Day 3964 - Halloween

This weather can't make up it's mind. It was cold again this morning. What happened to yesterday's t-shirt weather? I had to get out my winter coat when we walked Dawn. I may have been a little chilly, but Dawn liked the cooler temperatures. She had lots of energy this morning. Her condition has certainly improved. I had trouble keeping up with her today.

When I went grocery shopping this morning, I was surprised to discover that I can now buy gas with my phone. The app I use to avoid the checkout lines now works at the gas pump as well. There was no need to slide my credit card into the pump. I just pointed my phone at the pump and filled my tank. I love technology when it works. Unfortunately, it frequently doesn't work.

I buy pretty much the same things every week, but my bill is always a little higher than it was the previous week. What's going on here? Some items have gone up more than others. I don't see much of a pattern in the price increases, but I'm sure it has something to do with Covid. Maybe manufacturers who have been disrupted are trying to make up the difference somehow. I never look for sales, but maybe I should.

Janet and I decided to get a new dehumidifier. We weren't sure which model we had, so I looked at a small label on the bottom of the machine. Near the label was a little vent I had never noticed before. It was completely clogged with dust. I cleaned out the vent and the defrost light didn't come on for the rest of the day. Maybe there was nothing wrong with the dehumidifier. I'll have to go check the other dehumidifier in the storage warehouse. I wouldn't be surprised if the little vent was clogged in that one too.

There are Halloween decorations in our neighborhood, but I didn't see any trick or treaters this year. Maybe I wasn't looking very hard, but I suspect that parents weren't that eager to have their children asking strangers for candy in today's environment. Halloween was a big deal when I was a kid. We wandered all over the neighborhood unsupervised and came home late at night with huge bags of candy. Streets were safe back then and nobody was worried about a deadly virus. Times have definitely changed. Halloween is still spooky, but it isn't ghosts and goblins that are scaring us anymore.

I still need to find something interesting to do. I got my 20,000 steps today, but that was about it. It's hard to put what I learned at the astrophotography workshop to good use because you still can't see much when you look up at the sky in Dallas. Light pollution is terrible here. It's easy to forget that I am technically still on assignment for SpaceFlight Magazine. I seldom hear from those guys anymore because they are all preoccupied with the virus over in the UK. Hopefully, I can come up with an interesting article for the magazine when I go to Florida.

Do I go to the gym tomorrow? They're sure trying hard to get me to return. I get an e-mail almost every day about new classes and activities. I really need to stay in shape, but my instinct is to take long naps instead. Dawn is a bad influence on me. She's all about taking long naps. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I think I dodged a bullet with the dehumidifier today. It's still working like a champ.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3325

I think we're well on our way to becoming a surveillance society. Companies know so much about us already, but they still want to know more. I called my insurance agent today to ask about a low mileage discount. I hardly drive at all anymore, so I thought if these things exist, maybe I could lower my bill. The reason I wanted to lower my bill was that I'd just received it and of course, it was higher than it was before. "Sure, we can lower your bill," the agent told me. "Let me send you a small tracker you can install in your car and then all you have to do is download our Safe Driver app on your phone." "How big a discount will I get," I asked. "We can't tell you right away," the agent said. "After we've been able to analyze your driving habits for about six months, we'll revise your premium." "So what you're telling me is that my premium could actually go up after six months," I said. The agent was silent.

My insurance company is becoming just like the phone company, the cable company, Facebook, and everybody else. These companies want to learn your habits, get all your data, and then sell it to third parties who will bombard you with targeted advertising and telemarketing calls. I would have preferred to give the agent two service reports from the Land Rover dealer spaced one year apart that would validate the actual mileage I drove in a year. Apparently, that wasn't an option.

I guess I'm on the wrong side of history. After dealing with the insurance agent, I called another company who wanted me to start paying them electronically. I didn't want to do this. After a long conversation where I explained to them that it was still perfectly legal to pay with a check, they finally relented and let me keep things as the are. I'm sure in about six months I'll get another letter saying that as a "courtesy" my account has been converted to electronic payments.

I've definitely reached the "get off my lawn" stage of life. These companies are just going to have to deal with me for another twenty years. I still like paper. I write letters. I save receipts. And I see no point in talking with Siri or Alexa. As far as I'm concerned the world was a better place when phones were dumb and people were smart. In case you've forgotten, we went to the moon fifty years ago. Have we really advanced that much since then? I don't really thing having my insurance company tracking my trips to the post office and the pharmacy is going to make the world a better place.

Doesn't it seem odd that our society has become obsessed with efficiency and yet nothing actually works. Maybe we should all slow down for a while. We might discover that inefficiency is actually better. Personally, I have lost all interest in speed. Whenever I see someone in a hurry it reminds me of the treadmill at the gym. Sure, you're moving but you're not actually going anywhere.

