Dr. Dog's House

I haven’t written for a while, have I? Well, so it goes. It seems hardly anybody is writing lately. Most of them are busy telling their life stories on Facebook. But I’m not a Facebook person.

To be clear: If I seen an online article I like, I will hit the Facebook icon and write my comment about it–what I liked about it or a excerpt that I particularly liked. But that’s the extent of it. I would rather talk about my life as Dr. Dog. Or some other nom de plume that effectively conceals my identity. That may also be why I really haven’t warmed up to Google+ yet.

But my inactivity here is for other reasons as well. Let me count the ways:

1. The big one–the really, really big one–is my son’s wedding, which takes place next Saturday, April 21, in the Detroit area. We will be leaving Wednesday morning and returning late Sunday night. Remember, both of those are all-day drives, since it’s over 500 miles between here to there. So we will be gone five days and four nights. We have someone (one of the gals in the office) coming in to feed the kitties and replenish their water.

My to-do list for the wedding is down to one item: cufflinks. I think I have some in a dresser drawer, but I didn’t want to do the spelunking around in it the other night. My son told me about that last Sunday night when he last called.

Otherwise: Pictures to scan and e-mail down? Check. Measurements for my tux? Check. A check to help them pay costs? Check check. A new, larger suitcase (actually, a gen-you-wine travel bag, like you would use for air travel)? Check. Haircut? Check. Extra key for the lady who is feeding the kitties? Check. Motel rooms booked (for us and our younger son)? Check. Addresses entered into my car’s nav system, to help us find our way in the big city? Check.

My wife predictably has been more chaotic about getting prepared, but she is nearly ready, too. The final item on her list was finding a pair of shoes. The pickings are pretty slim up here (where the only shoes are small departments in department stores), but we went to Iron Mountain Saturday and found a pair of brown shoes (which will go well with her mint green dress). Also, I assured her that we will be visiting an area with shopping malls and outlet malls, so finding specialty shoe shops should be no problem.

Nearly everything is in readiness up here. We leave at mid-morning Wednesday–a day earlier than I had expected because my son and I have to try on our tuxes Thursday, and, as I said, it’s an all-day drive. Besides that, we will have plenty of free time in Detroit, to go shopping or see the sights.

Most likely, we will be enjoying the sumptuous accommodations at a local Knights Inn. Other motels may be nicer and have more amenities, but Knights Inn is relatively cheap, and for my wife, that sort of outweighs every other factor. At least they have wi-fi, so my laptop is coming along. My e-reader, of course.

2. My e-reader is getting plenty of use. I recently discovered the “Song of Ice and Fire” series by George R.R. Martin, and I am now officially “into” it. I’ve just started reading “Game of Thrones,” and it’s very interesting. But with all the other things I am doing, there really isn’t a lot of time. So it’s 15 minutes here, a half hour there, the way I usually read a book.

I know there’s also the HBO series, but I am not watching it. Since I don’t know the story yet, I want to read the book first and savor the uncertainty and plot turns. That’s the way I am. I like surprises, and I get a better picture of each character as he/she is developed in the book. (I do wish the chapters were numbered, though.)

3. The Stanley Cup playoffs started Wednesday, and there are usually two televised games per night. So between 6 p.m. and midnight, I am watching the action on the ice. My favorite team, of course, is the Detroit Red Wings, and right now they are tied 1-1 with the Nashville Predators going into today’s game. Nashville is a very good team, but Detroit outplayed them Friday night. It’s going to be fun to see how it all plays out.

You know, it’s sort of like me reading “Game of Thrones”: All the excitement and drama and uncertainty of a good story. How is it going to end? Will the “good guys” prevail? What dramatic plot twists will turn things around? What’s going to happen along the way? What awful mistake will send one team to glory and the other into despair? Who will be the hero?

Two of the games will be played while we are away on Detroit odyssey: one on Friday night (the night of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner–I’ll probably get to see the end of it) and one on Sunday afternoon (at least I’ll be able to listen in the car as we make the 10-hour trip home).

4. My poly friends. I don’t get to see them as often as I want to because of time and distance and work schedules. I got to visit N last week, for the first time this year. We had a nice, quiet visit. As usual, we watched several old TV shows and a dumb movie and talked for a while. She made an omelet for me in the morning.

