Runaway Dog

Nothing to worry about...we just got used to Oji being so obedient to the command, "Stay" that we got a bit complacent.

About two weeks ago, on our usual Wednesday night with the Cousins, the doorbell rang. It was Lisa from across the street, coming to let us know that Micki's car alarm was going off. While I was distracted, Oji darted out into the night. I swear, I'm going to get a blinking light permanently affixed to that dog.

He ran past Lisa, and up toward one of his favorite corners. Being in my stocking feet (picked up while living in Japan where our lease stipulated no shoes in the house), I had to waste valuable time putting on shoes before taking off after him. Of course, he thought this was fun, and as I called him, ran right past me and down toward the other corner. There, he hung a left and was gone.

Lisa and I ran down the street and tried to catch up with him. We had gone about two blocks when I finally saw him in the distance. I called to him, and he came running back...and past me once again. This time, though, he did circle back and trot back to me. I grabbed his collar, and Lisa and I led him back to the house. Hoping that his little excursion tired him out, we adjourned back inside and ate our supper, now somewhat colder after the detour.

However, he wasn't done. He was a complete pill that night. He got quite rough playing with Rohan, insisted on nibbling on our feet while we were trying to eat, and was just acting out much more than usual.

We figure that it was probably because neither Melody nor I had come home at lunchtime,
like we normally do to let him out and give him a bit of loving. So, that was his way of showing his disapproval of our neglect. We had to put him in time out three different times. Finally, he settled down and behaved, but not until Rohan had gone home. It was an interesting evening, with the stubborn terrier side emerging in full force.

Other than that, he continues to be a great dog. We finally had our yard sale last weekend, which was a partial success. We didn't get rid of everything, but we did make a bit of a dent. Salvation Army came out today to pick up the rest of it, but since we were one of the last stops, they didn't have room to take it. They'll be back on Tuesday. It's nice to have the workshop cleared out a bit. I put the extra couch in there, and it's now become a place for Oji and I to hang out. After working for about 3 hours organizing the stuff for donation, and cleaning the place out, I grabbed my book, my iPod, my dog, a beer and a cigar, and just relaxed. Nothing like an ice cold beer after some honest sweat.

At the beginning of the month, we headed to Houston to attend some of the festivities for Melody's 20 Year High School Reunion. It's strange to think that we've been out of high school for so long. I'm not sure we even had our reunion. Never heard anything about it.

It was good to meet some of Melody's friends. I've known a couple of them, Jerry and Stephanie, for several years now, and we had a nice time catching up with them. Back in August, Jerry and some friends from work (a major airline) hopped on a flight to Japan on a Friday, climbed Mt. Fuji on Saturday, and returned on Sunday so they could be back at work on Monday. Insane. But man, was I envious...

Oji was on his best behavior, and we were happy to see that he was very tolerant of Jerry and Stephanie's kids as they walked him, and patted his head and generally messed with him. He made no escape attempts, and just enjoyed being in Lola's back yard and the surrounding neighborhood with all the new smells.

Incidentally, Melody's mom came through Hurricane Ike mostly unscathed. There was a bit of damage, but nothing that wasn't repaired quickly. She was back at work within a day or so of the storm. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor hurricanes close Wal-Mart. They were even compensating employees who had damage with extra cash to get them through the initial days post storm.