Day 2894

I had big plans for today. Unfortunately I didn't have the energy to complete them. I did make it to the gym. I also mowed the grass for what I hope is the last time this year. When I climbed up on the roof to survey what I did yesterday, I could tell the sun was already too low in the sky to attempt anything new. Since my repairs always take much longer than I anticipate, I just removed my tools from the roof and called it a day.

Dash seems to know that it is a holiday weekend. I didn't even attempt to walk him by myself today since I knew he would prefer to wait until Janet could come along too. It all worked out and we were able to find time for two very pleasant walks. With a trip to the gym, lawnmower duties, and walks through the park with Dash, my fitness tracker recorded an impressive number of steps today.

I hope this weather continues. It was warm enough that I didn't have to wear a jacket and cool enough that I didn't have to worry about Dash becoming overheated. Fall is my favorite time of year here in Dallas. It's too bad this season only lasts two weeks. When I looked at the weather forecast, it said to expect sunny days and low humidity for the rest of the week. Maybe this will give me enough time to get the roof ready for the rainy season. Truthfully, I'm not even sure when the rainy season is anymore. It's usually really wet around Halloween, but that didn't happen this year.

There was somebody else using the hand bicycle when I arrived at the gym today, so I had to do my workout in a different order. I can't imagine this would bother anyone but me. I am such a creature of habit that I tend to follow the same routines for years at a time. Oddly, I burned more calories today by using the treadmill first. I wonder why? It has occurred to me that my exercise routine might not be doing any good. I basically just stay in the gym for an hour and get really tired. I'm trying to rebuild muscle mass, but I may need to be doing something completely different to accomplish this. I am the poster boy for men who never read directions. I'm sure a personal trainer or even taking a few classes could point me in the right direction, but that would be a commitment. It's easier to just keep blundering along blindly. It's also nice to have the option of not going to the gym at all.

It was nice having a four day weekend. I feel like I'm semi-retired anyway, but when Janet is home we sleep in later and everything is more relaxed. Instead of an alarm clock in the morning, Dash gets us up when he feels like eating breakfast. Since Dash is a lazy dog who likes to sleep, this usually works out pretty well. Tomorrow we return to our work schedule. I get up earlier and fix my breakfast after Janet has gone to work. There's a writing assignment to get started on and some website work as well. It should be a busy day. Hopefully, Dash will notice all these subtle changes and realize that our holiday is over.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2778

It was so quiet today. Janet had already fed Dash and was on her way out the door by the time I woke up. Dash seemed to remember our old workday routine, so I quickly got dressed, put his harness on, and we went for a walk. It's a good thing we left when we did, because it started raining as soon as we returned home and continued raining for the rest of the day. I didn't mind the rain today. It was a welcome change of pace from the triple digit temperatures we've been having.

I wasn't sure how Dash was going to react when Janet returned to work. He seemed a little depressed, but it's hard to tell with dogs. Dash sleeps most of the day anyway and I'm not enough of a dog whisperer to know whether he's tired, depressed, or just being lazy. Usually, if he comes to the office to remind me to feed him around his regular meal times, I feel comfortable that he's just fine.

I was surprised to receive an enquiry about designing a new website today. I put together a proposal, but I'm a bit skeptical about this project. I know the guy and I have a feeling that he'd like me to do this for free. Even though I'm not busy, I'm not going to design a site for free. You've got to draw the line somewhere. We'll see what happens. My proposal was fair and honest. There's always a chance that he won't be able to find anyone to do his site for free.

I went up on the roof today. It was probably too early, but I needed to find out why my pump wasn't working. Somehow the pump had tipped over and become disconnected from the hose. I fixed this problem, but didn't bother to clear all the water away. There was no point. My wrist isn't strong enough yet, and it was still raining. The condition of the roof was discouraging. There were lots of small branches that needed to be cleared away and there was standing water everywhere. It is supposed to rain for the remainder of the week, but when the dry weather returns I've got a big job to do.

Rainy days are great for binge watching. I watched three more episodes of The Expanse this afternoon. I'll probably finish season two tomorrow. Then what? Season three hasn't even aired yet. I'm pretty sure that the series got renewed, but I don't think we're going to be able to see it until sometime in 2018. Hopefully, my brain will have kicked back into gear by then and I will have moved on from binge watching TV shows.

