The snow came in here at about five AM today. I know because my dog woke me up at four and wanted to go outside. He didn’t do his business though, just got distracted by the sights and sounds and smells of the yard. It’s about quarter past eight now and he is back asleep.

Today is going to be a day at home. I have plenty of food and don’t need to go anywhere. The roads are all covered in snow, and it is about thirty degrees outside. This is another day two for me without alcohol. I think I can kick it this time if I just don’t give into the urge to buy another bottle. Smoking, well, I am near the end of my last pack now.

My girlfriend wanted me to pick her up today, but I am not driving all that way in bad weather. Junior is not ready for any sleepovers yet anyway. He still needs to learn the rules of the house and to get used to his crate so I can feel safe leaving him alone in my room for a couple hours. Winter is a hard time for all, and the dog just isn’t comfortable yet being left to his own devices. He snatched my recorder off my bookshelf yesterday and took it to his crate. I guess he wanted to learn to play the flute or thought it was a chew toy.

I got some good sleep last night but had many strange dreams. In the last one I was a vegetable farmer taking my crops to market in the back of an old, beat up Lincoln Continental.

I have some sleepy music going now for the dog, and I am just about to get some pea soup for breakfast. I have chicken for dinner, sliced ham and bread for lunch, and plenty of fruit and vegetables. The dog is snoring now, so maybe he is still tired. He got a bad leg cramp last night after gnawing on his bone for a while. I took the bone away from him and gave his leg a quick massage, and the cramp passed. I guess our five long walks yesterday were too much for him. He has been sleeping in a kennel for the last three months and I guess I gave him too much exercise.

I might rename this blog again. I want it to be my online journal and poetry, but apparently there are not many people looking to read the journal of a 59 year old single guy who lives with his Dad and a dog. 59. It will be my birthday next Sunday. I don’t feel that old, but the years have passed and I am no longer young. I have to get into shape and lose some of this Invega fat the doctors have saddled me with. It’s not easy being crazy.

So I will have a quiet day at home and work on my blog and do some gaming and watch some videos. Dad and the dog are still sleeping, so I have to be a bit quiet. There is a fresh coat of snow on the yard and the sky is dismal and grey. A typical winter day in Michigan, cold, snowy, and miserable.

Junior is sleeping on my bed now, listening to some dog sleep music on YouTube. I have been disturbing his rest since about two this morning when I woke up. My sleep pattern has been disturbed today. When am I going to learn that there are better things in life than partying?

My sister is supposed to stop by this afternoon to meet Junior. She seems to think she is an expert on animals, but her own dogs are unruly and a bit wild. I have had the dog for just over a week now and he seems to be settling in. He had a couple accidents yesterday, but it was nothing to clean up. I have to get to the dump either today or tomorrow as the trash is piling up around here. I have to get to Kroger sometime soon as well.

I have a cup of tea steeping in the kitchen. The house is very quiet. We are supposed to get some snow next week, but from the reports I saw they are not expecting a lot. We will see when it comes. So far this winter hasn’t been so bad.

Anyway, I have this new age dog sleep music going in my room now and a tired puppy who is having dog dreams. My girlfriend called me on the phone yesterday and we got connected again on Google Hangouts. Her old account got hacked she says so we haven’t traded photos in over a month now. I sent her a pic of Junior sleeping on my bed yesterday morning. Last year she was after me to get a cat or a dog. I guess she knows how alone I feel, an old man with one friend and a father in his twilight years.

I think I will explore the reader here for a while and try to find something interesting and informative to read. I watched the news earlier. New president, more executive orders, new senate, COVID-19, it’s the same old story. It would be nice if I could learn how to train dogs, but Junior is learning as he seems to be very smart. It’s a big change to my life to have a dog child, but it is also something positive. Hopefully things work out with my Sister today and she doesn’t freak out because I have an animal to take care of now.

Junior is starting to learn how to walk on a leash. He got half way around the yard a while ago without pulling. Of course he had to catch the scent of a chipmunk in the old pool filter box on the back porch and went a little OCD on the thing trying to rip up the box. I had to pull him off the thing with the lead. While he was cooling off in my room I took the old pool filter down to the road to give away for free.

