Day 2619 - Valentine's Day

We woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. It was raining quite hard, so walking the dogs was out of the question. Apparently, Dot and Dash thought going out in the yard was out of the question too. Dot peed on the porch and Dash wouldn't go outside at all. I don't blame them. It was wet and very cold.

I was hoping that the rain would quit before I made my annual trip to Sprinkles to get Valentine's cupcakes, but it never did. Actually, the rain turned out to be a good thing this year, because there wasn't a line. There is almost always a long line at this place. I can't even remember how long Valentine's Day cupcakes have been a tradition at our house, but it's been a long time. On the way home I stopped at Central Market and got an orchid in a pot. I joined a long line of tired looking men holding flowers and chocolates. The men were from all walks of life, but they all had that slightly confused look in their eye that told me they weren't sure if they got the right thing. Of course we did the right thing. We didn't forget.

Sick dogs and an all day rain aren't a good combination. Dot seemed totally unaware of the rain and took just as long looking for the right place to pee as she does on a warm sunny day. I just about froze taking her outside today. Dash did his business quickly, but always managed to find the muddiest part of the yard before he came inside again. I was constantly cleaning dogs, floors, and rugs today. This weather certainly isn't doing me any favors. My cold seems to be getting worse.

Work continues to be slow, but I did manage to get my February invoices in the mail today. It occurred to me this weekend that I'd be a lot busier if I actually started looking for work. Like that's ever going to happen. I hate cold calling. Most of my friends and contemporaries have retired. And millennials irritate me. I don't think websites really matter anymore either. When everybody has one, they just become a contemporary version of a Yellow Pages ad. People are spending all their time on Facebook anyway. I mostly visit websites to find an address or a phone number these days. The design of the website doesn't matter nearly as much as how easy it is to navigate. Like it or not, what I do has become a commodity.

The stock market hit another all time high today. I hope this rally continues, but I suspect that it won't. It's always hard to know when to sell. You want to ride a rally as long as you can, but you don't want to be the last one to leave a sinking ship. My opinion changes from day to day. Tax cuts and deregulation will definitely be good for business, but chaos isn't good for anyone. Maybe I should sell a few things just in case.

I sure hope it warms up tomorrow. The combination of dark gray skies, wet dogs, and a bitterly cold wind do nothing to improve my mood. The cupcakes sure were delicious though, and I think Janet liked the flower.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2451

I wish we'd discovered something more definitive about Dash today. The vet agreed that he wasn't moving his rear legs normally, but couldn't pinpoint a cause. The problem could be caused by a compressed disc in his spine. It could be a very early sign that Dash has a disease like Degenerative Myelopathy. It could be nothing at all. The exam today eliminated some possibilities, but many other possibilities still remain. We took x-rays of his lower spine and hips earlier this month, but I'll need to get another radiograph of his upper spine to eliminate the possibility of a damaged or compressed disc. He definitely hasn't ruptured a disc like Dot did, or his condition would be much, much worse. The vet didn't recommend an MRI at this time, because she said if that Dash has a neurological problem, an MRI can sometimes make the condition worse. I'm not sure how much I actually learned today. Dash is still in pretty good shape for his age, but if there's something we can do to help him, I want to know about it.

Dash is not a good passenger in the car. He becomes agitated and barks incessantly. By the time we got to the vet, I felt like I was going deaf and Dash was wound up like a spring. The vet said that acupuncture might help Dash if I could figure out a way to get him to ride calmly in the car. The acupuncture session would be largely wasted if he arrived full of adrenaline and bouncing off the walls. It's sad that Dash doesn't ride well in the car anymore. He was terrified of car rides when we first adopted him. Gradually, after years of taking him to dog parks and training classes, he began to act normally. Before both dogs got cancer, they loved to ride in the car to go to their favorite dog park on Sunday morning. We don't travel much anymore for obvious reasons. It's just too difficult.

I really hope there's nothing seriously wrong with Dash. After over two years of dealing with serious medical problems, I'm exhausted. Life has changed dramatically for us after both dogs got cancer. When Dot's spinal injury compounded the problem, I pretty much became a 24x7 dog nurse. Dot is such a high maintenance dog at the moment that I really need for Dash to stay healthy for a while longer. The best case scenario is that Dash is just getting older. It is common for breeds like Dalmatians and German Shepards to develop problems with their rear legs as they age. Spot's legs began to give out toward the end of his life and so did Petey's. Dash probably has quite a few good years left, but I want to be careful. I've dealt with so many serious dog problems over the years that anything out of the ordinary makes me nervous now. One way or another, I'll figure out what is going on with Dash.

