Day 471

Everything is turning green. The grass in the backyard is growing nicely. The Dogwoods, Azaleas, Redbuds and other flowering trees in the park are in full bloom. I'd say that everything is coming up roses, if it weren't for the fact that I'm also seeing huge fields of poison ivy starting to grow as well. It's only a matter of time before one of the dogs wanders though a patch of of fresh poison ivy and transfers the itchy oil to me while I sleep. For some reason, the dogs never catch poison ivy themselves, but once the urushiol oil gets on their coats, I'm almost guaranteed to catch it within a week. Poison ivy isn't the only nuisance that returns every Spring either. The bees have returned as well. When I go out in the yard with the dogs now, I see tons of bees. They seemed to have arrived with the new grass, although I'm not quite sure why. We don't really have any flowers in the yard, but the bees sure seem to like something.

I finished my "Gone with the Wind" poster today. I was going to present it to the rescue group at our regular Thursday meeting, but the meeting got canceled at the last minute. I guess I'll just present the poster here. Just about everyone who goes to that Thursday meeting has become a blog reader anyway.

I'm starting to think that my bid for the trade show project in Houston has hit a snag. I haven't heard anything yet and the event keeps getting closer and closer. If I'm bidding against a local supplier in Houston, I'm at a disadvantage anyway, since they won't have to factor hotel and travel expenses into their bid. Truthfully, I wish I never had to bid against other companies. I think my prices are fair. Life would be a lot easier if customers either gave me the job or they didn't. I'm just not a very competitive person.

I made another wasted trip to the pharmacy today to pick up a prescription, only to learn that it was no longer renewable. I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow and prescriptions that expire too soon is right at the top of my list to talk about. Some of these things I'm going to be taking for the rest of my life. Why can't they just make the prescription for three or four years instead of for six months? I'm sure it all has something to do with money. If I didn't continually need to get my prescriptions renewed, I probably wouldn't go to the doctor nearly as often.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 470

Odds and ends. That's all some days ever amount to. I made some phone calls to ask questions. I received some phone calls and answered questions. I fired up the old computer again to do some design work, because I still can't afford to replace all my software with the Snow Leopard upgrades I need now. I'm trying to gradually replace everything, but it's going to take a while. When I went to the bank to deposit a check, I noticed that I was the only person in the building speaking English. I don't know what that means at all.

What did I learn today? I learned that the new heat pump for my rent property will be installed next Monday. I learned the Quark and Adobe have special pricing available for non-profit organizations. Jeez, I wish someone had told me this several years ago. I learned that I mistakenly put a piece of equipment in my bid for the Houston trade show job that doesn't do what I thought it did. That means I'll have to revise the bid again. I didn't learn anything at all about the oil and gas annual report that I'm still waiting to get the go ahead on. Actually, it was a busy day, but for some reason it still feels like nothing happened.

The BRAINZ Group that I joined recently came out with their March issue today, which happened to include my initial essay. The topic for this month was Change, and it was interesting to read what the other writers had to say. I can't tell yet whether I will look forward to doing these monthly essays, or whether they will just become one more task on a lengthy "to do" list. At this point I'm looking forward to the challenge. I know a few of the other writers in the group and this seems like an interesting way to have a conversation.

The dogs were totally distracted at training class tonight. It wasn't just Dot and Dash either. All the dogs seemed to have other things on their mind. Maybe it was the weird weather. Visually, it looks like Spring. It probably smells like Spring to a dog as well. The temperature certainly didn't feel like Spring though. It was cold tonight. Very cold for the end of March. I'm sure that Dash would have rather stayed home under a blanket.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 469

I'm thinking of replacing my Watch of the Day photos with a Broken Thing of the Day feature. I can't believe how many things have broken recently at our house. Today it was the television. I guess technically, the TV isn't completely broken, since the picture tube still works. The important part; the tuner that picks up the stations, seems to have gone kaput though. I couldn't get the TV to stay on channel 3 this morning so it would sync with the cable box. I finally figured out that the big VCR that the TV was sitting on actually has a tuner built in. I'd just been using the VCR as a table to hold the TV, but surprisingly, it finally proved itself useful after all these years. After a little rerouting of cables, I was able to just use the old Sony television as a monitor and route the VCR tuner signal back to the TV and cable box. Now it takes three separate remotes to actually watch anything: one for the cable box, one for the tuner in the VCR, and a third for the TV itself.

