And then, there he was

For 10.5 painful hours on Friday, my little Tucker was missing.  At about 8:30 on Friday morning, a deer in the front yard caught his eye and one hard jump on the screen door later he was long gone.  I walked, I drove, I yelled, I made flyers.  I cried.  A lot.  Some people have pets and they really don’t form any sort of formidable bond with them, but I think when you’re unmarried (aka: lacking second income) and jobless – your dog has special meaning.  There have been numerous nights spent pouring over papers trying to determine what’s gonna get cut after the ax completely falls on my job that have been pretty trying until Tucker waltzes in and buries his head in my lap in a ‘hey, quit working and come play with me’ sort of way that makes me feel all right with the world.  He’s a gentle reminder that its all gonna be ok, somehow.  He keeps me grounded and has probably diverted more than a few total meltdowns.

At about 6:30 on Friday evening, I took one last drive before dusk settled in on the long shot chance that I might see him wandering around.  Upon giving up awhile later, I pulled into my parking spot and there he was – standing right next to my car.  The rain had started and ole’ boy decided it wasn’t as much fun to be on your own when things weren’t pretty and shiny outside.

Funny, that’s exactly the same way I feel about him.

Good friends are hard to find

The totally adorable picture above is of my precious pooch Tucker (the black one) laying nose to nose with his bestest pal Duke.

This Denver business has really had Tucker in quite the tizzy.  In fact, he came to me the other day and said:

“Please don’t make me go to Denver – I don’t want to leave Duke”

He got me to thinking about it – I don’t really want to leave my bestest pals either.  The kind of friends I have don’t come around everyday.  And just ’cause we don’t sleep nose to nose doesn’t mean we’re not close.

So, after lots of thought – I’m doing something that I’m not well known for: completely reversing course and changing my mind.  These country roads of West Virginia will remain my home for the forseeable future.

Let’s just hope that somewhere within the confines of this beautiful state there happens to be a company that would like to add me to their payroll.

Poor little guy… he didn’t ask for this

In my very first post, I promised to write more about Tucker at a later date.  Since this is a blog about joblessness, I’ve been wondering how I was going to include a post about my dog.  But hey – losing a job affects the whole family, Tucker included. 

"Mom can I keep my new bed? Puhleeease"

I’ve been evaluating how this stint in unemployment is going to affect my nearest and dearest pal.   Here’s what I’ve come up with:

(1) His dog food is $50 a pop.  He may have to experience a downgrade in quality.  Something I feel sure his palate will not appreciate, but riding out a stint in unemployment is a team effort and I’m sure he’ll be happy to do all he can to help out.

(2) He’s probably going to have to continue eating out of tupperware bowls for the forseeable future.  A bonafide dog bowl cannot be classified as a ‘must have’ expense right now.

(3) He’s going to have to slow it down on the Nylabones.  Those puppies cost $14.  According to the PetSmart guy its a great investment – his dog chewed on the same one for 6 years – ole’ Tucker blew through his in about 6 days.

(4) He’s gonna have to get baths the old fashioned way – in my backyard with a garden hose.  A day at the PetSmart Spa is not in the new budget. 

All in all I think he’ll do just fine.  He’ll ride out this storm with me and probably provide some entertainment and a few licks on my cheek on my down days along the way.