Day 1450

It was 80 degrees today. It is supposed to be 20 degrees tomorrow. That's Texas weather in a nutshell. All the TV weathermen in town are predicting a monster storm this weekend that will coat the roads with a sheet of ice and knock out power lines throughout the region. Hopefully, none of these alarmist reports are true. Weather reports in Dallas tend to be sensationalized because there are plenty of people like me who freak out at the thought of bad weather. Bad weather equals good ratings. Even the hint of a Winter bad storm will send people to Home Depot in droves to stock up on batteries, kitty litter, generators, rock salt, and snow shovels. Needless to say, most of the snow shovels never get used. Grocery stores are equally busy before a storm, although I don't know why. If the power goes out, a lot of food in the refrigerator isn't going to do you much good.

Although anything could happen tomorrow, I certainly can't complain about today's weather. It was nice all day. With blue skies and mild temperatures to cheer me on, I got quite a bit done. The breakfast networking group liked the website I'd developed for them. This is probably one of those sites that will never be finished, but at least there weren't any major snags when it was unveiled for the first time this morning.

Dot did great at her physical therapy session today. She walked over half a mile on the underwater treadmill and had no problems with the 60 second bursts of speed that are part of her interval training. I'm really proud of Dot. Not only is she visibly stronger than she was when we started this, she actually seems to enjoy the therapy as well. Hopefully, Dot has many good years ahead of her. One of my neighbors has an old dog and it's sad to see how quickly a dog can go downhill as they approach the end of their life. One day they're active and a few months later they can hardly walk.

All the dogs in training class seemed a bit on edge tonight. I think they could sense the cold front that is headed our way. As the wind picked up, Dot and Dash made sure to let us know that they were ready to go home. I couldn't blame them for wanting to get back inside again. By the time class was over, the temperature had dropped ten degrees.

I found out today that my mechanic is losing the lease on his garage and as a result, I'll probably have to take my old Citroën Maserati back again before it can be restored. This is definitely a big disappointment. There are very few people in the entire country who still work on these things. The car has sat for so long that I'm sure it will need some serious work before it runs properly again. Even if I can find another mechanic, I'm not sure I'll be able to find the parts I need. Certain parts have already become almost impossible to find. I'm not sure what to do with this car now. 

In retrospect, I should have started the restoration last year. It was always easier to just postpone things though, since my mechanic was usually busy with other repairs anyway. Now, it might be too late. I have the same sinking feeling I had when I failed to sell my Lucent Technology stock and watched it slide from $70 a share to $4 a share. There is a time and a place for everything. I just don't always know when that time has arrived.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day