Spring Cleaning

It's my favorite time of year. Vermont literally explodes with life each May and it's completely intoxicating. The forecast calls for a week of perfect weather, and I plan to enjoy it to the fullest. After fourteen months of denying myslef sleep, ignoring projects around the house, and pretty much living this blog, it's time for a break.

I'm anticipating completion of three major projects in the next 1-2 weeks, at which point we'll come back in full swing. Between now and then, forgive me for not creating original content - it's my biggest time eater so it will have to slide. Interesting news stories and video will still be shared, but the cartoon balloons will have to wait while I:

1. Clear another 3/4 acre to expand the fenced yard for the dogs. They will be thrilled.
2. Get our yard under control before summer finds us overgrown, and touch up paint here and there.
3. Finish building and tweaking this: The new Life With Dogs

After years on Blogger I've outgrown it's capabilities. Considering my appreciation for all things technical, I need more power - and Blogger is the bottleneck. A new site will fix annoying slow page loads, allow for multiple channels of video (hence the.tv domain, and it's being assembled as I type this, but is not yet ready for consumption) and a number of other features I simply can't incorporate in a Blogger blog. Please note that I'll continue to optimize for Firefox. IE now enjoys it's lowest share of market to date, and with good reason: it sucks. If you're still using it free yourself and get another browser. You'll be happy you made the switch.

Life With Dogs needs room to grow, so allow me the next week or two while I spruce up the new place and make it a little more inviting. I'm not certain if I'll only post here, there or on both sites for the next 1-2 weeks. I'm feeling my way through this process and it's actually quite fun - but there is no reliable roadmap for the transition. I considered hiding the new site until it was complete, but this blog has always been a work in progress, so the new home of LWD should feel quite familiar while I put finishing touches on it.

Please update your RSS feeds and e-mail subscriptions to point to the new site. I'll provide limited updates as possible, but don't be surprised if you don't see much from me until I complete these projects. I need to wrap them up as soon as possible. My blogging addiction is stronger than ever, and it's going to be an exciting summer. I have much fun to share, and I look forward to finding my way to you when I return.

The Usual Suspects

I live on the phone. Each work day finds me taking anywhere from forty to a hundred calls while voicemail piles up in the queue. It's a little much. In my line of work, many of these calls are about fires that have to be put out - not real fires mind you, but the typical business hassles: clients seeking urgent assistance, employees stressing over assignments, sales people who just can't wait to tell me about the best deal ever.

Due to the sheer volume of calls that I have fielded during the last decade, I have had my share of odd experiences. None of them had prepared me for the call I would receive one afternoon last week. I did not check caller ID before answering.

*Ring

"Hello."

Mrs. Author: "It's me." She paused briefly as if to gather herself. "You know how my foot has been getting sore and looking bruised the past few days?"

I acknowledged the same. I'd urged her to get in to a doctor to have it looked at, because she did not recall having done anything to bring it on. She suspected her wood clogs, but I did not believe a pair of shoes could cause the pain and swelling she had experienced.

Mrs Author: "I managed to get in to a podiatrist. They shot x-rays. My f*cking foot is broken!"

"I don't get it. I just don't get it. Are you sure you didn't twist it or hit it on something?" I was shocked.

"No," she replied, and I could almost picture here furrowed brow before she continued, "I still can't think of a thing but this just sucks."

She was right. This is her new look:

We will never know what caused the fracture. The doctor explained that it was not unusual to see fractures that came with no real explanation, and that six weeks from now it will all be just a memory. Mrs. Author is not a happy camper.

Nigel requested that I update his Facebook status, and I obliged.

There was much speculation about the cause of this injury, but there is no need to expand upon the comment thread. The overwhelming majority suggested that Mrs. Author had fractured her foot delivering a well deserved kick to the south end of Nigel. Of course, that is not at all the case. I do wonder if the dogs were somehow involved. We have both suffered numerous injuries from our animal companions. Mystery bruises, aches and pains, and cuts and scrapes of assorted sizes are de rigeur. And we are stepped on with regularity. To be honest, I have do have three specific suspects in mind, but I guess we'll never know.

Or will we?