Day 3411

All the unused and expired meds in the house are gone. I took Dash's unused meds to our vet where they will be used to treat rescue animals. My own meds were a little harder to dispose of. I went to the location listed on the disposal day brochure and they told me they were full. "How can you be full," I asked. "You only opened five minutes ago." No explanation. They just told me again that they couldn't take the meds. Several other people with bags of expired medications seemed just as frustrated as I was. Why would someone print a brochure and list this location as the place to take your expired meds if they were going to refuse to take them?

The pharmacist did give me an alternate location to take the pills. This location wasn't listed on the brochure at all and was a lot further away. Since the takeback program was a one day event, I didn't want to wait another year. I reluctantly drove to the alternate location. This new location seemed eager to take my meds. There were lots of volunteers with event t-shirts and four big buckets where you could drop the meds. I thought they were going to check and see what I had, but they didn't seem to care. As I got ready to return to the car they tried to give me a frisbee and a deck of cards printed with the takeback event logo. I declined. The whole point of getting rid of the meds was to reduce the clutter in the house. There was no point in bringing back more clutter.

By the time I finished my weekly grocery shopping and was ready to take my walk, it was already pretty warm. I would have rather stayed inside, but I'm determined to continue walking at least 10,000 steps a day. The park was really busy this afternoon. There was a small music festival near the shoreline with a decent sized crowd. The musicians got lucky. They placed their stage in exactly the same spot were the little circus was last year. You might remember that the little circus got flooded out by weeks of heavy rains. No rain today. It was actually quite nice outside. There was a time when I would have stopped and listened to the music. Not today. The only thing I was interested in was finishing my three miles.

I went to a fundraiser with Janet tonight. I've skipped this event for several years since I needed to stay home and care for the dogs. There was no reason to stay home tonight. There's nothing interesting on TV and it really doesn't take that long to write the blog. We had a nice dinner, played roulette at the casino party, and enjoyed the concert. I can't see making a habit of going out at night, but it didn't kill me to do something different. We had a good time.

I doubt that I'll do anything different tomorrow. It's time to go to the gym again. I should probably mow the grass as well. I could always procrastinate, but the job will only be worse next week.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1593

Dash threw up last night. This hasn't happened since he started his cancer treatments and I was hoping that it wouldn't happen at all. Since it is important that he always has his phenobarbital pill, I instinctively looked through the mess on the carpet to see if the pill was still there. He had just taken his night time meds an hour earlier, so there was a good chance that it would be. While I was looking for the illusive pill, I remembered that the cancer center folks told me in the very beginning that if Dash ever threw up, I was supposed to consider it as toxic waste and not to touch the vomit with my hands while I was cleaning the mess up. Oh, well. Too late now. It seems almost inevitable that I will eventually poison myself before Dash is finally finished with his lengthy chemo regime. Since Dash has eaten two regular meals today and has seemed fine all day, I don't think the episode last night had anything to do with his cancer. We just ate dinner and fed the dogs way too late yesterday and Dash drank a lot of water just before he went to bed. Dogs frequently throw up for no reason at all. I just wish he would put this behavior on hold until we manage to get through with this cancer treatment.

When I was taking the groceries out of the back of the car this afternoon, I happened to look up and noticed that there were little spots of blood all over the headliner. Damn. I immediately knew what had happened, but it didn't help much. You know how dogs shake when they get out of the water? Well, Dalmatians shake like this after they do anything at all. One day last week, Dash had "happy tail" when he came home from his radiation treatment. Dalmatians often wag their tails very vigorously and end up hitting things with their tail that get in the way. If the wagging goes on too long, some times the tip of the tail starts to bleed. Usually when this happens, I just put a little Hydrogen peroxide on the tail and everything is fine a few minutes later. I guess I forgot that Dash always does this shaking routine right after he gets in the car. He must have ended up shaking little drops of blood from the tip of his tail all over the white headliner. So much for the new car look.

