After several agonizing days of allergies, I am glad to say that the progressing season (it will be Summer in about 29 minutes) and the heavy rain that just passed through have finally washed the pollen out of the air!
Every year at this time, I have a hellish week of severe allergy symptoms that even preclude me from petting my own dog. Naturally, she gets all paranoid and insecure when this happens.
This evening, as Spring turns, officially, into Summer, I can actually pet my dog and even play with her at the, until recently pollen-filled, Arboretum! Yay! Let everyone but the squirrels and bunnies rejoice!
Here you see Nutmeg eagerly awaiting the rest of her pack. She's sure they'll be along shortly...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
What's with today's weather?
Today was supposed to be a miserably wet and stormy day. I should have known the forecast was wrong when the local weather girl was describing storms outside despite the bright sunshine washing out the screen.
Sadly, I was supposed to get a bunch of chores done around the house. The weather, however, has me outside photographing dogs bobbing around the local watering hole.
I hope you are all out enjoying the day and only reading this later tonight!
Sadly, I was supposed to get a bunch of chores done around the house. The weather, however, has me outside photographing dogs bobbing around the local watering hole.
I hope you are all out enjoying the day and only reading this later tonight!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
I'm Walking on Water
No, I've not been deified (lately). I'm walking on a frozen lake in downtown St. Moritz, Switzerland. Some here are even walking their dogs out here. The accumulated droppings add to the ambience. The crankt-sounding German speakers behind me (they may be happy for all I know, but they always sound cranky to me) make me wonder if Blofeld really does have a secret mountain lair here.
I've only just arrived, but I can see why it's such a popular ski spot. In addition to walking on water and hearing dogs bark with accents, I get to see Alps in every direction, including some that look very skiable. The trams go right from town up the slopes, and the tree line is barely a few stories up, leaving wide open slopes.
Getting here was a bit of a miracle as the roads leading here, hairpin turns and all, were clearly not designed for anything as fast or big as our bus. The acrophobes in the group got today's adrenaline fix looking down the sheer, guardrail-free drops zooming past the bus.
Next up is jet-lag recovery, hopefully followed by some amazing skiing. Actually, I'll count it as amazing if I make it down in one piece, first try.
I've only just arrived, but I can see why it's such a popular ski spot. In addition to walking on water and hearing dogs bark with accents, I get to see Alps in every direction, including some that look very skiable. The trams go right from town up the slopes, and the tree line is barely a few stories up, leaving wide open slopes.
Getting here was a bit of a miracle as the roads leading here, hairpin turns and all, were clearly not designed for anything as fast or big as our bus. The acrophobes in the group got today's adrenaline fix looking down the sheer, guardrail-free drops zooming past the bus.
Next up is jet-lag recovery, hopefully followed by some amazing skiing. Actually, I'll count it as amazing if I make it down in one piece, first try.
Monday, July 25, 2005
So very sore...
For those of you who have never had the joy, digging out a section of yard to build a patio is WORK! (Even more work that reading a boring rant about patios!)
This past weekend, with some help from my friends Joe and Johnny, I excavated a very small portion of the 30' by 10' section of yard that will someday become my new patio. So far, I've succeeded only in destroying that section of the lawn and making several big piles of dirt along the back fence. The hole has to be dug about 8" deep all across the area and be fairly level before the patio can be built into it.
Clearing off the sod was the easy part. Most of the grass is struggling to stay alive anyway, so it came up quickly. Underneath, however, we found the shallow roots of the maple (best guess) tree 20' away. Digging through these (and hoping it does not kill off what is left of the tree) to get at the dirt below will take forever.
Now, I am working on digging a trench around the perimeter of the hole. If I can get that to the right depth, I hope to work my way toward the middle from there and get it all level and to the proper depth. I don't want to make the same mistake as the previous occupants of the house and end up with a buckled patio in less than two years!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Dog's warning to cosmologists
No, that's not a typo. God probably quite appreciates cosmologists. Who doesn't want to have others around them in awe of their work? When a surgeon pulls off a particularly brilliant bit of cranial surgery, does he tell the guy driving an ice cream truck or use it to go hit on nurses? I'm guessing the latter.
Most cosmologists are currently of the opinion that the Universe has eleven dimensions rather than the three we are able to perceive in day-to-day life.
At the other end of the spectrum, my dog normally lives in a two-dimensional world in which she can eat, pee, chase squirrels, smell things and beg for more food - in that order.
