Day 2540

Every couple of months, I open a stack of mail that I have no interest in. This stack is pretty large, because the only mail that I actually do open are bills, checks from clients, and the occasional letter from my sister. I never read bank statements anymore. If I'm interested, I can always go online to check my balance. Letters from Medicare and my supplemental health insurance company are mostly just irritating. Why does the government generate so much useless paperwork? They could probably cut the cost of healthcare significantly if they just eliminated all these letters. Letters from SiriusXM go directly in the trash. If you ever accepted a free trial from SiriusXM, you'll get so many letters afterwards asking you to subscribe that they could have given you a free subscription with the money they spend on postage. Why do banks keep asking me to sign up for a credit card when I already have their credit card too? Most of the mail I receive is worthless. Of course, I could say the same thing for most of the e-mail I receive. Some of the mail I opened today went in a folder, in case I might need it for taxes. The rest went in the shredder or the trash. Hopefully, I won't need to do this again for another couple of months.

It was so dark and overcast today that I spent the entire day thinking it was about to rain. The air smelled like rain. There was lots of wind, kind of like a front was moving through the area, but there was no rain. I think it is still supposed to rain after midnight tonight, but hopefully there will be no thunder and lightning. With storm phobic dogs, thunder and lightning virtually guarantees that you won't be getting much sleep.

Since dark, gloomy days destroy my motivation, just about the only thing I accomplished other than sorting through a pile of unwanted mail was go to the gym. At least the gym is brightly lit. I keep thinking that I should be getting stronger or have more stamina after all the time I've spent at the gym, but I feel the same as I always have. My wrists hurt. My shoulders hurt. And I'm always ready to go home as soon as my workout is finished. I try to be optimistic though. I'm not gaining much but maybe the whole point is to keep from deteriorating even further.

I've got to find a solution for my acid reflux problem. I thought I was cured, but really it was just the pills that made me feel better. As soon as I discontinued the Protonix, the heartburn returned. I don't want brittle, weak bones, but I don't want the heartburn either. In theory, you can cure this problem with a change in diet. You've got to give up coffee, spicy foods, tomatoes, pizza, potato chips, and just about everything else I enjoy. Like that's going to happen. I don't think I could survive without coffee and spicy foods. I'm going to go get a bone density test next week. If my bone density is still good, maybe I can start taking the Protonix again. Maybe it's not good for you in the long run, but the stuff really works.

I got an e-mail from a high-end watch winder company telling me that everything on their website was half price for one day. That's quite a savings. The rational part of my brain kept telling me that I don't even wear my watches anymore. I don't need another watch winder. The irrational part of my brain kept saying, but it's half price! Half price! I'm happy to report that the rational part of my brain prevailed.

I can't believe that the same people who spent the past year calling Trump a fascist and a tyrant are now praising Castro as a great leader. Do these people have any idea of the horrible things Castro actually did? All I've got to say is it's a strange world we live in now.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2517

I got an early start to a slow day. For some reason, we had the dogs fed and walked before 6:30 AM. Pancakes won the coin toss this morning, so I went to a restaurant that had good pancakes. I'd show you a picture, except my Instagram settings are all screwed up and pictures aren't being saved to the phone's camera roll anymore. I'm sure it's something I did. My phone's battery is wearing out and I keep turning off features to extend the battery life. Sometimes I turn off so many features that the apps don't work anymore. At any rate, the pancakes were good, and the service was quick, since I was so early. I finished my breakfast, went to the grocery store, and was still back home well before 9 AM.

I called around to see if any lighting stores had the candelabra base LED bulbs I've been looking for. One store said they had exactly what I needed and I drove over to pick the bulbs up. When I got there, a salesperson said she'd never heard of these bulbs. It was a wasted trip. One more reason that I should have ordered the bulbs on Amazon.com in the first place. I really do try to support local businesses, but it's becoming hopeless. Local stores just can't compete with what's available online.

I no longer have satellite radio in my car. I let the SiriusXM free trial expire and they promptly cut me off. It's no great loss. I think the service is grossly overpriced. If they charged like Hulu or Netflix, I probably would have subscribed. The only thing I listened to on satellite radio was NPR anyway, and I think I can still find that on my FM dial.

