Four Month Old Puppy Bests Valedictorian

I'm not proud. It seems that puppy Pepper has more smarts than Mrs. HM. 

Wednesday, I was coming home after our real estate closing on Bargain House. I had stopped by 10Box to pick up some big fat hot dogs that Farmer H wanted for grilling. Hot dogs, buns, waffle fries, bananas, baked beans, and some Drumsticks. Farmer H was in town moving furniture, so I had to carry the groceries in myself. 

The hot dogs were in a 20-pack, the only way I could buy the big fat kind, unless I wanted to pay $15.99 for 12 all-beef, rather than the 20 of questionable ingredients for $10.99. This pack weighed five pounds. The ten bananas felt of equal weight. Anyhoo... I had several bags draped on my arm, plus my purse, and the metal water bottle clutched in my fingers by the loop in the plastic top.

You might not think that sounds like a lot of weight to carry, but my knees let me know. I set the bananas and hot dogs on the metal chair on the side porch. No need to climb the steps with that extra weight. I also set down my water bottle right in front of me, to get the bags off my arm.

Pepper was frolicking on the side porch. He's learned not to nip at the grocery bags. He's allowed a sniff, but no mouthing. I don't think he was ever trying to eat the groceries. They were just something new to chew on, which could have turned into a surprise treat. After several trips and admonishments of "PEPPER! NO!" he has learned to leave the groceries alone.

I have not taken my water bottle with me since we got Pepper. My trips are usually short. But the signing for the house was over in Bill-Paying Town, and I knew I'd be going in the store and getting scratchers later, so I took it. I only meant to set it down momentarily while juggling the grocery bags, then pick it up again to ascend the steps.

Pepper ran over and was right away interested in that water bottle.

"PEPPER! NO!"

He'd shy away, then come back. In all, I commanded Pepper five times! On the last one, he got his mouth on my water spout. Which earned him a swat on his hip/rumpus. He darted away, looking surprised. I picked up my water bottle, giving Pepper a lecture in the style of Farmer H, reminding myself to wash the spout when I got inside. I know my words did not enlighten Pepper at all, but the tone had him looking at me quizzically. I could see his little mind working.

Once inside, I put Farmer H's drumsticks in the mini freezer in the laundry room, and the waffle fries in FRIG II's freezer. Got the buns put away, and the beans and bananas. It was a hot day, and I was thirsty. Before putting my water bottle in FRIG II to cool off before I started my ticket-scratching session, I took a swig.

Immediately, I remembered that Pepper's butt-licking tongue had been on it!

YUCK!!!

I unscrewed the top and washed it, but it was too late to put that germy genie back in the bottle. I don't know if I'll catch some horrible disease, but by evening I was coming down with something. I suspect it's Farmer H's once-presumed pneumonia cold. Not a dog malady.

When I went out the next day, I taunted the frolicking Pepper with:

"You're getting your balls cut off next month!"

Pepper did not reply.

MAYBE I Have Solved The Security Alert Mystery

It's been about a week now since I started getting security alerts from Google when I sign in to both of my blogs. I couldn't find a solution online that I thought I was capable of trying. I just resigned myself to expect the emails, delete them, and click on the security notice I got on my android phone to reply that IT WAS ME. Still, it was tiresome to do this, because I log in at least twice to both blogs every day. Sometimes more.

Anyhoo... after a couple days, I stopped getting the notice on THIS blog. Which is the one I started first, MANY years ago. The notices on my not-so-secret blog continued. Every time. Except one evening. I thought perhaps that one had stopped as well, but the next day it was happening again.

The more I thought about what was different that one night, I devised a plan. I had noticed the morning after I didn't get the security alert that I'd left my phone's email account for that blog open. Usually I toggle back and forth between the two emails, as I send my pictures from one to the other. I'm always keeping my main email as the default, since I get almost all my emails in that account. Both emails are signed into, though. I don't sign out and in each time on my phone. Just on my laptop.

Anyhoo... I decided to have the email for my not-so-secret blog open on my phone as I signed into that blog on my laptop. And I DID NOT GET A NOTICE! I've done that several times now, and I don't get the notice.

I am not brave enough to try it the opposite way, and risk getting notices when I open THIS blog again. I just make sure to have the email open on my phone for the blog I'm about to log into on my laptop. That's easier than deleting two security emails, and responding to security alerts on my phone.

Maybe in a week or so, I'll go back to only having my regular email open on my phone, and try signing into both blogs on my laptop. It could be a problem that gets repaired by Google/Blogger. Or something with the android platform that gets fixed with an update.

