Day 988

A guy came out to look at the tree on the roof today. The first thing he said was "I should have brought my saw. This will only take me twenty minutes or so." Too bad he didn't bring his saw, because he had plenty of time today. The tree guy was very talkative. Nothing happened with the tree, but we spent the next hour up on the roof solving the world's problems. The guy wanted to talk about politics, which is probably my least favorite subject. At first I thought he was a Democrat. Then I though he was a Republican. Then, I finally figured out that Ron Paul was who he really liked. I kind of like Ron Paul myself, but he could never get elected president. He is just too blunt and too honest. Even though a lot of time was wasted chatting on the roof, I liked the tree guy. Too bad he can't  trim my trees until the middle of September.

I had to print some DVD labels today and discovered, much to my surprise, that my label printing software didn't work any more. It used to work. I haven't really changed anything. What's the problem? This kind of thing happens far too often. Probably some minor system upgrade conflicted with the Epson printer driver and the whole thing went kaput. I tried to look on the Internet for a solution, and the most recent reference to the problem I was having was dated 2004. I think it was probably a different problem back then. Now I'll probably have to go buy a whole new kind of label printing software and hope that it works. Of course, I could always just write the title on the disc with a laundry marker, but I like to look professional.  Oh, well.  One more unsolved problem to deal with tomorrow.

I'm finally getting caught up with my work. I added a bunch of Boxer puppies to a rescue website. I added a page about a Halloween party to another website. I think I've only got one unfinished article to write. Things are definitely looking up.

I know it's still Summer, but it seemed like a pleasant Fall evening at dog training class tonight. There was a nice breeze. The temperature wasn't bad. The only thing that put a damper on the evening was that it's starting to get dark again during class. I think the dogs would agree that our class is much more enjoyable when the sun is up.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 450

I got my March invoices out today. I wish my wallet looked as green as the trees that are starting to bud all over the park. That's probably not going to happen though. Certainly not while the stock market is fluctuating as wildly as it did today. I would welcome a little stability at this point. My website work is all over the place this month, since several clients are playing catch up after staff changes in February. The annual report job I was counting on this month hasn't materialized yet either. I've just got to be patient and take things one day at a time. This time next month, things could look completely different.

It was a nice day outside today. That's always a good thing. I've started seeing tulips blooming already and the wild irises growing all over the park can't be far behind. As I've been watching all the trees start to bud and turn green, I've noticed something else as well. I think someone is numbering all the trees in the park. Why would anyone do that? I don't know why, but there are hundreds of small aluminum tags with a number on them nailed to individual trees in the park now. Last month they weren't there. Most of the numbers in the section of the park where the dogs and I walk are in the 700 range. I genuinely don't know what this means, but there is probably stimulus money involved.

I took a watch over to one of my watch repair guys to get fixed this afternoon. I probably could have fixed this one myself, but sometimes I take watches in for repair just to have an opportunity to talk about watches with someone. Only one of my friends is even remotely interested in watches and he's pretty busy. There used to be a ton of little stores where I could go to talk about stuff with like minded people. Guys might not like to talk about relationships or feelings, but they love to talk about their stuff. There were three little photography stores that I really liked. The Citroën garage was a good place to hang out. There was even a little store that sold model trains I really liked. All these places are gone. Now, when I'm out and about, I seldom run into anyone who has time to talk. They can't. The vendors I work with these days all have bluetooth earpieces stuck in their ears and are trying to sell their wares to people all over the world. It seems like only the dedicated and the obsessed survive these days. Sad. I liked it much better when even lazy guys could run a nice, successful little business.

The dogs have the right idea. Sleeping, eating and charming people with a little wag of their tail. Not a bad life at all.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day