Day 16

It really didn't seem that long ago that we were awaiting the arrival of a new millenium. Ten years ago tonight, I was optimistically awaiting the year 2000. In 1999, even the Tech Bubble hadn't crashed yet. The Internet was the new frontier and there was money to be made everywhere. In 1999, we toasted in the new year with Dom Pérignon. In 2009, we bought a bottle of Cristalino at Sam's Club. I never dreamed the entire decade would be such a downhill slide. My health deteriorated. My wealth deteriorated. Almost everything I thought was a sure thing in 1999 has been turned upside down.

Greta died in 2004. Petey died a few years later in 2006. Animal companions weren't the only losses however. I also ended the decade with far fewer human friends than I started out with.

There's not much point in looking back though. I'm not Dr. Who. Even though I ocassionally wish I could go back in time, I can't. You've got to keep looking forward. There's really no other choice. Who knows. Maybe I'll learn to text next year. Then again, maybe I won't. The way I see things, I'm texting right now. What would be the point of writing shorter, more garbled prose from a mobile phone?

I know it is going to be a better year in 2010 for three Dalmatians. We went down to VCA Loop 12 and took pictures today of Humphrey, Spot and Nick so we could add these new orphans to the Dalmatian Rescue website and find them a home. Maybe finding homes for dogs is as good as it's going to get. Not a bad life really. And on that note, a wish a very Happy New Year to anyone who might be reading this.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 15

I don't think anyone is reading this blog. How would they even find it? Sometimes when I'm bored, I click on the "next blog" button at the top of my Blogger layout, just to see what's out there. It's amazing. There must be millions of blogs. So many people with something to say. Blogging is all about sharing, but I'm not even sure who I'm talking to.

Basically, there are two types of people in the world. First, there are the searchers. These are the people who spend their lives looking for meaning. They're always looking for something more. They read a lot of books, they travel, they take classes on just about any subject imaginable. Then, they go to Starbucks and compare notes with other searchers. Searchers are not usually happy people, but they are almost always interesting.

The second type of people are the believers. These people have already found what they are looking for and are determined to share their revelations with the rest of the world. Obviously, a lot of believers are religious, but the world of the believer goes far beyond traditional religion. Non-smokers are believers. So are runners. Vegans are believers. People on both sides of the abortion issue tend to be believers. Interestingly, most believers didn't start out as searchers. True believers had the answer they wanted all along.

I don't know where I stand. I like bacon, but I certainly don't believe in it. I find a certain pleasure in learning new things, but most things I've learned I just stumbled into. I've never spent time actively searching for them. This new "social Internet" that everyone keeps talking about seems ideal for both searchers and believers. They can Twitter about their Facebook pages until their heart's content. I still don't get it. The social Internet seems as awkward to me as one of those tiny cell phones with even tinier buttons that are impossible to see. I've never really believed in anything and I think I stopped searching years ago. I'm just an observer these days, seeing the world at a distance through thick glass.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 14

Don't count on a dog to get you up in the morning. I didn't set the alarm last night and the dogs didn't wake me up until almost 9 AM. By the time I fed Dot and Dash their breakfast, walked them in the park, made some pancakes for myself and did the dishes, it was time for lunch.

Spent the afternoon updating various websites I manage and learning how to use a new printer. This printer will print directly on printable CD's and DVD's, which looks a lot more professional than the paper labels I've been using. I got my company added to the Cvent Supplier Network. Hopefully, being a vendor on their website will bring in some additional event photography business.

