Saturday, April 30, 2011

Day 501

Focus. Focus. Focus. I've really got to focus on the important things. I went back and forth all day between chores like learning how to export Photoshop files with the correct type of alpha channel and figuring how to attach an external microphone to my iPhone to deciding what kind of shoes to wear on my trip. Probably the shoes are really the important thing. All my comfortable shoes look like shit because I walk dogs in them day after day. All my good looking shoes hurt my feet, since I hardly ever wear them. I can't really wear an old pair of hiking boots with a good suit. I still haven't decided what to do, since I'll be on my feet all day at the booth and I'll also probably have to dress up like the rest of my client's team.

After running around town again this morning, I finally have the Plan B that I need for the video shoot. I'm always nervous having just one camera. I've been looking for a way to use my iPhone as a backup video camera. The little phone takes some great looking HD video, but the sound has always been a problem. After visiting the Apple Store, Radio Shack and Fry's Electronics, I finally was able to assemble the right selection of cables and adapters that let me patch a good quality professional microphone straight into the iPhone headphone socket. Amazingly, the Rube Goldberg contraption works great. I made a quick little test video while I was eating lunch and was really pleased at the sound quality. The main Plan A camera has even better sound, so I'm feeling pretty good about the video part of my assignment now. Ironically, using a small unobtrusive camera requires a huge tangle of cables and adapters that almost defeats the whole purpose of taking the little camera in the first place. Too bad they aren't just hiring me to take pretty pictures. It's the audio side of things that's starting to weigh me down. I finally got everything to fit in the PortaBrace bag though, so it's on to other things now.

Janet and I still need to go and be roulette dealers later this evening at the Dalmatian Rescue casino party. I'm hoping to get my suitcase packed before we go. If I wait till after we get home to pack, I'm going to be so tired that I'll just start throwing things in the suitcase and wind up in Houston with two left shoes and no underwear.

It's starting to rain again too. This wasn't part of the plan. I hate leaving rainwater on the roof all week because there's sure to be a leak in the living room when I return. You can't stop the rain though. I'm just glad we aren't having tornadoes here in Dallas like they are in other parts of the country.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Friday, April 29, 2011

Day 500

Janet and I went to the Stern Monroe reunion this evening. It was nice to see some of my old ad agency friends again. It would have been even nicer if I remembered who everybody was. Hey, it's been a long time. I don't even remember what I used to work on at Stern Monroe. About the only clear memory I have of the place was sitting in the agency conference room and watching the space shuttle Challenger blow up as a group of us watched the launch on TV. Yes, it was that long ago.

I'm terrible at reunions. I usually just stand around and wait until somebody recognizes me. I have trouble with the names and faces of people I see every day. When I'm around a group I haven't seen in twenty five years, it's hopeless. At least Tom and Larry, the agency's founders, remembered who I was. I suspect that this was only because one of the two men fired me at some point.

I actually woke up in time to see the royal wedding this morning. The ceremony was quite nice. Whenever I see things like this, it kind of makes me wish we had a king over here. All we have are people like Donald Trump and Oprah. They may think they're royalty, but they're not. Whether you like the monarchy or not, there's something to be said for a heritage that goes all the way back to 1066.

My own time frame is much shorter. I think in terms of days instead of centuries. I'm actually kind of amazed that I've managed to keep this blog going for 500 days now without missing a single post. A small accomplishment perhaps, but an accomplishment nevertheless. I guess the next big milestone is 1000 days. 1000 Days kind of sounds like a book title. Maybe if I can keep the blog going uninterrupted for 1000 days, it might actually turn into a book.

Dalmatian Rescue has another casino party tomorrow night. It's time to be a roulette dealer again. This event is one of our largest casino parties of the year. I've got to remember to get everything packed for my trip before we leave for the event. It might be good to get the blog done before the party too. I'm usually really tired when we get home from these fundraisers and my flight to Houston leaves early the next morning. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Day 499

I'm finally on the trade show team's radar. I got calls from Germany, Orlando and Houston today. Some people were wondering what I was going to be doing and other people were telling me what I am going to be doing. Some folks suggested that it would be impossible to do what I had been tasked with doing, while others though it would be a piece of cake. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that I should be prepared for anything and should definitely come to Houston with a Plan B and maybe even a Plan C.

When I wasn't on the phone or answering e-mails, I was running all over town looking for odds and ends that I know I'll need in Houston, but have run out of time to order online. I finally found an acceptably compact mic mixer at Guitar Center. It's not battery powered like I wanted, but it will work. I got a special harness at my favorite camera store that will allow me to keep the video camera around my neck while I am typing on the laptop without it dangling and getting in the way. I got some spare "just in case" cables and a bunch of batteries. I think I'm ready.

