An Unbelievable Day - Seriously

Due to the "unbelievable one in a million chance" I am going to scramble your brain cells on this post. I am going to talk about what happened, even the sequence of events because some do not have photos. It will be before I talk and show you photos of Saturday afternoon and early this morning.

So grab a drink ... or maybe I am the one that should be drinking ??? It started around 10:30am, the hounds and the dog are back inside sleeping while I tune into the latest episode of 1923 after a short break in their show production. One by one the hounds start walking into the family room and start wrestling. Anytime I couldn't hear the tv I would say stop and they would quiet down. But they were still playing. 

Then Henry is being chased by a bloodhound and the only place he thinks he can get to safety I guess was ... just under the edge of my tv, next to that wall. I see one of the bloodhounds, not knowing which one yet .... right on the heels of Henry. Problem was, Henry could clear the tv and run under it, the bloodhound of course could not. Some way, some how .... Samson's left molar tooth hits the tv screen ... yep, right where that white mark is. The mark got bigger as I was trouble shooting my Apple TV box and the tv so see if it would get back to normal. Once I turned the tv back on ... that white mark got bigger.

There was no yelling, no cussing, no screaming. I was in total shock and disbelief as well as in awe trying to sort in my head, did I see what I think I just saw????? "You have got to be kidding me, no way that happened".  I think I felt like I would have yesterday if I had personally witnessed the plane shooting the Chinese Balloon down over the Atlantic. I was feeling that kind of shock and awe.

I went back to the 1923 shows streaming through my Apple TV box and saw this at the bottom of my screen. Obviously the tv that I bought not quite a year and a half ago, had seen better days. I was thinking a lot of thoughts, scrambling my brain cells on what to do. I looked at the Sony 55" tv in the living room that is used only for PS4 road racing, PGA Golf, Madden Football etc. After a 65" picture I could not go back to a 55". 

Also I remember in September 2021 after setting up my new tv that the picture was so much better than the Sony tv that was in the living room, which was about 5 years old. So the option was buy another one just like I had. I checked the local Best Buy store and they have two in stock. I make the purchase to pick it up within an hour. With "Super Bowl TV Deals" I bought this one with $300 off. 

Don't leave yet ... it gets better.

The FJ was garaged during the ice storm and cold weather. It was just another surprise for my day, that it wouldn't start because the battery was dead. I pulled out my battery charger, still remaining calm, knowing that "Murphy" was making up for lost time after months of non-crisis living. I get everything turned on, battery is charging when my eyes catch that little sticker on every battery ... month/year. I am charging a battery 04/2015 ????? Really ???? I never even looked that battery date when I was thinking of things to replace ahead of time last August 2022.

I take that battery out, put it the trunk of the Z4 and headed to Auto Zone for a new battery. Everything works like a charm ... only I need gas in the FJ and about that time I pull out of my driveway I get the yellow low tire warning light. Perfect timing, as I was headed for the gas station anyway. Air, gas, and I am back on the road heading to the Best Buy store. Based on experience I knew the 65" tv in a box would fit with ONE INCH to spare in the back of my FJ. I was able to prove the employee wrong since he didn't think there was anyway that box would fit in the back even with the back seats folded down. He almost refused to help me load it into the back. He was shocked I could close the back door when we were finished loading it. I drove off with a smile. Things were looking up.

 

Long story short ... It was the easiest set up of a new tv with the Directv box, and remote along with my Apple TV box and its remote. It was unbelievable easy as everything paired up the first time. From the time I was out in the garage working on the battery until I got home from Best Buy ... Henry, Samson and Watson were left outside in the backyard. Plenty of time to play in the muddy spots of the saturated yard. Plenty of time to roll and wrestle in that wet melting ice, plenty of time to give me some space to set up the new tv ... a little muddy but nothing but some hot wash clothes and towel dry will take care of after they wake up from their current nap.

You will see signs of muddy feet, dried mud on their noses, some signs of dry matted hair on their backs from rolling in the grass. These couches they sleep on clean up nice with a hot damp wash cloth. Before my day was interrupted I was planning on buy a new fleece blanket to put over Samson's love seat that he sleeps on. That has been moved to tomorrow when I make my trip for more and a lot of dog food.

That's a sign of a bloodhound that had a lot of fun today while I was gone. Watson started here when I started writing this post but it wasn't long before he stretched out behind/side of my desk chair and went to sleep. A sleep deep enough that he has a slight snore to his breathing.  Luckily he does not mind getting his paws dried off with a towel or his back and ear. He will get cleaned up after I finish this post and they finish their naps. 

The only question remains ... should I put the tv back up on the fireplace for safety reasons ??? Or what are the chances that same thing happens again, or do they do something playing while I am gone. They DON'T jump at the tv so there isn't a likely chance of a toenail punching or damaging the screen. For my viewing I like the tv where it is compared to "looking up" at the tv when it was up on the fireplace.

Saturday Samson completed his third day here and it's like he has lived here his whole life. If you didn't notice the eyes and the slightly bigger build, he and Watson would be identical twins and hard to tell apart. He loves to play as you have seen in past photos and he loves being outside, just like Watson. Henry never misses a chance to go out with them and play, while Walter is Walter ... nothing has changed his routines.

