Day 1552

I'm usually completely oblivious to anything that's not on my "to do" list. Whenever Janet travels, I become painfully aware that there is a lot more on her list than I thought. I've been going to the store quite a bit lately because I realize we've run out of something that is not usually on my list. So, wherever you are in the sunny Caribbean, thanks for looking out for me. Life is easier when you only have to remember half the stuff that needs to be done.

The only productive thing I did today was write a letter of resignation and formally end my membership in the Wednesday morning networking group. In fairness, this is a great group of guys, and I'm sure what they do makes perfect sense for them. I'm just not a group person and probably never will be. I thought it was time I finally admitted that I was just going to these meetings for the bacon. Hey, I like breakfast a lot more than I like business. What's wrong with that?

The rain finally stopped today, but that doesn't mean that Spring has returned. It actually got colder. A lot colder! I had to get out the duck down ski jacket again for our morning walk. I wonder how many more of these extreme hot cold cycles we are going to go through before the warm weather is finally here to stay? Even the landscape guy told me yesterday that this is the weirdest Winter he has ever seen.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Dash needs to fast because I'm taking him to the cancer center in the morning for another CAT scan. Both dogs need to go on a walk right after they get up, so they will poop and pee. The only thing Dot and Dash think about when they wake up in the morning is food. So how do I feed Dot without Dash noticing? I guess she'll just have to wait until I get back from dropping Dash off for his CT scan. It won't be so bad Dot. I'm not eating my own breakfast until I get back anyway.

I was going to get my taxes ready this afternoon and drop them off with my accountant on my way back from the cancer center. That didn't happen. The day just got away from me. Maybe I can still get all the files ready after breakfast tomorrow and drop everything off at the accountant's office on my way to pick Dash up later in the afternoon. That sounds like a good plan, unless a paying job magically appears overnight.

I need to figure out how to change the alarm on the clock radio. Janet gets up early and it's been going off at 4:45 AM every morning. It would probably only take me five minutes to find the instructions on Google for disabling the stupid thing, but so far it's been easier to just hit the snooze button.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1549

We've got a long journey ahead of us. I got a call from Dash's oncologist today and she told me that after a review with the pathology lab, she and the other doctors recommend that Dash begin radiation treatments immediately with additional chemotherapy as needed. Evidently, the carcinoma the surgeon removed proved to be an aggressively growing type and they are worried that some cancer cells might have already spread beyond the tumor site. Since this type of cancer tends to invade the bloodstream, it could go anywhere. This is why they recommended radiation plus chemotherapy. In the worst case scenario, the treatments could last up to six months. They would begin with three radiation treatments a week, chemo would be added at some point, and then very gradually the treatments would taper off.

I tried to find out if we could just discontinue the treatments if they were making Dash miserable, but I couldn't really get a straight answer. For just about every question I asked today, the answer was "it depends." Apparently treating cancer is not an exact science. I have a call into the head oncologist to see if I can find out more details about the treatments and possible side effects. I'm OK with the therapy, but I'm more concerned about Dash's quality of life than the number of years he lives. I don't want him to suffer from the cancer, but I don't want him to suffer from the treatment either.

The cancer center wants to begin radiation treatments on Monday. I asked how they determined if the treatments were successful and they gave me a very ambiguous answer. I don't think doctors really know if a cancer ever completely leaves your body. They just feel successful if you are still alive after a certain point. It was pretty clear that the people I talked to today thought that Dash's cancer would just grow back if we did nothing. When doctors say a cancer is aggressive though, you don't know if they are talking about three months or three years.

I am so tired of medical problems. I have to get my blood tested every two weeks to make sure my hemoglobin levels don't fall dangerously low during my Hepatitis C treatment. The last thing I need right now is a heart attack. I take Dot for water therapy and acupuncture every week to keep her leg muscles from atrophying. Now Dash has the toughest journey of all. We are lucky that we caught the cancer at an early stage. We are unlucky that this not one of those slowing cancers that Dash might outlive on his own. I don't think doing nothing is even an option at this point.

I called my accountant today and told him I might not have time to get my tax information organized properly. He told me to just dump everything in a big envelope and he would figure it out. I wish I could just dump my entire life in a big envelope and have someone else figure it out. Things are getting complicated. You've got to keep moving forward though. I'm still going out for breakfast tomorrow. I'm still cranking out an unbelievable amount of work. I may quit the Wednesday networking group though. I love the bacon for breakfast, but business networking just isn't my style. What was I thinking? Honestly, I was probably just thinking about the bacon.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1527

I feel sick to my stomach. The pathology report came back today and Dash has some sort of thyroid tumor. We don't know yet whether the tumor is benign or malignant, but either way it is bad news. In all likelihood, the tumor will have to be surgically removed. If the tumor is cancerous, we will have to act fast, since some thyroid tumors grow quite aggressively. With the help of our vet, we are looking for the best available surgeon now. Dash will probably need a CT scan, nuclear scintigraphy, and possibly a biopsy prior to making a decision about surgery. If the tumor still moves freely in the neck and has not metastasized, removal should be relatively simply. If the tumor has already established its own blood supply and spread through adjoining tissue, the surgery will be much more risky. Even if the surgery is successful, there's a good chance that chemotherapy or radiation will be required afterwards as well.

