Day 802

The vacuum cleaner isn't working as well as it should, so I think the vacuum cleaner bag is full and it's time for a new bag. Then I start looking at the vacuum cleaner and realize its time for an entirely new vacuum cleaner. Then I look down at the carpet and wonder why I'm even bothering to vacuum. It's time for a new carpet. Then I start thinking, what's the point of even installing a new carpet if the day after its installed the roof starts to leak and makes a big stain. You can see where I'm going with this. To me, this is entropy. It's not stars and galaxies dying. It's just every every single element in the house slowly coming apart. With so much broken and decaying, where do you even start to reverse the process.

We went and walked the rescue dogs this morning. Lady is becoming less timid and walking much better on a leash. Odie has Giardia, which is a surprisingly common parasite in dogs. Dogs often show no symptoms of being infected, so it can be difficult to diagnose. I'm not sure if Odie is being treated with Metronidazole or Fenbendazole, but he should be fine again pretty quickly. We had to remember to wash our hands before we went home though, since Giardia can be easily transmitted from one pet to another.

When I went to the vacuum cleaner store to get some more bags for my Hoover, I overheard a salesman trying to convince a woman to buy a Kirby instead of a state of the art Dyson. I'd heard about these Kirby sales pitches, but I'd never actually seen one in person. Keep in mind that a Kirby vacuum cleaner probably hasn't changed in fifty years and is still the most expensive vacuum on the planet. It does have one thing going for it though: the most elaborate sales pitch known to man. It didn't take me long to get my bags, but as I was leaving, I could see the woman was already wavering. I wouldn't be surprised if she actually bought the antiquated $1200 vacuum.

I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed people in Dallas if the weather turns cold again. Spring is definitely in the air. I saw kites flying in the park today and quite a few picnickers. I even saw some early blooming Spring flowers this afternoon. I'm not getting my hopes up though. It is still February.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 492

For the second time this week I went to the AT&T store to buy a 4G dongle for my laptop. And for the second time this week, I walked away with nothing. All I wanted was the 4G dongle, but the sales guy kept trying to get me to switch my home phones, internet and TV from the cable company to their own U-verse system. The sales guy didn't even seem to listen when I told him that several years ago a technician had already been out to my house and told me that my house couldn't be hooked up to a fiber optic network because the wiring was too old. He didn't seem to listen when I told him that several of my neighbors had already tried U-verse and hated it so much that they made the phone company take it out again. All he kept telling me was how much money I'd save if I switched and that he'd throw the dongle I wanted in for free if I signed up for U-verse today.

I hate high pressure sales pitches. Just put a price on it and let me decide. If I've got a question, I'll ask you, but you're not ever going to get me to make a decision on the spot. In fact, the more often you go back and talk to your manager to see if you can make me a special one day only deal, the less likely it is that I'll buy anything at all.

I'm still not even sure if I'll have any use for this high speed Internet hotspot. I got a message from my client in Germany today telling me that "Yes, I will definitely be taking photos and video at their booth during the oil and gas conference." Then I looked at the conference website again and it still said "All photography and video recording are strictly forbidden." This ought to be interesting.

Ill be happy to get Dot's bandage off tomorrow, so she can walk normally again. It takes a lot longer to walk and take care of two Dalmatians separately than it does when they're together. Dash seems to like being walked all by himself, but Dot is starting to hate the bandage. I don't blame her. It's been so wet lately that I have to put a thick plastic baggie over the bandage whenever I take her outside. Needless to say, the bag doesn't stay on very well when she sees a squirrel in the yard.

I just noticed that I now have over 1000 Twitter followers. What does one do with 1000 Twitter followers? Twitter is still a bit of a mystery to me. It seems like it ought to be useful, but I still haven't figured out what to do with it.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day