Day 669

I went to the estate sale of local architect John Barthel this morning. After walking the dogs and eating breakfast, I arrived pretty late. All the dealers fighting over the architect's vintage Knoll and Herman Miller furniture had bought what they wanted and left already. This was no great loss to me. I mostly just wanted to see the house itself, which had won an AIA award for contemporary residential architecture in 2002. I ended up buying Mr. Barthel's briefcase which was well worn and stained with the ink from hundreds of architectural drawings. I don't really use a briefcase anymore, but this small leather case had lots of character and appealed to me.

I find estate sales fascinating. People spend a lifetime acquiring the objects that define their values and shape their life. What happens? At the end, a bunch of complete strangers trod through your house and completely ignore all the memories you've accumulated. They can't even see them. The dealers who dominate estate sales are just looking for stuff with immediate resale value. It's all kind of cold and a bit sad.

I upgraded my iPhone to iOS5 today. Don't do this if you're in a hurry. The whole process seemed to take much longer than other iPhone upgrades I've done in the past. While the upgrade is underway, there are numerous dialog boxes that tell you your phone is being restored to factory settings. Yikes! I was convinced that all my photos and apps were being erased until the lengthy upgrade was finally finished and I found myself with a working phone that was connected to the iCloud.

In honor of the new mattress, we got a new comforter for the bed. To make sure the new comforter stayed looking new at least a few days, both dogs got a bath. Dot refuses to get out of the car now when we arrive at Vhea's LaundroMutt. Dash is a quick learner. When he saw that Dot was refusing to get out, he jumped back in the car as well. Eventually, we got the dogs inside and bathed, but it seems to be more of a struggle every time we go.

If I've got time tomorrow, I'm going to go look for some small hand weights. Free weight training seems to be helping tone up my shoulder and back muscles, but the one pair of weights I found around the house are way too heavy for the exercises I'm supposed to do. I've never even been inside a Dick's Sporting Goods store, but there's a first time for everything.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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