She can be at home for days on end without seeing anyone. I, on the other hand, like to get out for a few hours to see friends. Over the past 3 weeks or so, work has been very busy. I’ve attended, on the phone, meeting after meeting after meeting and that is very tiring having that much input. It’s really difficult for me to do, especially when the meetings have a number of gung-ho extroverts on the call, all interrupting each other and jockeying for position. Too much.

This weekend was a full recharge weekend. I’ve not seen anyone since Friday. No, I’ve not been holed up in my apartment. I’ve just not gotten together with anyone, save for Hobbs. Hobbs and I went for a few walks. I’ve been to the lake a couple of times with my camera. I played with Lightroom 4 Beta. I talked on the phone to Debra and to my friend, James. I slept. I read. I watched Star Trek. I enjoyed all of the sunshine that we had this weekend. It was a joy.

Tomorrow, it’s back to work, meetings, discussions, and interactions. I’m ready. My battery is all charged up! It was a great weekend.

BTW, if you do decide to take the test, which is 72 questions, please drop back and let me know your type in the comments! Thanks!!!

They started him on several eyedrops and pills. I had to give them to him after each meal. I did this for a week.

Monday, January 9th, 2012:
Back to the doctor we go for a pre-surgery check. They took is blood again, did a glucose check, an ultrasound of his liver, and prescribed a few more medicines. The Ophthalmologist came in and talked me about his current condition. She said that although she’d like to wait to do the surgery until his teeth are clean, she felt that his odds of seeing again would drop dramatically, so they would determine if she would do the surgery the next morning, depending on how his numbers were. I was given some more antibiotics to give him overnight, as well as the eyedrops that I had received in the mail the previous week. As a note, none of these medicines or visits were free. So far, the total spend in a week, prior to surgery is about $1,000 on ‘prep’. At this time, Dr. Paite, the lady who would be doing surgery said that the pressure and inflammation in his eyes has increased since last week, even with the medicines, so his chances of having a successful surgery is about 50/50. I told her that we were going to go for it anyway because Hobbs is quite the trooper and I believed that everything would work out.

Tuesday: January 10th, 2012:
We arrive at CVS at 7:15 AM, they see him around 8:00, take him back for a test to check his retina’s. The vet tech, Shirley, came back and told me that his numbers were excellent, much better than expected, and he should fair well, but that there was a slight rupture in the lens of the right eye and that they might not be able to place a lens in that eye, but that they would remove the cataract.

I left him in their care. paid my $2,700 deposit (75% of estimated costs), and went about my day. I had much to do that day. Sometime around 6:00 PM, I went to pick him up. They said that he had come through with a stellar performance and should heal well. They weren’t able to put the artificial lens in his right eye because of the rupture, but they were able to remove the cataract. The side effect would be that he’d see upside down out of that eye for a week or two until his brain flipped the image back the correct way and he’d be farsighted out that eye.

I left with another load of medicines and instructions on when to administer them and how much, pills and eyedrops.

Wednesday, Jan 11 – Sunday – Jan 15.
Fortunately I work for a company that allows me to work from home and my manager is way cool and understanding. When I first brought him home, he slept a lot. When he was awake, he was bumping into things like he couldn’t see. As you can see from the photo, he has on a radar dish to prevent him from scratching his eyes. When I took him back for his checkup the next day, I told Dr. Paite of my concern, and she tested his eyes and said the he certainly could see and that it would get better and better within a week or two.

Over this week, I have watched, quite frankly with amazement, how significantly he has improved since Tuesday. His depth perception is still not all that good. He still bumps into walls from time to time, but I suspect mainly it’s because he has to be close to the wall to see it and that cone sticks out in front of his head.

He can now find his way to the kitchen, his bed, to the door to be asked to let out, and generally make his way around the apartment with ease. This morning, we resumed our walking and what started out to be a 15 minute walk ending up being a 90 minute exploration. He’d not been on a walk for a few weeks, since he went blind.

Those things that annoyed me before, such as his stopping to look at every shiny object, investigating everything, pulling ahead, etc, suddenly seemed to be appreciated. His sight restored along with his confidence, or should I say bravado: “I’m back! I will now assume the lead position!!!” – Damn stubborn dog! LOL

I must admit to having a bit of trepidation about spending $5,000+ on his surgery, and having spent nearly $7,000 since October, when he was diagnosed with diabetes, but this morning, during that walk with my friend, all of that trepidation melted away and became a bucketful of appreciation.

