July 14-20, 2019

Weather | 7/14, 70°, 93° | 7/15, 70°, 89° | 7/16, 0.06" rain, 70°, 87° | 7/17, 1.60" rain, 69°, 93° | 7/18, 69°, 91° | 7/19, 77°, 93° | 7/20, 77°, 92° |

• Sunday (7/14): Six dog training classes today involving 10 dogs...very tiring. Learned that I have to work Wednesday, because the front door is being raplaced and Shane has to stay at the Petco store overnight. Mary has a bad case of poison ivy rash over her torso, so she spent the entire day soaking that with comfry tea...it's the best for her to knock it back.
• Monday (7/15): Trained 2 dogs in 2 classes at work. Learned that several employees took time off on the week of July 28-Aug 3, so I have to work 40 hours that week. Told Shane that it just means I leave Petco earlier than we agreed. He said it's only for a week. He keeps adding the hours to my schedule to where I'll have to quit so I don't lose social security. Mary mowed and mulched in the near garden, since it's supposed to be hot for several days.
• Tuesday (7/16): Misty morning, so I cut 3 sections of hardware cloth to fit on south-facing windows of the coop. Then, I replaced broken glass with acrylic in the west window of the coop and glazed both panes of that window. Now, all broken glass is replaced in the coop. We went several years with just tape and plastic repairs after chickens slammed into glass and broke windows. Still some original glass left, but more than half is now acrylic. Mary made General Tso, did cleaning, and made a shopping list. Bill called to decide who was providing what for the pizza he's going to make while he visits next week.
• Wednesday (7/17): Worked 8:00-4:30 shift. Time goes so much slower when I'm not dog training. After work, I shopped for food at Sam's Club, Walmart and Aldi. A huge thunderstorm came through right before I shopped, so the temperature dropped significantly, make shopping easier. Mary dusted Sunroom books and DVDs in the livingroom. She hugged puppies during the storm...they didn't like the thunder.
• Thursday (7/18): Had 2 dog training classes and 2 people who cancelled. Notice that I'm getting testier at work...tired of dumbshits who don't work. Mary dusted livingroom books...keeps her out of the heat that exaserbates poison ivy itches.
• Friday (7/19): Figured upcoming paychecks and determined that I need to quit Petco earlier than I thought, due to all the extra hours that I'm now getting. I'll need to end employment on August 24th, if I'm going to get my paid time off and to give me a cushion, in case Petco pays a bonus, which they unexpectingly did the last 2 quarters of this year. It means some of my dog training clients will have to finish up with Ron, or double up so they see me 2 times a week. I wrote note cards and a poster board for AKC Canine Good Citizen Class 6. Mary washed towels, shirts, cleaned up upstairs south bedroom, made tortillas and chimichangas.
• Saturday (7/20): I cut out rotten OSB board in the SE corner of the coop that raccoons have been chewing on and replaced that wood with 1/2" green treated plywood. I also added gate latches to both sides of the chicken door of the coop. These latches have a hole you can put a carabiner through to lock them...that way those damn raccoons with opposable thumbs can't open up a simple hook closing the chicken door and kill half your hens. Bill showed up around 1 pm. Mary did some cleaning and made a pistashio tort. Bill opened birthday gifts. We ate nachos in the evening and watched the Fly Boys movie, occasionally shutting off the TV when lightning was hitting nearby.