Today, I made the bed, walked Dash, cleaned up poop several times, fixed a dog boot, did a load of laundry, and took the trash out to the curb. I probably accomplished just as much as all the self-important movers and shakers I saw on TV while I was drinking my morning smoothie.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2975

I had the best of intentions today. I was going to fix some things around the house, touch base with my remaining clients, and clean up all the dog poop in the yard. Since I got up later than usual, I didn't get off to a roaring start. By the time I finished taking Dash on a morning walk and made my morning smoothie, it was almost 11 AM. I don't think I was always this slow, but it's hard to remember.

The first task on the agenda was fixing a running toilet. This Porcher toilet was made in France about fifteen years ago and is almost impossible to find parts for. Unlike most toilets, you can't just go to Home Depot and buy a new float arm or fill valve. I feel like this thing was engineered by the same people who made Citroën automobiles. It is truly bizarre. The best I can do is carefully take apart the aging mechanism, clean everything as well as I can, and then put things back together. Today, I slowed the leak, but didn't stop it entirely. It was the best I could do.

I tried to find out whether the AT&T technician was going to come out today and hook up the permanent fiber optic cable, but just ended up wasting a lot of time on the phone. The help desk people in Indonesia don't really have a clue where the service guys in the trucks are. I don't really care when the guy comes out. I just wanted to make AT&T aware that there was a buried line in my yard that wasn't hooked up. The two guys that dug the hole yesterday said someone would come out today and finish the job. Not surprisingly, no one showed up.

I've been trying to talk to the guy who replaced the thermistor in my refrigerator a couple of months ago. This repairman seemed more knowledgable that the others the appliance repair shop sent out and I was hoping he could tell me whether it was worth one more try to fix my existing refrigerator. There are two more thermistors in the refrigerator. If all it took was replacing all three of them to get things running reliably again, it might be worth it. I still can't find a new refrigerator that is as good as the one I've got. I can't find the repairmen either. So far, he hasn't returned my call.

It is amazingly warm for February. I think the temperature was over 70 today. I can never get used to this rapidly changing weather. When I'm walking Dash, I always seem to be wearing too much or too little. Today was confusing. The grey overcast skies definitely looked like Winter, but the temperature felt like Spring. Dash seemed confused too. He kept sniffing the air on his morning walk and wouldn't take an afternoon walk at all.

Once again we are wondering how we can stop school shootings. I don't think it will be easy. We live in a world where Call of Duty is the most popular video game. Violent video games and movies have been a favorite of kids for almost thirty years. Mental illness is so common that it almost seems like a lifestyle choice. It is unbelievable how many people are taking anti-depressants and other psychotropic drugs these days. Social media has created a world where everyone demands instant gratification. Nobody has any patience anymore. Worst of all, when anyone talks about restricting guns, people rush out and buy even more guns. It's kind of a hopeless situation.

Personally, I think technology has advanced much more rapidly than our ability to comprehend it. Sure, we have self driving cars and everyone is connected to everyone else, but in the process we've managed to destroy a society that has worked pretty well for thousands of years. If we don't slow down, things are only going to get worse.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2514

When I was writing one of my periodic old fashioned letters to my sister today, it occurred to me that I was becoming a Luddite too. Letters written on paper are starting to seem more satisfying than e-mail. Technology has been good to me over the years, but I'm not so sure that it has been good for me. I'm not sure that technology has been good for anybody.  When I was younger, I understood everything I used. Grooves on a vinyl record made a lot more sense than bits and bytes on an MP3 file. Adjusting the fuel mixture on a carburetor was something you could do intuitively. It would take an electrical engineering degree to understand the black box that controls my car's electronic ignition system. Editing film or tape by physically splicing pieces of it together always made sense to me. I still can't fully understand Avid Media Composer. I could go on and on. When you take things for granted that you don't fully understand, it all becomes like magic.

Maybe we're advancing too fast for our own good. We figured out how to use robots to make almost everything we use, but we never considered what would happen when nobody had jobs. We used medicine to dramatically increase our lifespan, but never considered what would happen when there were too many healthy people and we couldn't feed them all. There is a lot more stress in the world than there was when I was growing up. We are running as fast as we can just to keep up with the technology we created.

Every time I install a software upgrade, I feel like a kid who is being forced to swallow a spoonful of cod liver oil. Maybe it's good for you, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. I installed the latest upgrade to my Apple watch today. A few hours later the watch started beeping at me at random times. When I touched the screen, there was a message that simply said breathe. WTF? What kind of new age nonsense is this. I definitely don't need my watch to tell me to slow down and take a deep breath. Apple always tricks you this way. When you look for a description of the software upgrade, it usually just says something innocuous like performance and security enhancements. Seems harmless enough, but when you actually install the software, everything you liked has disappeared and been replaced by things that are irritating and unnecessary. Yup. I think I'm starting to sound like a Luddite.

