Day 3619

It looks like December is going to be very busy. We have three Santa Paws photo events scheduled in December and I just learned today that I got accepted to attend Artemis Day at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. I'm still waiting to hear about the Starliner launch at Kennedy Space Center. If I get accepted for that as well, it's going to be a really busy month.

I ordered a new photo backdrop this afternoon and am hoping it gets here in time for our first Santa Paws event. I didn't think this would be a problem until I completed the order and realized that the backdrop was being shipped directly from China. I should have known. The last backdrop I ordered was made in Mexico. I don't think anyone in the United States makes these things anymore. These photo realistic backdrops are produced on demand. The website said to allow six days for production and another six days for shipping. That's cutting it close, but if these are realistic times, we'll be fine.

It looks like the process to get me clearance to spend time at McDonald Observatory is finally underway. Some of the delay has been my fault. For some odd reason some of the forms I need to fill out have been sent to my regular e-mail address and others to a seldom used Gmail account. I hardly ever check the Gmail account. The only reason I even have it is that some places demand an alternate e-mail address for security purposes. I don't know why I checked the Gmail account today, but it was a good thing I did. The form that starts the whole approval process has been sitting in my in-box for two weeks.

I'm trying to learn to identify trees by the shape of their leaves. This is a good time to do this since the  park is littered with falling leaves. The Oak, Elm, and Pecan trees were easy to identify, since we have these in our yard. The Live Oaks were pretty easy too. This left dozens of mystery trees. I think I identified the leaves from Cottonwood, Bald Cyprus, Bodark, Flameleaf Sumac, and Sweetgum trees today. Hey, I need something to do now that all the wildflowers are gone.

This week has gone quickly. Basically I've just spent my time walking through the park, but I've got a lot of irons in the fire. Can I come up with an interesting article about a visit to the moon rocket factory? I still really want my space adventures to be published. Is my Christmas photo backdrop going to arrive in time for the first Santa Paws event? Where am I going to stay if I get credentials to stay at the observatory for an extended time? I don't have an RV and am unlikely to get one. Do I really need to see an orthopedic surgeon about my shoulder? Where are all these stupid ants coming from? I think about these things while I walk thought the woods looking at leaves.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3258

I was right about the leaves. It was very windy last night and a whole new batch of leaves have fallen. Oh, well. I kind of hope that the wind continues and blows all the leaves off the trees before the next rain. Dry leaves are much easier to remove from the roof. If I'm lucky, maybe the wind will do the job for me.

Dash almost made it through the night. Close is not always good enough unfortunately. By the time I cleaned up the poop, it was time to get up anyway. Janet stayed home and fixed breakfast while I walked Dash this morning. Lately, Dash won't go anywhere without Janet leading the way, but today was the exception. He was eager to hit the road this morning and didn't even notice that she wasn't with us. Dash really enjoys the cold more than I do. I thought the strong wind might blow him over, but he held his own and did just fine.

By the time I left for the gym after breakfast I felt like I'd already had a workout. Cleaning up poop isn't all that strenuous, but it feels that way sometimes. Lack of sleep is tiring. I couldn't really blame Dash for my restless night. Dash woke me up once. The other times were because of heartburn. I probably should have asked my doctor to schedule an endoscopy to examine my esophagus. Something isn't right. I've had problems with GERD in the past, but I thought that was all behind me.

There were some younger people at the gym today who made my own efforts to stay in shape seem pitiful by comparison. I'm always surprised that most people I see at the gym really seem to enjoy working out. When do the endorphins kick in? I'm persistent, but I never find much joy in exercise. Usually what sustains me is the thought of taking a nap when I get home.

I actually did take a nap today. It was the only way I could get Dash to settle down. He would follow me into the shower and then slip on the tile floors. He would try to get under my desk like he used to do and then get stuck. Usually when Dash follows me everywhere, he is tired and wants me to rest with him. He does not like to be alone anymore. Resting with Dash seemed like a fine idea today. It would have been an even better idea last night.

