Day 654

It hard to believe that it's been a full year since my Paypal photo shoot in San Francisco. That's what I was doing a year ago today. Being a spokesperson for Paypal certainly hasn't changed my life much. Very few people I know have even seen the ads. A lot of the people who actually have seen the ads still think that the Dalmatians in the photos are Dot and Dash. I have to explain that they only flew me to San Francisco for the photo shoot, not Dot and Dash. The dogs in the photos are California show dogs who are used to being in photos. They are very nice, but they are not mine.

I had my first physical therapy session today. I learned that I don't have a pinched nerve, or my neck pain would be even worse. What I have is a condition called encapsulated soft tissue. What this means is that some tissue has been caught between the vertebra in my neck and is being pinched. Evidently traction therapy can pull the vertebra apart just enough to release the tissue. I'm a bit sore after the first session, but it all makes sense to me.

When I arrived at the physical therapy offices I was surprised to see that my own doctor was there getting physical therapy himself. I heard him tell a nurse that he was just going to ride the stationary bicycles till the therapist was done with me. My therapist heard this and told someone to go watch him, because he "didn't know when to stop." The therapist turned to me and told me that the doctor was in a lot worse shape than I was. I guess this is good news, but I certainly like a healthy doctor too. At any rate, it looks like several weeks of therapy sessions ought to get me back to normal. I certainly hope so.

Janet's is helping with a big neighborhood Octoberfest tomorrow, so I guess that's where we're eating lunch. Hopefully we'll be getting our new mattress ordered tomorrow as well. It looks like a very busy weekend, since I've still got work that I didn't manage to get completed today. Tomorrow is a brand new month. We need to remember the dogs heartworm pills in the morning.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 653

I delivered my picture of Edgar the cat today. On the way home, I stopped by a nearby Design Within Reach store and looked at mattresses. I found one that was just about perfect. I didn't buy it though, because rule number one about mattresses is to never buy one unless both people like it. Now, Janet has got to find time to go to the store and try the mattress too. If she likes it, we'll buy it and then wait and wait and wait as it travels by slow boat from wherever it comes from. That's the thing about buying furniture from a furniture showroom. You can't actually buy what's in the store. I can recall waiting six months for certain pieces of furniture I got at Palazzetti to arrive. The mattress shouldn't take nearly that long. I hope not anyway. A young designer told me that orders usually only take two or three weeks to deliver.

I wrote a watch article today about a watch that one of the popular watch blogs recently said was one of the ugliest watches that had ever been manufactured. Of course I took a much different slant on things in my article. For a brief moment I wondered if I would ruin my reputation by saying great things about a watch that everyone else hated. Then I remembered that I was in advertising. Advertising people can't ruin their reputation. We never had one in the first place.

The physical therapy place called me for the third time to remind me about my appointment tomorrow. Jeez. How am I going to forget to go to this place when my neck hurts? Believe me, I'll be there tomorrow. I hope they come up with a good plan for me, because I'm getting real tired of walking around like I was made of eggshells and plaster. Things are getting a little better though. At least I can turn my head enough now to see the oncoming traffic when I back out of the driveway.

I still haven't gotten around to installing the Avid Media Composer software I got earlier in the week. I still haven't gotten any new video jobs either, so I guess there is no big hurry.

Sweet Pea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 652

Today, I went back and forth between writing an article about the new Versace Collection at Milan Fashion Week, as if I was actually there, and looking for a good picture to memorialize Edgar the dead cat. What a twisted path my career has become. I used to write nice normal television commercials about fast food and soft drinks. Today I sling words together in ways I never would have dreamed possible during my ad agency days. It's a living, I guess. At least I can sleep in till 9 and I don't have to face rush hour traffic.

Occasionally, I wonder if there are even any nice, normal television commercials to write anymore. All I see on TV these days are commercials for pharmaceutical companies with a message that is basically a long legal disclaimer that says there's a good chance this drug will probably kill you, but hey, why don't you try it anyway, just in case it might work on you. The only other thing on TV are all the ads for lawyers that say if you were foolish enough to take one of these pills that are advertised on TV, call 1-800-BAD-DRUG immediately and you may be eligible for a financial settlement. It's definitely a weird world we live in.

The aggressive dog didn't come back to training class tonight, so everything was a lot more relaxed. Dash would have done really well if he didn't have a guy with a bad neck on the other end of his leash. Dot had one of her best night's ever. The only bad thing about class tonight is that it's starting to get dark again. By the time class was over, it was completely dark and we were all standing under little pools of artificial light, wondering where the Summer had gone.

