Day 3673

I got a notice today that a few more of my trains have sold. It seems so long ago that I decided to sell my collections. The guitars have been sold. Most of the art has been sold. The train collection still lingers however. I guess this makes sense. Younger people have no interest in model trains. When Janet and I traveled to Palestine, Texas recently to see the Union Pacific Big Boy steam through town, most of the onlookers were even older than we were. The only young people in the crowd were people's grandchildren.

I still like trains. I haven't traveled on one in years though. Who has the time to take a train anymore? We briefly thought about taking Amtrak to McDonald Observatory last Fall since there is still a stop in Alpine, but the trains frequently run late and are quite expensive. It made more sense to rent a car.

Today was slow. I paid a few bills and took them to the post office, but that was about it. I wish the weather would make up its mind. It was so warm today that I didn't even need a jacket on my walk. The temperature actually got up to 75 degrees this afternoon. It's weird to be thinking about wearing shorts and a t-shirt for a walk in the park at the same time I'm thinking that I need a warmer winter coat for my trip to the observatory.

I still haven't made any reservations for my trip to Florida. Airlines, rental car companies, and hotels all have these loyalty programs that promise big savings if you book now. When you read the fine print, you discover that the only way you get the savings is to make a non-refundable payment in advance. Never mind. I don't think I'm ever going to save a dime because launch schedules frequently change at the last minute and you have to stay flexible. I thought I was going to save 25% on my hotel in Florida until I read that fine print.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. At my age, I'm glad I still have hair, but I wish it didn't grow so fast. Thinning hair that grows quickly doesn't look nice for very long. It doesn't seem like I should need a haircut this often. I don't understand hair styles at all. Old guys are looking like Willie Nelson and young guys are shaving their heads. I'm just starting to look like my Dad.

There's a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow. Didn't we already have thunderstorms? Since I've already committed to leaving the house, it's almost guaranteed to rain. Rain shouldn't bother me so much, but it does. You could pick a random blog post from almost any year and chances are it would mention rain. We'll see what tomorrow brings. One way or another, I'm sure I'll survive.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3453

Things are looking up. Yesterday I found out that three more of my model trains had sold. Today I found out that I'd sold two of my guitars. Someone seems interested in buying one of the keyboards too. Slowly but surely, the collections are starting to unwind. It's weird that the money from one of my favorite guitars will just go to buy a new set of tires for my car, Hey, that's life. Right now I need tires more than I need guitars.

I discovered today that I can't use the app that lets me bypass the checkout line at the grocery store to buy beer and wine. The self checkout lane won't work either. You have to stand in line and checkout with a real person. Jeez. Why are stores still carding a guy who's going to be seventy one years old this month? The app has all my information anyway. Don't they already know I'm old enough to be the checkout clerk's grandfather? They could probably just add a couple of lines of code to the app that would allow me to take a picture of myself holding the beer. That would definitely prove that they're selling to an old man. At any rate I had to leave my buggy at the door while I took my six pack of beer to a young checkout clerk to verify my ID. It all seemed kind of silly.

Janet has no interest in skipping the checkout line. She likes a different app that lets her use digital coupons at the grocery store. She'll look at my groceries and say "You could have saved a dollar on this if you'd used my coupon app. "But you could have skipped the checkout line entirely if you'd used mine," I say. I guess technology has something for everybody.

It's definitely Summer. We haven't had a triple digit day yet, but temperatures are in the ninety's now. I have to remember to take my walks before I take a shower because it's so hot and humid that I'd just have to take another shower when I returned. I guess I could start walking before sunrise again. I used to do this with the dogs. Maybe I'll be forced to do this later this summer, but it's hard to get up early now. I'm finally getting enough sleep. A little app on my watch that tracks my sleep finally shows a sleep surplus after years and years of showing a deficit. I miss having a dog to walk but sleep is good. Sleep is very good.

I keep trying different shoes, hoping to find a pair that will let me walk indefinitely without foot pain. Some shoes make my toes hurt. Others make the ball of my foot hurt. Still others don't support my ankles well. All of these shoes fit pretty well and were comfortable before I started taking long walks. Most of them already have a good orthotic inside. I think my feet must swell when I walk. The shoes are generally fine at distances under three miles. If I walk much longer I feel like I've made a big mistake.

I haven't been up on the roof in quite a while. I think the water is just evaporating now. It's just as well. There are plenty of things on the ground that need attention. Janet and I are going to try to clean up the yard ourselves. This is probably a mistake, but things like this happen when you've got too much time on your hands.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3452

I decided to get my car serviced today. This was a minor service, so I just stayed at the dealership while the work was being done. As I wandered around looking at cars, it became painfully obvious that I can't really afford to be a Land Rover customer anymore. Prices have really increased since I got my first Land Rover in the early 1990's. I've bought houses for less than the sticker price on some of these cars. Maintenance costs a lot more too. Truthfully, the cost of an oil change seems to double every time I visit the dealership. It's a shame because I've always liked Land Rovers. I still think the British build the best looking cars.

