Day 4758

I stayed surprisingly busy today. Janet had an early class at the gym, so we took our early walk in the dark again. Walking in the dark doesn't seem to bother Dawn at all. She uses her nose more than her eyes anyway. It was a little chilly early this morning, but it warmed up quickly. I could tell it was going to be a nice day.

I always think I'm going to do something different for breakfast, but I never do. When I have my shredded wheat and fruit I don't have to think and I don't have to cook. It's always the easy way out. After breakfast, I changed the sheets on the bed, did three loads of laundry, and paid some online bills. With bad knees and a dislocated shoulder it's harder to change the sheets than it used to be. Somehow lifting up the mattress to tuck in the fitted sheets is always a problem. I'm starting to understand why my Dad decided to just sleep on top of the bed in his latter years. It saves a lot of trouble if you don't have to make the thing every day.

I had to trick Dawn to get her off the bed so I could change the sheets. She wasn't very happy about that but we survived. Everything is clean and fresh again, but it will be covered in dog hair in a matter of days. I won't give this chore another thought until Janet reminds me that it's time to do it again.

When I finished my household chores, I went to the bank and took some stuff back to my storage warehouse. There was a long line at the drive up window today. The bank probably need to hire some more staff. There was just one guy handling both the inside and outside transactions. He seemed very busy.

It was a good day for a walk, but my heart wasn't really in it today. I felt tired and my pace was slower than usual. It is discipline, not a love of the outdoors that keeps me walking. Sometimes I see interesting things, but often the long walk is boring and just hurts my feet. There were no eagles today at the nest site.   There weren't many people on the trails either. I guess everybody is returning to work.

I don't know what I'm going to do about the house. I still can't find a carpenter or a contractor I like to undertake the needed renovations. I've got a long list of roofers, but I don't like any of them. The house isn't going to fix itself though. I've got to do something. I wonder why it's so much easier to find a good appliance repairman or plumber than a carpenter? Is carpentry becoming a lost art? 

I made no New Year's resolutions this year. My old resolutions to write 5000 consecutive blog posts and walk at least 10,000 steps every day are keeping me busy enough as it is. It's amazing what a little discipline can do. I'm basically a very lazy person.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3811

I watched the astronauts arrive at the International Space Station this morning. It must have taken them two hours to open the door to their spacecraft. These guys had a checklist for everything. Even the most minute proceedure was followed to the letter. I'm a methodical person, but this blew me away. I kept thinking that we should all be a bit more like this. If we had an exhaustive checklist for our daily activities and actually followed it, we could avoid so much trouble.

My checklist would be pretty basic. Make your bed every morning. Brush your teeth. Eat a decent breakfast. If you have a dog or a child, take care of their needs before your own. Don't be in a hurry. And never skip an item on your list. You get the idea. I'm a big believer in leading a disciplined life. I've always been suspicious of people who let their emotions get the best of them. Emotions aren't to be trusted. I'm much more comfortable when someone acts like Spock on those old Star Trek shows.

I think the past three months have been defined by strong emotions. First there was the fear caused by the coronavirus followed almost immediately by the anger caused by the death of George Floyd. I guess fear and anger are pretty basic. I get scared and angry too. I don't really think these emotions solve anything though. There's got to be a better way.

I cringe whenever I hear someone say "we're all in this together." Jeez. "Don't drag me into this," I think. I prefer to solve problems by withdrawing and thinking through things on my own. Of course, this kind of attitude will never solve the problems of society. At best it will only allow you to live outside of society. Is that so bad though? I felt happy when I was the only person inside the huge dome of the 107" telescope at the top of a lonely mountain in West Texas. I could live this way. Maybe I should have been a forest ranger. Is it really that hard to learn to love the sound of silence? Is it that hard to just mind your own business while you follow your own personal checklist?

Today's checklist started with a walk with Dawn. The walk even comes before making the bed these days. The warmer the weather gets, the earlier we need to start. The weather is wonderful before the sun gets too high. I just need to figure out how to get more sleep. I've been going to bed late because I'm having trouble writing the blog. The blog is always the last thing on the checklist and I still want to get to Day 5000. It's not really enjoyable writing about a world falling apart though. I'd much rather write about visits to observatories and the joys of getting published in obscure little magazines.

I washed the car today. I'm not going anywhere, but I do like a clean car. We'll take Dawn on another long walk tomorrow morning. I like a happy dog too. Janet made pulled pork in the slow cooker, so there's tasty food for the rest of the week. Who knows. Maybe I'll even hear something from the Air Force about getting media accreditation. All in all, life is good.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3056

I've been thinking that it would be a good idea to start taking money out of my retirement account when I turn 70. I called my bank and my broker today to find out exactly how to do this, and as you might expect, it was more complicated than I had imagined. What I wanted to do apparently isn't possible, so now I've got to come up with a Plan B. I also learned that I am required to start taking money out of my IRA before the end of the year whether I want to or not. When I asked why, I was told that the government doesn't want you to die before they are able to tax your retirement savings. Heaven forbid that you might pass it on to your heirs as an inheritance and they wouldn't be able to tax it at all. Needless to say, I hate dealing with banks. Every year there seem to be more rules and regulations that benefit the bank more than they benefit me.

