Day 3583

I've got to go back to the dentist. They broke the impression of my teeth while they were making my new retainer, so I need to go back and get another set of impressions made. They're going to make two sets of impressions this time, in case they break something again. No wonder I hate to go to the dentist. Now, I've got to have that yucky putty like substance put in my mouth twice.

Ever since I lost my last website account, it's been bothering me that the client told me his website wasn't working correctly. The thing that bothered me most was that the client was right. I finally figured out why his site wouldn't scroll properly on some devices. I fixed the problem and uploaded the site for a final time. This little gesture wont get me the account back, but at least now I won't have to think about the whole thing any longer.

I guess a new cold front rolled through town last night because it was chilly when I woke up this morning. I had to turn on the furnace while I was eating breakfast. It was actually a nice day, but I wish it was a little warmer. I need the roof to dry out before the next rain arrives. I'm not sure my repairs will even work because the silicon coating doesn't tend to adhere to the roof very well. That's the main reason I've been having problems for several years. There aren't many alternatives unfortunately. Conventional patching materials won't stick to the silicon coating at all and the bids I've been getting to completely replace the roof are horrendously high.

As I continue to research conversion vans, the whole idea of living off the grid exploring observatories, launch sites, and dark sky areas is starting to seem a little less appealing. From what I've been reading, RV toilets are notoriously messy and prone to leaks. Cargo area air conditioners typically use too much electricity to to be powered by roof mounted solar cells. Fresh water tanks tend to develop a bad taste after a while. Grey and black water tanks can only be emptied at designated disposal stations. I could go on and on. It's all very complicated for a guy who prefers luxury hotels. A lot of van conversions just seem messy and poorly designed to me. I do like Airstream vans and trailers. Of course they would have to be the most expensive. I always seem to be attracted to the most expensive things. Too bad I can't afford them.

If I get approved to stay at McDonald Observatory for an extended length of time, I think I'll just rent a van for my first visit. Renting an RV is actually more expensive than staying in a nice hotel, but it is a lot less expensive than actually buying an RV. Renting a vehicle for several weeks is probably a good way of seeing if I actually like the whole experience. I already know that I like astronomy and looking at stars. I'm not so sure about living on a remote mountain in somewhat primitive conditions however.

I'm sure I've got plenty of time to think about all this. Opportunities to view rocket launches up close are few and far between. The whole process of getting clearance to stay at the observatory is fairly complicated too. It's hard to be patient when things take place slowly like this. At least it gives me the time to save for future adventures. I couldn't afford to go anywhere tomorrow anyway.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3577

The roofers finally delivered the silicon coating they've been promising. Literally five minutes after the large container appeared on my front porch, it started to rain. I guess I should have expected this. Nothing is ever easy. I've been waiting all summer for this stuff. It's been a hot, dry summer and conditions have been almost perfect for repairs. Now that severe thunderstorms and another major cold front is on the way, I'm good to go. I guess there is a silver lining to this mess. The roofer left me a lot more of the silicon material than I anticipated. This was probably just because he doesn't want to hear from me again, but I'm always glad to have more of the material on hand. If history is any guide, there will be more leaks in the future.

I filled out all the paperwork I got yesterday and returned it to the observatory. Unfortunately, I left one of the form fields blank by mistake, so I had to do everything all over again. The forms are done now. I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Some of the forms I submitted today were requests for medical information. It was a bit sobering to provide this much detail. I know there have been accidents on the mountain. Astronomers have fallen off viewing platforms. Cars have driven over cliffs. There is concern about bears and mountain lions in the area as well. I am very risk adverse, but I don't want to be house bound either. I guess the bottom line is that I'd like to do this, so I'd better be careful.

I lost my last client today. Once again the business went to some much younger folks who claim to be on the cutting edge of Internet technology. The client claims his site is no longer mobile friendly. What? I completely revamped the site several years ago specifically to make it mobile friendly. The site worked and everyone was happy. Maybe the client is right though. When we concluded our phone call I looked at his website on my phone and there definitely were problems. I hadn't changed anything, but maybe the way modern phones interpret HTML code has changed. I'm sure that I could fix the problems after doing a little research. Do I even want to make the effort? Probably not. I told the client that I've enjoyed working with him all these years, but that he probably did need someone younger to manage his website. I'm really tired of keeping up with constant change and nothing changes faster than the Internet. It's time to pass the torch. There is no pretending anymore. I guess I'm stone cold retired now.

