Day 3074

I'm gaining weight. It probably didn't help that I had Beignets with breakfast this morning. I still try to eat healthy, but it's getting harder. I'm not really a Kale and Quinoa kind of guy. My diet hasn't changed all that much, but my daily activities have. When the dogs were young and healthy, we used to walk at least six miles every day. Dalmatians are active dogs and we kept a pretty brisk pace. Now there's only one dog and he is incredibly slow. Dash and I are lucky if we travel two miles these days.

In theory, there's nothing preventing me from still walking six miles a day. I could easily go on a walk while Dash was sleeping during the day. I have no desire to do this, unfortunately. Walking the dogs was a duty that I enjoyed. It was clear that the dogs needed me. When there was a problem to be solved in my professional career, I always felt the same way. I enjoyed a career as a photographer and filmmaker. Somehow doing these same things as a hobby has little appeal. When someone asks me "What do you like to do for fun?" I seldom have an answer. What is fun anyway?

Are you getting a ton of irritating e-mail from companies and websites saying that they've changed their privacy policies? It's all because of the GDPR. The European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation has changed everything. Personally, I don't think the Europeans realize that privacy is just an illusion. It doesn't exist anymore. Artificial Intelligence needs massive amounts of data to function and your robot overlords are going to get that data one way or another. China, not Europe, holds the keys to the future. They are already using sophisticated facial recognition technology to identify billions of people. In the future, payments will be made with retinal scans, not money. Stores will know what you are going to buy before you even enter the door. I don't necessarily like this, but it's coming. Just to be safe, I've removed all remaining online forms from my websites. I don't want to be ever accused of collecting any information on anybody.

Dash and I were surprised by an unexpected thunderstorm this afternoon. The sun was shining this morning when we took our morning walk. I was expecting clear skies all the way through the Memorial Day holiday. It wasn't meant to be. Around lunch time the sky became ominously dark and I began to hear thunder. We didn't lose power, but the lights did flicker for a while. This was more than enough to throw Dash into a panic. It took a while for me to calm him down, but eventually he settled down under a blanket with me and we rode out the storm. If I had anything else to do, this would have been frustrating, but life is pretty slow now. Comforting a dog under a blanket seemed as good a way to spend the day as anything. We both went to sleep after a while and when we woke up, the rain was gone.

There is a huge sale going on at REI, but there is absolutely nothing I need. I have a feeling that this is going to become a recurring theme. When collecting things and accumulating gear I don't really need fails to give me pleasure, it's probably time to reassess everything.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2540

Every couple of months, I open a stack of mail that I have no interest in. This stack is pretty large, because the only mail that I actually do open are bills, checks from clients, and the occasional letter from my sister. I never read bank statements anymore. If I'm interested, I can always go online to check my balance. Letters from Medicare and my supplemental health insurance company are mostly just irritating. Why does the government generate so much useless paperwork? They could probably cut the cost of healthcare significantly if they just eliminated all these letters. Letters from SiriusXM go directly in the trash. If you ever accepted a free trial from SiriusXM, you'll get so many letters afterwards asking you to subscribe that they could have given you a free subscription with the money they spend on postage. Why do banks keep asking me to sign up for a credit card when I already have their credit card too? Most of the mail I receive is worthless. Of course, I could say the same thing for most of the e-mail I receive. Some of the mail I opened today went in a folder, in case I might need it for taxes. The rest went in the shredder or the trash. Hopefully, I won't need to do this again for another couple of months.

It was so dark and overcast today that I spent the entire day thinking it was about to rain. The air smelled like rain. There was lots of wind, kind of like a front was moving through the area, but there was no rain. I think it is still supposed to rain after midnight tonight, but hopefully there will be no thunder and lightning. With storm phobic dogs, thunder and lightning virtually guarantees that you won't be getting much sleep.

Since dark, gloomy days destroy my motivation, just about the only thing I accomplished other than sorting through a pile of unwanted mail was go to the gym. At least the gym is brightly lit. I keep thinking that I should be getting stronger or have more stamina after all the time I've spent at the gym, but I feel the same as I always have. My wrists hurt. My shoulders hurt. And I'm always ready to go home as soon as my workout is finished. I try to be optimistic though. I'm not gaining much but maybe the whole point is to keep from deteriorating even further.