I had breakfast on the way to the dealership and was disappointed that my Shrimp and Grits weren't as good today. The grits were terrible and I think they just used Jimmy Dean sausage in the sauce instead of Andouille sausage. It seemed clear that there was a new chef today. I don't know why turnover is so high in the restaurant business. Nobody stays for very long anywhere. Even the restaurants themselves don't stay around very long. Three or four years is a good run for some. I need to find a family restaurant where the entire staff has been around for decades. You find those places in little towns, but they're few and far between in a big city.

I got a message from my dealer that some of my model trains had sold. He seemed excited by the sale. I was too until I noticed that one of the items had been mispriced. It's hard to complain though. A sale is a sale and at this point I'd just like to sell the entire collection while I'm still alive. I started consigning things over a year ago and there is still a ton of stuff that hasn't sold. My friend selling the trains told me that it could take three years to sell the entire collection. Lord knows how long it will take to sell the guitars. I guess I've just got to be patient.

It looks I'm going to have to be patient with the Falcon Heavy launch as well. I got a letter from NASA today. I thought this was going to be the letter with a firm itinerary for the launch and instructions for picking up my press credentials. Nope. It was a letter explaining the complexities of scheduling a launch with a promise of more information next week. There was a reminder again to be sure to make flexible travel arrangements. I've definitely been warned.

Hey, I'll be ready to go when they are. I feel more confident about my car now. I still need new tires but I probably won't buy them from the dealership. There are too many tire dealers where you can get get exactly the same tires for considerably less. The dealership doesn't even try to be competitive. Most of their customers are rich and don't even care what things cost.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. The weather was mild. It didn't rain. Even the stock market continued to rally. My feet still hurt after my longer walks, but you can't have everything.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3388

I'm glad I never had a parent with Alzheimer's to take care of. Now that Dash is showing signs of dementia, it's easy to see what a monumental task this could be. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether Dash's problems are physical or mental. I suspect that is usually a combination of both. Dash gets confused on his walks and sometimes reverses direction for no apparent reason. We end up walking in circles occasionally. There are no regular mealtimes anymore. Breakfast can be at noon and dinner can be at midnight. Dogs are creatures of habit and I think it bothers Dash that he can't always remember his old habits. I wish I could help, but I can't always remember my old habits either. I do what I can. I make sure he takes his pills, gets enough food, and has a little exercise. Most of Dash's day is spent sleeping.

I never realized that half of my blog readers came from Google+. Now that the platform is gone, so are the readers. I guess it all makes sense. I had over 30,000 followers on Google+ at one time. Most of these people were photographers or loved photography, but some of them must have become blog readers. I'd almost forgotten what a great place Google+ was for photographers in the early days. You could actually have conversations with and get tips from some very well known photographers. I learned a lot.

I think the Covenia is working. The open sores on the underside of his muzzle are already starting to heal. I think the loose flaps of skin on the sides of a dogs mouth are called flews, but I keep wanting to call them lips. I guess dogs don't really have lips. Since Covenia targets bacteria on the skin, I'm not sure how well it will work with Dash's periodontal disease. Bacteria under the gum line, especially under the teeth can be very hart to eradicate.

I'm getting discouraged with my attempts to liquidate my collections. I've spent so much restoring my vintage synthesizers that I probably won't make any money at all when they eventually sell. The same thing is true for an Ellsworth Kelly print I had an art conservator restore. She did a fantastic job, but the print is expected to go under the hammer at auction for about the same price as I spent restoring it. I thought the vintage guitars would go quickly, but that hasn't been the case. One guitar sold quickly but the buyer changed his mind and convinced the dealer to let him exchange it for a different guitar. I'm still waiting for the guitar to sell. The main problem with the train collection is that nobody knows what a train is anymore. Old men still buy these things, but there are fewer and fewer of them left. I've consigned my collection with one of the best dealers in the entire country, but sales are still very slow.

I wish sleep would restore Dash's energy. He certainly sleeps a lot. Unfortunately, he still seems to be getting weaker. We had a real problem on our walk this morning. He was determined to keep going, but I could tell he was getting tired. I tried several times to cut the walk short and return to the house, but Dash refused to turn around. He is very stubborn. It was almost like his brain and his body weren't on the same page. When we eventually made it home, Dash was exhausted.

