Illogical advertising irritates me

Maybe the illogic of some advertising doesn't bother other people, but it bothers me.  I find myself distracted from the message or turned against the advertiser.

Now I don't mean deliberate illogic or fantasy.  I'm pretty sure there isn't a real Kebbler elf, or a Direct TV football fairy.  What bothers me is the presentation of a situation as realistic, that really isn't.

I don't know how many of these may be local ads. If you haven't heard of these, my apologies.

There are the Titan Auto Insurance television commercials.  There is a Titan bobble-head on the car dashboard.  If the driver has never heard of Titan Insurance, how did the bobble-head get into the car?

There is a Lasik radio ad (probably local) where a man and a woman are discussing Lasik as if he has never heard anything about it.  She has had the procedure and tells him all about it.  He even asks her about the cost.  Then he asks if they can afford it.  Sure, we can.  It now appears this is husband and wife.  So why doesn't he know anything about her surgery?

There is the billboard that advertises "Faster ER wait times".  Now how do they accomplish that?  Is there  a time distortion field in the waiting room?  Shouldn't someone who makes a living off words realized that the wait times are "Shorter", not "Faster"?

My latest irritant is a radio commercial for a baby sitter verification service.  The kids brag to Mom that the baby sitter let them watch the blocked channels.

Now - from the kids voices, they were old enough to know better than to squeal to Mom.  They know they will never get to watch blocked channels again if Mom doesn't hire this particular baby sitter.

And who gave the baby sitter the code for the parental controls?  Mom, that's who.  So who is really responsible for this transgression.  Yep, Mom. 

I have a friend who has had his fill of Flo from Progressive and the Geico gecko.  I like both of these advertising icons.  So I guess what irritates one person charms another.

But these irritate the crap out of me.

My dogs and I

A friend gave me a gift card to PetSmart for my birthday, saying "I know your dogs are your life."

I was flattered, and the gift was awesome.  Especially since I needed pill pockets for Peanut's daily medication.

And yes, my dogs are very important to me. In case you haven't visited before, I have two dogs; a 10-year old shepherd/schnauzer mix and a 3 year old shepherd/dane mix.  They are my family, my constant companions.  Until I thought about it, I didn't realize how much my life revolved around them.

We have a family vet, an orthopedic vet, and a cardiology vet.  I'm not sure it's a good thing when the people at the veterinary office recognize your voice on the phone.

I make sunrise trips to the grocery store in the summer so they can ride along before it gets too warm.  I even split up my grocery trips so I can take them both on Saturday and Sunday.  And somehow they know which days are ride along days.  They hang their heads out of the window and Angel drools all over the side of the car.

I make a quick trip home from work to change for the gym because I want to ensure they are okay.  And I want them to know that I am okay, before I leave them alone again.  I talk to them as if they can understand, and I think that some of what I say they do understand.

These are shedding dogs, so there is dog hair everywhere, regardless of how often I brush them.  No one visits my house, or rides in my car, without being warned about the hair.  You wear black at my house at your own risk.

I buy way too many treats and chews, both to reward them for good behavior and to keep them entertained while I am away at work, or trying to work at home.  There are toys and chews scattered all over the house and yard.  Walking around the house in the dark can be a challenge.

There is a loveseat facing the upstairs window looking out over our street so Peanut can watch out over her kingdom in comfort.  The loveseat is covered with the latest in fluffy comforters because Angel ate the stuffing out of both the loveseat and the previous comforter.    My sister keeps me supplied with comforters picked up at thrift shops.

The king-sized bed should have room for all three of us. Peanut curls up daintily taking up very little room.  Angel sprawls out on her side with her legs spread across the bed. I generally end up scrunched against the head board.  I wake up to a soft damp nose in my face and two dogs eager to be petted.

And I love it.

I have roof.

I spent almost all day Monday listening to the dogs bark at the roofers and the roofers hammering above my head.

And it was heavenly. 

That night it was windy and rainy.  Not that I got any of that rain.  But the nice part was, I didn't mind if I did.

