Bored, Now.

Stranded in the garage with the pups since it's been raining. This is frustrating on a number of levels, not least because I can't do anything it occurs to me I should do. I had to go get the paperweight I call a laptop (circa 1998) so that I could - kinda - surf the web. I can't even tweet effectively, because the laptop can't really handle the semi-live stream that is Twitter. It's not handling Blogger all that excellently well, either, but I think it will actually publish when I tell it to. I guess we'll find out.

I should explain about the garage, I guess, so you don't think I'm sitting in my car or have perched my laptop precariously atop a pile of tools. A) It always had carpeting, for some reason. B) TB turned the garage into a music studio several years ago. It's not fully finished out - there's only drywall on 3 sides (the 4th is concrete block) and the carpeting has been removed in places - and the walls are all lined with work tables and shelving units, but it's a very large garage, and the center is entirely open...and covered with a large rug. Since the dogs and cat have a tenuous relationship at best, since we got her back, Meows has the run of the house, and the pups have been banished to the garage...along with me, now, since TB seems to be stunningly unable to function around them. So he cleared out the bedroom and turned it into his office. He disappears in there with the door closed all day, and I am stuck out here. It sucks. Ass, to be precise.

Did I mention there are no windows? Where the garage door would be has been walled over with a door to the outside and no windows. It's a cave. TB wants to cut a window through the wall from the bedroom/office into the garage, which idea I think is remarkably bad, and I dread it. That's where the washer/drier sit, and the shelves which hold all the laundry stuff and have some things stored on them, all of which he has already removed 2x (losing every single one of my lingerie bags, in the process - bags he swears he has never seen, despite having had to hold all 7 of them in his hand at some point in the moving process). Plus, he has a remarkable propensity for not finishing stuff he starts (as do I), so I know that not only will there be sawdust, drywall, and other crap all over everything in the garage (which now includes the bed and all my bedroom furnishings) for *weeks*, but a huge, gaping hole in the wall for god knows how long, but certainly for at least a week or two. In the process, I suspect that the single outlet in the entire garage which is wired for the washer and drier will also cease to function, and it will be a month before it's repaired. I know that because the other outlet for those appliances - the one the cord to the washer would actually reach - quit working 10 months ago, and it has never been repaired. We have to use a 100' outdoor heavy duty extension cord to reach the other one - the same frigging cord he uses for everything else in the garage, so every single freaking time I want to wash anything, I have to track down the frigging cord, unplug it, move it back to the damned washer, and plug it all back in again. It's gotten to the point where I will wear every last stitch of clothing that I have, including stuff that doesn't really fit anymore or that I hate, just to put off the arduous task of laundry as long as possible.

But I digress. The bottom line is that I'm bored and frustrated. I need to get stuff done, and I'm not only stuck dogsitting, but I'm stuck doing it in one single room of the entire house. I'm going to have to bring my computer out here just to get work done, and I so don't want to. I already sleep out here. If I bring my computer out here, this frigging room will become my whole life. :( Not to mention, nothing I own will be safe from Napoleon's neverending quest for things to destroy.

I swear to you people, you never saw a more destructive dog. Oh sure, you think you have, but so trust me, you have not. I thought I knew what destructive was. I once owned a german shepherd who not only ate more than his weight in my leather shoes, he also chewed to pieces parts of the house, ate one of Pete's ears and tore into the other, destroyed the trashcan and ate the broken glass that was inside it, went through more rolls of paper products than I can count, and ate various and sundry items anyone left lying on the floor - items I don't remember anymore, other than the fact that I had to give a lot of money to roommates for various objects they had once owned prior to Atilla's presence in the room.

Napoleon makes him look like a rank amateur. He has already gotten to numerous objects we would rather he not destroy but can do without, TB's Docs, TB's rubber boots, 4 couch cushions, 2 doggy beds (through both the covers and the inner layers, and promptly set about pulling out and eating the stuffing), at least 3 heavy duty dog bed covers (in addition to the 2 above), my grandfather's antique armchair, various cords for electronic equipment, a flashlight, numerous writing implements (including a Sharpie), several of my shirts, several "indestructible" dog toys (not even counting all the "tough" toys he ripped to pieces), several cardboard boxes, the Victorian pool table and its slate, the dining chairs, the doorjam into the house, 2 puppy gates, a large kangaroo paw plant, 2 large cistus shrubs, an upright rosemary shrub, AND the succulents planted around it, 2 ficus trees, a very large jasmine shrub, the inside of 2 of my car doors, my gearshift, several towels, a blanket, the gate at the top of the driveway, and 3 cell phones, all 3 of which were thankfully in leather holsters which took the brunt of the punishment and saved the phones. (I am now a staunch believer in the use of cell phone holsters.) That's not all, it's just what I can think off right offhand. And to be fair some of it is only badly damaged. Most of it had to be thrown away, however. I'm telling you: destructive. Just the dog to leave all my computer cords and documents lying around. :(

I'm watching the DaVinci Code. That should tell you how bored I am. Actually, I've seen the last 30 min. of it before, and it's a lot better than the book. Everyone complained that there was too much talking in the film, which I always thought was ridiculous - the book is nothing *but* talking. Why would they think the movie was going to be any different? I like watching movies set in Paris, though. It takes me back. It also makes me feel a little "homesick," but it's cool seeing places I've been and know pretty well. :)

I am eaten more junk food today than you would think possible. And all of it in one hour. Blach. I feel kinda like hurling.

*sigh* While I was writing this, another dog toy has been destroyed. Seriously, I don't think there's a toy on the planet worth my money, since they're all expensive and easily destroyed.

I didn't get to go to Saint-Sulpice when I was in Paris. I wonder if the Rose Line really does pass through it with markers and everything? I didn't go to the Louvre, either. I wonder if that will be my thing: I will visit Paris dozens of times but somehow never make it to the Louvre (or up the Eiffel Tower).

Napoleon is bossing me to let him outside. I love when he does that. He doesn't growl, whine, or bark. He makes a wookie sound. It's hilarious. I have to take him out. And then go get something hot to eat, since all I've had is triple cream cheese and crostini and a bunch of cookies. Not exactly a nutritious breakfast. I need to get back to my Paris habit of yogurt and fruit puree blended together, with two pieces of whole wheat toast. That was yummy. :)

ttyl, peeps.

xo,
kd