I had some minor website revisions to take care of today, but nothing to reverse the trend I've been experiencing lately. My workload seems to diminish with each passing month. I know what I need to do, but the effort seems pointless at times. You need to interact with people to get customers. I need to start having lunch with people again. I need to go to industry events. It wouldn't hurt to take a few classes either. The problem is that I don't want to do these things anymore. Enough is enough.

Tomorrow, it's Dot's day to go to the vet. She's been doing surprisingly well lately. She's sleeping better now and occasionally gets up on her own to walk around the house. It's not a dramatic rebound, but she seems to have more energy than she did last month. I don't really know why Dot has good days or Dash has bad days. I just try to keep them both as healthy and happy as I can.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2439

I keep getting e-mail messages from companies trying to convince me to automate my house. Why? If I got one of those fancy WiFi door locks, it would only work a few months a year. The soil shifts a lot in Dallas and for much of the year doors and windows don't line up exactly, making them difficult to open. The front door is particularly difficult to open in August. It will be fine again in December. Elbow grease works fine for sticky doors. I'd be pretty irritated if I bought a WiFi door lock and had to wait until December for the deadbolt to line up perfectly with the door frame. I suppose I could turn the lights on and off with my phone, but I think the conveniently placed light switches on the wall are much easier to use than my balky WiFi network. I already have a WiFi thermostat that I can talk to. We seldom have conversations though. It's much easier to adjust the temperature manually on my way to the kitchen. My point is that all of these new automated home systems rely on your phone to function properly. I'm sorry to tell you this AT&T, but my phone is the least reliable piece of equipment in the house.

I paid a bunch of bills today and I feel poor again.  If I just had three or four new clients, I wouldn't have to deal with these monthly ups and downs. I think about this every month, but I'm not sure where the business is going to come from. Most of the marketing directors and brand managers I've worked with over the years have either retired or died. It's certainly not hopeless, but I think there's a better chance of me living on Mars than striking up a working relationship with the current batch of millennials who have taken my place in the ad industry. What I need to find are some really old people who think they need a website even though they actually don't.

The rainy weather continues. I haven't gotten sick of the rain yet, but that day is coming. If it's a rule that Dot only poops when I'm in the shower, it's a corollary to that rule that it starts to rain whenever I have to run an errand. For the past three days, it has started to rain as soon as I backed the car out of the driveway. It could be worse though. I'm dry in the car. What I really hate is when it starts to rain when I'm about a mile away from home walking Dash.

I'm having e-mail problems again. Messages are sent, but they are not received. I've almost concluded that it isn't worth the trouble to resolve these problems. They are usually temporary and they seldom have a plausible explanation. Even tech support sometimes says, "Just try it again in a few minutes." The first ten years I was online, I seldom had any problems. I miss those days. Dial-up modems and renting VHS movies at Blockbuster were just fine by me. I miss my old analog OKI 900 phone too. Those were the days.

Dot didn't have any accidents in the house today. Of course the day isn't over yet. I remembered to take the trash out to the curb too. Even though it was wet and rainy, it wasn't a bad day at all.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2312

When I was working on a website update this morning, I noticed that one of the design tools I use to create mobile friendly sites was about to expire. The software you need these days is increasingly available only on a subscription basis. I guess I'll need to renew my expensive subscription for another year, even though I don't make that much money designing websites anymore. It's frustrating. I still need my cameras, editing equipment, and sophisticated software, even though my workload has decreased precipitously. It won't be long before it costs me more to maintain my business than I actually make from the business.

Today was a chemotherapy day for Dot. When I was giving her the Palladia pills, I noticed that there weren't enough left to make it until her next exam date. I have a feeling that the cancer center miscounted the pills last month and gave me too few. Of course, they didn't actually give me the pills. I think they cost about $20 each. The question now is did I already pay for the missing pills or not? I called the oncologist and asked what to do next. It looks like I'll have to go to the cancer center and pick up the missing pills tomorrow. I bet I'll have to pay for them too.

I moved my trash can to a different position on the street this week in hopes that the trash crew will notice it tomorrrow morning. My theory is that the truck was turning the corner when they skipped my trash last week. Maybe they didn't see it. It's possible. Of course, maybe they know that I have OCD and just ignored my can to drive me crazy. Hopefully, I'll have better luck this week.

I was going to go back to the sporting goods store that is going out of business to see if I could find some more bargains, but work got in the way. Today's website update was kind of complicated and took a lot of time. This job requires new photography too, so I'll have to schedule a time to go take pictures of new employees next week. Most of my clients have abandoned their employee pages, but a few still seem to like to show the world how quickly their staff turns over. I never recommend employee pages anymore. It looks embarrassing when people keep changing every few weeks.

