Day 4363

I saw the eagle again today. This makes the fourth time I've seen the bird. I don't think I'm very observant. Every time I've seen the eagle, someone else has pointed it out to me. The two bald eagles must be here to stay. There are even signs in the park now warning people to stay away from the nest.

There wasn't much on my grocery list this week. I did notice that prices are still going up though. While I was out, I started looking at televisions. Flat screens are huge now. Most of the TV's I saw wouldn't even fit in our house. I suppose I could just get the old TV repaired, but the repair costs would probably be more than a new TV. You can't just replace a few tubes these days. Generally you have to get an entirely new mother board.

I've got all the photo gear packed and ready to go. I forget how long we've been doing these Santa Paws events, but it feels like it must be at least ten years. We get a new backdrop every few years, but most of the equipment has always been the same. I'm surprised that everything has lasted this long. Hopefully, the essential stuff will last a few more years. I don't feel like buying anything new at this point. The equipment will probably last longer than I will. I need to remember to bring my cane tomorrow.

I'm glad I didn't try to attend the STP-3 launch. This was one that I really wanted to go to at some point. Tonight's launch just got scrubbed and now it won't take place until Monday. If I was already down in Florida, the last minute scrub would have meant two more hotel and rental car days plus the hassle of trying to reschedule airfares during the holiday season. The older I get, the more travel just seems like a giant hassle. I wish my interests were closer to home. Maybe I'll get bored and become eager to get on the road again. Right now, doing nothing sounds pretty good to me.

I certainly won't be doing nothing tomorrow. I don't know how many people have made reservations, but usually we are pretty busy at Santa Paws events. Janet and I decided not to take Dawn with us. She's going to be a lot happier just snoozing on the bed. I hope everything goes well. Usually at least one dog tries to knock over the set, but we haven't had a disaster yet. Everyone always seems happy with their pictures.

We had pizza for dinner tonight. My new medication for acid reflux works like a charm. I can basically eat anything now. It's too bad that PPI's aren't recommended for long term use. It's a shame that doctors don't agree about this medication. I hate to take something that is going to create more problems than it solves.

We've got to get up early tomorrow so we can walk Dawn and eat breakfast before the photo event. At least there is no longer any rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4359

The Christmas tree is up. It is a small tree decorated with Dalmatian ornaments. We used to buy Dalmatian ornaments whenever we'd see them, but it's been a long while since there's been anything new on the tree. We have plenty of ornaments now. Maybe we should find an ornament for Dawn. All our previous dogs seem to have one.

I retrieved all the gear we need for the Santa Paws photo shoots and it will clutter up the entryway for the next several weeks. The poles and crossbar that hold up the backdrop have seen better days, but I think they'll be good for another season. I really meant to buy a new softbox this year but I never got around to it. There are several boxes of scarves, bandanas, hats, and costumes the dogs can wear. These will probably need to be washed. Somehow I've managed to lose the spare modeling light bulbs for my Norman strobes, but I've got the rest of the week to find them. I can't even remember how long we've been doing this, but it seems like a very long time.

Every time I go to the storage warehouse, I find things I've totally forgotten about. What on earth am I doing with an old dentist's drill, an outboard motor, a wind sail board complete with sail, and the entire PA system from my old band? I really need to clean this place out, but I have no desire to get rid of this stuff. Everything has a memory attached to it. If the cost for storage space didn't continue to go up every year, I'd just get a bigger space so I could clear a few things out of my office. I wonder if that Storage Wars show is still on the air? My space would be a perfect candidate for the show.

Today was a good day for walking. The weather was just about perfect. Since we're trying to give Dawn a second walk in the afternoon now, I spend even more time walking than I used to. It's all good though. If I wasn't walking I don't know what I'd do with myself. I don't feel like taking on work projects anymore and  I have little desire to do things with other people. Someday I'm going to try to walk all the way around the lake. It will need to be a day when Janet is home though. She may need to come retrieve me if I don't make it all the way around.

I'm thinking about going out for breakfast on Fridays again. Its been a while. Some of my favorite restaurants are gone now, but there are new ones to discover. Oddly, I still have no desire to return to my morning smoothie. I always knew that shredded wheat was a temporary solution, so maybe it's time to start eating out again.

