Birthday Burger... Finally

Yes, it took mom almost a WHOLE WEEK to get off her butt and take me to Rally's for my birthday burger. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, and quite frankly, ticked off, but then she did something so wonderful, so mom-like, that I couldn't go through with my initial plan to ignore her pathetic attempt at burger reconciliation.

She picked me up - just like when I was a baby.

Allow me to explain - it's freaking hot here in Los Angeles. And it has been for ages. But especially in the last week it's been really, really - did I mention REALLY? - hot. So hot that we cannot go for midday walkies anywhere in the city, only in the park. I am a delicate flower, with delicate paws (yes they're huge, but they're sensitive, damnit). Walking on the asphalt causes me to cry out like a puppy because it HURTS! Yes, it's THAT HOT here.

So when we got to Rally's we had to stand at the outside counter for awhile while the person inside was talking on their cell phone (!) instead of rustling up my tasty birthday burger. Harumph! Mom could see that I was uncomfy and she was annoyed with the lack of attention being paid to us by the person inside, and damnit, her BABY was hurtin'! So, $5 bill in hand, she picked me up (all 65 pounds of me!) and held me while she waited for the Rally's guy to notice us. It was HILARIOUS - there were other people waiting too and they were laughing when mom decided to take matters into her own hands in order to get me my burger. You should have seen the expression on the guy's face when he came to the window (and yes, mom was perspiring a bit from holding me up so high on such a hot day) and saw sweaty mom, me, and the $5 bill. Without missing a beat, mom ordered my Rally burger - plain, no sauce - and some fries for herself, and it was burger time.

We ran over to the covered eating area (she didn't have to carry me for that which was a GOOD thing...) and it was time for my birthday burger. Mom sang Happy Birthday to me which I enjoyed. Don't tell her that I was staring through her while she was singing and just looking longingly at the burger, lets pretend that I was looking lovingly at HER... And then I chomped that burger down in my traditional fashion.

Yummy yummy, good times.

Love,

Bogart

To Aire is Divine

Whatta Day!

Normally I'm not a big fan of Mondays... Mom is always cranky and it seems like things never really go the way they should. Lots of the humans seem to think that Mondays aren't all that much fun so I just kind of went along with that until...

Today.

We started out the day by doing my "duck check" (to make sure that the ducks are still there) at the Echo Park lake.

I saw lots of turtles today - more than usual - but of course mom couldn't capture that golden moment on camera.

Then it was errand-time. My least favorite. When I do get to come along (when it's not too hot or sunny) I have to sit in the car to "guard" it for mom. She's not fooling me for a minute. I don't "guard" the car I just sit there in the copilot seat and w-a-i-t. I generally show my discontent by barking loudly just as she enters the store/post office/wherever she's going. You know, just when lots of other people can see just how poorly she treats me and get a good look at her as she quickly runs into the store/post office/wherever.

I must have been uncharacteristically off of my game this morning because mom thought I was really good during the errands, so since we were in the neighborhood she thought a quick run to Rally's might be in order. Mmmmm. Tasty burger for me, well worth it for being (relatively) quiet in the car.

Then since we needed to do a bit of walking mom thought we'd check out how Griffith Park was doing since the big fire, you know, see if our old hiking ground might be open (or if we could sneak in). No dice, they've got the whole thing fenced! That's a lotta fence let me tell you, the fire area was huge! So we walked around it for awhile - admittedly mostly to see if there were any holes we could sneak through) and checked out just how close the fire had come to the beautiful old merry-go-round and picnic areas. Very scary stuff, it was literally just a few feet away.

So while mom was taking in the magnitude of the fire damage, I took in something myself... this spiffy soccer ball! Yes it's deflated and kind of mushy but for me it's PERFECTION. I can get my full mouth around it and carry it with me wherever I go which makes me HAPPY.

It thuds comfortingly when I drop it in front of me, and when mom tries to kick it out of my mighty paws it is easy for even those without those opposable thumbs to grasp. Ha! Score one for the four-leggers...

Ok so normally this would be a GREAT day. End of blog. Time to sleep. But noooooo....

When we got home and after my refreshing drink from my water fountain there was a big thud at the door. So I put on my "big boy voice" and started barking at the evil door. Mom looked through the peephole and didn't see anyone so I thought, "Job done", and retired back to my fountain. Mom opened the door and there it was - a package.

She wasn't expecting anything and looked at it... it was addressed to BOGART HANDSOME DEVIL - gimme gimme gimme!!!

It was from my pals Opy & Charlie all the way in Australia!!!!! I know that my manners in this arena may need a little sharpening but darn it GIMME THAT PACKAGE!!!

I made very quick work of the outer packaging to get to my NEW SOFT FURRY TOY!!!!! I LOVE THIS!!!! I don't know if I've told everyone, but soft toys are my absolute favorite and I do not have nearly enough of them... this guy has a surfboard and cool board shorts on, did I mention how much I LOVE HIM???

Check out the cool photo they sent along too - you guys really are the COOLEST dogs!!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH Opy and Charlie (and of course, to your humans too), I LOVE MY NEW SOFT FURRY TOY!!!

Love,

Bogart

To Aire is Divine

Fire!

Well the day started out plainly enough...

For my midday walk mom thought we'd go to Griffith Park near the Old Zoo, which I REALLY LIKE. First we made a pit stop to Rally's for a burger (drive-thru today). I could smell the burger-y goodness in the bag, but mom wouldn't let me near it in the car. Grrrrr.

But we were heading to the park for a picnic so I did my best to distract myself (an Airedale specialty) until we got there. Mom had a great plan to film my Rally-burger-destruction but alas, twas not to be. She managed to get the first part committed to film, but then somehow pressed the off button and the actual burger massacre wasn't recorded. Ah well. I look cute anyway.

Then we had our post-burger digestion walk through the park. We didn't see a single other person on the entire trail (which is odd) but I was having a blast! Off the leash, running up and down hills, doing my best to amuse myself while mom walked along.

We went through the old zoo area and up the hiking trail - it was pretty warm today but there's actually lots of shade on the trails so it wasn't too bad. Mom is also kinda smart - by getting a drink for herself at Rally's with extra ice, she had both a drink for her and some ice for me so we both stayed hydrated!

As we were about half way through the hike, we looked up and saw this:

It looked like a fire on the other side of the hill. It looked scary. Mom and I picked up the pace since we still had a long way to walk and we would actually be walking closer to where the fire was in order to get out of the park.

As we got closer, the fire got bigger and scarier so we hot-footed it the rest of the way and headed toward the safety of the Bogie-mobile. I made sure that the back seat was safe.

Then we got home, drove up the hill into our building and saw this:

So it's a BIG SCARY fire near the Hollywood sign (you can kind of see it in the last picture). Whew! Glad we got out of there (and of course, glad I got my Rally burger...). Mom says that there is no danger of our place burning, but that the Bogie-mobile is gonna be covered in crap tomorrow. I guess relatively speaking, that's not so bad...

Love,

Bogart

To Aire is Divine