Work In Progress

Yesterday (after I returned from work), I started work on retooling my website. As some of you know, I am in the process of moving Frost Lake Photography to a new domain that I own and maintain. So, yesterday, I came home and did a little planning.

I had planned on sitting here for an hour and do planning… (best laid plans time here!) Three hours later I was still sitting here and Saga had come up to talk to Daddy about how much time I was spending staring at something that had nothing to do with feeding her… I was spending too much time touching that damn keyboard when I could be petting her!

So there it is; I’m in the process of transporting my website to a new domain. Hopefully I can unveil the new Frost Lake by the end of the week. Watch this space for news on new developments!

Wherever you are, I hope that you have a great day!

Don Bergquist – January 31, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Calm Before The… ???

I am not sure as to whether I should actually even bother believing the weather forecasts any longer! Sure, they are predicting snow for this afternoon, but then on Monday night they were predicting that the snow would be in the mountains. After my class on Monday night I walked out of the South Metro building, where the class was held, into a blizzard.

That was on the eastern side of the piedmont a good twenty miles from the foothills of the Front Range. The last time they predicted a big snow there was nothing on the ground when I got up. They did predict sunrise at 07:09 this morning and they predicted that it would be windy yesterday, so…

The reason I am on about the weather is that (with the exception of Monday night) we've been having some lovely weather here in Lakewood and so it is a shame that they are predicting snow for this afternoon/evening. I guess I'll bring my laptop home tonight "just in case." In the words of the great Thomas "Fats" Waller: "One never know… Do one!?"

Wherever you are today, I hope you're having good (or at least predictable) weather!

Don Bergquist – January 30, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Good Morning Gone Bad

…and it seemed like it was going to be such a good morning when it started out!

Okay, so it started late! I decided to sleep-in. I deserve it. I have a class on Monday nights for the next twelve weeks and so I am not getting home 'til 23:00… who can really ask me to be up at 04:00?

Well, Saga can ask. She jumped on my bed as I was dozing and listening to the news… "C'mon, Daddy! It's a quarter 'til five and you need to get up and play with me!" was the clear message from Saga. So, out of bed I got, slipped into some warm clothing and went out with Saga to explore what nefarious deeds may be transpiring in her park…

The cloud cover was broken but definitely present. It gave the sky one of those eerie gothic feelings that make walking at night (or in the early morning, as in this case) sort-of fun and mysterious. Last night's cold front dropped no snow (at least not here in Lakewood) but it is really windy.

So, having checked-out the park, Saga is now laying in the easy chair here in my office as I write this. She is chilling and probably wondering why Daddy spends so much time staring at those glowing boxes on his desk! They obviously have nothing to do with getting treats for Saga…

Actually, I have just discovered that I have a mysterious debit to my checking account… unfortunately, I cannot get through to the bank to suss-out what it is for another couple hours. So I guess I will head into the office and worry about this later.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you are not faced with any unpleasant surprises!

Don Bergquist – January 29, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Gray Morning

Even Saga felt it this morning. It is a gray and depressing morning! Saga spared no time getting back inside. It's not as if it is actually cold; there is no precipitation… it's just a yucky, gray morning!

A few stars peeked out through a few chinks in the clouds. The moon struggled to glimmer through the blanket over the valley. The winds were kicking up but as I said, the temperature was pleasant enough out there.

We went over to the park and started walking toward the lake. She would not even venture into the park more than about ten feet before she turned back to run home. She nearly tore my arm out of its socket trying to get back the house.

So, here I am, sitting at my desk up in my office finishing my cup of coffee. I guess I had best get my butt in gear and get into town… it is about that time. But it is just a yucky day and my heart is not in it!

Wherever you are today, I hope you have a lovely day ahead of you! (…or that one is wrapping-up for you!)

Don Bergquist – January 28, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Traffic Circles

Yesterday Saga and I headed out early to head up to the top of Lookout Mountain in Golden. Aside from being a lovely drive (and yesterday morning was a lovely day for a drive – though I understand today is to be even nicer!) the road up lookout mountain has some lovely views of Golden, Denver, and the Front Range of the Rockies.

