Day 2233

It's a good thing I had my movie today. Absolutely nothing happened. It was cold and grey outside. The phone didn't ring. There were no deadlines to meet. It was a perfect day to watch The Martian. It was a long movie so I waited until the dogs took their even longer morning nap after breakfast. Coincidentally, this is also when I tend to get the most work done. Almost like clockwork, both dogs sleep soundly from about 9 AM until 1 PM, when they wake up again for lunch.

I'd already read Andy Wier's book, so I was wondering how a story with very little dialog would work as a film. Drew Goddard leaves out quite a bit in the screenplay, but still managed to transform one of the best books I've read in a long time into a nail biting and compelling script. I'm old enough to remember when Ridley Scott and his brother Tony directed television commercials at RSA. If you were in advertising during the late 1970's and early 1980's, Ridley Scott Associates was the gold standard for commercial production companies. Before he went on to direct groundbreaking movies like Alien and Blade Runner, he created the famous 1984 commercial which ran once during the Super Bowl and launched the Apple Macintosh computer. I loved that commercial. With all this in mind, I was expecting a lot from this movie and I wasn't disappointed. I really should have seen it in a theater, but for me a large, high resolution monitor in a dark room was almost the same thing.

I hope The Martian does something to rekindle interest in space. I remember clearly the excitement that the race to land a man on the moon generated. It was one of the few things in my lifetime that genuinely seemed to unite people around the world. A few years after Apollo 11 landed in the Sea of Tranquility, the real life drama of the the failed Apollo 13 mission seemed to capture the world's attention in much the same manner as Mark Watney did when the world learned he was stranded on Mars. We are explorers. I think we need to direct our energies outward again. We're spent far too many years looking inward.

The only thing I explored today was how to use my old Olympus camera lenses on a new Panasonic camera. Manufacturers have virtually stopped making digital cameras with optical viewfinders. Everyone is migrating to the new smaller mirrorless cameras. Since I like the Panasonic GH4, I've been trying to salvage some of my favorite older lenses and use them with this micro 4/3 format. With the right adapter, you can use just about any lens manually, but I wanted to keep using the auto-focus and image stabilization features of newer lenses. I tested an adapter today that was supposed to let me do this, but I was disappointed. The auto focus of my favorite Olympus lens still worked, but it was so slow. I think it's back to square one with this idea. It's too bad that expensive technology becomes obsolete so quickly. Back in the film era, my Nikon cameras and lenses served me for decades. It doesn't work that way anymore.

Dot seemed kind of shaky today. I always worry a lot when she's having a bad day. There's no way to stop this slow, degenerative process she's going through, but I sure wish there was a way to slow it down a bit more. Dot seems to react to sunlight and warmth the same way I do. I'm hoping that when the weather improves, she'll get her mojo back.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2232

Where did today go? I stayed busy all day, but really accomplished almost nothing. It was still dark when we walked the dogs because Janet had to leave for work early. I saw four of the five visible planets, but the illusive Mercury was still hidden by low clouds on the Eastern horizon. I watched the Impossible Planet episode of Dr. Who on the BBC channel during breakfast, which made breakfast take even longer than it usually does. I always liked this episode. When I took the dogs out to pee again before I fired up the computer and started working, I noticed another dead bird in the yard. This explained what the dogs were so interested in last night. The feral cats in the neighborhood do help control the rats, but I hate all the dead things they drag in the yard.

The first thing I discovered when I turned on the computer was that the backup batteries had gone bad in my Uninterruptible Power Supply. Since I wasn't that busy anyway, I took the power supply down to the battery store and had them rebuild the batteries. I think this is the third time I've had to replace the batteries in this particular UPS, but it was still cheaper than buying a brand new Uninterruptible Power Supply.

Dash was low on Phenobarbital, so I stopped by the vet to get a new supply and then returned to the battery store to pick up my refurbished UPS. When I finally did get to work, there wasn't much to do. There are still a couple of unfinished website projects, but no impending deadlines at all. I used my free time to write a letter to the watch winder people expressing my displeasure at their refusal to repair or replace my two broken winders. I don't expect much of a response, but at least I got that off my chest.

