Day 3490

I finally got some better pictures of Charlie when we visited the Dalmatian Rescue kennels today. He's a hard boy to photograph because he never stays still. I wanted a picture where his ears looked nice, his tongue wasn't hanging out, and there wasn't a ball in his mouth. Eventually I got one.

All the dogs have adjusted well to being in the kennel. They get a lot of attention, are well fed, and are recovering from the medical problems many of them had when they entered the program. They all seem so normal now that I don't think any of them will have any problems adjusting to life in the forever homes each of them will find soon.

We spend a lot of time at the boarding kennel so I don't take a morning walk on Monday's anymore. I still had time for a leisurely breakfast and a few errands before we left for the kennel, but that was about it. I had just enough time to pay some bills, go to the post office, and pick up a few things at Home Depot before we left.

I still had to take some sort of walk when we returned late in the afternoon. This was probably a mistake, but I'm addicted to those Fitbit steps. It was really hot and humid today. I had to stop several times to wet down my shirt and hat in a nearby water fountain. The Pelican has returned but the Egrets are gone. I guess these birds don't like to share the same water. There were water turtles basking on several semi-submerged logs. I guess they liked the sun better than I did.

I'm finally starting to get some bids for the last piece of art I put up for auction. I guess lowering the reserve made a difference. This is just an online auction so there is no drama. Maybe that's for the best. This piece got no attention at all when it was offered at a big auction in New York several months ago. I wish I had more art to unload. The bills for my trip to Florida are starting to come in and it is obvious that travel can be just as expensive as collecting things. I think travel is the way to go now though. When you collect memories they don't take up a lot of space.

I wish I didn't have problems with heartburn. I had some leftover pizza for dinner and I can already tell that it's going to be a long night. Pizza, spaghetti, and chili are just about the only things that give me problems. It's a shame because I love these things. We had steaks last night and a chicken casserole over the weekend and I had no problems at all. Whenever I eat vegetarian meals I don't have any problems either. It's clear that I shouldn't eat pizza, but I hate to give it up entirely. Every once in a while I just resign myself to heartburn.

A carpenter is coming over tomorrow to give me an estimate on repairing the greenhouse. If I like the guy I may get some bids on fixing other things around the house as well. There's certainly plenty of things that need to be fixed. It's hard to find an experienced carpenter who will work on small jobs. I don't know if this guy's any good, but one of my neighbors likes him a lot. I finally called the carpenter because I kept seeing his truck in front of the neighbor's house.

I'll add Charlie's new picture to the Dalmatian website tomorrow. I hope the carpenter shows up. You never know with these guys.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3462

By my low standards it was a very busy day. I made my travel arrangements for the Florida trip. In the end, flying turned out to be the better alternative. I'd hate to be driving along the Gulf Coast and learn that the Falcon Heavy launch had been postponed until the middle of July. If I had to turn around and come home when I was halfway there, it would be a long trip for nothing. At least if fly Southwest I can reschedule things at the last minute if necessary. Looking at the weather forecast, there's a good chance I would be driving in the rain as well. Jeez. I don't even like to drive to the post office in the rain. Spending hours on freeways in heavy rain seems like a miserable idea.

After breakfast this morning I fixed the pumps and cleared all the water off the roof. Luckily, I saw the FedEx guy arrive when I was up on the roof. I had one of those 'signature required' deliveries today and I was sure I was going to miss it. FedEx and UPS used to seem so convenient but now getting a package is frustrating because almost everything seems to require a signature. I never seem to be home when FedEx arrives. I guess getting a signature makes sense since there seems to be an epidemic of people stealing packages off porches. It's a shame though. One more reason why people can't have nice things anymore.

I hope the roof stays dry for a while. This is one chore I've grown to hate. So far, I've been able to prevent the leak from reappearing, but keeping the roof clear of water is a lot of work. This loathsome chore had to substitute for my morning walk today. Pushing the big broom was definitely good exercise, but walking is a lot more relaxing.

I paid the stack of bills that has been accumulating on my desk and took them to the post office. Everyone seems to want me to set up my accounts to autopay every month, but that seems like a bad idea. I would quickly lose track of things. Paying bills on time and always balancing my checkbook is a discipline I learned long ago. Living on a fixed income is something I'm still learning. Retirement is somewhat of a paradox. When you've got the time, you don't always have the money. Working is just the opposite. When you've got the money, you seldom have the time.

