Day 4326

Dawn got a bath today. I'm sure she thought we were going for ice cream when she hopped in the car. She certainly seemed disappointed when we arrived at the self-bathe place instead. I don't mind a dirty dog, but Janet prefers a clean dog sleeping next to her. My sense of smell isn't so good, so I probably wouldn't know the difference even if Dawn was filthy. I'll have to admit that Dawn's fur does feel soft and smooth again though. The lady that owns the facility clips Dawn's nails and does her anal glands while we are there. We've never been very successful at doing these things ourselves.

The plumbing company still hasn't received the check I sent them almost a month ago. I called today to see if they wanted me to cancel the check and pay with a credit card, but the bookkeeper told me to wait another week or so. They have discovered what the problem is. They typically send prepaid return envelopes with their invoices and evidently the post office is holding on to over a hundred of these invoices because the woman who processes them quit and they haven't finished training her replacement yet. How hard could it be to process a postage paid envelope? I always thought they were treated just like any other piece of mail. You don't see postage paid envelopes very much anymore, but they used to be very popular. I remember using them quite often back in the day. Needless to say, the plumbing company isn't very happy with the post office. I don't blame them. Mail service for all types of mail has deteriorated recently, but a month to get a letter delivered less than ten miles away is pretty extreme. If I had known this was going to be a problem, I would have just gotten in the car and driven the check over to the plumbing company.

In other dysfunctional news, I read an article that people in North Texas are camping out in front of DMV offices at 2 AM just to get a good place in line to get their driver's license when the office opens the next morning. Evidently the influx of people moving to Texas and chronic staff shortages have caused a huge backlog at the DMV. It can take over a month to get an appointment to renew your license or take a driver's test. Who knew? I haven 't been to the DMV in years because I started renewing my license online as soon as that became an option. I hope they get this all sorted out before I have to go back in person to take the vision test again.

It was cold and windy today. In fact, it was so windy that I had to hold on to my hat frequently while I was taking my long walk. Several times I felt like the wind was going to blow me off the trail. I didn't make very good time today, but I don't think it was the wind that slowed me down. I'm still feeling tired because of the Covid and flu shots I got the other day.  My arm doesn't hurt as much at the injection site anymore, so hopefully my energy will bounce back soon. This shot seemed to pack more of a punch than the first two, but I will feel safer traveling on an airplane now.

I have to go back to my doctor so the nurse can add the booster shot information to my vaccination card. I thought I wouldn't need the card anymore now that you can download an official vaccination record to your phone. When I showed my phone to the nurse she said, "What good is this? I can't write anything on your phone." The whole idea of these vaccination cards wasn't thought out very clearly. They don't fit in your wallet and in most cases there is no corresponding electronic record. You should be able to update all this information electronically. Right now, it's a mess if you happen to lose your card.

Janet had a meeting tonight, so I took a long nap on the bed with Dawn. She seemed reasonably relaxed and stayed on the bed with me the entire time, but was sure happy when Janet returned. I don't think this dog is every going to be best friends with me.

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3835

Dawn got a bath today. Yes, that was the big event of the day. We took her to a neighborhood dog-wash place and probably erased weeks of car conditioning efforts. As far as Dawn is concerned, a bath is even a worse destination than the vet. None of our dogs have liked getting baths, but it was time. The dog-wash place was busier than we expected, but everybody was wearing masks. I thought the restaurant we went to on my birthday felt safer. I'm sure Dawn would have agreed. She would have loved to accompany us to the steak house.

Since Dawn was good about getting bathed, we took her to get an ice cream cone on the way home. All is well now. We have a clean dog and Dawn is starting to think that all car rides end with ice cream.

I forgot what day it was again. For a while this morning I thought it was Tuesday. I guess it's understandable that the days would blend together. The pandemic has made them virtually indistinguishable. It's a shame that infection rates are going up in Texas. I was hoping that things were returning to normal. I'm hearing now that some stores and restaurants are thinking of closing again. I might have missed my chance to get a haircut. We'll see what happens in the next week or so, but things aren't looking good.

Things aren't looking good in Florida either. I really doubt that I'm going to get media accreditation to attend the Mars 2020 launch now. Especially since states are starting to impose travel bans on other hot-spot states. Even if I did get approved, I'm not sure if it would be wise to go. Air travel still seems questionable. Now that we are all getting used to the idea of distancing, I wonder if people will ever feel safe on a plane again. Do you remember how crowded a full plane actually is? Yikes. I haven't been that close to other people since this whole mess started.

