Sympathy Whiz

We’ve been using another bench for doggy photo ops, the one at the school bus stop on the corner north of our house, but school’s started again (what, already?) and kids are using it when we take our morning walk. Since our dachshunds bark furiously at everything they see … kids, adults, other dogs, coyotes, birds, clouds in the sky … we’ll move south to the bench in the turnaround at the end of our street.

This bench, where Fritzi and Lulu are taking advantage of extra elevation to get out of ground clutter and expand their search coverage.

Speaking of dogs, Polly’s away for a couple of days and we have the house to ourselves, so I did a manly (and therefore crude) thing and took a whiz without closing the toilet door. Mister B was watching and took one himself on the throw rug the other side of the open door. He may have reasoned that out … if he’s going, why not go too … or just had an accident. He’s getting pretty old and those are becoming more common.

I wear my wristwatches in rotation, not on a schedule (this one Monday, that one Tuesday, etc), but I do try not to wear the same ones over and over. Of course I have favorites, and less favorites too. Like these two:

They’re nice watches but petite. A few decades ago they’d have been in the normal to large range, but by today’s standards they’re dainty. On Donna, though, they look killer. Women wear larger watches now, and Donna does occasionally put these on. So I’m shifting them from my collection to hers, which’ll have the added benefit of opening two slots in mine. I’m ordering a new watch for my birthday in October, and that’ll fill one slot. Which leaves another opening for next year. And then I’ll stop. I promise.

Our son, daughter in law, and grandson were planning to spend Thanksgiving with us. Donna wanted to book a cabin at Tanque Verde Ranch, which offers lots of dude ranch-style activities and has a good rep with locals for its family Thanksgiving spread. But we waited too long and there’s no room at the inn. Which, it turns out, is too rich for our blood anyway. So we’re letting the Las Vegas Woodfords off the hook. Maybe we’ll drive up there instead, if not in November then in December or January. This time, though, I want to board out the dogs. That’ll be a hard sell to Donna, and I’m already girding my loins in anticipation of the fight.

If anyone’s curious how I’m doing with Ozempic, I’ve lost about 30 pounds and so far have had no adverse reactions. Starting next week I graduate to the maximum dose, double what I’m taking now, and at some point will visit my doctor again for blood work to see if I can come off any of my other meds. So I gotta say … I like it.

If it goes on schedule, a Falcon 9 will lift off from Vandenberg ten hours from now, at 7:02 p.m. I’m looking out the office window at scattered clouds but the forecast calls for rain. Maybe we’ll see the space jellyfish and maybe we won’t. I hear SpaceX has applied for government approval to increase its launch activities at Vandenberg, so we’ll see one eventually. But I have to wonder, just how many of those little Starlink boogers does Elon plan to put up there? And when will those two NASA astronauts, two months into what was supposed to be an eight-day stay, be able to come down from the ISS?

I was pulling for Senator Mark Kelly as VP, but compared with Governor Tim Walz he’s not nearly as personable. Kamala Harris made the right choice of running mate, and who knows, maybe Kelly will become part of her cabinet. What I’m angling for is to see Gabby Giffords, Kelly’s wife, in a more powerful position, one close to the presidency, where she and Kelly can push for more gun control.

I see I’m jumping around a bit, a reliable sign I’ve run out of things to say. More later!