Day 1576

It was hard to remember what day it was. It was supposed to be Dash's radiation day, but it turned out to be Dot's acupuncture day instead. I drove to one vet to get Dash's thyroid medication renewed and to another vet for Dot's physical therapy. Dash still took his Paladia chemo pills tonight, but won't be going in for radiation treatment tomorrow, because the radiation machine is still broken. I try to keep all this straight, but I never had a good grasp on what day it was anyway. I'll be glad when all this is over. The longer the treatment continues, the more I worry about side effects. I'm one of those fools who reads all the fine print that comes with pharmaceuticals these days. There is almost always something dire hidden away in the tiny type on these product description and warning sheets that will make you wonder how these new miracle drugs ever got approved in the first place. All that being said, Dash is still doing very, very well.

There weren't many website revisions today, but there was plenty of writing work to catch up on. I finished two articles and started on a third. The writing will never win a Pulitzer Prize, but it does make the day go quickly. With several articles to write and several dogs to transport various places, I never have much idle time on my hands. I always try to make time to fix myself a decent breakfast every morning, but I'm starting to fall behind on a host of other things that used to be part of my daily routine. The house hasn't been vacuumed in a while and I'm sure there's still water on the roof from last week's rain. That's the way it is these days. I take care of the dog's needs, do enough work to pay the bills, eat as healthy as I can, and spend the remaining five hours sleeping.

I wish I had a better camera with me this morning. We walked earlier than usual and there was a fine mist on everything. I'm fascinated by the way water droplets tend to form on some plants and not on others. This morning all the while and yellow Primrose flowers has miniscule water droplets all over their petals. Other nearby flowers were completely dry. I only managed to grab a few quick shots with my phone however, because the dogs had plans of their own.

I suspect that tomorrow will be a lot like today. One of these days I need to go have lunch with some of my old work friends again. It's been at least six months since I've met anyone for lunch. Basically, I don't even eat lunch anymore. I'm never that hungry during the day and I find that it's a lot easier to keep my weight under control if I just skip lunch entirely. Essentially, no lunch equals no social life, but I don't really feel like I'm missing much. It's kind of like those cable channels I eliminated yesterday. If I'm not actively looking for the missing channels, I don't even realize they're gone.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1249

It was a busy day. The roofers woke us up with a lot of banging and pounding over our head. It's clear that roofers get off to an earlier start than I do. The dogs have kind of an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude about all the activity. As long as they can't actually see the roofers, they don't bark all that much. I guess they're pretty used to noise on the roof. Quite a few tree limbs have fallen on the roof over the years and of course, I'm up there myself quite a bit getting the water off.

I had lunch with my ad agency friend today. I'll have to admit I was a bit envious of my friend. He drove up in a brand new Lexus IS convertible and proceed to tell me about the fantastic vacation in Rome he just returned from. My friend has never looked healthier or happier. He's on permanent disability. Nice work if you can get it is all I've got to say.

After an unusually healthy lunch, considering the way we both used to eat, I went grocery shopping at Central Market and then returned home to finish my work for the week. I was glad to see the roofers leaving for the day when I arrived. I had put up with all the noise I could handle this morning.

I went to the airport this evening to pick up Janet. I checked the American Airlines website just before I left, to make sure that the arrival time or the gate hadn't changed. They're always changing gate assignments at the last minute. The gate was the same, but the website said that the flight was going to be early. While I was driving to the airport, they must have changed their mind. When I arrived at the designated baggage claim area, I discovered that the flight in question was actually going to be late. This happens all the time. No wonder this company went bankrupt.

Dot and Dash were delighted to see Janet again. Dash got so excited that he started jumping straight up in the air. When he makes these vertical leaps, he can get three feet off the ground. All this activity would have been fine, except he was doing his wild leaping around in the living roof. I'm always scared he'll land right on top of the glass coffee table and cut himself. Once we let the dogs outside to blow off steam, they both quieted down and were calm again. They must have known what was coming next: some tasty dog treats from one of the suitcases in the hall.

I think the roofers said they were coming back tomorrow. Oh, well. We certainly won't need an alarm clock in the morning.

Susie 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 1142

I had an enjoyable lunch with a friend of mine today. We talked about how much ad agencies have changed since the "Mad Men" days when we both worked at an agency together. Then the subject changed to disastrous oil and gas investments both of us had made. Finally, we tried to top each other with stories about bad doctors and medical nightmares. It definitely wasn't a three martini lunch, since neither of us drank anymore. We both agreed that sixty was definitely not the new forty.

