Triple Threat

Yay!  Three more medals for Canada today, in men's Judo, women's synchronized diving, and in women's weightlifting ... first ever woman to win a weightlifting medal for Canada.

Go  Canucks!

So, that brings our total to four medals so far (all bronze) on day 4, while in Beijing 4 years ago, we didn't get our first medal of the games until day 8.

Interesting to note that the first bronze medal we got yesterday, also in women's synchronized diving, the older member of the pair won a medal in four straight Olympic games, a first for Canadian athletes. I also heard that the American woman who won in skeet shooting got her medal in her fifth straight Olympic games, an American record.

....Plus, let's not forget American swimmer Michael Phelps, who got two more medals today and is now the most decorated Olympic athlete in history, with 18 medals in total.  And who knows how long his Beijing record of 8 gold medals in one game will stand!

So inspiring!

Conjunction of the Spheres!

Have a lovely conjunction coming up in a couple of days.

On Wednesday it's my payday (although I receive the money the day before), it's my first day off for my weekend, it's a full moon ... and it's Lammas!

Woot!

I'm taking the car in for service Wednesday morning and I plan to have the courtesy shuttle drop me off at Bocca on Fitz, where I will grab a quick coffee and perhaps a pastry of some sort, then I'm planning to pop around the corner to Lobelia's Lair, and hopefully have enough funds that I can pick something up to make my celebration in the evening all that much more special.

Lucky lucky me!

Scary Thought

With recent changes that have come into place for mortages in Canada (not just for new mortgages, but also for renewing mortgages), and with the drops in our home's value in the past couple of years with the downturn in real-estate, there's a very real possibility that when it comes to renew at the end of summer in 2014, we'll lose our house.

I have to work hard to come up with several tens of thousands of *extra* dollars, so that I can make a couple of lump sum payments on the mortgage, so that come renewal time we're save.

Anyone have any ideas about getting extra income, without getting a second job (not really feasible with working from 9am-9pm five days a week)?

Go Canada!

Got to see most of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics while on my lunch, pretty spectacular!  I especially liked the cauldron for the Olympic flame, very neat.

I hope all our Canadian athletes perform to the best of their ability, and no matter how they place in their individual competitions, know that we in Canada are pulling for them and proud of them being our ambassadors to the sports world.

I'm also cheering for New Zealand, Australia, and Great Britain ... as I always do.

Computer Woes

Maxx tried to install my new RAM chips into the iMac today, but he had trouble removing the existing ones, so we managed to pop into the MAC store and they were kind enough to assist, so I now have 4GB RAM, needed to upgrade to Lion or Mountain Lion.

So, when we got home I went ahead and upgraded to Snow Leopard, as I needed to get that installed to be able to upgrade the OS further.  Then, I couldn't find Lion on the Mac store page, and when I tried to simply install Mountain Lion, my computer indicated it wasn't compatible (although it wouldn't tell me why).

I got in touch with tech support, to see if we could figure out why, and it turns out although I purchased the computer in June of 2007, iMacs purchased from mid-2007 and more recently could have the new OS installed, so I guess I bought it a couple of months too early, years ago!

Oh, well, I'd really wanted to upgrade so I could get my iTunes upgraded, and could then in turn upgrade my phone.  So, got iTunes set up and it's the newest version, no issues.  Then trying to synch my phone and there was an issue with the back up, then with re-initializing the phone, which I finally got to work.  Thought I lost all my photos but managed to get them restored, but still don't have my music from the computer showing on the phone, and now iTunes isn't offering me an option to synch my phone.  At this point, trying to get iMatch to enable so I can get the music to sync through the cloud.  We'll see how it goes!

Relaxing!

First day of my weekend today, and after running around this morning with Maxx and a friend, getting some errands done, was able to relax this afternoon.  Guess I'll need to mow the lawns tomorrow, though, they're getting pretty shaggy in spots, and our lawn-mower has a bum knee right now and hasn't been able to do it for a couple of weeks.  Angel prefers the lawn when it's short ... when it gets long she doesn't like it tickling her belly or getting in her face.

