Standoff

Rudy took on the geese today...well, sort of. He was on a lead and was put off by all the hissing and wing flapping and backed off pretty quickly. Geese can be very fierce, especially when they have babies around, which these do, but they are also  used to all kinds of people and dogs around. I think the hissing and wing flapping is mostly pro forma.

I have now established myself with a new doctor here in town. She's a lovely young black woman who came here via London and New York, and she's very tall! I managed to get out of her office pretty unscathed, except for my glimpse of the numbers on the scale. I was pleased to learn that her group maintains an after hours clinic--something I always thought would be a very good idea. Apparently nobody in Berkeley did because we spent a lot of miserable hours in the Emergency Department of the local hospital--us and a large segment of humanity all crammed into an inadequate waiting room and seemingly forgotten! I always had the feeling that if there was anything seriously wrong with you, you might well breathe your last in that dreadful waiting room before anybody took notice.

We are looking forward to a glass of wine at the winery/deli down the road, and an evening in the mountains with the boys of the Tour de France. Chris Froome certainly outdid himself in the individual time trial yesterday. Since the Americans have not fared at all well this year, it is nice to see a Briton succeeding....

Many many thanks to all of you for your warm wishes on my first blip birthday. I love this community and look forward to meeting more of you this year.