A Day for Piddlin’

Today was a day of doing very little in particular and several things just sort of willy-nilly. We never went anywhere, nor entertained anyone, nor did much of anything. Jo has discovered that she can download books from Amazon.com onto her phone. So, she has gone back to doing some reading. I would say “serious” reading because she has been reading ALL day long, but I don’t know what she is reading, so, I’ll suspend with calling it serious reading.

I have goofed around on the computer. I finally took the time to explore a little with the blog, in particular, I went to the icons for my followers and attempted to get onto their blogs. I say “attempted” because there is at least one where one has to be an “invited” reader. Not just anyone can read that one.

I would be more of a “follower” on the blogs of others, but I really don’t have a lot of time to read through a lot of blogs in my days. A lot of them have definitely piqued my curiosity, but I can only get to them on occasion and usually just for a cursory read. I do appreciate all who follow mine.

I also need to make a clarification regarding yesterday’s post about the Media Matters story. Actually, it is more about my comments at the end. Please don’t get the idea that I am “down” on union members. My issue isn’t with the members unless they are died-in-the-wool, adamant supporters of unions now and forever. My issue is mostly with the leadership and the fact that unions spend an exorbitant amount of their member’s money for political campaigns. I’m surprised that the membership isn’t asking why their money isn’t being used to benefit the members instead of Congress critters.

I also got outdoors for a little bit and began cutting up the barn stall mat into sections to be used for leveling blocks for the RV. That took a little time because I was doing all the cutting with a utility knife. You know, the kind using razor blades for cutting. And, I used up a couple of those blades. I certainly needed to get it done while I still had the use of the two picnic table halves.

Perhaps I should explain that one. Years ago, we bought some plastic legs to which one attaches several 2X4 boards to form a seat and a back. Then, when you raise the back and latch in two locking mechanisms, the seat back then becomes a picnic table top. See the photos below, and I provided a link should anyone be interested in purchasing some. In order to have a full table, one needs to have 4 legs to make two sides.

http://www.kotulas.com/deals/ProductDisplay?url=ProductDisplay%3FcatalogId%3D10602%26storeId%3D10152%26productId%3D20715%26langId%3D-1&cm_ite=convertible_picnic_table&catalogId=10602&productId=20715&langId=-1&cm_pla=NONBRAND&cm_ven=PPC&cm_cat=GOOGLE&storeId=10152&affiliateId=rkg&affiliateId=rkg&ddkey=http:OrderItemAdd

Anyway, I needed to use the picnic tables since I don’t have any kind of workbench on which to lay the mat and cut it.

Since this is a “Piddlin’” sort of day, I’ll also introduce you to the other members of our “family.” Of course, that would be our two Miniature Pinschers. The smaller brown dog is TJ, our male dog and the larger black dog is Lady. (Actually her full registered name is TJ’s Lady since we bought her to be company for TJ.) Both have been neutered, and, like many others’, they are our “kids.” They are getting pretty much up on age now. The following pictures are from about 8 or 9 years ago.

It is almost as if they were saying, “Oh, crud. He has that “flashy” thing again.”

TJ was originally purchased when Jo was having some depression issues. We had just recently had to put her mother into a nursing home and Jo didn’t like doing it. But, we both had to work and there was no way that we could take care of her mother. So, TJ was bought and he has long been a source of joy. This picture gives you a good image of the “Pinscher” look.

He has this thing for a tennis ball. The grungier it is, the better he likes it. We also have a smaller one, but he always wants the big one.

The look conveys this message: “Dad, if you don’t want more leaves torn up on the carpet, you WILL play ball with me.”

Lady has always liked the outdoors and this was her first experience with snow. She still likes running in the snow. As old as she is, she was having a grand time during the last two snow storms. But, both the pictures from below are from several years ago.

For a long time, Lady was aloof, even with Jo and I. She seldom wanted us to hold her or pet her. If we needed to catch her, we had to get out the leashes and harnesses. She would then come to us so she could go for a walk. When we bought Lady, the lady at the pet shop told us that she had been sold once before to a couple who lived in an apartment. But, Lady’s hyper ways was too much for them. Since the pet shop didn’t give refunds, the couple traded Lady in for a bird. I don’t know about anyone else, but to us that seemed sad. We did have to get her past some kind of sickness at the time, but even with her being aloof she has still been a delight to us. Now, she loves to be with one of us.

Miniature Pinschers tend to gravitate to one member of the family and merely tolerate the rest. Jo is favored by both of them and when Jo goes to sit down both of them want to be lying beside her. Lady prefers to be under a blanket. If Jo isn’t sitting somewhere, then they will get with me in the chair.