Day 2317

There was a pile of mail on our doorstep early this morning. It obviously didn't come from the post office, so I will have to assume that it was another batch of misdirected mail that our mail carrier left at a neighbor's house instead. This has happened before. Luckily, our neighbors are usually more reliable about returning the mail than the post office is in delivering it. We used to have a fabulous mail carrier, but things have gone downhill in recent years. I suspect that the post office has become mired in bureaucracy, just like the veterans administration and other government agencies. It's hard to fire bad mail carriers too. They probably have a job for life.

It was difficult to focus on anything today. I had some websites to update, but there wasn't enough work to keep me occupied for long. I kind of drifted aimlessly through the day. I paid some bills, took a small check to the bank, picked up a prescription, and bought a big bag of Cheetos. I really try to eat healthy, but I've become addicted to Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos. I hope the red dye in these things doesn't give you cancer, because it sure stains your hands when you eat them. I don't know what happened to the guy who studiously avoided wheat products and dined on Kale and Quinoa for over two years. I hate to admit it, but I've become a culinary backslider, trading fish and fresh veggies for bacon cheeseburgers whenever I can.

My big production printer is out of ink again. Do I buy eight more expensive cartridges, or do I just give up on the thing? The printer is a relic from another era. I used to make beautiful very large Giclée prints. I sold the prints and had several gallery shows. After a while I lost interest. Now, I just make a small test print every evening to keep the printer from clogging. I've run through two complete sets of ink cartridges making the same test print over and over again. The printer is ready if I need it, but I doubt that I will ever need it again. I haven't made a large exhibition quality print in three years.

I don't take as many photos as I used to either, although I keep checking the B&H website every few days to see if the camera I want is still on sale. The camera has been discounted quite a bit, so I suspect that it is being discontinued. That doesn't matter to me. Practically everything I own has been discontinued. Truthfully, I don't need a new camera any more than I need a huge commercial ink jet printer. It's frustrating. I'm just as addicted to gear as I am to Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos, but the cameras and computers are much more expensive. There was a time when these things were just normal business expenses, but that ship has sailed. I'm going to have to come up with a less expensive way to spend my remaining years.

I've got lots to remember tomorrow. It's time for Dot to take her next batch of Palladia pills. Our physical therapy session is also tomorrow, even though I still keep thinking it's on Thursday. My leather jacket is ready to pick up at the tailor shop. I'm sure there are other things as well. I'll try not to take the trash out a day early like I did last week. It's hard to remember what day it is when you keep track by how many bananas are left in the kitchen. If it's four bananas, it must be Wednesday.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2237

A year ago at this time I was a guest of NASA at Vandenberg Air Force Base. I had been invited to witness the launch of the SMAP satellite and still remember the experience fondly. I haven't been anywhere since. Shortly after I returned, Dot injured her spine and life changed radically. I had an opportunity to go to Kennedy Space Center and view another launch later in the year, but it wasn't very practical. Taking care of Dot requires all hands on deck. Now, I have an opportunity to take a much shorter trip to Houston to get a progress report on the Orion program and a tour of mission control. I think I could make the trip in a single day, but it's hard to decide whether this NASA event is feasible either. Even if Janet came home for lunch that day to check on the dogs, they would still be alone for a long time. Dot can get in trouble so easily now that I hesitate to leave her at all. I need to think about this. I can't stay home forever, but I can't leave Dot and feel comfortable either.

We slept in too long this morning. Dot is used to our weekday schedule where everybody is up at the crack of dawn. I think she tried her best not to make a mess, but we weren't there when she needed us. I heard her wake up around six AM, but before I could grab her harness and get her suited up, she had already headed toward the back door, leaving a trail of poop along the way. Ironically, I couldn't sleep well last night, and had gotten up briefly around 4:30 AM to go outside and look at the stars. Everyone was sleeping so peacefully that I was very quiet and did my best not to disturb Janet and the sleeping dogs. I should have taken Dot outside then. Luckily, the two soiled rugs were small enough to stuff in the washing machine and clean.