The scar on Dash's neck was still moist when he woke up this morning. This is not good. I need to figure out a reliable way to make sure the wound gets lots of air so it can dry out, while still keeping the area well protected from any attempts to scratch the incision site with a rear paw. Everything is fine if I make sure Dash is always nearby whereI can see him,. Unfortunately, he likes to wander off where I can't see him. I haven't come up with a good solution yet.

Dalmatian Rescue is having another of their periodic casino party fundraisers tonight. This is the first time in quite a while that I stayed home and won't be spinning the roulette wheel. It's just too long to leave the dogs alone. Ever since Dot ate the carpet, I've been penning her in a small brick area in the hallway where she can't get into trouble. I don't leave blankets, pillows or rugs in the area, just in case she might decide to chew them. Unfortunately, the bricks are pretty hard on her tired old bones and I hate to leave her here for very long. Since Dash threw up last night and has a scar that seems to be turning into an infection, I don't want to let him out of my sight at all. Hopefully, Janet won't get overwhelmed running the roulette table by herself.

I've been really tired and probably pretty irritable lately, The entire Spring has seemed like a long journey to an uncertain destination. I keep looking for the finish line, but I don't see it yet.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1376

What a beautiful Fall day. We woke up to blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. Best of all, it has stayed this way all day. Fall is my favorite time of year. The dogs don't get overheated on their walks. There is an abundance of interesting things to photograph. Occasionally, the weather is nice enough that I can actually open the windows in the house.

I made breakfast while Janet walked the dogs this morning. I wonder why I like breakfast so much? I never eat lunch and dinner doesn't interest me all that much either. Just about eery recipe I know is a breakfast meal. I was trying to think this morning when the last time I attempted to cook dinner and I couldn't even remember. It's been a long time. Breakfast was good. I made one of those skillet scramblers with eggs, pork sausage, sauteed vegetables and grated cheese.

There's nothing like a new car to make me aware of how bad drivers are in Dallas. They say that 20% of the people on the road in Dallas are driving without a license and I certainly believe it. Everywhere I turned today, I was confronted by people who looked like they wanted to hit me. Of course, the roads weren't any different than they ever are. I just had a different perspective on things.

We're doing another casino night to help Dalmatian Rescue this evening. The rescue group has been doing these casino parties long enough now that many of these events reoccur year after year. This is the third or fourth year we've been invited to put on a casino party for the organization that hired us tonight. This party usually takes place at a country club in an older part of town and there is frequently an Elvis impersonator. I need to remember to eat something before we go, since I don't think the hired help can eat the food at this event.

If our spectacular Fall weather continues, the dogs should have a great time at the dog park tomorrow. I wonder if Dot and Dash would enjoy a ride in the new car?

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1222

The grass is growing fast now. It looks like I'll be mowing the front yard every Saturday from now through the end of September. The task wasn't as hard this Saturday as it was last week. Maybe I'm getting stronger already. The more likely answer is that the grass just isn't as tall as it was last week.

I had to pick up some things at Sam's Club this afternoon and I continue to be amazed that I seem to be the only one using the automated check out lanes. Scanning your own items with the little bar code scanner is super fast and convenient. I'm in and out of the store in half the time that it used to take me. It just seems strange to me that nobody uses this convenience. Maybe everyone else pays with cash. I don't think the automated terminals take cash.

I went up on the roof to see if I could determine how last week's rain got into the house. No obvious leaks or cracks that I could see. It's pretty apparent now that I'm not going to be able to stop this leak with a caulking gun. I wish the roofer I liked would finish their bid and get back to me. Maybe they're avoiding me just like the Land Rover dealer. I don't think I'm hard to deal with, but maybe I am. I'm beginning to think that if you're at all particular about anything, people just don't want to mess with you.

Dalmatian Rescue has another Casino Party today. These are great fundraisers and really help us care for the dogs we rescue. I think I've lost all interest in roulette though. Actually, I think I've lost all interest in games of chance. The last time I went to Las Vegas, I didn't gamble at all. I still like Las Vegas though. There are lots of fabulous restaurants and the shows are great if you haven't seen them already.


