Day 4952

Life is back to normal. Dawn was so happy to take a walk again this moring. She could have taken a walk with me every day last week, but she's a strange dog. Unless we're both around, she just retreats to the bedroom. It was surprisingly cool this morning. The temperature was still in the 70's when we woke up. If it wasn't for the sporadic rain showers it would have been a good day for a long walk in the park.

After our walk with Dawn we had a big weekend breakfast and then I got ready to go mall walking. Dawn didn't hide in the bedroom today She joined us for breakfast and even got her own egg. It was nice to be back on schedule again. The long list of daily tasks was gone. All I have to remember now is to feed Dawn her dinner and bedtime snack.

I go to the mall earlier now. This leaves more time later in the day for whatever needs to be done. There were very few changes this week. No new stores opened and almost all of the window displays were he same. I'm still surprised at how popular mall walking seems to be. There are almost as many people circling the perimeter before the stores open as there are later in the day. I really prefer mall walking to walking around the indoor track at the gym. You can only really do this one day a week though when the mall opens for business at noon. On most days the stores open too early to make mall walking feasible.

Dawn got her Sunday outing today. There was a light mist when we left the house, but Dawn still got a chance to walk around her Sunday park a bit before we went for ice cream. There was a big line at the ice cream store drive thru this morning. I guess this is what you do on a rainy day. The cones have gotten more expensive, but I still can't think of a better alternative. This definitely beats getting a soft serve cone at Dairy Queen.

The big pile of stuff in the living room is gone. Janet is a wizard at getting rid of things. Some stuff got thrown away. Other things got bagged up to take to a charity resale shop. The few things that remained all found a new place to reside. It's weird. I would have had a much harder time getting rid of this stuff, but I don't miss any of the things that got thrown away.

Since it was much cooler than I expected today, it seemed like a good time to mow the grass. I almost never mow during the afternoon in the summer, but I knew the temperature was going to be much warmer next week. Luckily the mower still had a charge and I was able to finish the front yard before dinner. The back yard is easier. Maybe I'll do that right after breakfast tomorrow.

I don't have any plans for Monday. I need to take a few things to the storage warehouse and fill the car with gas. I'm sure I'll go to the gym. The temperature is supposed to reach 105 tomorrow.

Laura is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4055

It was hard to tell if today was a busy day or not. I did my grocery shopping, filled the car with gas, walked Dawn with Janet, walked six more miles by myself, and picked up some Chinese food for dinner. It still seemed like nothing happened. It was really windy today. There were whitecaps on the lake and I almost got blown over a couple of times. It must have been windy to the west of us as well. By sunset the sky started looking strange and you could tell that a dust storm was rolling in.

It's weird to listen to all the gloom and doom on television and then look around me when I leave the house. The park was full of people today and I had a hard time finding a parking place when I went to pick up dinner at PF Changs. There may be parts of the country that are still shut down, but Dallas isn't one of them. They say that local hospitals are full but you'd never know it. Everything looks completely normal in this town.

Leaves were blowing everywhere today and I was hoping that ours would blow away. No such luck. The thick mat of Oak leaves covering the back yard seems glued to the grass underneath. Maybe the leaves are still damp, but I think they are just being difficult. This was the perfect chance for them to blow away and save me a lot of work. It looks like I'll still have to spend an entire weekend raking leaves sometime before the next bulky trash day. We've decided that it isn't worth hiring a lawn service anymore, but when I look at all these leaves, I wonder if this was the right decision.

It's flu season again, but there have been almost no cases of the flu reported this year. Could it be that the best way to prevent the flu is just wearing masks and staying away from other people? Who would have thought. Maybe staying away from other people is the way to prevent most diseases. I keep waiting for isolation to start trending, but it's just not happening. People love to congregate. I wonder why. There are many hidden benefits to keeping to yourself and minding your own business, but I don't think I'm going to become a trend setter. Even I'm going to need the help of other people to return to Kennedy Space Center.

I should have continued yesterday's cleaning efforts, but my heart wasn't in it. It's discouraging to spend hours cleaning up the office and have the place look exactly the same when I'm finished. I started my company in 1990 and stuff has been accumulating in the office ever since. I was amazed yesterday at how many things I found that I had never even used. I'll get interested in something, buy the gear I need, and then my interests will turn elsewhere. I am well prepared though. Well prepared to be living in the 1980's anyway.

Janet said that Dawn waited at the door for me the entire time I went out to pick up dinner tonight. Was she waiting for me or the food? I suspect the latter. I think she's warming up to me, but we've got a ways to go. Sometimes this dog is just rude. Often when I want to take a nap on the bed, she will get up and go to her other bed in the kitchen. I keep telling her that she's supposed to be man's best friend.

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. Maybe I'll work on my article about astrophotography. It sure beats raking leaves.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4054

I made another effort to declutter the office today. I gathered up a bunch of stuff to take to the storage warehouse and at the last minute decided to throw half of the pile away. Was this a breakthrough? I certainly hope so. The storage warehouse isn't big enough to hold all this stuff. Much of what I tossed today were portfolio samples. Back when my companuy was busy, I was meticulous about saving samples. I must have saved at least twenty copies of everything I did. Sometimes I would mail samples to prospective clients, but mostly I just hung on to them. As my company's reputation grew over the years, the samples became less and less important. Most of the jobs I got were by word of mouth. I don't even think I've looked at the samples I threw away today in over ten years. It's finally time for this stuff to go.