Let's just hope it isn't cancer. Poor Dash hasn't gotten a lot of breaks in life. When we adopted him in the Spring of 2006, he was not a healthy dog. He had serious skin allergies, kidney stones, and recurring digestive problems. We nursed him back to good health and then he began to have epileptic seizures. His seizures are well controlled now and his coat looks great. These medical issues weren't the worst of his problems though. About five years ago, Dash was attacked by a viscous dog in the neighborhood and almost killed. It required three surgeries, months of physical therapy, and a lot of loving care to get him back on his feet again. After all this, the last thing our boy needs now is cancer.

I have to accept the reality that we have two very high maintenance dogs now. Dot is incredibly resilient, but she is very old now and has all the problems associated with old age. She hasn't given up though, and still seems to love her life. I think the water therapy and acupuncture are really helping. She is much more mobile and active than many other Dalmatians her age. She did great on the underwater treadmill today. Watching her go through her paces, it would be easy to imagine that she was 8 instead of 13 or 14. With both dogs, we're going to have to take things one day at a time from this point forward. Dot had a very good day today. Dash, not so good.

I didn't go to my networking breakfast this morning. I had other things on my mind. I'm beginning to realize that other than the breakfast itself, this group has very little to offer my company. I've been around long enough to realize that few, if any, of these people will ever have a need for my rather specialized services. Don't get me wrong. They are all nice folks and I enjoy chatting with them on mornings when I'm awake. I'm just not a morning person though and never will be. I've tried everything on the breakfast menu and had an opportunity to try on all my old suits again. That was fun. The Giorgio Armani and Valentino suits still look great after all these years. The Jhane Barnes looked ridiculous. I'm trying to think of valid reasons to continue to get up this early, but I can't think of many.

I go for my first evaluation tomorrow to see how well the new Hepatitis-C treatment is working. Mostly this will be more blood tests. I really hope this advanced treatment is successful. At a point in my life where so many things seem pointless, it would be nice to know that there was at least one instance where I was doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1520

It was a stressful day. Dot is not getting better. When I took her on her morning walk, she threw up some of the carpet she ate. About three hours later, she threw up even more carpet scraps. I took her back to the vet and she said that even though it was a good thing that she was able throw up most of the carpet she ate, she wasn't out of the woods yet. Carpet is apparently one of the worst things a dog can eat because long strings of the fabric tend to stay intact. It is these long strings that can cause serious problems if they get into the intestines.

The vet said I ought to try feeding her small amounts of a bland canned dog food like Hills ID four times a day, to encourage her to pass the rest of the debris through her system. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold the canned food down and threw up again. We'll be watching Dot carefully tonight and taking her back to the vet first thing in the morning for a series of Barium x-rays to determine if there is a blockage. Hopefully, she'll be able to pass everything, because if she can't, she'll have to have abdominal surgery. Our first Dalmatian had to have abdominal surgery and it was extremely difficult to get his digestive processes working again afterwards. He almost died.

Dash, of course, is still waking us up in a panic at three in the morning to go outside and poop. We're still not sure what is wrong with him either. My shoulder is taking its own sweet time to heal as well. Life goes on, but this is definitely not the best February I can remember.

I went to the networking breakfast this morning, mostly because Dot seemed perfectly fine when I woke up. She actually seemed perfectly fine when I returned. It wasn't until about 10:30 AM that she started throwing up carpet scraps. This morning's meeting was actually pretty interesting. There was no formal agenda and we just sat around and talked about how much our respective industries had changed in the last decade. It was oddly reassuring to realize that everybody else was facing the same jarring, tumultuous changes that I am.

Dot is resting calmly now. She threw up some more carpet right after I finished my dinner this evening, but she is breathing normally and her stomach is not distended. If she starts throwing up violently, we'll have to take her to the emergency vet tonight, but hopefully that won't happen. She actually appears more comfortable now after she threw up the most recent batch of carpet.  The odd thing is that she now appears to have thrown up more carpet than she actually ate. Poor girl. She's got to be really uncomfortable.

