Day 1040

You'd think that on Day 1040, I'd be working on my taxes or something. Nope. Just another day full of weekend errands. Every weekend, we stock up on groceries and supplies. Then, we methodically use everything up during the week, so we can repeat the whole process the next weekend. I'm always amazed at how much trash two people and two dogs can generate. We lead a simple life, but somehow there is always a huge amount of trash to take to the street every Friday. I think it is the packaging. Even the simplest thing comes shrink wrapped and boxed in layers and layers of packaging. Even though I hate all the boxes, I save a fair amount of them. I've been told so many times that if you save the packaging, you will get a lot more on eBay if you decide to sell it later. Maybe so. In the mean time, I've got tons of boxes I don't need.

I'm still a little puzzled at how best to go about getting more blog readers since the demise of Entrecard. Reading doesn't appear to be very popular anymore. My other social media efforts, which rely more on pictures, seem to be doing fine. My Google+ page is mostly pictures. I post a lot of pictures on Twitter too. I have a sneaking feeling that a lot of people come here for the pictures too. It would be interesting if Google Analytics had a way of tracking people who actually read the articles. I bet that number would be very small.

While I'm on the subject of Google, I saw the Google Street View car drive by my house today. I wonder how often they update those Street View pictures?  This is the third time I've seen the Google photo car in my neighborhood. One of these days I'm going to be quick enough to wave at the car as it drives by. Maybe then, I will actually be in the Street View picture.

I stopped by an animal rescue resale shop in my neighborhood while I was running errands this afternoon. There was a young couple trying to give their puppy away to the store manager. It was sad to watch. Why do people get pets they aren't willing to keep and take care of? The manager was trying to direct the couple to no-kill shelters in the area. The couple was acting like it was the most normal thing in the world to get rid of their dog. I just don't understand people.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 817

It's amazing what a difference a little sunlight can make. While none of yesterday's problems have been resolved, today still seemed much more pleasant anyway. Spring made a surprise return this morning. I think this entire month is a meteorological struggle between Winter and Spring. One day Winter wins, and the next day Spring makes a comeback. There may be a few cold days left, but warmer weather is definitely on the horizon. The wild irises are already in bloom and most of the trees are starting to turn green.

I'm wondering if it's even worth fixing the furnace right now with Winter on the way out. It's only a matter of weeks before it will be time to start using the air conditioner again. In many ways it would be better to just wait until Fall to get a new furnace. I may need the money for taxes anyway.

The dog park was closed today because of yesterday's heavy rains, but the dogs had fun anyway. Spring brings lots of new smells and Dot and Dash ambled along on their walks through the park today, stopping every ten feet to smell something new. Dot loves to smell flowers and almost got stung by a bee when she got too close to one fragrant bud. Dash seems to have no interest in flowers, but he sure loves horse poop. Both dogs had plenty to smell this afternoon.

When I took the useless utility pump back for a refund today, I bought one of those new space-age light bulbs that supposedly took millions of our taxpayer dollars to develop. I don't know why people on TV are ranting and railing against these LED bulbs. I think they're great. Sure they're a bit pricy, but they'll last longer than I will, they don't get hot when they're on, they don't contain mercury like those compact fluorescent bulbs, and the latest models are just as bright as a regular incandescent bulb. I'd rather buy one expensive bulb that lasts forever than hundreds of ordinary incandescent bulbs that continually burn out at the most inopportune moments.

I replaced my client's Google map with a Bing map today. For some reason, Bing maps seem more accurate than Google maps. You'd think that with hundreds of Google photo trucks cataloging every last inch of the planet, these maps would be a little more accurate. This is the second time in less than a year that I've had to replace an embedded Google map because the location was off by more than a mile.

I hope I get a better night's sleep than I did last night. Dash woke me up five times. I finally figured out what he was barking about. He wanted a blanket. As soon as I covered him up in a blanket, he went right to sleep. Dash doesn't like the cold. I think he'd vote for getting the furnace fixed whether it's getting warmer or not.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 816

It rained all day. The furnace apparently can no longer be repaired. The new sump pump I bought for the roof today doesn't even work. Need I say more? Some of my friends keep telling me that I need to keep the blog upbeat and positive. Truthfully, I do get more followers when I'm upbeat and positive. Nevertheless, there are still days when everything sucks. This was one of those days.

The dogs were amazingly quiet this morning when Marty came over to look at the furnace. I was amazed at how quiet they were and so was Marty. What was so different about today? The only thing I can think of is that Janet was home. Either the dogs are more confident when she's home, or they don't feel the need to protect anything when two of us are here. The difference was amazing. I was actually able to hear when Marty told me that the furnace was on its last legs and probably wasn't worth repairing again.

I don't know where I'm going to be able to find a decent pump. The pump I bought today was advertised as the perfect utility pump, capable of pumping of 3000 gallons an hour. What nobody told me is that the pump needs to be sitting in at least six inches of water before it will start pumping at all. There's a lot of water on the roof, but it isn't six inches deep. The new pump didn't work at all and I'll have to take it back tomorrow. My old metal Simer Geyser pump was almost indestructible and would suck up standing water even if it was only 1/4 inch deep. All these new pumps are constructed out of plastic and appear to be made for the sole purpose of creating decorative fountains in backyard ponds. None of them work very well for getting water off a flat roof. Sign of the times I guess.

I was trying to figure out how to get the little red location circle in the right place on my client's embedded Google map this afternoon. I experimented by inputting slightly different addresses to see if I could get the circle to move and then I realized that this was a stupid plan. Even if I did manage to get the circle in the right place, it would still show the wrong address. I think I'll just take down the Google map and replace it with a Bing map.

It doesn't look like the dogs will get to go to the dog park tomorrow. With all this rain, the park probably isn't just muddy. There's a good chance it's underwater.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day