Janet's co-workers were happy to have her back and she had a good first day at work. When we both walked Dash after dinner, we encountered a very aggressive dog. The dog was growling and the woman walking him was having trouble holding on to the dog's leash. This was unsettling to say the least. This morning's walk was so much more peaceful. I walk Dash later when Janet is working. There is nobody in the park after the early morning joggers and cyclists have gone to work. I try to do everything when the rest of the world is working. The world is just a nicer place when it is empty.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2777

Did today even happen? I'll have to admit that I've succumbed to binge watching. At least I started out with good intentions. We took a nice sunrise walk with Dash. He seemed to have lots of energy this morning and the weather was surprisingly cool. As a result, we walked a lot longer than we expected. When we got home, I made my usual breakfast smoothie packed with peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. It takes me forever to drink this concoction, since I make over a quart of the stuff every morning. I'm never in a hurry to finish breakfast. As I alternate between several cups of dark roast coffee and the endless smoothie, I watch the morning news.

Usually, after this relaxing interlude, I spend the rest of the day writing or designing websites. It's been kind of hard to follow this schedule since there's no work lately. I paid a few bills and sent out a late notice on an invoice the hasn't been paid yet, but that was about it. That's where the binge watching comes in. Without a deadline to meet, there is nothing to prevent me from watching episode after episode of my favorite shows. I downloaded Season Two of The Expanse yesterday. I was only going to watch one or two episodes today, but ended up watching five. Without the irritating commercials, each episode is only about forty three minutes. After forty three minutes, you've usually got time for forty three more.

The show is kind of a cross between Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. Each episode ends with the crew of the Rocinante in some kind of dire circumstances, so you naturally want to see what happens next. The last time I did something like this, iTunes and Netflix didn't even exist. I watched all four seasons of Farscape back to back. There was no downloading back then. I would buy a boxed set of each season at Fry's and then watch the DVD's on my computer. I wonder how I had the time. I was quite busy then and had a lot of work to do when I became obsessed with Farscape.

Janet is going back to work tomorrow. She'll have to take some time off again at the end of the month to complete her reconstruction surgery, but this is a big milestone. She seems excited to get out of the house again. Dash is going to be heartbroken. He's been at Janet's side ever since she started her recovery. It's obvious that this is what Dash has been wanting for a long time. It's OK that I'm home, but he really likes it when Janet is home. Dash seems to be adjusting well to Dot's absence. Hopefully, he'll adjust to this too.

I think Dash has the easy job. I'm still trying to figure out what to do next. Most of my clients are gone. I've lost interest in collecting things. I could spend the next five years methodically downsizing, but I'm not interested in that either. It's really a bit of a quandary. The whole concept of retirement seems foreign to me, and yet I have no interest in looking for new business either. Perhaps I've stayed alone in a small room for too long.

Not to worry though. The stock market is doing great. I've still got some more shows to binge watch tomorrow. And most importantly, the weather is getting cooler. It's supposed to rain in the morning, but with any luck I'll be able to walk Dash before it starts. If Dash gets lonely, I'll just take a long nap with him. That's something we're both good at.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2225

I frequently forget what day it is. It seemed a lot like Sunday to me. Since Janet had the day off, we got up late again and didn't finish breakfast until almost lunch time. We walked the dogs a little later this morning on the theory that if the sun was a little higher in the sky, it would be warmer outside. It never did get very warm, but at least it was clear and there was no wind.

Since I didn't go to the gym yesterday, I decided to go today. I'm always surprised at how crowded the place is on Monday, but maybe it was because today was a holiday. I stopped at a new REI store I always pass on my way to the gym. I hadn't been inside a REI store since I used to live in Seattle, but was delighted with what I saw. I love this kind of stuff. There were tons of warm coats and lots of sturdy pants with pockets everywhere. There were boots that looked like they would last forever, although I could probably wear them out in a year. I like to dress like the apocalypse is just around the corner, so this store was right up my alley. Oddly, they were having a Winter clearance sale during one of the coldest days of the year. I found a nice goose down jacket on sale and bought it. When I was at the register the clerk asked me if I was an REI member. I didn't think so, but the guy insisted on looking up my name. "Sure, you're a member," he said. "Did you ever live in Rogers, Arkansas?" "That's my Dad," I told him. "Well, would you like to use his membership for this purchase," he said. It didn't seem right. My Dad has been dead for over a decade.

