Day 2657

Another night of interrupted sleep. For some reason Dot woke up about 3 AM and tried to turn around in her bed. The effort unfortunately caused her to pee. We got up, cleaned her up, changed her bedding, and did a load of wash. The weird thing is this just seems normal now. We take it all in stride. I went back to sleep, but it seemed like it was morning almost immediately.

I thought there would be a new supply of blueberries today, but the produce guy told me they were actually coming in tomorrow. The trip to the grocery store wasn't a totally waste though. On the way home I went to the bank and then stopped by the vet to pick up some meds for Dot and Dash.

Dot has lost her taste for bananas. These used to be one of her favorite things. I'm thinking that she's losing her sense of smell. If she can't smell something, it probably doesn't seem like food anymore. Dot just sleeps while I drink my smoothie now. Without Dot nearby to compete for treats, Dash isn't as interested in banana slices either. He'll eat a few and then go back to the bedroom to sleep. It's kind of odd to eat my breakfast without a barking dog on either side of me. Breakfast has been peaceful lately, but I miss the companionship of the dogs.

I hate to see Dot start to lose her appetite. I know where this story ends. Our first dalmatian began getting picky about food toward the end and eventually would only eat finely chopped bits of boiled chicken breast. When he no longer would eat the chicken, we tried feeding him a cheeseburger. That cheeseburger ended up being his final meal. Luckily, Dot still enjoys the diet we've been feeding her for years, but that could change at any time.

The weather was beautiful today, so I washed the car. Now the cleaning trifecta is done.The house is clean. The grass is mowed. And the car has been washed. When I was washing the car, I noticed that there was a leak in the hose. The back yard hose has had a leak for months. Now the front yard hose has sprung a leak as well. I guess it's time to go to Home Depot and start over. Garden hoses aren't made very well. I can't even tell you how many I've bought over the years. The worst were those retractable hoses that were advertised on TV for a while. Those didn't even last a month.

I'm seeing a lot of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in the park. These birds feed by catching insects in flight and it's kind of amazing to watch them fly. They can change directions so quickly that they almost seem like little helicopters in the air. As much as birds irritate me when they shit on my car, I do like to watch them in the park. I think I like the owls the best. We have lots of owls near where we live.

My accountant called today to tell me that my taxes are done. One more thing I can check off my list. That's how I go through life now. I dread things and then feel relieved when they are over with and I can check them off my list. Anticipating or looking forward to things is starting to seem like a foreign concept. Surviving things seems much more normal. That's OK though. I've always thought of myself as a survivor.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2649

 

My taxes are done. Well, they aren't really done, but they aren't my responsibility anymore. When I dropped the files off at the accountant's office, I made sure that they could open the CD with my Quickbook records before I left. I use such an old version of Quickbooks Pro that I'm always afraid that my accountant won't be able to import the files into their system. I hate to switch accounting programs. I was probably the last person in the world who still used MacMoney. When I finally switched to Quickbooks, I never bothered to upgrade. The first version was fine.

It was kind of chilly this morning. When I put on my favorite winter coat to walk the dogs, the zipper broke. The last time the zipper broke on this coat, I asked the tailor to replace it with a heavy duty indestructible zipper. Apparently indestructible zippers last two years. I took the coat back to a different tailor and asked them to put in a third zipper. I'm so tired of fixing things that are poorly made. Nothing lasts very long anymore. I still have a parka that my Dad wore when we lived in Alaska. The coat is over fifty years old and looks like it will last another fifty years. I doubt that I'd ever have to replace the zipper in this sturdy coat. So, why don't I just wear my Dad's coat and forget about all the shoddy imitations I've bought over the years? It's a nice coat, but something designed for Alaskan winters is a little warm for Texas.

I actually went to an animal rescue group meeting tonight. It's rare that I'm able to attend these meetings anymore, but Janet came home early, so I felt safe leaving Dot for a while. I didn't contribute very much to tonight's meeting, but at least I stayed the entire time. Several people had to leave early this evening, so the meeting was shorter than usual. It still seemed long to me though. I've spent the better part of my life sitting in long meetings, but I think my meeting days are over. I just don't have the patience for them anymore.