I think I'll go back to the hipster restaurant tomorrow. The place isn't as fancy as the restaurant I tried last Friday. The silverware is non-existent and there are only three tables, but the food is fabulous. The first time I ate here, I thought all the customers seemed a bit odd. Now, I realize that's why I like the place. I fit in.

When I was paying bills this afternoon, I realized that I simply have to get some more business. The money I used to spend buying cameras and microphones is now used to pay vet bills. I hate feeling broke. In theory, it shouldn't be that hard to get new business. The website I was working on this morning was quite complicated and I knew exactly what to do. There ought to be plenty of other people who could use these skills. I'm sure these people still exist, but I'm not going to meet them in my current reclusive state of mind. I tend to avoid people at all costs. Hmm. I think I've answered my own question. It's a no brainer. If you avoid talking to people and never answer your phone, you're not going to grow your business.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1998

Poor Dot. Her Ultrasound scan this morning showed a small growth on her liver and an unexplained shadow on her spleen that were not there in a previous scan taken about eight months ago. Her oncologist told me that there was no reason to get alarmed yet. The vast majority of small growths like this turn out to be benign cysts. We were at a cancer center though and cancer doctors want to know if an unexplained growth might be cancer. The oncologist wanted me to bring Dot back next week so they could aspirate some cells from the questionable areas and send them to a cytology lab for analysis. Since she will need to be sedated for this procedure, I went ahead and had a full blood chemistry panel done today. At least that part of her annual exam later this Summer is already done.

Dot's oncologist is a realist. She said that no matter what the results turned out to be, she couldn't see herself recommending surgery. Dot has had just about all the surgery she can handle at her age. I agree with her that it's good to know what's going on though. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the new growth in her liver was just a cyst. I've had several small benign cysts in my kidneys for years. Cysts and growing older just kind of go together. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with today's test results. Dot is my miracle dog. After all she's been through this year, I was really hoping that her lab reports today would be perfect.

I noticed this morning that my breakfast restaurant has raised its prices. The cost of my favorite meal has gone up a dollar. Truthfully, I was surprised this had not happened sooner. This is still one of the most reasonably priced quality restaurants in town. I don't begrudge their modest price increases a bit. I just wish I had a way to raise the price of my own services. The cost of just about everything continues to go up, and yet people continue to want to pay less and less for website design.

At least there is plenty of work. I had an initial meeting with a new website client this afternoon and we all got along well. I got the job and will begin building their new site later this month. I also decided that my mobile friendly skills were ready for prime time and almost immediately got a job to convert an older static site to a mobile friendly design. I'm going to be busy this month.

I was certainly busy today. In addition to my trip to the cancer center with Dot and the new business meeting later in the day, I still had time to write a new article and send it off to its destination. By the end of the day, I was tired. We didn't get a lot of sleep last night, mostly because Dash had an upset stomach and kept getting me up to take him outside. I've never seen a dog who is so indecisive about pooping. I knew he had to go, but it took three trips to the back door at thirty minute intervals before he finally did his business. It doesn't help that the sodium vapor security light in the back yard is starting to go out and every time it blinks on and off Dash thinks it is lightning and races back inside again. Eventually, we all got back to sleep but it was almost morning by then.

For all his peculiar habits, Dash is a very smart dog. Sometimes I think he knows English. Usually, on our afternoon walks he like to take a right turn when we get to the alley and go directly into the park. Today when he tried to turn right, I told him that we needed to go left today. "If we turn right, you might get bit by the neighbor dog again." He gave me a worried look and immediately turned left.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1996

I finished my fourth mobile friendly website today. The site is up and running and the client likes it. I feel proficient enough doing these things now that I'm almost ready to try converting some of my more difficult designs. I've actually enjoyed learning this new skill, but if I'm true to form, as soon as I get really good at something, I lose interest. We'll see what happens. I doubt if there's going to be a stampede of people wanting me to build mobile sites for them.

I got a call from Dash's vet today. His test results have come back and one of the tests indicates that he's been exposed to Lyme Disease. This particular test gives false positives frequently, so the vet said there was no reason to get alarmed yet. She is going to contact Dash's oncologist to see whether he thought Dash should begin treatment even though he shows no symptoms yet. Evidently the veterinary community is not in agreement on whether a dog that is not showing symptoms of Lyme Disease should start taking doxycycline immediately. Some say yes, others say no. Ordinarily, I'd want to go ahead with antibiotics, just to be safe, but Dash has had a lot of Clavamox recently to treat his infected paw. You don't want to overdo antibiotics. One thing is certain. There are a ton of ticks in the park, so Dash could have easily been exposed.