Since the gym was kind of crowded today, I had to use some different equipment than I normally use. One of the machines required me to move my wrist a lot. Ouch! I hadn't used this particular machine in over a year and it was obvious that during that time my carpel tunnel had gotten worse. I'm not sure what to do about this wrist. I do my stretching exercises, but my range of motion continues to gradually get worse. I definitely don't want surgery. I know several people who have had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome and their condition didn't improve at all. I've learned from the dogs that surgery should only be an option when you have run out of other options. Dot and Dash wouldn't be here today without the help of some very talented surgeons, but their cancer surgeries weren't without consequences. It takes a long time to recover from major surgery and the older you are, the more difficult the rehabilitation becomes.

Dot's front leg continues to improve. I think we got lucky, because it appears that all she did was strain a muscle or ligament. We're still taking it easy on our walks though. We walk slow and watch carefully for any sign of weakness. It's always a balancing act with Dot. It is essential to keep her moving to keep her condition from rapidly deteriorating, but she is very fragile, so you've got to be careful not to let her overexert herself. At least for today, I think everything is in balance. Dot had a good day.

Tomorrow should be busy. Janet returns to work and so do I. I have new writing assignments to complete and another website to update. There is a fresh supply of strawberries and bananas for my morning smoothies and a new winter coat if it is really cold in the morning. I measure my days now by my ability to get Dot outside before she poops. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2211

It was an enjoyable day. For the first time in a long time we didn't use our holiday time to clean the house or do chores. Instead, we went to a nice restaurant for lunch and spent the afternoon visiting a museum. We weren't gone a long time, because you can't really leave Dot a long time, but it was nice to get out of the house for a while.

Dallas has quite a few interesting museums. I've visited the Sixth Floor Museum in Dealey Plaza several times. It's a great place to take visiting relatives. If you have any interest in history at all, you will find this museum fascinating. The same can be said for the new Presidential Library on the SMU campus. That's where we went today. You can see the controversial Florida ballot made famous by "hanging chads" and the confusing placement of candidates. After looking at this strange ballot, it seems pretty plausible to me that Al Gore really did win the election. There is an interactive theater where the audience can listen to opposing viewpoints on a variety of issues like removing Saddam Hussein from power or providing aid to Katrina victims and then decide what you would have done yourself. Everyone in the theater has a touch screen where they can select what issues they want to explore and what questions whey want answered. All the responses are tied together using a computer and the entire theater decides what to do in real time. Very interesting. As a visual person, the coolest thing was the huge multimedia display in the ceiling of the main lobby. The photography was amazing and very beautiful. If you haven't seen this, you ought to.

I remember going to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field for a Christmas party once. Another memorable Christmas party during my ad agency days was held at The Dallas Museum of Art when the Pompeii Exhibit first came through Dallas. Apparently renting big museums for Christmas parties is a thing in Dallas. I'd still like to see the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It may take a while though. My desire to do things is very low.

I don't think I was the only one who had a good day today. Dot seemed very perky. It was probably because of the weather. If light deprivation causes depression in people, it probably does in dogs as well. Today was bright and sunny. The combination of cool, brisk temperatures and bright sunlight is something almost all Dalmatians enjoy. Dot actually started to run when she saw a squirrel on one of our walks. Well, she wasn't really running, because Janet was holding up her rear legs with the harness, but you could tell that the desire was still there. Even on bad days, there is something about Dot's attitude that says "don't count me out yet." I just hope I can maintain Dot's steely resolve when my own body starts to fall apart.

Tomorrow, it's back to early pre-dawn walks and banana smoothies for breakfast. Dot has an appointment to visit her oncologist for another of her periodic cancer re-checks. It's time to take the Christmas tree down and put the decorations away for another year as well. It's going to be a busy week.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1482

There were a lot of people at the gym today. Most of them were walking or running around the large, oval indoor track. It certainly made sense to me. Dallas has a lot of joggers and it was very cold today. If I were a runner, I'd certainly rather run indoors on a day like this. I still saw a few outdoor runners when I walked the dogs, but these were the masochists. There are those who think they aren't getting a good workout unless they are putting their body through some kind of hell. I'm not one of those people. There will be no Ironman marathons for me.

