Day 2377

I treated the yard for mosquitoes today. It's too early to tell whether the spray treatment works, but the entire yard now smells like a giant Citronella Candle. I tried to pick a time to spray the yard when I knew the dogs would be asleep, but as soon as I finished, they both woke up and needed to go out and pee. The bottle says this stuff is completely safe around pets, but it would have been nice if they'd given the yard a chance to dry before we tested that theory. I wiped their paws off with a rag and they both went back inside and resumed their nap .

Breakfast was enjoyable this morning. I'm trying new things, and so far the experiment seems to be going well. It may not seem earth shattering to try something different for breakfast, but for me it is. For over three years I went to the same place and ordered the same thing every Friday morning. Those days appear to be over now, whether I like it or not. I didn't really ask for this variety, but maybe it's for the best. At any rate, my Eggs Benedict were quite tasty this morning.

I'm still wondering whether I'm going to run out of money this month. I paid the Visa bill and my annual homeowners insurance today, but the Mastercard bill with the humongous car repair charge hasn't arrived yet. It's going to be a close call. I guess I don't really need to pay my credit card bills in full every month, but partial payments seem like a slippery slope. I've always paid my bills on time. If something ever happened where I couldn't, I think it would be a very ominous sign.

I seem to get most of my work assignments on Fridays now. I'm not complaining, but it would be nice if I were able to spread the work out during the week. As it stands, I often end up working weekends even though the office is dead quiet during the rest of the week. I have a couple of new assignments this weekend. Some of the assignments could probably wait until Monday, but I have a feeling that I'll be working this weekend anyway. My compulsion to turn work assignments around as soon as I receive them is almost as strong as my compulsion to pay bills on time.

I've got a birthday coming up this weekend. I've always been a typical Gemini with a need to have two of everything. Lately, the things that come in pairs seem to be bad knees and sore elbows. It's a bitch celebrating a body that is falling apart. Hey, I'm still here though. Every time I look at Dot, I realize it's all about attitude. If she can keep hanging in there, so can I.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2371

After spending a week following a schedule with almost military precision, it seemed weird to have a day with almost nothing to do. I got up late, because there weren't multiple alarm clocks telling me to get up at 6 AM. After giving the dogs a morning walk, Janet and I went out to breakfast, which is something we rarely have time for. After a leisurely breakfast, there was still nothing to do, so I remembered an e-mail I'd gotten about a big sale at the REI store and went to check it out.

The sale was too weird for me. They were selling returned merchandise that looked visibly used to me. All this stuff was displayed in a roped off area outside the store and they were handing out tickets to get in. There were tons of people standing in a long line, waiting to have an opportunity to buy used shoes and scratched up kayaks. I wasn't about to get a ticket and wait in line for two hours to buy a pair of used shoes, so I left. About an hour after I left, it started to rain really hard. I wouldn't have wanted to be one of those people who had waited in line for hours.

The dogs were edgy and nervous all afternoon because there were thunderstorms in the area. The storms were small and localized, but they were enough to trigger some serious storm phobia. I stayed home to make sure that Dot's barking didn't turn into a panic attack. Eventually the rain moved Eastward and normalcy returned. When it quit raining, we all took a nap. It seemed like the appropriate things to do on a day like this.

I was going to treat the yard for mosquitoes this morning, but I'm glad I waited. It would have been a wasted effort, because the rain would have washed all the repellent away. The yard needs to stay dry for about twelve hours after I apply the mosquito repellent using a garden hose attachment. I guess I could have done this last week, but I thought the yard seemed too dry last week and decided to water it. The mosquito repellent is organic and won't hurt the dogs, but it's hard to find the right time to apply the stuff. Eventually I'm going to have to spray the yard though, because I'm getting sick of getting bitten.

I got an e-mail telling me that the domain transfer process was complete and my domains had been successfully moved to a new registrar. Why this process took four days, I'll never know. I set the domains up to auto renew when they expire, so hopefully I won't have to think about them again for a long time.

I always see new flowers right after a rain. This evening I saw something that looks kind of like a Thistle and kind of like a Blazing Star. I'm not sure what they are, but I see a small patch of these purple flowers every year in exactly the same spot about the second week in June. I wish everything were this predictable.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day