Sunday, October 31, 2010

Day 320 - Halloween

With any luck, I've mowed the grass for the last time this year. It really didn't look that bad, but both my neighbors mowed their yellowing lawns yesterday, so I was shamed into doing the same. Winter is definitely on the way. I even turned on the furnace last night for the first time. Amazingly, it worked.

The cool Fall weather is bringing more and more people and their dogs to the Wagging Tail dog park on Sunday afternoons. There were lots of dogs today and Dash finally found a playmate. There was a cute little Vizsla puppy that he took a shine to and it was fun watching the pair running at full speed through the dog park.

It must have been idiot day at the park behind our house when we took our regular walk later in the day. We passed a group of picnickers who had somehow managed to set a tree on fire. The odd thing was that they weren't even trying to put the fire out. They were laughing and talking near the smoking tree and continuing to eat their barbecue. Finally someone filled a bucket with water from the lake and threw it at the tree. They missed. Were drugs involved in this strange spectacle? Well, I don't think eating Halloween candy caught the tree on fire. About a half mile further down the path, we saw two guys trying to hit flying birds with a radio controlled model airplane. The birds seemed to evade the plane pretty easily, but once again it was a strange thing to encounter.

We don't get many trick or treaters these days. Most of the kids in the neighborhood have grown up and left home. There are some younger families at the end of the street, but parents don't seem to let their kids roam the neighborhood in costumes anymore. The kids still go trick or treating, but they are driven around by their parents to friends houses that often aren't even in the neighborhood. It's a different world now. Our parents would just turn us loose and we would roam around for hours in the dark collecting candy from strangers. Too bad today's kids don't get to experience how much fun it was to grow up in a world without fear.

In honor of Halloween, we have an M&M'S watch for you and Dash looking curiously like a spaceman in a low budget Japanese science fiction film. He was supposed to be The Tinman from The Wizard of Oz, but unless Dot was standing right next to him in her Dorothy costume, people would always think his costume represented something else.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Day 319

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Friday, October 29, 2010

Day 318

It was an odd day. I turned down a project this afternoon. I almost never turn down anything. These guys were looking for a marketing campaign and they already had one. I tried to explain that they had already done what they were asking me to do about a month ago and that it was actually pretty good. I make a big deal of telling my existing clients the value of consistency, so I needed to be consistent here as well. If I came in and did something different after they'd already built a website, printed stationary and designed graphics around a theme they were already using, I wouldn't be helping them at all. Maybe I just smelled a mess that would be blamed on me later when their audience was completely confused.

Someone wrote to me today and wants to run in-line text ads on my website. I used to do a lot of this sort of thing and even thought it might be my ticket to early retirement until Google Adwords came along and ruined things for the little guys. Now, hardly anybody looks for relevant websites to place ads on their own, or negotiates text ad placement on an individual page-by-page basis. I was glad to hear from these guys. I didn't think they existed anymore. I sold them a single in-line text ad to run in one of my stories and made about the same as I make from Google in three months.

It's about time to turn the furnace on. It got down in the mid 60's last night and I think it is supposed to get even colder tonight. I might just put a blanket on the bed instead though. These mild days are really nice because it is the only time of the year when the utility bills are even close to reasonable. Once I turn the furnace on, the bills will go right back up again.

The Rangers appear to have gone cold too. They lost again last night. I don't know what happened to those guys who looked so good playing against the Yankees.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Day 317

The pelicans are back for the winter. I'm amazed that they are so predictable. The birds return to the lake year-after-year, migrating northward by some sort of internal clock that is much more accurate than mine. Although I'm not much of a bird watcher, these guys are fun to observe. First of all, they're huge. I often see them flying in formation just a few inches above the water in search of fish. They're awkward and graceful at the same time; somewhat like a bird version of the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose.

When all the pelicans have arrived, I'll always try to photograph them. There certainly wasn't time today though. I eventually solved the website problem that I was wrestling with yesterday. It took several calls to a programmer in Canada, but everything works perfectly now. Oddly, all the trouble was caused by a single line of code.