Since I was running all over town anyway, I also picked up the finished Wine on the Roof banner that will hang on the outside of the East Lake building. The large banner looks great. It was kind of amazing to me that the color on the vinyl looks exactly the same as the smaller paper posters I printed. Printing technology has really come a long way. Oh, I got a lawn mover too. The grass in the front yard is so tall now that I just couldn't put it off any longer. This time I got an electric mower because I'm tired of messing around with hard to start gasoline mowers. I never liked having gasoline around the house anyway.

I got the bill for tax preparation from my accountant today. Once again, most of my refund will go to pay for figuring out how much of a refund I got. To me, this is kind of like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering a nice meal and then watching the chef eat it. Oh well, I guess it's still better than doing my taxes myself. Janet wants to watch the royal wedding on TV. We'll set the alarm tonight, but I'm betting we both sleep through the whole thing.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Day 498

I had to renew my storage warehouse space for another year today and once again they raised the rate on my room. When I asked why they had to raise the rate every single year, the manager laughed and said I was getting off easy. "Your rate didn't go up nearly as much as some people's did this year," she said. I must have looked puzzled, so she explained "We price these units now by how much demand there is for particular units. If you have a popular size space, or are in a desirable part of the building, you're rate will go up faster than other spaces. "So, storage units are kind of like copper, or coffee, or gasoline," I said. "That's right," said the manager. "We haven't priced by the square foot for quite a while." "But you're lucky," she added. "You don't happen to have a very popular unit.

What's this world coming to? I read the other day that McDonalds doesn't have fixed prices anymore either. Prices for your Big Mac and Happy Meal go up or down on a daily basis now, based on prices in the commodities market. If the price of beef futures goes up, your burger will instantly reflect the increase. It appears that everything we buy is starting to be priced just like gasoline.

The external mic I'm going to be using with my little blogging camera at the trade show arrived today. I plugged it in and instantly noticed a big problem. Even though the sales guy promised it would work perfectly, the microphone sends out a mic level signal and the camera was expecting a much stronger line level signal. Now, I'm going to have to go out and buy a little battery powered mixer to boost the mic signal. Also, I discovered that my camera records sound at 48 khz, while all my music samples are recorded at 44.1 khz. Not a huge problem, but it means one additional step in getting the files ready to upload. Sometimes technology just drives me crazy.

At least there's nothing high-tech about dog training class. It's just a leash and a dog. Sometimes those two simple elements can be just as perplexing as the most sophisticated digital camera though. Tonight all Dash wanted to do was play with the small dogs. All I wanted to do was get back inside, because my allergies were killing me. As a result, we could hardly walk in a straight line. Throughout the evening, the other class members kept giving me tips on how to improve our performance. Jeez, couldn't they see we just needed to be left alone. Luckily, class only lasts an hour.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Day 497

Dash had his annual exam today. When I was talking with the vet about Dash's skin condition, I asked whether I should keep track of what time of year the bronzing on his coat appeared or got worse. "There isn't really an allergy season in Texas," she said. "It can be hot and dry one day and turn cool and humid the next." This is certainly true. It probably explains why I have allergies myself more or less year round. Today was certainly a good example of the unpredictable weather Texas is famous for. I'd look out the window one minute and see sunshine and blue skies. An hour later I'd look out the same window and see pouring rain with hail. Back and forth it went like this all day.

I'm feeling a little more comfortable about next week's social media assignment. I'm officially on the guest list now, so at least I'll be able to get in the convention center. I found a nifty little gizmo that lets me put my iPhone on a tripod for stable, clear video. I even found a good quality external mike that works well with my minuscule camera equipment. I still don't know what to wear though. Do I wear a nice suit like the customers buying billion dollar offshore oil platforms at the show? Or do I show up as my shabby looking self in jeans and a t-shirt. Probably a suit would be a good idea.

The animal rescue folks want to turn my Wine on the Roof poster into a giant vinyl banner to hang on the outside of their building. I took the PDF file up to my local Fastsigns store and asked how large they could make it. They said ten or fifteen feet long was a piece of cake. Cool. I always like seeing my photos very large. I also like what I'm seeing with the new TV we got the other day. I accidentally hit an unfamiliar button on the remote while I was getting dressed this morning and a large menu of Internet content appeared. It's amazing. You can get all sorts of movies, shows, radio, music, and other material straight off the Internet. It's really not a TV at all. Just like my iPhone, it's really just a computer disguised as something else.

