Day 1307

Rain isn't nearly as frustrating when your roof doesn't leak. Although it rained most of the day, I was no longer filled with my usual apprehensions. It was actually kind of enjoyable to have a damp, overcast day with a temperature 25 degrees lower it normally is in the middle of July.  Our rain phobic dogs seemed to approve of today's showers as well. Dot was eager to take a walk in the cooler weather, even though she got wet in the process. I guess dogs, just like people, are able to prioritize things. Today, rain was definitely the lesser of two evils.

The day-long rain turned out to be the perfect time to try out Janet's new Vitamix blender. Foodies and fans of programs like Top Chef are probably already familiar with these amazing machines. I'd never even heard of a Vitamix until fairly recently, but I'm definitely a fan now.

We experimented and made some fresh juice and smoothies with the machine in a fraction of the time it used to take using the juice extractor. There was no pulpy mess to clean up either. The pulp that was discarded using the juice extractor was completely liquified and actually became part of the juice using the Vitamix. The resulting beverage was absolutely delicious and the machine could be cleaned in thirty seconds using a special cleaning cycle. I love this thing. After making about a gallon of juice, we tried our hand at making peanut butter. Nut butters were equally easy to make.

The dog park was closed today due to the inclement weather, but I don't think Dot and Dash missed much. They like anything that involves food and seemed to enjoy hanging out with us as we learned to use the Vitamix machine. They were both pretty muddy at the end of their evening walk, but cleaning them up was a small price to pay for an enjoyable day.

I noticed something on social media today that mentioned one of my clients was considering utilizing new resources to augment its existing suppliers. Since I'm currently one of those existing suppliers, this short article caught my attention. I wonder what this means?  Maybe I won't get any more work from these guys. Maybe it won't affect me at all. I could ask, but I'm superstitious about such things. I'll just pretend I never saw the article and see what happens.

Next week looks busy. Now that I've added semi-regular trips to the gym to my weekly routine, I'm going to have even more trouble completing my endless to-do list. I did manage to cross one thing off the list today. I tried the egg and avocado recipe for breakfast. An egg poached inside half an avocado is quite tasty.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1287

I went to the tire store today to get a nail removed from my left rear tire and returned a few hours later with five brand new tires. Yes, I even had to get a new spare tire. This definitely wasn't what I expected, since my tires still have plenty of tread on them. I have a warranty on my tires that gives me free lifetime repairs and I have used it many times to get flats fixed and nails removed. This time I was told that the life of a normal tire was about six years and that I had outlived my lifetime warranty. The tire guy showed me several places where the rubber on my twelve year old tires was starting to crack and told me that the tires could explode at any moment. Since the tire guys refused to work on my old tires, and I didn't really want them to explode at any moment, what choice did I have?  I got new tires.

Tires are a lot more expensive than they were the last time I bought some. Of course that was in 2002. Everything was less expensive in 2002. All in all, my tires have served me well. I have traveled well over 100,000 miles in the Defender on only two sets of tires. With any luck, this new set should last me as long as I still have the vehicle.

It's taking me too long to make fresh juice. If I had anything better to do, I would have stopped this time consuming practice already. Juicing does save money though. Especially when the alternative is freshly squeezed juice at the Central Market juice bar. I just wish Navel Oranges were quicker to peel and that the juicing machine was easier to clean. Apples and pineapples are much quicker to juice, but I've always liked the taste of orange juice. At any rate, I made enough juice today for the rest of the week, so I won't need to complain about juicing for a while.

I think I may have bought the wrong kind of grass seed to fill in the patchy areas in the back yard. I was initially pleased to find seed that was encapsulated in a mix of mulch and fertilizer. This stuff is pretty fool proof to grow. I forgot that the dogs like to lie in the grass though, and the fertilizer component of the mix may be irritating Dash's skin. He sure is itching a lot today anyway. On the other hand, he is always itchy after a bath, so maybe it's that.

I thought I got a call from a client a few minutes ago. Much to my surprise, when I picked up the phone, there was a telemarketer on the line. I looked at the Caller-ID again and realized that I'd transposed the letters of the first and last name in my mind. The call was clearly from someone else entirely. I've always suspected that I have dyslexia and I guess things like this more or less prove it.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1248

We got lucky. There was a tremendous amount of rain and hail last night, but we didn't get hit by a tornado. Several nearby towns weren't so fortunate. Dot, Dash and I spent the evening under a blanket, watching local weather reports of the storm on TV. We heard the tornado sirens several times during the evening, but it was only a precaution. The most severe weather was off to the South of us.