Hopefully, things will start looking up tomorrow. I saw the sun again this evening while I was walking Dash. That's always a good sign.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1519

I've certainly seen better days. We started things out with a dog emergency. As most of you know, I have to walk Dot and Dash separately now, because of my shoulder injury. I walked Dot first and she seemed just fine. Then I returned and walked Dash. When Dash and I got home again, I discovered that Dot had eaten a big hole in the bedroom carpet and seemed very distressed. When I pulled a long string out of her mouth, I got worried and immediately took her to the vet. It can be quite dangerous for dogs to swallow things like string, pantyhose, or anything else that might get stuck or cut through their intestines. The vet said that Dot was in no immediate danger, but that I should watch her very carefully for the next 72 hours and bring her back immediately if she appeared to have an obstruction. Dot has never done anything like this before. I'm baffled. She eats grass occasionally when her stomach is upset, but has never attempted to eat anything in the house. Especially the carpet.

Hopefully everything she ate will pass through her without any problems. She certainly isn't the first Dalmatian to eat something bad. We have had Dalmatians in the past who have eaten socks, paper towels, and even glass. They all lived. You always worry though. Our emergency vet has a glass case in their lobby filled with unlikely things they have taken out of a dogs stomach. It is unbelievable what some dogs will try to eat.

I had a disagreement with a client about an invoice today. I hate arguing about money. I don't like to wheel and deal and I don't like to negotiate. I've always thought that my services were quite reasonable and have always wondered why people who think I'm expensive don't just go somewhere else. They don't seem to realize that I don't really care whether I keep their business or not. At my age, there's not a single client left who will make an appreciable difference in how I live my life. The die has already been cast. I mostly just work to stay busy. If someone will humor me and treat me with respect, they can get me for a song. If they insist on proving that they are the boss, I'm gone. Life is too short.

I can't decide whether to go to the networking breakfast tomorrow. I probably should, because I've never told these people that I'm growing bored and the omelets are no good anymore. I promised that I'd build the group a good website though, and I'm still not done. I always keep my commitments, so I guess I'll continue getting up early for a while longer. My heart isn't in it anymore though. Eventually the website will be done and I'll probably go back to sleeping in late on Wednesdays. That's just the way it is. What's the point of networking with a bunch of folks when you don't even really want their business?

Janet and I are thinking that maybe Dot has acid reflux.  I had acid reflux for many years and it often made me miserable. I never tried to eat the carpet though.

Lady Gogh is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1505

Although I spent my teenage years in Alaska, I don't think I could take Northern Winters anymore. This morning was brutal. The temperature was in the teens and there was a stiff wind that made the wind chill feel much worse. The dogs have both learned to do their business very quickly, so we can return to the warm house as soon as possible. I'm glad Dash has finally overcome his reluctance to pee in the yard, but I think this cold spell has made him a bit too casual. This evening when he went outside, he quickly peed on the patio furniture on the back porch and immediately came back inside.

I found myself daydreaming about retirement today. Although I am very busy, the relatively small amount of money I make for my efforts is hardly worth the trouble. I've depended on the stock market to make up the difference for quite some time. If I could still make a reliable 10% total return year-in and year-out, I'd probably have retired already. My financial adviser isn't too keen on the idea of retirement though. He's a realist. He is convinced that there will be other years like 2008, and that it's always a good idea to keep a few irons in the fire. I reluctantly agree. My business changes so quickly that if I abruptly quit, I wouldn't have a clue what was going on within three years. So here I am, competing with a bunch of millennials who just don't don't know how to price things. I'm holding my own, but it feels a lot like treading water.  I wonder how these young wordsmiths and design wizards are ever going to get rich if they keep undercutting everybody's prices.

Since our dog walks were cut short by the cold, I spent a little extra time in the gym today. My biceps are getting bigger, my core is stronger, and it is clear I'm making progress. My shoulder still hurts, unfortunately. I have a feeling that I should see a good physical therapist, or maybe even get an MRI scan of my shoulder. Something is really wrong. After today's workout, I couldn't lift my right arm above eye level. The shoulder always hurts and I'm seldom able to lift this arm above my head, with or without weights. The dogs continually pull this shoulder out of joint on our daily walks, so most of my rehabilitation efforts are futile. Hey, everything else is going well though. I'm a one armed wonder.

I don't think I can skip tomorrow's networking breakfast, like I did last week. I have to give a progress report on the website I'm designing for the group. Yes, there is a website and it's almost done. I wonder if these guys realize that I'm just coming to these meetings for the food. Now that I've become serious about staying healthy, enjoying the occasional tasty meal has become a big deal. I was just getting ready to to make my morning oatmeal today, when I discovered a leftover bacon and mushroom quiche in the refrigerator. That little quiche made my day.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1499

I skipped the networking breakfast this morning. Maybe I'm growing tired of bacon, or maybe I just didn't have any interest in learning about how to retain good sales managers. That's the trouble with these networking breakfasts. The food is good, but the speakers very seldom deal with anything I'm remotely interested in. These aren't exactly Ted Talks here. Since I have to give one of these talks myself later this Spring, I shouldn't be too disparaging. I still don't know what I'm going to talk about, but I bet it will be a little different than what these folks are used to.