I've got to find a solution for my acid reflux problem. I thought I was cured, but really it was just the pills that made me feel better. As soon as I discontinued the Protonix, the heartburn returned. I don't want brittle, weak bones, but I don't want the heartburn either. In theory, you can cure this problem with a change in diet. You've got to give up coffee, spicy foods, tomatoes, pizza, potato chips, and just about everything else I enjoy. Like that's going to happen. I don't think I could survive without coffee and spicy foods. I'm going to go get a bone density test next week. If my bone density is still good, maybe I can start taking the Protonix again. Maybe it's not good for you in the long run, but the stuff really works.

I got an e-mail from a high-end watch winder company telling me that everything on their website was half price for one day. That's quite a savings. The rational part of my brain kept telling me that I don't even wear my watches anymore. I don't need another watch winder. The irrational part of my brain kept saying, but it's half price! Half price! I'm happy to report that the rational part of my brain prevailed.

I can't believe that the same people who spent the past year calling Trump a fascist and a tyrant are now praising Castro as a great leader. Do these people have any idea of the horrible things Castro actually did? All I've got to say is it's a strange world we live in now.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2195

The dogs let us sleep in this morning, but I still woke up tired. I got to bed late last night because I was still ironing out the bugs resulting from yesterday's big computer upgrade. Not that it matters, but I think I finally regained the ability to run Linux software on the computer. When I did go to bed, I discovered that Dash was in my place. This happens a lot. I either have to move him, which wakes everybody up, or just sleep on the edge of the bed. To avoid a lot of barking and commotion in the middle of the night, I just slept on the edge of the bed.

It was really cold last night. I remember waking up at some point to put a blanket on Dot. When we went on our morning walk, the grass felt crunchy under my boots and there was frost everywhere. In the Summer I always think it would be nice to retire to Wyoming or Montana. In the Winter Florida sounds better.

When we were walking this morning, I noticed that the city street crews were repaving one of the roads that leads into the park. This road doesn't get a lot of traffic, but I guess it was on the city's list anyway. Right next to the road the city was fixing was a residential street with some of the worst potholes in the city. I don't think this street has ever been fixed. You'd think the city would pave both streets, since all the paving equipment was here anyway. Nope. As soon as they finished the short road into the park, they left. The nearby street with giant potholes was ignored.

It took me a long time to do my Saturday errands today. I just wasn't in the mood. It was actually a beautiful, somewhat chilly day, but taking a long nap seemed much more appealing than putting on a warm coat and going grocery shopping. Eventually I pulled myself together and got everything done, but I still feel sleep deprived. The roads and stores were really crowded today. If Dallas traffic is any indication, retailers should have a good Christmas this year.  Maybe taking a nap wasn't such a bad idea after all.

I really need to go to the gym tomorrow. The combination of too many holiday sweets and too little exercise is starting to take its toll. You'd think that the four all day photo events earlier this month would have provided all the exercise I needed, but apparently not. I think all the Santa Paws events did was ruin my knees and make the carpel tunnel in my left wrist worse. I'm certainly not any stronger. Like it or not, I'm going to have to hit the treadmill and hand bicycle again.

I wish I had the willpower to go back to the austere diet I was on while I was being treated for Hepetitis C. I was a bit thinner then and generally felt healthier, but I didn't enjoy living without wheat and sugar. Meals are important to me. Sadly, bread is very tasty and sugar and salt are the secret ingredients that make almost everything taste good. Once I started having the occasional cheeseburger again and returned to eating bread and crackers it was all over. I just can't go back to kale salads. I still don't drink, but I'll have to admit that a few Martinis would have made this a better day.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2034

I'm glad I mowed the grass yesterday, because it was even hotter outside today. The temperature is still tolerable when we walk the dogs just before sunrise, but the comfortable predawn breezes don't last long. I'm going to have to start watering the lawn again, because things are drying up fast. I guess this had to happen. It is almost the middle of July. I feel lucky that our unusually mild Spring and Summer lasted as long as it did.

Today was a day to stock up on things.  I got furnace filters again. The filters are supposed to last 90 days, but they never do. Our house is amazingly dusty and always full of dog hair. I'm lucky if the filters last a month. I got halogen bulbs for the floor lamps in the living room. I've switched all the other light fixtures in the house to LED bulbs that will outlast me, but the bulbs in the floor lamps burn out continually. I got a dozen blue shop towels, some astringent for my oily skin, and a box of large trash bags, It's amazing how two people can generate so much trash. I think most of it is just the junk mail we throw away each day. The post office does a good business delivering junk mail. That's all we get these days.

