Today I Am A Man

Hello. I dropped $200 really quickly today. Sometimes I like dropping money quickly, sometimes I don't. Today was, well, so-so.

I took some time off work to get my car serviced and take care of a recall letter I got. Got twice, actually. It wasn't a bad experience, well, save for two things.

I think the dealership saw me coming.

Now, the people at my dealership are so nice. They're friendly, efficient, tell me what I need and what I don't, and I like that in a business. However, every time I go into their waiting area to, uh, wait, I sit down with a Games Magazine, and then I look up at the television hanging from the ceiling and it's tuned to Fox News. So I grab the remote and change it to MSNBC. I watch a little, I work a few puzzles, I get my car back, and I head home.

However, today when I entered the waiting area, sat down, got out my magazine, and looked up at the television hanging from the ceiling tuned to Fox News, and I reached for the remote, it was gone! They hid the remote from me! I actually got up and walked all around the waiting area, looking under newspapers and magazines, and it was nowhere to be found. Those bastards made me watch Fox News! The only way I made it through was due to a "breaking news" story where a carnival ride in Miami got stuck, leaving two people hanging in midair. I got to see them rescued.

The second thing was that the recall involved some sort of gauge on my fuel tank, and they told me right up front my car would smell like gas for a few days. And boy, were they right. My eyes watered all the way home.

On that very way home I stopped at the way-more-fun-than-it-should-be Tractor Supply Company and bought Milo a few things.

Speaking of Milo, it was a lovely day today. A little cold, but sunny, breezy, dry, and so after work I came right home and took Milo out for a walk.

By the way, in case any of my readers aren't Facebook People, I need to post a picture of my little doggie in the blog. See, a couple of weeks ago (three, I think) he got the worst haircut in the history of doggie haircuts. His whole body was shaved to the skin, and his head and tail were left completely full. It was an abomination. I later cut some on his head and tail to try and even him out, and it helped a bit, I mean, nothing could have been worse than what he had, but it was still just horrible. He's finally starting to grow out a little bit, and now I have to decide if I want to learn to cut dog hair myself or find a new dog barber.

Anyway, the night of the horrible haircut, I figured the only solution was to just cover it up. And since Milo has his own Doggie Snuggie, I decided that was the perfect way to hide his imperfections.

























I love this picture. It's the closest Milo has ever come to posing for a photo. He looks like a canine cult member.

So anyway, today was lovely, and Milo and I took a walk. I strapped him into his Easy Walk harness so he wouldn't pull too badly, and away we went.

And it was such a nice walk. On the way down the sidewalk I let him explore, sniff, stop, bark, and cavort. On the way back, I kept it more businesslike so I could get some walking time in.

But here's the thing. On the way down, while Milo was exploring and sniffing - and investigating every light pole along the route - he found one light pole he was particularly interested in. And he sniffed, and tried to pee on it. And....

Wait for it....

He lifted his leg and peed right on the pole.

Now I understand how parents feel when their kids take their first steps, or speak their first words.

And I didn't even particularly want him to start lifting his leg!

Now, I'm perfectly willing to admit that this was a move of necessity. Milo wanted to pee on the pole, but he couldn't get close enough to it by squatting. He kept moving in, moving in, then finally I think he realized the only way he was going to get to pee on that pole was to lift a leg.

So for all my men friends who were so worried about this, there you go. I told Mr M, and he was overjoyed.

Tonight our pee consisted of a squat in the front yard, but then again, there was no pole around. However, I have a light pole in my back yard, and Milo loves that pole, so we'll see what happens.

I'm waiting for Milo's voice to change now. He already has a beard.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Acrowinners, we have acrowinners! So, speaking of The Boy, why does Milo howl when he hears a clarinet?
- Honorable Mention goes to Marla (marlamarlamarla), with her "Growling Only Tells Short Tales."
- Runner-Up goes to LilyG, with her "Greatly overestimated talent, seriously terrible." Don't apologize, Lily - I have no problem admitting it myself!
- And this week's winner goes to Funafuti, with his "Gets overly truculent sans trombone." Great. Leave it to Milo to be a low brass guy.
- Thanks to all who played, you've all done very well! And thanks for hanging in after all my absences!