Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Dogs I Wasn't Supposed to See Again

When I came home from work yesterday, I had four-footed guests.  The neighbor came and got them about 10 minutes after I got home.

I was wondering why I saw tire tracks from my neighbor's house to my house yesterday morning (meaning she had come up to my house while I was gone Tuesday evening).  I'm guessing her dogs had come to visit Tuesday, and she retrieved them.  So last  night makes the second time they've been to my place, that I know of, since the court order saying she had to keep them on her property.

It's hard to describe how annoyed and powerless this makes me feel.  I knew that this whole thing wasn't over, but it's been 6 weeks, so I was hoping it was.

On another note, I'm close to cancelling my match.com gig.  I feel like I've given it a good shot, but overall, I'd say the impact on my life has been negative.  I'd been erring on the side of meeting more people (being less choosy), and have met a ton of people who are just plain bad fits with me, and communicated with a ton more.  Someone always gets kinda hurt, either me or the other person, and I don't like feeling that way and I don't want to make other people feel that way.  Match has a deal where if you don't find someone in 6 months, you get a free 6 months, so I was considering just hanging in there one more month to get the free six months.  But honestly, more of a bad thing does not turn it into a good thing.

The other dating site I'm on (OKCupid) is a less negative experience and I've met people that fit better with me.  But it's still sucking time and energy away from more positive things I could be doing.  I'm thinking of taking a complete break from the whole man-hunting thing for a while, and focusing on other things I want to spend my time on.  It's hard to argue (as we all do on these dating sites) that life is good and we're complete on our own, while spending so much time looking for a partner to come along and completely change things.  I think it's time to align my words ("I'm happy with my life") and my actions.

6 comments:

  1. Well, you're not powerless on the dog front. You have a court order and it would just take a phone call to the dog warden. You obviously have photographic evidence.

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  2. Jordan, contact the police via the non-emergency number and say that a court order has been violated.

    Since the neighbor went at the initial problem so aggressively, I think you need to document this. Then the third and fourth times can be after this complaint.

    Re men, I am no expert. But it seems when I feel available, they know it. Try adding some new local activities -- when you have time. I've even met men simply by driving in rural America. TWICE, I pulled to the side of a road to let a car that was tailing me go past. When I arrived at my destination a short way past that, TWICE a man farther behind my car approached me and said there are still gentlemen in this town. TWICE. Actually, it was three times.

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  3. I did call the Animal control officer last night while the dogs were in front of me, so in addition to the picture I took, someone in an office knows that the order was violated. I wasn't sure if I should catch the dogs and put them in my shed, or just leave them be. He was in the middle of evning milking, so I just asked him to call her and notify her that he knows she is not keeping her dogs under control (after he finished his chores). He told me that if she gave him any backtalk, he'd call the judge, but I haven't hard anything since.

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  4. Sounds like time for your lesson...will give you a call after the holiday...

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  5. Hard to know with the man situation. If your heart's not in it, it's probably time to take a break. It will all be there waiting for you when you're ready to come back. I used to think if I took a break I'd miss "the one", but now am pretty sure there's more than one "one" and stepping out for a while to collect oneself is perfectly OK.

    On a side note, this has happened to me three times in the last few weeks: I'm searching patterns on Ravelry and look through the finished ones that people post pictures of. I then realize that one of the ones I like has been knitted by your sister. Small world.

    Hope you have a good weekend.

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  6. I've been thinking about this whole dog thing a lot since you posted this. How many chances does the dog get until it's clear that the owner cannot control it? The dog's gotten out twice (at least) for goodness sake.

    It also just occurred to me that my youngest daughter is about the size of your goats... How are the town officials protecting the safety of young children in that neighborhood? It's just a matter of time. (I'll leave that thought there, because the subsequent tirade regarding the safety of my daughters was too foul-mouthed for posting.)

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