Category Archives: Pups

The Fine Print

So update on a few things:

Walkersville house: Apparently, my agent and I had a misunderstanding about the cost of radon mitigation. I thought he estimated the costs as $400 for a passive system and $900 for an active system. Turns out though, what he meant was $400 to upgrade to an active system if there’s a passive system already installed… but there isn’t. So that’s fine. Radon is a legit environmental health concern, so we upped the buyer credit some more. The buyers accepted, and we’re onto the next step. Whew!

Companion Pass: Seeing as I was still short a flight, I booked that same day roundtrip to Burbank for $112. But the next day, I figured I would CYA once more and call Southwest to confirm that after this Burbank trip, I’m gonna get the pass for sure, right??? Well, I spent about 30 min on the phone with an agent and her manager: they both insisted that indeed Reno was the last flight I needed. Back and forth. They are unable to provide paperwork or email confirming this. To be honest, the problem seems to be inconsistent fine print posted to various places. Regardless, from what I read in the super detailed fine print, “bookings made before the promo period are ineligible.” So even though these people told me what I wanted to hear, I think they are wrong and I’m not taking any chances.

Rover: Very late on Thursday night (11:35p to be exact), I received a Rover request for the very next day. Given the last minute nature, I assumed this was urgent and dire. I accepted boarding for a 2.5-y/o American Eskimo. I looked through her profile and pretty much no care/vet instructions. The owner was super grateful and when I expressed concerns about age difference with Marty, she didn’t really reply. At worst, I figured I could just keep them separate. So the owner came by after work on Friday and she was in a hurry, so much so that she didn’t want to see the yard or the park. She also didn’t bring the dog’s food or bed. Just a leash/harness, a bone (“I’ll leave this and she hasn’t chewed up anything in a long time”), and a bag of treats. Um, ok. All is fine, Lemon (named after the citrus) is a sweet young pup. At bedtime, we go to sleep and she stays out in the living room. Ok, whatever. Sometimes dogs prefer to wait near the door. Then, in the middle of the night, I wake up to go to the kitchen and I see chewed up rubber nubbies all over the carpet (the door stop). Throughout the night, she comes in the bedroom and I wake up to let Lemon and Marty outside. It’s a restless night. By morning, John gets up and let’s them both out. Then, he goes out to get coffee. I try to sleep in. I hear some crying and then when I go into the living room, Lemon is on the sofa, sitting on top of my Lululemon jacket. As I get closer, I see that she has chewed off the bottom half of the zipper. I think she ingested some of the zipper teeth even. Ugh! WTF?!?! I email her owner saying I think she ingested but I think she’ll poop it out and be fine. Can take to vet if you want. No reply pretty much all day. Later, I notice too that Lemon has chewed through her harness. So now I’m kinda pissed. I mean, she IS young, and this is one of the reasons why I specify dogs over 10 y/o. But I dunno: without any additional instructions/warnings from her owner, I thought Lemon would be easy. It’s fine: not the end of the world. My local dry cleaner says $40 for a new zipper, and fortunately, the owner agreed to pay. But shit, this also gives me a new appreciation for owners who bring their own crates and all that other equipment for when their dogs are left unattended. I mean, in this case, I was home, but after discovering her penchant for chewing, the crate would have allowed me to leave the house at least. Next time, I need to still insist on a thorough screening process… no cutting corners.

What else. I have been studying my real estate for a few hours every day. I did great on Exam 1 – definitions. Awful on exam 2 – prelim. I find the questions so confusingly worded, to be honest. So today was discouraging, but I just have to keep plugging. We’re off to Tahoe and back this week. Hope Marty does ok with the new sitter and her little mutt Cricket.

Carpolepsy

Bubs and I are back from a quick jaunt in Oregon. It’s been many years since we last visited: we had some friends who did the Hood to Coast race, so we’d hit up Astoria, Portland, and then the Eugene area. But this trip was focused less on the city and more on wine country! Yeah, I still don’t consider myself a foodie, but I like many of the things wine country offers: incredible scenery, deluxe outdoor chill space, ranch animals, stunning buildings and tasting rooms, and yummy snacks.

So first of all, Oregon is slow. I drove 45 mph on the interstate. No joke. Second, there sure are a lot of hipsters. I thought Portlandia was a hyperbole. Not so. That shit is spot. on. Lots of monster beards and very funky clothes. But people are nice and somehow not as snooty as the SF hipsters. Finally, shit is cheap. Yup, that part wins me over every. damn. time. So now, no more Paso Robles for our project idea but maybe Oregon wine country??? We’ll see.

