Tag: Duke

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Catching up…

John had an opportunity to walk through the condo in Hawai’i. The floors have been ripped out due to water damage, and contractors are installing new flooring throughout. Once the first wooded boards were lifted, it was clear just how many termites were having a party underneath. Anyway, the project is progressing and we’re excited to see what it will look like, once done.

The house was pressure washed recently as dust from the city’s water tank project had added a brown tint to both house and patio. Probably not the last time, and they’re just started to build the roof of the tank and add the outside cable. They (still) expect the tanks to be done in March of ’24, but that is course dependent of the amount of rain we’ll see over the coming months.

John, Eli and Andy went to see the Blue Angels during Fleet Week. Fastly had once again chartered a boat to take staff + family out. Being on the bay offers a nice and different viewpoint, but sadly we were forbidden to go where we camped out in ’19. It seems that area is now prohibited – maybe because it’s directly under the flight path. Anyway, Great to see colleagues and their families in a different and relaxed setting.

Duke is Duke… He’s still Olivia’s shadow and follows her everywhere she goes. And when she’s not around, he tries to sleep through the misery. Still chasing squirrels in our backyard, but with the inability to climb trees, it’s unfair odds from the get go.

Adriana has picked up cheer again and somehow manages to take care of that in addition to two jobs – at Dizzy Lizzy’s and at the gift shop at Mills-Peninsula. Of course, she’s also very busy with High School including the extra activities she’s signed up for.

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Copenhagen and back – via Paris

Everybody made it back safe from their travels, and it was quickly back to reality for most. That includes Duke, who had to give up his roasted chicken diet in lieu of the raw food his mommy seems to prefer feeding him.

For the last few days, John’s been off on one of his whirlwind trips to Denmark. Mostly to pick up a long-sought-after lens. He had been on a waitlist for this particular lens model for two years before getting kicked off, citing unavailability and uncertainty. The lens was, however, in stock at a dealer in Copenhagen, and by saving the VAT, he even saved a few dollars.

It was also a welcome chance to see his mom and later catch up with an old friend. As it happened, Eli’s Danish citizenship papers came through and were waiting in Copenhagen, so those were also picked up. Great to have that behind us, and Eli is a Danish citizen for the rest of her life.

The return was through Paris, where John was lucky to see the final stage of the Tour de France. With a Dane winning for the second year in a row, it’s extra special, although it doesn’t quite hit last year’s highs with the tour starting in Denmark and an unexpected win over Pogacar. Overall, it brought back memories of a 1996 trip to Paris to celebrate another Dane winning “the tour” (Bjarne Riis). Back then, John was joined by two friends – Hans and Lars – and his dad. Fun memories all around, even though we never really got to see much of the fast-moving riders

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Summer time in Hillsborough

It’s been a while since we last checked in. Since we last wrote, Olivia and her family sailed from Barcelona to Lisbon. Some arrived in Barcelona early, others departed Lisbon late. Most were back in California by July 5th.

At home, John and Duke enjoyed each other’s company. So much so that John was later accused of making Duke chunky, having put him back on his previous diet consisting mostly of rotisserie chicken. Anyway… lots of walking, lots of visits to the beach, and the bay, where Duke managed to find a leopard shark, correction, a dead leopard shark on one of their walks.

These little vacation pockets with very few people in the house are a good opportunity to catch up on the smaller-and-smaller list of things we need to take care of, and Manuel and his crew were here for a week treating all the outside woodwork. The outside looks so much better and should be OK for at least five years.

Eli went to Italy to visit a friend while the rest of the family was in Spain. She had a great time on the coast (La Spezia) and even made it out on the water in a family-owned boat. She was lucky to see one of her cousins in Copenhagen during a layover on the way back.

We continue to have construction in our backyard, and the dust from digging and the winds have been rather significant. The dust is everywhere – on the side of the house, on the cars, on the pool cover, and more. We have written the city, asking them to pay for at least one cleaning a quarter. Let’s see – we don’t have a great track record with them, although they have decided to take another look at our claim from the fallen tree. Their insurance company is still recommending that they deny our claim, so we don’t have high hopes for a positive outcome. For us, anyway.

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Another Quiet Week

It’s been another quiet week by the pool. The tracks for the pool cover were installed on Tuesday, and our landscaper almost finished rebuilding the retaining wall. We got some of our irrigation back, which is excellent as the last couple of months have been hard on our plants.

We’re waiting for coping and spa tiles to be installed, but there’s a bit of negotiation to be done. We are also waiting for our patio contractor to start. Unfortunately, he pushed the start date another two weeks and still owes us some numbers for a redesigned design.

Still searching for a landscape designed to help with our rose garden but made some progress via friends and our local mailing list.

In all of it is Duke running around in the dirt pile, having the time of his life…