We saw another coyote on our walk this morning. Somehow the subject of coyotes came up at our meeting tonight and almost everyone had seen one recently. One guy even said that they were coming into his yard. I guess urban coyotes are a thing now. I sure wish that Dash was a little more wary of the critters. He is sometimes terrified of other dogs, but he seems oblivious to coyotes. He was literally walking right toward one this morning. I would think that he could have smelled the coyote, but Dash didn't seem to care. I didn't want to take chances, so we changed directions and took the long way home.

I almost forgot to take out the trash tonight. Somehow going to the meeting after dinner made me forget it was Thursday. When I finally hauled the trash can out to the curb, someone else had already taken my favorite spot. I'm superstitious about the trash truck missing my can, so I reluctantly placed the can somewhere else and hoped for the best. I don't know why I worry about stuff like this, but it's probably not going to change. Lost mail, broken zippers, and forgotten trash cans are all pretty normal these days.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1947

There are days when I feel like I don't even exist. I'm just a ghost in the machine, silently cleaning up dog poop, sweeping rainwater off the roof, and writing articles that are instantly forgotten if they are read at all. I'd like to convince myself that what I do actually matters, but there is often very little evidence that it does. This is the problem with depending on dogs for companionship. You learn to live in the moment, but you don't get a lot of feedback. I know when the dogs want to eat. where they want to walk, and if they are in pain, but I don't really know what they are thinking. Maybe life is just as much of a mystery to them.

It was a shame to waste such a beautiful day up on the roof, but I'm already starting to see mosquitoes and it's more important than ever to dry things out. The warmer it gets, the more the standing water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. With more reported cases of West Nile Virus every year, you hate to tempt fate. Today, I mucked around in my bare feet so I wouldn't get my dog walking boots wet. The water was warm, but very slippery. I made a mental note not to get near the edge of the roof. The more I see how deep this water gets after a hard rain, the more impressed I am that the roof doesn't leak. It's almost like we've got a duck pond on our roof.

Dot is getting increasingly independent. I'm letting her wander around the house on her own now and I can tell she enjoys the freedom. She still wears the Help 'Em Up Harness all the time, but I seldom need to support her rear legs anymore. I've tied a lightweight nylon leash to the rear handle of the harness that I hold loosely as she walks around. If she starts to slip, this connection to the harness still lets me prevent her from falling. It gives her more independence though and she's learning to walk more confidently on her own. Dot still can't back up very well, or navigate tight corners in the kitchen, but she's getting there. I wonder if her vet will see as much improvement as I have this week when I take her for her physical therapy session tomorrow.

Tax day came and went without incident. My taxes are filed and I'll get a small refund. I can't believe how complex my taxes are, considering how little money I make. By the time the Schedule C, Schedule D, Schedule E, Schedule K-1, home office deductions and half a dozen other esoteric forms are completed, it feels like I'm submitting a book. My accountant makes fun of how little money I make. It's a joke to him, since he remembers when I used to make much, much more, but it's not very funny to me. I should make a lot of money, but my skills just aren't as valuable as they were in the 1980's and 90's. I guess I could have changed professions, but I continue to dance with the one who brung me. I'm a writer who hates meetings and can barely tolerate my fellow man. In many ways I feel lucky that I can still pay the bills on my own terms.

I wanted to install a free Unix program on my computer that could read the dogs MRI scans today, but I discovered that the X-Code application that allows me to run Unix and Linux applications on my Mac was out of date. Increasing, I am being prodded into upgrading to Maverick or Yosemite or whatever the current operating system flavor is these days. I'm still running Lion because this is the end of the road for most of my existing software. It's too expensive to upgrade everything and I don't feel like upgrading anyway. I'm tempted to dig an old computer out of the storage warehouse and start running System 9 again. I was happier in those days.

Krissy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1943

My accountant called and told me my taxes were done. My refund this year wasn't even large enough to cover the cost of preparing the tax return. Too bad you can't deduct pet expenses. I would have come out a lot better this year if I could have deducted all the vet bills for Dot and Dash. I would have come out better if I had remembered to send in my Quarterly Estimated Taxes too. Oh, well. At least I won't have to worry about taxes for another year.

