We have a fairly large up swing in temperatures at the start of this week. Back into the upper 90s. Hoping that doesn't throw anyone's systems off. Both got baths last night so the hair is flying even more than normal. The end of the week we go back down into the 70s. Fall is getting closer at least. Did my 75 bike ride a couple weekends ago and the start of it was beautiful but it was getting hot toward the end and that is less fun on the further distances. Have the century (100 miles) coming up hopefully soon if we don't go into a rainy round.

We are on a rural electric co-op. Ours has the highest rates in Missouri and they are talking about yet another rate hike even though they don't need the money. While supplies have gone up they simply can't get them in the first place, so it doesn't make sense to charge us more to cover costs on materials they can't get, but they are going to do it anyway. They will buy solar but they won't pay you back for overages so not much incentive to go grid tied solar here outside of personal responsibility feelings. For the three months out of the year you make good headway with solar since you can't sell back overage there's no help the other 9 months where they aren't producing that great. We are better off with wind. With the way our co-op is set up that would remove the most payment over the course of the year for us. Wind is still just so expensive to add though.

The property at the state line was a similar story. They wanted 10k per half mile and we were about 7 miles from the nearest power pole. Really looking into solar for the greenhouse. I found some grow light kits in the $90 range that come with the solar panel.

These dogs are weird!  I bought a raised dog bed for Sasha which means it was well over a year ago and no one used it!  At long last Sky has decided that it's hers ... at least when she isn't laying in the corner by the door to the north room. I would have figured she's adopt the other crate from which she could see everyone - which she can't from hers - but it still serves its purpose as a 'side table' (read collecting point for a world of 'stuff')

I'm going to be gone for a few days,  taking a short trip over to Louisiana to help drive one of our sporadic guests back to her Terlingua home.  She's getting on in years (well, she's got three years on me) and her kids were concerned about her driving all the way (about 900 miles) by herself but she's done it for years!
I have a friend who'll watch the dogs - feed / water them - while I'm gone but since I haven't been away from them for more than a few hours at a time in all the time I've had them, I'm concerned that everything will work right.

Drive carefully. Fingers crossed the dogs are fine.

I was the same way when I had to leave all mine for 4 days a few years ago. My mom house sat but there's always the fear of what if they get out and she can't get them back. I did add temporary tags to their collars with my mom's contact information so if they did get away and were found the people would hopefully call her and not us who were nowhere close to do anything about it. As long as they know the person all should go fine.

Drive safe dont be like the old marine i towed today at buckly sfb. Old vet trying to fix his jeep with duct tape and an adjustable wrench. And to think all i wanted was a pic of the sign and a hat from the visitor center and ended up with lunch and towing a jeep instead.

And i know its slightly disrespectful but i find the space force really funny and slightly confusing. I mean we have nasa and we have the af so what really is the point of space force. But they do have a really cool logo, unlike the uscg one on my id and my beanie. (I also have a dav and a va beanie)

Thanks for the wishes, I'm back in one piece - but if there's any part of me that isn't sore (from sitting toooooooo long) I don't know where it is.  More later ...

[Later] I was expecting some aggravation with the old lady but then she is a sometimes cranky/sometimes sweet old lady.  

At one point I was at a four way stop, let traffic proceed as normal then started forward and she grabbed my arm (thankfully I normally drive one handed with my left hand) because a behemoth on my right decided they had the right of way.  I'd seen it and was deciding whether to speed up to get ahead of it or let it go and at that point she doesn't realize 1) how close we came to getting run over by said behemoth or 2) how close I was to getting out of the car and telling her she was on her own!  (Common sense prevailed because that would have left me stranded in the middle of somewhere.)  We had a very short one sided discussion very shortly after that - Don't you ever do that again!  Yell, scream, cuss - I don't care but don't grab me when I'm driving (and except for the last mile after getting home I drove the entire 800+ mile trip.)

I haven't had an accident that I was responsible for in over 40 years - I've had a couple of people hit the truck I was driving but that's another animal.  I haven't had a ticket in about the same amount of time.  I'm a reasonably good driver, respect others on the road but am somewhat more aggressive when it comes to getting out of traffic troubles.

I'm still wired!!  If her kids want her back then they're going to have to come get her when she's ready to go back 'cause I'm not driving her!!

---

And my feeling were really hurt when I got back.  Most of the time when someone pulls in the drive, Avalanche goes to the door.  It's a good sign when I pull in because I know everything's okay.  So I pulled in, Betty left to drive the last mile to her house and there was not one dog at the door.  "Oh shit! Where are they?"  I walked in and both dogs sauntered over, sorta said "Hi" and gave me the "Dad's home, g'night!"  I get more of a reception when I go to town for an hour and come home!!  Damn dogs!!!!!!

