if not it will not

 In the night it is cool, that is one advantage. This summer is really very hot, or maybe it is just the way that the older body reacts to the pressure of the heat and the dampness. In the evenings after four the air in the flat starts to move, a thing it has done regularly over the last few days. 

After a short walk to the shops it becomes necessary to take a siesta, fall asleep and dream of being sick and blind in a strange forest between a road and a river. It is really very strange. Now it is four in the afternoon, and there are the first stirrrings of the air. The question may be asked whether or not this is really a depression,  this inability to start working, this fear of doing anything.

Print a few pictures, well one of those may go into the show to be taxed by the local jury of very local artists. There is no reason to worry over this. If the thing suits the gallery owners concept it will go in, if not it will not.

new and faster.

Far away from common sense the computer and its cloud had a misunderstanding and deleted things in both the sync and the instance that was being worked on This iis a nuisance and an awful waste of time.

The breakfast avocado was too hard today. Put it together again and leave it till tomorrow, maybe it will be better then. Maybe it will be inedible. There is no way of really knowing. The eggs on toast were fine. The toast unburnt and the eggs were squishy.

The trouble with the computer was really a bit much. A few hours work simply up the spout.

Or down the tube, as others would put it.

The news from the olympics is pleasant, but all of the worldwide tragedies because of the weather are frightening. It is hard to read the news now, children being bombed playing football. It is a horror, really.

The wife spoke her first sentence for weeks. It was a question as to whether or not the tax bill had arrived.

No it hadn't, and then back into silent mode.

This evening the problems with this machine have been dealt with. At some stage it will become necessary to buy a new and faster one.

keeping time

Last night went from bad to worse to an interesting conversation with an artist. The two argentines, the old one and a younger addition started a rounds systen at tge kicak  and because ot the numbers one more drink was taken than was really wanted. Later there was a talk with the artist, a return to the pub, and then a visit to his stueio.. By the time all of this was over it was three this morning.

A long sleep was sufficient to remove the unpleasant side effects of such a late night. Two Ibuprofen pills helped.

There is now a chance that he will take over the workshop in the basement of the house.. Perhaps, there is just a chanccen that this will work out well.

The morning is almost gone once breakfast is made. Breakfast just turns into a midday meal, but all is well done.

The cat comes upstairs and starts nibbling the cat grass growing on the balcony. This plant was bought especially for the cat, and she seems to derive pleasure from it.

Buy a train ticket for Berlin. There will be a trip up there on the fourth of August.

The neighbours are shouting at each other in the back yards. It appears to be their normal mode of conversation.

And the electric collectible clocks are all ticking away to each other, keeping time independently of each other.

steadily brightening after the rain

 It is seven forty one in the morning and the rain just sopped. It was raining sateadily since six in the morning, the sound of the water splashing of the roofs and gurgling in the gutters being a pleasant and relaxing accompaniment to breakfast. 

Now both are over, even the Wordle puzzle for today has been done.

Today there will be a short trip to Vilshofen, to view the African masks again and to meet up with and to converse with their owner.

Breakfast was good today, the avacadoes bought yesterday are not yet soft enough so a plain joghurt served instead.

Now it is time to have a quick shower and to leave into the day now steadily brightening.

darkness in isolation on a lovely day

 Breakfast, this is probably the highlight of the day. Those ten minutes eating the simple food that was prepared, alone and out of the way of any disturbance. Now it is simple enough to be content. And then the day starts without  any knowledge of where it is going to. There is no joy in this, it is impossible to really justify doing anything when all of your needs are met. It is not that it is impossible to do things, but there is nobody to do them for. There is no team spirit, and nobody really cares 

Having to find things to do. Not for reward from others, but things that are a reward on their own. It is strange when there is nobody to talk to, to discuss some project with. Clean the room, then watch it get dirtier again gradually, with cat hairs and dust and things. Arrange the equipment for work that will never come, or leave to take pictures that nobody will ever look at. It comes to mind that this may be just about things being pointless.

There is pleasure reading about politics, but nobody seems to understand the problem. Once food and other needs are dealt with what is a person to do if he is not part of the prevalent system? This system provides entertainment and conversation, duties and desires to be satisfied.

It is a lot of work to make all of this up on your own.

Apologies if this is a bit difficult, it will be necessary to read it again and make sense of it.