I got another invitation to schedule a vaccination from a major hospital today. These guys seemed a little more organized than my pharmacy. I made it to the end of the online application form and there were real dates and locations for me to choose. Before making my appointment, I went and asked Janet if I should go ahead and get the shot now. The first available appointment was actually tomorrow. I'm still a little uncertain about this whole process, but Janet said to go ahead and do it and started looking to see if she'd gotten an e-mail too. I went back to the computer and clicked on the date I wanted and got a message saying that this time slot was no longer available. I refreshed my screen and discovered that none of the time slots were available anymore. Snooze you lose I guess. I'll have to be quicker next time. There must have been tons of people who immediately jumped on this invitation right after getting their e-mail message.

Dawn seems like such a happy dog now. Maybe all she wanted was for us to do things her way. She loves her shorter walk and if Janet has time, she is often eager to take another short walk later in the day. We always knew that Dawn didn't like riding in the car. What we didn't know is that she didn't want to go anywhere that seemed unfamiliar. Dawn loves her new home with its big soft bed. Her life has been full of twists and turns. I think she's afraid that if she leaves this place, she might never come back. It's all good now. We'll take her on little walks where she always knows the way home and do everything we can to assure her that this place is hers forever.

I find it interesting that the one thing that had managed to bring this horribly divided country together is a hatred of Wall Street. Everyone is cheering on the band of young Robinhood investors who got together and brought down the powerful hedge funds and short sellers. Democrats, Republicans, and even loners like myself are applauding this democratization of Wall Street. I've been an investor for years and have never liked hedge funds and short sellers. I'd like to see the whole practice of shorting stocks banned forever. To me, investing remains simple. Buy shares of a company you believe in, hang on to the stock, and watch the company grow.

I've been waiting all week for the SN9 Starship to launch in Boca Chica. It appears now that the FAA thinks that Elon's rockets are dangerous and doesn't want to give him clearance to launch. Jeez. Give the guy a break. All rockets are dangerous. Somehow this same FAA thought that the 737 Max was safe enough to fly before they stated crashing. Let Elon pursue his dream of going to Mars. If the bureaucratic web becomes too tangled, he will just take his rockets elsewhere and Texas will lose a lot of high paying jobs.

It's time to make a grocery list again. These weeks really go quickly now. Time slows down a bit when the week is filled with activities. An empty week is exactly the opposite. Blink twice, and it's grocery day again.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4023

I tried my best to be productive today. I started by defrosting the little refrigerator. This doesn't sound like much, but it's kind of a pain. I need to wait until the big refrigerator is empty enough that I can transfer everything temporarily while I unplug the unit, open the door, and let all the ice melt. This little dorm room size refrigerator was never meant to be permanent, but somehow we need it now. It is very basic and doesn't even have automatic defrost. Every few months I take out the glass shelves, fill the interior with old towels and let the ice melt. All is good now. I probably won't have to do this again until March.

Since I needed to take out the trash today anyway, I thought I'd try to shred a bunch of old mail and useless documents in the office. I managed to fill a large black leaf bag with paper confetti and almost overheated the shredder. Shredding these documents took a long time because I needed to read everything to make sure I wasn't destroying anything important. I think it's pretty safe to say that nothing important was lost today. Some of the envelopes even had hand written notes on the outside saying "must be shredded." The contents were usually a credit card that had expired in 2016, or an insurance claim that had been settled decades ago. I even found all the paperwork for a JC Penny lifetime battery for a car I hadn't owned in ages. I think these lifetime batteries almost put JC Penny out of business because they were good for as long as you owned the car. I tend to keep cars for a very long time.

When I saw the full bag of shredded confetti, I thought I'd made some real progress. Why did the office not look any different? This is what is so discouraging about decluttering. It's really hard to make a dent in  a room full of stuff that took thirty years to accumulate. I could continue to do this day after day and month after month until I went stark raving mad.

Dawn continues to be a work in progress. She's more enthusiastic about walking when we wait until later in the day. She prefers open fields to trails. Maybe this is why we've started seeing ticks on her. I even found a tick on me this morning which is very rare. She's due for another Frontline pill very soon, so maybe the coverage is starting to wear out. At any rate, we had a good walk today, although I wish we had stayed on the trails. My new shoes aren't nearly as effective at preventing foot pain when walking on uneven ground. We might have walked Dawn a little too far today. She was really tired when we returned home. She'll have plenty of time to rest tomorrow. It's supposed to rain all day.

I started using the second dehumidifier in one of the bathrooms today. The house may actually be too dry now because I've been waking up with nosebleeds in the morning lately. It's still amazing to me that large buckets of water can be extracted from the air every single day. The house is much drier since we started using dehumidifiers. There is no dampness in the closets anymore and the air feels better. The machines are noisy though. You can't have everything I guess.

I still have a few errands I need to run before the end of the year. I should have done my errands today, because the forecast says there is a 100% chance of rain on Wednesday and Thursday. You know how I feel about driving in the rain. Forecasts are frequently wrong though. We'll try to get Dawn walked first and then see what happens.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4016

Dawn is still very unpredictable on her walks. She seemed very eager to leave the house this morning. After she pooped, she froze and refused to move for a while. I thought she was done, but suddenly she became playful and started running and jumping around. We continued walking for almost two miles while Dawn smelled trees and bushes and was seemingly in a good mood. Then she abruptly froze again and refused to move forward. We tried to change directions and encourage her with a new path, but she just wanted to go home. She obviously wasn't feeling any discomfort, because she kept up a brisk pace all the way home. Something is wrong, but it all seems to be in her head. We are beginning to wonder if Dawn had a traumatic brain injury at some point in her past.

