Our World

Category: Res

Res’s life

  • Day 053 of 2026

    Happy Sunday! Happy USA Hockey won the Gold Day! First time since the miracle on ice in 1980, in 1980 the NHL did not participate in the Olympics, this win was complete with NHL players on both teams. This did not make it less impressive, congratulations guys!

    Started off my day with a few cups of coffee and then taking Res and Climber out for their walks. Res wanted to go further this time and I let him, but we had our normal problem with him getting about 50% through the walk and he wants to give up. Anyway, we finished, he did close to 3 miles.

    Total distance: 2.65 mi
    Max elevation: 5653 ft
    Min elevation: 5564 ft
    Total climbing: 157 ft
    Total descent: -153 ft
    Average speed: 3.55 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 91
    Average temperature: 21.9
    Total time: 00:47:47

    Once I got Res back home Climber was raring to go! She was carrying on so bad we had trouble getting a leash on her. I did a slightly different walk with her today, but when we ended back up on Power Line Trail with her Prairie Dogs she knew exactly where she was and almost walked herself home. She acted like I was holder her back. She did over 4.75 miles.

    Total distance: 4.73 mi
    Max elevation: 5657 ft
    Min elevation: 5522 ft
    Total climbing: 334 ft
    Total descent: -314 ft
    Average speed: 3.79 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 98
    Average temperature: 21.1
    Total time: 01:18:10

    Jesse and I had breakfast (well, brunch) and I finally had a chance to get to the Central Recreation Center for a swim. I had really wanted to get a 3K yard swim in, but the pool was very crowded and I had to share lanes with other swimmers, and that always causes problems since I swim breaststroke and that is a very wide stroke compared with freestyle. At least I didn’t kick anyone. I did get 2K yards in, I am happy with my workout overall.

    When I got back we had a little problem, Climber got up and was very wobbly and was limping a bit, actually a lot, and her back was arched pretty badly. We worked with her a bit, I went over every bone, every joint, and everything I could think of. I was finally able to get her onto a leash and walk her around the backyard. We made the decision not to take her to the ER Vet as she was acting a lot like Leona when she would hurt her back and neck. Jesse and I talked about it and decided that we would give her a carprofin and see how she was in the AM. I think she will probably need one more carprofin tomorrow afternoon and then she will be fine.

    I think her a little over 3 miles yesterday and 4-1/2 miles today may have been a little much for her, I bet her muscles are hurting her a bit. We will see what it looks like in the morning.

    I had to pack for my trip tomorrow as I had to list the number of bags I am dropping at my check-in. I decided that I was going to break out “Big Bertha” – the largest suitcase we have in the house and was going to try to do one bag. It worked, I am right under 60 pounds, I am allowed 70 pounds per bag. The reason I want to go to one bag? It’s getting to the point that two bags are really rough to handle sometimes. Of course I may curse that decision when I have to lift the thing into the back of a rental car.

    We decided that at the afternoon walk time that Jesse would take Res and I would stay home with Climber. She slept through the walk, and was ready for dinner. I did have to lift her food bowl up a bit for dinner because she was having issues stretching her neck that far down. It’s almost like she ran into something, but neither of us saw what she ran into. This is going to be a “crate rest and leash walk” type of injury.

    She was slightly better at our 9pm out time, and she is now resting in her crate. She will be handled very careful over the next 48 or so hours.

    I spent some time with my Packet Radio station today. It has become abundantly clear to me the packet station on this property will not work. We are in a topographical hole in with the neighborhood around us. I am also starting to wonder if there is a connection between the radios and some of the growling Res has been doing at night. The timing almost makes sense, he growls early in the evening about every 10 minutes and that is the time period of the beacon systems on the station. OK, the radios are off for now as I just cannot figure out how to resolve this issue. The real answer is a very tall antenna, but let’s get real, that is not possible right now.

