Day 3176

I got this check from the Federal Trade Commission today, along with a note saying that it was my share of a class action settlement involving light bulbs. What? I wasn't aware of being involved in any sort of class action suit. My first thought was that this was a scam. Have you ever received a check in the mail that has a small disclaimer saying that by cashing said check you agree to a lifetime of magazine subscriptions, a debit card from a foreign bank, or a ridiculously expensive term life policy? I am very suspicious of checks that mysteriously arrive in the mail. There are so many scammers out there. I did some research online and it appears the check is legit. The government recently mailed out fourteen million dollars worth of these checks to people like me. But how did they know I bought the light bulbs? I didn't tell them. I feel sorry for the light bulb company. The suit claims that the company made false statements about the light bulbs brightness and reliability. Jeez. I've had these LED bulbs in my bathroom for over five years and they work great. They haven't burned out and they're pretty bright. This pretty well sums up my feelings about class action suits. For the most part, they're just a way to make lawyers rich. They probably put that company out of business. That being said, I'll go ahead and cash the check. It might pay for gas next week. No, it wasn't a large check. I just don't drive very much.

I've got to figure out how to cure Dash's digestive problems. The loose stools and diarrhea are driving me crazy. I had to clean up another big mess last night and then had a hard time getting back to sleep. The first thing you're supposed to do if your dog has loose stools is take a sample to your vet to test for parasites. Done that. There were no parasites. We're read that a diet of chicken and rice can help cure the problem. That's what he's been eating for over a month and it hasn't helped. Dash is also taking a probiotic the vet prescribed and that isn't doing much either. It's frustrating. We've read that diarrhea is a known side effect of heart disease. If that's the case, there probably isn't much we can do. Diarrhea and incontinence is a really bad combination. At least when Dot became incontinent, her poop remained firm.

I got a letter from the phone company saying that my account had been compromised. So what else is new? This is almost a routine occurrence these days. By now, probably everyone in the world has had an account compromised in one way or another. The letter apologized for the inconvenience, but said that no sensitive information was revealed. Easy for them to say. They apparently did get my phone number though. Maybe that explains the increase in robocalls I've been getting lately. My landline is almost 100% telemarketers and robocalls now. I feel like the phone company should be paying me.

I walked Dash and paid a few bills today. That was about it. Someone got killed last night riding one of those rental scooters I've started seeing all over town. It was only a matter of time. I've seen people riding these things on busy city streets. Nobody wears helmets and the flimsy scooters go pretty fast. Why did the city approve these ridiculous things? I really need to move to a small town. City life is becoming increasingly strange.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2467

Dot fell on her morning walk and injured herself. She's limping on one of her front legs again. The only solution is lots of bed rest and maybe canceling her therapy sessions for a while. I think she is just sore, but she did take a nasty tumble. It's really hard to walk Dot when she stumbles so easily, but we do the best we can. It's still important to keep her moving. The last time this happened, she was a lot better 24 hours later. Hopefully, some added rest will help her recuperate again.

We've had trouble with our front loader washer almost from the day we got it, so I was encouraged today to read that a large class action lawsuit against multiple manufacturers of these machines had been settled and owners were going to be compensated for repairs. Whirlpool, Maytag, LG and a number of other popular brands were covered in this settlement. Where was Frigidaire though? Was I going to be compensated too? Nope. Frigidaire and their parent company Electrolux were the only companies still fighting the lawsuit and refusing to settle. The problem with all of these machines is that they they never really dry out after doing a load of wash and eventually mold starts to build up inside the machine. It doesn't take long for the rubber boot that is used to seal the front loading door to turn black. Frigidaire refuses to even acknowledge that there is a problem. I can show them a big problem.

One of my clients is having problems with their website forms again. Problems with forms seems to happen with disturbing regularity. The hosting company changes something on their server and doesn't bother to tell their customers. Sometimes they move the CGI Bin to a different location. Sometimes they stop supporting older forms altogether. I spent a considerable amount of time with tech support this morning trying to determine what was causing the "Internal Server Error" message people were getting when they submitted the forms, but I basically got nowhere. Tech support people don't seem to know as much as they used to. The person I talked to today opened a job ticket on my case and said she was going to escalate my request to a higher level of service. I'll probably have to call four or five more times before the forms are actually fixed.

The roofer still hasn't responded to my request to come out and examine the roof again. I was very polite when I told them about the latest problems, but so far they're ignoring me. This happens sometimes. Do they think I'm just going to go away?  I'll keep calling and sending e-mail until I get results. It's so frustrating when people over promise and under deliver. All I really want is the roof these guys promised in the first place.