We did a lot in a few short days. Sadly though, on our way to Mt. Hood, I got carsick, then popped a Dramamine, and then carpolepsy ensued. I missed so much of this gorgeous drive. I dunno whether the drowsiness was exacerbated by the Dramamine: I kinda feel like I have a history of getting ridiculously tired riding in cars. Like drugged-out tired. I was so frustrated to have missed everything that the first night after we got back to the hotel, I looked this shit up. I mean, I have a problem. Carpolepsy (ok, that’s a term in urban dictionary) aka highway hypnosis. It’s a form of motion sickness but not much explanation beyond that. Fucking A, man. In the mean time, I am getting back on the vitamins train, bc this no energy bullshit just cannot keep happening.

Another interesting surprise from the trip? J and are pinot drinkers, and we always felt like we enjoyed pinots from the Central Coast (Santa Barbara region) more than those from Williamette Valley in Oregon. But strangely, when we tasted the pinots on this trip, the wines were pretty good. Hmm, had our taste buds changed? Was there something with drinking them at the source? Perhaps the flavors actually differed winery to winery rather than just region to region? Not sure what happened. Bubbey says we ought to be careful about drawing conclusions based on very limited sample size. Ok, my data scientist. Regardless, the wines were a pleasant surprise. My preferences are now leaning towards old vine zinfandel, so I hear that Lodi, CA is the next wine region to hit![FAG id=7483]

What else. J and I are getting along great. I’ve come to realize that being together for so long, we really have this unspoken understanding about so many things, for example, our style of travel, our preferences, our behaviors, and habits. It’s a really nice luxury to have someone just be able to anticipate things on your behalf. It’s hard to explain more specifically, but I feel lucky and grateful for my Bubbey.

Of course, after a few days of total chill, I awoke our final morning in Oregon all stressed. First off? I received an email from Southwest at 7am. You have completed 4 of 10 flights for the California companion pass promo. Say what? That cannot be right. Immediately, I popped out of bed bc this shit was a Code Red. Got on the phone with customer service. He went trip by trip. Goddamnit, the flight to Burbank (LA) for BlogHer didn’t count, bc I actually bought the tickets before the promo window. ARGH!!! I mean I had called earlier and the agent then said it counted, but fuck, both of our bads. I am already feeling over-traveled (I know, first world problems), and I thought I would be done after Tahoe. Nope. I need one more round-fucking-trip before Taiwan. Goddamnit. Thankfully, my smart friend M planted an idea that if anything, I can just do a quickie day trip flight down to LA and back. Like just grab lunch at the airport. And at this point, that’s what I’m going to do, bc there’s a lot of other shit going on…

The MD townhouse sale is still pending… The buyers had a home inspection and came back asking for more, for course. That resulted in yet another conflict between me and my agent. Stressful, bc I am not world-class emotionally intelligent like Bubs. Also, bc the closing date falls while we’re all in Taiwan, I’ve got to arrange power of attorney. Thank goodness, M is stepping up to the challenge. I just hope all the paperwork and shit gets done right bc there has already been a lot of back and forth with the title attorney. Whatever, it’ll get worked out.

In other news, I finally received the green light from the Bureau of Real Estate to take the exam. I’ve got it scheduled for Monday, Oct. 11. And I am having a lot of anxiety about it. I’ve always had anxiety about standardized tests… it goes way back to the SATs, ACTs, and GREs. I ultimately did fine on them (though I never scored as high as my parents wanted), but I get insomnia and tummy issues and numb hands just thinking about it. I keep trying to talk myself through: it’s not as dire as my body is reacting but shit, it just dredges up all the pressures and expectations from the past. Anyway, the plan is to take a 2-day crash course next weekend and then crank it out Tuesday morning in Oakland.

Needless to say, my brain was just preoccupied with all this crap and then when we returned the rental car, the rep suggested that we caused a dent by the gas cap. Are you fucking kidding me? Then I had to speak with the manager. I showed her my before photos, but I didn’t get a straight on shot of that area. I explained that when we arrived, there was a huge wait. We did go around the car with a dude, but the lighting in the garage was poor and the car had just been washed so the dent would have been difficult to see with all the reflections from the garage lighting. On top of that, later, John reminded me that when I had pointed out an indentation (but no superficial scratch) on the trunk to the check-out dude, he had specifically told us they were just looking for major things… The manager gave me her cell and said she would review the garage footage on their cameras and call me before the end of the day. She was very nice but I was just annoyed, like what kind of scam is this? It’s not like you’re going to repair that indentation so why would you charge me?

So we arrive at the gate, and I’m just overwhelmed. I reach for my ipad to get some writing therapy in, and holy fuck: I left my ipad in the rental car. Noooo!! There was this new console design in the car with an underneath platform for your purse/bag, and I set my iPad there bc I was using it for map navigation. OMG!!! So I called Robbie (the manager) and thankfully she went and got it. I then had to go back out to the rental car area (thank goodness it was onsite!!) and then back through security again. See? Totally frazzled.

