Day 3347

I didn't go out for breakfast this morning. It took me way too long to get organized. Dash was out of sorts when he woke up and wouldn't take his morning meds. We tried hiding the food in ham, turkey, canned dog food and even cake. Nothing worked. I thought that maybe he'd be hungry after a walk, so we suited him up and off we went. It wasn't raining yet, but it was so foggy that my jacket was wet when we returned. Dash seemed to like the weather, but he still wasn't hungry when we got back to the house.

The pills Dash takes are essential, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. One way or another, he needed to take his meds. I fixed myself an omelet while Dash took a nap. I added some ham, sausage, and smoked Gouda cheese to the eggs and the result was delicious. The smell enticed Dash to the kitchen and this time he was ready to take his pills. I rolled each pill in a small slice of the same ham I'd used for my omelet. Mission accomplished.

Dash didn't poop in the house this morning and it made me nervous. I heard his stomach rumbling while we were walking in the park and I kept expecting the volcano to blow. Dash always poops a lot in the morning. Today was different. He peed in the bed instead. By the time I finished cleaning up, doing the laundry, and washing the breakfast dishes, it was noon. I didn't mind. It was raining outside anyway and there was no place I wanted to go. My omelet tasted better than a restaurant omelet anyway.

After breakfast, I watched a webinar from one of the large auction houses about how to sell your collection. I learned a lot, but it was a little late. I've already sold or consigned most of my collection. The whole presentation seemed to be directed at people who have inherited art and don't know what to do with it. Maybe that's where most of the art at auction comes from. I can see how this happens, but hopefully I can unwind my collections and clean up my mess before I die. If you've ever had to deal with settling an estate, you quickly realize that it's not a pleasant task. Your heirs will enjoy getting a check someday. They probably won't enjoy sorting through a huge pile of your junk.

Dash seemed exceptionally tired today. He spent most of the day sleeping. When this happens, I worry that his walks are wearing him out. I always let Dash set the pace and we walk very slowly, but maybe even this mild exercise has become too much for him. He really enjoyed his walk this morning, but when we returned home, he seemed exhausted. There are no easy answers about aging. I wish Dash could talk so he could tell me whether I was walking for him, or if he was walking for me. I'm just guessing that Dash loves these daily walks. He seems to enjoy walking, but what if all his joints hurt and he's just walking to please me?

I was happy to see the Dow close above 26,000 today. I'd have been even happier if I'd seen the sun.  It was such a dismal day that all I could find to photograph was an ugly weed with water drops on it. Who knows. Maybe the weekend will be nice. As long as I'm wishing, maybe Dash will be stronger tomorrow as well. Maybe I'll even get some sleep.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3282

I had a feeling that things weren't going to go well today when we walked Dash in a heavy fog this morning. The fog was so thick that my jacket quickly became damp. If the roads, the fields, and even my own clothing were wet, I was sure that the roof was wet too. I kept hoping that the roofers had a plan to deal with this situation. As it turned out, their plan was just not to show up. Late in the day I got a message saying that they'd try again tomorrow and hoped that the weather would cooperate. It's always easier when roof problems develop in the Summer. It gets so hot that moisture evaporates quickly. On cold, damp days like this, I think the roof might stay wet until Spring.

Getting the leak fixed before the next big rain is going to be a cliff hanger. I hope that we succeed, because there's going to be a huge mess in the house if we don't. There's not much I can do at this point. I don't even know where the leak is coming from. I'm not sure the roofers do either. I'm not looking for miracles. A temporary fix that will keep the house dry until I can deal with getting a new roof installed later in the Spring would be fine.

I'm trying to get organized. I got all my prescriptions renewed for another year at the pharmacy and then contacted my favorite appliance repairman to get the dryer fixed. A Facebook friend suggested that I could fix the dryer myself, but the utility room is very cramped and I've got bad knees. I'd rather have a younger person do the heavy lifting. I'm not even sure how we shoehorned the washer and dryer inside this small room. It seems impossible now. At any rate, if I can get the leaks in the ceiling and the awful screeching sound in the dryer to stop, that's enough for this year. There's plenty of time in 2019 to deal with some of the other problems.

We forgot to put the rubber sheet and special dog blankets on the bed last night before we went to bed. Getting Dash up again so we could start over was not an easy task. Luckily I found a new use for the sausage balls Janet made as Christmas treats. You can get a dog to do almost anything with a few sausage balls. It was a good thing that we went to the extra trouble to remake the bed. Dash pooped and peed in the bed last night. He doesn't pee a lot, but a little squirts out when he tries to get up. It's only going to get worse. So far, Dash shows no interest in sleeping on the floor. We're going to be dealing with this for a long time.

The stock market tanked again today and by the end of the day, all gains for 2018 had been erased. This sucks. A well respected analyst on one of the business channels this morning said that the market has become a casino. He's right. There is no rational reason for these wild swings we've been seeing lately. Jeez. Everybody knew the Fed was going to raise interest rates today. Why was it such a surprise? How can you plan for the future in a world like this? Truthfully, I don't think anyone has the answer.

