Day 2265

When we were walking the dogs this morning, I noticed that all the neighbors were getting brand new concrete driveways. Apparently the construction crew that is fixing the street also does freelance concrete work on weekends. I can see why everyone is jumping at this opportunity. They are all getting highway grade concrete work at half the price a private contractor would charge. These guys don't need special permits from the city because they are already paving the road. They probably get quantity discounts on concrete, since a ton of concrete is already being used for road repairs. Best of all, there is no big contractor markups on the job. The neighbors just pay the crew directly. I wish I could get a new driveway for half price like the other neighbors, but my driveway exits to a different street that is unfortunately not under construction. I don't quality for this unexpected bonus.

I finally crawled up on the roof and removed last week's standing water. Half the water had already evaporated. Maybe if I had waited another week, the roof would have just dried out on its own. I think I got lucky this time. We had a very windy day right after it rained and the wind blew away all the dead leaves and a lot of the standing water. The roof only gets messy when leaves create little Beaver ponds that keep the water in place. The roof seems to be holding up fairly well this year. I didn't see any cracks in the elastomer, which was surprising. Maybe the gods have finally realized that I've had enough water problems for one year.

I typically use those automated checkout lanes at stores because they are generally much faster. Not today. When I was getting groceries, I got stuck in line behind someone who tried to stick every single credit card in his wallet into the machine before he eventually gave up, abandoned his buggy full of food, and walked out of the store. Why would you even try to use the automated check out if all your credit cards had expired? People amaze me sometimes.

It was unusually warm today and Dash tried to crash several outdoor picnics while we were walking in the park. He's got a good nose for barbecue. It was embarrassing when he was tugging at his leash to reach someone's barbecue grill. I kept having to explain to people that he was really a very friendly dog who had no manners whatsoever. I kind of hate it when people picnic in the park, because they throw their bones on the ground and I have to watch carefully to make sure that Dash doesn't find them. I've had dogs that have swallowed pork ribs or chicken bones before and it usually involves a trip to the vet.

I should go to the gym tomorrow, but it has been a long day and I haven't completely recovered from my cold yet. I think my body would appreciate a nap a lot more than a workout.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1781 - Halloween

I was right. The plastic forks didn't even last a week. When I went to breakfast this morning, the regular metal silverware was back. It's good to see that common sense prevailed. The parking places are still too small, but I can live with that. I didn't seem to have as much trouble parking today.

Ordinarily, I'd share a picture of a pumpkin with you on Halloween, but I didn't see any pumpkins today. Maybe I didn't look very hard. There certainly weren't any pumpkins left in the stores. All the stores have moved on to Christmas by now. Halloween is pretty much a non-event at our house anyway. Halloween is a holiday for children and cosplayers and we don't have either in our neighborhood. We haven't had trick or treaters in years. With all the Ebola worries in this town, probably a lot of people aren't opening their doors to strangers anyway.

Commercial spaceflight certainly hasn't had a good week. First the Orbital Sciences Antares Rocket explodes and then today Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo explodes during a test flight. If I was Elon Musk, I'd be a little nervous right now. I was watching TV when the news broke and was astounded at the damage to the spacecraft. Nothing was left. It was amazing that one of the pilots was able to eject, since it all happened so fast. Even if I had the ridiculous amount of money it takes to secure a ticket on one of these Virgin Galactic flights, I don't think you could talk me into going. I'm a huge fan of spaceflight as long as I still have both feet on the ground. I throw up on roller coasters. I wanted to get a pilot's license once, but flunked out of the flight training class for the same reason. I still remember one of my flight instructors telling another instructor, "You take him up this time, I cleaned out the plane last time." Somehow, I don't think the five minutes of weightlessness everyone is looking forward to would sit very well with my stomach.

I wrote a letter to Lunatik asking if they'd replace my broken iPhone case. I bet they won't, but it's worth a shot. The ads for this thing showed the case being run over by a motorcycle and surviving all sorts of punishment. It certainly shouldn't break just sitting in your pocket.

