Lessons

Sometimes when I do the same dumb stuff over and over, I think I'm destined to forever learn and re-learn that lesson. There are a couple in particular that I can't make myself learn - at least for the long-term. I will remember them once and forget them again the next time.

These go beyond the basics like learning that drinking a little too much will cause a hangover, or eating a carton of ice cream will give me a tummy ache. No, these have consequences that are a little harder to deal with.

The first one is remembering NOT to put sharp knives in the soapy dish water. I very distinctly remember my dad telling me not to do this because I could reach my hand in and cut myself. For years and years, I put steak knives in the soapy water without any ill effects, but it's when I started putting the big chopping knives in the water that I started to cut myself up. I still have a cut on my thumb that is healing into a scar that I cut a couple of weeks ago. It hurt, too! The thumb is an important and useful digit that does not like to be out of commission!

I did it and I knew better, too. I thought about how dumb it was to put it in the water just as I was putting it in the water. You'd think I would have acted smarter than that by now.

The other thing isn't quite as serious. I don't think I'll ever sever a finger, so the last one isn't too serious, but all the blood makes the consequences bigger. No, this other one isn't that bad. Not really. Kind of, though.

I'm a pretty responsible dog owner when I take my dog out for his walks. I clean up after him with bags recycled from the newspaper delivery. I usually have three with me and mostly come home with one left over. It's the time that I take two and need three that I'm a little less responsible, but given the amount of poop I see when I take my dog out, I'm better than a lot of owners out there, let me tell you.

Most of the walks that Mooch and I go on pass a trail-head at some point or another. Most trail-heads have garbage cans in which I can make a deposit. I have seen people freak out about anyone using their garbage cans, so I will not use personal cans for a deposit. Instead, if I have a bag in my hand at the end of a walk and I cannot deposit it anywhere before I have to get in my car to get home, I put the poop bag in the back of my car.

Both my cars are technically trucks and the back of the car is not really a trunk but the back part of an SUV. I don't like to put the poop in the front seat with me for some reason I'm sure you can deduce. It can be stinky - even though it is sealed up in plastic.

My problem is that sometimes, because it's in the back, I forget to get it out again. This forgetfulness will only last as long as it takes to get back in the car. I immediately know what I forgot when I get in the car - especially on a warm or hot day. Even as these days lately have been freezing cold, the poop still stinks.

I got today's out, but two-days ago, as I got into the car and got a huge whiff of Yuck, I had to chuckle at how I should be able to remember to take it out by now. After all, my dog is almost seven-years-old and it's not like I forget to get the dog out of my car. The windows go down for as long as it takes and I drive around trying to remember not to do it again.