It was all about barking dogs

Kind readers, I'm going to regale you with tales of the unbelievable. They may be slightly exaggerated, but are based 100% in reality.

Yesterday morning was a nice early morning trail run. We hit up some trails in Pittsfield State Forest for a few hours. It was roughly 15 degrees (Fahrenheit) and snowing, perfect. Actually, by the end I was soaking in my own sweat, so it really was about right.

After 2 hours in the woods, I was ready for a nice hot shower. The nasty blisters on my toes were worse after the run than they were before, strangely enough. I decided maybe next time I'd have to forgo the wool socks for something thinner the next time.

Next was breakfast; some steel cut oats hit the SPOT. I even threw some banana slices and strawberries in there for an extra health boost.

Once I was clean and fed, it was time to round up my tax information. Per my mental schedule, I was supposed to do my taxes yesterday but I don't like stressing myself out too much if I don't have to, so instead I built a fire and watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Plus I made corned beef and cabbage (and potatoes and carrots and onions). The veggies were great, the meat sucked. It was easily 75% fat!

This morning I awoke, dressed and headed out to L-to-the-anesboro for another run in the woods. Fear not faithful readers, it wasn't 15 and snowy today. It was 7 and windy. Once the blood warmed up my extremities I was in business. I even got to see a coyote den (minus the coyotes) and heard story after story of all of the dangerous wildlife in this particular series of trails. This was enough to keep my eyes peeled for danger.

DANGER! After passing a farmhouse, we were chased by three HUGE dogs. Now, the conventional approach to dogs is to stop, look them in the eye and yell "STOP". When our leader booked ass I followed suit. I hated to leave the woman behind, but in a life or death situation like that you don't have to outrun the dogs, you just can't be the slowest person. My afterburners kicked in and I was GONE.

Well, the woman followed conventional wisdom and stopped the dogs from chasing. She waved goodbye to them followed by "Goodbye puppies". Man did I feel like a heel, an alive heel, but a heel nonetheless. I promised I'd embellish this story with something about bears, but I just can't mislead my readers.

Today's run was another 2 hour jobber and my dogs were BARKING, yo. Soaked to the bone, they were cold, tired, blistered and ready for a rest. All I could think about was breakfast and coffee. I headed home to get out of my soaking wet clothes (damn I'm a sweaty bastard).

Ahh, home at last. When I walked in, I remembered that the sink stopped draining last night. I had put some drain clearing enzymes down the drain last night to clear the clog naturally. That didn't work so I knew I was in for a fun time. I was going to have to open the cleanouts in the basement and snake the drain. If you've never done this, it typically involves dumping disgusting water all over your person and a whole lot of swearing. I made sure to hit both of these points early on so I could get on with the repair.

I only had to try two cleanouts before I hit the clog. A couple of cranks on the snake (get your mind out of the gutter) and I busted threw. I put the plug back on the cleanout and tested the drain. Everything went down nicely, so I cleaned up and had some eggs.

Well, that's plenty for all of you. It's time for you to get back to your own lives. I'll holler at you tomorrow.

Over and Out,
Old Coot