    Anyways, that’s a wrap for tonight. Tomorrow is a travel day and we will see what comes up.

    Anyways, it’s that time of the evening to say goodnight, and I will see you all tomorrow.

  • Day 052 of 2026

    Day 052 of 2026

    I was happy to be home yesterday, I was wiped. I don’t have that much a problem when I am traveling and everything goes smoothly, but when things don’t go well, I start stressing out. Not much I can do about it, it is just the way it is. But, after a good night of sleep, I got up at my normal time with dogs, we all did our normal morning routing which includes coffee for me and some treats for the dogs. We only do our feeding in the evenings and the all get a small snack in the mornings.

    After Jesse got up I took Res out for the first walk, we did about a mile and a half. He smelled just about every clump of grass along the way, but we made it.

    Total distance: 1.62 mi
    Max elevation: 5619 ft
    Min elevation: 5562 ft
    Total climbing: 116 ft
    Total descent: -110 ft
    Average speed: 3.31 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 92
    Average temperature: 20.8
    Total time: 00:31:20

    Next up was Climber. Climber really likes her long walks and she is adventurous, so we go and “explore” ares she has not seen before. She seems to like the adventure and appreciates it in ways Res really doesn’t. Res has a tendency to want to go and then about 50% through the walk he starts acting like “are we there yet….. I don’t want to walk no more”, but Climber wants to go and will finish her walk.

    Total distance: 3.65 mi
    Max elevation: 5693 ft
    Min elevation: 5573 ft
    Total climbing: 255 ft
    Total descent: -262 ft
    Average speed: 3.43 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 95
    Average temperature: 19.9
    Total time: 01:08:07

    After we had a brunch I decided to go visit Ham Radio Outlet. I am dead set I am going to figure out the satellite and DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) repeaters. I have sort of decided HF radio in my area just is too difficult with all the noise, so I am going to start trying some alternatives. I bought three things over the last few days:

    1. An Any Tone AT-D890UV Radio
    2. The Arrow Antenna (portable) 146/437-14WBP
    3. A carry bag for the portable antenna

    I sort of hesitated spending that type of money, but I haven’t spent that much over the last year on a hobby, so I decided to do something for myself. My YouTube earnings will pay for it in the next few months. And…. I deserve it.

    Spent time this evening setting up the radio and copying my programming over from my GD77 radio, I also was able to import some additional repeaters and things for Colorado, Southern Wyoming, and the Four Corners area. I was going to start setting up Orlando, but I may do that next week while I am in Orlando. But, I really ant to figure out the Satellites next. There are so many features on that radio I am not sure I will ever use them all.

    I also had to get the laundry done from last week, I am traveling again for 3 days (2 nights) this coming week and I need to do my packing tomorrow. I will need to go through my tool bag and clean up TSA’s usual mess, and then change some items out because next week is a fire investigation of an HVAC system and I think I packed for an electrical inspection on my last claim. Slightly different set of tools required.

    Jesse has started to go through a book that I found on one of my trips last year to Portland, OR. I had the chance to visit Powell’s Bookstore and found a book named DIY Hydroponic Gardens and it has all sorts of information on successful hydroponics. We really believe this is how we are going to have to grow most of our veggies this year. Water is going to be a real issue this next Summer and hydroponics allow us to control water use and not loose a lot into the soil or areas that we don’t grow things in.

    In other houses we have had great success with hydroponics, last year we expanded things a bit and had some growing pains, but we think this is how we are going to have to do things moving forward. Weeding and water is much better with hydroponics. We will see…..

    I think that just about wraps up the day, I did not get a chance to go swim today, I am going to go do that tomorrow, but that was OK. I also don’t think I will get the 10K this weekend or the 15K that is the challenge for next weekend on Garmin Connect, but I am flat out of time. I really want to get the swim challenges done for the month, those are more important to me than the run challenges. Decision made. Have a great evening and I will see you all tomorrow.