Somebody parked their car where I usually take my trash on Thursday night. Little things like this bother me. I'm superstitious about the garbage truck and always want to make sure that my trash is in exactly the same place so the driver will see it. One more thing to fret about tonight.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3387

I should have learned by now that there is little to be gained by looking up symptoms and side effects on the Internet. Dash got a Covenia shot this morning to help with his infected mouth. I wasn't familiar with Covenia, so I did a little research on Google. Unbeknownst to me, there is a raging controversy about this drug. Some people say it has killed their dog or cat. On the other side of the coin, many veterinarians say that the drug is safe, effective and that complications are very rare. All drugs can have complications but the problem with an injectable antibiotic like Covenia is that once it is in the body, you can't get it out again.

I trust our veterinarian and Dash seems to be tolerating the drug well. Nevertheless, it makes you nervous when you listen to sad YouTube videos from people who are convinced that Covenia killed their pet. In fairness, I've read some terrible things about meds that I take myself. You ultimately have to make your own judgement about just about everything. Another person's experience is not necessarily yours. Often Internet accounts can be very distorted. If someone has had a bad experience you will almost always hear about it. Good experiences tend to be considered normal and are often not reported at all.

I'm hoping that the Covenia injection will help clear up the infection. If this doesn't work we can always try the Clindamycin. I have a feeling that no antibiotic will completely cure Dash's peridontal disease. When the antibiotic wears off, the plaque on his teeth, especially under the gum line, will just cause the infection to reappear.

When I got my monthly statement from the dealer who is selling my train collection, it appears like several trains have been sold twice. I hope this isn't the case, since I'd hate to return the March payments I've received. I'm hoping that this is just a data entry error. Honesty is still the best policy. I told my friend about the mixup and we'll see if he wants the money back. You can't keep selling the same thing over and over again.

I'm glad we don't have to take Dash to the vet very often. It has become a nightmare transporting him in the car these days. We always take an emergency clean up kit with us now. Amazingly, Dash didn't poop in the car this morning. He waited a few minutes and then pooped inside the vet's office. We managed to get a few nails clipped while we were there, but after his exam and the shot it was clear that Dash wanted to go home.

I sent invoices to my few remaining clients today and wrote a letter to my sister. It's weird that going to the post office is such an important ritual to me. Nobody else I know goes to the post office at all. Nobody else writes a daily blog either. To each his own I guess.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3357

It was 23 degrees and very windy when we woke up this morning. That added up to a wind chill of 9 degrees. Brr. Dash thought he wanted a walk, but I don't think he realized what he was up against. We dressed him up as warmly as we could this morning, but he didn't even make to the back gate. When he felt how cold it really was, he wisely turned around and returned quickly to the house.

We spent the rest of the day indoors. Dash ventured outside to pee occasionally and I made one brief trip to the post office to pay some bills, but that was it. Today's goal was to stay warm. Even Dash understood that it wasn't a day for walking.

I'm glad I got the water off the roof yesterday. Ice on the roof causes some peculiar problems. When the ice starts to melt, the heat from the house causes it to melt from the bottom up. This creates a layer of water covered by a layer of ice, making it impossible to remove the standing water under under the ice. These conditions are a recipe for leaks because if the weather is cold enough, the ice on top can last for weeks.

I canceled today's plumbing appointment because it seemed like a terrible day to dig a big hole in the ground. The ground looked frozen anyway and I had trouble seeing where the leak was. I have a feeling that the cold, hard ground partially sealed the leak. I certainly wasn't seeing any evidence of it anyway. I hope the plumber appreciated what I did. I definitely wouldn't want to be a plumber working outside today.

I sold a few trains in February. I'm glad the collection is getting some interest again. I thought there would be a lot of sales over the Christmas holidays, but I was wrong. Nobody bought any trains for Christmas. Zero holiday sales. Did somebody get a model train for Valentine's Day? Who knows. Stranger things have happened.

I updated the Dalmatian Rescue website today. It seemed like a good thing to do on a cold, housebound day. I do so little website design these days that I'm slowly losing my skills. I occasionally have to look up things that I used to know by heart. It's only going to get worse. Use it or lose it, they always say. I guess I could revamp my own websites to keep my chops up, but I just don't have the interest anymore. Hard to believe that I used to have dozens of active clients that required hours of work every single day. How did I ever find the time? Of course the dogs were young and healthy then. So was I.

I hope that tomorrow is warmer. Two days like this and Dash and I will both have some serious cabin fever. There's nothing all that exciting about a walk in the park, but it's good to get outside. These walks are physical therapy for Dash and mental therapy for me. I hope all the early wildflowers don't die. I'm starting to see Grape Hyacinth all over the place. Based on today's weather, I think these flowers may have jumped the gun.

Orion is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3233 - Halloween

The only thing scary about today was the weather. The rain has returned with a vengeance. For some reason the rain usually starts about 9 AM, so I was able to give Dash a morning walk. After that, we were both housebound for the rest of the day. The roof leak hasn't returned yet, but I'm sure it will. The rain was certainly heavy enough.

