August 25-31, 2019

Weather | 8/25, 0.27" rain, 60°, 83° | 8/26, 1.24" rain, 65°, 74° | 8/27, 61°, 79° | 8/28, 54°, 79° | 8/29, 0.13" rain, 62°, 83° | 8/30, 61°, 70° | 8/31, 56°, 67° |

• Sunday (8/25): A mist started settling down when I fed hens/chicks, so it's an indoor day. Bill called. He plans to visit us in 2 weeks. Mary sliced up a pork loin we bought at HyVee for $1.59/pound. It made for 6 meals that she froze. Churchill is back to having a bleeding nose. We were busy into the night cleaning up bloody messes. 
• Monday (8/26): I get my paid time off from Petco paid to me on a credit card that was first issued to me when I started employment. I quit using the card after my first pay, because I immediately went to direct deposit into my bank account, but I still have that card. Checked and there's no money in that card, so I texted Shane asking him if Matthew, the new manager at Petco in Quincy, needs to do something. Shane says he needs to inform corporate of my end of employment, then I see that PTO money in a few days. He said he will call Matthew and help him with what he needs to do. I thanked Shane. Plan on using part of that money for a trip to MT sometime in September (can't determine exact time until I get paid). Calculated trip cost with an overnight at a Watertown, SD hotel and using the Cadillac...little over $500 for 2-way trip. I burned the rest of boxes and bags that were in the machine shed that we didn't burn a couple months ago. Bill told us he will visit us Sept. 6-8. The pigtail for the Cadillac's mass airflow connection came in today's mail. Picked 1 large worm using the UV flashlight and saw a sphinx moth, what the worms turn into, fly out of the pepper plants. It was the size of a small bird with glowing red eyes.
• Tuesday (8/27): Knocked down some weeds in the chicken yard. Some of them are 8-foot high giant ragweed that have stalks over an inch in diameter. The saw blade on the weed whacker takes them down, but it's going to be awhile getting this mess completely cut and hauled away. Mary picked 2 grocery bags of green beans. She then chopped and processed those and all of the beans she already picked that were in the fridge...made 40 servings of beans that she froze.
• Wednesday (8/28): Checked online and my Petco credit card was paid yesterday afternoon, so I texted Mom to let her know I'm good to go on a visit to Montana. Decided to leave here on Sept. 10th, get into Circle, MT on the 11th, then leave Circle on Sept. 17th, and get back home on the 18th. Mom is happy with that. Made reservations at The Traveler Inn in Watertown, SD for Sept. 10th and 17th. Also, set in motion a transfer of money from that stupid card to our checking account. I mowed the trail around Frog Pond, and then moved a wheelbarrow-load of downed weeds from the chicken yard and piled them on top of a patch of sericea lespedeza (hover & click previous link), a bad weed as outlined by the Missouri Department of Conservation. It's taking over several of our fields. Mary mowed the lawn around where we build fires. I built a fire and we ate 2 pieces, each, of pork loin, grilled over the fire, along with large bowls of cucumber salad. It was amazingly delicious. We watched the stars appear and stayed next to the fire until 10:30.
• Thursday (8/29): Looked at the online Petco paystub location and realized that my final paycheck and my PTO payout was put on that credit card in 1 final payment. Checked online in our checking account and the money transfer took place. We had a thunderstorm storm midday. Mary made tortillas, and then we ate chimichangas for our main meal. Watched 2 movies, London has Fallen, and The Proposal.
• Friday (8/30): I wheelbarrowed 7 loads of weeds out of the chicken yard. After squeezing these loads of weeds through the gate of the chain-link gate, it came off its hinges. I discovered the top hinge was installed upside down, so I turned it around and slightly raised both hinges, lifting the gate above the grass and weeds. I'm trying to get weeds removed from the chicken yard, so I can let chicks out in the north section of the yard. They're getting big. Looks like we have buff orpingtons, silver laced Wyandottes, and austra whites as breeds in our chicks. We have 1 orpington and maybe a Wyandotte that's a hen. An austra white is a cross between an australorp and a white leghorn. They're white with gray spots. One I call Don Quixote, because he always runs alongside my boots and pecks at them, then raises a stink and tries to attack the bag as I pour chick grit into a small ceramic bowl. Mary made 4 loaves of bread. She picked 2 grocery bags of beans. Didn't find any worms in the tomatoes tonight.
• Saturday (8/31): Went to Quincy to buy apples at Edgewood Orchard, which opened for the season, today. Stopped at Menard's for lettering for our mailbox and Repel bug spray, 1 of our favorite summertime scents. Got a peck of Gala apples. Bought chicken and cat food at Farm & Home, and groceries at Aldi, then went home. I removed the mailbox from the post at the end of our lane. Ate nachos and watched a BBC Sherlock show. No worms tonight in the garden.