I may have to worry about Tent Caterpillars though. When I was watering the lawn this afternoon, I noticed that we have a huge infestation of Tent Caterpillars. There must have been hundreds of the bugs on one tree alone.  The annual invasion of insects has begun. I never know what to expect. One year it will be bagworms. The next year it could be wasps. A few year ago we had to have beekeepers come out and remove a huge bee hive that appeared one Spring inside the roof of our house. We could hear the bees buzzing above us when we went to sleep at night. At this time of year there are tons of Crane Flies. These slow moving insects look like giant mosquitoes and are attracted to light. They gather around the back door and whenever I open the door to take Dot outside, they fly inside. The bugs are harmless and easy enough to catch, but they are a giant nuisance at this time of year. The house is full of them because when I help Dot outside using the Help 'Em Up Harness, I leave the door open so Dash can come out too. Dash takes his time, but the bugs are very quick.

I ran my Saturday errands early this morning, so Janet could do hers later. When I picked up a prescription at the pharmacy, I asked the pharmacist why the price of one particular drug kept changing every time I picked up a new bottle. "The price of this one just goes up and down," the pharmacist said. Why? I still have no earthly idea.

The dogs were good today. I was able to do several loads of laundry, wash the dishes, change the sheets on the bed, and kill a bunch of Tent Caterpillars while they were sleeping. Dot seems much more content now that she has a bit more freedom. She never liked being confined. Before her injury, she would spend most of her time sleeping under my desk, unless I was headed toward the kitchen where there was food. Now that she has to spend time in her pen, she always seems to have things to do and places to go. It certainly didn't take her long to learn that barking was the quickest way to get out of the pen and go somewhere else. Today was peaceful though. There was only one minor barking episode. When I looked at my watch I realized that the dogs were right and I was wrong. It was time for their dinner.

I wonder if I'll ever get back to the gym. It's time to mow the grass again and the car is looking dirty as well. I forgot to pick up more heartworm pills for Dot and Dash and I'm sure there are a number of other things I've forgotten too. Sunday is a time to remember what you forgot on Saturday. For a brief time right after I joined the gym, I went three times a week. How did I ever have that much free time?

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1568 - April Fools Day

April looks like it's off to a good start. Dot's vet called today and told me that Dot does not have any internal bleeding. That's good news! Lord know what is making her poop so dark, but at least it not life threatening. My accountant called and said my taxes are ready to submit. As is typically the case, my refund this year is almost exactly the same as the amount I will owe my accountant for doing my taxes. Things like this used to irritate me, but now I don't care. I'm just glad to have income taxes behind me for another year.

Dot did great on the water treadmill today. She still has days where she seems like a much younger dog. Today was one of those days. I'm convinced that the water therapy is helping her maintain her mobility as she grows older. The water makes her buoyant and takes weight off her legs when she is using the treadmill, allowing a full range of motion without a lot of stress on her joints. Adding acupuncture to the mix helps to reduce inflammation, remove toxins, and improve blood circulation. It's too bad I can't ask her directly if she thinks these treatments are working. Anecdotally, I would say the answer is yes. She seems stronger, more relaxed, and appears to be suffering from less joint pain than she was nine months ago.

I can see why the missing Malaysian jetliner continues to dominate the news cycle. I am baffled by this story. How can something as big as a Boeing 777 simply vanish into thin air? You'd think when something went wrong, at least a few of the passengers would have tried to use their cell phones. On a plane this big, there's a good possibility that a few passengers even had satellite phones. And speaking of satellites, why haven't we seen any pictures from US satellites? Don't we have way more weather and spy satellites than all the other countries put together? All the satellite images I've seen are coming from countries like Thailand and France. I didn't know Thailand even had any satellites. Maybe they will never find this plane and it will turn into another Amelia Earhart legend.

This is a great time of year to take pictures. Flowers are blooming and animals are moving about. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to take a camera along with me on our daily walks. Dot and Dash require more attention now. I've got to watch Dash like a hawk, so he won't eat some weird crap in the park that might interact with his cancer medication. Dot is frail and I've got to baby her and make sure she doesn't stumble or fall. None of this really lends itself to taking pictures. I guess it doesn't really matter though. I've been taking pictures in the park for so long now that every time I notice something interesting, I realize that I've already taken a picture of it before. Nature is fairly predictable. The same flowers bloom in the same locations every year. The same birds migrate in and out of the park every season. Even the beautiful sunsets seem to repeat themselves at predictable intervals.