There were some rather large people working out near me today. Sometimes I'm amazed at how strong fat people can be. They may have a heart attack at any minute, but they can certainly bench press more than me. Lifting weights isn't one of my strong points. I've got good core strength though. I can do a plank forever.

As might be expected, the dogs weren't all that excited about going outside today. Who could blame them? Did I mention it was cold? We didn't bother to go to the dog park today and Dot and Dash were content to nap on their dog beds, conveniently located near a warm heater vent. I don't like the cold much more than I like the rain. I'd like a climate like Hawaii where it was mild all year long with no obvious seasons. In my Hawaii there'd be no hurricanes though, and nobody would have discovered the place yet, so property values would be low. A lot of things I like only exist in my mind.

Janet got a crock pot for Christmas and she decided to try it out today. I don't think either of us realized just how slow a slow cooker actually is. Five hours wasn't nearly enough. Tonight's dinner will end up being tomorrow's dinner instead. That's OK. While we're waiting, the house sure smells good. I've always liked the idea of one pot meals. Make something good in a big pot and then eat the leftovers for the rest of the week. It's tasty, it's easy, and there aren't many dishes to wash.

My workload has been pretty light for the past several weeks, but I'm afraid things will be returning to normal tomorrow. By tomorrow, just about all the holiday travelers will have returned to their cubicles. Maybe some of my clients in the Northern states will still be snowed in though. No hurry guys. You can wait till Summer to start sending me stuff if you'd like.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1203

Did anything happen today? I don't think so. The combination of a slow Monday and April Fool's Day made me a bit skeptical of everything I saw on the Internet or heard on TV.  Pranking seems the thing to do these days. Google+ was full of plausible misinformation. I'm not a big fan of practical jokes, but kept thinking it would be funny if everything on Wikipedia and The Onion were actually true today. Who knows. Maybe Kim Jong Un's belicose treats to annihilate the world are just an elaborate April Fool's Joke. I'm a fairly literal person and I find it increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction. Are the president and congress just pranking us, or is the world really this screwed up? Maybe Kris Kristofferson said it best, when he wrote. "He's a walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction," Every day is April Fool's to me.

After bragging to the vet during her acupuncture session about how quickly Dot seemed to be recovering, she appeared to have a rough time just an hour later on her evening walk. I guess that just goes to show that you've got to take almost everything one day at a time. Dot is an old dog. I can't let myself forget that.

I wrote some articles today for clients who are still on vacation until Wednesday or Thursday. I don't know what the rush was. I guess I just like to keep busy. I don't like to keep too busy though. Even though I still need some more rocks to complete the back yard, I haven't made a return visit to the rock store yet. Moving all those rocks around last week was hard work. Writing articles is much easier. I'll write another article tomorrow and save the rocks for later.

Janet and I have started receiving an avalanche of mail and telephone calls, all telling us that it's time to start thinking about Medicare. Hey, why don't you wait a while guys. I feel old enough already. I had no idea that Medicare was such a profitable business. Dozens of companies are spending big money sending out fancy four-color brochures and hiring telemarketing companies to solicit my business. I don't know about Medicare, but I do know about marketing. If there wasn't a big profit in all this, these companies wouldn't be trying nearly as hard to get my business. 

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1106 - Christmas Day

Christmas quite literally started out with a bang this year. Shortly after midnight, a fierce wave of thunderstorms started rolling through town, waking up both the dogs and ourselves. As Dot and Dash sat huddled under a blanket in the center of the bed, lightning bolts lit up the house while booming thunderclaps rattled the dishes. This was a long, very loud thunderstorm, and the dogs weren't happy about it at all. By morning, the thunder and lightning had moved off to the East, but the cold rain remained for the rest of the morning.

With the help of the weather radar app on my iPad, we found a little break in the storm so we could take the dogs outside to do their business. Shortly after we returned, the rain turned to snow and we had our first White Christmas in quite a few years.