I've been fighting the urge to buy things I don't need. I think the model trains taught me a lesson. When I get the urge to buy something these days, I make myself answer a few questions. Do I really need this? Am I planning to use this within the next six months? Do I already have something exactly like this? So far, this discipline is working. I've had my eye on a couple of cameras and a really cool portable multi-track recorder, but I haven't bought anything. Other than a few odds and ends, I haven't bought anything this year.

I wish it were easier to keep the business going. Life would be simpler for me if I didn't have to think about retirement and I could keep writing off cameras as a business expense indefinitely. The only way I can think of to keep the business going without going to meetings and dealing with people would be to dramatically increase my earnings from stock photography. I would need to upload thousands and thousands of pictures and get them all accepted to make this happen. A daunting task to say the least. Nobody buys pictures of flowers and birds either. The few photos that do sell well in my stock photo catalog all tend to be traditional studio shots involving models and photo assistants. The holy grail of a passive income that requires no real effort on my part remains as illusive as ever.

I think I'm going to have to find a new landscaper. I've called the guy four times and he still hasn't returned my calls. I hate to start over. This guy was very affordable and did a good job. He also knew exactly what I needed because he's been replacing the grass in my backyard every Spring for quite a while now. Why do things have to keep changing? Once you find a really good plumber, insurance agent, or landscaper, you ought to be able to keep them for the rest of your life.

It looks like I'm going to have to add banking problems to the leaking roof, the grass in the backyard, the aging kitchen appliances, and other unresolved issues. At least Dash is still eating well and the train collection is gone.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2470

I was thinking about freedom and discipline while I was at the gym today. I've always hated rules and regulations, but I'm certainly not much of a free spirit. I think of myself as a highly disciplined person with a poorly defined sense of purpose. If I start something, I finish it. Period. Don't ask me why I started though. This apparent contradiction certainly sums up my trips to the gym. I'm no slouch and work out strenuously, but I have no goals. I'm not sure if I've achieved anything at all. Maybe I just go to the gym so I can listen to TED talks in the car while I'm driving there.

I hate vacuuming, but I vacuum the house with a vengeance almost every Sunday. That's discipline. Moving the dog beds around, cleaning all the rugs, and then cleaning the brick floors under them takes a lot of time. There is always an enormous amount of dirt and dog hair in the Dyson canister when I'm finished, but the house doesn't look any cleaner. How could I keep removing all this dirt and there's still more? It seems to violate some fundamental law of physics. At some point you'd think all the dirt would finally be gone. I feel the same way about the dehumidifier. Gallons of water are removed from the house every day, and yet the moisture in the air never really disappears.

The combination of a roof that turns into a lake every time it rains, bills that keep arriving whether you spend any money or not, industrious spiders that obscure the living room windows with new webs every evening, squirrels and possums that work tirelessly to destroy the lawn, dust and dirt that seems to have acquired a life of its own, and a dog that poops in the house every time I decide to take a shower, all require discipline just to stay on top of things. I don't feel like I've got the freedom to ignore these intrusions. You've just got to keep going to keep the chaos at bay.

So, am I having fun at the gym? I really don't know. I don't hate going, but I don't love going either.  It's just 63 minutes out of my day. I'm starting to feel the same way about going out for breakfast or even writing this blog. I don't question any of these things, but have forgotten what it was that made any of this seem like a good idea. Occasionally, someone asks me what I'm passionate about. I just give them a blank stare. It's discipline, not passion that keeps me going.

None of this is a bad thing. I'm actually a relatively happy person. Maybe it's just me, but I think a lot of people would be better off if they substituted discipline for passion. Just finishing what you started can be it's own reward.

Tomorrow, I'll start the day by making the bed. I'll concoct a delicious smoothie from strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, eggs, oatmeal, and ice cream. The dogs will get walked. If there's a writing assignment, I'll do it quickly and efficiently. If no work comes my way, maybe I'll wash the car. That's probably enough for a Monday. If something surprising happens, you'll be the first to know.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1700

Dash has a bloody tail again. Now, I've got blood to clean up as well as pee. Lord knows how Dash got Happy Tail again. I though his tail had completely healed from the last Happy Tail episode. He was fine when he woke up this morning, but when I took him on his morning walk about 45 minutes later, the tip of his tail was all bloody. It's probably just an occupational hazard of living in our rather small house. He wags his tail really hard and there are plenty of things to bump into. For the time being, I've got to try to keep Dash off the furniture, while keeping Dot on her waterproof pads. It's a three ring circus.

Dot almost made it through the night last night. We all slept soundly until a little after 4:30 AM, when Dot had to go outside. By then it was almost pointless to go back to bed, but everyone was so tired that staying up and starting the day a bit early wasn't even considered. The dogs immediately headed back to bed and so did Janet and I. Every hour counts when you're not getting enough sleep.