I have a bunch of posters I need to print for upcoming animal rescue events, so it was time to get serious about reviving my ailing Epson 4000. For once, my problems didn't have anything to do with clogged ink lines. This time I just had the wrong ink. The package looked like the correct ink. The cartridge itself looked correct too. The printer knew better though, and refused to accept the cartridge. After a trip to the printer store, I discovered that I had dye ink instead of pigment ink. It's still a mystery to me why Epson even makes dye ink cartridges that fit perfectly in my printer when the printer isn't compatible with them.

I finally got the printer working and printed the posters for the Easter Dalmatian Rescue pet picture event. I still need to print the Wine on the Roof poster with the Gone with the Wind dog and cat, but we haven't been able to pin down the day of the event yet.

I need to show Janet the complicated sequence of events that now needs to take place to turn on the television. Even though I was real pleased with myself for patching something together that actually works, I think her solution is going to be a trip to the store to buy a new television.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 468

Well, my oscillating sprinkler lasted exactly one day after I started watering the new grass. I can't even begin to count all the sprinklers I've bought over the years. It doesn't matter what brand they are. All of them seem to last one or two years and then begin to disintegrate. I don't have much better luck with cordless electric drills, leaf blowers, or lawn mowers. Truthfully, the only tools I can really depend on are some sturdy looking fifty year old hand tools given to me by my Dad. None of these hefty steel tools uses batteries and all of them are stamped Made in the USA. It's kind of sad. The once proud companies in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio that made the tools don't even exist anymore, but the tools themselves are still giving good service.

I needed to ask one of my clients a question today. The e-mail reply came from Abu Dhabi. He said he wasn't sure about my question, but he'd ask his boss as soon as he got back from China. Jeez. How did I ever get these jet setting clients? Other than the one trip I made to pick Janet up at the airport, I haven't ventured more than five miles away from my house in over two months.

I finally seem to have acquired a respectable number of Twitter followers. What do you do with Twitter followers anyway? They all seem to have gone to Barnes & Noble and bought a book of aphorisms so they can Tweet quotes day and night. I'm not much better though. All I do on Twitter these days is flog old stories that I've written on my website. Maybe it would be better if I just went back to telling people what I ate for lunch.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 467

Change of plans. It looks like it's going to rain later this week, so we decided to finish planting all the grass today. New grass needs tons of water, and if we can get the sod in place before the rains start, so much the better. Janet, Brad and Travis walked the rescue Dalmatians this morning, while I ran a grass convoy with the Defender 90. I can only carry 25 squares of sod at a time, so it has taken quite a few trips to Miller Grass to get all the grass we needed.

It's weird. Miller Grass is very near the battery store where I buy watch batteries. A single square of St. Augustine grass and a single watch battery cost almost exactly the same thing. Both last about two years. I wonder which purchase is more worthwhile. Both provide initial pleasure, followed by long-term frustration. The frustration with the grass is that it doesn't last longer. In theory, the grass should keep growing forever, but it never does. I don't expect the watch batteries to last forever, but you'd think the watch manufacturers would make it a little easier to replace them. Even though I have all the proper tools, I still end up scratching some of the watches just trying to pry the back cover off to get the battery out.

Just two days ago the temperature was in the 80's. Now, it's back down in the 40's again. I guess this is just a normal March, but it still seems kind of strange. I was so cold today that I had to dig out a couple of sweaters I had already put away for the Summer. We even turned the furnace on again today. Actually, the cooler weather is kind of nice. I might as well enjoy it while I can, because another Texas Summer is on its way.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 466

Yay! We have grass again. Well, at least we have some grass. When I was picking up sod at Miller Grass this morning, I overheard one of the grass guys tell someone ahead of me in line to buy twice as much as they thought they would need and everything would work out right. I only bought what I thought would be enough to cover the backyard, and as a result, I'll have to go back and buy some more tomorrow.

Planting the grass was a family affair. Dash dug big holes in the dirt while Janet and I arranged the squares of St. Augustine sod. Dot supervised, as she usually does, by barking at Dash when he got too rowdy. It seems like there ought to be some sort of tool that would allow you to easily cut the sod squares to fit irregular shapes, but I haven't found one yet. We have lots of curved pathways and borders in the yard and every time we would come to one of these areas, we would have to cut the sod to fit using shovels or tree trimming tools. I need to go to Home Depot and see if there is a better way of doing this. Probably, most people just have rectangular yards and it isn't a problem.

