Musings on a Small Life

I snipped these earlier this afternoon from the Shiba Inu puppy cam site ( http://www.ustream.tv/sfshiba ). Haven't they gotten big? It's hard to get all five in one frame now, as you can see. And the boys no longer resemble polar bear cubs. (The girls are the brown pups.)   These two sisters snuggled up together after play time. I wonder if they've bonded or if any sibling will do. They were a sweet way to wind up an otherwise hum-drum work day.  :-) Purrs from the boys and peace from me.

I caved this morning and bought a scale. I haven't had one since my early 20s, because I used to obsess about the number on the display. (Of course I grew up in the days of the "old fashioned" analog scales, not digital ones. LOL.) But because I've been tracking calories and exercise on myfitnesspal.com, I thought I'd better be able to weigh myself once in a while too. I was weighed in mid-August when I had a doctor's appointment and had lost 7 pounds then, and now I've lost another 5.4 pounds, for a total loss of 12.4 pounds from July 23rd till now. That's fine, though I'm still a good 20 - 25 pounds overweight. I don't think I'll ever lose that much, though, and I'm okay with that. I like to eat too much and I don't do a lot of strenuous exercise, unless you count lugging six ridiculously large and heavy shopping bags home via foot and bus.  :-p But this really isn't what I wanted to write. All summer long I'v...

My boss just sent this around. But don't read it if' you're offended by "bad" language. And apologies if you've seen it before; I had not. Resetting The Password With Tech Support Tech Support:  Sorry that password has expired- you must register a new one. Computer User:  Did someone discover that password and hack my computer? T.S.:  No, but your password has expired- you must get a new one. C.U.:  Why then do I need a new one, as that one seems to be working pretty well? T.S.:  Well, you must get a new one as they automatically expire every 30 days. C.U.:  Can I use the old one and just re-register it? T.S:  No, you must get a new one. C.U.:  I don't want a new one, as that is one more thing for me to remember. T.S.: Sorry, you must get a new one. C.U.: OK, roses. T.S:  Sorry you must use more letters. C.U:  OK, pretty roses T.S:  No good, you must use at least one numerical character. C.U:  OK, 1 pret...

We exhausted ourselves yesterday, driving all over the city for this, that and the next thing. Little things for the house (new bedroom blind, living room curtain rod that has to be returned, dryer vent pipe extension, miscellaneous stuff.). Was it a full moon? All these things should have been simple, but none was. It was a crazy, stressful, Murphy's Law kind of day. Note to self: Do these things at the beginning of Dad's visits, so we wind up the visit on a calm note. In fairness, the week was great weather-wise, and yesterday was our crappy rainy day, so who would have wanted to do all this silly stuff when the sun is shining and we could be out taking pics...or eating? And as for eating, it seems that's all we did. :-) I took Dad to a lovely downtown hotel restaurant for lunch yesterday, the same one we go to every year. Excellent food, great service. Dad had the water buffalo burger and I had the crab/seafood cakes. Yummy. We both had the warm chocolat...

...Joe still gets around with a walker, feeds himself and remembers everything . He has all his mental faculties, though he's very hard of hearing and is difficult to understand (his speech). He still think every woman should be/wants to be married/remarried, though. LOL. That sure hasn't changed from Gaspé days!  :-) His daughter made a lovely lunch and we spent a few hours there before heading home. Dad was glad to see him, as it had been a few years (not since Joe's 100th birthday celebration). I think Joe was glad to see Dad too. I think he even was glad to see me, after 33 years. He seemed pleased, at any rate. I'm sure it's the only time I'll see him before he passes. He said things (i.e. life) started to go downhill after 95, as that was when he had to give up hunting, fishing and trapping. Seriously. How many 95 year olds do you know who still hunt, fish and trap in the first place?! Anyway, I know I surely don't want to live to 103! ...

Dad and I went to Gananoque yesterday, for a little jaunt. We go every year; it's a pretty spot and only 30 kms from home. We took some donation items to the Gan. shelter first -- Toby's leftover food (the former stray), canned food the boys aren't eating now, bleach and paper towel, cat treats. It was after 10AM and they were supposed to be open--several cars were there, but the door was locked, so we left the donation items on their front step. Presumably they got them at some point. They actually have a sign out front indicating they have an adopt-a-thon on now, but with the door locked and no doorbell or knocker, they're not making it convenient for people to actually adopt. We drove into town after that, parked and did our usual walk-about. Dad in front of the clock tower  The town hall. Gananoque has about 5000 residents, so is a bit smaller than Perth.  The city park. I've taken pics here for what? Six or seven years now, I think!   ...

Dad and I went to Perth yesterday, a small town of about 6000 people northeast of here, and while I'd been through once before, it had  been 15 or 16 years.     Looking toward the main business street.         On the other side of the main business street is Stewart Park , the prettiest park I've ever seen, and quite large, at over 5 acres. We have lots of parks here in Kingston, and of course we're on Lake Ontario, but none of our parks is as gorgeous as Perth's. And the sound of the streams that criss-cross through it is soothing in a way that the Lake isn't, for me.                     If I lived in Perth, I think I'd be at that park every day, at least during spring, summer and fall. I took a zillion photos, but weeded it down to only 68.  :-) I got to see the statue of Big Ben too, Ian Millar's famous show jumper, now passed for quite some years...