Meet Max Buffett

We are pleased to announce a new member of the Buffett household: Max. He is a four year old Jack Russell, very good natured and still very nervous. YD has wanted a dog for some time, as has Mrs BB, so I saw reason and agreed. A puppy would take a lot of training, and YD is a little scared of dogs to begin with, so an adult dog it would be. We always wanted to help a dog who had no home and an unlikely future. We started with the RSPCA last weekend, saw one online but then in situ found it to be too large and - most importantly - like Superman: able to leap tall fences at a single bound. Tyson is a Foxy cross, and in the Last Chance Club, so we hope someone takes him.

The internet to the rescue again:

http://www.freewebs.com/jackrussellrescue/

pointed us to Max (briefly named Joey, as the carer was simply working her way through the alphabet).

He was rescued from a pound in Canberra and transported to the JR carers in Sydney. It would appear he has been poorly treated by his previous owners; he flinches a little when we try to pat him, and is unsure of his surroundings at first. Still, we have time. He is currently sitting comfortably - and coolly - under the pergola, water dish filled and chilled to 4 degrees, Schmackos on call and toys galore to explore when he settles properly. YD is beyond excitement, Mrs BB is very pleased, and even Son likes the idea a lot. He has already phoned ex-Mrs BB requesting something similar. Oh dear!

Max will probably remain unsure of his surroundings for a while yet - just look at his track record: unloved somewhere in Canberra, dumped(?) and put into the pound, rescued and driven back to Sydney, boarded at JR rescuers' expense at Vineyard, and now relocated to Kellyville Ridge. He will no doubt soon discover the joys of being severely pampered and indulged, although sadly a quiet dip in the swimming pool remains verboten...

Running this past week has been unremarkable in its length, frequency or location. Still, enough k's were travelled to beat, on Wednesday, my 2004 all time record for a year. So, I have run more this year than any other year. My other challenges for this remain as per last post: beat Dec 2004 record k's, and complete the Hills Athletics Club 3k t/t on Wed 20/12.

65k last week:

* Clean Streets of KR: Mon 8k, Tue 9k, Wed 9k , Fri 10k all just before 6am - beautifully fresh and reasonably quiet, other than the peaceful sounds of builders commencing on job sites

* Sat Rouse Hill Clean Streets: 12k before 8am - noticeably warmer, with traffic flowing I decided to do the loop which leads to the new sports complex on Commercial Rd. Did a lap inside the perimeter on the bike path, watching the budding baseballers (about under 9s) while enjoying the sound and smell of the bushland nearby.

* Sun Home/Quakers Hill/Riverstone: 17k at 9am. Not a pleasant run, rather one Run With A Purpose. I decided to go a little later so the family could pick me up from Riverstone library and then head off to Vineyard, just up the road, to meet Joey, who quickly became Max Buffett.

Great. Unfortunately, I didn't check the forecast too closely today, and assumed the heat wouldn't arrive until lunchtime. In fact, it had caught an early flight and was waiting, fully briefed, at the front door. A gregarious entity, it accompanied me for each of the 17k's, whispering and cajoling, suggesting I should perhaps, in common lingo, "give it a miss". Runners are made of sterner stuff, so I manfully plodded on, and quietly collapsed in a shivering heap in the library carpark. YD studied me carefully, handed me a cold water, and immediately asked "can we see Joey now?"

So a new era dawns...

Book reading has resumed with a diminished intensity for now: Alys Clare's Girl In A Red Tunic (#8 in series). Set in 1193, it continues the story of Josse d'Acquin and his friend Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye Abbey in SE England near Tonbridge, around the time of Richard The First's incarceration and ransom. There are a few series set in this time; the ones I read all manage to put a different perspective on the issue. I'm afraid the romanticised version of Richard the Lionheart, beloved monarch of the English, is a little twee for a ruler who didn't speak English, barely set foot in England and seemed to treat the English Treasury as some sort of on-tap dispensary. The old joke still holds true: Coeur de Lion was really no closer than Gare de Lyon.

Listening to music at home is following a familiar path: I am greeted by any number of Christmas CD's doing the rounds of the CD carousel. For a well-earned respite, I have "Space Oddity" by D Bowie in the car.

As a final segue: I will be picking up a new car in January, as the company car has done three years service and is being re-homed. Unless I want to take a Novated Lease (and I don't want to be the Fleet Manager of one car), the choice is simple: a Holden Omega, my choice of colour. Mrs BB likes Impulse Metallic or Vespers Blue, so they're in the running...

"Exit, stage left"