The dogs were unusually active today. It's a good thing that I wasn't really busy with work, or I never would have gotten finished. Every time I sat down at the computer, tried to take a shower, or do anything where Dot couldn't see me, she started her plaintive "I need you" bark. Since she can't get up on her own, I really can't ignore her. We were busy today, walking up and down the halls and occasionally going outside. Most of these meandering journeys ultimately led to her food bowl in the kitchen. I think she just wanted to be fed.

Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend. I still can't remember why we have Daylight Saving Time in the first place. To me, it's just a nuisance. I like having daylight in the morning and at night. Maybe if we just set the clocks back half an hour this weekend, we could split the difference and just leave it that way all the time. If the idea behind the annual time change was to save energy, it clearly isn't working. I think we actually consume more energy as a result of Daylight Saving Time.

I wonder if I'll have any friends after this election is over? I think people will eventually realize that talking about politics on Facebook was a bad idea. I've learned sme things that I didn't really want to know. Hey, vote for whoever you want, but at least let me pretend that you agree with me.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2509

It took a lot longer than I thought to get the new iPad ready to use. There ought to be a red big button at the start of the configuration process that says skip all this stuff. I'll do it later. Since no such button exists, I spent a long time answering dumb questions, trying to remember various passwords, and learning how to make a readable fingerprint scan. I should have selected the option to configure a new iPad rather than restore an old one, because I ended up transferring a lot of old apps that I don't even use anymore. Eventually, I got the all clear to use the freshly configured tablet, but I wasn't done yet. I had to take the iPad down to the AT&T store and add it to my wireless plan.

AT&T marketing materials always make everything they offer seem easy and affordable, but I learned a long time ago that this isn't always the case. There's always a surprise that makes your plan much more expensive than you thought it would be. I have no idea why they felt justified in charging me an exorbitant activation fee when I was just adding the tablet to an existing plan. There was no need to try to pressure me into buying more data either. "But you'll need more data now that you're using two devices," said the pushy sales representative. "No I won't," I said. "I'm only using one at a time." We went back and forth for a while and ultimately she failed to sell me anything extra.

The roofers are coming out tomorrow. Well, they promised to come out tomorrow anyway. We'll see what happens. Since the roofers typically get started early, I won't be able to go out for breakfast in the morning. I definitely want to be here while they are working. This time I want to make sure that all the bad areas get repaired, instead of just some of them. I've already eaten this week's supply of fresh fruit, so I won't be able to make my regular smoothie tomorrow. Hopefully, there's still a package of toaster waffles in the freezer. If that doesn't work out, there's always oatmeal.

I've gotten really superstitious about taking out the trash. Since the trash ultimately did get picked up last week, I tried to place my rolling cart in exactly the same spot this evening. Maybe I need to mark the spot with chalk or something. I had a hard time remembering where I put my can last week. If you're looking for a lucky spot, a foot or two in the wrong direction could make all the difference.

Maybe I'll write the blog on the iPad tomorrow. Since I rarely do serous video editing anymore, I could probably use this high octane tablet for most things I do. I like the idea of a slim, powerful tablet replacing my computers, but I'm also a creature of habit. I've spent so many years sitting in front of this giant monitor that it might be too late to change.

My SiriusXM free trial ends in a few days. I need to decide whether to subscribe or not. I like listening to NPR in the car, but I really don't drive much anymore. I don't really need satellite radio, but then I don't really need Hulu or Netflix either. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between wants and needs. I do need a leak free roof and reliable trash pick up. If I can get those two things taken care of tomorrow, I'll be a happy camper.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2499

A lady from the sanitation department called me this morning. She listened politely as I explained the problems I've been having with trash collection. I thought we were getting somewhere when she told me that the city had hired a lot of new drivers recently and seemed to agree with my theory that the driver didn't know how to operate the fancy robotic garbage truck. When I finished my story and asked what was going to happen next, I instantly became disappointed. "I'll talk to my supervisor about this," she told me. This is going to end like every other encounter I've had with a large bureaucracy. Maybe this supervisor will talk to his supervisor, or maybe it won't even get that far. I doubt that anything will happen. The drivers are probably protected by their union and can't be fired anyway. The driver might not even be at fault. There's always the chance that the city added fifty extra streets to his regular route and he is just doing the best he can to keep up with the added workload.

