Dog Frolicing Video

I've taken lots of outrigger video and had a great time editing posting them online. My brother asked me if I ever planned to shoot anything other than outrigger. Here it is:



My regular dog park buddy is Marcus and his two corgi, Henry (black headed tri-color) and Katherine (red & white). My next door neighbors dog came along, too. Lucy is a lab mix and sports that styling red jacket. Our other corgi pals Linda and her corgi, Cody, and Leslie and her two corgi, Edgar & Wyatt, arrived as we were headed out. By that time I'd put the camera away and didn't think to get some vid of them. The early arrivals were already pretty pooped out so there wasn't the level of play there normally is with Cody, Edgar, and Wyatt. Next time, there's always next time.

Clean & Smells Good Too!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned Llelo's predilection for rolling in goose poop before. If not, well, now you know. I like to let the boys run around and sniff and pee while I'm getting the boat ready to paddle. There is quite a lot of water fowl (foul?) activity down at SSP and Llelo will, if given half a chance, both sample and roll in goose poop. The green staining and joyful expressions are a dead give away! Gus is the total opposite, when he sees any sort of feces he recoils a bit and I believe you can even see his nose wrinkle in disgust. I prefer that to Llelo's reaction.

Last Tuesday was a gangbuster day for him at the beach. He was racing around visiting everyone, playing with the other dogs, racing back to say hi to me and Gus ... During one of his visits I noticed no fewer than three green patches on his fur and a look of sheer bliss on his face. Both boys were in need of baths, Llelo's fun just meant they would get them tonight.

When we were nearly ready to launch the boat I caught Llelo and rinsed most of the poop off in the lake, he looked so sad, I was ruining all his fine work! It wasn't one of his best works, the car didn't reek when I got in. There have been times when the car smells nasty after I'm done paddling. Had a good paddle and nice long baths at home. They both smell so nice and their fur is so soft afterwards. Thursday evening I kept Llelo on leash down at SSP, it really put a damper on his fun.

What a Glorious Day

What perfect weather for the last winter series race. I got down early to help set things up and bring the food and coffee. We had a lot of helping hands so I could duck away a little early to rig my boat and make sure I had everything together and situated for the race. I even asked the mother of a club member to take some snaps with my camera. We had our pre-race meeting and then I made my way down to the water for a little bit of warm up. On my way over to the start line I got lots of complements on my new boat. Most of these folks didn't race the Sound Rowers race a couple of weeks ago so they hadn't seen it yet. Ross, from Open Ocean Outriggers, said I looked very comfortable on it. I was feeling pretty comfortable on it as well.

Everybody got lined up for the start of the race, the horn went of and so did we. I tried to paddle hard for that first bit as Doug had taught me a while back, but it just didn't feel right. I settled into my pace and tried to keep up with the back of the pack but realized I was feeling very tight in the chest, my breathing wasn't coming as easily as it should have. About 1.5 miles in I was really wondering whether I should just turn back, call it a day. Then I saw a boat huli (flip over), I wasn't too far away so I pushed myself to get up to him, he looked like he was having a little trouble getting back on board, the water is still pretty cold. As I got there I saw he'd let go of his paddle, I scooped it up and held his ama (the outrigger) while he climbed on, waited for him to adjust his seat and then passed him his paddle. The chase boat had arrived shortly after I did and since we seemed to have things under control they stayed off a little ways. Then we were off again, I got moving a little quicker than he did but he soon overtook me. That breathing thing was becoming rather problematic, fortunately I'd packed my inhaler in my hydration pack before I left. It occurred to me this was precisely the situation for which it was intended so I stopped and took a couple pulls.

I kept going nice and steady and shortly my breathing came a little easier. By this time I had fallen so far behind I started to think of the race as just a regular cruising paddle on a bright sunny day. I made it to the turn around and headed back. I was keeping a pace slightly over 5 miles per hour, which, since I wasn't working too hard, seemed pretty respectable. I saw Alice was still heading towards the turn point which made me feel pretty good, it meant I'd meet all three of my minimum goals, don't huli, finish, and don't finish last! I think the goals should be slightly modified for Alice, she paddles in the 70+ category so instead of not finishing last we can call it finishing strong, because she always does. I want to grow up to be just like her, paddling for many, many years to come. I finished in 1 hour 21 minutes, not my best time ever but not so bad considering I stopped to help someone and couldn't really breath. Also, I had wanted to go easy to preserve my back, it would be a real drag to tweak that again.

