Another Hot Day - Had Lunch With Group Girls

Up around 7 am, had some breakfast, gathered up all of the trash in the house to put out in the bins for curb pickup tomorrow.
Was not as cloudy this morning when we got up, but it was still hot and humid.
Met the group girls over at Marie Calendar’s for lunch. Only 5 of us there today. The services was VERY slow and it didn’t appear that they were that crowded.
Got home around 2:15 pm. Later than normal when I met up with them.
It was 102° on my patio when I got home, so I put the trash bin out by the curb, went up and got my mail and then hurried back inside the house where it was nice and cool. Hiker wanted to walk up to the mailbox with me, but I told her the street was too hot for her little paw pads.
Where did June go?

Hottest Day So Far

We were up at 5:45 am this morning to get ready for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was already 69° at that time of the morning. By the time we got back from our walk, I was really sweating.
After Jean went home, Hiker and I had some breakfast and then I headed over to Wal-Mart. I hated getting out of the car to walk across the parking lot to the store because it was so hot and muggy, and it was the same leaving the store to walk back out to the car when I headed home.
Last week I mentioned that I was trying to vacuum my carpet and I kept having problems with my Dyson. The ball kept jamming and it had lost all of its suction. I got it working again for a while, but then I tried again today to vacuum and had the same problem. So this afternoon, I headed up to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought a Shark Rocket Professional Performance Plus Upright Vacuum.
I had always wanted a Dyson so about 2 ½ years ago, I purchased one for around $300.00 I loved it at first. I thought it was really good vacuum until last week when I started having the problems with it. Several people on Facebook told me that they too used to have Dyson’s and ended up getting rid of them after a few years. Most people told me they bought the Shark and that they like it so much better.
The Shark was $199.99 at BB&B and I had a 20% off coupon, so I think I got a pretty good deal. Like the TV commercials claim, a Shark is about 1/3 less than a Dyson.
I had purchased the Dyson with the ball because now that I’m older, I wanted a vacuum that was easy to maneuver. The Shark has a swivel steering and it feels like it is self-propelled when moving it forward, so it is very easy to maneuver.
As I send this daily blog, it is 105° on my patio and humid. Feels very stick and nasty outside.

A Lazy Sunday

I had intended to stay in bed until around 8 am this morning. Was going to watch “CBS Sunday Morning”, but then decided to get up and take Hiker out for a walk before it got too hot.
When I let her outside at 6 am, it was already 70° and muggy. By the time we started out on our walk, the sun was coming out from behind some clouds. We did about a mile and a half and when we got home, I was drenched in sweat.
Did another load of laundry and then sat down to watch some movies on The Hallmark Channel.
Around 1 pm, Hiker wanted me to go outside with her and play. I took one step out the door and came right back in. It was MUGGY out there! I remember back when I was a little kid, I loved summertime. Probably because it meant no school for 3 months, but the heat never bothered me. We always had dry heat back then. I don’t ever remember it being humid. I’d play outside with the neighborhood kids and never even think about how hot it was, and I do remember times when it would be around 110° for several days in a row.
Hiker and I had a nice lazy Sunday.

Overcast And Humid

Got up around 7 am and had some breakfast, then I did a load of laundry and a little bit of housework.
The sun was shining brightly, with a few clouds way off to the west, but by noon, the sky started getting very cloudy. We have a chance of thunderstorms this weekend.
The mowers came and were done in about 10 minutes.
I spent most of the day watching “Hart To Hart” on the Hallmark Movie Channel. I have always loved that show.
After lunch, Hiker and I went up to the mailbox. With the clouds, the temperature had cooled some, but the humidity was making it feel sticky.
I got a card from Tag Clinic telling me that Hiker is due for all of her shots in 2 weeks. She is supposed to get the Rabies vaccine, Rattlesnake vaccine, Bordetella, and DA2P-PV-CVK. The last is to prevent Parvo and other viruses. I’m also going to ask them about the dog flu vaccine while we are at the clinic.
By 1:30 pm, the sky was totally overcast and there were a few little drips of rain starting to come down, but they were far and few between.
Started to get a little bored watching TV, so Hiker and I went out on the patio. Hiker was chasing bugs while I shot some pictures of her. Had a few big rain drops, but nothing to really do anything.
Got to a high of 93° here today, but cooled down to the mid 80’s due to the overcast sky.

LOVE THAT SMILE!