I remembered to take the trash out to the curb this evening, but during the short time I was away, Dot pooped on one of the large living room rugs and then stumbled and fell in the poop. In case you haven't noticed, this hasn't been a very good day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1123

I got a flu shot today. I'm not a big fan of flu shots and seldom get them. I think the reason I got one this year was that I didn't want people saying "I told you so" if I actually came down with the flu. Everybody I know has already gotten their shot and they keep asking me if I've had mine yet. I figured it was just easier to get the shot than explain my theory that the whole flu panic this year had been created by a 24-hour news cycle that continually needs something to scare us with. Remember the bird flu? Whatever happened with that one? Wasn't the bird flu supposed to wipe out civilization as we know it? I think you have to take all media scares with a grain of salt. I can bore you with pictures of pancakes, but the cable news channels can't get away with this kind of behavior. They're determined to scare us into watching more often.

If you want to avoid the flu, I've got a tip for you. Just stay away from little children. Little kids are always sick. Pretty soon their parents get sick. Then their teachers at school get sick and finally I get sick. As long as I avoid kids, I stay pretty healthy. I guess this advice doesn't work if you actually have kids though.

I discovered why my Lombard laptop can't connect to the Internet.  The short answer: it's too old. The slightly longer answer: First generation WiFi networks used WEP encryption which was supported by the Apple Airport card. Modern WiFi networks now use sophisticated WPA encryption, which although it is much more secure, isn't recognized at all by older computers like the Lombard. I guess I could just plug the old laptop straight into the U-verse hub using an Ethernet cable, but what's the point.

I got an e-mail today telling me that I was as "Class Member" in a class action suit against Facebook for improperly using people's identities for their own purposes. I wonder if everyone on the planet is a "Class Member" in this lawsuit? I just always assumed that invading people's privacy was what Facebook was all about anyway. Personally, I don't think this lawsuit will go anywhere. I'm sure that when we all signed up for Facebook in the first place, there was some very tiny legal type somewhere that said by signing up for the service, we gave Facebook the right to do whatever it damn well pleased for all eternity.

For future reference. If all I've got to show you is a picture of pancakes, chances are it was a very boring day.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 968

I got a couple of checks in the mail today that were part of a class action settlement that I didn't even know I was a part of. Apparently I was swindled by Merrill Lynch more than twenty years ago on a mutual fund transaction. We're not talking big money here, but the settlement was better than the typical discount coupon "good for a free dessert" that you usually get after these class action lawsuits. I'm convinced that class action suits were invented by lawyers to benefit other lawyers. The class, or injured party in these cases rarely gets a dime.

Now that I think of it, this is the second time I've received money as a result of a class action suit against Merrill Lynch. Is it any wonder that people don't trust Wall Street anymore? The whole thing happened so long ago that I don't even remember buying the stock that was involved in this big brouhaha. Truthfully, I've made so many poor investment decisions over the years, that the performance of this poor manipulated stock was probably no worse than many of the honestly purchased dogs in my portfolio.

It was probably good that the greedy lawyers send me a little surprise moolah this month. My company certainly didn't bill out a huge amount in August. Every month when I take my humble stack of invoices to the post office, I simultaneously marvel that my small business is still relevant after all these years, while wondering how much longer I can continue on the small amount I currently bring in. I'm also wondering now if the good years would have been even better if Merrill Lynch wasn't quietly skimming money off the top.  I think I have the last laugh though. I'm still around, and Merrill Lynch isn't.

I'm wondering whether it's going to take 20 votes or 2000 to get my Instagram Gallery up and running. If any of you saw my pleas on Twitter or Facebook yesterday, I hope you voted for me. I actually think this might be a good thing. I've taken a ton of flower pictures that would look pretty darn good printed on canvas in someone's apartment. I also like the idea of an Instagram stock photo agency. I've been plagued with rejections from traditional stock photo agencies for years because they said the files I sent them contained "artifacts." Whatever! The images look good to me and they actually print out pretty well too. I think it would be a godsend to actually have a stock photo agency that was looking for poor quality photos. Nobody's Instagram pictures are all that good technically, because they all come from cell phones. This new Instagram Gallery might be exactly what I need. Finally, I wouldn't have to compete with someone's $25,000 Hasselblad.

I'm trying to think of someplace different to go for breakfast tomorrow. I think I've totally exhausted the menus of my four regular breakfast haunts. It's time for something new. Not necessarily better, mind you, just new.

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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