Day 3212

I woke up this morning thinking that Hurricane Michael was going to be the only calamity today. Then the stock market dropped 800 points. So far, the hurricane seems to have done less damage than everybody expected. I'm kind of worried that today's big market sell off is just the first sign of more damage ahead. I can avoid hurricanes by choosing not to live near the coast. I'm not sure I can avoid financial disaster though. I don't think I'll live long enough to recover from another crash like we had in 2008.

Is a little stability too much to ask? The weather seems to be becoming more volatile. Politics has become way too volatile for my taste. The financial markets have always been volatile. Even my own house seems volatile, with something breaking or falling apart almost every week. I would love to see stability return. Persistent chaos is wearing me out.

Dash woke me up three times last night. The first time I took him outside, he did nothing. The second time, he eventually peed after smelling every bush in the yard. The third time, he pooped on the porch and then turned around and stepped in his mess on his way back inside. By the time I'd finished cleaning his feet and the porch, I was wide awake again. Eventually, I returned to bed, only to discover that Dash had already stolen my place.

I made arrangements this morning to take my remaining art to the auction house. Luckily, this auction house is located right here in town, so I won't need to pack or ship anything. One photo I was consigning had been on the wall for so long that I had ended up building a bookshelf around it. I had to disassemble part of the bookshelf so I could reach behind the frame and remove it from the hook on the wall. It was a lot more work than I anticipated. I certainly hope the auction house accepts everything tomorrow. The walls are starting to look pretty bare, but I'm not in the mood to deal with this stuff again.

It's time to pick up a new supply of Phenobarbital for Dash. I wish he didn't have to take so many meds. He'd probably feel more normal without the Phenobarbital, but he'd almost certainly start having epileptic seizures again within a week or two. I'd like to stop taking some of my own meds as well. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, these medications actually do work. Dash and I both need to keep our blood pressure under control. I need to watch my cholesterol. Dash lost his thyroid to cancer, so he needs thyroid medication. The list is long. Taking meds has become a complex ritual, but these pills are probably why we're both alive today.

The weather was beautiful this morning. It was a little chilly and I had to wear a light jacket on our morning walk for the first time this Fall. I think I heard the furnace come on last night as well. Although everything looks fine now, I need to remember that winter is coming.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2226

I've been thinking about mortality lately. Within weeks of each other, Natalie Cole, David Bowie, and Glenn Frey have all died. Each was about my own age. Add Alan Rickman, and Motörhead frontman Lemmy and it hasn't been a good month for folks in their late sixties. Two neighbors I've known for years are probably going to wind up in an assisted living facility after a bad fall. My own sister, who is only slightly younger than me, is recovering from serious spinal surgery. When I look around, it is fairly obvious that the adventurous folks I know have sold their motorcycles and given up rock climbing. It's pretty sobering. I'm probably living more on the edge than I realize by still climbing up on my roof to remove the standing water.

It was hard to tell whether today was slow, or it was just me who was slow. I got a fair amount done, but it seemed like I was moving in slow motion all day. I picked up some meds for the dogs at the vet, but forgot to pick up my own at the pharmacy. I had to go back to the grocery store, because I ran out of a key ingredient I use in my morning smoothies. Heaven forbid that I do something logical and just eat something else for breakfast. Dot pooped in the house twice. It was probably the 3 AM accident that got my day started on the wrong foot. I don't even bother to track my sleep any more with the activity tracker. What's the point? I don't need technology to tell me that I'm not getting enough sleep. I can feel it.

I did manage to finish another article and ship it off to the client. Although my work has slowed down considerably, it is still essential. Writing is comforting and familiar. Just sitting at the computer a couple of hours each day, opening up Microsoft Word, and punching the keys for a while, keeps me from falling down the rabbit hole. I think I understand why Janet went back to work. Retirement sucks. If work is part of your identity, you need to keep working.

I keep wondering when the days are going to get longer. The shortest day of the year was back in December, but it's still dark every morning when we take the dogs on their morning walk. The ironic thing is that when the days actually do start getting longer in mid-March, we switch to Daylight Saving Time again and are plunged back into darkness for at least another month. I prefer sunlight, but at least the pre-dawn skies are interesting. If we have a clear day toward the end of the month, all five visible planets will be arranged in a straight line across the morning sky. This is the first time in eleven years that Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are all visible simultaneously, so I hope that the skies are clear around February 5.