Since I wasn't stuffing myself with bacon and sausages, I walked the dogs and had my usual bowl of oatmeal and fruit. It was really cold on our walk this morning. All the vegetation was covered with frost. I'm sure glad the furnace is working again. This ongoing tug of war between heat and cold will continue through April. Then it will just be hot all the time. Basically, Texas weather is hopeless.

Since Dot had an acupuncture treatment on Monday when we took her to the vet for her spinal X-Ray, she didn't go for her usual Wednesday therapy today. This made the entire day sort of topsy-turvy. When I finished my work for the day, I used Dot's time slot to go to the gym. I frequently go to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but have never gone on a Wednesday before. Much to my surprise the place was crowded. What would make a Wednesday afternoon different than a Tuesday afternoon? Both are workdays. At any rate, I think I'll go back to working out on Tuesdays. You should know my style by now. When I go out in public, I like my destination to be empty.

I had a lot of work to do today, and none of it was very interesting. I won't bore you with the details. Tomorrow should be interesting though. I have an appointment with my hepatologist to discuss, and perhaps even begin, my new Hepatitis-C treatment. I still don't have any idea what this new treatment involves, but I've heard that it is much more effective than the old interferon and ribavirin combo. I'm looking forward to finally putting all this behind me. If the new medicine works, I should be completely virus free in six months. I still find it ironic that I am being treated at the very same hospital that gave me the transfusion of bad blood that started this whole mess over 30 years ago.

I watched a fascinating documentary about J.D. Salinger last night on PBS. I never realized that Salinger kept writing prolifically right up until his death in 2010. He supposedly wrote dozens of unpublished novels and kept the manuscripts in a safe at his New Hampshire home, stipulating in his will that they weren't to be published until 50 years after his death. I don't think J.D. Salinger would have liked the Internet.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1415

Wednesdays are busy enough when it's dry. When it rains on Wednesday, all bets are off. Today's unrelenting rain ensured that traffic would be congested wherever I drove, that Dot and Dash would be muddy wherever I walked them, and that virtually nothing I started today would be completed on time.

In wet days I wonder why I even go to these Wednesday morning networking breakfasts. I'm easily the least businesslike person in the room.  They'll probably kick me out of the group when they discover that I'm just going to these early morning meetings to eat bacon and see if my old dress suits still fit.

I had lots of writing to do today, but I managed to complete all my assignments. Hey, what else can you do on a rainy day? While I was writing, I kept the washing machine running with load after load of rain soaked clothing and muddy dog towels. The dogs still insist on a walk on rainy days. They don't like the rain, but they absolutely refuse to poop in the yard.

We kept our acupuncture appointment this afternoon, despite the rain. I would have preferred to stay home, but I think it's rude to cancel an appointment at the last minute. Dot did well in the underwater treadmill, but when the vet tried to test her balance and coordination by having her balance on a large rubber ball, she was pretty shaky. I wasn't really surprised. Dot is frequently shaky on flat, level ground these days. Nothing is going to turn Dot into a young dog again, but I still think that the physical therapy is helpful. She seems to enjoy the activity and maybe we can slow down the inevitable a bit.

Since it rained all day, they moved the dog training class Halloween party indoors this evening. Try to imagine fifty dogs in costumes inside a small room and you've got a pretty good idea what the party was like. I was amazed that there weren't more skirmishes between the dogs. It wasn't surprising that most people left as soon as the costume contest was over. With fifty dogs in a small room, you don't want to push your luck.

I'm hoping that things return to normal tomorrow. A little sunlight always puts me and the dogs in a much better mood.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1373

I don't seem to be cut from the same cloth as other business people. I don't know what to talk about at these new Wednesday morning networking meetings. The younger folks are talking about their bicycles and upcoming 10K races while the older folks are talking about vacation homes in Hawaii. Everyone is focused like a laser about making new contacts. Jeez, I forgot to even bring any business cards with me this week. I did join a conversation with several guys who wanted to drive a Tesla. Hey, I'd kind of like to drive a Tesla too. Today's presentation was about leveraging the power of your LinkedIn contacts. Hmm! I don't even like LinkedIn and seldom spend any time on the site. The LinkedIn fans didn't understand why I preferred Twitter and Google+. We could probably learn something from each other. I have way more social media contacts than these guys, but they seem to actually be making money from theirs. Money is usually just the accidental result of doing something else for me. I've never been focused on making money.

Like I said earlier, I could learn a lot from these early morning meetings. When it comes my turn to make the morning presentation, I'll have to resist the urge to present topics like "How to make just enough to get by while dressed in your underwear," or "brainstorming while walking Dalmatians." I dread the day I have to bring a guest. I don't know anyone who would get up this early. Well, that's not entirely true. Janet gets up this early every day, but she would never go to these type of meetings.