    Day 052 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 047 of 2026

    Day 047 of 2026

    And the candle still burns. Gizmo is not home yet, this is tradition. I still feel bad that after she went to sleep for the last time I did not stay and spend my 10-15 minutes with her – I have always done this with the previous pack members, but this time I really wanted to remember her purring, not her silence. I really pray that she was not aware that I left. I have always stayed because I am afraid there is still some brain activity and a sense of awareness, this time I just couldn’t. I hope the Dr did not think less of me for not staying.

    Onto other things. After last week today was much calmer and I was able to get some other work done besides answering Cause of Loss Determinations (COLDs) all day. The ones I did get were valid and needed to come to me. I spent a ton of time today trying to get hold of technicians and other people I needed to talk with. Some successful and some not, but valiant effort.

    I did get out for a break mid-day and went for a pretty long walk. I am trying to get hills into my workouts (have a challenge from our healthy choices system at work). I need 60 more floors of “up” to meet the challenge for this month.

    Total distance: 4.9 mi
    Max elevation: 5682 ft
    Min elevation: 5566 ft
    Total climbing: 350 ft
    Total descent: -333 ft
    Average speed: 4.12 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 108
    Average temperature: 24.7
    Total time: 01:11:24

    Anyways, didn’t have the heart rate issues on this one, but I was not trying to push myself either. Res wanted to go with me but I made him stay home.

    On the Pack News, Climber is pissed off at me. I tried to get some eye drops in her eyes and she wasn’t having any of it. She yelled at me, it was like I was killing her. I gave up. Jesse for some reason is able to do this stuff, but she really fights me. We think she is having some allergies making her eyes itch a bit. Res could really care less.

    Climber and Res do have the right idea though. It’s after dinner nap time.

    Climber
    Res

    Anyways, they have the right idea. It is time for me to say goodnight and I will see you all tomorrow. We have some exciting travels coming up.

    Day 047 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions
  • Day 039 of 2026

    Day 039 of 2026

    And it’s Sunday. Had a busy day so far when I started writing this. I was up by my usual weekend time of 7:00am, got the dogs their treat and then had a few hours of reading and messing around on the interwebs before Jesse got up. Finished my second cup of coffee and then it was time to start the day.

    Res got the first walk. He decided that he wanted to go for the longer walk and that really only lasts until we get half-way through the longer walk and then he decides he really didn’t want the longer walk. And, by that time it is already too late, since I am not carrying his butt back home he has no choice but to finish. We did a bit over two miles today and he got to see the Power Line Trail today, which is normally Climber’s domain.

    Got Res home and then it’s Climber’s turn. I figured since 2.75 miles didn’t tire her out yesterday we were going to go for a bit longer today and include some hill work, so I added onto her walk a little today. She had good time even though I think she may have been a little confused about where she was at. Part of what we walked today she had not seen before. Lot’s of new things to smell, but she did pretty good. Once we were back to her normal area on the Power Line Trail she saw her Prairie Dogs and knew the rest of the way home. Sorry girl but new things are good for you.

    Had a great breakfast (brunch) of scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast, and little sausage patties. And afterwards I decided to go swim. Well, got over the the rec center and some swim team had taken over the pool. This is the second time in a row this has happened on a Sunday. I really am not sure what is going on here, but team practices should be on the pool schedule so people don’t plan their workouts for a day it’s not going to happen on. Now I really have to figure out a time to get over there tomorrow so that I don’t miss out on one of the Garmin Fitness Challenges. I need a 2000 yard swim sometime in the next week, and tomorrow will be the last day I have before I have to put a heart monitor on that I really can’t swim with.

    But all was not lost, I was able to go to the Toll Creek Trail right next to the fitness center and get a 5K jog (run/walk) in. I also had my new heart rate monitor – the chest strap variety and it proves what I have been suspecting, that my watch is for some reason locking onto cadence rather than heart rate during my longer runs. My heart rate and my cadence are really close and that may be explaining some of it. I guess we will see next weekend when I do one of my longer sessions over at Cherry Creek Park again with the monitor on.