Later this afternoon I watched the Insight landing press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Damn. I could have been asking questions at this press conference. Maybe someday. I shouldn't get discouraged about not making the cut for this NASA event. The timing wasn't right anyway. I'd still like to be a space groupie though. Hopefully NASA won't cut funding for these unique opportunities for bloggers like me to become reporters for a few days. I still remember my trip to Vandenberg Air Force Base and would really like to do this again sometime.

I fell asleep at the computer again. It's time to go to bed. Hopefully, the weather is a little warmer tomorrow.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3192

Another day that was dominated by water. I spent quite a bit of time on the roof this morning cleaning away leaves and debris. It seems a little early for the trees to be dropping leaves, but there were a ton of leaves on the roof. I guess Fall has arrived. There was still some standing water from last week's rain too. I was pleased that I got the roof looking nice again and then late this afternoon it started raining again. I feel like a modern day version of Sisyphus. The roof is hopeless. I wish the roofers had told me in the very beginning that a high tech coating was an inappropriate solution for my type of roof.

I also wish that the contractor who remodeled our bathrooms years ago had installed a real heavy duty metal shower pan rather than the vinyl liner that everybody seems to use these days. I think this liner is one of the reason I'm having so many problems with shower leaks. I had to suck out excess water with the wet/dry vac again today. I do this way too often. About a quart of water seems to accumulate under the tiles about every three days.

I really need to give up and put on an entirely new roof and get a good tile guy to re-do the shower. I probably need a tile guy and a good plumber, since I think it's the floor drain that is leaking and letting water accumulate under the tiles. A completely new roof in a house like ours is prohibitively expensive and I really don't want to deal with having contractors in the house. I guess I'm screwed.

A guy came to the door today and wanted money for public radio. The guy was very persistent and seemed a lot like a Jehovah's Witnesses. I wonder if he was really from KERA like his t-shirt said. You'd think the never ending pledge drives on public radio would be enough. I told him I thought the station should just run commercials like everyone else. Commercials would be less irritating than the pledge drives. When the guy couldn't sign me up as a subscriber, he asked me for some water. I gave him some bottled water and off he went. I still don't know if this was a real subscriber drive or a scam.

Quite a bit of thunder and lightning accompanied this evening's rain. Not surprisingly, the thunder scared Dash. It's kind of sad. Dash is not mobile enough to crawl under my desk anymore during storms.  He kept looking for a safe place, but just couldn't maneuver very well. Finally, Janet and I convinced him to lie down on the bedroom floor with us and we covered him with a blanket. Luckily, the heavy rain didn't last very long.

If it continues raining tomorrow, I won't be able to go out for breakfast. Dash can get himself in some real trouble if he panics during a storm. I guess I could make pancakes at home if the weather is bad. I haven't had pancakes in a while. It's weird. I never ever drink my regular smoothie on Friday. Don't ask me why. My life is all about meaningless rituals.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2886

It was so windy today that I kept expecting one of our trees to topple over. It has happened before. I see old growth trees fall in the park all the time, but luckily nothing happened to ours today. The wind did signal a change in the weather. A cold front moved through town this afternoon and it's currently about twenty degrees colder than it was this morning. Dash seems to like this chilly weather. I can't say that I agree.

The only thing I accomplished today was to catch the cockroach that eluded me yesterday. This time I had my flyswatter ready. The bug didn't have a chance. I hate to think how many of these things might be lurking around the house. There are certainly plenty of places for them to hide in the office. The office was full even before I brought all the paraphernalia home from the storage warehouse for Santa Paws pictures. Now, it's a total mess.

Dash seemed to want a walk around 3 PM this afternoon, but when I looked outside I noticed a mobile grooming truck parked in our neighbor's driveway. We would have to walk right by this truck to get to the park. It would be just my luck that the groomers would open the door just as Dash and I were walking by and out would come the dog who bit me. I wasn't going to risk it. I'm still very apprehensive about that dog.

I waited about an hour until the truck drove away and then we took our walk. We encountered another loose neighborhood dog along the way, but luckily this one was friendly. These people let their dog out in the front yard without a leash all the time. Over and over again, it races out in the street to greet me and Dash. One of these days it is going to get run over. I really don't understand how people can pay so little attention to their dog's safety. Is it that hard to keep your dog on a leash? The streets are busy. There are coyotes in the area. There are snakes. There are just too many unpredictable things that could happen.