The meeting of the upper crust today was strange. The man who runs the gallery had been given a cultural prize by the town. It is rather strange, it is hard to see why. It was such a hot day, and now it is cooling of with an evening thunderstorm.

inaudible

Up at seven, very nice, downstairs to attend to the demands of Nature and to prepare the daily breakfast. There are few eggs left, and the bread is almost all gone. Feed the cat, boil water and fill the coffee maker. All is well. 

Back upstairs have the breakfast and continue with a bit of sleep. Take the pills and then that is that, start to be concerned aubout the things that  had been planned, like a bit of bathroom cleaning, insofar as this is possible. Due to the heavy lime deposits from the tap water and soapy residues it is not easy.

Then upstairs, and solve the days Wordle. This is very nearly a failure, but still the result is better than yesterday. Read the news, the Americans are excited, and the Israeli president is in a panic.

There is a painter on Facebook, he hates the one time American president. The painter has a speciality, he paints indoor things to make things look like what they are not. Trompe d'oeuil or something they call it. Masterfully done paintings of things then calle "faux" this that and the other. He presents one picture of that television showmann after another and does not realise that he is giving publicity to a fake presiden. Those that trick will be tricked.

Walk through the town in a barely concealed bad humour. Go to the discount shop, buy the necessary bits and pieces and then return. One of the bits and pieces was a package of ice cream

Upon the return to the house, enjoy one of the icecream in their wafer in the flat.

The neighbour is yelling into his phone out on the balcony. Turn up the radio, he becomes inaudible.

close it

 Today is another day with a close computer disaster on the private machine. Due to confusion between the synced files and their originals. That is all that happens, move the files, and then wonder why everything takes so long. It was possible to take a deep breath and to return the system to its originatl status, just by copying back the files from the online store. 

The thought that the work of the past year was lost is really most unpleasant.

Last night there was involvement with the elderly Argentine. He was upset because it appeared as if his friend had accused him of going to great lengths to scam free meals. That was not the purpose of the visit, the man should know that. Last night there was one beer too many drunk, and the result of that is simply abstinence today. It is not worth it.

And stupid things are said when you are drunk.

The noise up on the top of the hill is echoing down through the valley, and arrives as nothing but background bass and booming tuneless voices. The singing cannot be that bad. There is now also a smell of burning, that is probably people setting up their garden grills.

There will be frying tonight.

Perhaps it will be less of smell if one of the windows are closed.

Close it.

noise

 This evening there is the sound of drumming from the castle. They are having concerts again and the musicians are making sound checks. It is an irritating noise, it is far too loud. The castle is six hundred meters away, and the sound comes in as if the musicians were in the street. The music does not sound better for being louder, and bad singing remains bad after amplification.

But nobody plays without amplification today.

The day was spent in serious nothingness, trying still to recover from the shocks of the past week. That is all over now, but the aftertaste remains.

There may be time for a walk along by the river today, maybe at five in the afternoon.

How could the day be so wasted? There was a visit to the dentist in the morning, and a shadow was seen in an x-ray picture of the teeth. The shadow may be the cause of the vague pains in the teeth. 

Now some idiot is yodeling into the microphone up at the castle.  It just does not sound good. Not at all, there is no pleasure there. It is just people being noisy.

The young women at the dentists were all very pleasant, and now there is an appointment at a dental surgeon to check up on the shadow.

More technology, more appointments.

There was one small visit to a café today, but even that was disappointing.

The cat seems happy, it seems satisfied to see its owner again.

At the end of the day there is just sadness, it seemed all to have got off to a good start, but has now come to a sad end.

monkey business

 A monkey sitting at a typewriter would probably do worse. This is going to be one of those posts, it is a quarter past eleven and the day started strangely, the house is silent. The cat has hidden somewhere, the wife has gone to her work and the son left yesterday to go back to his studies.

Whilst committing the first duties of the day to their porcelain device, look at the floor of the bathroom, see the lime deposits on the shower. Decide that something will need to be done about all of this, it is pointless to allow a depressed state of mind to dictate hopeless physical conditions.

Upstairs, eat the breakfast, enjoy the deep black coffee. Somehow, the eggs got too much salt, perhaps the rage at all the lime in the bathroom led to a double dosage being applied to the water for the poached eggs. But it is not a serious fault. The avocado is very good, it is just right.

