Day 3238

I try to move a little bit every day. Sometimes it seems like a lost cause. I've lost count of the number of carloads I've moved and yet the storage warehouse still seems full. Today Janet and I worked together to clean out our respective units. Her goal is loftier than mine. Instead of moving to a new warehouse, she wants to quit storing things entirely. I found more stuff she could take to the charity shop while I continued to move items to my new warehouse.

I decided that my days as a hobby watch repairman are over. I still had a lot of boxes of old watch parts that I'd bought on eBay years ago. I gathered everything together and took it to a watch repairman in the neighborhood who used to fix things for me. "Do you want this stuff," I asked. I knew he would, because this guy can't get rid of anything. Maybe he'll find something useful. I felt good. This certainly beat throwing everything in a dumpster.

I've bought a lot of useless stuff on eBay over the years, but have absolutely no interest in selling things on eBay. I don't want to deal with buyers. Buyers are nothing buy trouble. That's why I like auction houses so much. They insulate you from the buyer. Actually, they won't even tell you who the buyer is. The auction houses have been very nice to me. It's too bad they aren't interested in junk. I think I've run out of things that an auction house would be interested in.

Dash pooped all over the place today. He couldn't seem to make it outside at all. For the first time he made a mess on the bedroom carpet. The bricks are easy to clean. Even bedding can be thrown in the laundry. Carpet is much more difficult. You always hope for firm, hard poop if it lands on the carpet. No such luck this morning. I think I finally got everything clean, but it took a while. Dash must have felt bad about making the mess, because he actually helped me clean it up. He's got a good nose for poop. If he's still smelling an area, I know I haven't cleaned it well enough. It took a few tries but everything is fine now. Dash approves.

The warehouse move is really taking a toll on my body. In addition to lower back pain and a bad shoulder, I now have a charlie horse in my right leg. All these aches and pains have come from trying to lift something that was too heavy. Today I moved a large commercial SEAL dry mount press. These things are very heavy.  It's amazing how well equipped I was back in the day. Not every photographer has a dry mount press this big. These days, I bet a lot of young photographers don't even know what a dry mount press is.

When I was walking Dash this evening I kept wishing he would slow down. You already know how slow Dash is. That's how bad my charlie horse was. Maybe my leg will feel better in the morning. I certainly hope so. I'm glad I voted early. The last thing I feel like doing is standing in a long line tomorrow.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3106

Years ago I thought nothing about hitchhiking around the country to save a little money. It was fun. Hitchhiking not only seemed safe, it actually was pretty safe. When I wanted to sell something back in the day, I would routinely run a classified ad in the local paper, confident that the buyer would be a nice, honest person. Times have certainly changed. A friend was trying to tell me today how to sell guitars on Craigslist without getting scammed or robbed. Jeez. There were so many precautions to take that it made my head spin. No thank you. Why would anyone trust someone on Craigslist or eBay these days? It's sad. These once promising marketplaces have become a minefield.

Maybe some of the bright young people who work at Space X still see a world filled with limitless opportunities. I tend to see Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Where has civility and simple decency gone?  We live in a world where people follow the UPS truck and steal packages off your porch. Real estate agents are frightened to show a house alone these days because of all the stories about assaults and robberies. Even police officers have stopped riding in their squad cars without a partner.

Dystopian science fiction has become way too close to real life. I think I prefer the simple minded black and white worlds of Perry Mason, The Kingston Trio, and Leave it to Beaver. Strangely, few people seem to want to follow me back to the 1950's. Hey, I'd gladly trade my cell phone for a world where you didn't have to lock your door at night.

Time only moves forward unfortunately. I still spend my days waiting for the roofer and the landscaper. I actually got a text message this morning saying that the dead grass will be replaced tomorrow morning. We'll see. I'm not going to get my hopes up though. I've heard promises before.

They did the wrong test on Dash's poop at the vet. I'm glad to know that he doesn't have parasites, but I still don't know whether there is any internal bleeding. I'll have to get another stool sample and have them do the test again. I thought I was pretty clear about what Dash needed, but maybe not. Janet says I mumble a lot and people don't really listen to me.

Dash has started eating grass again this evening. We've got our fingers crossed and hope he doesn't throw up tonight. If we're really lucky, we'll all sleep well and his poop will look normal in the morning. I try to focus on simple things like this. The world close to home still makes sense. Everything else is starting to seem like an episode of Black Mirror.

Derrick 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 2820

I got a letter from eBay saying that they hadn't seen me in a long time and that my account would be deleted if I didn't return to buy or sell something within the next 30 days. I didn't click on any of the links because I thought this might be some sort of Phishing scam. It is true that I haven't visited eBay in a long time though. Maybe the letter was real. I used to be hooked on eBay. I would visit almost every day, fascinated by all the weird and wonderful stuff you could find there. I didn't need any of the stuff I bought. My purchases were somewhere between a habit and an addiction. I never bought anything very expensive, but I did buy a lot of stuff. It was fun to get little packages from all over the world.

One day I woke up and my eBay purchases seemed silly. I quit visiting the site and over time I even forgot my login password. I've thought about selling the stuff I bought on eBay, but I don't want to deal with the buyers. There are too many scammers now. I don't want to deal with bad reviews or people who claim their item arrived broken and want their money back. It's just not worth the hassle anymore. If I ever have to resort to selling things on eBay to pay my bills, I'm probably in pretty bad shape. Let's hope that day never comes. Assuming the letter I received is real, I think I'll just let eBay delete my account. Been there, done that.