It’s great to have my friend on the mend.

Here’s a portrait of a young, up and coming entrepreneur, Mr. Tony Lester. He wanted a photo of himself before returning to school sporting his brand new pair of Jordon Concorde 11′s, the show that caused small skirmishes to break out in shopping malls a couple of weeks ago.

There were a couple of pair of these shoes, bought for $180 and sold for nearly $1,200. Tony had a desire to purchase and resell, but then did the cardinal sin of ‘getting high off of his own supply’. That is, he fell in love with the shoes and decided not to sell at least one pair, maybe keep both.

Over the years, he’s made money buying and selling basketball shoes, both new and used, enough so that he hasn’t had to go out and get a job for minimum wage. He’s always got some kind of deal going or a scheme for one.

Today, I thought of it again, this morning. I looked at the date, December 30th, and decided that it was now or never. Several of my friends from The Peaceful Dragon have done it before and it isn’t exactly what you might call Mount Everest. It’s a modest hill, compared to those mountains.

I decided to get in the car and head over there. I stopped, got a bottle of water, and headed to the trail head. 45 minutes later, I was at the trailhead and I headed up.

The information given for the trail says that it is a 1.7 mile (About 3K) strenuous hike. The notations for the trail indicate that it gets pretty strenuous around the 1K, or 0.6 mile mark. The start of the trail is very gradual uphill; however, as they said, at the 0.6 mile marker, things get tougher as the slope increases and the number of rocks and roots in the trail greatly increase as well.

I climbed up, up, and up. Soon, even though it was only 45 degrees, I needed no hat, I was sweating. I had adequate layers and began to peal some of them off. Around the the half way point, there was a warning sign, pictured here, indicating that you might want to stay on the trail!

Onward and upward. My breathing was getting more labored, my sweat glands getting more of workout. Ah! A bench! What a great idea. I took a rest, letting my breath catch up with me. I continued on. From the rear, I heard some people coming. It was a family of 5. Two adults, 2 kids, and one senior. This guy was probably in his mid to late 70s. They passed me. Damn! This guy was in good shape. I wondered: Exactly how much further up this damned hill do I have to go. There was a sign, only 2/10 of a mile to go, about 1100 feet, or 330 meters or so, but it was up and even steeper ascent.

Fortunately, I had been drinking water, so my sweat glands were still producing sweat readily. I thought that it was only 45 degrees outside. I must have been mistaken. One does not sweat at 45 degrees thusly!

2/10 mile and 2 more rest stops later, I reach a sign that says: End of Trail. Well, that’s anticlimactic! There was a outcropping of stone to climb. A young man of about 14 said: The view is beautiful up here, you should come up, as he scampered up the rocks with little effort. I replied: Of course, I didn’t climb all the way up here to be thwarted by a few rocks.

I climbed up and over the rocks and was treated to a beautiful sight. I was at one of the highest points in Gaston County and could see for miles around. As I crested the rocks, a hawk flew over. I had made it and what a great feeling it was!

I stayed up there for about 45 minutes, just looking, taking photos, and enjoying the view, loving it. I was glad that I had brought my had and proceeded to reapply my various layers. It was cold up there and windy.

The only unfortunate part, at least for me, was that I arrived up there near midday and the lighting was flat. It was hard to get a sense of depth, but this is minor. I enjoyed the hike and finally did what I wanted to do all year.

Though it is just an arbitrary marker in the infinite passage of ‘nows’, we have these things that we call years. At the end of each ‘year’, we might make resolutions about what to do next year, what we did this year, the top X things about this year, etc. In a few days the YMCAs and various exercise venues will swell with well-meaning and intentioned people vowing to ‘get into shape’ for the new year. They’ll start buying into diet products, equipment that will sit largely unused after a few days, or perhaps weeks of use, etc.