Spanky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 651

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and discovered that over 3000 people had me in their Google+ circles. I'm certain that the number was way less than this yesterday. The floodgates have opened. All of the sudden Google+ has gone from being a cool, semi-quiet place where you could actually talk with Silicon Valley luminaries to being a crowded, noisy place that is not that different from Twitter. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.

I think all my clients woke up with a bad case of I want it now this morning. I had a hard time getting anything done today because every time I got started on something, someone else called with an emergency that they said they needed even quicker. Surely some of this stuff could wait until tomorrow.

Dash got his bi-weekly antigen shot today. I had the nurse look at his teeth while we were at the vet. I think a tooth is bothering him, since he keeps rubbing his snout on the carpet in the evenings. It seems like the whole family is falling apart. Dash has a toothache. Janet has come down with a bad cold, and I've still got my neck problems.

When I was walking the dogs this morning, I remembered that I had forgotten to pay an important bill that was due weeks ago. Why can't I remember these things? Reluctantly, I added the hefty late fee and put the check in the mail. I have a feeling that on the day the bill was actually due, it must have been another of those I want it now days where everybody was bugging me about stuff they wanted immediately. Life has become far too complicated for my taste.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 650

Just an ordinary Monday. I paid some bills. I called some clients. I went and bought some frames for a photo commission I got recently. Since I've been getting e-mails almost every day saying the special Avid Media Composer cross promotion for Final Cut Pro users was almost over, I went over to Videotex and picked up a copy of Media Composer. While I was there I got some other video stuff as well, in hopes that my video production business will improve. Probably most importantly, I also made an appointment for physical therapy on my neck. Yesterday at the golf tournament, I talked to several people who had neck and back problems. This wasn't too encouraging, since it appears that all neck injuries take a long time to recover from.

I think it's time to start looking for a new mattress. Like most things in my life, this seemingly easy task is going to be a giant pain. We have one of those low platform beds that you can't use a regular mattress and box spring set with. There are a few companies who make good quality king size mattresses for this type of bed, but they are never stocked by your typical Mattress Universe store. Usually you have to go to a store like Design Within Reach and special order something from Italy or something. All I know is that it will cost way more than any sensible person would want to pay for a mattress and won't arrive until months after my neck has finally healed.

Someone asked me today if I'd be interested in writing reviews of childern's books. Wow. That would be a stretch. I've never had children. I don't really understand children. And can't remember ever reading a children's book. Now, if you asked me to write reviews about German watches, fast cars or DSLR cameras...that I could do.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 649

This is our tenth annual Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. It's hard to believe we've been doing this for ten years now. I remember our very first tournament. We didn't really know what we were doing and we were all delighted not to have lost money on the event. Each year we learned a little more and eventually became quite professional. Now, our tournaments are as good as any charity golf tournaments anywhere.

This year has definitely been a challenge. The golf club we had been planning on using changed ownership less than a month ago and abruptly canceled all their upcoming tournaments. We managed to find a new location at the last minute and notified all the golfers that we would be playing at Indian Creek instead of Bridlewood. The economy has certainly taken it's toll as well. There are fewer sponsors than there were two years ago and fewer players as well. Luckily, we still have a lot of loyal supporters and everyone had a great time today. Danny, a pilot who adopted several dogs from us, brought an entire team from California to play for the third year in a row. Matt and Pat, with their dog Willow in the picture to the left, have come almost every year. More people are bringing their dogs to the event now and everyone seems to enjoy seeing each others Dalmatians. Our own dogs were surprisingly well behaved. I'll have to admit that large amounts of treats have helped Dash become a model citizen today.

I don't really think my photography was quite as good this year. I'm still very slow and stiff and I missed a few tee-off shots I should have captured because I wasn't quick enough. I'm a trouper though. I keep plugging away no matter what. If I ever miss a blog post, or miss anything for that matter, I'm probably dead. Travis and I were hoping to rig up something where all the players could upload smartphone pictures to a common location while they were playing and then we could compile everything very quickly for a slide show of everybody's pictures at the post tournament dinner. There were ways to do this, but nothing simple enough to explain to all the golfers. The last thing most players want to do on a sunny afternoon is jump through complicated IT hoops.