Friends and even some other bloggers seem to think I shouldn't be having the problem's I'm currently having getting a new heat pump installed at my rent property. Believe it guys. This is an old Bud Oglesby building. I've known other people who have lived in Oglesby homes who had to jack hammer all the way through the concrete slab under their living room floor just to fix a minor plumbing leak. Old things are usually hard to fix. Old Oglesby buildings are always hard to fix. There must be some sort of logarithmic curve that defines the cost of repairs based on the age of the object being repaired. At any rate, waiting fourteen days for a replacement heat pump is nothing. I once had to wait over six months to find a water pump for my 1972 Citroën Maserati. Come to think of it, I've been waiting over a year for a small mechanical part on an old Omega watch I'm having repaired.

I downloaded the Time Warner app that is supposed to let you watch TV on your iPad. They've been advertising this thing on TV and after seeing the commercials over and over again, I finally got curious enough to give it a try. I don't know why Time Warner even bothered to release this app. It's totally worthless. Remember when you used to try to watch YouTube videos on a real slow computer? That's what the app is like. You watch TV for about fifteen seconds and then everything freezes while the next little segment is buffered in memory. After doing this several times the iPad runs out of free memory and the whole thing crashes. I think I'll just continue watching TV on the television.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 465

Welcome to the strange new world of manufacturing on demand. I found out today that since the new heat pump I need for my rental property isn't one of the common models you usually see at Home Depot or Lowes, nobody carries it in their inventory anymore. If I want one of these units, I have to order one and then the factory will build it for me. This obviously doesn't make my renter very happy, since it means another two or three weeks without an air conditioner. This seems to be the way things are done in the manufacturing world these days, however. I had the same thing happen several years ago when I needed an odd and hard to find faucet for the same rental property. It took almost a month to get this faucet manufactured and installed. I hope the air conditioner factory works a little faster.

Isn't is odd that the more "advanced" our society gets, the more we have to give up. Nobody wants to maintain a warehouse or stock inventory anymore. It isn't just building supplies either. Even clothing and shoe stores don't carry much merchandise anymore. If the store is out of stock, it's very likely that they will tell you to just buy the item you're looking for on the Internet. Personally, I liked things a lot better when every store had a big stock room in the back. Of course back when every store had a big stock room in the back, people would pump your gas for you too. I'm not old enough to remember when the milk man came to your house every day, but that must have been nice as well.

It seems to be taking me longer and longer to get the employee updates up on the websites I manage. As people have gotten to know me, they've started asking me to retouch their pictures before I put them online. I try to oblige when I can, even though it takes a bit longer. I don't know why companies do these employee pictures anyway. Nobody ends up liking their picture. I can't really blame them. If I come to take your picture on a day when you're wearing hospital scrubs, don't have any makeup on and just finished cleaning up dog vomit, you probably aren't going to look your very best either.

There is a message on my answering machine from my ex-wife saying she's going to be in town this weekend for the NCAA basketball tournament and would like to have breakfast with Janet and I. What was she thinking? Maybe it would be best to just ignore this call.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 464

I submitted my first article to the BRAINZ group today. BRAINZ is a group of writers who all contribute an original essay about the same topic each month and then post the results on a website. I got invited to become a member of this group because one of the contributing writers liked my blog. I probably joined the group because it was flattering to be asked to join something called BRAINZ. If the writers group had been called The Doofus Club, I doubt that I would have joined. It will be interesting to see what the other writers have to say about this month's topic. I still might end up looking like a doofus.

At least I didn't end up looking like a doofus at tonight's animal rescue meeting. I presented the Gone with the Wind poster I've been working on and everybody loved it. I've still got to add the final verbiage and do some technical tweaking so everything will print properly, but the poster is basically done. I'm glad everybody liked what I've come up with because we're running out of time and I really didn't have a Plan B anyway. I'm still kind of amazed that this idea actually worked. The dog's smile almost exactly mimics the little mustache he's wearing and strangely, the cat actually does look madly in love with the dog.