Going forward, I don’t know what the new year will hold for me. I certainly intend to keep blogging. Debra, my girlfriend, and I plan to make a trip to Ecuador as well as go on a cruise to The Bahamas. I intend to meet a few more bloggers, as many as I can. Anita is on the top of the list, though she is, as far as the US bloggers are concerned, about the furthest away. And yes, I am accepting invitations from my European and Australian counterparts, as well. If I can manage it, I’ll do it. You have an open invitation to visit me as well. I have an extra room and I know how to cook, too. Add to that, you’d get to meet Hobbs, who is a celebrity, after all, probably not on the level of Emo, but a celebrity nonetheless! Hobbs has never been in a movie!

I would like to go kayaking for the first time in my life, but I have to get a waterproof point and shoot, first. Can’t go kayaking without one! I most certainly plan to continue my relationship with my local blogger and photography friends and hopefully get a chance to go shooting more often in various locations.

Photography wise, I’m not sure where that’s headed. Of course, I will still be shooting, but I feel my desire shifting again, back towards the landscape and the tripod, but we will see. I’m pretty sure that there will be some more filmed involved, as well.

Whatever happens, I’m sure that it will be an enjoyable time.

Not much to say today other than I went for a nice walk this morning, around 5 or 6 miles, got to see a wonderful sunrise, as usual. Just wanted to say Happy Holidays to you all. I hope that you have a wonderful and fulfilling holiday, however you celebrate it!

Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.
Shirley MacLaine

When I started on my ongoing quest to meet as many bloggers as possible, there were, as there always are, some well-meaning, fearful, naysayers. They said things like: What if …, you shouldn’t because…, I could never do that…, aren’t you afraid that … Well, no, quite frankly, I wasn’t afraid of anything, really.

And, so it was, I embarked on another blogger meeting journey, this time to San Francisco. This one wasn’t expressly for the purpose of meeting a blogger, in this case, Monterrey John Wilson, but for vacation. John just came as a fantastic bonus.

There were four of us on vacation, my friend Richard, his wife, my ex-wife, Vera, and me. It was at the tail-end of August, 2007. On 8/31, Richard and I met with John and spent the entire day with him and his son, Will, riding around San Francisco, seeing the hills, parks, Chinatown, and, of course, The Golden Gate Bridge.

John was a gracious host, full of charm and vigor. He had a great sense of humor and it was very obvious that he loved San Francisco because he knew his way around very well.

After our tour, he took Richard and myself back to his house to meet the family. There we dined on baked artichokes, a first for me, and had dinner. It was a fantastic day! We vowed to get together again.

More than a year ago, I got an email from him saying that he had moved to Connecticut, of all places. I thought, that maybe I’d go and see him. In November of this year, I noticed that he and his son had Facebook accounts. I dropped them both mails to check on them.

I finally got an email back from Will this morning, informing me that his dad had passed back in June. That was sad to hear. That, of course, prompted this post in memory to Monterrey John Wilson, fellow photographer and friend. We were well met, my friend. Fare thee well!

Thanks for the good times, the wonderful views that you shared, the hospitality, the sharing of your family, but most of all, thanks for taking a chance and being a friend!

Tom Dills, Michael Williamson, and I went shooting this morning. We planned it over the past couple of weeks. During the exchange of e-mails, Tom added a couple of his friends. One of them, Donald Brown, whose blog can be found here, looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place his face.

Oh well, I thought, mistaken identity. The more that I thought of it, more the more that it plagued me. I really did know this guy, but in what context, I did not know.

I sent him an e-mail last night asking him some particular questions about where he lived, how the inside of his house looked, etc. He confirmed that I got it all right. Suddenly, I remembered.

I had met him at a Charlotte photography group meeting. It turns out that he is the president of that group and that he and I had gone out shooting one time, a couple of years ago. I remembered that we had gone to the Congaree swamp in South Carolina. A quick search of the blog turned up the post … it was more than a couple of years ago, in fact, it was nearly 5 1/2 years ago! Holy crap!

I sent done the link to my blog. This morning, I told Tom about it and he said that Don had sent me him an email telling him about the incident! Interesting circle.

Unfortunately, Don couldn’t make the shoot this morning, but we’ll have to catch up with him another time; however, it was very cool to reconnect and to be totally surprised at the amount of time that had passed!