Last night, she suddenly experienced what many theorists dream of: a higher dimension. For whatever reason, she chose to turn her head in a new direction and look up at the perfectly clear sky. Sadly, she did not like this new world and ended up whingeing and howling at planes passing over us at tens of thousands of feet. She tracked three of them as they trailed across the sky toward the eastern horizon, sometimes barking at and sometimes cowering from them. Perhaps they were some new trick of the evil squirrels? Who can tell?
What's the lesson for cosmologists? Finding whole new dimensions may not be as fun as you thought. Moving from a limited world (in her case, that of grounded squirrels and interesting smells) to a much bigger and new one can reveal horrible things that will destroy your world.
Or maybe you'll just end up barking at higher-dimensional beings flying to Europe.
Most cosmologists are currently of the opinion that the Universe has eleven dimensions rather than the three we are able to perceive in day-to-day life.
At the other end of the spectrum, my dog normally lives in a two-dimensional world in which she can eat, pee, chase squirrels, smell things and beg for more food - in that order.
Last night, she suddenly experienced what many theorists dream of: a higher dimension. For whatever reason, she chose to turn her head in a new direction and look up at the perfectly clear sky. Sadly, she did not like this new world and ended up whingeing and howling at planes passing over us at tens of thousands of feet. She tracked three of them as they trailed across the sky toward the eastern horizon, sometimes barking at and sometimes cowering from them. Perhaps they were some new trick of the evil squirrels? Who can tell?
What's the lesson for cosmologists? Finding whole new dimensions may not be as fun as you thought. Moving from a limited world (in her case, that of grounded squirrels and interesting smells) to a much bigger and new one can reveal horrible things that will destroy your world.
Or maybe you'll just end up barking at higher-dimensional beings flying to Europe.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Never blog while seriously sleep-deprived
Just don't. It's stupid, it's silly, it can only end in tears.
So here I go...
I've stumbled onto an idea - no doubt already discovered but insufficiently shared elsewhere - that could save people a great deal of time and money. Sleep deprivation is the way of the future. You gain all that time by not sleeping and save all the money you'd be spending to get really stupid on drugs or alcohol. To save even more time, you have a sort of hang-over WHILE still under the influence! No more wasted time afterwards!
Between six hours of jet lag, non-drowsy allergy medications (ie: caffeine pills) and the Sun being up nearly all of the time in Berlin at this time of year, I've not had a good night's sleep in a week. This morning, I slept in: 5:30am. That's 11:30am in Berlin, so it aint bad. However, I did not get to sleep until midnight (Boston time) last night. I aint catching up.
Now, I am going home early. I will walk my dog after rescuing her from the kennel and try to keep going until we drop. I should NOT drive us anywhere!
Tomorrow is a new day. Somewhere. With luck and the expected TV line-up, I should be in bed by 9:00pm. I'd go for earlier, but I know I'll just wake up at 2:00am or something and start all over! They were thrilled to have me in two hours early today, but that is just a bad habit to get into.
So here I go...
I've stumbled onto an idea - no doubt already discovered but insufficiently shared elsewhere - that could save people a great deal of time and money. Sleep deprivation is the way of the future. You gain all that time by not sleeping and save all the money you'd be spending to get really stupid on drugs or alcohol. To save even more time, you have a sort of hang-over WHILE still under the influence! No more wasted time afterwards!
Between six hours of jet lag, non-drowsy allergy medications (ie: caffeine pills) and the Sun being up nearly all of the time in Berlin at this time of year, I've not had a good night's sleep in a week. This morning, I slept in: 5:30am. That's 11:30am in Berlin, so it aint bad. However, I did not get to sleep until midnight (Boston time) last night. I aint catching up.
Now, I am going home early. I will walk my dog after rescuing her from the kennel and try to keep going until we drop. I should NOT drive us anywhere!
Tomorrow is a new day. Somewhere. With luck and the expected TV line-up, I should be in bed by 9:00pm. I'd go for earlier, but I know I'll just wake up at 2:00am or something and start all over! They were thrilled to have me in two hours early today, but that is just a bad habit to get into.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
38,000 Feet
Well, now I am 3,800 storeys above Cork, Ireland. The flight was not bad! Being stuck in a tiny chair for five hours finally got me to sit and watch "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Loved it! This more than made up for "The Royal Tennenbaums" (same director)!
Well, not much time to write as we are zooming toward Heathrow at 576 miles per hour. Obviously, we are not taxiing to the gate yet; but they are making us turn off our electronic toys now...
