Oh yeah ... new brewery in town!

Fantastic, a new brewery just opened up across the golf course from us on the town square.  The damn sign has been up since April and we've been excited every since.

The owner is the formal brew master at Four Peaks, a highly regarded brewery in Tempe.  Since I am a loner sometimes

, I was at the bar by myself when I shot this picture to the left.

The service sucked but I overheard the bartender talking about how he hasn't bartended in over two years.  So, I cut him some slack on his first day back.  But shouldn't it be like riding a bike?

The place was packed last night - they opened at 5 PM for the first time last night.  I drove by around 9 PM thinking I could run in for a late dinner but evidently everyone already knew it was opening up!  

The place is actually in the building of the first bank in Chandler, Arizona that dates back to 1920.  It has an older feel to it that you don't usually get here in the West unless you are in California.  Phoenix, after all, is a new town even by American standards.  Anyway, the benches at the front of the place are actually the old Safe-Deposit Boxes.  Next to the bathrooms, there is the old vault ...

... and inside the vault is the manager's office.  I think it would've been cooler to make it "The Vault" and a private party room or something.  But I always have these amazing ideas.  Maybe it was too small in there - I don't know.

So, that is what I did today on this very nice Sunday afternoon.  Didn't even make it up to 90 today and the humidity is GONE until next June!  WOO HOO!

Indiana University Basketball Intro

Remember this? Ahh, memories. They should bring this back!

Calvin The Dog

It was a crazy weekend for Calvin the Dog - and for us!  On Saturday morning, Calvin was not getting up at all and was very lethargic.  When we finally got him up he would not eat or drink which is highly unusual!  His eyes just didn't seem right so we called the vet to see if we could bring him in - but they were booked until Monday morning.  They said if he does not eat or drink to take him to a pet hospital near us.

So, we got him up because we knew he needed to use the restroom.  Stacey got him outside and then I hear a scream from Stacey, 'Brad get out here!'  I went out to see Calvin on his side in the rocks.  She said he toppled sideways over.  He was very stiff and his legs extended.  Stacey ran in to put on some clothes (she was still in boxers/sleep clothes, not naked) and I stayed with C.  He was totally unresponsive but still breathing.  He flipped violently on to his stomach and then just kind of sat there.  I thought it was either a stroke or a seizure.

We carried him to the car and took him to the vet who agreed to see him.  He had to be carried in to the vet and when told her what happened she agreed it was most likely a seizure.  She recommended X-Rays and blood work to determine exactly what was wrong.  We sat in the room for an hour debating having some  or all of the tests or 'putting him down' even though neither of us wanted to admit it.  He could not get up at all because he has horrible hips as most dogs his size and breed do.  We kept going back and forth but decided to have the tests done and we left to leave him until 1:30 PM.  They said if they found something on the X-Rays they would stop early and give us a call.

At 12 Noon we got a call saying they were done - so we assumed the worst.  When we got there we were expecting to make the decision to put him down.  To our surprise, both the blood work and X-Rays showed nothing and came back normal!  He had been shot up with some steroids to ease his recovery from the seizure and was walking around to the praise of us and the vet staff!

Two days later it's like he's realized he had a near-death experience and is strutting with more spunk in his step than in some time!  Calvin is the 'True Godfather' of all canines!

Smart Car Sighting!

Yes, there it is in plain sight from my balcony!  A SMART CAR!

What is a SMART CAR you may ask?  It's a miniature car that is only a two-seater with a little cargo room behind.  It's basically a supped-up go-cart!  It gets great gas mileage and is becoming all the rage in cities like New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego and here in Phoenix because you can get around easily to shop, dine and run errands without spending much on gas.  Also, these cars can park in small spaces which makes it even better for more developed urban areas.

Anyway, I always like to see these things.  You can read about them here.

