Morning With The Dog

This day started like it should have, at 4:30am.
Wait, scratch that, it should have started at 7:30am. So I went back to bed for three hours.

I put on a pot of coffee, checked for burglary damage, and headed up to unleash the beast - Our 40 puppy Labrador/Greyhound cross. I encouraged this ball of energy to head straight outside - I even had the door wide open for him, so he could hopefully perform his morning ablutions. But alas, he stopped in the front hall and dropped one. We use puppy pads for training, the dog, like so many men,  has no sense of aim. So I cleaned up both messes and carried on. I fed and watered the beast. Only then did he go outside.

His name is Prometheus, but I call him lugnut; mainly because he has the IQ of one. Prometheus was a Greek Titan. In Greek Mythology Prometheus gave fire to man and there on was named 'Friend of Man'. We can't do anything simply around here. We couldn't have named the dog spot or something.

I finally had my coffee and by this time Kim was up joining me. The dog of course, was not going to make morning coffee easy for either of us; he kept attacking us with an old shoe we gave him to chew on. Problem was he couldn't tell the difference between us and the shoe, we too, got chewed. After a while it was time to take Kim to work. Imagine how much fun it is to put lugnut into the crate. He whined and bit while being dragged to the infernal thing. 

After a short trip to drop off the wife I returned to find lugnut (I really should call him Prometheus, but lugnut is easier to type), sitting patiently in the crate, not making a noise. I let him out, then let him run around the back yard for a bit, before he crunched on the couch. Such a tough live he lives. The only stress he has is trying to avoid the cat (who by the way also is not named Spot - we named it Skimbleshanks, from T.S. Elliot's CATS). The dog and cat hate each other respectively. Sometimes it gets entertaining. Anyway back on track here; The dog fell asleep so I took the opportunity to close my eyes. 

But my evil side kicked in, I had an anxiety attack. Too many things on my mind and no release for them all. When things subsided I resumed my siesta. I woke up fine an hour later with the dog licking my face. My glasses were still on. Yuck. It hasn't stopped since. He's got the energy of a horse, and fucking sharp teeth - not a good combination!

So as I sit here writing this, I'm fending off attacks from either side. He's got a penchant for biting your sleeves just above your wrists, I'm covered in scars.

Anyone want a free dog?

Medication Mania

If you haven't been here for a while, well, let's face it, nobody has been here in a while, including me. Anyway, if you have been following this you'll know that I have developed Bipolar Disorder. That's the reason I haven't written for so long. At first I wrote furiously about the new challenges I was facing, about this new road I was on and so forth. Since then I've dwindled off into the twilight of the blogosphere. 

There are many reasons for this, first and foremost being the side effects from my medication. The simple fact is I can't remember the simplest things anymore. As a writer in waiting, that makes putting stories together a slight bit difficult. It drives me nuts when in the middle of a conversation I have to stop and think what word should come next. That never happened before I became more medicated than a tranquillized elephant. 

That all being said I haven't come anywhere near the computer lately, lately meaning about six months. Not a way to keep your readers happy. But I'm not happy either. There was a time where I could spit out stories about almost anything, many of them ending up here. I know I can write so dammit! why can't I put two words together now! 

I have other side effects besides loss of memory, such as constant drowsiness, hallucinations, and other I'd rather not name. They almost make the side effects worse than the disorder itself. 

One thing I do have in my favour is time. Lots of time. Not working has allowed me the time I need to write, however I have found other things to occupy my days. I have chores to do, a big lug of a puppy that needs constant attention, and now that spring is finally here, yard work. Between these I have naps. Many naps. It's hard to make it through the day without them. The puppy is just like a baby - sleep when they sleep. This is a dog who thinks it's name is "no".

My wife has a new mantra - positive spin. When bad things happen, put a positive spin on the situation. Find something, no matter how insignificant, that you can spin into a gain in your favour. This doesn't always work to change your mood but if you try it you'd be surprised. I've used this philosophy lately and find that it really does do you some good. So you see it here, I've gone on about how bad the side effects are and why I can't write as much as I used to. Then the positive spin - talking about my home time and how I can use it to my advantage. I just have to keep the philosophy in the back of my mind at all times. I have to remember that I can do this writing thing. I have to put the side effects away and just do this thing.

The hard part is turning the computer on. The easy part should be changing a white screen into black and white.