Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

24 degrees

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That’s the difference between the high temperature on December 26 and the high on December 31. I’m still not entirely convinced about global warming, but there have been a lot of strange things going on with the weather in recent years. We did have local warming in a big way last week, with a high of 55°F on December 31. That is pretty unnatural for the Chicago area.

Just a few days earlier on the day after Christmas, the high for the day was 31°F and a few inches of snow had fallen overnight. The dogs loved it because it was deep enough to wrestle in and roll around in. Please note that these are Rottweilers at play, not war. They may appear to be killing each other, but trust me. They tell me this is big Rottweiler fun.

Temperatures were warm enough on the 29th and 30th for the snow to start melting. The unseasonably warm temperatures on the 31st killed it off almost completely. I don’t have photos of the in-between swamplike stage featuring freezing cold mud, but here’s that same yard on New Year’s Eve day, after rain overnight and through the early morning.

We’re back to a more typical 20something°F today. No more local warming here.

On an unrelated note, I’m starting a Project 365 and attempting to take and post a photo every day this year. We’ll see how that goes. I’ll be adding a link to my photoblog in the right sidebar soon, but I’ll repost only the dog- and computer-related photos here. Like today’s:

Project 365/2:
DSCN0403c

Click photo to go to the blog post

Done for the moment, I hope

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I told you that wasn’t it, didn’t I? It was not that bad, or at least it would not have been that bad, had the snowblower not given up the ghost yesterday afternoon.

Compare these to yesterday’s shots!

Although most days it’s really less than a joy living on a main road, there are some good things about living on a snow route, like usually having it cleared quite quickly after a snowfall.

Rottweilers can’t run through it too fast when it’s this deep.

Freya compares today’s snow depth to yesterday’s.

This corner isn’t affected much by blowing and drifting, so the amount accumulated on top of the a/c is probably pretty close to the actual amount that fell between yesterday’s photos and today’s.

The snow is supposedly done for now. At this depth and at the forecasted colder temperatures, the backyard piles and drifts will be around for a while for the Rottweiler wrecking crew to enjoy.

So, on a totally unrelated note, then… you know I had to do this, don’t you? As always, I have been keeping a close watch for online and offline proof of the dogs’ latest accomplishments. Freya’s first set of APDT Rally Obedience scores have just been posted online. See?

We’re still watching for online confirmation and physical certificate for Axel’s Rally Novice title, physical certificate for Axel’s Canine Good Citizen, online confirmation and physical certificate for Freya’s APDT Rally Level 1 title, and photos from Freya’s APDT trial at For Your Canine. So you’ll have to share a few more of these moments with me still!

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 10 of 28)

If this was it…

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Today’s commutes, both morning and evening, were not bad at all. Too bad it didn’t stop with this, though.

Our street is a snow route, meaning that our street should be cleared early on in the process, and that we can’t park on the street when snow is 2″ or deeper.

Here is the back yard before Rottweilers run through it.

Here is a Rottweiler (Axel) running through it.

Here is a Rottweiler (Freya) running past it.

Here is the back yard after Rottweilers run through it.

It’s been steadily snowing for most of the night, so I’m almost afraid to see what we end up with in the morning, although it won’t be as much as the East Coast was socked with. This storm is heading that way and I’m sure they are none too pleased about that.

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 9 of 28)

Yes, it’s February in Chicago

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So I suppose I shouldn’t complain about snow and cold, because that is normal for this place at this time of year. And I suppose it looks even worse to complain about a mere foot of as-yet-unmaterialized snow after what the East Coast has been getting.

That doesn’t mean I won’t do it.

It’s almost midnight as I write this, and although the 10 o’clock news said something about snow being sighted in the far western suburbs, there is not a single flake to be seen yet here on the nort’west side. The dogs are not happy about this. Sadly, they will probably get their snow wishes granted. We’ll see!

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 8 of 28)