One of my stocks shot up over 20% today as a result of some big merger. I was elated at my good fortune until my broker called about two hours later to tell me he had just sold the stock because he thought it was overvalued now. Even though this was the right thing to do, I was still disappointed. It would have been nice to have a big winner in my portfolio for a few days. I need to remember that I have encouraged my broker to take action like this. I don't really have the discipline to buy low and sell high. I've lost big time in the past by hanging on to things too long. Like Kenny Rogers says, "You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run." I don't. I probably never will.

I finished the design work on my latest website project today. I can't launch the site yet though, because there is no content. The client was going to provide the content. Right now, the site is just headlines, navigation buttons and pretty pictures. It might stay that way for quite a while. It takes a lot longer to write good content than most people think it does. It's one thing to have an idea in your head. It's another thing entirely to take the time to write it down. I called another client the other day and listened to a message while I was waiting on hold inviting people to send them pictures and stories for their new blog. "What's the address of your new blog?" I asked my client when he picked up the phone. "Oh, we don't really have a blog yet," he told me. "We were just hoping that if people heard this phone message, they would send us enough stuff so we could make one." Yeah, right. That's likely to happen.

It's hard to live in the moment when you don't like the moment you're in. In Texas, it's always too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry. It's rare for me to go outside in the morning and think "Wow, what a fabulous day." I used to feel this way a lot when I lived in Colorado. I was younger then though. I have a feeling that 100 degree August afternoons don't bother you as much when you're 25.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 925

I met with my financial advisor today. I know that I gripe and complain about this guy occasionally, but basically I still think he's pretty sharp. The market has just become so completely irrational in recent years that it is almost impossible for even the best of analysts to be a consistent winner. Especially in the short term. Almost every day, something unpredictable happens that throws the market into a turmoil. Hopefully, over the long term, the laws of sanity still apply.

Today, we were evaluating some new positions and my advisor showed me some advanced software he was using that he said could help predict future performance based on a huge array of past historic data. I think he called the program Backtrack or something. I told him there was a basic flaw in this type of strategy. He needed a different program called Forwardtrack, that could actually look into the future. That's the trouble with all these predictive models. Nobody really has any idea what is going to happen in the future. Nobody even knows what is going to happen tomorrow.

The best thing my advisor has been able to do for me is convince me that it's a fool's game to chase the evening news. Day traders try to do this, and most of them just can't react fast enough to emerge as consistent winners. I try to take a more disciplined long-term approach, following some basic investing principles year in and year out. Occasionally, there is a year like this one where nothing seems to work. It can be very frustrating.

The dogs were frustrated by something a lot more basic than stock market gyrations tonight. It was the heat. Even at 8 PM, it was over 100 degrees. Everyone brought water for their dog and we had frequent water breaks in the training routine. The dogs weren't really into the training exercises though and I can't blame them. It was just too hot.

If anyone knows of a completely pet safe way of treating white grubs, please let me know. I really hate to see the pretty St. Augustine turf I installed just a month or two ago start to deteriorate already. I've been told that beneficial nematodes are a safe and effective way of controlling grubs, but it's already too late in the season to apply the nematodes. Nematodes don't like the Texas heat either.

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 568

I got up early and went to my friend's business networking breakfast this morning. When I arrived at the Park Cities Club, there were actually two groups having breakfast meetings. I didn't know this at the time, so I just sat down with the first group I saw. This turned out to be a Bible study group and when they saw I didn't have a Bible with me, they told me that my group was meeting in a different room. The breakfast was actually pretty interesting. It was a small group of about twenty people and every one of them was a CEO of a different company. Luckily, the conversation didn't get around to the size of our respective companies, but I think the others could easily guess that my own company was pretty small.

I don't know if this group will ask me to join them, but if they do I probably will. Judging from the surroundings and the way the other people were dressed, I would think that the dues for this club are pretty steep. I'm sure I could pay for the dues pretty easily though if I just quit running my Google Adwords ad. So far, my Adwords ad has increased my website PR ranking a little bit, but it hasn't brought me any business at all. My gut feeling is that talking with real people about real business leads is a lot better investment than all the money I've dumped into useless Internet ads. This club serves bacon for breakfast too. I can't forget that.

The only problem with new business is finding the time to work on it. I was so busy today that I couldn't have worked on a new project if I tried. The day was filled with website revision requests, conference calls and writing assignments. I got finished just in time to quickly eat a few leftovers in the refrigerator for dinner and get Dot and Dash ready for dog training class.

I don't know why we even have these classes in July. The dogs are hot, the people are sweaty, and everybody keeps looking at their watch to see when the hour of training exercises is up. I guess these hot Summer classes do help us keep up a certain level of discipline though. It's kind of like making the bed every morning. Some days I don't feel like making the bed. Some days, when the dogs crawl back under the covers before I even have time to get dressed, I don't even see the point in making the bed. I always make the bed however, just like I always write the blog. A little discipline is good. If your life involves a certain amount of swimming upstream, I'm convinced that discipline will get you where you're going a lot more effectively than Prozac.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day