This weather is driving me nuts. We has our first cold front a few days ago. Then it got hot again. Now, another cold front is on the way and temperatures are supposed to be in the forties tomorrow. That's quite a change, since it was over ninety degrees this afternoon. I hope we have a little more warm weather before winter arrives. I really do need to get the roof patched.

For me, the week always ends on Thursday evening. The week's trash has been taken to the curb and I'm already thinking about where to go for breakfast tomorrow. If it's raining when I wake up, I'll probably just stay home and have a bowl of cereal. I've used up all the fresh fruit, so having another smoothie isn't an option. Driving in a thunderstorm isn't much of an option either. Breakfast just isn't that important.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2924

I kept thinking that it was exceptionally cold today until I turned on the television and realized that Dallas was actually one of the warmer places in the country. When I looked at all the snow that got dumped on Erie, Pennsylvania, this morning's cold drizzle didn't seem so bad. Dash got both his walks today, but it took us a while to warm up afterwards.

I think I'll spend the rest of the winter worrying about the furnace. I hate it when the furnace goes out. This usually happens at least once a winter and it always comes as a complete surprise. The problems vary. Sometimes a component needs to be replaced, but often the furnace is just dirty. I've learned to fix a few things myself, although I prefer to call the HVAC repairmen. I still have a healthy respect for anything hooked up to the gas line.

So far, so good this winter. The car seems reliable. My winter coats are keeping me warm. Dash has gotten used to wearing his protective boots. All is good. Lets just hope the furnace continues to keep the house nice and warm. The dehumidifier has made a big difference. Our windows used to be dripping with condensation at this time of year. Now the only signs of moisture in the house are in the shower.

I found it hard to get back to work today. I tried to do some website updates, but I kept finding myself looking at warm clothing on outdoor equipment websites instead. It didn't help matters that I got a letter from one of my last writing clients saying that he was leaving his job in marketing and starting a new career in accounting instead. I'll miss the guy since we've been working together for many years, but you've got to do what you've got to do. I always understand when someone quits their job. Hey, I'm the guy who's worked at seventeen different ad agencies.

I wish I could control the way the preview picture looked when the blog appears on Facebook or Google+. I like this picture of a Comorant on a rainy day, but I'm almost certain that the head of the bird will be cropped off on the Facebook preview. Why can't they just use the full frame image for the preview photo? Actually, a few years ago the thumbnail images weren't cropped, but then the algorithm got changed. Jeez, a square image looks good. Why do you guys have to force it to become a rectangular image? These are the trivial things I fret about on cold, wet days.

I need to decide whether to renew my Avid Media Composer subscription. I keep getting messages saying that the subscription is about to run out. I did end up renewing Pro Tools, but Media Composer is much more expensive. Do I really need this? Truthfully, I probably don't even remember how to use the software anymore. I keep installing the latest version, but it's been quite a few years since I've used Media Composer to edit projects for a client. For some reason it's proving very hard to walk away from all this.

I certainly won't be using Media Composer tomorrow. If it's as cold as it was today, I won't be doing much of anything. As long as it isn't raining, Dash will get his morning walk. It's good exercise for both of us. I wish I had Dash's ability to sleep for eighteen hours a day. That would make the day go faster. Hey, I have good dreams. I think my dreams are more interesting than watching television.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2770

I went car shopping with Janet today. For me this would have been the beginning of a three month ordeal. Janet is much more decisive and came home with a new car. I was glad she invited me along. I love looking at cars and it was actually a very enjoyable afternoon. We visited several dealerships, but the cars that caught Janet's attention were the Audi's. We spent most of the afternoon at the Audi dealership. I always thought that Janet would get another Land Rover, but prices have gone up and service isn't as good as it once was. I could see why an Audi seemed appealing. These cars were pretty cool.

The first thing I noticed was a lot has changed since either of us bought our last car. I was impressed that you can use Google Earth as your GPS display now. You can also set a destination by just speaking to the car. Somehow, the GPS knows the speed limit of every road in the country and warns you if you are speeding. I'm not sure if I like that, but it is impressive. You can change from a soft to a firm suspension with the touch of a button and there's even a built-in WiFi hub.