The Non-Malicious Honker

Let the record show that Mrs. HM is not shy about using T-Hoe's horn to exhibit her displeasure with other drivers. To let them know that they are NOT fooling Mrs. HM, though they may indeed be breaking the law without legal consequences.

That was not the case on Monday. I was not beset with road rage. I was worried about safety. A possibly a bit about avoiding an inconvenience.

First I must give you a visual. It's an old picture, with old traffic. But it shows the scene of the loosely-defined crime. It's the intersection I travel daily. In this view, I am coming from 10Box. On the right is the Liquor Store parking lot entrance. On the left is Dairy Queen's mowed lawn. And straight across, on the right with the red trim, is the Gas Station Chicken Store.

On Monday, I was driving in the right lane here, coming from 10Box. I was going through the intersection, to get to the Gas Station Chicken Store. All three lights were green: the left turn arrow, the straight across arrow, and the right turn arrow. I was cruising along, but something was in my way.

There was a maroon SUV in the middle of the intersection. Stopped. It was straddling what would have been this white line in the picture. About where that red truck is, but not all the way in my lane. I assume it was planning to make a left turn. I had no idea what it was waiting for. I wanted to get past it, rather than get stuck when the light turned red, and sit for two minutes.

I honked, and went around the red SUV, straight across. I honked so the driver would know I was passing by, and not to start driving across and sideswipe me. Horns can be used for that too, you know! As a safety warning.

I could see in my mirror that it kept sitting there. It was blocking traffic trying to make a left turn, and would be blocking the traffic wanting to go straight across in front of the gas station chicken store when their light turned green.

The red SUV was still sitting there when I went into the GSCS. But not when I came out. I got in T-Hoe and wrote on the back of my scratchers. Then went out the back alley, and came down to the intersection again, to make a right turn and go home.

As I turned right, I saw that same red SUV coming out of the side road by Dairy Queen. Traffic was held up by somebody letting her out. It was a gray-haired woman driver. This put her in the traffic lane that had to make a right turn, heading back towards 10Box, the way she had come from when she stopped in the middle of the intersection.

I was driving, so I couldn't watch. I have a sneaking suspicion she went straight through, cutting off cars that were in the straight-through lane. I wonder if she was not a local person, and lost. Or if she was just suddenly confused about where she was.

Roll On, Sharp Two-Wheeler, Roll On

The Pony got out Wednesday morning and put that new old-fashioned lawnmower to use. Starting with the front yard. It was a warm day, even at 7:00 a.m. There were several water breaks. A blister was formed in what The Pony called, "My thumb crotch."

I'm sure the neighbors will come to appreciate the rolling mower, what with the 7:00 a.m. mowing time. That will be better than waiting until later in the day, especially as summer comes along with its high humidity and higher temps.

Farmer H won't mind giving up this lawn. Though he will be mowing two houses away for the new flip house anyway. He says The Pony's back yard is not bad, because it's a big square until you get down by the house. But the front yard is difficult to maneuver his riding mower. Sometimes he assigns this (paid) task to Old Buddy, his helper with flip projects. Not sure if Old Buddy uses the rider, or a push mower.

If the sidebar stuff doesn't cover it up, you can see the difference in the mowed section, and the upper unmowed section.

This is the front corner, where the city finally cut that little tree out of the ditch in front, which was by that electric pole.

The Pony also mowed along the front sidewalk:

That fluffy section was saved for later. It's hard to mow with the rolling push mower, because the ground is uneven, with little depressions where the wheels get stuck. 

The Pony says the mower is everything that was hoped for. The back yard will have to wait until after the next day's forecast of rain.

I'll Tell You What Else Is Annoying

Since Wednesday, I have been getting emails and alerts from Google every time I sign into my not-so-secret blog! That is uncalled-for! I do not need a security alert telling me I have signed in. I am allowed to have more than one account, you know. I'm accessing it on the same laptop I have used for over five years. Yet it says my Windows account has been signed into from a new device.

What can I blame for this? 

HIPPIE has a glitch sometimes that stops my internet. It still works for my phone. But not for HIPPIE, nor for my new laptop that I used for preparing my taxes last month. It hadn't happened in a while, but I believe it was Wednesday when it did again, and lasted more than the usual one exact hour. But it was less than two hours.

I always shut down HIPPIE before my town trip. Then turn him on again later in the evening. This time, HIPPIE went through the blue screen thing wanting me to set up my laptop. Like it does when you have a new device. He's done this on occasion over the past several years. I never know why. It hasn't caused these notices before.

MY PHONE wouldn't work on Wednesday morning at 6:00 when I tried to call The Pony. It looked like it was working. It let me go into the contacts and make the call. But there was no sound of ringing. And when I tried to send a text, it wouldn't go. So I did a re-start, which took about 10 minutes. Then I received a text from The Pony. And was able to call. The phone had said it was updating apps as it was coming back on.

