Day 2086

I started reading The Martian today. I could have easily finished it if I didn't have the dogs to tend to and this blog to write. There certainly wasn't anything else going on today. I'd forgotten what a good way to kill time that reading is. As an added bonus, I could do my reading sitting next to Dot, who always likes having me nearby. Dot likes to lounge in the sun on nice days, so after lunch I took her out in the back yard and sat next to her reading my book for about 45 minutes. This worked out well for everyone. Dot had a companion and the bright sunlight narrowed my pupils, giving my eyes better depth of field, so I didn't need my reading glasses.

I could relate to the character of Mark Watney in the book. I'm not stranded on Mars, but I am alone a lot and spend a good deal of my time fixing things that break. Like Watney, I also spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about poop. I'm not in a desperate race to save my life, but I do feel like I'm trying to save my sanity at times. This book should be an inspiration to any aspiring writer. Andy Weir couldn't find a publisher, so he put the book on his website for free, one chapter at a time. Fans encouraged him to create a Kindle edition and sell it on Amazon. The e-book quickly rose to the top of Amazon's science fiction charts where it eventually caught the eye of traditional publishers. Five years after Andy started writing the book, it made its debut on the New York Times Best Seller List.

So, maybe there's hope for my dog stories yet. Not very likely. They'll probably be available free on my website forever. That's OK though. I never made any effort to get published. I kind of prefer doing things this way. There's a lot to read on my website if you're so inclined, but if you're not, that's OK too. At least you're reading the blog.

One of my clients asked me today if I'd be interested in taking over the SEO duties from another company they are currently using. Maybe. I asked the client what the current SEO experts were doing for them. He didn't know. "What do you mean you don't know," I said? "What are you actually paying for?" He really didn't know. "Have sales picked up since you hired this company," I asked? Nope. I'd say this was a pretty good sign that my client is wasting his money. I guess the question now is whether I could do any better. I'm not sure. A lot of SEO campaigns are totally worthless.

I'll probably finish reading my book tomorrow morning. I could have read the entire book in one sitting if I wasn't interrupted so often. I'm slow at a lot of things, but I'm a fast reader. I'll have to pick up some more books this weekend. They are a remarkably good way to kill time. I'm not even sure what interests me at this point in time, but I'm sure there's more to life than the trade journals and B&H photography catalogs that are my current reading matter.

I tried and failed to take pictures of dragonflies today. At this time of year, there are hundreds of them hovering over the meadows in the park in the afternoons. I've seem cool looking pictures of dragonflies in flight before, but the little critters are devilishly fast, fly in erratic patterns, and are almost impossible to keep in focus when you're using a zoom lens. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2072

Dot got scared going to the vet for her annual exam and immediately pooped in the lobby. This was actually convenient, since we needed a stool sample for the exam anyway. Her vet told me that other than having cancer and severe neurological problems, Dot was looking pretty good. Dot sees so many vets for so many different reasons that these annual exams really are just a formality. She didn't need a rabies shot this year, but did get a leptospirosis vaccination.  This disease has become a real problem in our area. It is spread by the urine of rats, raccoons, and possums, which all seem to wind up in our yard, so it's better to be safe than sorry. Since Dot has three different vets, I always need to make sure that everyone is on the same page. I usually spend a good portion of every exam telling the vet what all the other vets think. Today, we didn't even need to do the regular annual exam blood work, because Dot's oncologist at the cancer center has already taken care of this just a few weeks ago.

A box of Keurig coffee pods arrived in the mail this morning. "Don't you already have plenty of coffee pods," Janet asked me? Well, I guess I do. I don't really feel guilty about buying an excessive amount of Keurig pods though. Janet does the same thing with soup. It's hard to resist a good bargain. I'll find a place to store the new pods until I need them. They definitely will get used. I drink a lot of coffee.

I'm trying to remember if August was always this slow. Traditionally, the end of the Summer has always been slow for me, but this year absolutely nothing is going on. The odd thing is that even though I have no business to speak of, I'm still busy every day. It's amazing how quickly taking care of the dogs, tending to the yard, paying bills, and running the occasional errand can fill up a day. I had to run to the mall and pick up something this morning, but this quick trip and Dot's vet appointment were my only excursions today. It seemed like they took up the entire day.

I need to pick up a few books to read. I've been meaning to read Andy Wier's new novel The Martian and this would probably be a pretty good time. What else have I got to do? Dot likes having me nearby during the day and sitting next to her reading a book probably makes a lot more sense than getting up and down every five minutes to check social media on my computer. I wonder why I lost the desire to read? I used to read books voraciously. Of course, I used to do everything with a lot more gusto than I do now. I still make sure to take a new photograph every day for the blog, but a camera is no longer my constant companion. I don't play guitar all that much either. Maybe this is just the natural order of things as my interests change over time. Or maybe I'm catatonically depressed. I really don't know.

Everyone says it is going to rain tomorrow. I am so ambivalent about rain.We really need the rain. The yard is dry and the air is hot and dusty. On the other hand, Dot and Dash are terribly frightened of storms and make life difficult every time it rains. I never really trust the roof either. What this means is that I'll be really happy when the rain first starts, but will become increasingly irritated if it doesn't stop within thirty minutes. If the power goes out, all bets are off.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day