Photo #P1010003

SUMMARY: A rousing round of randomness

So, here's the thing. Ya take a lot of photos, the camera numbers them for you, but the camera has only a certain number of digits, say, up to 9999, so eventually, after 9999 photos, it rolls back around to 0001 again. But some cameras have wayyyyyy many more digits.

Sometimes, when I search for a certain photo number, the variety of photos that appear intrigues me.  So, just because-- here are my photos numbered P1010003.

(It's a single collage this time instead of each file individually. See the text below the collage.)

I've done this before:

• #2119
• #2150

These are random, hence quality is, too.

Left to right from the top:

1. April 2008: Haute Dawgs' USDAA agility trial at Dixon. Friends with his and hers Segways let us all try them. Learning curve, very fast on a wide-open lawn, and oh so cool!
   We had fun fun fun till our buddies took the Segway away.
   Third day of a 4-day trial. I did not sign up for the fourth; that is too too too much agility. Thirty runs over just 3 days. Tika completed her ADCH-Bronze. (This is a Big Thing.)
   
2. Feb 2008: Sun sets on another agility weekend. Heading home from VAST's Turlock USDAA trial. Another 18 runs between the 2 dogs over 2 days. Plus walkthroughs of probably 10 minutes each. Lots of pottying and warming up and cooling down and volunteering. Tired, always tired physically.
   Driving west into the sunset. Better than driving west into the blinding sun above the horizon, an all-too familiar nemesis.
   
3. Feb 2007: Commuting to work in essentially stopped traffic. Inch, stop. Inch, stop. How often have I been in this exact traffic jam?! Some  places are just bottlenecks. --we have lots of them. But the fog on the coastal mountains is a nice backdrop.
   
4. Feb 2017: Restaurant dessert at the family's dinner (about 15 of us) after Mom's (and Dads') Memorial. The Executor held the keys to the Estate pocket book. Seemed like this would be a good use of funds, so no holds barred. Emotions must be tended to.
   Signed,
    -- The Executor.
   
5. Nov 2009: Stevens Creek Reservoir (not "Steven's").  Water level is low-ish, not surprising after the long dry summer months. Rain might have started in Sept but more likely Oct.
   Short hike up the hill to Picchetti Ranch Reserve for the view with a former work colleague friend.
   
6. Aug 2009: Wearing a glow bracelet in my car. Why? Where is this? Why did I have one at all?  These photos are with photos from a late afternoon hike in the hills with the dogs at Santa Teresa Park. Which makes no sense. This appears to be one of the folders in which for some reason dates and times are hosed. And/or photo numbers. Or they were hosed in the camera and I didn't notice.  The *numbering* would fit there, but I can find no info anywhere on glow bracelets in the car, clearly at night. Not in my blog or my other photos.  Sadly this might remain a mystery.
   
7. June 2009: Used to take the dogs with me when I'd drop the car off for maintenance, then we'd go for a long walk instead of waiting in the facility's inevitably stark waiting room. This time they weren't done with the oil change when we got back, so we waited in the waiting room together. No idea whether they minded. Didn't care. Was hot outside, nowhere to sit, and the car wasn't ready. And the Merle Girls were well-behaved.
   
8. May 2008: Hiking with the Wednesday Sierra [Club] Singles. After work, all year round. This day, to the top of Black Mountain in the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve.
   We'd meet after work, drive 20-30-minute drive up from the Valley nearly to Skyline Rd. (twisty turny winding road up about 2000 feet). We'd have to be out of the parking lot by half hour after sunset.
   
   So we'd have to hustle to the top of Black Mountain from the parking lot, admire the view briefly, maybe have time for a snack if we were lucky, and hustle back down. No time to sit and relax! About 3 miles one way, gaining 800 feet (and 3 miles/800 feet back down again), but many sections are exhaustingly steep. So there's the crew, there's the view, how do you do!
   OK, it's not a view, just us and the mountaintop and clouds. Trust me, views are lovely.
   Back when I could do that kind of hike.
   
   Because I'm nice, here's the actual view that day of the south Bay Area and mountains to the east. (In the other direction are ridges of forest and clouds and, on a good day, a view of the Pacific.)
   
   

Why so many photos with the same number within those 2 years and none after? Something odd happened. As you can tell from the number of digits, it should've kept going up. And, in fact, at some point it did, because here in 2020Land, that camera is at P1130988.