When we got Dawn home again, Janet went to the gym and I just continued walking. It's a shame that Dawn didn't feel like walking today. It was such a nice day. I didn't set any records, but I got quite a few steps today. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold. It was just enjoyable being outdoors.

I'm really making an effort to declutter. It's such a monumental job that I think it's going to take years. Bulky trash day is tomorrow, so I was determined to add a few things to the pile at the curb. I filled several large black trash bags with useless stuff from the office. I finally took the new dehumidifier out of it's shipping container and threw away the box. I threw away a lot of other empty boxes too. It's hard for me to throw away a good box. Shoeboxes always seem useful to me. You can stack them because they're all about the same size. They are well made compared to other boxes and I always seems to have lots of little stuff to fill them with. All the empty boxes got broken down and went to the curb. There were some broken watch winders I threw away. These things were impossible to repair, but they looked nice, so it has always been hard for me to throw them away. I only threw away no-brainer stuff today, but it was surprising how many trash bags I was able to fill. 

The yard got some attention today as well. I threw away some leaky garden hoses and broken hand tools. It was too big of a job to rake all the leaves, but I did manage to sweep them off the front and back porches. I used the leaf blower to blow away a huge pile of leaves that had been blocking the door to the green house and discovered some more broken glass in the process. I guess the last wind storm had knocked out another pane. The greenhouse is a mess. It will be a big job to repair it and an equally big job to tear it down. 

Evidently the whole world watched the conjunction last night. There were a lot of pictures on Facebook. Some were better than mine and others were worse. I felt a little better about my efforts yesterday when I had something to compare my pictures with. Actually, I did quite well considering that I wasn't using a telescope. Almost all the photos that showed more detail than the ones I took were taken with high quality telescopes. Since there won't be another conjunction like this for hundreds of years, I guess it's time to go back to improving my Milky Way pictures.

The Boca Chica livestream was interesting today. Space X was moving the next Starship out to the launch pad. This sixteen story rocket was just traveling down a public highway on a very large truck. The rocket was upright too. It was an amazing sight. I guess Elon doesn't want to spend a lot of money building a special rail line or dedicated road to transport rockets from the factory to the launch pad. A state highway seems to work just fine.

I hope we can get Dawn walking normally again. She's not a playful dog and her walks are about the only exercise she gets. You don't want to let a Dalmatian get fat. It will almost guarantee that the dog will have problems with their rear legs later in life. In dog years Dawn is about the same age as Janet and I. We've all got to work on staying healthy.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4014

I promised Janet that I'd throw away at least five things if she'd help me sort through stuff at the storage warehouse. We ended up removing a whole carload of useless stuff. The sad thing was that when we were finished the storage space didn't look any different. It will take quite a few trips like this to remove enough stuff so I can move to a smaller space.

I threw away a lot of empty boxes that I'd saved in case we moved someday. That's probably never going to happen. It never occurred to me that even if we did move, the electronic gear that came in the boxes would be obsolete or broken by then. I finally threw away my first computer, an old Osborne-1 that was completely rusted. I tossed a large rug that had been given to me as a gift. The rug had completely disintegrated and had either rotted of been eaten by moths. There were dozens of computer keyboards that probably didn't work anymore. I found a sales sample case filled with carefully mounted photos that I apparently meant to show to someone. The photos were so old though that they had all faded. The strangest thing I threw away was a white chef's uniform. What was I doing with a chef's uniform? 

I need to find a nearby commercial shredding company so I can get rid of a lot of old financial records. My accountant says to keep three years of documentation. I must have at least thirty years of records. There is some cool mid-century modern stuff that I might lend to a real estate friend for staging in houses he's selling. There's bunch of vinyl records that could go to a vintage record store. I'm willing to get rid of all my old computers now, but it's so much trouble to take them apart and remove the hard drives. Truthfully, most of the stuff in the storage warehouse wound up there because it was too much trouble to deal when I ran out of room in the office. I don't have the temperament to sell things on e-Bay or even do the research to see if anything might be valuable. It's a lot easier to just throw stuff in the storage space and forget about it. 

The sky was clear this evening, so I practiced taking pictures of Jupiter and Saturn. The two planets are already quite close together. Photographing them was a little more difficult than I anticipated though. Jupiter is much brighter than Saturn so it is almost impossible to find the correct exposure for both. Jupiter's four brightest moons are clearly visible with even a modest telephoto lens, but they are quite dim.  You could take three different images for Jupiter, Saturn, and the moons and then composite them together in Photoshop, but the color of the sky would be different in each photo. I learned some things tonight, so maybe my photos of the conjunction tomorrow will be better. If you are reading the blog on Blogger, you can enlarge this picture and see more detail. If you're reading on Facebook, you are out of luck, because you are just looking at a JPEG image of the blog post.

My new shoes are still doing a great job of reducing foot pain. Unfortunately, I forgot that I sometimes wake up with foot pain when I sleep in the wrong position. The shoes don't help much when your foot hurts before you even put a shoe on. Maybe there's some sort of lightweight wrap or brace I could wear at night. It's a nuisance when your body starts falling apart, but I still think I'm doing better than most people my age. 