The cold snowy weather was perfect for a day of Christmas cooking, and pretty soon the smell of Christmas ham and sweet potato casserole filled the house. I tried to get a head start on some of my writing assignments while our Christmas dinner was in the oven and Janet watched Christmas movies on the Lifetime channel. When we opened our gifts after dinner, the dogs had great fun tearing the paper off of colorfully wrapped up packages of dog biscuits. As a special Christmas treat, Dot and Dash got to share a boiled chicken breast for dinner. Even though the weather was cold and damp, it would be hard to imagine a better Christmas.

Tomorrow, all the wrapping paper in the living room will be bagged up and placed in the trash. Our Christmas dinner leftovers will be divided up and placed in Tupperware containers that will be my dinner for the rest of the week. Janet and I will both return to work, wondering when the next holiday will arrive. The dogs will just wonder where all the chicken went.

I've still got a week to come up with some decent New Year's resolutions. I'm not very good with resolutions of any kind. I'll probably just resolve to slog through another year, so I can enjoy Christmas again in 2013.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 887

What a busy day. We tried to finish landscaping the back yard this morning and almost succeeded. The yard looks good now. All the grass is in place and appears to be growing. All we need now is a little more ground cover and we'll be done. After breakfast, we took Dot and Dash back to the new 22 acre dog park in far North Dallas. This is a great park since the grass hasn't been ruined yet and the dogs have plenty of room to roam. The drive is a little longer, but it's worth it.

On the way home, we stopped by Vhea's LaundroMutt and gave the dirty pair a bath. We've got clean dogs now, a clean house, and I even mowed the grass. Since I noticed some of the other neighbors hauling brush out to the curb for big trash day, I figured that now was the time to cut down the dead tree in the front courtyard as well.

The tree wasn't large, but it took me a while because I was using a reciprocating saw instead of a chain saw. Years ago, a friend of mine almost took off his face when he slipped while using a chain saw. That accident put the fear of God in me, since I'm fairly clumsy. I haven't used a chain saw since. It's surprising how much you can cut with a big electric reciprocating saw and the right blade though. In two hours, I had the tree cut into small enough pieces that I could drag it out to the curb with all the other neighbor's landscaping debris.

Dash's birthday is tomorrow. The little guy will be seven years old. I don't know if we'll have time to take the dogs out to dinner again, but we'll do something special. Years ago, I took a cake decorating class and Janet and I used to make special birthday cakes for the dogs on their birthday. Life has become way too hectic for hand decorated dogs cakes lately. Janet and I don't even have birthday cakes for each other anymore. Usually birthday celebrations just involve some wine and a few cupcakes from Sprinkles.

I hope I can get caught up with all my work projects this week. I'm way behind right now. I'm tempted to just turn the phones off until I get caught up on everything. That wouldn't be wise though. The minute I turn the phones off, someone is bound to call me with the job I've been waiting for all year.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 742

I guess it's back to the old grind again. I spent the day trying to resolve an assortment of small problems that never should have become problematic in the first place. I tried to get an erroneous charge erased from my credit card statement. I tried to figure out which of three different doctors is responsible for referring me for the MRI that I supposedly need. I tried to figure out how to bill a European client in Euros, even though my accounting software only recognizes dollars. I tried to make an eye doctor appointment for Dash, even though the animal ophthalmologist kept thinking he was Petey, who has already died. Absolutely nothing seemed easy today, which I guess was to be expected on the first day after a major holiday. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually get some real work done.

At least the weather was nice today. I'm still trying to take a camera with me when I walk Dot and Dash, but getting decent pictures has proved to be quite a learning experience. The dogs aren't very good as photo assistants. I can't let loose of the leash, or they'll run off chasing ducks and other critters. When I hold on to the leash with one hand though, it's hard to keep the camera steady and take the shot with the other. Today I got better results than usual. I managed to get half a dozen sharp hand-held shots of today's sunset with a long telephoto lens. It's hard enough to get sharp telephoto shots without putting the camera on a tripod. When you're trying to hold onto two Dalmatians who have their hearts set on chasing nearby ducks, it's just about impossible. My technique is gradually getting better though. Maybe someday I'll write a book about how to take good pictures while taking Dalmatians on a walk.

I hope I can get this whole MRI issue resolved tomorrow. I've already met my deductible on my health insurance this year, and if they can't schedule me for the scan until next year, I know I'll end up paying a lot more. With my luck, I'll probably end up being scheduled on the same day I've got to take Dash to the eye specialist.