I tried to sweep the leaves off the front porch today. It was impossible. Prevailing winds tend to blow leaves onto the porch where they pile up against the front door. When you open the door on a windy day, the leaves blow inside. This is one of many things that make me wish I lived in Arizona with a big cactus and a swimming pool in the yard. At any rate, I swept the leaves away three times today and the wind blew them back again every time. It's futile to battle against nature. Nature always wins.

I wonder how Black Friday got to be such a big deal. We are being inundated with Black Friday flyers in the mail and Black Friday e-mail messages. I don't think I've ever bought anything on Black Friday. I guess it's a good deal if you want to stand in line for a cheap big screen TV, but how many televisions do you need? I think everybody already has a big screen TV by now. I guess I'm not the target market. I'm so out of the loop that I thought Black Friday was yesterday.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2574

I can safely say that I've mowed the grass for the last time this year. The grass has been dormant for some time now, but I always mow it one last time so it looks nice for the winter. Since it was a pleasant warm day, I thought I'd tackle the leaves as well. The trees are bare now and all the leaves are on the ground. There are an enormous number of leaves on the ground in the back yard, making it difficult for Dot to walk. It would have taken me a week to bag them all up, so I just used the leaf blower instead. Leaf blowers are a silly invention. You don't really get rid of the leaves. You just move them around. Maybe there's a temporary sense of victory, but sooner or later a big wind will just blow them all back.

Hey, at least I tried. The house has been vacuumed, the grass has been mowed, and at least Dot has a fighting chance to make it to the back of the yard to pee. There is a certain futility to all this. It is almost impossible to keep Dot, or anything else, clean for very long. Literally two minutes after I got Dot's blankets out of the dryer this morning and placed them back on her bed, she pooped on them again. I always wanted to acquire more patience, but this is not the path I thought I'd be taking to get there. You just have to understand that Dot has no control over what happens anymore.

I keep hearing a lot of people says that 2016 was the worst year ever. Mostly this was just because their favorite singer died, or they didn't like the election results. Those kind of things seem so distant to me. Singers and celebrities die every year. I'm almost certain that a lot more will die next year. I measure each year by what happens much closer to home. I've known that Dot is dying for a long time. The fact that she is still here, barking and pooping, and sharing her life with us is definitely something to be happy about. I know that my working years are just about over too. This was the year I finally learned to accept it. It's OK. If somebody wants to hire me for something, I'll be happy to take the job, but I'm not looking for business anymore. I'm not seeing as many doctors as I was several years ago. My health seems to have stabilized. That's good. Sure, I liked David Bowie too, but my dog and my health are far more important.

Next year I have to renew my passport and my driver's license. Every time I renew my passport, it looks like I've aged 10 years. Of course, this is because I actually have aged ten years. I've had quite a few passports by now. I liked the old ones before the creation of the European Union best. Each country had it's own distinctive stamp and many of my passport pages were filled with stamps from countries I will probably never visit again. My current passport looks like I haven't been anywhere.  I'm a bit more apprehensive about my driver's license. My vision has deteriorated over the years and I'm afraid they might make me wear glasses. I don't particularly want to wear glasses. A slightly fuzzy world is fine by me.

We haven't gone out for New Year's Eve in ages, but I probably will stay awake until midnight and have a glass of champagne with Janet. Years ago when I played in a band, New Year's Eve was always a work day. We made our best money playing big New Year's Eve parties. I loved the various bands I played in, but I don't miss those parties at all. There were too many drunks and too few people to help pack up the equipment when it was all over.

I hope you have big plans for the year ahead. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but there are a few things I'd like to do. Did you know that there is going to be a total eclipse of the sun next August that crosses the entire United States? It's going to be one of the best opportunities to see a total eclipse in this century. I almost saw a total eclipse when I was going to high school in Alaska but the sky clouded over at the last minute. Maybe I'll get another chance. The eclipse is a big deal, but if Dot is still around on her birthday next August, that would be an even bigger deal.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2569

Sometimes I feel like the bar that's being set for me keeps being raised a little higher every few weeks. Last night I found myself cleaning up Dot's poop in the kitchen at exactly the same time Dash was throwing up in the bedroom. It's a three ring circus around here. Needless to say, I didn't get to watch very much of the Dr. Who Christmas Special. Lord knows what makes Dash throw up, but it happens from time to time. Usually Dash has an upset stomach when he eats something bad he found in the yard. You might ask why I don't find the dead things first and get rid of them. I would, except that the yard is covered by a million Oak and Elm leaves that have fallen from our trees. I won't be able to find anything in the yard until Spring.