Well, not much time to write as we are zooming toward Heathrow at 576 miles per hour. Obviously, we are not taxiing to the gate yet; but they are making us turn off our electronic toys now...
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Nothing to say
Like most bloggers, I have nothing to say, really. However, I'm bored and waiting for my plane to take off for Berlin. How often does one get to blog from a 747?
The 747 has always been my favorite plane. Seeing something this big fly through the air just boggles my mind. I understand the physics and aerodynamics of it all, but this thing is freakin' huge! It's not even the biggest plane aloft, but you don't get as much chance to see military cargo planes outside of the Middle East.
Inside, unfortunately, the only sense of hugeness is the long line of people between you and the exit or - even more importantly - the loo. I'm in an aisle seat at least. The two guys in middle/middle seats (the two in the middle of the four seats between the two aisles) are looking pretty compressed right now. They're more cramped than my poor dog back at the kennel. At least they get out in a few hours. She's sentenced to a whole week. :-(
Well, we're leaving the gate now. Time to power off phones, pagers, radios and toaster ovens.
Off we go, into the wide blue yonder...
The 747 has always been my favorite plane. Seeing something this big fly through the air just boggles my mind. I understand the physics and aerodynamics of it all, but this thing is freakin' huge! It's not even the biggest plane aloft, but you don't get as much chance to see military cargo planes outside of the Middle East.
Inside, unfortunately, the only sense of hugeness is the long line of people between you and the exit or - even more importantly - the loo. I'm in an aisle seat at least. The two guys in middle/middle seats (the two in the middle of the four seats between the two aisles) are looking pretty compressed right now. They're more cramped than my poor dog back at the kennel. At least they get out in a few hours. She's sentenced to a whole week. :-(
Well, we're leaving the gate now. Time to power off phones, pagers, radios and toaster ovens.
Off we go, into the wide blue yonder...
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Pointless drivel
(Transferred from my old spaces.live.com blog - substitute Google/Blogger for Microsoft)
So, Microsoft has expanded my Hotmail account to let me write meaningless drivel not just to my address book but now to no one in particular! Excellent! Is this a beta test of Microsoft Paranoid Schizophrenia 1.0?Please enjoy the pictures of my friendly home and money- and time-consuming dog (or is that the other way around?). I know the people that come here are really just looking for Meg pictures and not anything I have to say. On the other hand, this IS the Charleyverse; so I get to do whatever I want.
On that note, I'm going to go cook a steak.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Roaming...
Holy crap! You CAN post from a BlackBerry. This is bad news for all who don't want to read gibberish I come up with on long dog walks!
Anyway, just wanted to say hi from the West Indies. Hi. I'm down here for the week to thaw, sleep and read. Last night was a beautiful 13 hours of sleep. Next up? Breakfast and then trapeze class. Maybe I should go light on breakfast?
Anyway, just wanted to say hi from the West Indies. Hi. I'm down here for the week to thaw, sleep and read. Last night was a beautiful 13 hours of sleep. Next up? Breakfast and then trapeze class. Maybe I should go light on breakfast?
Saturday, December 07, 1991
Jeep Hits Planet. Film at 11.
December 7, 1991: Kennebunk, ME. (FRUSTRATICUS WIRE SERVICES) While driving to Freeport, Maine for some holiday shopping, Mr. Pist O'Phocles and Ms. Mary Goodfriend of Boston, Massachusetts, hit a slushy patch on Interstate 95 and ran the car off the road into a ditch, killing a sign post.
The incident occurred near Kennebunk, Maine on a two-lane stretch of US Interstate 95, northbound. Witnesses state that the vehicle was traveling at between forty and forty-five miles per hour and seemed to be attempting a change into the right-hand, or "cruising" lane after having passed a large tractor-trailer that had been spraying snow and debris onto the windshields of following cars. While crossing the dotted line between lanes, O'Phocles' car, a somewhat abused 1988 Jeep Cherokee, began to skid and reached as much as a ninety-degree angle to its intended trajectory before its driver was able to correct it back to almost a mere twenty degree angle error. The car followed this angle off the highway onto the snowy shoulders. Unfortunately, the shoulder sloped downward almost thirty degrees and was criss-crossed by drainage ditches. As the front-right wheel of the Jeep went into one of these gullies, the vehicle rolled onto its right side. During this activity, Mr. O'Phocles was quoted as calmly saying to his passenger "Hold on."