The weather continues to be exceptionally nice. I hope the clear skies and 70 degree temperatures continue for a few days because there have already been a few setbacks in getting the new heat pump installed at my rent property. Most of the problems involve renting the proper crane to lift the heat pump to the roof. I hope you guys never have to rent a construction crane. They are very large and very expensive. I would have much rather purchased a new HD video camera for myself than a new air conditioner for my renter. Sometimes we don't get to choose these things, however. It's right in the lease that providing a habitable building is one of the things the landlord is responsible for.

I heard on the news this morning that some government agency was paying a staffer $110,000 a year to update Facebook pages. What were the rest of us thinking? We've all been doing this sort of thing for free.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 463

The dogs had the right idea today. All they wanted to do was lie out in the back yard and soak up the sun. It was certainly a good day for sunbathing. The sky was blue and the temperature was just right. Too bad I had a lot of work to do inside. It certainly wasn't interesting work, but it had to be done. I added half a dozen new pages to one client's website and corrected a bunch of errors in another. I paid some bills, went to the bank and watched an episode of Dr. Who. Basically, it was a totally uneventful day.

Maybe the dogs like uneventful days. They both did exceptionally well in class tonight. Their performance might have had something to do with the nice weather, but I think it was the sun that put them in a good mood. We had our training class while the sun was still up for the first time this year. This is probably the only good thing I have to say about Daylight Saving Time. Finally, we don't have to have our classes in the dark anymore.

The team I put together for the trade show in Houston is starting to call and ask me whether we got the job or not. My tenant at the rent property is asking when the new air conditioner is going to be installed. Animal rescue volunteers are wondering when my "Gone with the Wind" poster is going to be done. I don't have any answers today. I probably won't have any answers tomorrow either, but I do have a photo shoot scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. No animals in costumes this time. Just some more new employees who need to go up on the company website.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 462

The news wasn't good about my air conditioner at the rent property. I need a new one. The compressor has gone bad in the existing unit, and they're having trouble finding a replacement compressor. It's looks like game over for the big green box up on the roof. Since the unit is technically a heat pump, it means I will be replacing the furnace too. Since it is up on the roof, it means I will need a big crane to lift the new unit in place. All this is beginning to make last month's plumbing problems look like nothing at all. It's a pretty safe bet that I won't be making any money on this particular property for the rest of the year.

I had to take a bunch of K-1 forms over to my accountant today so he could finish my taxes. It's weird to me that I even get these forms. I certainly don't feel like I'm a partner with anyone. Legally, I guess I am though. I have a small interest in commercial real estate in one part of the country and an even smaller interest in a few oil wells in another part of the country. Neither of these things are making me any money either.

I wonder if it is even possible to make money anymore if you aren't a lawyer or have something to do with the healthcare industry? I know lots of talented writers, designers, architects and photographers and none of us are exactly getting rich. Competition, globalization, outsourcing, you name it: it just isn't easy to be a small business these days.

Enough negativity for one day though. There were some good things that happened as well. I'm almost caught up on my website work. I delivered several photography jobs today that I've been promising for weeks. I'm still in the running for the big trade show project in Houston too. If I get that one, I'll be all smiles for a while.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 461

For once, the first day of Spring actually felt like a Spring day. It was beautiful outside. There was a nice breeze and the temperature was in the low seventies. You really couldn't ask for more. This is definitely the time of year for making improvements to your yard. If you wait till June, it's already gotten so hot that it hardly seems worth the trouble. Right now, a new St. Augustine turf in the back yard seems well worth the effort though, so we'll probably plant grass this weekend.

The nice weather got me wondering whether the electric lawn mower might have repaired itself overnight. Amazingly, when I switched it on, it came right back to life again. There was only one small problem. I couldn't turn the mower off. The on/off switch wouldn't turn it off. Even the emergency disconnect lever didn't turn the mower off. I did the only thing I could think of. I pushed the running mower into the greenhouse where the dogs couldn't get near it, closed the door and waited for the battery to run down. An hour or so later, all was quiet in the greenhouse. I still don't know what went wrong.

I don't know what went wrong at the gas station either. When I went to get gas this afternoon, there were firetrucks everywhere and firemen were using large amounts of what looked like kitty litter to soak up a ton of spilled gasoline. The pumps didn't look damaged, so I don't think a car actually hit them or anything. The only thing that I can think of is that someone stuck the nozzle in their tank, set it on automatic and forgot about it. Maybe the pump failed to cut off when the tank was full. I guess this is why they tell you to shut your car off when pumping gas. There was enough spilled gas to cause a pretty large fire, but luckily no damage was done.

