“Goldens live in the moment—not because they forget the past, but because they trust in the goodness of now.”

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So I have two things for today. First, and most importantly, is “Happy Birthday to Max!”

Mr. Max, golden retriever extraordinaire, turns twelve years old today. He came to us when he was six and the arrangement has always been – so far as I am concerned – that we get those six years back and tacked on in addition to the normal lifespan of a large (extra-HUGE) golden.

So Max and I were having this most serious conversation about the idea and he leaned in to me (as you can see in the photo) and he confided all of his hopes and dreams. “I love you, dad,” he said, “but isn’t it about time for dinner now?”

That’s pretty much how it goes most of the time. “I love you.” And then, “Can we eat?” Then sometimes it’s more along the lines of, “Can we eat now?” And, “Isn’t it snack-time?” And, “Seriously dad, are you ever going to feed me?”

Yes I can feel the love. Max is absolutely the best boy ever. I am so blessed to have him.

Part Two:

Part two of today’s post is technology specific. I have this love-hate relationship with tech. I love the way things like the Internet and smartphones and social media allow me to communicate with literally tens of thousands of people. But then I am not a happy camper when I have to do something like change out a phone for some newer version that complicates everything that had taken me the past four years to figure out.

That’s right, my phone needed to be replaced. So off I went to the closest T-Mobile store to see what they could do.

I would have been happy with another iPhone 14. Or a 15. But all they had was the 16 and of course the latest – the iPhone 17.

“So I guess I will take the iPhone 16,” I said. But all they had was pink.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I can’t do pink. Maybe sparkles. Do you possibly have one in sparkle?”

She did at least laugh. But I ended up taking the iPhone 17 in black. So I am now all up-to-date and all cutting-edge tech even though that is not what I wanted.

“Do you ever use the camera feature?” she asked.

“Well yes,” I said. “Maybe once in a while!”

“This iPhone 17 has the most amazing camera.”

Okay. Sold. So maybe we can do this. We will see. Stay tuned – DEREK