At this time of year, I often run out of things to photograph. The wildflowers are just about gone by now. Some of the Firewheels remain, along with a few Horsemint and Purple Verbena plants. The meadows are no longer a blaze of color though. Everything has gone to seed. The spectacular sunsets don't begin to appear until October. Even the animals have disappeared. They have all taken shelter in brushy areas to beat the heat. You'll have to live with a picture of crows on telephone wires today. That's the only thing that caught my eye.

I got my first door ding in the new car today. I guess the car isn't really new any more, since I've had it almost two years, but it still seems new compared to the Defender that I drove for over fifteen years. I hate door dings because they are so inevitable. It's only a matter of time before an errant shopping cart comes to a stop against the side of your car, or somebody parking next to you swings their door wide open quickly without realizing the the parking places aren't wide enough for this sort of thing. The Defender was covered with small door dings by the time I sold it. Look at the cars surrounding you the next time you're in a large parking lot. Almost every one of them will have a dent in it somewhere.

I need to make a point of going to the gym tomorrow. The slow walks we take with Dot each day aren't burning up many calories and I'm eating more than I was during my Kale salad days. That's the trouble with staying in shape. You just can't ignore it.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1778

I got the long awaited message from the liver center today, telling me that they considered me officially "cured" of Hepatitis C. My final viral load test showed that after six months, there was still no trace of the virus in my body. There will be no more tests. I'm done.

I'm relieved and happy to put all this behind me. It's ironic in a way that it took a deadly disease to get me healthy. Before Sovaldi came along, there really wasn't an effective cure for the disease. The previous interferon and ribavirin treatment only had a 50% success rate and many people experienced terrible side effects. I decided to wait until Sovaldi was approved and changed my entire diet and lifestyle to decrease the load on my liver. I quit drinking. I lost weight. And I exchanged my steady diet of cheeseburgers and beer for broccoli, kale salads, and other healthy fare. Healthy living kept my liver going while I was waiting and I ended up being one of the first people in the country to receive the new drug. It has been a long journey, but it definitely ended well.

I thought I'd watch a few YouTube videos and see if it were possible for me to install a new battery in my MacBook Pro laptop without going to the Apple Store. The process seemed simple enough. You just unscrew the bottom of the computer, unscrew a few more things inside, and them remove and replace the battery. Piece of cake. By doing this myself, I could cut the cost of a battery replacement in half. I gave the matter some serious thought and then decided I ought to make an appointment at the Genius Bar instead. I've had experience dealing with tiny little screws that have been tightened by machines before. It's incredibly easy to strip the threads, making it impossible to put everything back together again. I've ruined enough watches with tiny little screws that I proceed very cautiously when I see these things now. Just because you've got a small Philips screwdriver doesn't necessarily mean you can get the screws out. The Apple Store technicians are just as likely to destroy the computer as I am, but if they break it, they'll give me a new one. That's what happened when I had to get a new battery for my iPhone. The Apple folks ended up destroying the phone, but they were real nice about giving me a brand new one.

I watched a rocket explode carrying supplies to the space station when I was eating dinner tonight. I bet the astronauts on board the station are a little nervous right now. The 5,000 pounds of supplies included most of their food for the next six months. It's not exactly easy to get up to the space station anymore, with all our space shuttles sitting in museums. I did a little channel surfing to see if I could learn more about the story and was surprised to see how selective news coverage has become. All MSNBC was talking about were the upcoming mid-term elections, and Fox was still talking about Ebola. Apparently the only folks that initially thought this story was news was CNN.

Dot and Dash have their costumes ready for the Halloween party tomorrow. Once or twice we've won the costume contest, but typically the class don't even know what our costumes are. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1659

I can't say that I'm a big soccer fan, but I did watch the game between USA and Belgium today, mostly because so many people were talking about it. I don't think have the patience for this kind of game. I watched for over an hour and nobody scored. Eventually, I got tired of the game and took the dogs for a walk. When we got back, the game was still going on. It's rare that a sporting event captures my attention for very long. I probably like watching horse races the best. The race is over in just a few minutes and you can bet on the horses.