I know that some of you who read this blog also participate in Adgitize like I do. I was sad to receive an e-mail from Ken Brown this morning informing me that Adgitize was shutting down, because the blog advertising service wasn't making any money. I always liked Adgitize and certainly respected the way Ken Brown ran his company. This isn't the first blog advertising site to go bust and it probably won't be the last. Blogging just doesn't seem quite a popular as it was a few years ago. I'll certainly continue blogging though, even if all the widgets on my blog disappear. I enjoy blogging and I appreciate each and every one of you who have decided to make the journey with me.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 681

It was a chilly, gray day. Janet got me up early to walk the dogs, because it was supposed to start raining any minute. The rain didn't actually begin until well after supper, but it's definitely raining now. The colder weather this morning reminded me that I still hadn't picked up my jacket at the tailor after I asked them to put in a new zipper last week. After picking up the jacket, I went to the bank and then back home again. There's no point in going far on a chilly, gray day.

Luckily, the dreary day was good for something. I made myself a pot of chili to eat and set about catching up on work. I edited another video for my doctor client, wrote another watch article and tried to get caught up on another week's worth of website revisions. It wasn't a pretty day, but it definitely was a productive day.

The dogs didn't seem to mind being cooped up in the house while I worked. They don't even like the thought of rain, so every time I let them out in the yard, they immediately came right back in the house anyway. It was definitely more comfortable inside. The furnace was working. The house was toasty warm. And there were plenty of dog blankets for them to sleep on.

I need to remember to turn on the television and watch the Rangers game. With any luck, they could win the World Series tonight. The team certainly came close last year and hopefully they can go all the way this time around. It might not be raining in St. Louis, but it's raining cats and dogs in Dallas right now. I wish I'd remembered to take the trash out to the street a little earlier. I'm going to get wet, but I still got a lot done today.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 637

Apparently, our heat wave isn't over yet. It was 107 today. This doesn't seem right for the middle of September. When we take our walks, there are a few hardy Sunflowers here and there, but most of the vegetation is burned and brown. I've noticed that the trees are already starting to turn. Maybe they're just starting to die. I certainly don't see any of the usual Fall color. Just shades of brown this year.

Today I mostly did the things I promised to do yesterday. Catching up is taking a little longer than expected. I did get my "difficult" website revisions done though. These are the requests that force me to think, because I don't automatically know how to do what the client wants. It's good to have difficult requests from time to time, because this is how I learn new things. I don't think as much as I should. I'm way to busy doing repetitive things that require a lot of time but little actual thought.

It was time for Dash's antigen shot again today. While I was at the vet, the nurse said that Dot and Dash were both very good while they were being boarded. I don't know whether to believe this or not. Whenever I looked at the dogs on the kennel webcam during our vacation, all I usually saw was Dot barking as loud as she could. Maybe Dash was a good dog. Even that is doubtful though, since all he wanted to do today was go after the clinic cat.

I've got an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. When I made the appointment, I wanted to talk about my neck pain, but that's been improving day-by-day. What I really want to do now is see if I can reduce the number of meds I have to take every day. Before I started taking all these meds, I felt strong and could go all the way up to level five on a cardio stress test. Now I just feel tired all the time. My blood work looks better, but I'm convinced that the side effects of the drugs have taken my energy away. Convincing a doctor to take away the pills is going to be a tough sell. Just about every doctor and veterinarian I know really believes in the pills they prescribe.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 586

Dash did a lot better on his first solo trip to the dog park than I thought he would. He whined a bit, but was really no worse than he usually is. Probably I just couldn't hear him as easily, since my car is a lot noisier than Janet's. It's surprising how many people know these dogs. All weekend, Dash and I would run into people who would stop us and ask where Dot was. Even at the dog park, where few people know us at all, someone inquired about Dot.

It was so hot this weekend that I worried my car would break down and leave Dash and I stranded. Being stranded on the side of the road in 100 degree weather with a dog in your car is not a good thing. My car was just fine this weekend, but unfortunately Janet's car did break down. As soon as she and Dot returned from Houston this evening, Janet turned around and went to the grocery store. About two hours later, I got a call that she was stranded in the grocery store parking lot. I made one trip to retrieve the groceries before they spoiled, and then I made another trip to follow the tow truck up to the Land Rover dealer. At least her car is still under warranty. The warning light in the dash said something was wrong with the transmission and that sounds expensive.