Only the precaution of wearing shouldered seat-belts prevented the pair from serious injury and perhaps becoming a single, oddly-shaped, passenger in one of the local fire-department's emergency vehicles. The seat-belts performed their job admirably, holding the two almost upside-down in their seats, while the car pondered rolling further.
While no injuries were reported, other than a broken fingernail for Ms. Goodfriend, the two did find themselves trapped in the poorly-postured vehicle until bystanders noticed the dark spot in the snow and assisted them in extricating themselves from the Jeep. The two noted how difficult it is to open a car's doors from the inside when it is not right-side up.
The car was towed to a body shop in Kennebunk, where top specialists are fighting to revive it from its critical condition. The driver and passenger were taken by the State Police to the nearest emergency shelter, a Popeye's two exits further, to await the arrival of Mr. O'Phocles' nearest relatives.
This same vehicle has shown a distinct pattern of accepting and perhaps even enjoying, abuse. Shortly after Mr. O'Phocles purchased it, a large tree fell across its roof while parked at his home. The following Christmas, a visit by his parents included a brief stop-over in the parking lot to retrieve the remains of the vehicle's tail-lights after Mr. O'Phocles backed into a telephone pole. Mr. O'Phocles was not willing to comment on any connection between his parents' presence in the vehicle and the ramming of the vehicle into the large stationary object.
No further update has been received on the fate of the vehicle; however, Mr. O'Phocles and Ms. Goodfriend did not suffer any delayed effects from the incident and enjoyed a relaxing weekend of hot-tubbing and sledding at the home of Mr. O'Phocles' relatives in Portland, Maine. With the assistance of a mutual friend from Boston, Mr. Driver, the two did eventually reach Freeport and then returned to Boston, wearing their seat belts for the entire trip.
The incident occurred near Kennebunk, Maine on a two-lane stretch of US Interstate 95, northbound. Witnesses state that the vehicle was traveling at between forty and forty-five miles per hour and seemed to be attempting a change into the right-hand, or "cruising" lane after having passed a large tractor-trailer that had been spraying snow and debris onto the windshields of following cars. While crossing the dotted line between lanes, O'Phocles' car, a somewhat abused 1988 Jeep Cherokee, began to skid and reached as much as a ninety-degree angle to its intended trajectory before its driver was able to correct it back to almost a mere twenty degree angle error. The car followed this angle off the highway onto the snowy shoulders. Unfortunately, the shoulder sloped downward almost thirty degrees and was criss-crossed by drainage ditches. As the front-right wheel of the Jeep went into one of these gullies, the vehicle rolled onto its right side. During this activity, Mr. O'Phocles was quoted as calmly saying to his passenger "Hold on."
Only the precaution of wearing shouldered seat-belts prevented the pair from serious injury and perhaps becoming a single, oddly-shaped, passenger in one of the local fire-department's emergency vehicles. The seat-belts performed their job admirably, holding the two almost upside-down in their seats, while the car pondered rolling further.
While no injuries were reported, other than a broken fingernail for Ms. Goodfriend, the two did find themselves trapped in the poorly-postured vehicle until bystanders noticed the dark spot in the snow and assisted them in extricating themselves from the Jeep. The two noted how difficult it is to open a car's doors from the inside when it is not right-side up.
The car was towed to a body shop in Kennebunk, where top specialists are fighting to revive it from its critical condition. The driver and passenger were taken by the State Police to the nearest emergency shelter, a Popeye's two exits further, to await the arrival of Mr. O'Phocles' nearest relatives.
This same vehicle has shown a distinct pattern of accepting and perhaps even enjoying, abuse. Shortly after Mr. O'Phocles purchased it, a large tree fell across its roof while parked at his home. The following Christmas, a visit by his parents included a brief stop-over in the parking lot to retrieve the remains of the vehicle's tail-lights after Mr. O'Phocles backed into a telephone pole. Mr. O'Phocles was not willing to comment on any connection between his parents' presence in the vehicle and the ramming of the vehicle into the large stationary object.
No further update has been received on the fate of the vehicle; however, Mr. O'Phocles and Ms. Goodfriend did not suffer any delayed effects from the incident and enjoyed a relaxing weekend of hot-tubbing and sledding at the home of Mr. O'Phocles' relatives in Portland, Maine. With the assistance of a mutual friend from Boston, Mr. Driver, the two did eventually reach Freeport and then returned to Boston, wearing their seat belts for the entire trip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)