After lunch I went for a consultation with my new nutritionist. I was really impressed with the guy and learned more about the root causes of my various ailments in a two hour consultation than I have in several years of doctor visits.

I've known for some time that I needed to change my diet. I just haven't had anyone tell me exactly how or why. Now I have a plan. Right now, I'm consuming way too much protein and not enough vegetables. I need to cut back significantly on grains. Even whole grains are not that great if you have too much grain in your diet. The reason is that breads and grains easily converted to sugar and excessive sugar is one of the main causes of diabetes. I should be eating a diet that consists of no more than 10% grains and 20% animal proteins. The rest should be fresh vegetables. I should be eating four times more alkaline foods than acid foods to keep everything in balance.

Foods like broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, cabbage, artichokes and raw garlic are beneficial to the liver, while shellfish, alcohol, fats, and sugar are bad. Too much iron in the body is really bad for a person like me. Cauliflower and Oranges are good however. I'm going to have to make some changes. Some of my favorite foods like sushi, shrimp, bacon, and waffles are to be avoided. Oh, I need to excercise more too. Apparently, sweating is one of the most effective ways of eliminating toxins from the body.

None of this sounds like a lot of fun. Eating extravagantly rich food has always been one of my primary pleasures. On the other hand, I've been served vegetarian meals that are just as delicious as a well marbled steak. These meals always seemed difficult and time consuming to prepare, unfortunately. I may be a foodie, but I can't say that I really enjoy cooking. To successfully reform my diet, I need to find an easy, lazy man's way to enjoy my vegetables. The best solution for me would be a restaurant that consistently served delicious, totally healthy meals. Chefs are notorious for their liberal use of salt, butter and fat unfortunately. It's not surprising. These ingredients are usually what makes food taste so good.

It's not going to be easy, but radically improving my diet is going to be one of my primary goals for 2013. It might even take precedence over getting a new roof.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 940

I had lunch with a friend who used to be my boss today. My friend has always been good at landing on his feet and, unlike a lot of other ad folks I know, is still the creative director at a well respected ad agency. We had fun talking about how the business has changed and who among our friends have survived.  The lunch wasn't just a trip down memory lane though. The agency happens to have some high profile jewelry accounts and I just happen to have some experience writing about luxury goods. I was hoping to get a little work from my old buddy. I think I have reason to be optimistic. My prospects of getting jewelry account projects are probably a bit better than getting that trip to Singapore from my other client. I'm a dreamer though. I'm still hoping that both things will come through.

I ought to have lunch with ad friends more often, because this is still the most dependable way to get business. I don't know if I have the capacity to actually eat lunch anymore though. I quit eating lunch about five years ago and now whenever I have a noontime meal, I feel full and bloated for the rest of the day. I still feed the dogs a rice cake at lunch, because they've grown to expect something to eat. I don't eat anything though. Mostly because I don't like rice cakes. It's hard to believe that I used to eat three large meals every day, washed down with various alcoholic beverages. I just can't do it anymore. I still eat a big breakfast, but there's nothing for lunch and usually a light supper. '

I read an article today that said it was very important for bloggers to answer all their comments and establish a dialog with their readers. Is this what you guys really want?  I hope not. I'm terrible about answering comments. I usually just post things like a guy on a deserted island, throwing notes out to sea in a bottle. Occasionally, some of those bottles wash up on a distant shore and are discovered by beachcombers. At least that's how I think it goes.

I can tell it's been a long week. I'm ready for it to be over. I'm already thinking about what to order for breakfast on tomorrow's Friday restaurant outing. Pancakes sound good to me.

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 855

I had lunch today with Alan and Dick, two old friends from my ad agency days. The phrase "old friends" used to just be a figure of speech with me. Now, it quite literally means old friends. My friends and I used to talk about who had the fastest car, or the most exciting job. Now, we talk about who has had the most complicated medical procedure. Alan wanted to go to a trendy new restaurant in the neighborhood. I seldom go to trendy new restaurants because it's hard to find a parking place and I don't feel comfortable dressing shabbily. I'd hate to run into someone I know looking as ratty as I usually do.

Every once in a while, its worth looking presentable and fighting for a parking place though. Today, I caught up on several year's worth of gossip, and as a bonus, got to bitch and moan with two like minded friends about how the ad business has basically gone to hell in a hand basket. I don't think the young pierced and tattooed ad folks sitting at nearby tables even realize how much more fun their jobs would be if they had been born twenty years earlier. Every time I see that show "Mad Men," I realize I was right there in the middle of it all.