I made an appointment to take Dash to the vet, because when I was checking him out after he threw up, I noticed a small mass in his throat. This feels like a fatty lipoma to me, but since Dash has already had thyroid cancer and lost one lobe of his thyroid gland, I don't think I should let this one slide. It is always possible that another tumor is developing in the remaining part of his thyroid. I worry too much, but that is one reason why both dogs are still alive. I may be guilty of ignoring my own health, but I never ignore the dog's health.

Yesterday evening was far too distracting to sit down and watch the Dr. Who Christmas Special, although it was playing on both televisions. I got the general idea that this was a Superman and Lois Lane story wrapped around a typical alien invaders on Christmas Day story. I didn't think I'd like this one, since I'm getting tired of Peter Capaldi, but from what little I saw, the script seemed well written and clever enough to make me want to go back and watch the show again the next time I find some quiet time.

I'll never get used to Texas weather. After our recent cold spell. I really wasn't ready to start using the air conditioner again. It seemed to go from cold and dry to hot and humid almost overnight. I've had the air conditioner on for two days now. Go figure. At least the yard is finally drying out. I didn't need to clean the dog's paws nearly as often today.

Today must have been a holiday for people who have regular jobs. The park seemed really crowded for a weekday. At first I kept thinking "what are all these people doing skipping work," but I finally realized that since Christmas was on a Sunday, that offices were closed on Monday instead. Maybe if you were lucky, you got Friday off too. I haven't had a paid work holiday for decades. Of course there are those who think all my days are holidays, but they would be wrong.

I got an REI sale catalog in the mail and of course the one thing that caught my eye was something I'd never, ever use. It was a GPS satellite tracking device that lets you text people and send emergency messages when you're off the grid and far away from a cell tower. I haven't been off the grid since I was in college and if I had gotten in trouble, I would have been out of luck. Cell phones and GPS trackers weren't even invented yet.

I'm hoping for a quiet, uneventful day tomorrow. One can always hope.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2543

I was a little better organized today. I tried to get as much done as I could while the dogs were asleep. Once they woke up, I knew it was going to be a lost cause. It was a nice day, so I got up on the roof and removed all the standing water. This is the worst time of year for keeping the roof dry. The large Oak, Elm, and Pecan trees in the yard are all shedding leaves. Wet leaves are heavy and a lot more trouble to move than dry leaves. The roof was covered with water and wet, soggy leaves, but unfortunately there are still a lot of leaves left on the trees. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to do this again.

Since the dogs were still sleeping when I returned to the house, so I moved on to my next task. I needed to replace a lot of pictures on a website, but since the client had already resized them for me, the job went quickly. I was done before noon. I checked on the dogs again and Dot was still sleeping soundly, so I took a shower. Dot often poops in her bed while I take a shower, and today was no exception. Luckily, she was still asleep and laying on a disposable pad, so I was able to clean things up easily. This is when my luck ran out.

Dash woke up while I was cleaning Dot up and immediately ran to the kitchen and started barking for his lunch. I lifted Dot up so she could join him, but I forgot to immediately take her outside to pee. Both dogs have a rice cake for lunch. It's not really a meal like breakfast or dinner, but it keeps them from getting bored. While Dot was eating her rice cake, she started to pee on a rug. Damn. I should have remembered the correct sequence of things. Everything is so complicated now. I have to cut the rice cake into tiny pieces because Dot has trouble chewing now and almost choked on a larger bite of rice cake recently.

After the dogs finish their lunch, I take them outside and then they typically used to go back to sleep again. Not anymore. Dot is restless in the afternoons now. She paces around and wants me to take her outside every ten minutes. If I ignore her, she barks. I can't ignore her for very long. Even if she manages to get out of her bed on her own, she quickly falls or manages to get stuck in a corner.