I discovered that I could buy The Martian on iTunes for half of what it would have cost to purchase a physical DVD in a store. No wonder stores don't carry many DVD titles anymore. I downloaded the movie and may never buy a DVD again. Why bother. I watch DVD's on my computer anyway and a downloaded file plays more reliably anyway. Half price seals the deal. No wonder Apple isn't making computers with DVD drives anymore. They really want to convince people to buy everything on iTunes. Now, all I have to do it get the little Apple TV box and I can watch my downloaded files on the big TV in the bedroom. Not that it matters, but I did remember to order ink for the large format printer.

The weather has got me confused. I bundled up like I did yesterday, but the minute I stepped out the door I realized was overdressed. As soon as the sun came up, it quickly got even warmer. By the time I was running errands this afternoon, I didn't even need a jacket. I think by the end of the week, temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-seventies. It's strange weather for this time of year, but I'll take it. It certainly beats cleaning up after the East Coast's giant snowstorm.

Unless somebody's website crashes unexpectedly, tomorrow will probably end up being a carbon copy of today. That's OK with me. I've got fresh bag of Fritos and a new movie to watch.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2231

If you happen to follow my Instagram account, you've probably noticed that certain images appear again and again. On Sundays, there is often a picture of a basketball. On Thursdays, you frequently see Dot exercising in the underwater treadmill. On Fridays its almost always a picture of my breakfast. Although these pictures are similar, they are not the same. Each one records a specific event that will never happen again. To me, repetitious pictures like this are an affirmation. They are a way of saying that I'm still here. Life itself is fairly repetitious. The sun comes up every morning and sets every night. We brush our teeth, we shower, we fix our meals, over and over and over again. Some try to escape this monotony with wild adventures. I celebrate the tiny little nuances that make even the most repetitious event unique.

Today was like most Sundays. We slept in a little later and waited until after sunrise to walk the dogs. I can eat a bigger breakfast on weekends because I know I'm probably going to work it off. According to my fitness band, Sunday is the most active day of my week. Today when I vacuumed the house, I not only cleaned the rugs and carpets, I got down on my knees and cleaned baseboards, under tables, and even under the bed. I'll have to admit that Janet shamed my into this additional cleaning, but the house does look pretty nice now.

On my way to the gym this afternoon I stopped by the REI store again. I'm kind of fascinated by the stuff inside this store. I got a pair of mountaineering pants. I'll never go near a mountain with these clever pants, but they seemed perfect for walking dogs. The knees in my regular jeans wear out way too fast because I'm always kneeling down to get Dot's harness on and off or clean Dash's paws. Maybe these heavy duty, reinforced pants will last longer. Shoes wear out pretty fast too with two walks a day over rough terrain. I finally retired my old dog walking boots and started wearing a new pair this morning. The odd thing was that I'd had these new boots for over a year. A receipt in the box said I bought them on January 12, 2015. This is typical of me. I tend to wear old clothes as long as I possibly can, because they become more comfortable with age, but I always have a replacement waiting in reserve.

I wonder if I'm going to be able to see Mercury during the short window of opportunity I have between now and early February? I went outside around 6 AM this morning with a pair of binoculars when I knew the planet would be above the horizon, but once again it was obscured by clouds. For the past several days skies will be crystal clear around midnight, then around dawn clouds will roll in. Later in the day the clouds will burn off and it will become clear again. I'll try again tomorrow.

I need to remember to order printer ink tomorrow. The longer I wait, the harder it will be to unclog the printer. I'm not sure how busy I'll be tomorrow. If there aren't many websites to update, I might see if The Martian is available on Hulu. I currently watch old TV shows on Hulu, but haven't used it yet for pay per view movies. I've noticed that falling leaves are starting to accumulate on the front and back porch. It might be time to use the blower again. Janet couldn't find rubber snakes this weekend either, so she got a rubber lizard to protect her car. We'll see how that goes. The pooping birds are definitely still around. They made a mess of the lawn furniture yesterday. All this may sound insignificant and somewhat boring to you, but it's really not. I'm already looking forward to my banana and strawberry smoothie in the morning.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2230

I feel silly complaining about the weather on a day where the entire East Coast is experiencing one of the worst blizzards in history. Texas has its problems, but we seldom get three inches of snow an hour. Jeez, a grand total of three inches of snow period is enough to shut the entire city of Dallas down. At an rate, if you're reading this in the middle of a snowstorm, please stay safe. I can't think of any good reasons to be out on the roads tonight.

