May 1, 2012 Tuesday Afternoon

Spent last night watching Dancing With The Stars and then Castle before going to bed.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Bo would not let me sleep any more at that time and kept dropping his tennis ball on me to get me to play and get out of bed. Got out of bed, fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Tony shoved the pills down Stella's throat. Thanks for the pill popper idea in the comments from yesterday. I will look into that. The problem is getting her to open her mouth. You have to pry her mouth open and if you have a Pitbull you know how strong their mouths are. Prying her mouth open is the hardest part of the whole ordeal. Hopefully only a few more days left since her meds end Saturday when she goes back to the vet for a follow up appointment. Still waiting for the sun to come out here in Milwaukee. It is suppose to get in the 60s today. It has not yet. I did this morning make up a batch of cement patch for the front steps and after bordering off the step, poured the patch cement. The bag could have contained more and I will have to buy more to finish the job. Removed the boards holding the cement in place around noon and I think it turned out OK. I am no mason. But doing it myself saves us money, and if I don't do it, it probably won't get done. Lets hope some smart ass kid doesn't put his foot or finger prints in the cement before it dries completely. Went for a walk to Pick N Save to buy a couple coupon items. Only a few items since I had to carry what ever I bought home. Had a nice walk but wish the fog off Lake Michigan would go away. It is now getting foggy out, where is the sun? Still can not believe in yesterday's mail I received my new assessment for my house and what it is considered valued at now with the housing market tanking in Milwaukee for the past few years. I did not get a decrease for the past three years and they hit me hard this year. My value dropped 20% on my house. I lost $40,000 in value. Basically that is what I have paid off on my house. So everything I have paid off in morgage is now gone in value. Wow. I am not sure if this is good or bad. Since I do not plan on selling it anytime soon it should decrease my taxes, though that is unlikely since you know the government always finds a way to get their tax money. The bad things are my house is worth a whole lot less if I needed to sell it to retire or move. Milwaukee home values lost the most in the entire state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is on its way to becoming the worst place to live. The unemployment has risen, the rich get richer and the poor keep getting poorer all under or new Governor Scott Walker. He is up for a recall election next month which should be very interesting. Going to go make a cup of coffee and finish the morning newspaper. Making sloppy joe's and curly fries with a salad for supper tonight. Searched the house this afternoon for a cig. Thankfully I did not find one because it was a weak moment I would have regretted. I am better now. My Mourning Dove is still in their nest. I predict the egg or eggs will hatch a week from Friday. Two weeks after they were laid. Here is a picture of where the nest is, under the Batmobile, and what I see with the camera I have under the Batmobile.