Handing The Reins Over

I've decided to hand the reins of the blog over to the hounds. That means a lot less commentary with the same amount of photos, having an intro paragraph. To capture photos of Heidi in the afternoon, I will plan to schedule the post for a 6pm-7pm timeframe. With better weather things are getting busy and busier, so this is the best way to continue to post photos of the hounds and let everyone know that all of us still have a pulse.

They didn't do much today. Stella got a couple of walks in, Heidi roamed a little outside but that was about it. Neither of them showed any negative response to their dose of NexGuard for fleas and ticks.

It was a cool day in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Brain Scramble Continues

With this much water left this morning from the overflowing creek across the highway I wonder where all of the water will go after it starts raining at 2pm, for the next week. I know where it will go since I've seen it a lot worse in June 2008. At that time three of the four highways coming into town were closed due to flooding. Up here on the hill we were sitting on the only open way to town.

I use to post this photo every day in my older blog as the first photo of the day. You could tell just by this photo which has me facing west, what the weather was going to be for that day. The rains will come from that direction but as Stella and I walked our Saturday morning stroll, rain seemed like a far fetched idea.

You can see the field is growing by leaps and bounds almost overnight. What a difference from just 30 days ago. I followed Stella's pace this morning which was the typical weekend "slower than slow" stroll through the field.

That gives me time to sort through all the thoughts I've had about moving the past week or so. It's really intensified the past few days and I thought last week was bad. Since I would like to keep some of the places I am looking at private, I'll only mention the two states that have the towns I am really interested in.

A few readers that I have gotten to know over the years, do know which towns I am speaking of and all of them have given me valuable information about the areas I am interested in. I know that all decisions can't be based on what I read on the internet or even pictures of property but I still get some idea of city comparisons by using BestPlaces and AreaVibes websites.

Since I have narrowed it down to two towns, one in New Mexico and one in Arizona, I compare them to my current town and Bloomington Indiana which is rated as a great place to retire and a town I went to college in just a short distance away. I'll not go into detail of those comparisons but it did have some surprises.

Take a look at AreaVibes to see what categories they collect data for and rate.

As always there is always doubt about moving with the hounds. When I had four of them it was no question that I would not be moving. Now with two that will be 10 years old this summer, moving is a little more doable. I have already been informed by an agent in Arizona they would be allowed for a certain neighborhood as well as renting a house.

Many have asked, how could I even move from an area like this and all the field that the hounds can walk and explore in. I know what you mean. The hounds have always been my first priority in these kind of decisions just like when I was trying to decide whether to RV full-time or not.

As you have seen, Heidi's walks in the field are few and far between. She really likes a hot sunny day where she can lay in the yard and enjoy the weather. I think she would love a place that has sunshine 285 days per year and less than 13 inches of rain compared to the 55 inches of annual rainfall we get now. That number seems to have gone upward the past few years.

Stella seems to enjoy her walks but at times I wonder if she only walks because I am taking her outside instead of the other way around. For example, Sadie was the one that decided when all of us would walk ... where Stella will sleep through the afternoon walk unless I wake her up to go.

I cannot put my finger on any one reason that this urge to move has hit me so hard. There are a few reasons, some private and some that are really logical. I do know that I cannot explain all of my thinking here in one blog post about the 'whys' of wanting to move. I will say that the past three days the chances of moving are stronger than anytime I have talked of it in the past four to five years. It's like I have already decided I am moving.

I still use realtor dot com to look at property. I bookmarked all my different locations (4 of them) instead of saving them as searches within their website because they are faster to access the way I have them labeled and saved. They are sorted in "newest listing first" so I can tell just with a glance of anything new that comes up.

I also get automated updates on the locations I have marked as well as the realty company's website in Arizona. I did speak with their agency assistant the other day because I had a question about my hounds and the property I was interested in. She was fantastic and sent me more links of information about their town.

Late yesterday afternoon I received an email from a realtor in her business with an introduction and asking what I am looking for. He was also born and raised in Indiana and attended the rival university in sports of the college I attended. So he will be very valuable with his point of view of living in Arizona compared to where I am now.

On top of that I met a vet on Twitter as I was searching Twitter for any kind of information about the town. The good thing is, he is also in to bicycling and use to live in San Diego so once again I gained valuable information about two subjects I like and am interested in. He understands what kind of information I am looking for and the questions I have.

Each bit of information adds to my preference in the Arizona town. I am down to four choices: (1) stay where I am (2) Bloomington Indiana (3) New Mexico (4) Arizona

So that is were it stands. I'd like to do this move sometime this summer and definitely before college football season starts on August 28-30th. At the same time I know it's a possibility that I might change my mind and stay here but there is something different this time. I feel it's really going to happen and in some ways I am excited enough that I could move next week if I had a place lined up.

So that is all I have as far as updating my thoughts on moving.