Worried

When I had Angel, Imp and Elf out at the end of my morning shift (Hobgoblin has gone to visit Richmond with his Daddy), Angel was running around like a maniac and came over to jump up against my legs as usual, but when I went to tickle her little tummy she screamed!  Now, I'm worried, wondering if there's something wrong, or if she's just constipated and has a sore tummy.  Everyone got wet food today, hoping that if she's constipated that will help to move things along, and I guess we'll just have to touch her tummy gently later to see if she's still tender or back to normal.

Poor wee Angel-kin!

Such a Tragedy

Family and friends shared this link on Facebook today, and I find it one of those tear-jerker stories, where a poor young dog which failed to become a police dog because he was too friendly and trusting, was found so badly beaten in a dumpster in what if I remember correctly is even a fairly affluent area of Vancouver.  The poor thing didn't make it.

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/German+Shepherd+found+Kitsilano+dumpster+dies/6960877/story.html

I never seem to be able to get links to work, so you may need to copy and paste the above if you wish to read about this poor German Shepherd.  I've spent much of my lunch hour in tears, thinking about this lovely creature, and my poor pets who have passed away over the years.

Darn!

Here I'd been thinking that with Maxx going to Richmond on Saturday and Sunday, that maybe on my day off on Sunday I would get around to doing some painting.  I forgot that it's shift changeover, and this work "week" runs from Tues July 17th to Tues July 24th, with my weekend changing to Wednesday/Thursday off.

Ack!  I wish changeover weekends would ALWAYS give you a long weekend, or at least a shorter week!

Foiled Again!

Cloudy enough that we didn't bother to go out and watch the sunset and try to see the northern lights ... but not cloudy enough to give us the promised thunderstorms.

Argh!

At least I do have a thunderstorm disk that I listen to almost every night when I go to sleep.  It's so soothing.  Plus, I hope that hearing it often means that when the dogs experience the real thing, it's not a big deal.

Breaking Weather

Last night it suddenly cooled down quite a bit and we got some rain.  There were thunder showers in the forecast for today but they haven't materialized, and it looks like the clouds are clearing off.  If the sky clears enough, we're hoping to get out to go watch the sunset, and see if we can spot the northern lights, as apparently we were hit with some discharge from the sun which have caused them to be really noticeable.  If we are able to see them clearly, I hope to be able to take a photo!

Yesterday just seemed so very hot ... and poor Angel was panting away even with her current clipped cut, so I ended up popping her into the tub with some cool water and wetting her down quickly.  She's so funny ... she just hates getting wet, but after she's had a bath (or when we have the pool up and in use, we've taken her in with us) she feels so frisky and silly!  You can tell how much better she feels, but she doesn't seem to connect the dogs between getting wet and feeling frisky.

Still Summer

Currently 24 degrees, and my phone is showing nothing but sunny skies still until Wednesday.  Looks like we're getting a decent little stretch of summer!

An Angel Ouchie

Last night as we were sitting down in the living room getting ready to watch True Blood, Angel hopped up onto my lap voluntarily for some loves, and as I was stroking her I found a wee bump on her side.

I thought it was possible it could be a tick, so I quickly located it in her fur, and found that it was either a pimple or a tiny cyst, so Maxx took a look at it and tried to get it out.  Poor wee girlie didn't like that but the most she did was squirm and give me kisses.

I'll have to keep an eye on it to see if it gets infected or gets larger.  Hopefully Maxx was able to get out all of the matter inside, and it will just heal up cleanly.

Thumb Twiddling

I work at home and in the last hour of my shift this morning I started having issues with connectivity for tools, then when trying to contact folks in the office or in our IT department to confirm if this was just me or if something was going on, wasn't able to get in touch with anyone.  I popped into the office on my lunch to touch base, and found that the issue isn't just me, nor is it related to the rolling blackouts in Calgary, but to an electrical fire which has put a crimp in our ability to connect to the company servers.

So, sitting here tonight from five to nine, trying to log in every 15 minutes, and wondering if we'll be back up and running tomorrow morning or not.

Interesting day!  Just glad there were no injuries at the office building where they had the fire ... thank goodness!

Summer's Stayin'!

Looks like summer is staying at least until Sunday (although who knows how soon the forecast could change, or when it will be just plain wrong!).

We got one of the propane tanks filled so we can barbeque again, which is always nice, particularly in hot weather when you don't want to turn on the stove.  Have to check the old bank account now and perhaps head out to the store for some barbeque friendly food!

