Day 2320

When I went to breakfast this morning, I was disappointed to see that business still hasn't improved for the once thriving restaurant that initially captured my attention several years ago. The place was almost empty. It didn't make sense. These guys deserve better. The food was still good. The staff was extra friendly. They were really trying. It was weird to think that a little competition across the street had virtually destroyed this place. I guess everyone has their thirty minutes of fame. Maybe the restaurant will recover and maybe it won't. They certainly did nothing wrong. As I've discovered myself, success can be very fickle.

One of the tumors in Dot's liver is growing again. The oncologist said that since one mass was stable and the other appeared to be changing, it was hard to tell if the Palladia treatments were working. We decided to discontinue chemotherapy treatments for a month and then do another Ultrasound scan. We'll be able to see if Dot's energy level and mobility improves without the drug in her system and whether the tumor starts to grow even faster. Then we'll have to make a decision about whether to resume chemotherapy, even though it has failed to completely stop the growth of the cancer. If Dot is walking better after a month, I would be inclined to discontinue the Palladia indefinitely. If she is still just as weak without the pills and the cancer has started growing faster, I would be inclined to resume the chemotherapy. Either way, it will be a tough decision.

Both Dot's nurse and the oncologist told me that Dot was a bit "feisty" today during her exam. This was just a nice way of telling me that Dot didn't behave very well. I asked whether they could tell if Dot was comfortable or just being grumpy and the oncologist said it could be a little bit of both. It was clear that she didn't want to go to the doctor today. I can't say that I blame her. The Ultrasound scan isn't painful, but she does have to be upside down on her back for a while. I think she's had enough.

I finally got up on the roof and cleared the water away. What a mess. Katkins falling from the Oak and Pecan trees had turned the water a dark coffee brown color and made the entire roof slippery. I slipped several times, aggravating my already aching joints. My elbows and knees were sore and my dislocated shoulder made one arm nearly worthless. The way I was feeling today, I wouldn't have wanted an ultrasound scan either. I need to ask my doctor whether I should continue taking glucosamine chondroitin pills. They don't appear to be working. I found several more areas that need to be patched on the roof. As soon as it gets dry, I need to get the roofers over again. I'm not sure how to patch myself up.

Since it was a nice, clear day, I took my binoculars and went down to the park after sunset to look for Mercury on the horizon. I think I found the illusive planet, but it was hard to tell, since there were few reference points in that part of the sky tonight. It's always easier to find Mercury if the moon or another planet is nearby.

I wish that Dot had gotten a clean bill of health today, but it could have been a lot worse. We'll continue taking things one day at a time. Dot is resting comfortably now and I hope to join her soon. A good night's sleep would be very nice.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2088

I know some of you think that when work is slow I do absolutely nothing. Au contraire. I'm usually quite busy tilting windmills. Lately, I've been doing a lot of research on Google, trying to see if it is possible to adapt some of my old equipment so I could still use it in today's digital world. It would be nice if I could speed up my old computers so they could run today's complex software. It would be even nicer if I could use some of my old analog camera lenses on the latest digital bodies.

So far my efforts have been fruitless. I have some really nice Canon ENG broadcast lenses that I'd love to use on my current digital video cameras. So far, it seems impossible. These lenses were made to work with the 2/3 sensors found in Beta SP cameras. The image these lenses produce isn't large enough to cover the much larger 4/3 sensor found in my cinema camera. When I gave up on the Canon broadcast lenses, I thought my Bronica lenses might work. These medium format film lenses would certainly completely cover the 4/3 sensor, but nobody makes an adapter to attach the lens to the video camera. There are plenty of adapters for old Nikon and Canon lenses, but Bronica went out of business a long time ago and nobody cares about it anymore. There isn't a large enough market for anybody to make a profit manufacturing Bronica adapters. I even have some old Sinar view camera lenses that would cover any size sensor, but apparently nobody has even thought about adapting view camera lenses to modern video cameras. I found absolutely nothing on Google about using these lenses with video cameras.