Solve the days Wordle from the NYT and read about Kamala Harris with great satisfaction.

The monkey hits a few more keys and comments on the weather come out. Grey coloured sky today. Warm humid atmosphere today too. That is all very well.

Downstairs, collect that small Japanese cleaning device and switch it on. It is useful for spreading the detergent on the surfaces of the shower, it loosens the lime deposits. Allow the detergents to do their work, go over the inside surfaces of the shower three times. Then rinse the whole lot down the drain.

Afterwards, have a shower. That is a worthwhile reward.

The next job is to collect the clothing for the washing machine. It will be necessary to stop writing to be successful in that enterprise.

Exhausting

A long boring day that was started early and then -just watch- the energy petered out and after a short strol around town and a tiny amount of shopping just return home. Lie down until evening, until four and then get up and wash down the stairwell of the house using a mop and bucket. The sudden influx of energy abates, go back upstairs and start typing this story, much of which is just the first that comes to mind. The contiuous depressions and tiredness are made worse  knowing that all of this activity is just wasting the remaining time.

Wasting the time of your life, is not a sensible thing to do, but what is there to do?

Maybe it would be a good idea to go out and get one of those buckets with a built in wringer. Then the cleaning of the floors would not be so exhausting.

what on earth would be better?

 It is easy enough to wake in the morning and it is all too easy to fall back asleep again. That is just the way it goes.

Wake up, make breakfast, take the pills and fall back to sleep again, just resting for a moment was the thought, but that is not the way that it worked out.

Got up and took the jacket in from the balcony where it had been drying all night. Plugged in the iron and ironed the jacket and three shirts.

And now write these notes. The feeling of despondency will not go away, there is the feeling that something is wanted.

A friend made the suggestion yesterday that Landshut is not a town worth staying in. The suggestion deserves consideration. It is turning into an expensive town with expensive and unpleasant people. It is not worth it really.

But what on earth would be better?

keep their minds that way

The bells outside are silent again, the nine forty-six clanging session is over. The thought of a man just going up to a bell and hitting it senselessly for ten minutes comes to mind. These are just people who like to make noise. their No, they are calling the faithful to mass.

Now, at nine fifty five they have started again.

Analog systems are working, the online systems of the insurance company are down. Write a short email to the company, an automatic reply confirms that it has arrived at their server. The claims system is, however, not working at all.

The bells have stopped again. They will next start to sound the time. Four higher pitched sounds, then ten. It is ten in the morning, and most things are not in order. But the churches systems work, in contrast to the so called internet technology. The windows to the world are closing for man people. 

A short walk this morning to the shops, to buy a couple of insulated glasses for coffee. Have a cup of their filter special whilst there, this is the cheapest cup in Landshut. The main street has been turned into an open air pub, with benches everywhere. There are also dozens of food stalls. Looking at the prices realise that they are all very much more expensive than normal prices. It is the annual mains street party, with bad music on stage for the simple minded and plenty of beer and schnapps and greasy food to keep their minds that way.

 

end of the night

 That was a day that started with serious headaches. Perhaps the head of the sculpture hit harder than expected. The sculptures should have been properly secured, it is too bad that they were not.

Breakfast with a funny headache is a strange thing, not experienced for some time now.

The eggs were great, but the time went too quickly

The toast was not burnt.

The avocado was aged just right, it needed no further additions.

Later in the morning a quick visit to the apothecary ensured a supply of ibu 400. It was washed down with a cup of Tchibo filter coffee, that was in order.

The argentine needed a passport picture. Used the 'Phone to take the picture, the result was aoK. He repaid the loan, abysmal amount of money compared with the damage done yesterday.

Home, try to report the damage to the insurance company. There is an international outage of servics, and this does not work properly either.

The end of the night is spent on a place usually bustling and now not, all because of the oversupply in the main street. Most of the pubs close during festival time.

sorry tale

 today is the day of phenomenal damage sue to carelessness.

Taking pictures, stepped backwards into a large ceramic statue , which fell over. Shattered.

This could be the end of a friendship. Now all that remains is to clear up the financial damages.

sit here in the sun, waiting for the owners to return and to tell them the sorry tale.

A whole new experience.

 It has been a weak day, and a wednesday too. It was strange to be up early and then to be unable to realise those things that so badly need doing. The deep silence in the marriage is heralding the end of any relationship. It has gone beyond a bad mood or some excusable fit.

