Well, I’m supposed to be out on a mountaintop watching the sunrise with all the valleys full of clouds and it just looking like I’m in heaven. Which I would be if I was out camping. However unfortunately I’m at home waiting for the Internet repair guy. My Internet went down yesterday and they were good enough to send somebody out the very next day, but dammit it’s Saturday and I wanted to go camping. But there is a silver lining everything of course, and for me, it means that I have 2 hours waiting for somebody to drive in the driveway that I can spend cleaning the house. I backing my house every month whether it needs it or not. (If you have seen Akela you know it probably always needs it) the good thing is that it’s mostly laminate flooring throughout the house with a couple of throw rugs. So I can dry vacuum the floor in a pretty big hurry picking up most of the hair and dirt. And I can vacuum and then shake out the throw rugs over my deck to get rid of most of that dirt. And I’m in no way a neat freak. Anybody who enters my house can tell that. The thing that really says “dirty house” that I never seem to get a chance to do is dust. And I have one of those bag less vacuum cleaners. And they throw dust everywhere. I used to have a bag vacuum cleaner, but I had to change the bag in the middle of cleaning. And those bags are not cheap. So I went to the bag less to save money. But anyways, I’d rather be climbing mountains!

But let’s talk about some of the videos I have thrown up in the last 2 or 3 months. I just noticed I haven’t been on here in quite a while despite making a promise to myself to update the blog every 2 weeks. Having to get up at 3:30 AM every day and go to work until 3:00 PM and then go home and take care of Akela leaves very little time for videos, blogs, proper eating, and household chores. However luckily that is about to end. As of April 1 we will no longer be doing early-morning temperature checks of all the workers at the factory. So I will again get to sleep until 6 AM. I’m hoping that will make a major change to my ability to get things done. Of course also there are a number of holidays and vacation days in the next few months of the summer. Due to the COVID surge in Europe and Germany we are even going to be shut down for a week in April. That allows me to get caught up at work and greatly lower the stress. This job is way more demanding than I could’ve ever anticipated. Mostly because of their silly management systems that require every little action be reported to management with a PowerPoint graph, which takes immense amount of time away from more important work.

Anyways, enough griping about my life. I really am blessed with a great paying job, a great house, and a fantastic dog. Though each one of those could use a lot of work. I took Akela to the dog park this weekend so he could find some playmates. His German shepherd girlfriend up the street broke through her invisible fence and was hit by a car. Very sad! She was 4 years old and had always stayed within that invisible fence. In this one time she chased something and broke through the invisible fence and was then coming back home up the street and a speeding truck hit her. It was raining and late afternoon. A mostly black dog might be hard to see. But it’s just awful to lose a dog. Especially like that.

But anyway at the dog park he kept asserting himself on any dog who came near him for a sniff. There was a husky who was especially playful and semi- aggressive, and he got in a minor spat with him about 3 times. And then the husky got in a fight with a very friendly pitbull and Akela ran right over to get into the fray against the husky. The pitbull just wanted to get away, but the husky was pretty aggressive. I’m not sure he was seriously fighting because there was no damage or injuries. Akela got severely disciplined and hopefully will remember to play nicer next time. I’m a firm believer that any time you take your dog out in public, you need to spend time training strongly for good manners. Taking a dog out in public is not a time to praise and coddle them if they have any, ANY, unacceptable behaviors. From pulling on the leash, to veering towards people or other dogs. All need strict discipline and corrections. If you were walking with your six-year-old child and they suddenly ran at another person and punch them, would you say “now Johnny why would you do that?”. Hopefully you grab him by the scruff of the neck and say “What the hell was that? and give them a good spanking. And I’m not a firm believer in corporal punishment. I believe it’s a much stronger behavior modifier to have love on one side of good and disapproval on the side of bad. A child or dog is always looking for approval and love. Make it clear when you don’t give the approval and love, and they will almost always understand what is right and what is wrong. Control of more pure animalistic instincts may require more serious or even corporal punishment to show your displeasure. But never over use it.

Anyway, We are getting ready to head out to the outer banks and are taking a 4 campground tour of the “Coastal Plains” of North Carolina. Stay subscribed for the upcoming videos. They should be interesting!

Thanks Everyone! Stay safe and healthy!
Rick & Akela