    Total distance: 3.29 mi
    Max elevation: 5618 ft
    Min elevation: 5559 ft
    Total climbing: 250 ft
    Total descent: -240 ft
    Average speed: 4.70 mi/h
    Average cadence: 63
    Average heart rate: 124
    Average temperature:
    Total time: 00:43:21

    Res and Climber were not happy with Jesse and me this afternoon. Somepaws got a nail clip and neither of them were being cooperative with the dremmel so they got the old fashioned clippers. We much prefer using the dremel but they both have started to be a pain with it.

    Look who showed up in my Facebook memories today. Peanut, and the back half of Mindy by Peanuts excavation our first year in Florida. She was a master excavator. And, you can see the back half of Mindy and I am sure she was helping Peanut dig, or at least just being nosy enough to see what Peanut was doing.

    Got a bunch of stuff done around the house this afternoon and then Jesse and I took the dogs for their evening walk. Res really did not want anything to do with a walk and decided that he was going to turn around and come back to the house. I think his morning walk may have been a little far for him, but hey…. he wanted to keep going. I tried to argue with him, but nope. And then he left a little bit of his dinner as well. Not to panic, this happens on occasion.

    The humans had asparagus, salmon, and shrimp for dinner. It was good, it’s one of my favorite Sunday evening dinners. Now we are sitting here watching the Bad Bunny Superbowl half-time show. I really wish I had taken Spanish in Junior High and High School. There have been so many times over the years that I have had similar thoughts. But, back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s the students that took Spanish were considered to be the “losers” in our school district and the language was not pushed… at all. So sad.

    Anyways, this is a wrap for the evening. Climber and Res have had enough and they just want to snooze. I am being told my typing is disturbing their sleep.

    Climber
    Res
    Before I forget this is today's mheard (stations heard) from my amateur radio station KO4YAW in Aurora, CO on Net 105, 14.105 LSB or 14.1023 USB (I missed 23:59 for the date change):

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    N6CTA-7    Feb 09 02:11:08    
    N6CTA-1    Feb 09 01:57:25    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 09 01:45:15    
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 09 01:30:01    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 09 01:20:08    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 09 01:18:57    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 09 01:09:52    
    W1CDN-1    Feb 09 01:02:28    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 09 00:51:53    
    K0LAI-7    Feb 09 00:50:38    
    VE3QBZ-1   Feb 09 00:45:50    
    KF7PSM-7   Feb 09 00:39:41    
    W9LCF-7    Feb 09 00:36:26    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 09 00:32:35    
    NS2B-1     Feb 09 00:31:12    
    WB5BNV     Feb 09 00:28:03    
    VA3PIX     Feb 09 00:21:31    
    VE3GE-7    Feb 09 00:20:35    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 09 00:16:36    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    VA3PIX-7   Feb 09 00:15:15    
    KB8UVN-7   Feb 09 00:08:29    
    N0BN       Feb 09 00:07:42    via KB9PVH-7*
    WG0A-1     Feb 08 23:59:49    
    KB9PVH     Feb 08 23:23:35    
    KB9KC      Feb 08 22:30:10

    Day 039 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 038 of 2026

    Day 038 of 2026

    And Happy Saturday everyone!

    Got up almost at my normal time this morning. I knew Res needed to go out as he didn’t do all of his business last night so I didn’t lay around in bed too long after I woke up. And, sure enough he was desperate. I did my normal routine of giving the dogs their morning snacks and then sat down to filter through my email, an endless project.

    After Jesse got up I did the normal Saturday walks with Res and Climber. They get their lone walks on weekends. Res gets to go first and we do about a mile and a half walk.