A little later, a representative from SiriusXM  called and asked if I was enjoying my free trial and wondered why I hadn't activated my subscription yet. Normally, I don't even answer these type of telemarketing calls, but this guy surprised me by calling my cell phone. I explained that I only listened to one channel in the car and their package prices seemed pretty expensive if all I was going to use satellite radio for was to avoid having to listen to all the annoying pledge drives on the local over the air public radio station. I took this opportunity to complain about the tinny, compressed quality of all the voice offerings on SiriusXM. The guy thanked me for my input and agreed that I probably wasn't the target audience they were looking for. I don't know why companies like these don't adopt an à la carte pricing structure. If I could just pay for the stations I actually listen to, I'd gladly subscribe to SiriusXM. I feel the same way about my AT&T U-Verse account. Why should I have to pay for hundreds of channels when I only watch ten at the most?

I went to the vegan take-out store to buy enough meals to augment the leftovers in the refrigerator for the rest of the week. I love this store and hope they manage to stay in business. There is no way I could cook all these interesting meals myself. Cooking for one is hardly worth the trouble. It's hard to buy small quantities of vegetables and if you buy larger quantities, the stuff goes bad before you get around to eating it. I talked to the lady who started the store today and she told me that she got the idea when friends of hers kept saying that they'd love to become vegetarian, but that it was so much easier to just get a burger. This store is easier than going to McDonalds. I'm hooked.

On my way home I dropped off one of my favorite watches at my local watch repair place to get the band fixed. It doesn't matter if your wear the watches or not. Eventually, they all just fall apart by themselves. I doubt that I'll wear this watch anymore, but it was an old friend that deserved some respect. I have no idea how the watch broke. It's been sitting in a drawer for years.

Dot seemed so tired today. I don't think the Tramadol pills are having much of an effect. I had hoped that they might help her walk a little easier, but that isn't happening. We'll continue the pills for a few days longer in case there is some sort of delayed reaction, but I think this is just an experiment that failed. I wish it were easier to transport Dot. I think the water therapy still might help, but I hate to put Dot through the ordeal of getting her to the vet and back on a regular basis if all it does is cause her stress.

Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow. I'm not counting on it though.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2454

How did I go from being curious about everything to being irritated at everything? It all happened pretty quickly. Today, I was particularly irritated at the garbage man. Ever since the city switched to these new robotic garbage trucks, my garbage can fails to be emptied about half the time. The robotic arm on the truck picks up the can and lifts it above the truck to dump the garbage in the hopper, but the process happens so fast that none of the bagged garbage actually falls out of the can. The truck thinks it has done its job and just drives away, leaving a full garbage can for me to live with for another week. This never used to happen when real people emptied the garbage and threw the trash into the back of the truck. The city loves these new robotic trucks because they are very efficient and only require a single person to operate. Unfortunately, the trucks just don't work very well.

It's bad enough that the city only picks up the trash once a week now. Playing Russian roulette with the garbage truck every week only makes the process worse. Today, I'd had enough. I loaded all the garbage in the back of my car and went looking for a dumpster. A lot of dumpsters are locked away now, because they don't want people like me using them. Hey, it's not my fault. If the garbage truck did it's job, I definitely wouldn't be driving around with trash in the back of my car.

Breakfast was crowded today. I would have gotten an earlier start if I wasn't looking for an empty dumpster. I probably should have gone someplace else, but I was in the mood for pancakes and the cinnamon pancakes at the overcrowded restaurant are particularly good. All the regular tables were taken, so I had to sit at a long communal table that everyone tends to avoid. The inconvenience was worth it though, because the pancakes and sausage were delicious.

Today was particularly busy. I finished a lengthy website update that involved adding and changing out a ton of new photos. When that task was finished, I started writing my new article. In the old days, this type of workload would have been considered completely normal. I probably would have finished everything before noon. Today, I felt a bit overwhelmed. I haven't had this much to do in weeks. I got everything done though and still had time to do a load of laundry and clean up Dot's poop.