Alan and Dick both do yoga. When they asked how I stay in shape, I told them that I walked dogs. I was in just as good shape as the two of them, so there's a lot to be said for walking dogs. Personally, I think walking two strong Dalmatians who have their hearts set on chasing squirrels is more challenging than anything you could dream up at a gym.

I think I'm going to go ahead and have the real estate agent I talked to yesterday list my rent property. After thinking about it overnight, I realized that I have no interest in having another renter whatsoever. The market isn't very good, but if I wait to sell until the market improves, there's a good chance that the building would disintegrate first.

The weather was beautiful for dog class this evening. Unfortunately, there was a lot of pollen in the air, so I spent the entire class wiping my eyes and blowing my nose into a shop towel. Allergy season seems even worse than usual this year, but at least I haven't caught poison ivy yet.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 562

I had lunch today with Tom, the keyboard player for my old band The Fabulous Has Beens. Tom is on the far left in the picture and I'm the guy playing bass in the pink shirt. It was fun catching up on things while we were eating unhealthy fried foods at the Flying Fish. Like the rest of the band, Tom and I hadn't seen each other in years and had recently reunited on Facebook. Time had certainly taken it's toll on both of us. In some ways, it was hard to believe we both used to be rockers. In other ways, nothing had changed at all. Tom is a health insurance specialist now. I took this as a golden opportunity to complain about my own health insurance woes, but Tom told me I was a lot better off than I thought I was. "A lot of people working at good companies have worse plans than yours," he told me. Tom wanted me to join him at a breakfast business networking group he was a member of sometime next month. This would probably be a good idea for me. I don't get out much. Right now, the only networking I do is saying Happy Birthday to people on Facebook.

I think I set a new speed record for website design today. Well, it was a record for me anyway. I designed and launched an entire new website for one of my clients in a single day. Granted, it's not the most complex or fancy site in the world, but it works and actually looks pretty nice. It's kind of ironic. I got the site up so fast that the DNS still hasn't had time to finish moving from it's initial parking place at GoDaddy to the new servers at the hosting company. The site is finished, but nobody can see it yet, mostly because it generally takes a while for the DNS to propagate after you point it to a new location. I've tried to explain DNS propagation to my clients before but I don't think I've succeeded. I'm sure they think I just haven't finished the site yet.

It's hard to believe that the year is already half over. I certainly haven 't accomplished anything spectacular during the first half of the year. I guess there's still six months left to set the world on fire. Hey, I've got 200 blog followers now and 3,000 Twitter followers. That should count for something. Maybe I'm actually managing to make a boring life seem interesting. On that note, I'll go take out the garbage. It's Thursday night and that means it's time to haul the trash out to the street again. How time flies.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 525

I'm somewhat of a hermit these days, so having lunch with someone two days in a row is probably my equivalent of being a social butterfly. Today, I had lunch with my watchmaker. Ostensibly, the lunch was to resolve a few website issues, but we mostly just ended up talking about the trials and tribulations of owning a small business. Somehow I keep thinking that someone who fixes high-end Rolex and Omega watches might be in a bit more of a secure position than someone who designs websites, but you never know. Globalization, consolidation and declining profit margins are making things difficult for every small business. My watchmaker is faced with a growing number of manufacturers who are starting to do their own repair and service work at the factory, while I'm faced with companies like GoDaddy offering website services for so cheap that nobody has any use for people like me anymore. My watchmaker and I are both still in business though. We are good at what we do. It's just not as easy to make a living as it used to be.

It is unbelievable how bad the weather has been recently. When I was eating dinner this evening, I watched the news on TV about multiple tornadoes hitting the Oklahoma City area. We are actually under a tornado warning right now and I think they have spotted funnel clouds forming near Forth Worth. We have never had a tornado in our neighborhood, but the warnings are frequent this time of year. I always worry that if a tornado does hit, there is no place to hide. We basically have a house with no protected interior walls. There's just a lot of glass that would offer no protection at all. I can't really imagine getting both dogs in the bathtub and putting a mattress over our heads. I can't even get the dogs to go near the bathtub on a clear, sunny day.

Maybe the storms will clear away the bees. I finally discovered exactly where the swarms of bees I've been seeing on the roof are coming from. They are making a large hive on the East wall of our house up under the eaves. I don't know much about bees though. Maybe the rain will make even more bees start calling our place home. It's just one more thing I need to deal with this week.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day