Day 1260

I woke up this morning to an entirely different kind of noise. There was a giant piece of construction equipment on the road in front of our house methodically grinding up the asphalt surface and spitting it out into waiting trucks. I looked at the slow moving convoy and was glad I didn't need to go anywhere. Oops! What was I thinking? I actually did need to go somewhere. The Land Rover dealer had called and told me my car was finally finished and I needed to come pick it up. About three hours later, when the road crew had finally moved a few blocks further down the road, I was finally able to get out of the driveway and retrieve the Defender 90. As I was writing a check for the repairs, someone said "you must be really glad to have your car back." I wouldn't go that far. In truth, I was growing to like the fancy LR4 loaner car. Now, it's back to basics with the old Defender.

There was lots of activity up on the roof this morning as well, but it was hard to hear the roofers over the cacophony of road machinery noise. Things are finally starting to look organized on the roof. Maybe this story will have a happy ending after all. I'm glad I followed Janet's advice and kept my mouth shut. Well, I did write those letters to the contractor, but they were very polite. If I'd actually gone up on the roof and started screaming at people, I don't think it would have ended well.

I went online today and got a UPS package re-routed to a Customer Service Center, so I won't have to wait around all day tomorrow for the delivery. A few minutes later when I looked up the address of the Service Center, I read a bunch of reviews on Yelp telling me to never go to this Service Center because the staff was disorganized and there was always a long line. We'll see. It couldn't be any worse than waiting around all day for the package. Well, it actually could be worse. What if I get down to the Service Center and discover that the package is already on a truck headed to my house? The lady I talked to on the phone today assured me that this wouldn't happen, but you know how good those kind of promises are.

I went and renewed my storage room contract for another year. Every year, I tell myself that I'm going to start thinning things out, so I can fit everything into a smaller storage room that isn't so expensive. Not surprisingly, this never seems to happen. The storage room is kind of like a black hole. Once something goes in the room, it never seems to come out.

With all the commotion today, I almost forgot it was Dash's antigen shot day. Well, I did forget, but I was able to get him rescheduled again for later in the afternoon. How people manage to combine a busy career with ferrying kids all over the place is beyond me. Just managing the activities of these two dogs keeps me busy enough.

I hope things calm down a bit tomorrow. Today was tiring. I thought I'd rest on the bed for a few minutes with the dogs right after dinner and immediately fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, it was three hours later. So much for keeping on schedule.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1255

Today was disheartening at best. I went up and took a look at what was underneath the roof when the roofers pulled the old roof off the carport this morning. What I saw was a lot of old, warped, and rotting wood. The house is hopeless. To bring everything back to the way it was when it was new would require building the house all over again from scratch. I need to keep reminding myself that even though the house looks very contemporary, it is actually quite old. Most mid-century modern homes are over fifty years old by now. I reluctantly told the roofers to replace the rotted wood and just leave the warped wood alone. I simply can't afford to replace everything.

Work was equally disheartening. I spent the day going back and forth about travel arrangements with a client who couldn't seem to accept the fact that that last minute reservations can be quite expensive. If we had agreed on everything a month ago, these expenses would have been more reasonable. At any rate, things just cost what they cost. I like things simple. If you can afford it, I'll do a good job for you. Hell, I'll do a great job. If you can't afford it, it's no big deal. Don't waste a lot of time trying to renegotiate everything. I'm happy enough to just stay here and walk the dogs like I usually do.

The Land Rover still hasn't called me back about my car. I'm beginning to think they lost it. I'm torn between driving up to the dealership and demanding to know what's going on, and just forgetting about the whole thing and continuing to drive the new LR4 for the rest of the Summer. The dealership just doesn't seem to care how long I keep the loaner car.

When the roofers pulled the old roof off the carport today I asked them to be real careful about leaving nails in the driveway. The last roof I put on, I ended up getting two flat tires from hidden nails the roofers had left behind in the driveway. They assured me that there would be no stray nails when they let this evening, telling me that they had a special magnetic tool that could find all of them. After the crew left for the day, I went out in the driveway and quickly found at least ten roofing nails. Did I mention that this entire day has been disheartening.

The dogs seemed happy enough today. I should have taken my cue from them and just taken a long nap. I certainly wouldn't have been any further behind than I am right now. There was a lot of wheel spinning today, but not much forward motion. At least it's Friday tomorrow. There's even a three day weekend to look forward to. I think I'm going back to the restaurant that has my favorite Black Bean Benedict tomorrow morning. I've had about all the oatmeal I can handle this week.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1242

There were a lot of strange people at breakfast this morning. At a table in the back were a group of men dressed in neatly pressed olive green fatigues. At first I thought they were National Guard troops, but there were no insignias or identification on the uniforms at all. The guys were also wearing brown suede baseball caps and Oakley sunglasses. Go figure! At a table next to me a woman sat alone, talking to her food. The regulars were there as well: there were the nicely dressed women accompanied by ratty looking men, and quite a few seniors who limped in with their canes and walkers, just so they could order huge, heart-attack meals. It's a strange world we live in. Often, when I'm out and about, I wonder how many of these people are making bombs in their living room, or have someone locked up in the basement.

Just before I took the dogs out for their morning walk, I heard an ominous dripping noise that could only be a leak in the roof. I immediately put a bucket under the drip and proceeded with our walk. Later, after I returned from breakfast, I went up on the roof to survey the situation. I was amazed at how much standing water there was, because I didn't hear any rain last night. Reluctantly, I got the sump pump running and picked up the big push broom and began sweeping the water off the roof. This routine is getting so old. I'm really starting to hate it. I got the job done though. When I went back inside again, the leak had stopped.

I only had a few minor website revisions today, so I used the extra time to post my May invoices and get them in the mail. After I went to the post office, I stopped by the storage warehouse to see when my rent was due. I usually pay a year in advance and I can never remember when my year is up. It turns out that not only is it almost time to renew my contract, the rent for my unit has gone up as well. I pay more for my storage unit now than I did for my first apartment. Maybe it's all fair though. There's more stuff in the storage unit than there was in my first apartment.

I haven't heard a thing from the Land Rover dealer about my Defender. I'm starting to like the LR4, so I don't really care how long they keep it. It does seem strange for a tune up to take a month though. Janet thinks I ought to ask them how much it would cost to just keep the LR4. Maybe I'd get a deal. After all, it is a used car by now.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1229

I picked up some additional memory cards for one of my cameras today. I was amazed to discover that you can now buy 64GB high capacity SD cards for less than $40. Three or four years ago, these high speed, ultra high capacity cards were over $300, if you could even find them. Why can't everything work like the electronics industry? Electronics inevitably tend to get cheaper and better over time. Everything else seems to get more expensive while the quality gets worse. If roofing technology kept advancing at the same pace as solid state memory technology, I could probably get a brand new roof for $300.

It doesn't work that way though. Furniture is much more expensive than it used to be. The cost of a decent mattress is ridiculous. Cooking utensils keep getting more expensive. So do shoes and clothing. The cost of clothing should be coming down, since everything is made in China now. The clothes I buy keep getting more expensive though. What's that all about? The only sector of the economy that gives you a break anymore is consumer electronics. Large flat panel televisions are a bargain now. DSLR cameras are not only a bargain, they're amazingly capable. I love buying computers, because they're usually a fantastic deal.

When is all this innovation going to hit the roofing industry? If you can send a man to the moon, you ought to be able to develop an economical roof that doesn't leak. Maybe that's the problem. We can't sent a man to the moon anymore.

It was a beautiful day. When the weather is this nice, I usually putter around in the yard. There is no need to do this anymore though. The landscapers have done all my puttering for me. With no yard work to do, I ran errands instead. I'll be glad when I get my car back from the shop. I don't like driving the LR4 as much as my Defender. The car is too big. Instead of zipping in and out of tight parking spaces, I have to keep a close eye on what's going on around me. It's easy to get too close to curbs and other cars with this behemoth.

It looks like it's going to be a good day to go to the dog park tomorrow. It might be a good day to give the dogs a bath as well. They've managed to escape a bath for well over a month now, and it's about time to clean them up again. Dot and Dash are going to a Dalmatian Rescue event next week and Janet hates to go to these shindigs with a dirty dog. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind what I wear though.

Bowser is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1227

I took the back roads to the Land Rover dealer this morning. With all five living presidents in town, plus a ton of foreign dignitaries, I wasn't getting anywhere near the SMU campus today. Traffic was backed up in that part of town yesterday, and I suspect it was much worse today. I did watch the presidential library dedication on TV when I got home though. Wouldn't it be nice if politicians were always this nice and courteous to each other? Would that be too much to ask?

Dot's acupuncture doctor is leaving to pursue other interests. This is yet another reminder not to take anything for granted. I can't decide what to do now. I think Dot was benefiting from the treatments, but the improvements were subtle. The only other canine acupuncturist that I know of is in far North Dallas. Since Dot is never very excited about traveling around in my car, the stress of a long drive might negate the effects of the treatment. I'm not even sure that acupuncture is the right treatment anymore, since Dot's problems now seem to stem from vertigo instead of a slipped disk or spinal problem.

I talked to one of the roofers about their price today. He, like all the other roofers I've talked to recently, explained that the cost of materials had doubled. Fair enough. This still doesn't explain why the total cost of putting on a new roof has quadrupled. I still think that roofers are making way more money today than they used to. Unfortunately, that doesn't do me any good. The price of almost everything is based on what the market will bear. If enough people are willing to pay today's prices, they definitely aren't going to get any cheaper.

The Land Rover dealer gave me a new LR4 for a loaner car. This model has the same high-tech keyless ignition as the Evoque I drove last month. It's still hard to wrap my head around a car that unlocks itself as you approach and starts without a key, but I guess that's what's on the horizon for all cars. My Defender's manual roll up windows and separate keys for the ignition, doors, and glove box seems positively quaint by comparison.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. This has been a long and tiring week. I'm already looking forward to having my new Friday treat: Black Bean Cake Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise sauce. Hey, you can't expect me to eat oatmeal all the time.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day