We can't decide whether to take Dawn with us to one of the Santa Paws events. It would be nice to have a Christmas picture of her, but she hates car rides. She probably has bad memories of the kennel too, since another dog bit her there. That's how she wound up with us in the first place since she needed a quiet place to recover from her injuries. Probably she'd rather just sleep on the bed while we're gone.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4152

I started assembling the gear I want to take to the astrophotography workshop this morning. Hmmm. Why so much? I may need to rethink this. It's not like I'm going to the South Pole or anything. Somehow there seemed to be twice as much stuff as I took out to the observatory the last time. That's the trouble with road trips. You aren't limited by what will fit in a carry-on bag. Maybe I can get by with less, but this is an advanced class and there are a lot of new things I would like to try.

The star tracker is going to be a problem. It has to be assembled on-site and there are a lot of pieces that can fall off and get lost in the dark. I practiced putting the thing together today and it took me a lot longer than I thought. I wish everyone would use the same type of batteries. Quite a bit of space in my bag has to be devoted to various types of chargers. I am making progress though. Give me a few more days and I'll have this down to a science.

I watch the business channels while I eat breakfast and it seems like there is a lot of weird stuff going on. Small businesses can't find enough workers because people are making more money on unemployment now. Large businesses don't need as many workers because they have become much more efficient during the pandemic. I'm glad the world of work is mostly in the rear view mirror now. I did pretty well over the years, but today's environment is a brave new world that I don't fully understand. I don't think it would be possible to duplicate what I did in the 70's and 80's today.

Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I think Dawn is finally starting to warm up to me. She's comfortable spending time on the bed with me now. When I take a nap, she doesn't run away anymore. She likes to sit outside on a sunny day and I spent about 45 minutes sitting in the back yard with her today. She still doesn't like me in the kitchen, but she races out to eat after I fix her meals and come to the back of the house to tell her that dinner is ready.

Maybe I'm fooling myself with my long walks as well. One of the fitness apps on my phone got an upgrade and it says that my overall fitness level is low. The app now measures VO2max which represents the heart and muscles ability to convert oxygen into energy during physical exercise. I probably just walk too slow, because the fitness level is calculated by comparing my heart rate with GPS data that shows my walking or running pace. My VO2max levels would improve if I went back to the gym and exercised enough to get my heart rate up. I like my slow walks though. It's very peaceful.

Time goes so quickly now. It's already time to make a grocery list again. I'll probably have to do some yard work this weekend because the weather is too nice to ignore the yard. A lot of things need attention and it's going to be even worse if I wait until the weather gets even warmer. I wonder how long it will be before I hire a yard service like the rest of the neighbors?

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4001

We went back to the kennel today to visit Charlie. Even though we were at the same boarding facility most of the day yesterday for our Santa Paws event, we were far too busy to visit Charlie. He didn't even get his picture taken with Santa because he is not good with other dogs. Yesterday's oversight certainly didn't seem to bother him. He was his typical unpredictable, happy self today. Charlie loves to destroy toys, so we only let him play with the most indestructible red Kongs we can find. He almost always has a ball in his mouth unless he is waiting for a treat. Charlie is smart and very food motivated. We've learned that we can teach him almost anything if there is a food reward involved. At any rate, he was glad to see us today. I think he expects to see us on Mondays now.

The props and photo gear we used at yesterday's photo shoot are back in the storage warehouse again. The house looks a little neater now, but not by much. We've still got way too much pandemic related stuff stacked up in the front hallway. I don't think there's much of a chance that we'll ever run out of toilet paper. I wish my storage warehouse was a lot bigger. If I had more room I could clear out the hallway and then start moving all the books in my office to storage as well. It would be much easier for me to put everything in the office in storage instead of just throwing it away. A storage warehouse is a great way to postpone making a decision. You always have the option of retrieving something if you change your mind.  It's an expensive luxury though. Storage warehouse companies keep raising your rent year after year until you are paying a ridiculous amount for a room full of worthless junk. They should be rewarding loyal customers, but they do exactly the opposite. I have a love/hate relationship with my storage warehouse. I like having a halfway house for my stuff, but I'm convinced that I'm being cheated by the warehouse company.

Today was definitely a nice day for a walk. It was still chilly outside, but the temperature was much warmer than yesterday. It is still hard to decide what to wear on these walks with Dawn. If you are comfortable at the beginning of the walk, you will be way too hot on your journey back home. If you are comfortable after you've been walking a few miles, you are going to be pretty chilly when you begin. I underdressed today and by the time I returned home, I felt just about right.

One of these days I'm going to need to learn to use my new camera. The instruction manual is over two hundred pages long and the menu in the camera itself offers a labyrinth of confusing choices. Most of the features I want to use are buried deep inside this menu. I guess there is plenty of time to experiment. I have absolutely nothing on my agenda now.