I had almost forgotten that Golden is one of the few places in The States where traffic circles are in commonly in use. There are five of them that I know of and I passed through all of them yesterday… they gave me pause for thought for a moment when I approached the first one. I had to remind myself to go around them in an counter-clockwise direction. (That’s anti-clockwise to those of you on the eastern side of the Atlantic…) Two years of living in the UK has made me think of Traffic Circles (Roundabouts) as something one navigates clockwise.

Ah well! At least it was a pretty light day of traffic and even had I missed the sign directing me to the right, I would have had no problem clearing the circle safely.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you’re day is headed the right direction!

Don Bergquist – January 27, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Morning Drive

What a lovely morning!

After our walk in her park, I asked Saga if she wanted to go for a drive… it was absolutely a lovely day and I thought, “What the heck?” Dog, me, and the camera gear in the car, we headed off to seek a nice drive.

Our first stop was Golden, Colorado. We stopped for breakfast at a drive in where I had a breakfast burrito and coffee and Saga ate the tater tots that came with it. (I am trying to cut back on the fried food.)

After that, we headed up the Lariat Loop Road to the top of Lookout Mountain. It is a lovely drive and affords you with spectacular views out across the Denver Piedmont; on a clear day you can see well onto the Great Plains beyond. To the south, Pikes Peak plays peek-a-boo with you from beyond the shoulders of the mountain and to the north, US 93 points the way to Boulder.

On top of the mountain, you can see the Rockies stretching out to the west as far as the eye can see. I look at the vista and think to myself about the explorers and settles moving west across this expanse. How disheartening it must have been for them to reach the top of the mountain, a hard, day-long trek for them, only to see more mountains.

I wonder if they ever wished the mountains would just end. With the modern roads and automobiles, I only wish that the mountains would come to an end when I am headed home and cannot wait to get back to the piedmont.

But this morning, the drive was pleasant. Saga and I passed a number of intrepid mountain bikers making the five-mile trek to the top of the mountain. And why not? The temps are in the fifties and the roads are clear. As the year wears on, the number of bikers on the road will eventually make it hard to make it up to the summit via this route and I will have to make the approach from Genesee instead of from Golden.

At the summit, I was able to convince Saga that she wanted to sit for a few portraits. She is really pretty good at this; she is one of my favorite models. We stopped and spent an hour or so at the top. (After she sat for photos, I let her wander around and sniff at all the amazing smells that are present up there!)

We then headed back down for our last adventure of the day! The Dog Wash!! (Yeah! You just know that I didn’t tell Saga that we where headed to the evil place where I get her wet and wash off all that lovely stench she has been acquiring for the last couple weeks! I sprang it on her as a surprise.) But even this she took in stride and now, this afternoon, we’re chilling and I think we’re going to watch a movie or two to unwind for the day.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you’re having a lovely day!

Don Bergquist – January 26, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy 23rd Birthday!

Today – January 25, 2008 – would have been my mother's 23rd birthday.

I can say with impunity because my mother – born on January 25, 1935 – was always 23. At least as long as I could remember… if there was a time she was some other age, I do not recall it.

"Mommy," one of us would ask… "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three." Would come the unvaried response.

It is not as if mom were a liar; I am sure that in her mind, she was twenty-three. I am sure that in her mind, the .8 mile walk from where the lake house she and her siblings had grown-up in (outside of Urbank, Minnesota) was, indeed varying distances from 1.5 to 5.3 miles and it occasionally was probably up-hill both ways to get to the bus stop. And sure, why not! She might have had to battle wild Indians and Polar Bears with nothing but her pencil box and book strap in order to make it to the bus stop. Who can say?

It is a far more interesting universe in which the road exhibits such elastic properties while her age remains rock steady! In much the same way that it is such an interesting universe where one could fall out of a tree, breaking a leg, and still have the option of "running to tell [mom] about it!"