Our early morning walks are still enjoyable, but it is definitely getting warmer. At least the rain is gone for a while. I don't know if we could get started any earlier. I'm half asleep when we leave the house as it is. The only way to get more sleep would be to get to bed earlier. I've tried, but it seems to take longer and longer to finish the blog every evening. It's hard to write when you've got nothing to say.

I got a call from the dermatologist's office today saying that my biopsy results were negative. What biopsy? I didn't even know they did one when they removed the keratosis from my face. I guess this is good news. The blemishes were not melanoma or even a pre-cancerous lesion. It's a little late now, but I didn't need to have these things removed in the first place. Better safe than sorry though. You don't want to mess around with anything that might turn into cancer.

It looks like I'm going to have to go up on the roof tomorrow. There's still water up there from our recent rain. The hotter is gets, the worse it is up on the roof. Being a roofer has got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. Oh, well. I've got to keep the roof free of water. It's the only way I'm going to keep the leak from returning.

Hopefully, I'll remember that tomorrow is Thursday. I can't forget trash day since we seem to generate a lot of trash. I hope nothing terrible happened today. I didn't even turn on the TV.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2991

This is the time of year when it's hard to tell whether you've got allergies or a cold. I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat, watering eyes, and a runny nose. Yesterday I thought I was dealing with seasonal allergies. Today it feels more like a cold. Either way, I'd like to put this behind me. When I'm feeling under the weather, I never get anything done.

Dash had more energy than I did this morning. He was feeling good. He insisted on walking along the shoreline, which wasn't a great idea since high water from our recent wet weather had left behind lots of debris. I was worried that Dash would cut himself, but from a dogs point of view, all this debris was just new stuff to smell. It was a good thing we had a nice long walk this morning, because this afternoon Dash didn't want to walk at all. I wish I was better at reading his moods. It's frustrating to spend a lot of time putting on his protective gear if he won't leave the yard.

I did a lot of laundry today. It's amazing how dirty the bed can get when your dog thinks the bedspread is a giant bath towel. I try my best to clean Dash's paws before he comes inside in wet weather, but when it keeps raining for weeks at a time, you reach a point where you just give up. We've already replaced the white comforter on the bed with a dark blue one. We couldn't keep the white comforter looking nice for five minutes.

I had a bunch of errands to run this afternoon. In addition to the regular grocery shopping, I got some orthotic inserts for my dog walking shoes at CVS and some printer ink at Fry's. There was nobody at the register when I was at CVS. I had to track down someone stocking shelves. At Fry's only three of the stores forty-four registers were occupied. This is what retail has become. Stores think they can operate with a skeleton crew these days. They say unemployment is near record lows. I wonder where everyone is working?

It's time to start working on taxes again. The accountant wants my material two weeks earlier this year, so I better get started. At some point I need to consider formally shutting the company down. It would certainly make life easier at tax time. The company doesn't make much money anymore. I don't buy much production equipment these days. I don't travel on business and I don't even drive very much. I might be better off just taking the standard deduction.

Do I go to the gym tomorrow, get started on my taxes, clear the water off the roof while the weather is still nice, or just stay in bed and nurse my cold? It's a tough decision.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2987

I was prepared for thunderstorms, but it was just another dreary wet day. Dash seems to enjoy walking in a light mist, but he sure gets dirty. It took me about as long to clean him up as it did to walk him. I did a terrible job of guessing when it was going to rain. We got wet on both our walks and then I got rained on again when I went to the vet to pick up meds.

I need to remember to check the pills while I'm at the vet. When I got home I realized I'd picked up the wrong prescription and I had to go back again. The first trip the roads were dry. The second trip I got caught in a downpour. That's the way the weather was today. The on again off again rain caused me to forget to turn the pump off on the roof. I hope I didn't burn it out. OK, I shouldn't blame the rain. I was probably just forgetful again. I'm getting so forgetful I'm going to forget my own name one of these days.