When the wife is out of the house the cat searches for company elsewhere. Now, at eight in the evening she is sitting on the windowledge observing the sparrows nesting under the eaves of the roof opposite.

She gets bored with the sparrows after a while and starts to examine the other corners in the room.

It is the end of the day that ran weakly.

Even the supermarket was closed for renovations. It will possibly not be possible to find anything next week. 

A whole new experience.

weather again

 The day is a sunny day and it is a day of lonely depression. The wife grunts instead of speaking, There is no knowing who is at fault, it is just clear that there is a fault. And it is serious.

Breakfast was a delight, it was unclear that the day would turn out to be nasty, There was a lot of work due to a failed backup, it is good that the original files where still available. Setting these up like the originals just took time.  The only reason for doing the work a second time is in case there are orders.

And the day is done. An afternoon rest, now the cat is fed, and now an evening cup of coffee will be had. Who needs to sleep anyway.

The day is darkening beautifully now, it is a quarter past six and there is a storm coming up. The air is delightfully cold and damp.

There are shouts from the children in the neighbourhood.

kindness

 At just before ten o'clock the local church starts to beat a bell, a clang clang clanging steady noise. Like a tinker knocking the rust off of an old cast iron pot, or a panel beater trying to get his Maserati back into shape.

At just a few seconds before ten the noise stops.

Some people love it.

The day has been reaonably well organised up to now.

The solitary much beloved breakfast.

Getting water for the plants, two cans full. There is a self seeded surprise tomato among them, and the alpine herbs are not doing well. Downstairs, the tap for the water pump is turned on.

Look over the balcony and see that the black plastic reservoir has nearly been filled with water from the well. Go downstairs, water the potted trees. They have all grown, and will need replanting in the coming year to ensure further healthy growth.

Now the morning tasks are finished, it is time to get on with some serious work. Yesterday, the Argentine received a loan of one hundred and fifty to tide him over to the next payday. A small risk and a small kindness.

rumble

Writing in the morning is not really possible anymore, this is now the early afternoon. It is one o`clock. A police horn sounds as the vehicle leaves the police station in a hurry.

Then there is Sunday silence but for the talk of the neighbour.

The man from Argentina was loaned a hundred and fifty this morning to enable him to carry on with his life until his next remittance from his pension funds. It is worth doing small favours to help people. Somebody else may help in return.

It was a pleasant time in the café, with all of those inexpert helping hands slowly preparing the orders. It is no longer easy to find experienced workers, so inexperienced ones are getting their chance

Now it is a quarter of an hour later, things are quiet,

The flat is relaxing.

Desparation is setting in again. It will become necessary to do something soon again.

The silence outside is near total, but for the distant rumble of an aircraft.

rope

 It is not yet midday.

Upon awakening, and going downstairs to the bathroom, then again on coming back upstairs, consider whether it is worthwhile starting the day.

Feed the early-risen cat.

The watch shows that it is a quarter past six, this is confirmed by the nearby mobile 'phone. 

Return to bed and return to Hypnos. Wierd dreams, the substance of which has gone, all that is left is that it had to do with death. After this, decide that it really is time to get up. Dark thoughts of suicide using ropes and things are dispelled as being stupid, and not in any way constructive. It would be a good idea to contact the help line before it is too late.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, empty the dishwasher and make the breakfast. There is coffee in abundance, and make two poached eggs on two slices of buttered toast. The butter dish is nearly empty. After having buttered the toast wash out the empty butter dish with hot water, dry it using a tea towel and put a fresh pat of butter from the refrigerator into the glass receptacle. Take the plate with the coffee and eggs upstairs.

Breakfast is pleasant, sitting at the open balcony window with the chains and ropes hanging over the void. They are there to facilitate the plants in their climbing.

The first shoots are now visible above the balcony, having climbed all the way up from the courtyard, two flloors below.

In half an hours time it will be time to pay a weekly visit to the local arty crafty round table meeting. A load of fuddy duddy people looking for their right wing politics and their creativity to be praised.

one might as well do something

The haircut was just that and it was a pleasant chat with the hairdresser and it all functioned well. The hair is now shorter, its wearer looks a few years younger.

