Home again,,, burnt up and not just from heat
Well, Da did his share and took good care of the babbies; fed em, gave ’em ‘Good boy’ pats, (or in the case of Mama, ‘good Gurl’,,,)
BUT, I had to make an vet appointment for Cozzie as soon as I got in. He has an abcess on his chest from those bite wounds. I guess I didn’t get that one cleaned out enough.
And Guess where I am stopping afterwards?
Yup,, Cousins place. “Here, pay this or there will be hell to pay,,,,” And I will be making that call to the Shelter no matter if he pays or not (and I highly doubt he will: He’ll make all sorts of bullshit excuses or accuse me of lying (like what other dogs are going to beat up Cozzie,,, he plays with all the other dogs in the hollar and they don’t end up mutilated.)
Yah,,, A little ticked off. The Vet appointment isn’t until monday, the best I could get last minute, and that wound may burst before then (thats not a bad thing, just gross as fuck) BUT, I want him looked over. Luckily, he had his rabies vaxx a week prior, so that shouldn’t be an issue. (and Cousins mutts have never had a thing done to them, EVER,,, so they could be carriers of only Dawg knows what.)
Ok,,, about this week: Lessons learned, and I won’t go into all of them as there may be some that would say I am trying to instigate issues in the crew. NOT, I try to smooth out the issues and get the job done, dammit) BUT, one lesson learned. COTTON KILLS,,, Actually,, that is a carryover from Kayaking. You do not want to kayak in cotton clothing as it can cause issues with Hypothermia.. What I didn’t expect was it can also cause issues with Hyperthermia: You can sweat but it does you no good, because the Cotton doesn’t breath the same way as capelon or some of the other wicking materials available. The mexican crew that was working along side of us, all had those shirts of wicking material, long sleeved and hooded, and those guys weren’t dying the same way we were. WIde brimmed hats (hard hats with cloth brim and neck shade attached) All in bright colors to reflect sunlight. Wet cotton t’s get darker and absorb MORE sunlight, and don’t keep the flow of sweat away from you. they just heat up. I will be correcting the ‘uniform’ before we head back out there again.
Second thing of note: Warm/Hot water does better to cool you down than icewater (unless you pour it over your head) I knew this from my time in the Marines, in 29stumps, but it was put the wayside: Its back now. I recall the muzzies in Kuwait sucking down piping hot coffee during the heat of the day and looking smuggly comfortable while us Jarhead were stewing in our own sweat. (granted, we were in full battle rattle, to include those damned heavy ass ‘Nam era Flak jackets (this is prior to plates/carriers and the other body armor of worth, which those flak jackets were not.) I started carrying a black water bottle and drinking from it instead of going for the cold stuff and my sweat levels seemed to go down, and yet I was much more comfortable: still sweating, still stewing in my own juices, but not as miserable.
Third item,,, It’s time for a damned haircut. Something a little closer to the scalp and able to breath. I have thick hair, always have, and yes it holds a lot of sweat when the juices start to flow, but, like that cotton, doesn’t breath so well. I must’ve dunked my head three or four times a day; one to rinse the sweat out because it was drippinginto my eyes, and two, COOL DOWN THE CRANIUM.
We’ll be back there in another week. I need to build all the gates we will be installing (3 walks and 4 double drive) and the project company still needs to pour the concrete that will encase all of those poles we set the last three days. Plus cure time, or at least not green concrete,,,
It’s been a long day. Zero dark wake up call and move out, on site at dawn, finished what was left and rolled out home. 5 hour drive and its time to chill the F! out.
and now I have a full weekend ahead of me and not a clue as to what the heck I am going to do. Pay has been deposited and bills paid already (and still have more than enough for the coming week. Not as good as I expected, but better than an average week for me.)(to be honest, I had no clue what to expect on pay for this, and thats on me. It certainly was not on par with my touring days, and that should have been negotiated prior: nobodies fault but mine. Now I am will need to eat crow on the next one because, “well you accepted it last time“,, Yeah,,, I’ve been down this road before,,,)
C’est la Vie,,,,
Live
LEARN
LAUGH
Love
LOAD





Here in the WV holler I’m in, those dogs would be gone. Usually owner will resolve it himself when the dog gets aggro. If not, welp, doggy just doesnt come home that day. Make a habit of target shooting often so it the target is on 4 feet one day, no one suspects anything when shots are heard. Couple dogs got popped last week for killing chickens in fact. Not mine.
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June 27, 2025 at 8:45 pm
That was the way we handled roaming dogs that caused mischief. Though surprisingly my wife is the only one who shot a neighbors dog. For going after her goose and chickens. Blew that dog away with a shotgun. Then went down to the neighbors house and told him to come collect his dog… Don’t mess with momma’s babies. BTW, owner said it was justified too.
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June 28, 2025 at 6:29 am
I’m probably screwing up, and trying to be the nice guy. I don’t want issues with my cousin, because there are too many times where I am not around and that shitstain will happily fuck me over in retaliation. Like burn my house down or something. Or at the low end of the scale, rip me off of everything in it worth a dime. Its been a grudging truce of ‘leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone’, even though he and his GF have crossed that line once each. My civility is in ignoring them as much as possible. BUT NOW, the dogs are the problem and they don’t understand that concept the same way.
Its a balancing act on a small wire and the winds are picking up.
and in the end, it will end up as it was always meant to, and I’ll move on.
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June 29, 2025 at 8:06 am