It's weird how bothered I get when a UPS or FedEx shipment is late. I was supposed to get a piece of camera equipment I ordered this morning, but found out later in the day that the shipment had been delayed. It won't arrive until sometime next week. This was just a small little adapter. Not a big deal at all. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to see whether this gizmo was going to solve my connection problem as I anticipated. I'm not very flexible anymore. I don't like surprises and expect everything to stay on schedule. Of course this never happens, so I am always frustrated.

I renewed my computer's anti-virus software today. I don't even know if this application actually works, but it's kind of like car insurance. You'd hate to be without it if you actually needed it. Increasingly, you don't buy software anymore. You just subscribe to it for a year at a time. I don't like software subscriptions any more than I like late FedEx shipments, but what can you do? Uber cabs, Air B&B, and software subscriptions are the future, whether I like it or not.

I should have gotten a head start on my weekend chores today, but it was hard to stay focused. I dawdled over breakfast, spend too long just staring aimlessly at things in the grocery store, and took a nap with the dogs instead of vacuuming the house. Luckily, there's always tomorrow for that sort of thing.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2169

It may be a short week, but it certainly was a long day. The days always seem longer when there is nothing to focus on. Without a crisis to deal with or a deadline to meet, I kind of floundered around today. I renewed a few domain names that expire next month, checked to see how much I'd earned this month from stock photo sales, and converted my personal Amazon account to a business account to get the free shipping. I'm getting closer to purchasing a dehumidifier, but kept finding myself wandering away from the industrial water removal web sites and looking at cameras instead. I actually need a dehumidifier and don't need another camera at all, but dehumidifiers are really boring.

When Janet was cleaning this weekend, she filled a cardboard box with small items she'd cleared off the coffee table in the living room and put the box in my office. I was tired of tripping over the box every time I got up to go to the bathroom at night, so I knew that I'd eventually have to deal with it. I actually liked all the little knick·knacks that had been designated as clutter, so I placed most of them on shelves in my already cluttered office and refilled the box with old Christmas presents that I didn't like. I took this box to the storage warehouse and considered my solution a win, since the same volume of unneeded stuff had been removed from the house.

I need to figure out a way to watch TV or read a book while I'm outside holding up Dot's rear legs. She is so slow now that it takes a lot of patience to be her outdoor companion. Sometimes I think she just needs to pee and I won't put on a jacket or warm clothes. This is inevitably when she wants to sniff the air for thirty minutes. I can't just run inside to get a jacket because she'll fall over. I think Dot enjoys being outside on crisp, cool days like today, so I never try to hurry her. In Dot's defense, she did manage to poop outside when I least expected it. This just proves that there can be happy endings to almost any scenario.

Since it was such a slow day, I thought I'd watch the Sleep No More episode of Dr. Who that I'd missed a few weeks ago. Monsters created out of the mucus that forms in the corner of your eyes while you sleep? Surely Steven Moffat could have come up with a more plausible plot twist than this. I continue to maintain that the Russell T Davies era had consistently better scripts than this new series. I don't think the dogs liked this episode either. Even though I watched the show during one of their regular nap periods, they were constantly interrupting me. When they started to bark, I would put the DVR on pause and go see what they wanted. I think all they wanted was constant attention.

One of my clients called and wants new employee pictures for their website. Wow. That was a blast from the past. I used to be shooting new employee pictures constantly, but this was the first request I'd gotten this year. I think most people finally figured out that putting employees on their website just showed the rest of the world how bad their staff turnover problems were. Maybe these guys are being optimistic. At any rate, it will give me something to do next week. I'll be able to find out if I have any looming equipment problems before the grueling Santa photo season begins too.

Maybe something more exciting than watching the humidity level will happen tomorrow. I hope the dogs let me sleep tonight. Doing nothing really wears you out.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day