Alonso arrived (just in time for breakfast, having, presumably, just had breakfast).
He's now helping me prepare my company accounts while sleeping under a pile of blankets on my desk.
Alonso is, I assure you, more capable and attentive than our previous accountant, less likely to give bad VAT advice, and his fees are very reasonable.
💸 🐶
We walked Alonso to the lac yesterday and again today, as he'd stayed the night here.
We met his owners on the way back. Each of them in two cars heading in opposite directions converged on our position, along with their daughter. It is quite common in rural France to just park in the middle of the road and have a long chat. No one minds. If anyone had wanted to get past they'd have waited while we finished.
Alonso went home with them, but his owners say he'll likely be back later 😉
Sometimes when I'm cooking I let Alonso smell the various ingredients. A little bit of vegetable, a spice packet, a bottle etc. He he has a careful little sniff, and loses interest when he smells it's not something he eats.
I was not expecting him to eat the kim chi.
I've been saving some Alonso stories from the summer for an appropriate moment. Perhaps that is now.
A while back I promised to tell you about Muffy, but maybe you would prefer something else first? It's readers choice here on the Alonso channel:
🐶
"Muffy the Alonso Slayer"
Alonso may be small, but he bosses around much larger dogs. He is the Chef des Chiens around these parts, with one exception: Muffy the Alonso Slayer.
On our regular walks to the lac with Alonso we pass by a small group of houses near the road. Unlike most of the rural properties around here, these have fences and gates, and many are holiday homes occupied only for the summer.
In one of these houses lives Muffy during the summer months, along with her Dutch humans.
Muffy is (probably) not the name her humans call her, but it is what we have called her since the first time we saw her.
Muffy is a very small Maltese terrier about half the height of our hero.
Your first impression when seeing Muffy is that the mop end has come off, and the handle must be around here somewhere. She's small and white and yappy. It is impossible to pass by without her making quite a fuss.
It is clear that, in her mind at least, she is the fierce decendant of wolves, but she has neither the stature nor the vocal chords to be taken seriously. 🐺
"Why do you not have a dog?!" they asked, clearly quite astonished.
The question was so abrupt and serious that I scrabbled to find an appropriate response. I explained that we used to travel a lot, and hoped that this was the correct answer.
They seemed to accept this, so I think we passed. ✅
Meanwhile, Alonso and Muffy were at a standoff.
Alonso was obviously very taken with Muffy, but any time he tried to greet her she rebuffed him with the most vicious of snarls. It is the only time we've seen Alonso being bossed by another dog.
I crouched to pat her, and she alternated between accepting pats and snarling at poor Alonso any time he approached!
After a while we said our goodbyes and walked on, but we've often had a smile and wave from them when we're passing on our way to the lac with Alonso.
Muffy is away for the winter now, but Alonso always stops to sniff the gate when we pass. We've no doubt the Slayer will return in a few months when the weather is warmer.
Alonso arrived at first light this morning when it was about -8°C.
We went out to chop some wood just now. He looked at the snow and decided to stay inside.
We were gone all of ten minutes. With the fuss he made when we got back you'd think we'd been gone for days.
Alonso has been here for the past two days and nights. We've had snow, sleet, high winds and lots of rain, so he's not wanted to go outside much.
Unfortunately this means he has waaay too much energy and has been racing about the house, growling, barking, kicking and generally being a nuisance. Managed to tire him out a bit with a ball, but he has way more energy than I do.
We're starting to understand why his owners are so thankful he comes here and we take him for walks. 😉
We have managed to get Alonso back into the hands of his owners. For the moment, at least 😉
He went outside, inspected their car, then snuck past me back into the house when I was talking to his owner and had to be retrieved.
Bed and Breakfast are two of Alonso's favorite things.
🛌 🥞
Alonso took himself home this afternoon after spending two days and nights here.
We watched him wander off into the woods while we were stacking firewood. He paused, as he always does, to look back at us to see if we were going to follow, then trotted off on his own. His owner texted us a bit later to say he was home safe.
