Hi, again.
I have to confess that there hasn't been a good day today. Waking up with migraine will take all the zest out of life. The slightest thing can drive you crazy, and I have had lots of that today. I hoped that going out in the morning for the usual walk with Rex would help. Oh, I was so, so, so wrong. While getting ready, Rex started barking like crazy. My neighbor's two dogs stopped right in front of my door and sniffed Rex's presence. Of course, he sniffed them too. The concert lasted for about five minutes. The neighbor had as much luck with making her dogs stop barking as I had with Rex. If I woke up with a dull ache in the occipital area of my head, by the moment I managed to take the dog out, my temples throbbed with pain. Still, the tribulations of the day didn't end here. There's an older batty lady who lives on the fourth floor of the building next door. Her only occupation seems to be surveying the street and shouting at the people who walk their dogs. If the dog is on the grass, it is not okay. If the dog sniffs the fence, it's not okay either. The sidewalk is a big no-no. I have noticed that pigeons don't bother her. That's why I am sure that she missed the bulletin stating that dogs don't fly. Anyway, she shouts, swears, threatens bodily harm, and makes a nuisance out of herself. Usually, I can tune out the batty lady, but this wasn't a good day. Politely but firmly, I sent her to seek medical treatment. I advised her that possibly a psychiatric ward would be advisable. I am not proud of that. However, I am proud of myself for my clean language. All I wanted was to blast her ears. We got back home after a few troubling encounters, like the guy who hadn't learned to use a handkerchief, and I hoped that everything would get better. I drank a mug filled with water, took an aspirin, fed the dog, and decided to start writing, even though my head kept pulsating. Well, surprise, surprise! A big fly got into the apartment through the balcony doors I had left open. The buzz matched the size of the fly. Of course, it bothered me and drove Rex crazy. Rex relied on his usual defense: barking. My headache intensified, and my vision changed. I tried to chase the fly out on the balcony, but it didn't work. In the end, I used a kitchen towel to show the fly the way to the balcony. I didn't see or hear the fly anymore, so I thought that I succeeded in my mission or killed the poor insect. I took a deep breath and went back to work. Rex decided to take a nap, which was understandable. He had barked like crazy most of the morning. He needed and deserved a rest. Oh, boy, was I wrong! The fly didn't go away and didn't die. Probably she got knocked out for a while. After about fifteen minutes, the buzz filled the room. The dog jumped out of his bed and started barking. My eyelids shook. Another round with the kitchen towel and the fly ensued. The latter took the hint and went bye out of the balcony window. Another deep breath and I went back to work. But wait! I forgot about the preaching guy who occupies the corner of the street right across from my building. Every morning, the man sets his camp there and starts yelling. Imagine that there are four lanes between his corner and the corner where my building is. Still, I can hear him as if he were just under my balcony. He does have good lungs, although nothing he says makes sense. He doesn't use actual words but makes some sounds. And that at the top of his lungs. He doesn't ask for money or food. He comes with everything he needs in his backpack: food, coffee, and cigarettes. He appears at the same hour every day and leaves at the same hour every evening. It is like he has a working schedule, minus the days off. Well, when he started his daily show, my head seemed to swell at least twice its regular size. I tried to write, but I gave up after five pages. I went back to my bedroom, drew the drapes, and decided to stew in the dark for a few hours. It worked some. At least my headache didn't get any worse. Still, I wasted the day away, and a deadline approaches. Rex doesn't care. He had his food, played a bit, took another walk, and now he's sleeping after he shot my nerves through the roof with his incessant barking. He had company for that, even now in the evening. The dogs next door helped him to raise havoc. What are friends for, after all?