The year-end East Lake Pet Orphanage meeting was this evening. I can't even remember how long I've been working with this group, but I'm still amazed at how successful it has become. The Internet wasn't always as important to the group as it is now. Animal Rescue used to be about taking three or four dogs to a local Petsmart on a Saturday afternoon. Now it's about Facebook and Twitter and putting video clips of all the adoptable pets on the website. I'm the technology guy, and I can't even keep up with it all anymore.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 13

I looked up this morning while I was eating breakfast and noticed that another roof leak had appeared on the living room ceiling. Roof leaks have become the bane of my existence. Let me warn you. If you have your heart set on an authentic mid-century modern home, you can expect the roof to leak. Flat roofs just leak. There's nothing you can do about it. I own two mid-century modern homes and one roof or the other is always leaking. Mid-century Modern certainly doesn't mean "new" anymore. Both of these houses are old enough to be featured on This Old House. If the roof isn't leaking, the plumbing is.

I used to do things with friends. Now, I have become a full-time servant to inanimate objects. If you like stuff, eventually the stuff overwhelms you. It's hard to remember a day where something I needed wasn't broken. The Epson 4000 printer in the office seems to have perpetual ink clogs. There's almost always a watch that needs a battery replaced. Some things break because you use them too often and other things break because you don't use them often enough. You can't win. When the weather is too cold, I worry that the vintage guitars in my storage warehouse are going to crack and get ruined. When the weather gets too hot, I worry that my aging Defender 90 is going to overheat and leave me stranded somewhere. I'll really be stranded too, since I don't have a cell phone anymore. I used to have a cell phone that I really liked. This reliable, brick like, Oki 900 felt like a proper full-sized phone in my hand and had a keypad I could actually see. I used it until it became difficult to find batteries. Like many new technologies, this phone became obsolete long before I fully learned how to use it's many features.

 

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

 

Day 12

Nothing is easy anymore.  I stopped by my vet on the way home from walking the rescue Dalmatians to get some more food for Dash. Like many Dalmatians, Dash needs a low purine diet. We're been feeding him Hills u/d and I pick up a large bag about every three weeks. I've always thought the u/d prescription diet was a common item, since there were bags and bags of the stuff every time I needed some. Now, it is apparently a special order item, since even smaller businesses have discovered the benefits of inventory control. Damn!  One more thing to add to a growing list of things I need to plan for in advance.

It's irritating how much the world has changed in the past ten years. Not that long ago, the rent property I own in Oak Lawn always had a waiting list of people wanting to lease the place. I just assumed that it was always going to be this way. The building was designed by Bud Oglesby and won a major AIA Award the year after it was built. It's a beautiful place in a desirable part of town. Nevertheless, for the first time I can remember, the property has sat vacant for months. Tastes have changed. People want something larger. They want two bathrooms. They want a laundry room. Oddly, these things never mattered before during boom times. In the middle of an economic depression however, they seem to be deal breakers.

My doctor wants to do a EGD test on me this coming Wednesday. I can't even find anyone to drive me to the hospital. It's kind of pathetic. We start out in life with dozens, even hundreds, of friends that we mostly take for granted. By the time we arrive at the other end of life's journey, we're lucky if we have even one or two real friends left.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 11

Got up early this morning to take Janet to the airport for her flight to Pittsburgh. We arrived with over an hour to spare, but when we went to check her bags at the lower level of Terminal B at DFW, the skycap said we were two minutes too late for her flight and that the bags would have to fly to Pittsburgh on a later flight. It didn't matter that we were standing in line behind a family on a ski vacation with over a dozen bags who were totally confused about their flight arrangements. The skycap said there was nothing he could do. I remember a day, not that long ago, when there would have been at least three skycaps at the express check-in counter and things like this wouldn't have been a problem. Flying is always a problem these days. When my Dad was alive, he missed his plane several times because they made him take his shoes off at security and he couldn't get them on again fast enough to make it to his gate.  The man was 80 for Christ sake! This is just the way the airlines are these days. So, when Janet gets to Pittsburgh, she has two choices - wait four hours for her bags to arrive on the next flight or pay $85 to have American Airlines deliver them two days later.

