Elroy's Summer Job As A Vet Tech

A few weeks ago Elroy and Judy got part-time jobs at an animal clinic in Silver Spring called the Ambassador Animal Hospital. Although Judy didn't like the Veterinarian in charge or her position as a receptionist and quit after only one or two days on the job, Elroy has been working steadily a few days each of the past couple weeks. We're still not sure how much Elroy is being paid, when he'll be paid and whether this will be a full-time job over the summer, but at least it's something. He duties mostly entail filing and clean-up around the premises but he's also had opportunities to assist in the clinic with animals and brings home some interesting stories.

If I could be granted one wish.......

If I could be granted one wish it would be to take a nap every afternoon during work around 2:00 PM. Curl up on a sofa and just snooze for 15 or 20 minutes. On weekends that's usually all it takes to help me feel refreshed the rest of the day. I'd be more productive and feel better too. Our cat Max has the right idea...........

The Watchword is Kazoo

So it appears that Judy has made her selection to attend Kalamazoo college. Kzoo was one of her first choices and she was also offered an really good academic scholarship. I was very impressed with the personal attention they gave Judy in the acceptance letter in which the admissions committee lauded specific academic and extracurricular achievements of hers. I think it will be a very good experience for her. Below is a nice winter evening scene of the Kzoo campus and below is the Kzoo school song.

Kalamazoo Alma Mater

O, Kalamazoo, our faithful friend,
We offer thee a song,
To praise the home where friendships blend
and weld so true and strong.
O, sacred refuge and most hallowed place,
Where hope and joy renew,
With tight'ning grip and bright'ning face
That speak thy love, Kazoo.


When these dear scenes are left behind
No fortune can subdue
The chords of love that closely bind
Our hearts to thee, Kazoo.
Each tree upon thy fair Arcadian hill
Is dear to us for aye.
Dark storms may come, cold blasts may chill
But friendship e'er will stay

When age has decked our heads with white
And youth has ceased to glow,
We'll revel in one sweet delight
The times of long ago.
O then, Kazoo, shall beauties of the past
Enrich our souls anew,
And while our earthly vigils last,
The watchword is Kazoo.

The San Diego Zoo

April 14th. I spent my first full day in San Diego going to the San Diego Zoo. From my hotel I took the trolley to the City College station and switched to the #7 bus to Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo. The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition commemorating the opening of the Panama Canal provided a major impetus for the creation of Balboa Park as it appears today and it serves as a central hub for museums, performing arts venues and outdoor gardens. I didn't go to any of the museums but I did rather like the desert garden shown at left. In the zoo I saw a number of animals that I had never seen in person before and a few I was able to photograph.

One of the first scenes you see upon entering the zoo grounds is a spectacular pool filled with pink flamingos. All the flamingos would simultaneously dip their heads into the water and then raise their heads up....I don't know whether they were drinking or what but it was amusing to watch.

A Galapagos Tortoise.

A Meerkat. Everybody liked the Meerkats, and below a sleepy Kuahla Bear.

A wild Boar. This guy was really ugly.

A male orangutan.

A magnificent male Bonobo Chimpanzee.

Taking the cable car ride back to the zoo entrance.

Old Town San Diego

April 13th. Last weekend I went to a scientific meeting in San Diego, by myself. Jane was going to come but decided not to since she's been very busy at work and we'll be going to the Grand Canyon next month. Anyway, the meeting was fine. I made some new friends and saw some old friends, and went out to some "way-to expensive" dinners. Of course, too expensive to me is when my meal doesn't already come wrapped in cellophane.

While in San Diego I walked around the Gaslamp District which is the main entertainment region near the convention center and checked out the new Padres stadium. But I enjoyed most visiting Old Town San Diego and the San Diego Zoo. Old Town San Diego is the original settlement in California and the site is now a historic park that is nice for strolling its avenues, browsing the many shops, and getting some pretty good food....and there's some history of the early settlement of this region if you're interested. The welcoming sign leading into Old Town is just a short distance from the Trolley stop (see picture at top); many of the shopkeepers dressed in period costume and there were historical characters leading tours, but it was cute not annoying.