It's hard to believe that Christmas is almost here. Where has this year gone? Janet usually visits her family on Christmas but Covid put an end to that. Hopefully by next Christmas we can all resume our regular routines.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3984

My editor likes the story and photos I submitted. I think my article will appear in the January issue of the magazine. Now it's on to the next adventure. I'd like to attend the static fire test of the Artemis 1 rocket that's scheduled to take place at Stennis Space Center in December, but that will require NASA approval. We'll see what happens. I applied for credentials months ago but almost forgot about it because the Artemis 1 Green Run tests have had many delays. This static fire would have have already taken place if it weren't for the recent Gulf hurricanes that I believe caused some damage to the test stand. Hopefully I will be approved. This is an easy trip that is much less expensive than going to Kennedy Space Center. I could even drive there is I needed to.

The only place I drove today was to the post office. It was time to mail another letter to my sister who refuses to use the Internet. Now that I pay all my bills online, mailing this periodic letter is the only reason I have to go to the post office at all. On the way home I stopped at the smokehouse again and got a small ham for Thanksgiving. Now I know what to ask for. The little hams are called "chops" because they are cut from the end of a larger bone-in ham. The smokehouse uses them to make sandwiches for customers in the restaurant section of the store. At any rate, I now have a holiday ham that is perfect for two people without a lot of leftovers.

I'm having a hard time getting up lately. We walk at the same time every morning, but it seems like I should be sleeping at least an hour longer. You don't keep Janet and Dawn waiting, so I stumbled out the door and woke up along the way. Our Fall colors are already fading. There are lots of leaves on the ground now, and the ones still on the trees are turning brown. I found a few colorful leaves this morning, but even these will be gone soon.

I've stopped looking at Sprinter Van websites. I have no desire to get an RV anymore. Hotels are much nicer. You can take long showers and you don't have to deal with the dreaded black water tank. I'm no longer looking at Ford Bronco sites much either. The new 4x4 is already sold out through the end of 2021. I wonder why I'm still looking at telescope sites? A good telescope is expensive, quite heavy, and there is nothing to see in Dallas anyway. It probably makes more sense to save my money and make a trip out to the Davis Mountains whenever I need a dark sky fix. 

Old habits are hard to break. I really need to curb my desire to acquire new gear when I'm still trying to get rid of old gear. I had to go to the storage warehouse the other day and the thought of cleaning that place out seems almost impossible. The office is just as bad. I'm a borderline hoarder and get no pleasure out of throwing things away. On the other hand, I'm the first to admit that life would be better if all the clutter was gone and I was just surrounded by things I actually use.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder if I'll ever be able to go to a grocery store without feeling like I'm making a journey into the heart of Chernobyl? The weird thing about living through a pandemic is that you gradually get used to things that would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago. I hope the "new normal" never becomes something we just take for granted. We need to remember that life used to be better than this. I'm still hoping that those days will return.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3189

Mondays are just like any other day, except slower. I woke up trying to remember whether I'd taken Dash out last night. It seems like I did, but maybe not. Dash wasn't telling. He was sound asleep in the middle of the bed. He eventually woke up and took his morning pills, but we got off to a slow start.

We should have started our walk earlier, because the temperature has warmed up again. We were both hot and tired when we returned to the house. I need to remember to bring my camera on morning walks. The Egrets and Cranes have returned to the lake and I could have taken some great shots today if I had a telephoto lens. The wide angle lens on my phone is really only good for flowers.

I must not have done all my chores yesterday, because the house was a mess. The dishwasher was full. There was laundry to be done. And most of the wastebaskets needed to be emptied. I'm still amazed that tiny little tasks like these can consume my entire day.

When I got caught up on household chores, I paid the first batch of September bills and took them to the post office. When I got home, I checked the mailbox and there were more bills. You'd think my bills would diminish, since I don't do much of anything these days. Apparently, doing nothing can still use a lot of water and electricity. All my utility bills are way higher than they were five years ago. I don't know why I get a phone bill at all. The phone company should be paying me. All I get is a never ending barrage of telemarketing calls.

Dash has become very needy. He mostly just sleeps during the day, but he doesn't like to sleep alone. He gets mad when he wants to be in the bedroom and I'm in the office. We have a ritual now. I'll go curl up with him on the bed, and then get up and sneak away to do some work as soon as he falls asleep. It works pretty well since he goes to sleep very quickly. After a few hours, Dash will wake up and want to go outside to pee. Then we'll repeat the entire process all over again. It's a good thing I'm a patient person. These days can get pretty long.

I made an appointment to pick up the art I had restored. I'm not going to display the piece again, so the conservator is just going to box it up. I hope I can get the rest of this stuff to an auction house before I run out of energy or lose interest. Truthfully, I'm already starting to lose interest. When I look around the office, I just want it empty. It seems like a monumental job. Basically, I'm still a packrat at heart. I guess I could start by throwing away boxes and boxes of old video tapes. I still have all the camera masters for most of the corporate videos I've produced over the years. I don't have the clients anymore, so there is little use in hanging on to the tapes. Few people could play these tapes anyway. Try finding a working 3/4 inch Umatic machine. Even the newer BetsSP tapes are getting pretty old.

Dash just finished eating a large and very late dinner. I wish he get hungry a little earlier. Eating this late just about guarantees that I'll be taking him out at 3 AM to poop.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3103

When I took Dash outside to pee last night, the yard was uncharacteristically dark. The security light had gone out again. Jeez. I just had the electrician fix this thing less than a month ago. Dash pooped somewhere, but I couldn't see anything. The yard was too dark. Little things like this drive me nuts. Why is it so hard to get things fixed these days? For what I paid the electrician, that light should have stayed working for years.

