Day 2131

I got a letter from a friend today that got me thinking. I complain a lot, but I really shouldn't. My friend is facing huge medical bills while I am reasonably healthy. My house is paid for, while my friend's house has been on the market for six months and isn't selling. My dogs are old and frail, but my friend's dog has heartworms. Everything in life is relative. As bad as you think things are, there is always somebody else who can make your problems seem trivial by comparison. I've always thought of myself as a survivor, but I really need to be more appreciative of the simple fact that I've made it this far. There are so many things in life that can go horribly wrong.

I'm happy to report that nothing went wrong today at all. It was a nice Fall day. We got off to an early start and I think it was a good omen that I saw all four morning planets. Mercury is growing brighter and is higher in the sky now, so I can see it without binoculars. Dash continues to improve. He seemed to enjoy his walk this morning and I didn't see him limp at all. My breakfast restaurant raised prices a bit, but the small increase didn't bother me. I'm surprised they've been able to keep their prices so low for this long.

There were no accidents in the house today. This was probably just blind luck, but I'll take whatever I can get. I got my article assignments written while the dogs were sleeping and made a small alteration on a website that I had forgotten about yesterday. By the time the dogs started barking for their dinner, I had managed to get caught up on everything.

I think it is a good sign that novels have replaced Sweetwater and B&H catalogs as my preferred bathroom reading. I really don't need any more gear if I can't even keep the stuff I've already got running properly. So far, I'm reading about a book a week. I realize that this pace isn't exactly setting the world on fire, but it's still light years ahead of where I was this time last year. My current read is Jenny Lawson's Furiously Happy. I recommend it highly.

I keep promising Janet that I'm going to clean out the office, but I don't even know where to begin. It's really time to unload some of the audio gear, but I don't trust eBay anymore. There are too many scammers and disreputable buyers. I rarely wear my vintage watches these days since I've gotten hooked on the Apple Watch, but I'm still fond of all of them. My closets are full of practically new, unworn clothes, since six days out of seven I still continue to wear jeans and a black t-shirt. Basically, I stopped dressing up when I stopped going to client meetings. It's hard to turn around an ocean liner. So far, any downsizing I've done has gone largely unnoticed.

I hope today's mild weather continues through the weekend. The dogs are much happier when the temperature is in the mid-70's. I keep telling Dot that the worst is over. It ought to be smooth sailing ahead at least until the rainy season starts.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1139

I woke up feeling strange this morning. I couldn't pin down the feeling, but I suspect that it had something to do with the medication the team of hepatologists had me discontinue last week. I remember that there was a warning on the side of the bottle that clearly said Do not discontinue this medication without consulting your physician. Here's where things get difficult. A reputable doctor actually did tell me to discontinue the medication. Unfortunately it wasn't the same doctor who told me to start taking it in the first place. So which doctor is right? Which organ is more important, the heart or the liver? You can see why I get frustrated with medicine at times.

We took a gamble on the dog park today. It had rained at our house overnight, but there were indications that the rain never reached the northern part of town where the park was located. Weather is often like this in Dallas. It can be pouring rain in one part of the city at the same time it is sunny and dry in another. I wish the dog park had a webcam on a pole where you could just get on the Internet and see if there were dogs in the park before making the journey yourself. There are no webcams in any of the local dog parks unfortunately. The city must have spent all their webcam money putting stop light cameras at every intersection. Fortunately, the gamble paid off today and the dog park was open. Dot and Dash had a great time and both dogs have been calm for the rest of the day.

It's hard to believe that January is already coming to a close. Didn't we just celebrate Christmas? Apparently, a lot of my neighbors are having the same problem with time getting away from them. I still see Christmas trees being tossed out by the curb almost every time I walk the dogs. It's time to take down the Christmas tree folks. Pretty soon it will be time to start fretting about taxes again. With the simple life I lead, I don't know how my taxes have become so complicated. Selling a house this year probably won't help matters either. If I could have a say in where my tax money actually went, I wouldn't mind paying taxes so much. No such luck though. I'm sure that every cent of my tax dollar goes to fund something I hate. 

I'm glad I live in Texas. The temperature was over 75 degrees today. After watching all those dismal pictures of cars sliding around on icy East Coast highways this weekend, I'm happy to report that I wore a t-shirt up to the dog park today. Our chilly, foggy, days seem to be over for a while. Hey, t-shirt weather in January is just fine with me. T-shirt weather all year long is fine with me. That's all I ever wear anyway.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 928

Summer has its own set of rules. The other day, someone was asking me why I wear black t-shirts almost exclusively during the Summer. I guess they were expecting to hear that I admired Steve Jobs, or that I thought it looked stylish or something. The truth is that black is just about the only color you can wear outside during Texas Summers that doesn't show huge ugly sweat stains under your armpits after about five minutes. You still sweat of course, but it doesn't look like it.

We tried to get up and photograph the new Dalmatians at the Velvet Snout early this morning, but beating the heat was a futile effort. It was hot in the middle of the night last night and it's still hot right now. I took the pictures quickly today, so the dogs could get back inside again.

Do people tag you on Facebook a lot?  I hate to be tagged, because usually someone has dredged up an old picture that is so dismal it makes me look like warmed over death. Nobody needs to see my high school pictures again. Imagine my surprise when I looked at my wall this morning and saw an old picture that I actually liked. Someone had posted a picture of me playing in a band long, long ago. I couldn't remember where the picture was taken, or even the name of the band I was playing in. It was definitely me though. I recognized the Vox Mark VII guitar that I bought from the earnings of a high school summer job. I wish I had taken better care of that guitar. It would be worth quite a bit now if it hadn't gotten ruined by moisture when I stored it away in a damp closet for ten years. This was before I even moved to Dallas, mind you. Water damage problems have followed me around for a long time.

It's amazing how quickly things go from one extreme to the other here in Texas. At the beginning of June, we were drenched with rain. The grass and the shrubs were growing like wildfire and I thought we were finally going to have a decent Summer. Now, just a few weeks later, everything is bone dry. I need to remember to deep water the Photinia Bushes in the backyard and the Wax Myrtle out front. I got behind on things last Summer and a few trees died as a result. Not this year. We'll just have a humongous water bill instead.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day