Oh, one more thing. I had to go to this special website today and input all my contact information, so I could get a badge and credentials for the oil and gas trade show. They wanted a picture, so I used my blog profile picture with me and Dash. I'll bet I'm they only person at the show with a Dalmatian on his badge.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Monday, April 25, 2011

Day 496

More rain today. This weather is wearing me out. The days have become a blur of sweeping water off the roof, providing TLC for two storm phobic dogs, and worrying about whether the electricity will go out before I finish my next website deadline. I've banged my head so many times on a large low hanging Oak branch while I'm up on the roof that I don't think it will ever heal. The dogs seem OK now, but are so many dog blankets under my desk so they'll have a comfortable place to hide from the storms that I'm having trouble finding room for my feet.

Life goes on though. I talked to my contacts in Houston this morning and we basically decided that it would be wise to have a Plan B and perhaps even a Plan C. I'll get those videos shot and uploaded even if I have to do it from my hotel room. The good news is that I now know how to upload good looking 1080 HD video to YouTube. It took me a while to realize that the convenient little YouTube upload button Apple provides in it's Quicktime Player software wasn't getting me anywhere. It appears to upload the video, but just about when the process is finished, the dreaded spinning beachball appears along with a message that says "your upload is still being processed." That message would probably stay on your screen to the end of time if you let it. I hate to admit it, but everything worked fine when I eventually started uploading to YouTube the same way Windows users do.

After solving a bunch of trivial website problems, I went out and bought the new TV that Janet and I had been planning on getting. You don't just turn on a new TV and adjust the rabbit ears anymore. When I turned on this TV for the first time, I was greeted with a 25 step install program on the screen that took me over an hour to complete. Most of the setup procedure was pretty straightforward, but it took me quite a while to get the TV to find the office WiFi network. It always takes me a long time to hook up new things to the WiFi network because I'm continually forgetting the firewall settings on the router. All's well that ends well though. I now have a TV that can talk to my computer. Lord knows why I'd want to send an e-mail to my television, but the capability's there if I ever need it. One of the more interesting things about this TV is that it is supposed to turn itself off if nobody is in the room. I wonder if it counts dogs as people? Only Dot and Dash are in the room with the new TV this evening, and it's still on.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Day 495 - Easter

I got bit by a bear today. Bear is my neighbor's dog and he doesn't seem to like me. Ironically, the only reason I got bit was that Janet noticed two large Mastiff dogs who were running loose in the park while she was walking Dot and Dash and called me on her cell phone to come see if they were dangerous. While I was walking down to the lake to look for the loose dogs, I ran into my neighbor, who was returning home with his dogs. The neighbor dogs were on a leash and with their owner, but I got bit anyway. It wasn't a bad bite, but it certainly wasn't the best way to start off Easter Sunday.

When we took Dot and Dash to the Wagging Tail Dog Park later in the day, we saw two blind people get off a Handi-Ride bus and bring their service dogs to the dog park. When the couple took the special harnesses off the service dogs and replaced them with regular dog leashes, the two dogs immediately started acting like all the other dogs. They sniffed in the bushes, tugged on the leashes and I was afraid they might run off and leave the blind people. They never did though. I have to admire the couple for giving their service dogs a chance to act like regular dogs for a little while. I don't know where they found the nerve to do this however. All the dogs at the dog park were nice today, but some days they can get pretty rowdy.

When we got home from the dog park, I worked on a practice video, using the laptop editing software I'll be using in Houston. I thought the little video exercise would be a piece of cake, but I discovered all sorts of potential problems instead. Uploads took longer than I though. Putting together a decent music track from the small library of stock music clips I loaded on the laptop took longer than I thought too. I might have to travel with a much larger music library. At least adding graphics and logos worked as planned. I though I'd be able to get the whole segment cut and encoded in less than an hour, but it took me twice as long. I'll repeat the exercise tomorrow and see if I can come up with a smoother way of doing things.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Day 494

This is why I never seem to get caught up on things. When I got home from the grocery store today, I noticed that I didn't have everything I bought. I wish I had noticed this while I was still at the store, because it would have saved me a lot of time. All the items were on my register receipt. They just weren't in the refrigerator or on the shelf when I got everything put away. I've done this before. I'm done shopping. I load everything in the car and I accidentally leave a few things in the buggy as I drive away. If I'd just left a box of crackers in the buggy, I would have chalked it up to bad luck. This time, I left the expensive things and brought all the cheap stuff home. I drive back to the store and of course nothing was in the buggy where I left it. I wasn't even sure it was the same buggy. I go into the store and ask customer service if anyone had found my missing items in the parking lot. Of course not. The lady said they had found a box of Prilosec and a case of bottled water today. I'm just about to give up and leave when I see what looks like my items sitting in a corner on the floor. "What about those things," I inquire. We check the items and they match the items on my receipt. Mission accomplished and an afternoon wasted, all at the same time.