Hot Friday

Got up early to do our dog walk with Jean, but she was dog sitting 2 dogs, so we had a total of 6 dogs and we decided that we’d just let them all play in my back yard instead of going for the walk. It’s easy to handle 4 dogs, but not anymore than that.
After she and the other dogs headed home, I made some breakfast for me and Hiker and then I did some housework. I’d been putting of cleaning my master bathroom until after the handyman came to put in the new faucets.
I was very pleased with my new handyman Nate. He came very highly recommended, and I can see why. I’m not sure how old he is, but to me, he was young. He does nothing but handy work and he is very knowledgeable. He is very polite and gets right to work. He makes sure he keeps everything clean while he is working and he makes sure that when he leave, everything is cleaned up. I thought the price for his labor was very reasonable.
I had moved everything out from under the sinks before he got here and he was amazed that I had done so. He told me that usually when he gets to a job, he has to move everything away from the work site. He thanked me for doing that for him and told me that he’s going to remember that I did that and told me he will give me a discount from now on because I have the work site ready for him to start immediately.
I feel it is not the workers job to move everything before they can start working, except for maybe carpet layers. Big furniture is hard to move alone.
Too hot to go outside for exercise today, so I decided to do an hour of Wii Sports to at least me moving around some. Got up to 101° today. Supposed to cool down a little temperature-wise, but it’s supposed to get very humid, so it will be sticky, which is worse.

Not A Busy Day

Out of bed around 7 am and immediately headed out with Hiker for a morning walk while it was still cool outside. My ankle is still sore from when I twisted it yesterday in the back yard and it doesn’t help that it is my left ankle, the same side where I have my Plantar Fasciitis. We did about a mile and a half walk total.
Didn’t see any more smoke from the fire. Heard it was still burning, but was pretty much contained.
Took all of the items out from under both of my sinks in the master bathroom so when the handyman gets here. I hope he will be able to do the job and complete it all today. If he’s anything like the last guy I had install a faucet for me, he’ll be good. About 5 years ago I had a faucet installed in my guest bathroom and it only took the guy about 10 or 15 minutes to complete the job.
The handyman should be arriving soon.

Fire In Santa Clarita Today

Up at 7 am, had breakfast and then I headed over to Stater Brothers to do a little grocery shopping. Was already almost 80° when I left around 8:00.
I noticed last night that one of my sink faucets in my master bathroom was dripping a little. Not good during a water shortage, so I when I got back from shopping, I called a handyman who lives here in my community. He came highly rated by a neighbor, so I thought I’d give him a try. I want him to change out both sink faucets in the bathroom. The ones I have now are originals and are probably over 25 years old, so I thought it would be best to just put in two new ones. He is going to come by tomorrow afternoon.
Hiker once again barked at me to come outside with her this morning to play with her football. We played for about 10 or 15 minutes but it started getting hot, and she was panting and I was sweating, so I told her it was time to get out of the heat. The problem with playing ball with Hiker is that she doesn’t “fetch”. She loves to chase the ball, but then once she has it, she expects me to come and get it from her, or she will just sit and stare at it until I come and kick it for her. It’s strange because she will “fetch” toys in the house when we play. She will set them at my feet and then wait for me to throw them for her and then she brings them back and set them at my feet again. Don’t know why she doesn’t do that when we play outside.
Had lunch and watched “Y&R”. Had planned to play some Wii games to get some exercise since it was in the high 90’s and too hot to go for a walk, but then I noticed a fire to the southwest of where I live. While out in the yard taking photos, I twisted my ankle, so decided not to do the Wii games.

Group Lunch

Hiker and I got out of bed just before 7 am this morning. Had some breakfast, then I gathered up the trash to put in the bins for tomorrow’s pickup and then paid some bills.
So happy that I didn’t have to go back to the court house this morning. Before I was excused, the judge had said that he wanted us there at 10:45 am, so at least if I had to go back, I didn’t have to get up real early. But don’t have to worry about that now since I’m done.
Actually, I would not have minded sitting on that jury because it kind of sounded like it was going to be interesting and the judge and lawyers thought it would be done by Friday. I’m glad though that I didn’t have to end up leaving Hiker home alone all day for the entire week.
Around 11 am, Hiker went out into the back yard. A few minutes later, I hear her near the door barking, but when I look, she’s got her football in front of her and she’s looking at me. She was telling me she wanted to play. So I went out back and played ball with her for about 10 or 15 minutes. It wasn’t too hot yet..in the mid 80’s with a nice breeze.
Met with Jane, Carol, and Robyn for the old grief support group for lunch at Cathy’s Deli. They told me that the therapist who runs the group at the senior center is leaving the center. They don’t have all of the details yet.

I Got Excused!