Now I don't know which device is the culprit for these alerts. They come from Google, the no-reply emails, so I suppose they're legitimate and not phishing. They come to both this blog's email address, and the one for my not-so-secret blog. I do NOT get notices when I sign into THIS blog. 

Oh, and I get that little hourglass kind of symbol on my phone, telling me it's a Google Security Alert, and to click if the sign-in was me. Which I do. Or to click another button if I do not recognize the sign-in, and want to lock my account. Which I do not. I do not go into anything else to give any info or change any settings.

It's not that big a deal to delete two emails, and click on one button. Just annoying.

Very annoying.

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NOW, seven hours after I wrote that, I'm getting security notices when I sign in to THIS blog, too. I hope this new pain in my rumpus goes away soon!

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The Pony Gets Charged

The Pony's car battery was dead. Deader than dead. Not merely dead. Really most sincerely dead. It was probably several days that the passenger door had been incompletely closed from when The Pony last carried in groceries.

Farmer H left home in a fit of pique to drive to town and jump the battery. Muttering that he'd have to find some jumper cables. AS IF he doesn't carry them in SilverRedO, as he's carried jumper cables in his vehicle ever since I met him 39 years ago. Of course I warned The Pony of his mood.

When Farmer H wasn't back within 90 minutes, I called The Pony to see if there was an issue.

"Dad left about 10 minutes ago. He was mad when he got here, but just kind of grumpy when he left. We got it jumped, and drove it around for a while. It would have been fine if he'd listened to me. I TOLD him it was all the way dead. But he jumped it, and then said it was okay and I could turn it off. But it was dead again. After he let it go longer, then we drove around for it to charge up. He was trying to say it was the alternator gone bad at first, not the battery. I'm supposed to let it run for a half hour in the driveway. I have a timer so I remember to shut it off."

Farmer H came home and went to bed.

The next morning, Farmer H acted like nothing happened. Like he was not a big ol' meany for NO REASON, and so begrudging to assist his own blood family when a need arises.

"The Pony is going to the pharmacy over in Sis-Town around 9:00 when they open. Then getting gas on the way home, hoping the car will still start after gas."

"If it starts at all this morning. If the battery was all the way dead, I'll have to get a new one. I guess I could do that on my way home tonight. Better not shut it off at the pharmacy! And it's okay to leave the car running when pumping gas."

"WHAT? It won't explode? I was always taught to turn off the engine when getting gas. I'm pretty sure there used to be signs saying so!"

"People used to let their cars idle all the time when they got gas. It'll be fine."

I passed that info on to The Pony during a wake-up call at 7:00. Turns out The Pony decided not to get gas, but went on home after picking up meds at the drive-thru. It seems like the battery is charged now. Thanks to a hateful begrudging Farmer H!

Apparently, The Nice-Guy Do-Gooder Act Is Only For Strangers And Buddies

If you need any favors or rescuing, you are out of luck if you're related to Farmer H. His cheery helpfulness is not available for family members.

Friday evening, I was concluding a call with The Pony about our flip house, when The Pony said, 

"Oh, could Dad come by in the morning and jump my car? The battery is dead. I got in to go pick up prescriptions, and it wouldn't start. I guess it happened when you dropped me off that one day, and I walked by my car and shut the door that hadn't been closed all the way. I haven't been in it since then. I guess the light drained the battery. Can you give me a call when he leaves, so I'll be up and ready to start the car?"

"Yes, if my phone works. But he usually leaves here around 6:00."

I called to Farmer H, who had just carried his own laundry from the dryer to the living room.

"No wonder it's dead. He don't ever drive that car. It's not at all convenient in the morning."

"I'll call back and see."

"NO IT AIN'T ALL ABOUT ME!"

"Why are you yelling at me! That's not even what I said! "I'LL CALL BACK AND SEE."

"DON'T YOU YELL AT ME!"

"I'm yelling because you can't hear me if I don't! You make things up, and then get mad at me for no reason. The Pony was going to pick up medicine. I don't know if it should wait until you have time on Monday."

"I'll go now!"

Farmer H stormed out the door as I was waiting for The Pony to answer the phone.

"Dad just left. He's coming to do it now. He said tomorrow morning is not at all convenient for him."

"Ask if-- oh, you said he already left. I was going to say he could do it on his way home tomorrow, instead of in the morning."

"Well. He's on his way now. And he's not in a good mood. Just so you know."

"Okay. Now I feel bad."

The Pony's not the only one. 

That stupid SUS2.5 and making HIS money seems to be the only thing Farmer H cares about lately.