Every weekend, I’ve been taking the hounds to the local park to walk a few miles on the trail. It’s a great trail, one I ride a few times a week on the bike. It’s shaded mostly, has hills, trees, critters, all kind of stuff for a dude to admire and a dog to explore.
They missed out Saturday, since I had bible study and a planning meeting. I didn’t get back until almost noon and by then it was way to hot for the dogs to be out. Last week I took a temperature reading with my IR thermometer, it was 126 degrees on the street. That’s way too hot for their paws. If you don’t walk them in the mornings, you have to wait until the sun is setting so the street cools, at least a little bit.
Needless to say, they were shot out of a cannon as soon as they got out of the truck. We had to stop, sniff, and piss on every vertical object for the first hundred yards or so.
Sunday mornings are really nice in the park, and that day was special. 85 degrees, sunny, zero humidity. When we started, the sun wasn’t all that intense. It was by the time we turned back. I can’t figure out what some of these people are thinking. First off, wearing black shorts and a black top doesn’t make you look slimmer. When the sun starts beating down, you’ll get clobbered if you are wearing black. But there they are, black dudes mostly, running in a black track suit with the hood up. That there is a recipe for sunstroke. Most of the others are wearing light colors and as little as they can get away with.
I’m not the only one out there with dogs, which is fun. These guys need to learn how to behave when walking when there’s another dog around. Mostly, they do well unless it’s a dog their size wanting to challenge them. That’s rare. Most of the dogs being walked are half these guy’s size or smaller. They have zero attention span for small dogs. It’s like they don’t exist, whether the yip-yip dog cuts loose or not. I usually run up on them from behind. These people are walking slow and their small dog is practically redlining keeping up. These two, on the other hand, lope along at a casual pace that is a fast walk for us humans.
It was an awesome morning. Warm, with a good breeze. There’s just enough open areas to walk through where you get pummeled by the sun, but you’re back in shade soon enough. Awhile back, when it was far hotter, I let them walk around in the creek. Now, it’s a thing. I have to negotiate the steep, sandy bank getting pulled by a doofus on the other end of the leash.
Winston didn’t want to get out. He dragged ass all the way back to the truck.
I bring water bottles and a foldable water bowl. Usually, I water them up at the halfway point. But today it seemed mild, so I left them in the truck so they could drink up at the end. This time, I parked near the basketball court and restrooms, as opposed to the shade in the first few spaces. Where I park depends on how others park. I can’t always fit the beast in a space. So when we got back, I grabbed the bottles and bowl and sat on a big rock in the shade while they drank. Looked up, and noticed there’s a water fountain in the shade, about 20 yards away with a build in dog water bowl.
Who knew? Now I do. That’ll come in handy when it’s super hot.
Got back home and these guys sprawled out in the AC while I handled some projects. I went in into the garage, opened the door to get some air while I worked on this pair of pliers I found and noticed the beast was looking pretty shabby. It hasn’t been washed in a minute and the door (and window) on the driver side has streaks of Winston slobber running down. So I got busy with it, checking the fluids and giving it a bath. Wasn’t using oil or trans fluid, which is nice.
It’s not trivial exercise to wash that monster. It requires a lot of up and down on a ladder. I’m noticing the paint getting thin on parts of the roof. I’ll have to deal with that sooner than later.
I’ve been thinking of getting another ride as a standby, and for longer trips that eat fuel and beat me to death. I haven’t decided to get one of those unsung super durable cars that are hidden gems, pricewise, that I see on YouTube. A Mazda CX 7 or 9 with a V6 is one of those. I’ve seen some great deals on them. But some of those gems are old man cars – Buick LaCross (or any sedan with the 3.8L V6), Lincoln LS, Even a Mercury Marquis. You know the cars – Dad can’t drive any more so we have to unload his ride no one wants. I’ve seen those Buicks for cheap (like under 5K) with under a 100K on the clock.
Don’t know if I’m ready for the full-on PawPaw thing.
A lot depends on this week and next. Rumor has it on https://www.thelayoff.com/ that my company will have a bloodbath. My boss said a reorg is coming but didn’t expect anything until the FY kickoff. That’s the week after next, and I think they’d have it done by then. Man, this shit is old. I lived through it with Lucent.
We’ll see. I’m in really good shape to weather it. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll be looking anyhow. My goal is a career change in January anyhow. If I don’t get cut loose, I’ll get a cheap ride that I can pay off with ease. I doubt a new gig will be remote.
Inspected By Pat 