It was a slow day, so I went to the gym this afternoon. It was an anniversary of sorts. Exactly one year ago today, I joined the gym. I don't think I had great expectations at the time. It was just something to do on a hot Summer day. In retrospect, I've made quite a bit of progress. Most importantly, I'm still going! I rarely continue anything this long unless it has something to do with the dogs. I don't think I will ever become obsessed with physical fitness. Exercise is about as exciting as watching soccer to me. I have taken the advice of my hepatologist to heart though. He managed to convince me that a good diet was only part of the equation. Healthy food needs to be combined with lots of activity to produce the desired results. There's a lot of biology and chemistry involved, but it should suffice to say that diet and exercise go together.

I wish I was making as much progress with my business as I am at the gym. It seems like I was a lot busier last July. I have two website clients who keep me very busy and half a dozen others who need me sporadically. This isn't really enough, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I've had a real good run since I started the company in 1990, but I'm loathe to go after new business anymore. I'm far too used to being the Wizard of Oz. Sometime while I wasn't looking, Toto pulled back the curtain and ruined everything. I've been exposed. Most of what I do has become a low paid commodity to the generation that replaced me. I still chase after the low hanging fruit from time to time, but all too often it is full of worms. I'm beginning to think that the business isn't worth it anymore and I might have more fun working at the genius bar in an Apple store.

I'm still interested in photography, but I'm losing interest in the gear. I take the majority of my pictures using my phone now, just like everyone else. I saw a beautiful, very large butterfly outside the living room window this morning, I ran back to the office to grab a good camera and by the time I got back, the butterfly was gone. That's the trouble with lots of equipment. It's hard to be spontaneous. I used to like to create complex, beautiful images in a studio. Now, I prefer to just capture images as I find them. The phone is great for that. For a cynical person, I still see quite a bit of beauty in the world.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1657

Sunday is seldom a day of rest at our house. Lately, it has turned into the most physical day of the week. This morning, it was time to mow the grass again. I'm happy to mow, because that means the grass is still growing. With the unusual amount of rain we've had this June, everything is still nice and green. Last year, it was a different story. I am hoping that our cooler than usual Summer will continue, but if today was any indication, our pleasant, breezy days might just about be over.

After mowing the grass and doing a little gardening, I decided to go to the gym. Sunday is not only my favorite day to go to the gym, it is often the only day I have time to go. Since the gym is connected with a major hospital, I sometimes see people getting physical therapy there. Maybe I could get one of my doctors to refer me to one of the staff physical therapists. I'm certainly burning calories, but I don't know if what I'm doing is actually helping or hurting my shoulder. A good physical therapist could probably get me doing some exercises that would actually help my shoulder injury heal. After all these months, it's still more painful than it should be.

I'm starting to gain weight again. I'm certainly not getting fat, but a pound here and a pound there and that's how it all starts. The problem is twofold. First of all, unhealthy, fattening food tastes a lot better than kale and brussel sprouts. Secondly, I always eat more when I'm bored. If I'm in the middle of a big video editing project, or designing a challenging website, I seldom think about food at all. This year, most of my work has been of the general maintenance variety. I'm generally keeping something running, instead of creating something new. The more boring the task at hand, the more frequently I want to run to the kitchen and grab another handful of cashews. I'm still trying to keep my sugar and salt intake to a minimum, but unless you're buying fresh produce at a farmers market, almost everything is overloaded with salt and sugar.

I think I was at my best at maintaining my weight when I made a commitment to beating Hepatitis C. While I was in treatment, I had clearly defined goals. Doctors monitored what I ate. I got tested every two weeks, and the results provided a valuable incentive that helped keep me on the straight and narrow path. Now that my Hepatitis C has been cured, I'm not really sure where to go next. Part of me is genuinely proud that I dropped 30 pounds and can now wear the same sized clothes I wore in collage. The other part of me would love to go back to a steady diet of barbecue, beans, and beer. I'm not sure who will win this battle.

Actually, we are having barbecue next weekend. If you live in Texas, you've got to have barbecue on the Fourth of July. Dot's physical therapy day has been moved to Monday next week, so we'll be doing her acupuncture and water therapy sessions tomorrow. Life was easier when Dot's spa day was always on Wednesday, but things change. Things always change.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1636

I hooked up the Roku streaming stick to the TV this morning. It worked. I was curious how this little gizmo could offer so many channels for free and it didn't take me long to find out. The first free channel I added was PBS. When I tried to use the channel, I got a message saying that I had to provide my e-mail address before the channel could be activated. So, that's how it works! Now, the never ending pledge drives on PBS will wind up in my e-mail Inbox as well. Sure enough, the next time I checked my e-mail, there was already a message from PBS asking for a donation. I'm sure the other free channels work the same way. Before they can be activated, you probably have to agree to let advertisers send you e-mail spam. Personally, this is not a big deal to me. I already get such a monumental amount of spam every day that I won't even notice a little more.