We waited for the season results to be tallied and for the cumulative season I came in third overall in the master women category, the master category is 35 and over. It was a pretty good day over all. I then went home to let the dog boyz out and decided it would be perfect a day to take them out for a swim. Back down to SSP and they did some swimmin' and fetchin'. I think a good time was had by all.

Note: The photo of me with Mt Rainier in the background and of Alice looking strong were taken by club member Ryan Parfait, who rode along in the chase boat.

up a Saturday without a paddle

Saturday started out rather strangely. It was the first Saturday that I can remember where I didn't have paddling practice or an outrigger race AND I wasn't sick as a dog. I guess my back injury counts as a variety of illness, but if you aren't spiking a fever or coughing up technicolor ick it isn't really being sick. My back is feeling somewhat better, slowly, as is the cut on my thumb. I have been having difficulty finding a style of bandage that will stay on. As you may know, thumbs are extremely mobile and not easily encouraged to hold still and rest, not unlike myself. All the waterproof, seal around the entire edge style tend to pop off within 10 minutes of application regardless of the size. And if antibiotic ointment has been applied they come off even more quickly. I finally went with the knuckle style made from stretchy fabric, they look like a rounded capital H, two legs wrap around the thumb itself and the other legs extend down the wrist. They actually stay on for a few hours, longer if treated nicely.

Initially at a quandry as to how to fill a day sans paddling, my fears were quickly laid to rest. I still needed to sift through my remaining apartment building storage unit. The plan was to transfer some things to the big off site storage unit. I managed to do that solo without further damaging myself! Even got the stuff down to the other location in a single trip.

Next on the agenda was moving my little laser-type sailboat down to SSP for storage. I was not so delusional as to believe I could get the boat on top of my car by myself. Ten or more years ago and with a car having a more sloping rear window I was able to do it. My back was more healthy then than it is now and the Forester has a vertical rear window, not so good for sliding boats up. I found a neighbor who could help lift it up and I knew I'd find folks down at SSP who could help me lift it off the car. With the boat now down at SSP I suspect I'll be sailing it more frequently. Anybody want to go for a sail? And looking for a link to describe the boat I've found out the make and model, it's a Barnett 1400, I think. The good news is I know that I can get a new sail for it and it will probably be the right thing and cheaper than having one custom made by a different company.

Sunday was a good day as well. Went to breakfast with a couple of friends who then came over to my place afterwards. Llelo is such a goof when people come over. He feels that anyone sitting on the couch has extended him an open invitation to jump into their laps and cover them with hugs and kisses. One of the friends was a boy of 21 months, fun, active, curious, and having a good time with the toy VW Beetle I have. Gus was feeling some anxiety having J in his house and spent the entire visit sucking on his ducky, his equivalent of a security blanket. They tend to get rather nasty, I have a few in backup so they can go through the wash as needed. Aside from Gus, a good time was had by all. After the friends left the dog boys were overcome by naps, they were out cold almost immediately. I parked myself on the couch to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail and woke up a few hours later. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than napping on the couch with a dog curled up in your lap.

It's All About Context

"...you could stand outside naked for five hours and nothing is going to happen." When I read this line last Wednesday in the Seattle Times I couldn't help but laugh. I want to know where you could stand outside naked for five hours and have nothing happen. Surely someone will notice, perhaps point and laugh?!? Actually, the context of the article was that people living in the Northwest suffer from Vitamin D deficiency and the solar radiation from October through March is insufficient to glean the necessary Vitamin D even if we were to stand outside naked for five hours. Ya, whatever, I still thought the line was hilarious. And even with the sunshine we've been having I think it's a little chilly to stand outside naked!