I wish people were better at answering my e-mails. I always answer messages almost immediately. The mask distributor has been silent about replacing my defective N-95 masks. The dehumidifier company hasn't told me whether they received the warranty information I sent them. Even my editor at Sky & Telescope failed to respond to a question I had about my upcoming article. When people do respond they usually tell me that they get hundreds of messages a day and don't have time to respond to everything. This is hard for me to comprehend, since I seldom get five messages a week. Spam doesn't count as a message obviously. I get plenty of spam.

I think Space X is going to do the big high altitude Starship test down in Boca Chica tomorrow. I need to remember to watch this. It ought to be interesting.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3993

I thought I had gotten everything we needed for next week's Santa Paws pictures from the storage warehouse a few day ago. Not so fast. I was looking at my gear today and it felt like something was missing. What was it? Jeez. I had forgotten the two large steel stands and aluminum crossbar that holds up the backdrop. How could I forget this? These three items are the largest, heaviest parts of the entire setup. I'll go back to the storage warehouse tomorrow and retrieve these items. I'll also take a good look around to see if I've forgotten anything else. I need to make a checklist when I get up in the morning. I forget everything these days.

I wish I could forget about all the water on the roof. Since it looks like the weather has cleared up for a few days, it was time to remove all the standing water from yesterday's rain. I've grown to hate this job, but it needs to be done. It must have rained a lot last night, because there was a ton of water on the roof. The water never evaporates in the Winter and falling leaves from the large Oak and Pecan trees form little duck ponds that hold the water in place. It took me almost two hours to remove all the leaves and standing water. While I was working, I found a few new areas that need to be repaired. Why can't I find these things in the Summer when it much easier to patch the roof? If there's ever a warm, dry day in the next month or so, I know what I'll be doing.

We slept in a little later than usual this morning and by the time we were ready to walk, all the rain had stopped. It was still wet and muddy however, so we tried to stick to paved roads. Dawn enjoyed the chilly morning, but I wished I had dressed a little warmer. It's hard to decide what to wear on days like these. When it's windy down by the water it can seem ten degrees cooler. When the sun comes out on a cloudy day, it almost instantly seems ten degrees warmer.

When we were taking inventory of our props for next week's photoshoot, we tried a few hats on Dawn. She was a good sport, but I don't think she likes wearing hats any more than our other dogs. We seldom get Santa pictures of our own dogs because Janet and I are both working at these events. I'm sure that Dawn would much rather stay home and take a long nap on our big bed than be in a kennel run while we were taking pictures. We did take Dot and Dash to a Santa Paws event once and you could tell that they almost immediately wanted to go back home again.

I attached a strap to the new camera and charged the batteries. That's as far as I got. I'm in no particular hurry. I still haven't even finished unpacking from my trip to Florida. It's taking me longer and longer to accomplish anything these days but I keep plodding along. Eventually, everything gets done. I'm going to use an older, more familiar camera for the Santa Paws photoshoot anyway. I learned long ago that the worst time to try something new is when you need everything to go right.

When I was taking my afternoon walk, I watched the sky change from heavily overcast to completely clear in less than an hour. It was really quite beautiful. I enjoy being outdoors. When I was looking up at the sky, I could imagine I was anywhere. The recurring sounds of police sirens and fire trucks quickly reminded me of where I actually was though. I miss the solitude of the Davis Mountains.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3958

I almost went to the gym today. Then I remembered that there was still water on the roof. It's going to rain again soon, but I knew that along with the water, there was a ton of leaves, acorns, and pecans that needed to be cleared away. All this debris makes little dams when it rains and turns the roof into a series of duck ponds. I eventually got everything cleared away and ready for the next rain. I'm sure that I burned a lot more calories than I would have if I'd gone to the gym.

We slept in a little late this morning, but it didn't seem to bother Dawn at all. When I finally woke up, she was still curled up under her blanket and in no hurry to get up. We had a nice walk, but nobody set any speed records. By the time we returned home it was almost time for lunch. Since we still hadn't had breakfast yet, we fixed pancakes and sausages instead. 

The whole day was kind of slow. Janet baked an apple pie and I didn't do much of anything. After spending a couple of hours cleaning up the mess on the roof, I didn't have the energy for anything else. I did get 20,000 steps today though. Two long walks and some roof duty. That was about it.

