Town Run

I had a dental appointment this morning, so it became "town run" day for me.  With my ivory freshly sandblasted, I did my Christmas Shopping, paid off my account at the feed store, renewed my Yukon Quest membership and then ran off to the post office to check my mail.

I got a very nice sympathy card from the entire staff at Golden Heart Veterinary Clinic, hand signed by everyone in the clinic.  I know it is common practice for vets to send such cards, but it's kind of unusual for them to be hand signed by everyone, and I very much appreciate it.  We've had a tough fall with the loss of Gump, Sheenjek and Darling Daisy and we speak of our lost friends frequently.

On the way home from town I passed a bad wreck just before my driveway.  Apparently one car was stopped or nearly stopped, and a good sized truck rear-ended him.  The Steese Area Volunteer Fire Department had an ambulance, a battalion chief and an engine (for the extrication) on scene and had matters well in hand, so I didn't stick around any longer than necessary to get the heck out of the way.  The last thing an EMS crew needs is additional people cluttering up their scene.  It is a pet peeve of medics everyone, and I see no reason to "intervene" (aka interfere) with a crew of professionals doing their job as trained.

Supper tonight was some baked salmon, rice and steamed snap peas.  I have a lot of cooked salmon I need to package and freeze for future meals as I cut up and cooked the whole darned fish.  By freezing it up in individual portions all I have to do is nuke it for a bit and I'll have a healthy, tasty source of protein ready for my meal.  I also have a bunch of chicken breasts thawed in the fridge I need to cook and freeze pretty soon.

I guess I can brag a little.  I've been on a pretty strict diet the for about the last month and a half, and I've already lost 20#.  That's almost half a bag of dogfood worth of weight the dogs don't have to drag around through the woods.  I'm hoping to lose another 20# or so by the middle of January (my next annual physical exam), and be down to a healthy weight that I haven't seen in 20 years by break-up.

I'm using one of those late-night infomercial weight loss programs, and I'm actually surprised it is working so well.  I can't describe it as particularly convenient, but I have felt starved and I've lost a bunch of weight, so I can say that it does work pretty much as advertised.  Nope, I won't tell you which one.  If they want a "testimonial" they can pay for the privilege, the same as I would expect if a dog food or other commercial enterprise were sponsoring my sled dog team.  At the price they charge for the program, I have no doubt they can afford it.

The weather forecast is greatly improved tonight over just yesterday.  We have a cover of cloud that's blown in and the temperature is rising to a more comfortable level.  Right now it is about minus-12 at the house.  Warm enough that I couldn't convince Torus to stay inside for more than 10 minutes, even though he comfortably slept through the night indoors last night.  Oh well, he's more than earned the right to decide where he wants to hang out.