Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Death from a thousand bites

So it appears the dog is disappointed in me. I can tell such things.

It was all well and good yesterday afternoon when I first came back from Ottawa. There was much jumping up and down and generally ecstatic dog behaviour that one of his humans was home. However, after a couple of minutes of this he stopped, went to the door, looked at it, looked back at me, and whined.

The clear comment being, "it's nice you're home and all, but where's my favourite human?"

I've never been under any misconception about which of us Boo likes best. He's Cathy's dog. Always has been. And I'm fine with that. One day we'll get another dog and he's going to be "mine". But right now, Boo is clearly annoyed his preferred human is not around.

I'm not helping matters by not giving him all the walks he wants, either. It's not that I don't want to walk him, or that I'm too lazy to walk him. It's just that being outside for more than a few minutes right now is not feasible. I walk outside and somewhere a dinner bell must go off for every mosquito in the Iqaluit area. I was killing them inside the truck on the way home today with a rolled up magazine. It's like they were laying in wait for me. Bug spray's are like an aphrodisiac to them or something. I'm convinced I could cover myself in radioactive waste and they would still go through it just to suck my blood.

So no, going outside for anything more than the few minutes he needs to do his business isn't happening. Not unless it's raining or there's lots of wind. Neither of which is happening right now. So Boo has to content himself with brief bursts outside.

So yes, a 14 pound piece of fluff is currently pissed with me. This could be a long summer, especially is the plague of mosquitoes doesn't abate at some point. I swear, they're starting to drill through the side of the house to get at me.

Yes, I'm complaining, but I'm really excellent at it. On the other hand, I could have had the last few days that Cathy has been going through.

Cathy's plan on Monday was to head to Rankin Inlet for a two week forum. Sounds lovely. Except it's been foggy in Rankin since last Friday. No flights in or out. So when she tried to fly out on Monday, her flight was cancelled because of fog. Today's flights were also cancelled by fog and tomorrow wasn't looking all that great either. So the backlog is getting huge, nobody's made it into Rankin for the forum and the days are bleeding away quickly. Meanwhile, she's stuck in Winnipeg, more specifically, Winnipeg Airport. Which I hear is lacking in charms and, more disastrously, a Tim Hortons once you get past security.

Anyway, they finally pulled the plug on it this afternoon, leading to a mad scramble by a couple of dozen teachers to make other plans. She's in Ottawa right now, trying to get to St. John's on Wednesday. Coming back about two weeks ahead of schedule is also going to cost her an extra couple of hundred dollars. So yeah, she's in a mood. Can't say as I blame her.

So I have an unhappy dog, an unhappy wife and mosquitoes want me dead. Summer is off to a lovely start so far...

Last Five
1. U got the look - Prince and Sheena Easton
2. Cardiac arrest - Madness
3. Holy shit - Hey Rosetta!
4. Don't look back in the sun - The Libertines
5. You can't do that - The Beatles

4 comments:

Sara Dorman said...

Sorry to hear of Cathy's predicament, but don't Canadian airlines have to compensate you for such things? in Europe, airlines are required to give you money for food, hotel etc

There must be some basic consumer rights even in Canada - not to mention travel insurance?

Joe G. from 'da Pearl' said...

I can identify with the dog bonding issue. While our Shi Tzu appears to like anyone who pays attention to him, and scratches his ears,...for the few nights my wife was out of town on business, he would not settle. He would just lie at the top of the stairs and growl at the front door, at 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM, 3:00 AM.....etc. No one can replace "mommy".

If you get a dog to be "yours", be wary, cause, like I said, there is no one like "mommy". Unless you are prepared to talk baby talk tones and add "cutsy poo" and other such words to your vocabulary, you will just be a side attraction :)

Ron said...

Yeah one of my staff is marooned in Arviat. It has been grey and raining here for the past 8 days which is remarkable. But just to be clear the mosquitoes don't want you dead, they want you alive so they can continue to live off your blood. A dead TB brings them no benefit.

Melodie said...

I kind of feel bad for you. Winters are so long and harsh. Then summer finally comes, but you can't enjoy it because of the mosquitos. Hmmm....

♪ Mosquito 1, mosquito 2, mosquito jump in the hot caliloo...♪