Got up really early this morning. I woke up around 4 am, but didn’t get up until 5:45 when my alarm went off.
Really don’t want to go to the court house for jury duty, but there’s nothing I can do about the situation. I always say that if I had never adopted Hiker and it was just me all by myself, I think I would love to do jury duty because I love watching crime and court shows on TV. But since I do have Hiker, I don’t want to be away from her.
I was hoping I’d meet someone around my age there to pass the day with. 15 years ago when I was sent down to Van Nuys for jury duty, I met a woman about my age in the parking lot as we were walking in and she and I sat and talked the entire time. It made the day go by faster. But the other 2 times I reported, everyone there was younger than me and so I didn’t connect with anyone. I don’t read much, so I get very bored if I’m just sitting around waiting. I did take a couple of crossword puzzle books with me to try to pass the time faster.
Didn’t really start talking to any other jurors until we were put on a panel and had to wait in the hallway before going into the court room.
Best news is….I got excused! So I don’t have to go back. Don’t know why I was excused. I was Juror #18 so I was in the “alternate’s” row. They started excusing jurors from #1 to #12 and I got moved into the #12 seat, so I figured I was stuck on the jury and would be going in every day for the rest of the week, but right after I sat in the #12 seat, the defense lawyer let me go after putting his head together with the defendant. Don’t know what that was all about. Maybe the defendant just didn’t like the way I looked or something because they barely asked me any questions before picking the jury. Anyway, I’M DONE!
It was a battery case and was going to last about 2 to 4 days with about 6 witnesses. That’s all I found out about the case.
So Hiker was very happy to see me when I got home. I got lots of kisses. She wanted her dinner!

Father's Day

This morning, while I was lying in bed watching “CBS Sunday Morning”, Hiker got up on the bed and just sat there staring at me. I started to talk to her about tomorrow, that I was going to be away from home all day and that she needed to be a good girl and watch the house for me while I was gone. I told her that Jean was going to come by and give her her mid-day treats and take her outside to go potty and that I wanted her to make sure she was a good girl and did her business. I was telling her that I really didn’t want to have to leave her all day, but that it was something I had to do. She was looking right at me the entire time I was talking to her and she put her paw on my arm, then she laid down, putting her head against my stomach as if she was hugging me.
After we got up, I made some breakfast and then Hiker and I drove down to get my lottery tickets. On the way back home, I told Hiker that I had to run the vacuum when we got home, so she might want to go out into the backyard while I did that. She just stared at me again while I was talking to her. When we got home, we went into the house and she went straight to the patio door to go outside.
I swear she understands every word I say to her!
Speaking of the vacuums.…I bought a Dyson about 3 years ago. Well today it started giving me problems. For some reason, the filter that is inside the “ball” of the vacuum kept coming loose, causing the ball to not turn. I had to keep stopping to correct the problem, but it kept happening. Don’t know why the filter is not staying in place. I may have to look into getting another vacuum. I’ve heard the Shark is pretty good. I want something light weight and swivels.
All day, Hiker seemed to sense that something was bothering me. She stuck to me like glue and kept wanting to cuddle.
Too hot to go outside today, so while Hiker snoozed, I played Wii Sports for about an hour.
Don’t know when I’ll get my Daily Email Blog out tomorrow. If I don’t get out of the court house until around 5 pm, I won’t get home until around 6:00 or 6:30 due to traffic.
Took these photos of our night sky last night just before 9 pm. I put the names of the Moon and the planets on the photo so you know what they are.

HOT-HOT-HOT!

Well when I checked online last evening, I was told that I have to report for jury duty Monday at 9:30 am. I noticed that in the instructions it said that all jurors must be prepared to report either to San Fernando or to Santa Clarita. I’m hoping that once I get down to San Fernando, they will send me back up to the Santa Clarita court house, then I could check up on Hiker at lunch time.
I finally saw one of my weather reports on CBS2 this morning. They didn’t show my picture this time, but they did show my name.
Had some breakfast, paid a bill and then did a little house cleaning before it got too hot. Trying to get it done in the mornings while it’s still cool.
Hiker and I were lazy all day. Too hot to go out for walks, so we just vegged on the sofa and watched TV.
Last night while lying in bed, I got to thinking about me being away from Hiker all day at jury duty. Originally I thought it would be best to take her over to Jean’s house for the day, but Jean goes to play cards at the Senior Center on Monday’s and she’s gone for about 5 hours, so Hiker would be left alone with Jean’s dogs, whom she loves, but it’s their house, not hers. When she is in my yard playing with them, if I go into the house for something, Hiker completely ignores Jean and her dogs and sits on the porch by the door watching for me to come back so I have no idea what she would do at Jean’s house without me there. She doesn’t like me out of her site for even a few minutes. Jean’s dogs have a doggy door to go outside. Hiker doesn’t know how to use doggy doors. Also, Jean has nothing but dirt and a brick patio in her backyard and Hiker does not like to potty on hard surfaces. She prefers grass. So I called Jean and told her I’d rather let Hiker stay here in her own home, where she might feel more comfortable with her own things and asked Jean if she would drop by on her way to the Senior Center and give Hiker a couple of treats and take her out into my backyard for potty. Jean told me I worry too much, but Hiker is my baby. I have never been away from her for more than 4 or 5 hours since I got her. Am I being crazy? Hiker holds her potty all night (9 or 10 hours), so I know she will be fine if Jean lets her out in the middle of the day.
Very hot her again today. I’m afraid it’s going to be this way all summer long. I hate the heat.