It's frustrating to have fully functioning professional equipment that was good enough to shoot network TV commercials in the 1980's, but is now shunned even by beginning wedding photographers. I haven't adapted well. I love the old Macintosh towers I used to use in the early 1990's. My old Nikon F-2 still seems like the most useful and versatile camera I've ever owned. I even like reel-to-reel tape. Maybe this is why I enjoy watching old Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock shows on late night TV.

Dot had a good day. Now, she seems strong enough again to enjoy her early morning exercise walk and still have enough energy to do her afternoon physical therapy session. Today, she did a full seventeen minutes in the underwater treadmill. She's gained weight though. I don't know what that's all about. Nothing has changed since last week. I asked Dot's vet about Dash's strange new eating habits and she seemed baffled. She said she'd never heard of a dog who refused to eat from his bowl, yet ate everything normally when the food was transferred to a dinner plate. He doesn't seem sick. He just seems weird. We'll give him a Pepsid AC tonight before he goes to bed, just to see if he might have heartburn or a reflux problem.

I started a new book today. This one's been sitting on a shelf in the office for months. It is a memoir written by a co-worker of mine when I was starting out in the ad business in Seattle. I've been reluctant to read the book, since this guy ended up being hugely successful, building an award winning multi-million dollar ad agency while I was sitting in a small room writing with two dogs under my desk. I shouldn't be envious though. The first few chapters of this book were hilariously funny and remarkably accurate about what it's like to work in the ad biz.

It's hard to believe that this week is almost over. I've already taken this week's trash to the curb and gotten Dot's bed prepared for the night. I've still got to brush my teeth and run my daily test print on the large format printer. Then it's time for Perry Mason and sweet dreams about tomorrow's breakfast.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1867

I think the video I shot today will be a success. The sound was good. Exposure was good. Everything was in focus. What's not to like? My new LED lights performed a lot better than the old quartz variety. I was pleased with the wireless mics too. I'll have to use this stuff more often. Considering how I was dreading this shoot, it couldn't have gone better. Most importantly, I didn't break anything.

Video production seemed a lot easier when I shot with a full crew. Back in the day, I never had to transport, configure, and set up all this heavy equipment myself. With today's budgets, doing as much as you can yourself is a necessity. Maybe the Miller tripod and Century Stands were always this heavy, but I don't remember struggling with them like I did today. Clearly, Carpal tunnel, a bad shoulder, and arthritis have taken their toll on my aching bones.

I never did find time to do a practice run through before I loaded the car this morning. Necessity is always the mother of invention and I figured out the last remaining equipment mysteries on the set. I need to buy a bigger camera case so I can leave the rails and matte box permanently on the camera. Assembling this gear and attaching everything to the camera and tripod can eat up a lot of time. When I can afford it, I'm going to get more wireless mics too. Wireless mics are great. I don't know how I lived so many years without them.

Although the video shoot used up most of the day, we still had a nice long walk with the dogs this morning. Janet was looking out for me and fixed bacon and eggs for breakfast, along with Cowboy Burgers for dinner. If you've never had Cowboy Burgers, you need to pick some up at Central Market sometime. These are without a doubt the best hamburger patties in the universe.

It will take a while to edit the footage I shot today into something coherent, but I think the material is there. Now it's time to turn my attention to the upcoming SMAP launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base. I have no idea what to take or what to wear. I guess I need to start checking the weather in California. I have a feeling that it's going to be a lot warmer out there than it is here.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I'll start logging and cataloging the footage I shot today. There are already a number of website updates I need to make as well. At least today's work is complete. It's always nice to know that I won't have to go back later and re-shoot everything.
 

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1594

Janet and I went on the home tour today. All the homes were right in our neighborhood, so we didn't have to leave the dogs very long. We both like mid-century modern architecture, so whenever this era is featured on a tour, we tend to go. Over the years, the exteriors of these home all seem more or less the same, since most of them were built in the 1950's. The interiors and landscaping change according to what is currently in style however. This year, concrete driveways seem to be out and gravel and crushed granite are in. I guess this makes sense, since concrete work has gotten horrendously expensive. Shallow basin sinks and big tile showers without shower doors seemed popular as well. There are fewer extravagant houses and more creatively frugal ones. Most of the homes we visited today were pretty small. I suspect that this is all a sign of the times. Our entire society is downsizing.