The B boyz are off to their next caregiver this afternoon. I'm glad I seem to have gotten all the bugs worked out but having Bogey wake me and Benjamin at 2 am because he needed to potty, not really going to miss that part. Better that he woke me than not, but I was awake for a good two hours after that. Harumph! Thankfully John will be able to keep them until Saturday afternoon after my race! I'm sure they will be happy to be home again, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you John!

Tomorrow I'm having the prolotherapy injections in my right foot. Fingers crossed that it doesn't hurt too terribly much and it puts me on the path to a pain free foot. Then I'll get the left foot done as well. I'll let you know all about it tomorrow.

Tonight I'm paddling with the 50+ guys. I'm sure they will make me work harder than I would have left to my own devices. They are good like that. I'll think of it as another training session for the race coming up this weekend down in Tacoma. It starts at 10 am at Jack Hyde Park. If you have any interest in seeing an OC1/OC2 race this one has a better vantage point than many. There will be two laps, twice the opportunity for viewing! Email me if you would like additional details.

It Keeps Getting Better

It is really beginning to feel like a comedy of errors, one thing begets another... Will it ever end?

I was supervising breakfast this morning and noticed that Benjamin had a steady drip of urine happening, steady enough that had it been a faucet you'd have located a new washer for it asap! From the food dish into the kitchen for a drink and back, drip, drip, drip. I tried to locate a belly band, a velcro'd band of fabric to wrap around the boy parts to catch the dripping, couldn't find one large enough here in town. Mail order would just take too long. We are making due with a ratty dog towel and safety pins. He's making a real fashion statement! We have corrected his gas problem, switching him from the chicken based to the lamb based food has cured him, huzzah! I seem to be getting the old guy dialed in pretty well. (photo - Benjamin with make shift belly band)

I've been driving Marth's Chevy Tahoe, it's large enough to handle all four dogs easily. It's also as large as my parking space, much larger than my Subaru Forester. This morning as I was backing out of my space, trying not to hit my neighbor's car, the rear view mirror clipped the cement post. D'oh! The housing was fine but the reflective surface popped out and landed on the ground. The severe spider web pattern of broken mirror was there before it fell out, I don't think I'm the first to do this. It's just one more thing. (photo - Bogey, ready for his closeup)

I found a small lump on Gus' back Saturday. My gut told me it was probably a fatty cyst or something benign, but I needed confirmation from the vet to rest well. And Llelo needed his distemper booster shot, too. We went to the vet this morning. She aspirated the lump and got clear fluid! Excellent, benign, don't need to worry about it. However, the other tooth he's chipped is very tender and needs to be removed. I'll likely have the cyst taken off at the same time, if he's going to be under anesthesia might as well change the oil and rotate the tires. Both boys got lots of cookies, the staff just can't help themselves, they both got jabbed with needles, after all! (photo - above Llelo recuperating from his shot, below Gus not wanting another tooth pulled)

I went to All The Best Pet Care to get more Petastic, the enzymatic cleaner for neutralizing urine odors, and then off to Trader Joe's for more lamb based dog food. Once back at the apartment I met with the manager and have arranged to have the carpets cleaned on February 29.

So, I started out this posting feeling facetious but I'm actually feeling like things are starting to work out. Getting everything dialed in. It's just somewhat of a tiring process. If Bogey can keep it under control it will end up being a pretty ok day. I did get out for a short OC2 paddle this morning with Minnie, it was a glorious morning, bright and sunny, no wind, a bit chilly. A little time on the water helps make everything else seem more manageable.

Free Dog to Good Home

Must be returned by February 24. Bogey and I are, erm, having some challenges.

Second night went pretty well. Keeping everyone out of the bedroom until bedtime worked well, except Llelo likes to nap in his crate, in the bedroom, and Gus likes to nap on the bed, again, in the bedroom. Sigh. They made adequate alternate arrangements and things were ok. I dropped the comforter and bedding off at a laundromat and paid to have them washed. Did you know a queen sized comforter costs $30 to launder? and another $15 for the sheets and comforter cover? Worth it to not spend 4 hours watching the comforter dry!

