Of course, last weekend wasn't a three day weekend... it was a four day weekend: Thanksgiving to yesterday. And I promised Sabo a big weekend of hikes and adventures coming up. But sadly... none of that happened. I caught a real bad cold (not a flu) and have been pretty much in bed since Thanksgiving. Luckily there was plenty of football on tv.

Even more luckily... I had Good Nurse Sabo taking care of me. Seriously... there's nothing quite like a doggy to cheer you up when you're feeling poorly. There's a reason that hospitals have therapy dogs.


Well... poop happens as they say. After most of a year... it seems the gardeners have tired of harvesting Sabo's contributions to the compost heap from out in the Sabotat. So that's my job too now... which is only fair, so I can't complain. It turns out Sabo has settled on a 'poop place' out of the way in one corner... which is a real convenient feature, and one which most dogs need to be specifically trained to do. Gotta love that Sabo... if not his poop !!!1!

Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year for ESPN... that's right, it's bowl season. This year, all but one of the bowl games, including the first ever FBS Tournament Championship game, are on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC.

For my Cal Golden Bears... no bowling this year. They did, however, have a much better year at 5-7 (improved from 1-11), and were just an Arizona game winning Hail Mary from being bowl eligible. As for Sabo's SDSU Aztecs... they're going into their school record fifth straight bowl game at 7-5. And, unlike any other bowl team this year, they'll be playing at home at the Q... in the Poinsettia Bowl, vs Navy, Tuesday 12-23 @ 6:30 PST.

Of course, they won't let dogs in this bowl game, or the Holiday Bowl (USC v. Nebraska, Sat 12-27, 5 PST, also at the Q). In fact, Sabo can't even go to the tailgates...

OK, I'll go with the whole "most wonderful time" thingee for football on TV, what with the bowl games and the NFL chase for the playoffs on pretty much every day. However... the commercialization of this "most wonderful time" can become quite odious... especially when both the bowl names and stadium names change all the time. So, as a public service to my (perhaps singular) reader... here is a complete bowl schedule without any sponsors names used...

Date	Time*	Team	v. Team	Bowl	Location	At Home of...
Sat 12-13	12 CBS	Navy (6-5 ind)	v. Army (4-7 ind)	(regular season)	Baltimore MD	NFL Ravens
Sat 12-20	8	LA-Lafayette (8-4 SB)	v. Nevada (7-5 MW)	New Orleans	New Orleans, LA	NFL Saints
	11:20	Utah St (9-4 MW)	v. UTEP (7-5 CUSA)	New Mexico	Albuquerque, NM	New Mexico
	12:30 ABC	#22 Utah (8-4 P12)	v. Colorado St (10-2 MW)	Las Vegas	Las Vegas, NV	UNLV
	2:45	Air Force (9-3 MW)	v. Western Michigan (8-4 MAC)	Potato	Boise, ID	Boise St
	6:15	Bowling Green (7-6 MAC)	v. South Alabama (6-6 SB)	Camellia	Montgomery, AL	NAIA Faulkner
Mon 12-22	11	Memphis (9-3 AA)	v. BYU (8-4 ind)	Miami Beach	Miami, FL	MLB Marlins
Tue 12-23	3	Marshall (12-1 CUSA)	v. Northern Illinois (11-2 MAC)	Boca Raton	Boca Raton, FL	Florida Atlantic
	6:30	Navy (ind)	at SDSU (7-5 MW)	Poinsettia	San Diego, CA	SDSU, NFL Chargers
Wed 12-24	9	Western Kentucky (7-5 CUSA)	v. Central Michigan (7-5 MAC)	Bahamas	Nassau, Bahamas	FIFA Bahamas
	5	Rice (7-5 CUSA)	v. Fresno St (6-7 MW)	Hawaii	Honolulu, HI	Hawaii
Fri 12-26	10	Louisiana Tech (8-5 CUSA)	v. Illinios (6-6 B10)	Dallas	Dallas, TX	(Cotton Bowl)
	1:30	Rutgers (7-5 B10)	v. North Caroina (7-5 ACC)	Quick1	Detroit, MI	NFL Lions
	5	UCF (9-3 AA)	v. North Carolina St (7-5 ACC)	St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg, FL	MLB Rays
Sat 12-27	10	Cincinnati (9-3 ACC)	v. Virginia Tech (6-6 ACC)	Military	Annapolis, MD	Navy
	11 CBS	#15 Arizona St (9-3 P12)	v. Duke (9-3 ACC)	Sun	El Paso, TX	UTEP
	12:30 ABC	Miami of FL (6-6 ACC)	v. South Carolina (6-6 SEC)	Independence	Shreveport, LA	(Independence Stdm)
	1:30	Boston College (7-5 ACC)	v. Penn St (6-6 B10)	Pinstripe	New York, NY	MLB Yankees
	5	#24 USC (8-4 P12)	v. Nebraska (9-3 B10)	Holiday	San Diego, CA	SDSU, NFL Chargers
Mon 12-29	11	West Virginia (7-5 B12)	v. Texas A&M (7-5 SEC)	Liberty	Memphis, TN	Memphis
	2:30	#17 Clemson (9-3 ACC)	v. Oklahoma (8-4 B12)	Athletic2	Orlando, FL	(Citrus Bowl)
	6	Texas (6-6 B12)	v. Arkansas (6-6 SEC)	Texas	Houston, TX	NFL Texans
Tue 12-30	12	#23 LSU (8-4 SEC)	v. Notre Dame (7-5 ind)	Music City	Nashville, TN	NFL Titans
	3:30	#13 Georgia (9-3 SEC)	v. #21 Louisville (9-3 ACC)	Belt3	Charlotte, NC	NFL Panthers
	7	Maryland (7-5 B10)	v. Stanford (7-5 P12)	San Francisco	Santa Clara, CA	NFL 49ers
Wed 12-31	9:30	#6 TCU (11-1 B12)	v. #9 Ole’Miss (9-3 SEC)	$ Peach	Atlanta, GA	Georgia St, NFL Falcons
	1	#10 Arizona (10-3 P12)	v. #20 Boise St (11-2 MW)	$ Fiesta	Glendale, AZ	NFL Cardinals
	5	#7 Mississippi St (10-2 SEC)	v. #12 Georgia Tech (10-3 ACC)	$ Orange	Miami Gardens, FL	Miami, NFL Dolphins
Thu 1-1	9 ESPN2	#18 Wisconsin (9-3 B10)	v. #19 Auburn (8-4 SEC)	Steak4	Tampa, FL	USF, NFL Buccaneers
	9:30	#5 Baylor (11-1 B12)	v. #8 Michigan St (10-2)	$ Cotton	Arlington, TX	NFL Cowboys
	10 ABC	#16 Missouri (10-3 SEC)	v. #25 Minnesota (8-4 B10)	Citrus	Orlando Florida	-- (Citrus Bowl)
	2	#2 Oregon (12-1 P12)	v. #3 Florida St (13-0 ACC)	$$ Rose	Pasadena, CA	UCLA
	5:30	#1 Alabama (12-1 SEC)	v. #4 Ohio St (12-1 B10)	$$ Sugar	New Orleans, LA	NFL Saints
Fri 1-2	9	Houston (7-5 AA)	v. Pitt (6-6 ACC)	Armed Forces	Fort Worth, TX	TCU
	12:20	Iowa (7-5 B10)	v. Tennessee (6-6 SEC)	GatorSlayer5	Jacksonville FL	NFL Jaguars
	3:45	#11 Kansas St (9-3 B12)	v. #14 UCLA (9-3 P12)	Alamo	San Antonio, TX	UTSA
	7:15	Washington (8-5 P12)	v. Oklahoma St (6-6 B12)	Cactus	Tempe, AZ	Arizona St
Sat 1-3	10 ESPN2	East Carolina (8-4 AA)	v. Florida (6-5 SEC)	Birmington	Birmington, AL	was UAB
Sun 1-4	6	Toledo (8-4 MAC)	v. Arkansas St (7-5 SB)	Daddy6	Mobile, AL	South Alabama
Mon 1-12	5:30			$$ Championship	Arlington TX	NFL Cowboys