Tomorrow, Dash goes to the cancer center for another radiation treatment. My Wednesdays have gotten a bit easier now that I've stopped going to those Wednesday morning business networking meetings. I don't miss those meetings at all. There are still plenty of websites to manage and articles to write. Wednesdays go quickly though. Pretty soon Friday will be here again. I live for Fridays these days.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1563

Dash got himself in a snit today when he discovered that it was Dot who was going to the vet instead of him. He's been getting all the attention lately, so I think he just assumed that all car rides are automatically reserved for him now. Dot needs attention too, so we resumed our acupuncture and water therapy sessions for the first time in several weeks. Dot did very well in the tank today and seemed quite relaxed during her acupuncture session as well. I think she enjoyed having a day out by herself.

My accountant called today and said that the good news was that I was getting a tax refund this year, but the bad news was that I wouldn't be getting much. Taxes used to upset me and I would fret about them endlessly. I don't even care anymore. I trust my accountant and I don't really want to think about taxes anymore. If I need to write a check, I write a check. If I get money back, it is quickly gone anyway. Either way, it's not going to change my life much.

I wish I hadn't told the HVAC guy to come over tomorrow, because now I won't be able to go out for my regular Friday breakfast. I guess I forgot it was Friday tomorrow. Dash will be away getting another radiation treatment in the morning, but this will probably make Dot bark at the HVAC guy even more. She gets real serious about protecting the house when she knows she's on her own. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep the peace and convince Dot to settle down. She's way too old to work herself into a frenzy over a repairman in the house.

I finally convinced one of my writing clients to let me choose my own subject matter. I wrote my first self-generated article today and hope they like it. I realize that I won't always be able to choose what I write about, but it will be nice when I can. I really prefer working this way.

The bird decoys on the cars are working. I haven't cleaned bird poop off either car for over three days now. Of course there's always a chance that the warm weather has just caused the troublesome bird to move elsewhere. I'd prefer to think it was my brilliant idea that stopped the bird from making a big mess on the car every morning.

This week went very quickly, but the time can't go quickly enough for me these days. I'll be so glad when Dash's cancer treatments and my own Hepatitis C treatments are a thing of the past.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1543

I love my breakfast restaurant. It was crowded this morning and the barista brought me my coffee while I was standing in line to order. As two women swooped in to grab the last available table, the waiter shooed them away, pointing at me and saying that the table was mine. I paid for my meal and sat down at the table, all without saying a single word. Everyone already knows what I want, so no words are necessary. If only the rest of my day was this way. I have a couple of clients who trust me enough to forgo the usual talk and meetings. We've worked together for a long time and they've learned that they get more for their money when they leave me largely unsupervised. I'm consistent, I'm dependable, and I abhor the whole idea of collaboration. Leave me alone and I'm a pleasantly productive guy. Bother me and I'm a grumpy troublemaker. If the restaurant people have figured this out, why is it so hard for everyone else?

I have been researching dog harnesses and have discovered that several companies make what is called a "full body" harness. These harness are often used by avalanche rescue teams and other service dogs. They also seem to be favored by people like us who have a Houdini dog who can escape from normal harnesses. I think we'll get one of these and give it a try. Walking a dog using two leashes is just a stop-gap solution at best. It's amazing how quick and easy it is to find offbeat things like this on Google. What did we do before Google? The next thing I'm going to look for is a life size rubber bird to sit on my driver's side mirror while my car is in the driveway. I'll bet that troublesome bird won't poop on my car if another bird has already claimed it. Worth a try anyway.

Maybe I'll start on my taxes this weekend. I really can't put this task off too much longer. It's either taxes or painting more water damaged window trim. I don't know which is worse at this point. At least I've got a few more weeks before I'll have to start mowing the grass again. The thought of mowing grass reminds me that I still need to call the landscaping guy and get an estimate for putting new St. Augustine turf in the back yard. All the grass he put in last year is dead. As things stand now, there is nothing to mow.

I have this long list of things I need to do when "things get back to normal." Things are never going to get back to normal though, are they?  As soon as one crisis is averted, another one seems to creep up out of nowhere to take it's place. Maybe that's just the nature of life. I know people who find this constant chaos exhilarating. Personally, I prefer calm. Here's hoping for a calm, uneventful weekend.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1530

Where did today go? It seems like I got up and all of the sudden, it's time to go to bed again. I certainly didn't do that much. The big event of the day was giving the dogs a bath. The neighborhood dog washing place that lost its lease several months ago has reopened in a new location. We always like to support neighborhood businesses, but I sure wish this place was back at its old location. I don't think I'd visit this new place after dark. We encountered some pretty strange people wandering around in the parking lot.