    And then I came back and got Climber. Climber is still a baby in her energy level so she gets a slightly longer weekend walk. Climber got to do 2.77 miles, I think it would have been a little longer but we had some other dogs I was trying to avoid. I normally try to do 3 miles with her on Saturday morning. Climber got to say “Hello” to the Prairie Dogs along Power Line Trail.

    Her walk goes up the hill a little further, cuts through an apartment complex, then the power line trail, and then back down to Highland Meadows Park, and home.

    After we had our late breakfast (Actually, brunch), and my second cup of coffee, I went over to Cherry Creek State Park and jogged (gasp, panted, walked, repeat) a section of the park I have never done before. I was bored with my normal route. I also really wanted to see if I could repeat the same heart rate drop that I have been experiencing over the last few higher intensity workouts that I have been seeing on the two treadmill runs that I did in Saint Louis. And…. Guess what? Yes, my heart rate dropped significantly and it should have been going up.

    But, here is the interesting part; if you look at the above overlay of heart rate and cadence it appears that this may be a false reading of my heart rate, the watch seems to have locked onto my cadence and is miss-reading it as my heart rate. I did some online research and this is something that is a known problem with the heart rate capturing fitness watches. The only way to resolve this for running and walking activities is to use a heart rate chest strap that connects to your watch. That separates the HR and the cadence. Yup, I have one on order. This is the stuff that drives me nuts. If a watch manufacturer knows about this problem you would think that they would make this more public knowledge and warn you about it up front. Anyways, we are going to verify this problem with the heart monitor that I have been told is on the way (I just went and verified that it is actually on it’s way and have the tracking number. It is sitting in the USPS processing center here in Denver. Supposed to be delivered Monday afternoon sometime.

    Total distance: 7.78 mi
    Max elevation: 5706 ft
    Min elevation: 5570 ft
    Total climbing: 1089 ft
    Total descent: -1086 ft
    Average speed: 4.40 mi/h
    Average cadence: 60
    Average heart rate: 109
    Average temperature:
    Total time: 01:48:55

    As I mentioned I took a different path today at the park and saw some of the pollution control that they had installed in Shop Creek as it appears to have some history. As a part of the cleanup they installed these concrete “Steps” in about 4 different places along the creek.

    And also some other scenery along the way. Different view from my normal views. It looks like the little creek under the bridge in the wetlands area was almost washed away during one of our snow melts a month or so ago. Hope they fix that, it moved as I walked over it.

    I am going to try and get in a longer swim tomorrow because I want to get the Garmin Connect Swim Week challenge for February done before the heart monitor shows up as once I have that sucker on I can’t swim for 11 days, it will be only dryland workouts.

    I spent a little bit of time working on some radio settings for the KO4YAW station. I really need to figure out how to get the antenna up on a higher pole. I don’t think I will ever be able to get the full 40ft as I had in Florida but I would really like to get a little bit over the height of the house.

    Dinner tonight was really good. Jesse cooked a turkey meatloaf with a recipe from Weight Watchers and that was with green beans and mashed potatoes. Of course there was a little bit of leftover ‘tatoes and Res got to enjoy some and Climber got to lick the pot. Potatoes are Res’s favorite meal.

    Day 038 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 037 of 2026

    Day 037 of 2026

    And a Hello and Good Evening to all of you!

    After clearing out my email and a bunch of pending tasks, I started off the day with taking the dogs out for their morning walks, I don’t normally do the AM walks but Jesse had an early meeting so I did the morning walks. They got a little bit of a longer walk than their normal 3/4 mile walk that we do most weekdays. I am trying to get my steps in and had time. They always like the longer AM walks, of course Res got really confused when I turned before the sidewalk next to the park and walked him back through the park. He is a boy that likes routine and I messed with it. Climber just like to go.