* All times PST, on ESPN unless noted; # Playoff ranking; $ New Year’s Six bowl; $$ Playoff; ¹ Quick Lane Bowl; ² Russell Athletic Bowl; ³ Belk Bowl, Belk sells belts; ⁴ Outback Bowl, Outback sells steaks; ⁵ TaxSlayer Bowl was Gator Bowl 1946-2013; ⁶ GoDaddy Bowl.

Well, Sabo has been very restless recently. He's out of school for the winter break... and to tell the truth, we were never able to go regularity after his big summer vacation, as I had family health responsibilities that always seemed to fall at his class time... even after I changed it from Tuesday to Thursday. I've been slacking taking him to the local dog park after the time change. I've basically cancelled most of his big weekends, for various and sundry reason... last weekend it rained both days. And for other miscellaneous reasons I haven't been able to take him along on my daily errands as much as usual.

He's getting 'cabin fever'. Sabo, it's safe to say now, is an extreme 'Go-Dog'. If I even pick up the keys, or start gathering gear to go... he immediately starts missilating (super fast, super crazy running around), will keep going to the front door, and if it's only the screen door, he'll usually give it a scratch. When I have to tell him "back", which as been so often lately, he is soooo disappointed.

But things are going to be different this weekend... especially if it doesn't rain again. Regardless, Sabo is going to get to go to several of his favorite places, and if possible we're going to have a big weekend style series of theme hikes too.

I owe it to my little boy. Gotta Sabo !!!1!

So... was two weekends ago, the weekend of the 21st, a three-day weekend? Yes, of course, as that's the Winter Solstice. So... was it a three-weekend when Boxing Day fell on last Friday? Yes, in fact it's a four-day weekend: Xmas to Sunday. So... regarding this upcoming weekend, is it a three-day weekend if Friday is January second? Yes, in fact it's another four-day weekend: New Years Day to Sunday the fourth.

But it hardly matters for Sabo, as this has been officially declared as Sabo's Big Fortnight, which this year runs a little bit longer than two weeks: From noon Friday 2014-12-19 to noon Monday 2015-1-5. And, as has became traditional, we have an official theme: The Greatest Trips of 2014. Yep... the Sabo Twist is we're only revisiting places we've already been before. That's because we wanna get those places outta our system, and get ready for...



I'd like to wish my (possible singular) readers...

Happy (belated) Solstice !!!1!
Happy (belated) Xmas !!!1!
Happy (belated) Boxing Day !!!1!
Happy New Years Eve !!!1!
Happy 2015: The Year of Sabo !!!1!


Editors Notes
Major League Website

My generous hosts here at twoplustwo.com run a Major League Website. The website made kxcd.com's Map of the Internet after all (see the right edge in the 'Forum' detail above). With this post the Sabo blog will be #8 in total posts on the 'Last Post' sorted Front Page (#23 overall), and #9 in total page views (#20 overall with 10082). As of today, all the above Google searches still come up with this blog listed first.

Broken Link in Post #64

The broken link at the top of post #64 (https://scontent... etc) was a picture of a little white fluff-ball doggy wearing a blue Tony Gwynn Sr shirt and white angel wings. This was taken at the Padres 'Dog Day of Summer' this year.

Standards

This post marks the second, and longest, time I've violated my self-imposed post at least every eight days rule. I'll admit the 'greatest trips' theme was chosen to minimize trip planning/write-up time... so as to maximize actual Sabo hiking time here on the shortest days of the year. But's that's no excuse for not to at least check in to say Sabo's OK (he is !!!1!), and post another classic Missile pic. I'd like to apologize to my (possibly single) readers. I even have a little bit Sabo gossip to share, but nothing that can't wait until the Year of Sabo.

Sabo's Big Fortnight went just great !!!1!

As I mentioned, the official theme was 'The Best of 2014'. I won't bother with a detailed write-up, as it would just be a copy/pasta from above ITT... however the seasons have changed. Suffice to say we went to some of the dog parks, OTL Island, Rose Canyon, Balboa Park, Mt. Soledad (with the 'crooked cross') etc.

We also got some quality time in watching the bowl games together in the dive bars. Incidentally, although tolerated like forever, dog-friendly restaurant patios became technically legal in California on 2015-1-1. However, we tried to go to C's Bar & Grill for lunch as part of recreating Sabo's first day out hiking on Mt. Soledad... and it had closed !!!1! Damn, The Missile was famous there, and it's where Sabo first met his God-Uncle B... another institution gone. Sob.


