Day 1409

I got accepted as a Shutterstock contributing photographer today. I'll be interested to see if Shutterstock is any different than iStockphoto. I've been a contributing photographer with iStockphoto for five years now and only make a few dollars a year. Granted, I haven't made much of an effort, but it's just so much trouble to get photos accepted. I wish these stock photo agencies would let you upload a big batch of photos and not require you to add titles and keywords until after the photos were accepted. I can't even tell you how much time I've wasted writing elaborate descriptions of photos that didn't make the cut.

Even though the amount I currently make from stock photography and Google AdSense ads is miniscule, I'm still intrigued with the idea of passive income. It's all a matter of scale. Right now, I only have 10 photos on iStockphoto and another 10 on Shutterstock. If I had the patience to upload a minimum of 1000 photos, I might actually start making some real money. In theory, this is certainly possible. I certainly have thousands of decent photos in my files. So far, it just hasn't been worth the effort to upload them. The photos aren't doing me any good just sitting on my hard drive though. If I could bring myself to move them all from the hard drive to the stock photo servers, it might turn into a nice little retirement income someday.

Dot was very tired today. We didn't even get halfway through our morning walk before she wanted to turn around and go home again. Her condition varies from day to day. Some days she is active and full of energy. On other days, she is so stiff that she can hardly move. When we got home, Dot slept for the next four hours. When she woke up again, she was fine. We took our evening walk after dinner, and Dot had no trouble keeping up with Dash. Something is obvious wrong with the girl, but it isn't anything that shows up on X-rays, MRI scans, or blood tests. Her vital signs look extremely good for an older dog.

It was a busy day. I got two websites updated and finished all my writing assignments. Since I finished my work with time to spare, I went to the gym as well. Tomorrow, I've got to remember to get some more blood tests done before I go out for my Friday breakfast. When the blood work is finished, I'll celebrate by having some bacon.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1124

The rain has returned. There was enough of a downpour this morning to scare both the dogs and send them shivering under my desk. I didn't have the heart to leave and start my errands until the rain let up a bit. Eventually, I was able to get my shopping done and even got the water off the roof when the rain finally stopped late in the day. Unfortunately, right after dinner a brief hailstorm swept through the neighborhood. I'll be back on the roof tomorrow.

I've been writing about my roof for so long that Google Adsense ads are starting to show up on the blog from commercial roofers who specialize in flat roofs. A couple of these ads look intriguing and I've bookmarked them. It would be ironic if all my complaining actually led to a solution. The odd thing about Google Adsense ads is that they seem to be directed toward me instead of to my readers. I'm not supposed to click on the ads though. That would be cheating.

The temperature must have dropped 30 degrees this afternoon. Texas weather is hard to get used to. One day, you're wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The very next day you've looking for your goose down coat. Things go back and forth from one extreme to the other for most of the Winter. You never know what to expect. I am always pleasantly surprised when I wake up and see clear blue sky through the bedroom windows. It still happens ocassionally.

I'm glad dogs live in the moment. If they thought ahead like I do, they'd already be fretting about whether they'll get to go to the dog park tomorrow. Right now, things don't look too good. Dot and Dash aren't concerned about the dog park now. They're more focused on who's going to get the best spot on the bed. About ten o'clock tomorrow morning they'll start thinking about the dog park. If it's still raining, they'll both be expecting me to make it stop. Getting rained out of the dog park is a serious thing for a dog.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day