When I could tell Dot was getting tired, I penned her in an area where she couldn't hurt herself and went to the vegan take out place to pick up something for dinner. I was looking forward to the meal they had featured on their website, but it was all gone when I got there, so I had to choose something else. I've discovered that I don't like all vegetarian meals. Some are definitely better than others. I picked out something new that looked interesting and returned home, hoping that Dot hadn't pooped again.

Dot's bed was clean when I returned home, but the day wasn't over yet. She ended up pooping and falling in the mess while I was getting Dash ready for his evening walk. I was hoping for a relaxing walk after I got Dot cleaned up and started washing another load of dog blankets, but Dash wasn't being cooperative. We were almost home when he froze and refused to move forward. Nothing I could do would convince him to walk up the final hill that completed out journey. Finally, I gave up and we backtracked and returned home the way we came. This behavior seemed insane, but I'll give Dash the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he could smell coyotes. There are coyotes in the neighborhood again. One more thing to worry about.

By the time Janet returned from work, both dogs were exhausted and were sleeping peacefully. This is what usually happens. Janet never believes the trials and tribulations I deal with during the day.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2511

I'm not catching many breaks with this roof. When I went up on the roof to inspect what the repair crews did yesterday, I was simultaneously pleased and disappointed. It looked like the crew had applied the elastomer coating properly, but there was one big problem. It was a windy day yesterday and tons of small leaves had fallen from our Elm Tree and become embedded in the coating before it had time to dry properly. Now the leaves are probably going to be there forever. If I try too hard to rip them out, I could damage the coating. If I ignore the leaves and leave them where they are, they could react chemically with the coating and cause it to deteriorate prematurely. For over 30 years nature has been trying to tell me that nobody should have built a house on this property. The large trees are pretty but the root systems have penetrated our sewer lines, large tree branches have broken off in storms and landed on the roof, and squirrels have claimed the entire area as their own. I think I lost this battle years ago, but it is still discouraging to be reminded about how relentless the natural world can be about reclaiming what it rightfully owns. The forest will be here long after the house is gone.

Security concerns have forced me to have so many passwords that I can't even begin to remember them all. I felt foolish when I couldn't even remember how to add my existing e-mail account to my new iPad. The hosting company had forced me to start using a new more complex password recently and all I could remember was the original one. I ended up having to call tech support and asked them to guide me through the process. This was embarrassing, since I routinely help other people set up their e-mail accounts for a living. Almost every day something like this happens to remind me that I'm not getting any younger. At any rate, when I finally got the e-mail account working, I set it to remember my log-in information, so I won't have to go through this again.

I saw some Kestrels on my walk with Dash this afternoon. These little hawks appear to be thriving in our area. I see more of them every year. They usually sit on the top of trees looking intently for something to eat. I don't have the patience to be a serious birder, but I do enjoy learning a little more about the animals I see everyday. It's an eat or be eaten world out there. Perhaps if we humans weren't at the top of the food chain, we'd be a little more realistic about our place in the world. Hawks know what to do. All animals know instinctively how to keep things in balance, except for us. We seem to think we're exempt from the cycle of life and I'm convinced that this will lead to our extinction.

I wonder if there is anything that would actually change people's minds in this election. Trump supporters aren't swayed by his frequent displays of incompetence. Hillary supporters are even worse. They could care less about the implications of compromising national security or selling favors to the highest bidder. Politics have become like sports. Everyone is just rooting for their favorite team. I don't think this is going to end well, no matter who wins.

I'm old, so I don't think my life is going to change all that much. If I were young, I'd be worried. How did we let ourselves get to the point where the Kardashians have become role models and two self-centered idiots are running for president. What's scary is that one of these two is going to win.  Idiocracy is just a movie now, but in ten years it's going to seem like a documentary.

Dakota is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2204

It was 70 degrees on Friday. There were tornadoes on Saturday. Sunday there was flooding. And today feels like snow. That's almost like having all four seasons within four days. Welcome to Texas. I don't even think this was all that out of the ordinary. It was certainly cold when we took the dogs on their morning walk. It's quite an undertaking to get Dot's winter coat on under her Help 'Em Up Harness, but we managed. We were the only dogs walking this morning. It seemed a little strange that an old crippled Dalmatian still has more stamina than all the other neighborhood dogs, but that's Dot for you. She is definitely the energizer bunny of the dog world.