On New Year's eve Sabo & me went to the Home Depot, where Sabo had some minor misadventures I'll discuss later. Then we went to his Vet. Again, Sabo liked going to the vet. She said all his shots, including Rabies, are now up to date for the next three years. She said the recommend the Nasal treatment for 'Kennel Cough' ever six months... but only if the dog is routinely kenneled (which Sabo is not). So health wise he's good to go.

For the strike of New Year's itself we stayed home. I (correctly) guessed that some a-holes would shoot off some illegal fireworks. But this time it was only a couple, all the windows/doors were closed, and Sabo, although un-easy, was comforted by a little hugging and TLC. Sabo's a mellow soul who has a good heart. Gotta Sabo !!!1!

What's up next in 2015: The Year of Sabo ?? Well we have the curious tale of Sabo's tail. And Thursday his Aunt J is showing up for a visit... with her family this time. This is part of a typical for them around-the-world trip: Amsterdam, Paris, London, San Diego as well as JP and AU. So one of Sabo's favorites... and new uncles/aunts for him to meet. Then... a week from today is Sabo's birthday !!!1!

As I've mentioned, Flower had her tail cut when she was born (before we got her), and Cinnamon Stick's tail was also surely cut when she was born too. Now, Flower was a regular sized dog, and her stub was big enough for a child to grab onto... but that wasn't any fun for us or her. She'd wag her little stub of course. Boston Terriers, like The Missile, almost always have non-functioning tails. They can't wag them (they wag their ears instead)... they can only lift it slightly to take a poop. When not cut, like Cinnamon's old buddy Kazoo (RIP), Boston's tails grow curled-up like a pig's tail... and tend to collect poop.

But Sabo's got the real thing... a good long functioning tail. It's a revelation to me. I love seeing how expressive he is wagging it. Even more endearing is how he flicks it around like a whip when he goes to sit down... and occasionally while already laying down. Gotta Sabo !!!1!


However, the curious part of Sabo's tail tale involves how his tail is detachable. Lot's of the time he'll leave his tail inside, while he hangs out outside.

OK it's not really detachable. What has happened is Sabo has taken up perching on the Dead Man's chair... with his tail hanging through the doggie-door inside into Sabo's bedroom. Often he'll just sit on the chair surveying his Sabotat... with his tail hanging inside. The doggy-door is east facing... so in the morning he'll often flake out and bake in the sun on the Dead Man's chair... again with his tail hanging inside. Sabo's Ole'#8 nest is just inside of the doggy-door. So it's kinda like Sabo is using the whole people-house as his own big dog-house... and enjoys hanging out in the dog-house door, as most dogs do... including Flower (who slept in her dog house), and even The Missile (who didn't, but briefly had a dog-house anyways at the Missile Door apartments). Again... gotta that Sabo !!!1!

Quote:

Editor's Notes




Broken Link in Post #41

The broken link near the top of post #41 is a picture of the Mary Brogger's Haymarket Memorial Statue (above), 175 N. Desplaines St; Chicago, IL (The exact site of the ill-fated speaker's car in 1886).

To continue on with the Ode to the Tale of the Tail...

Sabo, just like Flower and Cinnamon before him, likes sitting next to me. However, unlike the other dogs, Sabo's got that tail... which sometimes ends up getting in the way of things. Often, like just now, I'll find Sabo's tail lying across the keyboard when I'm playing on the interwebs while in bed.

When Sabo's in a mood to do his very-gentle roughhousing, he'll let me gently tug on his tail as part of the play... something I couldn't do with the other dogs. And nothing's better than a good tail-whacking... that's when Sabo's happily wagging his tail into someone he's while standing right next to. Gotta that Sabo !!!1!

Pencil it in... Saturday, March 14th, 1:05 PM MST... Rangers v. Padres Spring Training game in Peoria, AZ.

Well, Sister J & family did show up here yesterday. However yesterday Sister J wasn't Sabo's favorite like in October. Instead Sabo has taken a liking to his new Uncle R (my bro-in-law) and especially his new Aunt J2 (my niece). Also I was correct... no Delta Air this time. They flew in on British Air LHR-SAN, and will fly out Japan Air SAN-NRT.

A year ago today the overnight low temperature in Vista, CA, was 41°F. That night 'Tres', who was later known as Sabo, was a stray dog, neglected and abandoned... and probably lonely, scared, hungry, and loose in one of about two dozen trailer parks in this hilly and semi-rural municipality located in north-inland San Diego County.

All we know for sure is that a year ago tomorrow, nobody in this trailer park would claim this dog... who had only a ribbon tied around his neck, and no micro-chip. So he was turned into the Animal Control Police, which in Vista is outsourced to the private San Diego HS/SPCA. They assigned him kennel number #136935, and a kennel name of 'Artie'. Since they estimated he was two years old, they assigned him a nominal birthday of 2012-1-13. As we know, nobody ever came looking for him, so after the waiting period expired he was put up for adoption.

However, we can be really sure at some point he had a family and was loved. The fact that he was house-trained, and knew certain basic commands like 'sit', 'come', his leashing behavior, and perhaps 'back'... as well as his warm and loving mellow soul... tells us that much. I like to think that the ribbon came from a little girl. Either from his long-lost first family (who obviously had irresponsible guardians), or from a little girl who lived in the trailer park and had befriended this poor little stray (but whose parents couldn't, or wouldn't, let her keep him).

Of course, we'll never know what his original name was, or why he had a ribbon tied around his neck... just like we'll never know if he used to live in the trailer park, was abandoned there by a visitor, was dumped there, or was abandoned (or escaped abuse) somewhere else entirely and found his own way into there.

Sabo's not talking... even me teasing him about being 'rural trailer trash' (which I do) doesn't open his yap. But that's just the way some dogs are. If he doesn't want to tell his tale... well that's his prerogative as 'The Tail' (as his Uncle Grandpa affectionately calls him).


We have a big day planned for Sabo's birthday. I got a nice bone w/ a little meat on saved for him at the stroke of midnight. Tomorrow morning Sabo & me are going to jump-start the upcoming themed Sabo Big Weekend with a nice hike.

Then we're going to meetup with his Uncle R, and Aunts J & J2, and then go on up to Sabo's favorite store, the local Petco, to say hello to his Trainer C, buy some birthday bling, and buy a big bag of dog cookies (treats). For this we have my brotherman D from AZ to thank... as he sent Sabo a Petco gift card for his birthday.

