Long Nosed Monster

Miss Long Nose performs a crocodile impression in this photo. While on vacation, we had to hide from a tornado in a basement. To keep us entertained, Long Nose made monster faces.


The new foster, Lady, arrived a few weeks ago. She was fresh off the track - we met the dog hauler off the interstate and brought her home. It turns out Lady is cousins with MLN, and they're getting along great. Lady is very athletic and will leap over MLN when she does her zoomies. MLN just stands looking perplexed.

See you later, bro!

Exciting news, my bud Pluto was adopted into a wonderful home this morning! I'll miss him, but he's got a lot of fun times ahead of him.

It was great to see the adoption process from start to finish, and it was good to give back to the group.

Miss Long Nose gets the big kennel again, so she's happy. MLN 's such a spoiled princess! She won't be too spoiled though, I pickup a new foster tomorrow. Rumor has it, it's another female. I'll be trapped in a household of girls!

2008 Des Moines Flood

Last Thursday, a storm chaser passed us on our evening greyhound walk. That was a bad sign. Severe storms were predicted, so we stayed within blocks of the house.

Around 10:30 PM, the tornado sirens in northern Des Moines blew, and we ran down to the basement. Long Nose went right to her blankets. The stairs were too steep for Pluto, so he relaxed in the living room. If things got bad, I planned to drag him with us, but I didn't want to hurt him on the remote chance we got hit. The 1950's ranch has a storm shelter/ panic room/wine cellar under the porches with concrete walls and ceiling. Luckily the tornado went about five miles to the north.

After hearing about basement flooding, I checked mine over lunch on Friday. Mysteriously, my tool boxes were in a different room. The detergent had moved out of the laundry room. After some confusing moments, I found that the basement had flooded in the torrential rain, and had then drained itself. The contents of the basement had been floating while we slept.

By Saturday we were cleaned up, but there were about $2,o00 in damages.

The neighborhood was full of vans, big trucks, and flashing lights. Ruined carpet and furniture were thrown in front yards. It's never good when the Catastrophe Team is visiting.


Since my laundry room was under water, I now request change only in quarters. More rain and flooding is expected. My damage was very minor compared to what a lot of Iowans are facing. Last week was limited mostly to basement flooding in Des Moines. Downtown is bracing for real flooding this week. Let's hope drier times are ahead.

MLN Vs. Kong

Spring Greyhound Walking

Camping and Hiking, Lake Keomah.

Lake Keomah

Art Center, Des Moines.

Gray's Lake, Des Moines

Beaver Creek Flood, Johnston.

Centaur or Greyhound?

Pluto

Pluto may be a big guy, but he's a gentle giant. In the evenings he's always looking for an opportunity to be invited to the couch and socialize. Since he's a foster, he's denied, which isn't easy. Especially since Miss Long Nose has furniture privileges.

He has very good manners, and never jumps on the furniture, but he will beg. The other night he made this unusual centaur like pose, requesting permission to jump on the bed. He's tall enough he can rest the front of his body on the comforter, while still standing on the floor with his back legs.

A real centaur in battle.

Another Procrastination Meme

I've been tagged, The Food Lady has meme'd me! It's titled accurately. I finally have running water in the kitchen, but there's still cabinetry to put together, bills to be paid, and camping gear to organize. Oh, well! :-)

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was halfway through college, working full-time at a telecom during summer. Phone calls cost money in 1998.

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
Anything sweet, made from scratch. :-)

Five Things on My To Do List Today:
Meet with tile installer.
Meet with Hawkeye Moving for the cabinet delivery.
Go to hardware store.
Pay mortgage.
Walk dogs.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Spend more time with family/friends.
Invest.
Work less, devote more time to greyhounds.
Bike again.
Stop doing diy projects.

Five Jobs I have had:
Janitor
Delivery Driver
Lawncare
Kitchen Staff
Grocery Clerk

Five Places I have lived:
Three houses and one apartment, all in Iowa.

People I want to get to know better: (yes this means you are tagged!)

Volunteer, if you like. :-)

Six random things:
My car is still wearing snow tires.
I have $150 in dog food in a closet. It's worth more than most of my furniture.
My yard is full weeds.
My garden plants are still in pots.
There's tools in every room.
The kitchen will be finished in a few days.

More Neighborhood Photos

As promised, here is the photo of the giant hummer we spotted at the liquor store on our walk. This isn't a normal H2, it's more like a monster truck. Notice that it's almost up to the awning of the building. The owner had to climb to get into his vehicle. I'm sure he's buying alcohol to make the gas expense seem less painful.

Here's a photo of the awesome hounds investigating a squirrel nuisance. Pluto is not letting his guard down. Miss Long Nose is just along for the ride. Eventually I called them back to let the squirrel escape back to its nest.

Spring Walking Observation

We spot these potbelly pigs at least once/week on our walk. The pink one is named Bacon, and the brown one is named Little Smokey. Bacon will walk to me by name, they seem like excellent pets.

Business at the neighborhood liquor store is picking up with the nicer weather. I have a pic I'll upload in the future of a giant hummer parked in front. With $4 gas getting close, that has to be painful.

Every other house seems to have a for sale sign in front of it. I'm thankful that I don't have any plans to move in the near future.

We walked past the house of the neighborhood coordinator for the Obama campaign. She is in her car, windows rolled down, listening to campaign news. Yesterday, she honked and waved at us as she drove by. She has to be very happy.

MLN, Pluto, and I have been doing some late night walking. The smell of the flowers is unbelievable at night, it's hard to describe. Pluto loves smelling the flowers. Obviously he's trying to pick some out for MLN.

IKEA Kitchen Progress

Serving TV dinners since 1959, my former scary kitchen. This is the sole reason I got the house cheap. I'm embarrassed I thought the kitchen was okay when I bought the place. Obviously, I was != sober.

The renovation is almost complete! Counter tops are scheduled to be installed on Monday, things are looking good. The doors and handles need some tweaking, but overall it's been smooth. Note the IKEA hack to give the fridge a built in look. Those are actually cover panels for pantry cabinets forming the enclosure.

I wanted a modern look, and copied the wood/gloss design after photos of modernist 1950's kitchen. My original kitchen was more neo-cottage than modern.

Each sink bowl has a copper drain line running on the outside of the wall. Why did they do this? I voided the warranty of my base cabinet, did another hack, and notched the cabinet. All the drawers still function perfectly. The European trend is to store items in drawers instead of wall cabinets. All of my plates, bowls, silverware, and storage containers will call this home.