Part 219 ~ 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.

The Adventures has a new banner, thanks to Rory (https://aguycalledbloke.blog) who commissioned the banner and Lisa (https://lismorepaper.com) who did the artwork! Isn’t it cool?

After we parted last night, Ben ate his chicken had his bath and went to bed. I picked up ALL the stuff again, and took pictures for Science. Clouds had been coming in all day and sunset was really pretty.

Back to the Science part… I’ve been standing in the same spot to take the “main” comparison photos. They need to be taken from the same place to get an accurate view of how the Sun is setting farther south each day. Well now the Sun is blocked from regular spot by a structure and the pecan tree in my yard, and the apartment building next door. I’ve been working from different spots along the side of the house, but I’m afraid I haven’t found THE spot yet. Winter Solstice is in December so I have some time, but I’m going to be seriously bummed if I’m not able to see where the Sun sets on that day. For my Project, I want both the farthest northern point AND the farthest southern.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Then I did the usual Things and Stuff, but I did them out of order cuz I’m a rebel like that. I went to sleep around midnight.

Ben got under the blankets with me around 4:45am. He was actually pretty gentle for Ben. He Bounced, but only a little Bounce and it didn’t nearly launch me into orbit, or even out of bed. He curled up next to me, spoon style and didn’t say anything for a little while. Zeus had gone outside immediately, before the ear sniffing… shocking! He must’ve had a Serious potty emergency to go outside before checking on me! He soon joined me and Ben, and sniffed properly.

Ben finally woke up, warmed up, or had his own potty emergency cuz he said those three (or four) magic words “Gramma, come livingroom.” As soon as I said okay he ran off. Another Casa Cuckoo day, started before 5am.

We hung out in the couch for the first hour. He’d taken care of his potty emergency and grabbed a couch blanket and was burrowed under it. I activated the coffee Dragon, checked the sky for Venus, which may have been there but since it was completely overcast, I couldn’t tell, then gave Zeus a scoop of kibble and sank into the dent in the Couch Sittin Spot. Ben ate Blue Ramen and Oreos, and surfed his tablet, and I stared into space, possibly drooling.

Around 6am I got up to uncover Sven and do the things. He was awake and started going straight to his food dish. I got the hint and got him fresh greens. There was one worm and four blueberries leftover, those went on top of the fresh greens along with two new worms. I wound up having to help The Mighty Sven, great hunter that he isn’t, catch a worm by moving the greens in his dish. He got one right away, then kept missing. He looked up at me like I should fix it again. I told him he was on his own, eating greens was good for him and if that’s all he could get, then that’s all he got. Poor Sven.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Daughter got up at 8am and took over the dent. I asked how she was feeling and she said a little better, but still not great. She said “It doesn’t matter, I have to go in tonight.” I told her that No, she didn’t have to go. I told her how I’d been thinking about the “American Work Ethic”, and decided it was crap. People shouldn’t have their healthcare or lack of, based on their jobs. People shouldn’t “suck it up, buttercup” and work when they’re sick, especially sick with “COVID-like symptoms”, especially in healthcare or food prep or service… jobs where an illness could be spread. She doesn’t work in an office. And it doesn’t matter, she should not base her decision on anything except if she feels well enough to take care of patients for twelve hours. I told her if she’s out of paid time off (PTO) then we’d figure out the financial, but it shouldn’t influence her decision. If she pushes herself, she could wind up sicker, missing more time and worse, jeopardizing her health. Lecture over, for now… I got down off my soap box, got more coffee and went to get Horizontal.

I worked through my WP Reader and comments and miraculously stayed awake. Ben joining me probably helped keep me awake, as did the flies! Why are there flies in my house all of the sudden?! Very annoying! Ben watched his tablet, sans earbuds so I got the full experience. Bless his heart, thinking of me like that. At least it was Ladybug and Cat Noir and not Peppa Pig. He munched some poofs too, and wiped his fingers on the blanket. The top blanket of my bed is stained and old and meant to be a protective cover. Zeus was gnawing on his bone, another reason for the protective blanket, and the noise, Noise, NOISE was starting to get to me! Add the flies and you can see that my Zen was seriously being tested.

Amazingly, I was able to block most of it out with some effort and a few walks outside in the backyard. I even put a load of laundry in to wash around 11am as an excuse to get away. As I was coming back inside, I saw Ben’s earbuds on the floor so I picked them up. One of the earpiece thingies was missing. That was why I had to listen to his show?!? OY!! I got one of the extra ones, put it on, and handed them to him. He immediately plugged them in and there was less noise. Zeus had gotten distracted from his bone when he followed me outside, so that noise was gone too. YAY! Quiet!

Around 12:30, when the med alarm went off, I figured I’d better hang the clothes up if I wanted them to dry. So, I got them and hung them. There was still no decision from Daughter about whether she was going into work or not. I told her she had to do what she had to do. It’s her job and her health and I won’t judge her. I may not always agree with how she does things, but she’s gotta live her life. We all have to walk our own paths.

She eventually called out. Then she came and cried on me. I told her that being a responsible employee is a good thing. I told her that I knew she felt bad about calling out, but that taking care of her health is also a good thing. I told her that I was pretty positive her boss was not going to get in her face and yell at her and tell her how useless she was like her father did when he was on a rampage. I told her everyone has secret fears like that… not the same exact fear, but something left over from childhood that still hurts. She cried harder for a little while and I just rubbed her back. I’m glad she called out. She needs more rest. This cold or flu or whatever is really kicking her butt! She’s getting better, but really, really slowly.

Ben was outside in his dirt hole at the time, which was good. When he came back in, he wandered around, looking for something to get into. He spied a sealed box. Of course it had to be opened. My bad! I left one of the boxes that had two boxes of chalk inside, laying out. I told him it was chalk and he could have one of the new boxes. He said he needed them both. Not worth fighting over, I let him take both boxes.

Around 4:00pm I brushed the tangles out if Ben’s hair in preparation for the washing tonight. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. And his hair doesn’t seem to be falling out as bad as it was before. I asked if he wanted to take his bath early and he declined. I expected that he would. He ran outside to sweep dirt into the air since the sun was on its slow way down. I took the laundry down, folded it and put it away.

That’s pretty much it for today I think. A mellow, boring day! We still have dinner, bath and bedtime, oh… and my Sciencey Data Gathering, but I don’t anticipate any major ordeals. (I hope I didn’t just jinx myself)

The chorus of this song has been playing in my head since I wrote about “The Mighty Sven”… another look inside my weird mind.

A pretty peaceful, calm day at the Casa today. Daughter is ever so slowly getting better, and she’s playing it smart by staying home and resting. Will she be feeling well enough to go back tomorrow? We’ll find out tomorrow. We don’t have anything planned for our Sunday. We’ll just do whatever comes to mind. Whatever we do, we’ll try to have some fun and a few laughs. Laughter is the best medicine and we could all use some! We still have a little over two months before we can say goodbye to 2020, and I have a sneaking suspicion they are gonna be rough months for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons. I’ll do what I can to provide some fun. For us, and for you. ¡Hasta mañana!

.

.

HUGS!

.

.