In the end, all is fine. We got back and Marty is good. Weaker but good. No accidents. I’ll take the test in ten days. I’ll get the Companion Pass eventually. The house will sell one way or another. And vitamins are gonna give me that extra boost to power through the next several weeks (You know Taiwan ain’t gonna be a walk in the park!).

How About Law School?

I called my dad this evening to catch up. The last time we’d spoke, he was having a personal pity party while also arguing with my mother, so needless to say, I was feeling pretty frustrated with both of them. About a week and a half have passed since, and thankfully, he is sounding better. I gave an update on the Walkersville townhouse (we’re trying to schedule closing for after I return from Taiwan…). He’s been watching some new Taiwanese programming online and then tending to the yard, running errands, tracking his stocks, etc.

My grandparents in Taiwan seem to be on the upswing again. Even though the original plan for my upcoming trip was to consider moving my maternal grandparents to a formal elder facility in Taipei, it now seems that that transition plan will be unlikely. My dad’s sisters insist the current situation with all three oldies living in one place is manageable, esp with the help of two live-in caretakers, so the status quo might just end up being the easiest thing. Plus, I got wind that my brother is not returning phone calls (what’s new) and to be honest, if he were the only relative leaving nearest my grandparents’ senior facility should they relocate to the campus in Taipei, that would be a fucking disaster, bc ultimately, Jgo is unreliable as fuck. Just sayin’.

Other news: dad is most likely going to just use his usual realtor for selling his primary residence. As it turns out, I probably had a mismatch with the Walkersville agent anyway, so just as well: dad will simply continue working with a known quantity who also happens to speak Chinese. Remember when we said his house was going to go on the market next year? Well I was thinking like April or May 2017. Nope, his agent is advising that they clear out the insides and list in February/March. Uh, good luck with that accelerated timeline. Clearly, she has no idea what she’s dealing with.

Meanwhile, after my bud N headed out to LA on Thursday, I met with a local practicing broker on Friday (part of my plan to start networking now…). We had a good meeting: I followed up with a thank you and a “yes, I’d love to attend some of your office’s upcoming trainings,” to which she invited me… During our meeting, I floated the internship/job shadow/assistant idea, but she said realty offices hire assistants for like 2-3 year chunks, so my best next move while awaiting my license is really to attend office trainings and meet the other colleagues. Ok, cool with me.

But damn, I am getting antsy as fuck about not bringing in some more dough. Yes, I have another Rover assignment coming up, but with our traveling, my schedule isn’t super conducive. Naturally, I started creeping around on the Craigslist job boards, and I was getting sucked into some personal assistant/travel planning gigs. J thinks they are a total waste of time and energy (I should be ramping up for real estate…), but I like planning and organizing, and I’m good at it… I guess we’ll go to Portland and then I’ll come back and re-assess. I just feel like I need some more side hustle. That was always my thing in college: I just did better when I had a busy schedule with a lot of side jobs.

But back to my call tonight with dad. Mom is undergoing a bunch of tests: biopsies and a CAT scan. A few weeks ago, doctors found a speck on her lung and ulcers in her esophagus. My dad doesn’t think it’s anything to worry about bc back in their day, the TB inoculations often caused scarring on the organs, but just to be sure, they are doing tests. The doctor is slated to review the results in mid October.

Mom and Dad had also recently stopped their daily walking routine, bc the weather back home was so blistering hot and muggy, but dad said they started walking again this week. Then, for whatever reason, I dropped my bomb: I told dad about my real estate plans. I wasn’t really nervous about it or anything. I just didn’t want to tell him earlier bc I didn’t want him harassing me about studying for the class and whatever.  Not surprisingly, he thought it was a good idea, and after I told them I’d already completed the three required classes and am awaiting the test date, he sounded even more thrilled.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from making the inevitable comment: “Did you look at other jobs?” Um, yeah I’d already looked at all the digital comm jobs and decided I didn’t want to continue in that line of work doing jobs in nonprofit. He then clarified what he was really asking, “Have you thought about law school?” And there it was AGAIN. Jesus fucking Christ. He has been mentioning law school since I was in engineering graduate school in 1998. Every damn time: No, I’m not interested in more schooling. Oh, it’s only two years. No, it’s THREE years. Plus, every lawyer I know HATES the job. EVERY damn one says it is their most expensive mistake.

