Day 3095

I spent most of the afternoon thinking it was Saturday. How could this happen? The day started out like Friday. I retrieved the garbage can from the curb after the trash truck arrived and then went out for breakfast. I guess that wasn't enough. All these days seem the same now.

I had a request for a small website update today and when I uploaded the changes to the server, the site still remained unchanged. This was a new one on me. I was able to access the FTP server. I could see that the revised files were actually in the client's folder. Nevertheless, I couldn't see any changes on the web. This turned an easy little fix into a head scratching mystery. I'll have to call the hosting company tomorrow. How can the new files be on the server and the old files still show up on the web? Yes, I emptied my browser cache, like I'm always telling clients to do. I wonder if this has anything to do with thinking it was Saturday.

I was finally able to contact the landscaper today and he told me that he could probably come out this afternoon. I left the gate open, but he never showed up. In the guy's defense, he did say that if he wasn't able to come today, he'd come tomorrow or Sunday. The probably means that he'll come sometime this Summer. I want him to come quickly, because if he comes in July, he'll just claim that the grass was dead because I didn't water it properly.

I saw some Gladiolas today and I couldn't remember what they were called. I asked Janet and she couldn't remember either. We spent the rest of our walk with Dash trying to recall what this silly plant was. This should have been easy, because I used to buy these flowers every week and put them in a vase on the coffee table. Eventually, we remembered. Jeez. What did old people do before there was Google to jog their memory?

It's taking me longer and longer to decide what I want for breakfast on Friday. I ended up with a waffle, even though I didn't want something that sweet. I guess I really wanted a breakfast taco, but I don't like the ones that are available in the neighborhood anymore. They are either too dry or taste like they were made last week. The place that made the breakfast tacos I've been craving went out of business two years ago. Increasingly, I'm finding that everything I like is gone. My favorite stores have gone out of business. There are no more Citroëns and Land Rover Defenders on the streets. The comedians on TV aren't funny anymore. What's a guy to do?

Dash has been doing really well this week. For the past several days he's slept all the way through the night. His appetite has been good and he has more energy on his daily walks. It's so surprising that the blood clot in his heart has returned. By all appearances, he is getting better and yet the echocardiogram says he is getting worse. I'm glad Dash isn't as worried as we are. He seems to be enjoying himself this Summer.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2547

Today was pretty hectic. One of the larger dogs we photographed tore the muslin backdrop. One of the smaller dogs pooped on Santa's red suit. In between, we had a lot of dogs that didn't really understand the whole concept of pet pictures. I'm sure that most of them would have rather gone to a dog park today. Eventually, we managed to get good pictures of almost everybody though. You just have to be patient.

There were no cats today, but there were a lot of Dalmatians. Quite a few were alumni from our rescue program. It was almost like a Dalmatian Rescue reunion. We saw young dogs that we had rescued a few weeks ago and old dogs that we had rescued over a decade ago. It was nice to see that all of these dogs had fabulous homes with people who really loved them. I guess I'll do this again next year. It sure is tiring though. I didn't even bother to put away my equipment when I got home tonight.

I still can't find my UP fitness band. The odd thing is that it appears to still be counting steps, even though no one is wearing it. My first thought was that one of the dogs might have eaten the band, but Janet said this was ridiculous. It is pretty unlikely, since neither dog has any interest in eating things like this. My second thought was that somebody stole the band, but that is unlikely too, since the band connects to my phone using short range Bluetooth. If somebody else was wearing the band, it wouldn't pair with my phone anymore. My third thought was that the UP band never actually measured real steps in the first place. My phone can measure steps too. What if the UP app used the measuring sensors in my phone and the tracker itself was just a little rubber bracelet with flashing LED lights? I'd never know the difference. The battery on the tracker is dead now, so it stopped sending  information sometime this afternoon. I may never find an answer to this mystery.

It's going to take quite a while to put all the photo equipment away tomorrow. I had some minor electrical problems over the weekend and I really ought to test everything carefully to make sure it will work the next time we have a Dalmatian Rescue photo event. I have a feeling that we won't be doing another photo shoot anytime soon. All the volunteers agreed that we're getting older and these events aren't getting any easier. It's hard to believe that we used to have photo events for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and sometimes even Halloween. We'll probably do Christmas pictures again next year, but it won't be a marathon like it used to be. Two events a year is plenty.

Janet and I are going to a Christmas party tomorrow. The event is kind of formal, so Janet told me to be sure to air out a suit before we go. Like that would make a difference. It wouldn't make any difference if I air out, press, or take a suit to the dry cleaners. I'm still going to look like an old guy wearing a suit I bought twenty years ago. I suspect that it doesn't really matter. Most of the people at this party will be even older than I am. One good thing about old people parties is that they don't last very long. I feel pretty safe leaving Dot for a while. We should be back home in less than two hours.

It's been a long day, but everybody survived and maybe a few people will have a better Christmas card this year as a result of our Santa Paws photo shoots. Tomorrow, it's back to drinking banana, strawberry smoothies for breakfast and cleaning up dog poop.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2425

I've been thinking about redesigning my website. Back in the mid 1990's, the site was considered innovative and ahead of its time. Now, it's more like a dilapidated house in a bad neighborhood. I added a mobile friendly landing page last year, but then I lost interest. Why bother? It's hard to justify reinventing this site. Replacing everything will be a lot of work and I'm not even sure that websites matter anymore. It's probably just a matter of pride. There are a lot of really cool websites out there, and mine is no longer one of them.