I just learned that there is a 50% chance of rain tonight. Give me a break. There's probably a 90% chance that Dash will poop in the bed. That's life these days. I've got the buckets and the washing machine ready.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2956

Dash looked so sleepy last night that I didn't bother to wake him up to go pee before I went to bed. Big mistake. He woke me up three times during the night needing to go outside. Since it started raining during the night, I had to clean him off each time so he wouldn't get the bed muddy when we went back to sleep. Dash is no quicker doing his business in the rain than when it is dry. It was a long night, but at least he didn't throw up.

I was tired this morning, but as soon as we started our morning walk I wished we'd gotten up earlier. There was a heavy fog that was lifting rapidly. I took a few pictures as we walked, realizing that the fog was probably much more dramatic an hour earlier while I was still asleep. I love walking through fog. I guess this is the way I like to see the world.

By the time we returned home, the sky was already clearing. I had missed my chance to photograph ghostly sailboats again. I would have preferred to miss my chance to run Saturday errands, but no such luck. Saturday has always been a day to run errands.

I needed to pick up some bulbs for the sconce lamps in the living room. These are the only lamps in the house that still use incandescent bulbs. For several years I have been watching the price of these halogen bulbs gradually increasing as the price of LED bulbs continued to decrease. LED bulbs used to be super expensive and now they are quite reasonable. Today for the first time, the the price of the incandescent bulbs was actually higher than the LED bulbs. Sign of the times, I guess. In a few years, I probably won't even be able to find these bulbs at all.

It's hard to believe tax season is already here again. I'm already starting to receive tax documents in the mail. I have to be careful not to throw these things away. Most of them look exactly like junk mail. I almost threw some documents away this morning. They need to stamp "important tax document" on every envelope for people like me. I get so much junk mail that I don't even open most of it anymore. The chances are pretty high that I occasionally throw away something important.

I wish there was something interesting to watch on TV while I was doing chores around the house. The cable news stations just talk about politics. The local news just talks about overnight crime. I can't stand daytime talk shows like Ellen or Steve Harvey. I'd like a channel that just showed TED talks. They have something like this on the radio. Why not on TV?

It's alarming how little interests me these days. I guess the flame is still flickering though. I can't wait to watch the Falcon Heavy launch on February 6. I'd love to see this thing in person, but watching on my computer will have to do. There is something really appealing about sending a red Tesla Roadster to Mars. If the weather is clear next Wednesday I'll get up early to watch the lunar eclipse. The whole thing won't be visible in Dallas, but I should be able to see something before the moon sets around sunrise. Maybe there are other interesting things in February as well. Right now, I'd settle for another foggy day.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2938

Today was surprisingly normal. As a result, I got quite a bit done. We got started with a walk through the fog. I love foggy mornings. The world seems very private and intimate in the fog. Dash didn't feel like going down by the water, so I didn't photograph sailboats obscured by the mist. There were plenty of other ghostly shapes however, and no loose dogs or bicycles. It was a very enjoyable walk.

After breakfast, I took a check to the bank, picked up some more enalapril for Dash at the vet, and returned home to get started on a new writing project. The word count on the e-mails concerning this project are already equal to the length of a normal finished article. I've done these type of things many times before, but I have a new contact now and we're off to a rocky start. I hope that things improve because I don't have a lot of patience for quibbling about prices. News flash. If you think I'm too expensive, you don't have to use me.

It was such a relief that Dash wasn't acting weird today. He ate normally, took nice long naps when I needed to work, and didn't have any stressful temper tantrums. Dash needs to be calm and relaxed because of his heart problems, but he seldom is. I'm always afraid when he's agitated and barking a lot that one of the blood clots in his heart will break apart and it will all be over. Dash is literally a ticking time bomb, but he doesn't know it. From his point of view, he's just acting like a normal high strung Dalmatian should.

I have several articles to write, but I though one was enough for today. I finished the day revising websites. I was working on an old school static site, so I used Dreamweaver for the first time in months. Much to my chagrin, I had already forgotten some of the menu shortcuts I used to use everyday and had to re-learn how to do simple things like change font sizes. I've always been a believer in the well known "use it or lose it" adage, but I'm just starting to realize that it's much easier to "lose it" as you grow older. It's becoming harder and harder to remember things that I don't do every day.

I have an appointment scheduled with my financial adviser tomorrow. For the first time in years, I don't have any complaints. A rising market lifts all boats and I've finally recovered most of the losses I sustained in the big crash of 2008. The goal now is just to avoid losing everything in the next big crash. I don't think I'll live long enough to recover from another market crash like we had in 2008. Realistically, I don't think the current rally could possibly last another ten years, but I sure wish it would. It would certainly make my life a little easier.

I should have taken a camera down to the lake and photographed sailboats before the fog lifted. Oh, well. You can't do everything. I also missed the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars on January 7 because of rain, but the two planets were still pretty close together when Dash needed to go out and poop around 3 AM this morning. It's almost worth getting up in the middle of the night for your dog when you can see something interesting in the sky.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2918

There always seems to be more bills to pay in December. Instead of spending my time with Dreamweaver and Photoshop today, I found myself staring at Quickbooks. It looks like I survived another year, but I still hate paying all these bills. Since I was thinking about financial matters anyway, I began wondering whether this new tax bill was going to be good or bad for me. Depending on who you're listening to, this bill is either the best thing since sliced bread or one of the seven signs of the apocalypse. There is no middle ground here. In our polarized society, you either love something like this. or you hate it. Actually understanding the bill doesn't even seem to matter.

