Aug 8 - 14

If you have ever been around special needs kids you learn they cannot control their emotions. You also learn that things that are on a schedule MUST stay on that schedule. As I get older I am learning I am not as patient as I used to be and dealing with these issues takes a lot more energy than I now have. MY wife, who is perfect, ( she was a social worker) is extremely patient and caring and you know just perfect. So for those of us who are not so perfect I decided I would open a bar. It would just be for parents and caregivers of special needs kids. There would be a tvroom in the back with video games and sugary snacks for the kids, but the kids would not be allowed out front where we non-patient people would get snockered. We can all relate and we can tell our stories to each other and we for a short time would be happy. I of course would work the bar and tell my stories and patiently listen to my customers stories. Then we would have a van that would take everyone home and provide a service to help them get their car back in the morning. Most people I have approached about the idea love it and can’t wait for me to do it. Now, I just have to convince that perfect wife of mine.

By the way I have lost 2 more chickens to our new pet.

Aug 1 - 7

During the last drought we had a problem where a bobcat would come around almost every day and eat a chicken. As time went on he or she got more brazen and he was coming by the dining room window while we were having dinner. So we got 2 big Great Pyrenees farm dogs to protect the farm and everything was better. Two years ago Brutus got bone cancer and we had to put him down and unfortunately SoSo got lung cancer and we had to put him down Monday. Then tonight we are making dinner when Ricky says there is a dog by the deck. I look out and there is a coyote running off with one of our chickens. It has only been 5 days, how did the coyote know. I am beginning to think my idea of the wildlife having their own internet may actually be true.

Jul 25 - 31

I think veterinarians take a course in humor. I think their job is difficult and so to help them cope they play practical jokes on their patients owners. Like for instance, when my vet comes out and gives me a vial and tells me to bring back a urine sample form my 100 lb dog. Then the next day she calls me and says she needs my dogs temperature. There is only one place you can get that. Then there are the prescriptions. The series of pills that are so large that the dog constantly spits them out. Of course by this time the dog just hides whereever he can to avoid all of this. If you do find him, he just plants his feet so you have to drag him. I wonder sometimes if they don’t put a hidden camera on the dogs just to watch you try all these fun things. Anyway, I think there really should be a vet sitcom called “Prank the Owners”.

People, our costs have gotten to a point it is difficult to not lose money. Six years ago our two largest expenses, food cost and labor were 50%. This last month those two areas reached over 70%. That leaves only 30% for 25 other expense categories including rent, insurance, and payroll taxes. I hate raising prices so I will bring the discount for email customers down to 5% on the week days  with no discount on the weekends. 

Thank you for understanding.

Jul 18 - 24

So we are down here in Aptos for the weekend, just below Santa Cruz. I drove the electric Mustang down and found a free charge station at the state park down the street, provided I pay $10.00 for a day at the park. Ten dollars is not bad for a 180 mile drive. So I am in the house we are staying at when I here screams from my 3 daughters to come outside. They are yelling that I need to go next door to save a Monarch Butterfly caught in a spider web. Ok, understand the house we are staying at is on the cliff, which means the house next door is on the cliff, so that is something for me to consider as I am scaling the neighbors fence. Fortunately, for the butterfly, their house was being tented for termites, so I wasn't too concerned that someone would shoot me for being  in their back yard. Ok, being on the cliff, the fence dividing the properties is only about 3 feet tall. So I carefully plant my foot uphill on the other side and run to the rescue. This spider had a very sticky web, but I was able to get the butterfly out. I did have to pull the web off its wings but it flew away much to the happiness of my daughters.