We're going to take that big back of dog treats with us to the dog park... and offer them to all the other dog owners, as Sabo's official birthday party. Then we're going to Sabo's favorite restaurant... Bull's BBQ, where every dog gets a bone.

We'll never know Sabo's real day of birth. Since Cinnamon was a 'papers dog', we know her birthday... and I've blogged about the day we sent her onward ITT. But with Flower, we could have known her day of birth, and the day we sent her onward... but nobody thought to remember them.

I remember the years and the seasons.

She was born in the summer, the same year I started Kindergarten. We sent her onward when I was a Sophomore in college. That was during a rainy, cold, miserable winter. It rained more that season than I'd ever seen so far in my young life. And I remember the morning we sent her onward really seemed like the worst morning of rain that whole winter.

Well, now I'm the 'grown-up' (at least in age), and I'm the one assigning such days of celebration and remembrance. So I hereby establish: We sent Flower onward on January 15th... the official rainiest day of that very rainy season.

The theme for this Sabo Big Weekend ™ is Hikes to the Ends of the Earth. More exactly, we're going to hike from the Sabotat to the Beach Shack at the Pacific Ocean. What's the Sabo Twist ™? Well... we're going to hike it backwards. As I blogged earlier, we've already got a jump-start on our adventure on Sabo's birthday.

Besides Sabo's big birthday (which was just about as much fun as a little dog can handle) Sabo's having an excellent 2015: Year of Sabo. He's loving all the family visiting... all the attention around the house, going along on most errands in the cars, and even his Uncle R taking him for some walks. And next week... his God-Uncle B will swing through town on another business trip.

Pirate Dog... Aye'Begger, I like it !!!1! When people ask what kinda doggy he is, I tell them he's a Scruff-Terrier. His doggy-prison mugshot catches his 'old-man' beard and especially his distinctive neck-scruff at just the perfect angel, combing and lighting... it looks like he's wearing a sweater.

Good point. His namesake, Sabotabby, is always seen engaged in La Lucha. Of course, as a 100+ year old cartoon cat... that's what he does. How is this...

Since this was a 'backwards' hike I'm going to blog our Big Weekend ™ in reverse chronological order. This describes the geographical and directional order as Sabo actually walked it. The general logistics were similar to our 'backwards' hike to Old Town last April: Back on 1-11 the minvan was pre-positioned to the Beach Shack, during the hike we 'leapfrogged' the two vehicles back to the Sabotat.


More later than sooner it turned out... but I figured today was the day. However, it was misting in the morning. More importantly, even though I found several bike pumps while working on the (aborted) great garage cleanup... they were all broke. I had the minvan stashed over on I St, so I couldn't just throw the bike in it and make a quick run to the gas station either.

So after it stopped misting, Sabo and me just walked over there... logically beginning our hike to the beach. Then we drove the minvan back to the Sabotat, paradoxically finished our 'backwards' Hikes to the Ends of the World Sabo Big Weekend ™ !!!1!


Yeah... I messed that up by using the Insane Clown Posse meme for a regular weekend, instead of the correct Sabo Stick Chewing meme for a three-day weekend. Of course, given Monday is MLK Day, it's a three day weekend. Besides honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr... this allowed us to stretch the Big Weekend into Tuesday morning.

From the I St trail head into Ripley Canton, we hiked this day down to the condos at it's mouth. The weather had dropped to 69°, without a cloud in the sky. Unlike last April when we explored this small obscure canyon partially from the top, partially from the bottom, and partially from the side... this time we just hiked through. The remediation with the orange nets and new planning was obviously still being actively worked... the tiny plants we saw eight months ago now being up to two feet high now.


This is the same long stretch from the condos at the bottom of Ripley Canyon to Dive Bar #0 that we hiked 'backwards' last April (posts 36-38). So I won't bore by repeating the details. Suffice to say Sabo loves hiking, even if it's mainly along somewhat generic city streets. This time, without C's Bar & Grill around to break it up in the middle... we instead broke it up into three segments: Saturday, Sunday early morning, and Sunday late afternoon.

Unlike the day before, we arrived at Dive Bar #0 long after sunset... and this time of year it cools down fast at night. So I stuffed Sabo safely in the minvan while I went in and had a couple of beers. I'm happy to report Cinnamon's pic is still up on the wall here.

In between the Sunday hikes I took Sabo along with me to his first IWW meeting since we moved our location. Thanks to the hospitality of the sisters and brothers of the San Diego Education Association, an area teacher's union, we are now meeting in the SDEA main conference room. To be polite, I wanted to ask if Sabo was OK before bringing him.

Our meetings are still on the third Sunday @ 12:30... but now excepting when the Chargers are playing. That's because the SDEA union hall is just across from Qualcomm Stadium on SD Mission Rd. They just barricade the parking lot and close the building on game days. Since most of my union brothers are 'sports illiterate'... I got the LOLs when they were confused if the meeting was on for this Sunday. LMFAO no... my Chargers aren't hosting the AFC Conference Round payoff game this year.


Friday after noon we drove the minvan to Dive Bar #0. The weather had warmed up considerably... it was in the low 80s. So, without going in, we continued on our hike. Our first stop, several miles along the way, was back at Capehart Dog Park in eastern Pacific Beach. After Sabo easily kept this year's fastest dog record perfect we hiked the last mile for today... and then we had lunch & beers on the patio @ The Patio.


As promised, at midnight the birthday boy got a nice bone w/ some meat on it. The next morning we drove... for miles and miles it seems... to Capehart Dog Park in Pacific Beach. Here Sabo ran with, and faster, than the big dogs.

Then we drove the car to The Patio. This relatively new restaurant is in the space that used to be the Lamont St Grill. Several people have told me that they are really dog friendly. I'd never been here before. It turns out to be true... every dog got a bowl of water down, as well as some doggy treats. The birthday boy even got a second round of doggy treats. I had breakfast and a few beers.

Then we started our actual hike, and paradoxically ended our 'backwards' hike about 2~3 miles later at the Beach Shack, in Missile Beach, on the Pacific Ocean. Since it was now between 9 AM and 4 PM we couldn't hike along the bay, or actually out to the ocean... so instead we hiked the residential side streets. On the way to the Beach Shack we also enjoyed a short rest at the P.B. Library Park (@ Cass & Thomas). This park was built during the Cinnamon era, and we took her there when it opened.