Website development is getting way too complicated. I have another client who wants me to make a mobile version of their website. I initially, thought this would be easy. Wrong again. For years, I've put a few lines of code in the header that would redirect viewers to different HTML documents based on whether they were viewing in an IE/Windows environment or a Macintosh/Unix environment. I thought I could do more or less the same thing for mobile browsers, not realizing that there where literally hundreds of different variables. Welcome to the complex world of mobile phone detection and redirection. There's even a whole new language to learn if you want to take advantage of gestures on newer smart phones. Luckily, there's probably a third party add-on available to solve my problems, just like the database product I added to my clients site today. I feel like such a dinosaur.

I can't believe that Gretchen won Project Runway tonight. I was rooting for Mondo throughout the season and thought he clearly had the best collection at Fashion Week. Despite a split decision, it looks like Michael Kors and Nina have more clout on the show than Heidi. Nobody even seemed to notice that Jessica Simpson was there. Jeez! The Rangers lost yesterday. Mondo loses tonight. What's next?

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Day 316

Dash won the Halloween costume contest at obedience class tonight with his Texas Ranger costume. When his category was being judged, the game was just beginning and the Rangers where ahead two to nothing. I don't think he would have been given a prize at all if the judging were held a little later in the evening. The Rangers played terrible tonight. As you can see below, Dash wasn't too happy about the game either.

The entire day went kind of like this. I thought I was making good progress with some major updates on one my my client's websites and then I tried to add a third party application that they wanted. I couldn't get this add-on to work at all. I tried calling customer support for the application, which happened to be in Canada, but they all appeared to be gone for the day. Nobody returned my calls and I still can't get the add-on to work.

A bit later when I tried to upgrade the operating system in my iPad, my iTunes application froze right in the middle of the upgrade process. The little beach ball kept going round and round for twenty minutes as I looked at a message box that said "waiting for authentication server." A friend of mine had exactly the same thing happen to him when he tried to upgrade his iPhone not long ago. I opened a browser in another window and tried to find out what other people were doing when they found themselves in this situation. As usual, my Google search returned a raft of conflicting information that was virtually useless. Since everything still looked normal on the iPad itself, I figured the actual upgrade hadn't started yet and decided to just unplug the thing from my computer. Disaster averted this time, but I did waste several hours trying to decide what to do.

I snapped this picture of Dash during the waning moments of tonight's game. Somehow, it sums up the evening a lot better than the earlier pictures of his big win at obedience class. Hopefully, the Rangers will do better in game two. There is no joy in Mudville tonight.

Dalmatian of the Day


Watch of the Day

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Day 315

Such a pretty day today. Pretty uneventful too. I think I've mastered the art of giving Dash his weekly antigen injections. For the second week in a row I was able give the shot without my nervous about everything dog even noticing. The nurses keep hinting that I ought to learn how to express Dash's anal glands too, but I'd just as soon have someone else continue to do that smelly task.

When we got home from the vet, I tried to show a friend how to prepare files to go to the printer. I don't think I've mastered the art of giving clear instructions. After five or six back and forth e-mails, I still don't think he ended up doing what I told him to do.

Actually, nobody does what I tell them to do. Two weeks ago I told a client over and over again to make sure that the proposed navigation buttons on his new website were exactly the way he wanted before I started coding the HTML. "Sure, it's perfect, go ahead." Well, wouldn't you know, one day after I completely finished the site's navigation, I get an e-mail with a request to add an additional navigation button. I shouldn't complain though. Doing things over is what keeps me busy.

On my way to the post office this afternoon, I ended up behind a pickup truck that obviously belonged to a hunting enthusiast. Along with decals of mallard ducks plastered all over his back window, there was a bumper sticker that said "I'm a Quack addict." I must me a simple minded person, because this made me laugh.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Monday, October 25, 2010

Day 314

Busy and bored are a bad combination. I've been busy and bored for long enough now that I'm losing enthusiasm for everything I encounter. Lack of excitement doesn't stop me though. I keep plugging away at things like the Energizer bunny. Have you ever been forced to drive a car with a bad battery? That's what I'm feeling. Once you manage to get the car started, you don't want to turn it off again, because you know it will be even harder to start the next time.

The days pass quickly. Often the things people ask me to do are difficult, and I find that if I start a project after breakfast, it is usually time for dinner by the time I am finished. Like the dogs, I measure time by the meals I eat. I seldom talk to anyone during the day. I get my marching orders in the form of terse little one line e-mails that inevitably end with a signature saying sent from my iPhone.