More Injecdtions

Up early for a short dog walk with Jean and her dogs. She came back around 9 am to pick me up to drive me down to my doctor’s appointment at Kaiser. Well, my right eye has started “seeping” again, so the doctor said I will have to have another injection. He said they were told the kind of injection he gave me last time (about 6 months ago) would last for a year, but he said they are finding that it only lasts for about 6 to 8 months. He wanted to give me the injection today, but I told him that I am on-call for jury duty next week and if I had to report Monday, my eye would be too blurry for me to drive down there. He said it was probably too late for me to notify the court about the problem, so he said I can come back in July to get the injection. So now I’ll probably have to have an injection every 4 to 6 months. That’s better than every month like before. So I go back on July 17th for the injection.
We headed back toward Santa Clarita and went to lunch at a place called Bricks. It’s a very small place that sells, burgers, salads and other sandwiches. It was “OK” but I don’t think I’d go back there again.
We then went up to New Leash On Life because Jean had some things to donate to them. Then we stopped by a new little hardware store in town because she needed a key made.
Got home around 2:15 pm and the electricity was not yet back on. It was about 84° in the house, 102° outside. The electricity came back on around 2:50 pm, so I turned the A/C on to get the house cooled down. When the electricity came back on, the smoke alarms beeped and Hiker came running and jumped on my lap. I could see in the bedroom where she had tried to hide in the corner early when I was not home and the electricity went off. I have her blanket folded in the corner and it was all messed up, so I figured she was trying to hide under it.
I have to check after 6 pm to see if I have to report for jury duty Monday. Not looking forward to that.

Way Too Hot

Got up early this morning because I wanted to get my car over to the carwash at 8 am. They have an “early bird special” where you save $4.00 on the price of the carwash. Wasn’t there very long as my car was the first one through the “tunnel”.
When I got back home, it was already 78° and it wasn’t even 9 am yet. I decided to keep all of the blinds and curtains shut today to see how warm it gets in the house if I don’t open them up. I’m still a little worried about Hiker not having fans or A/C tomorrow when Edison turns the power off for about 6 to 8 hours. It’s supposed to be around 100° outside tomorrow. I always feel so sorry for outside dogs that have to stay out in the heat or the cold. I’ll make sure have an extra bowl of water for her. At least she will be in the house and not out in the direct sun. Hopefully she will just sleep while I’m gone.
Another thing that’s bad is that when the power goes out, for the first few minutes, my smoke alarms make “beeping” noises and Hiker is scared to death of those beeps. I know that she will be looking for a place to hide when that happens.
Filled my hummingbird feeder before it got too hot to be outside. Don’t want them getting dehydrated either.
At 9:45 am my power went off and came right back on. Don’t know what that was all about. Edison is not supposed to do the maintenance work until tomorrow. Hiker panicked when the smoke alarm beeped. Had to go around and reset the clocks on the microwave, the stove and the ones in my bedroom that don’t have backup batteries.
By the time I had lunch it was already 100° so Hiker and I could not go to the park or anything. Was already way too hot to be outside.
I am not looking forward to tomorrow at all. First off, I have my appointment with my retinal specialist. I hate doctor’s appointments. Then next, the power at home will be turned off for most of the day, so I’ll be worried about Hiker, then after 6 pm tomorrow evening, I will check online to see if I have to report for jury duty on Monday. I don’t want to be on jury duty and have to leave Hiker all day if I have to report and get stuck on a case. Hoping I won’t have to report all week.

Busy Morning

Busy running errands this morning. Got up just before 7 am, had breakfast and headed out.
Needed some more organic apple cider vinegar, so I headed over to Whole Foods. The last time I was there, they had “tons” of the Bragg’s brand, but this time, they had not Bragg’s at all. I ended up buying their store brand, which claims to be organic and have “the mother” in it, so hopefully it is pretty much the same as Bragg’s.
Then I stopped by the Auto Club to renew my DMV registration. I wish everywhere was as organized as the AAA is. They have designated area for you to go to for whatever service you are there for. Gets you in and out so much faster.
Went to Wal-Mart just before going home. I needed some OJ and eggs. I stopped at Sam’s Club yesterday since I was right across the street at Rattler’s for lunch. Sam’s did not have any Eggland’s Best Eggs and that is the only brand I buy. So this morning I went to Wal-Mart to get the OJ and eggs.
Got home just after 9:30 am and it was already 82°. Ran the weekly scans on my computers and then took care of a few financial things.
Had to do “surgery” on one of Hiker’s favorite toys. I noticed some toy stuffing on the floor when she was playing with her “Bullwinkle Moose”.
Since it was too hot for a walk today, I did a little indoor walking with one of my Leslie Sansone DVD’s. The high today was 100°.