I honestly believe that hard work builds character. (Why not? I've been told I am quite a character.) I also believe (despite the OSHA statistics to the contrary) that nobody ever died of a little hard work! What the heck, I even believe that by tossing a book (a pencil, a grape, whatever) to my sister can, in fact, result in someone losing the use of one or both eyes!

So, here's to you, Mom! In your honor I will even consider making a completely inedible pot of [shudder] beef and barley soup. Or perhaps some Glorified Rice! Yum!

Wherever you are today, tell your mother you appreciate her!

Don Bergquist – January 25, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Lesson In Customer Service

A certain telephone company (which will remain nameless) has finally ticked me off to the point that I am in the process of divesting myself of any product of theirs that I can. Here's the story:

For reasons I will not go into, I had to get a new phone early last month. I went into the [NAME REDACTED] kiosk at [A LOCAL MALL]. I explained that my three-year-old cheap Kyocera phone had been run-over by a complete wanker when I accidentally dropped it in the street. (That's another story, but yes, the guy was a wanker. He pulled half-way out of his lane into the Light Rail lane to hit my phone and then pulled back into his lane.) I needed my new phone to have at least the functionality that my old phone had.

They sold me a Motorola Razor W385 for $299 and swore blind that once I got the software from Motorola and connected it I could download my phone book so I would not have to re-program it. Eight weeks, lots of email, and a bunch of hours on the phone with various support personnel later, I discovered that this was not the case.

Not only could I not load my phonebook from my PC to this phone, I could not load it to any phone that they sell with the exception of a couple $500 PDA Phones (like a blackberry or a treo) that they sell. Oh, but that was not where [NAME REDACTED] drew the line! The proverbial last straw was that this phone would not work either unless I got a PDA subscription for an additional $20 per month!

"Why…" I asked "…should I have to pay an additional charge to do what the phone was designed to do?" From my point of view, this was standard functionality of the phone. But this is not how [NAME REDACTED] saw it. The customer service representative I was dealing with informed me that this was an additional revenue stream. [NAME REDACTED] had decided not to give away what they could charge for and so they had Motorola disable this ability on [NAME REDACTED] branded phones.

"You may be able to bill for it…" I said "...but you won't be billing me!"

By the end of the month, I will have gotten rid of every service [NAME REDACTED] provides me with that I can find an alternate supplier for. (Unfortunately, they have a monopoly in one of the services they render.)

This conversation happened yesterday morning around 11:30. I already have a new phone and new phone service with [ANOTHER WIRELESS PROVIDER] and not only did the phone cost significantly less than the one from [NAME REDACTED] but [ANOTHER WIRELESS PROVIDER] guaranteed that the phone would do what I wanted it to do or I could return it to them at their expense and pay absolutely nothing any time in the next thirty days.

I'll let you know how that goes for me.

Wherever you are, I hope that you're having a great day!

Don Bergquist – January 24, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Morning Comes Late

I guess I have just not noticed it because I have been getting to work around six (on mornings that I get-up and go into the office) since I came back, but I just don't remember morning coming so late here in Colorado.

I'm sitting at my desk in my home office (feeling much better that yesterday, thanks! But decided to work from home because I am still not 100%...) and while waiting for a program to finish running so I can check the results I happened to look out the window. I cannot believe it is still so dark outside. It is nearly 07:30!

I guess I have been too wrapped-up in my work to take a look outside recently… that has got to change!

I hope that wherever you are today, you'll take a chance to stop and look around you!

Don Bergquist – January 23, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Not The Best

There are days when you feel just not quite up-to-snuff… This is one of those days for me. I have been feeling pretty bad since Sunday night. I ate something on Sunday that just didn't agree with me at all! Yesterday, I got up and checked my email from the office, posted the blog entry I had written this weekend and then dove back under the covers emerging only a few times to go out when Saga absolutely insisted.

Today, I feel pretty good and so I am going to head into the office and see what happens. I know that I probably shouldn’t but…

Wherever you are today, I hope that you’re feeling well!

Don Bergquist – January 22, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Weekend Tasks Completed

Well, dopey me! I got myself down to the home improvement store after work on Friday and was able to get the stuff that I needed for my projects this weekend and when I got home Friday, after walking with Saga over in her park, I dove right into getting the stuff done. I completely forgot to take "before" pictures for the blog.