The concrete trucks were back in the park today, pouring another segment of the new bicycle superhighway. Most of the neighbors seem to like this new development, but I still think it is a colossal waste of money. If I knew that this is how the money would be spent, I probably wouldn't have voted for the bond issue that funded this and other efforts to gentrify the park and turn it into a recreation destination. All I want is a quiet place to walk the dogs.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1771

When we were taking our morning walk, we encountered a work crew laying concrete for the new bicycle superhighway that is replacing our favorite path. The sun had just risen and there was just enough ground fog reflecting the sunlight to make it look like the crew was working with molten lava instead of concrete. I found the image strangely beautiful, but I'm not really looking forward to the completed bicycle path. Most of the cyclists the dogs and I encounter are very rude. They like to ride as fast as they can on the narrow trails and seldom slow down or even try to get out of the way of people walking their dogs. We've almost been run over by cyclists several times. These Type-A maniacs will love the new concrete bike path. The dogs and I will have to find an alternate route.

I'm sleeping better these days, but my dreams are becoming so mundane that they're starting to include people and situations from everyday life. This had got to stop. Life is boring enough as it is, without dreamland becoming a six hour extension of my daily routine. Where are those flying dreams I used to have? We need some of those.

I spent most of the day writing and will probably do the same tomorrow. My assignments are quite familiar by now, but my mind still goes blank occasionally. When I can't think of anything, I'll hop in the car and take a bill to the post office or a check to the bank. When that doesn't do the trick, I'll go pick up a prescription at the pharmacy or go grocery shopping. I never go very far, because the dogs don't like being left alone and I don't like negotiating Dallas traffic. I think I've come as close to being a hermit in a big city as you can get.

I got a notice from Shutterstock today asking me to send them a W-9 form so they could report my earnings. What? I think I've made a total of $14 from Shutterstock since I've joined. Since you have to meet a $100 threshold level before most of these stock photo sites will actually pay you anything, maybe I'll be sending in that W-9 form about five years from now.

The weather is beautiful right now. It's usually about 65 degrees when we wake up in the morning and then warms up to around 80 degrees by mid-afternoon. The dogs love to spend time in the back yard during the Fall. It is tempting to just leave the back door open so they can come and go as they please. Unfortunately, there are far too many critters in the yard. If I left the back door open even five minutes, the living room would be filled with wasps and there would probably be a squirrel in the kitchen. As soon as I shut the door to keep the wasps out, the dogs want to come in again. As soon as they're both inside, they want to go out again. Back and forth we go, but at least the weather is nice.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1744

When I was walking the dogs this morning I noticed a bulldozer ripping up the trail we normally use. Now there is just a lot of loose dirt that will immediately turn into a mud pit as soon as it rains. I think the city is planning to replace the trail with a much wider concrete bicycle highway to accommodate all the cyclists who like to ride in the park. I'm not looking forward to this. The trail has been a nice, peaceful place to walk the dogs for many years and as soon as the cyclists arrive, it will just be another place to avoid. Bicycles and dogs on a leash don't mix. The dogs and I have almost been run over by Type-A cyclists too many times to count. When you're on the same trail together, these guys, and they're almost always guys, don't want to slow down or move over for anybody.

I probably won't have to worry about the bicycles for quite a while. City projects move exceedingly slow. It will take at least a month for them to rip out the old trail. Then it will take another month to construct the wooden forms and place the steel rebar reinforcement before actually pouring the concrete. Sooner or later though, this bicycle highway will be finished and I'll have to find a quieter place to walk the dogs.

Life is gradually returning to normal. The dogs are healthy again and Dot's incontinence problems seem to be over. My workload has returned to a predictable mix of writing and website design. I'm busy, but not too busy. There seems to be plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and long dog walks while still meeting deadlines. The familiar routines aren't all that exciting, but they're comfortable. As long as the dogs stay healthy, I'm OK with this.

Dot was stronger today and participated in many of the exercises at our training class this evening. Both dogs seemed to enjoy the cool, pleasant weather. Since the autumnal equinox was yesterday, the days will start to get noticeably shorter now. It's already dark by the time training class is over and pretty soon it will be dark before we even begin. The sky was clear and I recognized a few constellations overhead as Dash and I did our training exercises tonight. It made me wish I'd bought something when I went to the telescope store the other day.

Tomorrow is Dot's physical therapy day. She's still not quite as strong as she was before her illness, but she's getting close. Her progress reminds me that physical therapy actually works. I really need to get one of my doctors to refer me for physical therapy myself. It would sure be nice to have a functional shoulder again.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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