I didn't want to go up on the roof today, but I didn't want the water to freeze up there either. What the hell. I haven't been to the gym in a while, and I needed the exercise. I bundled up in warm clothes and swept away yesterday's rain and the few remaining leaves from the roof before the water had a chance to freeze. Since ice expands, it can cause cracks and shifting in the ceiling Sheetrock. I still haven't finished patching the ceiling after a big ice storm a few years ago. I certainly don't need more cracks. One good thing about all the recent bad weather is that the strong winds finally blew all the leaves off the trees. I won't have to worry about removing leaves from the roof for another year.

The dogs were restless today. It was too cold for them to stay outside long. And they were too bored to lay around the house all day. I was constantly letting them in and out the back door. With Dot, the simple act of going outside is a lot more trouble than it might seem. If it looks like she needs to go outside, I suit her up in her special harness and follow her out, holding up her rear end. She'll sniff the air for about thirty seconds and then decide she doesn't want to be outside after all. Back inside we come and I take the harness off again. I guess I could just leave the harness on, but I've discovered that Dot can move around on her own in the house much better without it. The harness comes on and off many times a day. It takes a certain amount of patience to keep doing this day after day.

After I cleared all the water off the roof, I came back inside and wondered what to do next. I took a shower, emptied the water that had accumulated in the dehumidifier bucket and sat down to watch the Dr. Who Christmas Special on the DVR. Most Christmas Specials seem to involve aliens invading London, but this one was a bit different. The Doctor and River Song were reunited after an absence of several years. I don't remember seeing much of River since Amy Pond and Rory discovered that she was their daughter. River has a very complicated timeline. This show was an attempt to tie up the loose ends. We finally discover exactly when the Doctor gave her the sonic screwdriver that she used in the Forest of the Dead episode. She died in this episode, but somehow came back to life later. Her final words were "You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was." Well, seven years later, this Christmas Special was when the Doctor actually did take River to see the Singing Towers. This season's scripts have been far too complicated for my taste, but I'm sure that is exactly why some people love them.

I'm not exactly sure what I'll do tomorrow. We'll have to wait until 2016 to see if I've still got a company. Nothing ever happens between Christmas and New Years. I'd like to get some interesting writing assignments next year. I'm not so sure about mobile websites. Designing responsive websites is a lot more work than I expected. We'll see. Things always improve when the days get longer. I don't do well on short, cold, grey days like these. When I was up on the roof today, I kept thinking about all the first responders toiling a few miles away helping people sorting through the soggy wet wreckage and debris left behind by the tornadoes. Where do they find the strength? I'm having trouble just dealing with dog poop.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2192

I got the Christmas tree up today. It seems to go up a little later every year, but that's OK. Putting up the tree reminded me that I still hadn't sent my out of town presents yet, so I went on Amazon.com for ten minutes and did all my shopping. What did people do before Amazon? They take care of the shipping. They'll wrap the package for you. They'll even enclose a little note if you'd like. Amazon and gift cards have revolutionized holiday shopping for me. I'll never spend hours wandering aimlessly through a crowded shopping mall again.

When I was picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy today, I noticed that my doctor has increased the amount of Metformin I take. The pills are larger now. Ordinarily, this would have alarmed me, but I read an article recently saying that researchers now think Metformin can slow the aging process and increase lifespan. I'll go with that. I need to take these findings with a grain of salt however. So far, the researchers have only tested their hypothesis on worms.

Every Christmas I get a $50 gift card from my favorite clothing store. These guys used to be a client and I'm still pretty loyal to them. On my way back from the pharmacy I stopped by the store to see what I could find. You have to spend at least $100 to use the $50 card, but it's still the same as a 50% off sale if you choose wisely. I used to be able to get quite a few clothes this way, but times have changed. Prices have really gone up for clothing that's not made in China. I looked around and saw some nice things, but had a hard time finding anything under $200. Is a $200 shirt nicer than a $12 shirt from Sam's Club. Definitely. Did I buy anything? Nope. I don't think I can afford this store anymore.