There might me some damage down at the rent property however. Right on cue with the warmer weather, my tenant called and said that she couldn't get the air conditioner to turn on. I scheduled a repair visit for tomorrow and will hope for the best. If worse comes to worse and I have to install a new heat pump on the roof, I'll be losing money on the property for the rest of the year. There's really got to be a better way of making money than being a landlord.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 460

I mowed the grass for the first time this year. This means I'll be mowing the grass every week from now through the end of September. I have two lawn mowers: an electric Black & Decker and a gas Yazoo. Both mowers have their shortcomings. I usually use the electric mower because it's very easy to start and doesn't require gas. It's not very strong however, and almost always bogs down and throws a circuit breaker in tall grass. The Yazoo mower is strong as a tank and will mow through anything, but it's almost impossible to start. I used the electric mower today and sure enough, it gave up the ghost at the first sign of tall grass. Now I've got two mowers that won't start and another item added to a growing "to-do" list.

There was a very visible police presence at the Wagging Tail Dog Park when we took Dot and Dash up to play this afternoon. They must still be having problems with people breaking into cars in the parking lot. I'm glad that the police are patrolling the park now. I'm not so glad that this type of crime is becoming an increasing problem throughout the city. I really don't think that Dallas is any worse than any other big city. Unfortunately, it's pretty bad everywhere.

Emmitt was the only rescue dog that could take a regular walk today. The rest were still completing their heartworm treatment. Poor Emmitt. He's eleven years old and nobody seems to want a senior dog. We keep hoping that someone will offer him a home. Our senior dogs do find good homes, but sometimes it takes a little longer.

It's definitely going to take a little longer than usual for me to put together the "Gone with the Wind" poster I've been working on. So far, I'm piecing together sections of four different photographs to create the final image. Getting two animals who weren't that fond of each other in the first place to look like they're falling in love is proving to be a bit of a challenge. I think I've come up with a solution, but it's going to take a couple more days of Photoshop work to get the image to a point where I can show it to anyone.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 459

I went up and took pictures of Pringles, one of the new Dalmatians in the rescue program this morning. It's hard to imagine how anyone could have abandoned this happy, playful boy. Like many dogs we've rescued, Pringles has had a rough life. Early in his life he was run over by a car. He still has a big scar on his back where he received surgery for his injuries. Somebody must have cared about this dog at some point, because he received good care. The surgeons did an excellent job of putting him back together, because he can run and play completely normally again. I don't know when Pringles luck ran out, but he was sitting in the pound, waiting for his time to run out when Dalmatian Rescue found him.

It wasn't just warm today, it was actually hot. It looks like it is just about time to put in the new St. Augustine turf in the back yard. We went to the grass store to ask them if it was time to plant yet, and they said it was. I was going to till all the existing soil to prepare for the new grass, but the grass guys said it would be better to just lay the sod directly over the hard packed ground. They said if I tilled the soil the water would seep down into the earth and the new grass wouldn't stay wet enough to put down good roots. I'm not sure if I believe this, but I'll definitely go along with the no tilling plan. It's a lot easier this way. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the aging roto-tiller started again this season anyway.

The grocery bill was a lot bigger than normal today. I bought a bunch of these new LED lightbulbs to replace the incandescent bulbs that are growing increasingly difficult to find. I don't like those curly florescent bulbs because they have Mercury in them. I drop things all the time and I don't want to turn the house into a hazardous waste zone just because I dropped a light bulb. These LED bulbs cost $17 each, but they use very little energy and last for years. I never dreamed I'd be paying $17 for a light bulb some day, but I never dreamed that gas would be hovering around $4 a gallon either. You wonder where all this is going to end.

It looks like a visit to the dog park is on the agenda for tomorrow. The weather is fabulous this weekend and the dogs haven't had an outing for several weeks. If everybody else with a dog is thinking the same thing, we're never going to find a parking place. Oh, and for those of you who don't click on the link, Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 458

I went to the doctor to have my blood work done this morning right after I walked the dogs. They always want you to fast before taking blood samples, so I figured if I got everything done early, I'd still have time for a big breakfast later. I was kind of amazed to see that the nurse filled twelve vials with blood. Either there is something terribly wrong with my blood, or I'm the one person keeping LabCorp in business.