I entered a bunch of future appointments into my iCal calendar today. I don't want to miss any more of Dot's acupuncture appointments. It's probably not a good idea to miss doctor appointments, or my Quarterly Estimated Tax payments again either. Very little seems important enough to remember on my own anymore. I don't think we'll forget about the dog park tomorrow though. Dot and Dash always remind us about that one.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1220

Around 8 PM last night I thought I saw a flash of lightning on the Southeast horizon. I'm always a bit worried about lightning at dog training class since our class takes place on top of a hill. Everyone walking their dog is a potential lightning rod. I didn't hear any thunder, so I thought the storm was still far away. It wasn't until this morning that I realized what I saw was actually the flash from the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. Something similar happened back in 2003, when I heard the sonic boom from the space shuttle Columbia exploding overhead. I had no idea what that was either until I put the pieces together while watching a news broadcast several hours later.

I'm a big complainer. Ordinarily I would be complaining about the water leaking through the roof as a result of last night's severe storms. The recent events in Boston and West put everything in perspective though. I've got nothing to complain about at all. Actually, I'm quite lucky. When I was walking the dogs today, I noticed that a huge oak tree that Dash loves to pee on had become uprooted during the storm and fallen directly across the path. We have stood under this tree many, many times. It's just lucky that we weren't nearby when it fell.

I almost passed out when I was up on the roof sweeping the water away this morning. It's generally not a good idea to pass out on your roof. I'm almost certain that the lightheaded, fainting sensation was caused by the carvedilol I take. These meds slow down the heart rate and can make you quite dizzy if you stand up quickly from a squatting or sitting position. When I'm up on the roof, I'm constantly squatting to look for a leaking seam, and then standing up quickly again. I guess I'll have to avoid going up on the roof right after I take these pills.

I went to the battery store to pick up a replacement battery for a power drill this afternoon. The original battery was made in Japan, but I noticed that this new one was made in China. I'm seeing more and more of these Chinese batteries, even though some manufacturers specifically warn against using them. The instruction manual for one of my digital cameras even says that using Chinese replacement batteries will void the warranty. What are you going to do though? Everything is made in China these days. The only batteries that are made in the United States that I've heard of recently are the lithium ion electric car batteries made by A123 Systems. Oh, I forgot. That company filed for bankruptcy recently, so their batteries will probably be made in China soon as well.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. It's been a long week and I'll be glad when its over. I'd like to do a whole lot of nothing this weekend, but the Dalmatian Rescue group has another Casino Party. Hopefully, that's the only thing that's going on this weekend. We don't need any more rain either. I'm tired of the rain. Like I said, I'm not complaining, but Mattie looks exactly the way I feel.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1208

We went to another casino party tonight. Janet and I usually play roulette at these charity fundraisers, mostly because we are the designated roulette dealers whenever Dalmatian Rescue has similar events. Sometimes we can pick up tips from other dealers that we can use ourselves. Not tonight. The pair at the roulette table this evening were the most inept roulette dealers we've come across yet. They didn't know the odds on the board. They would routinely pay numbers that didn't win and forget to pay number that did win. They seldom paid winners the right amount either. These dealers didn't even appear to know how the game was played. Nobody got mad though. We were just playing with monopoly money and the entire evening was for a good cause. Janet and I are much better roulette dealers than these bumblers though.

The weather finally cleared up today. With an abundance of clear skies and warm temperatures, the dogs finally got the enjoy the newly landscaped back yard. It would have been a good day to do a little more gardening, but I'm still not sure where all the poison ivy plants are hiding. The meds are starting to work, but I still think it's going to be at least another week before the itching subsides.

