Part 234 ~ 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.

After we parted yesterday evening, I went to do my Science Data Gathering. The sky surprised me, then awed and flabbergasted me. Not much data for my Sunset Project, but a beautiful display by Mother Nature. All the pictures are on the regular “photo” setting of my outdated android phone camera. I darkened the light on a couple before I took them, trying to show the visible sky was blue, but that’s it. The sky really looked like this. Science first, then the pretty.

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Ben was goofing with the umbrella or poking at the mud hole while I was taking the pictures. We got chased inside a couple times by the rain, and the whole show was only thirty or forty-five minutes. When it was over, his steak was done and he came in to eat. He started asking for Pink Cookies before dinner, I told him I’d look after he ate his steak. He was either starving or wanted those cookies pretty bad, cuz he ate two “eye of round” steaks. Then he asked for the cookies again. I told him it was the last box we had, he should save some or there wouldn’t be any for tomorrow. He actually did really well. He ate ALL the frosting off three or four.

5:45pm I gave him meds and was gonna run his bath, but Daughter was sitting on the Throne. She got all kinds of agro with me. She said “Since when do you run his bath at 5:45? Usually you’re putting him in the tub while I’m getting ready for work… 6pm. Why are you trying to rush everything?” I told her that he rarely gets right into the tub, that it usually takes a while, and just because I start the water at 5:48pm doesn’t mean he’ll be in the water before 6pm. Then I went back to Ben, in my room. So she started the water. JIMINEY CRICKET ON A MOTORSCOOTER!! I went and asked her what she was doing, she ignored me. She went to my room and started stripping Ben and telling him it was bath time. I told her that she was gonna piss him off, she should just let me do the bath, the way we always do it. She stomped off. UGH!!

She got ready for work, I got Ben cleaned up. He played for a little while after, but not too long. I got him into his bathrobe and Daughter immediately started getting him dressed. She was having trouble cuz DUH! he was still wet. After he was dressed she was at the door saying “Let’s go! Let’s get me to work so Gramma can come home and put you to bed.” Sheesh! Is she thirty-one, thirteen or three?

We did the Driving Miss Daisy thing and I was driving SUPER slow. She told me I didn’t need to go so slow and I told her that since I don’t see well at night, and the roads were wet, that to be safe I did need to drive that slow. She didn’t say anything else the rest of the drive.

We dropped her off at 6:35pm, about fifteen minutes early. She tried to get Ben to say Goodbye and Goodnight but he was in medication la la land, so she gave up. I told her I hoped she had a good shift and I loved her. She walked away. Alrighty then…

I drove us home, tucked The Boys in, wished them Goodnight, and texted Daughter to let her know that all was well. I did Things and some stuff and waited for Younger to arrive, she was stopping by to get mail after work.

I nuked a frozen mac and cheese thing and added gobs and gobs of extra sharp cheddar. Younger arrived, stayed about fifteen minutes then hugs and she went home. I wrote an email while my food was cooling off. And I dozed… I started the email around 8:15pm and sent it around 10:30pm. I kept nodding off. I felt bad for the abruptness and I hoped my friend understood. I ate, took my pill, texted Older that I was going to sleep and konked sometime after 11:30pm.

And woke around 2:30am. The house was quiet and I didnt know what called me from sleep. I went back to sleep thirty or forty-five minutes later. And woke to the 6:30 med alarm.

I got up, let Zeus out, started the coffee and texted Daughter that I was up and waking Ben up. I woke him slowly and gently. He took his meds then ran for the baño… Potty Emergency! 7:15am we went to get Daughter.

She was outside waiting and looked unhappy. She does have RBF, so maybe it was okay. She got in, I said Good Morning and she grunted. I guess it wasn’t just RBF. Drove home, she went to her room and Ben, Zeus and I did Couch Sittin. I did uncover Sven and turn his lights on, but he looked content to stay exactly where he was. I took one picture and moved his lights and the heat coil over him. It was chilly, damp, and just yucky.

The 10:30am and 12:30pm med alarms marked the passing of time. Ben and I hung out, talking, playing, doing our thangs with our devices… peaceful, mellow, very relaxed. Sven still hadn’t moved. I think it was just too cold for him. He’ll perk up when it warms up.

Daughter took over Couch Sittin Duty around 2:15pm. I got more coffee, gave my report and went to get Horizontal. Zeus and Ben followed me. Dang! Zeus always follows, but Ben… I was hoping he’d hang out with his Mama. He didn’t come to stay though. He had an Arts and Crafts project that needed doing. I was commanded to tape red and white “finger lights” to the train engine, it already had “Umbrella Corporation” logos and “ALEXI-5000” on it. It needed lights. It was a small project I’ve done roughly three billion times over the past several years, so it was quickly completed to his satisfaction. It appears we’ve left FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES behind and are reentering Resident Evil territory. That’s mostly about the train, although he does like watching the movies. Alice is kickass!

I completed the project as the 2:30pm med alarm went off, so I hollered it out to Daughter. Ben took his newly lighted train back in to the living room and Daughter doped his face.

There won’t be any Science tonight and probably not any pretties either. It’s raining and blustery! Yucky. The Guessers say the storm is gonna blow out overnight. That would be nice. Two days of rain is enough for me. All that’s left is dinner, bath and bedtime. A nice relaxing evening. Fingers crossed.

Sam shared this song today. I love me some Stevie Wonder, and this song just says it all, doesn’t it?!

Heaven help the child who never had a home. Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone. Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall. Heaven help us all.

Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day. Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away. Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl. Heaven help us all.

Heaven help us all, Lord, hear our call when we fall.

Heaven help the boy who won’t reach 21. Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun. Heaven help the people with our backs against the wall. Lord, Heaven help us all.

Now I lay me down before I go to sleep. In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep. Keep hatred from the mighty, and the mighty from the small. Heaven help us all.”

–Stevie Wonder, 1970

Thanks for hanging out with us today. Tomorrow is a GLYSB Day, WOOT WOOT! Daughter has some work thing from 8am to 12pm, so I will be alone in my house! How exciting is that?! I hope I stay awake to enjoy it. I should probably do something productive with the time, but I hereby solemnly swear that I will not. Come by and make sure I keep my word. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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