Compared to what I was watching on TV this evening, our own weather seemed almost benign. It was cold, but nothing out of the ordinary for January. It even warmed up enough later in the day for me to go up on the roof and clear the water away. There wasn't as much water as I expected, so a lot of it must have blown off the roof during an unusually windy day we had earlier in the week.

Dot had another accident during the night, but I've become so efficient at cleaning things up that I didn't even wake Janet and Dash up while I was getting Dot fresh blankets and loading the washing machine. When I took the bagged up poop out to a special can by the back fence we're reserved for Dot's accidents, I noticed that the sky had turned cloudy. I'll have to wait until things clear off again to look for Mercury in the morning sky. If there's a clear morning tomorrow, I shouldn't have a problem finding the illusive planet. I discovered recently that there is an app on my iPad that uses GPS and a sophisticated star map to mimic the night sky. You just take your iPad outside with you and point it in the general direction of what you are looking at. All the stars and planets in front of you are correctly identified based on the local time and your location. I've tried using this a few times and it's really pretty cool.

What isn't cool is my Jawbone UP band. Another one bit the dust today, so I went to the website where you describe the symptoms you're having and hope the manufacturer will send you a replacement. I love these little fitness and activity trackers, but they aren't very reliable. The bright yellow UP 24 that broke today is the fourth one I've had so far. They all work perfectly until the day they don't. Sometimes they last a year. Sometimes they last 45 days. Occasionally, a reset procedure will bring the band back to life, but typically when the two small status lights quit working, your band is toast.

I looked in two different stores, but couldn't find a DVD copy of The Martian. The movie was released on DVD several weeks ago, so it should have been on the shelves. Actually, there were very few recent movies on the shelves at all. It was almost as if stores weren't even bothering to stock many titles anymore. I think this just illustrates how fundamentally Netflix has changed the landscape. People don't buy DVD's anymore, they just watch them on Netflix, Hulu, or Google Play. Maybe I should just rent The Martian on Netflix like everybody else does. It would certainly be less expensive. My bookshelves are littered with DVD's I've only watched once. The whole concept of owning something is becoming an anachronism and I'm one of the dinosaurs keeping it alive.

My pants are telling me that it's time to go to the gym again. The problem with Winter is that if you wear compression pants under your jeans and sweaters under your outer coat, everything feels too tight. I get cold easily and I even feel too bundled up inside the house. Going to the gym won't fix all this, but I always need a reason to go to the gym. Tight pants seems to be as good a reason as any.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2229

If you're old enough, you probably remember car trips where your parents told you to count the cows you saw out the window. This used to keep me occupied for hours. Attention spans are shorter now, so I imagine a new kind of game is needed. Maybe you could have the kids count the number of times the people at the next table in a restaurant use the word "like" in a conversation. You know what I'm talking about. When I was having breakfast this morning, two girls at the next table must have used the word 100 times within five minutes. "I was like you've got to be kidding, and then she was like no way, and then like you wouldn't believe what happened next..." This went on and on and on. Every single sentence used the word "like" on one way or another. When did this start? I even hear people talking this way on TV now. We don't read. We can't write. We've forgotten how to speak coherently. I don't hold out a lot of hope for the future.

I did like my breakfast in the old fashioned sense of the word. It was delicious. On my way home, I stopped by the grocery store and picked up the ingredients to make burgers for dinner. I thought I'd try some heirloom tomatoes, since I've always wondered what they tasted like. I thought they'd be better than ordinary hothouse tomatoes, since they're more expensive. Nope. They weren't very tasty at all.  I'm still wondering what's so special about heirloom tomatoes.