Summer Is Alive And Well Here

When Hiker and I woke up this morning, I went to turn the TV on to get the morning news and the cable was down. I don’t know how long it was out, but I know I could not get any TV from 6 am until around 7:30 am.
Got a notice that Edison is shutting our power off from approximately 9 am to 3 pm on Friday to do maintenance on a power pole just outside of our community. Why do they do this one a day that may be in the 90’s to 100’s? I have an appointment with my retinal specialist late that morning that Jean is taking me too, plus we will go to lunch, so we won’t be home most of the time, but Hiker and Jean’s dogs will be in their respective houses without any A/C. Guess I’ll need to keep all of the drapes and blinds closed in hope that it will keep the inside of the house cooler. Need to also make sure Hiker has lots of water.
Got a couple of phone calls and messages from a couple of the group ladies saying they could not make it to lunch today, but I spoke with Jane and she and I decided to go anyway.
So the morning didn’t seem to be going very well.
Met 3 of the group ladies for lunch at Rattler’s BBQ. Was really crowded there today. Food was good as usual.
I stopped by Sam’s Club after lunch to put gas in the car and went into the store to buy some eggs and OJ, but they did not have my Eggland’s Best eggs so I’ll go over to Wal-Mart tomorrow or Thursday to get the eggs and OJ.
100° here today. Guess summer is here.

It's Been 4 Years.....

Up early for a dog walk with Jean. It was already getting warm by the time we left for the walk at 7:15 am. When we got back, I was all hot and sweaty. Walked about one and a half miles.
After breakfast, Hiker and I went to get my lottery tickets and then when we got home, I put my July 4th outdoor decorations up. Put up a bunch of garage door magnets and some garden flags, etc. By the time I got down, it was already in the high 80’s.
Ben passed away on this date 4 years ago. Cannot believe he’s been gone that long. Seems like it was just yesterday I was at the hospital with him, but then it also seems like he was never here. I miss him.
Was too hot for Hiker and me to go out anywhere this afternoon, so we stayed inside the house with the air conditioning on. Got up to 100°.

My Personal Weather Station

Last night we watched a movie on Amazon Instant Videos called “Déjà vu”. It stars Denzel Washington. I had heard of it but never thought it would be very good, but Keith had seen it and he told me he knew for a fact that I’d like it, so I gave in. Glad I did. It was really a good movie.
Got up around 7:30 am and had some waffles for breakfast.
I didn’t mention it yesterday, but Keith helped me to install a weather station in my back yard. I bought it on Amazon last week and we put it up yesterday morning. I was having a lot of trouble at first trying to get it to upload to Weather Underground, but this morning, we finally got it working. I can report the temperature, the wind speed and direction, the humidity, barometric pressure, dew point, precipitation and UV rating.
Now I can give a really good report to CBS2 Weather Watchers.
If you are into weather and would like to follow my weather station on Weather Underground, you can look for it at Blue Sky (KCASANTA502) or click on the link below.
After hanging around the house for a while, Keith and I headed over to Carl’s Jr. and had lunch.
Hiker kept thinking she was going to go with us, but we could not take her when we went to eat, plus when we got back home, it was already in the 90’s, so it was too hot for us to go out walking anywhere.
Keith headed home around 1:30 pm. Hiker always mopes around for a while after he visits and goes home. She misses him.
Have a busy week ahead. Monday is our dog walk with Jean and her dogs, Tuesday, I meet the group ladies for lunch, Wednesday I’m going over to the Auto Club to renew my car registration. Thursday looks pretty empty, but Friday Jean takes me to my retinal specialist for an office visit and Friday evening I can check to see if I have to report for Jury Duty on the next Monday. I sure hope I don’t have to go. Jean said she would take care of Hiker if I have to report, but I hate to leave Hiker all day because she hates to be away from me for too long.

Blue Sky Weather Station

Out And About

We slept in a little this morning. We watched “Night At the Museum – Secret Of The Tomb” last night. I had seen the first 2 movies, but had not seen this one yet. It was good.
Had to wait for the mowers to come then Keith and I headed out. I wanted to go buy a new pair of walking shoes, so I drove over to Famous Footwear and got a pair of New Balance shoes for $50. Also stopped by Wal-Mart because the one near me didn’t have something I needed the other day, so I went to the one in Stevenson Ranch.
On the way home, we stopped by Tiny’s Sub Shop and picked up a couple of sandwiches to bring home for lunch.
Now we are taking Hiker over to the park to play.