I've been asked to put together a proposal for a new website job. I should be happy, but part of me doesn't even want the assignment. I'm getting tired of designing websites. I spent a lot of time learning to build responsive websites after static sites went out of fashion. Now, less than three years later, I'm hearing that responsive sites have become passé. The world has moved on to adaptive websites. What the hell is adaptive design? Apparently, nobody looks at websites on a computer anymore. It's all about the phone. I'll put together a proposal and bid on the project, but I'm getting too old for this.

Instead of trying to figure out what adaptive design was all about, I glued stuff back together with superglue. My fitness tracker is falling apart, so I glued the cracked silicon band with superglue. A corner has chipped off my iPhone case, so I glued that back together with superglue as well. Superglue is great stuff as long as you don't get it on your fingers. I was pleased that both of my repairs were a success. I may be a failure at fixing refrigerators, but I'm pretty good at fixing plastic iPhone cases.

I discovered a whole new category of refrigerator today. I don't know why I haven't noticed these before, but I kind of like them. Some people call them urban refrigerators. They are very slim and quite tall. Looking at the pictures, I think they would fit anywhere that didn't have a low ceiling. We'll see if Janet likes these. There's a good chance she won't. These beautifully modern refrigerators seems to be designed for tall people who don't eat very much.

I had to open three different cans of food today before I could find something that Dash would eat. Meals are becoming quite complicated. I miss the days when Dash would eagerly gobble up anything I put in his bowl.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1735

Did you realize that while you were sleeping, U2 downloaded their entire new album to every iPhone in the entire world. I didn't believe this until I looked at my own phone and sure enough, there it was. I didn't buy or download the album myself. It just appeared on my phone. The same album was on Janet's phone and on every other iPhone in the world. I don't know how much it cost Apple to pull off this little stunt. I don't even know how it benefits them. I will admit though that this was pretty impressive.

Today got off to a slow start, which wasn't surprising since it was a Monday. By the time I had finished walking the dogs and eating breakfast, it was already 10:30 AM. It must have rained at some point during the night because Dash got exceptionally muddy walking through the soft ground. I usually clean the dogs paws with a damp rag before I let them inside. This mud was too much for a rag though. I had to hose him down. Since this is Texas, by the time I took the dogs out again for their evening walk, the ground was almost completely dry.

The lab work I had done at Baylor last week came back completely normal. My liver is doing just fine. Now I have no excuse to discontinue the Statins and Niacin. I'll be the first to admit these drugs are probably effective in controlling cholesterol. I just don't like the side effects of waking up with a dry mouth in the middle of the night feeling like I'm on fire as the Niacin dilates all the tiny blood vessels near the surface of my skin. Also, ever since I've been taking these new meds, my nose has been dripping like I've got a low level cold. It's irritating, but I guess it's better than a heart attack.

I only had one website to update today, so it was a good day to do some bookkeeping and pay bills. I don't know how economists can continue to say that we have low inflation. The cost of virtually everything I use on a daily basis has gone up. Often it has gone up a lot. Food costs more. Utility bills are higher. Gasoline is higher. Insurance is higher. I could go on and on. Just about the only thing that is cheaper are consumer electronics, but how many flat screen TV's do you need?

Dot really seems to have turned the corner. She has been accident free for almost a full week now. I'm starting to let her sleep wherever she wants now as long as I'm in the house. This is probably a mistake, since dogs are so unpredictable, but Dot is a lot happier having free rein of the house. Janet says I spoil these dogs. Of course I do.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1486

It was a long day. The weather was damp and foggy, and as I worked, it seemed like the fog was creeping indoors as well. Everything was a foggy, unresolved issue today. There were websites that kept changing before I could finish the previous changes. There were budgets that couldn't be resolved. There were lots of things that made me wish I'd never gotten out of bed, but of course that was never really an option.

At least the dogs didn't need their winter coats today. They seem to hate wearing their coats, even though they get cold without them. I can relate. I hate writing sometimes, even though I know I'll go broke if I quit. Without their protective coats, the dogs got even dirtier than they did yesterday. That's what towels are for though. I did a lot of laundry today as well.

I though I'd be writing most of the day, but there were so many unresolved issues that I went to the gym instead. I cut my workout a bit short so I could make it to a 6 PM client meeting. The meeting ended up getting canceled, because not enough people could make it. I have a feeling that a lot of people had a foggy, unresolved day today. Even the people at the gym seemed to have lost their focus. A woman on a treadmill next to me was moving so slow that I wondered why she even bothered. I did make an effort to burn off some calories, but I didn't have time to shoot hoops on the basketball court, so maybe I shouldn't have bothered either. Shooting baskets is the only part of my workout that is any fun.

