New month new challenge, same cycle
I am running the challenge again this month on the Bar-barian’s forum. I made my first attempt at normal mode last night. This contest is based on the BBR’s (bar-barian requirements) To qualify to be an OFFICIAL Bar-barian you need to be able to do 5 muscle ups, 45 dips, 25 pull ups, 55 push ups and another 5 muscle ups in less than SIX MINUTES. It is a physical feat that few can pull off.
Well for the challenge we are doing the same exercises but less repetitions. In normal mode you do 5 pull ups, 23 dips, 13 pull ups, 28 push ups and another 5 pull ups in as little time as possible. I didn’t think I would have a very difficult time doing this mode. Well I was wrong.
One of the points I stressed about this challenge on the forum was to use good range of motion. Many times when I see people attempt this they wind up doing half reps of the various movements because they are pushing for time. Half reps do save you time but they are also easier to do. I wanted to make sure my reps were as clean as possible.
Well I went overboard a bit. My reps were so controlled and full ROM that it really fatigued me quickly. My total time was 4:50 to complete the circuit which isn’t very good at all. In my future attempts I will be trying to balance form and speed a little better.
My situation with the next door neighbor and her dogs has been well documented here over the past year. For those of you new to the blog, basically she bought two chihuahuas, was unwilling to properly house train the animals and then decided to make her problem, my problem by banishing the dogs to a small outside dog run that just happens to be facing our house.
Well of course chihuahuas are not meant to be primarily outside animals, a point I made to the neighbor repeatedly. So the dogs being put outside is something neither Ali or I agree with. But that wasn’t the big issue.
The problem was one of the chihuahuas has a chronic barking problem. Whenever it sees any activity in our backyard the thing barks, well actually it sounds more like a screech. It is just a God awful noise. It literally makes me nuts.
So it didn’t take very long until I pointed out to the neighbor, whom I had gone out of my way leading up to this to help repeatedly in various situations, that the dog barking was a problem. She apologized and said the dogs were always relieving themselves inside the house. This was her solution.
I pointed out to her that properly house training the animals was the real answer and that chihuahuas should not be left outside. That was when the string of unkept remediation promises began.
Over the past 10 months or so I have been promised 7 or 8 different things that were going to be done to address the problem and none of them were followed through on, instead various excuses were handed out with more promises of action.
I also spent over $200 of my own money investing in two different sonic bark deterrent solutions, neither of which appears to be successful on this particular chihuahua.
Finally, a couple months ago, we actually had a good 3 weeks or so where the chihuahua was not barking much. I thought that maybe finally the neighbor had actually decided to take responsibility for the problem once and for all.
Well one night I was outside loading up the truck with race timing gear and the chihuahua was back to screeching at me full volume, non-stop. I had enough and walked next door and told the neighbor that the dog problem has to be addressed. It was then that I found out that the reason the dog was quiet for a few weeks was because she bought a barking shock collar, something I would normally not endorse.
She said that she had taken the collar off a couple days prior and the dog had remained quiet. Well I told her that evidently the dog figured out it was safe to screech again. Again, the neighbor apologized and said she would put the collar back on. She did and the dog was again quiet for a few days.
Well then the barking started again. I would look over and see the collar was not on the dog. I texted the neighbor and told her the dog was back to barking. She gave some excuse like the batteries were dead and said she would put it back on.
Well this started some sort of bizarre game where every couple days the collar would be off, I would say something and would get another excuse followed by the collar being off again the next day. It’s established that the only way the dog shuts up is if it the collar is on it yet the neighbor keeps pulling it off.
So I am tired of the games. It’s been 10 months of bullshit and I am beyond tired of it. So my plan is when the dog again starts screaming at me this weekend I will go over to the neighbor’s house one more time, let her know that I am officially done waiting for her to address the problem permanently and now my calls will be to domestic animal services for nuisance barking. She then will have to talk to the county agents about the complaint and if she refuses to address it the knocks on the door by DAS agents will continue. The county staff will inspect the animal living conditions while they are there as well.
In addition I plan to turn on the audible siren portion of my sonic bark deterrent. In addition to sending an ultrasonic noise it can send out a loud audible noise which is sure to annoy human ears as well.
It’s a shame that it has to come to this. For her to continually disregard our complaints after we extended our help repeatedly when she first moved in is a real slap in the face. Unfortunately she has now firmly established that her word is just no good. If you know me you know how I feel about that sort of individual.
If you would like to hear first hand why I find this problem so annoying, listen here.