    After I got them home I worked for another hour and then had to leave to go do a solar inspection. The homeowner had a fire and it was near the solar panels and of course they were all on the ground having been taken off the roof. This means testing each panel by itself. I found most of them were out of spec. And, as usual my ladder was not quite long enough to get on the roof totally. I don’t share much from work anymore, but solar testing is sort of interesting, and a lot of fun for me. I like working with the renewable energy stuff, and I like it more when I can help someone with an honest claim.

    Anyways, drove back home while talking with two other technicians, and spent the rest of the day doing office and desk work. I ended up working about an hour extra to catch up on the work that was not done while I was in the field for two hours. Oh, well, I will make up for it next week. After work I was able to go out for a quick walk, did a little over three miles, which got me to my 10,000 steps for the day. I am trying really hard to make my step goals even though I do not believe in that 10K number, I think time an pace is more important, and have been reading some good medical articles on the 10K not being critical.

    After I got back from that we took the dogs for their afternoon walks and then it was feeding and our dinner time. Subs from Subway today, I had my normal Subway Club. In the middle of this time I had to reboot and reconfigure Direwolf for my packet radio station (hey, if you have ham radio give me a packet shout on 14.1023 USB (14.105 LSB) at ko4yaw. I enjoy seeing new visitors. Sometime while I was out of town my station went down during an Xcel power outage. I have no idea why because the whole thing is on a UPS and it just doesn’t make sense. I have to do some more investigation of that over the weekend. Once I got the station up I had to go back through all of my unread packet mail and clean up my old messages a bit. I really have been too busy to deal with the packet stuff, and I also have been a little discouraged because of the really bad reception that is in my area. I have to do something with my antenna and get it back up on the 60ft mast. Not sure how I am going to accomplish this yet, still working on that.

    Anyways, we are done for the evening and it’s time to say goodnight. It was a good day overall.

    Day 037 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions
  • Day 025 of 2026

    Day 025 of 2026

    OK, so I had opened my big mouth, I guess Florida is now participating in Winter 2026 – at least for a few days. It will all be gone by the end of the week. I am happy that I got Res’s and Climber’s morning walk in before the snow started to Fall. Hey Canada, your drunk weather is in my back yard, would you please come get it back?

    Current weather – snow
    Climber in her Sunbeam
    Res ignoring Climber

    Today was the day to take down Christmas and pack it away for next year. Jesse normally does the tree and it’s best if I stay out of the way, so after I brought the boxes up to the living room I went for an hour swim. I really wanted to get the full hour in because I needed to submit an hour swim to US Master’s Swimming for the first virtual competition event of 2026. I also needed a competitive event to submit to to WellRight to get credit for 1 out of 4 athletic events (it’s a work fitness/health/mental health sponsored thing).

    I didn’t do the best, I probably will be at the bottom of my age group, but this was important to me to at least get done. I plan on (hopefully) doing all 4 US Master’s events this year. There is a 5K and a 10K swim competition that requires a 50M pool that I may have to figure out how to get done as I am not sure we have a 50 meter pool anywhere near me, but that can be done anywhere between May 15th and September 15th.

    Never mind, I digress, but I got home and helped Jesse with taking down the rest of Christmas and packing it all away down in the basement for next year. At least being out of Florida I am less concerned about mice getting into stuff as we were in the Florida house’s attic. It’s time to get the basement ready for Spring planting in a few months, though looking outside right now I am not thinking about Spring.

    View from Cameras at snow.

    I guess the kids (Res and Climber) are not getting their afternoon walks today. And of course that will mess with their dinner, greyhounds are creatures of habit and routine. Res has a tendency not to eat well if his routine is messed up. And…. his routine is messed up with this cold weather.

    Jesse has been slow cooking broccoli cheese soup today. Hopefully it’s almost ready, it’s soooooo good.