The dogs are nice and clean again though. That's good. They are about the only thing in the house that's clean. I changed the sheets on the bed and did a load of towels, but that's as close to cleaning as I got. The house is still a mess.

My worries about Dash have distracted me. It's hard to believe that he could actually be sick, especially since he looks and acts completely normal. Cancer can be that way. One of my neighbors was playing golf and working in his garden one week, and the next week he was dead. Lots of Dalmatians in the rescue program have had cancer over the years. Few beat the disease entirely, but many were able to live many more happy and active years after treatment.

I've reluctantly learned to trust doctors as a result of my own liver problems. Hepatitis C has few if any symptoms until the very end. It is easy to lull yourself into a sense of false security, since you still feel good as the disease progresses. Hepatitis C is serious though, just like cancer. I've learned now, that if my doctor is worried, I need to be worried too. That's why Dash is going to get the best possible care, starting immediately. Most people and pets don't die from cancer. They die from waiting too long to diagnose and start treating it.

I thought I'd do my monthly assignment for my writer's group this afternoon, but the writing took a different direction than I expected and it surprised me. Oops. I'll finish the piece tomorrow. Why tomorrow? Well, that's when it's due. I procrastinate about everything except my pets.

I noticed that my next door neighbor hired somebody to rake up all their leaves this weekend. Now, they'll probably be mad when my own leaves start blowing back into their yard, as they inevitably will. I hate to rake up all my leaves just yet though. They've been a great way to cover up all the dirt in the back yard and keep the dogs from getting too muddy when they run outside on a rainy day. As soon as the leaves are raked up, I'll need to re-landscape again, since the grass is all dead.

I'm staring at a growing pile of tax documents sitting on the corner of my desk. Is it that time of year again already? I procrastinate with taxes too. I quit doing them myself years ago, but now I find it hard to even gather up all the information for my accountant. There is just no satisfaction in giving the government money it is sure to waste.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1495

Every year about this time, I get a letter from my accountant telling me that it's time to start gathering my tax records together. The letters go out early, because he knows that it takes people a long time to locate everything. I don't mind the idea of paying taxes. It makes perfect sense that we all pay for the roads we use and air traffic controllers and the research it takes to look for a cure for cancer. What irks me about paying taxes is that most of the money I hand over to the government every year is just wasted. The money that isn't wasted most likely goes to fund programs that I don't even believe in. I wonder what would happen if we all paid the same amount of income tax, but got to decide where it would go. I wouldn't mind funding programs I believe in. If we all got to do that, I have a feeling that the country would look a lot different.

Most of my opinions about the world are formed by what I see in my own little neighborhood. Lately, I've started seeing a whole lot of government waste. Somebody has decided that the park needs new signs. Most of the important areas in the park already have identifying signage, but apparently, they need brand new signs. I've started seeing a huge number of elaborate stonework and welded metal signs going up. Each of these small monuments to government waste often take a crew of six to ten stone masons and craftsmen up to three weeks to complete. The new signs are usually placed right next to the old simple wood signs that were there all along. I have an idea what happened here. At some point in the past, a bond issue was passed to improve the park. A small percentage of the total, maybe 2%, was designated for signage. Since the original bond issue was for tens of millions of dollars, the total amount designated for signage was probably quite large. Somebody was hired to administer the signage budget, and rather than admit they didn't actually need all that money, they decided to embark on the world's most elaborate park signage program and spend every cent. That's just the way government works. No bureaucrat will ever admit that someone gave them too much money to spent.

Our January weather certainly is weird this year. Another cold front blew through last night and we woke up to near freezing temperatures. Once the sun came out, the temperature rose rapidly and by the time I took the dogs on their evening walk, it was almost seventy degrees. That's quite a swing in a single day. I started the day wearing my goose-down winter coat and ended it wearing a t-shirt.

