Day 1779

There are some built-in cabinets in the house that are located right near the ceiling. The modern looking storage areas fit right in with the mid-century design, but they are virtually useless. In order to access these cabinets, I have to get the big folding stepladder out of the greenhouse. I'm fairly tall and I can't even reach the cabinet doors without the ladder. The space inside is large enough for heavy, bulky things, but since you have to climb up the precarious ladder with your load, it usually isn't worth the trouble. These awkward storage areas are such a pain in the neck to use that they are mostly just filled with pillows and empty boxes.

One cabinet is still filled with heavy boxes though. I decided to store a bunch of stuff there when we first bought the house and haven't looked at the stuff since. I don't know how I managed to get some of these heavy boxes up and into the storage space in the first place, but I guess I was younger then. At any rate, I decided to empty the cabinet out today. It was a lot of work to get the heavy boxes back to ground level. I threw some stuff away and took the rest to the storage warehouse. Among the many things I retrieved was a chess set with playing pieces depicting characters from the Simpsons. There was a box filled with hundreds and hundreds of watch crowns in tiny glass vials. Another box was filled with water stained diplomas and awards. There was a sample case filled with greeting card designs that I planned on marketing decades ago. Everything was mildly interesting, but nothing was useful.

There were a lot of elaborate costumes at the dog training class Halloween party this evening. Our instructor came in a hazmat suit with his dog dressed up as a virus. One large dog was dressed as a table holding a pumpkin filled with dog treats. That costume never would have worked with our dogs. They would have immediately tipped the pumpkin over and eaten all the dog treats. There were the usual assortment of dragons, skeletons, and bats. There was even a dog dressed as Elvis who happened to be named Elvis as well. We didn't win anything this year, but we didn't put a lot of thought into our costumes either. The dogs probably wonder why we dress them up for this silly event year after year. They don't complain though, because there are lots and lots of dog treats.

I'm glad the dogs didn't see the cute little green gecko that was on the stepladder this afternoon. I'm sure one of them would have ate him. I almost brought the little lizard into the house with me because I didn't see him either, but luckily he jumped off the ladder at the last minute. I managed to snap one picture before the gecko ran away.

The supposedly "indestructible" case for my iPhone broke today. I didn't drop the phone or anything. The case just cracked. I can't decide whether to complain to customer service or just get a new case. It would probably make more sense to get a new phone.

Dakota is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1279 - Father's Day

My Mom used to tell me that I was her Father's Day gift to my Dad, since my birthday periodically coincided with Father's Day. I don't think Dad was all that happy about this situation, since I was frequently a thorn in his side. Although we were never really close, I always thought my father was a good Dad. He was a loyal, honest man who never forgot his family. Although I've never been a Dad myself, I suspect that this is exactly how a Dad ought to be.

I got stung by another bee today. In the process, I discovered where the bees were coming from. A group of them had made a home in an old stepladder that I'd been using to fix some things on the house. No wonder I was getting stung. You'd think I would have noticed the bees before I started using the stepladder. Nope. Sometimes, I don't notice much of anything.

The bee sting didn't stop me from doing some much needed Sunday yard work. I mowed the grass, front and back, and then did some weeding in the yard. Now, the house looks just as good as all the other houses in the neighborhood. I removed the remaining water from the new roof, because I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to evaporate. The cheap broom I bought at Sam's Club yesterday worked a lot better than the much more expensive professional broom I had purchased earlier at a builder's supply store. Go figure.

Without our usual Sunday trip to the dog park, the day seemed a bit empty. I guess it wasn't really a big loss. It was so hot that Dot and Dash had little interest in going outside anyway. We watched a movie on Hulu instead. I think we've finally reached an agreement on how to share the bed. There was no barking or commotion during the movie anyway.

Tomorrow, it's back to work again. I need to remember to pay my quarterly estimated taxes as well. I'm going to try to get up early, so I can walk the dogs before it gets too hot outside. Early in the mornings, it's still quite nice. Later in the day is another story. The dog days of Summer are definitely here again.

Harshey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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