Day 3076

Maybe it's just the nice weather, but we are encountering an increasing number of aggressive dogs in the park. These dogs are on a leash, but just barely. I still don't understand why people insist on walking their dogs in a public place when they can't control them. The woman we encountered today kept apologizing for her dog's bad behavior but couldn't seem to stop it. We watched as several other dogs narrowly avoided disaster and kept far, far away.

It's hard to blame the dog for bad behavior. Usually the owner has made no effort to properly socialize and train their pet. A well socialized puppy seldom becomes a bad dog. I've learned to keep my distance when I see a dog on one of those long flexi-leashes that won't come when it's called. When another dog approaches, the owner struggles to retract the leash like they are reeling in a fish. Jeez. A sturdy leather leash and a little training goes a long way. We safely completed another walk, but it would be nice if we could relax and enjoy the outdoors without constantly looking ahead for danger.

I may need to find a new time to go to the gym. For the second week in a row, I haven't been able to use the basketball court because a game was in progress. These impromptu pick-up games come and go, but I'm never very good at predicting when the court will be in use. I'm always a little disappointed when I can't shoot baskets. It seems like a small reward for the twenty minutes I spend on the hand bicycle.

I needed to buy a new nozzle for the garden hose in the back yard today. I've bought a new nozzle every year for the past three years. Why don't these things last? I'd much rather spend $25 for a sturdy nozzle that would last a lifetime than pay $7 for a new nozzle every year. Sprinklers are even worse. Most oscillating sprinklers won't even make it through a single season.

Although I'm willing to pay more for garden equipment, I'd like to pay less for socks. Why are socks so expensive? Maybe I'm hard on socks, but I'm always needing to replace them. It doesn't take me long at all to get a hole in the heel. I went looking for socks on my way home from the gym today and a lot of them were over $20 a pair. That's ridiculous for something that won't last six months.

Dash had a good day. He's seemed a little more sure footed on his walks lately. I can tell by the sound his protective boots make on the pavement that he's not dragging his feet so much. This could all change tomorrow, but I'm always happy when Dash has a good day. I'm still confused about his changing eating habits. Dash prefers to eat later in the day now. There's no more barking for breakfast right after he wakes up. Lately, he's been sleeping through the night too. I need to stay flexible, which isn't always easy. I'm not a very flexible person.

I watched the last episode of Detectorists last night. Now what? There just aren't many shows that I like. Maybe I should start reading again. My standards are pretty high. I'm looking for books like The Milagro Beanfield War, A Confederacy of Dunces, Geek Love, Danial Martin, Sometimes a Great Notion, and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Truthfully, I don't think they make authors like Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, and John Fowles anymore.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2841

Time slows down when you're waiting for a repairmen. They never tell you when they are going to arrive, preferring to keep you guessing. If you think they're going to be early, they'll be late. If you think they're going to be late, they'll arrive when you're taking your morning shower. I wish they'd just tell you how many service calls were ahead of you. Maybe then I could plan my day a little better.

Since the most likely components to fail have already been replaced, the list of things that could still cause the refrigerator to malfunction is growing smaller. I did a little research and found two more parts that could cause the evaporator coil to freeze. One of these parts costs $14 and the other one costs $250. You can guess which one the repairman said I needed.

It's kind of hard to decide at this point whether to give up on the refrigerator and buy a new one or just keep replacing parts until it finally works. The repairman said that if I bought a new refrigerator, I shouldn't expect it to last more than five or six years. "They don't build these things to last anymore," he said. I'm sure this is true. We live in a throw away society. Our whole economy depends on people replacing everything they own every five or six years. My parents had a refrigerator that lasted twenty five years. I don't think that's even possible anymore.

I'm inclined to buy the part and hope for the best. The weekend we went looking for refrigerators, I didn't see anything I liked that would fit in the small space we have available. If Janet has strong feelings one way or the other, I'll just do what she wants. That usually ends up being the best solution anyway.

Dash seemed to have a little more energy today. He still wouldn't take a walk this morning, but his appetite has improved. I don't know if we'll ever convince him to eat dry food again, but if he's healthy I don't even care. After sleeping most of the day, Dash seemed eager for an evening walk. When Janet got home from work we took him to the park and were genuinely surprised at how perky he seemed. Maybe the Plavix is starting to work. Since it is still important to keep Dash calm and rested, we actually had to slow him down this evening. I wasn't expecting that.

