This Week For Me

Haven't had much to write about this week on a personal level. It has been a quite one here in "The Grove." 

Mostly we have been dealing with a rather frustrating thing here at the house.

Late on Friday June 10, just before we went to bed, our dog and our house were permeated by skunk spray. It wasn't a direct spray but close enough. We bathed the dog right away which helped quite a bit. But it took another peroxide and Dawn bath in the middle of the week to get most of the smell off of her. 

To deal with the odor in the house, we had to run infusers with blends of essential oils in them and light scented oil burners for 2 days. 

The pungent aroma was diminished for the most part but we could still smell it when we walked back in the house from the outside. 

We soon realized that the odor was coming from the AC vents near the doors. Paula took a Swifter cloth doused it in peppermint oil. 

That seemed to do the trick. Although not completely gone (we get a "whiff" every once in a while) the house no longer smells like a skunk. 

The frustration of dealing with the residual and stinky effects of the skunk led us to realize that there was a possibility that there may be a skunk living under our house. 

Although we didn't have a recurrence of Friday night we decided we couldn't risk it happening again. 

This past Friday, one week from the night of our first dousing, we had a pest control guy come to our home. He determined that there was no sign of any animal being under our house. But he did show us signs that there was one around at one time. 

We signed up for his services. He set up traps to catch the varmint if its still around. He will also repair the vents in our foundation to prevent any creature from ever getting into our crawl space.  

The service is not exactly cheap but it is a necessary thing that has to be done. Just an aspect of being a homeowner living in "the country" that I've never had to deal with up until now. Hopefully it will be the last time. 

This past Tuesday, I finally had the opportunity to take my wife to see a movie she's wanted to see since it opened Memorial Day weekend; "Alice Through The Looking Glass". 

To be honest, I was not the least bit interested in this film but I went along because Paula really wanted to see it. I must admit I was not as bored as I thought I would be. In fact, I'd say I rather enjoyed it. 

The movie actually has a storyline that can be followed and it's based on time travel. In fact time itself is a main character in this Mad Hatter origin story. That's all I'll say so I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. 

Of course the week started out with watching the TV news coverage of the mass shooting in that Orlando night club. 

I'm not going to get into the political and moral debates that have seemingly become connected with this tragedy. I have my own beliefs and opinions on all of it but I won't get into them here. 

When it comes to expressing opinions on social media, there is a dangerous irony. Those who claim to subscribe to the ideal that everyone should be accepted, no matter what they believe or how they live, are extremely judgmental when you express a view or belief that they don't agree with. They quickly become very mean spirited and label you with a measure of judgment they claim to be unfair for everyone else. Enough said.   

Let me just say that I feel nothing but the deepest grief for those who lost their lives and sympathy for those who lost family and friends. 

Then there's the awful, almost unthinkable, thing that happened midweek on the beach of Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian resort. 

Although it was an accident I can't categorize it as anything but a nightmare. My heartaches for that family. Again, there are a lot of issues connected with this tragedy but now is not the time to discuss them. If I do expound on them it will be on my Goofy Guy blog somewhere down the road; after a respectable amount of time has passed. 

Finally I am looking forward to going to see a movie that I've been waiting to see almost since it was announced 3 years ago. "Finding Dory" opens this weekend. 

I have been dealing with some recurring health issues over the last couple of days so I haven't felt much like going to see it on Thursday night like I had planned. But I'm sure I will go some time within the next week or so. When I do I will post a review on my Goofy Guy blog. 

So now you know how my week went.  How was yours? Let me know via Facebook, Twitter or email. I really want to know. TTYL