Dog drama (not ours)

Animal Control knocked on our door this morning, asking if we own a Rhodesian ridgeback. We don't, of course, but we know her - Mkeba lives across the street from us. She's elderly and has way outlived a cancer prognosis, and her family dotes on her. Apparently she'd gotten out, somehow, and had gone up our long driveway into a neighbor's yard. I immediately joined the two animal control officers, hoping to catch the poor dog before they traumatized her. I led the way through M's yard and found a fence board that was loose, then we stuck our heads through and learned that the woman on the other side had let her out through her gate, onto the next street (because, though she seemed friendly, she was so big). *sigh*

By the time D. and I had walked all the way over there, though, Animal Control had caught her and had to keep her 'til they could hand her over to her family. Unfortunately, although I had the owner's cell phone number and gave it to the Animal Control people too, she wasn't able to listen to our many messages 'til her nursing shift had ended, and by that point, Mkeba had been impounded and can't come home 'til tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

By some miracle, the organization that provides my mom's Long Term Care coverage hadn't cancelled her policy after 15 months of non-payment! (Apparently she thought $80/month was too much. It seems paltry, given that assisted living is $4K a month and more.) This afternoon, I rather deftly got her to sign not only a check for the past due amount but also an authorization for future direct debit. They're sending me information on what exactly the policy provides.