All Of Us Got Zapped

I am not sure what happened but my free app called Sleep Watch recorded 10 hours of sleep Thursday night included my Friday afternoon siesta.  63% of it was called 'restful'. I have found that app is pretty accurate as it records every time I get up at night whether I'm awake or not. It reminds me what the actual time was that Heidi decides she needs to go outside and it tracks my sleeping heart rate. I felt great waking up Friday morning but as the day progressed I could see what hit me also hit the hounds.

As they use to say in the 60's we were wasted. Both hounds slept through their normal breakfast time. There was no howling or barking for early kibble. Afterwords there was no begging or whining to go on the daily walk ... they slept, they ate and they slept again. That took place throughout the day even after a feeble attempt at a walk a little past noon. Heidi's tongue was hanging out and we had not crossed the street yet. Stella had more interest in sniffing and tracking literally every inch between the house and our turn around point. I cut the walk short and headed home. It lasted more than we normally walk and covered a lot less ground. When we got back, they went back to sleep!!

After all the excitement yesterday how could today top that? For the first time this week I did not have the urge to go for a bike ride. I did not have the urge to grab the keys and take off with my camera to see what I could find. I didn't have the urge for anything and following my doctor's advice "listen to my body" ... my body was saying take a total day off from all activity. So I did.

Yet it was nice to sit out on the patio and watch the sky change. Temps were going back and forth between 70° and 68°,  cargo shorts and a sweatshirt seemed to be the uniform of the day. I let my mind drift with the wind and didn't move out of that ugly chair for quite a while.

Like I said, since they missed their walk Friday morning I thought they might be interested in taking one mid-day. Stella didn't even flinch when I asked if she wanted to go. I had to lean down and touch her to see if she even had a pulse ... she was off in dreamland, dead to the world.

Friday was Heidi's day to protest taking any photos of her. Everyone I took she looked away. She would wander out in the yard to walk laps since I was no longer doing that but when I would speak to her, she just kept on walking all the way to her bed in the back bedroom. She wanted nothing to do with what the day offered, no belly rubs, ear scratches or conversation.

I didn't feel restless today as if I needed to do something. I did a lot of reading, had a call from my old friend that was hiking today in the Indiana National Forest in cool damp/rain weather. He likes that kind of weather so its not a problem for him. All that land you see behind my fence has dirt trails and one track roads for 4x4 trucks, cars or gravel bikes. You will be able to go as far east as the San Pedro River but will have to take a highway bridge to go further east.

I love watching the open skies throughout the day. At least at ground level there is not a lot of strong wind but you can see above, things are happening.

The hounds were about like I was Friday. Totally undecided what they wanted to do. If they were awake, there wasn't a spot that felt comfortable enough for them to lay to long. They went in and out a million times, and slept it off the rest of the time. I did catch Stella poking that "infamous" window in the living room to see if the window was closed or not. She would not have tried to escape since I was around but she likes to check on different occasions that the windows and doors are shut ... just s quick nudge of her nose gives her the answer she is looking for.

I took this photo at 6:58pm. It was dark outside and I turned off the kitchen light in the background. I didn't use the flash so I am a little disappointed in this photo taken by the phone you see on all the commercials the past month. It looks like daytime but it was dark in real time. Probably user error.

This is a prime example that Stella never lets me get to far away from her. Now, she will sleep overnight in the living room on the floor or in the computer room in the corner but whenever I take an afternoon siesta she plops right down next to the bed and right in the landing zone for my feet when I get out of bed. So basically she is making sure that I am going nowhere without her knowing. She will also sleep in the same spot at night.

She moves around a lot, has a lot of different overnight sleeping spots whereas Heidi loves that new bed I bought for her and will spend all night and most of the day on that bed. It was money well spent.

By the time you read this it is "Football Saturday". There were be a few good or great games to watch, Alabama vs LSU for one. Penn State at undefeated Minnesota will be interesting. My two favorite teams, IU and Washington do not play on Saturday. IU has the weekend off and "UDub" played last night on Friday.

I found out today I will be driving back to the top of Carr Canyon Rd November 16 in a support capacity. If you remember my first trip up there, I found about three to four switchbacks with no guardrails where the pucker factor kicked in. I was too scared to stop and didn't want to take a hand off the steering wheel to take a photo as I crawled around the corners.

I will be hauling water, food and a table to the top to support the mountain bike ride that goes to the top of the mountain. It's a two day ride not to the top but two days and about 150 miles around and in the Huachuca Mts. I will be interested in seeing who makes it to the top of Carr Canyon Rd where the Ramsey Vista Campground is located. I'll take photos of that day and write about it later.

I know it's repetitive but I'm honest I guess ... it was another great day in the Wild West.

A Busy Quiet Day If That's Possible

Heidi has turned into a food begging monster. It doesn't matter that she had a meal just an hour before, if she sees me walking to or I am in the kitchen, she is there doing nothing but giving me the look that she needs a treat. With any hound you have to watch their weight. Too heavy means joint problems later, lower back problems with bassets and hips with bloodhounds. With that in mind I cannot pass out treats every time they want one. Yet, she tries to lay the guilt trip on me with her eyes.

I think you will notice a huge difference from last nights sky as it got close to sundown. Tonights skies were beautiful. These were from Sunday night. I will warn you though, tonight I don't have a lot to say nor do I have a lot of photos to post. I spent most of the day in town at one medical facility or another and that does leave a lot of time for taking photos. I did fit in a short 34 minute bicycle ride again today .... the winds made me work a little more than I wanted. I would downshift and ride slower is all.

I am finding out this medical arena is hard to figure out. Who does what, who pays for what, they say appealing costs is normal but I have a question that no one seems to answer. Anyone out there in blogland able to answer this question?

"If I do appeal a charge(s) and that take over 30 days to have an answer, will the balance due be reported to my credit agency as a late payment over 30 days, thus hurting my credit rating? I would be willing to pay for something I don't have to just so I don' have a balance due over 30 days old, and having it show up on my credit report as a "late payment"

I have to laugh when I hear "Medicare for All" ... Really?? I will not get into the financial side of that disaster but I will say that if you think the entire USA population is going through any kind of medical program run by the government ... take a quick look how that works out at the VA. You really want the government to tell who you can and cannot see as your doctor or surgeon? I am going to kick back in my couch and watch the circus when that happens.

These are from today, not quite 5pm. The Southwestern skies never give a poor show.

Overall the neighborhood is a lot quieter than I ever expected. Next door is an old 13 or 14 year old pug. We don't hear of him much but when he is out barking it always makes Stella curious what that sound is. If you didn't know any different the pug sounds like it has been a lifelong cigarette smoker.

Of course that is also the same neighbor that gave her some bbq chicken one Sunday night after asking me if it was okay. So she might be checking out for any sounds of him firing up his bbq grill. She isn't particular when it comes to grilling ... steaks, fat, chicken, wings, ... just toss it over the fence to her, she'll find it.

I've been waking up in the middle of the night lately unable to get back to sleep for hours so tonight I am going to try to stay up late for the first time since I moved here and see if that helps me sleep through the night. I catch myself more and more ALMOST getting into bed or the car the normal way instead of the way the PT showed me. I am also waking up at night about to roll on my right side to sleep, the surgical side. So is that the body speaking to me, telling me it's okay to do normal movement?

Another beautiful day here in the Wild West. Possible exploration day tomorrow.