Needless to say, I curtailed my storage warehouse moving activities today. There is no point in moving wet stuff. I need a rest anyway. When I woke up this morning, my back hurt even more than it did yesterday. A friend gave me the name of another mover, so maybe I can still get someone to do this for me at a reasonable price.

There is no consistency to Dash's sleeping habits anymore. He woke me up every hour on the hour last night. Half the time he was just twirling around on the bed to reposition himself, but occasionally I had to race to the back door to let him out. Our timing was good last night. Dash made it outside to poop every time. Amazingly, I was actually able to get back to sleep after these outings. I must have been really tired.

Sales from the model train collection are slowing down. I hope there are still collectors out there who want a nice rare train for Christmas. I've liquidated less than 20% of the collection so far. I've got a long way to go. At least the first series of art auctions at Phillips went well. My next auction starts in December.

It's weird that I spent the first half of my life accumulating things and will probably spend the rest of it getting rid of stuff. Possessions don't have the same meaning that they used to. Increasingly, everything just seems like clutter. My Dad had family to take care of his clutter when he died. I won't have that option. I keep thinking that I'd better get things organized now while I've still got my wits about me.

I got a reminder for an early morning doctor's appointment next week. I was confused at first, since I never make early appointments. Then I remembered that the doctor probably needed fasting blood work. I used to do these fasting blood draws all the time, but it's been a while. I think I'm healthier now.

I may be wrong, but Dash appears healthier too. He doesn't cough nearly as much at night and he is definitely eating better. Incontinence and weak rear legs seems to be his main problems now. We both have physical exams in November. I hope there are no surprises for either of us.

The rain should be stopping before midnight. Actually, it's supposed to be a clear day tomorrow. We'll see what happens. If the weather is nice, I'll continue moving things from one storage unit to another. I'm only going to move light things though. I learned my lesson.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3173

Every time I see one of these celebrity funerals on TV, my first thought is "Damn, I'll be lucky if ten people show up for my funeral." It's odd who we choose to remember. I've known some amazing people who were promptly forgotten as soon as they were in the ground. That being said, I'll give Aretha the win for this weekend's funeral fest. It's hard to compete with a hundred pink Cadillacs and a complete outfit change every time the casket was moved. Oh, and I almost forgot the minister who groped Ariana Grande during the service and said her name reminded him of something on the Taco Bell menu.

I think there ought to be services for dogs. I'm talking about real formal services with prayers and eulogies. Why not? I know a lot of people who were more upset when their dog died than a family member. I'm probably one of these people. I have mixed feelings about family. I've never had mixed feelings about dogs. Dogs should live a lot longer. They're around just long enough to become our best friends and then they're gone.

I'm glad Dash is still around. When he gets me up several time during the night like he did last night, I think he's going to outlive me. Dot and Dash both seem to be the Energizer Bunnies of their breed. Dash has had so many close calls and he's still waiting at the back door for his walk every morning. He's amazing. Sure, he gets tired easily, seems confused, doesn't have much of an appetite, and stumbles a lot, but so do I. Dash is definitely following in Dot's footsteps. These two have been an inspiration. I'll often look at Dash at night and think "If this little guy can overcome his problems, the least I could do is overcome mine. Without dogs, I probably never would have learned to live in the moment.

The model trains are continuing to sell. On the first of every month I get a report and four or five more pieces are gone. It could take years to sell the collection at this rate, but one by one each model is finding a new home. These models seemed so special when I got them years ago and now the proceeds are just being used to pay utility bills. I guess this makes sense. It would be really silly to sell one collection and just use the money to start collecting something else.

Today was uneventful. I bought fresh fruit at the grocery store, filled the car with gas, mowed the lawn in the back yard, and cleaned up dog poop. Dash outdid himself last night, but at least the mess was outside.

Can you believe it's September already? Dash took his heartworm pill this morning. I'm going to be optimistic and get him another six month supply. Dash is full of surprises. He may still be with us this time next year. I can tell the days are already starting to get shorter. I'm not looking forward to Winter, but I'm definitely looking forward to Fall.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3161

Good grief. The dehumidifier has started to leak. This trusty little machine has been running 24/7 ever since we had our big water leak several years ago. I've grown to depend on this thing. Now it has joined both toilets, the shower stall, a bathroom sink, and of course the impossible roof in a coordinated effort to drive me crazy. Why do I have all these water problems? I've come to the conclusion that there's only one thing for certain about water. Eventually it's going to wind up someplace it doesn't belong.

I guess I'll go ahead and order a new dehumidifier. I'll probably even get the same brand again. This thing has worked like a champ. Nothing lasts forever unfortunately. I'm reminded of that almost every day.

It certainly seemed like Monday today. I'm perpetually slow anyway, but on Mondays it seems like I'm moving around underwater. I guess I accomplished something, but it would certainly be hard to prove. Our morning walk took forever. There was nothing wrong. Dash just didn't feel like going very fast. Breakfast was equally slow. I don't think I made my smoothie larger than usual, but it took almost until lunch to drink the whole thing. I spent a long time trying to figure out where the leak in the dehumidifier was coming from. No luck there. Water just seems to be dripping through a screw hole on the bottom of the sealed system.