It's hard to believe that it's November already. At least the election will be over soon. I think people will be a lot happier when they can return to thinking about what they are going to fix for Thanksgiving Dinner than about who is going to start World War III. OK. I'll admit that Thanksgiving Dinner can be stressful too, but not for me. Large family dinners are in the distant past for Janet and I. We just go out to eat at a nice restaurant and there are never any dishes to clean up when we get home.

Dot and Dash were in good spirits today. Dash took a nice long walk this morning and Dot seemed happy to walk around the house with me holding up her rear end. She did poop while I was eating breakfast, but I'm getting used to this. It's not a big deal.  I wish she was strong enough to resume her physical therapy tomorrow, but I don't think we're there yet.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, but I have a feeling that it will be a lot like what I did today.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1964

I picked up one of those Chromecast sticks that plugs into your TV while I was out this afternoon. Now, all three HDMI ports on the back of the TV are filled with little devices that bypass cable. I never use the Roku and Hulu steaming sticks, so it is doubtful that I'll use Chromecast much either. I guess I just got the thing because it was on sale and I was curious whether it worked or not. Yup. Works like a charm. I'm fascinated by technology. I just don't watch TV very much. I was happy enough with my old analog TV that only got 13 Channels. Unfortunately, all the TV stations switched to digital broadcasting a few years ago and turned the thing into a door stop. Jeez, who needs 250 Channels? I mostly just watch old black and white Perry Mason shows to help me go to sleep at night anyway. Ironically, Janet would probably like Chromecast, but wouldn't have the patience to install the companion software on her computer and learn how to use the thing. I have lots of patience. I just don't understand the whole concept of entertainment. I could go for months without even turning a TV on.

I didn't really realize that eating would be such a problem when I had my oral surgery. Dislodging all the little food particles in my mouth after a meal takes longer than it took to eat the meal in the first place. I'm supposed to swish warm salt water around in my mouth to remove food debris, but it takes forever. According to my post-surgery instructions I still can't brush with a toothbrush or use a water pic. Somehow, my remaining teeth have become more sensitive to hot and cold too. It just makes me want to eat nothing but custard or Jello.

I really didn't do much today. I got groceries, filled the car with gas, refilled prescriptions, did some laundry and changed the sheets on the bed. I do most of these things every Saturday. It took a while for me to figure out how to install the Chromecast stick, but once I got it working properly, I just turned off the TV. No need to actually watch anything. Taking a nap with the dogs seemed like a much better alternative.

I'm glad I got the water off the roof yesterday, because it was too hot to go up there today. In the Summer, I have to wear gloves, because some of the surfaces become too hot to touch. The only good thing about the Summer heat is that after a light rain in July or August, the standing water just evaporates and I don't have to bother with sweeping it away.

I'm hungry for French Toast. It's tasty and easy to chew. French Toast for breakfast tomorrow sounds delicious. Unfortunately, I'm not eating bread anymore. I don't completely remember why, but I quit eating bread quite a while ago. It probably has something to do with avoiding diabetes. Bread is high in carbs and can spike blood sugar levels. Bread just isn't that good for you. It is very tasty, but blocks that absorption of other nutrients, contributes to vitamin-d deficiency, and quickly turns to sugar in your body. What a shame. Bread tastes to good.

Maybe I'll go to the gym tomorrow. I think I'm caught up on Sunday chores. I need to go to the gm more often, but I'd rather work on adding some new features to my mobile friendly test site. Learning something new is much more entertaining to me than watching a movie using the Chromecast stick. Going to the gym isn't entertaining at all, although I do like shooting the basketball. I'll probably just take another nap with the dogs.

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1876

I don't know what possessed me to start editing video again. I learned to edit many years ago using a Media 100 editing system. This software has been obsolete for so long that no computers I currently use will even run it. I loved Media 100 and used it faithfully during my most prolific years as a producer. The company was bought and sold several times and eventually just disappeared. I was forced to turn to Final Cut Pro and learn a whole new way of editing. Just when I was getting good with Final Cut Pro, Apple abandoned it in favor of a whole new platform called Final Cut Pro X. You wouldn't think that adding an X at the end of the name would change much, but it changed everything. I hate Final Cut Pro X.

I still try to edit using the old version of Final Cut Pro, which hasn't been updated in years. When I'm in a hurry, I often find myself trying to use techniques that only work in Media 100. It's a sad case of old dogs and new tricks. To make matters worse, many of the keyboard shortcuts in Final Cut Pro 7.0 only work with an old style keyboard with a numeric keypad. I haven't used one of those large, wired keyboards in years. Nevertheless, I stumbled through the day, relearning tricks and techniques on the fly. By the end of the day, I had a rough cut put together that seemed to flow reasonably smoothly from beginning to end. Sadly, I could have finished three videos in the same amount of time ten years ago using a slower computer and some rather rudimentary editing software.

