That was no frog in the koi pond

Had to take Madison, our yellow Lab, to the vet today as she is having difficulty with arthritis in her advancing age. As many of you recall, she is a retired US Coast Guard mascot and an avid swimmer.

After sitting stationary in the kitchen for the entire day, she summoned up enough strength to go "bye-bye" in the car. Then we made it limping into the clinic at our vet, Serenity Animal Hospital in Sterling Heights. After visiting with everyone in the office, canine, feline or human, she got her blood checked and her arthritis meds updated. I thought she might like to walk around a little bit to loosen up, so I took her down to the reflection pond in front of the clinic, a large koi pond with a bench where people can meditate or pray or think about their pets. I figured she might like to see the water feature up close, but not too close. Well, she bumped a large rock and it fell in, so I let my attention slip for just a second, just to reach in for the stone and....all I saw was a yellow blur go past my shoulder into the cluster of orange and white fish that had gathered at the edge of the pond. I uttered "NO" as I closed my eyes, and down came the water onto my head.

There was our Maddie, up to her neck in pond water and having a blast swimming around. The Koi were kind of confused. Good thing they weren't Piranha...Try to fish a wet, slippery Lab out of a Koi pond without getting soaked yourself while trying to avoid being seen by all the drivers going by on 15 Mile and the vet staff. I moved quickly.

Needless to say, she got a bath when she got home...she's a goof, but we love her anyway.

The Queen of the Lakes

Here's something to watch on YouTube:


This was posted elsewhere on the board, but I moved it here so more people could see it.

This can be kind of lame at times, overly dramatic and some incorrect facts don't stand in the way, (the Paul differed greatly from the Fitzgerald in design, and the Fitz went down in 75 not 72, and self-unloaders are by no means as rare as they make them out to be. In fact, S/U ships dominate Lakes trade today.) but it's a decent watch, I guess. You get to see some neat things on board. And when they leave Duluth, you can see the hotel where we stayed on our honeymoon!

I had spent the night on the Lee A Tregurtha July 3, 1997, then sailed on her all day on the fourth and switched off at the Pilot Boat in Port Huron. Drove down to the Paul at Recors and had dinner on the Paul with the Captain and fleet operations manager. Oh my God, the FOOD! Both ships...
Was quite a contrast going from the WWII-era Lee to the modern Paul with elevators, etc. (Honestly, though, I liked the Lee better...)

Her captain then, Mitch Hallin was a big man physically and in heart. Quite a fellow and it was a privilege, honor and pleasure to meet him over dinner.

He died on board in 2002 of a heart attack. Very sad. Was a good man and always knew when they were at Recors Edison because of his booming voicen the radio.

This is a great read about Capt. Hallin:
http://www.inlandmariners.com/PDF%20Files/...ptain_Mitch.pdf

Superman, Time to clean out the Fortress of Solitude

Hey Clark, Marc or Kal-El, whatever you go by these days, clean out your mailbox. Heat vision, freeze breath, bending metal bars, hop to it. Metropolis is counting on you.

Anybody know a good truck salesman?

Have some life changing decisions to make with different things that will involve switching from my current truck, an extended cab HD Chevy pickup, to a passenger van and I am looking to find someone in the car business to talk shop with. I prefer General Motors products, particularly since the last Ford, a minivan I had, tried to kill my wife and the dealer experience associated with that particular vehicle was, shall we say, less than satisfactory. Dodge doesn't build full-sized vans anymore.

The Chevy salesman I got the truck from has apparently retired. Any suggestions?

I was wondering where my raspberries were going

Here I thought I was fighting with the sparrows or some other birds over the black raspberries because the berries were disappearing in a funny pattern.

Turns out Rotties like raspberries.

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