It's been a long day and I think everything went very well. I feel like sleeping in late tomorrow morning. I don't think the dogs will complain. After a long day on the links, I think they have the same thing in mind.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 648

We went up to The Velvet Snout this morning to photograph our two newest Dalmatian Rescue dogs. Emmy, shown to the left, is a cute little deaf female who has orthopedic problems with her hips. Suki, our other new girl, is still learning about people, since she was chained to a tree in someone's backyard when we found her. Both these dogs are sweet and very friendly. Each of them will be a wonderful addition to some lucky person's family.

If neck problems weren't enough, now I've got a toothache as well. Janet thinks I might need a root canal, since the tooth seems real sensitive to cold. I'll add a call to the dentist to my to-do list for next week. I feel like I'm just falling apart. It's disgusting. Hopefully, I'll get a good night's sleep tonight and be ready for a long day of photography tomorrow at the golf tournament. I'm charging up batteries right now and have plenty of memory cards, so everything should be just fine.

I did the usual Saturday errands. I went to the grocery store. I filled the car up with gas. And I got a new coffee filter at Bed, Bath and Beyond. My grocery store has stopped carrying my favorite breakfast cereal. I don't know why this bothers me, since I don't even eat cereal all that much, but it does. One by one, all my favorite things are slowly disappearing from stores. Retailers have gotten so sophisticated about tracking buying habits these days, that if you don't like what the masses buy, you're eventually out of luck.

Dot and Dash both got a bath today, so they'll look good as golf tournament ambassadors tomorrow. Neither dog likes a bath, but Dot has added a new trick to her arsenal. Lately, when we arrive at Vheas Laundromutt, she refuses to get out of the car. She's actually pretty hard to get out of the car, since she'll flatten herself to the seat and try her best to become an immovable object. Eventually, we got both dogs clean.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 647

I got some Chili at Central Market today. I've been hungry for Chili all day and take this as a good sign, especially since I haven't been hungry for anything for the past several weeks. Maybe my appetite is finally returning, one spice at a time.

I got an amazing amount of stuff done today. The only explanation for this productivity I can think of was that there really wasn't much else to do anyway. I finished editing the two videos I shot yesterday and got them both up and running on the doctor's website. I wrote a new watch article and got my monthly writer's group submission finished and turned in as well. This might not seem like a lot of work, but video editing is a lot more time consuming than writing. To finish two commercials in a day is actually pretty good.

When I was walking the dogs this evening, I slipped on some loose gravel. Yikes! My neck didn't like that one bit. I'm so tired of feeling fragile. I'm gaining a little more mobility every day, but this recovery is going so slow. I sure hope this neck problem heals quicker than the dislocated shoulder I had a couple of years ago. That mishap seemed to take months before everything returned to normal. Walking the dogs four to five miles a day has been a mixed blessing. I'm in a lot better shape than I would be otherwise, but the dogs are strong and they've definitely taken their toll on me. When they both see a squirrel at the same time, it's all I can do to hold on to them. Did I mention the dislocated shoulder...

This weekend is the big Dalmatian Rescue Charity Golf Tournament. A lot is riding on this tournament, since the rescue group makes over half of its yearly income on this one event. This year, Dot and Dash are going to the event as "ambassadors." It's kind of a tradition to bring dogs to the tournament. The really well behaved dogs ride around in golf carts and visit the players, while the rest hang around the clubhouse and beg for treats. Dot and Dash are getting a bath tomorrow, so they'll look good at the event. I'll take a bath too, but I'm mostly worried about making sure I have enough fully charged batteries to take the hundreds of pictures I'll need for the dinner presentation. After doing these golf pictures for all these years, I have a lot of respect for sports photographers. Compared to my days of shooting fashion, sports photography is hard work.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 646

I shot some short videos for my physician client today about Pediatric Care and Diabetes Management. While I was at the clinic, I also got some new blood tests done and got a referral for physical therapy on my neck.

Everyone seems to want to add video to their websites these days. On one hand, this is a good thing because I've been producing and editing videos for many years. On the other hand, nobody really values what I do anymore because they've all got HD cameras and are doing their own YouTube videos. Projects that used to require a three day trip to Los Angeles just for the editing portion, are now expected to be completed and on the web in an hour or two. I shouldn't complain though. I'm still working everyday and a lot of people aren't.

