Dogs and jobs in Hello.

My parents are getting a new dog! They lost their Border collie, Meg, on her 16th birthday in August this year, and they said they wouldn’t get another one. I honestly didn’t think they would, seeing as they’re both coming up to retirement age and they were talking about going traveling. But with mam working from home and my dad having no one to go up the mountains with whenever the whim takes him, they decided to get a new one.

Last week mam showed me one online she’d found at a rescue centre and we went last Sunday to see him. He’d come from a pub, his original owner had two dogs and they simply hated each other, so he had to painfully decide to get rid of one. He’s a blue merle Border collie, the bits that would normally be black are grey with black spots and he has one blue eye and one blue eye with a small brown bit. His name is Blue.

We arrived at the shelter and the staff member brought Blue to meet us at the gate, keeping him on a lead between the two high gates. I think mam and dad were expecting him to be friendly straight away, but collies are very selective about who they speak to, so he completely ignored us, jumping up at the staff member. When mam tried to pet him, he bared his teeth at her and I could tell she was a bit taken aback. She said to dad “are you a bit unsure, Fred? I think I expected him to be a bit more socialised....” She offered Blue a biscuit and he took it gingerly and mam offered her hand for him to sniff. He asked for another biscuit, which she gave him, then he asked for a third one, which she didn’t have, so he continued to ignore them. The staff member suggested they come into their run and watch Blue run around. He seemed to relax a bit, running off to play with his bone and inviting us to chase him. He got put back on his lead and dad took him. Blue allowed dad to take the bone out of his mouth, then he came over to us and allowed mam to pet him. I called for him and he came and leaned on my legs, a submissive signal, so I was chuffed. Dad asked if he could take Blue for a walk and he was really good on the lead, keeping it slack and finding sticks for dad to throw. We could see he is a clever dog, and only about a year old, so young enough my dad can train him to sit, lie, run away and come back…all the basic stuff.

They decided that they did want him after all, but mam and dad are going away next weekend and they didn’t want to leave Blue with me because everything would be new and traumatic enough without him having to stay with two new families. Mam is beside herself leaving him in the shelter, she really hated it there. I thought it was adequate enough, nice big runs with an upturned half barrel for a kennel and one on one time every day. Blue had been there two months and seemed really happy, but mam wants to bring him home and have him as an inside dog, all warm and pampered.

There are photos of him on my Facebook, but they’re not very good, so I’ll post photos of him when they get him home, week after next some time.
I’ve just realised he’s still on their web site here. They’ve called him Blue 2 on their page because they currently have three called Blue!

Rob has got himself a new job. He was working as a pot washer at a hotel a couple of miles away. It sounded awful, but he stuck at it because he needed money. There was continual feuding between the waiting and kitchen staff, with Rob stuck in the middle. He got chemical burns from cleaning the ovens without the proper PPE. Then they told him not to come in for his shift that morning and not to expect any more shifts via Facebook Messenger. He found out about another pot washer job from a friend, this one is in town, a five minute walk away. He went for a trial on Friday and was offered the job. He came home from his second shift last night, really pleased. The waiting staff and kitchen staff actually GET ALONG! And he came home with £10 because they divvy out the tips every night and all the staff get a share, something that didn’t happen in the other place. This is going to be a huge incentive for him if he’s getting cash in hand after every shift! I’ve said to him to wait until he gets paid from the other place on the 6th December, then I’m going to bad mouth them to anyone who will listen, reporting them to HSE for their apparent neglect of basic safety procedures.

I was going to write about my exciting times I’ve been having at college, but my kids need fed, so that can wait!

Last updated November 24, 2014