Saturday night the B boys decided that eating would be a good thing to do, they hadn't really been doing that since they arrived. I think they finally got hungry. I fed my guys in the kitchen as usual and fed the B's in the bathroom and had to stick around to supervise. Llelo was doing his best impression of a hyena, knows there's food there, circling around until the lion (me) isn't watching so he can dash in and get a few bites and dash out when the lion notices. It would have been cute except if I raised my voice at Llelo Benjamin would spook and move away from the food giving Llelo the chance to dart in where I would scold him again. I finally worked out some hand signals with Llelo that got the message that he would be dead dog-meat if he were to continue trying that. Both B's finished their supper, of course my guys finished, but that was a given.

At bedtime Llelo decided he'd been kept from his crate for too long and opted to sleep there instead of jammed up against me. Bogey wanted to sleep on me, ain't gonna happen, dude; up against is ok, on, not so much. I woke up during the night to find Bogey jammed up against a very tolerant Gus, who was very soundly asleep. It was vewy, vewy cute.

This morning we got up, went to potty, came in to breakfast. Llelo and I had our signals down pat, but he kept circling and hoping. With corgis and food hope springs eternal. I'm not used to having to supervise meal times and it really threw off my scheduling. I was to meet a friend in Bellevue, introduce his young son to the dogs and let them all have a run around in a fenced area. In all I wasn't nearly so late as I was expecting. A grand time was had by all tearing around the play area. There were some other dogs for Llelo to play chase with and Gus pulled out all the stops illustrating his fetching prowess. I had four comatose dogs within minutes of returning home. Soon after I was overcome by a nap on the couch, on the weekends I find it easier to submit to spontaneous naps than not. After about an hour I heard Benjamin wake up and begin to fidget, Bogey got up, too. I got up to let them out and discovered Bogey had peed on the carpet rather than ask to go out. I know it wasn't Benjamin because I've seen the volume he pees, the spot wasn't that big.

So, if you'd like a free dog, just let me know. Comes with food, leash, collar, fleece coat, the works. Think of it as a trial period through next Sunday! I'll keep Benjamin, you don't have to clean up after flatulence, keeping the fan on takes care of that!

Made it Through the First Night

A couple of friends came over to watch a goofy Adam Sandler movie (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry). It had the usual toilet humor of Sandler's comedies, but there was a touching message of tolerance to go along with it. The guys fake a gay marriage to try and pass retirement/death benefits onto one guy's children after his wife had passed away. The uber macho guys learn that maybe the guy working next to you, saving your ass (they were firemen), may be gay, but he's still a co-worker and will drag your nearly dead body out of the fire because that's what you do for your buddy, gay or not. Kudos Sandler, better than I thought.

Friends left and I began the machinations of making ready for bed. Dogs out to pee, get things ready for paddling in the morning, the usual last minute things before bed. I got everyone moved into the bedroom and discovered a pee spot dead center in my bed. :-( Gus would rather die than do something like that, same with Llelo, he might dribble on the floor, but I think we have that under control now. Benjamin is too creaky to get up on the bed. That leaves Bogey as the prime suspect. The pee went through the bedspread, the down comforter and both sheets. Thankfully, it didn't make it into the faux feather bed. So, after a long day I find myself changing the sheets and blankets at 11:30 pm, before I can go to bed. Grr! Bogey and I had a little chat about that, peeing inside, not allowed, excessive barking, not allowed. Being cute and lovey, bring it on!

They will be here until Sun the 24th, with the exception of Wed/Thur next week when I'll be working in the office and Sat when I'll be racing down in Tacoma. John, a fellow paddler, will step up and take over for me. Thankfully, all four boys get along just fine. Bogey and Llelo play some, Gus and Benjamin tend to stay out of their way. It was very cute last night once we did get to bed. Gus and Llelo felt the need to lay claim to me as THEIR mummy, not your mummy, Bogey. Both my guys were jammed up against me and Bogey was off to the side but still close. Funny, I have a king sized bed and easily two thirds of the real estate went unused last night. Normal nights only about one third is available. Silly boys.