Today was mostly spent wrapping up a bunch of loose ends, so I wouldn't have anything hanging over my head this weekend. I finished my remaining website projects, wrote a letter to my sister, paid a few bills, picked up another prescription at the pharmacy, and went to the Dollar Store to look for rubber snakes. It was a fairly productive day. The dogs got walked. I'm caught up on work. Dot pooped outside. And I finally received a reply from the watch winder company. I still haven't found the rubber snakes though.

I was disappointed to hear that the watch winder company won't repair the two defective units I inquired about. They said they are too old to fix and that parts are no longer available. This may be true, but I was still hoping that they would replace the winders like they did with the first one I sent them. I guess one replacement watch winder is all you get. It's hard for me to get very upset about this however, because I'm not all that interested in watches anymore. Like most things in my life, it appears like collecting watches was just a phase I went through.

It's supposed to be clear tomorrow, so maybe I'll get up early and look for Mercury in the Eastern sky. I don't know why it's a big deal for me to see Mercury because it's just a faint little speck of light.  I like following the planets though. If I didn't live in a city and the skies were darker, I'd probably be out with a telescope looking for Uranus and Neptune.

I forgot to order printer ink today, so the large printer is sure to be clogged on Monday. I'm sure there's still water on the roof as well. If it warms up this weekend, I'll take care of that. I need to think of something fun to do as well. I think The Martian is out on DVD now. Maybe I'll go look for a copy when I'm running errands tomorrow.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2118

On Saturdays we make lists. There are groceries to replenish. Sometimes we need furnace filters. Other times its light bulbs. Clothes get taken to the dry cleaner and dogs get washed. We seem to run out of everything from dog biscuits to bottled water at an alarming rate. I like to think we lead a simple, frugal life, but maybe we don't. We never shop together. That would be pointless. Sometimes if I find a better deal on something, I'll text Janet so she can take it off her list. Often I'll come home and discover that we already have something I just got at the store. Hey, the lists aren't perfect.

The dogs did a much better job of sleeping in this morning. I don't know if they understand the concept of weekends, but they did let us sleep until almost 7 AM this morning. No accidents either. That's always a good way to start the day. I was amazed that it was only 57 degrees when we left the house this morning. If only it were this nice all the time. I'd better enjoy the nice weather while it lasts. Usually around Halloween the rainy season starts again. April and October are my favorite months in Texas. The other ten months make me wonder why I moved here.

I did a little website work this afternoon. I certainly didn't need to work today, but the dogs were sleeping nicely and I didn't want to wake them. If I go outside, they think it's time for a walk. If I go in the kitchen, they think it's time for dinner. They seldom get excited when I'm in the office though. Even a dog knows that what I do at the computer is boring. I got quite a bit done before Dash realized that it actually was time for dinner. Once he sounded the alarm, Dot was quick to follow.

I'm not really wild about the new season of Dr. Who, but I'm eagerly watching each new episode anyway. Maybe they'll get better. The relationship between Clara and the Doctor has always seemed a bit odd to me. Rose and Amy Pond were much more effective as the Doctor's companions. The thing that bothers me is that Clara and the Doctor both seem to have embraced the role of superheros. They start each episode looking for trouble and they find it. It's almost like a cartoon. I still watch though. I can't think of anything better to do on a Saturday night.

The Martian is in movie theaters now. Will I go watch it on the big screen or just wait a few months until I happen to see a the DVD in Sam's Club when I'm out buying toilet paper? You guys probably already know the answer to this one. You never know. I could be super bored on a Tuesday afternoon sometime and notice that the movie is still playing at a nearby dollar theater. It's not likely that I've ever drive across town to see it.

Tomorrow it's time to go to the gym again. It's probably time for vacuuming, mowing and all the other Sunday chores too. Time sure flies. This time last week I was charging camera batteries and getting ready to take pictures at the Dalmatian Rescue golf tournament. If you're wondering what the strange looking flower is, it grows on an aptly named tree called a Buttonbush.

