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Photograph of Robert Bruce Thompson Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 11 September 2006

Latest Update: Sunday, 17 September 2006 3:30 p.m.


Monday, 11 September 2006

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We had a nice trip. I will have pictures up later this week. It was 11:30 last night by the time I got home.  As I was petting Malcolm I noticed a very large, gapping  slash in the area where he had the growth taken off his head last week. Sure enough he had managed to reopen the surgery site. Bob said he had been licking his leg all weekend. After much struggling I finally managed to get him over on his back in Bob's lap to check his tummy. He had a gapping hole there as well where he had licked open that surgery site. It looked pretty bad. 

First thing this morning I called the vet and made an ASAP appointment. Bob took him over at 8:30 while I went on to work. Dr. Taylor had to keep him for more surgery. After cleaning both sites real well he stapled them shut and gave him a strong antibiotic shot. We now have him wearing his Elizabethan collar until Friday to give the places time to heal. I have to watch his abdomen to make sure he does not develop an infection in that one.

I picked Bob up after work to go back and retrieve him from the vets then came home and mowed the lawn. I mowed last Tuesday when we got home from the Bilbrey's. The grass was at least a foot high in some places. While I mowed Bob put a couple of calzones in the oven for dinner.

Bob and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary yesterday. Of course, I was away on a trip as I often am during on our anniversary. He ate dinner last night with Stephanie and Gerald who were celebrating Stephanie's mother's birthday.

Guess that gets you caught up on most of the news. I have a ton of chores to do before bedtime so I best get to them. 

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Tuesday, 12 September 2006

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I am still trying to get things back to some semblance of order from a whirlwind of travel. My office looks like a small tornado went through where I have now dumped two trips worth of stuff on the floor, my desk, etc. It will be this weekend before I have time to touch that stuff. And of course, being gone two weekends in a row the house has not been vacuumed which is also driving me nuts. That too will have to wait until Saturday.

As usual, with Steve away in our Wilmington office things are jumping at the office. I am working hard on getting the destruction file review sheets ready to send to attorneys. The main files are printed from our database by attorney. But, we have a lot of files we entered under general/generic client/matter numbers. These files, about ten pages with about 15 files per page, have to be looked up individually to find the attorney and file name which I then have to add to the file sheet. Between interruptions and other stuff it will most likely take the remainder of the week to get that done. Next, I have to research the files up for review from attorneys who have left the Firm. These lists have to be sent to the practice group leaders.

I am reading a Dana Stabenow, A Grave Denied. Kate is searching for a suspect in the killing of the Park handyman who was found dead at the mouth of a glacier by some kids on a school field trip. As Kate begins the investigation she discovers his cabin was also burned down. She must determine if it was before or after the murder. Things continue become even stranger when Kate learns the handyman had very little if any identity other than his name and where he lived.

Well Stephanie just called to see if I wanted to walk. I said, yes, yes, yes. I have missed going to the gym although Frances and I did a lot of walking on the trip this past weekend. 



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Wednesday, 13 September 2006

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Good rain. It was raining when we got up this morning and has continued all day. Steady easy or steady hard, the radar for the middle of North Carolina was a solid green all day long. So far we've had 1.57 inches at our house. The nice steady, slow rain will be a good ground soaker and fill up the reservoirs again. But, it was not a good day to have to go traipsing about all over town.

I left at 9:30 from work to drive over to Data Chambers for an hour training on their new online system we use to track and order our inventory of boxes. Back at work by 11:30 I worked until 3:30 when I had to leave for my 4 o'clock mammogram screening. This was a follow up to my March screening when they thought they saw a slight shadow of something. A return trip the next week for a sonar still did not produce enough results for further investigation. Instead, they schedule this six month appointment. Guess I will hear tomorrow if I need to return or can wait until my usual March appointment.

From there I made the usual grocery store stop arriving home a little after 5:30. I fixed salads for dinner then we walked the dogs. I only have a few chapters left in my Stabenow book. If you read my page early in the evening you saw a different title than the one that is now posted. After I went to bed last night to read I realized I posted the title I was reading last week not the current one. I got up to make the correction and repost.

Bob transfered my pictures from the Bilbrey trip and this past weekend. He will have them ready for me to post tomorrow night.



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Thursday, 14 September 2006

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The first two pictures are from our visit to the Bilbrey's. I think I forgot to turn on the flash for the second one but hopefully you can see what is going on. Brian is giving all the dogs their evening treat.

This past weekend Frances and I did a short trip to Williamsburg and Tangier Island. We arrived in Williamsburg after lunch with two and half hours to walk around Williamsburg on our own. Frances and I walked the streets looking in the shops while grabbing a nice cold cone of ice cream. From there is was on to the hotel to check in. The bus then took us to a nearby strip mall outlet center to shop until 8:30.

The next day we departed Williamsburg for the two hour ride to Reedville to catch the Chesapeake Breeze boat which leaves at 10am. There are two other boats that also go to the Island, one from the Maryland Shore and another one from VA.