This is why I mostly stick to writing these days. As long as you continue to write frequently, your writing skills don't tend to become obsolete. Working with technology is another story entirely. I've got entire shelves in the office filled with perfectly good software that is no longer supported. There's nothing wrong with this software. It just just won't run, mostly because today's modern operating systems won't recognize it. The early versions of Microsoft Word and Photoshop were just fine by me. Ten versions later, they both have become huge bloated monsters that take a long time to load and require huge hard drives. Most of my other business software is the same way. I'm tired of re-learning how to edit video or code websites every three years, but you've really got no choice. Software companies don't want you to continue using the same applications for decades. They want to sell you something new and bigger, with even more features. Now, they don't even sell you the software. You just subscribe to it, so they can keep changing things on a weekly basis.

I had plans to get out today, but they never materialized. There were so many false starts in my editing project that I only had time to walk the dogs and go to the bank. It wasn't a bad day. There were no looming deadlines and nobody was screaming at me. I just sat quietly at my desk wishing I had a time machine. Frustration was definitely the word of the day. Talk to me in a week and I'm sure I'll be up to speed on Final Cut Pro again. Maybe I'll have to buy a numeric keypad, or maybe I already have one in the storage warehouse somewhere. The video will get done though, and it will be nice.

Dash goes back to the cancer center for his regular three month re-check tomorrow. There's a little growth on his tail that I want them to check. I don't think it is anything to worry about, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. After a full year of treatment, I'm not ready for any more surprises.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day.

Day 1868

I'm glad I don't live on the East Coast right now. Blizzard conditions have closed all the airports, making travel to Vandenberg Air Force Base impossible for a couple of people from New York and Boston who were planning on attending the SMAP launch this week. The weather is much better in Dallas, so my only problem will be getting up at 4 AM to go to the airport.

I'm a terrible travel planner, but I knew if I didn't get started today, I would run out of time. I always run into something unexpected when I'm packing. Today, I couldn't find a small tube of toothpaste that the TSA wouldn't confiscate. I couldn't get my laptop to boot up either. It turns out that I forgot to power the computer down several weeks ago and the battery ran out while the computer was still on. When I got this issue resolved, I had trouble setting the second time zone on a radio controlled watch I was planning to wear on the trip. The watch is supposed to set itself using a radio time signal, but somehow I screwed up and ended up with the dial showing the time in London. I probably should take a simpler watch with me. I packed some socks and then noticed that most of them had holes in them. I still can't figure out how to get the WiFi feature working on my new little point and shoot camera. If I can get the WiFi working, I'll be able to send pictures directly from the camera to Facebook and Twitter. Travel never used to involve so much technology. My boarding pass is on my phone. I sure hope this works, because sometimes it doesn't.

One way or another, everything will get done. It always does. I got all my meds packed away in one of those plastic pill containers that old people use. Oh wait, I am one of those old people. I super-glued my comfortable tennis shoes back together and packed a second nicer pair of shoes just in case I decide not to embarrass myself. I still don't know what kind of coat to take. I never get coats right and am always either too hot or too cold.

I did manage to get the camera equipment from yesterday's video shoot put away, but I haven't finished all of my website updates yet. I've got one more to go, which I should be able to finish before bedtime. I thought I'd be able to get caught up on things with time to spare, but I never dreamed that I'd waste an entire hour trying to set a weird Japanese watch and another hour simply trying to turn on my laptop. You might be wondering why I didn't finish my work first. I guess it was a matter of priorities. I'm always confident about meeting my work deadlines. Not so much with technology. Inexplicable software glitches, poorly written instructions, and the occasional catastrophic failure all drive me nuts. I depend on my high-tech tools, but I often hate them as well.

The dogs loved today's unseasonably warm weather. We took a long walk before breakfast and another toward the end of the day. In between, Dot and Dash sunned themselves in the back yard while I struggled to get organized. I wish I didn't wait until the last minute with everything I do, but it's in my blood. I've always been this way. Perhaps it's for the best. If I knew what I was doing ahead of time, I'd probably just worry more.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1795

It was a busy day. I got up early so I could walk the dogs and go out for breakfast before the HVAC technician arrived. It's a good thing I got an early start today, because although most repair people arrive late, this guy actually arrived early. The instructions that came with the thermostat said that most people could install the thing themselves. I'd glad I had a professional to keep me from doing something stupid. For starters, the old thermostat had four wires going to the furnace. This new one had eight. Where were those extra four wires supposed to go? I didn't have a clue.

