It’s been how long?

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Jeff

So, back to the dog for a minute.

This past Saturday, October 1, marked the 5 year anniversary of Rumble coming into our lives. Most days it feels like he’s been around forever!

Chris and I had talked about wanting a dog for a LONG time before we got Rumble. Like 6 months or more. We both agreed that keeping a dog of any size locked up in an apartment/condo for 8 hours was a bad idea. Borderline evil.

Luckily, I work in a dog friendly office so that wasn’t an issue (at least in theory) so I would be able to bring a dog to work.

Another issue was “What kind of dog?” and boy was that an issue.

First, it had to be an apartment dog, which at the time meant under 20lbs full grown as we were renting

Second, it had to be hypo-allergenic because owning a dog isn’t fun if you’re dead. I am allergic.

Third, it couldn’t be a purse dog! (We’re gay, but not that gay.)

Fourth, it had to be a boy. (We’re that gay.)

So we set out to find the most butch tiny hypo-allergenic dog possible. And that’s not easy. Hence, the Miniature Schnauzer was on the list, and based on their temperament and other factors, they became the shortlist.

We identified a few breeders, made a bunch of phone calls and found DreamMaker Kennels, then of ~~Surr~~ Langley and made contact. Before they’d see us, we had to fill out some paperwork. It was 8 pages of question on why we would make good dog owners and they should let us give them money for a puppy. It was extremely thorough and asked all the questions we’d asked ourselves.

Where will it sleep? What will it eat? What will happen during the work day? etc, etc.

It took us like 3 hours to fill it out. They liked our answers and granted us a visit the next day. At which point Chris met Rumble and that was that.

We looked at about 4 puppies they had, but at some point Chris picked up this one and fell in love. I didn’t get to meet the pup at that point I don’t think.

So, we finished all the paperwork and adopted our championship stock puppy, but swore to never show him. Or breed him. Probably other stuff too, but we were buying a pet, not a trophy.

We made the long trek home by SkyTrain, scared of what was happening the entire way. Then Rumble spent about 3 hours in his little carrier refusing to come out.

We ended up coaxing him out with food (which would set a tone for the future).

Ever since then, Rumble Rose has been a constant fixture in our lives. Most of the time everything revolves around him and his schedule. Feeding (and the inverse), sleeping and playing all have to be accommodated, not to mention vacations, travel, movies, food, sex, shopping, work, television and more.

Yep. He has us pretty tightly wrapped around one or more of this tiny furry paws and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

What I did on my summer vacation – Part 1

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Jeff

So, Chris and I arranged a few days off together. A full week in fact! Not that unusual, last year we took 2 full weeks in Ontario.

We didn’t really have anything planned for this time, but we did take the opportunity to finally have laminate floors installed, to replace the carpet that Rumble had… damaged over the last 4 years. And what a nightmare that’s been.

First thing, we love the floors! They make the place look much better, and even though they’re dark, the house doesn’t feel darker.

Monday morning (officially day 1 since Chris worked Sunday night), starts with us packing EVERYTHING out of 1/2 of the condo into the other half. Packed. So tight that if we closed the solarium door, we may not get it open again. So full that we couldn’t even think about entering the kitchen or storage room.

Even the bathtub got a temporary resident.

Long story short – floors take a long time, even in about 300 square feet. And there will be dust EVERYWHERE if you don’t have an outside space for cutting. The number of Swiffers we’ve used could clean … bunches of space.

Now, Thursday after Monday install, we finally have everything back in order. The changes necessitated the purchase of 3 small rugs, a new TV stand and about 100 little felt feet. We packed the place up in about 2 hours. It took us 2 days to get everything sorted.

It all felt like moving day. At various points it both looked and felt like we were moving either in or out. We even ordered pizza and bought Chris some beer.

The nightmare part is the mess that the installer made. The floors are great, but he managed to make a mess everywhere. Broken baseboards, chunks of floor in the bathroom, purple goop on the walls, smears on the floor etc. We’ve filed a complaint with the company and are anxious to see if they even reply, now that they have the money.

If not, expect a big post about them here, with names and pictures. Yes, it’s a little like blackmail. Here’s a sample photo. Still a bit of mess, but we’re getting there.