It looks like our nice, mild weather isn't going to last very long. Even though yesterday was unusually cool for June, the temperature shot into the 90's today. That's Texas weather for you. It's always bouncing back and forth between extremes. It was kind of funny in a way that two days ago I was fixing the furnace so I could warm the house up a bit and today the air conditioner was running all day. At least the water bill was low this month. I hardly ran the sprinklers at all in May. I need to remember to get the roofers to come out again now that things have dried out. The patches they made earlier this Spring held up well during the May rains, but some additional areas of the original elastomeric coating have starting to bubble up. It is going to be a long, slow process to get a roof that I can completely depend on.

I've got a new business meeting on Friday with a potential website client. The project is for a small non-profit charity that doesn't have much of a budget. I promised one of my neighbors, who is involved with the charity, that I'd do the site, but otherwise I wouldn't be all that interested. I'll look on the bright side though. The simple site will be easy to design and it will give me another chance to polish my responsive design skills. Some of you will wonder why I never seem to be excited about work. Others of you who have been in advertising as long as I have will understand completely.

Since Dot and Dash have different vets now, I always have a chance to get a second opinion. I'll ask Dot's vet if she is at risk for Lyme Disease too when she goes for physical therapy tomorrow afternoon. Who knows. Maybe even Janet and I are at risk. Humans get Lyme Disease too. I had always thought that Lyme Disease was primarily a problem for people on the East Coast. I also thought that only deer ticks transmitted the disease. The disease is starting to creep into Texas though, so maybe I'm wrong on both counts. I'd never know if I had Lyme Disease anyway, since the most common symptoms are fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain. This is the way I feel all the time.

Friday can't come soon enough this week. I'm tempted to go out for breakfast tomorrow morning and just pretend it's Friday. It's been a long week.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1990

I'm torn between a desire for more work and an equally strong desire to just pack it in and formally retire. It would be nice to be able to buy a new car whenever I felt like it and acquire new cameras and watches with reckless abandon, but I'm not sure it is worth the effort any more. When I started my company, I used to tell students and freelancers to never work for anyone who paid you out of their own pocket. Things were much easier when all my clients were large corporations and the bills went to the accounts payable departments instead the owner of the company. Now virtually all my customers are small businesses and nothing is ever fast enough or cheap enough. It becomes tiring after a while.

I only mention this because some new work came my way today and all of it seemed about as interesting as cleaning up Dot's dog poop. Truthfully, I have been interested in learning how to design responsive, mobile friendly websites, but I'm not making any money doing this. I actually gave away my first two mobile friendly sites because I felt vaguely guilty that my clients didn't have this capability already. I'm just not very aggressive about making money anymore. When people ask me to do something these days, my first response is usually to try and talk them out of doing the job. It's only when they're persistent that I agree to take on new work. I usually know in advance that the job isn't going to pay very well and the client is going to be picky anyway. It's hard to get excited about all this because I still remember the days when corporate clients used to fly me around the world and pay me large sums of money for just coming to their meetings and talking a good game.

I still put in a good days honest work, but what matters to me now are the dogs. They both got a long, rain-free walk this morning and Dot spent the afternoon with me at her physical therapy session. She did great today in the underwater treadmill and seemed to enjoy her acupuncture therapy. Even the vet was impressed at how much she'd improved since last week. I think last week's lethargy might have been weather related. At her age, Dot is bound to have arthritis, along with all her other problems. Muggy, rainy weather just isn't good for anyone's arthritis.

I got a lot done today. The roof is clean and dry again. The dogs prescriptions have been renewed. The trash has been taken out to the curb for Friday morning pickup. Dot got a good workout at her therapy session and I paid the last of the recurring bills for May. Tomorrow I've got several new articles to write and I've got to decide whether to pursue these new jobs that are being dangled in front of me. All in good time. The most important thing tomorrow is going to my favorite restaurant for a leisurely breakfast. It didn't rain today. Maybe it won't rain tomorrow either. There's always hope.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1892

The days are starting to run together. I get up at 4 AM to take Dot out to pee. I go back to sleep again for a few hours. I walk Dash. Janet and I figure out a schedule for who is going to monitor Dot during the day. I do some writing. I work on a few websites. I take a shower. I worry about Dot some more. Now, what day is it today?

During one of the periods where it was Janet's turn to watch Dot, I went to the storage warehouse to look for my Anton Bauer Quad charger. I couldn't find it anywhere. Did I throw the charger away years ago because it was defective? Is it really at home somewhere? Is it hidden away behind a cardboard box in the storeroom somewhere? I don't have a clue. What is the use of having a storage warehouse if I can't find anything anymore?