August 18-24, 2019

Weather | 8/18, 0.03" rain, 67°, 83° | 8/19, 67°, 89° | 8/20, 1.11" rain, 67°,79 ° | 8/21, 0.17" rain, 68°, 79° | 8/22, 0.06" rain, 67°, 79° | 8/23, 57°, 79° | 8/24, 56°, 75° |

• Sunday (8/18): The 2 dogs in my 11 am class, Lucy, a great dane, and Drogo, a pitbull, passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test in 15 minutes. They are both great dogs and their pet parents are dedicated to improving their lives.
  
  My 3:30 pm class, Benny, a mastiff, graduated out of Level I dog training. Tony, who owns Benny, asked to take a photo of me with Benny. He's very friendly.
  
  I spent time with the new dog trainer, Kisha (pronounced kiss-sha), on how to sell dog training and what to expect from other employees once she becomes a certified trainer. I'm letting her have my index cards and the posters I use for the classes. The main computer locked up, so Emily had to call technical help in order to finish closeout for the day. Bought a couple Subway sandwiches, because Mary was late at getting to fixing dinner. Mary did cleaning and finished cross stitching a Christmas ornament.
• Monday (8/19): Finished training Rabbit, a horrible boxer/great dane mix. Glad to be done with that dog. Also, finished with a CGC test for Leia, a pointer/lab mix, and Ellie, a white golden doodle. It was the first day for the new manager, Matthew Brown. He lives just north of Canton, MO, so pretty close to Quincy. He worked for 22 years at Walgreen Drug. They wouldn't advance him beyond store manager, so moved on. He thinks Walgreen's will be a future nationwide company to go out of business. He figured out a future schedule and some of the employees are already pissed that they will have to close...they are such a pack of children. I bought a UV flashlight from Petco that's sold to see pet urine inside the home. A black light can be used to see horn worms on tomato plants at night. An online search indicated that a black light is a form of UV lighting. Tried it once I got home and easily spotted 3 worms when Mary didn't see any in daylight. They glow fluorescent green. Mary cleaned the cook stove.
• Tuesday (8/20): Didn't do squat. Woke to thunderstorm and it rained all morning. Picked close to 20 worms off tomato plants. Watched Life as a House and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
• Wednesday (8/21): Sort of another lazy day. Updated checkbook register. Ordered a pigtail for the mass airflow connector that plugs into the air filter housing of the Cadillac. I also ordered a pair of boots for Mary, since her current boots are cracking. Picked 23 worms off tomato plants. Mary gets most of them during the day, then we go out with the UV flashlight after dark and get any remaining worms. They are so easy to see with that light.
• Thursday (8/22): Worked my last day at Petco. Niki, with her black labradoodle, Ruby, didn't show, again. She bought dog training on 11/2/18 and still can't finish. I'm so glad to be done with idiots like her. She was supposed to show at 2pm. Texted me at 3:30 with apologies for forgetting. I texted back asking when she wanted to do dog training, today. She texted at 6pm that she wasn't going to make it. I texted back that Ron will call her to line up a day and time to arrange for her to go through the CGC test. Left a note and paperwork on Ron's locker in the break room. Missy expounded to me on how Matthew, the new boss, wasn't scheduling anyone correctly. My response, "I don't care." Then she said I cared about her and I said, "Not really." It's nice to not have to listen to self-important little-minded Petco employees. Got home around 10:30pm...late, like it always is working at Petco, ate a chicken dinner and had a celebratory brandy and Coke. Got 9 worms from the garden. Mary picked a grocery bag of cucumbers and 2/3 bag of green beans.
• Friday (8/23): Goofed around a lot online. Updated Facebook stuff. Added a bunch of items to my random To Do list. Found recipes for autumn olive wine. Pulled 6 worms out of the garden. Picked half a bag of green beans and same amount of cucumbers. Offered Bill all of the hops flowers growing at the NW corner of the house. He said yes. Mary washed clothes and figured up a shopping list for tomorrow.
• Saturday (8/24): Chatted a little while with Karen via Facebook Messenger. Shopped in Quincy. I bought a new mouse at Staples to use with my laptop, since an older 1 works only part of the time. I also bought a soldering gun at Menards. Also, got an LED light bulb at Menards for our living room pendant light fixture that's 5000K light spectrum, 4060 lumens, 33 watts, and 300 watt incandescent equivalent. It's a vast improvement over the CFL light it replaced. Found a funny movie in Walmart for $5 and bought a bunch of food. After getting home, unloaded, did chores, and picked 4 worms off tomatoes. Watched Paul, the movie we bought today. Liked it so much, we watched it twice. Then, checked tomatoes for worms with the UV flashlight and didn't find any.

