Trashy Tuesday - 5/28/2013

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, It is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

Good morning fellow Drivellers. This is Barney. I am stepping in for Grandpa today to write the Trashy Tuesday blog. I have been bugging him for a long time to let me do this and he finally is giving me a shot. Let me introduce myself. My mom is Debby, the younger. She is my Grandpa's daughter. I am a black pug. I am the oldest of Grandpa's granddogs. I have a step brother named Max. He is 7. I am 9 years old. From a pug viewpoint, Grandpa is pretty cool. He likes to spoil us all the time. Max and I love going to his house for an overnight. We know that he will give us lots of treats and maybe some people food tidbits. At breakfast, he always treats us to peanut butter on a saltine cracker. Hmmm, they are really good. Only downfall is that sometimes they get stuck to the roof of my mouth and can't get it loose. I am sure I look pretty foolish but it is frustrating. Grandpa will usually realize I am having trouble and get it unstuck.

Well that is who I am and why I am here today. Now let's see what we can share with you today. I want to apologize if I slant this a little toward the dog world and pugs in particular. Mom works hard most days so Max and I have the opportunity to get all of the naps we need during the day. Usually we snuggle together. I ALWAYS get on his pad to sleep. You see, he is not allowed on my pad. That is my rule. It works really well but when we hear Mom come home, I switch over to my pad so she doesn't know we are doing this. If we hear her car come in the driveway, we usually start to “sing” so she remembers we are here in the house.

Mom takes us to the dog park and also to “Pug Club”. You know there is a club for everything. Well, here in Cedar Rapids, we have a “Pug Club”. Usually there are anywhere from 10 to 20 pugs who gather for a Saturday morning of fun. I have a lot of friends that are regulars. Frequently we get visitors and we all have to make certain they pass the smell test. You know we smell their, “ahem” rear. After the formalities are taken care of it is one chase after another. Max is lucky because one of his biological brothers attends. Max used to spend his time hiding under Mom's chair but lately he is learning to socialize a bit more. I always make sure I go around to all of the Moms and give them a lick so they know I appreciate them bringing their pug.

Yesterday was Memorial Day. It is a special day for grown-ups. On Sunday, Mom had her sister, Jenny the elder, and her friend Sven, Grandpa and his current Grandma over for a BBQ. Grandpa was in the Air Force, whatever that is, and went somewhere called Vietnam. I don't think he wanted to go but had to. Most people, at the time, didn't like them when they came home. That was a shame. Anyway, somehow this Memorial Day and people in things like the Air Force go together and everyone says some prayers because some people were killed in things called “wars”. I feel sad as well. I gave Grandpa extra licks and snuggles before lunch. Max as usual didn't have a clue.

My aunt, Jenny, has a yellow Labrador named Kinnick. He is a big pussy cat. He is a friend to me but lets me be the leader. I think he is a little scared of me for some reason. I just love to pester him. Every time he lays down for a nap, I like to get really close to him and sniff all around his face about a 1/8 of inch from him. It bugs the heck out of him but he is a good guy. Aunt Jenny has an above ground pool. She took it down a couple of weeks ago because it was old. It survived the 2008 flood. I heard her say that. Don't know what a flood is though. Kinnick simply loves to swim in the pool. He would do that all day if Aunt Jenny would let him. Now he is just grumpy. This past weekend is when she opens up the pool for the season but this year, the weather is so crappy (excuse my French) she hasn't been able to get the new one put up. I heard them say that it is going to keep raining for several more days. Yuck. Max and I personally couldn't care less about the pool since we don't like swimming very much. What we are really upset about is having to constantly go outside while it is raining to do our business. Good gosh, it takes a little time to find our favorite spots so we get soaked. We don't want to go out but Mom shoves out the door and closes it. I have learned it is best to just suck it up, do the job and get back to the door ASAP. But I mean it has been raining forever it seems like.

Grandpa is always doing something. He goes to something called “The Gym” most days. He has a lot of friends there. He stinks when he gets home from there. What's up with that? Grandma goes to but she doesn't smell so much. Grandpa makes us exercise too. You may know about his “Grandpaw Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa”. Grandma is always saying that he gets more projects going than he can get done. She also said he supposedly spends a lot of time at a store named Menards. He goes there 3 or 4 times for each project, I guess. 

 

He goes to a Men's Breakfast sometimes. He says it is just a bunch of old “f**ts” who sit around and spread the bull. I though a bull was a big animal. Don't understand how you can spread it but I am a pug. They tease him all the time about eggs. He doesn't like them. Apparently he is the only person in the world who doesn't like them. Charles, not his real name, is usually the main taunter. I don't get to go to the church. There are others who take their dog but not me. Mom probably thinks I will just want to be too social. I mean pugs are social. What am I to do? 

 

I think I best sign off. This is harder than I thought. It is hard for me to push the right keys so I have to stop and re-type a lot. With only four fingers I have to figure out my own way of hitting the keys. I will have Grandma check this before I send it out. She likes to check the spelling and see if my words and Grandpa's words make sense. She is pretty good doing that but she does have a certain time she needs this and I am already past the deadline. I also have to go outside. Grandpa's French Roast goes right through me it seems. Until next time, assuming I get to do this again, Barney, the pug!