I also took a few little movies up at the Dalmatian Rescue kennels. I need to test the equipment that I'm planning to use at the trade show in May. The little Q3HD camera was fantastic. The movie clips were sharp and clear and the color was good. Now I need to see how long it takes to edit, add titles, music and encode the video properly for YouTube. I need to come up with a compromise that keeps the video quality good and the finished file size small. Probably the only way to do this is to keep the interviews very short. We'll see.

Another storm is rolling in as I write this. Dot is huddled under my desk on a blanket. I wish there were a way to help her overcome her storm phobia. Her paw is healing nicely, but as long as her fear of storms persists, she could easily injure herself all over again.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Friday, April 22, 2011

Day 493

Well, I'm ready now for my new role as a roving Internet journalist. I found the 4G hotspot I wanted. It wasn't at the AT&T store. It was at the T-Mobile store across the street. Those guys shouldn't have put the hard sell on me yesterday. I probably wouldn't have even discovered the T-Mobile store if the AT&T guys hadn't been so pushy. All's well that ends well though. I ended up getting a 4G hotspot that five devices can hook up to, along with unlimited file transfer and no contract for less than AT&T was charging for a 5 GB file transfer limit with a two year contract.

The little hotspot fits in my pocket and works like a charm. Best of all, I can even use it with my iPad and iPhone. Now that I know I'll be able to upload something at the conference, it's time to figure out exactly what I'm going to be uploading. There are a lot of nifty little HD cameras that record to memory cards and save files in the native YouTube format. Sound is going to be the big hurdle. Since I will be doing mostly on the spot interviews, I will need to have good quality sound. I'm looking for a little inexpensive camera that has an external line or mic input, so I can use a better quality microphone. I still don't know if they'll let me in the building yet, but I definitely think I'm making progress on everything else.

Dot got her bandage off this afternoon, but she still can't do anything strenuous for the next three or four days or the wound might reopen. She seems completely back to normal and doesn't appear to be in any pain. It's going to be hard to keep her quiet for another three days. It's hard to get used to the appearance of her paw too. One toenail is completely gone, so the whole paw looks out of balance. Hopefully the nail will grow back in a couple of months.

It's hard to believe that Easter is this Sunday. The entire year has gone by in a blur. It's time for Dash to have his annual exam again next week. It's time for me to renew my drivers license. I hope I can do that online, since I hate to stand in those long lines at the DMV. I guess it's time to buy another lawnmower too. The grass in the front yard is starting to look pretty shabby and I still haven't been able to get the old mower to start. It's always something, isn't it. Maybe I'll make a little test video of the Dalmatians this weekend to see how long it take to upload things to YouTube. My grand plan of uploading straight from the conference exhibit hall isn't going to work very well if the video files take an hour to upload. I'm still not really sure how fast 4G is. The sales guys say it is five times faster than 3G. It would be nice if this were actually true.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Day 492

For the second time this week I went to the AT&T store to buy a 4G dongle for my laptop. And for the second time this week, I walked away with nothing. All I wanted was the 4G dongle, but the sales guy kept trying to get me to switch my home phones, internet and TV from the cable company to their own U-verse system. The sales guy didn't even seem to listen when I told him that several years ago a technician had already been out to my house and told me that my house couldn't be hooked up to a fiber optic network because the wiring was too old. He didn't seem to listen when I told him that several of my neighbors had already tried U-verse and hated it so much that they made the phone company take it out again. All he kept telling me was how much money I'd save if I switched and that he'd throw the dongle I wanted in for free if I signed up for U-verse today.

I hate high pressure sales pitches. Just put a price on it and let me decide. If I've got a question, I'll ask you, but you're not ever going to get me to make a decision on the spot. In fact, the more often you go back and talk to your manager to see if you can make me a special one day only deal, the less likely it is that I'll buy anything at all.

I'm still not even sure if I'll have any use for this high speed Internet hotspot. I got a message from my client in Germany today telling me that "Yes, I will definitely be taking photos and video at their booth during the oil and gas conference." Then I looked at the conference website again and it still said "All photography and video recording are strictly forbidden." This ought to be interesting.

Ill be happy to get Dot's bandage off tomorrow, so she can walk normally again. It takes a lot longer to walk and take care of two Dalmatians separately than it does when they're together. Dash seems to like being walked all by himself, but Dot is starting to hate the bandage. I don't blame her. It's been so wet lately that I have to put a thick plastic baggie over the bandage whenever I take her outside. Needless to say, the bag doesn't stay on very well when she sees a squirrel in the yard.