Keith Is Visiting

Up very early this morning. My brother Keith was doing some field work here in Santa Clarita for his job. He had to be at the job site around 3 am and when he finished, he came straight to my house. He got here around 5:15 am. I was already awake. I think my body knows when I have to wake up earlier than my normal “sleep in” days. He went back to bed while Hiker and I got up and prepared for our Friday dog walk with my neighbor Jean.
After breakfast, Keith and I went over to Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. Keith needed to pick something up at Sam’s. We came back home for a little while and watched a little TV.
We went to lunch at Round Table Pizza. Keith followed me there in his car because he had to go from there over to his job site again and take some more readings.
Got up to 91° here today.

Sleepy

Didn’t sleep very well last night. Was not sleepy when I went to bed, so I turned on the TV in the bedroom. I remember looking at the clock around 1 am and I was still pretty much awake, but I turned the TV off and tried to go to sleep.
My Plantar Fasciitis was hurting really bad last night and because of the pain, I tossed and turned all night long. I think I overdid it on my walk with Hiker yesterday.
I woke up around 3 am and was able to go back to sleep, but it took a while. I decided to just hang out at home today and maybe even take a nap, which is rare for me to do.
My brother Keith has a job site here in Santa Clarita tomorrow, so he figured since he’ll be up here working, he’d stay over for the weekend. I want to feel better while he is here.
When Hiker and I got out of bed, it was the normal “June Gloom” outside, but the sun came out around 11:30 am and it was hazy with a nice cool breeze.
Fell asleep a little while Y&R came on, but woke up in time to watch it. Felt a little better, so I made myself some lunch.
Felt better after lunch, but still very tired from not getting much sleep.
Was a little humid here today. Got into the mid-80s.

Finally Got Out For A Walk

Well it appears that whatever the problem between my email and my brother’s email was, it is now fixed. I had contacted my provider (Time Warner) via their Facebook page on Sunday and they were looking into the problem. I got a call from Time Warner this morning. They were calling to see if we were still having the problem because they had not been able to find anything at their end that could be causing the problem. They basically told me that sometimes if too many spam/junk mails start coming from a specific server going to another server, like say from my server to Ron’s server, the server will automatically block everything coming from that server for a while. So it sounds like Comcast blocked everything coming from my Time Warner server. He said that when it happens, people on the blocked end should call their provider and have them check into it.
Hiker and I got out of bed around 7 am this morning. I had to go do my grocery shopping, so I wanted to get started early. When we first got up, it was still very cloudy outside, but by the time I went shopping and came back home (around 8:30 am), the sun was out.
I had considered taking Hiker for a walk when I got home, but it was already almost 80°, so it was too warm. I’ll try to get out with Hiker earlier tomorrow morning.
After lunch, I noticed that a cool on-shore sea breeze had come up, so I decided to take Hiker over to Central Park for a walk. We did almost a mile and a half. My heel still hurts a little, but not as much as it did before. Besides wearing the Dr. Scholl’s Custom Orthotic shoe inserts, I also purchased a night splint. I don’t wear it in bed. I wear it in the evening before I go to bed while I’m watching TV. The inserts have really helped my knee. I have not had any knee pain for a couple of weeks now.

Muggy Day

Didn’t sleep in very late this morning. It was very cloudy here at 6 am and it was already 70° outside. We were getting the “remnants” of Hurricane Blanca. It started raining lightly around 7:30 am. It was coming down in those “big drops” that you can run between.
The emails between me and my brother Ron are still sporadic. He receives one and then nothing for a long time again. I noticed that my nephew Matt, who also uses Comcast, received a bunch of my emails because I got several read receipts from him last night. So it appears that this problem is mostly between me and my brother.
If I send a specific email to both of my brothers, only Keith receives the original. If Keith replies to both me and Ron, naturally Ron can see the email because the email is then coming from Keith, but he still cannot see anything that comes from me directly. Either his provider has me blocked, or somehow his email itself is blocking me.
Met up with the group girls for lunch. We went to Dario’s Mexican Restaurant in Newhall, CA. Good food.
Still very cloudy when we left the restaurant and it started raining a little again when I got home. Problem is, it’s not enough rain to water my poor lawn.
Only got up to 78° today, but it was humid.

Way Too Hot!

Out of bed early this morning for our dog walk. We are going to have to change our morning walking time. We need to set it back about 30 minutes because the weather is starting to get hotter. It was already almost 70° at 7:30 am when we started and by the time we got back, it was in the mid 80’s.
By 11:30 am it was already 95° on my patio.
My brother Ron called me because he has not been receiving my emails. He was getting them on Friday then he didn’t get anything on Saturday until late in the day then he stopped getting them again. I send an email to both of my brothers every morning to let them know I’m OK. He has Comcast and I have Time Warner Roadrunner. Don’t know if anyone else I know who has Comcast is not getting my emails.
My nephew Matt as Comcast and my cousin Nance has Comcast, but have not heard if they are getting the emails or not. I contacted a friend of mine on Facebook who also uses Comcast and she said she has not gotten my emails since Friday either, so it must be a Comcast/Time Warner problem.
By 1:30 pm, it was 102° on my patio. Hiker and I didn’t dare stick our heads out the door.
As I’m sending this, it is 104° on my patio.

