Happy Birthday, Denver

Denver is my beautiful little black dog. While Jack is a star, with his exuberance and all the troubles and mishaps he gets in to, Denver is my sweet old lady. I adopted her from the Denver Dumb Friends League over 12 years ago. At the time, they said she was about 10 months old, so I estimated her birthday to be at the end of October. That makes Denver 13 years old. She has a lot of gray on her muzzle and paws, her eyes are a little cloudy and she has some arthritis. With a little medication to minimize her pain, this dog is happy, alert and willing to play hard with 4 1/2 year old dorky Jack. She is in wonderful condition and should be around for years more. I love this little dog. She has been my best friend, always by my side, always there for me.

Mystery Photo

I downloaded the pictures from Tim's camera to get all the driveway images, and I found a few mystery photos. This one's my favorite.

I'm not sure where in the house this is, but I am sure of the orientation of the shot, which I spent some time sorting out. Wherever it is, it doesn't look good for the structural integrity to me! I welcome suggestions on what might be going on or what may collapse soon -extra credit for creativity!

I have been getting better very slowly, and Saturday was the first day that I felt normal. I had fairly normal energy, and no headache or fever all day (drug free). Until about 7pm. Tim and I went up to home depot. We had an appointment with a design consultant (kitchen cabinetry) from 4:30-5:30pm. When we finally escaped finished up with him, it was almost 7pm and we were starving. Tim took a creative, adventurous route to get us to Qdobo that included a long bumpy alley. Did I mention that my headache is very sensitive to bumps in the road? The irritation to my meninges was clear, the headache returned and my neck stiffened before we left the restaurant. I took a bunch of advil and an oxycodone when I got home, and then we went to Eric and Janet's going away party. Eric was a classmate of mine (he was one of the first to defend, I'll be the last). His new title is "Maritime Explorer". Eric's PhD advisor, when explaining what his former students are doing now, for a grant application or something gave the title to him. Basically Eric and his wife, Janet, have bought a sailboat in Mexico and plan to sail around and explore for at least six months. OK, I've totally digressed, but "Hey look, a chicken!" Back on task, I may have pushed my poor sorry sore little brain a bit much yesterday. The headache is back, but not too bad. If anyone out there has ever been through this (viral meningitis), will you tell me how long it takes to get over?

Heating the Driveway

While we were in Mexico, the slotted drains were supposed to be done and the electrician was supposed to be well on his way with installation of the driveway heating, if not done. The slotted drains are to catch the water (melted snow) so that it doesn't create an ice rink in the street. Two of those were put in... eventually. Basically, no work happened that week. Last week, when Tim was back down there, he worked really hard helping those guys and getting them going. The drains are in, and the electrician is well on his way. I wouldn’t be surprised if the electrician doesn’t get much done this week, while Tim’s up here. Just got word that he's made great progress and is almost done.

The reason to heat the driveway is to melt the snow off. Homewood Ski Area -our little town doesn't have a stoplight, but we've got a ski area- reports an average snowfall of 37 1/2 feet (450") per year. Our house surely gets less snow than that, but the point is, we get a lot of the stuff! Most people get their driveways plowed or use a snow blower. Of course, nowadays you are not allowed to build a driveway such as ours. It's too long (over our allotted coverage) and too steep. We can't convince a snowplow/blower driver to take on the job of our driveway. After a site topographical study and engineer consultation, it was concluded that redesigning/grading the driveway won't help because we are totally screwed there are no good options. So that leaves us with heating the driveway electrically. "Why," you wonder, "do they want to use electricity in the state of California ($$$$), when they could use hydronic heating?" Just basic dumb Because the driveway is too steep to install it. The equipment they use won't work. Nice idea, though.

Basically, they cut grooves in which to lay to heating wires and trenches for the conduit.


Here's one of the big, huge, eyesores
transformers. There are two. I think we'd better check with the homeowners association's architechtural review board. They like to have a say in things that effect the look of the house on the outside.

Not tonight, I have a headache...

I'm really sorry for how long it has been since I posted. I STILL have my headache! If I lie down, it feels good. It just gets bad when I spend too much time upright. And I still frequently have a low grade fever. It appears to be viral meningitis, but to know for sure would require a lumber puncture, and I'm not THAT sick! Now don't get all freaked our about the m word... all it means is that the lining around the brain is inflamed. It is NOT bacterial meningitis, which is very serious. The viral kind can be quite mild. There are definite signs that I am on the mend. The process is just excruciatingly slow.