I just noticed that I now have over 1000 Twitter followers. What does one do with 1000 Twitter followers? Twitter is still a bit of a mystery to me. It seems like it ought to be useful, but I still haven't figured out what to do with it.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Day 491

I can't believe it. I was doing some online research today to familiarize myself with the conference I'm supposed to cover this May and I came across a small little paragraph at the bottom of one of the websites I was reading that said "Photography and video/audio recording of any kind are strictly prohibited in the sessions and throughout the exhibition area." What? Photography and video recording are what I have been hired to do! I quickly called one of my contacts in Houston to find out what was going on. They thanked me for pointing out this alarming little tidbit of information and said they knew nothing about it. This isn't a good sign!

It also wasn't a good sign that my Apple stock reached a new high today several days after I sold it. My broker convinced me to sell the shares based on the Nasdaq 100 rebalancing that takes place on May 2. It seemed logical that the stock should go down if its weight in the Nasdaq index decreases from 20% to 12%. Unfortunately, nothing is entirely logical about the market these days. I think that nobody even buys and sell stock anymore except for short-term traders who are trying to game the system. It's really frustrating.

Dash seemed a little frustrated at training class tonight. Dot is still recovering from her injury and Dash had to go to class alone. This may have been the only time he's ever been to class without Dot, and he seemed nervous. He actually did all the training exercises pretty well, but he was definitely glad to be home again after class was over. Both dogs are more comfortable when the entire family is together.

I'll be a little more comfortable when I find out whether my client is able to resolve the no photography issue at the Houston oil and gas conference. I'd really hate to see the job canceled at this point, especially after I've already had to go out and buy equipment to cover the event.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Day 490

We had a little emergency today. Dot has a terrible phobia of storms and when we were returning from our evening walk, she saw a couple of lightning bolts off in the distance and panicked. I could barely hold on to both dogs as she tugged on the leash to get up the hill to our house as fast as she could. When I was taking her leash off in the hallway, I noticed blood all over the floor. Dot had completely pulled out one of the nails in her front paw. She was still so upset about the approaching storm that she didn't even notice that anything was wrong. Luckily, our vet is nearby and it only took a few minutes to get her to the hospital so they could stop the bleeding. Dot now has a big bandage on her left foot and a toenail that may or may not grow back. Just about all Dot's injuries have come from being overly excited. Sometimes I wish she was a calmer dog, but she probably never will be. Excitability is just part of her personality.

The publisher of Dallas Dog Life gave me some sample copies of their new 2011 resource guide today. The ad that I ran in the magazine looks great, but I'll be amazed if it brings me any new business. I've run ads for my company in all sorts of magazines over the years, but none of them have really been game changers. Word of mouth still works best for me. I believe in advertising, but I'll be the first to to admit that a good recommendation from the right person can be worth more than five glossy magazine ads.

Slowly but surely, I'm getting all the details worked out for my upcoming trip to Houston. I've got a hotel now. I've got my airline reservations. I've just about decided what equipment I need to take. Now I just need to figure out what is actually going to be happening at the conference.

I know one thing that won't be happening tomorrow. Dot won't be going to training class. She needs to take things easy for a few days and give herself a chance to heal. I just hope we don't have any more rain this week.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Monday, April 18, 2011

Day 489

I'm making progress. I got two big website projects finished today, which brings me more or less up-to-date with everyone. With the help of my client, I also got a hotel room in Houston reasonably close to Reliant Park where the Offshore Technology Conference takes place. Now, I need to figure out whether I'm supposed to provide my own Internet hotspot, or if there will already be adequate bandwidth available for video uploads at the conference. Oh, I've got to make airline reservations too. I can't forget that.

It was kind of weird to be making arrangements with corporate types as I was washing dog pee out of the painted backdrop I used at yesterday's Easter pet photo event. That's my life though. The corporate jobs pay my bills. And the dog pee keeps me humble.

The house looks a lot better now that all the bulky photo gear has been carted off to the storage warehouse again. I think next on the agenda is to get a decent night's sleep. The dog's woke me up three or four times last night because they never could decide which side of the bed they wanted to sleep on. Once again, it was a car crash in the middle of the night that woke the dogs up. This wreck must not have been a bad one though. I thought I heard a horn blaring for a while, and a bit later the sounds of a wrecker towing a car away, but that was it. This morning, when I looked out in the front yard, there were no signs that anything had happened. Maybe I just imagined the whole thing.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Day 488

Where did the weekend go? It's too bad that tomorrow isn't a holiday, because it would be nice to have another day to rest up from this weekend's pet picture marathon. Although we didn't take nearly as many pictures as we did during last Easter's pet picture event, the whole thing seemed just as tiring. With each passing year, the equipment seems to grow heavier and heavier. No complaints though. Dalmatian Rescue made some good contacts for future events, and we all enjoyed meeting the newest members of our rescue program. We picked up another dog today from Denton Animal Control. The new girl's name is Bella and she was an instant hit with everyone in the store.

