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Echolocation by piledriver

There are two great big honking machines on the site of the new hospital hammering big long concrete pilings into the ground. You can almost do the bat thing and practically navigate the construction site with your eyes closed just by listening for the echoes from the pile driving. With a little bit of concentration, I can just about make a mental map of the surrounding buildings just by the echoes. Of course knowing where the surrouding buildings are helps a bit too.

When they’re both going at the same time, they make quite the racket. And from the looks of all the big long trucks delivering pilings, it’s going to be going on for quite some time.

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Fetch that bouncy green round thing!

Until we get the yard for our new place fenced, we’re going to have to find a nice safe enclosed place for Nala to run around in. The tennis court here comes in handy for that. I’m trying to teach her how to fetch things. She does pretty good running after the ball, needs a little bit of work on bringing it back though. Early on in our play session, she’ll come zooming back with the ball and overshoot me and just keep on running, so then I have to coax her back. During the middle of the session when she’s run out some of that Lab enthusiasm, she’s a little bit more reliable at bringing the ball back. Then towards the end of the seson, sometimes she’ll just drop the ball and keep on running back. Other times I’ll toss the ball, she saunters over to it and just keeps on going. That usually marks the end of the play session, so it’s back home to do other things. Following a play session like this, that’s usually a nap.

We’ve managed to get her to drop things reliably, which is a good thing because Nala’s forever picking up stuff. She has this penchant for munching on live oak leaves. I’m not sure if she finds them tasty, thinks they look like her kibble or if she’s just checking them all out.

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Achoo!! Achoo!!

So Nala’s been with us almost 3 weeks now. We got her just as pollen season was heating up. With the weather warming up, now everything is getting into full bloom and there’s the usual light green dust covering everything. Even the dog comes back home with a light dusting of green after going out for a walk.
This year the wife is being hit with allergies harder than ever. Sniffling, sneezing her head off and the Alavert/Claritin isn’t helping much this time. Time for a trip to the doctor for something a little stronger.
So, is it the seasonal pollen allergies, or is it the dog? Or maybe both?

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6 years already!

10 years ago, if someone had told me I’d be doing what I’m doing whre I am, I’d have thought they were crazy. Me, leave Canada? Work in the US? Never! Not a chance!
But here I am, 6 years after moving down south and almost 9 years since leaving home (almost 4200 km/2600 miles away as the Mapquest crow flies), and I’m still here. 6 years ago yesterday, we packed up our meager little apartment in Detroit and flew out to New York. Bought a car from a friend of my brother-in-law and drove down to Charleston SC. And here I’ve been, ever since.
6 years…whodathunkit.

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Sleepy dog

This is the position we usually find Nala in most often. Crashed on the kitchen floor, partly on her back and partly on her side. Growing dogs need their sleep I guess. She’s 3 months old now, and in the 2 weeks since we’ve had her she’s already put on 5 pounds and is up to 25 pounds now. She’s going to have to start learning how to walk down the stairs on her own before she starts getting too big to carry.

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