Day 1651

We got off to a slow start this morning, due to a passing thunderstorm. As usual, the dogs expected me to make the rain stop, so they could stay on their regular schedule. There's an order to things that must not be violated. Janet feeds them breakfast, goes to work, and then it's time for me to take them on their morning walk. Only after they have returned and gone to sleep on the bed is it OK for me to do something else. I let them outside several times this morning to show them it was raining pretty hard. This apparently wasn't good enough. My plan was to eat my own breakfast first, in hopes that the rain would stop by the time I was finished. Dot and Dash seemed to think I was just doing this to irritate them and barked at me the entire time I was eating. Eventually the rain did stop around 10 AM and the dogs got their walk. After that, everything was normal again.

It's time to renew the storage warehouse for another year. This is another big expense I don't really need. I wish I was motivated enough to start selling the contents of the warehouse one-by-one on eBay. I don't like the whole process of selling things though. The worst part about selling something is that you have to connect with a buyer. I don't like pricing things, boxing things up, or dealing with returns. As a result, I tend to miss the magic moment when something is hot. A lot of things in the warehouse have been collectable at one point or another, but they don't always stay that way. Every time I visit that dusty room, I'm reminded of that well know line from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer; "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Ultimately, this stuff just doesn't matter, but I guess I'll still renew the warehouse for another year.

It was time to pay some more bills today. I'm getting tired of getting small checks in the mail and turning right around and writing big checks to pay bills. This can't last forever. I've tried cutting back, but it doesn't seem to work. Being frugal with food, gasoline and luxuries can save a little money, but the big ticket items are much harder to control. Homeowners insurance, property taxes, utility bills, and medical expenses always seem to go up whatever you do. At least I don't have a mortgage or car payments anymore. I don't buy many technology toys these days either. Gadgets just don't give me as much pleasure as they used to. Unfortunately, I don't think I've saved much by hanging on to my computers and cameras for a few more years. When one door shuts, another door inevitably opens. Now, I'm wasting a lot of money on food. When you like to eat, but don't like to cook, you end up spending a lot of time at the chef prepared counter at Central Market.

Dot has her acupuncture and water therapy appointment tomorrow. It was easier when we always did her physical therapy on Wednesday, but she does have more energy at training class, now that I'm moving her session to a different day. I guess we'll continue juggling the schedule for a while. Hopefully, the weather will be nicer tomorrow than it was today. 

Boo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day