I did keep my promise and got my estimate for the oil and gas trade show completed and mailed off this afternoon. I hate doing complicated estimates. If your prices are too high, you won't get the job. If your prices are too low and something goes wrong, you could actually end up losing money on the job. Something always does go wrong too. It's just hard to guess what it's going to be this time. I think I turned in a very competitive bid. Actually, I think I bid the job a little too low, but it's too late to change things now. I should find out sometime later next week if I get the project.

I spend some time cleaning the house today as well. Janet returns from Las Vegas this evening and I wouldn't want her to think that I was doing nothing but taking naps with the dogs and watching Dr. Who on TV all week. I'm normally a very neat and tidy person, but when it's just me and the dogs, sometimes the bed doesn't get made and the floors start looking pretty shabby. It's pretty obvious that Dot and Dash could care less whether the house is clean. As long as they get their dinner and walks on time, they are both happy campers.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 457 - St. Patrick's Day

Today's photo shoot was quite a bit different than yesterday's. Instead of taking pictures of search and rescue dogs, my job was to recreate the classic movie poster for Gone with the Wind using a dog as Rhett Butler and a cat as Scarlett O'Hara. My dog model was supposed to be very friendly with cats. And the cat was supposed to like dogs. As you might expect, that's not the way it turned out. I took some shots of the pair together, but it certainly didn't look like a love scene. After about five minutes miss kitty let us know that she wasn't going to tolerate a dog sniffing her much longer. We all decided that the prudent course of action would be to photograph each animal separately and then put the shot together in Photoshop. I really wish nobody even knew about Photoshop. Every time a shot gets difficult, I hear a chorus of "you can fix it in Photoshop" from whoever is on the set with me. You can definitely do a lot with Photoshop, but as far as I know, the software can't make animals like each other. It remains to be seen whether I can create any chemistry between this unlikely couple with my computer. Personally, I'd scrap the dog and just use the pictures of the cat. Apple, the cat, is hot. She's kind of the Heidi Klum of the cat world.

Today was a very busy day. When I wasn't trying to recreate Gone with the Wind with animals, I was working on my bid for the big week long oil and gas trade show in Houston this May. I think I'm already late in submitting this bid, but it's been complicated. I've finally got prices in from all the crew members I've assembled for the project, so all I need to do now is put everything together in Excel and turn it in. If the folks who are waiting for my bid happen to be reading this, I promise I'll have everything ready for you tomorrow. Really guys, your project is just as important to me as putting lipstick on a cat.

It was surprisingly warm today. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn it was early June. I resisted the temptation to turn on the air conditioner however. I know that as soon as I turn on the air conditioner, my electric bill is going to triple.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 456

I met Sonic today. Sonic is a search and rescue dog. He is a member of an elite Search Dog Foundation rescue team. The Search Dog Foundation has sent dogs to Katrina. They were there in the aftermath of 9/11. Now this organization is sending teams to Japan to help with the rescue efforts there. One of my veterinary hospital clients is sponsoring Sonic and in appreciation, Sonic's handlers brought him to the hospital today to meet the staff and explain how search and rescue dogs are trained. I was just there to photograph the event, but I was just as impressed with Sonic as everybody else. These search and rescue dogs are absolutely amazing. They all go through a grueling two year training program and must perform absolutely flawlessly before they are certified for rescue operations. Dogs like Sonic can climb up and down vertical fire engine ladders to reach people trapped on upper floors of buildings. They are trained to respond to their handlers commands from as far as 100 yards away. When they are working, they are not distracted by cats or squirrels. Part of their training involves placing tasty hot dogs and Taco Bell take out meals nearby during a search exercise and seeing if the smell of food broke their concentration. It doesn't. If you need help, you can only hope that one of these amazing dogs is nearby. Have you guys ever hear the search dog's creed? It's worth repeating. "If you are ever buried under a ton of rubble, trapped where no one can find you, or caught in the aftermath of a storm, I promise to sniff you out. I promise to go about my work with a wagging tail and a hero's heart. I promise to ignore all the fascinating smells out there and concentrate on finding you. I promise to never give up." I only spent an hour or so with Sonic this afternoon, but that was enough to convince me that he would never give up.

