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September 24, 2006

Not much good news

It has not been a very good week for me. My adoption application for Apple Jack was not accepted. Another family got him. I guess the better family won out although the adoption agencies explanation as to why I was not accepted did not make any sense to me. I guess I will just keep on looking and applying. I really love dogs and I am incomplete without one to share my life with. I also learned today that one of my dive buddies, Dr. Fred Jordan, has passed away. Dr Fred was a really nice person and we shared some great times together. He will be sorely missed. Seems too may people that I know and admire have died recently. It has kind of depressed me and I hope I can overcome this feeling of despair that overcomes me now and again.

I went camping Friday at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. I wanted to try out some new camping gear that I had bought. I spent Friday setting up my new tent and spending time on the beach. I also tried out my new campstove, which worked very well. I was able to boil water for my dehydrated dinner quite easily. The new tent, sleeping bag, and pad also provided a fairly comfortable night. Saturday morning I woke up early, cooked breakfast, and broke camp. I had planned on staying another night, but camping alone proved to not be much fun. I wish I could get Teresa to camp with me but she is not much of an outdoors person. I hope that next time I go camping I will at least have a dog to go with me. Here is a link to some of the photos I took while camping.

First Landing State Park 

Posted by Michael at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2006

Adoption

Today I went looking for a dog to adopt. There was an Adopt-A-Thon going on at all the Pet Smarts in the area so I went to both of the stores in Chesapeake. At the first PetSmart there were not may dogs available but the first two I saw I was taken with. One is a 2 month old female lab/beagle mix named Kendall. The second is a one year old male lab/retreiver mix named Apple Jack. I was especially taken with Apple Jack. He is a beautiful, friendly dog with a great personality. I filled out the online application form with PACC (the animal shelter sponsoring the dogs). They are very pickey about who adopts their pets. They do a personal visit to the home to make sure that all the dogs needs will be met as well as talk to your vet if you previously owned or currently own another dog. I don't think I will have a problem qualifying as I have a large fenced back yard and Shakespeare always went to the vet regularly and was in great health. BTW, I received an email from Shakespear's new family and they are thrilled with him as he is with them. That is great news to receive. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Apple Jack and maybe even Kendall will soon be a permanent part of my family.

Posted by Michael at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2006

This and That

I am watching CNN Pipeline coverage of the Shuttle Atlantis launch. Hopefully it will get off the pad today or they will have to reschedule until October. I wish that NASA had already developed the next generation shuttle but they do not even have a prototype yet. The shuttle is way past retirement age in my opinion. I have been unhappy with the pace NASA has maintained ever since the last landing on the moon. I cannot believe it is going to take them until 2015 or later to go back to the moon. That is over 30 years since the last manned landing on the moon.

On another topic, it is going to be a busy weekend here. I am still moving furniture to my upstairs lair. Teresa has bought a new sofa for downstairs to replace the one I am taking. Did I mention that Dana has moved back home. That is a story for another time. We are also continuing our landscaping efforts  on the side of the house. We have thirty large paving stones that we are going to put down to make a walkway to the gate to the back yard. There will also be an arbor at one end and shrubs and flowers on both sides. No rest for the weary.

Finally, there is some rest waiting for me on the horizon. I am planning to go camping in late September or early October at Skyline Drive. I have a lot of new backpacking equipment that I want to try out before I actually embark on a backpacking adventure. The trip to Alaska that I have been planning for next year is still on the books although I don't know if Teresa will go.

That's it for now. Don't forget the 5th anniversary of 9/11. Say a prayer for our country in the coming years as we struggle to keep our country free and safe. 

Posted by Michael at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

September 4, 2006

Steve Irwin Dies

I woke up this morning and the first thing I see when I get on the Internet is that the 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin has died. That news hit me unexpectedly hard. I am really depressed about his death. I really admired the man and what he did and stood for. I really enjoyed watching him on the Discovery channel. He led such a great life and was blessed with a loving wife and two children. He will be sorely missed by me. I little bit of what makes my live worth living has gone out of the world. I had hoped some day to go to Australia Zoo and maybe see Steve in person doing what he did so well. Rest in Peace Steve and God bless your family.

 

Posted by Michael at 9:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 1, 2006

Getting back

I have not felt like making any entries for a while as I have been pretty depressed lately. There are a lot of things weighing on my mind. Having to give up my dog Shakespeare has been pretty tough on me. My situation with Teresa has also been on my mind a lot. I am tired of living in this area (I have been here since High School) and cannot wait to retire. I want to move to New Mexico but I don't know if I can wait for 3 more years. Every day living here is one more day I wish I was somewhere else. There is not much that brings me any joy or happiness anymore, except my family. I have a great job but I am bored with it and have nothing more to offer to my career. I want my career to be over and I want to be out of this area forever. So it is tough having to live with all this. But I need to stop being so depressed all the time. I do have a lot that I am thankful for and I need to focus on those things and not the things that depress me. With that out of the way for now I will just mention that Tropical Storm Ernesto has come and gone today. We got about 6 inches of rain but not all that much flooding, and least not at home. No damage from winds or rain that I have noticed. The drive in to work this morning was pretty wild, however. Slashing rain and wind made the trip over the Monitor/Merrimac bridge really exciting. I drive a 1996 Ford Ranger and the wind was really tossing it around. To make things more interesting, traffic was stopped on the bridge for about 25 minutes and I sat there with the truck jumping around enough to almost make me seasick. That and the spray from the waves off the James River bridge coming over the rail and onto my truck. When traffic got moving again it was not too bad until I got near Fort Monroe. Fort Monroe is surrounded by water on all sides. You have to come across one of two causeways to get to it. All the roads were completely flooded with lots of debris in the roads. Big waves were crashing over the seawall very close to the road I had to traverse. When I finally made it to the parking lot, I found out that there had been no power since 6am. So being the brave lad that I am, I said to hell with this and turned around and went home. After another harrowing journey home, I sat out the rest of the storm in relative comfort. Teresa also had trouble getting to work and once she did, they told her to go home. I called later and found out that everyone at Fort Monroe had also gone home. What an exercise in futility, but it was kind of exciting. Imagine if it had been a hurricane instead.

Posted by Michael at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)