Hobbs is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2099

I listened to the local news coverage of the big Dallas Donald Trump rally while I was eating dinner this evening. I love a circus and would have enjoyed sitting in the crowd when I was younger. History, however strange, is always interesting. I used to make a point of visiting Dealey Plaza on November 22 just to hear all the conspiracy theories. Crowds never used to bother me. It didn't matter if it was a Fourth of July fireworks show or a Rolling Stones concert, I was there. Something has certainly changed. I'm a virtual hermit now. If I have a choice between seeing an event on TV or watching it in person, I'll almost always opt for the stay-at-home alternative. I've been to a lot of Rolling Stones concerts but when the Stones came to AT&T Stadium this Summer, I had no interest whatsoever in getting tickets. All I could think about was how bad the parking would be and what a pain it would be to drive all the way to Arlington in heavy traffic. I imagine that traffic is pretty bad at American Airlines Center this evening.

I was paying bills this afternoon and I couldn't figure out why my Quickbooks records looked so different from my bank statement. I had quite a bit less than I though I did. It finally occurred to me that I hadn't been recording a growing number of automatic recurring payments in my Quickbooks software. Everyone seems to want you to pay your bills electronically these days. I can see why companies like this. They get their money a lot faster when they directly debit your account. It's convenient too. Unfortunately, when you forget to record these automatic payments, things get confusing. Imagine how disappointed I was to discover I had forgotten about three months worth of automatic deductions from my checking account. I'm feeling poor now.

The weather continues to be delightful. This morning when we walked the dogs it was chilly enough that I needed a light jacket. It's hard to believe that jacket weather is here already. Of course, by mid-afternoon it was 90 degrees again, but for a few hours this morning, the weather was perfect. We'll have a few more hot days, but I bet it won't be long before I'll be wondering if the furnace is going to work this Winter.

I'm still reading the memoir written by the ad guy I used to work with in Seattle. Unlike The Martian, this is a very long book and will never be made into a major motion picture. I read a couple of chapters every day and maybe I'll be finished by Thanksgiving. What makes this book interesting is that I remember a lot of the people who are in it. The advertising world really was like Mad Men in those days. I had forgotten how much alcohol and general rudeness was involved. As far as work goes, I think I prefer the way things are now.

Life is peaceful these days. The only stress is worrying about Dot's health. I wrote an article this morning and sent it of to my client. I updated a few websites, and answered some correspondence. That was about it. Tomorrow should be very similar. I'll start with a cup of coffee and my trademark peach and banana smoothie. I'll end with an episode of Perry Mason. If I'm lucky, I won't have to clean up poop in the middle of the night.

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2087

It didn't take me long to finish my book. Hmm. Now, what am I going to do? Without any pressing deadlines, it looked like it was going to be a long day. I could have used up some time making biscuits and gravy this morning, but I didn't feel like eating anything that heavy. I had my fruit smoothie again. For the third time this week, Dash didn't want to eat his breakfast. I switched bowls and put his food on a dinner plate and then he finally finished his meal. Eating shouldn't be so difficult though. Something is wrong.

I was a bit surprised that I was so captivated by a novel where the hero spends much of his time staying alive by solving complex math and chemistry problems. Unlike Interstellar and Farscape, there were no wormholes to make travel to other planets easy. Unlike Firefly, this wasn't a spaghetti Western with spaceships. The ship wasn't alive like Lexx. And nobody fired a gun. From what I learned during my visit with the NASA folks in January, The Martian is pretty realistic. It will be interesting to see how Ridley Scott adapts the story to film, especially since the main character spends most of his time completely alone without the ability to communicate. There certainly won't be much dialog. The story works great as a book, since the narrative is in the form of a logbook, much like the real log kept by Samantha Cristoforetti while she was a crew member on the International Space Station.

I guess this blog is kind of a logbook too, although my own ship is going nowhere and if I'm trying to escape from anything, it is only in my own mind. Like Mark Watney, I try to stay busy. I sewed a button on some pants today. I cleaned up poop in the living room after Dot couldn't quite make it to the back door after dinner. I keep the TV on a lot, but usually mute the sound. Typically, I just watch the moving stock ticker at the bottom of the business channel. It's not like knowing what is going on with the stock market makes any difference. I just like to know.

