“Every day I’m hustlin’”

(iPhone photo by BobbaLew.)

—“I gotta get a picture of yer sign.”
I said that to one of the co-owners at the kennel that boards my dog during long trips.
They quite often short-time daycare my dog free. The price seems to be “make ‘em laugh.”
My contact was the cute one. She’s married to the other co-owner’s brother.
Both co-owners are great fun to talk to, which makes them equal to my mind. But one is cuter.
I guess she’s the sparkplug, more-or-less. So as head-honcho she’s always hustlin’.
“Yer sign is blog-material,” I said. “But I may not get to it for a while.”
“Wassa matter?” she shouted. “No-good, lazy, layabout; good for nothin’.....”
We all laughed.
They seem to love meeting my dog. “Killy!” (Killian.)
That dog reversed my childhood. “NO CUTIE-PIE WILL TALK TO YOU!”
Ten years ago I wouldna said anything to either co-owner. The cute one woulda been beyond imagining.
They also seem to like me making ‘em laugh.
Five or six years ago they daycared my previous dog so I could attend a Transit-retiree Erie Canal cruise.
“As you can see the boat didn’t sink,” I said returning to pick up my dog.
I had cutie-pie rolling on the floor. They both love it. “You’re funny,” the other co-owner tells me.
“Some day we all gotta go down to that restaurant for coffee. Make them crusty curmudgeons wonder how I get all you ladies hangin’ all over me.”
Make the ladies feel good = make ‘em laugh.

• “Killian” is my current dog, He’s a “rescue Irish-setter.” He’s eleven, and is my seventh Irish-Setter, an extremely lively dog. A “rescue Irish setter” is usually an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. abusive or a puppy-mill. Or perhaps its owner died. (Killian was a divorce victim.) By getting a rescue-dog I avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up. —Killian was fine. He’s my fifth rescue. My previous dog was “Scarlett” (two “Ts,” as in Scarlett O’Hara), also a rescue Irish-Setter.
• “Transit” equals Regional Transit Service (RTS), the public transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY, where I drove bus 16&1/2 years (1977-1993). My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered well to return to work, but not driving bus.