By the Time we got around to taking a test drive, I think Janet had already decided she wanted an Audi. The dealership was very pleasant and the salespeople weren't pushy at all. I think the car more or less sold itself. One of our friends from Dalmatian Rescue worked at the dealership, so we caught up on dog stories while the bean counters worked out the numbers on her trade in. I wouldn't have had the nerve to buy a car after a single afternoon of car shopping, but I think Janet did the right thing. The car is beautiful and Janet certainly seemed happy on the drive home.

Dash wasn't very happy when we arrived home two hours after his normal dinner time, but he forgave us as soon as we fed him. It's kind of a luxury to be able to leave the house again. When Dot was sick, we could never have left her alone for this length of time. Dash might have been a little lonely, but he was just fine. I'm sure he slept most of the afternoon anyway.

I was planning on renewing my passport today, but going car shopping was much more enjoyable. I'm not in the market for a new car yet, but it's always fun to dream. I did see a few cars this afternoon that would definitely be fun to drive. Hopefully, my car has a few good years left. Cars have gotten so expensive now that I'm not looking forward to the day when I'll need to go car shopping myself.

When I opened my e-mail this evening, I discovered that I'd lost one of my very last website accounts. The client had replaced me with one of his sons. This is actually the third time that I've been replaced by one my my client's children. I should never have picked a profession that was so popular with millennials. Janet could have a steady job for the rest of her life if she wanted because young people aren't interested in her job. I don't know why millennials want my job. It isn't nearly as glamorous as it seems.

I wonder if I could ever work in an office again? It would certainly be easier to buy a cool new car if I had a steady income. I have a wealth of unique skills and loads of experience, but I haven't had a boss for so long that some of my friends tell me that I'm unemployable. They're probably right. Nobody has told me what to do for a long, long time.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 2707

Today was discouraging. Dot ate, but not nearly as well as she did yesterday. When we went to the cancer center we didn't even do the regular battery of cancer tests. Dot's oncologist agreed with us that cancer wasn't Dot's biggest problem now. It is her ability to keep eating that will determine how long she is able to stay with us.

The oncologist was very kind. She spent a lot of time talking with us about end of life issues and helped us understand the critical things we need to be looking at before we make a final decision. You'd think pain would be the most important issue, but Dot's pain medication is so effective that Dot is not in pain. The oncologist said that you have to be careful not to get over confident with a dog that is taking Dot's medications. The powerful meds could be masking some serious conditions that would otherwise be evident. We need to keep an eye on Dot's anemia. It is getting worse, but it is not critical. We need to make sure Dot is well hydrated. Even though she is drinking water, she might not be getting enough.

The doctors and nurses at the cancer center have been watching Dot's decline for at least a year now. Dot's oncologist thinks now that she has a form of canine Alzheimer's disease, along with her many other ailments. Alzheimer's would explain a lot. A lot of times Dot seems to forget the most basic things, including how to eat. Not all vets agree that dogs can get Alzheimer's disease, but many think they can. In fact, some researchers are studying dogs with cognitive problems to help understand how Alzheimer's works in humans.

The trip to the cancer center made Dot very tired, so we weren't planning on taking a walk today. I took a short nap right after dinner and much to my surprise Janet told me that she and Dot walked to the park and back while I was asleep. Dot is definitely determined. She didn't eat enough today, but at least she tried. We were able to add canned tuna and flank steak to the short list of things she likes this week. I hope she still likes the tuna tomorrow. It's actually pretty good for her. We now try to feed her some of the Dogsure liquid supplement using a syringe every day to help insure that she is still getting enough nutrition with her constantly changing diet.

I may have lost one of my last remaining clients. I learned that the company owner is planning to use one of his sons to do his marketing now. This has happened to me before. I think everybody's kid has gone into marketing. That's what they all seem to do these days. Sometimes I get hired back however when the parents discover that their kids aren't quite as sharp as they thought they were. We'll see what happens. I'm kind of at the stage where I don't really care.

The audio gear I ordered last week arrived this afternoon and I didn't even open the box. That's what kind of day it's been. I'm totally focused on Dot now. If she still wants to keep on going for a few more weeks, I'm going to try to make it happen for her.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2381

I knew it wouldn't last. My Internet service has become erratic again. It was so nice to have a reliable, fast network for about a month, but now things are just as bad as they ever were. Speed will slow to a crawl. The WiFi will go out entirely for no apparent reason. I'll call technical support and after I've waited on hold for ten minutes, everything mysteriously returns to normal as soon as I start speaking to a service representative. It's frustrating.

