Bogieblog

Conversation With A Stranger

Sometimes it surprises me what can bring a smile to my face, and a lift to my spirits. No, it wasn't anything I did, but a conversation with a stranger.

I had a dentist appointment in the middle of Manchester Wedneday afternoon. It was a nice day, so I rode to work, then to my appointment. After my appointment, as I was putting on my jacket, I noticed a youngish couple walking toward the parking lot, which was in the back of the building. They stopped, spoke for a second, and then split up; she went down the street perpendicular to the parking lot, he into the parking lot. As I climbed aboard the bike, the young man stopped at the car next to me and said:

"That's a nice bike. You're a beast on that bike, a beast."

Me, smiling: "Thanks." [quite the conversationalist aren't I?]

Him, while unlocking the car door and glancing at the tank badge: "That's a Harley?"

 
Me, nodding and smiling wider: "Yep" [see how I keep the conversation flowing?]

Him as he was reaching into the car: "Damn, you're a beast. Damn girl . . . . Damn."

I started the bike and he turned, shook his head, and said "damn" a couple more times.

I should have wished him well, but I just backed up, put it in gear and rode off.

Somewhere there may be a tale being told about that beast of a girl on the damn big Harley. Brings a smile - don't know why, just does.

Captioned

This is just awesome.

Hat Tip to Ruth for pointing me in that direction.

Giftage

Tuesday I recieved a care package from Cop Car. She sent us all kinds of goodies such as pickled beets (we broke open a jar for dinner that night), spicy beets (sounds yummy), and cranberry preserves of different natures. I should have taken a picture of the box stuffed with all the goodies - it was like Christmas in September!

Also inside the box was a bag containing these:

 
These were marked with a ribbon that said "Orchid", so I am assuming that is a color that I have coveted. I had to get them in the ground, and wanted a a place right up front and Ihave an area that is overcrowded with iris that I needed to divide anyway, so this is the place I chose.

This is how it looked after I gave them breathing room.

 
Can hardly wait for them to do their thing in another year or two.

Firethorn

The firethorn has done exceptionally well this year. I don't remember any previous years where there have been so many berries. Even though most of the bush is hidden when coming down the road, you can see the tips of the shrubs way back in back (and really, the eye is drawn more to the crab apple that is covered in web worms).

 
From the downhill side of the road, you get a better look.

 
The best view is right up close though.

 
If the birds don't eat all the berries, it will look spectacular when it snows.

Double Take

I was out gardening yesterday and as I was walking by the cotoneaster by the gate, I saw a snake "sunning" (it was very cloudy) itself on the branches.

 
After the initial glance, I did a double take because soemthing caught my eye, this snake had 3 heads. Not really, there were three snakes however.

 
I moved off and did some more chores, then came back later and they hadn't moved much.

 
Nature is so cool to watch!

Random Short Takes

Saw a red Volkswagen Cabriolet at the store last Sunday. It was a nice enough day that the top was down, which is why it caught my eye. Then it caught my funny bone when I noticed the license plate; REDONE. Re-done? Well it looked to be a little older, but not so old that someone should be proud of restoring it. Then it hit me, red one, as in the commercial, as in if WS had been with me someone would have gotten punched.

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Friday when I got home I had to go out and pick all the tomatoes that were tinging pink and any peppers that were larger than 1" diameter. Frost two nights in a row. Our fall is coming in too fast. Mornings have been in the 50's and 60's, with the rare 48 showing up here and there. Suddenly we are down in the low 30's. I need it to be more gradual please!

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Prince's wounds are healing nicely. For most of the last 10 days, I have had to remove any scabs, as the wounds needed to heal from the inside out. The recommended way is to soak with warm compress then wipe off the scab. Sounds great, but really you end up scrubbing a bit. I found an easier, less painful way; dab a bit of olive oil on the scab and let sit for 5 minutes. Do the warm compress. Scab pretty much slides right off. Here is a picture taken just moments ago:

 
The picture of Missy was taken Friday night - not the picture I was going for - she moved just before I snapped it.

Both dogs were at the vet yesterday for their yearly appointment. The vet was pleased with Prince's progress and agreed with me that there was no reason that the dogs would have to stay in next week. Both dogs are healthy (pending any issues with their blood tests), so they are good for another 5,000 miles.

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Was at the doctor's the other day for stomach pains. I suffered for 1-1/2 days before going in (the first day I figured bad gas, the second day I had a half day meeting I couldn't miss). I really expected an Alien or three to pop out at any second, the pain was so bad. It involved everywhere form the indent between the ribs to the lower abdomen - and my back got into the act too. Finally got out of the meeting, called the doc, and went in for an examination which turned into me going in for X-Rays. Had a severe stomach lining inflammation (AKA gastritis, but that doesn't sound as cool, and also just sounds like I had gas, and the online resources usually make it sound like it is just indigestion - which is a mild form of gastritis).

Don't know what caused it, but was glad that OTC medicines (at much higher than the recommended dosages on the label - per doctor's instruction) took care of the problem. My insurance doesn't cover drugs until I hit the deductible ($5k), so $18 worth of OTC was fine by me. Sure, I have an HSA that I contribute to to help cover the stuff until I hit the deductible, but I figure I'm going to need it to pay for the X-Rays. Hey, and don't rag on my insurance, it was my choice to get the cheap, high deductible insurance as I so rarely see a doctor that paying for stuff myself is cheaper in the long run.