It’s fine. I’m not angry or anything, but it’s just another example of where my parents sometimes just push their agenda without listening to what I’m telling them. I get it: he works with lawyers and the work doesn’t seem that hard and they make boatloads of money. But still, it’s not like I’m my friend J who like takes law classes for fun or reads about Supreme Court judgements for fun… Anyway, Dad did insert the whole, “You do what’s right for you” disclaimer at the end. And regardless, I think he is pleased that in the very least, real estate will be practical should J and I consider personal real estate investments in the future… Always pragmatic, right?

What else. Oh, I had a very pleasant discovery the other day. You know how I’ve been doing the whole Upromise thing? Well, I used it back in May for our VRBO Best Friends booking, and the way I read the cashback deal, I would just get $10 for the booking. Well, as it turns out, I got like 10% of my booking (~310) on top of the $10!! Woo hoo!! So far, I’ve earned over $1200 in just under two years with Upromise. Not too shabby!

Finally, an update on Marty care: After reaching out to like 8 sitters for mid October availability, I met with a sitter this morning who’s game for living on the Houseboat while we’re in Taiwan. She also appeared utterly unfazed by Martin’s fragile condition. So we’re going to try her out in early October for our two-day trip to Tahoe (my final Southwest flight before getting my prized Companion Pass!) and then see how that goes. He’s been doing pretty well but those back legs, man… Today, I saw glimpses of Remy’s decline. But we’re just going to plug along for as long as he’ll plug along. I hope he’ll be ok when we’re in Portland for a few days.

Dora the Explorer

So I’ve been off for the past week, bc my friend N rolled into town (visiting from North Carolina). We had a really great visit, but man, we were on the move a ton! Yes, in typical VG fashion, I gave her an entire list of ideas well in advance of her arrival and then once she landed, there was more planning. I know, for you spontaneous folks out there, I do need to relax sometimes, but frankly, as an ESTJer, there are few things worse than asking a group of people what they want to do and getting “I’ll do whatever. I’m easy” as the response. Bc I loathe that so damn much, I always have some kind of schedule in my back pocket just in case.

The great thing about N is that she, in her own words, possesses a kind of child-like wonder, so she’s super game for adventure. From a very young age, she loved travel and exploration. I think she gets it from her mom, although her father too had a very curious mind. Like all of us, N has many ideas and visions of what she wants to do and who she wants to be, but for one reason or another, she’s too often limited by constraints… you know what I mean. We all have big dreams, and then we come up against some wall… be it a wall that others have built for us or a wall we have built for ourselves or some other hindrance that I suppose could fall under the category of “life circumstances.”

But I’m super impressed and inspired by N. No matter the challenges, she trudges forward. She has fallen down a shit ton and she continues to have major setbacks, but she always gets back up. And really, if you think about it, so long as any of us choose life over death, there are only SO many options in continuing on.

I was saddened by her latest setback, but at the same time, I also observed considerable progress in so many other areas: with her finances, with nervous ticks/habits, with smoking. She is fighting battles on so many fronts, but she remains brave and she continues to forge a path forward, examining other options and possibilities and offshoots, like from her current career. She also talked of moving out west, either to Colorado or California, and I can see that she’s formulating plans to make those things happen. I’m so happy to see the fire burning in her heart again.

As for our week of adventure, we did a lot. And lucky for her, between Bubbey and me, she had a good balanced mix of serious and direct and fun and light. On some days, I got a little annoyed with the amount of car time and travel and hassle (city parking, hitting up crowded touristy spots, etc.), but then I checked myself. Things worth doing take time and work and hassle. That’s just how it goes. And thank goodness we did so many things she wanted to do, bc in the process, I discovered some amazing new experiences.

For example, months ago, N texted me asking about Forbes Island restaurant. I was like, what is this place, some cheesy artificial “island” randomly planted by the pier? You take a little ferry from the dock to the “island.” And then, god, a fixed menu. And it’s pricey? WTF is this tourist trap? But N read up on it and was so excited (She has a thing for lighthouses) about it, so I booked the reservations. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. But then we went. And it was lovely. Delightful. And the food and service were superb. So, credit where credit it due!

Same thing with a day trip to Napa. I was dreading the car travel and the hoyty toyty wine tastings and then the traffic coming back. Yes, Debbie Downer is super prone to car sickness and then I get cranky. Although, I kept it mostly under wraps. Well, it turned out to be a beautiful day, and we hit up some old places like Artesa and Domaine Carneros (always scenic) as well as some new places, like Jamieson Ranch and Castello di Amorosa. I was giving major pushback about the latter, bc a frickin’ castle in Calistoga?!? Again, eye roll, right? I mean, I was envisioning some kind of Disney-like ridiculousness. And I really wanted to go home and not drive the extra 35 min to the goddamn castle. But Bubbey argued that we were “already in the area”… so fine. Well, my bad again. The castle was pretty fricking cool. Yup, I stand corrected.