Dot had a much lighter workout today, since she stumbled and fell on her walk yesterday. Her physical therapy session started with acupuncture to relax some tenseness in her back and then progressed to a slow, almost relaxed, workout in the water therapy tank to stretch her leg muscles. So far, I think Dot has spent more time at the gym this week than I have.

My chronic indecision might not be good for buying a car, but it sometimes works to my advantage in the stock market. My broker recommended that I sell several stocks yesterday and I told him I'd think about it. Today, the market had a great day and the stocks that the broker recommended selling went up like a rocket. Three more days like today could pay for my new car. It will never happen though. Probably the market will reverse direction tomorrow and all of today's gains will evaporate.

I have an appointment with my hepotologist tomorrow. I hope my liver is still functioning as it should. I'm eating all the right foods now. I'm exercising regularly. I'm keeping my weight and blood pressure under control. I don't know what else I can do. I wonder if the new treatment they've been promising me has finally been approved by the FDA?  This new treatment has been delayed even longer than Land Rover's new Defender 90 introduction.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1366 - 9/11

I wonder how long it will be before the "We will never forget" tributes that honor this day are forgotten themselves. I'm already seeing fewer flags flying at half mast and the once ubiquitous wall-to-wall remembrances on the major news networks have been replaced with a few short feature stories that are interspersed between segments about Syria, forest fires in California, and the upcoming Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alverez fight. Sadly, a quick Google search will garner just as many conspiracy theories about 9/11 these days as thoughtful tributes.

The events that shaped my life are slowly being forgotten. Do a search for November 22 and you will find more articles about the upcoming Xbox One launch than about the Kennedy assassination. Even though I remember the day well, it is ancient history to a majority of the population. The last time I visited Dealey Plaza on November 22, I noticed that the conspiracy nuts selling books about what really happened were growing very old and the crowds were quite sparse.  Jeez, the Apollo astronauts are senior citizens now and Woodstock memories have been replaced by Burning Man memories. It is almost inevitable that 9/11 will eventually be forgotten as well.

I don't think I'll ever forget that fateful morning when the towers fell twelve years ago, but it could happen. I've certainly forgotten plenty of other important things already. I can't even remember close friends birthdays anymore without the help of Facebook. I did remember to go to the Dallas Business Alliance breakfast meeting this morning. I still find it difficult to get up this early, but I'm already finding these meetings interesting.

Wednesday is quickly turning into the busiest day of the week. With a breakfast networking meeting in the morning, Dot's physical therapy sessions in the afternoon, and dog training classes in the evening, it's hard to find time to do anything else. Not surprisingly, I didn't finish any of my writing assignments today, but I did find time to set up a test Wordpress site on my local server. So far, configuring the server correctly has been a lot more difficult than working in the Wordpress environment. Wordpress is a lot different than building a site in Dreamweaver, but I'll figure it out eventually. Since this is probably the only new thing I'll have to learn this year, it would be embarrassing if I can't master things fairly quickly.

I just got my car back and now Janet's Land Rover has to go to the shop for repairs. The air conditioning abruptly quit working today and it's still pretty hot outside. With such terrible repair histories, you might wonder why we're so fond of these cars. Sometimes I wonder myself.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1365

I was busy from dawn till dusk, but now that the day is over, I'm having trouble remembering what I actually did. The entire day was a succession of necessary, but not very memorable tasks. I got my September invoices out today. I retrieved a large banner from the storage warehouse in preparation for upcoming Dalmatian Rescue events. I picked up some clothes from the dry cleaner. I did some research on the best way to install Wordpress on a Macintosh. There was more, of course, but these were the memorable things.

I definitely didn't rush out to place an order for a new iPhone though. I was totally underwhelmed by today's product introductions. I think I can live without a button that identifies me by my fingerprint. The irritating thing about all new Apple phones is that they always change just enough to force you to buy a new case. I like the case I have now. Even though the new iPhone 5S is the same size and shape as the current model, there's that pesky round biometric fingerprint button. It's pretty clear that current waterproof cases, like the one I have, won't work with that thing.

My vet wants to keep Dash on phenobarbital for the time being. I was a little disappointed to hear this, but the logic makes sense. She said the best reason to keep Dash on phenobarbital was that it works. Alternate medications might work too, but you wouldn't know until you tried them and that would involve a long, drawn-out process of gradually reducing the phenobarbital dosage while introducing the new medication. The vet acknowledged that there was a potential danger of liver damage using phenobarbital for extended periods of time and recommended frequent blood tests to monitor liver enzyme levels. This made sense too, since I do exactly the same thing myself.

A new cutting board I ordered from England came in the mail today. This one looks exactly like the one I would have made myself if I had the time, tools, and patience to do it myself. The new cutting board is well made, has a built-in colander, can go in the dishwasher, and fits perfectly in its allotted space. It still has to pass one final test though. We have to see if Janet likes it. Sometimes she likes things I buy for the kitchen and sometimes she doesn't. Whatever happens, it's a safe bet that the nice slab of Mahogany I bought a few weeks ago will probably wind up in the storage warehouse.