I went back to the gym this afternoon. I think Sunday is my favorite day to workout. The place is never crowded on Sundays and since Janet is usually home, I don't have to worry about leaving the dogs alone for long periods of time. I can easily see myself going to the gym more often in the future. It's not a bad way to kill time and my doctors have told me that exercise is just as important as my diet.

It's probably good to get out of the house on Sundays anyway. When I'm home I tend to find myself doing things like cleaning toilets and knocking down wasp nests. I did both of those things today, along with adding those 56 new dogs and cats to the animal rescue website. As you can probably guess, it was hot and muggy outside today. It rained a little bit in the morning but it all turned to steam by afternoon. No mowing the grass today. I even dealt with the wasp nests under the eaves from the inside by opening windows and knocking them down with a stick.

I'm still having a hard time keeping Dash's tail from bleeding. As soon as the cut area at the tip of the tail starts to heal, he shakes or wags really hard, typically banging the tail against a wall which starts the bleeding all over again. My vet says that bandaging the tail isn't a really good idea, since it could cut off circulation. Janet found a couple of tail protecting devices on the Internet, but they seemed way too complicated. I couldn't leave anything on his tail while I was gone anyway, because he might chew it off and eat it. There's always the cone of shame, but Dot and Dash absolutely hate wearing the cone. I'll save that as a last resort.

Who knows what I'll be doing this week. It's still a mystery to me. I'm typically crazy busy at the first of the year. Things always slow down a bit during the Summer and than I get busy again in the Fall. That's the way it's been for as long as I can remember. I used to spend my Summers worrying that the Defender 90 would overheat in traffic and leave me stranded. Sometimes it did. Hopefully the new car will eliminate that concern for at least a year or two. I've got a birthday coming up pretty soon, but at my age birthdays aren't as exciting as they used to be. Wouldn't it be nice if after a certain age, you just started getting younger again. I'm already tired of getting older.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1610

I sold the Citroën SM today. It would have been nice to see the car one last time, but the aircraft hanger where I've been keeping it for all these years was too far away. The buyer, a nice young Dutch guy who seemed very excited about restoring the car, just came over to the house and gave me the money in exchange for the car's title. I think the old non-running Citroën Maserati will be packed in a shipping container and be loaded on a boat to be restored in Holland.

I was always hoping to restore the car myself, but it just wasn't meant to be. The car has been moving from one mechanic to another for almost fifteen years now. These increasingly rare mechanics, the ones who were familiar with working on Citroën automobiles, kept retiring, downsizing their life, or just losing interest before they ever got around to fixing my car. When my current mechanic admitted that he'd probably never find time to fix the car either before he retired himself, I finally realized it was finally time to give it up. Citroëns belong in a museum now. It's a shame. The SM is still one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. It was Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 1972. Those were the best of times. We were still going to the moon back then and I was one of the youngest creative directors in Seattle. I drove the car to work every day in the early 1970's. Those days are just are a distant memory now. I know I took photos, but I can't even find a picture of the car anymore.

Dot did really well during her physical therapy session today. I'm a little concerned that she's losing interest though. She used to be really excited to go for her acupuncture and water therapy, but now she seems reluctant to get in the car. We've slowed the pace down a bit, but I still worry a bit that the exercise might be hard on her. It's got to be helping though. No other Dalmatian I've ever had has been anywhere near this healthy and active at Dot's age. It doesn't matter if you're an old Dalmatian or an old ad guy; exercise and a good diet are essential cornerstones in maintaining a healthy life. So, even though Dot and I would both prefer to be eating and sleeping, we'll continue to stay as active as we can.

A cold front passed through town along with yesterday's rain. It must have been 40 degrees cooler at our house this morning. I even had to turn the furnace on again. The dogs loved the cooler weather though and took one of their longest walks this month. This won't last long unfortunately. It is supposed to be back in to 90's again before the end of the week.

I have a feeling that much of what currently resides in my storage warehouse will eventually suffer the same sad fate as my cherished Citroën Maserati. Like they all say, you can't take it with you.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day