Another Day in Hell

If there is one thing I hate, it is a hot and humid New York summer day. Today was such a day.
It startd off badly, and went from bad to worse. Although even at it's worse, it wasn't all THAT bad.





One of my first jobs today was to let some dogs out. It was supposed to be an easy job: just let them out. They have an Invisable Fence, there is plenty of water and protection from the elements in the backyard. I let them out in the morning, and let them in at night.
Here's the glitch: Yesterday we had heavy thunder storms come thru the area. When I arrived this morning, I heard beeping. It was coming from the Invisable Fence control panel. I tried calling the owners on the cell phone they provided, but it was tyurned off, and went straight to voice mail.
I ended up leaving three messages for the owners on thier voice mail, and called the Invisable Fence people for a service call. My experieince with Invisable Fences is that the dogs know what the perimeters are and won't go near them. I was safe with leaving them outdoors today, but what about tomorrow?




I have alot of jobs today, and there is NO WAY I could sit and wait for a service call from the Invisable Fence people, so I made arrangements to pay someone to sit and wait. And off i went to my next job.

Next job: deliver a dog to the kennel he will stay at for the next week. I get the dog, but the parkway was jammed with traffic going north--the direction I was headed. I got off the parkway, cut across town and hopped on the interstate to get me where I needed to go. This all took extra time than I had planned. I drop the dog, and start back....South on the parkway. The southbound traffic was no problem when I was headed north, but not so now! Although I had the radio on and was monitoring the traffic, there was no mention of the accident on the road I was on. Now I am really off schedule, and have to juggle things around.

My next dog walk was with Rigger, and old yellow lab. I walk into his house to find it filled with all kinds of people. Apparently they were filming a scene for a movie there. To keep the old man (Rigger) out of the way, they put him on the porch, which was not air conditioned. Poor old man Rigger was having a really hard time breathing in today's heat and humidity. I was concerned about his breathing and called the owner, whose cell phone was off. I left a message. When I left that job, I left my cell phone number with a woman who seemed to take a liking to the old man. "Please call me if you have any problems with him today."

I did get back on schedule, got it all accomplished and checked up on the old Rigger a second time. By the afternoon, they had moved him into the kitchen, which was air conditioned, and his breathing had improved.

The owner of the dogs with the Invisable Fence finally called me at 2pm, to tell me that what had happened with the system is typical after a heavy rain. I had to cancel the service call, but the girl who was house sitting for me needs to get paid regardless. Sorry owners, I have to pass this expense off to you.

Last dog walk of the day, I got caught in a downpour, It was the perfect ending to a rotten day. It was so hot, it was actually nice to get rained on, but nicer still when I got home, showered, and changed into dry clothes.

The perfect end to a crappy day: red wine!