Day 2934

I tried to get caught up on things today, but had a hard time staying focused. For the first time in weeks I made some real progress on my new website project. I came up with a very practical, but somewhat ugly solution. I can't decide whether to present it to the client or delete it and start over. I'll look at the files again on Monday and decide.

It was cold this morning, but the temperature warmed up considerably later in the day. All in all, it was a very nice day. In my little world that meant it was time to go up on the roof. I don't know what I expected, but I certainly didn't expect ice. The small amount of ice I'd seen in the yard and on our walks had long since disappeared. It figures that the last place I'd still find ice was on the roof.

The roof wasn't the only place I discovered ice today. The little emergency refrigerator we got when our kitchen refrigerator was broken doesn't defrost automatically. I assumed it would defrost automatically like any modern refrigerator, but I guess not. As always, you get what you pay for. When I went to get some cream for my coffee this morning, I noticed that ice was building up in the tiny freezer compartment. It was time to defrost. I didn't think we'd keep using this refrigerator after the big refrigerator got repaired, but it turned out to be the perfect place for dairy products. It's kind of handy to have two refrigerators you can keep at different temperatures. At any rate, I put the milk, eggs, and butter in the main refrigerator, unplugged the little one, and let the ice melt.

The vet didn't want to trim Dash's nails yesterday because Dash was being a being a little shit about the procedure. He said that things were so fragile with his heart that he didn't want to do anything that would make Dash agitated. I wanted to explain that Dash is always agitated, but we left with untrimmed nails. The vet suggested that I walk Dash without the rubber boots for a while and let the nails wear down naturally. I tried this today and it was a little alarming. Dash's rear legs have grown weak and his feet drag when he walks now. With every step he took, I would hear his rear nails clicking and dragging on the pavement. At this rate, it won't take long at all to grind down the nails. I think I'll go back to the rubber boots tomorrow. It's clear that his feet need to be protected.

I got some breakfast tacos this morning at a little place that was more of a sports bar than a restaurant.  The sound on the big screen TV's was turned down, but the closed captioning was still on. When you read what some of these morning show hosts are saying, it seems even more ridiculous than hearing the words. We are doomed. I'm beginning to think that just about everybody is an idiot. I will say that TV without sound is not that bad. Maybe I'll turn on the closed captioning on my own TV. Although the ambience was terrible, the cheap tacos were pretty good. Maybe I'll go back to this place.

It's nice to see the DOW over 25,000. Let's keep this rally going for a few more years so I can actually retire. When I bought my first stock in the early 1980's the DOW was still under 1,000. This is why equities are still the best long term investment you can make. The periodic market crashes are painful, but inevitably the market starts going up again. I can't figure out why young people don't like stocks. It's certainly doesn't take much money to get started. Young people think stocks are too risky, but they love Bitcoin. Go figure.

Thanks to everyone for showing so much concern for Dash. It means a lot. We don't know how much time he has left, but we're doing our best to minimize the risks he faces and make his remaining time as enjoyable as possible.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1829

After another damp and foggy morning walk, I went out for breakfast a day early. I guess I could have made myself oatmeal or an omelet but I just didn't feel like fixing anything. It's probably not a good sign that these lackluster moods are becoming commonplace, but you gotta do what you gotta do. A good breakfast still helps kickstart my day whether I make it or not.

I actually had quite a bit of work to complete before Dot's afternoon physical therapy appointment. My retail accounts are already starting to develop ads for Valentine's Day and there are always new dogs and cats to showcase on the rescue websites. I got everything finished just in time to feed Dot and Dash their rice cakes for lunch and get the car ready to take Dot for her weekly appointment with the underwater treadmill.

I wish Dot could talk so she could explain to the vet what happened to her leg a few days ago. I explained the strange episode with the lame leg, but after a thorough examination the vet could find nothing wrong. Dot was strong during her treadmill workout as well, so the leg remains a mystery. I'm sure there is a connection between the lame leg and the tremors and general weakness in both rear legs. It's hard to pin down anything specific though. She's just getting old and doing the best she can.

I was delighted to see that the Dow closed up over 400 points today. There were big gains yesterday as well. These two positive days still haven't erased the huge slide that just about destroyed the entire year's gains, but at least it was a small ray of sunshine. I hope Janet Yellen continues to say things the market likes, because without a 401K or pension, I'm depending on my investments to keep a roof over my head during retirement. It's weird when you realize that Wall Street is a total crap shoot, and yet your entire future depends on it. I guess it really doesn't matter. When you look at ISIS, ebola, North Korean hackers, climate change, and the occasional stray asteroid, Wall Street worries are just small potatoes.

I just realized that although I have taken care of Dot's physical therapy for the day, I still haven't done my own physical therapy exercises. When am I going to find time for this? There are four specific stretching exercises I am supposed to do for at least twenty minutes twice a day. I need to lie on my back on the floor for the most important of these exercises, so I can't do them at my desk either. I wouldn't mind exercises I could do sitting at my desk since there are long periods where I just stare at the screen, waiting for the next idea to hit.

So, do I go back to my favorite restaurant for another breakfast tomorrow? Decisions, decisions. If I'm not too busy, I might put up the Christmas tree. If I don't get it up soon, I'll be putting it up after Christmas.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1176

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all time high today. Unfortunately, my own portfolio is still nowhere near its all time high. This seems irrational and even a bit irritating to me. You'd think that my investments would have recovered proportionally with the rest of the market. They probably would have if I had just left them alone. It's hard to leave well enough alone when the whole world is in a panic though. When the big market crash hit toward the end of 2008, I tried my best to stop the bloodbath, just like a lot of other investors. Five years later, the results are in and they aren't pretty. Instead of frantically buying and selling and putting money into gold, I should have just done nothing. During the big financial crash of 1987 that was exactly what I did. I didn't look at my brokerage statements for almost three years, and eventually I recovered virtually everything. It was a lot harder to do this in 2008. All the pundits were predicting Armageddon and nobody knew whether it would take five years or fifteen years for the market to fully recover. I'm a bit chagrined by today's market news. I guess it just proves that the more decisions you make in life, the greater your chances are of being wrong.

I had to sit around and wait for the FedEx guy today, so I actually got quite a bit done. I couldn't leave the house until I had signed for my package and I had no excuses. I redoubled my efforts to annihilate the bugs that have invaded the house. I wrote several articles. I updated several websites. I even got caught up on my invoices. If I had to wait on the FedEx guy every day, who knows what I might accomplish.

What I didn't do today was spend much time outside. There was a fierce wind all day that made it seem much colder than it actually was. The dogs ears were flapping in the wind during our walks today and I think Dot and Dash were both happy to return to the house where they could take a snooze on their warm new velour blankets.

Tomorrow, the first of the roofing companies I asked to bid on replacing the roof is coming over to give me an estimate. I kind of dread this whole process, because I've been through it before with contractors. Everybody talks a good game. You get all excited listening to the sales reps explain all the benefits you are going to get and then when the workers show up later with their hammers and saws it is usually a huge disappointment. Contractors typically plan on doing a job as quickly as they can, so they can keep prices reasonable. I'm always envisioning having a group of master craftsmen around for an extended length of time who will do everything according to my specifications. Not very likely! Contractors hate people like me who work out of their house. They'd much rather do their work when the homeowner is away at the office somewhere. At any rate, I'm still hoping I can find a good roofer.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day