Must Be Summer

So Hiker and I went to bed at 8:30 pm last night. We were both pretty tired from the long day at the community yard sale. I think I was asleep by 9 pm. Woke up around 4 am because Hiker was moving around on the bed. I guess she thought we’d had enough sleep and that it was time to get up, but I made her settle down. I did let her go outside to potty around 6 am.
As we usually do on Sundays, we stayed in bed until 8 am watching “CBS Sunday Morning”, then we got up and had some breakfast.
Was almost 70° already. I took the sheets off the bed and washed them. Hiker went outside and wandered around the backyard for about an hour, then came back inside to “help” me put the clean sheets back on the bed. She “helps” me by laying right under my feet.
By 1 pm it was already 98 here. I made myself go out into the heat to fill all 3 of my hummingbird feeders. Couldn’t let the little hummers go without water in this weather.
Just now when I am sending this email, it shows 101° on my patio. YUCK!

Community Annual Yard Sale Day

Hiker and I were up at 4:30 am this morning. Our community has an annual garage sale. It always starts at 7 am, but it takes a while to get all set up, plus some people start coming in around 6 am.
Hiker and I always take the few items we have to sell up to my neighbor Jean’s house. She likes to park her car in my driveway to give her room for what she is selling, so that’s why I take my stuff to her house.
The sun wasn’t even up yet when Hiker and I went over to her house, but the neighborhood was already buzzing with residents setting up for the sale.
Jean always has a lot of stuff that she tries to sell. I usually only have a few things and that’s how it was this year. I never really expect to sell anything, but it is nice when I do. I made $26.00 which isn’t a lot, but it’s not bad for doing nothing but sitting around and chatting with neighbors and visitors all day. What I didn’t sell, I’ll give to charity.
Hiker was a very good girl during the sale. For the first hour, she was inside the house with Jean’s dogs, but once we were done setting up, I brought her outside with us. She always sits right next to my lawn chair and she always behaves. Everyone is always telling me what a pretty dog she is and how well behaved she is. She always makes me proud.
She seems to be fully recovered from whatever was wrong with her paw yesterday. Have no idea what she did to it while we were out walking and she started limping really bad. Never did find a sticker or anything in her paw. Thought maybe she had twisted her hip, so I massaged it for her last night and did some stretches with her leg. But I’m so glad she was back to her old self this morning.
The yard sale goes from 7 am to 2 pm, but by 1 pm, no one seemed to be coming by, so we decided to quit and put everything away, and Hiker and I came home. Hiker acted like she was so exhausted. Guess she had a long day (LOL). It has been a L-O-N-G day. She and I will both be sleepy early tonight.

Getting set up for the yard sale

The shoppers start to arrive

Hiker watching all of the people

Hiker Did Not Have A Good Day

Got up early for our dog walk with Jean. Hiker woke me up at 3 am making that noise that dogs make just before they throw up. She got off the bed and went into the living room, so I followed her. She had spit up a little bit of slim (no food) and she was acting scared because she thought she did something bad. I always tell her that she can’t help it when she throws up and that she’s OK.
I tried to get her to go outside, but she didn’t want to. I sat in the living room with her for a while to make sure she wasn’t going to throw up more. After about 15 minutes, we went back to bed and she was OK after that.
But then we went on our dog walk. We met up with Shelly and her dog Toby in the park. About ¾ of a mile from home, Hiker suddenly started limping really bad and holding her back right foot up. She stop and sit down to lick it and she kept shaking it. We all looked at her foot to see if she had a sticker or a piece of glass or something, but we could not see anything. She kept limping and stopping to sit down, so we decided to head back home. She acted like she could hardly walk, so Shelly, who is much younger than me, picked her up and carried her almost all the way home.
When we got home, we all checked her foot again and none of us could see anything wrong, but Hiker kept licking her paw pads. Shelly is a physical therapist, so she sat Hiker down and checked out her hip and the bend in her leg. Shelly stretched the leg slowly and rubbed it, then we soaked Hiker’s paw in water and Epsom salts.
She was still limping a little bit, but she never did cry or yip when she put weight on the leg and foot and she didn’t cry or yip when we were checking it out. After everyone left, I gave her a chewable baby aspirin.
I kept an eye on her while I fixed us some breakfast and I watched her walking around the house and she seemed to be limping less.
After breakfast, I put the items I want to try to sell at our community yard sale tomorrow into my car and then put Hiker in the car and we went over to Jean’s house because I try to sell my stuff at her house and she puts her car in my driveway. Hiker stayed inside with Jean’s dogs while we sorted things for the sale. When I went back into the house, Hiker ran up to me and jumped up at me, so I think her foot/leg is OK.
I am watching her closely and will probably soak her paw in the Epsom salts again and maybe give her another baby aspirin later.
I did a load of laundry this afternoon since I’ll be busy with the yard sale all day tomorrow.
Don’t know what happened to the rain they kept saying we were going to get today. The sun was out early this morning and stayed out all day. The temps got up to the high 70’s.
Hiker and I have to get up around 4:30 am tomorrow morning and try to get over to Jean’s house by 5:30 am. The yard sale starts at 7 am, but we have to get everything set out on the driveway (it’s in her garage now) and some people start coming around 6:30 am.

