Day 280

I don't check Technorati stats very often, but for some reason I did today and discovered that the blog has made it into the Technorati Top 100 in the Pets category. Cool! I didn't even know I was in the Pets category, but I guess that means my Dalmatians are right up there with Sparkle the blogging cat.

I'll admit to having an unhealthy fascination with rankings, but there are simply too many to have any real meaning anymore. You could spend your entire day checking on Alexa and Google rankings and wondering what your Technorati Authority was. Even the advertising sites like Entrecard and Adgitize have their own ranking systems. Its gotten out of hand. A long time ago, a site I created called The Book of Bitterness was included in a book called The World Wide Web Top 1000. I was real impressed at the time, since this was supposed to be the top 1000 sites on the entire Internet. It didn't mean anything though. 98% of the sites included in that book don't even exist anymore, although oddly you can still buy the book on Amazon.com.

I had to take Dash to the vet again this afternoon because his skin problems are getting worse. He's got a condition called Dalmatian Bronzing which makes his coat look like it was dipped in rusty water. Some vets think the bronzing is linked to kidney stones and treat the condition with Allopurinol. Other vets think the bronzing is an allergic reaction and uses a variety of antigens designed to stimulate the immune system. We've tried antibiotics, changes in diet, and countless special shampoos, but nothing seems to work for very long. The problem is that the condition only occurs in Dalmatians, so not a lot of vets are familiar with it. This time, my vet thinks the bronzing is caused by a staph infection in the hair follicles and wants to give Dash a series of injections that will eventually make him resistant to the bacteria. I hope it works. The poor guy has got to be uncomfortable.

I sold my short positions today. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the market just refuses to drop despite an abundance of bad news. Unfortunately, the market refuses to rise either. It just goes sideways, taking the money of both bulls and bears. I really can't blame my broker for the bad luck I've been having with my short positions. It's just a difficult time for investors. Even if you abandon the stock market entirely, where do you go? The real estate market totally sucks and putting your money in a CD is about as effective as putting it under a mattress. It looks like I'm going to have to keep working for a long time.

I'm supposed to take a portrait of the goat and the two dogs that have become best friends before they leave the pet orphanage and go to their permanent home. I'm a little nervous about letting the goat get anywhere near my photo equipment again. The last time I filmed this goat, he ate my microphone.  He's a friendly guy, but he eats everything. I stopped by and saw him today while I was at the vet with Dash. He was happily lying down on one end of a large blanket in his pen while he was eating the other end of the same blanket.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day