August 11-17, 2019

Weather | 8/11, 68°, 83° | 8/12, 0.28" rain, 73°, 89° | 8/13, 73°, 83° | 8/14, 61°, 81° | 8/15, 59°, 83° | 8/16, 64°, 84° | 8/17, 0.72" rain, 65°, 81° |

• Sunday (8/4): Only trained 3 dogs in 2 classes. Finished up 1 little piece of junk called Suki, which I finished up by doing 2 sessions in 1 hour. It pooped in the middle of the main aisle. Some of these little excuses for dogs are just untrainable. Before work, I checked at Staples for my laptop. It's not in, yet, just as I suspected. The receipt says it will be in the store on 8/15/19, but the sales person said it would be in today. He didn't know what he was talking about. Mary baked 4 loaves of bread.
• Monday (8/12): After I went to work, Mary walked out with the 3 dogs and heard a ding, ding noise of a car when keys are left in the ignition switch, then noticed a car. It was a census worker trying to figure out addresses. She told Mary that addressing is a mess in our neighborhood. Later, Mary walked down the lane with a shovel to scoop dog poop and get mail, when she met the moron that lives in the trailer across the gravel from us with a little kid at the rain gauge, which is 2/3 of the way up our quarter-mile lane and within sight of our house. She asked him what he needed. He claimed he was chasing a dog. She asked where it went and he said it ran home. The thing is, they don't own a dog. She told him she was glad she put our three dogs away prior to him walking up the lane with his little boy. She left it at that, letting him dream up big-toothed dogs, rather than our cream puffs. She escorted him down the lane. She says she doesn't trust this guy. If I ever see him on our lane, I'll give him a piece of my mind. These dumb asses who work at the dairy think all land belongs to the dairy. At work, I trained 3 dogs in 2 classes, all with second-to-the-last classes.
• Tuesday (8/13): A do-nothing day. I spent a lot of time online. Katie called. She's in the same Alaska village she was in earlier this summer. She got a new SIM card for your phone, so she can use GCI service. From Wednesday through Sunday, she worked 42 hours, and then almost 24 hours through Monday and Tuesday. She's doing roofs. They are trying to wrap up exterior construction by mid-September, then they will work on interior tasks into December. She's going to camp in the Grand Canyon when she gets back from her first 6 weeks of work.
• Wednesday (8/14): Got an email that my new laptop came into the Staples store in Quincy, so Mary and I went to Quincy, picked it up, and got some groceries. Got home and did chores. My Dell laptop works wonderfully. Windows 10 is so much faster. 
• Thursday (8/15): Trained 1 dog...went through dry run of the CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test. Ruby, a labradoodle, passed 9 of the 10 test items with flying colors, but was a growling, jumping mess with Item 8, Politely Greeting Another Dog. We try again next week. The new dog trainer was doing training on the computer in the break room. I laugh, because she's an over-the-top bubbly and happy person. Sour puss, Ron, the other dog trainer, is really going to love her. She has a sense of humor. Her father is the retired head of criminal investigation for the Quincy Police Department. Her mother would never answer her cell phone, so she downloaded an app on her mother's phone. Then she called her mother while she was shopping and the ring tone said, "Hello! This is your local drug dealer." Her mother immediately answered her phone. It was the first day of school in Quincy. Sales at Petco were at rock bottom. Mary mowed. She saw a great crested flycatcher in the willow tree.
• Friday (8/16): There was a dead chick on the floor of the coop when I first entered this morning. I think it died while sleeping. Checked my paycheck amount and figured year-to-date gross pay versus what I predicted and I figured correctly. Should have $800 to spare and be shy of the total I can make and still get social security. Mary mowed and mulched into the far garden. I weedwhacked the electric fence of the near garden and where Mary can't mow, due to garden plants growing too close together. Weed growth under the electric fence was fierce, so it took about 2 hours.
• Saturday (8/17): Had a thunderstorm in the early morning hours. I'm beat tired, so I took an afternoon nap. We watched 2 movies.