A couple of months ago when Hobbs was diagnosed with diabetes, another doctor examined him as well, an opthalmologist. She said:

It’s not a matter of “if” he’ll get cataracts, it’s a matter of when. Please keep a close eye on him, as they could form over the weekend. They happen fast.

For the next two months, he was fine. The other day, I noticed that his eyes looked strange. They had the look like when you take a picture of a dog, using a flash. You see the reflection of their retina and it looks white or gray. I hadn’t taken a picture and they looked that way in normal room light. Also, I had noticed that he was having trouble walking with me in the mornings. No trouble in keeping up, but sometimes accidentally crossing my path or not responding when I turned to the left, right into him.

I tried an experiment. I broke off a piece of one of his treats, tossed it to him. He usually catches with aplomb. Hobbs doesn’t miscalculate when a treat is thrown; however, this time, the treat hit him on the nose, bounced off, landed on the floor right in front of him and he couldn’t find it at first. A good amount of sniffing finally yielded the goody.

This afternoon, after taking him out to the bathroom, a bright sunny day, upon re-entering the apartment, he was very hesitant, as the interior was rather dim. He had to trust me to lead him because he couldn’t see where to go. Poor pup. I had been considering that he was hard of hearing as well and was able to confirm that. When I call him, no response. If I call somewhat loudly, he can hear it, but can’t tell from where it comes and looks all around. I have to wave my arms vigorously to get his attention.

Earlier in the afternoon, when I opened the door to the patio because of the nice weather, he went immediately to the threshold of the door, sat down, and enjoyed the bright sunlight. I can only suppose that it made him feel good to be able to see.

This morning, I called to make an appointment for him to see the eye doctor. He has an appointment on December 28th, the earliest he could be seen.

Yeah, it will be an expensive New Year, but well worth it for my buddy. Surgery is next, then the 6 weeks of recovery. I’ll keep you posted.

As for the origins of Dirk’s name, well Pedro is a big sports fan as well as a movie buff. Dirk comes from Dirk Nowitzki, 7 foot tall, star power forward of Pedro’s favorite team, The Dallas Mavericks. The middle name, Griswold, from the last name of the main character in Family Vacation, Clark Griswold, the bumbling good-hearted family man played by Chevy Chase, and of course, the surname, Pedro’s own, Guimaraes (acceptably pronounced ghee-mar-ez, Brazilians pronounce it ghee-mah-roins).

His paws are already bigger than Hobbs’s
The remaining cast of characters include a cat, Rhyner, 2 or 3 rabbits, and a flying squirrel! A menagerie if ever I have seen one.

During my time there it was fun to watch Dirk and Rhyner play with each other. At this point in time, Rhyner still has the upper hand, but that’s sure to change soon. Rhyner weighs in at a cool 9 pounds, while Dirk, at 7 weeks old, is weighing in at about 15 or 16 pounds. They said that his weight has tripled in the last 3 weeks! Overall, he’s expected to top out at about 160 pounds. I don’t think that the cat will have much of a match on his hands! LOL

Proud Poppa!
At this point, Dirk is quite uncoordinated. Seeing him jump down from the couch is quite comical. It always results in a face plant as that head is a little bit heavy for the landing gear to hold up to! He jumps! He lands! Knees buckle. Face plant. Every time!

I also had fond memories of my puppy raising days; this time, I got to watch from the comfort of Pedro’s easy chair as he placed the puppy on the floor and had to keep a close lookout for any ‘sniffing with intent’ activity. Pedro did pretty good, getting ‘burned’ only once. Ana Kay was on the ‘spill’ right away.

Rhyner keeps Dirk at a distance … for now!
I got to spend a bit of time playing with Dirk, too, but he was really more interested in the cat and I was more interested in watching those two go at it. Rhyner was, for the most part winning, doing his classic big cat take down. He’d grab Dirk by the skin on his jaw or neck, use his body weight by leaning back and rolling onto his back, then wrap his paws around Dirk’s neck. It worked 100% of the time, but right now, the weight discrepancy is only 6 pounds. I would imagine that by Thanksgiving, two weeks from now, that this move may be a waste, as Dirk will have topped 20 pounds!

It was a great time seeing my kids and their ‘kids’. We even went out to breakfast on Sunday morning with Ana Kay’s dad. Just the four of us: two dads and two kids. What a great time!