Day 1278

I wonder why my weekend chores took so long today? Maybe the heat and humidity sapped my strength. Maybe Janet usually does some of these chores when she's home. Maybe I just took an unusually long time fixing breakfast. I got a lot done, but it still seemed like a wasted day. At least there are clean sheets on the bed and my checkbook is balanced. The spackling paste and trowels I got for repairing the damaged Sheetrock in the living room are still sitting on a table in the hallway. I'm not up for that loathsome task yet.

It must have rained again last night. The sky was clearing when I took the dogs on their morning walk, but the ground was wet and everything was covered with dew. I didn't have the heart to look up on the roof, but I did buy another push broom with softer bristles when I was out shopping. The first broom I bought just isn't going to work.

I wonder if anyone still reads blogs anymore?  I've been getting hundreds of new followers every day on Google+ but it's been months since I was blessed with a new blog follower. Many of my favorite bloggers aren't posting as much anymore. Some of them seem content with the occasional Facebook update and don't update their blog at all. I think that's a shame, but who am I to judge. Since establishing a dialog was never a big concern to me, I'll continue doing what I've always done. My posts are kind of like throwing notes out to sea in a bottle. Maybe someone sees them, maybe they don't.

The dogs seemed determined to hog the bed last night. You'd think with one less person sleeping in the king size bed, there would be plenty of room for everyone. This is always when Dot and Dash stretch out to their full length, unfortunately. The two dogs seemed to take up the entire bed by themselves.

Since it was one of those cloudy bright mornings just after a rain, today would have been a great time to do some flower photography. I did take a few pictures with my phone while I was walking the dogs, but I didn't have the energy to return to the scene with professional equipment. It was just too humid outside. The air felt like a sauna and I felt like returning to the air conditioning. I'm getting soft. To think that there was a time when I actually wanted to be a National Geographic photographer.

Maybe tomorrow will be cooler. Most of the chores are done and the flowers are still in bloom. We'll see what the dogs want to do. They usually set the day's agenda anyway.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 881

What the hell? There was a clear blue sky this morning. The weather was beautiful. The roof was dry. Nevertheless, there was water dripping from the ceiling in the living roof when I woke up. This wasn't clear water either. It was stained a dark brown. The only thing I could figure was that this water had leaked through the roof sometime during last week's rains and then traveled along the wooden framing until it found a hole in the Sheetrock ceiling below and entered the house. Like Dr. Who said during the Waters of Mars episode, "Water is patient. Water always wins."

I assembled my new industrial shelving over at the storage warehouse this afternoon. There are three generations of industrial shelving over at the storage space and each new shelf is shoddier than the previous one. The first shelves I bought were so tough that you could stack them full of lead pipes if you wanted. They were made in America. The second set were manufactured in China, used thinner steel and had particle board decking. The shelves I bought this weekend were absolute rubbish. The steel was so thin and flimsy that it kept bending out of shape while I was assembling it. I think that the decking was made of plastic this time. All the shelves were exactly the same dimensions. They was all roughly the same price too. Somebody had just decided that if fewer materials were used in manufacturing, there would be more profit. This is the problem with a lot of stuff you buy from Lowes, Home Depot and Wall Mart these days. The prices are great. The quality, unfortunately is not always so great.

I took my watch back to the repair shop today. They apologized for charging me for the repair, even though they had done absolutely nothing. Easy mistake to make I guess. I've probably charged people for doing absolutely nothing myself. At any rate, they promised to make things right and do all the repairs I had originally asked for at no additional charge. I don't even know why I'm fixing this watch. There is nothing special about it and it will probably just gather dust again when the repairs are complete.

I had thought that there would be more room in the bed at night now that it's just me and the dogs for a while. No such luck. Somehow, Dot and Dash have figured out how to stretch out even further than they did before and once again I find myself scrunched in a corner on the edge of the mattress. I don't know how two Dalmatians can take up so much space.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day