Day 2094

We had to work around the rain today. Although the rainfall was sporadic, it was surprisingly heavy. The storm cells were so small and sprang up so quickly that the weather radar let me down. I thought we were in the clear when I saw a break in the weather around 10 AM, but about halfway through our walk, Dash and I got soaked. At least there wasn't much thunder and lightning. When we got home, Dot was still fast asleep on her dog bed.

I started to see patches of blue sky around lunch time, so I decided to drive up to the repair shop in Plano and get my laptop battery replaced. For a brief moment, I thought I was going to get a completely new computer, because one of the technicians said that my particular model was on a recall list. They had to do a test to see whether my machine qualified for a complete motherboard replacement. I was hoping the computer would fail the test, but it passed with flying colors. After looking at the serial number, they said that my computer was late in the production run for the recalled model and that Apple had already corrected the problem. Too bad. I did walk away with a new battery though, so the aging MacBook Pro will probably continue to serve me well until laptops are completely obsolete.

The sporadic storms made it difficult to take Dot outside at the appropriate times and consequently she pooped in the house twice. It's hard enough to time things right when the weather is perfect. Today it was impossible. All it takes is a few seconds of sustained barking to cause Dot to have an accident. There was plenty to bark about today. Thunder made the dogs bark. So did the sound of rain on the roof. When they weren't barking at the storm, they were barking at me. Neither of them seemed to realize that there was no reason to hurry through breakfast this morning. I had to wait until the rain stopped to walk them anyway. Needless to say, I did a lot of laundry today.

I'm enough of a geek that it was hard to ignore today's Apple Event. The last thing I need is one more thing with an Apple logo on it, but I was somewhat intrigued by the new larger iPad. I seldom use my iPad anymore, but this new larger model seemed like it could easily replace a laptop. With a large touch screen, and the ability to use a keyboard and pencil with it as well, why would you even need a laptop? Oops. I forgot that the iPad is just another IOS device and won't run any of the software I depend on for work. I guess I'm going to need that laptop with the brand new battery after all.

Work is still slow. It's time to send out my September invoices but I didn't feel my usual sense of urgency to get them in the mail. Billings are so low this month that it hardly seems worth the effort. I need to keep a positive attitude though. I remember when I got initially the laptop in 2010 I was going through a similar dry period and then out of the blue I got a huge job that doubled my income. I'm not sure a new battery will have the same effect, but one can always hope.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day