Day 2425

I've been thinking about redesigning my website. Back in the mid 1990's, the site was considered innovative and ahead of its time. Now, it's more like a dilapidated house in a bad neighborhood. I added a mobile friendly landing page last year, but then I lost interest. Why bother? It's hard to justify reinventing this site. Replacing everything will be a lot of work and I'm not even sure that websites matter anymore. It's probably just a matter of pride. There are a lot of really cool websites out there, and mine is no longer one of them.

If I had a website that looked like I was living in the 21 Century, would my business start to grow again? I doubt it. Even though I'm a website designer, I never got much business from being online. Most of my business came from referrals and relationships I'd developed during my ad agency years. Sadly, most of those people are gone now. Some of them have retired to golf course homes and mountain retreats. Some of them must have entered the witness protection program, because they don't even seem to exist anymore. More than a few of my clients have died. I still probably need a new website though.

My big accomplishment today was mowing the grass.  It was actually a bigger accomplishment than you might think, because it was over 100 degrees outside. I don't know how I ever used to mow this lawn with an old fashioned push mower. I must have been a lot stronger thirty years ago. These days, mowing the grass takes all the energy I've got. I've finally learned not to take a shower until I've finished all my outdoor chores. I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished the yard today. Right now, hot dry weather is good. I think the new elastometric coating on the roof is going to cure nicely.

There are several new houses going up in the neighborhood. The McMansions being built by developers and custom builders seem to go up in a matter of weeks. The houses designed by architects often seem to take years to complete. I wonder why there's such a difference?  There's a construction site that Dash and I pass on our morning walk now. The framing crew took two days to erect the entire house. The next day the siding went up. The day after that the roofers came and put the shingles on. Then all the windows were installed. In less than a week, this huge house looked finished from the outside. A few blocks away, there's another house that's been under construction for two years. The first builder is a marvel of efficiency. His framing crew even wear uniforms. The second builder is a disorganized mess, but his house will be prettier when it is eventually finished. There is a life lesson in all this, but I'm not quite sure what it is.

When I took the trash out to the curb this evening, I noticed that the can was only half full. It wasn't full last week either. I wonder why we're generating less trash than we used to? Less trash is probably a good thing, but why is this happening? I don't think anything has changed. I'm not eating as much for dinner either. Life is full of mysteries.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2325

Things seemed kind of chaotic when I took Dot to her therapy session today. It turned out that there was a termite infestation in the building and termites were falling out of the ceiling. I kept looking overhead, hoping that none would fall on me. Dot must have sensed that something was wrong because she pooped in the lobby as soon as we arrived. Actually, this was a good thing. If she'd gone any sooner, it would have been in my car. If she had waited, she would have gone in the underwater treadmill, which would have been a real mess. Dot's vet often tells me how much trouble it is to clean the large water tank after a dog has pooped in the water. I keep thinking it's just a matter of time before Dot gets on the shit list. Putting an incontinent dog in water is just asking for trouble.

I never get much done on physical therapy days. It takes me longer and longer to do the most basic things. We get up early and walk the dogs. I fix my breakfast after Janet has gone to work. I check my e-mail, take a shower, and clean up poop in the yard so I won't step in it when I take Dot outside after dark. Sometimes I water the grass or do a load of laundry before it's time to feed the dogs their lunch. Then I fill the back of the car with waterproof protective pads and get Dot ready to go for therapy. By the time we return, there's usually just enough time to do some simple website updates, feed the dogs their dinner, and take Dash on his evening walk. If Janet gets home early, we walk Dot and Dash around the block. Dot won't walk without Dash anymore, so it takes two of us. One of us walks ahead with Dash, so Dot has something to follow and the other holds up Dot's rear legs as we slowly make our way around the block. It's not very exciting, but that's it. There just isn't time for anything else.

Web design keeps changing. I have a growing list of things I need to learn to refine my skills creating responsive, mobile-ready websites. I wish I could get more excited about doing this. I often find myself thinking "what's the point." There might be some incentive if I were getting lots of new design assignments. I'm not. I've actually done a pretty good job of staying current and relevant, but it doesn't seem to matter. I've still got a little curiosity, even if it doesn't generate much money anymore. Maybe I'll read some of the tutorials I've been accumulating tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be a slow day.