When I went to get groceries this morning, I couldn't find any Swiss cheese. The cheese aisle must have had fifty different varieties of cheese, but no Swiss. It wasn't like I was trying to find anything exotic. I was under the impression that Swiss was a very common cheese, but from the looks of the cheese aisle, Irish cheese and Greek cheese are more popular. In case you were thinking that the store was just out of stock, it's been this way for almost three months. The absence of my favorite cheese was just as frustrating as the faulty security light in the back yard. In both cases, I don't know what is going on. Who knows? Maybe there is a tariff on cheese.

I keep looking around the office and wondering if I still need all the stuff surrounding me. Probably not. I'd be more amenable to a major housecleaning, if it wasn't so much trouble. Books are heavy. Obsolete tape recorders and computers are even heavier. It's much easier to just let everything collect dust a little longer. There needs to be a painless way to downsize without dealing with yard sales or Craigslist. I used to be a big fan of eBay, but that seems almost as bad as Craigslist these days. Lets face it. I've become so adverse to dealing with strangers that I'll probably just do nothing.

It's getting harder to find things to photograph on our walks now. The Spring wildflowers are starting to disappear and the animals stay hidden during the hot Summer days. We got up extra early this morning in an attempt to avoid the heat, but it was still uncomfortable. It's going to be a long, hot Summer.  I think Dash had more energy this morning than I did.

I hope I have more energy tomorrow, because it's time to go to the gym again. I wonder what it's going to take to step up my game and go several times a week. It's easy to convince myself that I already get enough exercise walking Dash. It's even easier to convince myself that the traffic is too bad to leave the house. Hey, if I was really concerned about exercise, I could just do planks on the office floor. It's actually pretty amazing that I even go to the gym at all.

The landscaper still hadn't replaced the dead grass. I wonder who I'm going to see first: the roofer or the landscaper?

Boo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3098

I was surprised that Dash and I got caught in the rain this morning. I'm obsessive about checking the weather and I wasn't expecting rain at all. Although we both got wet, it was a gentle shower and ended up taking the edge off the Summer heat. When Dash was younger, he hated walking in the rain. Today, he didn't even seem to notice. He maintained the same slow pace he does on dry days.

I'm continuing to look for things to consign at auction. Today, I took a small picture out of its frame to see if there was a signature on the back. In the process, I discovered how dusty a nearby bookcase had become. One thing usually leads to another around here and pretty soon I was carefully vacuuming all the nik naks on the shelves. Nothing has changed in the office for years. I need to throw away a lot of useless, obsolete stuff and give the place a thorough cleaning. Given the extent of the clutter, it seems like an impossible task. I always wondered how my Dad's place became so cluttered in his later years. He and Mom were neat as a pin when they were younger. So was I. In my early thirties, I was a devoted minimalist and nothing was ever out of place. I guess there is a little Grey Gardens in all of us as we age.

I sent the landscaper a text message today. Nothing else has worked. I hate to be a pest, but I hate being ignored even more. It continues to amaze me that so many people in the service industry provide terrible service. When my business was active, I tried my best to be responsive. I usually avoided making promises though. Promises can be hard to keep. It's OK to say you're not going to be able to get to something for a while. Just don't say you're coming over tomorrow and never show up.

I wonder if future generations will ever collect old computers. I have lots of old computers. Most things that are collectible now were considered worthless at some point. Who ever thought that baseball cards and school lunch boxes would become valuable? My Mom threw away a big box of baseball cards I had as a kid. She just thought they were junk. I wish I still had every guitar I ever purchased. I got rid of a few that later proved valuable. As I survey the office now, it's hard to tell the treasures from the junk. It's very tedious to research everything too. That's probably why the bookshelves are so dusty now. I still want to downsize, but it is a lot of trouble. I bet I'll still be thinking of downsizing next year when things are even dustier.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2948

Another uneventful Friday. My pancakes were delicious. Maybe next week I'll make an omelet. I'd almost forgotten that my special omelet recipe made it into the South by Southwest cookbook a few years ago. I was probably the least famous person in this celebrity studded cookbook, but it was still cool to be selected. The only downside to today's meal was that I used up the last of the Italian sausage. There's only one place in town that makes this stuff the way I like it, so I'll have to drive across town to pick up a new supply next week. Let me know if you hear of any amazing new breakfast restaurants. Until then, I'm content to eat at home.

I talked to a dealer I've known for years about helping me liquidate one of my collections. I didn't think he'd be interested, but he seems willing to help for a percentage of the sale. Before we can get started, I need to provide a complete inventory of the collection. Lord knows how long that will take. Most of the stuff is in unmarked boxes in the storage warehouse. I don't even know what I have anymore. If making an inventory was a pleasant task, I would have done it years ago. I guess I should have known that you can postpone unpleasant tasks, but you can seldom avoid them entirely.

People who collect memories probably have an easier time decluttering than people who collect stuff. We all become forgetful as we grow older. When you forget your memories, your problem is solved. When you forget where you've put all your stuff, the problem just becomes more difficult. I hope I can take care of this collection by the end of the year. Then next year, I'll start on another one.

It was much warmer today. Dash didn't need to wear a sweater under his harness and I didn't need to wear a second coat under my down jacket. The fact that I would call a windy, forty degree day "warm" just goes to show you how cold it's been for the past week. I'm ready for Spring. Unfortunately, I don't think Winter cares what I think. We've had plenty of ice storms in February and March.

I got two more writing assignments today. Two articles isn't enough to pay the electric bill, but it's nice that a few people still remember me. I could write two articles a day indefinitely, but I was in no hurry to start writing immediately. I'm going to save these jobs for next week. Hey, I already wrote something last Thursday. With assignments so few and far between, I need to spread these things out.