I've been asked to print a large poster for a February adoption event and am somewhat chagrined to realize that I've forgotten how to make these large posters. I used to do this all the time and was quite good at it. Jeez, this is exactly what I've been trying to keep the large printer unclogged for. I can't believe I've forgotten how to use the large printer. My memory is a sieve. You know what they say: use it or lose it. It won't take me long to get up to speed again, since everything I need to know is already on Wikipedia, but this is a bit embarrassing.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1371

It was an unlucky day for a lot of people. Before I even heard about the mass shootings at the Navy Yard in Washington DC, I saw a man fall off his bicycle after an apparent heart attack while I was walking the dogs in the park this morning. The good news was that it only took paramedics about four minutes to get to the scene with an ambulance. The bad news was that the fellow cyclists who tried to administer aid on the scene probably made the man's condition worse.

Later in the day, I saw a cement truck run into a Mini Cooper. You can guess who won that confrontation. The cement truck driver seemed very distraught. I don't know if he was worried about the other driver, or that the cement in his truck was going to harden, because he had to stay at the scene until the police finished their accident investigation.

In between these calamities, I managed to get a lot of work done. I'm still making steady progress on the new website I'm currently developing for a client. I ordered more ink for the large format printer. I paid my third quarter estimated taxes and got a check in the mail to the IRS. Since there weren't any writing assignments due today, I even found time to go to the gym. For the first time, I managed to score three baskets in a row while I was waiting for one of the weight machines to become free.

I still don't know whether there's a new car in my immediate future. I think I've narrowed things down to two choices, but there is nothing decisive to swing my decision one way or the other. If it weren't for the fact that the Defender could fall apart at any minute, I might not make any decision at all. I know the time is right through. I have a feeling that sometime within the next several weeks, I'll be driving by the dealership and buy something on impulse.

Tomorrow looks like another busy day. I've already got several requests for website revisions and Dash needs to go to the vet again. One of my doctors has been sending bills to the wrong insurance company too. I've got to get that straightened out as well. At least the weather is improving. I saw the first hints that leaves are starting to change color today. Could Fall be right around the corner? Maybe it's time to buy some pumpkins and put them on the front porch.

Phantom is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1139

I woke up feeling strange this morning. I couldn't pin down the feeling, but I suspect that it had something to do with the medication the team of hepatologists had me discontinue last week. I remember that there was a warning on the side of the bottle that clearly said Do not discontinue this medication without consulting your physician. Here's where things get difficult. A reputable doctor actually did tell me to discontinue the medication. Unfortunately it wasn't the same doctor who told me to start taking it in the first place. So which doctor is right? Which organ is more important, the heart or the liver? You can see why I get frustrated with medicine at times.

We took a gamble on the dog park today. It had rained at our house overnight, but there were indications that the rain never reached the northern part of town where the park was located. Weather is often like this in Dallas. It can be pouring rain in one part of the city at the same time it is sunny and dry in another. I wish the dog park had a webcam on a pole where you could just get on the Internet and see if there were dogs in the park before making the journey yourself. There are no webcams in any of the local dog parks unfortunately. The city must have spent all their webcam money putting stop light cameras at every intersection. Fortunately, the gamble paid off today and the dog park was open. Dot and Dash had a great time and both dogs have been calm for the rest of the day.

It's hard to believe that January is already coming to a close. Didn't we just celebrate Christmas? Apparently, a lot of my neighbors are having the same problem with time getting away from them. I still see Christmas trees being tossed out by the curb almost every time I walk the dogs. It's time to take down the Christmas tree folks. Pretty soon it will be time to start fretting about taxes again. With the simple life I lead, I don't know how my taxes have become so complicated. Selling a house this year probably won't help matters either. If I could have a say in where my tax money actually went, I wouldn't mind paying taxes so much. No such luck though. I'm sure that every cent of my tax dollar goes to fund something I hate. 

I'm glad I live in Texas. The temperature was over 75 degrees today. After watching all those dismal pictures of cars sliding around on icy East Coast highways this weekend, I'm happy to report that I wore a t-shirt up to the dog park today. Our chilly, foggy, days seem to be over for a while. Hey, t-shirt weather in January is just fine with me. T-shirt weather all year long is fine with me. That's all I ever wear anyway.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

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

Watch of the Day

Day 850

At least it's Friday! I don't even mind that it's Friday the 13th. Actually, luck was with me today. I finally got the garbage disposal fixed at the rent house. While I was there, I noticed that the final coat of paint had dried nicely, so the place is finally ready to show. On the way home, I stopped by my accountant's office to pick up my tax information. All I really needed were the 1040ES forms for next year's quarterly estimated taxes and of course, the bill from the accountant for preparing everything. When I deduct the quarterly payments I already made last year and the bill I just got for tax preparation, my tax refund amounts to exactly nothing. That's right, nothing! Oh well, at least taxes are over for another year.

