The Photogenic Pup

Tally doesn't like flash ... she thinks it's lightning.

Her tail was waggin' all weekend!

We took some pictures ...

... and romped everywhere. It was a great weekend ... lots of fun!

Weekend with Tally

I flew home to spend some quality time with Tally. As soon as she saw me, she went bonkers, as usual. She knew I was there to pick her up for a weekend get-away. I got down to her level so she could jump all over me & kiss me on the lips without getting hurt. Wheatens tend to jump really high & at her age that's not good for her hips. I guess she was happy to see me! After the lovefest, she wouldn't stop barking, so Patty & I took her outside.

After a few minutes she made it clear that she was ready to go. There were 6 cars in the driveway but she knew which one was her ride.

Which way should I go?

"I'd like to make a reservation for 2 & 1/2 ..."

Chris called this morning to see if the waffle shop was open.

Shelby exhibited good self-control

Shelby couldn't decide if she wanted whipped cream, fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, maple syrup or the works.

I decided I needed to shoot a better waffle photo this week.

After Work on the Back Nine

It was a beautiful afternoon for employee golf.

The perfect excuse to get out & test the Mark III.

The light was nice ...

... really nice!

What a bunch of posers!

JR had no idea his best was yet to come ...

... but he was pretty happy when he hit the flagstick on 17. A birdie was just a short putt away.

We headed back to the clubhouse as the sun set over 17.

WTD Turns One.

I honor of the Duck's one year birthday, Aaron is having a weeklong birthday bash on What the Duck. Congrats Aaron!

Here's the inspiration for the strip ... Aaron really cracks me up!

Yum!

I made Belgian waffles with whipped cream & fresh raspberries.

Chris, Beth & Shelby came over for breakfast.

Shelby LOVES waffles with whipped cream!

Cracked Windshield

I somehow got a crack in my windshield last week. I called my insurance company & they took care of everything. I was dreading having to replace all of my window decals since it's hard to get them on straight. I asked Dave if I could put them on before he installed the windshield. He said, "Sure!" That made my day. They're perfectly straight.

Out with the old.

Dave had one of the coolest tools I've ever seen ... a power caulking gun. I was really digging it! It was amazing.

In with the new.

My mom gives Dave some pointers on how to properly install a windshield (sorry Mom ... I couldn't resist).

The Championships

Since I've been trying to organize 4 terabytes of external hard drives, I dug up some old pictures to illustrate this post.

I'm sure everyone thinks I scheduled my surgery so I could watch Wimbledon while recovering. I actually haven't watched too much tennis, but there has been some interesting stuff going on across the pond. Rain, as usual, has backed up play & they are 178 matches behind. They had the option of scheduling play on Sunday, but they didn't. With the forecast ahead, they now see that was a huge mistake. In my 15 years covering Wimbledon, one Gentlemen's Final was played on Monday (it's only happened twice in the open era). I experienced play on the middle Sunday twice. Anyway, it's really nice to be watching my two favorite commentators, John McEnroe & Mary Carillo, instead of battling the elements.

Rafael Nadal's third round match against Robin Soderling started on Saturday & finally finished today, 5 days later, after 8 rain delays. CRAZY! At one point in the final set Soderling mimicked Nadal's favorite pasttime by picking his underwear out of his butt (as seen below). The crowd erupted in laughter. My friend Fred got a great detail shot of Nadal from platform B during the finals. Thanks Fred & Susan for letting me use it on my blog. Meanwhile, Roger Federer has had 5 days off since Tommy Haas (his 3rd round opponent) had to withdraw due to an abdominal muscle tear.



Yesterday, the club decided to move Venus Williams vs Maria Sharapova to court 3 to try to get it in before the rain. This was absurd for two reasons. First, between them, they have four Wimbledon singles titles, but more importantly, court 3 is REALLY, REALLY small. The capacity is 800 spectators & about ten photographers. They played three points before the rain forced them off the court. The rules state that once a match starts on a court, it must finish on that court. Thankfully, the Wimbledon officials decided it was time to break that rule and their 100+ year tradition. The match was moved to Centre Court & Venus completely dominated the first set 6-1. Maria had four double-faults in one game. Then the rain came & after a two hour delay, they were back on court. There were some crazy games with unbelievable rallies. One game lasted 32 points. At one point Sharapova's dad & coach moved out of the player's box to some seats diagonally opposite across the court. Apparently, they couldn't stand to be too close to the Williams family. Venus won 6-1, 6-3.