Hot Hot Hot

We really did quite a jump from what many were calling "Junuary" here locally, to nice summer weather.  It was close to 30 degrees yesterday, beautifully sunny.  Got to hang out on my lounge chair in the back yard with the dogs for a bit, but it did quickly become just too hot ... and Angel kept climbing up into my lap and panting in my face, then scrambling down and heading for the back door, then coming back up again.  So, we ended up being back inside after a while, where it was cooler, and turned on the ceiling fan.

Today is much the same, but Maxx was home and we got the dogs down for an amble along the waterfront fairly early, before it got too too hot!

Dog Dreams

You know how sometimes your dog will be fast asleep and have a really intense dream, so that they start twitching or running in their sleep?

Yesterday, Elf was fast asleep on the back of the recliner, and I heard this thumping noise ... I glanced around and saw that he must have been having a really awesome dream, as he was wagging his tail furiously and it was thumping away on the back of the chair.

Sweet wee fella!

Grumbles

Someone has been randomly letting off some firecrackers in the neighborhood (or something which sounds exactly like it), and poor Angel has been from time to time pretty frantic today.  She rushes around in a panic and then dashes over to huddle near me.  Strangely enough, neither Elf nor Imp seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary ... and they're the ones who usually start barking like crazy at nothing we are able to see or hear!

Quick Visit

Had my doctor's appointment today for my pap smear and breast exam, also took my height, weight, and blood pressure (which was really really good!).

Now, of course, just have to wait to see if there are any out-of-the-ordinary results that they need me to talk about.

I do still have to wait until January before I can talk to the screening folks about having a mammogram done (start at 40, hitting the big 4-0 next year), but luckily they are right beside the vets so I'll have lots of chances to pop in and make an appointment.

Sunshine !?!?!

Beautiful out yesterday, gorgeous today, and my phone is showing glowing suns for the weather forecast until Tuesday (as of right now, at least).

Going to enjoy my day off tomorrow, and then on Sunday and Monday!

Cherry Eye

Elf came down with another bout of cherry eye today, and it got so bad I was thinking we were going to have to rush him in to the vet tomorrow at lunch, but the third eyelid has once again slipped back into place and he looks normal once more.

Poor wee bugger.  It doesn't happen all that often, but when it does it just looks so very painful!  When we have him in at the vets next I'll have to remember to mention it and get their recommendations about surgery, whether they think it would be a good thing and how much it would be.  I believe it's just a stitch or two to keep the third lid in place, but he'd have to have it done on both eyes (as both have popped out at different times).

He's now snuggled down under the covers waiting for me to come to bed, with the other three dogs on top of the covers, so I'm signing off for the night.

Busy Canada Day

Got the day off to a fairly early start with a vet visit for Hobgoblin.  Just his yearly check up and shots, and picked up cat and dog food at the vets.  When talking to the vet they said that actually the dental food they have is the only one really formulated to get rid of tartar, and stores can't sell it, so we're switching from the dental food we've been giving the dogs to the vet one ... it's a pretty big bag for just shy of $80, so it should last for months and months.  The kibble is pretty big, so it will take Angel a while to eat each piece, maybe she'll even lose an ounce or two!  The cat food we've been buying exclusively from the vet for quite some time now, as we want to make sure that Pippin never gets urinary tract crystals again, and keep them all on a good maintenance food.  All the cats are doing well, so that's always a good thing.

It's nice that at the vet, we're so in their good books for being conscientious about bringing our critters in, that we don't actually have to bring in 3 or more critters at a time to get a discount.  We just automatically get 10% off every time we visit.  Every little helps!

Afterwards we dashed off to Pet Smart to update Hobgoblin's vaccination info on file, for the next time we take him in for a groom.  It's just so much easier to remember the paperwork at the time the shots are done, than finding it later when you have a grooming appointment scheduled!

When we got home, we got busy on the storage room, pulling half of the stuff in there out, and getting the entertainment unit and tv into the previously empty corner of the living room (after making sure it won't block access to the electrical panel!), then built the new shelving unit and got it all filled.  Everything is back in the room now and all is sooo much neater and tidier!  Now I want to get at least one more of the units (possibly two, need to go and measure if two would fit on the other wall), so we can continue to organize and eventually have our home in a state of perpetual tidiness -- instead of the opposite end of the spectrum, as usual!