Day 1284 - Summer Solstace

I was faced with a dilemma this morning. I could either get fresh tar all over my tires, or I could wait forever for the slow moving convoy of paving machines to make its way past my driveway. I was hungry, so I opted to get ahead of the machines and drive through the wet tar. Driving through 300 yards of tar to get to a clear patch of road proved to be a good decision, since I wound up having something new and delicious for breakfast.

A combination of boredom and hunger sent me back to the cool restaurant, where I found over-easy eggs, served on a bed of smoked brisket to my liking. As I ate, I watched people re-fueling their electric cars at a quick charge station across the street and wondered if hospital scrubs had become the new working man's overalls.

After breakfast, I did my grocery shopping for the weekend, which basically amounted to picking up a bunch of pre-cooked items from the Central Market deli counter. I like to eat, but I'm not terribly fond of cooking. By the time I got home, the paving machines had moved down the block and I was able to get in my driveway again.

I had quite a bit of writing to finish today, but it all worked out well, especially since it was far too hot for the dogs and I to spend much time outside anyway. Today was officially the first day of Summer, although here in Texas, it seems like Summer has been with us for quite some time. I often wonder why I live here, since I'm always complaining about the weather. It's a climate of extremes and always seems to be too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry.

The dogs get a bath this weekend. Usually, we're pretty good about keeping them clean and presentable, but I don't think they've had a bath in several months. Between Janet's travels, my own travels, the roofers, and the wet weather, there just hasn't been a good time. I'm not very particular about dirty dogs, but even I'll admit that they've both become filthy.

Janet helped me get the tax exemption on the house straightened out. It turns out I had downloaded the wrong forms yesterday and was actually applying to defer my real estate taxes until after I died. Oops. Not exactly what I had in mind. Jeez! Why would anyone want to do this, unless they really wanted to make their heirs angry?

I'm hoping for an uneventful weekend, filled with lot of sleep, leisurely meals and trips to the dog park. I imagine that Dot and Dash are hoping for something similar.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1067

Some people seem to be worried that I'll be late for the Dalmatian Rescue photo event tomorrow. Now, where would they get that idea? Hey, I'm just the guy who routinely eats breakfast at 10 AM and is seldom even awake when this event begins. Not to worry though. Janet runs a tight ship when it comes to Dalmatian events. She won't let me be late.

I noticed that someone is building a charging station for electric cars right across from the cool restaurant when I was eating breakfast this morning. I think they picked the right location. Probably the patrons of this restaurant are the only people in Dallas who would even think of driving an electric car. I noticed I got a few dirty looks this morning. I was wearing a leather coat. I guess it's not cool to wear leather any more. Most of the guys were wearing plaid wool lumberjack shirts with carabiner clips dangling from their belt loops as key rings. I used to dress like that too. About 40 years ago. It's weird how the 60's keeps being recycled over and over again.

I scanned a few negatives this afternoon using the new film scanner I got recently. It's actually not as good as the ancient Canon scanner I used back in the dawn of digital imaging. On the flip side, the new scanner is much easier to use and dirt cheap. It's just one more example of the democratization of technology. At some point, somebody probably conducted a focus group about the old Canon scanner and added the features that the majority of people wanted, while subtracting all the things that were expensive to manufacture. I can't really complain though. The more I look at these old negatives, the more I realize that they aren't nearly as good as I remembered.

A chemical plant exploded in Garland, about ten miles east of me, this afternoon. The sky was filled with thick black smoke for the rest of the day. Looking at the smoke plume in the distance as I walked the dogs, I thought about what I'd been seeing on the news recently and counted my blessings that I live in a part of the world where giant explosions aren't commonplace.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day