In addition to meeting Sonic, I had a meeting with another client about how to use social media more effectively. All my clients seem to want to climb on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagon lately. Everybody has heard stories about how someone has managed to double their sales using social media, but nobody seems to be able to replicate these success stories themselves. I have an interesting perspective on social media, since I am a relatively recent convert. I'm a quick learner though and I've already discovered a few things that have helped my own business. As I tried to explain viral marketing to my client, I kept returning to one theme over and over again: nothing ever goes viral if it isn't interesting! Most bloggers I know have already adopted the "content is king" mantra. It's hard to explain the importance of continual, fresh, interesting and relevant content to a group of people who are stressed out and overworked already, however. "How are we going to have the time to do all this stuff," they wondered. I felt like says that if Sonic could find someone in a fifty foot tall pile of rubble, then surely you ought to be able to put up something new and interesting on your Facebook page every day. Sonic is my new hero.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 455

Many of yesterday's questions found answers today. I discovered that it actually is possible for a dog to develop a skin discoloration literally overnight. My vet said it was rare, but that certain types of bacteria infections could cause Dash's bronzing to reoccur exactly the way I observed. Dash now has an antibiotic spray that should clear up the problem in a week or so.

I also discovered that my client's web forms quit working because the hosting company had moved their account to a new server. The server upgrade was supposed to be 100% backwards compatible. Oops. Maybe the upgrade was 99% backwards compatible, but I know of one site that slipped through the cracks. After a couple of conversations with the hosting company's technical support folks, I learned how to patch the code and get everything working again. I can't really give the hosting company high marks for failing to warn my client about the server switch, but they were certainly helpful today. All my questions were answered quickly and most importantly, the fix worked.

The disaster in Japan really makes you realize how interconnected the world has become. When something of this magnitude occurs, literally everyone is touched by it in one way or another. I got a call from one of my suppliers today saying that shipments of a video camera I was ordering would be significantly delayed because there was expected to be a shortage of component parts that had been manufactured in a plant demolished by the tsunami. Several stocks I own were pummeled today by panic selling in the wake of all the nuclear meltdown news we've been hearing. I have a feeling that we won't know for months just how much this disaster will affect all of us.

For several weeks now I've had a photo shoot penciled in on my calendar for tomorrow morning. Just got a call from my client asking if I'd still be attending the marketing meeting tomorrow morning. Oops. What's embarrassing is that I think I initially scheduled this meeting in the first place. I can't seem to remember anything anymore.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 454

What a weird day. Lots of little things happened that I have absolutely no explanation for. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that there was a brown stain a little bigger than a silver dollar on Dash's back. The discoloration looked exactly like the Dalmatian Bronzing skin condition we've been treating him for. It's hard to believe that this stain is the return of the bronzing condition though, since it literally happened overnight. At first, I wondered if I might have spilled coffee on him, or if he might have fallen asleep right under a small leaking spot in the roof. The stain wasn't damp though. It wouldn't wash off either. I dont know what it is.

Later in the day, I got an e-mail from one my my clients saying that the forms on their website weren't working. The forms were working perfectly a few days ago and I have done nothing to them. Actually, this web project was completed and I haven't even logged into the server in a while. Sure enough, the forms don't work though. When I tried them myself, I got the same error messages that my client got. I opened up Dreamweaver and looked at the form script. Everything looked kosher. Once again, I have no idea what is going on.

This afternoon, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and the pharmacist said that it couldn't be renewed because my doctor told him that I should have stopped taking this particular medication last November. Very strange. I've seen this doctor at least three different times since November and he never mentioned anything about this to me.

I didn't get much sleep last night either. A big thunderstorm rolled through around midnight and that was all it took to kick Dot's storm phobia into high gear. It really wasn't that bad of a storm, but evidently Dot thought it was. She barked off and on the rest of the night. All the storm did was prove how futile my roof repair efforts have been. The carport is still leaking, even though I have spread a ton of patching cement over every spot that even remotely looked like a leak.

Maybe some of today's mysteries will be answered tomorrow. One can only hope.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 453

I didn't let the time change get the best of me this morning. I had Dot and Dash fed, walked and was up at K-9 University to meet the other volunteers right on schedule. It didn't take us long to take care of the dogs today. We've done so well this year at finding homes for our Dalmatians that there are currently very few dogs in the program. In animal rescue, it's a good thing not to be overwhelmed with abandoned animals. It means that somebody is finally getting the message. I still remember the days when the Disney movies were popular and everybody in town wanted a Dalmatian. At that time, we often had 25 to 30 dogs in our program at one time. It's much better now that Dalmatians aren't quite so popular.