On my way home, I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I was surprised to see that the price had doubled. "Has my coverage changed," I asked the pharmacist? It was a legitimate question, since insurance coverage is constantly changing. "No, your coverage is the same," the pharmacist said. "We just raised our prices."

I finished my component of the new business proposal that my friend and I are working on. He thought it looked good, but wondered whether we could deliver something so ambitious. I think this is doable, but we'll never know till we try. If we get this business, I'll be even busier than I am now. A lot busier. Busy is good though. At least I won't worry about vet bills so much. It's amazing how much better I've become as a writer since I've been forced to totally depend on this skill for a living. What I accomplish in an hour these days used to take me an entire day at the ad agencies. That being said, I had a lot more fun as a young ad agency creative. Work has been more of a chore than an adventure lately. That's what I like about this new proposal. If we get this gig, it is entirely possible that the adventure may return.

When my vet came over this afternoon to give Dot acupuncture and cold laser therapy, I asked her what she would do about surgery if Dot was her dog. "I'd probably go for it," she said, and then quickly added, "but only because I'm a vet." I wanted to ask "But what would you do if you were me," but of course she isn't me. This is a very rough surgery for a dog as old as Dot, and I don't have the knowledge or the resources that a good vet has. When she's having a good day I want to leave Dot alone. If she's only got a year left anyway, why make six months of that year an arduous recovery from major surgery? When Dot is having a bad day, I want to pull out all the stops and do everything possible. I need to remember that this go for broke attitude doesn't always work.

I still regret trying to intervene when we discovered Greta had liver cancer. The surgeon was very good, but the cancer had already metastasized and Greta was too old and weak to survive. She never even made it out of the hospital. Spot's second TPLO surgery was a mistake. The surgery on his left knew was so successful that we thought it would succeed equally well on the other knee when he tore a second anterior cruciate ligament. The second surgery failed. Spot was a lot older by then and even though the surgery was technically a success, Spot never walked again. It's hard to forget these things, even though many other surgeries succeeded brilliantly.

Janet is going to stay with Dot tomorrow morning so I can go enjoy my favorite breakfast. She goes to the gym almost every day now to stay sane. I depend on a great breakfast at least once a week.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1891

I got a call from an old friend this morning, asking if I'd like to work with him on a new business proposal. It was kind of therapeutic to have something to think about other than sick dogs. If we got this business, it would be fun to work on. Almost like old times. I gave my friend an enthusiastic "yes" to his proposal and will begin working on a budget for the project tomorrow.

Janet and I are having a tough time making a decision about spinal surgery for Dot. We have both talked to friends with back problems and some have opted for surgery while others wouldn't even consider it. Spinal surgery is very different from repairing broken bones or removing tumors. Even the surgeons themselves are very guarded about promising a successful outcome. All I know is that sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

For the moment, Dot seems happy enough. She isn't depressed and doesn't appear to be in much pain. Dot spent a big part of her day sleeping before the injury and she still spends a big part of her day sleeping. She still very enthusiastic about eating her dinner and she can pee and poop relatively normally with my assistance. The only thing she really misses is her morning walk. I can see the disappointment in her face when I take Dash on a walk without her. If I walk Dash, Janet stays behind with Dot. If Janet walks Dash, I stay behind. One of the things I need to ask the neurologist before we make a decision is whether she will ever be able to take a normal walk again, with or without the surgery. Dot loves her walks, and if her walking days are already over, it might be pointless to put her through the trauma of risky major surgery for nothing.

This month's credit card bills took my breath away. The trip to Vandenberg Air Force Base to watch the satellite launch, the recent cancer re-checks and ultrasound imaging for Dot and Dash, along with Dot's recent MRI were all on the same bill. I definitely hope my friend's big new project materializes. One way or another, I'm going to have to step up my game a bit to pay for this stuff.

Dot's vet is terrific. She's going to make another house-call tomorrow to give Dot acupuncture and evaluate her condition. I've seen improvements in Dot's condition every single day, but I don't know whether these small changes will continue or ever be enough. Even with the prednisolone, Dot still can't stand up on her own. The question I have for all vets at one point or another is "what would you do if this was your dog?" Usually they're pretty honest.

All in all, today wasn't bad. Dot and I are working out a routine that gets us through the day. Janet already has a nice job offer on the table from someone she respects. For the past two days I've been able to take care of Dot while still completing my normal workload. Maybe we can get through this after all. It was even relatively warm and sunny today. By the time Dash and I took our evening walk, it was 60 degrees.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1659

I can't say that I'm a big soccer fan, but I did watch the game between USA and Belgium today, mostly because so many people were talking about it. I don't think have the patience for this kind of game. I watched for over an hour and nobody scored. Eventually, I got tired of the game and took the dogs for a walk. When we got back, the game was still going on. It's rare that a sporting event captures my attention for very long. I probably like watching horse races the best. The race is over in just a few minutes and you can bet on the horses.