I had to get all my Saturday chores finished a little early today, since we needed to leave the house for the fundraiser by 6 PM. We ate dinner at the event, so that saved a little time. The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, vacuuming, making fresh juice out of a big bag of oranges, and looking for the source of the latest leak up on the roof. I couldn't find where the water was coming in, but I did get clean sheets on the bed and gave the dogs a nice long walk before we left for the evening.

I hope I remembered how to use the DVR correctly. I set up the machine to record the new Dr. Who episode this evening, but I haven't had time yet to see if my efforts were a success. So far, the new season of Dr. Who looks like it's going to be a good one. I'm kind of pleased that I've finally mastered the television. I no longer have to watch shows when they are aired. Now, I can watch them any time I want.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a dog park day. I can tell Dash has cabin fever from being cooped up too long. He needs a chance to run off-leash. With all the rainy weather we've been having this Spring, we've missed our Sunday visit to the dog park for several weeks in a row.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1012

The Dalmatian Rescue group has another casino party today. We use these casino parties as fundraisers to help the dogs. Often the people who hire us to put these events together are other charities conducting their own fundraisers. I've worked with animal rescue organizations for a long time and it seems like most of what we do involves raising money. Money is the gasoline that fuels practically everything we do in society. If you start looking at things this way, you'll soon start seeing your own job as just another fundraiser with you and your family as the beneficiaries. You just can't do much without money these days.

I have traded services with one client of mine for over a decade. There are no invoices or bills. No money is involved whatsoever. I just do what they want. And they do what I want. This odd arrangement works because we are lucky enough to trust each other and we have mutually beneficial skills. I often think it would be nice if everything in life worked this way. It would be nice to just walk up to a gas pump and fill my tank, confident that I was doing something equally beneficial for the oil companies in return. One of the great things about the Internet is that at least conceptually, the whole thing is free. Since the ability to connect people together has real tangible value, you and I have access to an enormous wealth of knowledge for free. I don't really know how a world without money would work however. First of all, everyone would have to be totally trustworthy and they would have to have real useful skills.

I'm not sure I have any useful skills myself. I'm an advertising man. The only way I could repay the world for my free gas, electricity and food would be to use my communication skills to convince others to use real money to buy things they don't really need. Oh well, it was a nice thought. Until utopia arrives, I'll just continue helping with fundraisers and trying my best to earn a living.

It was a beautiful day. As I was doing my weekly shopping, I was struck by the fact that the year is already winding down. There are already Halloween items for sale all over town. In one store, I even saw a stack of Christmas lights. By the time I hang my own Christmas lights, the election frenzy will be over. I don't know who's going to win, but I have a feeling that when I wake up on Christmas morning, the world is going to look pretty much the same.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1005

I'm quite familiar with the concept of luck. I've spent a lot of time in Las Vegas and my favorite charity likes to use casino parties as fundraisers. I'm usually the roulette dealer when we have these casino parties. I can tell you one thing about roulette. If you play long enough, it is a mathematical certainty that you will lose all your money. Sure, the odds are pretty good in roulette. Sure, some lucky people do win huge amounts. The arithmetic works against you though. If you play long enough, you will lose.

The winners in roulette are those who put a huge stack of chips on red and then walk away when the ball lands on red. The same can be said for most games of chance. The winners are those who make a conscious choice to leave the game after they get lucky. Of course if you have the resources to stay in the game longer, your chances of getting a random lucky break improve, but it's still a game of chance.

I think politicians are like gamblers. Sometimes good things happen and they have the good fortune to be able to take credit for them. Sometime bad things happen and they take the blame instead. In both cases, the politicians are not nearly as much in control of events as they think they are. I like to imagine politicians sitting in the basket of a hot air balloon. There is a big wheel attached to the basket which they love to turn. They think they are controlling the balloon's direction, but you and I both know it is really the wind.