This next bit of stuff I am writing about is a little concerning. Long time readers will remember last July as the bloodhounds and I were walking along the back of the field on one of our walks we ran into a 'visitor' ... another dog, something we never see in the field on our walks. If you click here and then scroll down you can see the beagle we ran into. He/she never barked, stood and listened and then turned and ran away NORTH ... that direction is key to the story I am about to tell.

Well last night around 7pm I had just walked into the kitchen and when I glanced out my window I saw that beagle semi-trotting across my driveway heading SOUTH. At the time I didn't remember it was the same dog we saw in the field last July. He/she looked stressed out, nervous ... so I went to the living room trying to convince Stella and Heidi they needed to change their routine and come into the bedroom so I could shut them in there while I try to rescue the beagle.

Of course when you have two hounds that are use to their routines and know that as they select their positions on the couch as I watch another Reds baseball game, that there would be NO NEED to get up and head to the bedroom. They didn't understand what I was telling them and they were not going to move ...

And ... they didn't.  LOL

So I took a chance, I left them where they were. That would be okay with Heidi because she is the true house dog where we know from past blog posts that Stella likes to explore the house while I am gone looking for food. Anything from bananas, apples, mangoes or tomatoes that are left in bowls on the counter.

I sat the two bowls of fruit on top of the refrigerator and took off in my car trying to find the beagle somewhere in the neighborhood. Of course by the amount of time it took for me to start my search the beagle was long gone. I had no idea what direction it took but I did not see it along the highway for the two miles south of me.

It was late last night while I was watching the game when I remembered it was the same beagle I had seen in the field last July. I think it belongs to the neighbors five or six houses north of me.

Being this close to a high speed highway, it is never good to see a stray dog running in the neighborhood. The few I have been able to catch and find their owner, it was amazing just how far they had traveled away from their home by the time I found them.

As you can see Stella had another successful Saturday morning stroll. I know, just like you, I cannot picture her walking like this in the high deserts of Arizona or New Mexico either. Yet dogs are so much more adaptable than people are. I can see her though sleeping on the hot rocks or concrete under the sun in those two states, just like she was here yesterday afternoon when the sun was in the western sky.

While I sat outside late afternoon yesterday she slept the whole time which amounted to an hour and a half on the hot concrete floor. That hot sunshine probably makes her joints feel better. Sometimes the sun is the best joint and hip supplement there is.

I admit I don't like the constant rains anymore just like I don't like snowy single digit winters. Rain is nice for a day or two but never all the time. With the Reds game not starting until 1:30pm my time today, that is if it is not raining hard in St. Louis, I'll have plenty of time to look for new information about the town I have locked in on.

Both hounds are still sleeping as I post this but it is so close to their lunch, they will let me know what time it is as soon as I step away from the computer desk. Yes, the skies are looking like a LOT of rain is on the way right now. In my book 84° and dry is better than 60° and rain in the month of April.

Oh ... I never spent a second of time today thinking about my Bureau of Motor Vehicles visit yesterday. Gotta go, Heidi just woke up and she wants her lunch NOW ... barking non stop.

Lunch was served and you can see they had no interest outside other than getting back inside for their post lunch siesta.

Where did the spellcheck feature go when when writing a post on WordPress ???? I hate when they update their site.

It's a quiet Saturday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I Almost Lost It Today

I've been so busy today that I can't remember what day it was and I almost forgot that I blogged yesterday. Anyway, after a day and night of rain on Wednesday and Thursday the forecast showed today would be one day of no rain before it starts again on Saturday for six more days. I didn't know if the yard would be dry enough to mow or not but I did know if it wasn't after a week of rain I might have to 'bale' the yard instead of 'mow' the yard after it stopped raining.

I found out this morning while cleaning the downspouts, birds had built a nest that was washed down into the spout. Otherwise the whole gutter, the length of the house in front was clean and dry.

Late Thursday afternoon the rain finally let up enough for the hound to relieve themselves but Stella wasn't going for it. She turned and headed back inside waiting almost another eight hours before she went outside after midnight to relieve herself.

Heidi always finds a way to get around the wet yard, porch or mulch.

This morning Stella was sure I had been somewhere in the car and I didn't tell her. She gave each tire a thorough exam. I cannot remember where I went on Thursday ... seriously. My mind is blank on that question.

I knew with all the rain the path was going to be mostly water this morning. I wasn't that thrilled about taking a walk on that path but luckily Stella had a better idea.

She decided that if I would follow her, we would take the "high ground" where the path might be a little more walkable. This is her normal start after heavy rains.

As we got further back in the field she walked to the side of the drenched path. A lot of it was under water.

My only plan today was to get the ladder out and get myself up on the roof to clean out those two gutter downspouts. They were over flowing with water yesterday and the rain never let up enough for me to do it then. I already told you about the one in front but the back one was unbelievable. The full length of the gutter was full of water. I had never seen it that backed up.

As I pulled the spout wire protector out thinking it would be loaded with leaves or sticks, it was barely covered with anything and certainly not anything that would block the water flow in the downspout. Yet, it was full of water. So it had to be further down into the spout.