The weather was actually cool this morning. At first I wished I'd worn a light jacket, but once the dogs and I had been moving a while, the temperature felt great. It was surprising how quickly the Summer heat wave ended. After months of triple digit temperatures, the hot weather just abruptly ended. From now through the end of October, things should be very pleasant. This is usually the nicest time of the year in Texas. We should have a good weekend for our Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament and then it will be time for the State Fair.

Today's market sell-off was totally disgusting. Stocks went down. Commodities went down. Even gold went down. It's getting harder and harder to find a safe haven. It's not very wise to go short anymore when things are so volatile and apparently random. One day the market will be up several hundred points and the next day it will be down by the same amount, even though nothing has fundamentally changed. I keep hearing that this is a good time to pick up some undervalued bargains, but I did that several months ago and everything I bought is lower now.

The dogs have it so easy. They don't worry about any of this stuff. I envy Dot and Dash sometimes. Of course, they probably envy me as well. I can open doors.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 645

Well, I might not feel any better, but at least I look a little more presentable. I got my hair cut today and even though the price still seems way too high, I'd rather pay Betty for making me look a little better than most of the other recurring bills I pay.

I always try to go to Northpark between 2 PM and 4 PM because this is when the mall is the least crowded. I never have a problem finding a parking place at this time of day, but it's still surprising how many people are inside wandering around. I always think that the salespeople at Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo and De Beers have a good job. Nobody is ever inside those stores when I walk by.

We had another incident in dog class tonight where a large aggressive dog went after a smaller dog. Dash was terrified because he knew exactly what was happening. Personally, I think people with aggressive dogs ought to be banned from the training class, but they seldom are. Often the people with difficult dogs seem to work the hardest with their dogs and the teachers like to cut them some slack because they are really trying. Dash and I don't try as hard, but I still don't think it is fair to be put in the same class with a dog that might bite mine. These people in class are way too casual about biting dogs for my taste. I doubt that any of them have been bitten as badly as I have in the past.

I'm going to take some new videos for my doctor client tomorrow. I think I'll ask him to do a thyroid test while I'm there. There's got to be an explanation for my current lack of energy. Now that I think about it, having my physician as an advertising client might not have been a wise idea. Whenever I go for a visit these days, our conversations get hopelessly tangled up between marketing the clinic and managing my own health. I'm hoping that someone will fix me while the clinic folks are focused on fixing their website.

I got another dead cat job today. Every time an office cat dies, one of my veterinary clients commissions me to make a large gallery print of the cat for their memorial wall. I've done quite a few of these pictures, so I have a feeling that this clinic picks some pretty old kitties to be their office cats. In truth, these people are very kind. I think it's great that they've chosen to give some old cats that few people would ever adopt a nice, loving place to spend their final days.

Rover is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 644

The nice weather continues. It's not quite jacket weather yet, but something has definitely changed for the better. When the dogs return from their morning walk these days, their tongues aren't hanging out anymore. I don't feel like I need a change of clothes just to eat breakfast either. Today, I continued to see examples of flowers that popped up out of nowhere after yesterday's rain. The rain has been good, but lets wait a week or so before we have another downpour. That's not too much to ask, is it? I need to clean the pecan shells off the roof and discover where the recent leak is coming from. We also need to have a nice day for our Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament this weekend. It's hard to guard against rain when you make arrangements for these tournaments a year ahead of time, but I hope our luck continues. This will be Dalmatian Rescue's tenth annual charity golf tournament and so far we've had great weather every single time.

I finally made an appointment with Betty to get my hair cut tomorrow. I should have done this a month ago, but somehow other things always got in the way. This entire month has been this way. I'm behind on just about everything because other things keep getting in the way. At least I'm staying current with my writing assignments. I wrote two watch articles today, so I'm just about back up to speed with this client. Just about all the website revisions that accumulated while I was on vacation are finished now as well. All I need to do now is find some sort of resolution to my neck problems and I'll be good to go.

If you haven't tried Google+ yet, you ought to give it a whirl. I noticed recently that it's open to everybody now and you don't need an invitation anymore. I've never learned anything on Facebook, other than that people I know in real life hate my Twitter feed. In contrast, I learn something interesting and new almost every day on Google+.

Tomorrow's another day. Maybe I'll get a check in the mail. Maybe I'll wake up feeling wonderful. Maybe I'll feel like drinking coffee again. Who knows...anything could happen.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 643

We got a much needed rainstorm late last night. I could tell from the way the rain was beating on the roof that it was just a matter of time before it started leaking inside. Sure enough, just before I got ready to go to bed, I heard water dripping on the living room floor. I got out the buckets and placed them under the leak and listened to the drip, drip, drip of the water as I went to sleep.

