August 2010

Cabela Playing with Bobo

We got Cabela a couple of toys after we got her back to California. One of those, “Bobo” is a doggie toy with a squeaker in it. When she is in a playful mood, she will grab Bobo, and dash merrily around the family room squeaking Bobo and playing keep away.

The other day, I gave her a greenie, a doggie treat that cleans their teeth and sweetens their breath. She grabbed it and made three laps around the family room at full speed before stoping to chew it. When I said she was playful and energetic, I didn’t know the half of it.

Play the video above to watch a 24 second portion of Cabela’s afternoon session with Bobo.

Licensing Pets Online

dogs.jpgI went to our Veterinarian in the South Bay to get copies of Bear’s Vaccination and Spay/Neuter certificates. Both are needed to get an Arizona Dog License. We already had those documents from the Humane Society where we adopted Cabela.

I brought the documents to the house and went on-line to register both of them in Maricopa County, AZ. It was a fairly easy process. I had to fill in forms to identify ourselves and then entered the vital statistics for the dogs. A few more details about the vaccines and their neutered status, entered the credit card information and after a few keystrokes, we had a printed receipt. The license paperwork and tags will be mailed to our Arizona address in a couple of weeks.

I looked into the same process for our California town. You can renew on line but it involves a third-party website that charges a ‘convenience fee’ for renewing. Worse yet, if you have to submit a new vaccination report, you can’t do it on-line. It seems like good old Maricopa County in Arizona is a lot more on-line friendly than California when it comes to registering your pets.

One of Two Speeds

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This is one of two speeds that Cabela seems to have: fast and zero. She is so playful that she will dash around the family room three times before chewing up a doggie treat and then she crashes like this, but only for a short time. At night, however, she sleeps on our bed at speed zero, much to our restful benefit. Click on the image to enlarge.

Summer Dahlia

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I snapped this photo of a dahlia currently in bloom on the patio. I’m not sure of the name of this variety, but it sure is a pretty flower, just like most dahlias. Click on the image to enlarge.

Frosty Paws

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We wondered if Cabela would enjoy the Frosty Paws doggie ice cream treat as much as Bear does. Well, that issue is resolved. Click on the image to enlarge.

Arizona Home Progress Report

progress.jpgVerna and I went out to the construction site where our contractor is building our new house. I walked up the little hill at the east side of our property and snapped images of the site. We were there at roughly the same time each day, Monday through Thursday, mid to late morning.

The top panel in the composite image is of the work done on day one, the day of the groundbreaking. The entire foundation trench was already complete. This time of the year in Arizona, they get to work early and get the work done before daytime temperatures become very hot.

Image – Days one through four – click on the thumbnail image to enlarge

The second panel, day two, shows the nearly completed form for the foundation concrete pour. The crew used a level laser projector to ensure the forms were all at the same height.

The third panel, day three, shows the completed foundation forms and the rough blackwater plumbing. We asked for a blackwater dump to be available for our RV pad so it is available outside the foundation behind the master bath. You can see the sewer vent (the long vertical pipe) extending upwards near the RV connection just outside the foundation.

Today, day four, we stopped to get a final panorama of the progress. Inside the frame, the ground has been leveled in preparation for the concrete slab to be poured.

Verna and I are headed back to California for a few weeks to take care of personal business and family matters. We plan to return to Arizona after the Labor Day Holiday to track progress and to continue with the transition to the Copper State.