Dot continues to have good days and bad days. The stock market has become a roller coaster. The daily weather alternates between freezing cold and unseasonably warm. The political landscape is equally chaotic. It would sure be nice to have a little stability.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1036

I'm trying to think of some intelligent questions to ask my financial advisor tomorrow when we have our quarterly meeting. I'm sure he's sick of me asking him why I'm still not back to even after the 2008 crash. I'm sure he's sick of me asking why stocks tend to go down after we buy them, rather than before. In fairness, my advisor keeps reminding me that my portfolio would look a little more solid if I wasn't continually taking money out to buy stuff. He thinks we are still doing pretty good, considering how the economy is doing both here and elsewhere. Maybe. I just remember a time when I was doing much, much better. It is simply irritating that a strategy that has worked for me for much of my adult life doesn't appear to work anymore. We'll see how tomorrow's meeting goes. Personally, I think investing has become almost indistinguishable from gambling.

I got my wish for another slow day. OK guys, that's enough. I was just kidding. You can start sending me work again. Why is it that freelancing or running a small business is always feast or famine? I am continually either too busy or not busy enough. I wish I knew how to strike a balance, but so far having just the right amount of work has eluded me. Even using the slow times to market myself has its perils. Usually there is such a time lag between marketing and actually seeing new assignments that the marketing efforts just create sharper peaks and valleys down the road somewhere.

I like stability and predictability. I know, for example, that today is the day for Dash's antigen shot. We do this every other Tuesday at 2 PM, year in and year out. Dash enjoys his trip to the vet and I"m never in a panic to get him there, because I know exactly what to expect. I wouldn't mind a bit if everything were this predictable. Maybe I would work on oil and gas projects on Mondays, design some websites on Tuesdays, do a little photography on Wednesdays, and so on. Life isn't like this though. In the real world, work is just moments of boredom, punctuated by moments of stress and panic.

I guess I'll watch the presidential debates this evening. All the pundits tend to describe these debates as if they were a wrestling match. You almost expect Michael Buffer to come out right before the debate begins and deliver his famous catchphrase Let's get ready to rumble. I expect that both sides will say that their man won right after the debate is over. That's the way these things work.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 450

I got my March invoices out today. I wish my wallet looked as green as the trees that are starting to bud all over the park. That's probably not going to happen though. Certainly not while the stock market is fluctuating as wildly as it did today. I would welcome a little stability at this point. My website work is all over the place this month, since several clients are playing catch up after staff changes in February. The annual report job I was counting on this month hasn't materialized yet either. I've just got to be patient and take things one day at a time. This time next month, things could look completely different.

It was a nice day outside today. That's always a good thing. I've started seeing tulips blooming already and the wild irises growing all over the park can't be far behind. As I've been watching all the trees start to bud and turn green, I've noticed something else as well. I think someone is numbering all the trees in the park. Why would anyone do that? I don't know why, but there are hundreds of small aluminum tags with a number on them nailed to individual trees in the park now. Last month they weren't there. Most of the numbers in the section of the park where the dogs and I walk are in the 700 range. I genuinely don't know what this means, but there is probably stimulus money involved.

I took a watch over to one of my watch repair guys to get fixed this afternoon. I probably could have fixed this one myself, but sometimes I take watches in for repair just to have an opportunity to talk about watches with someone. Only one of my friends is even remotely interested in watches and he's pretty busy. There used to be a ton of little stores where I could go to talk about stuff with like minded people. Guys might not like to talk about relationships or feelings, but they love to talk about their stuff. There were three little photography stores that I really liked. The Citroën garage was a good place to hang out. There was even a little store that sold model trains I really liked. All these places are gone. Now, when I'm out and about, I seldom run into anyone who has time to talk. They can't. The vendors I work with these days all have bluetooth earpieces stuck in their ears and are trying to sell their wares to people all over the world. It seems like only the dedicated and the obsessed survive these days. Sad. I liked it much better when even lazy guys could run a nice, successful little business.

The dogs have the right idea. Sleeping, eating and charming people with a little wag of their tail. Not a bad life at all.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day