After Sabo enjoyed a short nap at the Beach Shack, we drove... for miles and miles it seems... back Sabo'hood, and straight to Dive Bar #1. I promised Sabo some quality time inside his local dive for his birthday... and the birthday boy was the star of the afternoon.

Then we picked up Sabo's Aunts J & J2, and Uncle R, and went to our local Petco store. There Sabo got a big birthday greeting from his trainer C, and his favorite pretty young lady... Petco clerk E. So yeah... that's about 2/3 of Petco coming to a halt to wish Sabo a happy birthday.

They didn't have any 'deely-boppers' or other really cute birthday gear to get Sabo. We got him a big'ole bag of dog cookies, and I got a couple of 'Beware of Dog' signs. Also, Sabo had finished his big bag of Kibble&Bits just before New Year. The next brand I tried was the Safeway house brand. Which Sabo seems to hate even more than Purina Dog Chow... he's basically been on a hunger-strike ever since. So at Sister J's insistence, and just for Sabo's birthday, I got him a little bag of much more expensive dog food. Again... thanks to my brotherman D in AZ who sent Sabo a gift card for his birthday that covered more than half of our doggy shopping spree !!!1!

Then we drove... for miles and miles it seems... to Dusty Rhodes Dog Park. We couldn't go to Sabo's favorite local dog park because of it's arcane hours... and it turned out that Rhodes has a posted "no treats" rule. So we left the big bag of dog treats in the car (more for Sabo later !!!1!). A great time was had by all... In fact I was ready to leave before Sabo's aunts and uncle. Once again... he was the fastest dog at the dog park.

We finished Sabo's birthday with a visit to his favorite restaurant, Bulls BBQ. Where every dog gets a bone... and for the second time this day, the birthday boy gotta bone w/ some meat still on it. By this time it was getting kinda cold... I actually broke out, for the first time, my new Padres Brown warm-up jacket Sabo had picked out for me back on last Chavez day at Petco Park.

On the way back to the Sabotat, Sabo curled up and took a nap in his Uncle R's lap. His Uncle R said what we got here is a tired dog. And it's true what they say... a tired dog is a happy dog. I had promised Sabo I'd take him out one last time for his birthday... just before midnight to the Morena Club (Dive Bar #6). But it turns out he wasn't just happy and tired... he must have been ecstatic and exhausted... as he curled up and passed out for the remainder of the evening.

We'll never know what Sabo's first birthday was like. We know his second sucked... as he got shipped off to doggy prison that day. But I gotta believe his third was his best birthday ever. Gotta that Sabo-doggy !!!1!

Sabo's aunts J & J2, and uncle R, continued on their round-the-world trip this morning; having experienced the undoubted highlight of the trip... Sabo's birthday. So far J & R are resisting J2's urging to visit Disneyland in Tokyo, after visiting the ones in Paris and Anaheim earlier this trip. Sabo's going to miss all the extra attention, walks, and (yes) leftovers he's been experiencing lately.


Now that Sabo's extended holiday break is finally done here's the plan: I'm going to take that big bag of dog cookies and start an intense home review session on the first grade of obedience school. I have the course review paperwork (seriously), and the next few weeks I'm going to spoil Sabo rotten getting him super ready for the second grade. It's also getting about time to do another self-evaluation of overall Operation Sabo Training.

Next week I got some Sabo Security work to get done around the Sabotat. I finally got a good deadbolt (third try) for the back door, I gotta put up the 'Beware of Dog' signs, and both gates have recently come to need some serious maintenance.

February the 2nd is Ground-dog Day, of course. Also in February Sabo's Padres head over to Peoria, AZ for Spring Training. Pitchers and Catchers report the 19th. This is one of the few years that President's Day (the 23rd) makes a legitimate three-day weekend. Sabo & my anniversary is the 25th.

By the second week in March, Sabo should be finished with second grade. Then for Spring Break, Sabo will be heading to Spring Training for the second year in a row... this time over to AZ. Yep, my brotherman D is up for meeting us again in PHX... and I'm going to take all of us to see Sabo's Padres in Peoria on the 14th !!!1! The Equinox is on the 20th this year.

The amazing fun of 2015: The Year of Sabo has continued unabated. This past week Sabo's God-Uncle B stopped by a couple of days during one of his business trips. This means of course that Sabo went on some epic hikes and adventures. This weekend Sabo & me got a head start on the logistics for his next official big weekend. Tomorrow we have a pre-Superbowl hike planned... then he'll probably get dragged to the bar for the game. Monday of course is Ground-dog day.

I promise I'll blog all the details of the above... next post. Right now I don't have the time. Sabo & me are heading off to adventures in City of the Angels bright and early this morning... like in about ten minutes.

Quote:

Editor's Notes

With this post the Sabo-blog will be, among those on the most recent House of Blogs page, #1 in recency, #14 in posts (#22 overall), and #14 in views (#19 overall w/11734).

Standards

For the third time in a year I went more than eight days between posts. I really have no excuse... as there was Sabo news to report. However I was waiting on what our plans are for this weekend before posting, and forgot to count the days. I would like to apologize to my (perhaps singular) reader !!!1!

Broken Link in Post #114



The broken pic link in post #114, just above the highlighted dates of Sunday 1-18 and
Saturday 1-17, was a still from this classic J.Mora rant about "playoffs".

The first time B stopped by we took Sabo on an epic hike. We started at the Star of India, then walked east on Ceder up to India Street. Then we walked the length of Little Italy... north up India, then south down Columbia. We continued south through downtown to Pantoja Park, which I had promised to take Sabo to last April 2nd...


We continued south to the outdoor Seaport Village Mall. B says they used to be militant anti-dog here, even going so far as (incorrectly) saying dogs couldn't be on the adjoining public bay-side paths. Things have changed however... now they have signs up saying leashed dogs are welcome, the security guards said 'hi' to Sabo, and several of the stores had water bowls down out front. Sabo enjoyed a good long drink from one, and the lady shop-keep came out and asked what kinda dog that fine looking Sabo was. I said he was a 'Scruff Terrier'. She said: "I've heard of them. They're pretty rare, right?". LMFAO.