The satellite radio worked this morning when I started the car. This was odd, because there was a failure message on the screen when I pulled into the driveway yesterday. How did the radio acquire the satellite when the car was off? I don't pretend to know how satellite radio works. I'd rather have a WiFi hotspot in the car instead, but this is a free trial, so what do I care.

We've got a long holiday weekend coming up. Will we do anything festive on Labor Day? What do people normally do on Labor Day? I don't have a clue. As always, I just hope that the dogs act normally and that I can catch up on sleep.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2453

We have become the bad back family. It goes without saying that Dot has the worst problems. Neurological damage resulting from a ruptured disc in her spine has nearly crippled her. Last week Dash's vet said that his stiff awkward walk may be caused by a bulging disc in his spine as well. Janet has had lower back problems for years, and this morning I woke up with a bad back for the second day in a row. It's kind of hard to have a normal day when your back hurts. Hopefully, a little extra rest and avoiding heavy lifting for a while will get me back to normal. Several years ago I had a pinched nerve in my neck and I discovered how debilitating spinal problems can be. To this day, I have no idea what I did to cause my neck injury. I don't have a clue why I woke up with a bad back yesterday either.

I activated my free satellite radio trial today and of course it didn't work. I remember that I had the same problem connecting to the satellite the last time I took advantage of one of these free trial offers. Last year it took three or four phone calls and fifteen minutes of sitting in the car with the motor running before Sirius XM finally found my car.  I never bothered subscribing to the service before and I probably won't this time either. I never listen to music in the car anyway, so all I wanted were some extra news and weather channels. The sound quality of these voice only channels was terrible. Everything was severely compressed to save bandwidth. It wasn't what I was expecting. Probably the only reason I signed up for the trial again was the message that said "absolutely no obligation. no credit card required." I'll eventually get the car paired with the satellite, listen to a few programs, and then receive six months worth of junk mail asking me why I didn't subscribe.

I got another writing assignment today, but there wasn't enough input to actually start writing. I asked some questions, received a few vague answers, and decided to postpone this project until tomorrow. I often receive very little input on my writing assignments. I think people hire me because I'm pretty good at just making stuff up. Show me a picture and I'll invent a plausible story. I'm surprised that I never got into writing political speeches. Making absolutely nothing sound good has always been a specialty of mine.

I did write a letter to my Luddite sister. Since she lives directly in the path of that hurricane heading for the Florida coast, there's a chance that my letter will never arrive. Maybe the mailbox will just float away. I wonder why people live in hurricane zones? Hurricanes seem to hit the same places again and again. Of course, I live in what many would call a tornado zone, so you could say the same thing about me.

I got my electric bill today and it was even higher than it was last August. I could have sworn that last August was a lot hotter than it was this year, but maybe I was wrong. I have a feeling that the bill increased because of the dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity. I guess a large electric bill is better than mold in the closets though. The house seems a lot more livable since we've got the humidity under control.

I'll write my article tomorrow and see whether I can convince Dash to get back to his regular walking schedule. I'm debating whether to drive a little further and look for a new breakfast restaurant. It kind of bothers me that I don't have a favorite place anymore.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2442

Janet's birthday dinner was a few days late, but it was still very nice. We went to Knife, a new steakhouse in the neighborhood that has received national attention recently. The place was started by John Tesar, who was once a Top Chef contestant, and according to D Magazine, it is this year's Best Steakhouse in Texas. I prefer to think of the place as the hotel restaurant in the pet friendly hotel where we always stay when the power goes out or a water leak floods the house. We didn't have the nerve or the money to try the signature 240 day dry aged rib-eye, but our meal was very good.

It's a good thing I went to the gym today, because I definitely ate more than I usually do on a Sunday evening. I noticed this afternoon that my workout is remarkably consistent. I'm usually done after about 62 minutes and seem to burn roughly the same number of calories every week. The only thing that seems to vary is how long it takes me to sink five baskets from the free throw line. Sometimes I do this almost immediately and other times it seems to take forever.