When I went to the bank this morning, I noticed that a client had failed to sign a check they sent me. The bank took the check anyway. Did they not notice or did they just not care? I didn't care that much. This client has done this before. The bank probably sees unsigned checks like this everyday. I have a feeling that the entire world is becoming sloppy and forgetful. Hey, I'm certainly doing my part.

I wrote a letter to a friend with a sick dog who thought the diagnosis they received from their vet might be wrong. I encouraged them to get a second opinion. It is not that uncommon for an initial diagnosis to be wrong. Dogs can't talk and symptoms are often confusing. It has often taken us several tries and an expensive MRI or two to figure out what was going on with Dot and Dash. The important thing is to never give up. Especially when you think there is still hope.

I got a lead this weekend about someone who might be interested in another collection I have. I tried to call the guy, but of course he wasn't in. I wrote him a letter instead. Letters still have their uses. They somehow seem more serious than a voicemail message that would probably be mistaken for spam anyway. Whether I hear back from the guy or not, it is going to take a long time to unload these collections of mine. It definitely took a long time to assemble them.

Maybe I actually accomplished more than I thought today. It just seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. I'll try to pick up the pace tomorrow. There's no point in going too fast though. I've got an entire week to fill.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3080

We had a good day. Dash seemed to have a lot of energy this morning. We had a nice morning walk. He ate all his meals and took his pills without incident. He had enough energy left over to pester me as I tried to watch the new episode of The Expanse after breakfast. I'm glad the DVR has a pause button, because every five minutes Dash wanted to go outside. I was glad to see Dash in good spirits. Maybe someday he'll start wagging his tail again.

This week's episode of The Expanse captured my interest again. I still think there's way too much going on with three different sub-plots on three different ships, but I'll definitely keep watching. This is probably the best science fiction series since Farscape. Firefly was really good too, but the show got canceled way too soon. I think The Expanse could easily run for four or five seasons. Here's hoping anyway.

Janet took Dash on his evening walk because I had to go to an evening meeting. Meetings of any sort seem weird to me now. It rare for anything to be accomplished in your average meeting, but they are still an essential part of keeping a group together. It's the intangible things that are important in meetings. If the group feels good about working together, the details can usually be worked out later. Hopefully, I'm still in good graces with this group. I don't get out much, but I still care a lot about helping dogs.

Now that I'm in the process of selling one collection, I've started to think about getting rid of other things as well. I discovered the Artsy website today. I don't know why I never noticed this sooner. It's a great idea, connecting buyers, sellers, and other interested parties with great galleries and auction houses around the world. Instead of buying or selling art directly, you are dealing with very reputable galleries. The website is just a facilitator, bringing people together. I need to learn more about this concept. It might be exactly what I've been looking for.

The tree trimmers are supposed to come over tomorrow. I wonder how long this is going to take? There's really only one big branch that might be dangerous to leave as is, but I'm sure the tree guys will find more dead wood when they arrive. The last time they came to the house they took down twice as much as I had anticipated. I hope this all goes smoothly. I'd hate for one of these limbs to fall on the roof while they are cutting it down.

I probably should stay home and have my regular smoothie tomorrow. I have no idea when the tree guys are going to arrive, so it wouldn't be a good idea to go out for breakfast. Of course if I do stay home, they won't arrive until after lunch. That's just the way it goes.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3051

I'm trying to get organized. I spoke with the guy who is going to sell my model trains and made some final arrangements for him to pick up my collection. I finally contacted the right person and got a refund for the worthless broken activity tracker I ordered several weeks ago. I left another message for the landscaper. He's almost as hard to get hold of as the roofer. None of these things are all that important, but at least I felt like I was doing something.

Dash was really slow today. His energy level varies widely from day to day. It took well over an hour to complete our morning walk. When the dogs were healthy, we could complete this distance in less than thirty minutes. I let Dash take his time. He still enjoys smelling things and I don't have anything better to do with my time anyway. It's sad to see him slowly decline, but I think he's doing the best he can. Dash was a picky eater today as well. I don't think he was sick, but he was very lethargic.

I found a new app for my phone that lets me manually focus the camera. I've been looking for this feature since my very first iPhone. If a third party developer could figure out how to manually control the phone's camera, why hasn't Apple already done this? Probably a focus group told them that the selfie generation didn't care about manual focus and exposure control. Amazingly, the new app works like a charm. Maybe I'll finally be able to keep flowers without sharply defined edges in focus.

