Day 271

I was fretting about a weird router problem that was preventing video streams from getting out to the Internet until the garbage disposal broke and flooded the kitchen with gallons of water. Plumbing problems are a good reality check. A clogged drain or a broken toilet can quickly make just about any computer problem seem trivial. Calling a plumber has quickly risen to the top of tomorrow's "to do" list. Even though I have a tendency to postpone things like going to the dentist, I'm always quick to call a plumber. There's nothing like having a lot of water in the wrong places for ruining your day.

Plumbing problems notwithstanding, today was actually pretty hard to ruin. For the most part, it was a very pleasant day. The current  batch of Dalmatian Rescue dogs are coming along nicely. Each time we see them, they seem healthier and better socialized. Dash seems to be getting used to riding in the car too. When we took our own dogs up to the Wagging Tail dog park this afternoon, Dash didn't whine much at all. Actually, the only time there was a problem was when he lost his tennis ball under the driver's seat and started barking incessantly to get it back. He does this at home too, but it's a lot easier to retrieve a ball from under the bed than from an inaccessible part of the car when you're on a freeway.

Eventually we made it to the park and the dogs had a lot of fun racing around and sniffing other dogs. Now that the weather is finally starting to get a bit cooler, the outdoor dog parks are becoming more enjoyable. I still miss Unleashed, but it's safe to say that there's probably not going to be another indoor dog park in Dallas for a long time. After someone loses a lot of money on a new idea, there are very few people who want to try the same thing again.

I wish I could find a plumber who could repair all the water related problems in the house, but that would be a lot to ask. There's the persistent roof leak, the shower pan that needs to be re-tiled, an old Moen faucet that needs a new and totally non-existent cartridge, a trap on a bathroom sink that is close to rusting through, a toilet float that gets stuck, and an ice maker inside the refrigerator that doesn't make much ice anymore. If this is starting to sound suspiciously like one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" lists, that isn't what I had in mind. The kitchen sink is actually the biggest problem right now. We need someone to fix everything and the kitchen sink.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day