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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 29 June 2009

Latest Update: Sunday, July 5 2009 3:00 p.m.


Monday, 29 June 2009

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Yesterday afternoon we made a Costco run with Paul and Mary then dinner out afterwards. 

More file shifting today. I hope to finished up the biggest part of the project tomorrow. Tonight I met Frances and Marcy for dinner at a really good place downtown, The Filling Station. Excellent food, good prices, etc. We enjoyed the pleasant evening, 81 degrees with only 30% humidity, by dinning on the outdoor patio area. 

I am reading another new author, C. S. Harris. I think Bob had read one of her books before. We both reading the series set in Regency England. So far she reminds me a little of Anne Perry in a different time period. Her character is a viscount, Sebastian St. Cry, who is arrested for the rape and murder of an actress. The youngest of three sons, he is the only surviving heir to the family estate. At 28 years old he drinks heavily and engages in numerous duals but has yet to kill anyone.


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Tuesday, 30 June 2009

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No update.



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Wednesday, 1 July 2009

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Today is my Friday. I am taking a vacation day tomorrow. The Firm is closed on Friday for the 4th. A four day mini-vacation from work will be nice. Nothing special planned. I have errands, yard work, etc. on the agenda.

Gym tonight. My sister Frances joined the gym the end of May to start the first of June. Just after she joined she started having more back and leg issues; an ongoing problem for the last year or so. The doctor told her not to start the gym until things were back under control. Gold's very willingly put her membership on hold for a month. She decided to start today doing mostly upper body. She gets a couple of free trainer sessions but her trainer she signed up with is on vacation right now. They did not have anyone available for the time she wanted to be there.

Instead, I showed her how to use of some of the machines I use while I did my workout. She did very well on all the machines not having had much upper body work before.

We have been watching a new season of Eureka and another season of Crossing Jordan.



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Thursday, 2 July 2009

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Last Sunday Paul and Mary followed us out to Costco instead of riding with us. When we got there Mary said both my brake lights were out. The truck was due to be inspected this month anyway so this morning I took it out to Tim's to have the bulbs replaced and inspection. I also had him check the tires. We put this set on at 103 thousand miles. They now have 17 thousand on them. The other day I noticed the outside tread on the backs were a little worn. While I was there he rotated and balanced the tires.

From Tim's I drove out to the pet store and Wal-Mart. The dogs and the birds are now well stocked in food.

After lunch I took the dogs out back. The weather today was beautiful with temperatures in the low to mid 80's and little humidity. Between the breeze and the partly cloudy skies it was a very nice day to be outside. After Malcolm and I played some ball for awhile I had a project to do in the basement. While we played ball Duncan enjoyed lying in the grass.

For most of what was remaining of the afternoon I spent reading and watching tennis from Wimbledon.



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Friday 3 July 2009

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I crossed a few more items off my to-do list this morning of things I wanted to get done on my mini-vacation. What a marvelous day it was too. This morning the temperatures were in the mid 70's, low humidity, and a good 5 to 10 mph breeze. Almost like an early spring or late fall kind of day. Even with the cool conditions I was still hot working in the sun. I had the dogs out with me most of the time since it was so nice.

Speaking of dogs. From an early age Malcolm would go berserk at doors. When we unlocked either the back door out to the deck or the downstairs door to outside he would go ballistic barking and running around. At the deck door he would plow out the storm door then wait until Duncan came out the door and knock him over. He still goes wild when go to open either of those doors at ten years old and even goes wild when go to open the front door. We tried everything to try and curb his behavior.

This shows you how hot-wired he is to go berserk at a door being opened. Often when I come home from playing golf or a weekend errand I leave the basement door up to unload something from the back. Bob will let Malcolm down from upstairs or he may come down himself. Malcolm and I go in and out the garage door. I leave him standing outside, walk over to unlock the basement door so I can put the garage door down and...you guessed it. He comes charging to the door barking and jumping wildly while I unlock the door so he can rush out. Talk about Pavlov's dog!

After I finished all my chores and showered I sat outside reading for awhile while Duncan laid in the yard. It started to get a little hot and humid in the front this afternoon so we came in for awhile. I continued reading and watching the semi-final matched of tennis. I finished the C.S. Harris book. As I mentioned earlier this week, if you like historical mysteries I highly recommend this series.

I have another Tapply from my library stack I need to read next. We have been watching more of the Crossing Jordon series.

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Saturday, 4 July 2009

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Happy July 4th to everyone here in good ol' USA. Another early springlike day with clear and cool conditions this morning for dad and I to play nine holes. With rain/thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow I ask dad last night if he wanted to play today.

After lunch I made a quick stop by Frances' house. They are having printer problems. I called Bob to walk me through various things to try with no joy. The printer came home with me for Bob to take a look at.

I played some ball with Malcolm while Duncan watched then I mowed the lawn. With the dry weather it has not grown overly long since last Sunday but it was high enough to give it  Some brown spots are starting to appear but overall it looks healthy. Hopefully we will get enough rain tomorrow to green things back up a bit.

I've sat outside reading and keeping Duncan company. Steaks, chicken, and squash on the grill with pasta salad for dinner.


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Sunday, 5 July 2009

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Malcolm behaved pretty well last night, all things considered. We took them last time out before it got dark and the worst of the bangs, whistles, and pops started. He lasted several minutes before pulling his way to get back indoors. Duncan is either too deaf to hear or just doesn't care anymore. Once the big stuff started going off Malcolm left his hiding place in our bathroom to go out to Bob. He sat in his lap for awhile then I called him back to come up on the bed with me while I read. He is a very heavy dog to be on top of you clawing at you for comfort. He finally went back in the bathroom.

I slept in until around 8:30, read the paper, and watched the first couple of sets of the men's final from Wimbledon before starting on the house cleaning chores. It was a gray morning with a few off and on showers but so far nothing much has fallen all day. I had the dogs out briefly. The temperatures are in the low 70's but it is very humid. After a lunch/tennis watching break we started on Bob's office. His floor and both his desks needed major cleaning. Bob organizes things by stacking stuff horizontally as high he can get them. And, with all the wires and boxes behind his computer it makes it hard to dust and clean on a regular basis.

He uses the desk as a backup lab keeping his microscope and other testing stuff available as needed. I had a very nice shelf/cubby organizer Frances gave me several years ago to use on my desk. It is the perfect solution to Bob's storage problem. I also gave him my desk lamp that sat on the unit. I took a picture if Bob will post it on his page next week. I have been wanting a full height lamp and to reorganize my desk anyway. I need to think about what I want to do with the stuff I had on the shelf and how I want to arrange things.

In between doing Bob's office we took breaks to watch the tennis. Excellent match though American Roddick lost.


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