If I had a website that looked like I was living in the 21 Century, would my business start to grow again? I doubt it. Even though I'm a website designer, I never got much business from being online. Most of my business came from referrals and relationships I'd developed during my ad agency years. Sadly, most of those people are gone now. Some of them have retired to golf course homes and mountain retreats. Some of them must have entered the witness protection program, because they don't even seem to exist anymore. More than a few of my clients have died. I still probably need a new website though.

My big accomplishment today was mowing the grass.  It was actually a bigger accomplishment than you might think, because it was over 100 degrees outside. I don't know how I ever used to mow this lawn with an old fashioned push mower. I must have been a lot stronger thirty years ago. These days, mowing the grass takes all the energy I've got. I've finally learned not to take a shower until I've finished all my outdoor chores. I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished the yard today. Right now, hot dry weather is good. I think the new elastometric coating on the roof is going to cure nicely.

There are several new houses going up in the neighborhood. The McMansions being built by developers and custom builders seem to go up in a matter of weeks. The houses designed by architects often seem to take years to complete. I wonder why there's such a difference?  There's a construction site that Dash and I pass on our morning walk now. The framing crew took two days to erect the entire house. The next day the siding went up. The day after that the roofers came and put the shingles on. Then all the windows were installed. In less than a week, this huge house looked finished from the outside. A few blocks away, there's another house that's been under construction for two years. The first builder is a marvel of efficiency. His framing crew even wear uniforms. The second builder is a disorganized mess, but his house will be prettier when it is eventually finished. There is a life lesson in all this, but I'm not quite sure what it is.

When I took the trash out to the curb this evening, I noticed that the can was only half full. It wasn't full last week either. I wonder why we're generating less trash than we used to? Less trash is probably a good thing, but why is this happening? I don't think anything has changed. I'm not eating as much for dinner either. Life is full of mysteries.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1315

It took forever to make an appointment with an appliance repairman to come out and fix the garbage disposal. After talking on the phone for fifteen minutes with a friendly, but almost unintelligible customer service representative based far outside the borders of the United States, the line went dead and I had to call again and repeat the entire process all over again. The actual repair visit seems like it will be just as convoluted as the call to set things up. I asked if the repairman could put a new disposal on the truck, just in case the old one couldn't be fixed. Nope, this couldn't be done, I was told. Repairs and installations were two different departments with completely different technicians. If the repair was unsuccessful, I would have to call a second technician to come out later and install a new disposal.

Not to worry, said the service representative on the phone. Apparently, my disposal was still under warranty and the repairs might be free. "If the disposal is still under warranty, why don't we skip the repairs and just install a new one," I said. Nope, they couldn't do that either. I apparently only had a "parts warranty," not a full warranty for the entire disposal. If the disposal was completely trashed and new parts couldn't fix it, there was no warranty at all.

It looks like my recipe will be included in the SXSW Cookbook. I won't know for sure until the book is actually printed in March of 2014 though. Truthfully, I was quite surprised that my recipe made the cut. I called my dish "Lazy Man's Savory Sausage Omelet" and the directions for preparing it would make any real cook cringe. The recipe was authentic though. I didn't copy anyone else's recipe. This mess is all mine.

Even though today was a slow day, I almost didn't make it to the gym. I wasted so much time making an appointment with the appliance repairman as well as answering several confusing client questions via e-mail that the day seemed over before it began. Nothing seems easy these days. Simple tasks that used to take five minutes now seem to drag on for hours. I don't know whether to chalk these frustrating delays up to simple incompetence or look for something more fundamental. Something has changed though. Nobody will give you a simple, straight answer anymore. You have to first fill out an online form, or answer a long series of automated questions on your phone. I usually just say "Speak to a Representative" over and over again when the phone asks me what I'd like to do next. Sometimes this gets me a real person, and other times it doesn't.

Dash seems completely back to normal again. I still set up the nanny cam every time I leave the house, but it might be years until he has another seizure. Dash's blood work came back completely normal today and he has no tick borne diseases. I guess I'll just add seizures to my long list of life's mysteries.

Pongo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 454

What a weird day. Lots of little things happened that I have absolutely no explanation for. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that there was a brown stain a little bigger than a silver dollar on Dash's back. The discoloration looked exactly like the Dalmatian Bronzing skin condition we've been treating him for. It's hard to believe that this stain is the return of the bronzing condition though, since it literally happened overnight. At first, I wondered if I might have spilled coffee on him, or if he might have fallen asleep right under a small leaking spot in the roof. The stain wasn't damp though. It wouldn't wash off either. I dont know what it is.

Later in the day, I got an e-mail from one my my clients saying that the forms on their website weren't working. The forms were working perfectly a few days ago and I have done nothing to them. Actually, this web project was completed and I haven't even logged into the server in a while. Sure enough, the forms don't work though. When I tried them myself, I got the same error messages that my client got. I opened up Dreamweaver and looked at the form script. Everything looked kosher. Once again, I have no idea what is going on.

This afternoon, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and the pharmacist said that it couldn't be renewed because my doctor told him that I should have stopped taking this particular medication last November. Very strange. I've seen this doctor at least three different times since November and he never mentioned anything about this to me.

I didn't get much sleep last night either. A big thunderstorm rolled through around midnight and that was all it took to kick Dot's storm phobia into high gear. It really wasn't that bad of a storm, but evidently Dot thought it was. She barked off and on the rest of the night. All the storm did was prove how futile my roof repair efforts have been. The carport is still leaking, even though I have spread a ton of patching cement over every spot that even remotely looked like a leak.

Maybe some of today's mysteries will be answered tomorrow. One can only hope.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day