Yesterday's severe weather wasn't as bad as everyone was predicting. There were no tornadoes and the hail was only pea sized. Everything blew through overnight and it was mostly clear today. It was so clear this evening that I was temped to go down to the park after sunset with my binoculars and look for Mercury again. Actually, I think the moment has passed. Mercury doesn't stay above the horizon for very long and it is already setting again. I didn't have time anyway. If I were looking for Mercury, I wouldn't be writing tonight's entry.

I wonder if I'll eventually wind up being one of those people who goes to Luby's every evening for the early bird special? I'm completely losing interest in cooking. It would be tempting to go out for breakfast tomorrow morning, even though it isn't Friday. I'm resisting this temptation for the moment because if I ate out all the time, meals would become much more expensive and I'd definitely gain weight. Friday's are fine. It's important to have a little discipline in your life, even if nobody else is watching.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2198

I thought I'd finished my Christmas shopping yesterday, but I forgot something important. Yup. I didn't have any wrapping paper. I got back in the car again after breakfast and went to the Container Store. They had an entire store full of overpriced wrapping paper. I found what I needed and went back home again. Hopefully, I really am finished with shopping this time.

I was surprised to find a UPS package on my doorstep from a distant cousin I rarely see. I was even more surprised at the contents. One of my elderly aunts had passed away not too long ago and this cousin was the executor of her estate. He send me decades of family photos that I never even knew existed. I should have known they existed, since I was in many of them. It seemed strange that this aunt, who I hadn't seen in years, kept a much better record of my family than I did. I should have asked her to tell me the story behind these pictures while she was still alive. Now she and her brothers and sisters are all gone. It's odd. I've been a professional photographer for many, many years, but I've never kept a family album. There are very few pictures of me as an adult at all. I do have thousands of pictures of my dogs though.

I knew there were going to be problems with Dot when she went to bed without doing her business last night. Sure enough, she pooped in her bed around 3 AM, and then pooped again in the kitchen a few hours later when she was eating her breakfast. As messes go, this was a big one. Hopefully, she will be back on schedule for a while. It's sad to see Dot's neuropathy progress. There is no cure and her condition will gradually get worse. The spinal surgery helped. The water therapy we do every week continues to help, but the nerve damage is still there. The only comforting thought is that Dot is still happy and doesn't seem to be in any pain. I just try to make each day as easy as possible for her.

I installed the new version of Pro Tools this morning. I added a few essential plug-ins, made sure everything worked and then quit the application without making any music at all. It will probably be months before I even think about Pro Tools again. I don't know why it is so important for me to stay current with Pro Tools, Media Composer, Final Cut Pro and a few other tools that my business used to depend on. I was a good editor, but I've kind of lost my chops, since it's been a while since anyone's needed me to open up these applications and actually use them. I'm sure that there will be a day when I'll get bored enough to open Pro Tools again and learn to use some of the fancy new features. Maybe I'll write a song again some day. That would be nice. It's such an uphill battle. To write a song again, I'd have to get my keyboard out of the storage warehouse and teach myself to play piano again.

I paid the last of the December bills and took them to the post office. With this year's humongous plumbing bills, dental bills, and cancer treatment bills behind me, maybe now I can finally get ahead of the game. Oh, wait. There isn't time. The year is already over. I'm sure that next year will bring a whole new set of surprises. I guess I'll wrap packages tomorrow. It would be a good idea to get them wrapped before Christmas.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 1882

Today was absolutely gorgeous. With clear skies and 75 degree temperatures, it was hard to believe it was February. When we were coming home from our morning walk, I noticed that the neighbors were taking large bags of leaves and bulky trash to the curb. It must be big trash day this week. Since it was a nice day, I thought I'd follow the neighbor's lead and managed to get rid of some my own back yard clutter while the dogs lounged in the morning sun.

After breakfast, I thought I'd get started on organizing my tax information and was appalled to discover that I'd completely forgotten to send in my quarterly estimated taxes this year. Oops. I guess there might be some sort of penalty for this, but it probably won't be much since my income was so low last year. My accountant asked me a couple of years ago why I even bothered to do quarterly taxes anymore and I guess it sent some sort of subliminal message. I certainly didn't bother this year. Every time I forget something like this, I wonder what else I've forgotten.