Am I the only one who's grown tired of all the drama in Washington DC? All the TV stations have a countdown clock showing how many hours are left before the government shuts down again. Who cares. These shutdowns are meaningless. The government starts back up again in a few days. All the government workers get paid. Both sides blame each other for the mess and then the whole cycle starts all over again. The next time the government shuts down, we should just leave it closed indefinitely and see what we can do without. Congress would be the first to go. They aren't doing anything anyway.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2324

The severe storms that everybody's been talking about are supposed to arrive between now and midnight. On the news they say there's a strong possibility of tornadoes, 80 MPH straight line winds, and baseball size hail. I hope none of this is true, but in Texas it's better to be safe than sorry. We've had some terrible tornadoes in the area during the past several years and you never know where one is going to strike next. I worry most about falling tree limbs, broken glass, and power outages. I don't know what the dogs worry about, but a bad storm must be the equivalent of the end of the world to them. They both totally freak out when we have severe weather.

I went through a big stack of mail I've been avoiding and sorted it into categories this afternoon. Most of the mail was either medical records, bank statements, or stock transactions. Whenever I read a bank statement, there would always be something on the bottom of the page in very tiny print telling me that the bank had changed its policy on something. Interest rates have declined. Service fees have gone up. It's always something. No wonder I hate to read this stuff.

I was going to sort through a big pile of socks and throw away the ones with a hole in the toe, but sorting through the mail took too long and I'll have to postpone this task for another day, or more realistically, another year. I could spend the rest of my life clearing out the clutter in the office. Stuff piles up and I just don't care anymore. I always used to wonder how my parents house became so cluttered as they grew older. Now I know. The truth is that it takes a lot more effort to maintain a zen-like minimal lifestyle that it does to just let stuff pile up.

Against my better judgement, I ordered some more ink for the big production printer. I really should throw this thing away, but like the video tape machines, mixing boards, and synthesizers that are gathering dust, it is a link to a very productive past that I find difficult to abandon. My Dad was kind of like this. After he retired, the University let him keep his lab for a few years and he went there every day and just puttered around. Absolutely nothing was accomplished, but these familiar surroundings kept him from having to acknowledge that a chunk of his life was over. I feel like I am the guardian of this old gear that served me well for so many years. It's totally obsolete now, but I can't part with it.

Dot had a good day. She slept all night and didn't poop in the house at all today. After dinner this evening, I took her out in the yard and she did her business just like a normal dog. When something good happens, Janet and I like to think it is because we discontinued the chemotherapy. When something bad happens, we don't know what to think. We are doing everything we can to ensure a good outcome for Dot. We aren't really in control of everything though. Often bad things happen despite out best efforts.

I'm certainly not in control of the weather. The storm has gotten much closer as I've been writing. There is no escaping this thing. It is a solid wall of wind and water extending from the Oklahoma border down past Waco. The laptops and phones have been charged. There are fresh batteries in the emergency lights. The dogs have been outside to pee. All we can do is wait.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2196

I made it back to the gym today. I wish I enjoyed this more, because it seems pretty obvious that this is a much more effective way to ward off heart attacks and diabetes than working around the house. Housework can be strenuous, but I'm slow and methodical and vacuuming or sweeping leaves off the roof seldom elevates my heart rate. When I'm at the gym, my body knows I've done something. Cleaning the house leaves me tired, but I'm not really feeling the burn. The weariness probably comes from the futility of it all. When I go to the gym regularly, I actually do feel stronger. When I clean the house regularly, it is still old and falling apart. It never really gets clean either. I continue to be amazed that week-after-week the Dyson canister continues to fill up with dust and dirt while the dehumidifier bucket continues to fill up with water. Where does all this dirt and moisture come from. It's almost like the house manufactures it.

When I was young and starting out in advertising, my boss came up with the famous "There is no finish line" theme for Nike. This was a brilliant headline, but it also summed up my feelings about exercise. I want there to be a finish line for everything. I'd like to be able to get into shape and then be able to say "been there, done that," so I could go back to eating donuts. Life doesn't work that way unfortunately. If I don't continuously keep practicing my skills, I lose them. If I don't continuously stay active, I become fat. If I'm not comfortable with the idea of continually being my own personal drill Sargent, I'll probably just sink into a deep depression and give up.

It's more about perseverance than pleasure these days. That's not entirely bad. There is a quiet satisfaction in hanging in there and being able to get up and face another day. I see this determination in Dot every day. Her brain isn't all there anymore, and her body definitely isn't all there. Aging and adversity doesn't seem to phase her though. She wakes up every morning comfortable in the knowledge that she is a dog. This seems to be enough. She enjoys smelling things. She loves to eat. And she sleeps a lot. I have a feeling that she doesn't search for the meaning of life at all. This is probably a better way to live.

I seldom think about the meaning of life on Sundays. I'm too tired. In addition to burning off a lot of calories at the gym, I cleaned the entire house with the Dyson and made a valiant attempt to straighten up my office. It's gotten so bad that I have to approach cleaning the office like archaeology. Today I removed hundreds of small tools, broken watches, computer cables, and other dusty objects off an unused workbench. I cleaned each of these objects and then cleaned the workbench itself, which was covered by a thick layer of dust. I should have cleaned the bench months ago, but it was just too much trouble to clear it off. It looks better now. Things that have been out of place for years are now back where they belong. A few things were thrown away and I even found a couple of things that had been lost for months. Was it worth the two hours it took to de-clutter a small two foot by six foot surface? Maybe. The problem is that the dust will return. Remember, there is no finish line.