I had a tasty omelet for breakfast at The Broken Egg Cafe. It's nice not to have to do breakfast dishes on Friday. I'd eat out more often if restaurant food didn't have so much salt in it. Chef's love salt, because it's an easy and proven way to make food tastier. That's unfortunate, because I really try to avoid the stuff. I think cutting down on your salt intake is one of the easiest ways to stay a little healthier. Cutting down on sugar would be good too, but that's a little harder for me. I've got a sweet tooth.

After several months of taking a camera along with me on our dog walks, I find that I'm starting to run out of subjects. I think I've photographed every single squirrel and bird in the park by now, along with a few bunnies and snakes. Every once in a while I'll still stumble on something new, but these occasions are few and far between. I'll continue bringing the camera though. It's a pretty safe bet that the day I leave the thing at home will be the day when I see something that I've been waiting to photograph for months. The dogs don't seem to mind the camera and occasionally, I take pictures of them as well.

I'm hoping for a nice weekend. There's lots of yardwork that needs to be done. There are two new dogs that need to be photographed at The Velvet Snout, and of course there's still that pesky St. Augustine turf that needs to be installed in the back yard. It's too much for one weekend, but maybe I'll get enough done to make a dent in things.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 822

We had a dog emergency today. The day started normally enough. We fed the dogs and I took them on their morning walk. Both Dot and Dash were energetic and eager, just like they usually are. When we returned, I went out for breakfast. I was only gone an hour, but when I got home again, Dot couldn't walk anymore. I would lift her up and she would just fall over. She couldn't stand at all. I immediately rushed her to the vet. I wasn't sure if she had a seizure, if she had somehow torn her anterior cruciate ligaments, or if something life threatening was happening.

Dot was still real shaky when I got her to the vet, but over the next hour she appeared to stabilize and was able to stand again. The vet agreed that she probably had a seizure, but nobody knew why. Dot, unlike Dash, has never had a history of seizures. The vet did blood work to make sure she hadn't gotten a tick borne disease and then checked all her vital signs. Everything seemed normal. I left Dot at the vet for several hours, just in case she might have another seizure. Seizures often come in clusters of three. Nothing happened for the rest of the day however, and Dot is back home with us. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to believe that anything had happened at all.

While Dot was under observation at the vet, I took my tax files over to my accountant. This year, instead of fat ring binders and bulging accordion files, I just took them a disk with all my Quickbooks information. The disk is all they really want anyway. Last year, I took over a stack of papers almost a foot thick and I don't even think they looked at them. After finally getting Quickbooks configured exactly the way my accountant wanted, you'd think my taxes would be less expensive to prepare. Nope! Somehow, they're actually more expensive to prepare now.

After dropping off my files at the accountant's office, I headed back to the vet to check on Dot. On the way, I stopped by my rental property to see if my tenant had actually moved out. Nope! There's still furniture in the place. I was under the impression she was going to move out last week. I don't know if I have the patience for another renter. Maybe it's finally time to sell the place. I think I'm going to interview some real estate agents and see what they have to say.

Friday traffic was a lot worse than usual. The grocery stores were packed and everyone seemed to be buying beer and wine. There is a huge St. Patrick's Day parade down Greenville Avenue tomorrow. I need to remember to avoid the entire area, since traffic becomes gridlocked. The days when I enjoyed drinking green beer and getting knee walking drunk are long gone. I just hope Dot is feeling better tomorrow.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 821

I started working on my taxes today. Every year these things seem to become more complicated, even though my life has actually become simpler. Once you start depreciating things and carrying losses forward, you are forced to do these things every year thereafter. Right now, my financial life is such a complicated mix of things I've done in previous years that I don't think I'll ever have a simple return again. Maybe someday, our politicians will pass a flat tax and put an end to this needless complexity. You should really be able to do your taxes on a single sheet of paper. Just write down what you earned, subtract fifteen percent for the government, and write a check. Right now there are literally hundreds of ways for people to try to game the system, and yet nobody is happy. A flat tax would be better.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting to daylight savings time. I feel like I'm getting up earlier because it's still dark outside. In reality, I'm getting up a bit later though and the whole day gets off to a slow start. I don't really care about having more daylight in the evening. All I do in the evenings is write the blog anyway. Somehow, I'm walking the dogs at 8:30 in the morning now, instead of 7:30 like I used to. The sun is way too high in the sky for me to capture any neat sunset shots on our evening walks either. I haven't even finished resetting all the watches. I'm just not cut out for daylight savings time.