I'm surprised at how often I encounter the same people again and again on our morning walk. I don't know who these joggers and cyclists are, but we will pass each other at exactly the same tree or bend in the road day-after-day. Sometimes I will smile or wave, but not always. I wonder if these people think it is equally strange to pass the same guy with two Dalmatians every day. I'd hate to think that everyone's life was this regimented, but I suspect that I'm not the only one who feels the weight of busy and bored on their shoulders.

I envy the dogs. After a brisk walk in the morning, they don't go sit at a desk and design websites. They don't even read a book. What do they do eighteen hours a day? They sleep. I don't sleep nearly as much as Dot and Dash, but the small amount of sleep I do get is still my favorite part of the day. I sleep soundly and I have great dreams. If only being awake were as good as those dreams.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Day 313

What a difference a day makes. Too bad we couldn't have done the Halloween pet pictures today. There was a nice breeze and a clear blue sky for most of the day. It was the complete opposite of yesterday. We often have new dogs to walk on Sunday morning, but today, Ellis, a dog we had previously adopted was returned. There is a clause in the Dalmatian Rescue adoption contract that says if the adoption doesn't work out for some reason, the dog is to be returned to us. After all the work that goes into rehabilitating these dogs, the last thing we want is for them to wind up in the pound again. I don't know why the adoption didn't work out, but we'll find him a better home next time. Ellis was, and still is a great dog.

Walking the Dalmatians was about the only chance I got to enjoy all the nice weather. Today was cleaning day. Dot and Dash both got a bath. The floors got cleaned. All the bedding, including the oversize comforter, got washed. The photo equipment got put back in its proper place. And of course, yesterday's rain water got swept off the roof with the big push broom. While I was working up on the roof I noticed that there were thousands of acorns up there as well. They got pushed off the roof too. Luckily Dot and Dash have no interest in the acorns that drop off our oak trees every Fall. Our previous Dalmatian, Petey, almost killed himself several time by eating huge amounts of these acorns. We don't get a lot of acorns every year, but this year there is a bumper crop. Oddly, there aren't many pecans this year. When the pecan trees have a good crop of nuts, there aren't as many acorns. I have no idea why.

It looks like I'm going to be busy next week. I'd prefer if things just gradually slowed down for the rest of the year, but this always seems to be a busy time for advertising. Next Wednesday is also the annual Halloween party at dog training class. Wonder how long the dogs will keep their costumes on this year? Probably about ten seconds.

Dalmatian of the Day


Watch of the Day


Saturday, October 23, 2010

Day 312

I'm tired. We couldn't have picked a worse day to take pet pictures. When I woke up, it was raining, and it really never stopped. I hauled all the pumpkins and photo equipment up to the Three Dog Bakery anyway and hoped for the best. A few folks stopped by in the morning with their dogs, but the darker the skies got, the fewer customers we had.

At one point, I looked outside at some very ominous looking clouds and then we heard the tornado warning sirens. When I looked at the weather radar on my iPad, I discovered we were right in the path of an approaching tornado. We took down the large banner we had outside in a hurry so it wouldn't get blown away and that was pretty much the end of our Halloween event. I think we all spend more on gas getting to the location than we made selling pictures. Roxie was real cute as a witch though.

I'm not sure that doing pet pictures is going to work as a fundraiser anymore. When we were doing these photo events at Unleashed, there were lots and lots of people with dogs at the dog park anyway, so we had a great walk up business from people who saw what we were doing and got interested in having their dogs picture taken while they were there. Without the huge indoor dog park as a source of traffic, it's been hard to find a location where lots of people routinely bring their dogs. Ironically, the empty building we were using as a location today also went out of business about the same time as Unleashed for very similar reasons. The banks weren't lending money and they couldn't get the bridge loan they needed. In case any of you are wondering what ever happened to the fabulous Unleashed building after they went bankrupt. It got bought by the Dallas School District with stimulus money and is being used to park school buses. It's sad.