This morning, the roofers returned and spent the rest of the day tramping around and making lots of noise up on the roof. Dot, never one to leave a nearby noise unchallenged, responded with equally loud barking. It's a good thing that I didn't have any work that required concentration today, because peace and quiet definitely wasn't in the cards.

At first, I wondered why the roofers even bothered coming out today, but as the day progressed, it kept getting warmer and the skies eventually cleared. I thought these guys might have some fast and efficient way of getting last night's water off the roof, but they didn't. Actually, I'm much better at getting the standing water off the roof than the roofing crew. I've had lots of practice though.

I wonder how long I'm going to keep making fresh squeezed juice? It takes quite a while to make a half gallon of fresh juice and even longer to clean up the mess afterwards. One of the reasons I've been able to stick with the oatmeal and fruit I've been having for breakfast lately is that it's quick and easy to make oatmeal. Taking the juicer apart and cleaning up the pulpy mess is another matter entirely. The orange and pineapple mix I've been making is quite tasty though, so maybe I"ll give it a few more weeks and see if juice making clicks into place as a part of my routine.

I find it frustrating that when the market is at an all time high, many of my own investments are going nowhere. I still have too many gold and commodity stocks that are dragging things down. China seems to have fallen out of favor lately as well. What a fickle world investing has become. I resisted the urge to buy my Apple shares back when they briefly dipped below 400. Even though I'm still fond of Apple products, I'm beginning to think that Apple might be the next Microsoft. Soccer Moms buy iPhones now and the geeks and early adopters have moved on to something else. To  keep my hand in the game, I did buy some 3-D printing stocks though.

I'm meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow. I guess that means I'll have to skip breakfast. I can't seem to eat breakfast and lunch on the same day anymore. Once I've eaten breakfast and walked the dogs, I'm already late for lunch. It's got to be one or the other these days.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1239

Today was a succession of small errands. I went to the post office. I went to the pharmacy. I went to Janet's dentist several times to drop her off and pick her up again later. In between these errands, I added a bunch of new adoptable animals to a rescue website and turned a bunch of navel oranges into juice. There was something strange about these oranges because it was very difficult to get the skin off so I could put them in the juicer. Most oranges are easy to peel, but the rind on these seemed welded to the fruit inside. It took me forever to get them all peeled.

I was real disappointed about Adobe's announcement that in the future, all Creative Suite products will be available by subscription only. I use Photoshop, Fireworks, and Dreamweaver all the time. I'd hate to have to pay for these products by the month, just like I do for U-verse TV. I have always disliked renting things, but in a culture where people increasingly rent or lease their homes, their furniture, and their cars, I guess renting your software doesn't seem so strange. Renting isn't for me though. I'll keep using my old version of Photoshop for a long time before I'll start renting it for $49 a month.

I think I'm going to use the roofer my architect friend recommended. I probably won't know if this was the right decision until about five years from now, when I see whether the roof is still keeping the water out. We'll see how it goes. Most of the people I know hate to make recommendations. Can you blame them? I don't like to make recommendations either, because things go wrong so often. Nevertheless, I'm going with the guy the architect suggested. I still think I'd trust an architect more than Angie's List.

I'm supposed to write an article tomorrow as if I just returned from Switzerland. The cheapskate clients didn't actually want to send me to Switzerland, so they just sent me a few quotes from a guy who'd been there. Ah, the excitement of the writing life. You get to travel to anywhere Wikipedia will take you.

Tomorrow, Dot goes to see the acupuncturist again.Too bad I can't get the vet to stick a few needles in me while I'm there. I was skeptical about the treatments at first, but I've become a believer. The acupuncture therapy really seems to have done Dot some good.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1223

I wish people who visited the park behind our house were as nice as the people at the dog park. The people we see at the dog park all seem to be considerate with very well socialized dogs. The people who visit the public parks on weekends are anything but. They change their babies in the bushes and leave the poop filled diapers on the ground. After their weekend picnics, paper plates and cups litter acres of greenery on Monday morning. Worst of all they let their poorly socialized, and often aggressive dogs off leash. I feel like I"m walking the dogs through a minefield on weekends. Happily, the same park is quiet and almost empty during the rest of the week. Today we avoided a loose pitbull, but weren't so lucky with a group of kids who wanted to pet Dot & Dash. The kids were nice enough, but they stopped us near a big pile of horse poop, which Dash proceeded to eat.

I wish they'd let Dash in the small dog park. He's been fearful of larger dogs ever since he was attacked several years ago. He seems to have overcome his fear of small dogs though. Today a small terrier befriended him at the dog park and the two of them had great fun running and playing. I think Dash looks forward to these trips to the dog park all week long. It is one of the few places he feels safe.