It's too bad it is so hard to find a venue for these pet picture events, because our little team has become quite good at them. We take credit cards on our iPhones. We have a large flat panel display showing pictures from previous photo events. We can print everything for our customers right on the spot, including T-shirts and tote bags. We've become pros.

I really hope I can connect with my client's contacts in Houston tomorrow, so I can finally make my hotel and plane reservations for the upcoming May trade show. The event is getting closer and closer and nothing has been finalized yet. It's weird. I can't turn the TV on for ten minutes without seeing one of those ads for Travelocity or Expedia claiming to make travel easy and cheap. Whenever I try to use these services however, they always come up with nothing. I still have more faith in my client finding me a room than I have in Travelocity.

Once again I have a big pile of photo equipment just waiting for me to trip over it in the front hallway. I'll need to take that stuff back to the storage warehouse tomorrow morning. Then we can move on to other things, like fixing the website I was supposed to finish last Friday.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Day 487

Our Easter pet picture event started out kind of slow this morning, but picked up as the day progressed. This is typical of a new location. People don't know what to expect. Everyone was very happy with their pictures today and asked when we were coming back again. This is always a good sign. Hopefully, the next time we come back for holiday pet pictures, today's customers will have told their friends and we'll have a larger crowd.

It was a good day for Dalmatian Rescue. We made some new friends at the photo event, but more importantly, Pringles got adopted today. We also rescued a new dog named Becker from the Tri-Cities animal shelter. Becker is a handsome, young liver spotted Dalmatian and he's today's Dalmatian of the Day.

We're going back for a second day of pictures at the City Vet location tomorrow, so I didn't have to lug all my equipment home tonight. With the set already in place, tomorrow's shoot will be easier.

There were a few minor casualties today, but nothing major. Two dogs peed on the backdrop, so I'm going to have to take it to one of those giant commercial washers when this is over and clean it up again. Another memory card got fried again too. I've got to figure out what is causing these CompactFlash cards to go bad. They've come down in price a lot, but they're still too expensive to lose one every time I do one of these events.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Friday, April 15, 2011

Day 486

I had to check my calendar today to make sure it wasn't National Website Problem Day. Everyone had a problem today. Some of the problems were small and insignificant, while others were so large that I felt like throwing my hands in the air and walking away. The trouble with website work is that although it doesn't pay very well, it is still very time consuming. I need to figure out a way to revive my video production business. In retrospect, that was a much better way to make a living. Unfortunately, video production work doesn't pay as well as it used to either. Once people discovered that they could buy one of those little inexpensive Flip cameras and do everything themselves, the whole process of putting corporate videos on the web changed dramatically.

Someone mentioned to me today that we are doing our Easter pet pictures tomorrow right in the middle of the largest Jewish community in Dallas. Maybe if we made little Yarmulkes for the dogs. I don't know. Hopefully, people will still come and have their dog's picture made even if they don't celebrate Easter.

I didn't really feel like celebrating much of anything today. I'm just tired. The day started with sweeping tons of water off the roof from last's night's big thunderstorm and it hasn't ended yet. All the website problems I had to deal with today slowed me down quite a bit. Yesterday, all I thought I'd be doing today was taking some employee pictures at one of my client's offices. I did get the pictures taken this afternoon, but I still haven't found time to get them up on the website yet.

As soon as I publish today's blog post, I've got to start packing up all my gear for tomorrow's pet picture event. I need to be at the store to set up at 9 AM. That means I'm going to have to start drinking a lot of coffee at 6 AM. Wish me luck.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Day 485

I went to the AT&T store today to see if they had practical a way I could upload really large video files straight from my laptop while I'm in Houston next month. They did have a nifty little 4G dongle that would provide me with the speed I require, but the only way they would sell it was with a two year contract. They had another broadband dongle that featured a pay as you go 3G plan, but it was too slow. When I was complaining to the salesperson that I already received three AT&T bills every month and didn't really want to add a fourth, he seized on the opportunity to try and sell me on scrapping everything and having the house wired for fiber. Usually I hate these hard sell pitches, but the price for switching everything from a combination of copper wire landlines and cable to a single fiber optic system looked pretty good. If the system worked, I would save a considerable amount of money. That's the problem. I wouldn't really know whether it worked until I had it installed. We have friends who have these U-verse fiber optic systems who tell me they only work reliably about half the time.

Everything is complicated these days. I've been having some problems with side effects from one of the new medications my doctor put me on recently. My solution would be to just stop taking the medicine. I felt fine before I started taking it, and now I wake up every morning feeling like shit. My doctor didn't agree though. He wants me to cut the pills in half and just take half as much of the medicine. He said my body just wasn't used to the medicine yet. Maybe. I have a feeling though that I'll still wake up half the time feeling like shit.