The first thing I noticed when the service technician got the thermostat installed was that an exterior temperature immediately showed up on the display. "Where did that come from," I asked. "There are no external thermometers hooked up to this thing." "Oh, your WiFi router knows exactly where you are," he told me. The thermostat is just retrieving the nearest available exterior temperature reading from the cloud. I love technology, so I was impressed to see that this gizmo can remind you when it's time to change the furnace filter, provide a long-range weather forecast, and even automatically update its own software. Since a built-in microphone lets you control the temperature by saying things like "make it warmer," or "make it cooler," I suppose the NSA could overhear everything we say if they wanted. I've got nothing to worry about though. All they'd hear at our house are barking dogs.

Speaking of barking dogs, Dot didn't bark once while the HVAC technician was at the house. This is unprecedented. The technician was as surprised as I was and asked me "Where are your dogs today." Dot is slowly going deaf and sleeps so soundly now that she didn't hear a thing. She slept thorough the entire installation process. It was kind of sad in a way, since I know how much Dot loves to bark. I'm sure the technician appreciated the unexpected quiet though. Usually Dot barks so loudly that we have trouble even talking to each other.

I had a couple of writing assignments to complete, but I also spent some time trying to locate a new source for Dash's elusive dog food. One store told me that they could have a bag for me by Monday afternoon. Another store told me that the product had been discontinued and wasn't available anywhere. A third store told me that the brand was still available, but that the company had changed the product's name. I don't know who to believe. It definitely shouldn't be this hard to buy dog food though.

I wonder how long this current cold front is going to last? It certainly doesn't appear to be getting much warmer. I'm still surprised that the dogs appear to like this chilly weather. Not me. I'm already looking forward to wearing t-shirts and shorts again. I'm afraid that's not going to happen this weekend. My new thermostat tells me that it's only a few degrees above freezing outside and that I should expect more of the same this weekend.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1529

It was an absolutely normal Friday. Normal is good. There was no dog crisis. There was no impossible deadline crisis. There was no crisis at all. The dogs are enjoying the Springlike weather. We had a great walk this morning and my shoulder has finally gotten strong enough to try walking both dogs together again. Maybe I just got lucky today when I walked Dot and Dash together for the first time in weeks, but my shoulder gave me no problems. Knock on wood.

I had time for an enjoyable breakfast at my favorite restaurant and picked up some tasty food for the weekend at Central Market afterwards. Since I got started early this morning, there was still plenty of time to finish all my assignments.

I was finally able to get my tree trimmer to commit to a date for cleaning up the broken tree limbs from  last December's ice storm. I don't know why this has taken so long, but everything seems to take a long time these days. There is quite a bit of damage and I'm sure the tree guy will try to convince me to saw down the entire tree. I don't want to do that. The large old Oak has been around for over 100 years and I think it's got a few years left.

My liver doctor called this morning and told me that the initial test results looked good and that I should continue taking the pills. Jeez, I wouldn't think stopping was even an option. When I first received the medication, I read right on the bottle of the expensive pills that if you didn't complete the entire twelve week treatment regime, the virus would just become more resistant. We definitely don't want that.

Dash acted so normal today that it's hard to imagine that he still might be very, very sick. I'm dreading the appointment with the oncologist on Monday morning. His assessment of the situation could snap me back to reality very quickly. For now, we'll concentrate on having a nice weekend. The weather still looks good, so he'll get a trip to his favorite dog park. Unfortunately, he'll also get a bath. If Dash has to have surgery, he might not be able to have a bath for a long time. Janet says we might as well make sure he's clean now.

I learned something new about LED light bulbs today. Unbeknownst to me, most of the electrical energy supplied to an LED bulb is converted to heat rather than light. I guess this explains why most of these bulbs have large metal heat sink fins around the circumference of the bulb. At any rate, even though these high-tech bulbs use far less energy than a normal incandescent bulb, they must dissipate lot more heat than an equivalent incandescent. So, where does all this heat go? Well, it often goes straight to the thermal protection switch inside the fixture and ruins it. This is basically why the can light in my bathroom has started blinking on and off and why a similar fixture in my office burned out a few months ago. So the "last forever" LED lights don't last forever after all. And they burn up your fixtures in the process. Is all this advanced technology even necessary? I was perfectly happy with my land line phone, cassette tapes, and an IBM Selectric typewriter.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1435

I haven't picked up the guitar in quite a while. It's been even longer since I've taken the telescope outside on a clear evening to look at Jupiter's moons. I can't even remember the last time I spent an entire evening reading a good book. I enjoy these things. So why am I spending so much of my time doing things I don't enjoy? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

I'm not trying to make excuses here, but life has fundamentally changed. The changes aren't big, in and among themselves, but they add up. It takes longer to fix healthy meals than to pick up a burger at a drive-thru. It takes longer to maintain an exercise regime than to watch TV on the couch. It definitely takes longer to earn a decent living. Where are all the assistants and copy typists I used to have? Where is the world I used to love?

