Day 1038

Wow! Google stock dropped over 10% in a matter of minutes today, all because a bad quarterly report was released a little prematurely. The slide was so precipitous that trading was halted for several hours. I'm certainly glad that I didn't buy any Google shares yesterday. All this just confirms my feeling that it has become too dangerous for the small investor to day trade anymore. Events happen rapidly and the market responds almost instantly. By the time the average guy has time to react, it's too late. Google is still a good company though. If the overreaction to the poor earnings continues, it might be wise for me to buy some shares.

I found one of those little square discontinued iPod nanos I've been looking for, thanks to a regular blog reader. Now, if I could only convince you readers to find me jobs and clients as well. That would be great.

The dogs have been loving this beautiful Fall weather. They can't go lounge in the grass after lunch like they used to, thanks to our armadillo friend who tore the yard up. The lack of grass hasn't detered them in the least unfortunately. When I let the dogs outside, they immediately go roll in the dirt and get filthy. I try my best to clean them off before they come inside again, but the house is getting dirtier every day. I'll be glad when the leaves finally fall and cover up the dirt. There isn't any point in planting new grass this late in the season. We'll just repeat what we did last year and let the leaves cover everything up until Spring.

I just finished watching a live feed of the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. I've always been a fan of self depreciating humor, and these events featuring the presidential candidates doing stand-up comedy routines seldom disappoint. I wish the candidates would act like this all the time. I'd much rather see people making sarcastic jokes about each other than just resort to calling their advisory a liar. There's a lot to be said for using humor to deal with complex issues. I'd love to see a debate where both candidates checked political correctness at the door and the guy with the most biting humor won. Maybe Jon Stewart could be the moderator.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1035

Have you tried to buy a discontinued product lately? It used to be that you could often buy discontinued products for years after they'd been replaced. When stores kept their own inventories, they would often tempt you with fantastic closeout prices, just to get the items of their shelves. Everything has changed now. Most merchants have adopted "just in time" inventory policies and keep a bare minimum of products on their shelves. They depend on computers to tell them which products are popular and on the FedEx delivery man to deliver fresh supplies each morning. This makes it very easy for manufacturers to make products vanish almost instantly when they've been discontinued.

I only mention this because I've be trying to find some of those little square iPod nanos. They weren't discontinued all that long ago, but they've totally vanished from store shelves. I'm not surprised that you can't find these things at the Apple store anymore, but you'd think Fry's, B&H, Best Buy, or Radio Shack would have a few left. Nope! It's like the little square nano never even existed. I guess I could still find something on eBay, but I've grown weary of the bidding process. I prefer a transaction I can complete in twenty seconds.

Our beautiful Indian Summer continues. The days are noticeably shorter now and the leaves are starting to turn. I've started noticing more bird activity as well. Since I've already managed to get good pictures of all the critters that aren't scared of the dogs, it might be time to invest in a longer telephoto lens. There are lots of animals I routinely see in the distance, but can never approach because of Dot and Dash.

It was a typical Monday. There were very few requests all day. I used the extra time to finish up the few remaing projects from last week. As far as I can tell, I'm all caught up now. I wouldn't mind if tomorrow is a slow day as well. Of course, if the inactivity continues throughout the week, I'll start to get nervous. Being on your own is always a delicate balance. You want to make sure that there is always enough work to pay the bills, while still trying to avoid the overloads that drive you crazy.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1033

I didn't notice until I finished running my errands this afternoon that a speaker cover on my car door had fallen off and gotten lost. Since this was an aftermarket item from 1995, I knew it would be hard to replace. I carefully retraced my steps and eventually found the speaker cover in a Home Depot parking lot. A truck had run over it.

I noticed recently that Apple has discontinued the little square iPod nano that I like so much. This confirms my view that products I'm fond of just don't stay on the market long. I've often thought that I ought to hire myself out as a product analyst. If I love it, it's probably going to fail. If I think it's stupid, it's probably going to be a runaway success.

I've always like square things. Hasselblad cameras. Instagram. Andy Warhol portraits of Marilyn. Brionvega radios. Even the coffee table in my living room. Square objects appeal to my inner sense of symmetry. With this rather pronounced bias, it's no surprise that I was one of the first to pair a square iPod nano with a LunaTik case and wear it as a watch. It just seemed like the perfect 21st century way to tell time. I'm tempted to buy up some of the remaining square nanos and put them in the storage warehouse for a while. There will be a time when wearing a square iPod watch will be just as retro cool as driving around in a DeLorean

They are forecasting severe weather in our area later this evening. Although it's not raining now, the dogs seem to confirm this forecast. They both have a nervous look on their face and have been going out on the pack porch to sniff the air. I don't exactly know what they are sensing, but they are pretty good little weather forecasters. Maybe they can smell ozone in the air, or sense a change in barometric pressure. I certainly can't sense anything. It just seems like a warm, windy evening to me.

Hopefully, any rain we might get this evening won't spoil our dog park plans for tomorrow. Dot and Dash have grown to love these weekly visits to the dog park and know exactly when it's time to go. If the trip doesn't materialize for some reason, they definitely let us know about it.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day