Flaky WiFi service wasn't the only frustrating thing today. One of my client's employees has decided she wants to design websites and asked me for the access codes to the sites I manage for her boss. This means one of two things. Either the client is going to take their website management in-house, or I'm going to be asked to re-create everything from scratch in a few months after the new designer has managed to screw the website up. There's a third possibility too. They might actually ask me to help them take their business away from me. This has actually happened before. Rudeness apparently knows no boundaries where third party contractors are concerned.

I paid the rest of the June bills today. There's still some money left, but I had to move some funds from the production account to the operating account to avoid becoming overdrawn. It's kind of sobering to realize that there just isn't a lot left over at the end of the month anymore. What do you do when everybody and their uncle thinks they're a photographer, filmmaker, or web designer? It's almost impossible to take a bad picture with today's automated digital cameras and apparently drag and drop website creation is the new hot thing with all my clients. I need to learn something really hard that nobody else wants to do. Right now it seems like everybody with a smart phone and a few graphics apps thinks they can do my job.

I walk so much that my latest pair of hiking boots is already starting to show some wear. I like these shoes, so I took them to a shoe repair shop in the neighborhood and had shoe taps put on the heals. I used to do this years ago when I wore cowboy boots a lot, but it never occurred to me to put heel taps on a Vibram sole work boot. These things will probably fall off in a week, or scratch up the floors in our house, but it's worth a try. Something about the way I walk just destroys the heels of my shoes. Maybe this will help.

I'm going to have to get Dot ready for her physical therapy appointment a little earlier tomorrow. The vet had to bump us into an earlier slot because of a conflict. Hopefully, this new schedule won't throw a wrench in the works. I'm beginning to wonder how long it is wise to continue the water therapy. Dot doesn't have as much energy now and the trip downtown takes a toll on her. I wish I could ask her what she wanted to do.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2181

It's that time of year. We completed our first Santa Paws photo shoot today and just like I expected, the day was full of surprises. My first surprise was discovering that we had a brand new Santa. Our regular Santa is a huge Steelers fan and was evidently up in Pittsburgh watching a game. The new Santa was great, although I bet he didn't realize how much work this was going to be when he agreed to help us out. My second surprise was that my main camera refused to sync with the strobe lights. Bummer. I'm real glad that I brought a decent back up camera or we would have been in big trouble. My third surprise was that I survived the day. Almost as soon as I got home at the end of the day, my hip went out of joint, but during the shoot, my creaky knees, back, and shoulder performed admirably. The set survived as well. Nobody peed on Santa today and nobody got bitten. In the Santa photo business, that's a good day.

We've got to turn around and do this all over again tomorrow. People think I'm complaining, but I really am too old for this. Every dog is a different size, so you're always standing, kneeling, bending over, and contorting your body into unnatural shapes to find the best angle. I always have a lot of sympathy for the old dogs that slowly make their way onto the set. I know how they feel.

Our broadband connection is still down. In today's world, three days without the Internet or TV is a long time. I missed the season finale of Dr. Who this evening. I'm not even sure if the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft was able to launch today. It might be time to switch back to Time/Warner. We'll sort this out later. As soon as I finish posting tonight's blog entry, I'm going to bed. I'm too tired to watch TV tonight anyway. Tomorrow morning will be an exact repeat of today. The only difference about tomorrow is that I've got to drive farther to get to the location. We'll get up extra early, so we'll have time to feed and walk Dot and Dash before we leave. Since I need to pack the car, take a shower, and eat a little breakfast as well, I don't get much sleep when we're doing Santa photos. Dot didn't help matters when she pooped in her bed again during the night. She can't help it. When our schedule changes, it throws her schedule off as well.

One of my clients wrote me and told me that a lot of things are changing at his company and he's thinking of using an ad agency to do his next web site. Yep. It was basically a Dear John letter. I'm pretty sure that one of the new brands he's affiliated with offered free design services to sweeten the pot. I'll ask if I can bid on the re-design, but the letter didn't sound promising. It's hard to compete with free.

I think I've recharged all the camera batteries. I hope the backup camera doesn't break tomorrow. We're on thin ice now, because I don't have a backup for the backup camera. I need to remember to unplug everything that makes me nervous before I leave the house in the morning. This means I can't leave the dehumidifier running or fire up the little ceramic heater under my desk. When I remember these things when I'll halfway there, it really makes me late. I'm sure I'll forget something important. I'm equally sure that everything will turn out OK. It always does.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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