Alonso seems to be getting the idea that he can come and go between the two houses as he pleases. 🐶
Just a short visit from our wee hero today. 🐶
Alonso ran over to our field entrance by the road to try to lure us into taking him on his favorite walk to the lac. Unfortunately he chose the exact moment that his owner was driving past so he was picked up and taken home.
Chatted with Alonso's owner for a bit, who wanted to check we still had enough food for the boy, and about the various things he likes to eat that he's not supposed to.This could be the subject of an entire Duolingo unit.
Alonso's "short visit" yesterday turned into a sleepover, as he returned a few hours after dark with a WUFF at the door. 🐶
We let him in to supervise dinner and texted his owners to let them know he was safe.
I woke up this morning to a familiar WUFF and leapt out of bed to let Alonso in, then remembered he was already here.
Sometimes he barks in his sleep.
Me, talking to Alonso:
Alonso returned home of his own accord. We took him out to the woods and he decided to pay home a visit. He'd been here for three days and nights straight (again).
He's still not our dog, but if Alonso had to declare a residence for tax purposes it could go either way.
We were outside for a little too long in the cold, so Alonso went home for a visit. Someone must have been there because he didn't immediately come back.
That was 3 hours ago and it's getting dark, so I just put his blankets etc. away. As soon as I'd done this, of course, he returned.
WUFF! 🐶
Just in time for our next coding session.
When our neighbours go away, we watch their house. A day or so after they return we usually find a present on our doorstep. This is usually some sort of nice French food they brought back with them: pâte etc. 🎁
This time, they left us some delightful home-baked gingerbread they made just for us.
Alonso isn't allowed to have any, but he gets VERY excited by the smell.
He KNEW I'd eaten one. He sniffed my breath, then carefully checked my jumper for crumbs.
Alonso was collected just before dinner by his keepers. He wasn't very happy about this.
He returned half an hour later.
Alonso was collected by his owners and is spending a night at "home".
He had been here since dawn on Monday - four nights in a row (a new record).
His owners did collect him on Tuesday evening, but Alonso convinced them on arriving home that he needed a pee, and immediately escaped back here.
Ridiculous boy. 🐶
January stats are in!
Alonso visited every day in Jan except for the 1st, 4th, 11th and 25th. That's, um, 27 out of 31 days.
Alonso has been sleeping here with increased frequency, setting a new record of 4 nights in a row.
On any given day there was an 87% chance of an Alonso visit, with a 58% chance of him staying the night.
The longest time between visits was 43.5 hours and his record fastest for being collected by his owners and returning here was 34 minutes.
We do not have a dog 🐶
When Alonso was collected last night his owner said their young daughter has been asking where he is.
«Ou est Titi ?»
Titi is the nickname they usually call Alonso. It means something like "clever, mischievous boy" which fits. 🐶
Apparently he's been making quite a fuss when he's at home, whining and pretending he needs to pee so they'll let him out and he can come back here.
Clever, mischievous boy indeed 😉
Alonso likes sleeping across my lap with his head on my arm while I work. If I'm typing too loudly he has started putting his paw over my wrist and pushing downwards to make it harder to type.
🐶 🐾 ⌨️
After breakfast the sun came out and Alonso sat on the front step in the sun, occasionally growling or barking at something invisible to us. I think he's on guard. Guarding us from what? I don't know, but he's doing a Very Important job.
☀️ 🐶
After another 3 days and nights here, Alonso was taken home yesterday.
Overnight the winds from Storm Nils gave this place a battering. I woke up at just after 4am, convinced I'd heard a bark at the door. I got up to check, but I must have dreamt it so I went back to bed. I knew he'd be hating this storm.
Alonso actually arrived just after dawn, soaked, muddy, and whimpering. He was so worked up he retched a couple of times. Poor boy!
Took a while to get him dry and calm again. He's asleep on my lap now.
I think he deserves a cooked breakfast after that.
🐶 🌩️
Alonso wandered off home yesterday when we took him to the woods. He always looks back to see if we're going to follow, before trotting off on his own.
Today it has been snowing. This has never stopped him before. We're keeping an ear out.
🐶 🌨️
I sat down to do some coding, thinking how unusual it is to do this without Alonso (he went home yesterday).
