Day 1118

I took some filing cabinets from the office over to a little resale shop that benefits homeless animals. I love this place, because you can donate absolute rubbish and they always act like it's exactly what they needed. They are really doing me a favor to even take this old stuff, but they always make me feel like I'm the one doing something good. I like that. I have a feeling that these folks are just nice, but maybe they're being polite in hopes that I'll eventually bring them something good.

After I got rid of the unneeded furniture, I went back home and tried to thin out the closets a bit by getting rid of equally unneeded clothes. I used to just throw away shirts that I couldn't button around the neck any more. Since most of these tight fitting clothes from younger years are already gone, I have to rely on Janet to tell me which things are hopelessly out of style. If I hold something up and she makes a face, it goes in the throw away pile.

Spring cleaning is kind of like peeling an onion. There are usually layers upon layers of mess, and once you have dealt with the top layer, it just reveals something else waiting underneath. When I removed the filing cabinets today, they must have been in a damp corner, because there was a layer of mildew on the wall behind them. I then had to set up a portable heater to dry out the wall and still haven't finished scrubbing everything down with bleach. I found an old Macintosh laptop when I was cleaning things out this afternoon. I plugged it in and got nothing. Dead as a doornail. When I removed the battery, it was date-stamped 1999. I don't know it it's even worth the effort to try and find a working 1999 Apple laptop battery. Probably not. Even if I managed to get the computer working again, I'm sure it is so slow that I would find it useless.

Dot and Dash had a great time at the dog park today. They both seemed a bit alarmed when we began to take an alternate route to the park. Both dogs started barking like crazy in the back seat. I'm sure they were saying something like "Turn around immediately, this isn't the right way." To quiet things down in the car, we returned to the old route. As soon as the dogs recognized their surroundings and knew where they were going, they both settled down again and were good for the rest of the journey.

I have a feeling that next week is going to be busy. It's time to get the car safety inspected again, and before I can do that, I need to get a new catalytic converter. I have a feeling that the old clattering converter would be a dead giveaway that my emission system isn't up to par. I've grown to hate state safety inspections over the years. They continue to grow more and more complicated. I think I should be exempt anyway, since I don't drive very much. In our state, humans aren't even involved with the safety inspection. It's all in the hands of a computer. They hook your car up to some sensors and the results get sent straight to Austin. In the old days, I could talk my way out of minor infractions. There's no one to talk to anymore though. This automated life really doesn't suit me. It probably won't be long before I have to give a DNA sample just to get my prescriptions filled.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day