Now Serena is playing Justine Henin. This match-up always brings up bad memories (for both Serena & me). At the 2003 French Open, Serena rightly accused Henin of "cheating, lying and fabricating." Their semifinal clash was overshadowed by claims of gamesmanship on Henin's part, when at 4-2 in the final set, the Henin held up her hand on a Serena first serve and then Serena served it into the net. Serena thought she would get a first serve again, but the umpire didn't see Henin raise her hand and Justine didn't admit what she did. Serena won the point but it affected her concentration. I saw it in person & it's been replayed over & over again on TV.

Serena won the 2nd set after a Hawk-Eye challenge on set point. NBC ended the coverage when they split sets to go to Days of Our Lives. They can't be serious! At least the match was continued on ESPN2, but there's no Mac & Carillo, so it's just not the same. Serena ended up losing 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.

These matches are really cutting into my recovery plans for today. There's a special Monk marathon on USA Network that runs from 6am on July 4th until 4am on July 5th. I never get to see the show & I love it, so I figured that would keep me from exerting myself today.

To spice up this post, here's a sequence of a Wimbledon streaker I shot in 2002. Click on the sequence to make it bigger (no pun intended)! ;o)

Shame on NBC

This is a sad day for both the tennis world & my good friend/colleague. NBC fired 78-year-old tennis icon Bud Collins via voicemail after 35 years of employment. Tennis will never be the same! Bud is truly one of a kind!


Since the announcement, a photo of Bud & me "stolen" from my blog of has been popping up all over the internet.

Frank Deford wrote a good article for SI about the network's error.

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Charles Elmore writes, "What NBC would prefer to describe as a tribute-filled TV "retirement" for Bud Collins on the air Sunday sounds a little different coming from Collins."

Other good articles about Bud's contribution to the sport of tennis.
USA Today article
Sun-Sentinel article
On the Baseline article

Click on the link if you'd like to express your dismay to NBC.

Recovery :o)

The doorbell rang & my mom went to answer it. It was a flower delivery from my officemates in a nice smiley mug. It was perfect! For a week my mom has been driving me crazy insisting that something needed to be put in the middle of the mantle. These flowers were the perfect height, so now we're both happy.

Surgery

Today I had to have surgery. I never had surgery before, so I was dreading it. I've only been in the hospital twice (I had my tonsils out when I was 6 & I needed 118 stitches after I ran thru a glass door when I was 8).

That anesthesia is amazing. I don't remember a thing! The surgery was laparoscopic, so my doctor (who BTW, was the Top Gun winner in the Laparoscopic Skills Shoot Out in 2005) expects me to recover in 2 weeks. My incisions are glued (not stitched) so that's pretty cool. My Mom & Hank are here taking care of me. Hank went to Publix to pick up some groceries & came back with some flowers. Publix wouldn't fill my Rx until I filled out a long form, so Hank brought it back to the house.

Then my mom went out & decided to fill my Rx at Target since the pharmacy is open later. She came back with the COOLEST pill bottle I've ever seen! The 2 different links above will tell you everything you want to know about these cool bottles. As long as I'm doped up on Percocet, I'll be fine.

Since you can't take Percocet on an empty stomach & the anesthesia/pain killers were wearing off, I asked my mom to make me a PB&J sandwich. I've been on a big PB&J kick lately, making the most delicious PB&J on earth using Archer Farms Multi-grain Artisan bread, Smuckers Red Raspberry Preserves with Splenda and Skippy Super Chunk Natural Peanut Butter. I told her where to find all of the ingredients. After she made it, she proudly strolled into my bedroom with her interpretation of my PB&J sandwich. She couldn't possibly be serious! The sandwich was open face & the size of my thumb!!! How can you even cut the bread that small?!? Please keep in mind that I hadn't had anything to eat since midnight (about 20 hours). What was she thinking?
The photo below is a reenactment, but even my mom says it's accurate. I put the quarter on the dish for scale.

Dogs & Donuts

Yesterday I got a reminder email about today's Dogs & Donuts event. I tore myself out of bed early this morning & went to North Park to make some new friends. This was a community get together for dog owners and dog lovers sponsored by the Marsh Landing Parks & Recreation committee.

Lexi the Labradoodle loves her Frisbee.

Foster was terrorizing all of the bigger dogs.

Two Wheaties enjoy their meet & greet (a 2 year-old boy with a Wheaten cut on the left & a 12 year-old girl with a puppy cut on the right).

A Weimaraner pup has some fun.

There's nothing softer than a freshly groomed Bearded Collie (except a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier of course).

This Havanese was going bonkers. She was really cute.

A Yorkie arrived in a bike basket dressed to the nines.

The Golden was retrieving.

Forget the doggie treats, Sophie the Cockapoo wants a donut.

Even though there was a lot of sniffing going on ...

... a good time was had by all ... especially me.