I just came in from sitting on the back steps and watching the dogs play and try to get to the ever present squirrel that taunts them from just outside the fence. It's an on-going saga that happens every day and always to the same end result - nothing changes. The squirrel runs around the outer lawn, eating his/her acorns and flicking his/her tail at these poor Schnauzers that would dearly love to break loose from their confinement just long enough to teach him/her a lesson. It's comical, to say the least, but sometimes gets a little irritating from listening to the incessant barking that seems to go on and on. That ornery little creature should be proud that he/she doesn't come out at night, for if that were the case, he/she would have met his/her end already by a shotgun totin' hubby. lol I remember several months ago we were awakened in the middle of the night by the the fiercest, most incessant barking commotion we had ever heard. I tiptoed out on the back enclosed porch and peered out toward the kennel where I spotted a huge racoon precariously perched at the top of one of the outside fences and I assumed it was frozen in terror. But coons carry rabies, and we had puppies just inside one of the doggie doors, so we set about trying to get rid of this critter before the dogs actually got it cornered inside the fence. Racoons can do a lot of damage to dogs in self defense. Anyway, long story short, it took us two hours of shooing and throwing rocks and everything else we could think of to try and make this unwelcome critter vacate the premises. Nothing worked! Finally, hubby connected two water hoses together and I turned the water on full pressure. It took a couple of minutes, but the poor soaked racoon finally, in what seemed slow motion, came down from the fence and ambled away. It never did get in a hurry. We bought a live trap the next day and set it out, but apparently that raccoon had had enough of these crazy folks with the rocks and water hoses and never came back. Then I was leary of the live trap because I wondered what we would do if we caught a skunk instead of the coon. Now, THAT would be a SITUATION!
Now....I have no idea how I got off on all that. I had a dear sweet mother-in-law once that called that "chasing rabbits" during her conversations, lol. Now, what did I start out to write about anyway? Oh yeah.....yesterday!
Yesterday was one of those days that I didn't intend to stay so involved with the "stream", but since JimB posted that blog about us women being aliens and the purses and drawers, etc., I felt I had to spring into action. So one thing led to another, and after a full scale combat, and some quick broom...er...helicopter lessons, we finally got the matter resolved. Thanks to all you brave men and women who took part in the battle, lol. WOMAN POWER...YESSSSS!!! Okay, enough of that before I get something else started.
Anyway, in between skirmishes on the stream, I was answering the phone every few minutes, not only from the office, but our ad came out yesterday for taking deposits on the puppies, so there were a few puppy calls and emails involving pictures of each puppy, etc. I don't say much about the work involved in this side business we have, but it gets pretty involved and does indeed require a lot of good ole fashioned manual labor. Which brings me back to sitting on the back steps thinking, "gee whiz...I see at least five baths and haircuts that need to be done this weekend". Any volunteers?.....I didn't think so.
So I was working on the puter, playing on the puter, talking on the phone and pondering.....
....what should I do about the private message I got from Simon?
Ah, now I got your attention, right? Well, I wasn't going to bring all this up, but decided what the heck. I got a PM from "Simon" last Thursday asking me to email him at the provided address at a production company in the UK and give him my phone number so that he could call me and discuss using my two "embarassing moments" stories on an upcoming TLC television series called "Ultimate Blunders". WHATTTT????
After the initial shock wore off, I immediately became skeptical and went through the usual thoughts of "scam, hoax, trick, and pervert". But...Simon went to great lengths in his message to provide links and information that could be verified so, being the responsible www user that I am, I did indeed check this out. To my amazement, he was legitimate. I'll be damned!!!! Anyway, I had not opted to answer his message and decided to sleep on it and discuss with H.H. ((Handsome Husband (yeah, I stole the concept from Lucy)). Hey, did I do that right? I need grammer and sentence structure lessons quick! Oops, I'm chasin' rabbits again.
Back to the story. I finally decided, since I had a lot of questions to ask, I'd just plunge right in there and send Simon the email he had requested and within five minutes, the phone rang. And on the other end of the connection was this wonderful British accent that belonged to a really nice guy named, .........you guessed it, ......Simon.
We had a nice long conversation, Simon and I, and he answered all my questions. We spent several pleasant minutes on the phone and he explained to me that he had searched out my blog and that all the folks in his office were very familiar with and follow my blog. EEEEGADS!!! And that he had already discussed my stories with TLC. EEEEEEKKK!!! Would I consider meeting with a crew in January here in the U.S. about this venture? (OH SHIT!!) He was already very familiar with the details of my stories and asked a few more questions regarding details of such things as just what a swamp cooler looks like and how it works, and a few details about the faucet setup (which he called a "tap"). I was quick to tell this wonderful British accent on the other end of the phone that although I can crank out the stories on my computer or tell them to my friends and family with ease, it's quite a different story when you get me in front of a camera or folks that I'm not familiar with. I assumed that would be the end of it, but bless Simon's patient and kind heart, he assured me that there were several options we could go with, including having an actor tell my stories. Well, with that said, I decided to give it some more thought. Simon offered to call me on Monday and we could discuss it further. What a wonderful gentleman Simon was and by the time the conversation ended, I had improved my posture considerably, was calling a faucet a tap and had this uncanny craving for a cup of tea.
Now, you're wondering what I've decided to do, right? Well, I honestly don't know yet and will be giving it some serious thought (yes, I'm actually capable of that,lol) and will talk again with Simon on Monday.
Oh, and Simon, since you said you follow my blog, thank you for being such a nice guy and I'm sending a big wave and a smile to you and all your co-workers there in the U.K. and I look forward to speaking to you again. Thanks for all your compliments on my blog.
Now, I gotta go roll up my sleeves and bury myself in doggy shampoo suds for a while! Later, gators.