I finally got some new work assignments today. I've got an article to write tomorrow and there were several website modifications that I worked on today. Some people send me layouts that they've done in Photoshop and want me to match them exactly on their websites. Whatever. I can match just about anything. Even layouts that are butt ugly. Clients who think they are designers used to infuriate me. I don't even care anymore. We live in a world where everybody thinks they're a designer.

I'll be glad when all the leaves are finally off the trees. There are so many leaves on the ground now that every time I open the back door to let the dogs out, a bunch of leaves blow in the house. The leaves are everywhere. It probably didn't help matters when I pushed a ton of dead leaves off the roof yesterday and now they are on the ground too. I got out the electric leaf blower to blow them all away, but the only long extension cord we have now is up on the roof to run the sump pump. I found a smaller extension cord and was able to get the leaves off the front porch, but that was about it. Ironically, I almost bought a heavy duty outdoor extension cord at Home Depot last week when I was shopping for mini-blinds. I didn't buy it though because it was more expensive than the blinds. Do you see a theme here? Everything is too expensive these days.

Dot pooped in the house again. So what else is new? At least I did a deft save and caught her before she stumbled and fell in the poop. I could write a book on the best ways to clean up poop by now. This is not something I was planning to become an expert on, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2133

I've noticed that there are several people at the gym who leisurely read the Sunday paper while while they are using the recumbent elliptical machines. Isn't this missing the whole point of going to the gym? These guys are moving so slow that the only thing that's going to get their heart rate up is reading a story in the local news section about a mugging in their neighborhood. I shouldn't be critical though. I'm missing the point all the time.

Of course, maybe I'm right and everybody else is missing the point. It gets confusing. How can you have a serious talk about climate change without acknowledging that there are already way, way too many people on the planet? We are the problem. I guess it's easier to tell people to quit using fossil fuels than to quit having sex. Everybody seems worried about shark attacks these days. Why don't they just stay out of the water? That would be too easy though. Sometimes I think we are just hardwired to miss the point. Most politicians don't have a clue about why they are actually in Washington. To tell you the truth, I don't have a clue why I started my own business. I don't even like business.

Sunday's keep getting busier. Leaves are falling from the large Oak and Elm trees now, and I have to continually keep sweeping the porch and patio to minimize tracking them all inside. The leaves that do make it inside, I vacuum up with the Dyson. I wish I could come up with an easier way to clean the house. Before I can even start vacuuming, I need to move all the dog beds, water bowls, and chairs out of the way. I'll move everything off a rug, clean it, put the stuff back, and them move on to the next rug. There are 21 rugs to clean.

I sure wish Steve Jobs were still alive. Steve would have never tolerated the sloppy way software updates are released these days. After two updates, I'm still having problems with IOS 9 on my phone. I'm not the only one either. A quick Google search confirmed that hundreds of people are having the same problems I'm dealing with. Ever since I updated my operating system, I've been noticing that WiFi hotspots I know to be working just disappear. Some apps no longer work with WiFi at all and you have to use cellular date to access the all important cloud. It's a mess. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be surprised when they get their next wireless bill and discover that they're way over their data plan limit. Why did we even need IOS 9 anyway? I was happy with IOS 8. Hell, I was happy with IOS 5.

The dogs had a nice weekend. Dot must be feeling stronger, because she's walking more briskly now. We're walking the same distance in the morning, but we get home about five minutes earlier than we used to. Dot sets the pace, and she's decided to speed things up a bit. Dash is better too. I haven't detected any limping in three days. He's lifting his legs higher too, because I don't hear his nails dragging the pavement every time he takes a step. I'm sure the cooler weather helps. It was only 57 degrees when we left the house this morning.