I'm going to begin attending those Wednesday morning business networking breakfasts I've been invited to, starting tomorrow. We'll see which is going to be more difficult: going to the gym three times a week, or getting up early every Wednesday.

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1352

I went to a business networking breakfast this morning. About once a year this networking group invites me to join them as a prospective member. Even though I'm not a morning person, I always go to these meetings, because breakfast at The Park Cities Club, where the meetings take place, is fabulous. Once I arrive, the group quickly realizes how unbusinesslike I am, and I don't hear from them again for months at a time. This has been going on for years. After a while, they forget and invite me to join them again.

Although I am very good at what I do, I am definitely out of my league with this bunch. Almost everybody in the group is a CEO, CFO, or COO of a major company. I guess I'm a CEO too, but my only employee is a dog. The guy sitting on my right at breakfast told me that while he was staying at his vacation home in Hawaii during the financial crisis in 2008, he noticed how far real estate values had plummeted and stared buying up distressed beach properties. His definition of a distressed property was anything under $500,000.

I'm still a bit baffled at why this group would be interested in me as a prospective member, but I could definitely learn a lot by joining. I've never seen a more motivated bunch of people in my life. Most of these guys have already made several thousand dollars before I even get out of bed in the morning. I don't know if I made a better impression than I did at previous network breakfasts, but I may actually become a member this time. They're interested in having me create a website for them.

Dot did well during her acupuncture session today, but she couldn't go in the water therapy tank because the vet said she had the beginnings of a staph infection on her skin. Evidently only blemish free dogs can go in the tank. Dot is supposed to get a bath twice a week with a special medicated shampoo until her skin clear up. This ought to be interesting. A bath once a month is once too often for Dot. She hates getting a bath.

The neighbor's dog got loose today and attacked Dot and Dash while we were walking. I knew this would happen eventually. The dog is very dog aggressive and goes nuts whenever we pass by the neighbor's fence. The dog bit Dash and was trying to go after Dot when the neighbors arrived and got the dog under control again. Luckily, no damage was done. Dash got nipped in the but, but the bite didn't break the skin and Dash was back to normal as soon as the bad neighbor dog was taken back inside.

I found some vector art on the Internet and did the print job I screwed up yesterday all over again. When I was looking for good stock images, I thought I'd apply to join one of the stock sites as a contributing photographer. I'd forgotten what a pain it was to become a contributor to a stock agency. I had to submit ten high resolution images and add lots of meta-tags and technical information to each image before I could even submit it for review. I did this once before with another stock photo agency and only made pennies from the sale of the images once they finally accepted me. Ironically, I think it will be much easier to become a member of an elite business networking group full of high powered CEO's, than to have my photos accepted by a stock agency that will pay me pennies per image at best. That's life though. I've learned over the years to leave no stone unturned. We'll see what happens in both cases.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 918

I was invited to one of those business networking breakfasts this morning. In theory, these type of things seem like a good idea. A group of non-competing business owners get together for breakfast and agree to use each other as vendors and suppliers whenever possible. There is supposed to be only one member in the group for each type of business. You might be sitting at a table with a dentist, a real estate agent, a body shop owner and an insurance agent. This sounds like a good way to introduce your services to a receptive audience, but whenever I'm invited to one of these things there is already somebody else who does websites. Today, the other guy who did websites was making the morning's presentation. When I was introduced, I just said I did the same type of thing as the other guy.

I honestly don't know why I'm even invited to these things. I don't seem to fit in. I don't even want to fit in. While the others around the table are talking about their Spring ski vacations or the upcoming marriages of their kids, I'm just wondering when I can get home to walk the dogs. The last time I was excited to be around a group of people talking about their chosen profession was when I used to go to SXSW in Austin every Spring. Being around a bunch of talented indie filmmakers was exhilarating. I always came home from the festival wanting to make another film myself. Somehow, looking at a PowerPoint presentation describing yet another small business marketing plan isn't quite the same. I shouldn't complain though. Breakfast at the Park Cities Club is always great. If the breakfast were served at 9 AM instead of 7 AM, the whole thing might be worth a try.

A lot of people in our dog training class must have gotten caught in last week's big hailstorm. When we got to class tonight, everyone was showing their iPhone videos of the storm to each other. I'm still amazed at how much damage a twenty minute storm like this could cause. Janet finally managed to get her car into the body shop today, so we're both driving loaner cars at the same time. I just hope that there's not another hailstorm in the near future. I want to get these loaner cars returned safe and sound. I've already learned the hard way that damaging someone else's car is much worse than damaging your own.

