Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 25 June 2001

Latest Update: Monday, 28 April 2003 07:02
 

Monday, 25 June 2001

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After dinner I paid a few bills and then gave up for the night. We watched the Nero Wolf at 8:00 than I read until bedtime. I finished Never Change by Elizabeth Berg. A little weird but an okay book. A home health nurse is reunited with an old high school friend when she is assigned his case because he is dying of brain cancer. She has a small set of home health patients whom we learn about and experience their daily lives through her visits. When she meets the high school friend he only has a very short time to live. He moves in with her to get away from his over protective parents who want him to pursue aggressive treatment options to prolong his life for a few months longer. He instead has chosen to live the last few weeks visiting museums, eating out, and making the most of the last few weeks of his life. The plot takes a rather interesting twist toward the end but I will leave you to read the book and find out what happens. Very light reading, the book is not very long and can be read rather quickly. 

Rain! Yea. We woke this morning to the sound of rain. It looks like it will be with us for most of the morning at least and possibly all day. We need the rain as the grass and plants were starting to look a little sad.

I am off to do the regular Monday morning rounds, gym, drugstore, pet store, and maybe Wal-Mart. Work this afternoon.

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Tuesday, 26 June 2001

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Today is work at home day. If Bob needs help with computer stuff I will be around to help with that. I need to finish a web review, work on our book, and tie up loose ends for my meeting on Friday in Greenville, SC. I may  go to the grocery store later this morning and get that out of the way for the week. And the office needs a general tidying as well.

I started a very funny travel book last night, Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks. I will most definitely post a review on my favorites page today or tomorrow. Englishman Tony  Hawks accepts a bet that he can hitchhike around Ireland with a refrigerator. 

More on the book later. Sorry for the short post but I am running a little slow on brain power this morning. I was trying to sleep in a little this morning because for some reason I am having trouble waking up. But, I got a phone call, so up I am but not very awake yet. 

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Wednesday, 27 June 2001

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Back home I decided to bag trying to work and dumped myself on the couch for a nap. Why is it when you need to sleep you can't. I finally turned on the Wimbledon tennis match and just laid there a while resting. Then UPS showed up with one small box but not the big box for the telescope. This was followed by the mailman and then another UPS truck with the telescope. 

Bob and I spent the next hour or so putting it together. Looks pretty cool. A nice size for a grab and go and it only weighs a little less than 40lbs. After dinner we decided the skies would be partly cloudy off and on enough that could at least view the moon. Bob called Bonnie to see if she wanted to bring over her new scope and we could try to do some observing from the front yard.

About the time she showed up the clouds rolled in, the storms blew up all around us and we did not get to observe after all. Very quickly while we had the dogs out for last time the moon popped out just long enough for Bob to grab the scope and we got a quick look.

Oh well. More of the same is forecast for most of the week, those pesky afternoon/evening thunder storms. May have to wait for this weekend to try it out at Bullington.

Off to play golf this morning with dad so of course I am writing this rather late Tuesday night. I am off to bed, maybe read a chapter or two and then lights out.

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Thursday, 28 June 2001

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Afterward, dad and I stopped at our favorite little diner for lunch then I headed back home. After giving the dogs some attention it was off to the shower than catch up on mail and other stuff. I did a quick revision on the web site review from Sarah's suggestions and mail that back off to her.

Bob and I left for the library and dinner around 5:00. Just as we arrived back home we got a late UPS shipment which contained my new binoculars and the Telrad for the large telescope plus a Messier Marathon object book to read. I was working on agenda and stuff for the meeting today so did not have a lot of time last night to really do anything with the binoculars. Plus, it was very cloudy and hazy so you could not see anything anyway. 

I finally got around to posting a review of Round Ireland with a fridge which is so silly it is funny. You really must give it a try.

This morning I have a laundry list of things to get done before Malcolm and I leave for Easley, SC. Pack, get dog stuff together, meeting stuff, take out the trash and recycling, give Bob a list of pills for the dogs, etc, etc. I hope to leave around 1:00 to get there before the worst of the afternoon traffic starts. We will be staying with Fletch, another BC rescue person who I have had the pleasure of meeting and knowing for three years now. He is retired and owns several rescue BC's himself. His wife is still teaching school. They have one daughter and some grandchildren. Malcolm and I should have a wonderful time. He will be taking care of Malcolm on Friday while I am in Greenville for my meeting all day.