Dalmatian Rescue has another casino party tonight. People always have fun at these events. I think people basically like to gamble. How else could you explain the choices many people make. I'm not much of a gambler myself. I'll take a sure thing any time I can get it. It's a sure thing that I'll be tired tonight when we return, so I'll post a little early today. I'm a methodical person. I'll spin the wheel for other people, but I certainly don't want to take the chance of missing a post myself.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1004

Yay! I began my day with a delicious stack of pancakes. Boo. After the pancakes were gone, nothing much happened.

It was just a routine Friday. I corrected spelling errors on the new website pages I created yesterday. My clients may not be good at providing direction, but they are all experts at finding spelling errors. I changed out one of the employee pictures for a girl who didn't like the photo I had selected. Hey, I try to pick the most flattering pictures, but I don't always get it right. I suspect that a lot of people I photograph wish they had been given the opportunity to wear something nice. I've shot a lot of fashion and I can't say that hospital scrubs bring out the best in most women. Photographing dogs is so much easier. Dogs never have to worry about what to wear.

I think my favorite grocery store has been invaded by an efficiency expert. The cashiers no longer say "paper or plastic" when they ring you up. They just try to give you a chintzy plastic bag unless you protest mightily and demand a paper bag. When I was picking up dinner at the deli counter, I noticed that they now want you to place your entire deli counter order at once. I've been used to ordering one thing and then when it was sitting in my buggy, it would give me the idea for what to order next. Today, they guy behind the counter wouldn't give me my stuff to put in the buggy until I had finished ordering everything. Maybe this was more efficient for the store, but I found the whole experience disorienting. I kept forgetting what I had already ordered and asked for several things twice. It was much better for me to put one thing in my buggy and then think of what would go well with it, adding tasty new items one at a time.

So, that was my day. I didn't worry about the Middle East or wonder who would be elected president. I just corrected spelling errors and got confused at a grocery store. The Dalmatian Rescue group has another casino party fundraiser this weekend. I guess I'm up for the challenge. All I have to do is say "place your bets" over and over again and then spin the wheel.

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 859

The Casino Party went well last night. Sometimes we get a crowd that seems very reticent about gambling. They'll bet one chip at a time and seem to forget that they're gambling with play money. Last night's crowd wasn't like this. They bet with wild abandon, filling the entire board with huge piles of chips. Everybody seemed to be having fun. We didn't get home until well after midnight, but the time goes quickly with a good crowd like this.

I can't say that today was all that fun. The weather was beautiful, but I spent most of the day working. After taking Dot and Dash to the dog park this morning, I went down to the rent property and spent the afternoon trying to get the place cleaned up enough to put it on the market. The inside was clean already, but the windows needed washing and the patio area was full of leaves from last Winter.

The place looks pretty nice now. To get things looking even better, I would have to start spending some serious money for things that might not mean much to a potential buyer anyway. With any luck, I'll sign a contract with the real estate agent and have the place on the market next week.  I guess I am what you would call a motivated seller. I really don't want to be a landlord anymore.

Big sections of the park where I walk the dogs are native prairie. In the Spring these grasslands are filled with wildflowers. In the Winter, I'm the only photographer in the park, but this time of year I share the space with hundreds of other shutterbugs. We saw a ton of people with cameras today wading through the tall grass to take macro shots of flowers. I felt like telling these people that they were walking through areas filled with snakes and poison ivy, but I guess they'll figure things out for themselves soon enough.

I saw lots of people lounging around today. Several people hung hammocks between trees in the park. When I went downtown to clean the rent house, I saw tons of people having cocktails at sidewalk cafes. I wish my clients would do a little more lounging. They tend to send me work on Sundays. The last thing I wanted today was more work. I'm tired. I'd like to do a little lounging myself.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 858

What a busy weekend it's going to be. After breakfast this morning, we met some other volunteers to set up the gaming tables for tonight's Casino Party fundraiser. Since Dalmatian Rescue hasn't done one of these events in a while, I'd forgotten how heavy the tables are. Actually, the tables seem to get heavier with each passing year. Luckily, we still have enough volunteers to lug everything around to events. Casino Parties have been a good source of revenue for the group over the years.

