Mischief Monday - Nighttime Troubles - by Phod

 Dear pals,

The most horrible thing has been happening in the night. My people bought the very loud machine for the bedroom. Lady said it is to keep us cool. Lady also says Angel Gemi loves this. They had one in their old house and as soon as it was turned on, she would run, jump on the bed and lay right in front of it, and wouldn't move.

Gemi may have liked it, but I am very scared of the "loud fan" when it is running. On Thursday night, I was pacing and pacing. Then I saw flashing lights and was sure it was lightning. Lady said it was just the new Christmas lights but since I was keeping them up at 1:45 am she went out and turned them off.

It has been fairly hot for us (in the 30sC and high 80s, low 90sF) so the people are doing the following - start the scary machine about an hour before they think Lady will go to bed. I don't get to go to bed with her as I am too scared. The bad machine runs until Man comes to bed and then he turns it off and opens the windows. It has been cooling down enough so this is working. They also only run it in nights they really need it. Lady says they got it to help them sleep and me pacing around doesn't help improve sleep.

As for the lightning solar lights, Lady went out after dark last night and figured out how to change the setting to not flash. This made them less scary. 

Lady says I am getting soft in my old age. I think she is just introducing horrible things. 

Your very brave pal, Phod

Project Hailey - Storms

I personally love a good storm and now really appreciate them because I know that they will help cool things down (it was 40C/100F for several days last week). The dogs however, are not huge fans. Previously, Phod did not react at all to storms, but recently he has begun to show some signs of distress. Distress for Phod is wanting to be near us and looking concerned, it is not anything serious like Hailey's distress.

Friday I happened to be working from home when the storm rolled in. I watched the sky darken out my office window, heard the wind pick up through the open windows, and then the low rumbles of thunder. Both dogs were also very aware of these changes in the environment. As far as storms go, it wasn't a huge. It was a bit windy, a bit thundery and it did pour rain for a very short time.

Neither of the dogs were happy and they found peace sitting with me in my office.  The corner the left of my desk was their favourite. 

I was really proud of Hailey as she was able to be in my office with minimal pacing (she spent time in the corner as well as on the floor behind my desk chair). She didn't try to dig her way in or out of anything. She was just there. This is a big deal because evenings have been hard for her with all the fireworks. Her new habit for that is to go into the bedroom or bathroom garbage and rip something up. I will take this any day over more serious destruction. 

Only a few more months and we won't have to worry about thunder or fireworks. We will be concerned about things like snow . . . .