I'm glad I stayed in Dallas.  All I have to do today is walk and feed the dogs and watch the latest episode of "Dr. Who" on BBC this evening.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 10 (Christmas Day)

Heard on the radio this morning that this is the first White Christmas Dallas has seen in over 80 years.  I've lived here a long time and I certainly have never seen another one. It was actually quite pretty outside. When we woke up this morning, the sky was clear and blue and a blanket of snow still covered the meadow behind our house. After opening gifts and giving our two dogs a walk in the snow, we went up to K-9 University to give each of the rescue Dalmatians a boiled chicken breast. This is their special treat every Thanksgiving and Christmas. They wolf down the cubed chunks of fresh chicken in about ten seconds and then look up at us like they are expecting more. The stray Dalmatians liked the snow too. What was left of it anyway. By the time we arrived at the kennels in Garland, most of the snow had already melted. Nevertheless, we had a real White Christmas.

Janet made a Crown Roast for Christmas Dinner while I installed a new printer for one of the computers. It's hard to believe that another year is almost over. With each passing year, it seems to take longer and longer to accomplish less and less. I don't know if the things I'm doing are growing more complicated, or if I'm just getting slower. Probably the latter. All I know is that I can never seem to get caught up on things anymore.

Janet leaves for Pittsburgh to visit her sister tomorrow.  She's making me a long list of things not to forget while she's gone.  Most things on the list involve dogs. Now I'm starting to understand why Google thinks my website is about dogs, even though it is supposed to be about my own business capabilities. If you made a list of what I do every day, it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that most of my life actually is about dogs.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 9

It's Christmas Eve and it's snowing outside in Dallas.  Actually, the snow is more like sleet and the roads will all be a sheet of ice tomorrow morning, but it's still about as close to a white Christmas as we ever get down here. I'm tired. Janet and I spent the day wrapping last minute Christmas gifts at a Barnes & Noble store in Plano. Gift wrapping during the Christmas holidays is one the many ways Dalmatian Rescue of North Texas uses to raise money to help the rescue dogs throughout the year. I used to be terrible at wrapping packages, but now all the other men like me, the ones who who wait till the very last day to do their Christmas shopping, marvel at my skill and dexterity. Gift wrapping on Christmas Eve is almost exclusively for men. It is one of our most successful fundraising days during the Christmas Season. The men tip well and are almost universally grateful not to have to wrap the packages themselves. By the time I get home, I'm usually so sick of wrapping packages that I just toss my own into one of those easy, colorful gift bags you get at the Container Store.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 8

I'm so sick of having continual heartburn that I finally went and saw a specialist today. Lots of questions and tests, but no definitive answers. They're going to stick a video camera down my throat next week...kind of the opposite of having a colonoscopy. I'm sure that I have some form of GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). Ranitidine and Zantac used to control the symptoms pretty well, but not anymore. The only way I can get a decent night's sleep anymore is to keep my entire body elevated at about a 10 degree angle. I tried Prilosec and it worked great. After I finished the first 14 day course of pills, I began wondering why in very tiny print on the side of the Prilosec box was an obscure little notice that said you should only take these pills once every four months. They couldn't be harmful, right?  Hey, Prilosec isn't even a prescription drug anymore. You can get it over the counter. A quick Google search revealed why the manufacturer recommended taking the pills only once every four months. Take a look at the "Rate this Medicine" database sometime. Prilosec is a horror story. It appears that just about everyone who ignored the "once every four months" message on the side of the box and kept taking the medicine long-term had some sort of dire side effect.

I hate the whole idea of depending too much on meds. Excessive medication killed my Mom and certainly subtracted a few years from my Dad's life as well. I know that some meds are necessary.  I take Benicar to control my blood pressure. I take Pravistatin to control my cholesterol.  I also eat more sensibly than I used to. As much as I love bacon, it is now a rare treat. Most importantly, even on days when I'd like to sleep in an extra hour or two, I get up and walk two rambunctious Dalmatians five miles a day. I don't work out. I don't go to a gym. I just make sure to walk the dogs every day - rain or shine.  You really couldn't ask for a better exercise routine - especially when there are squirrels on the trail.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 7

I finally made a dent in my Christmas list.  Went to Aaron Brothers in Inwood Village this morning and begged Issac and Robert to frame a rather large picture in time for Christmas. I really didn't think they'd do it on such short notice, but they've always been good to me. Aaron Brothers has framed all my gallery shows and they came through for me again, promising that they'd have the picture ready for me by Christmas Eve.  On the way home, I stopped by Northpark to do some more shopping.  Not surprisingly, it took me longer to find a parking place than to find the gifts I was looking for.