Other things we did included a day trip to Santa Cruz then hitting up Bonny Doon winery (we even joined their club!) and driving north through Pescadero to stop at Harley Farms. We introduced N to Burmese food (tea leaf salad!!), and I took her to the Chinese foot spa, which she loved. We did karaoke, saw the movie Snowden (well done), and enjoyed German fare at the local cafe/bakery. She also reached out to a friend’s sis who moved out here three years ago from Wilmington. The lady is a mechanic who now lives on a houseboat in Redwood City. She and her boyfriend were super gracious and took us out on the water on their sailboat… which I have never ever done before. So all in all, we had a very full week and we had fun. And N was super happy and grateful and acknowledging. Seriously, she is quite keen and I think she knew I was being resistant at times, but she was so sweet in thanking us for everything. She’s so good about verbalizing her gratitude. That’s something I really should emulate.

So this morning, I dropped her off in San Jose. She took the MegaBus to Burbank, where she’ll be staying a few days with some family friends. Bubs and I are aiming to get back on our routine. I need to hit the gym, and then tomorrow I’m meeting with my realtor’s friend, who is a real estate broker in Cupertino. Then, on Sunday, we’re off to Portland for a few days. I’m trying a new live-in sitter for Marty. We’ll see how that pans out.

Speaking of Marty, N gave him a promising prognosis. She said that he is doing remarkable given his age: he displays strong appetite, no vomiting, regular stool, and he still gets excited for walks and treats… She suggested a few things, like trying to put some weight on him, vitamin E to help with the arthritic inflammation, and moving his legs to exercise the muscles more… other than that, she’s amazed! Yay![FAG id=7478]

Turning it up

As you know, I’ve been jumping back into the networking pool lately. Unfortunately, the real estate instructor never replied to my email. I’m a little disappointed but not entirely discouraged. Having done this whole process before, reaching out to strangers and trying to make their acquaintance, I know it’s largely a numbers/volume game. I have to just keep plugging. So I still tune in to the instructor’s weekly webinars and one of these days, I will introduce myself to him in person. 

Incidentally, John’s friend T also referred me to her brother who is a realtor. He also did not reply. I get it though. Sometimes people are weird about responding to strangers. I don’t take that shit personally anymore, bc I’m confident that my approach isn’t entitled or demanding.

Interestingly, my own agent D texted me out of the blue last week. We met up yesterday and had a really good catchup over a pedicure and then lunch. She is super open and generous in sharing her experiences as a realtor, so I gained a lot of insight. She also put me in touch with one of her colleagues who is a broker running two real estate offices and growing her team. The thing about D is, she presses forward all the time. I’m sure much of it comes from her background as a trainer and coach and motivator: people in that kind of role have to adopt a certain language and style that nudges people… Still, I’ve never been someone who requires a lot of nudging. Give me your advice and insights, but then I will take it from there. So for example, she was thrilled to introduce me to her two peeps. Right then and there, she called them up on the phone, told them about me, gave glowing reviews, and asked if she could share their contact info with me. They both agreed. So I’m thinking, cool. I’ll reach out to them in the next day. Well, D suggested I call or text them immediately “while the lead is warm” to set up a meeting.

Here’s the thing. I always prefer written over verbal. And when I receive a contact from someone, I have a basic template where I introduce myself, name the connection, and then describe where I am and what I am seeking… And I am a very deliberate writer in that, I like to proof everything so I’m careful with what I say and how I say it. So she’s like telling me to text and I explain that I’m emailing. Then, she’s like wow this email is taking so long, blah, blah. I just ignore her. Then she wants to be copied, which is fine. Long story short, I send off the email and we go to lunch. By the time we’re done with lunch, her friend replies with a meeting date/time. Then D reads my email and acknowledges that it’s good, but then she again pushes me to formalize the meeting immediately. I understand what she’s saying about the connection being warm and being top of mind. But it’s not so urgent that I have to meet the lady TOMORROW or schedule it immediately. I mean, the good thing about D is that she’s just trying to help in her own way. Most people do have shit follow-through, so action items are now or never. But with me, I’ll get it done. Don’t harass me about it, bc I don’t need your prodding. 

I’ve been running up against a similar scenario with Bubbey. Maybe bc he doesn’t have his engineering team or coworkers to boss around and direct, he’s like starting to manage me, and I don’t like it one bit. I was telling him my plan for reaching out to industry practitioners to attend trainings, meet other realtors, and assess fit. D was thinking that if I got along with her lady, maybe I could join that office and ramp up even while I was waiting to take the exam. Bubs was also really focused on sussing out openings with these brokers… 

The thing is, I first need to make sure I pass the test. Then, I’m simultaneously  reaching out and learning about the events and different offices where I can prepare for the test and network with realtors and trainers. I dunno. Maybe he’s just sharing his thoughts, but I often feel like he’s reiterating what I’m already planning to do but somehow he thinks my approach is different from what he’s suggesting. It’s not. It’s frustrating bc I’m fine with spousal influence, but that influence has to run both ways. And that hardly ever happens with his personal/professional development. He basically just shuts down anything I propose in terms of networking and talking to people for ideas on projects and interest areas.