August 4-10, 2019

Weather | 8/4, 60°, 85° | 8/5, 67°, 86° | 8/6, 64°, 85° | 8/7, 64°, 83° | 8/8, 67°, 85° | 8/9, 63°, 83° | 8/10, 62°, 87° |

• Sunday (8/4): Had 4 dogs in 3 dog training classes. My first client with a noon appointment missed because she started taking a bath at 10, fell asleep in the bathtub, and woke at 12:30 to tell me she wasn't coming in...what a nitwit! I graduated 2 dogs who passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. Shane, my boss, was in Quincy. He investigated Bill Fawcett's texts to women employees...5 received inappropriate texts from him and one was a photo of his private parts. Shane asked for written statements from all 5 employees. Brandon, another employee, came in looking white as a ghost...stomach problems. Shane sent him home, so we were short-staffed. Emily and I closed the store. Shane emailed the new store manager, Matthew Brown, and his boss, Rob, to tell them that my last day of work will be Thursday, August 22. He told me after I end employment, Petco pays me unused PTO (paid time off) on the credit card issued to me when I first started employment. I texted Mary to see if we still have that card. She found it in the safe. Mary mowed and mulched.
• Monday (8/5): Trained 3 dogs in 3 classes, doing 2 classes in 1 hour for each dog so I get them all done before I quit Petco. Originally, I had 2 dogs in a 6 pm class, but that's when Shane needed to talk to Bill Fawcett, so we changed that class. I gave pet parents the options of 4 or 7pm...1 picked 4 and the other picked 7. Molly showed up just before 6. Shane called Bill into the office and 20 minutes later, Bill left. Shane said it went well...that Bill denied he did anything wrong, saying his texts were consensual both ways. Kind of an argument that doesn't hold water, since 1 of the employees he texted, Becca, our grooming salon leader, is gay. Shane suspended Bill, pending investigations. Emily and I closed, again. Since Bill always worked 6-9 pm on weekdays, I'll close on Wednesday, instead of opening, like originally planned. Mary mowed and mulched. Texted Katie prior to bedtime. At that moment, she was boarding a plane in Seattle destined for Anchorage.
• Tuesday (8/6): Mary and I did absolutely nothing, since we were both extremely tired. We watched 2 movies...My Big Fat Greek Wedding I & II. We're lifting Churchill up so he can walk with an oversized beach towel. He's very heavy to lift. He can't make it up after laying down, since his hind legs are weak. Chicks are growing very fast. Blackberries are done. It's now too dry. The Quincy newspaper reported that area farmers saw too much rain, preventing planting, followed by dry conditions, preventing new plants to grow...feast or famine on rain here.
• Wednesday (8/7): Lazy morning. Mary saw a Blue Grosbeak. After identifying its song, I know I've been hearing that bird all summer. Worked 4:30-9:30. Mary mowed. Molly told me that Bill Fawcett was officially fired today. His wife visited Petco, asking what happened. Missy told her none of us know. Bill's wife said Bill told her an employee goofed up on a sale and Bill texted the woman to make sure everything was okay. Not exactly the truth. Later, Bill was texting Molly, perturbed about what any employees might have said. Ron said he will take over training Alaska, the white husky, whose pet parents skipped so many classes. Mary mowed, quitting early, due to too much poison ivy at the edges of the lawn and pathways.
• Thursday (8/8): Had 1 pet parent cancel, which is no surprise, because she always cancels. She attended 1 class through all of July. Told her that if she doesn't finish with me, she can finish dog training with Ron, because my last day with Petco is August 22nd. Finished training her mother's dog, Hershey, a Pomeranian, an untrainable dog that took a shit in the middle of the store after she told me the dog is doing great at potty training. Glad to be done with that one. Shane was at Quincy. He hired a new dog trainer, a woman, who Ron (the other dog trainer) disliked immediately. Shane changed photos on the wall of managers and let me have my photo. Closed the store with Emily, who was bitching how nobody does their job. Two weeks from today, I won't have to hear that complaint, again.
• Friday (8/9): Mary and I went to Quincy and had new tires put on the Cadillac at Sam's Club. The tire repairman checked the valve stem of the tire that was always deflating and said it was fine...thought my problem was with a poor tire. New tires provide a smoother ride. Most importantly, my driver's side front tire stays inflated. Bought a new Dell laptop from Staples. It isn't in stock, but will be there on Sunday, when I'll pick it up prior to work. Bought 12 books and 9 DVDs at the Quincy book store. Also, picked up food items at Aldi and 2 new chicken waterers at Farm & Home. Went through our books after we got home and did chores.
• Saturday (8/10): Lazy morning. I sharpened Mary's mower blade, then I drove to the Fastlane gas station, near Taylor, MO, and bought three 5-gallon cans of gas, 2 gallons of 91-octane gas for weed whacker and chainsaw, and filled the Cadillac. The gas station's credit card internet line was down. People were getting cash out of the ATM machine. I tried, but it charged $3 extra to get cash, so I declined. After 20 minutes, they entered my information manually and I left. We watched the movie Bewitched. 

