Tuesday This and That

 

It's potholder week in Bridie Love's world. 

Actually, it's also been wood chip and toilet-paper roll week. 

Throughout her life here at the Lovestead, Bridie has occasionally obsessed with collecting things from one place and putting them in another. 

Her favorite depository is located near the sliding glass door where she generally sleeps at night. 

Twice this week the pot holder, which Bill uses to open the wood stove door, has appeared on the floor near a sleeping Bridie when I first see her in the morning.

Last evening she brought an empty toilet paper roll to the living room. 

This morning before I took her out for our second morning walk, wood chips from a piece of wood near the stove had been scattered in her sleeping area. 

Like some unexplained mysteries, I would love to know the motivation behind these spurts of collecting and depositing. 

This most recent series of Bridie drops started after a several month layoff. 

Don't know how long it's gonna last, but it's fairly harmless and mystifying. 

🐕🐕🐕🐕

Girls Basketball

Willie's team returned to their winning ways last night in the Spokane Valley, defeating an unbeaten West Valley squad. 

Congratulations, Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs return to Les Rogers Gym this Saturday night at 7 p.m. where they'll host Spokane's University High School. 

It should be a fun game and a good time to fill the gym. 

Sandpoint 54, West Valley 31: Brecken Mire scored 15 points, Livia Driggs added 14 and the visiting Bulldogs (4-2) defeated the Eagles (4-1) in a nonleague game. 

Willow Burrill led West Valley with 13 points

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Bill, the retiree, has been going into work at Inland Forest Management this week.  

It's forest exemption tax time, and he's been doing some mentoring on filling out the forms. 

So, that work takes him away from what he has loved doing for the past several weeks with his sidekick.

This weekend he sawed down the remainder of a tree that had fallen across the swale trail.  

When Foster and I came along for a walk, he had us wait until he moved one of the logs over to completely open up the trail. 

The lack of obstruction makes easy walking all the better. 

I bought a new computer yesterday. For a while, I thought I could just use my "traveling" laptop for daily work, but the fact that it has just one USB port leads to the inconvenience of constantly having to change cords for the printer, charging my Fitbit and using a light next to the laptop. 

So, I bit the bullet and bought a newer, better laptop with several ports. It was probably good timing because of the need to change to Windows 11, which my older desktop probably would not support. 

In other tech news, Hats off to Gillware in Madison, Wisc. My retrieved data arrived at the house yesterday morning.  

Efficiency plus, I'd say since I sent it away a week ago Friday.  It arrived in Wisconsin Wednesday and was mailed out Thursday.  

I have yet to take the big step of looking at the data (Joel, the wizard, will guide me through that so I don't screw it up).  Still, the service and the willingness to answer any question in a friendly way impressed me. 

In this world of so much service-related frustration, experiences like I had with Gillware stand out and shine.  

Can't wait to see the data, which remains in its box until Joel and I get together for a puter-tutor session.

I'm sure I'll still be dealing with a learning curve once I switch over to the new model, but what in this world anymore DOESN'T involve a learning curve. 

I guess that's where we're reminded of the age-old saying "live and learn.  This old teacher keeps learning every day, often for necessity rather than self motivation.  

Lots on the agenda on what looks like a glorious winter day.  

Happy Tuesday.