I am in an exceptionally good mood today. I am on holiday this week, before starting my new job in the university library. I am starting as music cataloguer in the MacOdrum Library on Septemeber 5, 2006. This is a promotion for me, and I am getting back to work in a library proper. I completed my last day on the job at my old job last Friday, August 25, 2006. I was at that job for six years, and it was time I moved on. Some of my co-workers took me to lunch, which was nice of them. Yesterday, I flew to Hamilton, where my parents met me, and bought the Mazda MPV van from my sister. I had a safe drive home. The van is the type of vehicle I have dreamed of owning. It is just what I need for my hunting hobby. It has four wheel drive, lots of space for passengers and hunting equipment, and can easily tow my boat and trailer. Maggie hopped in this morning without hesitation when I took her for her daily training run.

I am looking forward to a good season this year. I found a new hunting buddy at the Stittsville Shooting Range earlier this month. His name is Gordon Mercier and he is an accomplished sportsman. I really look forward to taking him hunting for upland birds over Maggie this Fall. He just bought a Springer Spaniel pup. Her name is Abby and she is showing great potential as a gundog. She is too young to go hunting this Fall, but I look forward to seeing her in the field next season. I hope this season goes smoothly. Last season I had no shortage of misadventures. Six times I drove to the edge of the Rideau River for some waterfowling, only to have to turn around and drive home. I had repeated problems with my outboard motor and leaky boat. Since then, I replaced the boat and had the outboard motor completely overhauled. In addition, something spooked Maggie last season, so much so that she did not want to go hunting at times. She is an overly sensitive creature, but when she puts her mind to it, she is a keen little huntress. I shot a few grouse and woodcock over her last season. I hope she is back in form for this season. I am kicking off this season with a trip to Banin Farms this coming Saturday. Gordon and I are taking Maggie to gun for some chukar partridge. This way Maggie will meet Gordon in a hunting situation and come to associate seeing Gordon with going hunting. This will make subsequent hunts easier.

Today I got together with Omer to repair the trailer that carries my duck boat. We had to take the boat to the launch ramp at Dow's Lake to get the boat off the trailer. It cost $10.00 to use the launch ramp, not a bad price. While launching the boat, I dropped the rope and the boat drifted away from the launch ramp. I waded in after the boat, but the water level dropped rather suddenly. I found myself swimming and trying to tow the boat back to the dock. I got to the edge of the dock, but it was too high for me to pull myself up. I called to a man passing on a bicycle for help. He and another man came and helped me out of the water. No harm was done, except to my pride. Omer tied off the boat while I thanked the two men for helping me. We made the repairs, it took only a few minutes, and were able to retrieve the boat without anymore drama. We took the boat and trailer for a test drive to be sure our repairs were sound. Everything seems fine. Just seems that Omer and I can never do anything hunting related without there being some sort of drama.

My day got off to a shaky start this morning. I was up early, shortly after 0600, and decided to take Maggie for her daily training run right away. It is cooler at this time of the morning and I thought she would be more comfortable. Things were going well enough, until I had a run in with two people who complained that Maggie was "terrorizing" the wildlife. She chases rabbits. I do not encourage her to do this, but she is a dog. We live in a dog chase rabbit world. I told these people I would look after my dog. When they persisted with their complaint, I politely told them to mind their own business. When they started to insist that this was their business, I calmly told them to "piss off." They left at this point. I really do not like being gruff with people, but sometimes, it seems, it cannot be helped.

I caught up with Maggie only to find that somehow her collar had come off. The collar, which is fitted with a brass plate with my name, address and telephone number, was lost, as was the cowbell. Her license and rabies tags were lost too. This is an inconvenience, but at least Maggie came to no harm. Collars and cowbells can be replaced. I ordered two new collars when I returned home. I have one cowbell left. I will order two new ones next week. I went to LeBaron Sports and purchased a new collar to use until the new collars arrive. I stopped by the veterinary clinic and obtained a replacement rabies tag, and will drop by City Hall next week to pick up a replacement license tag. I hope there are no more hitches for the rest of this weekend.