Anyway, in other news, my friend N arrives tomorrow. I have outlined a rough list of things to do so we’ll finetune after she gets here. Rover has been busy too. I had a meet and greet yesterday for a terrier who is kinda feisty and potentially annoying. She’s coming over tomorrow for daycare, so we can better test compatibility for boarding in early October. Then, I have another meet and greet for a referral client (from my esthetician) on Sunday. 

Martin is kinda stressing me out. After the Paso Robles trip, J and I have decided that our only real option now is to have sitters stay in-home, bc Martin gets really confused in new environments now. I met a lady today who seemed good, but she can only do part of our Asia trip, and getting her exact dates of availability has been like pulling teeth. I mean, I need to know so I can cobble something together with another sitter! It’s stressful too just wondering if we’ll even need care for Asia if we put him down before then. Every day is different.

Ok, I’m pretty pooped now. Off to bed.

Showing Up

J and I were back in Paso Robles this weekend… for local overnight trips that don’t involve air travel, Paso Robles seems to be our de facto destination of choice. We were traveling with another couple, also a peaches and cream combo (Asian woman + white man) and also child-free. Yup, we’ve been saying for a while that we need more child-free friends (no offense parents, but you know how that shit rolls) so this couple is being beta-tested, so to speak. JK. J used to work with the guy, and I guess the guy and his girlfriend (another J&J couple) have hosted a lot of his work peeps over, so she is pretty tight with that work crew. Anyway, they are big time wine/food/cigar enthusiasts so they’re a pretty solid match for my swanky Bubbey.

Overall, the getaway went pretty well. My dog sitter fell through a week prior, so we ended up taking Marty. I mean, as you know, Marts isn’t doing so hot these days. The car travel didn’t bode well for him either. During the 2.5-hr car ride, he managed to both shit and puke in the car. I mean, pretty gross but what can you do? He’s never ever committed such mistakes as an adult dog, so surely all of it is attributed to him being old as fuck and then just not feeling so great. He can’t be faulted. But as co-passengers in the car, it gets frustrating.

The good news though about the whole trip is that all I had to do was show up. Seriously. I did zero planning. The foodies planned the groceries, wine, meal prep, reservations, wine tastings, and all I did was go. It was pretty frickin’ cool to have zippo responsibilities. Oh, except that I selected the lodging, based on my past research of the area. The place was pretty damn posh and pricey, but I think it was a big hit. We had a great time just hanging out there. I mean, you know me: there’s always gonna be some constructive criticism: unfortunately, the site lacked a hot tub and pool, but other than that, really baller. Oh well, we can’t have it all.

Based on the VRBO pics, I had originally thought the house was a shipping container home, but after speaking with the owner, turns out it was a renovated monster mechanics garage (holding 12 cars), so no pre-fab construction involved. Yeah, kinda thwarted my container home research, but whatev, just as well. One of the wineries we hit up had a lovely tasting room that looked container-home-ish. Upon speaking to the host, I discovered it was a single-wide mobile home?!?!? Wow, just tweak the facade and add an industrial style roof, and you would NEVER suspect something as basis as a mobile home! Amazing. Add it to my list of topics to research for Project Little House.

In terms of connecting with this couple, I will say, Bubs def has much more in common with them. Not only do they share the enjoyment of these finer things in life, they are also very much on the same page re: humor and pop culture references. So yeah, I felt kind of out of it, but then again, you know me: social awkwardness is practically my middle name. I notice the discomfort, but it’s not bad enough to stop me from doing things. I do feel like Bubs invests a lot of time with “my” friends, so every now and then, I ought to return the favor. The rules of marriage and all. 😛

Fortunately, I also have no issues with going off and doing my own thing while they hang and drink and chat. Admittedly, I was pretty distracted. After Marty’s shit and puke bouts in the car, he just looked really off. He was uncomfortable and couldn’t get settled. He was disoriented and I dunno, just out of it. Thankfully, I brought the bag of fluids so we gave him 400 mls while we were there. It helped but I dunno. I’m feeling like the end is near. Needless to say, between that and my cultural illiteracy, I was less engaging than my usual ebullient self. Haha.

Other things we did on the trip: we hit up four wineries (Daou, Booker, Epoch, and Hoage) and had a fantastic dinner at the Hatch in downtown PR. I mean, I thought the food was phenomenal but I only get so excited over food. His friends loved it so much, they couldn’t stop talking about it even well into the next day. Great find, Bubbey.

