The 9.95 Pyramid

I've been asked by Tempest DuJour, one of Tucson's wonderful female impersonators (a.k.a. drag queen) to be a celebrity guest at Colors tonight (Saturday June 9) for "Retro Game Night".

So, if you're in the neighborhood, come by and say hello.  Colors - 5305 E. Speedway Blvd - at 7 p.m.

We'll be playing Pyramid (as in the old $25,000 Pyramid that was hosted first by Bill Cullen, and later by Dick Clark).  This version will be the $9.95 Pyramid.

I'll find out if I'm any good at the game show thing.  If Betty White could do it, why can't I?

Now enjoy this Pyramid outtake - in which Tony Randall shocks Dick Clark:

There's a reason the leash has an injury warning

Lucky has two leashes.  A regular three foot one and one of those retractable 14 foot kind.

I couldn't imagine why the retractable leash came with a long list of warnings on the packaging when I bought it... until today.

I came home from work and took him out to go pee/poo immediately.  Usually I change clothes but he didn't poo this morning so I knew it was time.  I was trying to be a nice guy.

I took him to the usual little hill on the west side of my apartment building and he did poo.  I scooped up the droppings with a bag, and walked him around to the east side of the building to drop it off in a trashcan.

Then, disaster struck.

For some reason (which I still don't recall), I lost my grip on his leash handle.  The handle, made of plastic where the ribbon of the leash retracts, hit the ground.  The loud noise spooked Lucky, and he started running.

This happened on the northeast corner of the building.  I live on the southwest corner upstairs.  He jammed down the sidewalk, and I thought he was off to the races.  It was over 100 degrees outside, I was still in my dress up clothes from work including dress shoes, and I thought it was going to be nearly impossible to catch him.  The Humane Society told us that when we adopted him that he was a greyhound mix and while he looks like a chocolate labrador to me, if there is greyhound in him it suddenly surfaced.  He was running at full speed and it was quite an impressive speed.

I started running after him (and seeing me run is comedy) and calling his name.  He then did something I didn't expect.  He decided to run up the stairs to the apartment.  I thought I would be able to block the stairs and the few seconds of crisis that had occurred would be over.

By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, he had run all the way up to the door, turned around, and while now letting pee fly in his panicked state, had run all the way to the bottom right past me.

Fortunately, he had the leash dragging behind him.  It was just far enough behind him that I was able to tackle the dragging ribbon of the leash and hold on.  Once the leash went tight, he stopped running.  He usually turns around during walks and comes back when he feels a tug of the leash and he did exactly that.

I was in the grass, holding on to the leash, now feeling an odd pain in my hand and like I'd been tackled, and he's stopped with a totally panicked look on his face.  I was able to locate the plastic end of the leash even though he'd now circled me twice rapping the least all the way around me.  If he knew how to tie a knot, I would have been an instant prisoner.

I was covered in grass but amazingly enough, I didn't end up with grass stains on my clothes.  We walked upstairs and I noticed that I was injured.

The warning on the leash is accurate.  It can cut skin and cause burns.

I examined my hand and arm, washed my damaged finger, and put antibiotic ointment and a Band-Aid on it.  (I did take photos, you'll see that below.)

The incident was traumatic for Lucky.  He's still acting weird.  He didn't want to come near me even though I've petted him numerous times and talked to him.  I feel sad for the little guy.  It wasn't his fault.  I'm hoping he gets over it as the evening goes on.

I'm grateful that I didn't require a trip to an emergency room.  I couldn't afford it anyway.  If my finger had been cut off I would have put it in his dog bowl and let him eat it later.

Warnings on products sometimes seem ridiculous.  Until what you're warned about happens to you.

Leash burn where my finger bends, on end on the left, and to the right of the gash..
Its all on my right hand and I'm right handed... how unfortunate.
Lucky may be the dog's name but today I wasn't.

Leash burn on my arm.
I could really use a tan.

The pee trail on the patio from when he was running like a spooked horse.
He's quite the artist.
Maybe I could sell his pee art on e-bay and make millions.

Splish splash Lucky has taken a bath

A new adventure for Lucky last night:  He got his first bath (while living with us anyway).

He acted pretty much how I expected him to.  I had to lead him into the bathroom, lift him into the tub, and he basically stood still the whole time.  This dog doesn't get upset about anything.  He gets nervous however... and I knew that because he trembled a little.

I did catch a break.  He climbed out by himself (with a bit of coaxing).  I was grateful that I didn't have to lift a soaking wet 50 pound dog out of the tub.  That would have sucked.

Anthony wasn't home when I gave Lucky his bath.  So, there aren't any photos.  It would have been a bit difficult to manage the beast in the tub while trying to take pictures.  We'll get some the next time around.

Maybe I'll buy Lucky a rubber duckie.  Everybody likes a rubber duckie in the bathtub!

Lucky - fit to be untied

I bought Lucky a tug-of-war rope the first day we got him.  He didn't touch the thing for the first two weeks and has started lightly gnawing on it in the last week and a half.

Last night, he went to town on the thing.  But he didn't really destroy the rope as much as he untied it... like a puzzle.

Lucky untied this rope with his teeth.
I would be much more impressed if he tied it again.

The B in Apartment 37

There is a show on ABC called "Don't Trust The B In Apartment 23".  I've renamed it "Don't Trust The B In Apartment 37" thanks to the hijinks of a neighbor.

This past Saturday the (relatively) new neighbors in apartment 37 had a little after hours party.

They're pretty new to my building and I'm not really sure who lives there, but there were about a dozen people gettin' happy at 3 a.m.

It wasn't an issue until a fight erupted.  Slam, bang, scream, thud, rinse and repeat.  I almost called the police but it stopped after about a minute so I let it go.

Then, some jackass (dressed in a powder blue jersey and matching shorts, not a good look for him either) that was part of this party (or who may even live there, not sure) decided to screan ahd yell and punch one of the yard / sidewalk lights near my apartment.  He broke it.

Here's the photo of the aftermath.

Hello new neighbors.  Welcome to Ridgepointe.  Stop breaking stuff.  Thanks.

Some guy at apartment 37's party punched this light because he was mad.

The poor light never saw it coming.