I need to start turning off my phone ringer. Finally got back to sleep after my nightmare, and *poof* the mother calls. Ugh.
On the plus side, it gave me a chance to get a closer look at the hallway thermostat. The cryptic bits of LCD I saw last night resolved themselves into the words "low bat" this morning. Uh oh. I finally figured out how to pop the faceplate off, and lo and behold, there were fresh batteries nearby. I tried my hand at programming the thing, and now blessed, cool air is once again flowing in the house. No wonder I didn't sleep well! It was 82 degrees when I finally got the darn thing working again. I predict a looooooong nap this afternoon.

This weekend is shot, and I'm really, really not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. I was so psyched up for a new job that it's doubly hard to go back to this one now. Oh well. Maybe there'll be something good in the sunday classfieds :)

First, the backplot...
I'm housesitting for a dog right now. He's an outdoor dog (Theo), so I don't have keys to the house or anything. I go up in the morning, let him out of his small sideyard, and let him run all over the property. Then I lock him back in his sideyard when I leave. Pretty simple, right?
So, this morning, we're in the backyard - a big, landscaped place where he cavorts before doing his rounds of the surrounding desert (it's a huge property). Theo's one happy pooch - running around, checking out his turf...having a grand ol' time. I happened to glance down the driveway and see something *big* approaching. It's a dog...a BIG dog. Turns out it's a bull mastiff mix. Looks like this, but tall like a Great Dane:


Add another foot in length to the legs, and give him huge paws, and you've got this guy. Definitely a great dane cross.
Basically, a gigantic, powerful dog. He had slobber dripping off his jowls - very Turner & Hooch.

The backyard gate is pretty short - more of a suggestion than an actual "keep out!" fortification. I got Theo inside and locked the gate behind me, but the mastiff's chest was well above the gate. He saw me and wagged his tail. Theo stayed cool - didn't growl or bristle. It's been my experience that dogs who wag and look friendly are generally just trying to scope you out. They can go viscious at the drop of a hat. I did *not* want to provoke this guy, or get caught without a fence between him and myself, so I stayed in the backyard and paced nervously. I tried telling the dog to go away, tried yelling, tried the Stern Voice (tm) which got Theo all worried, thinking he was in trouble. Reassured Theo, but still had Big Bully Dog blocking the gate.
Since I don't have a key to the house, I had no way to get to a phone and call animal control (or anyone). My cell phone was in my car and Big Bully Dog was between me and the car.

ARRRGH.

Finally, something got his attention and he moved off around the side of the house. Still nowhere near LEAVING, but he was at least out of sight for a moment. I decided to make a break for the side yard - another fenced area, and that much closer to Theo's fenced pen area. I grabbed Theo's collar and herded him around. Theo broke away from me because he really, REALLY wanted to sniff a bush the BBD had peed on, so I stopped and called him in hte Stern Voice. He looked chagrined and started towards me, but not before BBD came between me and Theo. Ack! I scooted into the side yard and hoped against hope I could get to Theo before BBD did. No dice. Theo trotted up and did the sniffing tails thing...BBD wagged his tail then pounced. Imagine a stocky great dane going after a coyote-sized, shepherd-ish dog. Big ball of snarling and snipping. I started yelling at them and tried to get a hand onto Theo's collar w/out getting in the midst. They took a breather to size each other up, and I managed to grab Theo's collar and haul him inside the yard with me. BBD lunged at the gate (thank god it opens out, not in!), but we were ok. I checked Theo for wounds (none, thank goodness) and noticed that the BBD was bleeding from the nose. Good on ya, Theo.

So now we're trapped in a much smaller yard with less sturdy fencing, and the BBD and Theo are both riled up. Theo paced and whined. The BBD just looked cooly at me. I gathered up a handfull of pebbles and started launching them at BBD. His skin twitched and he wagged his tail, but no reaction. I switched to larger stones ('bout the size of lake skipping stones) and tossed those. No dice. Finally, I grabbed a small rock and tossed it underhanded. He flinched and yelped, but didn't make a move to leave. Then he lay down in the driveway, looking at us.
*sighs*

No phone. No housekey. A dog who needs his breakfast, and me about to be late for work.

I found I could climb over the fence and get into Theo's side yard (big sturdy chain link and brick fence), so I tried to hatch a scheme to lift him over the fence w/out the BBD getting wind of it. Nuthin' doin'. We were trapped again.

After 15 minutes or so, the BBD caught a whiff of something in the desert and stood up. I saw him trotting towards the driveway, but never actually saw him leave. I didn't care. I grabbed Theo's collar and ran with him into his secure yard, then slammed the chain link gate (a good 6 foot tall gate) behind me. *whew* Safe, for the moment. At least now I could get Theo his breakfast and check his water. He was still pacing and whining - he didn't care about the BBD, but was dying to go scent mark over every trace of the big guy.

I didn't want to take any chances, so I locked him into his yard, hopped the short fence to that middle yard, and looked for the BBD. Didn't see any sign of him, but that didn't mean he wasn't still around. I walked quickly to the back yard and pulled the gate closed, then sprinted to my car. There's a slim chance I may have locked the BBD in the back yard, but not much I can do about that now. It's a huge yard, and if he decided to attack, I'd have nowhere to run. I didn't feel like being trapped in the same yard!

So...shaking quite a bit, I started the car and left for work. Poor Theo got shortchanged on his run time, and he's going bezerk not being able to re-mark his territory, but...eh...whatcha gonna do?

Is it Friday yet?