The new curtains in the living room (in my humble opinion) look so much better than those horrible vertical blinds that have been hanging in my place since I moved in! They are about the same color (perhaps a shade or two darker) than the carpeting in the living room, and made of that faux suede material. I've hung them with a white sheer drape behind them.

Not only do they look better, they hang right and fall back into place after Saga gets on the chair and looks out the window between them. They block far more light and cut the glare on the television, but best of all, they are not see-through.

God! What an improvement! I can sit and watch television without the glare and without concern that people walking by can be looking in at me as they go. That wasn't the only thing I did this weekend, but by far it is the thing I am happiest about!

Wherever you are today, .I hope that your weekend has left you with a sense of accomplishment!

Don Bergquist – January 21, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy Martin Luther King Day

The One And Only Doninator

Oops! Today a correction. A reader calling themself "Revolving Door" posted a comment on yesterday's entry pointing out that I had another nickname whilst I was living in Memphis, Tennessee. Oh, dear! How could I have forgotten!?

My friends in Memphis, well, actually a friend of my roommates in Memphis gave me that nickname well before I had ever even met him. My dear friend and old roommate, Kelly, could give all the details, but as I recall the story went something like this:

JP was a friend of Kelly and Troy’s and they had apparently mentioned me or something to him. He had never met me because at that time in my career I was traveling between 250 and 300 nights a year. So, by luck of the draw, JP and I never met.

Apparently, at one point, JP was questioning whether I actually existed or if I was just a figment of their imaginations. Why and how he came up with “The One And Only Doninator” I do not actually know, but I came home from a trip and heard Kelly refer to me as the Doninator and realized that somehow, I had acquired a nickname. It was one that I wore proudly for years.

Wherever you are today, I hope you have your friends handy!

Don Bergquist – January 20, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Nicknames

Listening to NPR as I was doing my housework today I heard a feature that I have never heard before called “Homework.” The host give the listeners an assignment to write about and then the following week they read the results. This week, they solicited stories about nicknames. What is your nickname? How did you get it? Do you like it?

Of all the names I have been called over the years, I think that only two possibly qualify as nicknames and I really didn’t care for either of them. My first nickname was given to my by a councilor at the Boy Scout summer camp I attended as a kid. The man could not, for some reason, pronounce my surname. It’s not as if Berg – Quist is all that hard, but he murdered it every time he called roll for his class at camp. One day after I had won a camp cooking competition and in complete frustration over having to pronounce it, he just called “Bisquick, You here?” and the name stuck. People called me “Bisquick” for years. (With apologies to General Mills, it is a horrible name and I hated it!)

The only other time I have ever been given a nickname it was by one of my trainees when I was working as the training coordinator for the product line I used to support. We were on an installation trip and at dinner one night she was quizzing me on why we had done some of the things that we had done. She then started comparing notes with another colleague at the table and they both started discussing something that we all understood but calling it by the wrong name. I corrected the misidentification of the product and the moved onto the next topic.

Later in the evening, she used another wrong word while telling a humorous story. The other two of us at the table stared at her blankly at the conclusion of her story and she repeated the punch line again using the wrong word. Suddenly I realized the word that she had probably meant and said did you mean to say “_____” (supplying the correction for her malapropism) and chuckled at the story which, with the substitution was, indeed, funny.

“Well get you, Webster!” she said with frustration. I looked at her puzzled. “I’m referring to the dictionary, not the TV show!” she added, “You’re a walking dictionary!” She was smiling when she said it and I thought (or at least I have convinced myself) that she meant it at least partly, as a compliment so it didn’t bother me as much as my earlier nickname had.

Wherever you are today, I hope you are having a great day!

Don Bergquist – January 19, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Weekend Plans

You just know that by saying what my plans are, I am dooming them to fail, but I have a number of things that I want to get accomplished this weekend. I have a couple jobs to do around the house.