I noticed that all the birthday greetings on Facebook yesterday caused my Klout score to go up three points. Hmm. Is this what Internet influence is all about? Maybe so. Probably the folks with really huge scores are the people who post all those LOL Cat pictures.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 911

The additional information requested by Fannie Mae was finally located and shipped off for review. Everyone seems to think that the buyer's loan will be approved now, although it's pretty obvious that the closing will be delayed a few days. I learned long ago not to count my chickens before they hatch, so I'm not celebrating until I get a call from the title company to come sign the documents and hand over the keys. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly from this point forward.

I was getting the dogs ready to go to training class this evening when a sudden thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere and dumped tennis ball sized hail in the back yard. I had taken the dogs on their evening walk only thirty minutes earlier with blue sky overhead. People who haven't spent time here never understand Texas weather. Conditions can turn on a dime. One minute it's clear and calm and a few minutes later you're drenched. Today's sudden thunderstorm brought some of the largest hail I've seen in years along with it. For several minutes it sounded like people were dropping large rocks on the roof. At least I was home and inside. When Janet got home from work, she told me that the hail had broken her windshield. The storm didn't last long, but it certainly lasted long enough for Dot to panic. Even though the thunder and lightening stopped over an hour ago, she still isn't back to normal.

For the past several days, I've been hearing on the news that a new study shows the average family's net worth in the United States had dropped almost 40% since 2008. That's an enormous loss of wealth and security in a very short amount of time. At first I though that this study was preposterous, but then I got thinking about my own situation. The real estate I own has dropped dramatically in value. My stocks have cratered. Clients don't want to pay me as much anymore. Gas is expensive. It's all a giant mess. I don't know if I've lost 40%, but I've lost quite a bit. If the entire country has lost 40% of their wealth, we're all in big trouble.

One of those business networking clubs wants me to join them again. Those of you who have been reading for a while will remember that this happened once before. I'm kind of torn. On one hand I really need to reach out and meet some new potential clients. I dislike marketing so much that I almost never go out and market my business anymore. On the other hand, I'm not a morning person at all. The thought of getting up at six-thirty every Wednesday to go to a seven-thirty breakfast meeting makes my skin crawl. I do like eating breakfast though. If they serve bacon, it might almost be worth it. We'll see.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 853

What is it about Monday's? I never get much done on a Monday. I actually got up earlier than usual, but by the time I got the dogs walked, ate breakfast, washed the dishes, and answered this weekend's accumulated e-mail, it was time for lunch.

I did get a couple of new assignments today, but there wasn't time to complete them, so I mowed the grass instead. I wish I'd mowed last week, or the week before. The grass was so tall and thick that it kept stalling the mower. It took me forever to mow the tiny little patch of grass that is our front yard. It's still a mystery to me why the grass in the front yard grows much faster than normal and the grass in the back yard hardly grows at all. I wish it was the other way around. The front yard faces a busy road and hardly ever gets used.

Some of you may remember that a breakfast networking group wanted me to join them last Summer. I think it was last Summer anyway. It's been a long time. At any rate, the group never actually asked me to join and I forgot about them. Now, almost a year later, they're asking me again if I'd be interested in joining them. These guys should have made me a member last year. I remember being kind of intrigued at the time. Now, the thought of getting up early once a week and putting on nice clothes for a breakfast meeting makes me want to throw up. There are only a few good reasons to get up in the morning anyway, and I don't think going to a meeting is one of them.

I lost the lens cap on my camera again when I was taking the dogs on their evening walk. When I discovered the missing cap, I wanted to retrace my steps, but the dogs didn't approve of this idea. They stood their ground and eventually we continued on home. Neither dog seems to like the idea of going backward. Once they've covered some ground, they just want to keep moving forward. After I got home with the dogs, I took the car and went back to the spot where I thought I might have dropped the cap. I'm a methodical person, so after fifteen minutes of searching, I spotted the missing lens cap and returned home again. The weird thing is that both dogs have such a great sense of smell that they could probably smell lost photo gear almost immediately if I could just train them to do it. Finding things that I dropped on our walks would probably be a lot easier than learning to be a bomb sniffing dog. I don't seem to be able to train the dogs to do anything though. After four years of training class, Dash still won't even come when he's called.

Tomorrow, I meet the real estate agent and find out how marketable my rent property is going to be. I'm going to try to keep an open mind and not let my own thoughts on the matter get in the way. I have a tendency to think everything I own is worth a lot more than it really is. Janet keeps reminding me that if I really want to sell the place, I need to forget about what I think it's worth. It's what other people think the place is worth that matters.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 589

Do you ever have days where you feel slightly out of place, no matter what you do? I went to another of those business networking breakfasts this morning and listened to a magazine publisher talk about the dramatic changes that were taking place in the media world. Even though the speaker was talking about my own industry and everything rang true, I still felt like I was party crashing. Everyone at my table was so efficient and businesslike with their Blackberries and schedule planners, mapping out the rest of their day. I was just going home to walk two Dalmatians after I finished my omelet and waffle. When people started passing out business cards, I discovered that I only had three cards in my wallet. I gave them to the first three people I saw and then went looking for more orange juice.

