Click images for desktop size: Its Cold Outside" by Robotic Moose I start every day the same way.
Up at 4:45. As soon as I roll out of bed my puppy leaps up and takes it over.
She sleeps soundly while I make coffee, take my pills and glower.
About midway through the shower she comes in and pokes her head around the shower curtain. I guess to make sure I haven't drowned before feeding her.
When I get out of the shower I dry myself roughly with some plush white terry cloth towels I was able to find cheap enough to own. When I use them It makes me feel rich.
Years of “surfer haircuts” means I brush my hair with hardly looking at it in the mirror. Spray myself with cologne and hit the antiperspirant.
My puppy lies in the bathroom doorway and watches me carefully. I step over her and start to dress. She gets excited and tries her best to stay out of the way. I don't think its curtsey, more like a deep fear of me going slower than I already am.
As soon as I'm dressed we have to go outside. She handles her toilet quickly and then bolts back to the door for breakfast and her daily chew toys and treats.
I put on my iPod, shuffle to the door when my puppy comes with either a mouthful of food or treat and sees what the chances are of her coming with me. She waits until I've spoken to her, then goes to the window to see me down the road. I walk a mile and half, mostly uphill, to the bus stop. Then I get to wait nervously. Buses her only run on the hour and if the bus is late for my connection (which it is about half the time) I have a long wait.
I listen to music and wait.
Get on the bus and listen to music, read if I'm lucky enough to cop a free paper, look through my book or take a light catnap.
Until I get to work.
That's the way of it.

It snowed today. My puppy didn't let that interfere with her routine in the slightest.
I got about 100 yards down the road when a neighbor stopped and offered me a ride to the bus stop. The snow was heavy and so was my gratitude.
My neighbor is an older heavy set woman. She had her grandson with her. He's about 11 and very overweight. Overweight kids always make me a little sad. I figure its mostly just a bad habit but I never know for sure.
He wanted to talk to me. I'm the mysterious man who walks in the night with dark glasses and owns a beautiful black dog.
He was loaded with questions. So was she. I could tell but the way she corrected him stopped him from “prying”. She talked other me when I said ,“ He's not prying,” and then began to tell me too many details of her life. I never mind that. I don't understand why people do that but it doesn't bother me. And neither does not understanding why they make me privy to so many details.

Click images for desktop size: "Salvador Dali" by Rock Dreams She dropped me off and apologized for all the mess in the car, mess from her grandkids. I told her I didn't mind that either because I didn't.
When she drove away I realized I'd told them my puppy's name but not mine. That bothers me.
I got into work on time, cold and damp.
I liked the way the snow looked against the bright green grass.
I realized the one bar electric heater I have isn't enough to warm the office or me.]So its a pretty normal day.
Coming home is more of the same except, as usual, no kindly neighbor to give me a lift, just the normal 90 minute to 3 hour bus ride.

My friend, Patrick, who is nearly as poor as me gave me a late Christmas gift. A second hand silver iPod Nano. His straight gig is in a print shop and he engraved the back of it: Warchilds.
I assume he forgot the apostrophe. If he didn't . . . Right now I can't figure out what it means. Warchildren? Or does he think that's what my nickname was?
I can't really ask him. If it was a mistake he'd be embarrassed.
I like it. Its fun. I prefer the old shuffle. Its engraved too. I like it being small and coming with a lanyard so I can wear it around my neck and find it easily. I like wearing it.
Problem is, I can't give the Nano away to someone who'd appreciate it. I can't give it away. It was a gift, see?
The small size and the lyrics thing make me think of it a sort of feminine. I'd still use it but I think a woman would like it more than I would.
I haven't used it much. I can't help preferring the iPod shuffle.
The niftiest thing it does is display the album artwork and the lyrics to the track. I find that very amusing. I also like that i can see what tracks I think are great or terrible. With the Shuffle I have to hope I remember one of the tracks before or after the one I can't identify . . . a bother but one I like in a gentle masochistic way.

The two dogs my puppy and I were “foster parenting” have both found new homes. I miss them.
Even knowing they're better off where they are. I still miss them.

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