I took today's picture of the moon before I went to bed last night. I just pointed the little point-and-shoot camera I take with me when I walk the dogs at the moon and clicked the shutter. There was no telescope, no tripod, no exposure calculations, no real effort at all. When I was in high school I became fascinated with astronomy and would spend hours trying to take pictures of the moon through a small telescope. Most of my efforts didn't turn out as well as this lazy, effortless shot. That's the way life should be. As you continue doing the things you have always done, they should gradually become easier. My aching body and somewhat muddled brain beg to differ. Like it or not, most things become much harder as we grow older.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2190

I spent the day trying to return the house to normal. The camera equipment was packed up and returned to its proper place. The large muslin photo backdrop was cleaned and folded. Some things went back to the office. Some things were hidden under the bed. The majority of the equipment was loaded into the car and returned to the storage warehouse. When the clutter was gone, the dust and dirt that had accumulated from three weeks of benign neglect became even more obvious. Out came the Dyson and the house was vacuumed from one end to the other. I had to clean bird poop off the car again too. The evil bird has returned with a vengeance.

Some things will have to wait until tomorrow. I need to get the water off the roof again. I know it's up there, but other things have been more important. I still need to put up a Christmas tree. I never got around to putting up the mini-blinds either. There just isn't enough time anymore. I hate to rush Dot when I take her outside. It takes a lot of patience to hold up her rear legs while she aimlessly wanders around and smells things. Dot still likes to smell things, so I let her stay outside as long as she wants. I can always catch up on whatever I'm doing later. Sometimes I think Dot forgets why she went outside in the first place. I understand. I often forget why I'm doing things.

When I went to the bank this morning I noticed that the skin on my arm was turning a bright red as I felt a flushing sensation on my face and extremities. Damn. I must have taken my nighttime meds in the morning again. I take Niacin to help control cholesterol, but I need to take it at bedtime. Niacin in high doses causes an uncomfortable flushing sensation, but you don't notice it when you are asleep. I seldom mix up my morning and evening meds, but when I do, the Niacin serves as a not so subtle reminder that I need to get my act together.

I started looking for a smaller dehumidifier for the back of the house today. Curiously, I found that most of the smaller capacity units were almost exactly the same physical size as the larger units. They were almost the same price too. Maybe this is why these smaller dehumidifiers don't sell very well. Why would you buy a 30 pint, or 50 pint model if the 70 pint model was the same size and only cost $50 more? These companies need some marketing help. I may need to rethink getting a second dehumidifier. These smaller units make no sense at all.

I'll probably continue cleaning tomorrow. I'd love to start the new year with a clean uncluttered office. Of course, I'll like to start the new year with a big bank account, healthy dogs, and five new clients too. Some things just aren't going to happen. I can't decide whether decluttering is feasible or completely hopeless. It is such a huge job and the rewards are somewhat minimal. It's not like I'd do anything differently if I had a clean office. It would be nice to be able to find things though.

Tomorrow is my Blogiversary. Kind of amazing to think I'll be starting my eighth year writing Some Assembly Required and I still haven't missed a single day. If I was this dedicated about everything, Lord knows what I could have accomplished.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2169

It may be a short week, but it certainly was a long day. The days always seem longer when there is nothing to focus on. Without a crisis to deal with or a deadline to meet, I kind of floundered around today. I renewed a few domain names that expire next month, checked to see how much I'd earned this month from stock photo sales, and converted my personal Amazon account to a business account to get the free shipping. I'm getting closer to purchasing a dehumidifier, but kept finding myself wandering away from the industrial water removal web sites and looking at cameras instead. I actually need a dehumidifier and don't need another camera at all, but dehumidifiers are really boring.

When Janet was cleaning this weekend, she filled a cardboard box with small items she'd cleared off the coffee table in the living room and put the box in my office. I was tired of tripping over the box every time I got up to go to the bathroom at night, so I knew that I'd eventually have to deal with it. I actually liked all the little knick·knacks that had been designated as clutter, so I placed most of them on shelves in my already cluttered office and refilled the box with old Christmas presents that I didn't like. I took this box to the storage warehouse and considered my solution a win, since the same volume of unneeded stuff had been removed from the house.

I need to figure out a way to watch TV or read a book while I'm outside holding up Dot's rear legs. She is so slow now that it takes a lot of patience to be her outdoor companion. Sometimes I think she just needs to pee and I won't put on a jacket or warm clothes. This is inevitably when she wants to sniff the air for thirty minutes. I can't just run inside to get a jacket because she'll fall over. I think Dot enjoys being outside on crisp, cool days like today, so I never try to hurry her. In Dot's defense, she did manage to poop outside when I least expected it. This just proves that there can be happy endings to almost any scenario.

Since it was such a slow day, I thought I'd watch the Sleep No More episode of Dr. Who that I'd missed a few weeks ago. Monsters created out of the mucus that forms in the corner of your eyes while you sleep? Surely Steven Moffat could have come up with a more plausible plot twist than this. I continue to maintain that the Russell T Davies era had consistently better scripts than this new series. I don't think the dogs liked this episode either. Even though I watched the show during one of their regular nap periods, they were constantly interrupting me. When they started to bark, I would put the DVR on pause and go see what they wanted. I think all they wanted was constant attention.

One of my clients called and wants new employee pictures for their website. Wow. That was a blast from the past. I used to be shooting new employee pictures constantly, but this was the first request I'd gotten this year. I think most people finally figured out that putting employees on their website just showed the rest of the world how bad their staff turnover problems were. Maybe these guys are being optimistic. At any rate, it will give me something to do next week. I'll be able to find out if I have any looming equipment problems before the grueling Santa photo season begins too.