I thought about getting a new battery for my laptop today, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of making a reservation at the Apple Store Genius Bar, only to discover that I'd have to come back again later. It's frustrating that you can't really call an Apple Store by phone and ask a simple question like whether they could replace a laptop battery while I waited. I've tried calling these stores before. Each store actually does have a local phone number, but when you call, it is really just a call center in another state. Getting a simple answer about anything isn't so simple anymore.

I paid a few bills and took them to the post office this afternoon. I mostly just did this to get out of the house for a little while. I would rather have taken a check to the bank, but there were no checks for me in the morning mail. It's always a good day when there's money in the mail, but mostly it's just bills. The mailbox is where the rubber meets the road. It is here that I watch my expenses continue to increase while my income slowly decreases.

Maybe I'll have the energy to make a decent breakfast tomorrow. I hope that Dot has the energy to have a good workout in the underwater treadmill. It seems like I just took her for a therapy session yesterday, but time goes by quickly these days. Dot actually does seem stronger since we stopped the chemotherapy. She's walking about the house again unaided. I'm often surprised to find her next to me while I'm working and wondering how she managed to get up without her harness. Moments like these make even the slowest day worthwhile.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2086

I started reading The Martian today. I could have easily finished it if I didn't have the dogs to tend to and this blog to write. There certainly wasn't anything else going on today. I'd forgotten what a good way to kill time that reading is. As an added bonus, I could do my reading sitting next to Dot, who always likes having me nearby. Dot likes to lounge in the sun on nice days, so after lunch I took her out in the back yard and sat next to her reading my book for about 45 minutes. This worked out well for everyone. Dot had a companion and the bright sunlight narrowed my pupils, giving my eyes better depth of field, so I didn't need my reading glasses.

I could relate to the character of Mark Watney in the book. I'm not stranded on Mars, but I am alone a lot and spend a good deal of my time fixing things that break. Like Watney, I also spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about poop. I'm not in a desperate race to save my life, but I do feel like I'm trying to save my sanity at times. This book should be an inspiration to any aspiring writer. Andy Weir couldn't find a publisher, so he put the book on his website for free, one chapter at a time. Fans encouraged him to create a Kindle edition and sell it on Amazon. The e-book quickly rose to the top of Amazon's science fiction charts where it eventually caught the eye of traditional publishers. Five years after Andy started writing the book, it made its debut on the New York Times Best Seller List.

So, maybe there's hope for my dog stories yet. Not very likely. They'll probably be available free on my website forever. That's OK though. I never made any effort to get published. I kind of prefer doing things this way. There's a lot to read on my website if you're so inclined, but if you're not, that's OK too. At least you're reading the blog.

One of my clients asked me today if I'd be interested in taking over the SEO duties from another company they are currently using. Maybe. I asked the client what the current SEO experts were doing for them. He didn't know. "What do you mean you don't know," I said? "What are you actually paying for?" He really didn't know. "Have sales picked up since you hired this company," I asked? Nope. I'd say this was a pretty good sign that my client is wasting his money. I guess the question now is whether I could do any better. I'm not sure. A lot of SEO campaigns are totally worthless.

I'll probably finish reading my book tomorrow morning. I could have read the entire book in one sitting if I wasn't interrupted so often. I'm slow at a lot of things, but I'm a fast reader. I'll have to pick up some more books this weekend. They are a remarkably good way to kill time. I'm not even sure what interests me at this point in time, but I'm sure there's more to life than the trade journals and B&H photography catalogs that are my current reading matter.