My taxes are finally done and ready to mail. Oops, I forgot. You can't mail your taxes anymore. Everything is e-filed now. Even the refund, if you get one, is deposited directly in your bank account. This is probably the last year that I'll take my big ring binders full of records and receipts over to my accountant. Next year, he told me to just e-mail him my Quickbooks files.

Everyone really liked the finished poster at the animal rescue meeting tonight, although one person was a bit worried that Peta was going to get after us for putting lipstick on a cat.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Day 484

I received another non-disclosure agreement in the mail today. That's always a good thing, because it usually means that projects have progressed from the talking about things stage to the actually doing things stage. I've signed so many of these agreements over the years that it's amazing I am still able to talk about anything at all. That's the good thing about dogs. You can write or say anything you want about dogs and the dogs don't really care.

After breakfast this morning, I had to go to the frame store and get some things dry mounted. I like this store, because they'll do little things like this while I wait. I've noticed that the waiting part of "while you wait" keeps getting longer though. The person doing the framing and dry mounting had to come out and run the cash register whenever a customer came in the store. It took me an hour and a half to get the dry mounting done. Getting watch batteries replaced or changing the oil in my car seems to take longer now as well. Nobody seems to hire enough staff anymore. Everywhere I go, there are just a few stressed out people trying to do the work of all the other people that got laid off to keep the companies profitable.

Luckily, haircuts are still done on a while you wait basis. I went to Northpark this afternoon and got a haircut so I would look halfway decent for our big Dalmatian Rescue pet photo event this weekend. After Betty finished with my hair, I did a little shopping in the mall before I went home. As I was leaving, a salesperson asked me if I wanted him to accompany me to the car with my purchase. Weird! Nobody has ever asked me that in a shopping mall before. In my mind, it kind of confirmed some of the rumors that I've been hearing about the mall having problems with increasing gang activity.

I don't know where I'm going to stay in Houston. I just kind of assumed that I would be staying at the same hotel where my client was staying, but when I called to make reservations today, I discovered that the place is booked solid for the entire week. Two hotels nearby are booked solid too. This means that I'm going to have to spend considerable time tomorrow looking for hotels instead of designing websites like I should be.

Dash didn't do that well in training class tonight. Maybe his allergies were bothering him just as much as mine were. He didn't win any ribbons this evening, but if they were giving ribbons for barking, he would have gotten first place.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Day 483

Yay! I got the big trade show job in Houston next month. The project has already changed shape several times since I submitted my initial bid, but it's still a fabulous project for a very large company. I'll need to buy some new equipment to do the job properly, but I needed some new equipment anyway. It's a good investment. When friends ask why I've been spending so much time on blogs and Facebook and other social media destinations lately, this is probably the reason. Two years ago I didn't even know what social media was. Now, I'm getting hired to provide social media coverage of events. This seems like a good investment too.

The Wine on the Roof poster is finally done. Yay again. If you've been following this story, you'll notice that this thing has changed shape a few times as well. Now, it's a much more literal interpretation of the original Gone with the Wind movie poster. I had my doubts that I'd even get the three foot long poster printed today, because my printer is genuinely on its last legs. All's well that ends well though. In the process of printing the poster today, I finally found out what is wrong with my printer. Evidently the print head overheats and shuts the printer down with an error message when there is no ink inside the head. Ink serves a dual purpose of coloring the picture and cooling the print head. The fix for this problem? Well, it's either a simple $150 service call to reattach some loose wires, or $1100 and up for a brand new print head and pump. Unfortunately, the repairman has to come out and take the printer apart to see whether I got lucky or not. The printer is so old that I don't think it's worth it to spend a fortune replacing all the internal parts. Jeez, I've already done that with the Defender 90 and that's enough. I'm always up for reattaching loose wires though, so I'll probably have the guy come out and take a look. I wish someone would invent a small, cheap printer that would make very large, expensive looking prints. In my experience, almost all current large format printers are way more trouble than they're worth.

I saw an amphibious car when I was walking the dogs at the lake today. It's really strange to be walking along and see a half submerged convertible glide by you on the water. I don't remember the brand of the car, but I recall seeing pictures of one that looked like this. They were made in the 1960's and look kind of like a bathtub with wheels. A mile or so down the trail I saw something even stranger. It was a big two foot square sign featuring one of those square bar code thingies that are starting to pop up everywhere. All the sign said was "scan this for more information." I didn't scan the sign. Actually, I didn't even bring my phone with me. I hate to get calls when I'm walking.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Monday, April 11, 2011

Day 482

My life has become a numbers game. I had a meeting with my financial adviser today and we pored over charts and graphs, trying to decide what to do next. What happens if Bernanke discontinues quantitative easing this Summer? What are we going to do if congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling later this year? There are dozens of these scenarios and nobody really knows the answer to any of them. It's getting harder and harder to invest sensibly because, although almost everybody seems to agree that the country is going bankrupt and disaster is on the horizon, nobody has a clue when the curtain is actually going to fall. I'm convinced that the only reason the market is still doing OK is that a lot of people think they're smart enough to keep making profits now while the momentum is going in their direction and then jump ship at the last possible second. I don't think I'm smart enough to time things this precisely, but I haven't jumped ship yet.