Then we walked up the the bay-side promenade through that 'new park' (BTW called Ruocco Park), past the brand new/not quite finished cruise ship/harbor excursion ticket offices, and then back to the Star of India. Later that night, after B had went on his way, I took Sabo down to the beach at Missile Beach for a little off-leash scofflawing under the cover of darkness... then we both did last call at Sabo's local: Dive Bar #1.

On B's way back through town, Sabo & B & me hiked the bluff above the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, just before sunset... and around the always curious singleton tennis court. The view was better than the picture quoted at the top of this post.

Friday afternoon Sabo & me drove... for miles and miles it seems... to Biltmore St in a far off 'hood known as Clairemont. From there walked the residential side streets about 1~2 miles to Dive Bar #11... still another dog friendly bar. After cocktailing for a good while we caught a cab back across town... miles and miles it seems... to the Sabotat.

Saturday Sabo & me drove to Los Angeles and back. Sabo got to go to another union meeting in Boyle Heights. Then we continued on up to Pacioma, where we spend some time with his and my Uncle B... known as 'The Nuncle'.

Yesterday Sabo & me did the Superbowl right using the Five Step Plan. (1) First we went on a nice pre-game hike. This is actually the first segment hike... we're getting a jump-start on a future Sabo Big Weekend ™. (2) Then we came home for a nice pre-game nap. (3) After watching the first quarter at home, (4) we drove down to the bar (Dive Bar #1). After the game, which BTW was one of the very best Superbowls ever, we (5) walked back to the Sabotat.


As well as being Ground-Dog Day, February 2nd is also Groundhog Day... the traditions of which form the background for the classic movie of the same name. Ground-Dog Day is pretty much the same as Groundhog day... except three things. First, we don't have any damn woodchucks here in western North America... that's an east-coast thing. Second, a 'ground-dog' is simply a little dog, as in a dog which is close to the ground. Third, the sighting of a shadow thingee is reversed... if it's sunny (ie, the dog can see shadows, including it's own) then there won't be a 'second winter', and visa-verse.

Historically the dogs have been much more accurate than the woodchucks.

But let's see this year. The same Wikipedia article says Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, so that woodchuck is predicting a 'second winter'. This morning here, Sabo went out to bake in the early morning sun, and then came in to share his warmth with me. This is something he often does... gotta Sabo !!!1!. That's why I call him the 'Warmth Bringer'... instead of The Missile who we called the 'Heat Seeker'. Obviously, he could have seen his shadow. So Sabo, as the ground-dog, is predicting an early spring.

We'll see in the next six weeks who was correct.

It fact, it was such a nice day here, clear, sunny, 74°... that Sabo & me decided to go ahead and hike another early segment of Sabo's next Big Weekend ™.

I forgot last Friday we also went to Petco.

My brotherman D in AZ had sent Sabo two gift cards... one for $25, and another $5 one he got as a bonus for buying Sabo the first one. We spent the big one back on Sabo's birthday, but I couldn't access the little one at that time. My brotherman D resent the e-gift-card. Since it was going to expire the next day, we went right up to the store and got Sabo a bag of "Roll-A-Rounds Lamb & Chicken Flavor" cookies !!!1!

This morning we went on another relatively boring 'logistics' walk on some residential side-streets. We drove the car... for miles and miles it seems... to a faraway 'hood known as University City. We parked at the west end of Lahitte Ct, then walked uphill 0.6 miles, to the south end of Mercer St.

Way back in October, when I switched to TWC, two things weren't quite right with the install. First the 'down channel' button on the remote didn't work. The other was although I could cat5 connect my old Win-Vista Lapper just fine, I couldn't get it to connect via the WiFi. Well... about a month ago, I spent a quality day on the phone with tech support about this second problem. The proposed solution to both problems was to swap out the equipment in question.

Which isn't that big a deal, as there is a TWC storefront right here in the Sabo'hood... right near Dive Bar #4 in fact. As I'm in that non-TV void between football and baseball, and I needed to make a pickup from the nearby shoe repair shop... I figured Friday morning was the day.

Well, the new remote works just fine. However, the new cable modem box, although it eventually talked to my Win-Vista lapper just fine... wouldn't give us a dial tone on Grandpa's house phone. Neither would the third cable modem box I tried, after another trip to the TWC storefront, Friday afternoon.

Well, they send out a repair person Saturday to the house... it turns out he just needed to call into the back office and have them turn the phone feature on. Typical TWC... but hey, they did finally get everything working. So it's all good.


So where was Sabo?

Well, I chucked Sabo into his room (with the doggy door, which gives him access to the Sabotat too). The cable modem box was in the TV room, so Sabo didn't have access. I told the repair guy that he's probably get yapped at from out back... but except when he went out to the car once Sabo didn't do that. Instead he mainly flaked out on the Dead-Man's chair (see below).

However... at one point Sabo did go nuts yapping in the Sabotat. It wasn't at us it turns out. The curious holes, about in inch in diameter, in the one corner of the Sabotat have appeared again. Gotta be gophers/ground squirrels/whatever, I haven't seen them, but the holes briefly appeared last year. Nobody can remember these holes ever appearing up on the mesa... then again, nobody can remember this kinda extended drought either... which is driving all sorts of creatures out of their element.

If fact, I thought I blogged it... but Grandpa said one night Sabo & the chihuahua next door & a big old tomcat & one of these creatures all got into it vocally last year... until the tomcat left with the marmot in mouth. Neighborhood legend has it the domestic cats made short work of these creatures last year.

Anyways, Sabo was yapping and pawing at the new loose dirt yesterday. Terriers, including 'Scruff Terriers' were bred to go down holes and flush out foxes, etc... so I guess instinct is instinct, but there's no way he's getting down these holes.


Today, Sabo & me hiked a preliminary fourth segment of his next official Sabo Big Weekend ™ !!!1!

So, the last few days have been perfect hiking weather... clear, sunny, with the temp ~70 ℉. It's widely known I have a "go-dog". And boy, was he ready to go, go, go. So off we went. First we hiked the fifth segment hike of this mysterious upcoming Sabo's Big Weekend ™. All I'm willing to say now is that it'll be the best one yet. Then we took a break and drove over to the Nobel Park dog run. After Sabo once again proved he was the fastest dog... we drove back and went on the sixth segment hike.