Don't feel so bad, Al. My guys sort of turn up their noses when we've been gone a while. Like "you're gonna leave me? Well poop to that, I don't care. "

Talked with Darryl yesterday and he says the dogs did fine. They got loose one time, ran around for about 20 minutes and were on the porch. He went over to let them in and they decided they weren't ready ... they ran a bit more and came back and then they were ready.

I'd be a whole lot less concerned with letting them run if Avalanche didn't have this habit of jumping out of the brush in front of a car so he can run with them. He doesn't chase, most of the time he's either in front of or beside them (which is what I do when I take him out for a run.)

My uncle used to have a dog that was fully house broken with a doggy door to go out whenever she wanted but if he was gone on vacation she would crap in the house out of spite for him leaving her. She never had an issue, even when he was out super late with the race car but if he was gone more than a night she would set in with tantrums pooping in the house and making a mess. They always find a way to express themselves.

That reminds me of a cat that was owned by an ex boyfriend. His mom had a no shoes in the house rule and when he came home to visit the cat would pee in his shoes.

Mine seem super excited to see me for about 30 seconds then they spend the next few days punishing me by ignoring me. Spider is still mad i didnt take her and jerry to springs last week for splinters cardiology appointment. She actually forgot she was mad at me earlier or was trying to figure out what i was doing with the rinnai heater apart (cleaning the exhaust of dog hair with a toothbrush) and heater is fixed. Snow hit yesterday so that was important.

Did the weird extra monsoon season go that far south?

We had a bit longer than normal monsoon - everyone was grateful for that but we've got the greenest desert you ever did see!

It's starting to cool off here - not so much that we're looking at snow but about 03:00 I start thinking about closing the back patio doors.  It's getting into the low 60's overnight now.  A couple of mornings I've looked at the propane space heater but, well, not yet.  It may be 60 when I get up but by 11:00 we're pushing 90.

[ETA] Naw, it got to 57 last night and I pulled the spare blanket over me.

We're being stubborn and not starting the stoves yet. Or you could say, it's be kind to chimneys month - stoves don't burn well when temperature is above 40⁰. Sort of like huskies

But. They have been 2 patchy frost warnings in the past several days. I've brought in the 2 Sunpatiens and a tropical hibiscus in a wonderful orange color of like to overwinter but that's always a crap shoot. I will confess: we've been using the electric blanket, shut the storm windows, used the electric heat on the kitchen and I've been wearing wool socks, fleece leggings and tops. And made soup. But it's gonna be 70⁰ on Thursday🥰

A neighbor has just had puppies ... er, his GSD has just had puppies!  He asked me if I wanted one and it broke my heart to say "no."  He's got some of the best looking GSD's I've seen and if my two weren't as old as they are I'd have given it more thought - but can I really ask two 12 years old dogs to put up with the antics of a GSD puppy??  Can I ask a 75 year old human to put of with the antics of a GSD puppy - even if their sire is a charmer!

I dunno, Al. I probably won't win any popularity contest, but it's my belief that people of our age shots not be taking on puppies, or even young dogs unless they have a happened good home for the dog should they die. At our age, we are living on borrowed time. A stroke, heart attack, unforseen cancer, pneumonia, septicemia from a seemingly minor wound. We are a medically vulnerable population, our continued functional presence is not a given anymore. And it worries me with my two. Neither of my son's are particularly fond of Ami. He's big and hairy. And very independent. Both of the boys have very full and busy lives. But. I've at least got a commitment from Josh that should both of us for while the dogs are still alive that he would move his family into this house (he only lives 20 minutes away) and let the dogs live out there life here.

Shadow was one of the easiest puppies ive ever owned (aside from the biting men issue) but i do agree with amy about the dog outliving you. Its why as much as i want a certain types of turtles, is it responsible to get a pet at my age that can live upwards of 80 years. We are going through this very situation right now with taz, my stepgrandpas african gray parrot. Ed might need to go to assisted living and he has had taz for 42 years but parrots can live over 100. So everyone is hoping that my 3 year old cousin raven bonds with taz or we have a family parrot dilemma.

Boy are you two ever downers!  I'm only 75 and I've got at least another 20 years in this body!  ((  I wish!!!!!  ))

IF I were to get one of his pups - and while my thoughts are not to - we do have a couple of others here who have shepherds and I'm comfortable that should I die the GSD at least would have a good responsible home.  

