Day 3503

The Internet is working again. I wasn't imagining things. There really was a problem. It turns out that the last time the fiber optic cable was attached to the box on my house, they did a sloppy job and the end of the glass fiber was a little dirty. There was also a splice in the cable that made the situation worse. Evidently, there are always small errors in the data coming through the fiber, but the second box on the wall inside the house is designed to compensate for the errors. If the end of the cable isn't perfectly clean, it can cause reflections in the light coming through the cable and confuse the box that is trying to correct the data errors. This is why my system had to be constantly reset. The technician told me that the cable was too short to cut the end off and make a better connection, so he installed a completely new cable out to the street.

This is the third time AT&T has had to do this. Like all the other installations, today's new above ground cable is only temporary. Another crew will come out next week and bury the cable. You'd think they'd just bury the cable the technician installed today, but typically they just throw this cable away and bury an all new cable instead which also needs a special technician to hook it up. "Is this why my bill is so high," I asked the technician? He just laughed. These fiber optic technicians are the first to admit that the crews who bury the cables underground usually screw up all their work. "Why don't the guys who bury the cable come out with you, so you can do everything at the same time," I asked. "That would make too much sense," the technician told me. AT&T hires third party contractors to bury the cables because they want to do this process as cheaply as they can. The people who dig the holes know nothing about fiber optics and how fragile the cables are. Most of the time they are putting in sprinkler systems. I don't think they are saving any money at all. This is the third time I've had to have the fiber optic line installed and they still can't get it right. Everything is working now though. Janet probably picked a good week to be away.

I still had time to go to the gym after the technician completed his work. I basically spent the rest of the day exercising and walking and might have set a new Fitbit record. 22,000 steps today. Needless to say, it was very hot outside. One of the many indicators on my new watch is a daily UV Index. Along with the air quality reading, this basically tells me whether I should just stay inside. The Ultraviolet Index is usually very high toward the middle of the day when the sky is clear. I guess I should be wearing sunblock even when I'm walking. No wonder my skin is starting to look like a lizard.

I got some pictures of Jenga and Pongo in their new homes this afternoon. They looked happy. It was amazing how relaxed they both seemed. You could tell that they had settled in to their new surroundings very quickly. Dogs know when they have found a home. I predict that they'll be sleeping on the bed in a matter of days.

The carpenter told me he needed to come back to the house and look at the greenhouse again before he could give me a firm estimate. The tree guy forgot where I live. The roofer told me that he would bring me some of the silicon product "soon." I don't know whether this means tomorrow or next month. The fact that I'm still communicating with these people is progress though. Eventually everything will get done.

I have no idea what will get done tomorrow. It's hard to get motivated in this heat.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2295

I took my tax information over to the accountant this morning. I used to bring a heavy pile of three-ring binders, file folders, and envelopes full of receipts. Now, I basically just bring a single CD with my Quickbooks Pro files. You'd think this would make it easier for the accountant and he'd give me a discount, but he actually charges me more. Times have changed. Oh, well. I've become very fatalistic about taxes. I just pay what I'm told to pay and try not to think about it.

On the way home I stopped at the REI store and got a pair of hiking pants for walking the dogs. It's only a matter of time before I have an entire wardrobe full of REI clothes. They aren't particularly stylish, but they seem extremely durable and well made. The pants I bought today reminded me of my old Defender 90. I don't know why I like indestructible things so much. Maybe it's because I feel we are living in an increasingly apocalyptic world.

With my taxes out of the way, I thought I'd catch up on a few other things as well. I called an audio repair shop to ask about a tape recorder I'd left with them ages ago. They said they were still waiting on a part that was on back order. Jeez, are they getting this part from Pluto? I brought the recorder in for service last October. I'm a very patient person, but this is getting ridiculous.

I had better luck when I called the landscapers. They said they'd be out to take a look at the yard tomorrow. These guys are good, but they always want to charge me too much. I have to explain that I'm not asking them to do nearly as much as they did three years ago. They seem to like the price they got three years ago. Eventually, we come to a mutual agreement, but it shouldn't have to be this hard. I also called the roofer, but he didn't even return my call. That's pretty typical for a roofer. I'll probably have to bug this guy for a month to get him to come over and patch the current crop of bare spots.