Because I have roof.

The degree of relief I felt once I had a completed roof surprised me.  I hadn't realized how tense I got every time it got windy, or whenever it got cloudy.

Now I don't have to worry about the tarp blowing off.  I don't have to worry about rain damaging the structural integrity of the roof.  I don't have to worry. 

Because I have roof.

Peanut is doing great.

Well, we had our cardiology appointment last week and the vet said she has congestive heart failure.  This killed my father, so I knew the diagnosis was serious.

However, she didn't have a heart attack.  The vet believes it was something called syncope, a type of fainting.  I didn't see her lose consciousness, but maybe it was very brief.

The congestive heart failure is a worsening of the heart enlargement and arrhythmia.  Heart disease is a progressive condition.   The vet refused to quantify her life expectancy, but I read on-line that it averages about 6 months.  There are exceptions, of course.  And he put her on a new medication that supposedly doubles that.

Anyway, she is now on three pills twice a day and one pill three times a day.  One of the pills comes in a large, chewable pill. Which, of course, she won't eat without it being wrapped in a pill pocket.  I can combine some of the pills, but we are still going through 4 or 5 pill pockets a day. 

The very good news is, she is doing so much better I can hardly believe it.  She is eating again.  She is running down the stairs again.  She is anxious to go for walks.  Although I still try not to let her over exert. 

She is even starting to boss Angel around.  I never expected to be glad to hear Peanut snarl at Angel. 

For however long it lasts, I am grateful to have my princess back.

Did my dog just have a heart attack?

I was watching TV with Peanut, my 10-year-old shepherd mix, laying on the floor at my feet.  She jumped up suddenly and seemed agitated, turning a couple circles like she was going to throw up.  She sat down as I reached for her to comfort her and kind of hunched over.  Which is a normal puking position. 

She stood up abruptly, her legs buckled and straightened one at a time, making her totter and struggle to get her footing.  Then she collapsed to the floor. 

I wanted to freak out but tried to stay calm.  I laid down on the floor, shooed Angel away, and held Peanut until her breathing slowed down.  I looked into her eyes trying to decide if her pupils should be that large.  Were the pupils blown?  Had she suffered a brain trauma?  Then she sighed and  laid her head on my arm.  I laid on the floor for about 20 minutes just petting her. 

Angel lay near us on the floor, but not touching either of us. Which is very unusual.  Angel likes to be in contact with the members of her pack.

I was quite relieved then Peanut moved first one front leg, then the other to lay across my arm next to her nose.  I was terrified to find out if she could stand on her own or not. 

After a bit, the floor got too hard.  I stood and picked her up, giving her no opportunity to stand.  I put her on the couch. positioned her across my lap, and petted her more.  

Angel came up gently onto the couch and laid next to her, not bumping, pushing, or laying on Peanut.

After about 20 minutes, it was time to go upstairs to bed.  I was quite relieved when Peanut jumped down off the couch on her own and was steady on her legs.

Still, I am concerned.  She has an enlarged heart and arrhythmia.  Did she have a heart attack?  A stroke?  Is this a harbinger  of the end of my beloved princess? 

We already had a cardiology appointment scheduled for today.  I hope he has some answers.

Storm damage

I was just starting to watch Torchwood Saturday night at about 5:45, when the dogs started to freak.  I kept hearing something ting against the window.  So I stepped outside and it was hailing!  And hitting the windows under an 8 foot patio cover.  Very strange. 

I went back inside and sat on the couch between the dogs to comfort then and watched the hail.  I saw the wind pick up and the patio furniture start to slide across the concrete.  One chair tipped over and slid several feet.  The glass patio table stayed upright, thankfully. And nothing came through the picture window.

The wind started blowing right through the doggy door, the magnet clattering as the flap swayed back and forth, twigs and leaves scattering across the tile floor.  Then the acacia came crashing down from south to north.  It missed the patio cover, but lay across the grass, which I was glad I had just cut.  No idea why that mattered, but it seemed like it would be a while before I would have the chance again.

