I'm afraid that it's going to be quite less frequent that I post a story from now on as the summer progresses. I've switched aspects of my job for a while and because of this I no longer work chosen hours. I'm learning all aspects of my job instead of just paper and wire. This probably means nothing to most people but it means that I'm extremely exhausted at the end of my shift. I'm not used to spreading stucco on the wall. It's tough work and depending on the type of mud we are working with quite heavy. Sadly the tools I have to work with are causing my hands to be severely sore at the end of a shift. The muscles in my hands are super sore from clenching the handles of the tools hours on end. It will all be worth it in the end though as I'm becoming used to the job and the more I learn the better off I'll be.

In other news my puppy is growing quite fast. He's starting to bark at people. Something I'm probably gonna have to train him to do at certain times only. I now have to keep him on a leash when we go to certain places. I took him to one of the popular local parks today to see how he'd fit in. Like always we started off without the leash. Sadly not ten minutes into a walk he started barking at some old lady. She got startled so much she nearly keeled over. I had to call him back but before I could get his leash on him, (he's only been on it twice now) he started barking at some old guy's stupid yappy dog. The old guy muttered in anger at me to use a leash. Spose that's what the laws are for. However he's still just a puppy and training is going well. He's not a fan of the leash but it's only because I dont normally use it. I haven't had to because I dont take him to public places. That will change soon enough.

It's a bit odd as he's still small but he's started to challenge larger dogs. Funny thing is he doesn't back down but the bigger dogs do. We were in my boss's yard and the neighbours dog came over. Pause (paws) started barking. The other dog is twice the size of him but the poor dog peed and wimpered off. Just a week before I took him to a local dog track (place where you can let your dog loose without the leash) and he cowered before a couple of huge dogs. I'm beginning to wonder if its a good idea to take him places. At least he's no longer pooping in the house. Sign of progress.

It's been a while. Two things have completely consumed my life. The first is work. Nice weather has brought out the workaholic in me. So much so that I've put in a few ten hour shifts and I continue to put them in even though I'm exhausted when I get home each day. It is worth it however as I'll be able to catch up quicker than I had anticipated. The task to get back on track with life continues but the addition of some new friends has helped. Last week I had my first real night out since leaving the cape. It started off with watching some hockey at the bar over dinner then pretty much a mess of a night for the rest. Two bars and a house gathering later and I decided to leave early. Two people had guided me to the house but unfortunately for me I still dont know some areas of town and I left the house without them. Because of this I ended up lost on the west side of town. This made for some funny discussions the next day at work.

The second thing consuming my life is a new puppy pal. I've mentioned him previously and now I have some stories to tell. I'm lucky that he's really smart. I take him to work with me and he just sits at my feet while I do my work. Sadly if I move, he moves with me. Even if I only move two feet over, he will still get up and move because he still feels he needs to be touching someone to feel safe. This makes work a little fun and not so much fun. Fun because he'll lay next to pretty much anyone on the jobsite. Not so much because he makes working difficult by being in the way alot. I haven't really named him still but I think dad's name is sticking to him. Paws. Paws and I were out for a walk the other day around the block when we passed a young ladies house. She exclaimed how cute he was and this caused him to bolt for her. He just loves attention. He started playing with her puppy (which is a few inches larger than him) She asked me what his name was. I told her that I hadn't really named him but that he was going by paws. She suggested I could name him something cooler. Perhaps I should have told her to give me some suggestions.

At work the other day I was working on a balcony and as usual Paws was really close by. I climbed down to get something from the truck but I didn't take Paws with me. Since he's still a puppy, he has trouble seeing and couldn't really tell how high up he was. He doesn't have the concept of stay down yet either but it is something we are working on. Yes you guessed it he jumped off the balcony. Dont worry he is fine even though it was a 6 foot drop. I tested him later in the day by going to the truck again. He stayed on the balcony after that fall.

In the first two days that I had him he learned how to climb up and down stairs on his own. Every now and then he gets a little excited on his way down and sort of slides down them on his tummy. One perticular instance I was a few steps ahead of him and I heard him start sliding so I jumped out of the way. He got to the bottom and did a forward somersault. Talanted dog I have I must say.

I purchased a vacume last week for my fully carpeted home. Paws doesn't like this new addition. He watched as I took it out of the packaging and hooked it up. I proceeded to turn it on. He stood back as I started to clean up. After a few seconds he bolted up the stairs. I found him under the blankets in the bed. Quite amusing. I will be entertained for the rest of his life I bet. Speaking of which my neighbour found a tennis ball at the park. Hid dog is too old to play with it so he dropped it on my step. We are trying to learn how to play fetch. He has chew down pat but the seeing issue is affecting our ability to play properly. Wrestling however is not a problem. Little bugger has some sharp teeth.