Hopefully, the rain will stop by tomorrow. We've got new Dalmatians to walk and a very messy house to clean. I'm not going to let days like this get me down, but I do think I'll wait till tomorrow to put all the equipment away.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Friday, October 22, 2010

Day 311

Amazing! The Texas Rangers are going to the World Series! Just finished watching the game and if they keep playing like this, they'll win the World Series. Not only is this good for the team and for the fans who have stayed loyal through thick and thin, it is also good for the Dallas economy. Everyone within a hundred mile radius that owns a restaurant or a hotel is probably celebrating big time tonight, since Dallas will be hosting a Super Bowl and a World Series in the same year. Something like this will give a huge boost to the local economy. Hats off to Nolan Ryan for really turning this team around.

I guess today is as good a day as any to write my Entrecard Review and get the 5,000 EC credits they're promising. Lord knows why I think I need more EC credits. I never seem to get around to using the credits I already have. I do have my opinions about Entrecard though. It might not be the tight knit, loyal little community it once was, but it is still the best place on the Internet for a new blogger to find lot of new visitors in a hurry. Sure, a lot of these visitors never bother to read your blog and are only interested in clicking on the EC widget before leaving as fast as they can. To me, it doesn't really matter if 90% of your newly acquired traffic is just passing through. The 10% who do stick around will still give you significantly more readers than you had before. If you're interested in climbing to the top of one of Entrecard's many categories, keep dropping until your fingers get numb. If what you're looking for is just more visitors and a better Alexa score, buying one of their sponsor ads is a lot easier and produces pretty much the same results as a massive amount of clicking. The click-thru rates on these EC sponsor ads are amazingly good and you can see the results in your Google Analytics report within a day or two. The only downside to sponsor ads is since not a lot of people are currently buying them, it doesn't take long at all for your ad to deliver the number of impressions that you purchased. You get a lot of exposure very quickly, but it can be a bit pricy to keep your ad in front of people for any significant length of time. Buying a banner ad on Entrecard is a less expensive way of keeping your name in front of people, but there is little incentive to click on these banner ads. I've tried dropping on 300 blogs a day, sponsor ads and even a banner ad. For me, the sponsor ads are the most effective way to get traffic. I'm definitely not a big fan of clicking on widgets, but I do like Entrecard. EC has done more to increase traffic for me than any other single thing I can think of.

Can you tell it's been a slow day? I did have my meeting with the SPCA this afternoon. They confirmed that want me to do the promotional materials for their big spay/neuter benefit in February. I won't make any money on the project, but hopefully I won't lose any either. Even though I spend most of my time working with Dalmatians, I would never turn down a project for the SPCA. They do a great job helping animals in the community and it couldn't hurt to work with them a little more often than I have in the past.

It's getting closer to Halloween and I've got a few more Dalmatians in costume for you. Tonight, we've got Dot all dressed up in her Mardi Gras finery.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Day 310

I almost forgot that I needed to pick up Lance at the vet today and take him back to K-9 University. He's going to his forever home tomorrow and we wanted to have his teeth cleaned before he left the rescue program.

It was actually nice to have an excuse to get out of the house. There certainly wasn't anything worth hanging around for today. I'm getting the dreaded 0001001B Service Required message on my large format printer so often now that I don't even need to look it up and see what it means anymore. I've got it memorized. The shower pan is leaking again too. It's a slow leak, but it looks like it's time to get the wet/dry vac out again and suck up the standing water under the tile before it starts to smell bad. Oh, and the bees are back too.

I enjoyed spending some time with Lance while I was waiting for some prescriptions to be filled for the other dogs. Lance is such a friendly boy that I'm amazed it has taken him this long to find a home. The woman who is adopting him is delighted to have him though, so maybe it was worth the wait.

When I got back to the office I was pleased to discover the printer was still working and printed a large portrait of Nicco that one of my veterinarian clients had commissioned. Nicco was an office cat who had recently passed away and her picture will join several other deceased kitties on what I've come to call the dead cat wall. It's actually a sweet idea to keep the memory of these departed cats alive and I always try to select an image from my files that captures the cat's personality. I used to wonder why these cats died so quickly after I'd taken their photo, but I later learned that the clinic always tried to make a home for very old rescued cats that nobody else would adopt.