I saw my neighbor's car in the driveway on the way home, so I knocked on her door to ask about the tree on my roof. Nobody answered the door. I don't know why the car was in the driveway if nobody was home. She should have been home. Sadly, I know nothing about my neighbors. I know some of you guys better.

I hope it quits raining tomorrow. If if doesn't, I've got a tough choice to make. Do I go out in the rain and get my car muddy, just so I can have poached eggs and pulled pork? Or do I stay home and eat oatmeal in a warm house while watching Dr. Who re-runs?  As I said, it's a tough choice.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1425

Dot and Dash got a bath this morning, since they'll be representing Dalmatian Rescue at a rescue event tomorrow. We went to a new self-bathe place near Janet's office and the dogs weren't impressed. The facility was actually quite nice, but it didn't matter to Dot and Dash. They hate getting a bath. The manager of the place ought to get some sort of salesmanship award. We walked away with two clean dogs, two new dog harnesses, and a pound of dog treats.

Since we'll be at the rescue event tomorrow, I decided to go to the gym today. The place was even emptier on Saturdays than it is on Sundays. This still seems strange to me, but Janet explained it to me this way. "People have things to do on weekends," she told me. "You're the only person I know who makes going to the gym the main event of your day." Maybe so. At any rate, it's nice to know when the place will be empty.

The Christmas tree stands are already going up all over town. Sure seems way too early to me. Jeez, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. If you went out and bought a Christmas tree today, it would be a dry stick of kindling wood by Christmas. You don't even hear much debate anymore about whether Christmas is being over commercialized. Everybody knows the answer by now. The answer is yes.

There's a lot of talk around town about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. Has it really been 50 years?  This really makes me feel old, since I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was going to high school in Alaska in 1963. That same year, a new group called The Beatles created a sensation with a song called I Want To Hold Your Hand. Where does the time go?

I'd like to think that the ensuing years were all eventful and important, but probably a lot of them were just like today. I didn't change the world today. I washed a dog, bought groceries for the week, shot a few baskets at the gym, and put clean sheets on the bed. That's about it. After I finish writing the blog, I'm going to cut out a lot of little adhesive black spots that children can attach to the big dog in our "make a Dalmatian" game tomorrow.

Nope, I don't think I'll be changing the world tomorrow. Fifty years ago, I actually thought I might. I think a lot of us did. Little did we know that it would be the world that changed us instead.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1415

Wednesdays are busy enough when it's dry. When it rains on Wednesday, all bets are off. Today's unrelenting rain ensured that traffic would be congested wherever I drove, that Dot and Dash would be muddy wherever I walked them, and that virtually nothing I started today would be completed on time.

In wet days I wonder why I even go to these Wednesday morning networking breakfasts. I'm easily the least businesslike person in the room.  They'll probably kick me out of the group when they discover that I'm just going to these early morning meetings to eat bacon and see if my old dress suits still fit.

I had lots of writing to do today, but I managed to complete all my assignments. Hey, what else can you do on a rainy day? While I was writing, I kept the washing machine running with load after load of rain soaked clothing and muddy dog towels. The dogs still insist on a walk on rainy days. They don't like the rain, but they absolutely refuse to poop in the yard.

We kept our acupuncture appointment this afternoon, despite the rain. I would have preferred to stay home, but I think it's rude to cancel an appointment at the last minute. Dot did well in the underwater treadmill, but when the vet tried to test her balance and coordination by having her balance on a large rubber ball, she was pretty shaky. I wasn't really surprised. Dot is frequently shaky on flat, level ground these days. Nothing is going to turn Dot into a young dog again, but I still think that the physical therapy is helpful. She seems to enjoy the activity and maybe we can slow down the inevitable a bit.

Since it rained all day, they moved the dog training class Halloween party indoors this evening. Try to imagine fifty dogs in costumes inside a small room and you've got a pretty good idea what the party was like. I was amazed that there weren't more skirmishes between the dogs. It wasn't surprising that most people left as soon as the costume contest was over. With fifty dogs in a small room, you don't want to push your luck.

