Day 2296

The landscapers came out today. They think it's funny that I have to replace the grass every year. I think I'm their only customer where they have to do something like this. The turf is always installed properly and I water and feed it properly. The problem is that the roots from the large Oak trees in the back yard suck up all the water and the canopy of leaves blocks out direct sunlight. The yard just doesn't get enough sunlight for St. Augustine grass to thrive. Bermuda Grass needs even more sunlight and won't grow at all. I've planted most of the yard with ground cover that does well in shady areas, but the dogs like to sit out in the grass during the Summer, so we put in a small patch of grass every Spring for them. The yard looks great until August and then it gradually starts to die out. It's not an ideal solution, but it's better than nothing.

I added an SSL Certificate to my website this afternoon. The certificate is probably overkill, since I'm not selling anything on the site and have little need for security. Modern browsers increasingly expect a secure site though, so I guess it was worth the effort. The whole process was a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be. I had to add some code so that people who had already bookmarked the http: version of the site wouldn't get an error message and would go to the new https: version instead. The web hosting folks said that the SSL Certificate would improve my search rankings. I kind of doubt this is true, but we'll see what happens.

It was time to get more Allopurinol and Levothyroxine for Dash today. It seems like I'm always picking up pills for somebody. Dot takes meds to control her blood pressure and chemotherapy drugs to control her cancer. Dash takes Phenobarbital to control seizures, along with his daily thyroid and blood pressure meds. My own prescriptions are mostly to control high blood pressure and cholesterol, although there are a few for other things as well. I can't even remember why I'm taking some of them. There's a whole little area in the kitchen now just for pills. Dot takes her chemotherapy medication every third day, so we never end up taking the pills on the same day. I have to use a calendar to keep track of all this. It gets complicated.

It's ironic that I used to have to use a calendar to keep track of work deadlines. Now, I just use the calendar to keep track of prescriptions. Work is pretty easy to manage these days. When a job comes in, I usually just do it right away because I'm so bored. I haven't had a backlog of work in quite a while.

I finally got the forms working again on the new web server. This was a questionable use of my time, because nobody uses the forms anymore. Typically, they get filled out by spam-bots that randomly type gibberish in each of the form fields. I probably should have eliminated the forms instead of fixing them. They were fantastic in 1995. Now, they're just a nuisance.

Spring is when the Purple Martins return. Unfortunately, it's also when the cockroaches return as well. While I was writing this, I looked down and saw a huge roach sitting on my foot. This startled me and I flinched, flipping the bug up in the air. Lord knows where it landed, because I can't find the disgusting thing now. My office is so full of clutter that the bug could stay hidden for another month. Such is life in the South.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2101

Nobody won tonight's debate. Everyone on stage made a few good points and everyone seemed equally frustrated by the way questions were asked. Just like the first debate, the moderators tried everything they could to provoke a fight between the candidates on stage. The whole format was wrong. If a candidate mentioned another person's name, that person automatically got time to respond even if the moderator's question was dumb in the first place. The moderators really wanted tonight's event to be about personalities and conflict. I don't know why I bothered watching. That being said, Carly Fiorina did a great job within the strictures of the ridiculous format. Maybe she did run Hewlett-Packard into the ground, but the woman is smart and very quick on her feet. I'll give her the win, although I did get bored with the whole thing and quit watching long before it was over.

I made my bi-monthly trip to the mall this afternoon to get a haircut. Every time I go to Northpark, I feel like I'm in Las Vegas. The temperature and humidity are carefully controlled. Each store has it's own scent pumped through the ventilation system. The merchandise is beautifully displayed. People in Dallas even seem to dress nicer when they go to the mall. The whole thing is completely artificial, but that's OK. I spend a lot of my time tramping through nature with the dogs. I get bit by fire ants. I need to keep an eye out for snakes. It's always too hot or too cold. There's a lot to be said for artificial. The mall is pleasant as long as I can find a parking place. I always like to visit the Apple Store and the Tesla Store when I'm at Northpark. I'll probably never be able to afford a Tesla, but it's fun to dream.

I know I spend way too much for a haircut, but in the grand scheme of things it's a small indulgence. I don't drink anymore. I rarely go out to dinner. I can't even remember the last time I took a vacation that wasn't work related in some way. Hey, I think I can afford a nice haircut. My stylist likes to talk about animals and travel. I do pretty well holding up my end of the conversation when the subject is dogs and cats. I'm coming up short on travel stories though. I just don't go anywhere anymore.

Most of my travel stories these days involve going to the vet. Today I picked up some more Allopurinol at the vet for Dash. Tomorrow I go to a different vet for Dot's physical therapy. On Friday, I take Dash to a third vet for his six month cancer re-check. There always seems to be a trip to the vet on the calendar. I'm not complaining. Taking a dog to the vet is definitely preferable to client meetings and other forms of torture. The only time I don't like going to the vet is when Dot or Dash is sick. Then I worry.

Tomorrow is Dot's day, but I'm still going to try to get some work done. I just don't know what I'm going to be working on yet. There were a few website revisions to make today, but I'm basically up to speed on everything again. Hopefully, I'll find a few new assignments when I open my e-mail tomorrow morning. Until then, I just hope that Dot sleeps all the way through the night.

Phantom is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1148

There's been a lot of controversy on the Internet lately about whether Allopurinol actually works to prevent bladder stones. For years this drug has been the recommended treatment to prevent recurrent urate bladder stones in Dalmatians. My vet recommends Allopurinol and I know many Dalmatian owners who use it. I've always considered the medication very safe. Unfortunately, now there are a group of vets who beg to differ. They say Allopurinol can actually cause the formation of struvite stones. Evidently, unless the pH of the dog's urine is completely neutral, the drug can do more harm than good. I only mention all this because Dash has always been prone to bladder stones. Now, we've got to decide whether to discontinue his Allopurinol treatment or keep on doing what we've been doing for years.

Medicine always seems to be this way. Doctors will tell you something for years and years and then one day you'll go in for a visit and your doctor will say "Never mind. Forget everything I've told you for the past ten years." This has happened to me before and it's always disconcerting. I like to think of doctors as infallible, but that is never the case. Medicine changes and doctors change their minds about a lot of things, just like the rest of us.

The Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 14,000 mark several times today, but apparently my stocks didn't get the memo. I ended up down for the day as the market approached a record high. My Yum Brands shares got clobbered because the Chinese apparently have problems with the Colonel's finger lickin' good chicken. My Baidu shares, on the other hand, got clobbered because investors had problems with the Chinese. It's always disappointing to do poorly on a good day. I'm getting used to it though.

Maybe I'm just imagining things, but I think I'm already starting to feel better as a result of my new diet. I wake up with more energy and don't seem to be as tired during the day. The differences aren't dramatic, but I do notice a change. This is certainly enough of an incentive to keep going with my quest for a healthier lifestyle. Who knows. Maybe I'll even grow to like these changes.

A friend of mine mentioned that he might have a video project for me. That would be a refreshing change from all the drivel I'm writing now. I'd better not count my chicken before they hatch though. The new project might actually be worse than what I'm doing now. I need to find out more.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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