Day 1193

In a lot of ways, days without much to do are harder than the busy ones. I was scratching my head to come up with ways to stay busy today. I did laundry. I watered the new grass. I unclogged the large format printer. I recharged all the portable devices. I even finished my monthly essay for my writers group a week early.

When I was walking the dogs this morning, I noticed that bulldozers were tearing down another house in the neighborhood. One by one, all the little frame houses are coming down and being replaced by mansions. Our part of town has become trendy and desirable in recent years, but apparently the new buyers are too snooty to live in the little frame houses that have surrounded the lake for as long as I can remember. Property values are going up, but only because someone wants to tear down your house.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover something new on the breakfast menu this morning. Since I was eating at the restaurant with the good bacon, I guess I never noticed the healthy section of the menu before. What I ordered were Eggs Benedict with Cuban black bean cakes and grilled tomato slices, all covered with a spicy Chipotle Hollandaise sauce. Although the meal was definitely not a diet item, it was probably much healthier than the plates piled high with sausages, bacon and waffles swimming in maple syrup that I used to order at this place.

My water bill is going to be huge next month. I'm supposed to water the new grass and vegetation for about an hour a day for the next thirty days. The trouble with watering our yard is that the roots from all the large oak and elm trees suck up all the water. The trees stay healthy, but the yard dries out quickly, no matter what you do. I'm determined to keep things wet this time though. Too much effort has gone into this yard just to see it dry up and die again.

Got a call from the Land Rover dealer around supper time saying that my Defender was ready to pick up. Damn. I was hoping to drive the trouble-free new LR2 loaner car for another week or so. Even with the new engine seals and a brand new fuel pump, I still don't trust the Defender. It has reached that awkward age when, as soon as you fix one thing, another thing breaks.

I'm hoping for a totally uneventful weekend. It's going to be cold outside, so staying inside and watching old movies on Hulu Plus and maybe playing the guitar a bit sounds pretty good to me.

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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