I'm convinced that the virus is spreading through large family gatherings. Every time I walk in the park I see very large family picnics and barbecues. Everybody has learned to be wary of strangers but they are a little too comfortable with people they know. I'm not terribly close to my own family, so it's hard for me to understand why people like to gather together. It's happening though. I have a feeling that weddings, funerals, reunions, and birthday parties are far more dangerous than trips to the grocery store.

I washed my favorite drywall mask in the washing machine today and now it smells like soap instead of sawdust. I don't know what this thing is made of. It's not paper and it's not fabric. I thought it might disintegrate in the wash, but it held up pretty well. The mask looks a lot better now. It suffered a mishap out at the observatory when I forgot I had it on and tried to take a bite of a taco.

I still need to order a replacement for the part that fell off my tripod at the observatory. Luckily, the missing piece is not very expensive. Ordinarily, I would have taken care of this by now but I'm operating on a retiree's clock these days. There is no sense of urgency about anything. One of these days I will need the tripod again, but not this week. It's weird to have lost my desire to continually acquire new and better gear. Since I've become interested in astrophotography, it would be tempting to upgrade my camera gear. There are definitely things I could improve. The existing cameras are more than adequate though. Why bother. I don't really have the money anyway.

I will need the cameras tomorrow. There is a new Dalmatian up at the kennel. He's going through heartworm treatment now, but will be available for adoption as soon as he's healthy again. I'll need to get him up on the website soon. At least Charlie isn't all alone any more.

I wish that NASA would reschedule the Crew-1 launch. I'd like to know what I'm going to be doing in November. The launch was originally scheduled to take place on Halloween. I hope the new schedule doesn't move the launch to Thanksgiving. I'd hate to miss Thanksgiving dinner. We'll see what happens. At least I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. It's going to be another Dalmatian Monday.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2317

There was a pile of mail on our doorstep early this morning. It obviously didn't come from the post office, so I will have to assume that it was another batch of misdirected mail that our mail carrier left at a neighbor's house instead. This has happened before. Luckily, our neighbors are usually more reliable about returning the mail than the post office is in delivering it. We used to have a fabulous mail carrier, but things have gone downhill in recent years. I suspect that the post office has become mired in bureaucracy, just like the veterans administration and other government agencies. It's hard to fire bad mail carriers too. They probably have a job for life.

It was difficult to focus on anything today. I had some websites to update, but there wasn't enough work to keep me occupied for long. I kind of drifted aimlessly through the day. I paid some bills, took a small check to the bank, picked up a prescription, and bought a big bag of Cheetos. I really try to eat healthy, but I've become addicted to Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos. I hope the red dye in these things doesn't give you cancer, because it sure stains your hands when you eat them. I don't know what happened to the guy who studiously avoided wheat products and dined on Kale and Quinoa for over two years. I hate to admit it, but I've become a culinary backslider, trading fish and fresh veggies for bacon cheeseburgers whenever I can.

My big production printer is out of ink again. Do I buy eight more expensive cartridges, or do I just give up on the thing? The printer is a relic from another era. I used to make beautiful very large Giclée prints. I sold the prints and had several gallery shows. After a while I lost interest. Now, I just make a small test print every evening to keep the printer from clogging. I've run through two complete sets of ink cartridges making the same test print over and over again. The printer is ready if I need it, but I doubt that I will ever need it again. I haven't made a large exhibition quality print in three years.

I don't take as many photos as I used to either, although I keep checking the B&H website every few days to see if the camera I want is still on sale. The camera has been discounted quite a bit, so I suspect that it is being discontinued. That doesn't matter to me. Practically everything I own has been discontinued. Truthfully, I don't need a new camera any more than I need a huge commercial ink jet printer. It's frustrating. I'm just as addicted to gear as I am to Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos, but the cameras and computers are much more expensive. There was a time when these things were just normal business expenses, but that ship has sailed. I'm going to have to come up with a less expensive way to spend my remaining years.

I've got lots to remember tomorrow. It's time for Dot to take her next batch of Palladia pills. Our physical therapy session is also tomorrow, even though I still keep thinking it's on Thursday. My leather jacket is ready to pick up at the tailor shop. I'm sure there are other things as well. I'll try not to take the trash out a day early like I did last week. It's hard to remember what day it is when you keep track by how many bananas are left in the kitchen. If it's four bananas, it must be Wednesday.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2082

Not my circus. Not my monkeys. This has become my universal response to just about everything I see these days. The world has become such a strange and chaotic place that I am having difficulty relating to things that are apparently normal now. Almost every time I turn on the TV I am reminded of this old Polish idiom. I feel the same way on those rare occasions when I visit a client's office or go to a public event. "What planet am I on," I sometimes think. Coincidentally, I drove by an actual circus when I was running errands this afternoon. I didn't see my monkeys there either. Even this little parking lot circus seemed strangely out of place to me.

