Day 4672

I went mall walking again today even though the weather was beautiful. I've done a lot of walking in the park this week and I guess I just needed a change of pace. It's interesting that some stores never change their window displays, while others always change them. I wonder if it makes any difference? Several stores have closed since I last visited and one new one has opened. 

I don't understand current styles at all. Most of the clothing on display looks ugly. Mall walking is surprisingly popular. On most Sundays there seem to be more people walking at the mall than I see walking in the park. Northpark is very pleasant when the stores are closed. I avoid the place when the stores are open though. It is far too crowded for my taste.

We got started on our sunrise walk so late this morning that we didn't need our flashlights and lighted dog collars. The park is usually busier on weekends, but it was fairly quiet today. Most of the green web worms are gone now. Now that I know what to look for, it's amazing how many trees they destroyed. The city recently mowed the meadow behind our house, so it was easier to get down to the lake this week. Although our walks are always the same, I almost always see something new. Today I noticed that a for lease sign on one of the houses on our street was gone. The sign had been there quite a while and I wondered if the place was finally rented or the owners just gave up and ended their listing? 

After I returned from the mall, we took Dawn on her Sunday outing. The weather was cool enough that we were able to give Dawn another one mile walk before we went for ice cream. There is lots of poison ivy in Dawn's Sunday park, so we have to watch where we walk. There is a lot of construction going on as well. I have no idea what the city is building but it certainly looks expensive. Janet uses these walks to work on Dawn's training. I'm just trying to get a few more steps.

It still bothers me that our ice cream cones have gotten smaller while the price has become more expensive. There is no ice cream inside the cone at all. Just a scoop on top. You'd think they could manage to fill the cone up. Oh, well. We still like to support local businesses. Expensive ice cream is still better than no ice cream at all.

Although I was busy this morning, I did virtually nothing this afternoon. There are still lots of things that need to be done around the house, but they didn't need to be done today. I haven't been up on the roof in a long time. It is probably filled with pecans that have fallen from the neighbor's tree. I should clean things up before it rains again, but I've become wary about climbing on the roof. This isn't a good activity for someone who is starting to have balance issues.

I still need to get my car serviced. I'll probably wait until I see whether I'm been credentialed for the Falcon Heavy launch. The dryer is definitely going to need to be repaired sometime soon as well. I hate having to budget expenses. I never used to do this when I was working. Oh, well. Welcome to retirement. 

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2626

Either my Spring allergies arrived early this year, or I've got a cold that just won't go away. I've had a runny nose and itching eyes for at least three weeks now. I have to remember to stuff my pockets with paper towels when I walk the dogs or leave the house, because my nose continually drips. I'm starting to look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I've never been able to blow my nose silently and often end up waking the dogs, which is the last thing I want to do. It's frustrating. I suspect that I'm having allergy problems, because a cold would never last this long.

The cancer center finally returned my call about Dot's Gabapentin pills. It would be a lot easier if you could just talk to the doctor directly, instead of receiving relayed information from a nurse. I know that doctors and veterinarians hate to take phone calls though, because if they did they would spend their entire day talking with people looking for free medical advice. It took a while to explain Dot's situation. The pills were working great at night when Dot was sleeping, but seemed to impair her limited ability to walk during the day. All I wanted to know was whether it was OK to just administer the nighttime dose and forget the pills she was supposed to take during the day. The nurse kept suggesting that I discontinue Dot's Tramadol pills instead. "But she's been taking Tramadol for almost three months now and these pills aren't causing a problem," I kept saying. I thought this would be an easy conversation, since Google listed the three most common side effects of Gabapentin as drowsiness, weakness, and feeling tired. Finally, I think we got on the same page. "It's a pain pill," the nurse said. "If Dot's uncomfortable, give her a little more. If the pills make her weak, give her a little less." I guess I'll just continue doing what I've been doing.

I got a long awaited check from a client today, but it still wasn't enough to offset Dash's rather large vet bill. Looks like I'll have to transfer some money from savings. I don't know why it bothers me to do this, since it's just moving money from one pile to another, but I always feel defeated when I have to dip into savings. I guess I'd better get used to the idea. It won't be all that long before retirement becomes a reality and I'm faced with the prospect of living on social security.

I went to make an appointment for a bone density scan at my doctor's office and discovered that you don't need an appointment for this sort of thing. This just gives me an excuse to postpone the test a little longer. I've started taking calcium supplements to increase my bone density, but I don't know if I've been taking them long enough. I hate to take a test if I know I'm going to get a bad result. This desire to fudge test results has even got me experimenting with my new WiFi scale. I've learned that you weigh the least when you first wake up, but that your heart rate might be better later in the day. I can't seem to find the right time of day when all the things this high tech scale measures are optimal. Food is a lot heavier than I thought though. I guess the best way to diet would be to just quit eating.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1173

When I was out shopping today, I stopped by a gluten free bakery to look for alternatives to wheat. I'm supposed to seriously cut back on my consumption of wheat. There's only one problem. I love bread. For most of my life my favorite meals have included French Toast, BLT sandwiches, and all forms of Panini. I don't even know what I was looking for at the new age bakery, but I definitely discovered something I'd never seen before. It was called Paleo bread. The stuff is gluten free, grain free, yeast free, dairy free, and soy free. The loaf looked like bread, but it definitely wasn't. There wasn't a single bread-like ingredient in it. I learned later that the odd bread took its name from the Paleolithic diet, which is basically eating like the cavemen did. None of this stuff is new. It's all been going on behind my back while I've been eating cheeseburgers.

