Meet Frankie

Did you guys miss me? The big tour is over, but it was a bunch of fun and I'm calling it a success. I had three different books crack the top 50 in their category, and Experimental Notebook #2 was at number 2 when I woke up one morning. It may have been higher, but a guy has to sleep sometime. Thank you all for making my guests feel welcome while I was visiting their sites.

We drove halfway across Idaho today. It's time to see the puppies and make a selection. Otto went with us, and his breeder is impressed with the way he turned out. He got to meet his mom and dad again, and they were so cute. We also met the mother of these puppies and she is cute too. The puppies and Otto share a father. Otto's dad is massive, and I have no doubt Otto will be too after he fills out a bit.

It rained on us the whole time, sometimes it was so heavy we couldn't see well, and it even turned to hail and snow briefly.

Here is a herd of bulldog puppies, oh and Otto's foot:

The pictures aren't great, because they don't stand still for long. Otto thinks puppies are awesome.

They're still babies, and won't be ready to move to their permanent homes until early May. It's nice to choose, and get out of the way of others. So this is Frankie and she'll be living with us after she leaves home.

Cute right? And so is the puppy. Here is a better look at her.

She's darker than Otto, but the breeder said he was dark too at her age. She could stay this dark, or may be more of a match for his copper brindle coat. Either way, she's the one we want.

Otto doesn't enjoy car rides, but he was a trooper. We stopped off at the pet store and let him choose a toy before coming home.

Tonight we're going to squeeze in date night somehow, but it might have to be pizza and beer, maybe a baseball game. Hope you guys had a great Saturday too.

Handicapping the coming weekend

It's been a long week at the paycheck job. I had two standup presentations this week, each with original material that I had to prepare, then rounded out my week by conducting job interviews. It's cool, because it makes the week go by, but it's tiring too.

My daughter and Old What's Her Face* are in Minneapolis tonight. My daughter is using her flight benefit for the first time, and they are spending a couple of days together at the Mall of America.

This leaves Otto and I to our own devices. He's in my lap as I type this, enjoying what we call poodle time. (He's actually a bulldog who acts like a poodle.) To make a complete confession, I think I'm coming down with something too.

In this corner is Craig, with a looming cold, a bulldog puppy that deserves a bit of attention, and a serious concern about his credit limit. The challenger is a tag team of unfinished manuscripts. One novel called The Yak Guy Project, and a collection of short stories called The Enhanced League.

The starting bell is tomorrow about dawn. Can Craig finish one of these manuscripts and still keep Otto entertained? Will Craig's wife and daughter spend more money than they should? Will some sort of illness get the better of Craig, causing him to use tissues and watch old Twilight Zone episodes when he should be writing? Is whiskey really “Good for what ails you?” Will Craig shower first, or just dive right into his writing? Will Craig succumb to the call of blog posts he needs to be writing in advance? Does typing on a moving keyboard during poodle time cause carpal tunnel?

Tune in tomorrow night to find out the answer to these questions and more.

*Entertaining Stories, protecting my wife's personal data since 2013.

Well, that was strange

Today is my flex day off, kind of. Otto let me sleep until six, and I shouldn't gripe since my workday starts at 4:00. By the time I had breakfast and fed him, it gave me a small amount of time to get something accomplished. I dedicated it to email and some social media.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't play with Otto. Having a puppy is too darned much fun. They grow up fast and puppy play should not be put off.

I had to take him for his last puppy shots at 9:00. We decided to go back to our old vet, because we love him. We tried the local guy, but didn't like the way he treated us. He liked to take the dogs in back, do something, return them, and refuse to tell us anything that went on. Everyone at the old shop came to pet the bulldog puppy, and his butt was wiggling like crazy. The vet sat on the floor and gave Otto the once over while Otto ate his tie. Didn't bother this guy one bit, he thought it was funny.

The issue lies with the 20 mile one way trip to get him there. Boise isn't huge by city standards, but our 8:00 traffic can rival the best of them. The point being that I lost available time here. Otto is perfect, by the way. He weighs 38 pounds today. That's a lot of growing from the 10 pound baby we got the day before Memorial Day. I checked his records on the way out, and Otto was born on April first. Seems fitting for him to be born on April Fools Day.

I had to return to the office for an important meeting this afternoon. My office is about two blocks from the vet, so another 40 mile round trip had to fit into the schedule.

At the end of the day, I didn't get a lot done. I hoped to do some reading, and maybe work on a short story. Didn't happen.

I did manage to work on some spots for Lisa Burton Radio, so hopefully those will come together according to schedule. It isn't much, but that was my big accomplishment today. If I keep squeezing little things in, it seems to add up. It's like the folks who write a thousand words per day. Those words add up to a novel in fairly short order.

