A bit of rain and a swim that hasn’t started hurting yet started the week off right.  Ongoing problems with my webhost are reminding me that July hasn’t departed yet.

Ze Frank’s Friday episode.  Cool words on needless complexity.

The heat and humidity are still draining me, if slightly less so, and business is still off. I keep checking the phone to make certain it works because nobody is returning my calls. So I needed to get out. What better than a parade to take the mind off stuff. Funny people (but no scary clowns) and freaks. Politicians, but not my scary congresscritter. And lots and lots of just cool people (and puppies) having fun.

Trying to get a post up while my host is up. Dreamhost’s constant outages and feeble excuses have been a disaster this month, just one part of the disaster that has been July 2006. Looking forward to shredding that page of the calendar next Tuesday. It started off good, with some fireworks and a big celebration of freedom, but things rapidly went downhill from there. Bit of an uptick over the last twenty-four hours or so, since I got to hear NGF sing at an air-conditioned concert last night, and walked on the beach a bit this morning, but now I’m just feeling tired and sticky.

Haven’t been swimming much, since I’m trying to make certain my shoulder is better, and have pretty much written off swimming in the La Jolla Open Water in September due to my lack of training. I’m sure that’s not helping with the feelings of frustration.

Things will get back on track sooner or later. Thinking about making a field research trip on behalf of beachlaw, and my initial enthusiasm over there about the new state beaches near Santa Cruz has waned a bit as I’ve thought more about what state ownership will mean. Winnebagos and everything that comes in them. People who visit once a year but write cute little letters to the rangers suggesting silly little rules. Somehow I feel Bonny Doon is doomed to blandness by this move, and this will be one of those cases where “saving” the beach will kill it.

Eighty five degrees outside. Sixty five percent humidity. The bay nearest to casa is closed due to a sewage leak that went undetected for weeks. And now the little weather thingee is making thunder noise and flashing red to warn me of the new flash flood advisory inland. Currently stuck to the desk chair, too lethargic to try and free myself, and have no place safe to go if I were to get free.

So I sit here and wonder if the family law case I’ve been working on today is going to trial or not. And in researching different options, staring slack-jawed at this decision (Gabriel P. v. Suedi D. (2006) , Cal.App.4th) that came down yesterday. Issues concern the rights and responsibilities of the putative father and biological father of the child of a girl who was sleeping with both of them at age 15 (they were 20 and 29 respectively). No bombshells precedent-wise, just some clarification and enough facts to make you wonder about society and modern America, blah, blah, blah. Glad the states are working hard to protect marriage as an institution, because it builds strong families, blah, blah, blah. Limiting marriage is necessary for the kids, blah, blah, blah. Seeing cases like this confirms my decision to not focus exclusively on family law even though the money’s good – dealing with this day-in and day-out would take a toll quickly.

Good editorial in the L.A. Times about the local Department of Water and Power’s failures during the ongoing heat wave.  Though not in L.A, it did impact me, at least since that’s the excuse my webhost is using for their most recent spate of outages.  But it’s not just L.A.  NGF and I watched a transformer burn near his place Saturday before getting caught in one of the 60-something outages reported on the SDG&E website that day.  Clocks and stuff here at casa got knocked offline at least twice over the weekend.  Rants about conservation only get you so far.  Preventative maintenance and planning for weather extremes need to be improved.

For a while Monday I thought I might be getting to a point where I could get through a day without my eyes welling up. The news had reached most people in my life, so I wasn’t having to tell the story fresh anymore. I was busy enough that I wasn’t just sitting around an empty apartment. Then Tuesday proved me wrong.

In the morning I learned of two gifts (NGF and Scott Barnes) to the San Diego Humane Society in Pongo’s memory, and in the afternoon I received a condolence card from Pongo’s vet that included a card with Pongo’s paw print.

The gifts came out of the blue and were a total shock. The local humane society is a good one, I’m sure they’ll put the money to good use, and I’m honored that the psycho-terrier’s name can be attached to their work.

The paw print just ripped the emotional scabs off and started everything flowing all over again. It’s locked in the safe for now until I can figure out what to do with it.

That’s enough for now. Gotta get through the day.

- The temperature is actually reasonable today, even if the humidity is not, so I’m getting some work done.

- You need to go wish Shel a happy birthday.

- And since I missed ComicCon this year, the best post I’ve seen so far.

Quarter after nine in the morning. The thermometer already reads 85 degrees outside, and the weather bimbo on the TV says the low only got to 75 last night. I did sleep well though, and knocked out an early but short swim this morning to stretch the back and shoulders while trying to avoid the impending crowds. Not as successful as I would have liked on that crowds thing, but certainly better than if I’d waited to do laps this afternoon. Almost wishing I had cable so I could’ve seen Floyd Landis retake the yellow jersey this morning, but I’ll settle for what I’ve got.

The World Amateur Team championship at Stellenbosch, South Africa on Oct. 22-29 has announced it will test players for performance-enhancing drugs.

“We’re self-policing out here,” Funk said. “You’re either good enough or you’re not good enough. I don’t think drugs will help you get better.”

But mindful of the scandals that have bedeviled baseball, cycling and athletics, Tom Pernice Jr. said he believes golf needs to send a clear signal that performance enhancers won’t be tolerated. He said a detailed testing program, complete with a list of banned substances, is the only way to deliver that message.

“I think so, for the future of the sport more so than what’s going on today,” Pernice said. “We need to do it for the college and high-school kids.”

Via Findlaw’s Sports Law Update.

I like how the article focuses on the steroids that players might be using to bulk up for those massive tee shots. I guess those are the trendy substances now. Nothing about unfair use of newer and more-effective antihistimines for the three-mile cross-country hike through unfamiliar pollens and spores. Nothing about anti-anxiety drugs to remove the hand shakes when a putt is worth a million dollars. Nothing about the anti-psychotics necessary for those times your threesome is joined by the chatty insurance salesman. And aren’t those carts meant to be driven drunk anyways?