Jasper and Me

I'm dog sitting this week - Joan's dachshund, Jasper, is my sidekick until Sunday. I picked him up on Monday afternoon and he was very restless - was up-and-down all night and generally ill at ease. Of course it is possible that the restlessness was a by-product of the dozen oatmeal/raisin cookies with icing that he scarfed down when Leah inadvertently left them in a Jasper-accessible location at Joan's house. It is also possible that a basset hound and a shih-tzu were co-conspirators on the cookie caper - but there is no doubt whatsoever that Jasper was the ringleader.

Yesterday afternoon it stopped raining so we went for a walk for over an hour on the dike trail. I set a good pace and he had a good workout. The little bastard is a different dog after he's had a good walk. Mellow. Relaxed. And last night the dog slept like a log.

It's quite nice this morning and supposed to get nicer as the day advances. I think Jasper and I will hike up to the glory hole...that should put both of us in a good frame of mind.

In other news, Leah has now found a second job. She starts next week driving a van for the Eagle Crest zip-line folks. And she wants to keep working for the catering outfit. Her big concern is that she will have occasional scheduling conflicts between the two and neither outfit seems organized well enough to give her a definitive schedule - something that I suppose is inherently difficult to do in the catering biz. Last evening it occurred to me that perhaps I could help-out - offer to take her van duties if and when she gets conflicted. Hard to say whether or not that would appeal to either Leah or her employer; but I will make the offer.

Well, just heard the dryer beep so I'll go fold and file the laundry and then head over to the elders for the morning koffee klatch. Then hit the trail with my buddy Jasper.

Hasta luego!