I last saw K in late March–it was an overnighter at a motel. We had dinner, talked a lot, took some photos and enjoyed the motel’s pool and hot tub. We did other things, too. It was a good night. A few weeks earlier, she and I went on a one-day trip to Wausau, where we did some shopping. Just a day trip–I picked her up about noon, and I dropped her off at her place about 9 p.m. and drove home. No playing around this time and just a little cuddling. We were simply a couple that day, spending time together, and it went very well. We both really enjoyed it. K and I have become very good friends. I would daresay I have just one closer friend than her. And that’s the girl who rides with me to Detroit this week.

I continue to write with B and S, and I have a new penpal, too. May I introduce you to M. She is a widow, she is 67 (five years older than me), and she lives near Los Angeles. We write long letters, talking about this and that. There are no plans to meet, and I think it will stay that way.

5. This isn’t taking much time now, but it could. My wife and I have been talking about taking some trips this year. The shorter one would be to Mackinac Island (near the Mackinac Bridge–but it’s an island, silly!). We have been at the bridge and the nearby city (St. Ignace) many times, but neither of us have been to Mackinac Island. If we do that, it would be in June, a mini-vacation. Bring on the fudge!

Also, she wants to go with me on a bus tour to Nashville in early August. This would be another five-day, four night trip, so it’s a major commitment of time and money. No final decision yet, but I have blocked off those days on my calendar. She wants me to go with her–I didn’t go with her on the two bus tours to Branson, Mo., in recent years, because they took place during my busy season at work. Early August is not my busy season, and I told her that if she wants to go and wants me come along, I’m willing.

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That’s all for now. Just wanted to check in and say hi.

Everyone I have talked to about the wedding plans says the same thing: They want to see me in a tux. It should be good for a laugh. OK, OK, OK.

Just a quickie note today. My wife and I had planned to drive down to visit K and her guy later today, but a winter storm forced us to reconsider and reschedule. We’ll try again next Tuesday, K’s next day off work.

We’re getting just light snow right now, but it’s supposed to get more intense tonight, with heavy snow and winds out of the north. There’s no sense trying to pick a fight with Mother Nature. Next Tuesday is supposed to be cold but otherwise quiet, so I’ll take it.

This is the first real taste of winter for us in a few weeks. Temperatures have been mild, and snow scarce. Even yesterday, we had highs in the low 40s and just an inch or two of snow in the yard.

In the next couple days, I plan to post some photos from 2011–different shots I haven’t posted for events I never wrote about. Still to come, when/if I get the time. The photos are a teaser.

But lack of time remains my enemy when I want to write posts. Can’t get around it–too much other stuff to do. I needed several nights to go through my 2011 photos and choose (somewhat arbitrarily) which ones would be most interesting … and then deciding which special effects to use on them.

Yes, this time, I am digging into the Phototshop Elements toolbox to see what I can find. Also, since I recently started using Google Chrome as my browser, I am looking at some of the online photo editing programs and the special effects they offer. It’s fun playing around with them.

My smartphone has some goofy editing software (built-in light leaks, film scratches, cheapo lens effects), but I think they only edit photos you take with your phone. That’s something I don’t do too often: That’s why I spent the money for quality cameras.

Several times, when I wanted to work on photos, I opted to watch movies with my wife instead … because she enjoys doing that with me. Earlier this week, we watched “The King’s Speech.” A fine movie, but by the time it was over, I was tired and didn’t feel like working on photos.

Last night, I got my chance, and I edited seven photos. I have four left to do–but then I went downstairs to watch the end of “Seabiscuit” with my wife. We followed that with a couple Laurel and Hardy shorts. Then it was time to feed the kitties and head upstairs.

Four photos left. But maybe not tonight. Since we couldn’t visit K today, she wants to have an online chat with me tonight. Also, there’s the third test match (cricket, if you don’t know) between India and Australia, which starts at 8:30 p.m. tonight (local time), live from Perth.

I had been having problems lately with my computer, not being able to buffer streaming video from YouTube. Yesterday, I got a different cable modem (same model), and it seemed to work just fine. I’ll find out for sure tonight. High def cricket from Western Australia, right into my computer room. Until I start getting sleepy.