The temperature finally increased enough Saturday that the three hounds could go on their walk. That adds another .55 of a mile to my daily totals so that can't be a bad thing. Samson does not pull on the leash. I connected my two standard 6' leashes to make it 12' and that made it much easier to walk either bloodhound because a lot of time they are bent over during their walk tracking scents. Walter got outside more than normal as the "frozen tundra" slowly started to melt.

My next door neighbor has always wanted to pet Watson through the fence. He is still in training and getting better but she could never do that because he would jump up and down and bark with excitement when he saw her on the other side of the fence. She could always pet Stella before I put the fence up.

So yesterday during Samson's walk, we walked into her inclosed patio between her house and garage and knocked on the door. Samson was a true champion. He stood there without jumping while she petted him. He even touched noses with their small dog that was at the opened door while we talked. In fact one time she said it looked like he was falling asleep sitting up while she rubbed behind his ears. It was good to see how well mannered he is around people.

They spend a lot of time doing this, exploring every inch of their yard. I guessed wrong when I looked at this picture but found another way to tell them apart. Samson's tail is straight curled or otherwise, Watson's is not. Of course I could buy a bright red collar for Watson and take off the black one I bought a few weeks ago to blend in with his coat color.

Back to Samson and Watson. After I saw how Samson was around people I asked myself what made/makes Watson jump up to see people eye level. I thought he was doing great in his training I am doing with him until Chris brought Samson to the house. Watson jumped up to look Chris in the eye when he wanted to be petted. 

I can only figure the reason is ... as a puppy Samson had no other dog in the house wanting/needing attention so he did not have to "out jump" other dogs to get attention. Whereas here, Watson had Henry who also jumps up and Walter wanting the same attention inside or outside. So he would jump to get higher than them so he would get petted instead of them. It's a hard habit to break but I am still working on it.

Henry does not back down during play or a tug of war with either bloodhound. Many times these past three days he has been the one to start the tug of war by taking one of the toys that came with Samson, shoving it into Samson's face as if to say "let's go". And ... runs away faster than you would imagine, so he can be chased. 

The coffee table was moved for a couple of reasons a few months ago. Watson and Henry needed room and I moved the tv down off the fireplace. The rug is gone because Walter doesn't like the rug so for the time being it is rolled up and hid in the garage for safe keeping until he gets older or until I decide to take a chance to see his reaction. Bulldogs, I am finding out, have a weird part to their personality with some things. 

Although they have plenty of room outside that doesn't mean there are not times they want to play inside. 

Again Henry nosing his way to the toy and ended up pulling it away from Samson and taking off in the opposite direction. It doesn't take long though for them to take a break and sleep for a few hours. One of Samson's favorite places to sleep is right under my computer desk. Yesterday he decided an old cigar plastic humidor would make a good pillow. Excuse the dust.

IU was playing #1 Purdue in Bloomington yesterday, the rival. I was curious how Sampson would handle a large tv that was turned up loud for the game. He came close of putting some bloodhound nose prints on the screen as he tried to figure out what was on the screen. Then he turned, slowly walked away and headed to "his" love seat in the living room, while the rest assumed their normal game day positions.

Looking at some of these photos it looks like the maid had better do some dusting. That maid would be me. The morning routine was the same on Sunday. He eats a lot like Watson, not a clean eater like Henry or Walter. Bloodhounds seem to like eating with an open mouth where pieces of kibble fall from their jowls as they chew to the floor around their bowl. No worries though as Henry will come in later and clean up every piece.

It wasn't long before they were awake and back outside again with the warmer 45° weather.

 

I could tell early it was going to be what I call "a muddy day". Meaning have the towels out for me to use on the patio, cleaning their paws and Henry's belly before they come inside. None of them mind being cleaned up.

You can see how much more the yard became saturated as the temps crawled into the 50s. I was so busy running around to get the tv that I missed most of the good weather. All three took and had a great walk this morning. I can tell that Samson is a full blown tracker and would be I feel very good if trained for SAR. There is an organization here in town I am told but I am not sure I went to get that deep into it.

Samson likes to move his nose under my arm while I am at my desk to get some pets. Instead of trying to get on a couch when I am watching a game or movie and the other hounds and dog are in their normal spots ... he likes to lay down in front of the tv and sleep. By 7:30pm every night all of them have walked off to their sleeping spots and are out for the night. Our days have been starting around 5:30 local time.

Still hard to believe the day I have had. The thing is everything worked out. All of use have good health. When I asked my neighbor if my hounds were noisy while I was gone, she said she didn't hear them even bark. When filling up her bird feeders she said all three of them stood at the fence and watched her, not a sound coming from them.

I am going to log in my purchases today into my spreadsheet, find something to eat, fine tune the new tv settings and possibly watch a movie. It's still early but you have to admit, the hounds, the dog and I have had quite a day.  Ha Ha Ha Ha.

It's beautiful day today here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.