I was so efficient about taking care of unfinished business today that I don't what I'm going to do tomorrow. If the weather stays nice, maybe I'll mow the grass. The first step is to see if the big 24 volt battery will hold a charge. The second step is to take the battery to be re-celled when it dies unexpectedly after five minutes of use. The third step it to actually mow the grass and then complain about how the weeds have taken over again. That ought to take most of the day.

Hopefully, I'll get a good night's sleep tonight. That's a lot more important than what I'm going to do tomorrow. I take a a short nap before I start writing the blog in the evenings now. I know I'm going to be up several times during the night with Dot. Naps are good and interrupted sleep is a lot better than no sleep at all.

Doc is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2054

I repaired something fairly complex today by watching a YouTube video. I set my laptop next to the project and every time the guy on the tape said to unscrew a certain bolt or grab a wrench, I would pause the video and do that step exactly the way he said. The whole process took about 45 minutes and worked like a charm. I'm going to start looking for YouTube videos every time I need to fix something. Watching someone else repair the exact same thing you're trying to fix is so much easier to understand than reading poorly written instruction manuals, or my time honored method, taking something apart without following any instructions at all. I think Ikea should include an assembly video with everything they sell. Trying to assemble something using those cryptic numbered drawings Ikea uses to avoid translating the instructions into forty different languages can be maddening. At any rate, YouTube has become my go-to source for learning things these days. I've managed to find detailed instructions on everything from designing mobile websites to fixing the refrigerator.

As I suspected, it was a slow day, so I went out and bought a pair of shorts and some new shoes at an end-of-Sumner sale. I didn't really need any new clothes, but 70% off is hard to resist. I don't think Summer is ending any time soon in Dallas, so I ought to get a lot of use out of these bargains. I also picked up some groceries for the weekend while I was out and about. No bargains here, but I always find it easy to rationalize purchasing the tasty things I find at Whole Foods and Central Market.

Maybe I'm watering the lawn too much, because I'm starting to see mushrooms growing in the back yard again. I always try to remove these as soon as possible, since I don't know my mushrooms well enough to recognize the ones that could be harmful to the dogs. Dot probably wouldn't eat mushrooms, but Dash would. He'll eat just about anything under the right circumstances. If mushrooms are an indication that the yard is too wet, the frogs that appeared out of nowhere to get under the sprinkler while I was watering shrubs this morning, are an indication that things are too dry. I'm never sure what to do about the lawn. I try, but I definitely don't have a green thumb.

Dot pooped in her bed again. There is no rhyme or reason to these accidents. Today's accident happened right after I'd taken her outside, so it caught me by surprise. I need to get one of those "Shit Happens" bumper stickers. This is quite literally what happens in our house these days. I try my best to be patient when Dot has an accident. She can't help it. I just hope the same thing doesn't start happening with me a few more years down the road. Getting old basically sucks, no matter who you are.

The weather forecast said there was a 20% chance of rain this afternoon. No such luck. After all the complaining I've done about rain over the years, you wouldn't think I'd be wishing for a downpour, but I was. It's gotten way too dry. The dogs hate the heat. The plants are dying. I'm ready for some rain.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1786

Although the rain continued today, it seemed a lot more tolerable than yesterday. It was easier to find little windows of opportunity where I would walk the dogs without getting wet. It was a bit warmer than yesterday. And most importantly, I had enough work to keep me busy, so the day passed quickly. Ordinarily, I would have gone to the grocery store on a day like this, but I scrounged for leftovers in the refrigerator instead. I still didn't feel like driving.

I was finally able to contact someone and get them to sell me a replacement for the broken part of my iPhone case. Actually, I was very impressed by this type of service. It's virtually impossible to buy component parts anymore. It's a throw away society now and typically when you break something, you just throw it away instead of trying to repair it. If I ever upgrade to an iPhone 6, I'll buy another case from these guys. Anyone who makes a product that is repairable and then actually encourages you to repair it is worthy of a little loyalty in my book.