Maybe something more exciting than watching the humidity level will happen tomorrow. I hope the dogs let me sleep tonight. Doing nothing really wears you out.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2042

We took Dash to a dog park for small dogs this morning in hopes that the little dogs wouldn't scare him and he would have more fun. Since Dash isn't that small, we were a bit worried that somebody might object to him being there. Nobody had a problem with Dash. It quickly became apparent that he was the most timid dog in the park. Pretty soon a bunch of Yorkies were chasing him around with his tail tucked between his legs. It's a shame that Dash has lost his nerve. He used to love going to the dog park and would frequently find other timid dogs to play with. I think Dot gave him confidence. They always used to do everything together and as long as she was around to protect him, he had a lot more confidence. Sadly, Dot's dog park days are over. Dash will have to find another way to build his confidence back. It's not going to be easy. Dash was attacked by an aggressive dog when he was young and almost died. I don't think he will ever forget the experience.

I took some more stuff to the storage warehouse on my way to the gym this afternoon. Most of the stuff that gets relegated to storage these days are things that Janet wants out of the house. She is trying to declutter. I have little interest in decluttering. I just fantasize about having a huge place where I could spread out and never have to put things away. There would be a big room for music and another even bigger room for photography. I would have a quiet room for writing, a room with powerful computers for developing websites, and a huge kitchen with lots of shelves for pots and pans. We don't have any of these things, so I am constantly taking things out of closets and putting them away again when I'm done. I don't understand the tiny house movement at all. I want lots and lots of space.

My Sunday workouts must be doing me a little bit of good, because they don't seem quite as onerous  as they did a month ago. I still feel like packing up and going home during the first ten minutes, but then my heart rate starts to increase, I begin to sweat, and everything settles into a rhythm. After about an hour, I begin to think that just maybe, going to the gym isn't as bad as I thought it was.

Our U-verse service has gotten flaky again, so I'm going to need to have a service technician come over and check things out tomorrow. I hate it when the cable guy comes over. When I have plumbing or HVAC problems, the repair people usually stick to one room. The cable folks are all over the place though, and the dogs hate it. Now that Dot is weak and has trouble walking, having service technicians of any kind at the house is an even bigger problem than it used to be. When Dot gets upset, she poops. I'm sure she's going to poop in the house tomorrow.

When we were walking the dogs this morning, I noticed that all the neighbors had stacks of brush and trash stacked near the curb in their front yards. It must be time for big trash day again. If I've got time tomorrow, I need to gather up the fallen tree branches, dead bedding plants, and other junk that has accumulated in the yard since the last big trash day and take them out to the curb myself. With only one bulky trash pickup a month, it can be easy for things to get out of control. Monday's aren't usually very busy, so I should have plenty of time to do this. Oh wait, the cable guy is coming over. I won't have any time at all.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1769

I finally got the new generator running. It was easy to start, runs fairly quietly, and seems to produce electricity. I tested it using the only electrical appliance that I could find that was easy to unplug and take outside. Janet should be pleased. Her hairdryer runs just fine using the generator. The only problem I had was getting the gas out of the gas container and into the generator. I hate the complicated locking safety spouts they put on gas containers these days. I can never get them to work. They incorporate a spring that won't allow gas to flow unless you unlock it and press down on the end of the spout. When you finally press hard enough to get the gas flowing, it usually leaks all over the place. I finally gave up and got an old tin funnel out of the tool shed and poured the gas directly out of the can into the funnel.

With the generator running and ready for the next power outage, I moved on to more difficult tasks. I unclogged the large format printer for the fifth time this month and then began to disassemble the workstation where I used to keep the old ESQ-1 synthesizer that I'd banished to the storage warehouse a few weeks ago. One reason that I've been so slow in decluttering the office is that it is quite difficult. There are cables everywhere and when I initially put the studio together, I meticulously fastened each of them into neat bundles with cable ties. It's kind of sad to deconstruct things after all the work I put into putting everything together, but the time has come. The studio was state of the art in the 1980's, but it is a museum piece today. It took quite a while to remove all the wiring and take the big desk apart, but eventually I succeeded without breaking anything. The disassembled synthesizer desk, along with some surprisingly nice luggage from my world traveling days, went to the storage warehouse to join all the other relics from my youth.

Dot has her big cancer recheck tomorrow. Since she had a different type of cancer than Dash, she will get a different type of exam. Instead of a chest x-ray, she will get an ultrasound scan of her abdominal area. Dot has done so well during her recovery that I really hope her exam goes perfectly. It would be really nice to have nothing to worry about for a change.

On my way home from the storage warehouse I stopped at Home Depot and got some tile grout and silicon sealer. The shower is leaking because the grout where the walls meet the floor has all come loose and water is seeping under the tile and finding a way outside. Every time I take a shower I have to put a towel outside the shower stall to sop up the leaking water. When the leak was just a very small puddle it was easy to ignore. Even though I am very good at ignoring things, the growing leak has become a problem that I've just got to deal with. All that being said, the box of tile grout will probably still sit on a shelf for several weeks before I am forced to actually repair things.

The original batch of people being quarantined for Ebola exposure will be released at midnight tonight. Their 21 days are up and they will be free to go about their business. A lot of people in town will be relieved when this happens. Others will become even more alarmed, convinced that 21 days isn't long enough. That's just the way it is these days. I don't think as a country, we will ever come together and fully agree on anything again.

Diva is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day