Happy Anniversary (plus one)

I was off Monday in an all day motivational seminar (whoo-hoo! I'm motivated! More on that later this week.) and forgot to post this yesterday. My bad. Must be the old age creeping up on me.

Anyhoo, yesterday, February 8th, was the 100th (as in 10 decades) anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

Founded on the ideas and principles of Lord Robert Baden-Powell in England and brought to these shores in 1910 due, in part, to an act of kindness by one unknown scout doing his daily good turn, the BSA has grown from a small group into an international organization whose goal is to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations.

Oh, sure it's really cool to camp out in the woods, play with fire, swim in the lakes and rivers, learn how to build stuff, but scouting builds character.

For the small crowd of people who infrequenlty visit my humble musings, ya'll might pick up, on occasion, that I support the BSA organization. Have done it for years and continue to do so now. I strongly believe in the purpose and mission of the BSA.

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to all Scouts & Scouters!

In the dog house

Literally. Both of them. And just when I was just starting think we might keep ya.
Been a long week. Seemed like two weeks crammed into one. I am back testing the system like we did about 5 months ago. Seems that we are going to bring our Europe site on line in May and need to repeat all of our tests again. And I still have my normal chores to do.

Looking forward to a nice weekend off.

Woke up late (for me) this morning (0600). Took dogs for walk, fixed coffee, had some oatmeal, sat down to catch up on the antics of my favorite bloggers. At some point, I heard the distinctive sound of falling water coming from the foyer. Ever since the new girl has arrived, there has been 2 "accidents" in the house that I attributed to her (she was in heat, she was new to the program), so I have been a bit forgiving. However, this morning, when I heard that "sound", I knew Claire was in the chair in our bedroom, so that left only one guilty culprit. Sprinted to the front hall to catch the perp in the act and, to put it mildly, I was not happy. Grayson knew he messed up big time and has been hanging his head (& tail) in shame all day. Now, before you picturing me wailing the tar out of the dog, let me clarify something. I may speak harshly and express my intense displeasure and use more than a few colorful adjectives, I have never, ever struck any dog. No frickin way. Takes a pretty small/pitiful person to beat on a dog or cat. I am no patron saint for animals, but I have zero tolerance for people who abuse animals. That said, I was highly unhappy with Mr Grayson when he had his accident. Not sure if he is feeling insecure with the new house guest or had drank too much aqua after our walk, but I am trying to nip this new habit in the bud. I spent an hour with the throw rug in the shower trying to rinse it out. It is sitting in my garage now drying out.

I went out to get some new supplies and a new tandem collar for the dogs and came back later to unload the truck. Now Grayson I can trust not to run off, but as I was unloading the truck, Claire rounded the truck and took off down the street for a guy and his son playing catch. I took off after her. Of course Grayson, not wanting to be left out of the fun, took off after her and, once I had caught Claire, he kept on going down the block to the next neighbor & her dog. Here I am with no leashes and two free range dogs loose on the world. I was more worried about them getting run over than anything else. Finally collared both and drug them back to the house with lots of chastisement and scolding. Both dogs looked like they were going to be hit (not by me), but was able to muscle them into the house. Needless to say, daddy was not happy with the both of them. Grayson has run off to the bedroom to hide with mommy and Claire has put on her most pitiful (I'm sorry) look. I have rebuked her and told her that was not acceptable behavior. Goldens Retrievers are consummate social dogs and always look for love and attention and the worst kind of punishment you can do for a Golden is to ignore them. I made her feel guilty for a while before finally scratching her head. Grayson is still feeling guilty, but he is starting to get over it. I need to work on training both and, until I can trust them in an open setting, I will keep a tighter reign on them.



BTW - the parental unit celebrated her 87th birthday in, of all places, Hawaii on Thursday. Mom & dad are down on Kauai with my brother, his wife and nephew and wife. I arranged for a local company to ship her a genuine Hawaiian shirt to her on a layover from their cruise before they headed off to Kauai. I only hope I am as active as my parents are when I am that old.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Remember, you made me what I am today

(so it's all your fault!)

Of dogs & kids

As much as I gripe about being busy at work, I would much rather be busy than idle or bored. 9 years ago, before I joined my current company, I was doing well at a small firm located close to home. 15 minute commute (that's with traffic), smaller employee base, a lot more freedom to make decisions. But, after two years, I was bored. I know, I should have been grateful for the job, but I felt that, to me it was not enough of a challenge. Well, as I have said before, be careful what you wish for. Now I am busier than (as my mother would say) a one-arm paper hanger with an itch and, in spite of my grumbling, I am glad for it.

Yesterday was one of those busy weekends where you kick off at dawn and don't slow down till past 10. Got up took care of dogs, had to run to store for a few o&e, took a bunch of gear to my trailer, dropped off recycling, drove over to in-laws to install a new light and replace smoke detectors, drove across town to seeda niece, tried out some Mongolian BBQ, head back home to walk dogs.