Very Cloudy Day

Fell asleep right after I crawled into bed last night. That’s unusual. We decided since we didn’t have any plans for today that we’d sleep in until 8 am, but I only got a little bit of sleep because Hiker kept wanting me to get up.
After a little breakfast, Hiker and I went out and bought my lottery tickets. Had planned on taking Hiker for a walk after I vacuumed the carpet, but my heel was hurting me quite a bit, so decided not to go out right then.
After lunch, I took Hiker with me up to the post office. I had several HP empty printer cartridges to send back to Hewlett Packard to recycle. I get prepaid postage envelopes from them that they pay for to send them back.
Noticed that the kids over at the school near me got out of school early today. They were roaming all around just outside of the school grounds. The closer it gets to them getting out for the summer, the more days off they seem to get.
Thought again about going for a walk with Hiker, but my heel was still bothering me quite a bit, so decided to rest it.
They are still saying we may have rain tomorrow morning, so don’t know if Jean and I will be able to walk the dogs, but I know I have to take some items over to her house for our community yard sale on Saturday. I sell my stuff from her yard and she parks her car in my driveway.
It stayed overcast here all day and in the low 70s.

Today Flew By

We got out of bed at 7 am this morning. Had some breakfast and then I headed over to Sam’s Club to pick up some items.
Very thick marine layer here this all day and chilly for this time of the year. When I got home from Sam’s Club, I took Hiker out for a walk. We did about a mile and a half. My heel still hurts, but not as bad as it did before. It hurts the most when I get out of bed and step down on it because the tendon has tightened up while I was sleeping.
I’m a member of the CBS Weather Watchers here and I went in to post the temperature and sky conditions here in Canyon Country and I noticed that it now shows that my reports have been mentioned twice on the local news/weather. Of course I missed it both times. Maybe one of these times I’ll see one of my reports. They give your name and show your picture when they mention you.
Watched TV and ran my weekly scans on my laptops.

Good Lunch - Great Company

Took me a long time to fall asleep last night, even though I was falling asleep on the sofa before I went to bed. I had planned to get up around 6 am, have breakfast and then head over to Sam’s Club, but I was too sleepy. I still got up at 7 am.
Didn’t go to Sam’s Club. Decided I’d go tomorrow.
Don’t know where the morning went. I was messing around on the computer. I had finally gotten my email fixed after calling Time Warner and talking to a tech. What’s funny is that neither one of us figured out why it started working. The tech was going through her “step-by-step” book having me change some settings and that didn’t work, so she told me to put them back to what I originally had an suddenly, the email was working. She was as surprised as I was.
I was also having some problems with my Microsoft Office program. All of a sudden it was not letting me open some of my files. It was saying they were corrupted. I was in a panic on those because some of them are very important. I disconnected my external hard drive and suddenly Office started working again. I reconnected the drive and everything was fine again.
I think I must have had “computer poltergeists”.
Went to Backwoods Inn and had a nice lunch with some of the grief group ladies. I love them all so much. Always good conversation and a lot of fun.
When I got home, Hiker and I went out and sat on the patio for a while.
My brother Ron called me and we talked for about 30 minutes.
Mid-80s here today.

First Day Of June

Got up at 6 am to get ready for our dog walk with Jean. Did about a mile and a half then came back home so the dogs could play, but for some reason, Hiker could not get any of Jean’s dogs to play with her this morning.
After Jean and her dogs went home, Hiker and I had breakfast and then walked down to the community office to pay my monthly land lease. Hiker loves going down there because she knows that Marcy has treats in her desk drawer.
We walked back home and the drove down to the liquor store to get my lottery tickets.
Paid some bills and watched TV. After lunch, took Hiker up to Canyon Country Park to walk around. I’m trying to exercise to stretch my muscles and tendons, plus I’ve gained some weight because I have not been exercising.
Have been having computer problems for the past few hours and trying to work it out. Seems like my email and my Microsoft Office is all screwed up.