All the Rabbits are Slow in Doggie Heaven

I went for a car ride today… All by myself… Don’t worry, I’m not gonna sing for ya’… Who’s got that song stuck in their head now???

My dad had to carry me down the steps and help me into the car… I can still walk, but it hurts and I can’t go far… I get tired…

I got the whole back car seat to myself… My brothers stayed home… They will take good care of you, dad… We doggie talked about it…

Dad, and, our friend, Vicky took me to see the doc… They were very nice there and gave me a blanket to lay on…

I was so relaxed I fell asleep in with my head in my dad’s lap…                               

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Wow!!! I feel like I can run again… It doesn’t hurt… I’m running off the leash… Dad is still sitting with my head in his lap… What is this place??? Lots of dogs here… some cats here… I’ll try to ignore them…  

I feel like I’m almost flying… Ha, dad used to joke that is was time for me to fly when he would pick me up out of the RV or to carry me down the apartment steps…

Hey, I wonder who those guys are running towards me… I think I’ve seen pictures of one… Hey wait, I played with the other one a few times when I was little… Ha, almost knocked dad out cold, one time…

Sniff… Snifff… Snifff… “Hi, Riley, I’m Jack… This is Buddy… He told me you two already met a long time ago”… Sniffff, Snifffff…

Wow, yeah it was a long time ago… I’m sure we all sniffed a lot of butts between then and now… I heard a lot about you, Jack… Did you know I was coming here today???

“Yes, your dad told us… Said to make sure we met you at the bridge and showed you around… You took good care of him through a lot of adventures… He wants us to take good care of you… We will all see him again some day.”

Showed me around where??? Where are we???

Buddy, never one to wait to speak, screamed… “YOU’RE IN DOGGIE HEAVEN, RILEY!!!”

Doggie Heaven???

“Yeah, it’s great here… We all can run as fast as ever… No one’s legs hurt… No one ever gets sick… This place is great!!!”

Is he telling the truth, Jack??? My legs feel great now… They will never hurt again???

“He’s telling the truth, Riley… No more pain, run all you like…”

“See, I told you… And even better… All the rabbits are slow in Doggie Heaven…”

Really, we get to chase slow rabbits??? That’s cool…

“Let’s go chase some now…”

Hey, wait… Sniff, Snifff, Sniffff…

You smell that??? I ain’t wasting my time chasing slow rabbits… It’s FIFI… SHE’S IN HEAT AGAIN!!!!

It’s not just my legs that work good again… 

Thoroughly Thoreau

In a Facebook status posted earlier today…

The boys and I have been living "Off the Grid" for more than a year... But as we sit in the grip of the Idaho winter and the even colder weather to come... Plans have been made to move into an apartment next week... Details to be announced next week following the move... 

My question... Is this an admission to "getting soft" in my old age??? Luckily, they have pills for that...

Yes, it is for “The Boys”… Riley for sure… And as I have said many times previously, all decisions are based on what’s best for them… Riley’s get up and go hasn’t got up and gone yet… And as long as there’s still a light in his eyes and I can manage his pain with meds… He’ll get the best life I can give him… 

The other two as well, but they are doing fine… And we will be “Off the Grid” again…

One thing to consider/to remember is… Less is more… Don’t fill the apartment with too many things that I don’t need… Things I will have to get rid of when winter is over and it is time to go off grid again…

Whether that is this coming summer or we wait to just head south prior to next winter remains to be seen… And I am already looking forward to it… We’ve learned a lot about this life in the last year… This break gives us some time to make some upgrades and repairs to the RV… So we’ll be ready to head into the next round of off grid adventure with a better plan… And thoroughly Thoreau…

Happy trails to you… Until I write again… Help me get my readership up... Please share the link to my blog... 

Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness

Well… Trying to put the random thoughts running through my consciousness into any sensible order is proving quite difficult… So this blog, while sure to be entertaining… May prove to be a very difficult read…

Expanding upon some recent Facebook status updates… The friend’s list trim is complete for now… Though I stand as ready to point and click as I do to point and shoot… hopefully you do as well… Sadly, it’s coming to our shores… Invited and imported… If you are reading this and you voted for Obama… You voted for it to happen here… Proving you weren’t racist was more important to you… Hell, we know you're not racist... One of you never fails to remind everyone your wife is half black... 

“Free Healthcare” was more important to you and now you are surprised to find out it isn’t “Free”…

Sadly, many of the ones cut from the friends list will never admit to being fooled… I guess you just can’t give up feeling smarter than everyone else after taking 6 years to complete community college…  Please just once give me something to respect about you… Just once admit the idiots you blindly vote for are criminals…

I won’t hold my breath waiting for it… This time you’ll vote for Bernie because you want something for free… Or you’ll vote turn a blind eye to Hillary’s criminal behavior and a deaf ear to her lies and pull the lever… Massaging your conscience by saying something stupid like… “I vote straight line American Workers Party”…

How's that been working out for you anyway??? Some of you are living in the ghetto... Some of you are still home with mom and dad... They must be so proud... 