I plan to take some pics today, will post them later and tomorrow.

If Two Are Good, Does That Mean Four Are Better?

As a pet owner it's always a bit dicey whenever I need to leave town, who do I trust enough to care for my beloved pets, with the understanding, of course, that nobody can do it as well as I can. Sort of a similar thing when you need someone to look after your people kids for an evening. You are entrusting someone to be responsible for those lives you hold most dear. Diane, thank you for trusting me with your boys, it was an honor to spend the evening with them and I would happily do it again, preferably on a non-paddling night.

Marth has gone out of town from Friday to a week from Sunday and has entrusted the care of her two dogs to me. That means I now have four dogs in my 700 square foot apartment, along with all the other standard clutter that is my life. It feels a bit more lived in here now. Benjamin is an elderly lab, sweet but a little flatulent, and Bogey is the weirdest looking chihuahua I've ever met. After the initial barking, barking, barking upon arrival things seem to be settling down. Bogey is learning the command, "No barking", thank goodness. Benjamin has co-opted my boys dog bed preferentially over his own which I brought over and set in front of the wall heater, not like they use it much. Gus prefers my bed and Llelo prefers me. Bogey has taken Benjamin's bed which looks ginormous as backdrop for his 7 lbs.

Dinner will be interesting. Llelo will eat anything that looks like it might be food and Benjamin and Bogey are not known for finishing their meals in five minutes or less. The only reason Llelo doesn't try to finish Gus' food before Gus himself finishes it is that Gus and I would rip him in two. The rule is once the dish has been abandoned it's fair to go scavenge for for any flavor crystals that may have been over looked. There will be many flavor crystals in the visitor's bowls, I'm certain. Well, after a meal or two of going a little hungry they will likely finish what they are given. Nothing like a little competition for resources to make you finish your supper.

More tales (tails) and photos to follow ...

btw: sinus infections suck! I've actually begun to feel a bit worse and this is after being on augmentin for 10 days already, which is why I didn't get around to posting last night, was busy having headache and chills. Went back to the doctor today, got some new antibiotics and some predinsone. Fingers crossed I'll start to feel some better within a few days.

Size *Does* Matter

At least when it comes to paddle length. I went out and paddled a bit over 5 miles in the OC6 with the ladies. I used my 52" Lolo and had a little bit of a funky feeling in my elbow, I think I prefer using my 52" Axel II in the OC6. The morning was truly gorgeous, the sky was a brilliant blue, the steel grey clouds were far off in the distance. It was much warmer than I expected, I actually took off a layer, first time that has happened since October. Many on the crew were peeling off layers during our first break and also wishing we'd worn sunglasses. It was a decent workout but afterwards I was not feeling as though I had worked as hard as I could have/should have so I decided to go out on the OC1.

After we got the OC6 put away I brought out the OC1 and put it together. GPS-check, water bottle-check, new paddle-check. Yes, I finally got the opportunity to use my new paddle, a 50" Helium, it has a smaller surface area than the Axel II blade. It isn't yet part of the Kialoa catalog so I can't include a link for it. OMG! It was a beautiful thing, so light, and I finally realized how big a difference the correct length paddle makes. I've been using the Lolo on the OC1/OC2 and it's felt pretty good, but the Helium feels great. Everything was flowing smoothly, I was hitting a really good rhythm ... and then my cell phone rang. Typically I wouldn't stop to answer the phone, but remember yesterdays post? The CL ad, new string of first dates, etc. It was one of the guys, we had plans to meet this afternoon and I wasn't expecting to hear from him unless there was a change, so I thought I should answer it. He wanted to push back our meeting by an hour if that was ok with me. Sure, no problem, means I can paddle a bit longer, too. OK, phone put away, get back into the rhythm, long, smooth, reach it out, rotate, new paddle feels great. I went north 30 minutes and then turned around and came back, the return only took 25 minutes, went nearly 5 miles. Wow, what a great paddle, both the physical object and the act. That had to be one of my better workouts. Size really does matter, the smaller length and smaller surface area works great for me on the OC1.