Tomorrow night I have some people coming over and want the place to look good… If I actually get the things done that I want to, there will be before and after pictures in the blog soon. (Looking at the to-do list that I have written myself for the weekend, I should probably be looking forward to Monday!)

Wherever you are today, I hope you have something to look forward to!

Don Bergquist – January 18, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy birthday to my cousin, Stan

Happy birthday to my cousin, Leona

Some Times You Gotta Wonder

Some times I wonder what gets into her head! I know that my friend Kelly warned me that Canaans can be a bit unpredictable, and that they are prone to fits of inexplicable behavior.

Even if she hadn't come right out and warned me about it, I lived with Kelly and her husband (at the time) when they were actively breeding and showing the breed. I saw what a whack-job her dam, Inka, was! Inka would sit in the middle of the room and stare up at a random point in the ceiling for minutes at a time. It was not as if there was anything particularly interesting about the specific bit of the ceiling she would stare at… nothing at least that distinguished that particular bit from any other bit of the ceiling.

Saga has taken it into her head that although she hates the cold and the wet (snow), she absolutely positively, has to go outside every hour on the hour when I am at home.

It is not as if she actually does anything when we go out… She sniffs here and there most of the time, wants to go over to the park and walk around a bit and then run back into the house. Last night, she performed her "I have to go out now! Take me out now or get out the rug shampooer." dance at six, seven, eight, and nine o'clock. The first three times, apparently she just wanted to walk across the street to assure herself that the park was still there.

She didn’t even pretend that she needed to go… she just walked over to the park and once across the street, practically pulled my arm out of its socket trying to get back across the street to get out of the cold.

What a bizarre bitch! But even so, this is probably going to go away as quickly as it came along. She goes through phases. (The last phase was being afraid of a specific chair in the dining room. She would, if she had to walk past it, give it wide berth – staring at it as she passed as if it would reach out and grab her.)

Wherever you are, I hope that you're having a great day!

Don Bergquist – January 17, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Working From Home

Some times it is good to have a job that allows me to periodically work from home. It is a nice change not having to get dressed-up (not that I ever do any more… the Denver office, while not nearly as laid-back and casual as the Thames Ditton office, is still pretty casual), drive into the office and sit at my desk in town.

I would not want to work from home every day, but occasionally, it is nice not to have to fight the traffic. It's also nice to have someone who absolutely adores me (most of the time) lay at my feet if I spend too much uninterrupted time at the keyboard. Saga makes sure that every couple hours or so I walk downstairs for a cup of coffee for myself and a cookie for her.

Besides that, the two hours I don't spend commuting, I spend on projects around the house. It's just after lunchtime and I have already put in nine good hours of productive testing. I am now shutting down the computer to do some projects I have backed-up in my "Home Work To Be Done" queue and then to run some errands.

I hope that wherever you are today, you day is a productive one… personally as well as professionally.

Don Bergquist – January 16, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy birthday to my niece, Sarah

38.6

According to the National Heart and Lung Institute, I started the year at a Body Mass Index of 38.6. This puts me in Obesity Class II and once again firms my resolve to get back on the weight loss track. Whilst in London, I had lost three stone (by their reckoning… a stone is 14 pounds. By our reckoning, I lost a total of 44.6 pounds.) before I went on holiday with my friends to South Africa.

That was three weeks of too much fun, too much food, too much beer and too little moderation. In a highly unhealthy yo-yo to my weight, by the time I made it home to Lakewood, I had gained nearly 30 pounds! That's about 7 pounds per week! It had to stop.

Glad to say that I had I have gotten the diet back on track and as of this morning's weigh in my BMI is 36.5 and I am headed in the right direction. Using my treadmill regularly, doing some resistance training, and regularly walking with Saga in the park is a big part of that. A more sensible diet and the lack of almost any beer is another.

I say almost because I was given a few bottles of a very nice British ale by my friends Terry and Angie a couple years ago when it appeared that I was going to be leaving London for good. (before the five-week trip became a two-year stint…) I finished the last bottle of that ale last night. I had been rationing them. Now that you can no-longer carry liquids on planes, I have no idea how I am going to get my fix of ale. (…but perhaps that is a good thing!)