I've got to decide what to do about the rental property. One day I'll wake up wanting to sell the place, and the next day I'll decide it would be better to lease it again. It's hard to decide. The real estate market certainly hasn't rebounded yet. On the other hand, I don't really like being a landlord. I've got to decide something soon though, because I can't afford to have the place sitting empty forever.

I noticed that Jupiter and Venus were real close together in the Western sky when I took the trash out tonight. I wonder if they'll get closer, or if I already missed the closest approach? I used to be real interested in astronomy, but like so many things, the fascination slowly faded away.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 499

I'm finally on the trade show team's radar. I got calls from Germany, Orlando and Houston today. Some people were wondering what I was going to be doing and other people were telling me what I am going to be doing. Some folks suggested that it would be impossible to do what I had been tasked with doing, while others though it would be a piece of cake. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that I should be prepared for anything and should definitely come to Houston with a Plan B and maybe even a Plan C.

When I wasn't on the phone or answering e-mails, I was running all over town looking for odds and ends that I know I'll need in Houston, but have run out of time to order online. I finally found an acceptably compact mic mixer at Guitar Center. It's not battery powered like I wanted, but it will work. I got a special harness at my favorite camera store that will allow me to keep the video camera around my neck while I am typing on the laptop without it dangling and getting in the way. I got some spare "just in case" cables and a bunch of batteries. I think I'm ready.

Since I was running all over town anyway, I also picked up the finished Wine on the Roof banner that will hang on the outside of the East Lake building. The large banner looks great. It was kind of amazing to me that the color on the vinyl looks exactly the same as the smaller paper posters I printed. Printing technology has really come a long way. Oh, I got a lawn mover too. The grass in the front yard is so tall now that I just couldn't put it off any longer. This time I got an electric mower because I'm tired of messing around with hard to start gasoline mowers. I never liked having gasoline around the house anyway.

I got the bill for tax preparation from my accountant today. Once again, most of my refund will go to pay for figuring out how much of a refund I got. To me, this is kind of like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering a nice meal and then watching the chef eat it. Oh well, I guess it's still better than doing my taxes myself. Janet wants to watch the royal wedding on TV. We'll set the alarm tonight, but I'm betting we both sleep through the whole thing.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 443

I finally got all my ring binders and file folders full of receipts assembled and took them over to my accountant's office. I thought they would be pleased that I had finally switched over to the Quickbooks accounting software they've been trying to get me to use for the past several years. I asked if they could read the disk with the Quickbooks file I had made for them. "Sure, we can read it just fine," they told me, "but you've set up all your files wrong." I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I set the files up in a way that made intuitive sense to me. Whenever I do something that makes sense to me, it rarely makes sense to anyone else. When I asked if they could work with what they had, they said they could, but it would probably cost me a little more. Again, this is pretty much par for the course. At lease I can finally check this task off my list.

One of the animal rescue groups I work with has their big fundraising event of the year in May. I always do the promotional materials for this event and this year the theme is going to be based on the movie Gone With the Wind. Somehow at tonight's planning meeting, I agreed to recreate the classic 1939 movie poster with a dog dressed up as Clark Gable and a cat as Vivien Leigh. I have no idea how I'm going to get a cat to look up lovingly at a dog wearing a clip-on moustache and a white shirt open to the waist, but I've got about a week and a half to figure it all out. One thing is already certain. Dot and Dash aren't going to be in this picture. I couldn't bring either of them within ten feet of a cat without total chaos breaking out on the set.

I was supposed to start on my new annual report project today, but I never received the input material. I guess some things never change. Even back when I used to do a lot of annual report projects, I never got the input material on time. Hey, at least it's Friday tomorrow. I always like Fridays...mostly because the next day is Saturday.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day