Met Alan Lidji for lunch today. I always admire the way Alan keeps looking forward. I have a tendency to look backward, becoming instantly nostalgic about almost everything. Even things I hated at the time tend to look rosy in retrospect. If I was looking forward, I probably wouldn't even be writing this blog. I'd be putting funny, ironic little videos on YouTube instead.

Put together two more Kuranda dog beds after dinner, so Janet can take them down to the new rescue dogs tomorrow morning. About 9 PM I thought I was all done for the day and I was just about to treat myself to a Scotch when I realized I hadn't even taken the Watch of the Day picture yet.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 6

It's hard to believe that there are only four more days until Christmas.  As usual, I haven't even come close to finishing my Christmas shopping. I am a habitual last minute shopper.  I continually find myself walking through empty stores on Christmas Eve, wondering why there isn't a better selection of things to buy. As I grow older, there aren't as many people to buy for anymore, but still it's nice to think you understand your friends well enough to get them something they actually want. I hate to resort to gift cards, even though most folks would much rather have a gift card than a wild guess at what's on their wish list.

It was surprisingly busy today, considering that half of my clients have already left for the holidays.  I went down to Unleashed this afternoon to talk about doing event photography for them next year. My company doesn't do all that much event photography, but it's become an important source of revenue for the Dalmatian  Rescue group I work with. We're put together a team that takes fabulous Santa Claus pictures at Christmas and now we're trying to expand to other holidays. Unleashed is going to let us have a Valentine's Day fundraiser down at their facility next February. Who knows, if this works there's Mother's Day, Fourth of July...all sorts of reasons to have another picture of your pet.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 5

Sundays have always been about obsessions.  Years ago, I was obsessed with assembling a fashion photography portfolio and spend Sunday afternoons doing test shots of aspiring models.  A few years later, photography morphed into an obsession with writing songs, and I spent Sunday evenings recording aspiring singers and musicians in my home studio. Songwriting led, in turn, to my favorite Sunday obsession: playing bass for for five years with an obscure rock band called the Fabulous Has-Beens.  Every Sunday afternoon was band practice and even though the band dissolved years ago, I am still living in a house I discovered on the way home from practice one Sunday afternoon.

In recent years, my Sundays have been all about dogs.  Our own dogs, Dot and Dash get a long walk as soon as we get up.  Then, after breakfast, we go up to K-9 University in Garland to walk and feed the rescued Dalmatians from Dalmatian Rescue of North Texas.  When the strays have been fed and walked, we go home and take our own dogs across the street to Vheas Laundromutt for their weekly bath.  After a quick lunch for the dogs and ourselves, we take Dot and Dash to Unleashed, an amazing new indoor dog park, so they can play with other dogs.  (Interestingly, when we were at Unleashed this afternoon, we saw Malcolm, a dog we rescued ourselves and today's "Dalmatian of the Day," for the first time in several years.  He looked great and has a fabulous new home)  By the time we get home from the dog park, it's usually time for dinner and the dogs evening walk. After vacuuming up a weeks worth of dog hair after dinner, it's usually time for bed.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4

