I feel like crap. This has very little to do with chemo (for the first time in three weeks). Today the guys came in to work on the fireplace. Again, I could not help them with any heavy lifting. I know this because they told me this new woodstove weighed the same as the last one (350 pounds) and being a guy, I had to give it a little tug to see if that was true. And it's true, tugging on this one hurt my surgery just as much as tugging on the old one. However, I did still have a very important role in their progress.
For those unfamiliar with basenjis, I will let you in on a few things. First and most important, they cannot bark. You will see why I mentioned that in a second. They also can be very playful, and sometimes bite very hard in very sensitive areas when they play. Basenjis are also very territorial, and sometimes bite very hard in very sensitive areas when they are protecting their territory. Basenjis can also be extremely quick. They are comparable in speed to whippets. And they are also very good at escaping. Now you put all of these things together and you get a very unique combination. You get a dog that likes to escape. Can run extremely fast. And likes to bite (whether playing or protecting) and since they don't bark, there is usually no warning when they put this combination of traits together.
That was my role today while the workers were here for the fireplace/chimney. My first concern was that one of the workers kept leaving the door open, which not only made it cold, but was also a tempting exit for a basenji to rush out of to chase a squirrel, rabbit, deer, or any other thing that moves that catch their eyes (the joys of owning sight hounds). I had significantly less concern for the safety of the workers themselves, but it was still a concern. Benny the basenji really doesn't give much warning at all when he does bite. Luckily not too many people come inside his territory, but the few that do (my wife's uncle, neighbor) have had the inside of their thighs pinched at a very high velocity several times. To paraphrase the old saying, my basenji bites you once, shame on me, twice or thirty times, shame on you. Especially in these particular bitings, they were walking in the yard the same direction that his runner goes. It is quite simple to walk just outside the range of his runner, I don't know how many inner thigh bruises and occasional drawn it takes to remember that.
So, my day consisted of walking behind one of the workers to close the door behind him (leave the door open once and make me close it, shame on you, leave the door open a thousand times, but I still follow behind to close it, shame on me I guess). I also would listen for basenjis to break through my two lines of defense on the stairs, so I could chase them back. I think I had one Houndini and one opportunist, because the first one down the stairs was always Benny, with Daisy a distant second. But they both would scurry back up together. And between those two things, and my mother-in-law coming to check on progress and stating that the dogs aren't a problem (which would be followed by an almost immediate breakout) I decided the best thing to do during chemo recovery is to breathe a bunch of soot.
As they beat, cut, brushed, and swept all of the old soot out of our fireplace, the black cloud emanated from the fireplace, floated to the couch, and settled directly into my throat and nasal passages. I know this for a fact based on all of the black boogies I have been blowing out of my nose for the rest of the day. To make matters worse, soot is considered to be a carcinogen. How fitting that the only one in the room not given a mask to wear was the cancer patient. I guess if I am going to breathe in that nasty stuff, it is best to do it while I am on chemo. Maybe that chemo will kick that cancerous soot's butt on the way in.
Ever since they left, I have had the aforementioned mucous discolorations as well as a severely sore throat. The only consolation to any of this, was as soon as the workers were done inside and I released the basenjis from their prison of the whole upstairs of the house, they flew down here to be by my side. OK, I know motivation number one was the fact that I was finally eating lunch, and they saw me slice them their own piece of cojack cheese. And I know motivation number two was that the masonry work on the chimney was still going on and still very loud and therefore very scary to at least one of the basenjis. However, being surrounded by attention starved basenjis when you aren't feeling well, is still a very comforting thing.
Tomorrow is supposedly going to be a lot better. The soot has been completely beaten into submission by the workers today and removed (except for the pieces that flew beneath my computer chair that are poking my feet as I write). They say they only have one quick thing to do inside and they will be done in the house. They just have to bring the part that they forgot Monday...and today...and I am positive they won't forget tomorrow. And by the end of the day, they should be completely finished with the outside as well, because this is a job that will only take two days...two and a half...well, three, but they promise that they aren't leaving tomorrow until they are completely done! By the end of the day, I should have two basenjis back at my side (since there will be scary stuff going on outside tomorrow as well). The fireplace will be done. And hopefully I will still be relatively cancer free and my throat will feel better. I will let you know if any of that schedule changes...which it probably will.
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