Yeah, whatever makes you feel better…

Moving down the list of subjects I made to touch on today…

Plans for the future…

Well… Who knows what the future holds come springtime… Could be nuclear war…

But hoping for the best… The boys and I will be heading to the mountains somewhere… Washington, Oregon, Colorado or California for obvious reasons… Maybe as a camp host on BLM or Forestry Service land… Or maybe just as a long term off the grid camper…

There are numerous options… I’m not going to list them here… I kind of like people not knowing where the fuck I am… Hell, there’s plenty of times I have no idea where I am… Why the fuck should anyone else know???

While we are doing okay for now living in town… It’s not a big town… It’s much better living far from everyone…

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Henry David Thoreau

Ready, willing and able to defend our right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness… We are stocking up on more than candy bars to take camping with us… ‘nuff said…

Doing everything possible to keep Riley as healthy, happy, strong and with us on our adventures as long as possible…

The boys and what’s best for them continue to be the basis for most of my decisions… I wouldn’t want it any other way…

The blessings continue for us daily… Sometimes simple and small… Sometimes much bigger… Being mindful of my thoughts to manifest good… Aware and grateful for even the simplest good that comes our way… Opportunities, my job, friends, an extended hand, a simple smile and a pleasant conversation… Appreciating it all…

Gratitude is my god and religion… Practice and celebrate Thanksgiving daily…

Time for dinner… 

Insights and Observations…

Now more than two months into working the other side of the customer service fence… I won’t say which side I think is greener… But I would like to share some Insights and Observations…

If you call me to reserve a room and you are constantly repeating any info I give you back to your wife, while seeking her OK and answering her questions… HAND HER THE FUCKING PHONE!!!

If you call me and constantly ask me to repeat everything I say… TURN YOUR GODDAMN TV DOWN WHILE YOU ARE ON THE PHONE!!!

I understand I might be the only friendly voice you have spoken to all day… BUT it doesn’t mean I don’t have other people to talk to… Like the line of people standing at the front desk waiting for me to finish your phone call… It’s not time for one more question… It’s not time for chit chat about the ballgame or anything else… It’s time to finish the call…

While the rude ones have made me aware of my own behavior and more patient with service… I felt the need to vent the frustration caused by the stupid ones… It feels good to unload…

Thought this was going to be longer and who knows… I will probably encounter even stupider ones and have to add them to this list… But for now… Happy Tails to you… Until I write, again… Goodnight…

Only the Lonely...

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Henry David Thoreau

I came across this link a few days ago and it started me thinking… Yes, the gears were grinding and noisy… http://therelaxedmind.com/the-truth-about-loneliness/

I realized it was because I haven’t taken the time lately to oil them… I wasn’t “lonely” in the mountains on my way back to Idaho Falls… Just the dogs and me…

Many places without a cell phone signal or internet connection… Time to think… Time to write… Time to be with me… Time to be grateful… Time to listen… No distractions… No bustle… No hustle… No place to be and all day to already be there… Never lonely…

Yes, there were the daily chores of living… Caring for myself and the boys… But there was never a rush… Though Simon always seems to be in a rush to eat… We never ate “alone”…

I took the time daily… To think… To be grateful… To listen… To write… And though the only human contact I had for 8 weeks was when stopping for fuel… I was never lonely…

^“ …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want…” Php4:11-12

What I realized after reading the article referenced above is… Now that I am in “town” virtually surrounded by people comparatively speaking… I do feel alone…

The distractions of life too easily eating away at the time to think… To listen… To feel… There’s deadlines, work schedules and trips to the gym that all need to be fit in around the daily chores of living… All the while surrounded by people all doing the same thing… All going the nowhere at the same break neck speed… All of them alone…

Not realizing the need to slow down… None of them truly connecting to each other… None of them realizing the need to connect with themselves first… Too busy to think about it… Too busy to listen to the “small quiet voice” inside them trying desperately to be heard… It screams… “Slow down!!! Shut up!!! Listen!!!” All of them alone while surrounded by life…

While always trying to remember to be grateful… I realized I had gotten out of the habit of writing a list of gratitude’s first thing each day… Something I started doing each day while in the mountains… Sometimes many, sometimes only a few… It slowed me down and made me stop to remember how blessed I am… I wrote a new list today…

Off from work until 11 pm tomorrow night… I am taking the time to reconnect again with myself… With the boys and the universe… To think… To listen… To feel…  And while I will be here, in Idaho Falls, for a while… Research is being done and plans are being made to again… Create a life I don’t need a vacation from…

For those who may be wondering… As far as comedy goes… I have no desire to integrate into a local comedy scene anywhere… See my statement above concerning feeling alone while being surrounded by people…

Occasional road comedy or no comedy is fine with me… I’ll be working at the hotel for now... Doing some media and voice over work… Writing this blog and maybe a podcast from the forest sometime next year…

And for those who need to get away there will always be a seat beside my camp fire…

Well… It’s time to sit and listen again today… So… Happy Trails to you… Until I write again… 

Looking Back, Looking Back, Looking Back... (Sung to the tune of Welcome Back, Kotter)

So... Looking back...

