All at Once

I left work early last Wednesday because I felt lousy, like I had the flu. Felt much better Thursday and went to work. Then Thursday night it hit like a steam-roller: I had a sore throat and I felt lousy again. Stayed home Friday.

That's just the beginning of my tale.

On Friday morning, Muttley was trying really hard to get Daisy to romp with him in the house. Daisy was a very good dog and just sat quietly next to me. This led Muttley to go in search of a new tactic. A minute later, Muttley came out to me with something in his mouth. Turns out it was the cooling gel headache pad I had used overnight on my forehead. It's infused with all sorts of substances, including eucalyptus oil (toxic) and castor oil (possibly toxic and surely laxative).

When Muttley brings something like this to you, he wants you to chase him to take it away. It's an attempt to get you to play. Usually it's socks.

I said, "Want a snacky, Muttley?" and led him to the kitchen. Muttley ran around the table and came back empty-mouthed. I gave him the snack and grabbed his collar, then I put both dogs in the bedroom so that I could go back to find the dropped gel pad.

Only I couldn't find it.

I realized that Muttley had swallowed the pad and then come back for the snack. I had a moment of vertigo (partly from the cold, partly from the situation) as I envisioned a sick me hauling an uncooperative Muttley off to the vet for emergency treatment.

I calmed myself and took a moment to think. I knew that he hadn't had time to chew the pad, so he had to have swallowed it whole. That meant that he'd probably be OK if I could quickly get it out of him. I gave him a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to drink. Without going into too much detail, it worked like a charm. Cleanup was a minor detail compared to the thought of a trip to the vet.

Unfortunately, this is not the end of my tale.

Friday night, my hubby calls down the hall, "There's no water." Oh no. Immediately checked for flooding under the stairs, where the interior apparatus for the well is located. Nothing (thank goodness). Then checked the circuit breakers. All OK with the electric service. That's about as far as my knowledge base could take me, so I knew I needed outside help.

I dug out the information on the well. At 7am on Saturday, I called the guy who installed the well (house is not quite 4 years old). He said he'd "see about getting someone out here" and he'd call back.

The well man called back 2 hours later to say all of his guys are tied up. He told me to give the switch a couple of whacks with a stick - sometimes that's all it takes - and call him back. I gave the switch several whacks - nothing. Called him back. Got his voice mail, which was (surprise!) FULL. Got out my cell phone and called from a different number, and, magically, he answered. Told him the whacks didn't do the trick. He said he could get someone out here this afternoon and he'd call back. Waited all day, and nothing - no show, no call.

So now we're on day 2. Called a guy who advertises emergency service, and if water runs through it, he can fix it. Got his answering service, and he called me back right away. Said he'd call "Pete" and call me back in 45 minutes. That was 2 hours ago. I haven't given up hope yet, but it's waning.

Thank goodness for bottled water. Thank goodness for Nyquil. Anybody know a reliable well man?