I made some more fresh juice today. A mix of half pineapple and half orange tastes quite good. Making the fresh juice is quite easy with the new juicer. Cleaning up the machine afterwards is another matter entirely. What a mess. I can't wash the pulp down the drain either. Even with the garbage disposal, I don't think our old pipes would handle it. I've taken to making enough juice to last a week, so I won't have to clean the machine so often.

I've taken to watching Dr. Who on Sunday afternoon as well. Watching the show on the DVR at a different time than it was broadcast is a little bit like time travel, which makes a show about time travel even more interesting. I wish I'd discovered the DVR earlier. Janet and I always used to complain that there was nothing worth watching on TV. We were wrong. It's all there. The problem is that the shows we like usually come on when we are working or busy with something else. The DVR solves all that. You watch what you want, when you want to watch it.

I need to make a list of questions to ask the vet this week. Dot has her acupuncture treatment and Dash has his annual exam. Dash has been rubbing his snout on the carpet lately and I wonder if he has a toothache. I need to know what the vet thinks about my decision to forgo the elaborate MRI and spinal tap tests for Dot. We're taken Dot and Dash off Trifexis for heartworms and switched them back to Sentinel. There's no conclusive proof that Trifexis can cause seizures, but there sure is a lot of anecdotal evidence on the Internet. Better safe than sorry, I think.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1208

We went to another casino party tonight. Janet and I usually play roulette at these charity fundraisers, mostly because we are the designated roulette dealers whenever Dalmatian Rescue has similar events. Sometimes we can pick up tips from other dealers that we can use ourselves. Not tonight. The pair at the roulette table this evening were the most inept roulette dealers we've come across yet. They didn't know the odds on the board. They would routinely pay numbers that didn't win and forget to pay number that did win. They seldom paid winners the right amount either. These dealers didn't even appear to know how the game was played. Nobody got mad though. We were just playing with monopoly money and the entire evening was for a good cause. Janet and I are much better roulette dealers than these bumblers though.

The weather finally cleared up today. With an abundance of clear skies and warm temperatures, the dogs finally got the enjoy the newly landscaped back yard. It would have been a good day to do a little more gardening, but I'm still not sure where all the poison ivy plants are hiding. The meds are starting to work, but I still think it's going to be at least another week before the itching subsides.

I had to get all my Saturday chores finished a little early today, since we needed to leave the house for the fundraiser by 6 PM. We ate dinner at the event, so that saved a little time. The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, vacuuming, making fresh juice out of a big bag of oranges, and looking for the source of the latest leak up on the roof. I couldn't find where the water was coming in, but I did get clean sheets on the bed and gave the dogs a nice long walk before we left for the evening.

I hope I remembered how to use the DVR correctly. I set up the machine to record the new Dr. Who episode this evening, but I haven't had time yet to see if my efforts were a success. So far, the new season of Dr. Who looks like it's going to be a good one. I'm kind of pleased that I've finally mastered the television. I no longer have to watch shows when they are aired. Now, I can watch them any time I want.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a dog park day. I can tell Dash has cabin fever from being cooped up too long. He needs a chance to run off-leash. With all the rainy weather we've been having this Spring, we've missed our Sunday visit to the dog park for several weeks in a row.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1199

I went exploring today. Since I'm basically lazy, I did most of my exploring using a keyboard instead of the car. At this point in time, I don't see much point in exploring in the car anyway, especially if the outcome might be waiting for another tow truck to haul me back to the Land Rover dealer for an expensive repair.

So, what did I discover? I was amazed to find that there was much, much more than Netflix and Hulu on the WiFi TV. There were all sorts of free WiFi movie channels. I even discovered a brand new Seinfeld show where Jerry goes and has coffee with friends. That's all that happens! I watched a few episodes and loved this show. Basically, it is the same "show about nothing" premise as the original Seinfeld show. Combine this with the fact that each episode was like a shorter, less intellectual version of My Dinner with Andre and you have a winner, at least as far as I'm concerned.

At some point during the day, I got hungry and noticed that a lot of local restaurants now have online take out menus. Some even have iPhone apps that let you order your take out from wherever you happen to be. After you place your order, you just pick up your food at the nearest location. I would use something like this. Increasingly, I'd just as soon pick up a sack of food and eat my meal at home with the dogs instead of dining out at a restaurant anyway. I downloaded a few of the apps, but didn't use them today. I'm still trying to finish this weeks vegetables before they go bad.