Dash got to hobnob with the Broadway stars of the 101 Dalmatians Musical today.  He was especially attracted to Jada, a three year old female who steals the show almost every night in her final number on stage.  Dash, along with fellow Dalmatian Rescue alumni, Pepper, Willow and Hunter, were all invited to participate in "Kid's Day" during a matinee performance this afternoon at the Dallas Music Hall in Fair Park.  The dogs did great!  There wasn't a lot of barking.  Nobody pooped on the carpet in the Music Hall lobby, and a great time was had by all.  Catherine Missal, who plays Patch in the show, came over to have her picture taken with Dash just before curtain call and the director said he was going to try to get some pictures of our dogs autographed by Rachel York.  This was all pretty exciting compared to the rest of the day, which mostly consisted of going to the grocery store and doing laundry.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3

I took some new employee pictures for the Katy Trail Animal Hospital website this afternoon, including the office cat shown here.  I'm the Katy trail webmaster, but I do some photography for them as well. It's still a bit of an uphill battle to convince clients to let me be a combination copywriter, graphic designer, video editor, photographer and webmaster, but that's what I like to do best. In a world where niche specialties and teamwork are the order of the day, my Swiss Army Knife approach can take a while to get used to.  I must be doing something right though, since I've been in business for almost twenty years. I definitely don't think Google understands what I'm all about though. I've been experimenting with Google Adwords on my website recently in hopes of getting more photography business. So far it hasn't been a great success. Google tells me that based on keyword frequency, my site isn't about photography at all. It's about dogs!

I have to admit that I do like dogs, so maybe Google knows far more about me than I want them to. Tomorrow is certainly a day for the dogs. We're taking Dash, one of our Dalmatians, down to meet the cast of The 101 Dalmatians Musical. Maybe we'll get to meet the dogs starring in the show as well.  Dash got picked for this "meet and greet" event because he is gentle and good around children. Too bad he isn't equally as good around cats.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2

I've been taking pictures of Dalmatians for many years. Every time we rescue an abandoned or stray dog, we need a picture for the Dalmatian Rescue website.  When Dallas Summer Musicals brought The 101 Dalmatians Musical to town this December, I thought it would be a great idea to have a gallery show in the theater lobby featuring portraits of 101 different Dalmatians who had found new homes as a result of the rescue group's efforts.  Unfortunately, the theater didn't have room for a full scale exhibit, but they did say that if I made some sort of poster featuring the rescued dogs, they would display it in the theater during the musical's Dallas performances.  The resulting 17" x 48" poster you see above is now getting a lot of attention from the theater audience and hopefully it will help increase awareness for Dalmatian Rescue of North Texas.  I think this poster would make a great public service outdoor board. All we need to do is find someone at Clear Channel who likes Dalmatians.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1

It's odd in a way that it has taken me so many years to discover blogging.  I kept a hand written daily journal for over 15 years. I was one of the first to discover Compuserve using an clumsy sewing machine shaped Osborne computer and a 300 Baud modem.  Later, I became a fan of Usenet Newsgroups and posted on a daily basis to my favorite forums using a wide variety of early, and very slow, Macintosh computers.  When people began talking about something called "The World Wide Web," I was there, looking over the landscape using a new-fangled piece of software called Mosaic.  My own piece of online real estate, the Sealander & Company website, has been online since 1995. Over the years, what started as a simple five page site that was created over a long weekend, evolved into several hundred pages of stories, photos,  videos, stray thoughts and lame attempts to increase the size of my business without having to network or knock on doors.

Maybe this is why I never understood blogging.  I always used to think that my site actually was a blog. It certainly contained all the normal things you typically expect to find in a good blog.  I never made the Technorati Top 100 however.  Maybe it was because I would only update things once in a Blue Moon.  Maybe it was because I wasn't wild about having people comment about my creation. I finally had to admit that although my online domain was a very nice looking website, it certainly wasn't a blog.

So, in the spirit of those old hand written daily journals, where I used to waste an inordinate amount of time detailing what I ate for dinner and where I was traveling next, I will begin again with daily ramblings that hopefully evolve over time into something worth reading.  I can't promise literary greatness, but I will promise to write something new every day for at least six months.  FF4EW7N8EM6Z

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day