Geez. I haven't written in so long. I think I'm having the shakes. Unfortunately, work has become very consuming, and I feel guilty taking time away from it to write. I should be working today on Sun stuff, but decided there were just too many things I needed to get done around the house. Of course, then all heck broke loose as I was organizing my recycling for a trip to the center in Ben Lomond...

I was moving some beer bottles into a container for hauling when the SPCA arrived flanked by a host of Santa Cruz County's finest. Apparently there was a native Santa Cruz Mountain denizen that had been reported missing by its family, and I was the last known location for the creature. We found the poor thing sipping left over beer from the bottles that I had stored in the garage. The SPCA was livid, complaining that I had been a bad influence on a minor and my neglect had turned the poor sod into an alcoholic. Apparently, he had been working through several cases of empties. I tried to coax him out of the bottle he was located in, and it took an hour. Every time I thought he'd come out, he turned around to see if there was not just a bit more brew in the bottom of the bottle. I didn't know what I was going to do. Fortunately, he managed to slink his way out of the bottle. What a terrible sight...

In an attempt to help, my neighbor suggested that he be asked to slime a straight line. Unfortunately, I’d never seen one of his kind do that when sober, so I didn’t want to use that as a test. Not to mention, surrounded by liberal screamers and a posse of deputies, his nerves were a little shot.

Fortunately, I wasn’t arrested. I agreed to pay for therapy, and he has to go to AA. The SPCA is going to manage his case, and they’ve threated to come back at me if he doesn’t get better.

I’ve got to start locking down the empties…

Bad Influence...