The commonality factor with Clark W. Griswold

As many of you know, I am a professional dog walker. I walk dogs of all shapes, sizes, and breeds. When I first started this endeavor last October, I would go nearly anywhere in the county to walk a dog. I wanted the experience and the money and the exercise. Now, nine months later, I am a bit more selective about the distance I will drive. It is great fun for me and I still love every dog I come in contact with. I do have a few favorites however and as time goes along, I will share stories about these favorites.

One of the by-products of walking dogs is that I quite often find myself covered in their fur. I do my best to wear clothing compatible with being around furry animals but I am not always successful.

One of my regular dogs is named Max. He is a Siberian Husky and we have a definite mutual love for one another. He now knows what days I will be over to walk him and he expects me by waiting at the door. If his owner is not home, I let myself in and he is so grateful to see me. He will jump on the sofa and then jump off and come stand right beside me, brushing against my body, until I get him leashed up for the walk.

Yesterday, he was particularly lonely and was particularly happy to see me. Since it is warm out, he is shedding his coat in a massive way. Sometimes I'm surprised to see any fur left on the big guy because so much of it is either floating in the air or clinging to my clothes. After I took him back home yesterday morning, I went to my car to retrieve the lint brush I keep there for such emergencies. I was heading to the gym and didn't really want to take remnants of Max with me.

The lint sheet that was out was already used up so I began to pull it off to reveal a clean and usable sheet for my current need. However, because the roller had been in the heat of my trunk for quite some time, it had become VERY sticky. It took nearly all my strength to get the outer sheet off. I almost gave up but was determined to win the battle with this uncooperative lint roller. The harder I pulled, the stickier it seemed to get, almost in defiance of being used. I finally won and proceeded to use the lint roller to remove Max's hair from my clothes. I was ready to enter the building, clean and ready for a good workout.

But then I discovered something that Clark Griswold discovered in Christmas Vacation after cutting down the family Christmas tree. I didn't have sap on my fingers but there was something there almost as incessant - glue from the lint roller sheets. I quickly realized that I was in quite a funny situation. I couldn't touch anything with my right hand index and middle finger or my right thumb. I was attempting to put my hair in a pony tail in anticipation of exercising, putting my keys in my bag, carrying my water bottle and throwing my gym bag over my shoulder. Needless to say, this is not easy to do with only one hand. I decided I'd need to go to the bathroom to remove the pesky glue from my fingers so I proceeded there first. I washed up, using as much soap as I thought necessary to get the job done. I rinsed, checking to see if I'd accomplished the task at hand and then when I was satisfied with the results, I dried my hands in the hand dryer. At this point I decided I probably should USE the bathroom before beginning my workout routine. I entered the stall, ****, and then pulled toilet paper from the dispenser. And you can probably guess what happened next. Yep, you guessed it. I still had glue on my fingers. And, you can probably guess what my next challenge was. Yep, right again ... I had toilet paper stuck to those same fingers. So there I was, in a compromised position, trying to figure out how I was going to get out of that situation. I won't go into the nitty gritty details but let's just say I had to chuckle at myself before all was said and done. I finally figured out that using hand sanitizer will remove glue from skin. Who'd have thought?

By the time I got to the bench to begin my workout, I was quite amused. I often wonder what the aliens must think of us when they see stuff like that transpire. I'm pretty sure they are convinced that we are not an intelligent race and unfortunately sometimes our antics prove that point quite well.