At home again, the depressions began, a feeling of lowness accompanied by a steady buzzing to the left. It is a shame that the doctors have no idea what the cause of this can be. Keep on trying to do things in the morning, but there is no impetus. Receive a dirty look from the wife as she gets up out of bed around about eleven in the morning. It does not help, none of it does. Not even the cat is searching for company today.

After midday, go out to the Thai place, good food and friendliness. The neighbours and their children are there, they are to be recognised by their voices.

Then go back home, try to do some work, but it will not go anywhere at all.

Rest on the bed, it is too hot. In the evening take two headache tablets. They are probably ineffective, but one might as well do something.

goes fast when nobody looks

 An early start failed, it was too early. This did not matter, a simple return to bed, happy after reading a commentary in the new york times that this is a euphemism for meditation. Just falling asleep again.

Later, get up and make breakfast, feed the cat. The amount of cat food tins has gone down dramatically, cats have a most active metabolism, and Miriam the ginger cat is no featherweight.

The day was spent finalising the edits on pictures and watering plants and making the bed and all kinds of things like that. Of course, the bed was changed and made up after awakening. The edits were done wearing pyjamas, true lock down style.

Cat food was purchased in the early evening, and an appointment for the hairdresser was made for the early morning.

Tomorrow, the hair will come down again.

The midday meal was had in the Thai place, a tom yam soup with chicken and rice. This was delicious.

And in the evening, the computer had managed a fourteen hour upload in four. It sped up when nobody was watching.

It is hard to remember things sequentially, it will be done better tomorrow

days flickering by

 Yesteday, the body nearly collapsed, simply whilst working. It is nice to work, but it is trying when the conditions become more difficult. It is not easy to explain this afterwards to others, the sudden lapse of ability, the the visible horizon reducing down to a small area in front of the face, the panic that there is about to be a fall. Sit down for a few seconds, then gather together the equipment and lie down on a nearby couch conveniently placed in an outbuilding in the garden.

Stay lying for an hour, then pack up the gear and return it to the car.

Sit down and wait until the artists return. Then go home, and collapsed into an early night. 

This morning, things are all right, it is just that it gets hot too quickly. It is now over twenty degress centigrade in the room, the air is still, and some idiot building worker is doing woodwork with an electrical demolition hammer in one of the neighbouring buildings. 

But it has been possible to recover.

It is summer, an easy time of the year.

All time is easy, now, during retirement. Still, there is rage at the rapid motion of the days, they seem to be just flickering by.

the day has begun

 The morning hollds promise, it always does. It is warm and not hot, and the light is dim and not glaring. The birds are singing, there  is an owl hooting. The owl is up late, the humans are up early.

There is work to be done, the pictures taken yesterday to be finished.

And then, at ten in the morning somebody starts beating a church bell,  the light is glaring in through the  windows, it hurts to look into the sky.

The day has begun.

there is so little to say about a perfect day

 it was dry today, and the day was spent taking pictures of ceramic works.

It was relaxing, and it was possible to forget the trouble in the home.

There were always a few extra wishes, but there you are, it was all very pleasant, and even rather succesful.

There was an offer to set up an exhibition in a years time,

Wonder about that, what is to be done.

There are no pictures, it will be necessary to take a few.

Retun hoome to a quiet house, quiet but for the cat.

It was good to be out working.

wet day, tomorrow sunny

 It is evening now, again. It was a difficult day, and it was very rainy. It is evening, and the rain has calmed down. The heavy duty camera is being difficult, a small part is being obstreperous. As always, this appears to be a wire, a cable joining lens and camera back. It is a nuisance, especially as these silly bits of wire are so frightfully expensive.

The son was varying today, between being difficult and contrary and then concilliatory. It is never clear whether or not he is simply bullying or whether it is a genuine problem. He was happy to go back to his university, he seems to be getting on top of the problems there rather than the other way round.

There will be a glass of beer in the pub tonight, and tomorrow there are some pictures to be taken.

captive

 maybe today the misery woud go away. So it was thought. But it simply did not do anything like that. It settled around the mind that woke up with an awful sharp hissing noise in the right ear. Even the attentions of the cat did not serve to make her owner happy, she got her food and did not like it. The breakfast in the morning did not manage to taste right at all. The midday visit to the group at the gallery just caused dissapointment and sadness, left early for there was no point in staying on.

