Happy Labor Day (for those celebrating the U.S. Holiday (first celebrated in New York City in 1882 (by the by the Central Labor Union)))!

(Alas, I miss nested parenthesis that were so much a part of my work but aren't considered Kosher out here in real life.)

We did our Labor Day celebration last week with a four day camping trip to Tully Lake in western Massachusetts where kayaking and hiking were daily events. I learned that we slept on property owned by the Army Corps of Engineers (Civilian Branch) that would be flooded during extreme weather in order to save the towns of the Connecticut River Valley from flooding downstream. Someone, each day, is watching the flow of water in the entire United States - even while I'm concerned about the water that makes it into my basement during the worst of weather. We got a private tour of the gatehouse of the dam by its enthusiastic ranger.

Eating on plan is so easy while camping; the only food available is what we brought with us. Even when the late night urge to nibble strikes, there's nothing to do about it.

Bill, I guess that was before Quabbin Reservoir was built?

That's a good point about camping! What you've got is all you've got.

Trip preparations and packing are on the schedule this week. As usual, lots to do before we go. I've probably said this before, but in some ways it was easier when our cat was still with us because we had a pet service come twice a day. Now we're having to have the mail held, the paper stopped, and turn off various things. Also notify the neighbors.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Happy Labor Day!

Three days of golfing this wonderful weekend. It's a bit hot today but we'll persevere.

I'm in search of a coat for my upcoming cruise. I want a lightweight, longer (but not knee length) rain coat with a hood. Can't find anything here. I have seen several at Zappos and am tempted to order several that I like to try on and then send back those that don't meet my expectations. I don't like doing that, but they offer free shipping both ways, so it is possible to do. I've never run into trouble sending shoes back that didn't fit right.

Zappos is great for that, Allison! Go for it!

Have fun on your trip Jay. I'm not sure if you were sharing where you're going, or I forgot, but regardless, hope it's wonderful.

Bill... Are you retired? What kind of work did you do? That makes sense about food and camping but I'm just a hotel kind of gal.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day. Dh let me sleep in a bit today as he got up with the dogs as he had some conference calls to do. He leaves tomorrow for Asia. We are hoping to go to the gym and take Ellie on a big walk to the dog park today. It's going to be hot so hopefully we can get started soon. He is going to show me some lifting at the gym as I know I'm not doing enough.

Our Keurig machine died... I ordered a new one when I thought it was dying but didn't realize it was going to die suddenly. I ordered a cool colored one off qvc and they said it wouldn't shop till October 5! Luckily I got a shipping notification today so hopefully I'll get it within a week or so. In the meantime, the Starbucks barista now knows my name !

Hello all! Very late for me to be checking in but I'm knee deep in dog pee. I can't cover the whole house in plastic and it's a million degrees outside so Trixie is "leakin' all over" and we have composed new lyrics to the following in her honour. https://www.google.ca/search?q=shaki...EwBe9gtqWwAAAA

I'm staying On Plan despite all the dog-related mess. Poor thing - not her fault. If we can get through another 2 days of this then I cut back her prednisone dosage by 1/2 and hopefully the peeing stops. And the awful itching doesn't start up again. Her cone is staying on for the full 10 days she is on antibiotics but I'm taking it off for walks now.

I'm starting 3 new dogs tomorrow, though they are not really new. On is the second dog of a former client, one is a client's dog whose walks were stopped last November due to job loss, and the third is a dog I've seen out with his owners since he was a small puppy 3 years ago.

Going to be a busy week. I hope the weather breaks tonite. It's 33 degrees C outside right now .

Good week all!

Dagmar

Dagmar, yikes! What a mess! I hope the problem gets solved soon.

Allison, did you golf? Sounds like you had a great weekend.

Michele, it's a motor coach tour that goes to Mt. Rushmore, then over to Little Bighorn, then down into Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson, places in Idaho, and winds up in SLC.

That sound beautiful JayEll. Enjoy!

Dagmar

Yes, I did golf and it turned into my best round in years. I almost aced #18, it bounced and hit the stick and came to rest a foot away, so I got a birdie. It was hot Monday, and humid, we even got a little rain in the late afternoon (and a flood advisory, so it must have rained a lot somewhere else).

I ended up buying one coat from Zappos after narrowing down the selection to about five. I also found one for DH although it isn't exactly what I wanted for him.

Sorry to hear about Trixie, Dagmar. Is this seasonal allergies? I had a golden retriever that had horrible allergies (to grass, we think). It was always worse in the spring and summer and we tried all sorts of things and finally ended up with temeril-p which was a low dose of prednisone and that really did the trick for her. Thankfully there were no side effects.

Jay~that trip sounds nice. I've always wanted to see the Black Hills.

Sorry about the coffee machine, Michele. I didn't know they came in different colors.

Today I'm walking 26 dogs total. I normally walk 14.

I don't know whether to call this a personal best or an act of insanity.

Going to be a long interesting day.

Dagmar

PB, deffo. World record?

Small panic there-- I tried to post and got a weird message. My work has been blocking many sites lately and I was afraid 3FC's was blocked! Oy!!

Dagmar-- how many do you walk at a time? I look like a 3 ring circus just walking my two together!

I got through yesterday quite well. My feet were aching by the end of it but I got all the dogs walked and was then able to take Trixie out for a short additional walk in the evening as DH was ay school.

This is something I never, ever want to have to attempt in winter.

Michele I walk between 2-5 dogs on a walks. Yesterday and the day before my last walk had 6, which is the legal limit we are allowed to take at one time. My comfortable # is 4 dogs per walk.

Dagmar

Could be a world record . Definitely not one I want to attempt again. For my own curiosity I calculated that I walked approximately 1850 lbs. of dogs yesterday, almost a ton. Whenever someone says "I walked a ton of dogs today" will have a whole new meaning for me now.

And today I'm walking a much more regular number of dogs - 13.

Dagmar

Congrats, Dagmar, for walking a ton of dogs in one day. Hope you didn't have to lift them in and out of your car.

Let me add my congratulations to you, Dagmar, for surviving Dogmageddon without becoming too dogmatic.

Any physical aftermath of soreness?

I'm intrigued by Jay's motor coach tour and making a note of it for the future. I'm planning a vacation in New Orleans in October, including a friend's parent loaning me a rental, so I'm heading south again, rather than further west. When I get bored with life & see it all narrowing down to work, I need to remind myself about the possibilities inherent in travel.