Day 3279

I don't actually know anybody at the gym. There are a lot of familiar faces though. I see the same people almost every week. They are persistent. I am too. It's easy to imagine that the people I see at the gym try a little harder than everybody else. Some are young, many are old, but they all seem to have one thing in common: they don't give up. I've always admired persistence, so maybe I'm just imagining things. I don't think so though. Nobody is forcing these Sunday warriors to go to the gym. Maybe, like me, they all realize that you've just got to keep moving.

I can't even remember who let Dash outside last night. I woke up several times, but I don't recall Dash going to the back door. Janet doesn't remember getting up either. If nobody let Dash outside, why was there a trail of poop on the back porch? Maybe the poop was from yesterday, but I doubt it. I probably did get up. After you become significantly sleep deprived, everything just blurs together. Whatever happened last night, Dash didn't poop in the bed. That's probably all that matters.

Since my Avid subscriptions are about to expire, I decided that I'd better upgrade everything to the current version while I still had the chance. Upgrading Avid products is always time consuming and it  made me realize that I hadn't used Pro Tools or Media Composer at all this year. I went through the same upgrade exercise last December when I was faced with the same decision. Jeez. How long do you need the latest business software when you don't even have a business? This should be an easy decision, but it isn't.

What happened to yesterday's clear blue skies? It was cloudy and much colder today. Now, I'm worried that it will rain again before the roofers return again to complete their repairs. There is still no rain in the forecast, but I quit believing weather forecasts a long time ago. Texas weather is just too unpredictable. I definitely missed the Geminid Meteor Shower again this year. It's been cloudy for several years on the day the meteors arrive. It was also cloudy on the day the Neptune was so close to Mars that I may have been able to spot the distant planet for the first time. Oh, well. We've had a lot of nasty weather this December. Let's just hope it stays dry until the repair crew finishes their work on the roof. I'm sick of water dripping from the ceiling.

I repaired more of Dash's Ultra-Paws protective boots this afternoon. I can't decide whether Dash is dragging his rear legs more than he used to or if Ultra-Paws has started selling a lower quality boot. Maybe they switched to a different Chinese manufacturer. Last year Dash could wear these boots for several months before they began to show significant wear. Now, I see wear after a single use. I'm definitely using a lot of Shoe Goo these days. I wish it weren't so difficult to keep Dash moving but I'm glad that he still enjoys his daily walks. Dash would fit right in at my gym. He's pretty persistent too.

I've got a big stack of bills to pay tomorrow. December always seems like the most expensive month.  There are a lot of things that seem to come due at the end of the year. If I start fixing the house, there will be even more bills. Where is the Santa Claus Rally this year? So far, the market hasn't been very encouraging. We're looking forward to a nice Christmas, but I don't expect to find a new roof, reliable major appliances, and market stability under the tree. Even Santa has his limits.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3130

Persistence pays off. The roof has finally been repaired. Lord knows how long I've been complaining about this roof. I'm sure the time is measured in years, not months. I'll have to wait until the elastomer coating dries completely before I can inspect things, but at first glance, it looks like the guys did a good job. I really hope that these repairs work. I'm tired of having problems with the roof. I'm tired of complaining too. Truthfully, I'd like to forget about the roof for a while. In retrospect, I wish the roofers had told me in the beginning that the high-tech membrane roof wasn't appropriate for my type of building. An old fashioned tar and gravel roof would have worked much better. That's ancient history now. The roof is what it is.

Every year on this date I grow nostalgic about the moon landing. I feel really old when I hear adults who aren't that young themselves talk about viewing the landing with their parents when they were seven. I was in college at the time. 1969 was a great year. The moon landing and Woodstock both happened during the same summer. I miss those times. There was a spirit of optimism that had nothing to do with political parties. We were a country then. Now we're just a bunch of warring tribes.

We had our second consecutive day of record heat with temperatures topping out at 108 degrees. They say the heat wave should peak tomorrow when temperatures could reach 110 degrees. We're also setting new records for electricity and water usage. I hope the power company can meet the demand. I'm not sure that Dash could handle a power outage. We were without electricity for four days in July when we first moved here. It was miserable. Even without a power outage, I worry about the air conditioner. It's been running non-stop for several days now. I had an HVAC company as a client once and they told me that there were an unbelievably number of air conditioner failures during Summer heat waves. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This oppressive heat can't last forever.

Our morning walk went well this morning. We got started before sunrise and there was a nice breeze. I shortened our route and we only walked about half the distance we usually do. This seemed to do the trick. Dash was normal when we returned home. The roofers got started early too. They were up on the roof before I left for breakfast. It was smart to get started early. The temperature was only 87 degrees at sunrise but quickly rose to triple digits within a matter of hours.

It goes without saying that I stayed inside most of the day. I did go out for breakfast and got some groceries on the way home, but that was about it. I ordered the same meal I had last Friday, but it tasted different. There must have been a different chef this morning. I don't know why consistency is so important to me. Breakfast was actually fine. I just wish it was exactly the same as last week.