I have a long laundry list of things I used to be excited about that no longer interest me. I don't write and record songs anymore. I don't have any interest in becoming a fashion photographer. I don't read several books a week these days. Jeez. I'm lucky if I read several books a year. I stopped collecting art years ago when I ran out of walls to display the stuff. I'm not even interested in going to movies anymore.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm interested in anything at all until I look a Dash and realize that I still love dogs. When I'm walking in the evening, I'll look up at the sky and realized that I'm still interested in astronomy as well. If the carpal tunnel in my wrist wasn't so bad, I'd probably play guitar more. Guitars are cool. Maybe this is enough. It is kind of astonishing how my world has shrunk. I used to be interested in everything.

I wonder why I haven't heard from the appliance repairmen. I thought he would have returned to replace the two thermostats in the refrigerator by now. Maybe appliance repairmen are just like plumbers, electricians, and roofers. I have to call the roofer ten times before I can get him to come to the house. There's always a chance that I don't even need the new thermostats. The refrigerator is still working fine. Even the ice maker works now and the repairmen didn't even touch that.

I think Dash is feeling better. He didn't seem as obsessed with his paw today. I was able to let him wander around without the cone on his head for hours at a time today. He had a couple of relapses where I had to resort to the cone again, but things are getting better. It would be nice if he didn't have to wear the cone at all tomorrow.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2131

I got a letter from a friend today that got me thinking. I complain a lot, but I really shouldn't. My friend is facing huge medical bills while I am reasonably healthy. My house is paid for, while my friend's house has been on the market for six months and isn't selling. My dogs are old and frail, but my friend's dog has heartworms. Everything in life is relative. As bad as you think things are, there is always somebody else who can make your problems seem trivial by comparison. I've always thought of myself as a survivor, but I really need to be more appreciative of the simple fact that I've made it this far. There are so many things in life that can go horribly wrong.

I'm happy to report that nothing went wrong today at all. It was a nice Fall day. We got off to an early start and I think it was a good omen that I saw all four morning planets. Mercury is growing brighter and is higher in the sky now, so I can see it without binoculars. Dash continues to improve. He seemed to enjoy his walk this morning and I didn't see him limp at all. My breakfast restaurant raised prices a bit, but the small increase didn't bother me. I'm surprised they've been able to keep their prices so low for this long.

There were no accidents in the house today. This was probably just blind luck, but I'll take whatever I can get. I got my article assignments written while the dogs were sleeping and made a small alteration on a website that I had forgotten about yesterday. By the time the dogs started barking for their dinner, I had managed to get caught up on everything.

I think it is a good sign that novels have replaced Sweetwater and B&H catalogs as my preferred bathroom reading. I really don't need any more gear if I can't even keep the stuff I've already got running properly. So far, I'm reading about a book a week. I realize that this pace isn't exactly setting the world on fire, but it's still light years ahead of where I was this time last year. My current read is Jenny Lawson's Furiously Happy. I recommend it highly.

I keep promising Janet that I'm going to clean out the office, but I don't even know where to begin. It's really time to unload some of the audio gear, but I don't trust eBay anymore. There are too many scammers and disreputable buyers. I rarely wear my vintage watches these days since I've gotten hooked on the Apple Watch, but I'm still fond of all of them. My closets are full of practically new, unworn clothes, since six days out of seven I still continue to wear jeans and a black t-shirt. Basically, I stopped dressing up when I stopped going to client meetings. It's hard to turn around an ocean liner. So far, any downsizing I've done has gone largely unnoticed.

I hope today's mild weather continues through the weekend. The dogs are much happier when the temperature is in the mid-70's. I keep telling Dot that the worst is over. It ought to be smooth sailing ahead at least until the rainy season starts.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1707

Today was a mixed bag. I walked the dogs together again for the first time in over a month. I had to slow Dash down a bit, but generally everything went fine. I'll try this again tomorrow. If I can go back to walking both dogs together, it will simplify things a bit. We won't have to get up so early every morning and Janet can go back to her regular schedule. I was so pleased with Dot's progress that I became over confident and let her roam around the house unsupervised while I was eating dinner. She promptly peed on the carpet in the bedroom. I was surprised, since we'd just returned from a walk and Dot hadn't had any prior accidents today. I guess it's hard to predict when a dog with a weak bladder is going to need to go. Maybe she just drank too much water with her dinner. I'm not going to let a little pee dampen a great day. Dot is still making fantastic progress. Last night was the third night in a row that we all slept peacefully and woke up in a dry bed. Dot had lots of energy today and was eager to take her walks. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.

I took care of most of the weekend's unfinished errands today. After a trip to the post office, the pharmacy, the bank, and the grocery store, I went to Sprinkles to get cupcakes for a birthday celebration. I've never been to this store when there wasn't a long line. Even at 2:30 in the afternoon on a workday there was a long line. I was gone longer than I expected, so I thought that Dot might have had an accident while I was gone. Nope. No problems at all. Unbeknownst to me, she was saving it up for dinnertime.

I've more or less lost interest in collecting things, so I don't visit eBay much anymore. I keep getting notices to change my password though after the big security breach, so today I finally got around to changing it. Out of curiosity I checked a few of the categories I used to follow. Nobody was bidding on anything and prices were much lower than they used to be. All my collectible treasures had fallen out of fashion. I guess it makes sense that nobody would collect film cameras anymore when you can't even buy film for them. The same thing probably goes for model trains. Why would you be interested in trains if you'd never ridden in one? Even though there were bargains galore, I wasn't tempted to bid on anything. I just felt old.

Dot has another physical therapy day tomorrow. It's too bad she can't just go to the gym with me. It would sure save time if she could work on strengthening her legs while a worked on strengthening my shoulder. I guess I shouldn't worry about running out of time though. I've got plenty of time. I just can't figure out what to do with it.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day