Scotchtoberfest

Last month, Jen and I went to a Scottish Festival in, of all places, Scotland, Connecticut. We had a lovely time.

There were feats of strength, musicians, clan flags, well dressed old guys, and, of course, funny socks.

Disillusionment at the animal shelter.

So the amazing black lab from last week was still there this week. Apparently, his family just didn't want him anymore and turned him loose.

I still love animals. But I'm starting to have my doubts about people.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful...

Hate me because it's two days before Thanksgiving and I'm 60% done with my Christmas shopping.

A tale of two puppies...

I spent Saturday morning at the animal shelter walking the dogs. Most of my time there was spent with the full grown black lab male and the black lab and pitbull mix (and other mystery dog) female puppy. I have a serious case of black lab envy at this point.

The big dog was a lot of fun. He was the biggest purebred black lab I've ever seen, but he was good about stopping when I gave his leash a yank. Being a male dog, he had to stop and pee on everything, even when he was completely out of urine ("Dude... You're not even peeing anymore... You're just lifting your leg..."). I can't imagine he'll be there next week when I go back. Somebody must be missing this dog.

I had a blast with the puppy. She was probably about 6 weeks old. You'd never believe me if I told you how cute she is. She's got the lab type body with a shorter face. She wanted to be independent, and felt the need to sniff everything as we walked around the building. But she would also look back every few minutes for reassurance. She wanted to do stuff on her own, but she wanted to know there you were still there with her. There's a slim chance she'll still be there next weekend.

Sigh.

Fitness hurts.

I had my first session with a personal trainer yesterday. I'm in a significant amount of pain today.

Sure... it's the "good" kind of muscle pain. I'm just shocked at the amount of pain I'm feeling today.

I consider myself fairly active. I'm not cover model material, but I'm probably in better shape than 75% of the American public. I can run a mile. I can see my toes. I can kill a man with my bare hands (but that's a different column...). I usually get some type of physical activity in 5 - 7 times a week.

Unfortunately, being at the bottom of the 25th percentile doesn't mean you're actually IN shape, it just means you're less out-of-shape than most other people.

When I work out on my own, I tend to give myself 30 - 60 second breaks in between activities. When it's somebody else pushing you, you don't get those little breaks. It's amazing how much you miss those.

I also tend to work out one muscle group at a time. I had never done most of the exercises I was being asked to do yesterday. My entire body was challenged in ways it never had been. I had no idea there were that many different kinds of push-ups.

The best part of the ordeal was the stretching. We spent the last ten minutes with him pushing and pulling my body parts in different directions. It may sound a little gay, but it actually felt really good.

I'm maintaining a positive attitude about all this... It WILL get easier.

Wish me luck.

Picture of the Week.

We had wild turkeys running through our apartment complex over the weekend. Crazy.

At the pound.

Jen and I have been going and volunteering at the local animal shelter Saturday mornings for the last few months.

I'm not bringing this up now to tell you what a great guy I am... (And besides... there are plenty of other things that make me such a great guy...) I'm talking about it now because, as a writer, it's too good a source of material not to use.

We've been getting there for 9:00 AM, usually with a quick stop for caffeine... Nine is pretty early for us on a Saturday. Jen usually plays with the kittens. I spend my time with the dogs. Some of the animals need exercise. Others just need to get used to being around people again.

There are a surprising number of purebreds that show up at the pound. I guess that's a function of where we live. Not many mutts find homes in the NK, so there are fewer mutts that escape or are abandoned.

I love walking the dogs. It's good exercise. They're always happy to see you. And you get the benefits of pet ownership without having to clean up after them or buy them food (it's kinda like having weekend visitation rights).

I've actually been sad a few times when I come back and one of my favorites has been adopted. I know that probably sounds a little selfish, but it's tough not to form some attachment to the animals. You want to make sure that they'll be taken care of and that they're going to a family that is good enough for them.

Unfortunately, I can't turn off the planning part of my brain. So part of me is always thinking about what else I can take away from this experience. If I ever were to go into business for myself, it would probably be something related to photography... But if I was going to go into ANOTHER business, I'd like to do some kind of dog grooming or doggy daycare thing. So, I find myself observing how they manage inventory and supplies, estimating what the sunk costs are, and what levels of staffing it would take to manage something like this (a doggy day care wouldn't be exactly the same as an animal shelter, but there are enough similarities to make the comparison exercise worthwhile).

Anyone want to go into business with me? I’ll need someone to work clean-up detail.

Baseball Wrap-up: Joy... Relief... Exasperation... and Sadness.

Wow... It’s only been a week and a half, but I really miss baseball (and like the subject in a psych 101 experiment, I now get excited every time I hear "Dirty Water". I hear the opening guitar part and I immediately think to myself "Oooh, did we just win something?"). It’s taken me all this time to get back to my normal schedule and find other things to talk about. It’s nice to be caught up on sleep, but I miss the ride.

Sorry St. Louis, you guys have a great team. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It comes down to pitching. We had it, and you didn't. My fiancée (not a native New Englander, but we won’t hold that against her) asked me if it was still fun, since we weren't really getting much of a challenge out of St. Louis. Well, as a Red Sox fan, I've seen plenty of drama. It was actually nice to have a series that wasn't down to the wire. And besides, I don't think any of us let ourselves believe it was really going to happen until the final out.

You know when the Bride in "Kill Bill" finally gets to the last name on her list, and you know she's come too far not to succeed? Facing the Cardinals was kinda like that.

And you know that scene at the end where she's on the bathroom floor crying with relief and joy? And she can't believe she actually did it? That's how I felt after.

I believe in Curt Schilling (despite his personal politics). He gets immediate admission to the Boston Sports Pantheon.

I believe in Pedro and Lowe. They certainly didn't have the best seasons of their careers, but they came up big when it mattered most. I doubt that both will be back next year, but their efforts in this playoff run will not be forgotten.

I believe in David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. I can't believe LaRussa pitched to them every time.

I believe in Theo Epstein. If we’re real lucky, we'll have him running the show for another 25 years or so...

I don't believe in curses. But I do believe in emotional baggage. And the burden of being a Red Sox fan suddenly feels a lot lighter now.

Both my dad’s parents died in the last two years. They were both lifelong Red Sox fans. Both spent about eighty years on this earth and never saw the Sox get to the top of the mountain. They would have really enjoyed seeing this. But at least I got to share the moment with my dad.

And as far as the "what will you guys do when you finally do win one? You love the misery..." argument from the outsiders, screw that. Let the Cubs carry that burden.

I'm not going to say that it was the best day of my life (OK, but it's definitely in the top 5). Maybe if I was actually on the team or had some effect on the outcome, I could say that. But I certainly identify with this group of guys. This is a group we can be proud of. They never gave up.

The only negative that I can see is that no other championship will ever feel this good (unless they go another 86 years without winning... and I'll be long gone by that time). We beat the Yankees. We beat the best team in the National League. We put the curse talk to bed. That's as good as it's going to get.

Dear America,

I hope you're happy. You'll miss us in a few years.

Sincerely,

Privacy, Education, Science, the Balanced Budget, Safe and Legal Abortions, and Freedom of Speech

Dear Pat's Blog,

I promise I'll spend some time with you soon. Just let me make it through the election.

- Pat