This morning, the blue bucket was about half full, but the water had stopped dripping. After taking the dogs on their morning walk, I climbed up on the roof to survey the damage. Going up on the roof was the last thing I wanted to do with my ongoing neck problems, but when you've got standing water on a leaking flat roof, it simply can't be ignored. I swept away the standing water, but I'm still not sure where the water is coming from. The entire roof was covered with half eaten pecans. Our pecan tree must have had a bumper crop this year. I've tried to harvest these pecans on good years like this, but it's hard to get ahead of the squirrels. They are relentless. Judging from the debris on the roof, our local squirrel population must be eating these things 24x7. They never eat the entire pecan. They just nibble enough so that you'd never want to use the nut to make a pecan pie or anything.

I'm getting behind on paying bills again. To stay current, I spent a good part of the afternoon paying a large stack of bills that had accumulated on my desk. I used to pay these things the same day they arrived, but I've grown disgusted with them. Anyone who tries to tell you that inflation isn't a problem must not have many utility bills. The water bill seems four times higher than it was five years ago. Ditto for the gas and electric bills. The real problem though is all the phone bills. Do I really need a fax line anymore? Do I need to keep a 4-G hotspot when I only use it several times a year? I probably don't need half the telephone services I currently have, but it's hard to decide which ones to drop, since I use all of them from time to time.

It's amazing how resilient nature is. As I was walking the dogs this evening, I noticed that last night's rains had already spawned a brand new crop of flowers. The flowers weren't there yesterday, but they were in full bloom today. All it took was one good rain. Things like this are encouraging to me. Life is full of sudden reversals and often bad news can turn back into good news again a lot quicker than you think.

Rhett is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 642

The dogs got their weekly trip to Wagging Tail Dog Park today. Dash has finally figured out where we are going every Sunday, so he has gotten a lot better in the car. He was so quiet going to the park today that I almost forgot he was in the back seat. When we arrived, we were greeted by a convention of Corgis. There must have been half a dozen Corgis in the park this morning. Dash seems to like dogs of this size, so he even played with a few of them.

When we got home, I decided to mow the grass. I was a bit worried that I'd hurt my neck again, but the yard looked terrible and I knew I couldn't put mowing off forever. As it turned out, my neck wasn't the problem. I just don't have any energy these days. I don't know what the problem is, but things that used to be routine wear me out now. By the time I got the yard looking decent again, I was drenched in sweat and totally exhausted. I don't know whether I need to find a different doctor or what. When I mentioned my lack of energy to my regular doctor last week, he didn't really take it seriously. All I know is that I'm tired of living this way. My normal week takes a lot of energy and it's hard to get things done when all you want to do is take a nap.

The Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament is next weekend. I've got to get feeling better by then, because my main job during the tournament is to go around in a golf cart and take hundreds of pictures of all the participants. We put these pictures together in a slide show that we project in the clubhouse during dinner. Over the years, I've gotten better at capturing the ball just after it's been hit by the driver. People like to see a good tee off shot. They also like to see a shot of a really good putt with the ball right on the lip of the cup, but these shots are a bit harder to come by.

I've discovered that Dalmatians are really good companions when you're sick. Every time I've taken a nap this weekend, both dogs have been right there with with me. Maybe they're just lazy, but I'd prefer to think they're both good little nurses.

Puppies are today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 641

We took the dogs to the Wags and Waves event at Hawaiian Falls today. Somehow, I thought that Dot and Dash would really like the water this year, since they were curious about it last year. No such luck. When we would get in the water with them, all they wanted to do was get out again as fast as they could. There were hundreds of dogs splashing around and having a grand time, but our two wanted nothing to do with the water.

A video crew wanted to get an interview with Dot and Dash at the Dalmatian Rescue booth. Ann and Janet didn't want to do the interview because they don't like being on camera. I didn't want to do the interview because my neck is still stiff and I look like a zombie. Lucky, Travis was there. Travis is usually up for anything, so with any luck, his interview segment with Dot and Dash will be on TV somewhere this evening. Even though the event lasted all day, we all left a little after 2 PM. Lots of dogs were having fun, but we didn't make much in donations today. Anyway, when Dash is ready to go, you might as well just go.