At first I thought the bill was going to be terrible for companies like mine because I heard that a lot of common Schedule C deductions were going away. Then I heard that small businesses could take advantage of new pass through provisions that would tax business profits at a much lower rate. That would be good. Who knows. It's all speculation at this point. I won't really have a clear idea of how this affects my own business until I start doing my 2018 taxes in the Spring of 2019. I'll be over 70 then and probably won't even have any clients, so I doubt that it matters much.

I finally got some feedback on the website project I finished a few weeks ago. The client likes it. That's a relief. Without this project hanging over my head, it will be a lot easier to throw myself into my new website project. I'd like to do something bold and original, but I think the client would be better served by just picking a readily available website template tailored to their specific industry. There are very sophisticated templates available now that cater to the needs of just about every type of industry. You don't need me anymore. Jeez, what am I doing? It's become way too easy to talk myself out of work.

The weather was much better today. It was foggy this morning, but there was no rain. Foggy days are great for photography, but I really didn't have the time. I had bills to pay, prescriptions to pick up at the pharmacy for Dash and myself, and a dog crate to find in the storage warehouse. Janet had loaned the crate to a friend of hers and they wanted it today. Since the large collapsible metal crate got relegated to the storage warehouse after Petey died many years ago, it was buried under tons of other stuff by now. I did manage to find the crate, but it would have been easier to buy Janet's friend a new one.

I took a raggedy pair of jeans to the tailor this afternoon to get some sturdy knee pads sewn on. These pants are so worn that I should have thrown them away a long time ago, but they are still my favorites for walking the dogs. When the pants are repaired, they will be a perfect match for the old rubber boots that I've repaired using shoe goo and tire patches. Never say die. Years ago, I had a client who was one of the best menswear retailers in the country. He would be embarrassed to see me now. I have gone from sartorial splendor to a haphazard hobo look. Ugly but serviceable. That's me these days.

I don't have any plans yet, but I'm sure tomorrow will be just as exciting as today. I really need to find a good book to read.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2589

I love fog. We've had foggy mornings for the past several days and I like the way it allows me to look at the ordinary things I see every day from a completely different perspective. Fog has a way of separating the foreground from the background, forcing you to look at one thing at a time. The effect is very similar to the out of focus bokeh you get when when you take a photograph with a very shallow depth of field. Almost everything looks prettier when it is the only object in sharp focus. I try to look at life this way, always concentrating on one thing at a time. One a clear day, my eye is always multitasking, trying to interpret too many things at once. A foggy day seems much more natural to me.

On my way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped at the REI store and got a cool winter coat with a Christmas gift card that Janet had given me. I've certainly changed the way I dress over the past five years. There was a time when I had a menswear client and chose to get paid in clothes. I dressed fabulously for a while, but it was all kind of pointless. Who was I trying to impress anyway?  Nobody needs big dry cleaning bills and I prefer clothes that look good covered with dog hair anyway. I just wonder why it took me so long to discover camping clothes.

I'm beginning to realize that I don't get any more sleep on weekends. Sure, we get up later on weekends, but we tend to go to bed later too. The net result is about the same. Maybe I'm destined to get 5 to 6 hours sleep, no matter what happens. One thing I've learned by wearing a fitness tracker is that I go to sleep very quickly. Apparent insomnia is not a problem with me. Even when I wake up several times a night to take care of Dot, I'm back asleep again five minutes later. When I eventually got up for breakfast this morning, I'd almost forgotten that I'd already taken Dot outside to pee at 4:30 AM and then re-made her bed for her before we both went back to sleep.

It's raining cats and dogs right now. I took Dash outside to pee right after dinner and he was just getting ready to go when a giant thunderclap scared him and he went racing for the back door. He must not have had to go very bad, because he's sleeping under my desk right now. I'm glad we don't live in Fort Worth, because they're under a tornado watch right now. I think we're in the clear though. The storm is headed in a northerly direction. If it were headed east, I'd be under the desk with Dash.

I've often wondered why I'm not building any muscle mass as the gym. Now I know the answer. I read an article recently that said almost everybody will eventually lose up to 30% of their muscle fiber as they age. The muscle atrophy begins when you reach 50 and becomes much more dramatic when you reach 60. This muscle tissue won't come back, no matter what you do, so if you want to remain strong you have to work extra hard to build up the muscle fiber you still have left. Normal cardio exercises like cycling or walking on a treadmill won't build muscle mass at all. You need to start lifting free weights and push yourself to your limits. This explains why I'm not making much progress. It's too bad that I hate lifting weights. Oh well, at least my heart is in pretty good shape.