Personally, I think that globalization and technology have combined forces to destroy a delightfully inefficient world where jobs were abundant and expectations were low. It isn't really surprising to me that health care isn't working anymore and entire countries are going bankrupt. The complexity of modern life is simply staggering. It is still a world of amazing opportunities, but it's all getting a lot harder to understand and many of us are simply running in place.

I don't have a grand plan anymore. I just get up every morning and methodically move from one task to the next. I always start with the simple things, but sometimes that's as far as I get. I got about halfway done today. The dogs got a good walk. I made it to the gym. I got several articles finished and shipped off to the client. I got stuck on my website project though. I'm confused. I'll need to do a bit more research to figure this one out.

If I wasn't so busy, I might enjoy the beautiful Fall weather we're having a bit more. We're really getting some fabulous Fall color this year. Texas will never be New England, but I see a lot of brilliant reds and yellows as I walk through the park with the dogs. I wonder why the leaves turn bright colors one year and are dull brown the next? I have a feeling that I might be happier if questions like these were the only things I had to worry about.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1232

I took Dash to the vet today for his antigen shot. He seemed puzzled by the loaner car. Dash is very agile and usually has no trouble leaping into the back seat. The LR4 has a large rear door and plenty of room, but Dash didn't think he could get inside. We tried one door and then the other, but just before he would get to the open door, he would abort his leap and skid to a halt. After four or five tries, he finally realized that this car was just like any other car, and off we went. It is funny to see a dog do this, but I know I'm exactly the same way. I am very reticent to try something new. Once I work up my nerve though, I'm usually just fine. Dash and I are alike in many ways.

I talked to a friend today who is also in the market for a new flat roof. I was hoping that he'd have the answer to all my problems, but it doesn't look that way. My friend is having just as much trouble finding the holy grail as I am. I'm beginning to feel a bit like Don Quixote and have come to the conclusion that the illusive, affordable flat roof we all are searching for just doesn't exist.

I'm trying to decide whether I'd ever wear Google Glass or not. On one hand, I'm a huge fan of technology and a wearable heads-up virtual reality display certainly would be cool. On the other hand, I've never liked wearing glasses and don't even wear sunglasses in the summer. I think these things are going to catch on and will sell like hotcakes in a few years. I hear lots of talk about privacy issues with Google Glass, but I don't think privacy issues will derail this project. Privacy is still an issue with some people my age, but it's a completely foreign concept to many young people. Young people seems to want the world to know what they're doing at all times.

Privacy doesn't matter to me much one way or the other since I don't do much. Other than the trip to the vet with Dash, the only thing I did today was write several short articles. I do manage to crank out a lot of words. If I knew how to put these words together in the right order, I might be the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. Unfortunately, as it stands now, my words are just cannon fodder for SEO experts. Sometimes I wonder if anyone even reads the corporate stuff I write for a living.

Tomorrow we start another month. Dot and Dash will begin taking a new type of heartworm medication that hopefully is going to put an end to Dot's seizures. I'm hoping that the old medication was the problem. It certainly a lot easier to change a prescription than to deal with the possibility of mini-strokes and brain tumors.

Bea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1229

I picked up some additional memory cards for one of my cameras today. I was amazed to discover that you can now buy 64GB high capacity SD cards for less than $40. Three or four years ago, these high speed, ultra high capacity cards were over $300, if you could even find them. Why can't everything work like the electronics industry? Electronics inevitably tend to get cheaper and better over time. Everything else seems to get more expensive while the quality gets worse. If roofing technology kept advancing at the same pace as solid state memory technology, I could probably get a brand new roof for $300.

It doesn't work that way though. Furniture is much more expensive than it used to be. The cost of a decent mattress is ridiculous. Cooking utensils keep getting more expensive. So do shoes and clothing. The cost of clothing should be coming down, since everything is made in China now. The clothes I buy keep getting more expensive though. What's that all about? The only sector of the economy that gives you a break anymore is consumer electronics. Large flat panel televisions are a bargain now. DSLR cameras are not only a bargain, they're amazingly capable. I love buying computers, because they're usually a fantastic deal.

When is all this innovation going to hit the roofing industry? If you can send a man to the moon, you ought to be able to develop an economical roof that doesn't leak. Maybe that's the problem. We can't sent a man to the moon anymore.

It was a beautiful day. When the weather is this nice, I usually putter around in the yard. There is no need to do this anymore though. The landscapers have done all my puttering for me. With no yard work to do, I ran errands instead. I'll be glad when I get my car back from the shop. I don't like driving the LR4 as much as my Defender. The car is too big. Instead of zipping in and out of tight parking spaces, I have to keep a close eye on what's going on around me. It's easy to get too close to curbs and other cars with this behemoth.

