Bed. It's 7pm and I'm getting into bed.

I've trained with many of Richmond SPCA's trainers and a behaviorist and found them all to be extremely knowledgeable. After my experiences with multiple different trainers there, I'd trust any of them. It looks like now they even have a class for managing reactive dogs, which would be perfect for this situation.

That's what I thought at first too until I realized I'd rather go to a matinee than be out "late." The old is kicking in hard.

This is probably the answer (or some variation on this theme of 'temporary distro system problem'). Try running the faucets for a few minutes and see if the water clears up. If it doesn't start to look better, then that needs to be investigated, because Richmond City water absolutely does not come from the plant with discoloration.

Yeah. Got one of those at Forest Hill & Westover Hills. Managed to get most of it off except the noose. There may be a change of decor coming soon to that lamp post.

I'm gonna knock out a little painting project and then see if I can find something fun to do before the work-dread kicks in. Gym maybe?

Sure is. Fuck 'em up.

Y'know, I don't get the impression that she feels that Joe Morrissey "did right by" her, as so many of his supporters claim. I hope whatever hush money she gets ends up covering a really, really good therapist.

My vote for underwhelming meal was Southbound, but they shot themselves in the foot expectations-wise. I came in expecting a decent-ish dinner, until the appetizers blew me away. Everything was SO good and I got really excited for the rest of the meal. Then the entrees came and were... decent-ish, but nowhere near as good as the appetizers. Dessert was also underwhelming, especially for the price.

Struggling to get back into work mode and out of vacation mode. Thankful I have something actually urgent to do today, or I don't know if I'd do anything at all.

Trying to remember the things I'm grateful for with my current job. I miss my old work, but not my old job, if that makes sense.

Savoring my day off. Doing normal 'sunday' stuff in our house -- groceries and generally getting caught up for the week. Avoiding the protestant urge to fill my whole day with work. And enjoying as much cross stitching as my repetitive-injured wrist will tolerate.

I have nothing to do until around 10 and it feels very weird. Maybe in future years I'll find some christmas morning volunteer activity. There's gotta be something out there, maybe with group homes or something.

Now that my power is back, I'm cozy under my electric blanket, having a battle of the wills with my dog who would also like to be cozy under my electric blanket. Little does he know, I couldn't care less if he gets on the couch or not, and as soon as he lays down and stops trying to sneak his way up or leverage me off with his nose (so he can take my spot), I'll gladly invite him up. Sadly, the temper tantrum seems far from over.

(He is warm enough, he's cozy in his sweater.)

Yes, I got the text also. I have given my number to democratic reps in the past when I've contacted their offices for whatever reason, so it's in some democratic bank somewhere. I'm assuming it came from either Betsy Carr's list or Tim Kaine's, since they both have my information and have both endorsed her. But I don't actually know. I texted back 'stop' and did not get an auto-reply saying I was removed.

I got my dog from RACC after many months of interacting with him there as a volunteer. I helped with his temperament test and supervised him in play groups. I knew him as well as you could possibly know a shelter dog.

He was a 100% different dog at home, for better and worse. At the shelter, he only ever interacted with people who were confident with dogs and friendly. He's great with that type of person, but is not good with people who are afraid of him or give off kind of unstable or macho vibes. He went from good with most dogs, to dog reactive except in very structured interactions. He can get along great with dogs, but he needs a structured introduction with humans who know what they're doing. He will fight a dog that approaches him while he's on leash.

But I said for better too, right? In the shelter, he was really sketchy with other non-dog animals. In my home, he did great with my guinea pigs under supervision, and is pretty much good with any non-dog animal except cats. He was also problematically high energy in the shelter and is a lazy couch potato at home.

Ultimately, I don't regret anything. My dog is my best friend and the good far outweighs the bad. The biggest change I'd make next time is to only get a fully grown, 2+ year adult dog, because then at least their personalities are done changing and you have a better sense for what you're getting. Although to be honest, I love teen dog energy and will probably break my own rule.

Just make sure if you vote in person (early or day-of) that you bring your absentee ballot with you. They'll void the absentee ballot and then you'll get a new ballot to vote. If you don't bring your absentee ballot, you vote provisionally so that they can make sure your absentee ballot doesn't also come through (i.e., make sure you only get one vote).

The witness thing is easy enough if you know another human being, though. I didn't like it at first, but it's just a signature, not a huge deal.

When I went to VEI they did the puff test, but they explicitly asked for consent first and they did it really quickly, so it wasn't anywhere near the ordeal that it was at my first optometrist.

If you end up declining and not going with one of the places that does it with light, just make sure you understand the risks of not getting it done. Glaucoma's scary shit.

Agree that it's agency to agency. If I ever come back to the state DEQ's on my short list for sure.

Try a farmer's market if you have the time for trial and error -- this time of year some of the orchards will come here with apples and cider.