Tomorrow is a holiday. I'm sure this makes a difference to Janet and everyone else to goes off to work every morning. It's going to just seem like a Monday to me though.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2567

Today was certainly different. Janet got up real early and went to the airport before I was fully awake. I vaguely remember saying goodby before I went back to sleep again. When I woke up, I noticed that I had done a terrible job cleaning up Dot when she pooped during the night. I guess I should have turned the light on, but I didn't want to wake anyone. At any rate, I failed to clean her completely and the poop had dried on her fur and blankets. It took a lot of time and a lot of wet rags to clean her properly.

Our new routine still starts by getting Dot outside to pee as soon as I can, but after that it gets more complicated. I give the dogs their morning meds and then feed them their breakfast. Dot gets her walk first and then I fix my own breakfast. Both dogs like to eat slices of banana while I have my morning coffee and drink my smoothie. Dash is lazy, but barking for bananas usually gets him energized enough so that he's ready for his own walk when breakfast is finished. When both dogs are back at the house, I wash the dishes and then go outside and see if I can find where Dash has pooped in the yard. If I don't do this, it is inevitable that I will step in the stuff when I take Dot out late at night. Today was somewhat of a work in progress, but I was amazed at how long everything took without Janet's help. By the time I had finished the complete morning routine and was ready to turn the computer on for the day, it was almost noon.

Once both dogs were sleeping, I took a quick shower and ran to the store, since everything will be closed tomorrow. The first thing on my list was a big box of puppy training pads. We are running through these things at an alarming rate. Now that Dot's incontinence is getting worse, I must use five of six of these things a day. The weather is so wet and humid that pee isn't the only problem. Both dogs track water and mud into the house every time they go out. Cleaning Dot's paws was always a two person job. Since she can't stand up properly, one person has to hold her up while the other cleans the paws. Did I mention the house is pretty dirty.

I hope I can refine my plan a bit in the days to come. I thought I'd try writing the blog in the morning when the dogs are sleeping, but that never happened. The walks took a lot longer than I expected and I needed to go to the store. When Dot is in her evening restless period, she is constantly whining to get up, wandering around aimlessly, and falling over if I'm not nearby to steady her. Consequently, I'm writing the blog one sentence at a time this evening.

Today was one of those foggy days that I love to photograph. Everything looks so ghostly in a thick blanket of fog. Dash had no interest in turning his morning walk into a photo excursion unfortunately. I grabbed a few quick shots with my phone, but that was about it. The sailboats on the lake are often quite beautiful in a thick fog, but I couldn't get near the sailboats with Dash. He just wasn't interested. Sure, I guess I could have gone back on my own later, but there wasn't enough time. There is never enough time these days. It took over an hour just to clean the poop off Dot this morning before we had breakfast. Hopefully, I'll wake up tonight before she has time to make a mess of herself again.

There's enough food to last until Janet gets back. I doubt that I'll have many work assignments between Christmas and New Years either. That leaves plenty of time to see if I can perfect caring for one sick dog and one crazy dog on my own. I still need to give the dogs their evening meds and then try my best to get Dot to pee outside before I put her to bed. If I can't get her to pee around 11 PM, she won't make it through the night.

The Dr. Who Christmas Special is tomorrow. Maybe I'll watch it. Maybe I won't. This is the first year in a long time that I'm not all that interested in Dr. Who.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2215

I ran into a photographer buddy at breakfast this morning. We hadn't seen each other in quite a while, so it was enjoyable to spend some time catching up on things. We talked about how radically our business had changed. We wondered why time seems to speed up as you grow older. We couldn't remember the names of people we both used to work with. "You know the guy," my friend said. "He used to take a lot of ballet pictures." "Sure, I know who you're talking about," I replied. But what was his name? Who knows. Basically, we were just a couple of old men talking.

This morning started out even foggier than yesterday. Ground fog is interesting. When we left the house on our morning walk, I could see the stars. It was clear enough for me to spot a faint Saturn right below Venus in the Eastern sky. As we walked down toward the lake, we were quickly enveloped in fog. It was like we were inside a dense cloud. Looking back toward the house, you could see the top of the cloud, with blue sky above. It was strange and very pretty. There were still patches of fog when I finished breakfast, so I got my camera and went back to the lake again. Just like yesterday, I was too late to catch the sailboats peaking through the fog, but I did see some nice White Pelicans.

I've been wondering about an elderly neighbor who's house has seemed vacant for the past month. I finally ran across someone who might know what was going on and discovered that the husband, who had already fallen and broken his hip twice, started to fall again. His wife tried to catch him and ended up falling on top of him. They were both injured and are currently in a rehab center learning to walk again. Their son is trying to convince them that it is time to move to assisted living. Evidently, they don't want to leave the neighborhood, but their house has become hazardous for them. The EMT ambulance has already been to their house six times. This sounds so much like what happened to my Dad. Getting old isn't pretty.

Since I spent so much time talking with my photographer friend at breakfast, I didn't have time to go to the grocery store. I went home to make sure the dogs were alright and completed all the website updates that were due today. It didn't take long for me to get my January invoices out. There were so few of them this month that I wondered why I even bothered. When I finished all my work for the day, I decided to go to my favorite barbecue place and bring home a surprise dinner for Janet. We both love ribs and brisket, but don't have it that often anymore. I came home with two pounds of pork ribs, a pint of potato salad, some fried okra, a generous helping of barbecue beans, and several big dill pickles. Almost as an afterthought, I added a couple bottles of Corona Extra beer to my order. Barbecue this good really deserved to be accompanied with beer. Janet was pleased when she got home from work and we had a tasty and somewhat nostalgic dinner.

