I blame the dog. We went out to the in-laws Friday afternoon, and she came into the house at one point smelling like behind the scenes at one of the houses in the zoo. Pure stink, to the point we had to stop eating lunch and throw her back outside. People were literally gagging as she walked in happy as a clam. "Guess what I rolled in guys!" We never did figure out what it actually was. Fox urine seems a likely culprit, but it could've been anything.
One bath with normal shampoo only made her smell like someone had rolled a bar of soap through a pile of horse manure, so the wife made an emergency run to the pet store while I tried a mix of baking soda, dish soap, & vinegar a few times. That didn't really help, but it at least took some of the stink from the first wash off my hands. Good lord that was bad.
She ended up getting 6 baths in total, included a scrub with Nature's Miracle odor remover that we had to let dry on her and then rinse off. I think it was the two-plus hours I spent trying to get her to not run away from me & the hose that messed up my back. Ow. On the plus side, the dog did smell and feel great for the rest of the weekend.
Of course, I'm not smart enough to realize that a ride probably isn't the best thing when my back is in that kind of shape, so off we went Saturday morning on one of the trails around Wheaton. I have no idea where, but we ended up by a stable with some horses out. Even they smelled better than the dog had the day before.
All of this added up to me almost in tears last night when it was time to get off the couch and make dinner. God do I feel old. Several doses of advil later and a night back on my own bed and I feel a little better. Good enough to ride into work, but still grimacing at times. Again, at least the dog smells better. I'll take small victories where I can get them these days.
Current beer-scale: 7.8
