Day 1532

False start day. We got up extra early this morning, so we could negotiate feeding one dog while the other was fasting. Usually, this involves taking the fasting dog on a walk right after we get up, while the second dog stays home and eats breakfast. I walked Dash while Janet fed Dot, and then we were off to see the oncologist. Janet and I were both impressed with the doctor, who was very knowledgeable and explained Dash's thyroid issues in a way that was easy to understand. He was almost certain that Dash will require surgery, but wanted a CAT Scan to confirm his diagnosis and provide an accurate map for the surgeon.

I left Dash at the clinic to get the scan done and went home to eat breakfast and get some work done. Shortly after I got home, I got a call from the clinic saying that I needed to come back and pick up Dash again. They told me that both of the CAT Scan technicians were out sick today and there was nobody to run the machine. WTF? How could they not already know this when I was up at the clinic just an hour earlier? This is a cancer clinic and diagnosing things using a CAT Scanner is a big part of what they do. The machine is essential. At any rate, the doctor was very embarrassed by the situation and promised to get it sorted out, so I could re-schedule quickly.

It simply astounds me how often people fail to have any sort of a back-up plan these days. Individuals, companies, and even our entire country just seem to lurch through life on a wing and a prayer, hoping that everything will be OK. Here is this multimillion dollar machine that the clinic depends on and everything comes to a grinding halt when a technician's kid gets sick? This shouldn't happen. Worst of all, nobody at the cancer clinic appeared to even know that the technician had called in sick until after I had left Dash and returned home. At least they didn't pre-intubate him with drugs before they discovered their error. I always try to have a back up plan. When I go on a photo shoot, I always take three camera bodies and an extra strobe power pack, just in case something breaks. I have my own 4-G hotspot with me at all times, so I am never dead in the water during a power outage. When I was younger, there was a time when I had three cars, just to make sure that a dead battery or breakdown would never put me out of commission. OK, I shouldn't be sanctimonious here. I also liked cars a lot.

The rest of the day was just a normal Monday. I finished two articles and already have two more on deck for tomorrow. There was a long, involved website update which required a lot of Photoshop work. Facebook is destroying what remains of my website business. The pictures I get these days are horrible. Since it's so easy to upload your baby and cat pictures on Facebook, people just think that this is what I do as well. They don't seem to understand that I have to crop, re-size, and color correct every single picture they send me in Photoshop. I can't even batch process, since I usually get thirty different bad cell phone photos, all in their own unique format. Progress is weird. All it means for me is that my own job gets harder.

Tomorrow, we'll start over. We'll get up early again and feed one dog while the fasting dog is out taking a quick walk. I'll get mired in rush hour traffic again as I take Dash to the clinic for his early morning appointment. They've promised me that the all important CAT Scan technician will actually be there this time. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day