Day 1406

There are occasional benefits to dumping everything in the storage warehouse instead of just throwing it away like a normal person. While I was taking some things to the storage room today, I noticed some dusty old coats hanging in one corner. Among the coats was my favorite leather motorcycle jacket. This jacket was fairly snug even when I used to wear it in the 1970's. I haven't been able to get into the thing in decades. On a whim, I tried the jacket on again, and lo and behold, it fit. I know I've lost a lot of weight, but I didn't think that jacket would ever fit again. I dusted the coat off, put it on and continued my errands feeling younger than I have in years.

Although there were no new assignments today, there was still plenty to do. I have a long wish list from website clients that I'm still not sure how to fulfill. Whenever I have some extra time, I do a little research and see what I can learn to make these mostly odd wishes come true. I used to think I knew everything about the web, but increasingly I'm feeling like a stranger in a strange land. A lot has changed since 1995. I try to keep up, but I think I'm probably still a few years behind.

Dash saw a loose dog in the park this morning and panicked. Ever since he was attacked by another dog in the park several years ago, he gets extremely nervous whenever he sees a large dog off leash.  He has good reason to be afraid, since the other dog almost killed him during the attack. I feel terrible when I see how fearful Dash has become, but there isn't much I can do. I can't keep the dogs cooped up in the house all the time and Dallas is full of idiots who think it's perfectly fine to let their dogs off leash, even though there are sign ever 100 yards saying that it is illegal to do so. I just try to stay very aware of what's happening up in front of us and change direction if I see a loose dog.

I tried to make a doctor's appointment today and kept getting a message that said "due to unusually high call volumes, your wait will be longer than normal." I guess never is a lot longer than normal. They never did pick up the phone. I suspect that there never were high call volumes in the first place. It's a lot more likely that the receptionist just didn't show up for work this morning.

That bad thing is that other than driving across town to resolve the problem in person, I'll probably have to repeat this exercise in futility tomorrow. I still need to make the appointment. I did manage to get my toll tag account changed to my new license plate number though. Now, all I got to do is remember what this new number is. It took me years to remember the number on the old Defender plates.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1404

The permanent plates for my new car arrived today and when I went up to the dealership to have them put on, I notice that my old Defender had a place of honor on the showroom floor. They'd waxed and polished the Defender 90, so it positively gleamed. You could have sworn that it was a brand new car, instead of one that was 17 years old. If I hadn't just sold this car a few weeks ago, it would have been very tempting to buy it. The Defender was, and still is, a very cool looking car.

The dogs are loving the near perfect Fall weather we've been having lately. The brisk, cooler temperatures have renewed their interest in taking long walks. On days like these, Dot thinks she has more energy than she actually has and I have to be careful not to let her walk too far. Dalmatians have no concept of moderation. They'll go full speed ahead until they get tired and then decide to go no further. This usually works pretty well, unless they decide they're tired when we're three miles from home.

After I got my license plates, I went to the grocery store and got gas. You won't hear me bragging about the new car's gas mileage. It gets terrible gas mileage. I spend the rest of the day doing little chores around the house. I vacuumed. I polished shoes. I cleaned the sheets and washed the car. It has finally gotten cold enough that I no longer need to mow the grass every week. One of the best things about Fall is that I seldom need to start the lawn mower.

After dinner this evening, Janet and I went to a neighborhood art show. One of Janet's friends turns her business into a gallery one a year and hosts new local artists. There was a nice crowd at the show, but I didn't recognize many people. I told Janet that I saw the lady who runs the local dog washing place we use, but when we went up to say hello, it turned out to be our mailman instead. I'm not very good with faces.

Do any of you use Shutterstock? I"ve been submitting photos to iStockphoto for quite a while and thought I'd give Shutterstock a try as well. So far it's been an exercise in frustration. You have to get ten pictures accepted before you can become a contributing member. I typically get eight or nine accepted and then have to wait two weeks before I can submit again. You have to start over from scratch and submit ten more pictures with captions and keywords. You can only submit pictures that are 4 MP and larger. Usually my favorite pictures end up being 3.9 MP and are not eligible. The login process to the submissions site uses those irritating Captchas as well. I hate Captchas. I'm beginning to wonder if it's even worth the trouble to join Shutterstock. You certainly don't make a lot for each stock image you sell.

Tomorrow looks like it will be a carbon copy of today. This means Dash will get his wish and we'll all be going to the dog park again. I may try going to the gym again on Sunday as well. This certainly worked out pretty well last Sunday.

Diva is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day