I can't figure out why there seems to be more mosquitoes inside the house these days than there are outside.  I know that some fly inside when I leave the back door open for the dogs, but I never thought they'd thrive indoors. That's what's happening though. They must be breeding. At least these are very slow mosquitoes. They are very easy to swat and kill when I notice them flying around. I thought the warm dry air would kill the little beasts when I turned the furnace on for the Winter, but all that did was make my sinus problems worse. Eventually, I'll get all the mosquitoes though. What else is there to do on a rainy day?

I wish I had more writing jobs. Writing seems so easy compared to the more technical things I do for a living. Website design is problematic, since the technology keeps changing. People's expectations are pretty high now, and I find it harder and harder hard to keep up with the latest developments. Photography has its own set of problems. I'm an excellent photographer, but I've really grown tired of hauling heavy lights and equipment around. With the budgets I work with these days, it hardly seems worth the effort. I often feel like showing up for assignments and just taking pictures with my phone.

I think the rain is over. Tomorrow is actually supposed to be a nice day. I certainly hope so. The refrigerator is empty and I need to go to the store. Dot has an appointment for her physical therapy session too. If I get caught up with my work, I may even go up on the roof again. I know there's a lot of water waiting for me up there.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1631

I spent the day getting unsatisfactory answers to some very reasonable questions. How long has it been since you called someone and found a real person on the line who could actually answer your question? It's a pretty safe bet that the larger the organization, the longer you're going to wait. I will only call a government agency when I have plenty of time on my hands. I just put the phone on speaker and continue working on the computer until someone finally answers. Often the wait time is up to an hour. Today I only had to wait thirty five minutes. There were other calls as well. I was perplexed when I got another bill today for auto insurance that I'd already paid for less than a month ago. I sold a car recently, so I thought it was reasonable that I should be getting some money back. Nope! When I called my agent, he told me that I lost my multi-car discount when I sold the second car, so my rate had actually increased. Go figure. You really can't win these days.

I like repairing things, so I was delighted to pick up my favorite winter jacket from the tailor this afternoon and discover that it was good as new again. Earlier this Winter, the neighbor's dog had ripped the arm of the jacket when it tried to bite me. This is a very weird dog. It likes Janet, but always tries to bite me when I am unlucky enough to encounter it without a leash in the back alley. It should never be off a leash, but occasionally it gets loose. The dog is well trained and if I am quick enough to say "sit" or "stay" before it bites me, it always obeys. Sometimes I'm not quick enough though. To their credit, the neighbors offered to pay for the jacket, but I told them to forget about it and just try to keep the dog inside their fence when I walk Dot and Dash down the alley.

I paid a bunch of bills today and it got me wondering about what I was going to cut back on when I finally did retire. A social security check isn't even going to begin to pay these bills. I'm not sure what I could live without either. On some days, I could toss it all. Other days, I feel like hanging on to everything. I used to think that my IRA account would take care of me pretty well, but that was before the big financial meltdown of 2008. One more big crash like this and all bets are off. I'm pretty frugal, but I'm terrible at predicting the future. Even though I'm a very pessimistic person, I always think the future is going to be better than it actually turns out to be.

If the weather is nice tomorrow, we'll go back to dog training class again. I've moved Dot's acupuncture and water therapy session from Wednesday to Thursday, so the underwater treadmill workout won't make her too tired for class. She was pretty slow when we took her back to class a few weeks ago, but I think she still enjoys going. Dot and Dash are still active and energetic on their early morning walks, but go to sleep again as soon as they return home. I worry that I may have overworked them until I get out their dinner bowls. As soon as they hear food related noises, they both instantly spring to life again.

Maybe I'll go to the gym tomorrow. If today was any indication, there certainly isn't much reason to sit at this computer all day.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1563

Dash got himself in a snit today when he discovered that it was Dot who was going to the vet instead of him. He's been getting all the attention lately, so I think he just assumed that all car rides are automatically reserved for him now. Dot needs attention too, so we resumed our acupuncture and water therapy sessions for the first time in several weeks. Dot did very well in the tank today and seemed quite relaxed during her acupuncture session as well. I think she enjoyed having a day out by herself.

