Frog and Goat

There are 3 people in the building today. I do not know how I got so lucky. I like my co-workers, I really do, but today is a GIFT. Thank you Easter Bunny.

Last week in my Adult Development class we received the results from our Meyers Briggs. I’ve been searching high and low at home for the results from about 8 or 9 years ago. I’m now typed as ISTJ but I’m almost positive I was a INTJ last time around. I’ve been teasing the better-half since the results pointing out that I can’t help being neat, orderly and responsible. If I didn’t behave that way, I’d be going completely against my personality and the back of my head would probably explode.

I’m a strong introvert with the ability to switch gears when the situation is necessary. I have stood in front of large groups and conducted training session after training session with little trouble. In situations like those, I have something to say. Put me in a group of people at a cocktail party where I don’t know anyone and I will be the one standing over in the corner watching everyone else. There are some people out there who can’t stand that behavior: “You must be miserable standing over here by yourself, quick, let’s go meet my huge group of friends.” Er, no.

I worked with a woman a few years ago and we became friends outside of work. We still talk occasionally and sometimes about her daughter, the introvert. My friend and her daughter are so different when it comes to this basic personality trait. My friend has never met a stranger. As her daughter was turning into a teen, the introvert trait got a little stronger. I had to reassure my friend that her daughter wasn’t falling apart, she just needed to stop the outside noise occasionally. And, that’s what it really is like…stopping the outside noise.

Sometimes it’s hard getting that quiet, so on days like this, I do feel like I’ve received a shiny gift.

Late yesterday afternoon we had a visitor show up in the backyard. After having cats for years, I’ve always chased dogs out of the yard (and it annoys me when I step in their poop). Yesterday’s dog assessed the situation and came right up to me. And, then he gave me The Look. And, you know what happens after you get The Look.

I got him a bucket of water but he wasn’t thirsty. But he was hungry. Seriously hungry. So, I got him a couple of pieces of salami. He took them right out of my hand and looked for more. I looked at the tag on his collar and the number started with an area code different than ours. This dog was a long way from home. The better-half got on the phone and called the number on the dog’s collar. We found out the dog didn’t belong to the man who answered the phone. The dog was a retired foxhound and had recently been adopted by another family. The guy on the end of the phone was vague and said he’d try to find the phone number of the new owner. I went back in the house to look for something else to feed the dog.

I came back out with some meatballs from leftover spaghetti and meatballs. The dog ate them in big bites. I ended up giving the dog the spaghetti too. He burped his appreciation. Then he got some sliced chicken. That’s when the dog decided he’d met the right people and he needed some loving too.

I sat on the back steps and the dog stood between my knees and enjoyed a really long scratch and rubbing session. At one point I stopped to talk to the better-half and the dog put his paw on my chest. He wasn’t done yet. When the dog started to get that sleepy look, I stopped and he walked up the rest of the steps and laid down. He looked pretty worn out and a little uncomfortable. Since I am a big sucker, I went into the garage and got a big tarp out and folded it loosely and walked up the steps. The dog looked at me, stood up and let me make him a bed. Then he went to sleep.

I ended up going through the freezer and found some year-old chinese sausages. I cut them out of the package and boiled them. Then I took off the skins and chopped them up. He ate half of those in a few quick bites and went back to sleep. I saved the other half in case he ended up spending the night.

As we were eating dinner, the phone rang and his owner reported that she lives just outside West Point. West Point is about 40 minutes away which equates to about 30 miles and the Pamunkey River is between us and them. No wonder the dog was tired and hungry. I gave the dog the rest of the sausages since he wasn’t going to spend the night.

About 45 minutes later the owner and her two young sons showed up to collect the dog. We found out the dog’s name was Zeus and they hadn’t had him for very long. He’d been gone since Thursday. We said he’d been a good guest and that he could come back any time. They thanked us profusely and took Zeus home.

The weather has been amazing since the weekend and I have a serious case of spring fever. Just so you know.

I was listening to my Creative Zen via my iRiver transmitter today on the way home and I was rocking out to an Allison Moorer song when there was static in the speakers. This usually means the MP3 player has stopped playing or there’s something wrong with the transmitter. That Allison Moorer song has been iffy for months and it locked up the player (I had to reset it when I got home and the AM song has been deleted).

I tried fiddling with the player but as I was driving, I couldn’t spend much time on troubleshooting. So, I unplugged the player and pulled the transmitter out of the power supply (AKA cigarette lighter). The Honda’s door flap to the power supply has always been tight no matter how many times I’ve plugged something in there. Today as I was taking the transmitter plug out, the power supply door ripped my right thumb’s nail off. Not the whole nail but all of the nail above the fleshy end of my thumb. I was pissed and whacked the lid a few times. I was ready to screech to a halt, rip the lid off and toss it out the window. Then, back up and crush it and then roll back over it just to be sure it was dead.

Instead I just envisioned the pain the lid would have felt had I done that and if it weren’t plastic and metal.