I wish something exciting would happen, but I'd probably settle for something decent to watch on TV. At least it's Friday tomorrow. For some reason this has seemed like a very long week.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Day 309

After more than 300 days of non-stop blogging, I finally won one of those awards I always see on other people's blogs. A big thank you to Sharkbytes at My Quality Day for giving me the Versatile Blogger award. I'm not sure I'm all that versatile since I basically write about the same things day-after-day, but I'll keep the award anyway. On receiving this award, I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself that you don't already know and then pass the award on to four other people I think might deserve it. Sounds kind of like a chain letter, but I guess there's no harm done in passing the award along.

Bruce Coltin at Coltin1948 is certainly versatile, since he went from a career in sales and marketing to become one of the best writers in the blogosphere. Mona at Rebellious Arab Girl is equally versatile, always managing to combine an impeccable sense of design with honest and insightful writing. Chinaren gets the award for teaching me everything I know about China with a seemingly endless variety of personal experiences in his Living and Writing in China blog. I can't forget Jennifer at Writing to Survive either. She continues to weave ordinary daily life into extraordinary and original stories. Hmmm. So, how are these four even going to know they won the award? They might not read this blog. Hey, you guys with lots of these award badges on your blog. What do I do now?

Oh, I almost forgot. The seven things you probably don't know about me. 1: I actually can sew pretty well. 2: I flunked out of flight school because I always threw up in the plane when I took my flying lessons. 3: I went to high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. 4: I once had dinner with Rudy Vallee. 5: I made a documentary film about the police department in a town with no crime. 6: I have a piston from one of Richard Petty's cars. 7: I eat crystallized ginger like candy

Well, that's it I guess. I've probably inadvertently violated all the rules of blog awards by not putting my badge in the right place or something equally trivial, but this is as good as it's going to get.

While we're on the subject of blogging, I ended up buying an EC banner ad today when I plucked an e-mail out of my spam folder saying that there were only four of these ad spaces available and for a limited time they were only half price. You guys probably got exactly the same mail and wisely left it in your junk mail folder. I bet there are still four of these ads available for half price. You'd think I'd know better, since I'm in the advertising business myself, but I'm a sucker for things like this. I've bought online ads all over the place and still have no idea if any of them work. I don't even know where some of the ads are anymore, because I forgot to bookmark the sites running them. At any rate, it's like department store pioneer John Wanamaker used to say "I know I waste half the money I spend on advertising. The problem is, I don't know which half."

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Day 308

I got a call from the SPCA this morning. They want me to do the marketing materials for a big charity event they're having next February. I think they'd seen some of the things I'd done for other rescue groups and apparently they must have liked what they saw. They want to meet with me this Friday. I do lots of charity projects. You'd think that some big corporation would see this work and say, "Wow, this is nice. We'd like to give you a huge budget to work on something for us." It doesn't work that way though. Charity projects usually just lead to more charity projects.

National Geographic keeps asking me if the goat has been adopted yet. They want to finish the show about the friendship between the goat, great dane and three legged dog, but they still need a happy ending for their story. I'd like to finish the story too. I'm afraid that if the rescue group waits too long to adopt the animals that the producers will lose interest in the story and it will never air.

Probably I just need to be patient. Everything gets finished eventually. I finally launched the last of this year's crop of new websites today. I thought that would never happen either. Dash's skin is starting to look better too. Maybe someday, even the plumbing problems will go away. I probably won't live that long though.

At least I met all my deadlines today. I got to my meeting on time. I successfully uploaded a bunch of large files to the online printer I use. Dash got his weekly allergy shot at the vet. I may even have time to click on a few EC and Adgitize ads.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Monday, October 18, 2010

Day 307

There was water under the kitchen sink again this morning. There definitely shouldn't be water under the sink when the plumber was just here just a week or so ago. Unfortunately, this is the way the world works these days. You take your car to the shop because it's making a funny noise and the noise is still there weeks later after you've spend hundreds of dollars on repairs. Sometimes it takes three or four service calls to get the my furnace working properly in the winter. That's just the way it is. I don't know whether people don't know how to fix things properly anymore, or if they've all just decided that nobody will pay the price for doing things correctly.

Most of the problems I have tend to solve involve computers. I understand how difficult it can be to track down intermittent problems. I often can't fix things on the first try either. Nevertheless, it would be nice if more people were able to genuinely diagnose and resolve problems instead of just following a formula.