July 28-August 3, 2019

Weather | 7/28, 69°, 86° | 7/29, 0.32" rain, 67°, 83° | 7/30, 61°, 83° | 7/31, 60°, 81° | 8/1, 61°, 80° | 8/2, 57°, 83° | 8/3, 64°, 83° |

• Sunday (7/28): Two of the 10 dogs in my 6 classes didn't show. Had business up until the final minutes of closing. Mary defrosted the biggest freezer and filled it back up. She also picked blackberries. Bill's car wouldn't go beyond 10 mph, so he had to call in to his work to let them know he won't be there tomorrow morning. I got a refund from Lowe's for the freezer I ordered yesterday.
• Monday (7/29): Called McKenzie Auto in Lewistown. They can check Bill's car at noon and suggested disconnecting the battery for 20 minutes to clear the code preventing the car to go above 10 mph. It didn't work, so I followed Bill in the Cadillac and we drove to Lewistown at about 7 mph...sped up to 20 mph going down hills and crept up hills at 4-5 mph. I bought 2 bulbs and a receptacle for the tail lights of the Buick and installed the 2 bulbs when I got back. Bill got a call at 11:30 that a critter chewed a wire in his car that they fixed. I went to work and Mary drove Bill to McKenzie Auto after that. He left for St. Louis at 1:30. I had 1 client sick and another quit permanently, because she's too busy helping her dad get into assisted living, selling his house, and handling his belongings. Trained 1 dog through 2 classes. Mary picked blackberries.
• Tuesday (7/30): Both Mary and I picked blackberries. I installed hardware cloth on 2 more windows and replaced a rotten sill on the last south-facing window of the chicken coop with 2 pieces of cedar. I then installed hardware cloth on that window. Now, all coop windows are covered with hardware cloth. Mary harvested comfrey to dry.
• Wednesday (7/31): Mary helped me clean the coop. We estimated it would take 2 hours...we were so wrong. Dried spring mud, mixed with manure, hay, and oyster shells meant for extremely hard layers to scrap off the floor. It took us 6 hours. We installed the wall to create 2 rooms...1 for the chicks and 1 for our hens & rooster. Mary moved new hay into the coop while I stapled bags on the top half of the wall. I then installed the heat lamp and put in chick feeders and chick grit. We're now ready for chicks, which, according to an email, shipped from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO, today. Katie called. She's getting everything put together for her new job. She ended employment at her old job last week. She will have a friend visit her home and feed her cats. Her dogs will be boarded. She's in Florida this weekend for drill. She flies out early Monday morning for AK. Her new job is 6 weeks on, followed by 2 weeks off.
• Thursday (8/1): Had 3 dogs in 3 dog training classes at work. Closed and have to open in the morning, so I bought Subway food and brought it home, in order to eat, bathe, and get to bed.
• Friday (8/2): The chicks arrived on schedule..27 of them (we ordered 25, but they always add a couple). Mary got a call at 7:10 am, just 5 minutes after I left for work, from a cranky postal worker, who said in a loud voice, "Come get your chicks!" Mary said the chicks jumped out of the box they came in when she opened it up in the coop. They immediately lined up to drink water. They're the liveliest we've ever received. Mary also picked blackberries and figured a shopping list for me. I just had a boring day at work.
• Saturday (8/3): I opened the store for a second day in a row. Had to scramble, since Vetco, our visiting veterinarian service, ran from 9:00 to 10:30 am. Learned that Bill Fawcett, 1 of my fellow employees, sent an inappropriate text to a customer. Rob, our district manager in St. Louis, was asking Emily about him. He's a good worker, but you just don't look up a customer's phone number and text "Hey, babe" to her. He's married with kids, too. Emily said he's done the same thing with female employees who work at Petco. I shopped after work. Sam's Club was having a 1-day sale and had Michelin tires on sale for $130 off, if you buy 4 tires, so I bought some for the Cadillac, since I have a right front tire that deflates to about 14 psi every time I drive it. Mary mowed and mulched in the near garden.