Claire is doing better each day. She finally wore me down with the sad-eyed, mournful looks and I relented and took off her cone. She is much happier (and prettier) without the lampshade. No interest in licking herself, so things seem to be going well. I even started taking the pair for a walk again. It's funny how Grayson has matched his gait to hers so that the two seem to walk shoulder-to-shoulder at the same pace. So far, no problems walking two dogs at once, but we have yet to have any cat encounters.


We met up with my brother & wife (the new grandparents) and drove across town for a brief visit with the new parents and their bundle of joy. Momma is doing well, tired and fretting over her new baby. Daddy is tired as well, but beaming like a drunken fool. Juliana is an adorable girl. She is sweet and innocent and cute - gonna be a handful when she is older.

It's been 21+ years since I held onto an infant like that. Brings back memories.

Friday follies

Ever had one of those weeks where just making it to Friday night is a major milestone?
I swear that some people are put on this earth just to test me.

Thank god for weekends and scotch. I would probably gone postal by now, if not given an outlet for my agnst. The good thing about having more than one needy, highly affection and attention deficit dog is that it does tend to take the edge off. Hard to maintain my grumpy attitude when I am greeted by two goofy smiles and a pair of asyncronous wagging tails. I've been in nonstop meetings/conference calls since Wednesday. It's been one of those wheels came off the bus weeks for me and I am sincerely glad to see Friday arrive.

Both mutts are glad to greet me at the door with a smile on their butts. More of Claire is showing every day . She is an absolute sweetheart and knows how to work the system. You gotta feel sorry for her with her sparking smile, shaved belly and cone of shame but I see a little skamp in her eyes at time. Grayson is jealous of any attention she gets so any time I am petting one dog, the other shows up in short order. What I find funny is that when Grayson is parked at my lap getting some serious headscratching, Claire will meander in with her cone of aloofness and shoulder her way into the situation (kind of like a snow plow clearing the area). I feel sorry for her, but I swear that, at times, she is using that cone to muscle out Grayson for some extra attention. Both dogs have gotten along well. Despite her recent surgery and condition, Claire acts like she is ready to party. Grayson, being the consumate teenager, is always ready to rumble. Between the two, I have my hands full.

On the new great nephew front, momma & pappa are tired but doing well. Juliana is a getting lots of attention & loving as the new clan member. I am quite sure she will be properly spoiled.
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Side note: When I talked with my son Thursday night at college, I broke the news to him that he is no longer the youngest member of the family.

Engineer in training

The nephew is now a proud pappa

Juliana's specs:
Arrived 01/28/10 @ 1752 hours
Mass: 7 lbs 12 oz
Dimesions: 19 inches

Momma and daughter are doing good.
Daddy has been questionable for years.

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It should be noted that on our side of the family we have only had boys. I've got 2 brothers and we've all had sons. This is the first female of the species to grace our family tree. Totally messes up our system. Are pink camoflauge onesies appropriate?

Don't sweat the little stuff

A little background: I work at the same office as my nephew. He started here first and I got a chance to come on board about 1.5 years later. Totally different departments/areas, but we see each other every day. I am always quizzed by my family on how he is doing, but I have that Vegas rule: "What happens at the office, stays at the office". He is 30 and just got married two years ago to a young engineer who worked here for a few years. She's from Puerto Rico and they got married down there ergo my road trip two & a half years back to the island (that's another story). Those two were head over heals in love and, at the wedding reception, we were placing bets on when offspring might appear.

Fast forward to today and my nephew just posted his "out of office notice" so he will be off for the next three weeks as he and his wife are going to celebrate the arrival of their new daughter. Momma is way preggers (due Sunday) but the doc decided to induce tomorrow, so we have a birthday, just waiting arrival of VIP. They are heading off to hospital in morning for the most expensive, scariest, life changing, awesome event of their young lives. I clearly recall 22+ years ago the night before we were supposed to deliver how scared/excited/nervous we were. Total terror/panic/euphoria and, after tomorrow, nothing will be same.

As I sit hear dealing with my daily headaches and complaints, this blessed event makes one stop and appreciate how short/unique life is. My day-to-day problems pale in comparison to what they are about to experience. It helps put life in perspective and keep me humble.

Good luck Greg & Jasmine and I know that she will be the light of your lives.

Life's short, dance like there is no tomorrow.

Ruff day

Poor Claire.

Took her into the vet this morning. Everyone at the vet fell in love with her as they checked her out from stem to stern. She was brave soldier as the poked and prodded her and kept wagging her tail thoughout the exams. She did test positive for a medium amount of hearworms which we will deal with in two weeks. The vet went ahead with her surgery to neuter her and it turns out she was in full heat. No wonder she had a few minor accidents yesterday. She came through the surgery with flying colors and is resting at home with the obnoxious collar. Seems to take it better than Grayson, but still not quite happy with it. She is a bit lethargic and not quite as chipper, but still trys to wag her tail when you pet her. Will be a few days before she regains her smile.