When Animals BREAK FREE(And Shred Paper-Towels)!

Jesus... I leave for one day and the folks in my life are bedeviled by their animal companions. To wit: My partner picked me up at the bus-station yesterday and was in a dour mood. It was like someone had died. Turns out Nourie the Cat had shredded MORE paper-towel for the third time in a row. The REAL problem was all of the bullshit going on at work...Nourie was only the final straw. So he makes all this noise about getting rid of the cat and I try to keep things in perspective for him without taking sides, so to speak. I think the cat might miss me. I'm over at Bill's place so often that Nourie probably thinks I'm one of his "parents". Anwyay, Bill was glad that I stayed with him. He was feeling down. Meanwhile, over at my house, Buddy the free-spirited Yellow Lab made a break for it when Ray was airing out the house. He brought Buddy in forgetting that the front door was open. So when he heads back IN, the front door is wide open and the dog is LONG GONE. He made it over to Goldenrods, the greasy-spoon take-out two miles down the road and then there was a sighting downtown, a couple miles in the other direction. Turns out the litte f__ker took a nibble out of the mother of two kids. I'm sure I'm going to get the details from Ray when he wakes up this morning. Our animal companions always seem to bring out the best and the worst in us, don't they? Tonight will be my third AMS trip in a series of three. Yesterday's flight back home was virtually seemless...Gracious people, polite, low-maintenance. I don't think the passenger call-lights rang once. Too bad that couldn't be a trend. Some days are just smoother than others... All for now...GaP