Rotten Woodwork

There is a lot of rotten and rotting wood on the house! A lot more than meets the eye. The moronic (or clever) previous owner simply painted over everything rather than fix the problem.

There were a few spots that were especially bad and presented potential problems for critter or insect entry into the house. Since these were in high places, I decided to hire someone to get it fixed before winter set in.

1) facia at northwest corner (2 stories up) - the corner pieces do not meet up, leaving a half inch void that wasps use as entrance into attic area

2) east gable vent - the facia around this was chewed up by some critter, most likely a possum

3) overhang woodwork on north face - rotting badly, due to poor construction and lack of caulking

4) section of badly painted woodwork that is high up (and hard to access) - the paint is peeling and the wood is exposed

Final bill: $655

Boris: Playing with the big dogs

Today I took Boris to the dog park at White Rock Lake. Unfortunately, due to recent rains, the park was closed (locked). However, the "little dog" park was pretty dry, so people were hopping the fence to get their dogs in there. So I let Boris join them. He had a blast, but it was pretty confusing to him - so many dogs to choose from!!! He was all over the place, never really sticking with any dog for more than several seconds.

Next, I took him to the lake access, which was a real muddy mess. It was all big dogs... and then there was Boris. A great dane, a giant poodle-looking thing, a big german shepherd, a couple of lab mixes, and a malamute-looking thing. Boris tried to run with the big dogs, but got a little lost (trampled) in the mix. He got knocked off the edge into the lake at one point.
By the end, he was a minor mess.

Bath time!

Boris at 4 Months

Boris is 4 months of age today.

Looking more like a dog these days, but still very much a puppy.

Comparison: At 4 months and at 2 months.

Boris : Stay/Come (in park)

Boris Listens to Tchaikovsky

I thought I would try to get Boris acustomed to loud noises, to prepare him for thunder.

The closest thing I had was the 1812 Overture, by Tchaikovsky.

Boris: Upstairs / Downstairs

Until now, Boris has been petrified of the stairs in the house. I suppose a staircase is a bit daunting to a little puppy dog. Everytime I tried to get him to go either up or down, he would avoid the issue.

Last week, I finally got him to go down stairs (after coaxing with a treat).

Today, I got him to go upstairs (with no treat involved).

Now that he has done it once, he is no longer scared and scampers up and down (following me, of course).

Boris : First visit to the lake

Took Boris to Huntsville State Park, since I was doing an adventure race there on Saturday. Auntie Dianna came along to entertain him while I raced (12-hour race).

On Sunday, we checked out the swimming area...

And, of course, he fell into the lake...

House Arrest Lifted!

Boris got hit final shots today! Hooray! Now he can go out and safely see the rest of the world.

Boris: Separation Anxiety (Still)

Little shit! Just when I think he has gotten over sleeping alone at night, he spent most of the night crying and barking.

That's it! I have had it. About 3:00am, I moved him into the garage, where he will reside for the next several nights (or more). His noise does not make it up to my bedroom from the garage.

Poor little baby - he is so tired today. I wonder why?

Boris' New Cousin : Buddy

Today we threw a small family party to celebrate Pierre's 80th birthday. Ann and I flew in as a surprise, but the biggest surprise was the addition of a new family member - a puppy named Buddy.

Buddy is a Havanese, which is a small breed related to Bichon Frise, but bred in Cuba. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/havanese.htm

Pierre and his new "Buddy"!

Buddy in action....



The cake:

Squirrel making fun of Pierre after he falls off the ladder while trimming the tree.
(Black figure was supposed to represent the corpse outline that Pierre drew on the grass to show where he fell - he really did that)

Gotcha, little critter!

Finally caught one!

It's a Girl!

Nothing to do with my home despairs, but worth writing about nonetheless....

Some good friends of mine (Andy and Ann Marie) just gave birth to a baby girl - 10 weeks early.

She is tiny, but strong. Truly defines the "miracle of birth".

Text Message from Andy:

It's a girl! She was born about 1145p. She is very little but also
fiesty. 1 lb 9 oz, 12 in. She is in the NICU getting checked out. Mom
is doing great and somehow still awake. Will send pics soon.

Landmark Day : Dell acquires Perot

The deal went through today. For now, we are in the Dell Services Business unit and will be called Dell Perot Systems.

We officially become Dell employees on Jan 1, 2010

Where's Boris?

Boris Starts Puppy School

First evening in puppy school. Pretty basic stuff, but got a few good pointers.
Boris was the youngest at 14 weeks. Some of the dogs were over 18 months. It appears they combined the puppy class and the "Basic Beginners/Adults".

15 "students". Quite a wide variety of breeds - 2 aussies, 2 boxers, 2 labs, 1 min schnauzer, 1 mini rat terrier
Some interesting mixes: puggle (pug + beagle), cavapoo (cavalier + poodle), bug? (boston terrier and pug)
About half were mutts and about half were rescues.

Of course, EVERYONE loved Boris. As usual, the comments were "He's so soft!".