Day 1558

We went up and photographed dogs at the Dalmatian Rescue kennel today. One of the dogs was actually being adopted while we were there and it was nice to see him go to his new home. There aren't as many abandoned Dalmatians anymore. I think the irresponsible people have moved on to other breeds. That's a good thing. Most of the Dalmatians who get adopted now go to homes that have had a Dalmatian before. These people love and understand the breed and the dogs find good homes. I'm sure there are still people who see a popular movie and end up wanting a dog for all the wrong reasons. At least that dog isn't a Dalmatian now. Hopefully, Disney won't make any more 101 Dalmatian movies. That movie was largely responsible for the surge in abandoned Dalmatians in 1996.

The weather got cooler again today. This is the time of year when Janet keeps turning on the air conditioner and I keep turning on the heater. Back and forth we go. During these in-between times, I'm always cold and she's always hot. In a month or so, there will be no more ambiguity. By the time June arrives, everybody will be in agreement again. Texas summers are hot.

Our water bill is going to be high next month. One of the things about new grass is that you have to water it constantly. It's ironic. We got the grass to keep the dogs from getting muddy, but now that the entire yard is a soggy mess, the dogs get muddy anyway. Hopefully, the grass will last a little longer than it did last year. The landscape guys treated for grubs again, but grubs are a perennial problem in Texas. No matter what we do, we always seem to have grubs.

I thought Janet would laugh at my idea of putting a little scarecrow on my car mirrors to ward off the pooping redbird. She apparently liked the idea though, because when she was shopping today, she got a bunch of little rubber birds at the Dollar Store and now her car has little bird scarecrows on the mirrors as well. The mailman will probably think we are crazy.

I need to go to the gym tomorrow. I need to figure out how to resume going during the week as well. Now that it appears my liver is improving, the real challenge will be avoid slipping back to my old unhealthy ways. I've always been able to rise to the occasion during difficult times. I'm a big advocate of that old "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" adage. When the danger is over, I'm a terrible backslider though. I definitely don't exercise and eat Kale for the sheer joy of it. At heart, I'm more of a bacon and beer kind of guy.

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1335

Now I remember why we tried so hard to wean Dash off of phenobarbital the first time he had seizures. The drug seems to make our excitable boy even more hyper and agitated than normal. Dash never could ride calmly in a car when he was on phenobarbital before, and it appears like this behavior has returned. It's weird that a barbiturate would make a dog agitated and wild, but that's what happens with Dash. When phenobarbital was given more commonly to humans, a paradoxical reaction was sometimes observed in children. This is where the drug causes the opposite effect of what you would normally expected. Makes sense in a way. Dash certainly acts like a child.

It was a nerve wracking trip to the dog park this morning, but once we got there, Dash seemed fine. After they had a chance to play in the park for a while, we took the dogs to the Dalmatian Rescue "meet and greet" event. Dot and Dash were both polite and well behaved. I was surprised at how many people came up and told us that they had never seen a real Dalmatian before. The breed is becoming increasingly rare and that's a good thing. When the "101 Dalmatians" Disney movies were popular, everybody wanted a Dalmatian and puppy mills began breeding them. Now, the dogs are harder to find and most people who have a Dalmatian understand the breed and really want one.

I think I determined the problem with my old Apple laptop myself. All it took was thirty minutes of searching on Google and I discovered that if I took the keyboard off and disconnected the PRAM battery underneath, the computer would probably start up and began to recharge. Sure enough, when I did this, it worked like a charm. I bet this is exactly what the technician did when I took the computer in for repair last year. Just like the electrician who charged me $100 to fix a switch, the computer technician probably charged me $100 to disconnect a wire, recharge the battery, and then connect the same wire up again.

So many things in life seem easy once the mystery has been revealed. I am continually amazed at how easy some plumbing, automotive, and household repairs turn out to be when you actually watch the repairman at work. Of course charging a lot for intrinsically easy things is a double edged sword. Some of my best clients have discovered how easy it is to design websites and decided to do it themselves.

Next week looks busy already. There are client meetings on the calender, I've got to take my car in for repairs again, and then there's the vexing question of phenobarbital vs potassium bromide. I've read everything I can find about both meds and still don't know which is the best way to control seizures.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 901

Well, we didn't get 101 Dalmatians at the dog park today. The six that actually did show up sure seemed to have a good time though. Even six Dalmatians managed to attract a lot of attention. Practically everyone in the park came over to look at the dogs. We're thinking of having Dalmatian Day at the Northbark Dog Park once a month now. Everyone who came today said they'd tell their friends, so we ought to get more dogs next time. The weird thing about Dalmatians is that they seem to recognize other Dalmatians. They like to hang out together and aren't all that interested in the other dogs in the park. If dogs ever discover how to be elitist, Dalmatians will be among the first to lord it over the others. I still think it would be fun to get 101 of these guys together for a play date. Maybe someday. For today it was just Dot, Dash, Willow, Jasper, Emmie, and Penny.