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Hey there,
How was the beginning of the year for you? I don't mind if you want to share. I share with you, after all. Here, the first day of the year smelt of spring. It also sounded like spring and felt like spring. The feeling was eerie. However, it was only a one-day miracle. Today, the temperature dipped almost to zero, and it smelt of snow, which put a spring in Rex's step. On the one hand, I appreciated it. A brisk walk, even a jog, is good for health, but on the other, I never liked losing my breath, and running with a mask over your face and nose might have that effect on you. Please, think that I also have to climb two flights of stairs with the dog in my arms. Rex weighs about 22 pounds, but it feels even heavier than that. Unfortunately, he can't climb stairs if there are more than five steps. So I am stuck with that chore. Still, sometimes I lie to myself that carrying him up the stairs actually compensates for my aerobic routine, and I merely skip it. It feels smart at the moment but not so good in the long run. And my capacity to convince myself of various things is endless. Probably, that's why I expended a bit too much during the quarantine period. The good news is that I managed to do my aerobics today. God knows about tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see. I might be too lazy and skip it altogether because I don't have to work tomorrow. I might convince myself that a free day is meant to be free of any kind of extortion. I have told you that I am good at this sort of thing. However, another piece of good news is that Rex became a little hero. We met with one of his friends, a bichon. Rex hates this breed, but this little fellow managed to get under his defenses. Apparently, the little dog didn't want to walk because he was afraid of skyrockets, and his master was very upset. Rex convinced him to come with him, and they walked for about half an hour. The bichon's mamma called him a hero, and his little heart grew and grew. You should have seen him strutting, his chest thrown forward. He made me proud, and he got a treat when we got home. But in the evening, his stalker appeared once more. The cat came out from under some bushes, and when Rex saw her, he lost his mind. He decided that he could outrun her, so he started running as if the entire Red Army was in pursuit. Yep, the second bout of exercising for the day. Hmm, I think I'd be okay skipping my routine tomorrow. What do you think? I started this blog on the first of January 2016. I can't believe that five years have already passed. If I wrote consistently for the first year, the time slipped away from me for a while, and then everything came to a full stop in 2019. If you look back at my posts for that year, you will understand why. Reality has its knack for getting in the way. You know that. It was not for the lack of ideas. The problem is that they come to me when I am on a bus or in a busy setting. When I get back to my computer, they disappear in thin air. I have the same problem when it comes to my writing. You can't even imagine how many spectacular ideas retreated in that black hole that became my memory. I mourn them every day, but life likes taking its toll. Anyway, to bring you back to speed, I am still in Bucharest - the beautiful town of the 19th and 20th century, turned into the hugest parking lot during this century. There are areas of the city where you get lost in the sea of cars and have the feeling you must have landed on another planet. Bucharest is a town that cannot obey any rule, even if that means saving your life. 'Environment' is a dirty word for most, and almost no one thinks of the consequences of their actions when it comes to clean air, clean streets, or recycling. People embraced democracy with a vengeance - the American way. No one can infringe their rights and ask them to wear a mask, and most of them read obscure blogs on the Internet, preaching about conspirations, micro-chipping through vaccines, and the financiers in the shadows that support Biden. Conversations would be fun, hadn't been for the name-calling and broken relationships. But that's enough explanation about the setting of my life right now. If you have managed to overcome your boredom so far, you will be glad to hear that Rex seems to be doing just fine after a long period of illness. We moved to another area of the city, and he seems to love it here. What's not to like? There's a lot of grass and trees, wide spaces to walk, birds, and cats. We've had only a tiny hiccup. Rex found himself with a stalker: a black-and-white kitten, who would accompany him in his morning walk. He accepted the strange walk fellow for a couple of months. Nevertheless, in the end, he decided to put his foot down and tried to bark at the cat to leave him alone. But you know cats. They are stubborn. If they want something, they find a way to get it. So our little furry friend ignored Rex's bouts of frustration and continued to come along during the morning walk. Although funny, my tired brain couldn't take it anymore, so I hatched a different plan. Barking didn't work, so I changed the schedule and headed out just a bit earlier. When we got back home, the kitten was already in front of the building, waiting for his barking friend to come. The following day, the cat waited for us when we came out. Smart cat: she already calculated when we would go out. What can you do, eh? Nothing more, but alternate the schedule and keep her guessing. It worked this morning, even though it didn't work the other day. But hey! You win some. You lose some. I am sure we'll get the hang of it. Anyway, there are more disturbing things than that. I am getting more convinced that Rex has OCD. If I leave an object in a place where I have never left it before, he barks until I put it back - how's that about living with a slave driver? A couple of days ago, I dusted the furniture. Through a mere mistake, I moved a knick-knack about an inch to the right. Maybe Rex wouldn't have noticed it if he were not on the sofa. But he was, and he did. He blasted my ear-drums until I put the object in the exact location where it lay previously. Imagine how fun it is to buy a new appliance or piece of furniture. Life is full of fun if you know where to look. On New Year's Eve, despite the curfew, we heard fireworks for hours. I hear that my mother's dog spent the entire evening and night in the bathroom. Rex was content to bark a bit and polish his food off. He wanted to be sure that no one would steal it. I remember when Rex passed through his first earthquake in 2018, he did the same thing. He only jumped off the bed, barking furiously, of course (his way to express his dissatisfaction), and he checked his food. Afterward, he made sure that there was nothing left on the plate for the earthquake to steal. Anyway, that's enough for a new encounter in a new year. I planned to begin writing a new novel today. I suppose I should get to it. I'll leave you with a few pictures with Rex. I hope you'll enjoy them. AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! THANK GOD 2020 LEFT! WELCOME 2021! |
ROXANA NASTASEBorn sometime in the past century, living in the 21st century. https://www.ebookstage.com/welcome/NTYyNzY=/
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January 2022
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