Lucy: 8 Weeks

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I’m only a few hours from the end of my Weekend Alone with an Eight Week Old Puppy. I think it’s gone very well and Lucy and Ripley have expressed no opinion on the subject. Ripley is getting more comfortable with the pup every day. They both want to play but need a little more time to get there.

And for those that need one more Life Lesson: Life is like our big back yard/woods. Dog shit everywhere. You know it’s there and you do you best not to step in it… but you do. And you will again. Just clean off your shoe and keep going.

Odometer of Life

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The photograph was –I believe– taken on my fifth birthday. John bought the cake at the annual Rotary Radio Auction. I’m guessing it was created by Causbie’s Bakery and intended for a wedding. But it made a hell of birthday cake. This image captures the essence of the 50’s for me. Ward, June and the Beaver. Seemed fitting for tomorrow’s 56th birthday. Christ, (sorry, Mel) how is it possible I have a photograph of myself that’s more than half a century old?

Lesson learned during the past year? It’s a good thing to count your blessings but you can’t use the math you learned as a child. I have all of these wonderful birthday presents, so if I break or lose one, it’s okay because I have so many more. One would think. Unfortunately, you might have one hundred items in the Blessings column and just one in the Other column…and find you are overdrawn in your Life Book. One drop of pain can be so concentrated, it needs an ocean of Good Things to dilute it. And it never goes away entirely. How did I miss this awful truth?

SoundCover phone app

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“Did you wake up late for work and you want your boss to think you’re caught in traffic? Select the Traffic Jam background and give him a call from your bedroom. He will hear your voice on top of (traffic sfx). Is one of your mates a chronic talker that just doesn’t know when to stop? Use the Phone Ring background and your friend will hear a phone ring 6 times, 15 seconds into the call. Tell him that your other phone is ringing and that you have to go. Pretend you’re at the dentist, in the park, on the street, caught in a thunderstorm, near heavy machinery or at a circus parade.”

St. Louis Traffic and Weather.

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I finally got around to listening to the new “local weather & traffic” channels on XM Radio. Twenty-one cities to start, including St. Louis. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the content but it sounded like most other weather and traffic reports to me. For that matter, I have no way of knowing –without being in it every day– the accuracy of such reports on local stations. I did like the continuous feeds. If I didn’t want to wait 10 minutes for the next report on KMOX, I could punch up XM 218 and get it almost immediately.

Body by Traci

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With birthday #56 looming, I’m proud to report that I have never been in better physical condition. Ever. As a child, I wasn’t this fit. And I owe it all to very nice lady named Traci Booth. Yes, I have a personal trainer. I started working out with Traci more than two years ago. It’s my one great extravagance. No way I’d keep at this without our weekly sessions. If you have trouble sticking with an exercise program, here’s your answer.