We will have lots of questions for the oncologist when we take Dash back to the cancer center tomorrow morning. The more I read, the more I realize that moist dermatitis and non-healing wounds are common during the latter stages of cancer treatment. The radiation breaks down the tissue over time and makes it harder for wounds to heal. Optimistic websites said that most of the skin sores tend to heal within two weeks after ending treatment. Pessimistic websites said the process could take six months or longer. The key to a successful outcome seems to be in keeping the damaged area as clean and dry as you can and not allowing the dog to scratch or lick the area. We are lucky in a way that Dash's surgery was in his neck, which is a difficult area for a dog to reach. People who have dogs where the front or rear leg is receiving radiation tend to have a harder time controlling things. At any rate, I hope our oncologist can help us find an effective way to help Dash's wounds heal quickly. It is discouraging to encounter a setback when we are so close to the finish line.

I had a good workout at the gym this afternoon. I'm almost back to my old routine, even though I'm only able to go once a week now. I always do the same things. I spend 20-minutes on the hand bicycle to help strengthen my dislocated shoulder. I spend 20-minutes working my way through a line of ten different resistance machines to build muscle strength. I spend about 10-minutes using free weights. And then I spend my remaining time shooting baskets on the basketball court in the center of the gym. If I did this three times a week, I'd probably be in great shape, but once a week is better than nothing.

Next week looks like a busy one. I've already got several projects cued up for Monday. Toward the end of the week, I am scheduled to have my exit interview with my team of liver doctors. I hope that they just pronounce me cured and send me on my way. I won't be seeing the doctors much after this, but they have already told that they will monitor me periodically for up to two years, just to make sure that the disease doesn't reappear. I'm hoping that when all is said and done, Dash will have the same successful outcome that I seem to have received.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1201

I feel like I'm on the verge of something. I have over 30,000 Twitter followers, but no idea what to do with them. I find it increasingly easy to write endlessly, but still have nothing to say. I'm smart enough to realize that most of my successful writer friends have chosen to write about something useful to other people. They write cookbooks and books about parenting which are frequently wildly popular. Those that chose to write deeply personal novels instead, usually sold next to nothing. If they were lucky, they eventually wound up teaching English literature somewhere, totally mired in university bureaucracy and faculty politics. And those that chose to just write about themselves? Well, enough said about that sticky subject.

I only mention this because I've been watching Seinfeld's new Internet series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." I watched all ten episodes last night, and found the show fascinating. All the other comedians Jerry had coffee with seemed to share one thing in common. They all hated the idea of working for a living and couldn't imagine having a boss that told them what to do every day. I've always felt the same way. During my ad agency days, I used to tell friends that I was a prostitute. "People just rent my mind instead of my body. That's the only difference," I'd say. I've always thought that I was a clever guy, but if I ever accomplished anything useful to anyone other than myself, it was purely accidental. I'm still on the verge of something though. I can feel it.

Today, I finally learned how to use the DVR, mostly so I could record the new episode of Dr. Who that comes on later this evening. I hate to watch TV during dinner, but I definitely don't want to miss the new show. I am also determined to find a decent new roof that doesn't cost as much as a new car. A roof should never cost as much as a car. Cars are more fun. Google seems to be helping me with my quest. Every time I complain about my leaking roof on the blog, a new roofing company ad seems to magically appear in my Google Adwords queue. I clicked on one of these ads today and discovered an industrial company that refurbishes commercial roofs with a high-tech coating that is supposedly guaranteed against leaks for ten years. Sounds good to me. Sounds economical too. I think I'll investigate this further.

I've been amazed at how healthy and happy Dot has seemed this week. Maybe the acupuncture treatments and her new vitamins are really helping. I wonder if they have acupuncture treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome? Hey, it's worth a try. For most of my life, I've been very skeptical about alternative medicine. Maybe I was wrong though. I've achieved far better results from going to a good nutritionist and radically changing my diet than with all the prescription medications various doctors have prescribed. Come to think of it, physical therapy proved to be a much better solution to my neck and back pain than all the prescription pain pills too. Maybe some day I can get rid of all the pills entirely.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 900

I could tell you about my blood test this morning. I could tell you about all the vacuuming I did this afternoon. I suspect you've heard all that before. Maybe I'll try to give you a little advice instead. After 899 days of telling you what I do, it might be time to tell you what I think. I don't give advice very often. Why should I? Absolutely nobody listens. Humor me though. It's Day 900 and it's time for  something different. My advice to you...