My accountant called today and said that the good news was that I was getting a tax refund this year, but the bad news was that I wouldn't be getting much. Taxes used to upset me and I would fret about them endlessly. I don't even care anymore. I trust my accountant and I don't really want to think about taxes anymore. If I need to write a check, I write a check. If I get money back, it is quickly gone anyway. Either way, it's not going to change my life much.

I wish I hadn't told the HVAC guy to come over tomorrow, because now I won't be able to go out for my regular Friday breakfast. I guess I forgot it was Friday tomorrow. Dash will be away getting another radiation treatment in the morning, but this will probably make Dot bark at the HVAC guy even more. She gets real serious about protecting the house when she knows she's on her own. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep the peace and convince Dot to settle down. She's way too old to work herself into a frenzy over a repairman in the house.

I finally convinced one of my writing clients to let me choose my own subject matter. I wrote my first self-generated article today and hope they like it. I realize that I won't always be able to choose what I write about, but it will be nice when I can. I really prefer working this way.

The bird decoys on the cars are working. I haven't cleaned bird poop off either car for over three days now. Of course there's always a chance that the warm weather has just caused the troublesome bird to move elsewhere. I'd prefer to think it was my brilliant idea that stopped the bird from making a big mess on the car every morning.

This week went very quickly, but the time can't go quickly enough for me these days. I'll be so glad when Dash's cancer treatments and my own Hepatitis C treatments are a thing of the past.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1325

Land Rover called me with a "just kidding" message about the special part they ordered for me last week. Even though repairs were scheduled and the parts manager told me that the part was definitely available when I left the dealership, apparently the elusive part doesn't exist after all. Things like this are very frustrating for me because they happen so often. We live in a throwaway society and nobody seems to care about maintaining old stuff anymore. Somewhere along the line, companies discovered that they could make a lot more money if things were simply replaced instead of being repaired. This has all happened fairly recently. Twenty years ago, virtually everything I owned could have been kept running forever by replacing a few inexpensive parts. Those days are gone forever. I have spent weeks looking for spare parts to repair toilets, faucets, furnaces, cameras and cars. All the things I was trying to repair were well made and could have lasted indefinitely with proper maintenance. Well-made and repairable aren't terms you hear much anymore, unfortunately. Instead, we get bombarded with new features that tempt us to abandon the old and get something new instead. It's such a waste. I still prefer well made things that can be maintained forever, but this kind of thinking is a bit like preferring unicorns to horses.

I would definitely prefer some cooler weather, but it doesn't look like I'm going to get that either. It was another triple digit day and the dogs hated it. We took an early walk this morning, but it was already too hot before we even left the house. By the time we returned, we were exhausted. Dot and Dash slept the rest of the day and I went to the gym. One thing I like about my gym is that it is well air conditioned. It's one thing to work up a sweat. It's another thing entirely to be drenched in sweat before you even get started. I'll take an indoor workout any day of the week. I don't understand what all the cyclists and runners I see out in the August heat get out of their self induced punishment.

On the way home from the gym I went to look for some soup bowls. Janet and I are both so clumsy that we routinely break bowls and glasses. Having brick floors in the kitchen and dining areas probably doesn't help the longevity of these items either. I was looking for those oven proof bowls you make French onion soup in, but I couldn't find any as nice at the set we'd broken. I finally found something acceptable at Bed Bath and Beyond. You always have to have a coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond. When I took my blue discount coupon up to the cashier, she said my set of four bowls was really just four individual bowls and I could only use the 20% off coupon for one of my bowls. WTF?  I still think it was a set of four.

