This morning the dog woke us up around 8. She didn’t want to go out. I think she was lonely. We ate breakfast and then we both fell back to sleep. I’ve found that I get my best sleep from about 4 am to 10 am. Work puts a damper on that normally, but this morning we woke up again at 11.

While I was feeding the birds and dog I decided I was going to go to Home Depot to get the lumber required to build the wall next to the garage stairs. I also decided that Lion was staying home. He’s still a bit unsteady on his feet and he didn’t seem to be feeling all that well anyway. There was no reason for him to be wandering around a store. I didn’t know how he would react to my announcement, but he said there was no way he could go out. There you have it. Problem solved.

Last night Lion was asking me if I feel like I’m in charge. I don’t normally. I mean I know we have the rules and he can’t masturbate, but on a daily basis I don’t feel like I’m in charge. The question of how Lion would react to my telling him to stay put while I went to the store is evidence enough. If he had felt well enough to go, would he have stayed simply because I told him to? I don’t know. My guess is it would have taken a bit of cajoling. He would have insisted he wanted to go. I would have insisted he needed to stay. In the end it’s anyone’s guess what would have happened.

In the end Lion suggested only putting a railing up along the existing wall and moving some shelves at the bottom of the stairs for easier access. Less is more. I got the required railing and brackets and put the railing up. It may be a few inches too high because I forgot to take into account the additional height of the brackets but Lion is taller than me anyway so I think it will work out fine.

Lion has been sleeping off and on all day. I thought he slept well last night. It will probably just take him a while to recover from the hell his body has been through the past few weeks. He’s planning on going to work tomorrow. I hope he knows what he’s doing. Maybe he’ll only work a half day. We’ll see how much the commute takes out of him.

Last night we went out for an “I’m still alive!” dinner. We had soup dumplings. Think of wonton soup inside a dumpling. Yum! Tonight we’re staying in. Lion isn’t very hungry but I’ll make sure he gets something in him. You’ll finish all your spinach if you know what’s good for you, young man!

[Lion — I’m not going to work tomorrow. I need another day to recover. For the record, if Mrs. Lion puts her foot down, I obey. She generally forgets she can spank me. Once she realizes that, she can teach me to agree more quickly.]