I noticed this morning that the top of Dash's head is covered with little bumps. What now? He used to have skin allergies, but his coat has looked great for the past two years. Maybe he is allergic to the shampoo we used to give him a bath last week. Maybe an insect bit him. We haven't changed his diet, so I don't think the irritation is caused by food. If he doesn't improve over the weekend, I'll take him to the vet next week. It's always something with these dogs.

I'm hoping that the weather stays warm this weekend and that the dogs let us sleep in a little later tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2214

I couldn't figure out why it was so dark when we got up this morning. As soon as I went outside, I knew the answer. The world was enveloped in a heavy fog. I love foggy mornings, but the dogs were a bit confused when they couldn't see ten feet ahead of them. The fog lifted quickly, but it was pretty while it lasted. As soon as we finished walking Dot and Dash, I took a camera down to the lake and tried to capture some pictures of the sailboats. If I had arrived twenty minutes earlier, I would have gotten some great photos, but the fog was already dissipating. Story of my life. It's hard to combine nature photography with walking dogs. I took a few pictures anyway and headed back up the hill to fix my breakfast.

Dot was very slow this morning on her walk, so it surprised me that she did so well at her physical therapy session. She was able to stay on the underwater treadmill for the full eighteen minutes and we were able to include a couple of intervals where she was walking at a higher speed. There's no way to predict how Dot is going to react anymore. Every day is a new day. Some days she is strong and full of energy and other days she hardly leaves her bed. I've come to realize that she can poop at any time with very little warning. She still seems happy though and that's all that counts.

My missing UPS package arrived today. According to the UPS website, it was never missing at all. They just added an extra day to the delivery schedule and said it was still on time. I guess that's one way to handle things. There never was any explanation about how a package could arrive both yesterday and today, but at least it wasn't broken. If I were busier and didn't have OCD, I'd never notice that the FedEx and UPS websites aren't always accurate. I probably wouldn't even track my packages at all. I'm convinced that people who spend too much time tracking things don't have enough on their plate. I track everything, but when I'm busy I can go for days without checking my UP fitness band or Apple Watch. When I'm not busy, I check these things all the time.

I don't know what's happening with my joints. I've had problems with my shoulder for ages and occasionally my knee goes out as well. Lately, I've started having problems with my right hip. I'm kneeling and standing all the time. I kneel down to get Dot's harness on and then stand up to walk her. I kneel down to make our low platform bed in the morning. I sit on the floor with Dot during her acupuncture sessions. It's disconcerting when you find yourself in a low crouching position and can't get up. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Getting old sucks. The last thing I need at this point is to be up on the roof and have my hip joint lock up on me. With all my aches and pains, I've still reluctant to have surgery though. There's a place for surgery, but I think it should be a last resort.

It's been impossible to get Dot to poop at night this week. Her internal schedule has changed. We'll take her outside and walk her around forever before we go to bed, but apparent she isn't ready to go yet. She seems to prefer doing her business at 3 AM now. In her bed. I've never slept soundly, but lately I'm sleeping even less than usual. I saw on TV yesterday that researchers now think that lack of sleep might cause Alzheimer's. I'm doomed. On the other hand, they say that writing every day is good for cognition. Sleep less, write more. That's my motto. Maybe everything will balance out in the end.

Vegas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2197

We started the day walking through a thick layer of ground fog in the park. Fourteen hours later, I still feel like I'm the one in the fog. Maybe it's brain fog. I did quite a bit today, but it still feels like I spent my time floundering around. Right after breakfast I went to the mall to finish the small amount of Christmas shopping I had left. I thought if I arrived right when the stores were opening, I could avoid the crowds. Apparently, other people had the same idea. I was amazed at how crowded things were at 10 AM. On a normal day, the place would be completely empty. Even though there were more shoppers than I expected, my instincts were right. I found a parking place without any problems, did my shopping, and was back home again in less than an hour.

Today seemed like a good day to upgrade Pro Tools, so I bit the bullet and downloaded the latest version from the Avid site. I always forget what a pain it is to install Avid software. There are multiple layers of registration and license codes. Before you can even begin, you have to download your new software license to the iLok dongle that Avid uses to prevent people from copying their software. I hate dongles. Why does Avid continue using them? Most manufacturers abandoned this form of copy protection long ago. I can never remember my password to the iLok license manager. I can't usually remember my password to the Avid download site either. When you are finally authorized to download the software, you are presented with a long list of items to choose from. It would be nice if they told you which of these things you actually needed. The software is huge and takes a long while to download. Today, my computer froze during the download process, so I had to reboot and start the whole registration and download all over again. What a waste of time. I don't know why Avid makes it so hard to upgrade. I might upgrade more often if they just made the whole process easier. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually install the software. Maybe in a month or two I might even use it.