I went over to my storage warehouse after we set up the tables to dispute a recent bill. They had charged me twice last month. I took my credit card statement to show them the mistake and all they did was show me their own records showing that I had only been charged once. "But it's right here on my bill," I said. "Two charges on the same day from you guys that are identical to the penny." "We'll look into it," was all the manager said.  Things like this are happening with increasing frequency. I used to get one mistake on my credit card bill every five years. Now I get them virtually every month. I think people just don't care anymore. They just run whatever you're buying under the scanner that reads the bar code and they're done. Same thing for running your card through the credit card reader. I remember running my card through twice at the storage warehouse last month, because the manager said my first try didn't go through. Obviously, it did go through since two transactions made within minutes of each other are on my bill.

This is once of the things I hate about modern life.  You car gets repaired wrong. Your mail gets delivered to the wrong house. Erroneous charges wind up on your credit card bills, and still nobody really cares. When you talk to someone about all these annoying little problems, you can tell they wish you would just go away. Nobody wants to deal with your little problems, because they're tired, want to go home, and all have bigger problems of their own to deal with.

When I took Dot and Dash on their evening walk, crews were still disassembling all the tents, banners and porta-potties from this mornings big March of Dimes race in the park. These charity runs and walk-a-thons have become big business. I'm amazed at how complex it has become to stage one of these events. Even though the charities that have these large fundraisers are non-profits, there are a ton of small businesses that actually do make a profit from helping the event run smoothly. That's one thing about Dalmatian Rescue. Our charity events are simple. Just a few volunteers trying to save one dog at a time.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 857

I returned to the trendy restaurant this morning to see what their breakfast was like. When I arrived around 10:30 AM, the place was virtually empty because all the cool people were already at work. The cool food was still being served however, so everything was fine with me. I ordered eggs over easy, served on a bed of succulent pulled pork with home-made hash browns. The eggs were just right; not too runny and not too hard. The music was just right too. No old Eagles tunes transformed into elevator music here. The soundtrack of my breakfast sounded like I was at at a pleasant Sixth Street bar in Austin. Even the coffee met with my approval. I certainly didn't get freshly made French Press at my regular breakfast restaurant. I'll definitely go back to this place again. It's not often that you get to enjoy a genuinely cool restaurant without all the irritating cool people.

On the way home it rained just enough to force me up on the roof with the push broom again. I wish there was something useful to do with all the water that accumulates on the roof. This water didn't even look drinkable though. The green flowers that form as the Oak trees are budding had all fallen to the roof and stained the water a dirty yellow green. It looked like a giant had peed on the roof.

Jeez, I just noticed that Blogger has changed its layout again. As I'm composing this, I'm noticing that all the buttons and widgets are in different places. Why?  It's not that different. Just different enough to slow me down a bit. Google+ did the same thing with their layout a few seeks ago, and the whole desire to freshen everything up was probably started when Facebook switched to their new timeline format. It's almost like the entire population has ADD with the attention span of a fruit fly. If all these new formats were better, it might actually mean something. They aren't better though. They're just different. I guess I'm not easily bored. I haven't changed my company website in over ten years. I may never change it.

Dalmatian Rescue has another casino party benefit this weekend. We haven't had one of these events for quite a while now. It's a good thing my job is easy or I would have forgotten it by now. I just spin the roulette wheel. You throw the ball in a counterclockwise direction while spinning the wheel clockwise. That's it. If only my real job was that easy.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 634

OK. We just got back from Vegas and what's on the agenda for tonight: another Dalmatian Rescue Casino Party. After this fundraiser is over, I think I've had enough with gambling for a while.

Saturday's are usually busy errand days anyway, but a Saturday after you've been away a week can seem even busier than usual. I've gotten my bags unpacked. I've taken the dirty vacation clothes to the dry cleaner. I've gone to the grocery store and filled the car up with gas. There's still cleaning and laundry do be done, including a dirty bedspread that Dash somehow managed to track mud on within the last ten minutes.