As for the winery visits, generally, I find wine tastings to be rather stuffy and strange. I much prefer to just get a bottle for the group and enjoy together outside. But his friends are big on the tastings… Thankfully, Paso Robles is much lower key than say, Napa where the hosts are typically all in your face, throwing out all those ridiculous adjectives that don’t even make any sense. To the contrary, these hosts were chill and open to whatever we wanted to do (share a tasting, walk around, hang out, not buy any wines, or whatever), so that was a welcome difference. Also, some of the grounds of these places were so incredibly picturesque. Plus the weather was awesome (very warm but with a consistent cool breeze) and I had a blast wandering around taking pictures.

So to recap, J and I are big fans of Paso Robles, but that said, it’s still 2.5 – 3 hrs. away. So is it still a possible little house weekend/investment property location? Tough to say but probably not: it’s just a tad too far, I think. But this trip def gave us some ideas to churn.[FAG id=7476]

Solid Waste Engineer

I’ve been wearing my solid waste engineer hat a lot lately. After Marty was doing amazeballs for so damn long, he’s back on the down swing. His appetite had been so strong for the last few weeks that we started giving him more snacks and treats bc well, he enjoyed them so much. Turns out, there IS such a thing as killing them with kindness. On Friday, he didn’t have appetite at all and for the last two days, he’s been hacking and puking sporadically. I looked at my vet handbook and it looks like the kidney disease is flaring up again. And of course, the added pressure from his coughing caused him to poop in his bed and then he’s also been wetting the bed due to incontinence. So lots of cleaning and laundry. Pretty much anytime he gets a bite of anything, he’ll puke again minutes later. Ugh. So now he is super weak.

J and I gave Marty his sub-cutaneous fluids this afternoon… it has been so long since we’ve had to do this regularly, and the last time, he totally wigged out when the needle went in. So I’m always stressed now about poking him. But this time, he was so tired, he got up but didn’t react as dramatically. I just hope it makes him feel better and then again, we just need to be super strict about sticking to his diet. Poor baby Marty. My bad.

Meanwhile, the neighbors went away for the weekend, so I’m on pet duty. This entails letting the chickens in and out of their coop morning and night, refilling their food/water, and then dealing with the kitty (feeding and litter box). So yesterday, I go over there, and the litter box is like chock full of shit. Already, I’m allergic to cats and then I spent like five minutes nonstop scooping/sifting the gabillion chunks of shit into the trash, with dust flying everywhere. I have NEVER seen a litter box so full. Must have been like a week’s worth of stuff. So fine, whatever. J says it’s not my responsibility to do that, but I mean, what kitty wants to take a dump in a mindfield?? Who knows what’s going on: people get busy, other pressures, whatever. Get ‘er done. After I get home, I proceed to have a full-blown allergy attack that lasts the rest of the night. Jesus Christ.

Needless to say, I have not been sleeping well for the last week. And yesterday, we broke our 6-day gym streak… with deep dish pizza, mind you. The pizza is completely devoured now, and today it’s back to the gym. I’m thinking I’ll wade around in the pool today, bc my muscles are sore as fuck. Maybe I’ll also use the wet sauna to clear out the sinuses.

Teddy Ruxpin

Meanwhile, eBay and Rover and blogging are still happening. John’s last trip back East in August resulted in some additional items for my eBay store. Muhahah. I dunno what my deal is but, my eBay fire has def been rekindled. I mean, there’s just such an ease with posting shit for sale and then coming back 7 days later with the money deposited into your account and the shipping label ready to go. The integration with PayPal and USPS has really streamlined the process, and even though eBay and PayPal take fees, it’s still easier than fielding emails and dealing with flaky people who never show up to check out the item.

As for Rover, Bubble girl began her five day stint with us after we got back from Aspen. I mean, there’s no dispute: BG aka Teddy Ruxpin aka Kayla Bear is pretty dang cute. In fact, on seeing a pic of her, my gal K grew completely obsessed with this Pomeranian, which looks like a unique cross of koala bear + red panda + stuffed teddy bear. For me, I’m thankful the dog was a lot easier than what her comprehensive list of instructions from her mother might have suggested. Ultimately though, she just wasn’t not dog enough for me. It’s too weird having to be so damn careful about trampling over something in your own damn house. Plus, Ruxpin came with a shit ton of gear: a collapsible play pen (5′ in diameter) that practically took up my entire living room, plus a wire crate for sleeping in the bedroom, plus a carrier for the car. And let’s not forget the Whole Foods chicken (but “only a tiny strip at a time” to lure her out of her crate!!). Bottom line? Dogs in Silicon Valley are living THE life for realz!! In the end, all went well and Ruxpin was a cuddly sweetie pie BUT after five days, I was def ready to have my house back. He, he.[FAG id=7474]

Next Round

This evening I took my third and final exam for my series of online real estate classes. Again, all week long, my test anxiety was building up… after I had returned from Palm Desert, I vowed in my head to take the final exam before jetting off to Aspen. Well, here I am late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, and I got ‘er done. Yippee!