Dot is way off schedule today.  She didn't poop after lunch and despite taking her outside four separate times, she didn't poop after dinner either. This makes me nervous, because it practically guarantees that she's going to poop in the house right when I'm in the middle of something else. It hasn't happened yet, but it will.

I watched the launch of the Space X Falcon 9 after dinner and was pleased to see a successful soft landing of the booster at Cape Canaveral. Elon Musk always said he could do this and he delivered today. Once this reusable rocket gets perfected, it will dramatically lower the cost of space travel. I hope that Space X continues to push the boundaries. I'd love to see someone land on Mars in my lifetime.

I should have returned to the lake with a camera after I finished walking the dogs this morning. Heavy ground fog is rare, and if you're lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, you can get some spectacular pictures. Being in the right place at the right time is difficult when you're walking Dot though. Maybe there was still enough time to take a few shots of boats half hidden in the mist, but I suspect that the moment had already passed by the time we returned home.

It certainly didn't seem like the first day of Winter. It was 70 degrees outside. Texas weather is always full of surprises. I'll take a camera with me tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll be surprised with more ground fog. I'm sure there will be more brain fog whether I find anything to photograph or not. Brain fog is pretty common these days.

Willows is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1829

After another damp and foggy morning walk, I went out for breakfast a day early. I guess I could have made myself oatmeal or an omelet but I just didn't feel like fixing anything. It's probably not a good sign that these lackluster moods are becoming commonplace, but you gotta do what you gotta do. A good breakfast still helps kickstart my day whether I make it or not.

I actually had quite a bit of work to complete before Dot's afternoon physical therapy appointment. My retail accounts are already starting to develop ads for Valentine's Day and there are always new dogs and cats to showcase on the rescue websites. I got everything finished just in time to feed Dot and Dash their rice cakes for lunch and get the car ready to take Dot for her weekly appointment with the underwater treadmill.

I wish Dot could talk so she could explain to the vet what happened to her leg a few days ago. I explained the strange episode with the lame leg, but after a thorough examination the vet could find nothing wrong. Dot was strong during her treadmill workout as well, so the leg remains a mystery. I'm sure there is a connection between the lame leg and the tremors and general weakness in both rear legs. It's hard to pin down anything specific though. She's just getting old and doing the best she can.

I was delighted to see that the Dow closed up over 400 points today. There were big gains yesterday as well. These two positive days still haven't erased the huge slide that just about destroyed the entire year's gains, but at least it was a small ray of sunshine. I hope Janet Yellen continues to say things the market likes, because without a 401K or pension, I'm depending on my investments to keep a roof over my head during retirement. It's weird when you realize that Wall Street is a total crap shoot, and yet your entire future depends on it. I guess it really doesn't matter. When you look at ISIS, ebola, North Korean hackers, climate change, and the occasional stray asteroid, Wall Street worries are just small potatoes.

I just realized that although I have taken care of Dot's physical therapy for the day, I still haven't done my own physical therapy exercises. When am I going to find time for this? There are four specific stretching exercises I am supposed to do for at least twenty minutes twice a day. I need to lie on my back on the floor for the most important of these exercises, so I can't do them at my desk either. I wouldn't mind exercises I could do sitting at my desk since there are long periods where I just stare at the screen, waiting for the next idea to hit.

So, do I go back to my favorite restaurant for another breakfast tomorrow? Decisions, decisions. If I'm not too busy, I might put up the Christmas tree. If I don't get it up soon, I'll be putting it up after Christmas.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1820

The city was enveloped in a thick blanket of fog when I woke up this morning. I love foggy mornings. They're great for taking ghostly pictures of trees and sailboats. I will typically go back to the park with a camera after I walk the dogs on foggy days like this. Not today though. I felt terrible. I don't just think I've come down with a cold. I feel like I have the flu. My joints ache. I have a dry cough. And I feel very tired. Jeez. I was just fine until I was around a lot of people at last weekend's photo sessions.

Instead of photographing the fog, I went up to the Land Rover dealer and got my car. I wanted to get this over with, because I didn't know if I'd feel even worse later in the day. As expected, the service was expensive and I'll never really know if it was even necessary. Better safe than sorry though. One thing I've learned by driving Land Rovers since the early 1990's is that it is never wise to skimp on maintenance.

I didn't really feel like fixing breakfast, so I stopped on the way home and picked up a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast burrito and a sausage kolache. Usually this would have been a delicious way to start the day but this morning I felt nauseous after eating only a few bites. I put my uneaten breakfast in the fridge to eat tomorrow morning and went back to the bedroom to take a nap with the dogs.

When I woke up around 10 AM, I felt quite a bit better.  At least I wasn't nauseous anymore. Once I got the computer turned on, it was a fairly typical Tuesday. There were websites to update, bills to pay, and correspondence that needed to be answered. There haven't been many writing assignments this month, but that's just as well. I've got a pretty full plate this month anyway.

Dash goes back to the cancer center tomorrow for another periodic re-check. He's been doing so well lately that I would be very surprised if the oncologist noticed anything abnormal. I know that Dash will need to continue taking his Palladia chemo pills for another two months, but hopefully we are nearing the end of his treatment. If I were to ask Santa for anything this year, it would be an uneventful 2015 with no medical surprises.