I tried and failed to take pictures of dragonflies today. At this time of year, there are hundreds of them hovering over the meadows in the park in the afternoons. I've seem cool looking pictures of dragonflies in flight before, but the little critters are devilishly fast, fly in erratic patterns, and are almost impossible to keep in focus when you're using a zoom lens. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2085

Sometimes I hate computers. I only had one job today. It was an easy one. I just needed to burn a few DVD's for a client. I hit the "burn to disc" button on my computer and almost immediately started getting error messages. Unfortunately, every time I got an error message, I wasted a blank disc. Some of the messages said it was impossible to calibrate the laser properly. Other messages said that the operation couldn't be completed because of some obscure error code number. I Googled the error code message and discovered that hundreds of people were having the same problem that I was. None of them seemed very happy with Apple. Many people said that their DVD burner worked just fine until they upgraded their system. A few suggested that Apple knew about the problem and that's why they no longer made computers with DVD burners. It didn't really matter what the reason was. My optical drive was broken.

I thought I'd burn the DVD's using my laptop, but there were problems there too. The hard drive on the laptop was almost full and I needed to transfer about 10 GB worth of photos before I could use the DVD burner. In addition to having very little free disc space, the laptop needs a new battery and I've got to run it using AC power. Hey, the optical drive still works though, and I was eventually able to burn the DVD's. These types of problems never used to occur when I got a new computer every three years. I can't afford that kind of extravagance anymore though, so everything is gradually falling apart.

Dot has become totally unpredictable. I took her out in the backyard after dinner when I thought she might need to poop. I walked her around with her harness for almost ten minutes and she did nothing. As soon as we went inside and I started unloading the dishwasher, she pooped on the largest and hardest to clean throw rug in the living room. Then she slipped and fell in the poop. I cleaned up Dot first, and then I tried the best I could to clean up the rug. Thank goodness for those new enzyme cleaners like Outright and Nature's Miracle. Without them, this rug would have been a lost cause. As it is, it will still take days for the rug to dry out enough for me to see if my efforts were successful.

Last year at this time, Dot was still having incontinence problems and I was mopping up pee almost every day. Now, I'm cleaning up poop. It wears you out after a while. Dash is acting weird too. For the second day in a row, he refused to eat his breakfast. There was no brisket on the kitchen counter today, so I couldn't use that as an excuse. I don't know what is wrong. He eats the very same food for diner without a problem. He still barks and begs for treats while I eat my own meals. It's just breakfast that he refuses to eat. Whenever Dash acts weird, I worry that the cancer has returned. If his appetite doesn't return soon, we're going to have to run some more tests. It's always something, isn't it?

I'd like to start reading my new book soon, but who knows what surprises tomorrow has in store for me. It's hard to believe it's September already. The dogs get their monthly heartworm pill in the morning. I haven't tired of my breakfast fruit smoothies yet, but it's going to be a tough choice tomorrow. I know that's there's bacon in the refrigerator. I'm wondering if it's even worth the trouble to get the optical drive in my computer repaired. I could get a brand new external disc burner for half the price of a repair. In the old days, today's problems would be a good excuse to go to the Apple store and buy one of those super fast black cylindrical towers. Times have changed though. Now the tech toy money gets used to pay vet bills. Oh, well. I don't need a super fast computer anymore and I probably couldn't afford one anyway.

Maybe nothing will break tomorrow and Dot won't poop inside again. One can only hope.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2082

Not my circus. Not my monkeys. This has become my universal response to just about everything I see these days. The world has become such a strange and chaotic place that I am having difficulty relating to things that are apparently normal now. Almost every time I turn on the TV I am reminded of this old Polish idiom. I feel the same way on those rare occasions when I visit a client's office or go to a public event. "What planet am I on," I sometimes think. Coincidentally, I drove by an actual circus when I was running errands this afternoon. I didn't see my monkeys there either. Even this little parking lot circus seemed strangely out of place to me.

Reading books used to seem normal to me, so I bought a book today. I've been meaning to read Andy Weir's The Martian for quite a while, but somehow never got around to it. I've known about the book for ages since it is a favorite of the space geeks I follow on social media. I've actually read big chunks of the book online, but have never read the whole thing. Maybe now would be a good time. I always like to read a book before they make a movie out of it. 9 times out of 10, the book is better than the movie.