I wish I could be as comfortable with these two.  Both are right at 12 years so, like me (thanks Amy), they're on borrowed time as well.  They're both in apparent good health and while 13 years isn't unheard of, 14 or more is stretching my hopes of their longevity.

On the other hand, I'm on good health - ignoring slowing down - and I seriously think that - pending something really unexpected - I can expect to see a good portion of that 20 years I mentioned earlier and I can't picture living any length of that without a companion animal. None of us, thanks the gods, are in any evident pain (now if these two would stop playing behind me this would be easier to write.) I was out for the past three days and spent two of them helping the owner of the GSD's replace his fencing because his male has a bad habit of putting his head through the gaps in the wire and has gotten his collar caught a couple of times. Add that the gaps in the fence (the openings are 4x4) are big enough that the puppies could just walk out which isn't healthy here. I spent about three hours up at the crisis center with food distribution and while I don't have the endurance to run boxes for all that time, I was able to help move things around as needed.

There's a part of me saying that these two are enough - at least for now - and it's a lot easier to take two with me then three when / if I go somewhere and I don't see either of them going down in the foreseeable future. A puppy would bring a bit of life to all of us I think. The answer is still "No!" but since the pups are only a week to 10 days old, I still have a couple of months that I could change it to a yes.

(( Avalanche wants to go out and play with the coyote in the back yard ... ))

GSDs dont live as long as huskies. Shadow is on borrowed time at 9. But squirt at 11 hasnt even slowed down.

I wish i could say i was healthy. I have crap going on that would be kinda normal but not at 38. And then there is the walking contradiction issue that whats good for one thing is bad for another. And i didnt mean for it to be a pun but spine and rheumatologist say move as much as possible. Mri showed avs in my femur which means sit and do nothing as much as possible.

My dogs were acting super weird last night. I thought it was incoming snow. Checked fb today and a yak from a mile up the road jumped the fence and is missing. I also read wolves are moving into amymemes area

@al got any ideas on a good brush guard bumper combo that is functional? I like the fabfours mayhem but im not sure if its functional and i thought about a heavy iron cross bumper instead. A subaru totaled the ranch hand legend at a replacement cost of $2600 plush shipping and install and its their insurance paying it.

@lostmaniac in re the brush guard, I haven't a clue. Most of what the off roaders down here us is "home made" from pipe (drilling pipe is easy to get and not too expensive) Functional, yep; pretty, not by a long shot!

I was thinking about a really heavy road armor spartan bumper with add on push bar. Really i thought about just pulling the ranch hand but if i do i have to put softer shocks up front and redo the front. I had to actually use it the other day, i dont think it was ment for tapping a cow on the road very very slowly but she wouldnt move and thats what the guy on the horse said to do. Another reevaluation of pulling it.

The welding shop said they could rebend it weld it for $150 but not on the truck. Anyway waiting on the insurance photo estimate to give me an amount and mail a check.

It's looking like I may just have to turn the heater on tonight.  If not overnight then probably in the AM.  Predicted low started off at 66 about noon and has continued to drop toward 60 as the day's progressed.

It's not too bad now - in fact, I still have the back door open - but with the wind and dropping temps, I think I'm gonna be one cool kid 'bout the time the sun rises!  ... Er, that is if it does rise, they're saying that this cool front is bringing in rain for tomorrow ... stop!  We don't need anymore right now!!

Chuck keeps enticing me with the history of his GSD's. I got some 'stuff' for him in town today and when I took it by he asked me if I wanted to come in and see the pups! At best I'll say the gentleman is being cruel. I'd like one of his pups but like I told him "These two I can put in the back of my Jeep and go, add a third dog - especially the size of his GSD's - and that just isn't going to work!" Even though he has a "foot tall barrier" to keep them in the (I forget the right name) birthing shed it's come to be a lost cause. Now, I can't picture a 3 week old pup crawling over something that's a foot high ... but then if they want out to explore the world I guess they're gonna do it.

@lostmaniac how's the battle with the insurance company coming? New bumper yet?
I just left the insurance company I've been with for over 10 years. All I carry is liability - all that's required by Texas - and they raised my rates from $210 to $280. I'd talked to one of their competitors 6 months ago (I pay semi-annually) when they upped their price and I talked it back down to something I was willing to pay. Said competitor quoted me $148 for 6 months (almost HALF!) and swore that this wasn't an introductory rate - well, I guess I'll see in 6 months. (( for the note, I haven't had an accident in a car sized vehicle in over 40 years; I have had two people hit the garbage truck I was driving but not my fault! I've had one ticket for not wearing a seatbelt in over 20. (I did get plenty when I was riding a motorcycle but that's a few years back.) The only reason I carry insurance is because Texas says I have to! ))

Wait, a SUBARU totaled another vehicle, I didn't think they'd have the mass to do any damage to anything but themselves!