I'm hoping that things return to normal tomorrow. A little sunlight always puts me and the dogs in a much better mood.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1400

The rainy season has officially started. It is often this way in late October. It will rain for days at a time. This is typically not good for The State Fair of Texas, which occupies this rainy time slot. I remember going to a Rolling Stones concert at the Cotton Bowl late in October and it poured throughout the entire concert. I thought that Keith Richards was going to get electrocuted playing out in the rain, but the weather didn't seem to faze the band. They were all much younger then, of course.

Dot and Dash hate the rain. It messes with their doggy instincts. If they were practical dogs, they would just go out in the back yard and poop quickly on rainy days. Nope. They can't do this. They have to go on their regular walk, where they get wet and muddy. Light rain makes them mad and heavy rain sends them into a panic. You just can't win on rainy days.

Everything got dirty today. The dogs got dirty, The car got dirty. The floors got dirty. I felt like I spent half the day doing laundry and drying the dogs off. I did manage to get some articles written and got caught up on correspondence, but personally, I would have much rather just taken a long nap. I know there is a ton of standing water up on the roof, but I'm not even going to bother to go up there until I see the sun again.

When I took Dash to the vet for his antigen shot today, he took an unhealthy interest in some guinea pigs that were up for adoption in the lobby. I don't know whether he thought the guinea pigs were small cats or large squirrels, but he definitely though they were meant to be chased and barked at. Sometimes Dash can be embarrassing.

It would be nice if I woke up to a crisp and clear Fall morning tomorrow, but I'm expecting more rain. Although driving in the rain is one of my least favorite things, there are lots of places to go tomorrow. I'll start the day with a tasty omelet at the Wednesday business breakfast meeting. Then I've got to demonstrate a website prototype, and take Dot downtown for her acupuncture session. I have a feeling I'll be wishing I could take a long nap tomorrow as well.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1259 - Memorial Day

Most of my regular readers are grandmothers, but maybe there are one or two active military folks among you. If so, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate your service. I often worry that people don't value the importance of a strong military as much as my parents generation did. Strength matters. If you aren't strong and resolute, people take advantage of you. This is the essence of bullying. Individuals can be bullied, and so can entire countries. For many years, we have had the strongest, most capable military the world has ever known. It needs to stay that way.

We woke up again today to the sound of footsteps on the roof. I expected to hear a knock on the door, along an explanation of what's been going on, by whoever was tramping around on the roof. There was no knock on the door. Before I finished brewing my morning coffee, the footsteps ceased and the house was quiet again. I saw no need to go outside and confront the roofers at this point. I learned long ago that it's better to keep your powder dry.

The dogs didn't get to go to the dog park today, which was a disappointment for all. The weather wasn't bad, so we called the hotline several times to see if the park would open up again in the afternoon. It just wasn't in the cards today. I recognize the voice of the guy making the hotline messages. He's the same guy who cleans up the dog poop in the park. This guy takes his job seriously and is super conscientious. He updates the hotline message for the two parks he's in charge of at least three times a day. I admire this guy and wish everyone had his work ethic. It shouldn't matter what your job is. You should always do your duty to the best of your ability.

Since we weren't able to go to the dog park, Janet went to the gym to work out, and I took a camera up on the roof to document some of the problems I've been having. I also did a small rush writing job for one of my clients and vacuumed the house. It's simply amazing to me how quickly the vacuum cleaner bag fills up with dust around our house. If I'm sweeping up this much dust, why don't the carpets look any cleaner when I'm finished? You know "the rift" they are always talking about on Dr. Who and Torchwood shows? I think our house is sitting right on top of a mysterious rift that is sucking in dust from all over the planet. Of course, there's always a chance that Dot and Dash are responsible for all the dirt.

Our three day holiday went by far too quickly. Sometimes it didn't seem like a holiday at all. Footsteps on the roof usually woke us up too early. Rain curtailed most of our planned holiday activities. Then, there was still work to finish as well. It was still a holiday though, and a pretty important one at that. With all my complaining, I'll be the first to admit that my life is pretty soft. It's those guys who live day-to-day in a forward firebase somewhere in Afghanistan who are doing all the heavy lifting.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1258

Janet and I woke up to the sounds of footsteps on the roof. WTF? The roofers were back. In my limited experience, it is simply unheard of for roofers to work on a Sunday morning. Initially I was a bit confused and then I remembered that I'd written a letter to the contractor last night. It must have been the letter.