The worst is over I thought.  But the wind picked up ferociously.  I heard loud noises, but nothing definable.  Then suddenly, the wind was gone. 

I went outside and checked out the tree.  Completely laid over, but the roots aren’t exposed.  I have no idea whether it can be stood back up, and whether it would survive. 

I walked to the west side of the house and saw the double gate was wide open.  Fortunately, the hasp was fine, the unlatched lock had given way.  There were pieces of roof tile laying on the ground.  I walked out front and saw more tile in the yard and on the driveway.  I looked up at the roof from the driveway and it seemed fine. 

I returned to the back yard and noticed a section of asphalt roofing from the patio cover laying in the garden.  It was crushing my flowers, so tossed it onto the rocks and looked up to see where it had come from. 

The roof.  The tile roof.  It was a shambles.  Tile was tipped up on end instead of laying flat. 

I hurried inside to call the insurance company and file a claim.  The adjuster would call me in one or two business days.  What was I to do until then?  Was the roof leaking?  Well no, it’s not raining.  I hung up with a number to call if I needed more information.

I went back outside.  Terri hollered at me from over the fence.  They had lost 2 large evergreens and some tile and wondered if I was okay.  They have flat tile and although some was disturbed, their roof was in much better condition than mine. Although part of one tree is now laying in their pool.

My tile is the humped kind.  The wind got right under it and lifted it off the roof.  I looked more closely and could see some of the flashing sticking up and some of the wood lathing where the tile is attached.  The western corner piece dangled precariously.  Ron, who does construction, advised me to get someone out to tarp the roof before it rained.

So I called the insurance company back and got the numbers of a couple places that do emergency work. I called at 6:40.  They got here at 8.  It started raining at 7:15.  I haven’t had any appreciable rain since April.  The day I lose my roof it rains.

The guys spent 2 hours tarping the roof.  The first 20 minutes it was pouring down rain.  I stood outside and watched.  The next hour the wind was blowing in intermittent gusts, grabbing  the tarp and flapping it.  At one point the step ladder on the patio cover roof fell over while they were both on the main roof.  I climbed up, righted it and held it for quite a while as it shuddered in the wind.

Later, the wind seemed to have died down and I was concerned about the dogs, so I climbed back down to check on them.  I hadn’t yet climbed back up when a gust of wind toppled the stepladder off the roof onto the ground.

While they were working, although it was dark, I noticed the chinaberry tree looked odd.  I went over to examine it, got a flash light and reexamined it.  Major branches had split. After splitting, one fell onto another branch and broke it.  It is horrible mangled.

That disturbed me more than anything so far.  I am sicker about the trees than I am about the house.  A house can be repaired.  Trees die.

As I was standing outside listening to the guys working on the roof, I looked up and saw the beautiful full moon and listened to the frogs croak in a nearby pond.  It was peaceful and soothing and I am grateful that the damage was as limited as it was.

Dish towel hierarchy

Is it weird that I  have a dish towel hierarchy?

There are four stages, progressing from cleanest to dirtiest.  The progression occurs when one of the dirtier towels needs to be replaced.

A clean one goes from the drawer to hang on a rack next to the kitchen window.  This gets used for wiping clean dishes or gets laid on the counter under wet dishes so they can air dry.

The next stage is hand towel.  I use the hand towels to dry my hands and wipe water off the kitchen counter. These towels are hung on a rack in front of the sink.

Progression to washer towel comes by many methods.  Sometimes, my hands or counter aren't just wet, but are damp from spilled tea, strawberry juice, or the like.  Other times, I grab the first towel handy to wipe a sweaty brow.  In these cases, the towel is moved to the top of  the washer.. 

A laundry towel is one that goes directly into the washer for the next laundry day.  A washer towel becomes a laundry towel if I use it to wipe off algae splashed from bird bath water or wet grass that is sticking to my legs, to wipe water off the floor, or to dry off a wet dog,.

Weird?  Maybe.  Useful?  Definitely.