Okay, maybe I'm giving myself a sales pitch. It is what it is, but I got some small things done.

By Special Request

I genrerally don't post on Tuesdays, but then I skipped Monday which is a normal day. What are you gonna do???

This blog feeds into my Facebook page, but I've been throwing a little extra puppy love out over there to encourage folks to check it out. This blog's been around for a while, but the Facebook page is new. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I got a request for some more Otto pictures, and since it's quick and easy, I'm going to post a few. This puppy is growing up fast. He's more of a toddler now and not a baby any longer.

This is a photo my wife snapped on her way back from Nevada. I owned bull terriers for 18 years. We also had the old pitbull. We know bully breeds sleep in odd positions. Otto takes it to a whole new level though.

Otto slept on the console of my wife's car. I think he just wanted to be with her, but he fell asleep and spent over an hour in this position.

This one is him chewing on his new Kong tire toy.

It's my wife, I swear. Otto has more toys than the kids ever did. He's honest about them though. He intends to play with them and chew them up. The kids shoved them under beds and played Nintendo.

There it is. Quick easy post, by request.

Cursed!

I must be cursed. I never got to do any writing last weekend, and the near future isn't looking any better.

Today, I had a recurring appointment to get my blood pressure medication refilled. I knew this was coming for a long time, and should have allowed me some quality time this afternoon. Then my eye doctor called and my glasses were in.

The appointments weren't exactly back to back, so I decided to surrender and got a haircut while I was out. The day was shot, so I tried to make the best of it.

The best I could manage was to rough-out the shtick for a future Lisa Burton Radio interview. I got it sent out, and it's going to be a fun one. Then again, I think they're all fun.

This weekend, I've been invited to a family event at a State Park. This will kill Saturday.

I took two days off next week, and they are already booking up with errands. Does anyone know any rituals to recover lost writing time?

I've slacked off on personal promotion too. This is by design, because I've never been able to accomplish much during the summer. Maybe it's the kind of books I write. Books about girls at the beach might be more popular this time of year. God bless them, and I hope they sell a ton. I'd like some consideration when the kids go back to school though.

I'm already pondering some plans for a September/October push. This is how my mind works. I'll probably do multiple things at once to spur things along.

On the plus side, I'm pretty happy with my new glasses. Otto is growing and getting a lot more active. His favorite game is still put things in his mouth and bite them. At least he's moved beyond my toes.

They say Bulldogs don't do well with temperature extremes. Otto loves being outside, even though it's over a hundred degrees today. He's learned how to cool off, and likes to sleep on the air conditioner vent. I've never had a dog who wanted anything to do with the vents, so this is kind of unusual.

This evening, I am going to try to read, but I expect occasional trips outside, broken up by visits to the vent.

Life in Ottoland

It's Wednesday, and I need a topic, so Otto the bulldog puppy it is. He hasn't lived here a week, but he's fitting in well.

He moved from lonely and pouting to happy and bouncing off the walls in just a few days. I tried getting a cute video, but my videography skills are lacking. This would have been of my wife scratching under the sheet and him pouncing on her fingers.

He likes to chew on everything, mostly my feet. This is no surprise, because puppies chew. We need to get something he can call his own to chew on. He has some puppy toys, but they only draw sporadic interest.

I threw one of these plush toys at him when he tried to chew on a cabinet. He stopped, but I learned that he's a pouter. He stared into space and wouldn't look at me for a good half hour.

He also likes keys. I have no idea why, because he can't chew on them. Maybe his breeder took them for drives or something.

When he walks he looks kind of like a horny toad from above. For those who don't know, this is the horned lizard of the American West. It's a staple of little kids everywhere (everywhere in the American West that is). Their little butts wiggle as they walk, and so does Otto's.

He wound up on his back a few times too. He's a bit like a turtle when he's on his back. It takes a few wiggles to right himself, but he is capable of righting himself.

My wife took him to meet the veterinarian this afternoon. This was part of our agreement with the breeder, and a good idea anyway. The vet gave him a perfect bill of health, and a microchip. This is also a good idea, because some people steal cute puppies. The breeder took him to her vet before she brought him over, and he's gained two pounds in five days. (I can relate.)

So there you have it. Otto is fitting in around here. He barks at ice cubes, eats like a horse, and is gaining confidence every day.

I promise to work on my camera and video skills, and next time I can have some images for you.

Okay, so it was a lame excuse for a post, but it's Wednesday and I've got nothing. I know it would be better with a picture, but he doesn't stay in focus very long. I'll work on it.