Wherever you are today, I hope that you're having a great day!

Don Bergquist - January 15, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA


To calculate your BMI:

Take your weight in pounds, Divide it by your height in inches squared, multiply the result by 703.

Happy BIRTH DAY to my cousin, Henry

Congratulations to my cousin, Tim and his wife Stephanie on the birth of their son Henry Hastings. I understand that Henry was introduced to the world today!

My cousin shares his birthday with his grandfather (Harvey). With this addition, Harvey and Elaine are now grandparents of eight.

Congratulations and best wishes, guys! I hope mother, son, and family are doing well!

Cousin Don
Lakewood, Colorado

Happy birthday to my uncle, Harvey

Wash Out

Well, the sunset on Friday was not really a complete wash-out… there was some color if you looked south and east. Unfortunately, if you looked west toward the mountains, it was a complete waste.

This picture, the only one that I took that evening that I felt was even worth keeping, is taken looking just east of south. The little bump you can see at the bottom (there are two, the one more toward the middle) is Pikes Peak.

It is amazing how far you can see it from. That is why it is so famous. Of itself, it is a pretty unremarkable mountain… it is only something like the thirtieth highest peak in Colorado… it is just that it is so much higher than anything around it so that you can see it for so far in any direction away from the mountains that it is even noteworthy.

So, here it is, the products of my photo shoot on Friday; I call it Cloudscape Over Pikes Peak. I hope that you enjoy it.

Wherever you are today, I hope it is lovely there!

Don Bergquist – January 14, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Not A Lot Happening Today

I had a friend over for dinner last night. It was a good time. Visiting, sharing a glass of wine and some dinner, just hanging-out...

This morning, I slept in, I was still in bed dozing when Saga came in, jumped on the bed, and demanded that I pay attention to her… this was at six this morning.

Well, we went for a walk, and then took a short drive… (I needed gas in the car and it is easier to do when the gas stations are not clogged with people trying to get to the car washes to wash off the ice slicer.)

And finally we returned home. I have no real plans for the day, I have a few chores to finish around the house and perhaps when the stores are open later Saga and I will go down to the dog wash and I will buy her some cookies afterward. Like I said, no real plans!

Wherever you are today, I hope your Sunday is as laid back and easy going as Saga’s and mine is!

Don Bergquist – January 13, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy anniversary to my Uncle Gene and Aunt Judy

The Updates Are Under Way!

Great News!

Well, okay, perhaps, it is only good news to those of you who have emailed me pointing out that my photography site has not been updated in quite some time... Changes are under way. I have started uploading pictures from 2007 to the Frost Lake Photography website.

To those of you who haven't been asking, well, it's either news or a big yawn!

Last night I had nothing to do after getting back from a quick photo expedition. (The weather refused to cooperate and the sunset was a complete no-show. I have yet to look at those photos on my PC but they didn't look like anything special on my camera.)

The 2007 gallery has been updated and a place holder for the South Africa Gallery has been added. These are my selections for the "Best Of" pictures for 2007. As always, a more complete selection of my pictures can be seen in my Shutterfly albums. you can reach those via my blog... look for pictures in the blog, most of those entries will include a link (click the title of the entry) to the appropriate album in Shutterfly.

I'll be adding the South Africa Album soon. And there are more changes to come. Keep checking back in!

Wherever you are today, I hope that you have exciting news to share. If you do, drop me a line!

Don Bergquist - January 12, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Have Another Day!

I once read a very good book by one of my favorite authors (Robert Rankin) that was set in the Post-WWIII Earth. The entire population spent their days the same way: sitting in their bunkers, watching television, the whole boring routine. They greet each other (on the few rare instances that they go out an meet-up at all) with the greeting "Have another day."

There are times that I feel that way… the days grind on with nothing special or distinguishing about them… I go to work, I come home, I walk Saga, blah, blah, blah!

I am in one of those blah moods today. But that I have a huge project at the office and not a lot of time to complete it, I would prefer to stay at home all day petting Saga and doing not much of anything. Well, perhaps if I get into the office my mood will pick-up.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you're having a good day!