I have to get my blood work done tomorrow morning, To help skew the numbers a bit in my favor, I had a big helping of kale salad and didn't eat any dessert. I'm sure it won't make much of a difference anyway. It's always been hard to see a discernible trend in my test results.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1292

Today was a day of inconsequential activities. I was certainly busy enough, but did any of it really matter? I cleaned lint out of the dryer with one of those Lint Lizard things you've probably seen advertised on TV. I scraped loose paint and plaster off the rain damaged living room ceiling in preparation for doing something more substantial later. I bought new bags for the vacuum cleaner at an odd little store that should have gone out of business twenty years ago. I fixed a broken latch with superglue on a VHS tape deck that I'll probably never use again. I hadn't been up on the roof for a while, so I swept leaves off the dry roof. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that wild animals have been peeing on the new white roof and leaving stains. At least I hope it was wild animals. While all this was going on, the large format printer ran its lengthy cleaning cycle and wasted a lot of expensive ink.

Probably the only useful thing I did today was get my blood tested at the local health food store's Summer cholesterol screening. Janet and I thought we'd beat the crowds by arriving before the store opened, but apparently everyone else had the same idea. There was already a line when we arrived. The line moved fast though and we were in and out in less than twenty minutes. Afterwards, we went home and had a big breakfast. A friend of Janet's had given her some fresh eggs from chickens she was raising and you could sure taste the difference. I guess the only way to get really fresh, healthy food is to grow or raise it yourself.

Every time someone tells me about the beauties of nature, I take what they say with a grain of salt. I walk through nature every day. I see sparrows chasing the purple martins away from their homes. I see ugly Johnson Grass encroaching on the beautiful native prairie behind our house. And since it's almost July, I'm starting to see bagworms again. Bagworms have destroyed countless trees in the park. They get into our own trees as well. Once these things get established, they can be very difficult to get rid of. Oh, well. At least we don't have rats anymore. The neighborhood feral cat population has grown so large that they've eaten them all.

I don't think we'll spend long at the dog park tomorrow. It's too hot. Dot and Dash still expect an outing on Sundays, but they also expect the weather to be nice when they get out of the car. Sorry guys, I can't help you with the weather. If I could, I'd have done something about these oppressive Summers years ago.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

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

Watch of the Day

Day 1186

My expensive car repair certainly didn't amount to much. The Defender is already back in the shop. This time it didn't even make it back to the dealership under its own power. The car died on me right in the middle of one of the busiest streets in Dallas during rush hour. People honked at me as I waited for the tow truck to arrive. I was almost certain that I'd be rear ended by someone who was texting while driving, but miraculously, I managed to get the car back to the dealership without further damage. I sure wish that the mechanics had solved this problem when the car was in the shop last week. I certainly described the problem clearly enough. When I left the Defender at the dealership the last time, I told them that it stalled out at inopportune times and leaked oil. They fixed the leaking oil part, but obviously did nothing about the stalling part.

I'm really getting tired of everything falling apart on me. Repairing everything all at once will take copious amounts of money, which I don't happen to have at the moment. Unfortunately, repairing things one at a time, as I'm doing now, requires copious amounts of patience, which I'm a bit short on as well. Maybe I should have elevated car problems a little higher on the list. Right now, Dot's health problems seem the most important, followed by my own health problems. Next would probably be my leaking roof. There are carpets that need to be replaced, walls that need to be painted, and quite a bit of obsolete business equipment. Ironically, landscaping the yard, which is the one thing that actually is getting done in the near future, was always near the bottom of my to-do list. The only reason that this project got tapped for completion was that it was easy to do without disrupting everything inside. I can still get my work done. The dogs may bark a bit, but it isn't going to be nearly as bad as it would be if there were people actually working on things inside the house. Fixing the car always gets put off, because there's always something I need to do in the car. Also, I still naively think that when I do take the car to the shop, that everything broken will be fixed. Never happens!

I'm trying to find a new breakfast restaurant that has a delicious menu that isn't based around eggs, sausages, bread, and gravy. A few places have a really good veggie omelet, but for the most part, these omelets are just eggs with a few onions and bell pepper slices thrown in. Today's restaurant choice was a fail. Don't get me wrong. The food was delicious. It was just traditional heavy, gut-buster fare. Honestly, I don't even know what I'm looking for. I don't want yoghurt. I'm tired of oatmeal, because that's what I eat during the week. I'm supposed to avoid sugar, wheat products, dairy products, and cured meats. This pretty well sums up everything I  have ever enjoyed for breakfast.

