random thoughts – Day 2,097 (Saturday) – a fox, dogs, and graphics

The front yard wildlife sitings had a new entrant today with a sleek fox with an impressive fluffy tail. It passed by the living room bay window and crossed my driveway. I ran to the back door, phone in hand, to keep an eye on it and possibly get a photo. It squatted in Mom’s yard (doing potty?) then headed towards the woods and out of view behind my shed before I could get a photo. I haven’t been this excited by a critter in the hood since seeing the coyote at the bottom of my street a month or two ago.

Mom and I headed to my sister’s house for a farewell visit with my eldest niece and her husband before they fly back to Las Vegas tonight. We drank coffee, ate warm pastries, and talked about all manner of topics. There were work true stories about bad managers, jobs with crappy time off policies, and the trend of sending front line employees to mandatory company training to take on higher level responsibilities without the benefit of higher pay.

From the sounds of it, most at the table had a crappy day yesterday, but the worst day may have gone to the niece and her husband. They were working from home when they heard dogs barking and someone screaming. They ran outside in the cold and rescued a neighbor whose dog was being attacked by two dogs. By the time the three dogs were separated, the neighbor was in the street bleeding, her mail was scattered on the ground, and her dog had wounds to its face, ear, and chest. The unknown owner of the two aggressive dogs walked away without a word or a care. He’s been seen on the street walking the dogs before, but doesn’t live on their street. Another neighbor with medical training appeared, assessed the situation and advised the neighbor needed stitches, then took the neighbor and her dog for medical attention.

Graphics by Comcast.

Once back at home, it was calm and a little more of the same old same old annoyances. The cable box needed to be rebooted for the third time this week and Comcast is getting on my last nerve, but it’s thankfully nothing like witnessing a dog attack. Today’s issue had a new twist and instead of just the plain black screen, there were blocks and stripes in green, blue, and white. As an art piece, it had some graphic interest as the bars and blocks shifted positions as if in a dance. After restarting the box several times and a failed diagnostic with the app, the digital assistant set an appointment for a tech visit on Monday. If it goes like the last appointment, it will be cancelled by Comcast after they figure out the cable is functioning again.