I guess in a world where Yelp and Angie's List can make or break a business, a blabbermouth writer with a popular blog and 30,000 Twitter followers might just be a contractor's worst nightmare. I certainly hope this is the case, because basically all I've got are words. My architect friends have the carrot and stick of future jobs to keep contractors in line, but like most of you, I don't. All I have are words.

It was far too wet outside to take the dogs to the dog park today. Dot and Dash were good sports about the situation though and took a long nap on the bed instead. While Janet went to the mall to take advantage of the Memorial Day sales, I tried to get caught up on work. There are quite a few jobs I need to complete before beginning my upcoming trade show assignment and today was as good a day as any to get started. I managed to get three articles completed this afternoon. Not a personal best by any means, but it's still pretty good for a Sunday.

It was incredibly humid today. The air felt like you would wring it out like a wet rag. Under these conditions, the ground never had a chance to dry out. Every time the dogs went outside, they came back with huge clods of mud adhered to their paws. We buy large bundles of cloth bar towels to clean the dogs paws with. We used enough today to fill the washing machine. A load of these towels are being cleaned as we speak.

I had a hamburger for dinner tonight! Janet is concerned that I'm not getting enough protein with my rather severe new diet and maybe she's right. At any rate, this was the first hamburger I've had in many, many months and it was delicious!  I did eat the burger on a gluten-free bun however, so I'm not completely off the wagon. Tomorrow, it's back to oatmeal for breakfast and kale salad for dinner.

I watched a member of SEAL Team 6 recount the night they captured Bin Laden on a 60 Minutes episode this evening. We all owe these guys a huge debt of gratitude. My Mom's family was career military and one thing she taught me was to give our soldiers the respect they deserve. Tomorrow is a day reserved for saying thank you, but I think we all know that the men and women in our military deserve a whole lot more.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1155

I joined HARO a few weeks ago. HARO, which stands for "help a reporter out" is kind of a neat idea. Participating reporters and TV producers send out e-mail queries for story ideas they'd like to pursue. If you've got the information or expertise they need, you reply and maybe you'll be a feature story in a newspaper or a guest on a talk show. On the other hand, maybe someone will just steal your idea and you'll get nothing. I'm not sure if crowdsourcing creativity will work, but it has been interesting to see what reporters are looking for these days. "Looking for chefs who have converted pot pie or other comfort foods into soup." "Looking for experts on eyebrow transplants." "Looking for someone who has added a third story to their house." "Looking for lawyers to discuss the different types of hit and run." "Looking for bullies who are willing to tell their stories on camera." "Looking for medical doctors willing to share old wives tales their moms told them growing up." "Looking for hermaphrodites who have been through puberty."

I get these e-mails every morning, filled with dozens and dozens of equally ridiculous story ideas from reputable newspapers and TV stations. It certainly wasn't what I thought reporters spent their time thinking about. Who knows. Maybe if I keep reading these queries, I'll find a reporter who is looking for an expert at removing water from a flat roof, or maybe someone will want to interview me about the best techniques for removing mud from a dog's paws.

It was another gray, rainy day. There's not much to do on days like this. I try to avoid driving because I'll just have to wash the car all over again. I'm always doing laundry on days like these because the dogs get filthy. Today, I miscalculated and we all got soaked on our morning walk, even though I'd already checked the weather radar on my iPad before we left the house. After I dried everyone off, I looked for new places to place the roach bait I bought yesterday. Like I said, it wasn't a very interesting day.

You'd think by looking at the little orange flower I photographed this morning that my day was filled with subtle beauty and wonder. Nope!  It was just another rainy day.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1115

I had a photo shoot today. The theme for the assignment was "helping hands" and the models were a baby, a pre-teen girl, their mom, and a puppy. I thought the shoot went pretty well, but I'm not sure the baby would agree. Every time the puppy touched her hand, the baby said "owie".

After taking hundreds of images, I'm sure I managed to get something the client will like. My favorite is to your left, even though one of my models appears to be missing. If it wasn't for lugging all the heavy lighting equipment around, I would enjoy photography more than writing. Photography is definitely more immediate. Writing and photography are both about capturing moments to me, but writing seems to require a bit more introspection on my part.