At least Spring has arrived. The weather has been spectacular for the past several days. Trees are starting to turn green, the redbuds and dogwood trees are in full bloom, and I'm starting to see a whole new crop of Texas wildflowers. Spring doesn't officially arrive until next Wednesday, but someone forgot to tell the flowering plants.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1109

It must have rained last night. I slept through the shower, but there was ample evidence that a storm had passed through. The paths through the park were all muddy and the plants were covered with dew. There wasn't much evidence remaining that it had ever snowed however. That's the way the weather is in Texas. Easy come. Easy go. I was disappointed to see this new rain because it meant all my efforts to clear the ice off the roof yesterday were wasted. Of course, I didn't even have to look to know that the roof was now covered with two inches of standing water all over again. I really think I know how Sisyphus felt, pushing his immense boulder up that hill for eternity.

I got off to such a slow start this morning that I might as well just have ordered lunch when I finally arrived at my designated breakfast restaurant. Since I'm a stickler for ritual, I went ahead and ordered a big breakfast anyway. After I finished eating, I took my warm goose down jacket to a little neighborhood tailor to get a new zipper sewn in. The tailor said he could put a new elastic drawstring at the bottom of the coat as well. I'm glad there are still a few people like this around. I'd hate to throw away a perfectly good coat, just because the zipper was broken.

On cold, damp days like this I tend to get a lot of writing done. What else is there to do anyway? I wasn't under any deadline pressure, but I pretty much got caught up on things for the year today. I probably should have saved a few of these assignments for a rainy day, but hey, it was a rainy day.

I'm tempted to go buy a couple of bales of hay to spread around the back yard. It's going to be impossible to grow new grass until Spring anyway and the mud in the yard is getting worse and worse. I'm not really sure where you buy bales of hay in the city though. Some garden stores carry hay bales around Halloween to set your pumpkins on top of, but that's about it.

When I went to the grocery store today I noticed that my tires looked low again. It makes sense, I guess. Hot air expands and cold air contracts. I suppose I'll have to drag out the air compressor tomorrow and pump the tires up again. I can tell by looking that they only have about 20 pounds of pressure in them now.

I was looking forward to watching a new Dr. Who episode tomorrow, since I enjoyed seeing "The Snowmen" episode last week so much. Wouldn't you know. There isn't going to be another new episode until April. Didn't Series 7 begin last September? Jeez, I've never seen a show take so long to air 14 episodes.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1088

I found a brand new breakfast restaurant today. The place has only been open for a couple of days. With its trendy industrial chic decor, inexpensive prices, and fast service, I have a feeling that this place will be a success. I'm not a good judge of success in the business world however. Most places I like go out of business quickly. Maybe it was just because the place was new, but I couldn't really tell who this restaurant would appeal to. The people sitting at nearby tables looked like a convention of the dispossessed. Although I have lived in the neighborhood for years, I didn't recognize anyone.

An overheard customer/cashier conversation: "I like your logo. What is it?" "Umm, it's the devil." "Oh, dear. Well, it certainly is a cute little devil." Although the food was pretty good, I think this place is actually a bar that just happens to open early and serve food. If you ever feel like having your bacon and eggs with Tequila, this would be the place.

Since tomorrow is another Santa Paws photo day, I tried to get some of my weekend errands done after breakfast. While driving around in the car, I listened to a fascinating interview with Dave Brubeck that was initially recorded in 1999. I guess the station was replaying the interview today because Dave died recently. I never realized that Brubeck grew up on a ranch, studied veterinary medicine in college, and initially wanted to be a cowboy like his Dad. The older I get, the more it becomes obvious that I don't know nearly as much as I thought I knew.

