Day 1229

I picked up some additional memory cards for one of my cameras today. I was amazed to discover that you can now buy 64GB high capacity SD cards for less than $40. Three or four years ago, these high speed, ultra high capacity cards were over $300, if you could even find them. Why can't everything work like the electronics industry? Electronics inevitably tend to get cheaper and better over time. Everything else seems to get more expensive while the quality gets worse. If roofing technology kept advancing at the same pace as solid state memory technology, I could probably get a brand new roof for $300.

It doesn't work that way though. Furniture is much more expensive than it used to be. The cost of a decent mattress is ridiculous. Cooking utensils keep getting more expensive. So do shoes and clothing. The cost of clothing should be coming down, since everything is made in China now. The clothes I buy keep getting more expensive though. What's that all about? The only sector of the economy that gives you a break anymore is consumer electronics. Large flat panel televisions are a bargain now. DSLR cameras are not only a bargain, they're amazingly capable. I love buying computers, because they're usually a fantastic deal.

When is all this innovation going to hit the roofing industry? If you can send a man to the moon, you ought to be able to develop an economical roof that doesn't leak. Maybe that's the problem. We can't sent a man to the moon anymore.

It was a beautiful day. When the weather is this nice, I usually putter around in the yard. There is no need to do this anymore though. The landscapers have done all my puttering for me. With no yard work to do, I ran errands instead. I'll be glad when I get my car back from the shop. I don't like driving the LR4 as much as my Defender. The car is too big. Instead of zipping in and out of tight parking spaces, I have to keep a close eye on what's going on around me. It's easy to get too close to curbs and other cars with this behemoth.

It looks like it's going to be a good day to go to the dog park tomorrow. It might be a good day to give the dogs a bath as well. They've managed to escape a bath for well over a month now, and it's about time to clean them up again. Dot and Dash are going to a Dalmatian Rescue event next week and Janet hates to go to these shindigs with a dirty dog. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind what I wear though.

Bowser is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1226

It continues to baffle me why everything I buy seems to get more expensive, while everything I sell seems to get cheaper. It hardly seems fair. The landscaper came out today to fertilize and treat the soil for grubs. He charged almost exactly double what I thought he'd charge. I take my car to the shop again tomorrow and I fully expect the same thing to happen. Appliance repairmen, plumbers, roofers, and auto mechanics all seem way too expensive these days. It wouldn't be so bad if people still wanted to pay for writing and photography. They don't. Everybody tends to think "there's an app for that" when it comes to creative endeavors. They all think they could do it themselves if they just had a bit more time. Clients only appreciate what I do after they've tried to do it themselves. They still don't want to pay, unfortunately.

Even though the landscaper is expensive, I asked him to give me a bid for re-doing the front yard when he was here today. The back yard looks so good now that is seems a shame not to have the entire yard look the same way. The landscaper still seems like a bargain compared to the roofers too. I still can't figure out why the cost of putting on a roof has gone up so much in the past ten years. My personal theory is that people don't get a new roof now until there is hail damage and their insurance company will pay the bill. It's probably a lot like health insurance. The roofers have probably learned that when people aren't paying with their own money, they don't really care what the price is.

It's a two way street though. Some of my clients think I'm too expensive. I think I'm still an incredible bargain, but it doesn't really matter if they don't agree. Probably the roofers are the same way. They've got to make a living too; paying the same ridiculously high real estate taxes, health insurance premiums, and utility bills that I do. Even though I hate paying through the nose for everything, I have a lot more sympathy for the landscaper, the roofer, and the plumber than I do for the folks on public assistance sitting home watching their big screen TV. At least these small business entrepreneurs are trying to earn a living on their own.

Now that I've taken almost two years of wildflower pictures, I've started to notice that each new variety starts to bloom at almost exactly the same time as it did the previous year. The master clock that controls nature is really pretty amazing. Today, the Antelope Horns came into bloom, right on schedule. These tennis ball sized clusters of small green flowers are among my favorites. They are so precise, they almost look like miniature radio telescopes made for ants.

Want to place any bets on whether my car actually gets fixed tomorrow?  I'm going to explain how the engine continues to run real rough between 1000 and 2000 rpm. They're going to nod like they know exactly what's going on. Then three or four days later, I'm going to pick up the car from the dealership and notice on the way home that it's running just as rough as it was before.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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