Don Bergquist – January 11, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

What A Lovely Morning!

It was a bit nippy this morning as Saga and I went out to reassert her ownership of Bear Creek Park. For reasons unknown to me, she wanted to walk all the way down to the far end of the lake before she finally realized that it was cold and wet out there.

The temperature was in the upper teens and the world was quiet. It was a lovely morning to walk and gaze at the stars through the condensation of my breath. Orion was just starting to slip behind Mount Evans as we headed back along the icy path to the house. Some day, I am going to see if I can take super-long exposures on my digital and capture some star trails as they drop behind the Front Range. That would look cool; the Rockies lit by starlight some dark night!

Well, that is about it for me today, the day is a lovely one, the skies are clear and it is going to be a lovely day… too bad I need to get to the office and start testing. Well, one does what one must.

Wherever you are today, I wish you a lovely day!

Don Bergquist – January 10, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

What A Difference A Night Makes

Thank you to all of you who have sent email and instant messages asking how I am. I'm feeling much better! Yesterday I went and got myself a sleeping pill and was able to sleep through the night. Sleeping even made my cold-like symptoms go into remission…

Apparently all I needed was a good night's sleep to allow my immune system to reset itself. Well, I should get into the office now… lots to catch-up on.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you're fit and well!

Don Bergquist – January 09, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy birthday to my cousin, Joan

Snow

At some time during the evening/night it snowed! They are saying that it was during the rush hour, but I don’t remember it having snowed by the time I retired for the night. But then, I was pretty out of it last night. The wooden duck decoy that my great uncle made is covered in a thick blanket of snow.

I am feeling somewhat better today than yesterday. I did sleep a bit. I took some cold medication and went to bed. Until about 02:00 this morning, I slept hard but then I was up so I went to my office, logged onto my computer and started working. I’m now breaking for breakfast and see that we really did get snow.

Saga wanted to go and claim ownership of her park and so we went out. We were not past the end of my walk when she decided that she really didn’t want to be out.

It was only about three inches, but it was a cold, wet snow this morning… she was miserable.

Well, I had best get back to the computer and do some more work. I will probably work until lunchtime and then, if I am not feeling a lot better, I will go to bed for a nap.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you are having a lovely morning!

Don Bergquist – January 09 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Sick Day

I'm not feeling well at all today. I didn’t sleep well last night. I tossed and turned all night. No idea why. When I got up this morning, I felt a bit as if that damn cold I have finally fought off were returning.

I took some cold medication and dressed for the office. I was half-way there before I realized that this was something I should not be doing. Heck! I have my computer. I’ve emailed into the office and told them I am staying home today. I’m off to bed (hopefully to sleep) if I get to feeling better, I can do some work from the office later-on.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you are feeling well!

Don Bergquist – January 07, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy birthday to my aunt, Elaine

Epiphany

Epiphany

e•piph•a•ny (ĭ-pĭf'ə-nē)

n. pl. e•piph•a•nies

1. Epiphany
a. A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
b. January 6, on which this feast is traditionally observed.
c. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
d. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself" (Frank Maier).

2. A revelatory manifestation of a divine being.

3.
a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself" (Frank Maier).

[Middle English epiphanie, from Old French, from Late Latin epiphania, from Greek epiphaneia, manifestation, from epiphainesthai, to appear : epi-, forth; see epi- + phainein, phan-, to show; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.]

Not only is today the Christian festival of Epiphany, but I have had something of an epiphany myself of late. I’ve had the sudden realization that there are a lot of gullible, obese, lonely people out there.

I don’t say this to be mean, I’m just being observant. Usually, when I am watching television, I pay attention to the program and then use the remote to zip through the commercials. (I seldom watch television live any longer, preferring to use my DVR to delay the broadcast so that I can watch it when I want to. This also gives me the ability to zip through the breaks.)

But last night, there was a show on that I wanted to watch, and having nothing else to do, I decided to watch it live. You may ask why I had this epiphany while watching television, but that would only because you either don’t watch television or don’t pay attention to the breaks either.