Those discount coupons and gift cards you get from merchants during the holidays can be dangerous. I got a $50 gift card from my favorite clothing store the other day. The only catch was that you had to buy something worth more than $100 to be able to use it. The card was burning a hole in my pocket, so I ended up going over to the store and buying something I didn't even need, just so the card wouldn't go to waste.

I hope my back-up Norman power pack holds up tomorrow. I was so busy this week that I never found the time to take the overheating power pack in for service. If I can make it through tomorrow's photo shoot though, I'll be fine. I probably won't be doing another marathon like this for another year.

Humphrey 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 1084

Today was all about repairing things. I managed to find a place to take both the Epson printer and the Norman strobes for repairs. Even though both places were factory authorized service centers, they were quite small and seemed to be on the verge of going out of business. To me, this was just another sad statement about our throwaway society. People don't find value in fixing things anymore, and as a result good repair people are having a harder and harder time making a living. When I drove the Epson printer over to the repair facility, I had a hard time even finding it. The small building was so nondescript that it was almost invisible. An older man and his wife ran the place and did all the work themselves. They seemed very knowledgeable and their business had received rave reviews on the Internet. You'd think their business would be doing great with so many people having printer problems. Unfortunately, it is usually cheaper to buy a new printer than to repair an old one. Most broken printers just get tossed.

The Norman repair shop was a different story. The man I remembered from my studio days had retired to Mississippi and sold his business to another younger repairman. I talked to this new guy on the phone today and he was a treasure trove of knowledge with over forty years of experience repairing studio photo strobe lights. Unfortunately, changes in the photography business had forced him to move to a succession of smaller locations, ending with a small shop in his home where he works now. He no longer sells parts, because his customers can buy them directly for less at big warehouse photo emporiums like B&H in New York. Eddie can still fix my power pack though. These old Norman power packs were built like tanks. One more refurbishment and the thing ought to outlast me.

I just don't understand a throwaway society. Fixing things is good. When you fix something, you develop a better understanding for how it works and what you can do with it. It's hard to respect something you just throw away every few years. I believe that tools and automobiles and clothing and even relationships need to be fixed when they are broken. Fixing things builds character. Not many people think this way unfortunately. Disposable is just easier. Use it. Toss it. Get something better. That's the way people think now. It's sad. I can't even get the case off most things I buy these days.

I fix things too. Most of the website maintenance work I do involves changing and modifying websites to meet new needs and requirements. There are no templates. I do all the coding by hand. It all works pretty well until my clients happen to see a GoDaddy ad on TV that promises them a brand new website for only $9.95 a month. I can really appreciate the difficulties the Epson repairman and the Norman repairman are having. I'm having the same problems myself.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1083

I burned up one of my power supplies this afternoon. It happens. We had such a steady stream of dogs to photograph at today's Santa Paws event that I must not have allowed enough time between shots for the heat to dissipate. I turned the power supply off and switched to a back up unit as soon as I smelled burning insulation, but it was probably too late. The trusty old Norman power pack will be making a trip to the Flash Clinic next week. I hate that I think this way, but my first thought as I smelled the burning insulation was "Gee, I wonder if that guy who owns the Flash Clinic is even still alive." Back when I used to shoot fashion, he used to service my equipment frequently. It's been a while!

Equipment failure notwithstanding, we had a good day. Our team was able to handle a large volume of customers, while keeping everyone happy. The Santa Paws events have been very successful for us. Nobody got bit today and the set survived several dogs that looked like small horses. One nervous woman told us she chose us for pictures this year because the last Santa dropped her dog. Santa told the woman that her pup was safe with him. From the looks of the pampered pooch, I had a pretty good idea what happened last year. I have a feeling that Santa dropped the dog after it bit him and then peed on his lap. As I've mentioned before, I have the easy job. Santa gets all the abuse.

Our own dogs did well in front of the camera and Janet seemed happy with the results. I'm not sure that Dot and Dash were very happy though. They would have much rather gone to the dog park today than spend the day in a boarding kennel waiting for their turn with the bearded one. Maybe now they won't be quite so eager to go with us on these photo events. I think they finally realize that it's much more pleasant to stay home and sleep on the bed while we are away at these fundraisers.