The lazy dog is chilling on my bed now, snoozing. He sleeps a lot for such an energetic animal. That may be his meds kicking his ass. He sat with me at lunch good and got a nice treat after I finished. I seem to be making some progress with this dog. He seems to be a good boy for the most part, but man, he has a mind of his own.

I have to go out for a while this afternoon and do some business for my Dad, so he will be alone in my room for an hour or so while I am out. He had his walk though, so he should be OK without any accidents. I removed most of the things he could get into trouble with in my room, and he hasn’t been destructive of anything so far. It has been a week since I brought him home and he seems to be learning the ropes and the house rules. I think he is a good addition to our family and I think he will fit in once he gets used to the sights and sounds of his new environment.

A dog means a lot of extra work. It’s worth it though. I took Junior for a stroll just now out in the cold. It’s taking some time to get him used to walking on a leash. He wants to take off like a shot after every bird, rabbit, and squirrel in the yard. He pulls, but a couple of quick tugs on the leash seems to hold him back.

I need to be working on this blog more often. I need to write about things that will help people solve their problems. I have a lot of my own problems that I need to solve, like my lack of reliable income. I don’t honestly know what I can sell over this platform. I could always look for some lousy information product, purchase rights, and sell it via a download, but hey, I don’t want to sell junk. If I am going to sell something I want it to be actually useful.

I used to work half time at the local community college as a science lab tech. That job lasted 16 years, but they ended up firing me over some bullshit. I never really had anything like a career. I worked construction for a while, but when they stopped paying me I left that gig. My last job was at Home Depot, but I had to quit because the work environment was making me psychotic. I really did not like loading bags of mulch and manure into people’s vehicles that well anyway. Worse was trying to place stock onto shelves that were already full.

Junior is sleeping on my bed now after his walk. It’s good to have a buddy here with me in this house. I think I am going to read a book or something for a while. I am growing tired of talking to myself on this blog. The writing has helped me today though power through some cravings I have had over the last few hours. Now if I could just figure out what W. J. Remski Publishing is supposed to be about I might be able to write a decent article or two.

I got a reasonably good night of sleep last night despite my own indulgences. Junior spent the night at my side snuggling. He seems very well-behaved around me. He is a sleepy dog though and is still crashed out on my bed this morning. I get up early though, unlike the rest of the residents of this house.

Today I have to make a commitment to keep my wits about me. Yesterday I had a setback and that can not happen any more. I have the radio going now for Junior. He is snoring at the foot of my bed. I have to get some food into me and check on the house. I don’t know how people can sleep so long. There really isn’t much more to do these days at home, but I really haven’t changed my life much with this lockdown. I have a freind now, a dog friend, but still, it’s better than being alone.

Since bringing Junior home on Thursday my life has changed a bit. I am no longer alone in my room. I have a friend who follows me all around the house and helps me with my chores. I have new responsibilities to water, feed, and walk my pet. I also have to work on training the little fellow. For the most part he is calm and peaceful, though he does have his emotional moments.

Junior is a pretty smart dog. He knows some basic commands like sit and come. Still, he has a lot of skills we need to work on, like walking on a leash. He pulls like a sled dog and goes a bit nuts when he sees a rabbit. He has a hard time controlling his anxiety. He alerts to things that are not there in the shadows of morning and night. He snores like a buzz saw. Still, he seems to be a good dog and for the most part he is happy.

I suppose there are worse ways I could have spent my stimulus money than adopting a dog. The last dog I had, for 16 years, was a big puppy when he ran out of a swamp in front of my friend’s car as we cruised the back roads. He had no tag and collar. I named him Monster. He was a rottweiler coon hound mix and was very friendly, though he had his problems as well. The thing is that dogs cost money to keep, and I don’t have a lot of money. I have to get to work on my business on this blog and find a way to generate some cash flow. Junior is my new family, and you have to take care of your family first.