Going to the doctor is another numbers game. We look over lab reports and decide what to do if liver enzyme levels are elevated or viral loads have decreased. There are so many different cholesterol levels to check, it makes your head spin. Now, there a new complication, since blood glucose levels have to be tracked as well. Lab reports are occasionally completely wrong too. I get tired of the number game, but what else is there? You can't really predict the future, but when it comes down to life, death or picking up aluminum cans on the side of the road, you've got to make an effort.

Even my online activities have become a numbers game. I used to spend a lot of time talking with people online. Even though it was mostly typing, I had the distinct feeling that a conversation was taking place. Now that I'm busier, a little more tired, and am an active blogger as well, I barely have time to conduct a one way conversation. I write. I publish. And I check my stats. That's it. When the number go up, it makes me think that someone's out there listening, but I'm never really sure.

Number can be deceiving. Will bacon really kill me? Do people enjoy reading about my life with dogs? Should I sell my Apple shares while I've still got a profit? I just look at the numbers and wonder. My watch of the day used to belong to Alice Cooper. I wouldn't mind having that guy's numbers. School's Out was recorded in 1972 and I still hear it on the radio today. Took him a while, but he even made it into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame last month.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Day 481

We went looking at televisions this afternoon. I actually thought we'd come home with one, but we didn't. One thing I learned today is that most electronics retailers like Fry's and Best Buy don't actually stock the cool new models that get all the good reviews on the Internet. Instead, they have a lot of slightly older models that they are trying to get rid of. There must be a larger profit margin on the really huge flat screens too. There were tons of TV out there that wouldn't even fit through our front door, but not nearly as wide a selection of the smaller 32 inch models we were looking for. When you ask which TV is they most reliable, dependable model, the salespeople don't even know anymore. They just try to sell you an extended warranty package and say you can bring it back if anything goes wrong. Quality has essentially become a function of service these days and seems to have less and less to do with the product itself. Maybe I'll just buy a TV online. I already buy just about everything else online anyway.

It's weird. I'm always the first to lament the demise of small businesses around town, but my buying habits are probably exactly why many small businesses are having trouble. It's just so much easier to buy online. You don't have to fight the traffic and there is generally no sales tax. Just click your mouse a few times and a few days the FedEx guy delivers your order to your front door.

It was nice dog walking weather today. Almost every time I walk the dogs in the park, I see something that I can't really explain. Today I saw two uniformed state game wardens sitting on top of a hill in their green four wheel drive pickup, looking out over the lake with high powered binoculars. I don't know what they were looking for. I looked in the same general direction and all I saw were two people flying kites and a guy taking pictures of wildflowers. I certainly didn't see any wild animals, although there are plenty living in the park. Maybe there's a problem that I'm not aware of. With the diverse crowd that frequents the park on weekends now, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if someone weren't picking off the large turtles one by one and using them to make turtle soup.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Day 480

The Dalmatians in the rescue program seem to be finding their forever homes a bit faster this year. Remember Blossom? She went to her new home today. It really wasn't that long ago when I took Blossom's picture and made her the Dalmatian of the Day. It's nice that these dogs are finding homes quickly, because there is always a new dog entering the program. We got another new dog today. Her name is Livy and she's today's Dalmatian of the Day. Like many rescue dogs, Livy was an owner surrender. It's sad that pets have become a throw away item these days for many people. A new baby arrives, or a family gets transferred to another part of the country and the dog goes to the animal shelter. We'll make sure that Livy gets a better home this time.

When I was walking Dot and Dash this afternoon, I noticed two police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck down by the lake. Something was wrong. Nobody seemed to care though. There were several groups of picnickers within twenty feet of all the commotion and they just continued to eat as if nothing happened. It was a strange day at the lake. On the way home I saw a car driving down one of the narrow bicycle paths. This isn't allowed at all, but when the car drove right past another parked police car, the police did nothing at all. I guess the police had bigger fish to fry than a car on the bike path today.

I filled up my tank on the way home from the grocery store. Yikes! Gas is getting pretty pricey these days. I don't think I've ever paid more than this to fill up my tank. Well, actually, I have paid more, but it was a different tank. Once I had a one ton F-350 dually pickup with a diesel engine and two gas tanks. You wouldn't want to be facing $4.00 per gallon gas with that thing.

Dalmatian of the Day

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