We're setting the alarm to get up extra early tomorrow. It's going to be the only way to give Dash a decent walk.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1856

I think we're setting some kind of Texas record for unrelenting grey days. It's been colder before, and I can remember a January or two with more snow. This is the gloomiest January I can remember though. The combination of dark, grey skies and cold, damp temperatures just saps your energy. All I really want to do these days is crawl under a very warm blanket.

The naps will have to wait however. Not only is my plate full of writing assignments, I think I may have acquired a new client as well. New clients are a rarity these days, since I'm no longer looking for them. This doesn't stop things from falling in my lap occasionally. If this new deal works out, it will involve more writing about luxury goods. I actually enjoy writing about luxury goods, mostly because it is infinitely superior to writing about Walmart or Dollar General.

I've decided I need a little point-and-shoot camera. I've virtually stopped using my big professional cameras for personal photos, because they are just too much trouble to lug around. It's almost embarrassing how often I use my phone instead of a "real" camera these days. The camera on my iPhone is about as good as professional digital cameras were fifteen years ago, but on the plus side, it's always in my pocket. The frustrating thing about the iPhone camera is that there is no optical zoom, and it is almost impossible to focus on certain subjects. I still don't understand why the wizards at Apple aren't able to come up with a phone camera that offers manual focus and exposure control. Maybe nobody else wants these things. At any rate, I think if I had a small cigarette case sized camera with a 30x zoom in my pocket, I could capture a lot more interesting images.

Just when I was about to tell my physical therapist that I had too many exercises to remember, she gave me three new ones. Each of these stretching exercises serves to remind me just how weak my right shoulder has become. It all happened so gradually that I wasn't really aware that I was losing both mobility and muscle tone. The shoulder doesn't hurt when I'm not trying to lift things, so inch-by-inch I just quit using it and began relying on my left arm instead. I never should have done this, but hind-site is always 20-20. I think the main reason I'm putting myself through all the discomfort of rehabilitation is that I never want to become one of those people who walks into a supermarket under their own power and then insists on using one of the store's electric scooters to drive around and shop sitting down just because it is easier. That's not me. I'll continue to walk five miles a day with the dogs and climb up on the roof to get the water off until I drop.

Hopefully my creaky body won't give out tomorrow, because I've got lots to do. Dot has her physical therapy day tomorrow and I continue to think that she's making more progress than I am. Dot probably still has energy because she sleeps sixteen hours a day. As someone who rarely gets more than six hours of sleep, sixteen hours sounds pretty good. I'd probably have insomnia though.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1628

Sometimes I wonder what is going to happen on Day 2000, or Day 5000. On any given day, what I write is trivial, but I keep on writing for the same reason I keep doing a lot of things. I always think that if I just continue doing what I'm doing a little longer, it will eventually add up to something. Maybe it will in this case. How many people have even attempted to document every single day of their life? Probably not many. I've only been doing this for about five years and I'm already starting to see subtle changes in the way I think and act. Maybe you are too.

Aging is a tricky business. At first you deny it. Then you fight it. Finally, you embrace it. I spent so many years in advertising that I probably held on to my youth for much longer than I should have. It's a business where youth is worshiped and age is discarded. In my early thirties, we always used to wonder where they put the 40 year old ad guys out to pasture. We never saw any. If you wanted to keep your job and prosper, you needed to figure out how to stay young.

I find that I no longer care what people think of me or how old I might appear. I've become one of those people who talks back to the television, drives slower than the rest of the traffic, and feels no shame in wearing the same shirt for days at a time. In the beginning I briefly thought that having a blog might help my business. Later, I entertained the idea that I was a humor writer who always saw the glass as half empty. Now, I realize that what I'm doing is accurately describing the aging process, one day at a time. If you only read the blog sporadically, it probably seems like an Andy Warhol movie. Nothing seems to happen. If you started reading on Day 1 and continue reading until the end, you might discover something quite remarkable. On the other hand, you might discover nothing at all. Like I said, aging is a tricky business.

Today, I opened a check from a client and discovered that it wasn't all there. I'd been shortchanged. Either this client is having money problems and couldn't send me any more this month, or they're just fucking with me. Either way, it's not a good sign. I wish money was no longer an issue, but I'm afraid it always will be. Globalization has changed everything. A few people have been able to make the transition and everyone else is fighting over table scraps. The way I see things, if you don't lose your job to someone in a third world country who is willing to work for pennies, you will be replaced by a robot.

I will never be replaced by a robot, but my writing and photography efforts have certainly been marginalized by a sea of people who have turned my profession into their own hobby. Everyone is creative these days. It's hard to compete with that. I shouldn't complain though. I'm much healthier than I ever though I'd be five years ago. I've got two great dogs. Janet seems to tolerate me. And even though the market is terrible, my financial advisor tells me that I still stand a reasonable chance of outliving my savings.

I don't believe him of course, because I know he always sees the glass as half full. Who knows what will really happen? It's all a crap shoot as far as I'm concerned. I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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