Pawprints
Posted: Mon 2 August, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Driving Leave a comment »Over the weekend (and particularly yesterday) my car was parked on the drive in full sunlight, which meant it got quite warm.
As you can see, at least one cat realised this…
Yep, muddy pawprints
I didn’t notice this ’til I’d left for work – I saw the ones on the windscreen, but not the trail all the way up the bonnet. It looks like one of those chavtastic ‘fast car’ stripes, right up the middle of the bonnet.
Bloody animals.
Weekend Timing
Posted: Sat 24 July, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Sleep - or lack thereof Leave a comment »I really wish that Hound would get the idea about weekends. I know, I know, she’s a dog, and dogs aren’t supposed to understand these concepts. But for a time-oriented and very insistent/herding animal, weekends are a real pain in the arse.
It’s my fault (of course). During the week I get up at 6.30, do all the morning things, let the chickens out, and go to work.
On a weekend, well, I went a lie-in. But Hound doesn’t care.
So by 7am she’s scratching on the door, effectively saying “You’re late! It’s time to get up and get back in the routine!”
If you tell her to sod off (or words to that effect) she’ll go and lie down for ten minutes. And it’s exactly ten minutes – you could set your clock by it.
7.10. Scratch scratch. “Sod off”
7.20 Scratch scratch. “Sod off”
7.30. Scratch scratch scratch. “Sod Off“. Scratch “You’re really really late now. And The Girls still need letting out”
7.40. Scratch scratch. “Sod Off”
7.50 Scratch scratch scratch. “Sod it“.
By now Hound’s up a height, stressed that all her routine is just ruined. “Daddy’s late, The Girls aren’t out yet, I haven’t had my pills yet, it’s just all going horribly wrong.”
Poxy fucking animals.
Public vs Private
Posted: Fri 23 July, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Driving, Norfolk, People, Thoughts, Travel 1 Comment »In my post about the mileage I’ve covered this month, Gordon pointed out
I use this invention called ‘the train’. Saves adding miles and miles to your car (cost).
And that’s a perfectly valid point. If I could, I’d use public transport – and particularly trains – a lot more. But there are some reasons why this month I couldn’t/didn’t/wouldn’t.
Among those reasons are :
- Hound
- Cost
- Convenience
- Time
- Practicality
Let’s look at just one of the journeys I did – taking Hound down to Berkshire – Wokingham, to be more precise – and compare driving to trains.
- Hound : There’s no way Hound could go on public transport without being muzzled. In the temperatures that were around when we did the journey, that’s just not going to happen – she’d be unable to pant properly or anything. She’d also be a complete pain in the arse – not just to me, but to everyone around – for the entire journey. And taking Hound through the London Underground while changing stations? You’re having a fucking laugh. In the car, she just slept in her basket, cool in the car’s air-con atmosphere.
- Cost : The cheapest I could do the journey, for a return ticket is (at the time of writing) £48.40. That’s not including getting to the station nearest home, or the cost of getting from station to kennels at the other end. (And back again) The 300 mile round trip in the car cost me about £30 – £35 (I can’t remember exactly) all in, door-to-door.
- Convenience : Again, door-to-door vs. all the fucking about of train travel, getting to station, travelling, three changes, getting from station to kennels, and back again. All while carrying dog stuff, my stuff, and the dog basket. Yeah.
- Time : Just for the train journey is four and a half hours. One way. Driving? Three hours one way. Door-to-door.
- Practicality : I’ll let you figure out which one’s best on this score. And we haven’t even touched on delays, travelling with other people, the ability to have peace and quiet while travelling, so on and so forth.
The trip to Manchester(ish) is an even better example, even if Hound’s not a factor…
- Hound : N/A
- Cost : Train (return ticket) £80.80 – best I can find. Car : £40 fuel.
- Convenience : Train ? Office to Bury St Edmunds Station. Three changes. Manchester to Oldham. Oldham to [Village]. Car? Door to Door.
- Time : Train (again, train only, one-way, not including sodding about) five hours. Car? 3 hours.
- Practicality : Car wins. Again. And I don’t need to fix everything around when the trains run.
I would use public transport more. But when you look at the factors in this way, you can see why I don’t…
Buzzy
Posted: Wed 21 July, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Norfolk, Sweary Leave a comment »I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in previous years, but in Summer our house gets a real influx of houseflies – particularly in the kitchen, but really through the place. And they drive me mad.
We can’t find a reason for them coming in – the walls have been filled with cavity-wall insulation, the kitchen units have been replaced, nothing’s dead/rotting/stinking/festering in the kitchen or house at all, and yet every year we get all these sodding flies. It’s not quite “Biblical Plague” of the buzzy little bastards, but it’s enough to drive me mental.
Hound’s not keen on them either – collies are renowned for their fly-chasing activities, so she keeps on chasing them and trying to eat them – and in that aspect I guess I must be part-collie. I use a fly-swatter rather than trying to catch the little flying shitbags in my mouth, but I admit I can get quite obsessive about it.
I don’t know what else we can do, though. Fly-paper is bloody ugly, the ultra-viole(n)t bugzappers are monstrous on power, and fly-spray’s even worse than fly-swatters- although spray doesn’t leave bug-bits on the walls/ceiling.
I think it’s just one of those things with living in the area – other people we know have similar issues here, so it’s not just our place. That’s some kind of reassurance, I suppose. Not much, though.
Mongrels, BBC3
Posted: Tue 20 July, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Creativity, Domestic Leave a comment »One of my favourite shows currently on BBC3 is a very strange and very rude comedy programme called Mongrels. It’s on tonight at 10:30 and is (in my opinion) well worth a watch. Of course, your views may vary.
For me, though, a bizarre puppet show with swearing foxes, offensive (and vain) poodles, randy streetcats and a psychotic pigeon is always going to be worth a punt. The sheer number of ideas – and the abusive nature of most of it – is awesome, and leaves both of us wondering how the hell the entire programme got made in the BBCs current super-correct hyper-non-offensive atmosphere.
Oh – and Christopher Biggins as God.
I’m so getting the DVD when it comes out in August…
Mileage
Posted: Mon 12 July, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Driving Leave a comment »Once again I’m driving tonight.
This time it’s collecting Herself from London, so it’s going to be another late one.
Still, Hound will be happy once Herself is home.
Too Damn Hot
Posted: Sun 11 July, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic Leave a comment »You know it’s too damn hot in the house when even the cat is sprawled out on the table, complaining he’s hot.
Comfortable(ish) but too hot
Mind you, he does look like an evil little git…
Glowering, evil little monster