Day 1152

I'm going to have to change my approach to problem solving. My caller ID disappeared earlier this week and my first thought was that there was something wrong with the phones themselves. The phones were fine. Next, I thought it was a problem with the line and called AT&T. The lines were fine too. Finally, a U-verse technical support guy in India asked me if I'd tried re-booting the modem. Apparently, re-booting the modem is the U-verse universal solution for everything. I re-booted the modem, just like I do when the TV goes out, and my caller ID service returned. I keep forgetting that my television, Internet, and phone service are all the same stream of broadband data.

Janet and I got our blood tested at the neighborhood health food store this morning. Traditionally, I treat myself to a huge gut-buster breakfast after fasting for these early morning cholesterol screenings. Not today! Janet and I did go out for breakfast, but I had a veggie omelet filled with red peppers, portabella mushrooms, fresh herbs and goat cheese instead of my usual sausages, bacon, pancakes and maple syrup. The veggie omelet was delicious. Who knew?

It was a gray, misty day. The dogs didn't want to go outside and neither did I. We took our regular walk anyway though, because that's what we always do. Something must have been going on at Erykah's house when we walked by. It looked like babysitters, hairdressers, public relations people, and the rest of the entourage had all gathered for something special. I have no idea what goes on in that house, but it all seems pretty exotic to me. Maybe it's because I used to be a musician myself and still occasionally fantasize about what it would be like to be a rock star. My own days as a bass player weren't glamorous at all. On those nights when I was loading the PA system back into the trailer at 2 AM and realized the entire band had only made $100 for playing a four hour set, advertising definitely seemed the more desirable career choice.

I took another jacket to the tailor this afternoon to get a new zipper sewn in. Zippers all seem to be total crap these days. I can remember when strong metal zippers were made by Talon in Meadville, Pennsylvania. These reliable zippers lasted longer than the jackets they were attached to. Now, it's all cheap plastic made-in-China zippers that don't even last a single season. Sign of the times, I guess.

I hope the weather gets a little warmer tomorrow. Dot and Dash are supposed to be in a Mardi Gras parade. Janet is putting the finishing touches on their costumes right now. If the weather gets any worse, they'll be wearing raincoats instead.

Jazz it today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 962

The U-verse repairman came out to the house today. We've been having problems with losing the broadband signal lately. The phones, the TV, and the Internet would go dead at random times during the day and then return after about five minutes when the modem went through an automatic re-boot cycle. This wouldn't have been a big deal if it happened once a month, but it was happening up to ten times a day. At any rate, this was like any other repair day. The dogs barked like crazy while the repair technician tried to isolate the problem. The dogs were so loud that I eventually asked the repairman if he minded if I let them out of the office, so they could see who was in the house. The guy said he had big dogs himself and didn't mind.  Dot calmed down as soon as she had a chance to smell the repair technician, but Dash though I'd brought him a  playmate. Dash was totally friendly, but I eventually had to pen him up again, because he wouldn't leave the repairman alone.

Eventually, the technician completed his inspection and said that I needed a different type of 2Wire gateway, because the house was too far from the AT&T switch for the original modem to function reliably. When I asked why the previous technician installed a faulty modem in the first place, I didn't really get a good answer. I got the impression though that the original modem was probably the only thing that the previous technician had in the truck at the time.  When today's technician left, he said that my network was running 40% faster than it was when he arrived. Maybe so. It certainly doesn't seem all that fast right now however. Hopefully, this repair will last longer than the last one, which failed in less than a month.

I felt like I had stomach flu all day. Janet said it was probably because I ate rotten food in the refrigerator again. How was I to know?  I guess crab meat spread on top of a portobello mushroom cap won't stay fresh for a week in the frig.  The leftovers certainly didn't smell bad, but I'll be the first to admit that my sense of smell isn't so good. My lack of a good olfactory system does come in handy at times. Especially when the dogs fart in bed at night.

I'm glad the weekend is here. I live for the weekends these days. It's not that anything all that exciting happens on weekends, but it is nice to get a brief reprieve from the world of arbitrary deadlines and dumb questions. I got the weekend started with some tasty pancakes and a three rashers of bacon this morning. Unfortunately, stomach was less than impressed. I think it was still trying to deal with the bad crab I fed it yesterday.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day