Day 3585

I was determined to get something done today. I've eaten all the leftovers, so I went to the grocery store right after breakfast. Actually, I went to two grocery stores. You can never find everything you need at a single location these days. After taking some bills to the post office, I took my daily walk. It was a good thing that I ran my errands first today, because the weather was just about perfect around noon. I didn't need a jacket and I didn't sweat. You can't get any better than that.

I've been seeing a lot of Monarch butterflies lately. They're headed back to Mexico for the Winter. Next Spring I'll see the Monarchs again as they migrate north. It's amazing that these tiny creatures can travel such incredible distances. When I see these butterflies fluttering around in the park it's hard to imagine them traveling to Fort Worth. How do they make it all the way to Mexico?

I promised Janet that I'd trim the overgrown Photinia Bushes in the back yard. You couldn't even call these Photinias shrubs anymore. They've grown into large trees. Next week is bulky trash pickup in our neighborhood, so I knew that I couldn't postpone this task much longer. If I don't get the Photinias trimmed this weekend, I'll have to wait another month. I wish I could have gotten the tree guy to do this for me while he was taking down the Elm tree, but he wasn't interested. I can't say that I'm very interested either. The reciprocating saw is very heavy and I have trouble lifting it with my bad shoulder.

It took hours to cut the bushes back to fence level. Instead of fifteen to eighteen feet high, the Photinias are now a more manageable six feet high. It will be several years before they fill in and start to look like a hedge again, but at least the job is done. Large branches are quite heavy. Trimming the trees was only part of the problem. I also had to drag everything I'd cut out to the curb. By the time I finished I was very tired. Hey, I did get 24,000 steps today though.

I finally got a letter from Sky and Telescope. Basically, the letter just thanked me for being patient and said the magazine would be back in touch with me soon. Even though this short, somewhat ambiguous letter didn't say much, it was encouraging. I'd been thinking they might have forgotten about me. Maybe they will help me with future plans after all. One can hope anyway.

The new Dalmatians have arrived at the kennel. I'm going to go meet them tomorrow and photograph each of them for the website. I think there are six new dogs, but I'm not sure. I guess I'll find out when I get there. I need to do the photography soon because I think one of the dogs is being adopted this weekend.

It's been a long day. The utility bills have been paid. The refrigerator is full again. The Photinias have all been trimmed and the debris has been hauled to the curb. I even fixed myself a tasty dinner. I need to get a good night's sleep, because I think tomorrow will be just as busy.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3551

I got asked to reprint a business card I'd designed years and years ago. I couldn't even remember doing the card, but it seemed like something I might have done. I looked through my files and couldn't find anything. I did find hundreds of projects I'd completely forgotten about. I tried to remember printers I used to use and looked up my account on several that still had websites. Nothing again. One printer I've used dozens of times had purged all my files. My folder of old jobs was completely empty. This was a weird feeling. When you retire, it doesn't take long for you to be forgotten. Jeez. It hasn't been that long. Is it that weird to want to reprint a twelve year old business card? I could have recreated the card from scratch in less time than I took looking for the missing file tonight. I should have been able to find the file though. I keep good records. I always thought printers kept old jobs too. Live and learn. I guess I'll have to recreate the business card from scratch.

As I expected, our road was a mess when the highway department finally closed it to demolish the bridge. There were long lines of cars trying to exit to the poorly planned detour routes. It's going to be a pain to travel North now. I guess I'm going to have to just head South for a while. I was able to get gas, do my grocery shopping, pick up a prescription, and go to the post office by heading in a Southerly direction. Eventually I'll have to go North though.

Somebody already took the two lawn mowers I took out to the curb the other day. That didn't take long. If they were just trying to sell scrap metal, they're probably happy with their find. If they were planning to get the mowers working again and actually use them, there's going to be some frustration. You can't even get parts for one of these old mowers and the other one needs a lot of work. I'm glad the mowers got picked up though. The city might not have even taken them on bulky trash day because there was still a little gas in the tanks.

The White Pelican has been gone for a week. If he's gone for good, the bird sure picked a weird time to migrate. His buddies will be returning for the Winter soon. Maybe the bird knew this. I wonder if birds can be antisocial? Maybe this Pelican just wants to be left alone.

I definitely paid a price for the barbecue I ate last night. I woke up with heartburn several times during the night. Was the tasty meal worth it? Who knows. I know exactly what to eat to avoid acid reflux, but it gets boring. It's a shame that the things that bring the most pleasure usually cause the most trouble. I'll definitely be eating barbecue, chili, and pizza again, but I'll give it a rest for a while. When I eat healthy, I sleep better. A good night's sleep trumps just about anything these days.

It's back to the gym tomorrow. This week sure went quickly. I never did get my 20,000 steps yesterday. I fell asleep 37 steps short.

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1759

We encountered a turtle on our morning walk today. Dot growled at it. Dash wanted to play with it. And I thought it was a good metaphor for the way the day was going. I didn't really have that much to do today, but everything I started seemed to move at a turtle's pace.

I'll sure be glad when allergy season is over. Every time I walk the dogs or work in the yard, it seems to take hours for my nose to return to normal. I spend the day with my eyes watering and my nose dripping. I guess I could take antihistamines, but they seem to leave me feeling even worse than the allergies they are meant to cure. I've been blowing my nose so much lately that I'm beginning to look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

I got a surprise when I went up on the roof today. All the pecan shells and leaves were gone. I guess last week's windstorm blew them away. There was still some standing water from all the rain, but it didn't really take me long at all to clean things up.

Our house must be on the migration path for the Monarch butterflies this year. I've never seen so many in our yard before. They're everywhere. I've tried several times to photograph the butterflies, but they don't stay in one place for very long. The only times I've gotten good photos of butterflies is when I catch them feasting on the nectar from flowers. We don't have many flowers in our yard, but the Monarch's do seem to like to flutter through our Oak trees.

Today's work consisted mostly of answering client's questions and asking a few of my own. Very little got accomplished. I'm glad I bought that slab of bacon yesterday. It sure tasted good with breakfast this morning and seemed to keep me in a good mood despite all the frustrations.

Dot seemed a bit slower than usual in the underwater treadmill at our physical therapy session today. On the other hand, she responded very well to acupuncture, so the visit was still a success. On the way home, I noticed that there was a bad traffic jam on the freeway, so I decided to take the back roads. This wasn't a good idea, because I must have passed at least ten 20 MPH school zones. The crowded freeway probably still would have been faster.

I still haven't gone to Northern Tools to look at generators, but maybe I'll go tomorrow after my breakfast outing. I'm convinced that if I actually do buy a generator, there won't be any more power outages. Janet says that if that is the case, the unused generator would actually be a good investment.

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day