I immediately printed out the state license exam application and even though I still have TONS to memorize for the real test, I’m thrilled to just arrive at this next round. I still have my doubts and worries and confidence issues, but like at the Splashtopia water slide, I can’t let those fears stop me.

Meanwhile, my side hustle continues to grow: I scored two new clients this week. Two adorbs munchkins belonging to a lady in MV who was getting her carpets replaced… Her babies– a 13 y/o pudgy poodle named Bubbles and a 7 y/o Yorkie named Pikachu (I always accent the second syllable instead of the first)– came over for two days of daycare, and they were very fun. I just had them yesterday, and already the mom has written me a rover review! Yay!

Last week I also did a (very long) meet and greet with someone who’s boarding her 12 y/o Pomeranian after we return from Aspen. Based on the meet and greet, we have another case similar to Bubble Boy, but I think once the pup’s in my care, it’ll all work out fine. Those helicopter parents, though. They are hard. core.

Bubbey also returned from MD on Thursday. He brought me some more items for my eBay store. Muhaha. I also had some remaining credits to burn with ThredUp. Got my third shipment yesterday: all three items look great. I’m telling you: I cannot bring myself to pay retail for clothing now. This second hand shopping is a game changer for sure.

Ok, time to hit the sack. Morning flight to DEN. At least I can sleep well now that the class test is done! Woot, woot!

Squalor

Martin’s been doing pretty well these last few months. I swear, the presence of my Rover pups– even if they don’t interact that much with Martin during their stay– works some kind of magic on him. That said, with him being as old as he is, magic only carries us so far. Yep, things are definitely starting to break down with poor old Marty. In recent weeks, I’ve noticed that he is SUPER slow getting himself situated in his bed. He twirls and twirls and then finally just flops over. In his sleep, he’s been wetting his bed a few times a week. During the day, his back end falls down at the slightest bump or touch. When he stands to eat from his elevated bowl, his front and hind legs slide all around beneath him.

Cognitively, he’s slowed down a lot. But damn, he still gets so excited and happy to go for our walks. Sadly, he has trouble controlling his bladder: there’s like a continuous stream of urine on the sidewalk from our house to the park.

The morning of our flight to LA, he shit in the house for the first time since like the early 2000s!! Yeah. I woke up all bleary-eyed that morning and walked into the kitchen. John was already up, watching tv. I looked at him, and he said, “Well, that happened last night…”, and he pointed to a drippy pile of shit on the green mat next to the front door. Mind you, at this point, Bubs had already been up for hours. No matter. He just left the poop there. Nice.

That’s the thing about Bubs. He’s a total wuss when it comes to bodily fluids and anything remotely related to black water. Every damn time, his defense is that he leaves that shit to the “solid waste expert.” Um, I haven’t been a solid waste engineer since 2001, dude. Sigh. What can you do: that’s my Bubbey.

Remember that time when I was home alone and both bathrooms flooded? Yeah, when I told Bubs what had happened, he was so relieved to have NOT been home. Had our roles been reversed, he would have just left the premises and posted the house for sale. I know, thank goodness we don’t have kids, right? Can you imagine? They would just be hanging out in their diapers chock full of urine and feces. I’d be horrible in my own way too: I mean, you know I would be overstretching the use of each and every one of those plastic, super-lined fuckers. Diapers are THE worst: they remain fully intact and last FORever in the landfills. Just sayin’.

So anyway, while we’re on the topic of bodily fluids… this other time? Martin puked on the carpet. Bubbey’s solution? He ripped off a few sheets of paper towels, folded them over into a square, and then patted the squares right on top of the puke. Just covered it up with a paper towel and continued about his day. I removed the paper towels today, thinking it was just a random cleaning square that the wind blew onto the floor. Nope. Puke stains underneath. Are you disgusted yet by our squalid conditions?

Anyhow, now that Bubs is back East for a few days, I’m taking the opportunity to do some more cleaning. Today I actually replaced all the floor runners in the house. The other day, we came across some cheap runners at Costco, so today I came home with like five of them. Not a very chic look for the designer Houseboat, but at this point, with Messy Marty and Queasy Bubbey, we just need something practical and cleanable. The grip on these new runners is amazing btw. Vacuuming was a total breeze!