Just out of curiosity, I looked on the Tramadol website last night to see what Contraindications were listed. Right on the website, it said the drug should never be given together with muscle relaxers like Skelaxin. Why would my doctor not know this? In fairness, I never saw my real doctor about my neck episode. He wasn't available. The technicians that took care of me should have known better though. There is simply no excuse for giving me a prescription for two drugs that should never be taken together.

The house is finally nice and cool again. It takes a long time to cool down a house in Texas after you've left the AC off for a week. Maybe tomorrow, I'll have some time to clean up the yard. A possum or an armadillo totally destroyed the back yard while we were away. The critter must have been looking for grubs under the soil. In it's search for food, it dug literally hundreds of 3 to 6 inch holes all over the yard. Things weren't going all that well anyway, because of this Summer's head wave. This was the final nail in the coffin though. It's too late in the season to do much this year, but next Spring is a total do-over.

Hopefully, we'll make a lot of money for the Dalmatians tonight. Wish us luck...

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 614

Last night's Casino Party went well. We were able to raise some money to help the Dalmatians and everybody had a good time. The most surprising thing about the evening was that the restaurant seemed to completely change character as the evening progressed. When we arrived, the place was a nice family oriented sports bar where you might go to watch a baseball game with friends. With each passing hour, the music got a notch louder, and the customers got a bit younger. By the time we were ready to leave, the restaurant had transformed itself into a dance club with a deafening sound system, bouncers at the door, police checking ID's, and tons of kids looking for a good time. I was curious about the strange popularity of this seemingly average sports bar and then I discovered that the place still allowed smoking. The kids loved to smoke.

Today was much quieter. The theme for the day was washing. We washed the bedspread to get rid of all the dog hair. Then we washed the dogs, so they wouldn't immediately get the bedspread dirty again. The dogs looked so clean and pretty that it inspired me to go and get the car washed as well. I haven't washed the Defender all Summer because it was hard to see the point of doing anything unnecessary in this heat. Janet finally convinced me to spend $15 and let the attendants at one of those drive through car wash places clean it for me. This was a good suggestion. The car looks better now than it ever did when I washed it myself. Even the muddy wheels were sparkling.

I'm ready for another week. The Dalmatian Rescue event banners and signs are back at the storage warehouse again. The house is clean. The website updates seem under control. I'm wondering if the events in Libya today will make the market go up or down tomorrow. On one hand, the end of another dictator is positive news that should make the market go up. On the other hand, uncertainty about oil might make it go down. Maybe nothing will happen. Uncertainly seems to be baked into the cake these days.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 613

Well, we got everything set up at the BlackFinn Saloon for tonight's Dalmatian Rescue Casino Party. Now, it's time to get the rest of the weekend errands finished before it's time to go back to the restaurant for the fundraiser later this evening. I've got a load of laundry in the washing machine, the grass is being watered and I'm making a grocery list. I've also got to fix one of the posters for the silent auction tonight, because some of the information was wrong. Needless to say, it's going to be a busy afternoon. We'll probably go eat dinner at the restaurant before the party starts, because the food smelled pretty good while we were setting up. I hope this turns out to be a good fundraiser for the Dalmatians. We usually do real well at these type of events, but occasionally nobody shows up. Like everything else in life, you just never know.

Every day I seem to get another open sell order from my broker in the mail. I got two more today. In this volatile market it would be silly not to have stop loss orders and downside protection, but nevertheless, it is sad to see all the panic and uncertainty obliterate a good portfolio. I've learned my lesson though. When the market is going down, you can always buy everything back again later when prices are even lower.

Someone Retweeted one of my Instagram pictures the other day. Maybe Instagram actually is a good way to communicate. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I do know that it is definitely easier to upload a picture than it is to write a thousand words. I guess I'll keep writing though. I enjoy writing. It would be nice if there were a way to seamlessly integrate all these online extensions of yourself in a single place. I have a feeling that I already do that on Facebook, but I seldom visit Facebook anymore since Google+ appeared.