My car went kaputt today. I've had a small leak in the power steering lines for about a month now. I should have taken the car in for service immediately. Instead, I just went to the AutoZone store and bought a bottle of power steering fluid. Every time I heard a squealing noise, I would top up the power steering fluid tank. It worked for a while. I think the little leak became a big leak today though. The power steering is gone. It takes a massive effort to turn the wheel at all. The speedometer quit working too, and the engine dies when I'm at a stoplight. I don't know if all these things are related, but the car isn't very drivable. I'm going to have to get it towed to the Land Rover dealer tomorrow.

I went down to the rent house for what may be the last time this weekend. I wanted to make sure the place looked clean and tidy when the new owners take possession. I really like this house. If any of you are familiar with the architecture of Bud Oglesby, you'll know what I mean. I should have sold the place years ago though. If I had been perceptive enough to sell at the top of the Dallas real estate market some years ago, I could have made almost double what I'm likely to make now. Live and learn. That's what life's all about, isn't it?. If I had made all the right decisions, I'd be a multimillionaire now. On the other hand, if I'd done everything wrong, I'd be dead.

I'm starting to get telemarketing messages on my iPhone now. I even get junk text messages. It was so nice for a while to have one phone that was immune to these annoyances. I knew it couldn't last. Now, this phone is just about as bad as the land line. How do all these people get my number? I wouldn't be surprised if Apple actually wants telemarketers to get your number. I remember telling my postman once that he didn't have to deliver the junk mail to my house. I though this might make his job a little easier, since I could see his bag was absolutely full of junk mail. "No, no," he told me, "We have to deliver this mail. This is how the post office makes money." Maybe so. Personally, I'd rather pay the post office and AT&T a little more not to have to deal with this stuff.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 899

The stock market is an unmitigated disaster. The Dow was down another 274 points today. I don't think I've seen things in this big of a mess since I started investing. Nobody seems to know what to do anymore. The slightest whiff of bad news can send stocks tumbling. You wonder why a bad jobs report would cause this much turmoil? Doesn't everybody already know that there aren't any jobs?  Doesn't everybody already know that jobs aren't coming back soon? When manufacturers discovered that they could make things dirt cheap in China and Malaysia, they're not going to come back here and make things the expensive way anymore. That ship has already sailed. We can't just give everybody government jobs like they did in Greece either. Then we'll just end up like Greece. Personally, I think we're a lot closer to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome than we care to admit.

Breakfast was pleasant today. Instead of having a trendy fusion cuisine creation or an omelet packed with every kind of smoked meat imaginable, I just had pancakes. I haven't had pancakes in quite a while and the simple meal was quite satisfying. I used to make pancakes myself fairly often, but they seem to taste better if someone else makes them. I wish I could afford to eat out every day. I'm starting to realize that I really prefer eating in restaurants.

I had to pick up some prescriptions this afternoon. Whenever I go to the pharmacy, I end up in line behind a bunch of old people who take forever to get their prescriptions filled. I feel like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol when he is visited by the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Will I ever be this slow or have this many pills to take? I certainly hope not! Lord help me if I creep up to the counter with a cane and take 30 minutes to get all my pills sorted out. It's not a pretty sight.

This weekend was when we were hoping to get 101 Dalmatians out to the new dog park. Things aren't going so well. Maybe we were a little ambitious. The invitations have gone out, but based on the responses we've been getting so far, we're going to be lucky if we get 10 Dalmatians out to the park. Oh, well. I still think it was a fun idea.

June is here. I think I'm going to sell my rent house this month. I know I'm going to get a year older this month. I have no idea whatsoever what the stock market is going to do.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 894

Dot and Dash had great fun meeting some other Dalmatians we know at the dog park today. The Dalmatians got so much attention that I started to wonder what would happen if even more Dalmatians appeared? What about 101 Dalmatians? It might be possible. I know that there are hundreds of Dalmatians living in the Metroplex. I've probably photographed 500 myself over the years. Janet and I are thinking of inviting all the Dalmatians we know to come to the park next weekend. If we could get a good showing, it would be quite an event. I bet if we could get 101 Dalmatians to show up, it would make the local news. We might get a write up in the local paper, or even a YouTube video that goes viral. It's worth a try anyway.

I wish the weather would stay like this all Summer. It was about 85 degrees with a nice breeze when I was out and about today. You can't get much better than that. When it's warm, but not oppressive, everyone is happy. The dogs like their walks, I'm able to work in the yard, and the electric bills are reasonable. We'll see what happens in July, but I have a feeling that nice days like today will just be fond memories when Summer really arrives.

I can't decide whether tomorrow will be a holiday or not. Some of my clients will probably send me things to do, even though I wish they would just take the day off. I think Janet has work to to too. We'll probably compromise. We'll sleep in late, but when we finally do get up, it will just be a regular workday.

We had a great holiday feast tonight: home made cheeseburgers, french fries, onion rings, cole slaw and Shiner beer. Since I'm trying to save my liver, I rarely get to drink beer anymore. This was a real treat for me. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to enjoy some of my favorite beer again on my birthday.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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