I will leave a brief post for Bob to put up on Friday and Saturday while I am gone. A full report will be forthcoming on Sunday. The weather looks like it will remain hot, sultry, and stormy for the remainder of the week. 

Guess I better get started. 

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Friday, 29 June 2001

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[Note: Our Roadrunner connection was down from Thursday afternoon until Saturday morning, so Friday and Saturday entries are being posted retrospectively. RBT]

Attending Southern Searchers meeting. This is a small subset of independent researchers who are either members of AIIP or BUSLIB. Being totally independent is not a prerequisite to attending our meetings. We discuss everything from marketing our services and negotiating contracts to web resources and idea sharing. For those like myself a number of years ago, it is a great place to learn if you are just getting started in this business.

I need to leave Fletch's house around 8:45 to get to downtown Greenville, park and get to the library by 9:30. The meeting starts at 10 am but I want to make sure the room is set up and be there for those who arrive early.

We have lunch reservations at a nearby nice restaurant. One of the attendees, Nancy, lives in Greenville and made all the local arrangements for us. All of the people attending today are new to the group except Nancy and I. We lost a few people last year to moves and changes in careers so we need to get the number of attendees back up again.

The meeting is over at 3:00. I will go back to Fletch's for the night. I am not sure what we have planned to do at this point.

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Saturday, 30 June 2001

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Full report will be posted tomorrow.

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Sunday, 1 July 2001

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I was up and off to my meeting around 9:00 in nearby Greenville. We had a nice meeting, wonderful lunch at a nearby restaurant located on the river in a restored colonial house. We finished up at 3:00 and I was back at Fletch's house by 3:30. Fletch had made a tee time for 4:00 at his nearby club so we headed out to play a quick round of golf.

Very hot and humid down there, much more so than even up here. But we survived and I enjoyed playing the course. While we relaxed a little while Fletch heated up the coals. Grilled steaks, salad, rolls, and potatoes for dinner with lots of good wine. Another dip in the hot tub and off to bed around midnight.

After a nice breakfast and walk with the dogs Malcolm and I left Easley and made our stop in Charlotte on the way home. A very nice couple is interested in adopting a BC from Carolina Border Collie Rescue. Back on the road again, we made it Winston by 4:30. 

I was absolute pooped from busy days and not a lot of sleep. Malcolm did not settle very well with being in a strange house and having all the other dogs in the house so I did not have much sleep for two nights I was away. After unloading the car and greeting the other dogs, I fixed sandwiches for dinner. I was so sleepy I really could not do much else the rest of the evening. I quickly checked my e-mail for anything important and read a couple of web pages but that was about all I could manage.

We took the dogs out early and I was in bed and asleep by ten. 

They let us sleep in until 7:45 this morning. After I clean house this morning and unpack my stuff I need to work in my office and do some other things. No race today, so maybe this afternoon I will take in a little of the tennis from Wimbledon and the golf tournament.

Bob did a wonderful job while I was away. He was going to get the scanner fixed because I did not take the digital camera with me and knew I would have some pictures to scan. He could not get it working. Plus, our Internet connection failed just after I left and did not come back up until early Saturday. Thank you Brian and Marcia for being concerned enough to call Bob when there was no journal posting from Bob. With me gone they were concerned something had happened.

Well, during all the lag time, Bob cleaned up his office and table behind his chair that we did not get to the last time we cleaned up his office. He did Lenore's laundry, took excellent care of the dogs with everything in tip top shape when I returned. Guess I will not trade him in on a newer model. He was still unable to get the scanner working and the cursed name of HP goes on the same cursed tongue with Microsoft.

As I said, I took my regular 35mm with me. Next week I will take the film in and maybe by that time we will have the scanner working. I have some great pictures of Malcolm coming and going from the dog door. He had never seen a dog door before and it only took him one try to learn to go in and out. I have some pics of the other dogs and of Fletch and Hes and their backyard. They have a nice natural area fenced in behind the deck and off a glassed in porch where the doggy door is. The dogs and come and go and play outside as they wish. Malcolm has already asked to go back to Camp Barker. Fletch is recovering from a bad fall that caused him to hurt his back so right now he does not have any rescues.

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