Day 2135

I lost another website management account today. There isn't much left to lose at this point. Janet tells me that I just need to go out and get more business. I tell her that she ought to feel very lucky that she still has a skill that isn't easily replaced by a 99 cent iPhone app.

I probably could go out and build up my writing business if I wanted. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has come up with an app that will automatically write good original content for you. Website design is another kettle of fish. There are already so many sophisticated WordPress templates and pre-built solutions available for almost nothing, that very few people see any benefit to starting from scratch anymore. When I lose a website account, it is not because someone is doing better work than I am. It it almost always because someone has offered their services far cheaper than I ever could. There just aren't many economies of scale when there is only one of you. I'm learning the hard way that it's hard to compete with dirt cheap. As my once loyal client told me this morning, "Thanks for understanding. This was such a fantastic deal, I just couldn't pass it up."

The world has fundamentally changed. I miss the days when my clients started every other sentence with "I'm not very creative, but.."  Now, everyone thinks they actually are creative. Truthfully, there is probably an abundance of creativity out there, but life was better when I had a monopoly on this activity. It's no fun being the Wizard of Oz when the whole world is behind the curtain with you. People are so pleased with their Instagram filters and slow motion iPhone videos, that I don't see a huge demand for my services in the future.

Dash's vet had an emergency when we arrived for our appointment this morning. We had to wait a while in the lobby and I noticed that there were a lot of new faces at the clinic. This is another way the world has fundamentally changed. Nobody stays at a job very long anymore. Everywhere I go, there are always lots of new faces. Luckily, Dash's vet is still a familiar face. Dash has been seeing her for years. I asked about the emergency and evidently a dog had come in with symptoms of a seizure and kept falling over. After ruling out epilepsy and vestibular disorders, the vet thought the dog had ruptured a disc in it's neck. They would need to do an MRI to make sure however. If it was a ruptured disc, the dog would need surgery. The dog's owner apparently didn't want to spend the money and was thinking about putting the dog down. This happens a lot and it always makes me sad. Personally, I don't think you should even have a dog, or a kid for that matter, if you can't afford to take care of it properly. A dog is a big responsibility. So far, we've been able to provide everything that Dot and Dash need, but there could easily come a day when the piggy bank is completely empty. It happens.

It would be nice if someone called tomorrow and wanted me to do a video project that would keep me busy till Christmas. It would be nice if Dot woke up and started walking on her own again too. Some things just aren't going to happen. I wish Dot would tell me her secret. Maybe she doesn't know what lies ahead, or maybe she doesn't care. She just seems happy.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day