No matter what I had to do, I HAD to get this problem fixed today before the next six days of rain. I was willing to take the sections of downspout apart and hose out any debris with my garden hose if I needed to. I put the ladder away, grabbed a screw driver in case I needed to disassemble the downspout. Exciting times here ....

First, I pulled up the very bottom of the downspout that goes into my drainage system tube and there was the problem. I can't remember the last time I cleaned it out or if I have ever cleaned it out but there had to have been almost 12" of packed wet leaves and sticks that had made it down into the 6" drainage tube plus backed up in the very end of the gutter downspout.

Once I pulled all of that out, that 80' of water in the gutter came out like a waterfall. Right into the drainage system like it should and away it went.  Although I know I have to dig up and reinstall new drain tubing because most of it is plugged up with mud after 20 years.

With that fixed so fast and the sunshine out bright, I decided I'd drive over to the BMV to renew my drivers license that was going to expire in a couple of weeks. The only reason I mention this is because I ALWAYS HAVE PROBLEMS when I go to the BMV. NOTHING is easy, even the simplest tasks and that is why I do everything online.

Only what I needed to do I could NOT do online.

It was the card I got in the mail the other day telling me about the new "Real ID-compliant" drivers license that I will need after October 2020 to fly on a commercial planes or enter any federal facility. I thought I'd get that added to my new license. THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS.  (long humorous story)

The post card said I needed my birth certificate, social security card OR proof of a Social Security Number and two proofs of Indiana residency.

Seems simple enough.

I pulled my birth certificate out of the safe but instead of taking my social security card I already had my Military Retired ID card in my billfold and that had my social security number on it. For my residency proof I took the original copy of my property tax for 2018 and my water bill that I receive in the mail.

You will NOT believe where this story goes.

I drive the 12 miles on a two lane highway with that one special driver that is going 40-45mph in a 50 mile speed zone and since it is Friday the on-coming traffic is solid .... meaning I never have a chance to pass this slow ************ but I am calm as I walk into the BMV. I touch the pad and get my receipt for a number, and I am next in line.

Perfect

I sit down and answer her question of what I needed. I presented the post card I got in the mail while explaining my license was coming due and I'd like to do it all at once. I handed her my drivers license with my name and street address on it ... SHE CAN'T USE THAT AS PROOF OF RESIDENCY ... no shit!!!

I hand her my birth certificate and my military retired ID card for the showing her the social security number. I also gave her my 2018 property tax to prove my residency as well as my water bill. (the only thing I get in the mail because my life is all electronic now)

THIS IS WHERE MY PULSE RATE BREAKS MY APPLE WATCH !!!  OFF THE ******** CHARTS !!!!!!

She hands back the property tax that shows my name and street address telling me "I cannot use this for proof of residency because it is over 6 months old !!!!"  I'm stunned ... speechless ... I pick up the post card to re-read it to see if there is anything I missed about the 6 month requirement. THERE ISN'T A DAMN THING ON THAT CARD TELLING ME ABOUT 6 MONTHS ANYTHING ... only "Two proofs of Indiana residency"

She then wanted to really piss me off and send me over the edge ...

"I can't use this either, I need your social security card"

Butttttttt it says on the card "social security card OR OR OR OR proof of a social security number !!!!!! My ID card has that number !!!!!

Nope, can't use it.

"In fact that card they mailed out is all wrong, I hate it and they should have sent you this" as she holds up a one page 8-1/2" x 11" filled with lists of things THEY WILL ACCEPT FOR residency and social security number.

THEN .... she proceeds to tell me how much trouble married couples have when they come in the BMV trying to get the new REAL ID-compliant .... I DON'T CARE ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS !!!!! I DON'T ....

I followed what the card said and I want my ********** Real ID-compliant card !!!! That's all ... it's simple. I'm not driving another 40 miles to get this stupid ass card. What does it matter ... they are going to let prisoners and illegal immigrants vote by 2020 so who gives a shit if I have a card to get on a plane or in a federal facility ???? Who cares ????  LOL

Well it didn't happen. I renewed my drivers license, took an eye test to confirm to them I need glasses to see distance and since I was in a cheerful mood I had no problems getting a new photo for my new drivers license. Customer service at it's finest.  :)

To relieve my stress I went directly to the vet across the street and bought Heidi and Stella's NexGuard for ticks and fleas ... plus asked if they had any soft chews for people since all the ticks like me more than the hounds.

I decided when I got home after all that excitement and my downspouts were clear for the next 7 days of rain, UNLESS THE FORECAST IS WRONG, I needed a siesta. It was perfect with a cool breeze blowing through the windows ... what a couple of hours of sleep won't do for ya.

Afterward I was motivated enough to mow the yard ... it looks great and is ready for a few more inches of water, even though a few spots had enough water for me to mow through.

I really did remain pretty calm in the BMV but I had a chance to let it go and fire away ... I just don't like the idea of having the police called because "some old man is down here going crazy" ... besides the hounds need someone to feed them and let them out a million times per day.  LOL

A great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.