After I got finished at K-9 University and stopped by the grocery store to get some more maple syrup for next week, my friend Travis came over to the house so I could take some picture of him with Dot and Dash. Some of Travis's friends have nominated him for One Man Dallas and he needed the pictures for his entry. One Man Dallas is supposed to be a competition that selects the best man in Dallas, based on community involvement, personality, intelligence and fitness. Travis keeps telling me that this is a civic achievement award, but it sure seems like a beauty pageant to me. At any rate, if my friend makes it to the finals, I may be asking you guys to vote for him. I think the winner is picked from the top five finalists by an online vote. It's kinda like American Idol, except I don't think there is any singing involved. If Travis wins, Dalmatian Rescue, which happens to be his charity, will get to keep half of the $5000 prize money. I'm not exactly sure what Travis gets himself if he wins, but I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up a few more girlfriends out of the deal.

I had pizza for dinner tonight. It's not the healthiest thing in the workd, but it sure is good. It's a good thing that Janet is never gone too long when she travels. It would probably only take a couple of weeks for me to revert to eating bacon every day.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 452

I took Janet to the airport this morning for her trip to Las Vegas. Now, I've got to remember to give the dogs their pills every morning and bunch of other little things that she usually takes care of. I'm not very good at remembering anything new, so Janet always makes me a checklist before she travels. I dutifully take care of everything on the list each day and then return to my normal forgetful ways. The dogs and I are certainly not getting up before sunrise this week. We'll sleep in a bit later while we've got the chance.

My photo shoot with the new puppy this afternoon went quite well. Since the house where the puppy lived was in Highland Park, there was plenty of room to set up my equipment. I actually had more room to set up my lights and backdrop in the living room than I typically have in the commercial buildings where we do photo events for Dalmatian Rescue. I wish I could find more of this type of work in the Park Cities. The people are nice. I get to see some really cool houses. And nobody quibbles about the budget. Maybe if the puppy's Mom hangs her picture in a prominent place, some of her friends will want pictures of their pets as well.

If would certainly be easier to be a family photographer for rich people than it is to deal with corporate giants. I found out today that if I get the week long social media job that I'm putting together a proposal for, I won't be able to pre-bill anything. I kind of suspected that this would happen, but I'm not too happy about it. What it means is that I'll have to pay the crew I hire immediately on completion of the job and then wait, and wait, and wait to get reimbursed. I've waited as long as three and a half months to get paid by some of these huge companies. I never quite know what I'm going to get either, since this company likes to pay in Euros and the value of the dollar fluctuates a lot these days.

I need to remember to set the clocks ahead tonight. There are other volunteers that help walk the rescue Dalmatians on Sundays, and they won't be happy if I'm an hour late to let them in the building. I'm certainly not going to change all the clocks in the house, because I'd be up the rest of the night resetting things. It's probably enough to just reset the clock radio by my bed and the wristwatch I'm wearing. That's one of the many things I like about this computer. It resets itself automatically whenever the time changes.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 451

When I went to bed last night, I never dreamed I'd wake up watching a disaster of biblical proportions in Japan. Events like this make you realize that we don't have nearly as much control over our lives as we think we do. I know we are supposed to live each day as if it is our last, but I still tend to live each day as if I have an unlimited number of days ahead of me to correct today's mistakes. I really need to pay more attention to making each day count.

While I was watching the news from Japan on TV, I got a surprise call from Germany. Would I be interested in coordinating social media coverage for a huge multi-national company while they were attending a week long international trade fair in Houston later this Spring? You bet I would! I've got about a week to put together a team and submit a bid for the project. If I get the job, I will be blogging about the company during the trade show and directing a series of short daily video segments that will be uploaded to YouTube and Facebook during the event.

Just so I don't get a big head about this huge opportunity, I need to remember that tomorrow afternoon, I'm taking the mobile studio out to take a photo of someone's puppy. What an odd little company I have. Do you need an elaborate multi-national advertising campaign. Hey, I can do that. Or maybe you just need a picture of your cat. I can do that too.

We've just got a new Dalmatian in the rescue program. His name is Pringles and he came from the Collin County pound. It's going to be a busy weekend, but I need to get up and take some pictures of the new boy as soon as possible, so we can get him up on the Dalmatian Rescue website. This guy is cute! I wouldn't be surprised if he gets adopted before I get the pictures taken.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day