Small world

We took the truck in for service yesterday and when I gave our address to the service advisor, she said "Really!  I live ..." and it turned out she lives just three properties away from us on the same road.  We had a lot of other things in common, too, as it turned out.  A houseful of dogs . . . well - lots of stuff.  Nice lady.  We'll have to get to know them better. 

This morning was not the perfect morning, though.  Mark had a dentist appointment (which always puts him in a horrible mood to begin with) at 8 AM this morning.  He woke up later than he planned at 7:15 and started slamming doors and pitching things around and generally making a huge ruckus that made me sit straight up in bed convinced the world was ending.  When I found out what the problem was, I assured him that I would go feed the horses and he would have plenty of time to get ready and get over to the dentist's office.  Okay.  But then when he went outside to the extra car that he was going to need to drive (since I had to drive the station wagon to work what with the truck at the dealer), the tire was almost, but not QUITE, flat.  Oh, terrific.  But he went down the road to the hardware store and picked up a few cans of fix-a-flat and pumped it back up enough to get him to the appointment in time.  After that, if it's flat again he can just call AAA and have them tow it somewhere where he can get it fixed.  As for me, I am soooo happy to be at work where it's nice and calm and peaceful.   ;-)  

It's particularly quiet here today since one of the two patent attorneys I work with has gone up to Indiana for the rest of this week and all of next week to get tracking lessons for his Golden Retriever, Cayenne.  Interesting.  He has always been into agility in the past but apparently his two dogs have enough championships in agility that it's no longer that big a challenge.  Whatever the reason, he has begun tracking competitions with Caye.  Lillian, his older Golden, has retired from competitions and now only does acting gigs at the local playhouse.  I'm telling you - seeing his dogs (who he brings to work with him occasionally, where they behave PERFECTLY all day long) really makes me see my own crew for the wild bunch they really are!

And speaking of bosses who are into animal stuff -- not sure how I got on this track, but anyway . . . , the attorney I worked for up in Cincinnati, where I got started on all this patent stuff, had Icelandic horses.  His family went to Iceland on a riding vacation where they fell in love with them.  They ended up importing a number of Icelandics to their farm in northern Kentucky where they now breed them, and where Greg's wife, a physical therapist, does equine therapy using the Icies.  I love the look of them, their gaits, and the fact that they're so sturdy and short, but they have a tendency to skin conditions in the high heat and humidity of Louisiana so I wasn't able to have one -- even if I could have found one I could afford! 

Anyway, my point is that I seem to unintentionally gravitate, without any thought whatsoever, toward other folks who are seriously involved with animals.  You see -- we animal people really must be different!