The week that was....

....amusing, maddening, disburbing, and most of all, quite sad.

Well, this past week was the Post-Vacation week. It was a great trip to Canada (which I will share in installments), but it's always a great feeling getting back home to my house, my bed, my pillow, my puppies, and the list goes on. However, getting back to my job isn't always the greatest. Don't get me wrong, I do love my job, but I could definitely see myself as more of a "home" body, at least part time. There's just so much to do around here sometimes. Dogs, horses, 10 acres, 2 of which is "yard." Let's just say my real job definitely interferes with my home work.

Now, back to the list. The week was amusing and maddening for many of the same reasons: President Obama at the UN and then in Pittsburgh for the G20 summit. The US Apology Tour continues ad nauseum. I will not go into detail. I posted enough of that on the FaceBook and Twitter stream. Suffice it to say, there were plenty of opportunities during the week for me to be amused and pissed off. Oh yeah, and don't forget Muammar al-Gaddafi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. What a freak show. At least Benjamin Netanyahu was there to spread a little sanity over the gathering.

Disturbing? Videos of young school children (and I do NOT care whether it was the prompting of the teacher or guest author or whoever the Hell it was that instigated it) singing praises to Barack Obama, and to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" no less. WTF???

Lastly, terribly, terribly sad. On Tuesday I was told by a dear friend and co-worker that he found out on Monday he has esophageal cancer. He also has spots on two other vital organs. On Friday, I found out it is stage IV. I've worked with him for the 9 years I've been with my current company. I have worked very closely with him the last few months as we integrated a new hardware system in our software test bed facility. I've spent hours and hours sitting in front of a computer terminal with him while he worked his hardware "magic." He'll be starting treatment immediately, but the situation is very grave. I've shed many tears the last 5 days. He is my age. Sorry, I'm having a hard time seeing the keyboard. Everything's all blurry and something keeps dropping on the keys. He is a wonderful, smart, caring, funny guy. I know he will be strong and fight. What do I say? How can I help? I haven't seen him since mid-week. I'm afraid I'll just break down and start bawling when I do, which of course makes me want to avoid seeing him. But I can't do that, can I? Why can't I be strong? I'm such a crybaby.

Well, enough of the morbid. Sort of. My SAR team was called out on Friday to work a "cold case" a little further south in the state. I went along as support. So, while the handlers and dogs worked in the woods looking for some sign of human remains (it's a really cold case-years old), I took along the camera and took a few pictures of the end of summer wildflowers:






And of course one of Search Dog Rudy: