Day 1257

If you've never worked with a contractor before, here's what to expect. First you meet the contractor. He sounds knowledgeable and fills you full of hope and anticipation about the project you are about to undertake. After you agree on a price and the work begins, you never see this guy again. Next, you meet the foreman the contractor has selected to oversee the job. This guy drops by every couple of days to give the work crew their marching orders for the day. If something goes wrong, the foreman always smiles and tells you that the problem will be fixed later. The work crew never listens to the foreman. To a man, they are convinced that they already know the best way to do everything and just continue doing what they were going to do anyway as soon as the foreman gets in his pickup and leaves for the day. Did I mention that I don't enjoy dealing with contractors.

It rained again today and just as I thought, the unfinished carport leaked like a sieve. You would think that with the forecast predicting a rainy Memorial Day weekend, the roofers would have put a giant tarp over the roof to protect it. Nope. They did nothing. When I mentioned the leaky, unfinished carport to the contractor, he just said that these things happen and that they would fix things later.

It was such a busy week that Janet and I forgot Dash's birthday. We tried to make amends tonight with a little celebration that featured special doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. Dash must have gotten high on cake, because he started racing around the house and refused to stay still for his birthday picture. I think the dogs enjoyed the party though. They always enjoy anything that involves food.

I took a nap with the dogs this afternoon because it is the only thing that seems to calm Dot down during a thunderstorm. Dash didn't used to care one way or the other about the weather, but Dot has managed to convince him that the sky is falling every time it rains. Now, his storm phobia is just as bad as Dot's. I huddled under a blanket on the bed with a warm dog on either side of me and fell asleep immediately. The short nap was the most enjoyable part of my day.

Maybe the weather will improve tomorrow. I certainly hope so. A few of my readers have suggested that I try being a little more upbeat and positive in the future. Me? Negative? What on earth would give you that idea? Hey, this is just the way things are. I'm a pragmatic realist. Most of the happy people I know are all on Prozac.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 533

I came across one of my Paypal ads again today. I don't see these things all that often, but they're still floating around out there. I don't think the ads have changed my life much. Oddly, I am spending more on Paypal though. I find myself increasingly using Paypal instead of a credit card to pay for things, mostly out of a vague feeling of loyalty. Maybe that was the whole point of the ads. Go out and find some people who are wasteful spenders, feature them in ads, and then they'll spend even more. I'm still not sure why they picked me, but I do like the company. They're been really helpful to Dalmatian Rescue.

Scooby was neutered this morning and finished up his health checkup, so I picked him up at the vet this afternoon and took him over to The Velvet Snout. I initially thought that this was the most ridiculous name I'd ever heard of for a doggie day care/boarding facility. I'm starting to have second thoughts though. The name immediately rises straight to the top in Google searches. It's easy to remember too. Maybe in this age of Google, oddball names are the best. Before the Internet became ubiquitous, I was convinced that my own name was completely unique. According to Google, it is actually pretty common. There are Sealander architects, Sealander Environmental, Health & Safety companies, Sealander law firms, Sealander Real Estate agents and probably dozens of other companies that I'm not even aware of. Maybe Sealander & Company wasn't quite as original as I thought. Maybe if I called my own company The Velvet Snout twenty years ago, I'd be famous now.

One of the dogs in our training class is on Prozac now, just because he went after another dog about a month ago. I think that's sad. I've never been a big fan of mood altering drugs. Life isn't always pretty. Dogs bite. People get depressed. Life goes on. You've just got to learn to deal with it.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day