Monday, August 19, 2019

Fishing For Compliments Is Not A Good Look

What is it with these guys? They do the least littlest minuscule thing, and then DEMAND PRAISE! Like a potty-training toddler needing reinforcement for sinking a Cheerio in the toilet. A skill which, I notice, does not seem to carry over into adulthood.

I will not be held hostage for a compliment! No siree, Bob! I'm surprised they're not asking for an engraved trophy, a key to the kingdom, and a cover story in The Who's Who of Hillmomba Retirees.

Remember how Farmer H just had to have a power washer, wood stain, a gas grill, and a load of rock? All in one day? He got them on Thursday. On Friday, I returned home to see the dogs pacing nervously on the front porch. Juno's dog house was on the side porch, in the area formerly occupied by Gassy G, who was given to one of Farmer H's storage unit buddies.


The power washer is a pretty little contraption, but it's parked where Juno's dog house belongs. I don't think it would be very comfortable for her to sleep in. She will not go in her dog house in its current location. Not even when I gave her a pork steak bone around the other dogs. She normally dashes in there to dine in peace.

When I got out of T-Hoe in the garage, I could hear the motor that was making the dogs trot gingerly to meet me. As I carried my 44 oz Polar Pop Diet Coke up the steps, Farmer H turned off his power washer, and said,

"Aren't you going to say anything? Tell me how good it looks?"

Um. No. The thought never entered my mind. First of all, it was so loud that nothing I said would have been heard. Secondly, it's wooden boards I've walked on for 21 years. They've kind of lost their noticeability. Thirdly, Farmer H was playing with a toy he bought himself, which I don't think is such an amazing feat.

Did I fish for a compliment after birthing each of Farmer H's bowling-ball-headed boys without an epidural? An accomplishment which I consider somewhat more noteworthy? No. I did not.

Sweet Gummi Mary! If a pressure washer could be used on them, a toilet would be spotless after each man use.

As for the other purchases, as of Sunday night, the wood stain remains in the cans, the gravel is piled in front of the BARn. And we ate hot dogs and pork steaks off Gassy RE, the replacement grill.

In case you're in an admiring and complimenting mood, here's a pic of the back porch from Sunday morning.

Here's another view, that I prefer, with my Sweet, Sweet (molting, matted) Juno, and the always snack-ready Jack.

Oh, yeah. Way down in the corner, you can see Jack's humping buddy, Stockings the cat. I'm sure all three of them are reveling in the new-washed-ness of these porch boards.

8 comments:

Sioux Roslawski said...

Yes, those men of ours! They do something small, or buy an expensive man-toy and do a task with the toy, and the praise needs to bubble up like an endless brook.

I'm sure if you spoke to him frankly, you two could make a deal. You praise him for the tiny things he should have been doing all along (like not peeing on the floor or the rim of the toilet) and he can praise you for the self-restraint you exercise every. Single. Day.

Hillbilly Mom said...

Sioux,
I exercise so much self-restraint that you'd think I would be wasting away, from all that exercising! That is not a fair deal for me. I would never get praise equality with Farmer H.

River said...

It's a nice looking deck and even though Farmer H actually asked for a compliment, I might have said "I was waiting for you to turn off the machine so you could hear me. It's looking nice."
I think there might be a problem keeping the dogs off it when the stain goes on though. You don't want them licking that off their feet.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
He's still got the whole rest of the porch to go. This is about 1/4 of it. Maybe I can toss him a compliment when the whole project is done. He has a habit of not finishing his projects.

Farmer H has already mentioned that he will have to block off the area from the dogs. I don't know how he's going to accomplish that. Juno doesn't like change, and will likely avoid it. Jack can wiggle into almost any space, and is curious. Farmer H says it will take about 12 hours to dry. I don't know. The humidity is high this time of year.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Looks great. But when I sweep and vacuum, I get no praise. HeWho will vacuum, because it makes noise, you know. But he will not empty the container that holds the dog hair and other bits of stuff AND he will leave it plugged in and sitting in the middle of the room, like he needs to provide evidence of his work. This means that I am left to clean the vacuum, because it will be overflowing and then clean up the mess from that and put the machine away. I would just as soon do the entire task.

Hillbilly Mom said...

Kathy,
They only do the FUN part of cleaning! The running of the machines. Not the nitty-gritty, mind-numbingly boring WORK part.

I can't believe you caught HeWho with his hands in a sink full of dishes! I bet he liked watching the bubbles foam up. Too bad you had to reach into that cold foody water to pull the plug. I HATE THAT! It's kind of a not-fear phobia of mine. Something I detest, like FEET. I used to gag when I'd see my mom scraping the wet food out of her drain plug with her bare hands!!! I'll scrape my plates till the painted design comes off, rather than get food in the water.

River said...

I scrape the heck out of my plates too, I hate getting food scraps in my dishwater. If something needs soaking, I'll set it to soak a while before it's dishwashing time, then I'll empty it and scrape away the remainder of whatever it was into the bin before washing up.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
A DISHWASHER! I wouldn't know about that. But I despise wet food particles. YUCK!