I put my headphone on and 8 minutes later he's here. 😃 🎧 🐶
Back to business as usual.
I opened the door to let Alonso outside.
He stood in the doorway, carefully considered the pouring rain for a while, barked loudly at the weather, and turned and went back inside.
I'll take that as a "no".
🌧️
Alonso's owners collected him on Friday afternoon and dropped off some more food for him.
He was gone all weekend, which felt very strange. We've really become used to his constant presence and involvement in everything we do.
But, Alonso is here now, so normality can return. I think we might do some multicast.
What a beautiful day! Around 20°C, bright, clear and sunny 😎
We took Alonso to the lac for the first time since new year's eve. It has been so wet for so long, and any time it wasn't and we had the energy we've been out the in woods cutting firewood.
But today, we went to the lac. Couldn't get all the way around because the path is flooded, but Alonso was very happy, and astonishingly well behaved.
Last July, on our way back from the lac, Alonso found half a sandwich beside the road and ate it.
Every time we walk to the lac since, Alonso carefully checks that same spot beside the road. Just in case.
Alonso is an optimist.
🥪
Just tried to walk to the lac with Alonso. Halfway there we had to turn around. Gunshots. Hunting dogs. 😠
Alonso was a very good boy, and turned on the spot as soon as we did and stayed close. He does not like gunshots, nor hunting dogs.
Managed a walk to the lac with Alonso today. He gets very excited when I put my boots on.
All the way there, and all the way back to our place.
Then, as Alonso sometimes does, he made a DECISION. He sniffed the air, paused, considered a moment, then sprinted across the field to the woods and towards home (his other one).
I expect we'll see him tomorrow morning in time for breakfast.
Alonso was getting a bit smelly so we gave him a bath for the first time. He wasn't keen, but was surprisingly calm once we put him in the tub, seemingly resigned to letting us wash him. We were expecting more resistance given how much he hates water. Such a good boy!
His owners usually seem to give him a wash now and then, but he hasn't been spending much time there lately.
🐶 🛁
Alonso rarely barks, but sometimes he stands on my desk and gives a low growl or a warning bark towards the window. I've never been sure what at.
Today I put a little table in front of the window so he could stand on it with his front paws on the window sill and look out properly.
He's been standing there for a while now, barking and growling fiercely at... something.
Earlier it might have been a distant cyclist. Now he seems quite cross at a tracteur in a field 3 farms away.
🚜 🪟🐕
It snowed early, but when the sun came out we tried for a walk with Alonso.
He immediately went the wrong way. When I tried to persuade him to come, he obstinately refused.
So we started without him, expecting him to catch up as usual.
We were well down the hill, and there was no little white dot in the distance charging towards us like there usually is. You know the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Sir Lancelot charges the castle? That's him. Usually, but not today.
I used to have a friend with a dog on Twitter, something similar happened, and *every day* his dog still checks!
You never know! It could happen again! 😃
@dentangle As the son of a (former) hobo, I heartily endorse the phrase "living his best hobo life." 🥰
That dog is so silly, but hilarious.
@arichtman Correct. Few networks support multicast routing natively. Some academic networks like @geant do.
That's what the overlay is for. The overlay is what makes multicast work across the Internet so we can use it for more interesting applications.
We'll be writing more about this soon. Watch this space! Well, watch @librecast anyway. 😉
@arichtman There are various ways to tunnel manually, but unfortunately nothing that does what we need.
IPv6 multicast has 2¹¹² bits for group addressing, but that no longer matters as the overlay is not using an IP protocol - IP is fundamentally unicast so we don't use that in our overlay.
Easiest to think of librecast as another layer - layer 3½ 😉
This is hilarious... I bet Alonso is also starving and begging for food with puppy eyes, right? 🐶
@dentangle Where exactly is the tipping point in terms of where Alonso actually lives?
I suspect it was quite some time ago, really. He's evidently very comfy and well loved when he's with you.
@dentangle Polyfamilious?
That should be a thing.
Brett Sheffield (he/him)
Nuwagaba Gift
Greem (Graeme. Not Graham!)
Her Doing
Jima 
"Musty Bits" McGee
Parade du Grotesque 💀