Janet thinks I should go to the doctor tomorrow morning and get some Tamiflu. I'm inclined to let nature take its course. I have so many mandatory meds already that I hate to add even more to the mix. We'll see how I feel in the morning. If I feel even worse than I did today, I think I'll be willing to take just about anything.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 1449

I got a phone call from a client today. This used to be a daily occurrence, but today's preference for text messages and e-mail have made the old fashioned phone call exceedingly rare. I've actually started to fear these calls, because nobody calls you on the phone anymore unless something has gone very, very wrong. I use caller ID to screen all my calls. 98% of them are from telemarketers. The other 2% make me nervous. As it turned out, this particular call was nothing to fear. It was just someone who likes to talk.

I wish I'd taken a real camera with me on our morning walk today. For about ten minutes we were engulfed in fog and my familiar surroundings turned into a wonderland of misty imagery. Most fog lifts and quickly dissipates as the sun burns it off. This was different. A thick low cloud just blew right over us. I took a few shots with my phone and then it was all over.

I had plenty of time to go to the gym today. Although I've been pretty good about maintaining my three-day-a-week workout routine, I've got to come up with some way to make the gym more interesting. Boredom is always my worst enemy. I'm already bored with my healthy diet, even though it is showing tangible results. I'm afraid that going to the gym is going to be next on my growing list of boring activities. I'll be the first to acknowledge that exercise is good for you. In just a few months, I can already tell that my muscle tone and core strength has improved and I don't get as tired anymore. I just wish these activities were fun. Luckily, I'm very familiar with boredom. Boredom doesn't slow me down a bit.

I'm scheduled to unveil a new website I've been developing for the Wednesday morning networking group at tomorrow's meeting. Truthfully, this site is a little boring, but I think it meets the needs of the group perfectly. I could probably make the site more exciting if I just focused on why I come to these early morning meetings. Maybe I should scrap all the business stuff and make the site about bacon.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1138

I went to see a nutritionist today. I've got to get beyond feeling good about myself for having a nutritious Kale salad one day and then going out and having a humongous bacon and chorizo omelet the next day. Consistency and discipline have never been my strong points. I need to clean up my act though. The team of hepatologists I saw earlier this week has put the fear of god in me. I definitely don't want to wind up on a transplant list.

It's too bad that eating unsalted nuts and fresh fruit isn't as appealing to me as a cheeseburger and a beer. Some people I know love to eat raw, unprocessed foods. Personally, I'd much rather have a pizza, or barbecued ribs. I have a feeling that those days are gone though. I'm going to have to learn to love something new.

This is the longest string of foggy days I can remember. One foggy day is a photo opportunity. A whole week of foggy days is just lousy weather. Although I have professed my love of fog many times on this blog, I'll have to admit I'm getting tired of it this week. I'm ready for a little sunshine.

I keep hearing on the news that stores are going to start adding and additional 4% to your bill for credit card transactions starting tomorrow. That sucks. I hate carrying cash around and use credit cards for virtually everything. I wonder if stores will actually try to pass on their transaction charges to customers, now that they're allowed to by law. It could go either way. Competition could keep prices the way are are currently. Or, the stores might get together just like the airlines have and try to stick their customers with every additional charge they can get away with.

I can't find anything on TV tonight. Sometimes I wonder why I even bothered to get U-Verse. There are dozens of channels filled with dumb shows like Storage Wars and Duck Dynasty. There's absolutely nothing that I want to watch though. You'd think with 500 channels, there would be at least five good ones. I find myself still watching old Seinfeld episodes because the new shows are so terrible. Sometimes I just stare at the NASA channel, watching astronauts floating around in the space station. It's not very dramatic, but at least it's not irritating.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1137

Why do people want to get me involved in their legal troubles? I already have plenty of doctors who are trying to scare me. The last thing I need are a bunch of lawyers trying to do the same thing. It was hard for me to get anything done today because attorneys on both sides of this lawsuit I got the subpoena for were calling me to ask what I'd told the other side. My answer was simple. I just did exactly what the court order told me to do. No more, no less. At least both attorneys agreed that this was the best thing to do. One of the lawyers asked me who the opposing lawyer was. When I told him, he said "Oh, I went to law school with him. He's a great guy." Small world, isn't it.

Sometimes I think I'd make a good lawyer. This is usually just when I'm watching old episodes of Perry Mason though. Janet, who knows much more about the law than I do, tells me that I'd make a terrible attorney. She's probably right. I can't even get picked for jury duty. When I tell people that I'm a writer during voir dire, the attorneys from both sides shun me like I had the plague.

It was another foggy day today. The fog didn't lift this time though. It was grey outside all day. I meant to take my car to the Land Rover dealer this afternoon, but ran out of time. I went to Autozone instead and bought another quart of oil. This is probably how the roof problem got so bad. I just keep putting things off.