While we were at the dog run, I noticed a really strange looking dog. It turns out it was a geriatric greyhound / German Sheppard mix (or was it ???/?). I got that information from the dog's MILF mistress. I said wow, that's a really strange looking dog... it kinda looks like a dinosaur.

She was taken aback. She asked if I was physic. I said "no...". She said that it was amazing I said that, as she had just wrote an article about how the movie Jurassic Park displayed all the CGI techniques that were used to fake the (alleged I guess) 2001-9-11 terrorist attacks. She went on to explain that she's done extensive research, and written 40+ articles explaining the "no plane theory". She said I should check out her blog (which I tried looking for... but couldn't find).

Now, I'm pretty skeptical about all this. My theory is that (a) she really had a Jurassic Park style dinosaur, and was (b) spinning the 9-11 stories as a cover so nobody will ask about how the heck she has a dinosaur. Sabo's been to this dog park a few times now... and every time a MILF has struck up a conversation. We're going back later this week... so we'll see if his streak holds up (and perhaps learn some more about what really happened on 9-11).

Quote:

Editor's Notes

Rankings

The Saboblog is a front page blog on a major league website. Today alexa.com ranks twoplustwo.com the 10327th largest website worldwide, 5789th in the US. With this post the Saboblog will be #1 in recency, #13 in posts on the front page (#21 overall), and #13 in views on the front page (#19 overall w/ 12234). Another not-quite related milestone is that my next post ITT will be my 5000th using my original MissileDog S/N here.

Broken Pic Links

Post #33 above caption "Washington Square, Old Town State Park, California".
Post #34 above caption "USS Midway \ USN CV-41, 1945-1992".
Post #66 at top (opossum pic).
Post #68 at top (same opossum pic as post #66).
Post #82 above caption "Bark at the Park @ Chase Field; 2014-9-14".
Post #96 at top (same opossum pic as post #66).

Man, I'm just getting killed here with broken pics. I guess I need to upgrade the quality of the sites I'm linking to. Oh well... I think these are all self-explanatory. The Old Town and Midway pics were aerial shots. The Chase field pic was shot by a fan walking the outfield warning track of other fans walking their dogs on the outfield warning track... Sabo & me weren't in the pic.

Well... If President's Day had been on the 23rd, it would have been a legitimate three-day weekend. However... that's not the case, and we'll have to wait for next weekend (20th-22nd) for a legitimate three-day, and by extension the official announcement of this mysterious Sabo Big Weekend™. However, if possible and weather permitting, we might do some more hike segments in advance the next two days.

But no hikes today.

For two reasons... first that little Sabo has had me hiking so much that I'd literately worn out all my casual hiking sneakers, and sandals. Now admittedly, they were all past their useful lifespan pre-Sabo. The last pair... some ragged former work shoes physically decomposed on our last hike... and I needed to carry the remnants, like Sabo's poop bags, right out of the park.

The other reason is that it's gone from about perfect (low 70's℉), to become seasonally warm (82℉ Wednesday), to miserably hot (86℉ Thursday and 91℉ today). Now don't get me wrong... Sabo's a Go-Dog, and he'd hike that canyon if I did. But he seemed pretty happy in front of the fan. So we went to Plan-B today instead of hiking two more advance segments and returning to Nobel Park.

Not having any A/C at the Sabotat... we went where they do.

Yep, we went back to the malls, where all the stores had their A/C cranking. Consider it Sabo's Big Shopping Trip, round two. We went to Chase bank, which AFAIK is the only dog friendly bank, Kohls (I got some new shorts to replace the two Sabo ate), the shoe store (shoes), the sandal store (sandals), Marshals (just looking), Target (just looking, not dog friendly), and The Sports Authority (long soccer socks for Grandpa... who still likes to go out and mix it up on the fields). And now... we're at Dive Bar #1, Sabo's local, enjoying their A/C.

We went out early this Saturday morning to beat the heat... and the temperature had moderated down to 81℉. As planned for earlier this week, we did advance hike segment #7, then drove over to the Nobel Park dog run for a break (for me) y/o bonus (for Sabo), then we went back and hiked advance segment #8.

We didn't learn any more about what happened on 2001-9-11 (I was curious about the other two "alleged" hijackings that day). No MILFs even struck up a conversation about Sabo. In fact, there we're any women at the dog run when we visited at all. I guess mid-morning Saturday is when all the dudes go to the dog park... *sigh*.

... last President's Day was on the 16^th ??

Yes, of course. Oh wait, this one isn't so obvious. In fact it's so confusing I messed it up myself.

Let's see... in the beginning humanity loved good dogs, and traditionally have celebrated that love this time of year. That's the obvious part. Then there was Washington's actual birthday... February 11th O.S. That was later changed to February 22nd (N.S.), then made into a holiday too. Then we had the Lincoln Birthday holiday on the 12th. Still later those last two were replaced by the President's Day holiday, with can vary between February 16th and February 18th... and as a little known fact, isn't celebrated every year. Then the traditional celebration of good dogs was formalized into Flower Dayz.

Whew... when you throw in Groundhog Day, Ground-Dog Day (the 2nd), Reporting Day (Sabo's Padres pitchers and catchers report today !!!1!), Sabo & my anniversary (the 25th), and Leap Year Day (29th)... the shortest month gets really complicated.

February	Ground-Dog	POTUS	Flower Dayz	#	SaboVersary	Leap Year
2013	--	--	Sat 16th-Wed 20th	5	--	--
2014	--	Mon 17th	Wed 19th-Tue 25th	7	--	--
2015	Mon 2nd	Mon 16th	Fri 20th-Sun 22nd	3	Wed 25th	--
2016	Tue 2nd	Mon 15th	Fri 19th-Sun 21st	3	Thu 25th	Mon 29th
2017	Thu 2nd	--	Sat 18th-Mon 20th	3	Sat 25th	--
2018	Fri 2nd	--	Sat 17th-Sun 25th	9	--	--
2019	Sat 2nd	Mon 18th	Wed 20th-Mon 25th	6	--	--
2020	Sun 2nd	Mon 17th	Thu 20th-Tue 25th	6	--	Sat 29th
2021	Tue 2nd	Mon 15th	Fri 19th-Sun 21st	3	Thu 25th	--

But here's the thing: Washington's Birthday was only a holiday (1851-1970) long after Washington, and his wife, had passed away. Nobody ever got to celebrate this holiday. Mary Todd Lincoln's did get to celebrate the first few Lincoln's Birthday holidays (1874-1882). Now, since they've opened it up to all Presidents, and their First Ladies, we had all of eleven folks celebrating last Monday: four Bush, two Carter, two Clinton, two Obama, and one Reagan.