It was a slow day, so I went to the gym this afternoon. It was an anniversary of sorts. Exactly one year ago today, I joined the gym. I don't think I had great expectations at the time. It was just something to do on a hot Summer day. In retrospect, I've made quite a bit of progress. Most importantly, I'm still going! I rarely continue anything this long unless it has something to do with the dogs. I don't think I will ever become obsessed with physical fitness. Exercise is about as exciting as watching soccer to me. I have taken the advice of my hepatologist to heart though. He managed to convince me that a good diet was only part of the equation. Healthy food needs to be combined with lots of activity to produce the desired results. There's a lot of biology and chemistry involved, but it should suffice to say that diet and exercise go together.

I wish I was making as much progress with my business as I am at the gym. It seems like I was a lot busier last July. I have two website clients who keep me very busy and half a dozen others who need me sporadically. This isn't really enough, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I've had a real good run since I started the company in 1990, but I'm loathe to go after new business anymore. I'm far too used to being the Wizard of Oz. Sometime while I wasn't looking, Toto pulled back the curtain and ruined everything. I've been exposed. Most of what I do has become a low paid commodity to the generation that replaced me. I still chase after the low hanging fruit from time to time, but all too often it is full of worms. I'm beginning to think that the business isn't worth it anymore and I might have more fun working at the genius bar in an Apple store.

I'm still interested in photography, but I'm losing interest in the gear. I take the majority of my pictures using my phone now, just like everyone else. I saw a beautiful, very large butterfly outside the living room window this morning, I ran back to the office to grab a good camera and by the time I got back, the butterfly was gone. That's the trouble with lots of equipment. It's hard to be spontaneous. I used to like to create complex, beautiful images in a studio. Now, I prefer to just capture images as I find them. The phone is great for that. For a cynical person, I still see quite a bit of beauty in the world.

Bentley 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 1359

I had a new business meeting this morning. I am being asked to develop a new website, and before I got started, I wanted to get everybody's input. One guy said the website need to be a lively forum that generated lots of discussion. Another guy said it need to showcase the organization's mission and values. A third guy wanted a transaction site where people could pay for things and make appointments. One group wanted a blog, and a small contingent wondered if there was any point in having a website at all.

I had almost forgotten that this was what beginnings were always like. Most of my clients have been with me for so long that there is seldom any need to talk. My input these days usually consists of "You know our business. Just make it work."

This new project sounds interesting. It also sounds difficult. Sometimes difficulties challenge me. Other times they make me put my head in my hands and start muttering "Why me?" We'll see what happens. At least I'm being given enough time to put some serious thought into this.

Dot was back in the underwater treadmill today. She seems to like the water therapy and did really well today. When I see her move her legs during the interval training sessions, I remember how fast she used to be when she was a young dog. Dot was always a dog who loved to run. It must be hard on her not to be able to do many of the things she enjoys so much. Considering her age, Dot is still remarkably strong and agile though. She is probably the healthiest Dalmatian we have ever had.

It's been such a busy week that I haven't been able to get to the gym at all. If I want to finish my normal writing and website chores, I only have time for one out-of-the-office activity. On days like today, where I pulled out of the driveway to run errands or go to meetings on four separate occasions, keeping on schedule is a lost cause. It seems like I used to do my job much faster, but maybe I'm just imagining things. All I know is that there just aren't enough hours in the day anymore.

I have to have another MRI tomorrow. The imaging is a pretty painless process, but I'm still not looking forward to it. When they inject you with the contrast dye, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I don't like having to put my arms behind my head when they slide me into the tube either. I've still got a dislocated shoulder and one of my arms doesn't really want to go behind my head. It could be a lot worse though. I'll take a MRI over a biopsy any day of the week.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1358

Yeah, I know it is Tuesday, but it sure seemed like a Monday to me. Everything started off slow today. I managed to get everything done on my list, but I certainly didn't set any speed records. Our morning walk was slow. Breakfast took forever. Even my writing assignments felt like I was wading through molasses. The only upside to all this is that it is a four day week and I'm already that much closer to Friday.

Have I told you how I feel about Texas weather? It's always too something: too hot, too wet, too humid, too dry. You get the picture. Today there were too many horse flies. I assume these pesky critters were horse flies, because, unlike common house flies, these flies would bite you. The flies weren't very interested in Dot, but they went after me and Dash with a vengeance. I tried to keep the flies off the dogs, but it was virtually impossible. Eventually, we had to curtail our evening walk and head for home. The flies were everywhere.

