping 1.85 (when it should be at least 800). Gracie’s is patiently waiting… but I’m not.

Gracie is patient
last day of school tomorrow

last day of school tomorrow

The last school day before summer vacation for Coco is tomorrow, but that didn’t stop us from having at least 30 days of classroom activities here today (based upon the number of lunches served). As Principal S, I recognized Mrs. A, of classroom C, as teacher of the week.

Mrs. Brown, (aka Dharma) the gym teacher, and Mrs. Blonde, (aka Gracie), the music teacher, received no outstanding accolades. Mr. X, (Ben), the “lunch man” and Mr. P, (Perry), school counselor, retained their teaching positions for next year that probably begins tomorrow.

Mrs. A is a favorite teacher

The last day of school back in MY DAY (said in my very best old lady voice) was sure different. That was ‘lecture day’ basically… the one where Mom would go through the dreaded summer rules about not sleeping in and not to be thinking it was going to be all fun and games just because there wasn’t school. 🙂