Zorro attacks Chip when--

SUMMARY: Odd dog behavior patterns.

Today's "fun" dog behavioral pattern:

Zorro attacks Chip (so I have a fight on my hands) when:

• Zorro naps behind my office chair and I roll backwards and hit him
• I tell Chip in an annoyed or angry mother voice not to do something
• I tell Zorro in an annoyed or angry mother voice not to do something
• The dogs are excited (e.g., visitor) and I try to grab Zorro's collar to keep him from jumping on the visitor or attacking Chip
• We're out for a walk and Chip starts to bark enthusiastically at another dog
• I'm dozing off at night and both dogs are in their separate beds at opposite ends of my king-sized bed--I never see what precipitates this one, except that when I snap on my light, it's always at Chip's bed, nowhere near Zorro's bed (and Zorro's bed is closer to me than Chip's, usually). This is the biggest reason why, for the first time in my life (other than with new dogs), the dogs are now usually sleeping in their crates at night.

Zorro does NOT attack Chip (thank goodness; I don't need more stupid fights) when:

• Chip, who is astonishingly picky about his personal space at times, leaps up and snaps at Zorro because Zorro was, I don't know, scratching and wiggled the bed, or, whatever, maybe Zorro looked at him?

Odd Story

SUMMARY: The missing boot.

Two weeks ago, I started working at my client's site rather than from my home office. Client has 7 floors of parking garage in each of two different buildings, each level with multiple aisles of parking. Each day that I've been there, I've parked in a different place, on a different floor.

Each floor is painted a different color and has a huge floor number painted in many places. That doesn't always help me--I have to stop and think every evening about where I left MUTT MVR that morning. First three days it was on the first floor twice and a basement floor once, all different spots. Through Wednesday of this week, I've been there 6 other times--have parked on floor 2A, 2B, 3, 4, and 5 (not in that order, of course), and also on the down ramp in the 2nd building's garage.

The point is, somewhere different every time.

OK.

Last weekend, I couldn't stand MUTT MVR's interior mess any more. You know, mess just accrues as I do agility--toss things in, haul them out, rearrange-- or hiking--toss things in, rearrange, haul them out--or just drive around--printed google maps directions, empty fast-food bags and soda cans, things I bought but haven't yet taken into the house... Try to straighten everything out every couple of months but don't always get to it.

Anyway, sick of it. Spent 4 hours Sunday rearranging the car AND the garage to better accommodate things that I regularly put into and take out of the car. Vacuumed the entire car, places I've not vacuumed in years (found more bits of broken window glass). Put everything in its place. No clutter, nothing lying around loose. Perfect.

I was at the office for long days every day, so no chance to mess things up after that, either. At the end of the day Wednesday, i was going to drive to hiking directly from the office. So, at 5 p.m., I neatly hid my computer under my neatly arranged dog gear, pulled my hiking boots out of my hiking pack, tossed them into the front seat, neatly put the pack back in its spot, and neatly pulled my black cover over everything in the back.

Drove up to Palo Alto to meet my hiking group. In the dark, fumbled around on the floor, found one boot, and put it on before even opening the car door (it was cold). Annnnnnd the other boot wasn't there. If the car had been messy, I'd have had a better reason for not finding it, but the car was beautifully clean and neat. I looked anyway. Got out my flashlight to help. Under the seats. (Not there.) Under the black cover somewhere. (Not that I could see.) In the pack in case for some reason I had a brain hiccup and didn't actually pull out both boots, except that I VERY CLEARLy this time remembered having both boots in my hand. (Not there.) Unburied the computer thinking, well, it has to be here SOMEWHERE, right? (Not there.) Everything's messy again, crap. But no boot.

Finally gave up and figured I'd go through the car again when I got home, although quite unclear as to where it could possibly be. Hiked 5 miles in my normal shoes, which fortunately turned out OK.

Raced home and got there JUST in time for a conference call, had a quick dinner, and went to bed. Didn't think about the boot.

Next morning, got up, did a little emergency billable work at home, drove the renter to the auto shop to pick up his car, continued on fairly late in the morning to the client's site. Drove around and around and around through the various aisles on the various floors, looking for a parking spot. Finally found one up on the fourth floor around 11 a.m.

Pulled in, opened the door, got out.

And there was my other boot.