    Anyways, I think that’s a wrap for today. I am going to sit here and read for a bit, maybe go on Facebook for a bit. I also really need to figure out what to do about my Linkdin profile. My resume on there is tailored for a specific position I was trying for over 6 years ago. It does not represent over 40 years of working life. I had a deposition a week or so ago for an insurance case I was asked to be a witness for and I was disqualified as an expert in that base based on my Linkdin resume. I am wondering if the safest bet is to remove my resume from Linkdin. I keep an accurate copy of my resume here and I would rather people have a current resume than a really old one and one that has been shortened to fit the needs of a specific employer.

    Good Night and I will talk to you all tomorrow.

  • Day 024 of 2026

    Day 024 of 2026

    What a day! Started off here with Ms Gizmo (our cat) waking me up at 5:00am this morning. For some reason she started to do her squawking in the hallway outside our room. The dogs are non-reactive to her now, but she is still a pain in the ass. I relish what sleep I get. I did manage to doze off again until about 6:15am when Climber decided it was time to get up. The girl should have peed last night when she had the chance. But, she got sprayed with the spray bottle we keep upstairs, problem solved.

    I finally got up around 6:40 and let the beasts out. We had a light dusting of snow overnight, but it was cold!!! Like really cold. No one wanted to stay out longer than they had to. No morning walk for them either.

    They were not very happy and because their schedule was sort of messed up they decided the indoor track (up the stairs, through the kitchen, into the living room, and back down to the family room…. and repeat) was the thing to do. Needless to say, the outcome was that the human (me) interfered and put an end to the racing. Meet my jailbirds:

    Two dogs in their crate.

    Jesse and I took a leaf blowers outside and cleared the snow off of the walkways and the back lawn, hey, we have to do the lawn in order for the dogs to not get hurt paws when it melts a little and then re-freezes.

    After a quick breakfast I wanted to go work out for an hour at the Rec Center. I wasn’t in the mood to swim, actually I have been cold for a few days and didn’t really want to get colder and then walk out into 20 degree weather. Anyways, I went and spent about an hour, hit the treadmills, I can’t stand treadmills, and then another 15 minutes or so on the indoor track, and then finally I spent a whole 5 minutes on the rowing machine. I wanted to hit 10-15 minutes on the rowing machine but that was not happening.

    Aurora Rec Center Lap Pool
    Rec Center Basketball Court
    Aurora Rec Center Lazy River and Hot Tub
    A look across to the fitness equipment

    I need to start doing some resistance and weight training, it’s something that the physical thereapist has been after me to do, and I have a plan, its just finding the time to do it without impacting other fitness I am trying to do. I also need to spend an hour in the pool one of these days. Maybe I will go do that tomorrow. The rest of the week doesn’t look that great.

    I was finally able to get Res and Climber out for a a walk around the park. They like their walks and when they miss them they become very unhappy. It made it up to about 23 degrees so with coats and extra care we got them out.

    And after their walk it was nap time while Jesse went and explored CostCo. He’s brave, it was a Saturday afternoon before the Patriots loose to the Broncos 🙂 I do not understand how greyhounds ever get themselves untangled enough to get up from a nap fast. I would be falling all over the place.

    While they were sleeping I went downstairs and spent a little time on my Amateur Radio station. It is Winter Field Day (WFD) and it is almost impossible to make any “non-contest” contacts. I don’t participate in contests and think there should be some bands available for everyday activity. The contesters for the most part are pretty rude and will tell you off if you try to have a conversation that is not contest related.

    And as I wrap up the day we are relaxing, the dogs are snoozing for their after dinner, pre-snack nap. Yes, they sleep almost 16 hours a day and their trackers prove it. Sometime I will share a screen capture of that, they could compete in the Winter Olympics napping contest.

    I think I will wrap this up for today. See you all tomorrow – if you don’t freeze.

  • Day 022 of 2026

    Day 022 of 2026

    Was a pleasant 15 degrees outside when I got up this morning with the dogs. Of course Res went out and did his business really fast. Climber on the other hand, it took her a bit longer. Then Res had to go back out and find anyplace Climber peed and pee over it. Yup, this is the story of my life. It’s OK, it was way too cold to take them on a walk today anyways. We usually cut walks once it gets under 20 degrees.