Last night, every break had at least one diet plan, one exercise plan, one diet pill, and one website dedicated to making matches for “lonely hearts.” A few of the breaks consisted solely of a combination of the four. I know that weight loss is one of the most frequently made New Year’s Resolutions, but this is the first time I have noticed this advertising abundance…
Ah well!

Wherever you are today, I hope you’re fit, happy, and in love!

Don Bergquist – January 06, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy Epiphany

Weekend Plans

Nothing too exciting on tap this weekend. I have some prep work to do for my taxes, you know the kind of thing; finding the files that I need, organizing receipts, getting ready to file my 1099s, 1098s, and W2s.

I also have some cleaning to do here at the house, but the first thing I have to do is to run some errands. That is after I walk with Saga over in her park. We have lovely weather for it too! The temperature is supposed to hit sixty today for the second day in a row.

The snow is melting, the roads are good. It is supposed to be a beautiful day for running around town. I had best get started on that so that I can get what I need to get done done and get back to my projects at home.

Wherever you are today, I hope you have a beautiful day for doing whatever is on your agenda!

Don Bergquist – January 05, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

"Wankers (Three Different Ones)"

This morning's blog entry is brought to you by three drivers I encountered whilst driving home last night. It goes to show you, there are tossers anywhere you look for them!

"Wankers (Three Different Ones)"
(With apologies to Pink Floyd)

Big truck, dump truck, ha ha, wanker you are
No Joke! Slow poke, ha ha, wanker you are
Could you put your foot upon the gas?
You're nearly a good laugh
Almost a joker
with your speed below twenty
Saying "don't like it? pass me!"
No ice on the main street
What do you hope to see?
When you're down there delaying me?
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry.

Backing-up Pick-Up, ha ha, wanker you are
You stupid up tosser, ha ha, wanker you are
You're backing onto a main thoroughfare
Did you look before you started?
Did you pull out blindly?
You 'll head the crunch of steel
on-coming traffic you'll feel
And good fun when you hit one
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry.

Hey you taxi, ha ha, wanker you are
You think you own the road? ha ha, wanker you are
your taking up both lanes of this street
You're nearly a real treat
All swerving and you think you're so neat
And do you feel abused?

!.....!.....!.....!.....!

You pulled out and straddled the line
Driving along thinking you're so fine
Taxi you nearly got hit
Taxi you nearly got hit
But it was a nice try!

Wherever you are today, I hope you drive considerately and safely!

Don Bergquist – January 04, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Gloating Is So Ugly!

I know it. I have been told it many times. But I just have to do it periodically anyway!

This morning on my way to work you know that I am going to have to call my sister in South Florida to do it. It is a moral imperative. I just heard on the weathercast that it is currently warmer here in Colorado than it is in Florida.

And after all those times my friends in Florida call me to tell me that they are wearing shorts and tee-shirts and sandals when they have just heard that Denver is getting pounded by one blizzard or another what else could I do? Today it will be barely above freezing in Florida while here we will basking in temperatures closer to fifty.

Ah! Bliss!

Wherever you are today, I hope that you're happy and warm. (And to my friends and family back in Florida: The secret is to dress in layers! ;-) )

Don Bergquist – January 03, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

PW

It is official, I am PW. (Should anyone have doubted it, I now have incontrovertibly proof.) I am officially Puppy Whipped!

Now back at home, Saga has reverted to her usual habit of being picky about what she eats. At home, she refuses to eat the same food twice in a row. So I decided to revert to my habit of buying a number of different bags at the same time.

I can do this here because I have sealed Tupperware containers to keep the food fresh.

So, we're back to rotating her food every day. She has once again reminded me of who is in charge. She is and she knows it.

Wherever you are, I hope you are in control of your destiny.

Don Bergquist – January 02, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Resolutions

Everybody makes resolutions… I have resolved not to make one this New Year's!

uh...

Damn! Blew that one already!

Wherever you are, resolve to have a great day!

Don Bergquist – January 01, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy New Year