When I got back home, I discovered that Google+ was making me feel out of place as well. When I first set up my account, I created a circle for humor+ and it is still empty. Nobody is funny on Google+. They're all so serious and self-important that it makes me realize all those videos on Facebook of dogs doing goofy things aren't so bad after all. I remember my Dad, who was a well respected zoologist, liked to watch The Three Stooges on TV when he came home from work. Maybe there's still some of that in my gene pool.

A friend of mine told me today that my constant Twitter feed was ruining his LinkedIn experience. Evidently there were more of my Tweets on his status updates than the normal BS about someone being promoted to Senior VP. This is one more person who is taking things way too seriously. I told him there was a simple solution to his problem. All he had to do was remove me from his contact list.

It was so hot at dog class tonight that our teacher let us all out early. I'm sure the dogs think we are crazy for even trying to march them around a hot dusty field on a day like this.

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Day 588

Here's a little irony for you. I think I lost the translation job I've been telling you about as the result of a translation problem. When the company initially contacted me, they told me they needed the translation job completed by next Friday. I wrote back and said this was fine and that there would be no problem completing everything before August 5. This date, of course, is next Friday. Later in the day I got another e-mail saying that they awarded the job to another company. They explained that they needed everything done by July 29, which is actually this Friday. They thought when they said next Friday, I would understand this to mean the next Friday that appeared on the calendar, which happens to be this Friday. Confused yet? So am I.

I think I'm becoming addicted to Google+. It's easy to get distracted because I'm constantly logged into my Google account anyway. Since I already use Google documents, Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google Search and a raft of other Google products on a daily basis, the Google+ icon seems to always be waiting for me at the top of my browser menu. Every few minutes it tempts me with that little red box which tells me something new has appeared in my stream. Usually these new things are posts written by semi-famous Internet pundits who seem to have all day to sit around and share links and opinions with each other. These guys don't seem any wiser than the normal folks you'd hang out with at your local Starbucks, but since they're famous, ever word they utter seems to garner a million +1 recommendations. I find myself adding my own two cents to some of these threads, but I don't expect the Illuminati to add me to their own circles any time soon.

It's so hot outside that all the park critters are getting real lethargic. Dot almost caught a raccoon this afternoon while it was sleeping near the base of a tree. Last week, Dash almost caught a rabbit the same way. I definitely don't want the dogs to catch a raccoon, since these critters are notorious carriers of rabies and other diseases. The drought has become so bad that I see all kinds of animals in the back yard trying to drink out of the bird bath. I never thought I'd say this, since I complain about water on my roof so often, but I'd welcome a little rain at this point.

I'm invited to another of those networking breakfasts tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll wear a suit. I never wear a suit anymore. There just aren't many occasions to wear a suit anymore. Nobody seems to wear a suit to work, or even to church these days. Hey, I'm too old for weddings and too young for funerals. I think my suits are all going to get eaten by moths.

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Day 568

I got up early and went to my friend's business networking breakfast this morning. When I arrived at the Park Cities Club, there were actually two groups having breakfast meetings. I didn't know this at the time, so I just sat down with the first group I saw. This turned out to be a Bible study group and when they saw I didn't have a Bible with me, they told me that my group was meeting in a different room. The breakfast was actually pretty interesting. It was a small group of about twenty people and every one of them was a CEO of a different company. Luckily, the conversation didn't get around to the size of our respective companies, but I think the others could easily guess that my own company was pretty small.

I don't know if this group will ask me to join them, but if they do I probably will. Judging from the surroundings and the way the other people were dressed, I would think that the dues for this club are pretty steep. I'm sure I could pay for the dues pretty easily though if I just quit running my Google Adwords ad. So far, my Adwords ad has increased my website PR ranking a little bit, but it hasn't brought me any business at all. My gut feeling is that talking with real people about real business leads is a lot better investment than all the money I've dumped into useless Internet ads. This club serves bacon for breakfast too. I can't forget that.

The only problem with new business is finding the time to work on it. I was so busy today that I couldn't have worked on a new project if I tried. The day was filled with website revision requests, conference calls and writing assignments. I got finished just in time to quickly eat a few leftovers in the refrigerator for dinner and get Dot and Dash ready for dog training class.

I don't know why we even have these classes in July. The dogs are hot, the people are sweaty, and everybody keeps looking at their watch to see when the hour of training exercises is up. I guess these hot Summer classes do help us keep up a certain level of discipline though. It's kind of like making the bed every morning. Some days I don't feel like making the bed. Some days, when the dogs crawl back under the covers before I even have time to get dressed, I don't even see the point in making the bed. I always make the bed however, just like I always write the blog. A little discipline is good. If your life involves a certain amount of swimming upstream, I'm convinced that discipline will get you where you're going a lot more effectively than Prozac.

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