I've been waiting all day for the rain to start. It's still dry outside, but there are some ominous looking storms to the West of us. According to the forecast, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow.
None of this would matter if the roof was in better shape. I've had roof problems for so long that it seems like the roof was always this way. Except for a brief period after the last new roof was installed, the roof probably always was a problem. Even a brand new flat roof can be a nightmare. My one piece of advice to new homeowners would be to never, ever buy a house with a flat roof.

There's a new episode of The Expanse on tonight. I'll probably just record it and watch it later. There is very little incentive to watch a show when it originally airs anymore. I wonder if anybody watches live TV these days? Even the news is easier to tolerate if you watch it later.

Another roof panel blew off the greenhouse this afternoon. Apparently, I'm not doing a very good job of reattaching these things. The slightest wind can knock something loose now. The greenhouse is so old that a lot of the nails holding things together have completely rusted away. I need to get a bid to repair things properly, but I already know that it will be more expensive that it's worth.

If it rains, Dash wont get a walk in the morning. I hope Dash is feeling better tomorrow. Rainy days are even worse when I spend them worrying about his heart.

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3038

The tree trimmer came over today to give me an estimate. The dead limb I was worried about hangs directly over the house and it seems like it would be difficult to gently lower it down with a rope. No problem, the guy told me. I'll take his word for it. This is something I would never attempt by myself. I need to schedule this work before the roofers come over, but that shouldn't be a problem. I'll be lucky if I can get the roofers over here by June.

I was reading the instructions for the special glue I bought to repair my fitness band and I noticed something in the fine print that said "Do not let this product come in contact with skin." WTF? How can I repair a wrist band if the repair can't come in contact with my skin? I need to contact the manufacturer about this. Silicon is used in all sorts of medical products. Silicon masks are also common in film and the theater. Why would anyone make a repair product that couldn't be used in these situations? Maybe the glue just can't come near skin until it has fully cured. I'll be real disappointed if I can't use this glue. Basically, if I can't glue the fitness tracker back together, it goes in the trash.

Dash seems to be slowly inching back to a more regular schedule. He got me up at midnight and again just before sunrise. While this may seem inconvenient, it is much better than getting up at 3 AM. I was hoping that Dash would sleep through the night like he did yesterday, but no such luck. At least he is eating normally again.

It was a nice day to be outside, so I tried to repair some of the roof panels on the greenhouse. It's been really windy this Spring and these panels keep coming loose. I definitely should have worn a long sleeve shirt. The translucent panels are made of fiberglass and my arms were itching for the rest of the day. Fiberglass is terrible stuff. It looks solid but there are always sharp little fibers that come off when you touch it. It's ironic that I was worried about the silicon glue today when I really should have been worried about the fiberglass.

I'm dreading going over to the storage warehouse and taking an inventory of my collection before my friend from Kentucky arrives in town to pick it up. This is going to take a long time and I'm sure I'll have misgivings about liquidating a bunch of stuff it took me so many years to accumulate. If I could go back in time, the first thing I'd do is tell my younger self not to bother with collecting things. The older you get, the less collections matter. In the long run, it is a lot better to have the cash than a bunch of dusty stuff in a storage warehouse.

This week has gone quickly. It is already time to take the trash to the curb again. On Thursday evenings I often read Yelp reviews about restaurants I'm thinking about visiting the next morning. Usually I just end up confused. There will almost always be great reviews right next to terrible reviews. It must be hard to run a restaurant. It's probably just about impossible to please everybody.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1714

I went up to visit my watchmaker today. I guess the guy is still a client, although I haven't really done anything for him in years. When I was still an active collector, I was a frequent visitor, bringing the watchmaker a steady stream of new acquisitions to repair, evaluate, or just take a look at. I used to tell people I collected watches because they were smaller and easier to store than cars. That was only partially true. The real reason guys collect things is so they have something to talk about with other guys who collect the same things. I used to love visiting with the watchmaker. We both were interested in European cars and mechanical things. I had other friends with similar interests, but few of these people collect things anymore. Life eventually gets in the way. Unless you are very rich, the pressures of putting your kids through college, paying medical expenses, and dealing with a somewhat unforgiving economy gradually make any collection almost irrelevant. The watch I brought in for repair today was only a token gesture. I could have easily brought in twenty more in a similar state of disrepair, but what would be the point? I don't really need these things. There's nobody to impress anymore.

Somebody asked me today if I still did personal portraits. They way they asked led me to believe this was to be more of a favor than an actual job. I decided to be honest for a change and tell them I wasn't interested. I've grown weary of lugging hundreds of pounds of lighting gear and equipment around for nothing. Now that everyone has become an Instagram expert, people tend to think that photographers like me just take pictures for fun. Nope. It used to be a great business. Maybe it still is for a few.

I was going to brag about how well Dot had done today but I just noticed that she has peed on the carpet again while I've been writing the blog. It was her first accident of the day, but she could have definitely picked a better place. I had waterproof pads all over the place. I don't know how she managed to find the one place that wasn't protected. This is my day these days. No wonder I've lost interest in collecting things and taking portraits.

