Posts by Liz

Sunny Slow Saturday

Our Saturday didn’t start slow, but it did start sunny. It has been a beautiful day – the temperature reached 68 making last week’s blast of wintry weather seem like a dim memory.

Karl and I rolled down the driveway at 7:40 in the a.m. on our way to Whitefish and the vet – no worries!! – this was a scheduled bi-annual “senior” checkup. Karl was 8 in March and is now a senior. But he checked out like the young-at-heart dog that he is getting a “Great Healthy Normal” on his report card. At our last checkup, it was suggested that Karl lose a bit of weight to ease pressure on aging joints. He weighed in down 4 pounds with 4 to go….which means at halfway toward his goal he is doing much better than Bob – or me!

We left early for our appointment so there was time for a long walk at the Whitefish soccer field park. We got there and done with our walk in the nick of time. By the time we left cars were streaming in for soccer and baseball. Kids, dogs, parents – yikes!

Going to the vet is exhausting. Karl gets anxious, I work on staying calm to help him, we wait, we both get too warm…by the time we left I wanted another shower and we both wanted naps.

The shade at home felt pretty good to a tired dog.

Router and DSL upgrade

**I back timed this post so it appears before the MayDay flower. Not everyone is fascinated by routers…

I made a change in my DSL service and as I was doing that my 4 year old router “gave up the ghost” so I ordered a new one to be delivered toute suite.

The new baby was supposed to arrive Wednesday – after a Tuesday internet meeting and before a Thursday internet meeting. Mother Nature decided differently. The spring snowstorm that didn’t dump much snow on me, but DID on areas around, shut down the mountain passes and with them our FedEx service for Wednesday. Big Mike, my FedEx guy, was happy to have had Wednesday off with pay, but had no time for chit-chat on Thursday as his truck was full of 2 days worth of stuff. Karl did get his treat, though!

The bad news for me is that I had an extra day to worry about the installation. Routers and I have not gotten along well in the past and twice I’ve had to call for help. It has been 4 years since the last and I hoped that they were now “plug and play”. I mentioned this to one of the people on my programming team and he just laughed nervously…

I was encouraged by the “Start Here” – and also by 2 other labels that cautioned to insert the CD before plugging ANYTHING in to ANYTHING else. To me, that boded well for automatic configuration vs having to delve into IP and DNS and other acronyms I have only a passing knowledge of.

Things went pretty well! The main trick, which was one I DID know, but I think they could have been more explicit about is that anytime a setting is changed on the router, everything: DSL modem and router (and to be “safe”, I also cold boot my computer) has to be shut down and the order of restart is modem, router, computer.

But the CD did all of the configuration as well as leading me through adding the security for the wireless part.

Kind of cool looking…internal antenna instead of the directional “rods”. I’m getting the same strength signal everywhere with this router that I was with the old AND getting my new DSL speed.

Router and DSL modem live discreetly in a corner of the living room behind an antique dry sink. Everyone is happy, wires are hidden (I have a thing about wires and cords) and we get wireless internet like magic all over the house, yard and out to the motorhome.

Early to rise

Yesterday I write that my inner clock gets me up at 5 a.m. no matter what and this morning it was near 6:00. And it was light out. It was before official sunrise, but dawn had broken! In my defense, Karl threw up in the night and then asked to go out and we had a brief sortie down the driveway and back at 2:30 a.m. Usually, this kind of thing does not keep my inner clock from waking me, but this morning it did. And I would have slept later than 6, except for Bob. He needs his breakfast, you know, else he would waste away…

And that is probably the truth of my inner clock. If I don’t wake before Bob, Bob starts with a head nudge, then a paw tap, then a circumnavigation of my body. He weighs 19 pounds and manages to put all of his weight on one foot at a time as he walks all over me. If all of that doesn’t work he moves to my dresser which doubles as a nightstand and starts pushing stuff over the side.

When I heard him on the dresser this morning, I gave up and got up. My cell phone, the tv remote, a small weather/clock thing – none take kindly to the three foot drop to the hardwood floor.

Bob eats a bit of his morning allotment, goes outside, does what needs to be done and then comes in and goes back to bed.

Who runs this operation, anyway???

Early to bed

It is currently light past 9:00 p.m. Normally, we in the Summers household, are all abed and mostly asleep by 9:00 p.m. But the first weeks as we all get used to the extra daylight, some of us have trouble getting sleepy on schedule.

As the weather has been nicer, excepting a few moments these last several days, I have been outside in the evenings puttering about and not realizing how late it is getting. By the time, I round everyone up and we get settled it has been 10 and a couple of nights 11. This would not be a disaster if I could sleep a bit later in the morning, but my internal clock gets me up at 5 a.m. most mornings. It all added up and I think my last Friday’s meltdown was just Spring tiredness.

Karl has a similar problem. It is not dark, hence it is not time to go to bed. Therefore, the next best thing is to take a toy to where Bob and I are – the bed.

The bed is not off limits to Karl but it is only on the rarest of occasions that he is interested. He has his own bed at the foot of mine but mostly sleeps in the clothes closet – his own private den.

This time of year as he and I adjust to the extra light, he is not ready to settle down in the light evening. He will bring a toy or treat up on the bed. He is content to munch or chew on the toy. He just seems to want to be close to Bob and I. After a bit, he will jump up, go get a drink of water, come back and go in his closet for the night.

Eventually he and I both adjust to our normal 9:00 bedtime, even though it is still light.

Bob has no sympathy for our plight. If you close your eyes, maybe the dog really isn’t there. Bob is not fond of Karl’s visits on the bed and has no difficulty going to sleep in the broad daylight of late Spring and Summer…or ever!