In an effort to keep from spending my entire day cleaning Dot's paws, I raked all the leaves in the  back yard over the top of the muddy path Dot always uses when she races out the back door to bark at things in the alley. This temporary fix will probably work for about ten seconds, but I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the yard is muddy or dry as a bone. Dot always insists on bolting out the back door like a race horse out of the starting gate.

After the Christmas and New Year's holidays are over, it's always hard for me to come to grips with the fact that there are five work days in every week instead of four. Four work days seems plenty to me. Janet thinks I should get used to seven work days. That's what the world is coming to apparently. Until that day comes, I'll continue to treat Friday as my own little holiday. I'm looking forward to another big breakfast tomorrow. After that, I may write a small article. That should do it for this week.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1060

Here's how bored I was today. I pulled off most of the vent registers and proceeded to clean the heating and air conditioning vents with a vacuum cleaner. Most of the vents were just dusty, but the one in the kitchen was apparently a black hole with the ability to suck in everything from dried pasta and dog biscuits to last year's Christmas cookies. I'm sure our grocery bills would have been smaller without this troublesome vent.

It's hard to even remember what I did today. It was really that uneventful. I know pancakes were involved and I answered some e-mail as well. That was about it, with the exception of my little episode with the vacuum cleaner. One of my clients held out the promise of more work in the not too distant future, while another held out the promise of continued confusion about billing. I'm just glad it's Friday.

This weekend will be exceptionally busy. Tomorrow is the first of five Santa Paws pet photo events for Dalmatian Rescue. I've still got to pack up my equipment later this evening, but I've done this so many times that I could do it in my sleep. I got a new muslin backdrop this year because most of our customers are repeats from previous years. I know they would probably like something a little different than the picture they received last year and the year before. My only worry is that the aging lighting equipment will eventually quit working. Well, that's not my only worry. I occasionally worry that I'll quit working as well. These events are murder on my knees. I'm down on the floor photographing the Chihuahuas, and then right back up again when the next dog is a Great Dane. I keep thinking that fashion photography was a lot easier, but memories can be tricky. Probably it just seemed easy because I was in my early 30's then.

On Sunday we take Dot and Dash to a big animal rescue event. Janet and I gave them both baths tonight, so they would be good looking representatives for Dalmatian Rescue. They're so clean they sparkle right now, but they've got a whole day to get dirty again. We'll see how it goes.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 870

I think I bit off more than I can chew today. I tried to plant grass as well as finish all my normal website updates and web articles. My ambitious plan might have worked if so many of my webmaster accounts hadn't called in their updates and revisions today instead of waiting until Friday like they usually do. I got several complex website updates finished and wrote a Mother's Day watch article. Unfortunately, there's still a lot more to finish tomorrow. Lots of sod got planted as well.  The right side of the yard is all finished now. Sadly, I sprained my ankle lugging the heavy sod around. I'm just not very good with manual labor tasks any more. Maybe if I just hired a bunch of Mexicans like the rest of the neighborhood seems to do, everything would be fine. I stubbornly continue to do everything myself though. It just seems right.

I've noticed that the butterflies in the park are already starting to disappear. Maybe the popular wisdom about butterflies only living for a week or two is really true. I certainly don't see them that often. For a few weeks in late April and early May, they're everywhere. Then they're gone. While they are around, butterflies are certainly hungry little creatures. A lot of the flowers they feast on have already been decimated. I'll miss these little guys. They're quite pretty and very easy to photograph.

I like my new real estate agent. We seem to be on the same wavelength. Usually real estate agents drive me nuts, but this one is quite pleasant and really seems to understand mid-century architecture and the people who buy it. I think the property will be up on the MLS website tomorrow.  It's certainly priced right for today's miserable housing market. Hopefully it will find a buyer soon.

I wonder if the dogs will walk on the new grass I planted today, or head straight for the remaining mud like they've been doing all week. I'll probably have to finish the entire lawn before I can curtail the mandatory paw inspection I have to make every time they come back in the house. I usually remember this necessary step, but when I forget, the dogs  inevitably head straight for the bed and I have to throw the sheets in the laundry again. Somehow, I can't talk about this kind of stuff with all my self important corporate clients. I know you guys will understand though. You're probably dealing with something even worse.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day