There was an attempt to clean up the kitchen, but the presence of the wife and the son stopped what would otherwise have been a pleasant occupation, a real time killer.

It is time to curl up and sleep. Predend to be a predator, when in reality all that there is is being captive of a situation.

In the evening, a thunderstorm with heavy rain. After the hot sticky day that is a relief.

perhaps tomorrow

 Talking to the translator yesterday, in the noisy pub. He talks quietly, there is sometimes more noise than will permit every word to be understood. He was in a film which he decided was a disappointment, it was poorly written he said. He stayed for a beer, and spoke about his friend who is suffering from lupus erythematodes and also about his fancy, a woman who appears in the bar every now and then. Old men overrate their own presence.  

But then, who knows.

This morning was slow, and so just took time. Read the news, as expected the Tories failed dismally in England, and there was not so much else to see. Biden is struggling, he will have to either start taking drugs or give up.

"Wordle" was done in two lines, that was just lucky.

Now a few words written on what is promising to be a lovely day, (going by the weather outside ) in this blog. Perhaps there will be another comment to make on the day later on, perhaps tomorrow.

watching people is fun

 Today is some kind of a holiday in the USA, it is of no consequence here whatsoever. But the change of the country from a democracy to an autocracy is worrying.

Getting up today was more or less without any kind of problem at all. Maybe things are getting better. The breakfast was not a problem either, felt the one remaining avocado carefully before deciding that it was not yet ripe enough for consumption. But all else was very good.

So much time is now being spent disjointed and unhappy that it is difficult to know how to get out of this maze. It is hard alone, but it is also clear that everyone else has their own lives to get on with, and there is really no wish to impose. It is hard enough being defensive against those that see that you are alone and who seem to think that one is available for their purposes. Why should anyone want to accompany a bloke who is moaning about his bad luck and is robbing you of your time. Such company is not worth it.

Went to the shops this morning, paid cash. It is a change now, but a method must be found to reduce the amount of cash in hand.

We all have our problems.

There will be time spent in the local pub again tonight.

Why not? Watching people is fun.

third on the third

 the day began after a bad night, the washing was dealt with , the Breakfast made and that was then all. It is a bit rough these days. Being almost sixty nine years old and retired and virtually alone is not the situation as planned. But to be honest, nothing was really planned at all.

the  day began with a welcome purring from the cat. Breakfast was had. And bow there is a new concept for the rooms. The strange thing is, nobody has been spoken to today.

Nobody to mess about with.

Second on the third, snores and purrs

 It is now the third of July, On the second a trip to the art suppliers was made to buy a picture frame for a photograph. It is a strange and rather long drive, always taking longer than expected. The people at the shop were all pleasant, but the impression was that for the size of the enterprise there were just not enough customers there. Comparing the various frames took about an hour, and it then became clear that the coffee shop was closed.

His cofffee was not great.

The road back to Landshut is slow, the speed reduced by tractors and trucks all going to fast to be safely overtaken and too slowly for comfort. 

On the return home yesterday, started work on the pictures for the exhibition and for the lady in France. She had expressed a wish to have some pictures. 

The evening was spent in the pub over a beer. 

This blog was forgotten yesterday, that is why this entry is taking place on the third when it should have been on the second.

Stop writing becuse the cat is on the other side of the bedrroom door making noises that usually mean that she requests entry. The animal never learnt how to open doors. Get up, open the door and the cat comes in to commence her inspection.

The sound of her purring fills the room. Supposedly this is replacing the snores that must have filled it earlier.

no apparent reason

 Monday morning is quiet, the weather is cool, It is just light, and it is five in the morning. Close the eyes tight, and listen to the birds singing. There is a draught, it can be felt on the nose, this being exposed beyond the bedclothes.

Sleep and doze until nature's needs force a visit to the bathroom, but see that it is still too early to get up.

Now it is half past seven, the breakfast has been made and taken, and the cat has received some food as well. The hens are noisy next door, probably laying eggs. It stops, its work must be done now.

Sitting in sleeping clothes at the small table beside the unmade bed, think that this may be the best time of the day. There are no duties to be fulfilled as yet.

Thinking of this reminds that there are prints to be made, that there is work to be done just maintaining some form of decency in this long retirement.

Now the bells sound twice, it is half past seven, and for no apparent reason the neighbours dog starts to bark.