Tuesday was orthodontic day 60 miles from home. It's a drag to have a day off eaten up by those kind of obligations, but what can ya do. The boys and I made a day of it by running some other fun-type errands including hair cuts for Charlie and I and some new (some were new/used) clothes for mostly my growing monsters, but also a new sweater for me at work. I'm phasing out the t-shirts and trying to wear more professional shirts and sweaters. I don't do much "grunt" work at work anymore, so I can wear nicer clothes now. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, which is a rare treat and was very good. Charlie had a 4" thick slice of meatloaf and all 3 of his sides were the mac n cheese! LOL! Dylan had probably the best country fried steak he'll ever eat and just raved about his applesauce (simple pleasures). I had a grilled chicken sandwhich that was to die for in taste. :-)
We stopped at the PETCO to get feeder mice and look around at dog/puppy toys. I couldn't justify the prices. :-( I spotted a really nice rubbery type frisbee that looked like it would both fly and be teeth/gum friendly. 19 flippin' dollars!! What? And because it's $19 you know what would happen? I'd throw it once and it would end up on the peak of this two story farmhouse! Just like when I did agility I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED those heavy duty fabric frisbees Clean Run sold. They flew, they held up to ridiculous tugging, and you could shove them in your pants. (Oh how I miss grass and grit in my under-britches!) I had one, loved it. So when it came time for a new one I ordered it. They were not cheap, but it was a tool and it was worth it. I used to always ensure they didn't get left in the yard- hence the tool aspect, additionally although they held up to training, all day teeth work probably not so much. One day, proud of myself for NOT leaving it out, I plopped it onto the roof the van. Yup. You already know where this is going don't you? Yes, yes I did. But what's *really* sad is that I actually drove around LOOKING for it when I realized what I had done! Then there's the Go-fer balls (we call the "launcher balls" 'round here). They are my dogs' absolute favorite. They are a weird texture of a ball, somewhere between ratchet ball and foam. They are tennis ball size and have a loop of surgical tubing attached. Like I said, "launcher" ball. And they fly! Again, not a cheap toy and I could only find them online. But they were enough fun to be worth it. My problem? (no, not leaving them on the van- that's only frisbees) Two things. Launcher control and trees. Did you know that a 20" loop of surgical tubing, when attached to a ball and thrown can tie itself into 40 knots in exactly 1.2 seconds? Yup. There ain't no gettin' those suckers down! And we have tried. Ever watch a 6' tall man trying to control 25' of pvc while 10 revved up Border Collies are dancing around his feet? It's funny video worthy. Also funny video worthy are grown adults throwing just about anything they think just *might* break off the 1" diameter branch that suddenly seems as though it's made of unbreakable material. I think even bee-bee guns have been used. Remember this is a toy more expensive than it should be and is desired enough that it has been ordered.... I think one year I had 3 launcher balls proudly blowing in the breeze long after all the leaves had fallen. Only once the sun and the rain have eaten away all of the surgical tubing's stretch do we get our launcherless ball back- and then... well it's just another tennis ball. (insert raspberry and the look of 12 forlorn pitiful Border Collies here...) So even though my thought process was that it would be a fun new toy for all to enjoy, I remembered my past history with the "special" toys and with a heavy sigh, hung it back on it's hook. Today I bought a can of tennis balls. For 3 dollars.
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