    Spent my morning out in Golden, CO for an StrikeCheck inspection. Diagnoses a Home Automation System, and a Lighting Control System and all the fun stuff that goes along with it. Yes, it had failed. That’s about all I can say about it here due to privacy reasons. The homeowner was a great guy and his dogs were really friendly, nosy, but friendly and cute. Had it priced and ready to go out within an hour of getting back home. I like doing that. The only part of the process I can’t do is generating the final report.

    I saw some Elk on the way to the appointment. I wish I could have stopped and taken some photos of them as I don’t see them that often. I think the last time I saw them was last year, also out in Golden. They were not there on my way back out of the neighborhood. I had every intention of stopping.

    Spent the afternoon getting caught up on work things, and then I had the chance to get outside and play with Climber in the yard. She is the first dog we have had that I can play catch with. She loves her tennis ball. I really want to do agility with her, I think she would enjoy it. I may try and build a couple things for her to try this Spring to see if she is trainable.

    Did the evening walk with both Res and Climber together because Jesse had a hair appointment. It may be their last walk for a few days as our temperatures are supposed to plummet starting tomorrow for 72 hours. Not as cold as the Northeast, but still I guess we are finally participating in Winter 2026.

    Climber
    Res and Climber

    Wrapping up the evening here at the house, I went to the basement and brought up the portable heater that we use in the family room when it gets really cold. The brick of the fireplace absorbs heat from outside and radiates it into the rest of the room. This room is not on a basement so we have 2 outside walls, 1 garage wall, the slab, and then it is open to the upstairs where the kitchen is. It’s low in the house and it can get chilly. In addition to my office this is the room I would like to put baseboard heat into when I re-do the heating system (that is coming in the next few years).

    I never did make it to the rec center today, and tomorrow does not look that great either. I really need to get into the pool, it’s been a week today, but it’s one of those things that time just has not been available.

    Anyways, see you all tomorrow where we can do this all again!

  • Day 021 of 2026

    Day 021 of 2026

    A busy day today believe it or not. Work, fitness, dogs, etc.

    Started off the day at my normal time, logging into work about 6:45am Mountain Time (8:45 Eastern). Started off the day with a significant number of requests, be it Cause of Loss Determination (COLD)s, technician support requests, and pricing/invoice review tags the first thing in the morning ones receive priority. Once I get those done I can start whittling down the list of other requests that I have inherited. I can never finish it all in one day and it is sort of good for me to realize that.

    I was able to get out for a lunch break today, decided it wasn’t a swimming day for me, I just didn’t feel like it, so I got outside to get a walk in. It wasn’t bad, didn’t push it, but did get in a little over 4 miles. I also was able to finish the book on “tape” that I have been working on. I read the print book, loved it, and now the audio book was good as well, “Heated Rivalry” is a must read book. I hear the movie is good as well but I have never seen a movie that is as good as the book. Also saw my Prairie Dogs today, I call them the Neighborhood Watch!

    Got back from lunch and then worked another couple hours. As I work for an East Coast company I try to wrap up my workday by 2:45-3:00pm MT and then I have some downtime in the afternoon before the regular evening things of dog walk, feed, food,

    You would think that would wrap up our day, but no, I am right now trying to figure out why Climber is trying to push every button I have. She is not settling down and she is going to end up back in her crate again….. And she is in jail again. Everyone deserves some rest and relaxation time and Climber has to start realizing that she needs to settle down. She is not getting out of food mode and this is becoming a major issue.

    This is Climber starting the destruction of the next toy. Below is Res protecting his favorite toy.

    And then we have Climber pondering out of crate time…. will she be good…… will she be bad…..? It’s a 50/50 toss up.

    Anyways, see you tomorrow and I will see what I can do to add something exciting to tomorrows post.