2003 to 2010... She couldn't find a job or hold any she did manage to find in the Rochester/Williamson N.Y. area... Somehow that was my fault...

2010 to 2013... She couldn't find a job or hold the ONE she did find in the Idaho Falls area... Somehow that and the 50 pounds she gained in 10 yrs was my fault, too...

Funny... I found a job immediately in California and kept it 7 months until it was time to move...

Funny... I lost 25 pounds cooking for myself... Walking everyday and not drinking a half gallon of gin every week to stand living with her...

Even funnier... I have been back in Idaho Falls less than a month... Found a job ON THE WAY here... Found TWO MORE since getting here... Found them today…

Yes, I have three part time jobs and turned another one down... Couldn't be happier... Freedom will do that to you... Yep, that's my fault, too...

Be careful what you believe... Or she'll have you believing she really was a joy to live with... And that... That will be your own fault... I warned you... ‪#‎irony

A Full Moon Mindful...

Had a very interesting day yesterday and I’m doing my best to be “mindful” of the synchronicities and positive manifestations when they happen…

Dropped a resume off for another part time gig as a bartender… Private Club… While conversing with the manager he noticed “standup comedian” on my resume… As the conversation shifted to... “Would you be interested in doing a show here sometime after October???”

In the Navy we called… 2.5 knowledge, as the ability to recognize the right answer…

“Let me grab a promo pack out of my truck.”

So yeah, I’d be real interested… Stay tuned…

It is “Grand Opening” weekend for the new owner at The Cellar restaurant… A wine tasting had the place full last night… So we were busy… Worked hard… But had fun… Really enjoyed talking to all the people… Even told a few jokes… Had a few laughs and came “home” happy to a beautiful full moon and my three wonderful boys…

As the boys and I walked in the moonlight I really was aware that Idaho isn’t such a bad place… I’ve certainly been to worse… It’s beautiful here… Pondering on that as we finished our walk… I sat on the farm house steps and remembered actually liking it here the first 4 months I was here in 2010…

I was ALONE in an apartment my first 4 months here in 2010… September thru December… I was making friends and enjoyed my work…

What brought about the change after that???

I was working straight days at INL the first 4 months I was here and though the days were still long… They weren’t shift work death sentence long…

Yes, moving to a house that wasn’t a “home” in a Mormon “Stepford” subdivision played a role also… But there had to be more reasons than that… Hell, I am enjoying it here now… The Mormons haven’t gone anywhere… They’re still here…

I’m mindful now of the “house that wasn’t a home” key… And the fact that shortly after moving to “Stepford” I began working the 14hr death sentence shift work schedule at INL…

“Neighbors” repeatedly knocking on my door within 5 minutes of my arrival home while working that schedule certainly didn’t help make it feel like home… 

It wasn’t coincidence… Once is coincidence… It’s a deliberate attack after that… Especially when the sign said I wasn’t interested… I’m still NOT interested… 

Never will be…

My idea of a “home” is that of a sanctuary… Somewhere safe… Somewhere I can escape to… I couldn’t escape the doorbell and my only escape inside the “house that wasn’t a home”... Was the half gallon of gin I was drinking each week…

I shared an apartment with my three dogs here for more than a year after escaping “Stepford”… But the 14hr death sentence shift work schedule I was still working, never made it feel like a real home… It was a place to nap before going back to work…

I was ALONE in an apartment my first 4 months here in 2010… September thru December… I’m ALONE here and sharing a 27ft RV, in need of work, with my three dogs now… It’s not a palace… But it’s a sanctuary… It’s happy and it IS a HOME!!! The dogs and I are on the same team… I’m mindful and aware of that…

Yes, this blog is followed… I have been unable to figure out how to block that… 

But this is my story to tell… If people wanted me to write warmly about them... They should have behaved better… Word of warning and not just to the ex… There are others… Don’t make me go into detail… I’m mindful and thankful that you’ve made me stronger…

I’m making new friends again and enjoying my work… I don’t have to explain shit to anyone… I only have to understand it all myself… Mindfulness… 

Thankfulness...

Thankful for the mindfulness… Thankful for the people who have helped…

Mindful of the peacefulness… Happy to be here…