I'm going to need to post today's entry earlier than usual, since I still need to go to the grocery store and give the dogs their evening walk before the Casino Party starts. Wish us luck this evening...

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 612 - Janet's Birthday

Our birthday celebrations have much gotten simpler as the years go by. We used to make reservations weeks in advance at a fancy restaurant. Now, we're pared things back to the basics: cake and alcohol. Yeah, I know that I can't drink anymore, but I cut myself some slack on birthdays and holidays. I don't think its good to be too rigid about anything. At any rate, we had a nice dinner at home with the dogs and Janet was happy with everything except being a year older.

Tomorrow evening we're having another Dalmatian Rescue Casino Party, so we need to get up early to go set up the gaming tables. For this benefit, we've teamed up with a local restaurant, and are hoping for a good turnout. The restaurant is promoting the party too, but we still don't know whether we'll have a huge crowd tomorrow or an empty room. A huge crowd would be nice.

You would think it would be getting a little cooler by now. The days are definitely getting shorter again, but the temperature was still 108 today. I got stuck in traffic while I was running errands this afternoon and I noticed that my car was starting to overheat. One more month and the worst will be over. The cooler weather couldn't come fast enough for me. I'm tired of worrying about overheating cars and air conditioner failures. In the winter, all I've got to worry about are roof leaks.

Today's writing assignment was coming up with a branding story for a new product with absolutely no history. I asked the client how they wanted me to write this story and they basically told me to just make it up. Sure. I can do that. This is actually branding in its most elemental form: total fabrication.

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Day 600

Our Casino Party last night was held at a restaurant called Seňor Jalapeño. I'd never heard of this restaurant before and probably won't be back again, but it certainly caught my attention. The place was located in a nondescript strip center in a marginal neighborhood. It wasn't what you'd expect though. When you went inside, the place was spotlessly clean and was exceptionally well designed for a hole-in-the-wall cafe. The decor was all clean lines and Mediterranean colors. There was definitely an architect involved somewhere. On the walls were a series of framed drawings of various architectural projects. They kind of looked like student projects but I wasn't sure. I liked the designs. Before I got a change to ask questions, the party started and I spent the rest of the evening spinning the roulette wheel. I still wonder who built this restaurant and why? The food wasn't particularly good, but the place looked wonderful.

I couldn't really figure out who was at the party either. I knew it was a political action committee that hired Dalmatian Rescue for the event, but the people attending certainly didn't seem like political operatives. Each table was sponsored by a different local judge or state representative, but none of the sponsors seemed to be in attendance. The people who were at the party did like to gamble though and everyone appeared to have a good time. Who knows. Maybe these folks will hire us again and I'll be able to learn who is behind the mysterious Seňor Jalapeño.

There was nothing mysterious about today. It was just another hot August Sunday. We took the dogs to the dog park early to avoid as much of the heat as we could and then went about our Sunday chores. Dot and Dash got a bath today, which they hate, but it was definitely time. Dogs get dirty quickly in the Summer. I gave the shrubs in the back yard a bath too. It's probably hopeless keeping the yard looking green. The water coming out of the garden hose this afternoon was actually hot.

I was still in a cleaning mood when I finished the yard chores, so I took some more stuff down to the storage warehouse. Even though I've given myself an entire year to get my office cleaned up, I still don't know whether I'll be able to meet my self-imposed deadline. It's August already and at best, I'm only about halfway to the finish line. It's discouraging to spend time at the storage room too. The place is a museum of failed projects and unrealized dreams. Other people build relationships. I buy tools. I've got a tool to start just about any project imaginable, but only about 10% of these projects ever get finished.

All is not lost however. It's Day 600 today. This humble blog appears to be a project I haven't given up on yet. Writing for 600 straight days without missing a single post has got to be an achievement of sorts. If I can make it to Day 1000, I'll either get a book deal or carpel tunnel.

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