1: Quit spending money you don’t have.

So many of today’s problems are caused by a national desire for instant gratification. High school kids think they need a car. College kids expect a high paying job when they graduate. Young couples get a $300,000 mortgage on a “starter home. Our entire country spends more than it takes in. It wasn’t always this way. Our grandparents didn’t live like this. They managed to raise families in modest homes with a single bathroom. Instead of using credit cards with reckless abandon, they typically paid using cash, while occasionally putting something special away on layaway. Ironically, our grandparents were probably happier than we are. Rich is a relative term. If you always spend a little less than you make, you’re eventually be rich.

2: It’s not a secret if you tell anybody.

I grow weary of people telling me that something is confidential. I’m bemused when I see someone who still believes that privacy even exists. Privacy left the building long ago. Do you ever watch MI-5 on the BBC channel? In this show, top British spies continually solve puzzling crimes and mysteries by snooping on people’s activities using the country’s burgeoning CCTV network. This is where we are headed. If the IRS doesn’t already know everything about you, Google and the credit bureaus can certainly fill in the blanks. It’s just a matter of time before Google creates a global panic by revealing that it has compiled a database with the personal porn preferences of over a billion men worldwide. Hey, if you really want to keep something a secret, don’t tell anyone. Ever.

3: Learn to compromise.

It’s not all about you. Everyone thinks they’re special these days. They were brought up that way. Parents told them they were special. Teachers told them they were special. A cult of individuality was born and several generations of very self-centered children entered the adult world thinking, “It’s all about me.” These spoiled children expected to get exactly what they wanted in the workforce and in their relationships. That’s what they had been taught. When everyone was going for the gold, the bronze had no value. Slowly, the art of compromise was lost. Our politicians became deadlocked. Our relationships increasingly ended in divorce. Our employers got disgusted and began looking for a more agreeable workforce in China. Hey, it’s not all about you. It never was.

4: Believing in something doesn’t necessarily make it true.

Christians. Jews. Obama supporters. Global Warming. The Tea Party. The Taliban. Isn’t it all a bit confusing? If anyone actually had the answer to anything, why would there consistently be so many conflicting points of view? It’s comforting to believe in something, especially if others believe the same thing. Belief isn’t the same as truth however. Belief is just another manifestation of mind over matter. At least religious people understand that their beliefs are nothing more than blind faith. The worst believers are the secular humanists, who have somehow managed to get faith, religion, science, objectivity and prejudice muddled together in an unholy stew. Believe in yourself! Don’t get a big head about it though. It’s still not all about you.

5: Don’t aspire to be happy. Just choose to be happy.

A lot of people think they’d be happier if they had more money. Others want to be thinner, more popular, or in a better relationship. We are an aspirational society, but sometimes our aspirations can be counterproductive. I’ve known multi-millionaires who were catatonically depressed. I’ve known people with one leg who seemed much happier than I was. I think the happy people around me just chose to be happy. We can’t really select the cards we are dealt in life. We can fight and struggle and attempt to swim upstream, but eventually the current always wins and we are swept out to sea. Happy people just enjoy the journey.

6: Success doesn’t mean much if you have never experienced failure.

Is success learning to read road signs in French, or discovering that E=MC2? I think any successful person will tell you that success is entirely relative. Without a few setbacks along the way, you probably won’t even be able to recognize success when it finds you. Success can be large, or it can be small, but it you are afraid to fall, you probably won’t experience success at all.

7: Don’t wait too long to do the things you want to do most.