I came closer to meeting my sleep goal last night than I have for a long time. We didn't get up until almost 8 AM, which is almost unheard of in this house. It certainly helped that Dot and Dash didn't wake us up like they usually do. Dot made it all the way through the night again without pooping in her bed and Dash didn't make a loud, noisy spectacle out of changing position during the night like he usually does. We need more days like this. Getting enough sleep really makes a difference.

The rain appears to be over for a while. It was somewhat surprising to see blue sky for a change. I'm amazed at how crowded the park has become on a nice day. When we first moved to the neighborhood, we practically had the place to ourselves. It's like a amusement park on weekends now. Dash likes to crisscross from one side of the paths to the other, depending on which side smells the best. I have to really watch out for cyclists now. They appear out of nowhere going very fast, and they never slow down. Bicycles are fine, but I'm not a big fan of cyclists. Why do they all act like the roads and trails were created expressly for them? Today, when I was driving home from the gym, I encountered three cyclists riding side-by-side so they took up the entire road. This made it almost impossible to pass them and traffic was backing up. Did these guys care? Not in the least.

I got another two month free trial offer from SiriusXM radio. I wonder why they sent me this offer, because I didn't bother to sign up when they sent me the same offer last year. I'll probably take advantage of the free offer again, just like I did before. Two months is plenty of time to discover that the service isn't actually worth paying for.

Next week is going to be busy. Dot has three vet appointments scheduled, each at a different vet. The first is her annual wellness exam, the second is her physical therapy session, and the third is a cancer re-check. I don't know how I screwed up and scheduled these so close together. In my defense, the appointments were all made at different times. It's not easy to transport Dot anymore, so one appointment a week is plenty. We'll make it work though. I certainly don't have anything better to do.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2008

It was definitely Monday this morning. Monday is always the day when things get off to a slow and often rocky start. When I woke up this morning, Janet was already on the phone, having trouble getting an appointment to get her car in for service. Both dogs were barking at me because I wasn't fast enough getting their breakfast. After a fairly peaceful walk, I turned on the computer and discovered even more problems. Somebody must have gotten up even earlier than me. There were short, ambiguous e-mail questions that required long, detailed answers. There was confusion about who was in charge of certain projects. Was I ahead of schedule, or falling behind? I still don't know.

It took a while to get everything sorted out, but after I did, I noticed a letter in yesterday's mail offering me a two month free trial of satellite radio in my car. Since the was no obligation to continue the service after the two months were up, I decided to give it a try. I signed up, and of course when I started the car later in the day, the satellite radio didn't work. It took two more calls to tech support before the satellite found me. "You have to turn off Bluetooth before you can acquire the signal," someone in a far away call center told me. "But I'm talking to you right now using Bluetooth," I said. "If I turn it off, this call will go dead." That's kind of how it went. Eventually the satellite did find my car and I discovered that SiriusXM was just as boring as regular radio. I tuned into a live traffic report channel and found that it only monitored traffic conditions in Boston and Philadelphia. The Rock and Roll channel was just playing very old Elvis Presley tunes. I'll still probably continue listing to NPR instead. National Public Radio does have some good programming, but I wish they quit talking about the Middle East. I'm tired of hearing about problems in the Middle East. I wish there was a channel that just played Ted Talks. A veterinarian channel would be nice too. I'm always interested in learning how to keep the dogs healthy.

Summer has definitely arrived. Every morning I wake up with a new batch of mosquito and chigger bites. I don't know how all these mosquitoes got inside, but they're very hard to get rid of. The air has turned hot and muggy and the fire ants have returned. The birds that poop on my car have returned as well. I don't know where these irritating birds go in the Winter, but our house has definitely become their permanent Summer home. At least we are in no danger of a drought. There is more heavy rain in the forecast for tomorrow, as a big tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico heads inland. I'm glad I don't live in Houston. We'll get wet, but Houston is in danger of flooding again.

I need to get up early tomorrow because I've got a dental appointment in the morning. I hope there are no complications and I can get home again before the rain arrives. I hate leaving storm phobic dogs alone in the rain. I don't like being out in the rain myself, but I want to put this dental work behind me. There's no point in postponing things anymore. The only thing I'd like to postpone is my upcoming birthday. I used to look forward to birthdays, but the years go by too fast. We need to slow these birthdays down.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day