   

While we waited for everyone to board the boat we watched this black lab retrieve his tennis ball from the water. He would run down the bank and dive into the water swimming to the ball and then swimming back to the steps to shore. His mom ran the little shack that sold drinks and snacks just at the top of the hill above the steps. Frances and I rode on the top deck on the way out and the lower outside deck on the way back. It takes 2 1/2 hours to get over to the island from Reedville. Not sure how far it is from the other two departure points.



   

Upon arrival we were met by a local guide who walked us the half mile or so to the restaurant where we were eating the all you can eat lunch at  the Chesapeake House. You can read the menu on the web site. We were in the back side of an old house sitting at long tables lined up in rows. There are only a few  restaurants on the island and three bed and breakfasts. They specialize in Chesapeake By crab cakes which were delicious.




   

The Methodist church and a non-denominational church are the only two on the island. They do have a school, grades 1 through 12. This years graduation class had 14 with all but two remaining on the island. The lighthouses are actually their trash public trash cans.

Angel, the BC in the golf cart, was waiting on her "mom" to come home after being gone for a week. She is 8 years old. 


   

Not sure what the bird is but he looked cute sitting atop that post. The entire island makes its living crabbing and fishing. These crab pots were stacked all over the wharves and docks as we came into the harbor. 




   


The island depends on the tourist trade to help supplement their incomes. After we ate lunch we took a 20 minute golf cart tour of the island. There are no cars, only carts, bicycles, and small motorbikes. The population, which at one time numbered 2000 is down to about 700 year round residents. I bought a book, Crab's Hole, at one of the gift shops. It was one of several for sale about the island. I started reading it on the trip back over to the mainland. I had about two thirds of it finished by the time it got too dark to read on the bus and finished it Monday at lunch. Although it is set in the late forties and early 50's I imagine life has not changed much on the island today other than the fact that they now have an underwater electric power system. The main power generating plant on the island is still operational in case of a main power failure.

If you live in the area of Chesapeake Bay or coastal Maryland, take a trip over to the island one day. It's a nice boat ride over. It's rustic and primitive looking much like any other fishing village. Some of the homes are very well kept up while others look a little worse for wear. Plus the outside of the homes take a beating from the elements. We saw two of the B & B's and both looked very nice. Most of the streets are paved but are broken up and rutted from the weather.


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Friday, 15 September 2006

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Yippy skippy it's Friday. I should finish up the destruction file lists on Monday to mail out to the attorneys. Until they start coming back in I can take a break and work on other projects. I had the store by myself today with Drew off and Steve in Wilmington. It was pretty slow in terms of file requests and deliveries which gave me a lot of time to work on the file lists.

Last night I started the latest Evan Evans, Heavenly Bodies by Rhys Bowen.

After dinner I walked the dogs around the block on the short course. Both of them are going pretty crazy with from the no ball and no play rule. While it is in the low 80's there is very little humidity plus a little breeze. Duncan starts out like a race horse using all his energy up in the first half mile then can hardly make it home the last half of the journey.

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Saturday, 16 September 2006

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If you are my age or old you may remember Ajax commercial claiming it cleaned liked a white tornado. Well, I went through this house just like that this morning. It took well over an hour to get my office cleaned up, suitcases put away, table tops cleared, etc. That finished I tackled the bathrooms then vacuumed and dusted. Three weeks of clutter, dog hair, and dust...yuck!

While I was cleaning I put in the sheets to wash and then a load of my special stuff. After a lunch break I did a little cleaning in the basement area putting away the cooler, breaking down and stacking cardboard,  and do some general organizing. Stuff tends to pile up between where my car is parked and the wall that divides the unfinished from the finished part of the basement.

Next I mowed but decided to use my remaining energy to wash my car. I can edge next time.

My desk is the only thing left needed sorted out. Three weeks of table clutter pretty much wound up back here to be sorted and filed. I have started a long list of projects I need to do inside once winter arrives when I no longer have the outdoor work taking up my weekend time.


Today was just beautiful to be working outside. Temperatures in the mid 70's with about 50% humidity a slight breeze. The leaves are starting to fall but not enough to require cranking up the leave vacuum yet. 

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Sunday, 17 September 2006

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Dad's leg is doing better. We only played nine holes this morning but he did pretty well. It was been well over a month since we've played so it was nice to get out.

I decided when I got home to fertilize and over seed the front lawn. I am trying to use up what little of the lawn fertilizer products I have left downstairs by the end of the year. Next year I am going to try using a lawn service for the fertilizing but I will continue to seed. It the back I had enough fertilizer to do the bare spots and under the trees. I over seeded those then watered them down to try and prevent washing when we get some rain. I have one small bad of weed and feed which I can use in early November.

Although the temperatures are in the upper 70's it was still hot working in the sun.

I have bills to pay and the Friends of the Library newsletter to finish.

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