I went to the storage warehouse today and picked up the equipment I'll need for this weekend's photo shoot. The equipment seems to get heavier every time I load it in the car. It would be nice if there was a place in the house to store this stuff, but that option disappeared years ago. Now that Dot has trouble moving around, the house has become more crowded than ever. There are dog beds everywhere, so she'll have a comfortable place to rest wherever she is. Dot has limited mobility, but she is much happier when she still has free reign of the house. She has a comfortable bed in every room now and I don't have to confine her in a small pen to keep her safe. When we go to sleep, I move several of these beds together to create a large area that she won't slide off of when she tries to re-position herself during the night. One of the beds goes in the car whenever we go to her physical therapy sessions. I feel like I'm always moving dog beds around.

I tried to rig up an alternate pet cam this afternoon. The baby monitor that I use to monitor the dogs when I'm away has been crashing a lot lately. It makes me nervous when I open the app on my phone to see what's going on and all I get is an "unable to connect" message. I usually fix the baby monitor the same way I fix every other electronic device in the house. I turn the thing off and then turn it back on again. It's amazing how simply rebooting something just about always solves the problem. At any rate it would be good to have an independent back up camera in case the baby monitor goes wonky again.

It doesn't take a lot to make me happy. I saw Mars on the Eastern horizon as we walked the dogs this morning. I got one of the three good parking places when I went out for breakfast. Dot didn't poop in the house at all today. And I'm all caught up on the week's work. Quite a few things make me unhappy as well, but maybe it I don't turn on the TV, don't pick up the phone, and avoid rush hour traffic I won't notice them so much.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2072

Dot got scared going to the vet for her annual exam and immediately pooped in the lobby. This was actually convenient, since we needed a stool sample for the exam anyway. Her vet told me that other than having cancer and severe neurological problems, Dot was looking pretty good. Dot sees so many vets for so many different reasons that these annual exams really are just a formality. She didn't need a rabies shot this year, but did get a leptospirosis vaccination.  This disease has become a real problem in our area. It is spread by the urine of rats, raccoons, and possums, which all seem to wind up in our yard, so it's better to be safe than sorry. Since Dot has three different vets, I always need to make sure that everyone is on the same page. I usually spend a good portion of every exam telling the vet what all the other vets think. Today, we didn't even need to do the regular annual exam blood work, because Dot's oncologist at the cancer center has already taken care of this just a few weeks ago.

A box of Keurig coffee pods arrived in the mail this morning. "Don't you already have plenty of coffee pods," Janet asked me? Well, I guess I do. I don't really feel guilty about buying an excessive amount of Keurig pods though. Janet does the same thing with soup. It's hard to resist a good bargain. I'll find a place to store the new pods until I need them. They definitely will get used. I drink a lot of coffee.

I'm trying to remember if August was always this slow. Traditionally, the end of the Summer has always been slow for me, but this year absolutely nothing is going on. The odd thing is that even though I have no business to speak of, I'm still busy every day. It's amazing how quickly taking care of the dogs, tending to the yard, paying bills, and running the occasional errand can fill up a day. I had to run to the mall and pick up something this morning, but this quick trip and Dot's vet appointment were my only excursions today. It seemed like they took up the entire day.

I need to pick up a few books to read. I've been meaning to read Andy Wier's new novel The Martian and this would probably be a pretty good time. What else have I got to do? Dot likes having me nearby during the day and sitting next to her reading a book probably makes a lot more sense than getting up and down every five minutes to check social media on my computer. I wonder why I lost the desire to read? I used to read books voraciously. Of course, I used to do everything with a lot more gusto than I do now. I still make sure to take a new photograph every day for the blog, but a camera is no longer my constant companion. I don't play guitar all that much either. Maybe this is just the natural order of things as my interests change over time. Or maybe I'm catatonically depressed. I really don't know.

Everyone says it is going to rain tomorrow. I am so ambivalent about rain.We really need the rain. The yard is dry and the air is hot and dusty. On the other hand, Dot and Dash are terribly frightened of storms and make life difficult every time it rains. I never really trust the roof either. What this means is that I'll be really happy when the rain first starts, but will become increasingly irritated if it doesn't stop within thirty minutes. If the power goes out, all bets are off.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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