Yesterday I got my for-real M1 motorcycle endorsement, making me a 100-percent-legal scooter driver. I’m now allowed to carry passengers, and I haven’t done that yet, but I did try carrying home a 36-pound bag of dog food yesterday. That’s kind of like carrying a passenger, albeit a very small one with no muscle control. I used bungees to strap it to the bag hook under my seat and set it where my feet would usually go. I had to put my feet on the little passenger foot spots. This seems to work fine, as long as I don’t try to park and dismount on a hill; I also only really have to go about half a mile like this.

I’m also legal to drive at night now, so I did, meeting K. out at We Be Sushi for dinner.

Today K. got her license too, and is talking to insurance folks about getting her scooter all 100 percent legal. I expect she’ll be commuting to work on it by the end of the week.

Another good thing that happened yesterday is that Haylee’s tests came back, and the growth on her toe is nothing serious. Whew.

Haylee’s $800 foot

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, I see. I’ve noticed that I’m less likely to post here when I’m worried about something, and I have been worried about Haylee’s foot. She’s been limping around for several weeks, and I thought maybe she’d stepped on something and it had gotten infected, but it was really hard for even a vet to tell what was wrong.

Turns out there was actually a little growth of some sort on the bottom her foot. On Wednesday she had part of the growth removed, and there are some tests being done to determine what exactly it is. Most likely, it’s a wart. We have high hopes that soon she’ll be back to her old annoying self. The bandage makes her more comfortable, but she’s still not back up to long walks up Bernal Hill yet.

UPDATE 09/11/07: The biopsy came back and the growth isn’t anything terrible, it’s just a big, expensive wart. Yay!

So, I’m a San Francisco Chronicle subscriber — yeah, really. And today, I grabbed the Thursday edition to read on the plane. Between Oakland and Phoenix I read an article about how great it was to watch fireworks on the Fourth from the top of Bernal Hill in our ‘hood; something we’d considered but then wimped out on, since I had to pack and we were tired and not ready to be cold. Then, toward the end of the story, I saw that even if we didn’t make it, our dogs did, with Michelle, who comes by and walks them on Wednesdays and Fridays:

Michelle Shields was walking three dogs, who answered to Tex, Haylee and Xochi when they chose to answer, which wasn’t often. She said dogs are wonderful — better than presidents, even.

“I think dogs ought to run the country,” she said. “This country is in a real mess and I don’t think things are going to change until men learn to love and embrace each other. Dogs can help. They understand love.”

At the moment, what Tex seemed to understand best was a hot dog a passer-by was eating. He waited with big eyes, hoping for the best.

LOL; I can tell they were well behaved as always. You can find the whole story here.