My Dad was a zoologist. He always wanted to travel to Africa and see giraffes and elephants. When he died and I was settling his estate, I cleaned out his safe deposit box and discovered an expired passport and visas to all the countries he wanted to visit. Dad knew where he wanted to go. He just kept putting off the journey. There were books to write. There were kids to put through college. The passport got dusty and Dad got Parkinson's disease. He waited too long. Don’t wait too long to do the things you want. Your time on this earth is limited.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 504

Things went a little smoother today. I actually managed to finish two videos. This is twice as many as I completed yesterday, but still nowhere near the four or five videos a day I had originally planned. The first video was about floating oil production facilities. Have any of you even heard the term FPSO before? I hadn't either until a few weeks ago. People are spending billions of dollars on these huge ships though. I imagine the model in front of the booth is pretty expensive too.

The second video was of the Flash Mob singing in front of the booth. This one actually sounded pretty good, because all the singers wore wireless mics and the sound system was so loud it overpowered the crowd noise. Every day I send these videos off to Germany to get approved, but I don't know what happens to them after that. To the best of my knowledge, none of them are running on YouTube yet.

I'm not having much success with my blog posts either. The energy blog I'm sending my articles to keeps writing back and telling me that I'm being too technical. The editor wants me to write like an "ordinary person" instead of writing like an energy professional. Weird! I am an ordinary person! I write about dogs. I couldn't be overly technical if I tried, since I don't really understand half the technology anyway. I think most of you would probably agree that I write in a conversational, easy to read style. Well, apparently I'm still too technical for the editor of this blog.

All this being said, I'd still consider the day a success. Hey, they fed me lunch today and I discovered where the bathrooms are. That's progress to me. A few tips for anyone who is ever planning on doing something like this. Bring a pair of scissors with you. I've never seen so many things in shrink wrap packaging that are impossible to open without scissors or a knife. I'd go buy a super light carbon fiber tripod too. My tripod has turned out to be the heaviest thing I've had to lug around all day. My little personal 4G hotspot has turned out to be a great investment. You wouldn't believe how slow a trade show's WiFi network can become when 20,000 people are trying to check their e-mail at the same time.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 483

Yay! I got the big trade show job in Houston next month. The project has already changed shape several times since I submitted my initial bid, but it's still a fabulous project for a very large company. I'll need to buy some new equipment to do the job properly, but I needed some new equipment anyway. It's a good investment. When friends ask why I've been spending so much time on blogs and Facebook and other social media destinations lately, this is probably the reason. Two years ago I didn't even know what social media was. Now, I'm getting hired to provide social media coverage of events. This seems like a good investment too.

The Wine on the Roof poster is finally done. Yay again. If you've been following this story, you'll notice that this thing has changed shape a few times as well. Now, it's a much more literal interpretation of the original Gone with the Wind movie poster. I had my doubts that I'd even get the three foot long poster printed today, because my printer is genuinely on its last legs. All's well that ends well though. In the process of printing the poster today, I finally found out what is wrong with my printer. Evidently the print head overheats and shuts the printer down with an error message when there is no ink inside the head. Ink serves a dual purpose of coloring the picture and cooling the print head. The fix for this problem? Well, it's either a simple $150 service call to reattach some loose wires, or $1100 and up for a brand new print head and pump. Unfortunately, the repairman has to come out and take the printer apart to see whether I got lucky or not. The printer is so old that I don't think it's worth it to spend a fortune replacing all the internal parts. Jeez, I've already done that with the Defender 90 and that's enough. I'm always up for reattaching loose wires though, so I'll probably have the guy come out and take a look. I wish someone would invent a small, cheap printer that would make very large, expensive looking prints. In my experience, almost all current large format printers are way more trouble than they're worth.

I saw an amphibious car when I was walking the dogs at the lake today. It's really strange to be walking along and see a half submerged convertible glide by you on the water. I don't remember the brand of the car, but I recall seeing pictures of one that looked like this. They were made in the 1960's and look kind of like a bathtub with wheels. A mile or so down the trail I saw something even stranger. It was a big two foot square sign featuring one of those square bar code thingies that are starting to pop up everywhere. All the sign said was "scan this for more information." I didn't scan the sign. Actually, I didn't even bring my phone with me. I hate to get calls when I'm walking.

Dalmatian of the Day

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