Doggie Bag Of The Day

Not much you can say about this one.

Dog Head Sticking Out Of Black Leather Bag

If I’m any judge of canine expressions, this is closer to ‘resigned’ than ‘contented’.

Dog Head Sticking Out Of Black Leather Purse

Possibly approaching ‘disgruntled’.

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Dog of the Day: Baobao the Repeat Customer Pomeranian

I was walking through Berkeley a few weeks ago, supposedly meeting someone who was going to sell me a car but they didn’t bother to show up. While I was trying to find an internet cafe where I could regroup and start looking for more craigslist car ads, I happened to walk by the little pack-and-ship place where I met Baobao two years ago. And lo and behold, he was there again, being even more adorable. This time he even let me get near him.

A Pomeranian makes a perfect store dog: just the right size to curl up on the counter, and happy and friendly to everyone (as many small dogs may not be.)

Brown Pomeranian Looking Happy

His favorite perch. He makes a great greeter.

Smiling Brown Pomeranian Face

Adorable smiley little foxy-face.

Brown Pomeranian Looking Ecstatic as Someone Pets Him

It’s the simple things that make a good dog happy.

Brown Pomeranian Curled Up On A Countertop

He also has the enviable ability to relax at a second’s notice.

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Double Dog Day: Yorkie and Pomeranian, Out On The Town

Okay, so the word ‘twee’ (look it up) might well have been invented for these two. And I’m not the biggest fan of clothes on dogs. I still have to admit… they’re pretty cute. And they loved everybody. It’s pretty hard to disapprove of that.

A Yorkshire Terrier And A Pomeranian, Both Wearing Dresses

Pomeranians look like stuffed animals as it is. Add a dress, and damn.

A Yorkshire Terrier And A Pomeranian, Both Wearing Dresses

Eek. I think my cute-o-meter just gave out.

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Sunday Switchup: South San Francisco Scenery

I had a bunch of doctors’ appointments last week, and I had five hours in between two of them, but had to get between them by public transit. I thought about working from a coffee shop, but was pretty fried. And Kaiser South San Francisco just happened to be right out in front of a gorgeous park, San Bruno Mountain State Park. And the other appointment was on the other side of San Bruno Mountain. So I thought, hey… I could go around. But why? (And maybe a little exhaustion would help me sleep, right?)

So I just walked out of Kaiser and started heading for the mountain. Which was quite visible, let me assure you. Stopped for a quick lunch, and then just walked in near the southeast corner, up the mountain, along the ridge, and then back down in the northwest corner. Vertical climb of over 1500 feet according to my fitbit, which I suspect to be understating things… there were a lot of saddles and one full-fledged miniature valley I had to navigate, and the highest point on the mountain is over 1300 feet all by itself.

At the end of the day, I had walked 18 miles, and climbed a total of over 2000 feet. I had poison oak, though only under my hiking boots — how does that happen? And in the end… I slept like crap. But I wouldn’t take it back, because it was gorgeous.

PS: Ugh. I have just made the huge mistake of ‘upgrading’ to Apple Photo. If you have Aperture, do not under any circumstances do this. You lose the ability to use Aperture, plus you lose the ability to do more or less anything without crashing. I thought I could continue to use Photo the way I did iPhoto: for automatic imports, and nothing else. Nope. It has intentionally disabled Aperture, it’s missing half the functionality of iPhoto and 95% of that of Aperture, and it crashes constantly. Whee, progress!

A view of South San Francisco, plus Sign Hill, as seen from San Bruno Mountain State Park.

That’s Sign Hill, plus a good-sized chunk of South San Francisco. The weather was gorgeous on the southeastern side of San Bruno Mountain, but as you’ll see in the little video clip below, it was cloudy (and ALSO GORGEOUS) on the more northeasterly areas.

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Caturday Supplement: Tiger Tabby In A Cat Bed

How often do you see this? A gorgeous tabby was bought a cat bed, and then actually went to sleep in it instead of next to it, under it, on the dog’s bed, in the humans’ bed, on the keyboard, on top of the closed toilet seat…

An entirely unrelated question: T * G * R… is that short for ‘Tigger’?

Tiger Tabby Cat Curled Up In A Pink Cat Bed

Kitty-ball. Suitable for leaning down and rubbing your cheek against. Purr purr purr.

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Dog of the Day: Sleepy Pup

This is what I looked like last night, and hopefully again quite soon now.

Collie Labrador Retriever Mix

From a street fair on Union Street a couple weeks ago. Most of it was totally uninteresting, but the dogs were great. (Of course!)

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Dog of the Day: Young German Shepherd

A handsome pup whose name and info I apparently did not get.

So two days ago’s doctor’s appointment turned into a second doctor’s appointment, a test, another doctor’s appointment, and an overnight sleep study. None of this is nearly as urgent and dangerous as it sounds: I am just fairly insistent and very very lucky, schedule-wise, and ended up being able to get all the appointments within somewhere between two hours and one day of when I called in for them. Which in the case of the sleep study is downright miraculous.

On the other hand, I got about three hours of sleep two nights ago, and a sleep study is not exactly conducive to good sleep, so I got two hours last night. If I can’t sleep at least decently tonight, I may well start hallucinating. Whee!

German Shepherd

Gawky. Probably an adolescent.

Happy German Shepherd

Happy face!

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Dog of the Day: Riva the Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy

No, really, she is a puppy: 9 months old. It’s not her fault that she looks like an oversized adult Australian shepherd (and a lot like my canine best buddy!)

Have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow as the next thing to try in trying to deal with the sleep issue. I doubt this one is going to help (wrong specialty) but at least it’ll get me on to the next step in this little dance.

9 Month Old Bernese Mountain Dog

Fortunately, Riva is well-trained. Because she could knock you over if she leapt up on you.

9 Month Old Bernese Mountain Dog Staring Plaintively Into The Camera

Instead of jumping on you, she just puts her head right near you and stares at you. It’s very effective.

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Sunday Switchup: Bloomingdogs

I was wandering through Bloomingdale’s on my way to BART the other day (amusingly enough, it really is the most direct route from some places) and I ran across this little display of canine-craft.

Huge White Ceramic Poodle In Front Of Cookware Display

Kind of stylized. And maybe a little too ‘Olive Oyl’ for me. Still, pretty neat. I wonder what they did with it when the promotion was over?

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Caturday Supplement: Happy Fourth!

Happy boom-day. I hope your puppies and kitties aren’t too freaked out by all the ear-splitting noises going on.

Two Black Cats In A Cage

I should save this for Halloween, but oh well.

Black Cat With Some Grey On Her Tummy In A Cage

Psst, buddy: your Grecian Formula is wearing off a bit.

Woman Rubbing The Tummy Of A Black Kitten In A Cage

Tummy rubs for everyone!

Black Kitten Face

I can’t decide if I like the little black noses, the little pink noses, or the little grey noses the best.

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