Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Very late update on an exterior improvement

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Way back here I mentioned that the planter bed in front of the house was finally finished, and then I forgot to post photos. Well, here they are, finally.

I don’t think most of you who visit me here had ever seen the old planter bed. It was made of timbers, and over the years was starting to sink and lean. It didn’t look that horrible even at the end, but it was definitely in need of repair and updating. It’s been replaced with a stone edging. I really like how it turned out.

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Our lawn service folks were the ones who did this. The cost was reasonable and they did a very nice job.

I’m sure there are some jagoffs in the neighborhood who think we are lazy jagoffs ourselves for hiring a lawn service, since we are not that old and not that unhealthy. Well. I hired the original lawn service the spring after I bought the house in 1989. I was, and still am to some degree, allergic to a lot of different types of plant life. Cut grass used to be a big problem for me. After a series of allergy shots and the better allergy drugs of the 21st century, it is not so much of a problem any more. But back then, I was single, did not own a lawn mower, and was very much bothered by cut grass. A weekly visit from a lawn service was the best solution.

When I got married, we saw no reason to change things, as he did not bring an already-existing lawn mower to the marriage. The lawn service was sold a few years ago, and we thought about dropping it after a season with the new owners. Except the new owners were just as efficient and reliable as the original owners, and the cost was still very reasonable. No reason to change something good. And it’s nice to have one homeowner thing we don’t have to worry about!

Oh, not that I feel I had to explain myself to the jagoffs, and I know that you, my friends, wouldn’t mind if I never explained it. Just in case you were wondering!

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 18 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 206 of 274)

Link love

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Since my own output of quality prose is somewhat sparse at the moment, and the makeover of my blogroll and links list and page has come to a grinding halt, please allow me to introduce (or re-introduce) you to a few loved links!

The Denora has been on hiatus for a few months, and I missed her! But now she’s back in fine form, with a spiffy new design and new location as well. Go visit, you will enjoy!

Joanna at Ruffly Speaking just got a new puppy, so you could visit for adorable puppy photos alone. Even more valuable, though, is her great commentary on puppy socialization as “Friday” becomes part of their family. UPDATE: Now with a new location and great new layout at http://blacksheepcardigans.com/

I’ve written here before about Jim Nelson’s and René Agredano’s Tripawds resource site for three-legged dogs. They have made many updates and additions to the site following a donation drive this past spring, and just this past weekend, hosted a get-together in Longmont, Colorado for three-legged dogs and their “pawrents.” Sounds like it was quite a success! As always, applause to Jim and René for all of their work in providing this resource, and much love from angel Jake, my own dearly-missed tripawd.

I have many loved links, and I hope that by highlighting a few of them, I didn’t give anyone the idea that my other links are not loved as well. Go visit them all, well, as soon as I get the blogroll organized again anyway!

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 17 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 205 of 274)

Covering my eyes and ears

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Somehow I managed to miss the start of the new season of Mad Men tonight. This in itself is not too tragic. The three shows I follow, including Mad Men, are all Comcast On Demand shows, so I can watch missed shows any time I want. I may complain about Comcast service now and then, but I have nothing but good words to say about the convenience that is On Demand.

The hard part is going to be avoiding spoilers for a day or two until I get a chance to watch. Easy enough to avoid places where I know for sure there will be show discussions going on. I can just click past Television Without Pity until I’m caught up. At work, I’m actually pretty safe as well. We’re all pretty good about not spoiling each other and waiting a reasonable amount of time for people to catch up on missed episodes. It’s more fun when everyone who watches a show can weigh in anyway.

No, what I’m afraid of is stumbling over incidental off-topic conversations in forums (just saying “sorry, OT” does not make it okay when it comes to my shows, yeah, selfish of me, but that’s from the heart) and blog entries from people I didn’t even know were fans.

So if I click past you so fast you feel like you’re in a wind tunnel, it’s nothing personal. I’ll be back once I catch up on that first episode of the new season!

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 16 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 204 of 274)

Almost nothing to say

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I’m pretty tired tonight and really don’t have anything interesting to write about. I didn’t even record audio or video of me attempting to play my guitar for the first time in ages. This is purely for your safety; see, I do care about you, my readers! For those who are morbidly curious, okay, fine, I’ll try it when I can actually get through a whole song.

I know the lack of a topic doesn’t usually stop me from writing, and in general, I’m totally with this Copyblogger post about writing something, anything, anyway. But tonight I’m going to go offline and watch old CSI: NY, Sons of Anarchy, and Cold Case until I fall asleep. Good night!

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 15 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 203 of 274)

The power of music

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The question comes up often, maybe too often, in blog and forum memes: what super power would you want to have? When I’m not in the mood to play along with the invisible flying healing walking through walls program, I have said that I want the super power of being able to make music.

For those of you who were born with the gift of music, you might not appreciate that it does seem like a super power to me. Music has the power to inspire us, to reduce stress, and to enhance physical performance in workouts and competition. Even if you don’t believe there is sufficient scientific evidence (and truly, I don’t think there is), there is certainly no shortage of anecdotal evidence that music does indeed have powers.

The reason I am thinking about this should be somewhat obvious. 2009 has been a year of many losses to the entertainment world, and yesterday’s passing of Les Paul, musician and innovator, is a huge loss indeed.

I’m not old enough to have known much of Les Paul’s music, but I’m certainly familiar with the guitar that bears his name. I worked above a music store for a short time during high school, and I got to actually touch and attempt to play some very expensive guitars. Really, who didn’t secretly want to be a rock star (yeah, I know it’s more of a guy thing, but it’s definitely not exclusive to males). And part of that was the Fender Strat… or the Gibson Les Paul.

In reading some of the many tributes and articles for Les Paul, in general and music publications alike, one thing really struck me about his accomplishments. The awards and honors he had received over his long life included awards for music, inventing and broadcasting. How amazing to make a mark and a contribution in three different disciplines like that.

I love music. I have no gift for it. In spite of that, I have a solid body electric guitar that I can’t really play. It’s not a Les Paul or any flavor of Gibson, but that’s ok. Tomorrow no one will be home to hear me play it badly, so play it I will.

RIP Les Paul. Thank you for your creations that gave to so many the super power of music.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 14 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 202 of 274)