Saturday, September 12, 2015

Day 2097

It was only 67 degrees when I woke up this morning. Now we're talking! With clear skies and a cool breeze, it was a near perfect morning to take a couple of old dogs on a brisk walk. Dot definitely noticed the change in temperature. There was a spring in her step that is rare these days. Since Dot didn't poop in her bed last night and we all had a nice walk, it seemed only fitting that I fix French Toast for breakfast.

After a delicious breakfast, I mowed the grass for what is hopefully the last time this year. Fall officially begins for me when I can quit mowing the grass for another year, but I'm usually not very good at guessing when this will happen. Last year, I remember mowing at least three more times after I thought I was done for the year. I may have to keep mowing for quite a while if the neighbors don't get their sprinklers fixed. One of their sprinkler heads is broken and sprays water into our yard instead of theirs. The result has been that half of the yard is greener and grows faster than the rest. I'm not complaining though. It probably cuts down my water bill a bit.

Janet asked me to put new plates on her car this morning. I thought this would take me about a minute, but I ran into the same problem I had when I was trying to fix the old aluminum colander last month. All I had to do was unscrew four small bolts and remove the old plates. One of the bolts wouldn't come out though. The tapped brass shim on the car that one of the bolts was screwed into was turning in the same direction as the bolt when I tried to remove it. It took me forever to figure out how to remove the bolt without damaging the car. Eventually, I succeeded, although it took a lot more tools than the simple Phillips screwdriver I started out with. The car wasn't damaged and Janet was happy. It probably would have been easier to take the car to the dealership though.

There seems to be an enormous number of dragonflies and grasshoppers in the park at this time of year. I wonder where they are the rest of the time? I still haven't been able to get a good photograph of a dragonfly in flight, but I'm getting fast enough now to catch them when they briefly land on something. This is probably good practice for photographing hummingbirds. We occasionally see hummingbirds in our yard, but I haven't been fast enough to photograph them either.

I just noticed that the trash truck didn't completely empty our bin on Friday. There are still two trash bags on the bottom of the can. Our city uses those new automated trash trucks where a metal arm reaches out and picks up your trash can as the truck drives down the street and dumps it into a hopper on top of the truck. This all happens quickly and sometimes not all the bags get emptied. It's frustrating when this happens because then your next week's trash won't fit in the can. I'm sure this is another one of those "first world" problems you're not supposed to complain about.

I need to get to the gym tomorrow. If I've started eating French Toast again, going to the gym is almost mandatory.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day