We ate well this weekend, but it will be back to my morning smoothies tomorrow. Both dogs have vet appointments next week and I need to have my own blood work done as well. Janet says there is equipment that Dalmatian Rescue needs for its next off-site event in my storage warehouse. I don't remember seeing this stuff, but that doesn't mean anything. I'll go take a look.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1750

Good grief. Flu season is here. The State Fair of Texas just started. And a guy with the Ebola virus was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital after wandering around town for a week. What could possibly go wrong? I guess it was inevitable that Ebola would make it's way to America, but did it have to come to Dallas first? This is a little too close to home. Presbyterian Hospital is only four or five miles from my house. The gym that I go to is actually owned by the Presbyterian healthcare network.

I listened to the press conference held this afternoon by the CDC. The only thing I could think of was that every single post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world movie I've ever seen starts with some government bureaucrat standing in front of a microphone telling people that there's "nothing to worry about." Every time I hear that this disease can't be transmitted through the air, I think of all the other things that couldn't possibly happen, like Fukushima and Chernobyl.

I'm sure for the next week of so, everyone who gets a fever in Dallas will think they've come down with Ebola. It doesn't help that officials are very close-lipped about the whole situation. They won't reveal the airline the guy flew here on. They won't reveal who his family is, or where he was seen in town before he arrived at the hospital feeling sick. Why do they let people from West Africa continue to fly here? This is an uncontrolled pandemic that has already claimed over 3,000 lives in a short amount of time. It is insane to keep pretending that "there is nothing to worry about."

I awoke this morning to the sound of a dog trying to throw up in the bed next to my head. I've heard this sound before, so I immediately picked Dot up and quickly took her outside where she proceeded to throw up on the back porch. It's probably nothing, but when a dog is recovering from cancer you always worry that the cancer may have returned. Both dogs have sensitive stomachs and are prone to eat crap in the park. It's not a good combination. I've been keeping an eye on Dot today and she seems completely normal. All dogs throw up from time to time and hopefully this was just a fluke.

I completed my troublesome website project today and wrote two new articles. I consider this a good day. It would have been an even better day if the stock market hadn't taken a tumble. It's depressing to toil away at the computer to earn a few hundred dollars when you're simultaneously losing thousands in the market.

The yard is rapidly becoming covered with dry, yellowed elm leaves that the dogs and I inevitably track inside. The elm tree loses its leaves first, and then the oaks and pecan trees quickly follow. Fall has definitely arrived.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1440

One of the overhead lights in my office keeps blinking on and off. It's one of those new LED bulbs that are supposed to last forever and it's driving me nuts. I get out the ladder and climb up and tighten the bulb in it's socket, thinking I've solved the problem. About twenty minutes later, the light starts blinking again. It is a bad bulb? A bad fixture? Or bad wiring? It could be all three, but I hate to call an electrician just to have him tell me to screw the bulb in tighter.

At least this problem is indoors where it's warm. Earlier in the day I was up on the roof trying to remove the standing water before it all turned into ice. I was a little late, since a lot of the water had already frozen. I can tell you from experience that it's a lot harder to remove ice from the roof than water. When the water and the falling leaves freeze together, you've got a real mess on your hands.

It's hard to stay a fan of mother nature when the elements are relentlessly trying their best to destroy your house. Hopefully, the new roof is genuinely waterproof, since ice brings out the worst in a leak. Heat from the house melts the bottom of the ice and the cold keeps the surface frozen. As a result, it is nearly impossible to remove the water from the roof until the weather gets above freezing again. Indoors, water condenses on the inside of large expanses of single pane glass. This water drips to the sill below where it soaks through tiny cracks in the paint and rots the wood. Water pipes freeze. Rats and squirrels aggressively invade the greenhouse, looking for someplace warm. All in all, life is much easier in the Summer.

I  watched the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Awards ceremony on TV this evening where they honored Carol Burnett. Maybe I'm showing my age, but those old sketch comedy segments are still funnier today that almost anything I've seen on SNL lately. Granted, Saturday Night Live was fabulous in it's day too, but those days are long gone. I occasionally see a funny episode of Modern Family, but it's nothing like vintage Sienfeld or All in the Family. I think we've collectively lost our sense of humor and just like to make fun of people instead. Don't even get me started on music or reality shows. The world has changed. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone like John Kennedy again who could actually keep a promise to send men to the moon, invent the Peace Corps, and still be tough enough to put Khrushchev in his place. We have iPhones now, but we are a pale shadow of our former selves.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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