Sock Wars:
I finished the pair of Sock(s) of Doom for my victim's victim's target last Friday, but I haven't mailed them yet. I've been going in to lab this week, and my brain is so mushy and slow that I keep forgetting to go down to shipping and fedex them. And then yesterday, when I was thinking clearly, I found that they were no longer in my backpack! sheesh! Today I'm staying home and working on the 'puter so that I can avoid that whole upright thing... maybe I'll get them mailed Friday? I guess I'm not feeling very competitive in Sock Wars right now. I must be on my death bed pretty sick!

House Remodel:
We have a General Contractor(GC)! That's great news. AND, the driveway heating is in process. It was supposed to get done while we were in Mexico, but...

misc ramblings...

Jack has his own blog now. Note the link over on the right. He'll blog on all of his mischief.

I'm back from Cabo, with a raging headache and very sore neck. It isn't that bad when I lie on the couch and keep my head still, so that is what the doc advised. It isn't so bad when I take some of the oxycodon left over from my shoulder surgery either. I wouldn't even go to the doc for this, except it has been going on for 6 days! It started at Sammy Hagar's show, actually. Anyway, not a migraine, probably viral.

Updates: When I got home from Cabo, there was only one package of socks waiting for me. The pair for me to finish! I have not received a finished pair...yet, so I'm still in the sockwars game. My current couch assignment leaves me with time to finish the lovely olive green pair that came all the way from Scotland.


I also have some work to do on the everlasting pomatomous project in Socks That Rock. I knit a bunch on the flights down to Cabo, and for the first few days, but then I realized something was amiss on the top of the foot. I kept trying to figure it out, and I finally decided to just rip out 7 rows from that needle and knit it correctly.


and finally, I'll leave you some pics from beautiful Cabo San Lucas...

Get to know Jack

While Daisy is at the doctor for her headache, I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little blogging of my own. First of all, I'm a handsome fella, don't you think?

Most of my day is spent lying in the sun, but sometimes I like to have a little fun, especially if there is any chance at all that I might get to consume something, edible or not.

A couple of weeks ago (before the pack leaders went to Cabo), Daisy gathered a bunch of plants from the garden. She had each kind in gallon size ziplock bags, all organized. I had my eye on them from the start, waiting for her to leave them within my reach. One day she left them in the bath tub. I hate that slippery cauldron of misery, and usually refuse to enter it. But...the opportunity to eat her stuff was just too good to pass up!

I braved that evil slippery white tub and look at my prize!!!! I enjoyed some ivy right there in the eviltubroom and some dahlias and ferns in the hallway.


Then I brought 3 ziplock bags to the living room and
shared the contents with my CareFlight bear.



















I had a blast that day, but Daisy didn't seem very pleased. She kept muttering something about dying naturally. Do you think she was referring to me? Maybe it was NOT dying naturally?

Greetings from Baja California Sur

Greetings from Los Cabos! When we got here, we managed to upgrade our rooms (each couple had one) to a suite with a connecting living room and an amazing view! These pictures are from our balcony. I took the picture of my feet that first night. We have an amazing view of Land's End.

Last night we went to CaboWabo to hear Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas for Sammy's annual birthday bash. It was a great show, which included Mike Anthony, also of Van Halen.


This morning, when I woke up I realized that the view from our bed is also incredible, so I lay there, reading, enjoying the view and appreciating the air-conditioning. It is REALLY hot and muggy out there today.

I'm not dead yet!

That is, I have not received my "socks of doom" yet. What on earth am I talking about? I entered Sock Wars 2006. Last week, I quickly knit up some lovely socks...almost. I was at the toe decreases for the second sock (mere days after the wars had begun), when I realized that I had forgotten to decrease at the beginning of the gusset and had to rip the sock out back to the end of the heel flap. Note the green yarn I put in to un ravel to. From there I carefully went backward to the very beginning of the gusset and re-knit the entire foot.

My frustration with myself impacted my motivation a bit, but I did eventually finish the socks and sent them off to my target in Scotland. She has been great to correspond with, so I feel a little bit bad for killing her. Hopefully the Jeager superfine merino will make up for it. She has already "socked" her target, and has forwarded her target's unfinished socks on to me. I hope to finish them off and send them to their intended target, before I receive a pair of socks to knock me out of the game. I really liked the socks I knit, so I am looking forward to my demise in the form of pair of socks (of doom).