
That chair is facing the wall so you won’t sit in it. Do I make myself clear?
An inquisitive old fart with a camera

That chair is facing the wall so you won’t sit in it. Do I make myself clear?

Raw meat for the doggos – 2.5 kilos (5.5 lbs) each of meaty bones and chicken gizzards (menudos) and 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) of beef heart. US $15 for all. Heart the most expensive at about US $2.25/lb. Seems like a good investment.
In the background milk (yes, in a plastic bag) for another batch of yogurt, and cilantro for another batch of salsa Mexicana. And flour tortillas: I’m OK making pizza and bagels and such, but the idea of making flour tortillas hasn’t grabbed me. Maybe one day. Sure, they look easy enough…but doesn’t everything on the internet? (Here’s looking to you, it’s-so-easy two-stroke engine tuneup guy with 15 years experience.)

In lieu of piling things on this chair to keep the dog off, some time ago we came up with the idea of simply turning it backwards, and it has worked remarkably well. Until this morning. The question is whether this is a new habit or a one-off — like our prior dog Benji who opened the living room door once from the inside. But only once.
And yes, in case you’re wondering, that is lawn furniture in our living room. Much more convenient, and actually much more comfortable than most of the “proper” living room furniture sold in Uruguay.
Our new old dog Betty has decided she doesn’t want to get in the car, or walk with us in the trashlands north of the Ruta Interbalnearia, so after I get back from walking with Syd and dogs in the afternoon, I take her around the neighborhood for 20 minutes or so, preferably without the other dog, Mocha, an inveterate chaser of all that moves, who would have loved to scare the bejeezus out of this critter.

Betty, however, of an entirely more mellow temperament, probably would have cuddled with the rabbit given a chance.

Bunbun, however, was thinking that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Or something.


It’s hard to convey how huge this collar-less puppy is. Like a cross between a bear and a horse. I can say, however, that we were relieved to see that he did not intend to go on the walk with us today. Something about 60 kilos of puppy crashing through the undergrowth and charging by on narrow bits of path, as the one time he did, makes a walk a little less relaxing.

Eight years ago (can it be?) I started walking our dog with Syd and his five, in a wonderful wide-open setting that involves driving a few kilometers. It quickly became clear that the back of the folded-down rear seat was not designed to support a dog, so I glued some old door mats to a scrap of thin plywood and have been using it to doggify the vehicle ever since (removing it to accommodate biped passengers I call de-doggifying).
Somehow recently I got the idea I could do better. Got the lumberyard to cut to fit a piece of MDF (medium density fiberboard) which I sealed with various products that have been sitting on a shelf in my workshop for years, used the last of a caulk tube of glue to attach new doormats (felpudos) ordered from Mercado Libre, and voilà.

A little easier on the eyes, for sure.

Peluche, a friendly neighborhood dog, enjoying a day at the beach courtesy of the ever-remodelling neighbor’s sand pile. Or is that he has already staked himself as King of the Mountain with a child’s shoe?
As for figuring out what a dog is thinking, just let it go 🙂 .
When I first asked his name, the owner told me with a sheepish smile.

…without saying “I’m the boss.”

First, do your research into available biped vectors, and find the spot where they’re most likely to trip over you.

Once that is established, pull your bed into place and settle in for the inevitable excitement.

Bandido demonstrates once again that you don’t have to be big to disrupt traffic.