I'm going to be busy next week. In addition to taking the power pack to the Flash Clinic for repairs, I've also got to find someone to repair Janet's printer. Lot's of luck with that. Nobody likes to repair Epson printers. They are difficult to work on because the print heads can't be easily removed or cleaned. Epson prints always look better than prints coming out of other photo printers until the day the printer begins to malfunction. Then it's all over. These things are so difficult to repair that it's often cheaper to just toss the broken printer in the trash and buy a new one.  Oh, I've got to get the broken guitar amp boxed up and returned to the music store as well.  I think the replacement amp is already on its way.

I've already got some website revisions on tap for Monday, but I hope it's not going to be a really busy week. I need a little rest. I feel like I've put in a full week's work already just in the past two days

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1081

The restaurant was filled with platitudes this morning. People would say things like "It's not the destination it's the journey" and their companion would excitedly exclaim  "Exactly, that is so true." These people had to be teachers. Who else would talk like this at 9 AM? I didn't say anything. I just ate my pancakes in silence, while wondering why there was a big sign on the wall saying "Have you tried our new menu yet?" As far as I could see, everything on the new menu was exactly the same as the old menu.

Since this weekend is another Christmas pet photo marathon, I did my grocery shopping right after breakfast. Maybe I ought to go to the grocery store in the morning more often. I did this last week as well and the meat and produce seems fresher than late in the day when I usually shop. I don't think early shopping will ever become a regular part of my routine though. I'll do just about anything to sleep in an extra hour.

When I got home, I began carefully re-assembling the broken guitar amplifier that I had taken apart yesterday. The broken pieces I had glued back together appeared to have dried well and everything fit back together perfectly. I was quite proud of my work. You could hardly tell that the amp had been dropped by FedEx at all. I don't know if the music store will appreciate all my hard work though. They might actually be expecting me to send them back a box full of bits.

Since our own dogs get their Santa pictures taken during one of this weekend's photo sessions, Janet wanted them to have a bath again. Dot hates a bath. She has gotten so good at gluing herself to the back seat, that it is just about impossible for me to get her out of the car and into the dog cleaning facility. Maybe she'll get lucky though. After this bath, I can't think of a good reason why she would need another one this year. I'm just the opposite of Dot. I like taking a shower. What I don't like is getting out and starting another boring day of work. Eventually, the hot water runs out though and makes the decision for me.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1080

The FedEx man came early today. That was a good thing, because I hate waiting all day. The bad thing was that FedEx dropped my package during shipment and broke it. The guitar amp I had ordered looked like it had been dropped off a ten story building. When I plugged the amp in, it still appeared to work, but the wooden case was completely ruined. Since I had purchased the amp used, I had an awful feeling that I might be stuck with the shattered amp.  I called the company and explained the situation and asked what they could do. My sales rep didn't have an answer for me, but said he'd check into it.

I always expect the worst, so I carefully took the entire amp apart to see if the cabinet could be repaired. Then I went to Home Depot and bought some extra long pipe clamps and a bottle of Gorilla Glue. For someone who had just received a badly damaged piece of merchandise, I was strangely optimistic. I'm good at fixing things and have pretty decent woodworking skills. Something inside me told me I could salvage this thing.

When I got home from Hope Depot, there was a voice-mail from the music store. I called my sales representative back and he told me that the company had decided to replace my damaged amp with a brand new one. All I had to do was ship the damaged amp back to them. I couldn't believe my luck. It appears that I am getting a brand new amp for the price of an old used one. Perhaps I was a bit hasty in disassembling the broken amp. Now, I'm going to have to carefully reassemble the entire thing so I can ship it back to them.

There was more good news as well. Several weeks ago, I took some mother/daughter shots for a friend of Janet's. I did the job as a favor, but the woman insisted on giving me something in return. What I got was a gift card to the restaurant with good bacon. Yum! I think I'll start using the card tomorrow. It doesn't look like I'm going to have to pay for my bacon for a long time.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day