Reading books used to seem normal to me, so I bought a book today. I've been meaning to read Andy Weir's The Martian for quite a while, but somehow never got around to it. I've known about the book for ages since it is a favorite of the space geeks I follow on social media. I've actually read big chunks of the book online, but have never read the whole thing. Maybe now would be a good time. I always like to read a book before they make a movie out of it. 9 times out of 10, the book is better than the movie.

I went to the storage warehouse today and picked up the equipment I'll need for this weekend's photo shoot. The equipment seems to get heavier every time I load it in the car. It would be nice if there was a place in the house to store this stuff, but that option disappeared years ago. Now that Dot has trouble moving around, the house has become more crowded than ever. There are dog beds everywhere, so she'll have a comfortable place to rest wherever she is. Dot has limited mobility, but she is much happier when she still has free reign of the house. She has a comfortable bed in every room now and I don't have to confine her in a small pen to keep her safe. When we go to sleep, I move several of these beds together to create a large area that she won't slide off of when she tries to re-position herself during the night. One of the beds goes in the car whenever we go to her physical therapy sessions. I feel like I'm always moving dog beds around.

I tried to rig up an alternate pet cam this afternoon. The baby monitor that I use to monitor the dogs when I'm away has been crashing a lot lately. It makes me nervous when I open the app on my phone to see what's going on and all I get is an "unable to connect" message. I usually fix the baby monitor the same way I fix every other electronic device in the house. I turn the thing off and then turn it back on again. It's amazing how simply rebooting something just about always solves the problem. At any rate it would be good to have an independent back up camera in case the baby monitor goes wonky again.

It doesn't take a lot to make me happy. I saw Mars on the Eastern horizon as we walked the dogs this morning. I got one of the three good parking places when I went out for breakfast. Dot didn't poop in the house at all today. And I'm all caught up on the week's work. Quite a few things make me unhappy as well, but maybe it I don't turn on the TV, don't pick up the phone, and avoid rush hour traffic I won't notice them so much.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2045

It was an exceptionally slow day. Now that we're getting up early to walk the dogs before sunrise, the days seem even longer. Sometimes they're too long. After I spent as much time as I could watering the lawn, eating breakfast, checking my stocks, and making sure Dot was comfortable, I realized I still had to get to work. I got on the Internet and reviewed how to install and configure Chromecast. I promised a client that I would set up Chromecast to play videos and slide shows in their lobby tomorrow and I've already forgotten how. I just added Chromecast to my own office network a few weeks ago, but since I was alone at the time, I didn't need to act like I knew what I was doing. It's weird how quickly I forget things. The online instructions were clear, so I think I've got my ducks in a row. You never know though; I could forget a lot by tomorrow morning.

Since there wasn't much work on the agenda today, I though I'd play my guitar for a while. I always play through a preamp using headphones, so I won't disturb the dogs. Unfortunately, when I'm wearing earphones, I can't hear what the dogs are doing. I would periodically get up, take the headphones off and check on Dot and Dash, just to make sure they were both still sleeping. It's hard for me to relax anymore. I seldom play entire songs. I usually just noodle around, playing random blues scales and riffs. I find this relaxing. I used to write songs this way. I would just aimlessly play random things until something melodic struck my ear. Sometimes it would take hours of aimless playing, but a song would eventually appear. I would then sit down and write lyrics to this scrap of a melody by hand on a big yellow tablet. If the tune still seemed like a song a couple of days later, I would call some friends and we would record it. I haven't written a song in a long time. I wrote sad songs mostly and I'm not sad anymore. I'm just tired.

I buy most of my camera gear from B&H in New York. Unlike most spam, I love getting e-mail from companies like B&H and Sweetwater. Every once in a while B&H sends me an e-mail with a Daily Deal that is impossible to resist. Today, they tried to tempt me with an HDMI field monitor at a ridiculously low price. It was a good brand too. I realize that most deals like this are for merchandise that will soon be discontinued, but what do I care. I still work with a lot of equipment that is thirty years old. When I realized that I could get the monitor for almost nothing if I used an B&H gift card that was lying around in my desk to lower the price even further, I was hooked. Lord knows when I will actually use this cool little field monitor.  I've only been asked to produce a single corporate video this entire year.

