Part 251 ~ 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.

Sunset was pretty, but uneventful…

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… I was excited to see Jupiter and Saturn again. The clouds recently have kept them from view. That’s them in the last picture. The orange dot near the blurred out Moon is Mars. I like how the camera, in trying to focus, made Mars look closer to how it actually appears instead of like another star. If you’re outside after sunset, you can see Mars to the left of the Moon, and in the southwest about half way up from the horizon you’ll see a big bright star, that’s Jupiter. And as you can see from the picture, Saturn is above and slightly to the left. It’s fainter than Jupiter but easily visible with just your eyeballs. Let me know if you spot them!

While I was outside watching the sky, Ben came out and started madly sweeping. He gets a little manic with it at times. He was sweeping the chalk along the side of the house, toward the fence. Anything next to the house was in his way, and was pushed, tossed, or otherwise moved… just away. There was miscellaneous stuff over the entire area. By the time he finished it was after dark. I nearly fell down, going out to get the picture of Jupiter and Saturn. I did drop my phone in the tripping, almost fall. Of course it landed screen down so it was dark and difficult to find. Luckily I have a case thingy for it that extends up from the screen, so screen first landings leave the screen a millimeter or so above the surface. It’s enough to prevent cracking or shattering. Disaster averted.

Anyway, the rest of the evening was mellow. Ben said he was tired and ready for bed around 5:30pm so I ran his bath. Daughter had gone into a Food Coma on the couch, so me coming out woke her up. I gave Ben his meds while he was in the bath and he played for a half our or so. Then off to bed.

Daughter and I packed up the food and took the carcass to the bin. Younger was texting with me around 4pm, sending pictures of her dog wearing a new sweater… then she stopped. I figured she’d let me know if she was coming by. She wound up texting her sister around 6:45pm that they’d be by in a little while. Older told her that everything was already put away, she could come get some of the food, but everyone was in their beds. Younger decided to skip it. I guess it’s a good thing we don’t really celebrate the Holiday part of Thanksgiving. It’s just a day in November when we make a big turkey dinner and whoever is around can come eat.

After Ben was in bed, I did the usual. I never actually made a plate of food, just periodically picked at the leftovers. I ate some of everything though, and it was all good. Everything but the cheesy taters. I make the sauce to Daughter’s taste… it has Tapatio hot sauce in it. The first time I tried it that way, I only used a little… just a hint of a kick. But Daughter likes more spice or heat… whatever. My tummy doesn’t do hot sauce, and especially when it’s already unhappy about soup from the night before.

I took my meds and was going through my WP comments and I konked. Sorry Brian… I woke up around 3am and Daughter was awake too. I heard her come down the hall and said hello. She said she woke up and she was hungry again. I told her to eat then. She said “I’m gonna!” I started going through my comments again, and konked again. Sorry again, Brian…

I got the “cuddle” Bounce version this morning. He must kick all his blankets off cuz his feet and his body are so cold when he gets under the blankets with me. He was warmed up pretty fast and he was AWAKE. He started trying to snatch my phone almost immediately. Then he commanded me to the living room. I didn’t bother trying to talk him out of it, I just said okay and got up.

He sat on the couch in a blanket tent, watching his tablet and munching Blue Ramen for most of the morning. I peeked at Sven but he was still hiding in his house. I moved the heat coil, that sits on top of the terrarium, a little closer to that end of the terrarium and left him covered. It’s been in the 40s (5-9°C) overnight and it supposed to be colder for the next few days. He’s in a partial brumation. It’s probably better to just let him stay slowed down and sleep than to yo-yo back and forth between warm and active to cold and sluggish. So the next few days will probably be Sven-less. Apologies to his fans.

I looked at sunrise and talked to the crows, but it was a Meh sunrise. I went back outside periodically, mostly looking for Georgie and Gracie. They didn’t come by until 8:30am, or more accurately, I didn’t see them until I went out at 8:30. They were on top of the market roof, and I chatted with them for a few minutes. I asked where Gonzo was, but they weren’t telling. I took a few pictures, thanked them for visiting and went back inside. Daughter was still sleeping. I decided not to add the pictures since they basically just stood on the market roof. They turned their heads toward me when I spoke, but that’s it.

Around 10am Ben jumped up, threw the blankets off, and ran outside. Well, alrighty then. I got up to see what he was doing a few minutes later. He was in the dirt hole. Excellent! I got my stuff and went to my room. I might as well be comfortable while he’s outside. I had no idea how late Daughter was going to sleep, and I figured I’d better charge up my phone while I had the opportunity. The 10:30 med alarm went off, so I grabbed the pill and the water bottle and took both to the dirt hole, and Doped His Face. Then back to Horizontal Time. Daughter got up around 10:45am.

I spent most of the afternoon trying to get through my Reader and comments. I was consistently interrupted to tape something, or to Write The Words, or to go fetch something cuz HRH was too lazy to get it himself, and he has more stamina than I have patience.

Around 2pm Daughter asked me to go get more wine for her. I decided to walk over to the market. I didn’t feel like driving to the stores. When I opened the front door, I saw my new Coffee Dragon had arrived. I brought it in, and walked to the market.

She was setting it up and brewing a pot of coffee when I got back. My new Coffee Dragon is both faster, and louder than my old one. The old one was gently slipped into the box, and a minute of silence was observed by the adult humans. I quietly thanked the old Coffee Dragon for its faithful service, even after it was no longer able to burble and hiss, or to maintain heat, it still held my grounds and acceptance the hot water from the kettle, and caught the dripped coffee for me. I will remember my Coffee Dragon. It is immortalized in the posts of this blog, and in the memories of my readers.

At 3:22pm when the alarm went off on my phone, I shouted “Jiminey Cricket On A Motorscooter! Where is time going?” Then I went out, and worked my way through the obstacle course created by The Mad Sweeper, to the back gate and did my Sciencey Data Gathering. Ben was doing his chalk thang in front of the fridge, cuz he likes to set up in the way of everyone.

It’s almost time for sunset. Steak is thawing for Ben’s dinner and a mellow evening of the usual should follow. Hopefully I’ll get caught up before I konk out tonight. Hopefully.

I seem to be experiencing major Time Management issues lately. This song came to mind as the hours flew by, and nothing was done.

Thanks for stopping by and picking at the leftovers with us. Thank you for helping me give the Old Coffee Dragon the honor it deserved for its faithful service. And thank you for helping me welcome the New Coffee Dragon. It has a clock, and can be set to brew at a specific time, which would be great if I got up at anything resembling a regular time. Daughter goes back to work tomorrow night. So laundry and Driving Miss Daisy are on the agenda. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers who will be celebrating on the day. Stop by if you need a place to hide or an airtight alibi. Or if you just want to have some Adventures. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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