The town itself is alright. Some of shops sell typical tourist junk and some are quite nice and feature local artists. There is also a lot of local crafts like leather, tin-work, and faux native art.

As I was walking I saw this one outdoor artist with his easel painting this view (see picture above) which I thought was particularly attractive and stood just over his shoulder to snap this picture. It turned out better than what he was painting.

The above picture was not taken on the main thoroughfare but actually behind the town. The pictures at left (and bottom right) is more typical of the views of storefronts walking down the main plaza.

I'll write about the San Diego Zoo in my next post.

Final Home Additon Update

April 13th. Finally, here are pictures of the finished addition. The first picture (below right) is a view standing by the garage with a view of the bedroom addition in the foreground and the screened porch at the back. The bay window is the prominent feature from this angle. In the next photo (first photo at left) I'm standing in the middle of the backyard looking directly toward the back of the house. There are steps that lead either up to the porch or down to the basement and a small open-air section of the porch. I've been thinking it would be nice to install a arbor in this recess between the two roof lines (between the bedroom and porch additions). Then let a trumpet vine grow up the arbor and place a small table for two in the little niche of open-air porch space to create an intimate french bistro setting for enjoying wine and cheese lunches in the summer under the shade of a beautiful arbor of flowers and buzzing bees.

The next photo (below left) is the opposite angle of the first photo featuring the screened porch in the foreground and the bedroom addition toward the rear. There is hay covering the ground and some grass has started to sprout. The landscaping will be a long-term project. We've started moving some furniture onto the porch...a futon and a collection of mismatched chairs. It isn't quite developed yet and will take some time to come together. We need to install sunshades and stain the wood, but we'll have all summer to do those chores. We've been able to use the porch on warmer days but it has still been pretty cool.

On the inside I installed a new faucet in the bathroom and have still to make a small decorative back splash behind the sink and a radiator cover--then that room will be done. I've begun working on the front bedroom; so far I've striped the old wallpaper off the walls, patched the walls and ceiling, and painted the walls and trim to match the rest of the house. I also installed a new light fixture and moved or replaced some the electrical outlets to be consistent with the bedroom addition. I'll be painting the doors next and installing carpet at some point to complete the transformation of the front bedroom into a home office/guest room.

Here are few photos of the bedroom which we are enjoying but as far as decorating is still a work-in-progress. First, Jane's closet (at right) followed by two pictures of the room standing in the doorway. The first picture is looking the left and the second is swept to the right.

DNF

So Jane and I ran in the HAT 50K last weekend. I ran this trail ultramarathon last year under an assumed name.....one of our running friends had signed-up for the race but couldn't go so I went in his place......and finished in approximately 6 hours 50 minutes. It's a tough course made even tougher this year with some additional course changes that resulted in more changes in elevation....10K feet in all if you do the entire course. The course consists of three loops; an initial 4-5 mile loop and then two loops of 13.7 miles each. This year Jane also ran, but with a bum IT band was only going to do the first two loops consisting of about 18 miles. As I was nearing the end of the second loop I heard what I thought was Jane yelling for me off in the distance and could just barely see her off a ways and decided to end my race there, go catch up with her, and we finished the second loop together and went home.....tired but not exhausted. About 400 runners assembled at the starting line for the 9:00 AM start of the race (see picture above left); about 325 finished. The rest of us Did Not Finish (DNF).

At right is a picture of me chugging up the first big hill and in the second photo (see below) way at the back I think is Jane. The beginning was really pretty cold (in the 30s) with a stiff wind blowing. The cold wind gave me some asthma problems but I was running pretty slow at the beginning.....well I was running pretty slow throughout but that's beside the point. However, once we were in the woods the weather wasn't too bad and it did warm up some. All in all, it was a very nice day and I'm glad Jane and I got to hook-up at the end to run/walk the final couple of miles......mostly all of which was going down a steeply graded road only to have to trudge back-up a equally steeply graded hiking trail. Making our way up the hiking trail the first couple of male finishers went swooshing by but they seemed very nice. One of them said Jane and I were doing a good job. Yeah, we're all winners.......just like on the Uncle Al show (that's for you Mike).