Dogs in the news, experiencing technical issues

Dodger has become a constant companion when we are feeding the calves. At first the dog and the calves did not get along very well but in the process of the past two weeks they have adopted each other. I do not know if the calves get anything out of the friendship but Dodger makes out like a king. After feeding, each of the calves have a milk slime on their nose and mouth. Dodger is kind enough to clean that off for them. Everybody is happy!


Grandpa was telling me more about the encounter between the big dogs and the coyote. He was down at the calf barn tinkering with something and the big dogs were gnawing on the head of a wild hog the two of them had found during the night. All was peaceful until a coyote ran by the pair, heading at breakneck speed toward the meadow. The big dogs were instantly in hot pursuit. Had it not been for the barbed wire fence – which the coyote slipped through pretty easily – the big dogs would have caught and killed the trespasser. Grandpa was very impressed.

Grandpa said that Sasha made it through the fence by slipping under the bottom strand but it slowed her down just enough that she was not able to catch up to the fleeing coyote. Sam tried to charge through the fence and was up ended in the process. Grandpa said Sam did a complete forward flip with a full rotation before he landed hard on the grass in the meadow. After that, he was not a threat to the varmint that perpetrated the fancy fence dive. (There were no animals hurt in the recounting of this episode of farm living.)

Grandpa could hear the growling from across the open lot separating the horse pasture from the calf lot. Sasha, as he tells it, was within striking distance when the coyote ducked the fence. He is sure they would have killed it had they caught it. That’s why we keep them around. Besides they are a special charge to Grandma. She has them, Mama has the chickens and the horses (whose care she shares with Victoria), Grandpa has the calves and the donkeys and I have the guineas. Fortunately the guineas are extremely low maintenance. All of us share Dodger and Rosie even though they belong to Victoria and Mama respectively.

Mama and Grandma were watching episodes of the Dick Van Dyke Show last night as I was getting ready for bed. We are able through ROKU to watch Netflix on the TV we have in the mobile home and lately Grandma has been making constant use if it. The signal to the internet connection we have comes via satellite so when there is heavy cloud cover or some other atmospheric interference, the transmission delay is extended.

What amazed me was to watch the two females that are the least technically inclined – in the whole USA – complain about how slowly the new episode was loading onto the TV. Neither of them had any idea of what it takes to get the signal there or what could be hindering it, but they were both frustrated having to watch the little spinning circle that tells you the program is loading; albeit slowly. It only took about two minutes for them to abandon that and move on to something else.

What is a real pain is when stormy weather hits and the phone – which is supplied through Vonage via the internet connection – goes out temporarily. It is like the end of time has come. “No one can call us even if they wanted to. What if I really needed to call for help? It’s dead. There’s no signal at all! This is so exasperating!!” We spend a few terrifying moments completely separated from the rest of humanity; cut off from humankind.

Then when the phone comes back on, it is like a mad rush to pick someone to call just to verify that the world has not spun out of control. I believe some of you have gotten those calls. “The phones were down for a while and we just wanted to make sure you had not tired to call us.”

I am a simple man, so I find the pseudo-panic pretty funny.