It looks like it's going to be a good day to go to the dog park tomorrow. It might be a good day to give the dogs a bath as well. They've managed to escape a bath for well over a month now, and it's about time to clean them up again. Dot and Dash are going to a Dalmatian Rescue event next week and Janet hates to go to these shindigs with a dirty dog. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind what I wear though.

Bowser is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1161

I had another MRI today. The massive MRI scanners are fascinating. The technology works because our bodies are largely made of water. The hydrogen atoms in our bodies can be aligned using a powerful magnetic field. Then, when radio waves are passed through the body at just the right frequencies, a radio signal is generated that varies according to where the magnet is. The distribution of protons within the body can be mathematically recovered from this signal, allowing the creation of a precise image of the body's inner workings. It would take a physicist to explain how these things really work, but I like to think it's just a giant magnet interacting with a small TV transmitter broadcasting on channel 3. One of the strangest things about the MRI is that early research was largely funded by the Beatles. Yes, those Beatles. British music giant EMI wasn't just a music publisher, it was also an electronics company specializing in medical research. Many say it was profits from EMI's Beatles albums that funded the development of the first commercial scanners.

Although MRI scans are completely painless, I ended up grinding my teeth a bit today. Before they slide you into the long cylindrical tube to begin the scan, you are asked to stretch your hands behind your head. There's only one problem with this. Since I have a dislocated shoulder, my right hand won't go all the way behind my head. I have trouble raising this hand all the way above my head standing up. It's no easier lying down horizontally on the MRI cradle. Somehow they slid me into the tube anyway, but I felt that dislocated shoulder during the entire 45 minute scan. Ouch!

Although the scan went fine, the drive home wasn't quite as uneventful. My car stalled out in a bad part of town a few miles from the hospital. I wasn't looking forward to leaving the car here. Luckily, the problem was just vapor lock. I took the gas cap off, waited a few minutes for pressure to equalize, and the Defender started up again. This is the trouble with driving a 1995 car around in 2013. It isn't very reliable. Wherever I go, there's always some sort of problem that crops up. There are oil leaks, mysterious rattles, and all sorts of minor electrical problems. Most of the problems are minor and easily dealt with, but you never know when your luck is going to run out.

Despite spending part of my day inside a giant magnet, I still managed to get some articles written. It wasn't a bad day at all. Our unseasonably warm weather continues. The dogs are happy and I haven't gotten sick of my austere new diet yet. I saw my first daffodil of the season too. That's bound to be a sign that Spring is just around the corner.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1066

I picked up some more memory cards for this weekend's photo shoot. I continue to be amazed at how cheap flash memory has become in recent years. The SDHC cards I got today were half the price of some I'd purchased just a few years ago. I remember seeing a picture recently of a 5GB hard drive from 1955 being loaded on-board a cargo aircraft. The drive was as big as a refrigerator and had to be lifted into the airplane with a forklift. The little 32GB memory card I got today was as small as my thumbnail and only cost $16. If everything improved at this rate, I might be driving around in a brand new $400 Land Rover.

There is a downside to Moore's Law and the progress it brings however. Even though technology continues to get faster and cheaper, you still need to replace everything every two to three years. An old guitar may go up in value, but an old computer is just a fancy doorstop.

The current stock market free-fall is totally depressing. After some nice gains earlier in the year, most of my positions are at their lows of the year. Not only is the market going lower, it's still totally unpredictable. You can't just short everything when the market goes down these days. It's just too volatile. The whole thing drives me nuts. Is there good news just over the horizon? I'm not so sure. The Greeks and the Spaniards are rioting in the streets. The Israelis and the Arabs are about to go to war again. Our top spy has been caught with his pants down. And taxes are about to go up.

At least the sunsets are pretty. Some of you may remember that I got all excited several months ago when I discovered that the new Instacanvas website provided me with an easy way to sell some of these sunset pictures. Have I actually sold any? Well, no. It turns out that the Instacanvas business model was to sell prints to the photographers who actually took the pictures. I guess they are kind of an online vanity press for photographers. The last thing I need are more prints of my own pictures. I was kind of hoping you guys would buy them.

Dot is acting like she wants to throw up. I've taken her outside twice and she does nothing. I sure wish dogs could talk. If she could talk, I'm sure she'd join me in saying "at least it's Friday tomorrow."

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1021

This is the only time of year when you can open your windows in Texas. The weather is beautiful in October and the month certainly got off to a good start today. Did I open my windows and enjoy the cool breezes and mild temperatures? Well, no. You see, if I opened the windows, a ton of wasps would fly inside. Over the summer, lots of wasps have built imposing nests under the eaves. The window screens would keep the wasps out, you might think. Well, no. I went on a tour of homes a while back and noticed that a house on the tour which resembled ours looked much better without the window screens, so I took the screens off our house as well. The house does look better, but I haven't been able to open the windows since. Unfortunately, that's the way it is with me. Pretty wins over practicality just about every time.