I certainly don't want to put myself up on a pedestal. I'm sure people feel exactly the same way about me as I do about the plumber. Just this afternoon, a PDF file I had already sent to a client for approval was returned to me twice in two hours to correct spelling errors I should have spotted in the first place.

It's almost hopeless. Turn on the television and you'll hear about big banks screwing up thousands of mortgage applications. Go to the doctor and sooner or later you'll receive a prescription for the wrong medication. I think that life has simply become too complex. I can't fix an iPhone. I can't fix the fuel injectors on my car. I don't even know where the plumbing pipes go after they disappear into the wall.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Day 306

There weren't as many dogs to walk when we went up to the K-9 University kennels this morning. This is good news. It means than many of the dogs we have been walking this Fall have found homes in recent weeks. Wendy went to her new home several weeks ago. Yesterday, Hobbs went to his new home and Neo went to a foster home. Lance will go to his new home next week. Maybe someday soon we won't have any dogs to walk at all. So far, that has never happened. As soon as we find one dog a home, we usually discover another stray that needs our help in a nearby pound or animal shelter.

After walking the rescue dogs, we went out and bought a bunch of pumpkins to use as props when we do the Halloween photo shoot next Saturday. Ann said she'd bring a bale of hay. That ought to be plenty to create a simple Fall harvest theme. I thought it would be a good idea to keep the pumpkins inside so they'd stay nice looking when we got home. I didn't realize that Dash would think of them as brightly colored balls to play with. Just as soon as we got them all inside, he began slapping the little pumpkins all over the living room floor like tennis balls. Now, we've got pumpkins on every available shelf to keep them out of his reach.

One thing is certain. Last year's pumpkin shortage is over. There are plenty of fresh pumpkins, as well as the canned variety everywhere. Prices are pretty reasonable too. Since pumpkin is a great source of fiber, we like to put a few tablespoons of canned pumpkin on top of the dog's food at dinner time. It was just about impossible to find the stuff last year. Often we had to resort to buying expensive canned organic pumpkin off the Internet.

I've been reading some articles about SEO this week. While I'm not a huge fan of search engine optimization, I'll have to admit that I am a bit curious to see whether mentioning the word pumpkin nine times will bring me any new readers.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Day 305

I always try to stop by and see what Terri Stone has been doing during the annual Fall Studio Tour. She always has something new and interesting on display and the hot dogs she serves are good too. It's not really a gallery opening. It's more like a big backyard party with lots of steel sculptures on display. I didn't buy anything during this afternoon's visit, but it's always fun to window shop. I'm convinced that Terri's work is going to wind up in museums someday and I'll be able to say I used to work with her on Taco Bueno ads.

After visiting Terri's studio, I headed North to distribute posters for next week's Halloween pet picture event. We've got a great location this year, but I'm not sure we've done a very good job of getting the word out. I should have put the posters up two weeks ago, but of course two weeks ago we didn't even know we were doing the pictures. Needless to say, this is a typical last minute animal rescue event. You just take advantage of the opportunities you get and hope for the best. I'm hoping for a good crowd. If any of you live in the Plano, Texas area, please stop by the Three Dog Bakery next Saturday and I'll take a fabulous picture of your dog. If you don't have a costume for your dog, come anyway. We'll still take a nice picture.

I couldn't find anything when I did the grocery shopping this afternoon. Why do stores keep moving the things you normally buy to a different aisle every few weeks? It's irritating. I know they want you to discover new things and buy even more stuff while you're looking for the paper towels, but constantly rearranging the merchandise isn't a good formula for happy customers. Sam's Club is the worst about this. Nothing is ever in the same place when you go to Sam's. At any rate, I finally found everything on my list and headed home.

I've got another Dalmatian in costume for you today. This time we've got Camp appearing as a "shovel ready project."

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Friday, October 15, 2010

Day 304

I was a busy bee today. I got an assortment of poster and postcard layouts approved and ready to go to the printers on Monday. I launched a new mini-website for the November Pet Fair celebration. I also got the Epson 4000 working just long enough to print out enough posters to hang in nearby store windows when we do the Halloween pictures next week. This print run was so frustrating that after I finally got the posters printed, I drove up to Imaging Spectrum to price a replacement printer. I wish I could replace all my equipment, but it's just too expensive. Unfortunately, I need the equipment mostly for pro bono work that I give away for free.

