Part 164 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

Ben continued to play with his chalk until I got him into the tub at 5:45pm. He was still playing when Younger got to the house at 6:10pm. He was still playing in the tub at 6:30pm when we left to Drive Miss Daisy.

The house was quiet when I got back from dropping Older at the hospital. Ben and Zeus were in Ben’s room. Very nice! I took a picture of the tiny bit of sun still visible, then I went to market. I had forgotten that I have a WallyWorld pickup scheduled for 8am Sunday morning.

Younger and I chatted a bit, but she was tired and wanted to go to her home, so she could shower, eat, and relax. She works another eight hour shift on Sunday.

I told her that she should just go ahead and go then. Person can’t deny her access to a place she has paid rent and other bills for. She has the right to be there. I feel bad for her. She’s in a difficult situation. She just got this job, the car she’s using belongs to Person’s family, Person is hot and cold, “get out now” or “it’s fine, it’s cool”. I told Younger she needs a different roommate or a tiny place of her own. Whatever happens with this relationship (I think she should end it, but it’s not my life or my call) she needs a different place to live. Home should be safe, secure place that feels comfortable.

She left around 7:30pm with hugs, love and some cash to put gas in the car. She texted to let me know she’d arrived at her place. I locked up, shut the AC off, opened the windows, straightened up and took a few pictures.

The Sun seems to be moving south faster than I expected. The landmarks are fixed but the aren’t equidistant. The power pole to the “V” space in the trees went faster than I’d expected. I think I need to move my angle slightly more south. Start using the power pole as a northern edge, rather than the palm trees. Especially since it appeares I won’t be able to catch the moment the Sun touches the “horizon” when I have to take Older to work. Ah, the problems of being a Sciencey Person…

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I ate some mini corn dogs Older had cooked, I did my night things and tried to relax. I was very tired, but still on edge from the day, Ben’s restlessness and Younger’s situation.

I took my pill at 11pm and ate a 2 pack of Reese’s, cuz peanut butter is healthy and chocolate is chocolate, duh! I konked out pretty quickly.

I still woke a few times, but went back to sleep until 6:15ish. I got up and let Zeus out of Ben’s room… yadda yadda yadda.

I did all the Stuff. Sven was grumpy and glass surfing again. I’m thinking he sees his reflection and is defending his territory against the “invader”. Makes me think of the starfish in Finding Nemo.

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We went and got Daughter from work, came home, and got past the Dogzilla monster. I got a new scratch wound courtesy of a jealous Big Dumb Dog who didn’t like that I was talking to Daughter instead of focusing all of my attention on him. Of course it bled, of course I couldn’t find a small bandage… Murphy and his cousin Sod love hanging out at Casa Cuckoo.

At 8am I was masked and wearing my shoes for the drive over to WallyWorld to pickup my grocery order. Only two things not in stock, neither were MUST HAVEs, and one substitution, an eight pound (what happened to ten pound bags? They sneak these changes in. Less product at the same price) bag of taters instead of five. An acceptable substitution. No contact, the gal put the stuff in the hatchback, and I drove home.

Several trips between the car and the front door, where Daughter took over getting the stuff in the house, all with Ben and Zeus in the way, trying to look in the bags. I sure do miss the days of quietly getting groceries and not having to negotiate an obstacle course just to get them put away.

Daughter put Ben’s Zoom School schedule on the calendar. I wanted to cry. She’s planning on staying up after work to do the first meeting tomorrow at 10am. I may have to do the second meeting at 11am. Oh, he has a half hour break between. Yeah… that’s gonna work.

She went to go sleep. She had a rough shift last night and was tired. She told me her alarm was set for 2pm. She has work tonight and then is off for four days.

Ben was playing with his chalk and eating Paw Patrol gummy snacks. I was still trying to finish my first cup of coffee, which was cold, but full of much needed caffeine. I couldn’t believe it was only 9:15am. What a busy morning!

Things slowed down after that. The 10:45 and noon med alarms were the only real markers. Ben played, snacked, and watched his tablet. I caught up on email and my WP Reader. It started feeling a little warm around noon and I thought about turning the AC on. I checked the weather Guessers app and according to their dart board, it was as hot as it was gonna get today, 83°F (28°C). There was a decent breeze too. I’m tired of the noise of the AC unit, and I’m very afraid of the upcoming bill. I can live with 83. Especially since it’s been in the mid-high 90s for weeks.

When the alarm for the 2:30 meds went off I rolled my eyes, remembering that Daughter said she set her alarm for 2pm. I gave Ben his meds, told him I was going to my room to stretch out my back and charge my phone. I told him he could come to my room with me. I planned to let Daughter sleep until 3pm.

She talked earlier about cooking the chicken breasts for Ben’s dinner and how the last time, it had gone bad and she didn’t want to waste food again. That I was to harass her, no matter how grumpy she got, and remind her to cook the chicken until she cooked it.

She walked past my room at 2:50pm, not saying anything. I still planned to harass her at 3:30pm as previously discussed. Ben was still in the living room.

I went to harassle her at 3:30pm, saw that she was eating and told her I’d give her until 4pm. She said she hadn’t forgotten. I told her I was harassing her as per our agreement. She thanked me. Darn tootin’! She needs to say those two little words more often, and more importantly, she needs to SHOW appreciation by NOT taking advantage.

Daughter cooked Ben’s chicken without me having to go bug her. I guess I could’ve just because, but that’s not me. She would’ve taken it wrong and got butthurt. I haven’t talked to Younger about sitting with Ben tonight and he’s been pretty chill anyway. I guess we’ll just plan on him riding along when I Drive Miss Daisy. I wish it was overwith already. I want to relax for real. Two hours til Drive time. Let the Pregame Show begin.

Random song that popped into my head. Maybe because “motorin” sounds real good.

Thanks for hanging out with us again. Last night and this morning were definitely the kind of Cuckoo that gives the Casa its name, thank The Flying Spaghetti Monster that things mellowed out. I’m really glad Daughter is off tomorrow night and can help navigate this first week of Zoom School. I’m pretty worn out. I feel it catching up with me. It’s physical, my mental status is still doing good, still got my Zen, surprisingly. I honestly think I owe a LOT of my mental wellbeing to all of you! Your support throughout these past 164 Adventures and all the days, weeks, months…years before has really helped me! I appreciate you awesome WP Dudes! Totally! Zoom School tomorrow… join us. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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