My only outing today was taking Dash to see the vet for his antigen shot. I renewed his phenobarbital prescription while I was there. I hate the thought of having him take this powerful sedative for long periods of time, but it seems to be working. Dash hasn't had another seizure since he resumed taking the drug. Since long-term use of phenobarbital can damage the liver, we are going to work with our vet to slowly transition Dash to potassium bromide instead. Potassium bromide has its own set of problems, but it does appear safer than phenobarbital. So, why didn't we put Dash on potassium bromide in the first place? Well, for starters it can take up to four months of continued use before it starts to become effective at controlling seizures. Have I told you how I feel about pharmaceuticals? I'm sure I have.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I've got a new business meeting in the morning and Dot's physical therapy session in the afternoon. In between, I've got to find time to complete my regular allotment of writing and website assignments. The dogs have their weekly training class in the evening as well. Maybe with so much going on, I might actually have something interesting to write about for a change.

Are you as confused about politics as I am? The Democrats want to bomb someone because they are using weapons of mass destruction and the Republicans are against it. The last time I heard the words "weapons of mass destruction" mentioned in the news, it was the Republicans who wanted to bomb somebody and the Democrats were against it. Personally, I think we ought to mind our own business and mend our own fences instead. We've got enough problems right over here.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1143

This is going to take a while. Usually, when I'm in a hurry and don't feel like cooking, I'll run down to a nearby barbecue joint and get the brisket platter to bring home for dinner. Tonight, I went to Central Market and got a broccoli, tomato and garlic salad; a grape, walnut and blue cheese salad; and a bowl of tomato bisque. The meal was tasty and satisfying but I couldn't visualize portion sizes very well and bought too much. That's one of the things I don't like about fresh vegetables. They don't stay fresh very long. I forget about the leftovers and they inevitably go bad. Cured meats on the other hand, seem to last forever.

I really haven't had any major goals for quite a while. I have a tendency to just get up and plod through the day, doing whatever is necessary to keep treading water until bedtime. Goals probably aren't such a bad thing. Maybe staying alive a little longer would be an excellent goal to start with. I'm going to try my best to make this healthy diet work. So, if you hear me talking about bacon and cheeseburgers in a month from now, you'll know I'm just another backslider.

We're planning on taking the dogs on a little road trip. We've always wanted to go on a real vacation with them, but so far we haven't been able to go more than five miles without a major mishap. Dot is just as territorial in the car as she is at home. When we pull up at a stoplight, she'll start barking like crazy at people crossing the street or waiting for a bus. Dot's barking usually throws Dash into a panic and he'll wriggle out of his car harness like a canine Houdini and then he's all over the place. Janet is an optimist though. She thinks that if she sits in back with them, the dogs will be calm and well behaved. I have my doubts, but since they spend most of their day sleeping around the house, there ought to be a way to get them to sleep in the car as well.

A friend of mine wants to send a little health care business my way. He asked if I had ever done any of this type of writing and of course I said "sure." I knew I'd done quite a bit of health care writing. I just couldn't remember what it was. A quick search revealed that I'd written an ad campaign about impotency, some brochures about surgical scrubs made out of paper, and a physical therapy video that featured a lot of old people bobbing around in a huge swimming pool. I've done a huge amount of work for veterinarians, of course, but I'm always a bit hesitant to tell doctors and hospital administrators that I consider veterinary medicine to be more or less the same as whatever they're doing. We'll see how it goes. My new business pitches usually go pretty well unless someone wants to actually see me in person.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1086

I got a call this morning from a guy I used to work with during my ad agency days. He asked me if I would be interested in designing and maintaining a website for an oil and gas company that a friend of his owned. "Sure," I said. "That sounds great." "There's just one complication," the guy says. "This is a staff position and you'd have to move to Argyle, Texas." Oops! The opportunity didn't sound so great anymore. I can't think of one good reason why anyone would want to live in Argyle.

I passed on the oil and gas job and went back to work on my own website projects. It's been a very busy week. Of course, not all the activity has been work related. A lot of it centered around the two big guitar amplifiers sitting in the living room. Today, I took everything apart, traded out the electronics in the two amps, and then put the amps back together again. It took quite a while to do everything properly, but at least now I've got one amp that's a keeper. I boxed up the broken cabinet, which ironically now contained the brand new amp head from the replacement amp and took the package back to FedEx to be returned to the music store. Hopefully, this little episode is over now.