Even though Saturdays are busy errand days, I really didn't do much today. I got my grocery shopping done when we returned from the water park and used the rest of the day to take a nap. I wish I'd start feeling better soon. Right now, a nap is about the only thing that seems to work.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 640

When I woke up this morning, I was surprised to discover that it was already 9 AM. Either I was really tired, or Janet was very quiet getting ready for work this morning. I didn't hear a thing. The dogs aren't very good about getting me up in the morning either. They'd already had their breakfast and everything before Janet left for work, but when I woke up there was a dog sleeping on either side of me.

I feel so run down that I don't even feel like eating anymore. I didn't even make coffee this morning and last night my dinner consisted of half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The neck pain continues to get a little better every day, but at this rate, it will be weeks before I'm back to normal. It would be so nice to just wake up some morning feeling great again. Maybe someday.

I've decided to go ahead and buy Avid Media Composer while they are still having their special promotion for Final Cut Pro users. Work has declined for just about every video producer I know, but I don't think you can give up. I'm a good video editor and I have to think that I will continue to get production jobs if I am ready when the need is there. For the moment, I am going to use this slow period to learn all the ins and outs of my new Avid software.

It rained again today. It wasn't a long rain, but it did cool things down a bit. Maybe the worst of our long Summer heat wave is finally over. I'm glad I got the dogs walked this evening before the rains began. I could see dark clouds on the horizon at our halfway point, but we managed to make it back again before Dot started panicking. Luckily, there wasn't much thunder and lightning this time, so she's fine. Both dogs are sitting on their dog beds now, waiting for us to call it a day.

Phantom is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 639

It was twenty degrees cooler today. I was really surprised when I took the dogs out this morning, because there wasn't much to explain the mild weather. No overnight storms. No big cold front. It was just nicer today. I wish I could convince Dash to take it easy on these walks. He tugs and pulls on the leash and is making it an uphill battle to get my neck back to normal. At least my neck pain isn't getting worse though, so maybe I can learn to deal with my rambunctious dogs.

I went to another seminar about the Panasonic AG-AF100 camera this afternoon. I'm getting closer and closer to purchasing one of these cameras because it meets my needs almost perfectly. Too bad I don't have a big video job in the pipeline to make the decision a little easier. This is really a good camera. It records high definition video to an SD memory card. It can use all the Olympus lenses I already use for my still camera. It has time code, professional microphone inputs, a built-in vectorscope and much more. For the purchase to make sense, I just need some more of the corporate video jobs that used to be my bread and butter business.

My bread and butter business now seems to mainly consist of low budget, quick turnaround website design and equally low budget writing assignments. It's weird to actually be making less money than I was ten years ago, even though I'm much busier than I was then. This seems to be a common problem though. Everyone from other photographers and advertising freelancers to the guy who frames my pictures tells me they are having the same problem. Basically, this economy totally sucks.

I had to rewrite an article I did yesterday, so that means that the article I was supposed to write today gets put off until tomorrow. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly tomorrow because now I've got two articles that need to be written, plus at least four websites that need changes. If only I could trade places with the dogs. They just slept on the bed all day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 638

I have a compressed disc in my neck. This isn't quite as serious as a slipped disc, but it goes a long way toward explaining my recent neck problems. My doctor showed me a variety of exercises I could do to relieve tension and rebuild strength in my neck muscles, but it's going to be a long, slow process, whatever I do.

I didn't have much luck getting my meds reduced. Apparently, one set of pills is helping to keep plaque from building up in my arteries and another set is keeping me from developing diabetes. Since I wouldn't welcome either a heart attack or diabetes, I will be a good boy and continue to take all my meds. Since statin drugs do have a tendency to cause muscle loss over time, my only alternative might be to join a gym and work on building those muscles back again.

I couldn't wait to get finished with dog class tonight. Dash was just fine, but I wasn't quite ready for the evening's exercises. My neck is still pretty stiff and any exercise that involved running was still a bit painful. I should have just stayed home, but it's hard to take one dog to class when the other doesn't get to go. It's easier to deal with a little neck pain than it is to deal with Dash if he was the one who got left behind.

It looks like I've got quite a few writing jobs for the rest of the week. My doc says I need to work on my posture while I'm at the computer and take longer breaks away from the monitor as I work. This is easier said than done, but I'll give it a try. I spend so much time staring at a computer screen for my work that I can easily imagine that stress and bad posture were part of the problem. Here's to a relaxed, stress free working environment. Now, if I can just keep from falling asleep on the job.

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day