The weird thing was that it really wasn't a bad day at all. We had a great walk early this morning before the weather got hot. I actually did enjoy talking with the watchmaker, even though my interest in watches has waned a bit. I think I've become quite good at taking care of sick dogs, but I'm really tired. I'm ready to go to bed, but there's one more thing to do. I need to waterproof the bed first.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1707

Today was a mixed bag. I walked the dogs together again for the first time in over a month. I had to slow Dash down a bit, but generally everything went fine. I'll try this again tomorrow. If I can go back to walking both dogs together, it will simplify things a bit. We won't have to get up so early every morning and Janet can go back to her regular schedule. I was so pleased with Dot's progress that I became over confident and let her roam around the house unsupervised while I was eating dinner. She promptly peed on the carpet in the bedroom. I was surprised, since we'd just returned from a walk and Dot hadn't had any prior accidents today. I guess it's hard to predict when a dog with a weak bladder is going to need to go. Maybe she just drank too much water with her dinner. I'm not going to let a little pee dampen a great day. Dot is still making fantastic progress. Last night was the third night in a row that we all slept peacefully and woke up in a dry bed. Dot had lots of energy today and was eager to take her walks. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.

I took care of most of the weekend's unfinished errands today. After a trip to the post office, the pharmacy, the bank, and the grocery store, I went to Sprinkles to get cupcakes for a birthday celebration. I've never been to this store when there wasn't a long line. Even at 2:30 in the afternoon on a workday there was a long line. I was gone longer than I expected, so I thought that Dot might have had an accident while I was gone. Nope. No problems at all. Unbeknownst to me, she was saving it up for dinnertime.

I've more or less lost interest in collecting things, so I don't visit eBay much anymore. I keep getting notices to change my password though after the big security breach, so today I finally got around to changing it. Out of curiosity I checked a few of the categories I used to follow. Nobody was bidding on anything and prices were much lower than they used to be. All my collectible treasures had fallen out of fashion. I guess it makes sense that nobody would collect film cameras anymore when you can't even buy film for them. The same thing probably goes for model trains. Why would you be interested in trains if you'd never ridden in one? Even though there were bargains galore, I wasn't tempted to bid on anything. I just felt old.

Dot has another physical therapy day tomorrow. It's too bad she can't just go to the gym with me. It would sure save time if she could work on strengthening her legs while a worked on strengthening my shoulder. I guess I shouldn't worry about running out of time though. I've got plenty of time. I just can't figure out what to do with it.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1465

The incompetence of government agencies continues to amaze me. I got a letter today saying that it was time for me to renew the vehicle registration on my Defender 90. What was all that paperwork I signed when I sold the car? Surely these guys must know by now that I no longer own the Defender. I get dozens of letters from Medicare and I have yet to understand any of them. I bet you could reduce the cost of healthcare significantly if you just fired all these useless letter writers. Even the dogs have their problems with government bureaucracies. Every year, Dash gets a letter from the city saying that his city registration has expired. This always takes place about one month after my vet issues Dash brand new registration tags. It's no real surprise that the ObamaCare website doesn't work. Nothing in government at any level works. I have no faith in government anymore.

Does anyone want to buy a Citroën SM that has sat untouched in an aircraft hanger for ten years? The car ran great a decade ago, but I suspect that it will take quite an effort to get it running again. I'm sure the fuel lines and gas tank are gummed up and will need to be removed and cleaned. I've done this once before and it's not an easy job. All five suspension spheres will need to be replaced. The car will certainly need a new heavy duty battery and probably new tires as well. Hopefully, no corrosion has taken place in the engine itself. I loved this car when I bought it in 1972, but in recent years it has become an albatross around my neck. The mechanics who used to keep the car running smoothly have all retired or moved on. My favorite mechanic is now a DJ on a local jazz radio station. Parts are next to impossible to find these days. Even ten years ago I was scared to drive the SM around town because I knew that there were no more new body parts available worldwide. If I had unlimited resources, I would ship the car off to SM World in California and have it completely restored. Unfortunately, I haven't had unlimited resources in a long, long time. Even though the car is highly collectible and Jay Leno has one, it's time to sell the thing.

I've had a lot of cars over the years and the complexities of keeping old cars running are one of the main reasons I switched to collecting watches instead. Watches are little and you can keep them in a drawer. I enjoyed watches for a while until they began to fall apart just like my cars. A good watch needs a watchmaker just as much as a car needs a mechanic. Watch repair is expensive and time consuming. In the long run, I don't think I will be any better off with watches than I was with cars. They all break eventually. I think Janet will have the last laugh at my obsession with collecting stuff. She has no interest in collecting things and prefers travel instead. Travel is all about collecting memories and in my experience, memories tend to get better over time. Eventually, the memory is better than the actual experience was. She'll have great memories, while I preside over a kingdom of rust.