Went down to Seward Park to meet that Craigslist respondent, brought the dogs along. I figured if I was going for a walk they should be able to take advantage of it, too. We met and started walking around the loop road chatting the whole way. I found him very easy to talk to and pauses in conversation didn't seem awkward, that's always nice. I hope I'll see him again.

What's in a name?

Now I have to start this post out by saying I am not copying Fran, our minds just seem to be in sync here. I came up with the same idea after I finished yesterdays post and she posted her's 1/21/08.

Gus' registered name is lame: Skiak's Paws-n-Effect, he was one of the Paws litter. The others were The Paws That Refreshes, Paws-a-traction, and Paws-a-bility all of them dumb, in my opinion. She wouldn't let me use this for his registered name but I chose Angus Mac Og for Gus, the Irish god of youth, love, and beauty. I'd have called him Angus except his breeder kicked up such a fuss, he'll be fat if you name him after a cow! Funny, I always thought it was more about diet and exercise. And what about Angus Young of AC/DC?!?! I relented and went with GusGus, the chubby mouse in Cinderella. The breeder had a much better theme for Llelo's litter, they were all named after James Bond movies and I got to choose which movie. Llelo is officially Skiak's Goldeneye. Desmond Llewelyn was the name of the man who played the character Q in all but the most recent Bond movies. Also, I'd been reading the Sharon Kay Penman series, which begins with Here Be Dragons, an exciting trilogy of 13th Century England & Wales. Llewelyn was the name of the last independent Welsh Prince before the conquest by Edward I. As a boy, at least in the books, he was called Llelo. And for those wondering Skiak is the breeder's kennel name.

Arthur was named for King Arthur. He was the first orange tabby cat I've had. I had been reading a book about Guinevere that began with her learning of Arthur's death, don't remember the title, though. Arthur is always described as being fair and blond or red headed, it seemed to fit the orange cat. He could pull off a regal bearing when he sat in the sun, not so much otherwise. Nemo was a pound kitten, very tiny when I brought him home. He was at the pound back in the day when they kept many cats in one cage. Each time I went to visit him he was all wet, the adult males tormented him and he tended to get backed into the water dish. He needed a nautical name, what better than the captain from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I still haven't read. The photo was the day I brought Nemo home, I was 18.

Hamlet was a Russian Blue cat that showed up at our back door. The mother said I couldn't keep him if I named him something stupid like Nemo! Who knew?!? My brother and I suggested this name and that name, she suggested Hamlet, we kept trying other names which she poo poo'd, hence Hamlet. A sweet but very twitchy cat. Tigger, well, I was only 9 and he was a grey tabby. He was the grouchy old tomcat, but I could do anything to him. I have an old photo somewhere, he is laying with his head on a pillow between 2 teddy bears and covered with a doll blanket. My first pet was a calico kitten that I named Tuna Fish, after my favorite food. I believe I was 5 or 6. Tuna disappeared before she reached adulthood and I couldn't eat tuna for over a decade. The mother had a grey tomcat named Brother Violet. He was 3 yrs older than me. The story behind the name: my mother though it was a female and had already been calling him Violet. There was a tv show with an Uncle Elizabeth so Violet became Brother Violet.

My brother over the years had cats Psyche, Rose, Kuan. We also had Freyja. Psyche was the great hunter. She'd bring home kill for Brother Violet when he'd reached advanced age. Freyja was the little match stick girl, her fur was always rather rumpled and looked as though she needed a good shampoo and blow dry. Rose was a cat of very little brain. Kuan had entirely too much.

When the mother was growing up she had cocker spaniels. I remember tails of Buzz and Zzub, who came after Buzz. The dogs would go along for ice cream cones and would get their own. And at least one of them was trained to wipe it's feet by running in a circle on the door mat. She had Helga, the german shepard, when I was a baby. I learned to walk using Helga to pull myself up. Whenever I became too annoying she would lick my face until I went kerplop on my diapered bottom.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. -- Roger Caras
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. --Will Rogers

I have to agree with these statements with the caviat "cats, too". Ear rubs and tummy scritches to all.