The dogs didn't seem all that eager to get up this morning. I think yesterday's golf tournament tired them out. They normally sleep so much during the day that having people come up and pet them all afternoon was more activity than they could handle. I thought they would go to sleep in the car on the way home last night, but they don't seem to like the smaller seats in the little Kia rental car. Nobody seems to like the Kia. Janet and I have gotten so hooked on GPS navigation that we frequently get lost without it. Since we'd never been to the Bridlewood golf course before, we weren't sure how to get home without the Land Rover GPS until we realized that the iPhone had a turn-by-turn navigation app. A little voice in the dark guided us safely home. It is kind of weird how ubiquitous technology has become. I didn't even question putting my faith in a little artificial voice coming out of a telephone.

I've started looking for an alternative to Entrecard and so far I don't like what I see. Most of the other blog advertising networks seem to either be pay-per-post schemes, which I don't like, or require huge readership stats to attract national advertisers, which I don't have. Several of these blog networks suggested creating a niche blog with content devoted exclusively to one subject like parenting, vampires, or knitting. I guess talking about wasp nests and sleeping dogs doesn't count.

There are days when just doing your own thing seems a lonely road to follow. I don't know what else to do, however. I'm kind of set in my ways and I'm certainly not much of a team player. I told one of my advertising friends that I couldn't imagine spending all my time writing about one subject. "But you do spend all your time writing about one subject," he said. "You just write about yourself." Touché.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1014

People must have spent the weekend thinking of things they wanted me to do. Usually Mondays are completely dead, but today there were a ton of little projects that needed to be dealt with. There were new things that needed to be written. Old things that needed to be revised. And of course, there were confusing things that made no sense at all. As I methodically worked my way through this lengthy to-do list, I kept wondering when the fun was going to start. It never did.

I learned a bit about steam turbines today as well. Steam turbines are pretty dull. Even though these complicated and very expensive pieces of machinery are essential for everything from making electricity to making paper, they are only slightly more exciting than a farmer's windmill. Actually, a farmer's windmill is a type of turbine.

Our backyard armadillo has been joined by a backyard raccoon. I saw the raccoon on the porch this morning when I woke up early and went out to the kitchen for a glass of water. I don't know if the raccoon has joined forces with the armadillo to tear up the yard, but it is stealing things off the porch. Raccoons will steal virtually anything. They are also carriers of rabies and will attack dogs and cats. I've got to get rid of this raccoon.

I missed last Saturday's episode of Dr. Who, so I thought I'd record it on the U-verse DVR so I could watch it later. I've never used the DVR, but it couldn't be that hard, could it? I set the DVR to record the show when it was replayed at 2AM this morning. I must have done something wrong though, because when I got ready to watch the episode this morning, I discovered that nothing had been recorded at all. Oh, well. My Instagram photos aren't being recorded to the Camera Roll on my new phone either. That's the trouble with technology. You've got to learn how to use it.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 965

I was disappointed to see so many disparaging comments about the Curiosity lander on the Internet this morning. Where was the universal applause that followed the moon landing in 1969? Sure, there were a ton of positive comments about Curiosity, but they came with an undercurrent of disapproval. Some said the NASA money should have been used to feed the hungry. Others said that the imagination and technical wizardry of NASA scientists was misplaced and should have been used to turn the Sahara, the Gobi, and Antarctica into gardens instead.

You've got to be kidding! What would be the point of turning the Sahara and Antarctica into gardens? If you turned the entire planet into a wonderful place for humans to live and breed, that's exactly what they would do. Why is it that overpopulation is the one problem that most humanists just don't want to deal with? There are way too many people already. Personally, I applaud the audacity of the Curiosity team at JPL. I think the most appropriate role of the best and brightest among us has always been to test the limits of what is possible. What a waste it would be to use the best and brightest to simply level the playing field for the rest of us. Yay Higgs boson. Boo endless debates about universal healthcare. Ultimately, there is more benefit in a few reaching Mars than in millions sitting in front of televisions, watching future episodes of "The Real Housewives of Antarctica."

This is the beauty of dogs. They aren't judgmental. They don't nitpick about website designs. They don't take an amazing technical achievement and try to turn it into political fodder. I like the simplicity of eating, sleeping, and doing the best you can at whatever happens to capture your fancy. By and large, I don't care what other people do with their time and their money. I am human though, so occasionally I get up on a soapbox like everyone else. I'll admit that I do like technology and admire people with big dreams. If there was a starship headed outbound, I'd want to be on it. So, three cheers for the Curiosity team and their amazing achievement. If you have to raise my taxes to pay for more ambitious spaceships in the future, go right ahead. If you want to raise my taxes for anything else though, just forget about it.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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