It’s a Dogs Life… August 24, 2022

I know I’ve prattled on about this before… but …dogs have life sussed. My dachshund just has it all completely figured out.

She sleeps with us, beside the bed… wakes up about 7am, scratches the side of the bed until she’s lifted onto the duvet by my wife…then she settles back for an hour or so of tummy rubs and play biting dad ..until she decides she wants a wee.

She’s then carried downstairs and taken outside for her ablutions.

She chases the odd squirrel or pheasant or even a robin that may have strayed into ‘her’ garden by mistake…then she wants breakfast.

After breakfast she ‘always’ has a chew stick to clean her teeth and freshen her breath.

Then she goes back to sleep for maybe an hour or so whilst her breakfast digests.

On awakening she wants a walk or a play or maybe to chase the postman.

Maybe a bit of time by the fire.

Maybe chase dad for a bit of toast.

Cat chased. Done ✅

Neighbours barked at. Done ✅

Car barked at. Done ✅

Lawnmower bitten. Done ✅

Wait till dad clears the poop up …then do another. Done ✅

 

Then it’s back to sleep before hitting the food bowl again at 5pm (exactly).

She goes everywhere with us in her travel case, carried and pampered everywhere and generally made a fuss of by everyone she meets. The only time she ever shows any disappointment is if somebody doesn’t show her any attention in which case her face clearly shows the thought …‘what’s your problem?’

She has zero worries apart from the vet …who does keep sticking a finger up her bum …but apart from that …life is sweeeeet.

Pretty sure we’ve been had by these creatures who are all far cleverer than we give them credit for.

Next life I’m coming back as a dog – I’d even get used to the finger up the bum

 

Mike C

Complex August 10, 2022

As I’ve got older, I’ve realised that I have set myself up to have a very complex, busy life. I’ve realised that every decision that you make has knock on effects later in life that are then very hard to change.

Life becomes like a hamster on a wheel, the faster you go, the faster you have to go to keep up with the fast wheel that you’ve just made go faster…

I’d quite like to just stop the wheel and get off. But you can’t. The wheel is everything that you do and everything that you have …so if you get off the wheel…it all goes.

My business deals with the eradication of invasive species. It’s been a very successful business and continues to be the leader in the field …but there is a problem. If somebody has an invasive species and you resolve the issue – then …they don’t need you anymore.

Bye bye, thanks for the excellent service.

But the business has grown, and you have a bigger team, and you have more vehicles, and you have more health and safety courses to send people on, and your insurances go up, and you need more phones and more computers …

…and the wheel just goes faster.

But what about me personally. Because the business has grown and the income levels have gone up, you get a better car and you do work on the house and because you’re working harder you deserve a better holiday, and you want to help the kids get a house …

…and the wheel just goes faster.

What I’m thinking is … I need to make cheese…or maybe wine…or whisky

Something that takes ages to mature …and your day involves wandering down to the maturing facility and testing the cheese (wine or whisky) then saying …not ready yet….and you go back and read a book on the veranda.

Get rid of the cars, vans, computers, offices…. ok keep the team because you like most of them…but they have new roles like cheese roller, cheese packer, cheese finance….

Wait though –

We need to expand, we need to deliver the cheese, we need cheese marketing, and a cheese blog, and I like my car, so I’ll keep that, and you need finance because cheese takes a long time to mature …

Hang on, hang on …we’re back on the wheel…. it’s just a wheel of cheese.

  

Mike C