So neil the owner/jeep expert that has a 4x4 repair and off road recovery southern Colorado 4x4 in monte vista (and is fixing my bumper) refers to subarus as tanks. Damn they are solid. Anyway i give the old vet and his wife credit, they admitted she backed into me. Their insurance deprecated my brush guard by almost 1k sobthey are sending a check that basically covers the new brush guard but not the shipping and install. So since colo 4x4 also does custom machine shop off road stuff i think im having it welded tho im in love with the road armor spartan bumper and i can add a push bar on it later https://roadarmor.com/spartan-front-bumper-texture-black-road-armor-2008-2010-ford-f250-f350.html anyway check is for 2300 basically. My truck is gold with black/chrome bumpers and a black brush guard currently.

I feel really really terrible and am a horrible pet parent to my GSD. I thought he was dying and some gabapentin and wetting his food and hes back to himself. I dont know if the wetting dry food will be forever after atleast 5 teeth come out on Tuesday including both upper canines. And hips not being bad other then age related arthritis. And i was thinking about that we were gonna have to put him down soon. I really just hope we dont have glaucoma cuz he will lose his eyes but im not sure how much that matters to a completely blind dog.

I didn't know anything was even wrong with kenzi's teeth until I took her in for a spider bite that just wouldn't give up and they ended up extracting 4 of her teeth shortly before she was diagnosed with diabetes. Teeth issues have a way of sneaking up on us if we aren't ones who actively brush our dog's teeth, which I should and yet still don't, but teeth issues can create so many other issues since they tend to lead to a lot of infections and possible stomach issues.

He ended up losing 7 teeth, and because of new job and it taking longer the vet drove him home also. We think the weight was him being less active due to pain so now he is on gabapentin and carprohen. We wouldnt have known if he hadnt tripped on a ladder and then fell and got hurt. The new vet was the first vet to really look in his mouth in 7 years, even my uncle was afraid to look in his mouth.

Saw a really sad sign yesterday. It said Alberta lake is dry. Sorry al (and nm, texas and mexico) southern headwaters of the rg are dry. Good news is about 2 feet of snow on the way bad news is thats only like 2 inches of actual water.

Hope everyone else had an epic sukkot. I unintentionally did. My mom pointed out that i had a very very traditional approach and i know its about celebrating the fall harvest but im not 100% sure a harvesting marijuana party followed by a bbq was what they ment, but i was very thankful the freeze didn't kill the plants. ( no i didnt sleep outside its been in the 20s at night)

At the moment, That, the level of the Rio Bravo, is the least of my worries, it's well above flood stage on most of it locally.  We've had so much rain this year that people are hoping that it stops!!  Everyone who has catchment tanks are saying they're full and overflowing.  We had a couple of weeks of good (90 and clear) weather after a disastrous monsoon season that, one it started, didn't seem like it was ever going to end.  Mon / Tue this week were cloudy so I burned gas to run the genny (not happy 'bout that!) but today we're clear if not warm (so shoot me, 65 is not warm in this desert for this time of year) but we'll be getting back into the 80's late this week and over the weekend.

Zach wanted to schedule to clean Avalanches teeth the last time we were in but 1) Avalanche seriously objects to anyone messing with his muzzle and 2) at 12+ I'm getting to be less inclined to have any procedure, not matter how simple, that puts him under.  The two of min have been getting a Dentastix every night as a bedtime treat and I've got to give them credit they have cleaned his teeth nicely.  There's still one dark spot - looks like a cavity - on one tooth but he chews with it without complaining, so that's a wait and see. (( Uh, "seriously objects" he won't bite but he'll move as far as he can to get away from someone doing what he objects to and as a final resort he'll grab the offending hand, He won't bite but he'll do his damndest to tell you to stop! ))

Considering some of your tales about getting in and out, you've got one nice vet to drive him home!

I don't think that harvesting mj was what they had in mind - but at least you can legally grow it (can't you?) Texas is still stuck in the "marijuana is a controlled substance and we'll hit your pocket as hard as we can." 'course it's like a lot of "penalties" down here, the biggest fine they can get out of you! I don't know of any growing on the ranch (Terlingua Ranch Subdivision) but I do know a lot of folks here who smoke. (( Growing it would be interesting with all the various gov overflights to "secure the border" Probably have a few Ag Dept flights looking for the stuff as well. ))

(( Note to self: Hist "send" or it's gonna go anywhere ))