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And those are the random short takes for the week. Have a great week and enjoy the fall coolness; the colors won't be far behind.

9/11 Rememberance

Last Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I didn't put up a post because we were out doing something that we thought was an appropriate way to observe the occasion; we participated in the annual NHMRO motorcycle toy ride from Concord to Manchester. Being as the ride fell on this particular date, it turned into both a toy ride and a memorial ride, with lots of flags flying. It was a short, 22 mile ride down Route 3, but the route was packed with people at the side of the road waving and clapping as we went by. This is the second ride we have been on that was much like a parade atmosphere (the other one being the second annual Sean Powers Memorial Ride).

This is a different charity ride as the only "price" of admission is to bring a toy to donate at the end of the ride. I took lots of pictures before the ride, none during the ride (safety first - plus, too busy with the clutch, brakes and throttle to even attempt a picture), and only one after the ride (which I deemed too crappy to post). There were several hundred bikes in attendance.

 
  
This was a special flag with all the names of those who perished in the 9/11 attacks:

 
There were also bikes with nice paint jobs:

 
I don't know how this guy found room on the bike for himself!

 
Proof that our bikes were there (WS's bike is the black one on the left and mine is the black bike in the middle):

 
The start of the ride with two of the police escorts at the beginning, followed by Santa directly after:

 
We not only had police escorts, but several of the town police and county Sheriffs stopped traffic along the route. It was a beautiful day for the ride; cool but sunny. Most people brought more than one toy (we took several - a Barbie walking her 2 puppies, Easy Bake oven, a couple of Hot Wheels, Nerf Gun, and a Jigsaw Puzzle). Although there were hamburgers being grilled at the drop-off point, we skipped those and after dropping off the toys at the waiting truck, we rode home and completed some chores.

For us, a thoroughly satisfying tribute to the day.

Who Needs Another Hole in the Head?

Last weekend, in apparent jealousy over the attention the WS got with his infected leg and subsequent allergic reaction to his meds, Prince's head began to swell over his left eye. It swelled so much, that his eye was forced closed (sorry, no pics). I figured it was an abscess and applied warm compresses several times a day to help bring it to the surface.

Tuesday morning I awoke to Prince's face being a real mess. He had scratched and scratched until he put a hole in his head. Unfortunately, that hole did not reach the abscess, so I knew I had to take him to the vet. But, since the vet doesn't open until 8:30, and they don't start taking patience until 10 (mornings are for surgeries), I went in to work first. Before leaving, I bandaged up his head the best I could (not having any gauze, I cut up an old sock) and not having an Elizebethan collar, I used, well, a beer box.

 
Yes, Prince seemed thoroughly ashamed to have that beer box on his head. But what was I to do at 5 AM besides improvise?

I called the vet right after they opened and found they had no appointments. However, they said just drop him off and they would take a look at him between patience. So I drove back home and got Prince into the Jeep. Now, Prince doesn't really like going for car rides in the first place, imagine how he felt having a swelled, bloody head in a beer box.

 
The vet was impressed with my resourcefullness and took pictures. Poor dog was the laughing stock of the place. I would not be surprised to find pictures on the internet as the vet technicians sent pictures to contacts at the vet supply they use - apparently he is famous now.

He spent the night at the vet's; they drained the abscess and placed several wicks in the 3 holes they used for drainage. I picked him up late Wednesday afternoon and he came home with a real Elizabethan collar.

 
Since then he has led the life of Riley; he gets to stay in all day while at work so flies can't get to the wounds. However, that comes at a price - I have to keep scabs from forming so that the wounds can drain. He doesn't like that so much, but he doesn't complain. I In the evenings I have taken the cone off until we go to bed, then the cone went back on. Here is a picture without the cone, taken on Friday:

 
He spent most of yesterday without the cone, since we were home, and he did well so I left it off last night. Picture taken Saturday 9-10-11 (cool to type that date even though there is not much change):

 
I don't see any evidence of him scratching at it this morning, so maybe we can leave it off entirely. He will have to stay in at least the first several days next week - maybe all the way until next weekend. Missy, of course, also shares in the luxury. And, since she gets upset when I take pictures of others (cats, dogs, WS), and wants her picture taken too, here are a couple of pictures I took of her; this is from Friday:

 
This is from 9-10-11:

 
So although he had to withstand quite a bit of embarrassment, Prince is doing quite well and mending nicely - can't ask for any more than that.

Email Fun

Actual email exchange between WS and me:

Me: Does the doctor still think you are going to live? [after his final check after the infection in his leg]

WS: Nope gave 24 hrs. So I’ll be taking your bike for the death ride. [WS had taken my bike in that day to have it serviced since he works only a couple of miles away from the shop]

Me: That’s okay, insurance will pay on both you and the bike. Then I get to ride yours, which has a free and clear title!

WS: No the death ride will end with me crashing into my bike with yours in the shed & they’ll consider it a suicide so you won’t get anything.

Me: Yeah, but I’ll set up an explosion in the shed, that will make it look like an accident – double indemnity!!!!

WS: I’m forwarding email to insurance company!!!!

Me: AAARRRGGGHHHH!!

Why yes, we are sick and twisted people.

P.S. WS is fine, the bikes are fine, and no need for insurance to investigate anything.

 

Funny and Cute at the Same Time

Like Scott, I don't think the cat was being a bully, but cats being cats (curious, mischievious etc.). Notice when the cat gets off the box, the other "trapped" cat doesn't immediately jump out.