I probably will get a new camera this year. Unlike the large format printer, the camera equipment pays for itself. I'm looking at the new Olympus E-5. Although most commercial photographers seem to prefer Canon or Nikon, I really like Olympus cameras. I used Olympus OM series cameras back in the days of film, and I still use the lenses from those cameras on my E-3 today. Olympus makes fabulous lenses.

Every year, Janet and I say we're going to go to the State Fair of Texas and then typically, we get busy and never go. If we're going to go this year, it will have to be this weekend. The Fair is just about over and I think this is the last chance we'll get. It looks like the weather is going to be great this weekend, so maybe we'll go. I think the Artist's Studio Tour is this weekend too. There'll be plenty to do.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Day 303

I got the promotional posters finished today for the upcoming Halloween photo event at Three Dog Bakery. Dot is a great little model. She's very patient and will let you put just about anything on her. Dot might not be quite as accomplished as William Wegman's legendary Fay Ray, but I think she's pretty remarkable. I use her in photos a lot. I hardly ever use Dash, because he won't sit still for more than five seconds and tends to tear up the set.

Project Runway was good tonight. This was the last competition before the finalists go to Fashion Week and the contestants were all trying desperately to hang on to their ambition before it was replaced by total exhaustion.

Exhaustion certainly seems to be the theme of the day. I went to an animal rescue meeting earlier this evening and everyone was tired. I don't know why we even had the meeting because all of us were just going through the motions. I was as tired as everyone else. It seems like I'm always tired these days. Nobody is able to relax or even get caught up on things any more. My clients are tired. Janet comes home from work tired. When I read other blogs, even my favorite bloggers seem worn out. I wonder what has happened to the world. It certainly didn't used to be this way. I don't really think computers and technology are helping matters either. I would much rather have a good assistant than a powerful computer. Right now I have neither.

I'm glad the dogs are around during the day. Even when life seems like an endless marathon, the dogs have a way of putting their own unique spin on things. We had a great walk today. Of course, since Dalmatians love nothing better than walking as fast as they can, my 'relaxing' walk made me tired as well.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Day 302

I went up and looked at locations today for the Halloween photo event that Dalmatian Rescue is planning with Three Dog Bakery in Plano. It looks like we'll have an entire vacant building to use as a studio near the bakery. The shopping center where we will be located is new and has lots of traffic, so this might be a great location. The only problems is that I'm not sure if the vacant building still has the electricity turned on. It would be scary to attempt something like this without electricity, but then it is Halloween after all. Three Dog Bakery said they'll help us promote the event, so I need to get posters and flyers designed in a hurry.

As I did my work today, I had the TV on and watched as the miners were being rescued from the collapsed copper mine in Chile. I wish there were more events like this that had the power to bring the entire world together. Today, it didn't matter what country you were from, or what your political persuasion happened to be. Everyone around the world was united in the hope that all 33 miners would make it out safely. Events like this don't happen very often. The first moon landing was similar to this. During the height of the cold war, even the Russians had best wishes for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they set foot on the lunar surface. Sadly, this will all be forgotten in a week or so and everyone will go back to squabbling again.

The days are really getting shorter now. I remember that last week when we took the dogs to their Wednesday training class, there was still a bit of daylight left. Tonight it was dark. Maybe we left for class a bit later than usual, but still it seemed like a big change for just one week. When the time changes soon, it will be even darker. Dash does better in the daylight, but we're going to have to deal with what we've got. It's not going to be daylight during class again for a long time.

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Day 301

I've noticed that the Coots and Double Crested Cormorants have returned to the lake for the winter. The White Pelicans and Wood Ducks can't be far behind. I can't even remember how many times I've witnessed these seasonal migrations. I've lived by the lake for a long time. This is probably my favorite time of year. The days are crisp and cool and it is actually pleasant to open the windows.

When the birds return for the Winter, I know we're on the home stretch to finish up another year. I'm through with dealing with air conditioner repairmen for a while. Now, I can start calling furnace repairmen instead. The holidays are almost here as well. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all seem to run together these day. It's like they have become one long extended holiday. Already, I see stores filled with stuff for celebrating all three holidays.