This time last year I was writing several watch articles a day. At the time, I thought the work load was insane and wished the articles and the endless deadlines would just go away. One year later, it appears my wish has come true. I'm lucky if I write several articles a week these days. It just goes to show that you should never take anything for granted. It's amazing how much the company has to keep changing, just to keep the doors open. One year I'm producing network TV commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew and a few years later, I'm taking pet pictures. Granted, there have been some big comebacks as well, but it's certainly been a bumpy ride.

Dog class has been a bumpy ride as well. Some days Dash is a star performer and other days he won't do anything. Dash is a very smart dog and I suspect he thinks the whole thing is silly. Hey, why would you want to leave a warm house just so you could go to a cold, windy field where an instructor tells you to sit, stay and heel? I could tell that Dot and Dash were cold tonight. When the instructor told them to lie down, they would immediately pop back up again into a sitting position as soon as their bellies touched the grass. The German Shepherds, Border Collies, and Labs seemed happy enough to lie down in the cold, damp grass. The Dalmatians would have nothing to do with it. I think that is a testament to their intelligence.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 940

I had lunch with a friend who used to be my boss today. My friend has always been good at landing on his feet and, unlike a lot of other ad folks I know, is still the creative director at a well respected ad agency. We had fun talking about how the business has changed and who among our friends have survived.  The lunch wasn't just a trip down memory lane though. The agency happens to have some high profile jewelry accounts and I just happen to have some experience writing about luxury goods. I was hoping to get a little work from my old buddy. I think I have reason to be optimistic. My prospects of getting jewelry account projects are probably a bit better than getting that trip to Singapore from my other client. I'm a dreamer though. I'm still hoping that both things will come through.

I ought to have lunch with ad friends more often, because this is still the most dependable way to get business. I don't know if I have the capacity to actually eat lunch anymore though. I quit eating lunch about five years ago and now whenever I have a noontime meal, I feel full and bloated for the rest of the day. I still feed the dogs a rice cake at lunch, because they've grown to expect something to eat. I don't eat anything though. Mostly because I don't like rice cakes. It's hard to believe that I used to eat three large meals every day, washed down with various alcoholic beverages. I just can't do it anymore. I still eat a big breakfast, but there's nothing for lunch and usually a light supper. '

I read an article today that said it was very important for bloggers to answer all their comments and establish a dialog with their readers. Is this what you guys really want?  I hope not. I'm terrible about answering comments. I usually just post things like a guy on a deserted island, throwing notes out to sea in a bottle. Occasionally, some of those bottles wash up on a distant shore and are discovered by beachcombers. At least that's how I think it goes.

I can tell it's been a long week. I'm ready for it to be over. I'm already thinking about what to order for breakfast on tomorrow's Friday restaurant outing. Pancakes sound good to me.

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 846

It's hard to get an early start when your dogs don't want to get up either. Dot and Dash have been my alarm clock for many years and when they don't feel like getting up, I'm always off to a late start. Today, we got started on our morning walk so late that I had to resort to eating cereal for breakfast. I'm a slow cook, so sometimes just eating cold cereal for breakfast will give me an extra forty-five minutes.

I don't know why I was in a hurry anyway. Not a lot happened today. I was a bit embarrassed that I complained so much about my bill with the electrician the other day. When I was writing checks this afternoon, I noticed that I had paid a similar bill for almost the same amount in 2008. The electrician hadn't raised his prices after all. They were always high. I wonder why this bill seemed so high and the earlier bill didn't? The only thing that I can think of was that I was making a lot more money in 2008 and being overcharged for something wasn't as much of a big deal. Oh well. Fair is fair. I paid the entire bill, even though I'd told the electrician two days ago that I wasn't going to.

I got a call from the accountant's office today. It looks like even though the company billed out twice as much as it did the previous year, I'm still going to have a tax loss. Bad investments and healthcare expenses largely offset any gains I made with the company. I don't know if this is something to celebrate or not. So, there's no big tax bill this year, but apparently I didn't make any money either.

Life goes on though. I have a new business meeting tomorrow. With any luck, I'll get an opportunity to design another website that I can continue to maintain in the future. I write new articles almost every day and make a deposit at the bank every two or three days. I'm just going to have to resign myself to the fact that even though I'm busy and often tired, I'm not making as much as I was fifteen years ago.

I saw today on the news that Facebook bought Instagram for a billion dollars. My first thought was a sincere hope that Facebook doesn't end up ruining Instagram. They're ruined plenty of good ideas before. Hey, I love this little app and use it all the time. My second thought was that I sure wish I had invented Instagram. Probably everyone in that entire company is a millionaire now. Amazing! This simple little photo sharing app on my iPhone is worth more now than the entire New York Times Corporation.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day