I got some more roof bids in today. Each bid I've received so far recommends a completely different type of roofing material. You'd think since the materials and application procedures were so different that the prices would be different as well. Nope! The price for three very different types of replacement roofs were virtually the same. I'm convinced that putting on a roof is so expensive now because everyone except for me seems to get their homeowner's insurance to pay for the roof. I've never been able to get insurance to pay for a new roof. The adjusters come out to the house and always tell me that the roof has not been damaged by the weather. "It's just normal wear and tear," they say. I wonder how all my neighbors manage to get their insurance to buy them a new roof?  Oh, wait. I know the answer. None of their roofs are flat.

I used the new juicer to make some carrot juice today. Good lord you have to grind up a lot of carrots to get any juice. I have a feeling that it would be cheaper, and certainly a lot easier, to simply buy fresh carrot juice at Central Market.

Doc is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1191 - Vernal Equinox

It was a good day. It's hard to go wrong when the first day of Spring actually feels like Spring. The landscaping crew made good progress today. I'm feeling much more confident now that the yard is going to look nice when it is finished. All the metal edging is in place. A dump truck came with lots of top soil today. Even some of the new turf has been installed. By this time tomorrow, the yard ought to be finished. I'm tempted to hire these guys to maintain the yard as well. Neither Janet or I are known for having a green thumb. It would be a shame to go to all this trouble to have a nice looking yard and then have everything die again in August.

Sometimes I'm surprised at how little it takes to put me in a good mood. I'm enjoying seeing the yard come together. It's nice to get on a scale and realize that I've lost eight pounds in less than a month. Dot's shaky rear legs seem to be getting stronger as well. Unless something terrible happens next week, I'm going to give March a thumbs up.

I tried out the new juicer today. It takes a lot of fruit and vegetables to make juice. I fed a whole pineapple into the juicer and only got about two pints of juice in return. The juice was quite tasty, but I thought there would be more. I decided to keep the pulp as well. I guess you're supposed to throw the pulp away, but it tasted a bit like pineapple pudding and it seemed a shame to waste the stuff.

So far, Hulu seems like a good deal. Many of my favorite shows are well represented. There were even quite a few British comedies, which surprised me. Since I generally prefer the old shows to today's endless lineup of reality TV, Hulu might be all I need. I ought to give one of those over-the-air HD antennas a try and see if I can pick up anything in our neighborhood. There are so many trees in our part of town that I doubt that an antenna would work well, but even if it just pulled in a few basic channels for the news, I might be able to dump cable and U-verse entirely.

Tomorrow ought to be interesting. I need to renew a few insurance policies and the agent said he'd be happy to come out to the house, so I wouldn't have to drive to his office in Far North Dallas. I told him that I have two loud barking dogs, but he said that wouldn't be a problem. Actually it will be a problem. Maybe we can meet on the front porch.

Baxter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1187

I bought a juicer today. When I got home, Janet reminded me that we already had a juicer. Oops! Now, I remember. The old juicer never seemed to extract much juice out of anything. It was also impossible to clean. The juicer quickly got demoted from the kitchen counter to the top of the refrigerator, and subsequently to somewhere else where I completely forgot about it. Hopefully, this new juicer will work better than the old one. If this new juicer is not easy to use and easy to clean, I suspect it will suffer the same fate as the other one. I thought it would be neat to make a fresh version of V8 juice, but when I looked up the recipe on the Internet, I discovered we had none of the ingredients. Maybe I'll start with fresh orange juice. We do have some oranges.

I did my best to avoid the annual St. Patrick's Day parade today. After being stuck in the aftermath of this parade several times, I've learned to stay as far away as possible. In certain parts of town, traffic grinds to a halt for hours as huge throngs of drunken revelers parade from bar to bar. What started as a humble neighborhood event with a few kids waving at people from the backs of pickup trucks has evolved into a huge spectacle with hundreds of floats and well over a hundred thousand spectators. My favorite grocery store is located right at ground zero on the parade route. I wisely decided to do my shopping somewhere else today.

I don't think I'll be having any more furnace problems this year. Now, it's time for air conditioner problems. I bought some new filters at Home Depot and officially turned on the AC today. The temperature got up to 85 degrees and the dogs loved it. Dot spent some quality time outside this afternoon sunning herself on a big pile of leaves. Dash spent his time looking for stuff to eat under the leaves.

Neither of the two roofing companies that stopped by to bid on replacing my roof has given me an estimate yet. I can't believe my roof is all that complicated. It would seem like two weeks was plenty of time to pull some numbers together. Maybe they just don't want to do the job. That wouldn't surprise me at all.

Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a great day to go to the dog park. Clear skies. 85 degrees. What's not to like? It's hard to stay in a bad mood for long when Spring has arrived.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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