To keep my body from turning to rust, I went back to the gym again today. Another week of regular workouts and I'll be back to where I was before the ice storm. I don't enjoy exercising that much, but I do enjoy seeing progress. Hey, I finally got the large printer working again. That's progress. The city hauled away most of my downed tree limbs this morning. That's progress too. Surprisingly, something seems to happen almost each and every day. There's always some sort of progress. Who knows, maybe one of these days I'll sell the Citroën SM too.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1104

I am finding it much more difficult to de-construct a life than it was to construct it in the first place. I've been trying, with some degree of difficulty, to fill the packing boxes I bought a few days ago and cart them over to the storage warehouse. When I discovered that the small book boxes I had bought were perfectly sized to hold vinyl record albums, I decided to retire my record collection. I should have done this several years ago, since I no longer have a turntable and couldn't even play these records if I tried.

Sometimes I wish I had Janet's ability to simply throw things away. I continue to make excuses and invent reasons why I need to keep everything a little while longer. Hey, I'll sell it on e-Bay someday, I tell myself. This brings back good memories, I'll think. Hey, what's wrong with good memories? Occasionally when I'm cleaning out the office, I'll become so enthralled with some old treasure I've retrieved that I'll actually start using it again.

I doubt that I'll be playing these vinyl records that I boxed up today anytime soon. It's much easier to listen to digital versions of the same songs on my computer or phone. One thing I noticed while I was boxing things up was that I used to have a very eclectic and extremely wide ranging taste in music during the days of vinyl. I sorted through hundreds and hundreds of records in every genre imaginable. Steve Reich's process music epic "Come Out" sat next to vintage Aerosmith, which in turn sat on top of a hodge-podge of Dave Brubeck, Paul Simon, The Doors, and Bedrich Smetana's The Moldau. There was a little bit of everything. Some of the albums I'm boxing up are quite rare, since DJ friends used to give me promotional copies of albums they received at the radio station from unknown musicians that didn't get any airplay. Like my watch collection, my record collection mostly consists of stuff that nobody has ever heard of.

Dash threw up again last night, which seems to prove that the antihistamines the vet prescribed aren't doing any good. Once again, after he woke everyone up at 4 AM, he was completely fine for the rest of the day. I don't know what is wrong with the dog. Maybe nothing is wrong with him. Dash has always been a very sensitive animal and manages to get himself worked up over nothing time and time again. Maybe he just got upset that Dot stole his place on the bed last night. If Dash could talk, I'm sure we'd get to the bottom of things in just a few minutes.

It's hard to believe that it's Christmas Eve tomorrow. Somehow it seems like we should still be getting ready for Thanksgiving. Things just move too fast these days. While those Mayans were predicting the end of the world, I wonder if anyone else was predicting that time would actually speed up some day and entire years would zip by before you could get anything accomplished. I think it's already happening.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1052

I went and visited with my watchmaker today. Although Kevin is technically a client, he seldom has much for me to do. Good watch repairmen don't need to advertise. With so few young people going into this line of work, the handful of remaining watchmakers have more work than they know what to do with. I wanted to learn how to repair watches once and quickly discovered that I was much too clumsy to become a good watch repairman. I would continually drop tiny little screws on the floor and never see them again. This is why I was visiting Kevin today. Janet doesn't even want me to change the batteries on her watches anymore, so I take them to a professional instead. My own watches are a different story. I've got so many basically worthless timepieces that I can afford to lose a few screws with my clumsy ways.

One of my New York clients called me today. He said he'd been sitting in his car waiting to get gas for over an hour and a half. We talked for a while about upcoming assignments and then he abruptly told me he had to go. Evidently someone was trying to cut in line right ahead of him and he wasn't going to let that happen. I'm glad I don't live on the East Coast right now.

I got the large format printer running for long enough this afternoon to print out some posters I needed for an upcoming animal rescue event. After printing only four posters, the red warning light came on that said I needed more Light Cyan ink. Didn't I just buy a lot of expensive ink the last time I used this printer? This is getting ridiculous. I'm beginning to think it would be a lot more economical if I just scrapped the printer and took a CD with the file to Kinkos whenever I needed to print something big.

Years ago, when I was fascinated with automobiles, a friend told me that practically anyone could afford to buy an old worn out Ferrari, but that you had to be rich to keep it running. I'm discovering that this is true with practically everything in life. I've got a fabulous printer, but I can't afford to keep it filled with ink. I've got a ton of old watches, but I can't afford to keep them all running. It's too bad that simplicity never really appealed to me. I'm surrounded by musical instruments I can no longer play and perfectly good shoes that haven't kept pace with my expanding feet. A day will come when I'll probably even have more blog posts than I know what to do with.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day