Did any of you buy Apple at 700?  I'm sure glad I didn't. I was very tempted to buy the stock several times when it seemed invincible. Reluctantly, I followed my financial adviser's advice and resisted the temptation. I think I owe the guy an apology, because he apparently knew a lot more about Apple than I did. He kept telling me that Apple was going to fall, while I kept thinking that it was headed straight toward 1000 like some of the analysts were predicting on TV. Oh well, live and learn.

I almost took the pills that my new doctors told me to discontinue this morning. I need to hide these pills away somewhere, so I won't take them by mistake. I'm a creature of habit, just like my dogs.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1136

I had an uneasy feeling when I pushed the elevator button to go up to the eighth floor. This wasn't the cozy little clinic I'd been used to. It was a huge, rather foreboding, research hospital. I had entered the big leagues for bad news. There should have been a sign on the front of the building that said "Don't even bother coming through these doors unless you have very good insurance." Everything about the place screamed expensive. There wasn't just one doctor this time. I had a team of doctors. They read through all the lab reports from the previous doctors and told me that things had changed. "We've learned a lot more about this disease," one of them said. At first I thought this was good news, but it wasn't. Apparently the doctor who told me that doing nothing was a viable option was completely wrong.

I was very disappointed to hear this, because doing nothing was exactly what I wanted to do. I was told to discontinue several medications. New tests were ordered. This was all just to determine if I was a good candidate for treatment. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long year.

Despite my unsettling visit to the liver institute, it was a pretty good day. The weather was beautiful. We had heavy fog, followed by clear skies as the fog lifted. This is the kind of weather photographers love. The temperature was warm and there were photo opportunities around every corner. The dogs and I had a great walk before breakfast. I would have stayed out a lot longer if I didn't have work to finish.

One of the charities I work with wants to increase their exposure on social media. This certainly isn't news, since everybody wants to do this. We had a meeting tonight and I told them what I tell everybody. The secret to social media is consistent, original, interesting content. Tell a great story and people will start listening. It's that simple. This isn't what a lot of organizations want to hear though. They don't have the time to write interesting stories and take memorable pictures every day. What they want instead is some kind of nifty software that will automatically get thousands of new people to like them on Facebook. I keep telling them that what they are asking for is already out there. It's called Spam.

One of the doctors I saw today told me that he didn't think I was getting enough exercise. Are you kidding me? I walk five miles a day. Jeez! That should be enough for anybody. I proudly told the docs that I had given up drinking. I didn't tell them that I was still eating bacon.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1056

Occasionally, I look at the profiles of people who appear on my Google+ stream and become envious of how idyllic their lives seem. Then I look at my own profile and realize that it's not that different from the rest. I guess appearances can be deceiving. I think even the scrupulously honest often put the accent on the positive to avoid depressing those around them. I do this myself sometimes. It's good to have a positive attitude. I just don't always believe you.

The fog was thick as soup when I took the dogs out this morning. I though I'd take a good camera with me on our walk and try to get some pictures before the fog lifted. What a disaster. The big camera around my neck was continually getting tangled in the dog's leashes. When I did find something to photograph, Dash would tug on the leash just as I was pressing the shutter and ruin the shot. If I spent too long looking through the viewfinder, I would inevitably look up to see one of the dogs eating something disgusting at our feet on the ground. I did get a few decent shots, but it was hardly worth the effort. It is much easier to take pictures with a cell phone when you are walking Dalmatians.

I didn't have much better luck trying to find out why the State of Missouri is telling me I owe them money. After sitting on hold for an inordinate amount of time, I finally was able to speak with someone in the state's tax office. They weren't much help. All they could tell me was that they had received a 1099 form with my name on it. They couldn't tell me what I supposedly owed, or why I was on their list. I kept telling the official that I had never lived in the state of Missouri in my life and that I had already paid all my taxes for the year in question anyway. My very rational argument seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Sadly, I think this is the shape of things to come. Government agencies at all levels are strapped for cash and they are getting more and more creative in their attempts to reel in the money they need. I've already noticed that the Dallas County government is quick to raise real estate taxes whenever house values go up, but they are very reluctant to lower taxes when real estate values go down. Income taxes are only a small part of the total picture. Have you looked at your phone bill lately? It's appalling how much of your phone bill goes to pay a bunch of weird hidden taxes. Are you concerned about the price of gas? If you could just get rid of all the taxes they place on gasoline, you could fill your tank for a very reasonable price. I don't think I would mind paying taxes so much if I could control where my money went. I have very little control of where my tax money goes however, and neither do you.

I think this is really what the election is about tomorrow. People want to control where their money goes. Each side has very different ideas of how to spend the tax money we send them. If you don't happen to agree with these ideas, you can start to feel like you vote isn't worth much. It doesn't have to be this way. I'm convinced that if people could decide where their tax money would go when they paid their taxes in the first place, we wouldn't have the divisiveness we are experiencing today. Hey, if you want to fund the military with your taxes, go ahead. If you want to fund social programs, send your tax dollars there. Roads and bridges seem important? That's OK too. If you just let the people decide for themselves where their tax dollars went, a lot of current problems would vanish. Some programs would thrive. Others would vanish. So be it. The people would have spoken. With something this direct and simple, maybe we wouldn't need congress at all.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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