I wonder if I've accomplished anything worth celebrating this year. It's harder to tell than it used to be. I'm certainly busier than I ever was, but I don't have clearly defined goals anymore. Mostly, my goal is just to make it through the day. Bills get paid. Dogs find new homes. Periodically, new websites appear. There are very few surprises. I've gone through periods where I thought this sort of life was hopelessly boring. Maybe it's not though. I think that writing the blog has helped me realize that things actually do happen to me every day. I just had to write them down to notice.

I've got poison ivy again. This is another seasonal event that is almost as predictable as the return of the Double Crested Cormorants. I always forget that the urushiol oil which causes all the itching is very stable. It's usually still active even when the plants are turning yellow and dying. Luckily, the season is just about over. Even if I'm forgetful, this is probably my last case of poison ivy for the year.

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Day 300 - Columbus Day

Columbus Day is certainly an odd little holiday. I always totally forget about it until I go out to check the mail after lunch and discover that there isn't any. Many people I know aren't quite sure why this day is celebrated at all, and among those who do know, most are opposed to it. I just don't like postal holidays, because I enjoy getting the mail.

The Paypal folks are letting me test some of their latest donation widgets on the blog. I added a brand new "Giving Widget" they are developing today and it seems like a fabulous idea for any sort of charity. The neat thing about this widget is that it can easily be shared. All you do is click on the "add to site" button and you can easily add a fully functioning duplicate of the widget on your own website or blog. I hope you guys will try this widget out, and if you are interested in helping animals, will consider adding it to your own blogs. Give a few dollars to the Dalmatians too. They could certainly use your help.

I had some sticky buns we got at the auction Saturday night for breakfast this morning. Man, those ladies can cook! These were the best tasting sweet rolls I've ever had. No wonder the cakes and pies were getting higher bids than the jewelry and craft items.

I'm still getting used to Twitter. I don't really know what to Tweet about on days like today. Do people really want to know that nothing is happening? I've already learned one thing though. It's a lot easier to get followers on Twitter than it is on a blog. Every day there seems to be a few more. Maybe someday I'll say something memorable enough to get re-tweeted. It probably won't be any time soon though.

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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Day 299

The casino party last night was interesting. We drove 75 miles north of Dallas to a small town near the Oklahoma border to participate in a fundraiser for a member of the community who needed brain surgery. She had no insurance. The entire town was rallying behind this woman to help her get the $300,000 surgery she needed. A couple in town who adopted a Dalmatian from us a few years ago asked Dalmatian Rescue if we could help with the event. I didn't know what to expect, but the evening was quite enjoyable. The little town had no less than three authentic pit barbecue restaurants and one of them served a delicious dinner at the event. After dinner, the casino party began and everyone seemed to have a good time. When the gambling concluded around 10 PM, a live auction began. People in the community had donated beautiful hand made quilts and crafts for the auction, along with a ton of delicious looking baked goods.

A local livestock auctioneer conducted the auction and everyone in the room acted like they'd been to plenty of auctions before. The bidding was fast and furious. Oddly, the beautiful quilts and craft items didn't get nearly as much attention from the bidders as the food. People even bid on the leftovers from the barbecue dinner. I ended up having the winning bid on a gorgeous custom made hunting knife by Texas knifemaker Rorick Davis. I was amazed that the bidding didn't go higher on this beauty and I ended getting the knife for less than folks were bidding on the pecan pies. This was definitely a town that loved to eat. By the end of the evening, people were even bidding on potato salad and leftover barbecue sauce. I love little towns like this. In Dallas, it's easy to forget you're actually living in Texas. It's just another big city. Spend some time in Lindsay though and you'll know exactly where you are. It might be fun to go back next Summer for the annual tractor pull.

We have a new dog up at the K-9 University kennels now. His name is Neo and he's a rare lemon spotted Dalmatian. Most Dalmatians have black and white spots, although it's not that uncommon to see the liver spotted variety with brown and white spots. Lemon Dals have yellow ocher spots. I've only seen a few of these dogs, and they are usually quite striking.

I don't know what's happened with Dash. He was doing so well in the car earlier this Summer and now he seems to have regressed. We took advantage of the great weather and took the dogs up to the Wagging Tail dog park this afternoon. Dash whined and whimpered the entire way.

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