I did remember to send out my February invoices today. Such a small pile of letters, compared to what it used to be. Janet's retirement was a big deal. Mine will be a non-event. One day I will be sitting at the computer and realize I haven't done any work in three months. I'm still relatively busy, but the writing is on the wall. My peak earning years are so, so over.

So, what happens next? Honestly, I don't have a clue. Some days I still want to design websites and make films. Other days, not so much. I really ought to go buy a more powerful pair of reading glasses and start reading books again. I could easily fill a couple of years just catching up on my reading list. Janet and I are both realizing that when you base your life around work, it can be kind of disorienting when the work disappears. What I don't want to do is spend my time doing a succession of smaller and smaller meaningless jobs. If you follow this path, you eventually reach a point where you are totally consumed with doing nothing at all.

What the hell. I miss being the Wizard of Oz. It's not as much fun spending your days doing the high tech version of Yellow Pages Ads. I do enjoy writing this blog, but it's not War and Peace. Even if I live long enough to extend my run to 5000 days, this will still only be a curious blip on the literary horizon. Don't worry, I'll figure something out. Until then, there's laundry to do, dogs to take care of, and if I'm really good, some bacon and sausages for breakfast.

azz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1540

Has anybody else completely burned out on social media? I used to post something new and original to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Instagram every single day. This was in addition to writing my daily blog post. After about a year of this, I realized that I had completely run out of ideas. I had nothing to say. I had already shared every story I had ever written, uploaded every picture I had ever snapped, and dug up a lot of old stuff that probably should have remained buried. Social media is insatiable. No matter how much you feed it, it always wants more.

Clients sometimes ask me what they can do to maximize their social media efforts. I feel like telling them to just forget about it. For most people it isn't worth the effort. Unless you are Ellen DeGeneres at the Oscars, your photos are never going to be re-tweeted millions of times. Your earnest efforts to promote your business on Facebook are never going to garner one tenth the attention of a single cute cat photo. No matter how exciting you think your company is, there is only so much you can say about it. After you've said your piece, you just become another spammer.

It's kind of a shame that nobody really cares all that much. I know dozens of bloggers and photographers who pour their heart and soul into elaborate online creations that might have 25 genuine fans worldwide. I have a lot of followers, but that doesn't mean they actually read anything. I bet I don't have more than 25 people who actually read everything I write. It probably wasn't that different in the analog era. Back when I played in a band, they used to say that only one in a thousand good bands ever got signed to a record deal. A similar percentage of writers and poets ever saw their books in print. Most people were just throwing notes out to sea in glass bottles.

Andy Warhol was right. Today everybody actually is a star for thirty minutes. What happens after your thirty minutes is over though? The media machine still expects to be fed. I don't think it matters whether you're a guy with two Dalmatians like me, or a giant corporation; eventually you get to a point where there's nothing more to say.

I've totally run out of coherent things to say on Twitter and Facebook. Luckily, this blog has a format that I can sustain forever. I just tell you what I did today. Tomorrow I'll do the same thing all over again. Reading this is probably an acquired taste. Maybe it's a bit like watching an Andy Warhol movie. Very little happens. Things do change over time though. You can call the changes growth, decay, or whatever you want.

Today, Dash's regular vet was very impressed with his progress. It was the first time she'd seen him since his surgery and she agreed with the other vets that we were very lucky to have detected the cancer so early. We still haven't received the pathology report, but we should know whether Dash will require further treatment by the end of the week.

Work was slow today. Ordinarily, that would have been a good thing, but Tuesdays are usually busy and I was prepared to put my nose to the grindstone. It threw my schedule off when things didn't turn out as I expected. This is when people say it's good to be spontaneous. I'm not spontaneous though. Never have been and never will be. When I'm off my schedule, I usually just drift aimlessly.

Tomorrow should be focused. Dot has her weekly physical therapy session and will get in the underwater treadmill again. There are bills to be paid, so a trip to the post office is on tap as well. I need to renew a prescription and I suspect that there will be things to write as well. The day will be just like a hundred other Wednesdays I have already told you about, but I still hope you find it interesting.

Orion is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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