Cow Bone Lodged In Foot

Yes, that's an X-Ray taken today of my beautiful foot.  In between the second and third toe there is a small piece of cow bone that was lodged about a half an inch in.  If you double click on the picture it will load larger ...

How? I am glad you asked ...

About three weeks ago I was hopping into bed and instead of a pleasant entry into my comfy bed I was pierced in the foot by a smoked cow bone - a chewing toy for Hoosier the Dog that was purchased earlier at Cosco.

Well, after some home surgery, I was fairly sure I removed the piece from my foot.  It still smarted for a couple of days but the overall pain subsided.  Next, a large callus formed on the bottom of my foot.  Not cool, but in shoes I was fine and eventually sandals were cool again too.

Since I was in Fort Wayne for the past week and a half I wasn't too concerned as there were other things on my mind and it really didn't hurt.  In fact, when I got back to Arizona I worked out twice.  While in Indiana, I even went running - although it was slightly painful.

So, I figured if it's been three weeks I should see if the son-of-a-bitch was still lodged in there.  After all, there is not use in going through life with a cow bone lodged in your foot!  

This morning I went to the Urgent Care/Medical Spa/Chiropractic Clinic.  Yes, it's all three.  I was pretty impressed slash a little worried.  I mean if you can walk-in without an appointment, get the gash taken care of from your fall off the ladder, then go have your achy back looked at an x-rayed and then go get a photo-facial - there may be some issues with having my foot looked at.

Nonetheless, I went there and they took an X-Ray.  Low and behold, there was a piece of cow bone in my foot.  The young (and I mean he may have been my age or a year younger) doctor proceeded to stick a needle in my foot to numb it.   Not once, not twice, not thrice - but FOUR TIMES!  Why?  Because after the first two times he didn't do it well enough and I was feeling some pain.  So, because sticking a needle in the bottom of your foot is not the most pleasant experience and I moved - I got stuck two more times.  Fun.  Don't worry, the story gets better.

After about twenty minutes of 'digging' for the cow bone, the doctor finally gave up.  He said he had already gone in 'about a quarter of an inch and I'd be uncomfortable going in any further not being a specialist.  I am going to have to refer you to a Podiatrist.'  Great.  Lucky for me, they had an appointment at 1:15.

From the Urgent Care I went and had lunch.  I had a nice slice of pepperoni pizza from a new place in Fulton Ranch that I read about in the local newspaper (think Aboite And About).  I also had a small wedge salad (I love wedge salads) and a tall beer.  I mean, if you know you are going to have another doctor stick your foot with a needle and slice you open, you might as well enjoy a beer in between doctor's offices!

After picking up my antibiotic prescription from Walgreen's (which of course is on a corner at a decent intersection) I proceeded on to the Podiatrist who resided in Val Vista Spectrum - not too far from where we would like to purchase a house!

The Podiatrist went ahead and looked the X-Rays and said he'd give it a try.  Yes, you guessed it - another needle was stuck in my foot.  "It will be a slightly painful stick in your foot and then just some pressure."  Yeah, fuck you Dr. Podiatrist.  It was more like a chain saw with knives attached coming at my foot.

After the first needle, the doctor 'shaved some dead skin' aka 'the callus' from my foot.  As he did this he noticed I was still jerking around so he said, 'I hate to do this but I need to numb it more so you aren't feeling this.'  So, this is "Needle in the Foot #6" for the day!  He then proceeds on starts slicing my foot open.  As he gets deeper he notices I am twitching and then says, "Wow, your body must eat this stuff for dinner!  You have a high tolerance for drugs."  Then I get needle #7 which was little pain but numbed up the better half of my foot.  He said he put as much in that needle as he had in the others.  My foot now felt happy.

About ten minutes later he finally says, "It's your lucky day!  I got it!"  In his tweezers was a centimeter long piece of bone that was over a half inch in my foot just clearing any tendons or important muscle.  He said I was lucky that it didn't go any deeper.

So, that was my exciting news for the day!