WTF BBQ, a holiday for only 11 peeps ???/? What about the other seven billion of us ???/? Well, that's where the Flower Dayz holiday comes in... three to nine days for everyone else to celebrate (we get more days because there's more of us).

Of course, just because it's an official three-day weekend, doesn't automatically mean it's a Sabo Big Weekend™. As we've got so much exiting things to do the whole next week, including the Flower Dayz celebration and our SaboVersary... I'm going to hold off announcing the next Sabo Big Weekend™, once again. It's also a way of letting the suspense build a little for my (perhaps singular) readers. All I'm going to say now is that it's going to be the bestest evers... and we hiked advance segment #9 early Monday morning.

The tentative plan this next week is...

• Today, to warm up for Flower Dayz, Sabo & me are going to go visit the University City 'hood duck ponds. Then back to the Sabotat for a nap. In the late afternoon... Sabo & me are going to Capehart dog park in PB. Then on to Missile Beach, where I'll enjoy a nice 'pre-game' meal at S's Bar & Grill. Sabo will guard the beach shack, as S's is not dog friendly (although I got Missile and Sabo stories here to blog later).
  
  FYI: Today is also exactly one year since Sabo & me first saw each other. Gotta love that Sabo.
  
  The reason for the 'pre-game' preparations, like the Super Bowl, Flower Dayz is a drinking holiday. We'll start up the Garnet-Strip up in PB at the stroke of midnight... surely followed by a little off-leash scofflaw activity on the beach after last call.
  
  
• Friday, after sleeping that off at the Beach Shack, we'll drive... for miles and miles it seems... back to the Sabo'hood. The plan is for Sabo's dog pack, including Grandpa, to have dinner on the patio at the Outback. Of course, Sabo will also be expected to make an extended appearance at his local... Dive Bar #1.
  
  
  
  Happy Flower Dayz 2015 !!!1! (Fri 2-20 to Sun 2-22)
  
  
• Saturday: Of course, Flower Dayz isn't all about the drinking. Serious introspection, about the past and the future, is also a big part of it. That and hang-over recovery, of course. That's what Sabo & me will do this day. Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in advance hike segment #10 this day too.
  
  
• Sunday, Sabo & me will be helping host us local IWWs film screening of Land and Freedom by Ken Loach. That's 2 PM at the SDEA Union Hall, 10393 San Diego Mission Road; San Diego, CA. No football parking issues to worry about this weekend... LMFAO. This will be the end of our celebration of Flower Dayz this year.
  
  
  
  
• The rest of Sunday, I got a whole lotta poop to take care of (literally). Then Monday I got something up my butt, and I'll be off in the ozone all day they tell me (again literally). Oh yeah... I'm going to see the doctor Monday too. Tuesday, I'm going to have to wait and see how I'm feeling. Luckily I have Good Nurse Sabo by my side.
  
  
• Next Wednesday is Sabo & my first anniversary... the first ever SaboVersary. I've already promised him a hot dog. I'm sure I'll also be able to come up with somewhere fun to take Sabo that day too...

How did Sabo's celebration of Flower Dayz go? Well, as often seems to happen around Sabo... not as planned, but a good time was had by all none-the-less.

We went to the Nobel Park dog run instead of Capehart Park. The overnight at the Beach Shack, Garnet-Shuffle, and scofflaw beach activities were canceled. I had breakfast on Saturday at S's Bar & Grill, not dinner Thursday. Breakfast at Denny's (not dog friendly) instead of dinner at the adjacent Outback (not breakfast friendly) on Friday. Sabo enjoyed a good IWW meeting, but A/V problems scuttled the film screening. We did however make it to Dive Bar #1, and got advance segment hike #10 in, as planned.

Also, in a sad note... The Chihuahua next door to the Sabotat has moved. He's a yapper too... always had a buncha static out the screen door for anyone walking by. But for one of those unknown dog reasons, after the Chihuahua and Sabo yapped over the fence relentless the first few days... they stopped yapping at each other. His master, W, who've I've known my entire life (as B), had another stroke, and is looking at an extended rehab... his family were cleaning out the house this weekend.


We tried to go see these duck ponds on Thursday... but they were missing. These aren't real ponds of course, they're artificial ponds in an artificial setting. In this case a Condo development that has a decorative bridge to match the strip-mall's Campanella. This week was when they drain the ponds for their yearly maintenance cycle. Sabo still saw three ducks, which he pretty much ignored. They however, on seeing Sabo, took off in flight... and almost flew into a lady, and spooked the big dog she was walking, coming towards us.

The signs said they'd be drained Monday-Friday. We went back on Saturday... the ponds were still dry. However, by surprise on advance hike segment #10, in addition to discovering a new leash-free dog run, we discovered another artificial duck pond... this one between some office towers about a mile away. I promised Sabo I'd take him to both these duck ponds in the future.


A couple of interesting things happened with Sabo at the dog run. From her car, an older lady said their dog, Conrad, could be Sabo's brother. She also said she had heard they were a particular breed of dog, raised locally. I volunteered: "I've heard they're called Scruff-Terriers". She said: "Yeah, you're right!". The legend grows...

Sure enough, her husband had Conrad with him in the little dog area. So Sabo and me went in to say hi. Conrad was sitting on the seat of his master's walker, and remained aloof to all the other dogs. Sabo, for his part, basically ignored him too... so I'm guessing they aren't really litter-mates. However... Conrad's master said he was a stray from Vista, estimated three years old, and that they rescued him just about a year ago. Freaky. I got some pics of Conrad later after he had hopped down from the walker.


The second interesting thing was I figured out what kinda varmint is making those little holes in the Sabotat. Later, when Sabo was running with the big dogs, he stopped and seemed to worry the dirt for a while. After he ran off... it was like magic. A ground-squirrel appeared out of nowhere, and a split-second later... simply vanished. I went over to look, and there was one of those same 1" holes... which I couldn't see from my angle. I figured he got about 2/3 out of the hole before withdrawing. Again... freaky.