I practiced translating a few pages of the German technical manual this afternoon to see if I still remembered enough to make it worthwhile to even bid on the job. Surprisingly, everything came back to me quicker than I thought. I can do this! I've done work for this company before and I still remembered a lot of the technology involved. That definitely helps. I'll call the guys tomorrow and give them a bid. The only question now is whether translation jobs still pay anything anymore. Back when I used to do a lot of this stuff, these type of jobs paid quite well. I suspect that things have changed however. Machine translation has come a long way. Now, anyone with a browser can get a rough translation in virtually any language with a few mouse clicks. I'm fairly impressed with Google's translation tools. They're much more sophisticated than the old Babelfish website. Maybe there's still a need for what I do though. We'll see.

I've got something to do out of the office every day next week. It's nice to be busy, but I'm getting real close to being too busy. I'm hanging in there the best I can. Hopefully, I won't have any more website revisions until I get caught up with everything else.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 510

After a week out of the office, you might expect that today would be a mess. I thought the same thing, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I started the day out by discovering why one of the YouTube videos I uploaded last week mysteriously disappeared about an hour after it started running. You guessed it. The problem was me. I had made a typo in the video's title that led people to believe they were watching next year's trade show. Nope. I'm not Dr. Who. I just typed 2012 instead of 2011 on one of the supers. I'm surprised that I didn't notice this at the time. I'm even more surprised that nobody in the elaborate approval chain noticed it either. Luckily the problem was easy to fix. I re-edited the video right after breakfast and uploaded it again. Now, all the YouTube videos are up and running smoothly.

My first watch article is up and running on Larry Brauner's Luxury Watches blog as well. When Larry contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in blogging about watches for his growing empire of watch blogs, I was excited. Hey, I'm a pro. I'll write about anything, but getting a chance to write about something I am actually interested in is much more fun. I plan to write a new watch article every day for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, some of Larry's considerable social media expertise will rub off on me while we're working together. I'm really looking forward to working on this watch blog project in the months ahead.

I got an assignment today to design a website for the company that installed the new heat pump at my rent property last month. Too bad I didn't get the job a little earlier or I might have been able to negotiate some sort of trade-out for the expensive roof top unit that unfortunately I've already paid for. I'm always happy to get a new job however, no matter when it arrives. This is a new industry for me too. That's good! I'm really trying to expand my horizons this year, so I won't be totally dependent on veterinarians in the future.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to get paid for my week in Houston, but I'm feeling a lot more confident that I actually will get paid someday. People on two continents are looking into the matter.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 506

Today went very smoothly. I managed to get an entire video on water treatment shot, edited and uploaded before noon. Most days I had a lot more time to work, because the booth was open for business until 6 or 7 PM. Today was the last day of the show however, and everything ended at 2 PM. I really learned a lot this week. I learned that wearing a nice pair of wool slacks is a lot more comfortable at the end of a long day than the Levis I've worn most of my life. I learned that you really need a pair of good quality noise canceling headphones to monitor sound when you shoot video interviews in a noisy hall like this. I learned that I can go all day without eating if I need to. I learned a lot about editing with severe time constraints under less than optimal conditions. Although I'm dog tired at the moment, I really had a lot of fun. In my tame, sedate little world, this is kind of my equivalent of working without a net. I hope these guys ask me back. The entire team was super professional, extremely nice...oh, and did I mention that they're going to Rio next.



I was a little worried about Houston traffic and being late, so I paid a little more to fly Business Select on Southwest Airlines. I'll eat the difference on my bid price, but the upgrade was definitely worth it. I used to hate flying on Southwest because of the long lines going through security and the inevitable fight for a good seat when you finally get to your plane. Business Select takes care of all this for just a few dollars more. You've got your own special line at check-in and you get to board the plane first. I sat in row three on both legs of the trip.

Tomorrow it's back to website design. It will probably take me most of the morning to sort through my e-mail and find out what deadlines I've already missed. I'm pretty sure that I told most of my clients that I'd be gone all week, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something important that was supposed to go live yesterday. Jasper, one of our friends dogs is very sick. Please say a prayer for him tonight.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day