I've noticed that my little activity tracker wristlet has started challenging me to walk further. What's that all about? How stupid do these app designers think I am? Do they think I'm just a Pavlov's dog who will walk longer because a silly iPhone app tells me to set a goal of 12,000 steps a day. Jeez, isn't 10,000 steps enough?  I did take a longer walk with Dot and Dash this evening though, so maybe I am just a Pavlov's dog. I'm secretly irritated that Janet somehow manages to take 20,000 steps a day. That's much more than me. I think she just takes smaller steps.

Wasn't all hell supposed to break loose today when sequestration went into effect? So far, I haven't noticed any changes at all. Personally, I don't think much is going to change whether the folks in Washington ever come to an agreement or not. I don't even know why this thing is even a big deal. Just about everyone in America has had to trim 2% off their family budget as a reason of this dismal economy. You just give up a few things and life goes on. If ordinary people can trim their household budgets, why can't the government do the same thing?

Do any of you guys use Angie's List?  I joined the website several months ago, in hopes of finding a first rate roofer. So far, I've never used the list though. I've become suspicious of the whole thing after I started receiving booklets of Angie's List coupons in the mail every few weeks. How can Angie run ads on TV saying that no amount of money can buy a good review on the list, and then turn right around and sell ads to anyone who wants one in her magazine. I may be forced to use the list anyway though. I still can't find the roofer I'm looking for. I've had plenty of friends recommend friendly roofers, honest roofers, and reputable roofers. So far, nobody has actually recommended a good roofer though.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1127

What a surprise. I looked out the window this morning and the back yard was covered with snow. It's quite rare to get enough snow to cover the ground in Dallas. The dogs initially didn't want to go outside, because it was cold, but when they discovered the snow, they had a great time. We tramped around in the woods, leaving foot and paw prints everywhere and by the time we got home again, the snow had just about melted.

As luck would have it, the only snow that didn't melt was the snow on the roof. I decided to wait until it turned to water again before I dealt with the cleanup ritual. For the moment, the snow is just good insulation.

Today, I took care of keeping my car legal for another year. First I got a new registration sticker and then drove down the street to the little garage where I always get the car safety inspected. Even though they have inspected this car for at least six or seven years, I always have to tell them that it is a full time four wheel drive vehicle and ask them not to put it on the dynamometer. I must have been pacing around the lobby of the garage during the inspection because the owner asked me why I was so nervous. I made up some lame excuse for all the pacing because I was embarrassed to tell the guy that I was nervous that the mechanic would put my inspection sticker on crooked again. He always puts the stickers on the windshield crooked. Last year, he even put my registration sticker on upside down. The car passed inspection with flying colors, even though I hadn't bothered fixing the rattling catalytic converter. I guess I'll just live with the rattle for for another year. It doesn't hurt the engine and I'm kind of getting used to it.

While I was at the garage this afternoon, their web developer stopped by to renew their contract for another year. Since I was obviously too late to make a pitch for the business, I asked the garage owner what the other guy was charging to design a website after he had left. The owner said his new site was costing him $500 and acted like that was a lot of money. Sad. I don't know how you can make a living doing websites anymore, unless you're one of those big corporate interactive agencies like Razorfish. The budgets for the simple bread and butter jobs that keep little guys like me busy keep getting lower and lower and lower.

The price of Apple stock keeps getting lower and lower too. Apple closed below 500 today. I wonder how much further it's going to fall. I'm sure glad I didn't buy any shares at 700. I hate to admit it, but maybe my broker's decision to get me out when he did wasn't so stupid after all.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 519

Weird day. I learned that the rural airport where I store a vintage car that I own was struck by a tornado last week and several hangers were destroyed. Evidently, half a dozen airplanes were demolished, but the hanger where my car is stored wasn't touched at all. I got lucky. The guy who happens to own the hanger wasn't so lucky. His dog attacked the teacher's dog in training class tonight. It's never a good move when your dog attacks the teacher's dog.

People keep wanting me to do stuff for lower and lower budgets. I just wonder where all this is going to end. If I had any advice to give a young person wanting to start their own ad agency, it would be this: always try to work for very large companies that have a purchasing department. When you work for a small company where the owner pays you out of their own wallet, nothing you do will ever be cheap enough. You can cut your prices to the bone and it will still seem too expensive to folks who are paying you with their own money. One thing I have learned over the years is that people are much more generous when they are paying you with other people's money.

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon paying bills and trying to do some office bookkeeping. I sure wish that when you got your credit card bills, they would tell you what you actually bought. The statements do tell you the name of the store where you made the purchase, but it's up to you to remember what you purchased. I've made a number of electronics purchases during the past several months at Fry's and Sweetwater. I look at the credit card statement and then I look around the office to see if I notice anything new, and I still can't remember what I bought.

This is one of those days where I envy the dogs. They never have any bills to pay. They just spend half their day sleeping and then divide the rest of their time between barking, eating and pooping. Sounds like a good life to me.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day