Xander, Little Penny, and Chloe all got adopted recently. This is great news. Most of our dogs seems to get adopted quickly. I need to remember to update the rescue website. Maybe I'll have time to do this later tonight. Otherwise, it's on my list for tomorrow.

Now that I'm more or less caught up on things, I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. I hope sleeping in late is part of the plan. Bad weather and power outages have really disrupted my sleep. I need to start looking for a carpenter to rebuild the greenhouse. I used to know several excellent carpenters, but they have all either retired or died. I guess there's no hurry. There is nothing growing in the greenhouse anyway.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1276

My feeble attempts at home improvement today were an epic fail. I bought some self-tapping screws and tried to batten down the loose 4x8 sheets of plywood under the carport. I drilled hole after hole, but never found a stud where I could attach the screws. Maybe there weren't any studs and the plywood sheets were just being held by the edges. Who knows? That would certainly explain why the wood was sagging so badly.

I didn't have much better luck up on top of the roof. I also bought a new push broom while I was getting the self-tapping screws, but it didn't seem to work as well as the old broom. The new roof has a gritty, gravel-like texture that made the broom hard to push. This was unfortunate, because after three full days of sunshine, there was still standing water on the roof. I'm beginning to think that the new roof puddles up even worse than the old roof. It doesn't leak anymore though. That's one good thing!

To add insult to injury, I got stung by bees while I was working. These were the same type of honeybees that built a hive in our house a few years ago. I looked around, but couldn't find any evidence of a hive near the house. I have a healthy respect for these bees. Wasps and hornets will often ignore you, but honeybees almost always sting. There's got to be a beehive nearby. Where there are bees, there is honey.

All this futile manual labor probably explains why I am a writer instead of a carpenter. I've never been fond of sweating or lifting heavy objects. I am pretty good at working with my hands, but only out of necessity. In a perfect world, I would live on the seventeenth floor of a luxury high-rose and never do yard work or home maintenance at all. I would spend my time sharing stories with friends over cappuccino at a friendly coffee bar. Maybe someone would make movies like "My Dinner with Andre" about me.

The dogs don't have such delusions of grandeur. I'm beginning to think they do have delusions about the temperature though. Every morning they bound out of the house as if they're eager to run for five miles. It usually doesn't take them five minutes to discover that it's hot outside and they both decide they want to turn around and go home again. I don't like the heat either, but it's getting harder and harder to get my requisite 10,000 daily steps on the Jawbone UP band with such lazy dogs.

This week has gone very quickly. I guess there's something to be said for staying busy. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday though. I'm really looking forward to my regular breakfast outing. I can't say that adding flax seed to my oatmeal has added much excitement to my life.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1256

While I was having my Black Bean Benedict breakfast this morning, two people seated at the next table were trying to explain the concept of purgatory to each other. I can't remember when I've heard a more confusing and convoluted explanation of anything. I'm not much of a believer. Belief requires a certainty I just don't have. I am a good observer though and try my best not to pass judgement on what I observe.

It was difficult not to pass judgement on the roofers carpentry skills however. When I got home from breakfast, I noticed that the new fascia trim the roofers had just finished attaching to the edge of the carport didn't match the existing trim on the house. The lumber they used for the fascia was an inch wider than the existing trim. Didn't the guys notice the obvious mismatch at the joint where the new trim met the old trim at the corner of the house? Jeez! I wish they'd measured the lumber before they nailed it up on the house. When I pointed out out the disparity in the two sections of trim, the guys seemed angry with me. Did they actually think I wouldn't notice this?  One of the roofers finally told me that they would fix the problem, but didn't tell me how. They all left for the day immediately afterwards.

The assignment to provide photography and social media coverage for one of my clients at a big watch and jewelry trade show got approved today. The schedule has changed though. Now I'm leaving earlier and staying longer than I anticipated. I wish I'd known this new schedule several days ago. I recently ordered an airport friendly rolling carry-on camera case in anticipation of this assignment. The UPS website says the case is scheduled to arrive the day after I leave.

It's raining now. The main roof is more or less finished, so I imagine we'll stay dry inside. I wouldn't be surprised if the cars were wet tomorrow morning though. The carport is definitely still a work in progress. When I looked this afternoon, it certainly didn't appear very waterproof to me.

I hope the wet weather clears up soon. We've got a three day weekend ahead and it would be nice to have some beautiful, sunny weather to go along with the holiday. I know the dogs are going to expect a trip to the dog park. Personally, I don't know what to expect anymore.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day