I'm worried about Dot. If she sleeps well, she's usually pretty good early in the morning. She still really enjoys her pre-dawn walks, but she tires quickly. After she and Dash have had their breakfast and morning walk, they basically just sleep for the rest of the day. As the day progresses, Dot goes downhill. By dinner time she has a pronounced limp and often can barely walk. We're trying to use acupuncture to stimulate her weak leg at our Thursday therapy sessions, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. The leg has a constant tremor now. It's almost like she has Parkinson's Disease. I really don't know what to do. Dot has a fabulous medical team and is receiving the best possible care, but sometimes you just run out of options.

I always look forward to the Thursday physical therapy sessions. The acupuncture really does make Dot feel better for a few days and I think the muscle atrophy in her rear legs would be even worse if she didn't use the underwater treadmill. We're just slowing down the inevitable though. I wish there was more I could do.

Pongo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1777

I voted today. It was easy to find a polling place. You just look for a nearby church or school with hundreds of yard signs out front. I always wonder why so many judges run unopposed. There were pages and pages of judges on the ballot with no opponent. I didn't know who any of them were. I think the only people who are interested in these local judge races are lawyers. All the lawyers in our neighborhood have a big sign for some type of judge in their yard. I think most of the propositions on the ballot are purposefully written to confuse voters. You have to read them really carefully or you can easily end up voting exactly the opposite of what you had planned. We have voter ID here in Texas, but it didn't seem to be causing the problems that some pundits claimed. Since everyone drove to the polling place, they all had driver's licenses.

I don't understand the fierce opposition to voter ID anyway. Disabled and elderly people have been able to vote by mail in Texas for decades, so not being able to drive really isn't an issue. Everyone else needs an ID just to be a functioning member of modern society. I probably get asked to show my drivers license a dozen times a week. You can't fly without showing an ID. Many stores ask to see a photo ID before you use your credit card. Very few doctors will treat you without seeing an ID first. Banks want to see your ID. You really can't do much of anything without having an identity. Why should voting be different?

Personally, I think we should be making it a little harder to vote. I don't care who you vote for, but I think you owe it to the other voters to at least be familiar with the issues and the candidates. If you haven't got a clue, just stay home.

I ordered a wireless microphone system for an upcoming video project today. The radio mics cost more than what I'll make from doing the video. Do I care? Obviously not. Writing still pays the bills for me. For the most part, video and photography jobs are just an excuse to buy cool gear. The wireless mics probably aren't even essential for this particular job. I just want to see how they work.

One of my neighbors asked me if I'd made a hand print in the new concrete bike path that's slowly taking shape behind my house. Nope. Somehow, the thought of sticking my hand in wet concrete never crossed my mind. This guy was real excited though. He said his hand print would last for a thousand years. Maybe he meant to say ten years. Nothing lasts very long in Dallas.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1166

It was another day that started out cold and ended up surprisingly warm. That's fine by me. All's well that ends well, as far as I'm concerned. There were quite a few picnickers out in the park today. It's probably a good time to have a picnic. The ants aren't out in force yet.

While I was at the grocery store today, I wandered aimlessly through aisle after aisle, looking for something that was completely healthy, could be kept in the freezer, and was microwavable. The illusive, easy-to-fix, healthy meal didn't exist. Oh, there were tons of things that met this description, if you just ignored the word healthy. Everything that looked the least bit tempting was chock full of salt, sugar, and trans fats. Even a bag of Chinese stir fry vegetables, which reminded me of my ill fated attempts to fix simple Thai food in a wok, contained an alarming amount of salt. Too bad I don't like to cook. Cooking meals with fresh ingredients seems to be the only real solution.

With Spring on the horizon, I'm starting to lust after photo gear again. This happens every Spring. I'll see something pretty to photograph and realize that the picture would be much better if only I had a different kind of lens. Sometimes I will actually buy the lens, take the photo I'm imagining, and then never use the lens again. When I'm thinking rationally, I just do nothing and wait for the gear lust to subside.

I'm certainly not thinking rationally when it comes to my car. My fear of another random breakdown overcame me today and I filled my tank with premium gas instead of regular. Maybe I thought I was doing the car a favor and it would respond in kind. Who knows? Rationally, filling my tank with premium will make no difference whatsoever. The Defender engine was designed to run on regular.

A friend of mine who also has a flat roof told me recently that the foam roof solution I've been thinking about won't work unless the roof is completely dry, with no residual moisture beneath the foam. That's discouraging. I don't don't think the plywood decking under my roof has ever been completely dry.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day