It's past my bedtime . . . somewhere.

I'm having one of those U.S. Army days. You know, the ones where "we do more before 9 am than most people do all day?"

It's 12:05 pm here, and I'm ready for a nap.

We got up a little before 6 am, had coffee (me) and dog stew (N&N), and then went for a walk. Then I headed off for my 7:30 am appointment at Jenny Craig. Today was my 4th different consultant, (I keep going in at different times and days), and may be the one I'll seek out again.

After Jenny Craig, I headed over to the drug store to pick up some benadryl and pepcid for Hanna. These are the drugs she gets daily in addition to the prednisone. Mast cell tumors, like she has, spread by sending out histamines. Hence, these anti-histamines help limit the spread of the cancer. I also picked up some Aveeno cleanser and moisturizer. I like Aveeno, but more importantly, it was about the only brand that wasn't under lock and key. Sorry, but I'm not flagging down a sales clerk at 7:45 am to buy Oil of Olay.

I brought home my Jenny Craig food and headed over to the mechanic to drop off my car to get what I figure is the alignment fixed. As it turns out, one tire was about to shred, and my power steering hose is leaking. I suppose I can't complain when my 60,000 mile tires lasted 85,000 miles, but I'm getting a new set today.

From there I walked across the street to the Daily Grind for a Mocha coffee, and then to the nail salon for a manicure/pedicure. After that I went to the grocery store to pick up the fixings for dog stew, and then walked home a couple of miles.

Walking along Pacific Coast Highway, I mainly encountered bicyclists riding towards me, many of whom smiled as they passed by. I discovered why when I got home, ran into my brother and found out I had a big dirt mark down the middle of my forehead.

Got home, took a bath and rode my bike to the local pub to put in my football pool picks. Went early to avoid Mr. Clueless, had a beer and came home.

Now I sit here, ready to head back to bed. Hanna is enjoying her bone, and Sam is happy sitting next to me, and I'm done for the day. I think I'll try to get a lift back to the mechanic later.

And I have to express my sorrow at the passing of Paul Newman. There is no public figure that I admire more than Newman. A liberal icon who bragged that one of his proudest accomplishments was getting on Nixon's enemies list, who brought good from tragedy when he set up a foundation in his late son's name to help those struggling with substance abuse, who donated millions of dollars to good works through his Newman's Own line of products, who starred in some of my favorite movies, and who was the best looking man around at every decade of his life.

I hope he rests in peace.