Last night the battery charger for my Anton Bauer batteries quit working. This morning the wireless mouse for my computer quit working. I wonder what will quit working tomorrow? Surprisingly, the shower didn't leak today. Go figure. As long as Dash keeps eating and continues to hang in there, I'm not going to worry about the little stuff.

Jersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1325

Land Rover called me with a "just kidding" message about the special part they ordered for me last week. Even though repairs were scheduled and the parts manager told me that the part was definitely available when I left the dealership, apparently the elusive part doesn't exist after all. Things like this are very frustrating for me because they happen so often. We live in a throwaway society and nobody seems to care about maintaining old stuff anymore. Somewhere along the line, companies discovered that they could make a lot more money if things were simply replaced instead of being repaired. This has all happened fairly recently. Twenty years ago, virtually everything I owned could have been kept running forever by replacing a few inexpensive parts. Those days are gone forever. I have spent weeks looking for spare parts to repair toilets, faucets, furnaces, cameras and cars. All the things I was trying to repair were well made and could have lasted indefinitely with proper maintenance. Well-made and repairable aren't terms you hear much anymore, unfortunately. Instead, we get bombarded with new features that tempt us to abandon the old and get something new instead. It's such a waste. I still prefer well made things that can be maintained forever, but this kind of thinking is a bit like preferring unicorns to horses.

I would definitely prefer some cooler weather, but it doesn't look like I'm going to get that either. It was another triple digit day and the dogs hated it. We took an early walk this morning, but it was already too hot before we even left the house. By the time we returned, we were exhausted. Dot and Dash slept the rest of the day and I went to the gym. One thing I like about my gym is that it is well air conditioned. It's one thing to work up a sweat. It's another thing entirely to be drenched in sweat before you even get started. I'll take an indoor workout any day of the week. I don't understand what all the cyclists and runners I see out in the August heat get out of their self induced punishment.

On the way home from the gym I went to look for some soup bowls. Janet and I are both so clumsy that we routinely break bowls and glasses. Having brick floors in the kitchen and dining areas probably doesn't help the longevity of these items either. I was looking for those oven proof bowls you make French onion soup in, but I couldn't find any as nice at the set we'd broken. I finally found something acceptable at Bed Bath and Beyond. You always have to have a coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond. When I took my blue discount coupon up to the cashier, she said my set of four bowls was really just four individual bowls and I could only use the 20% off coupon for one of my bowls. WTF?  I still think it was a set of four.

I have to get my blood work done tomorrow morning, To help skew the numbers a bit in my favor, I had a big helping of kale salad and didn't eat any dessert. I'm sure it won't make much of a difference anyway. It's always been hard to see a discernible trend in my test results.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1084

Today was all about repairing things. I managed to find a place to take both the Epson printer and the Norman strobes for repairs. Even though both places were factory authorized service centers, they were quite small and seemed to be on the verge of going out of business. To me, this was just another sad statement about our throwaway society. People don't find value in fixing things anymore, and as a result good repair people are having a harder and harder time making a living. When I drove the Epson printer over to the repair facility, I had a hard time even finding it. The small building was so nondescript that it was almost invisible. An older man and his wife ran the place and did all the work themselves. They seemed very knowledgeable and their business had received rave reviews on the Internet. You'd think their business would be doing great with so many people having printer problems. Unfortunately, it is usually cheaper to buy a new printer than to repair an old one. Most broken printers just get tossed.

The Norman repair shop was a different story. The man I remembered from my studio days had retired to Mississippi and sold his business to another younger repairman. I talked to this new guy on the phone today and he was a treasure trove of knowledge with over forty years of experience repairing studio photo strobe lights. Unfortunately, changes in the photography business had forced him to move to a succession of smaller locations, ending with a small shop in his home where he works now. He no longer sells parts, because his customers can buy them directly for less at big warehouse photo emporiums like B&H in New York. Eddie can still fix my power pack though. These old Norman power packs were built like tanks. One more refurbishment and the thing ought to outlast me.

I just don't understand a throwaway society. Fixing things is good. When you fix something, you develop a better understanding for how it works and what you can do with it. It's hard to respect something you just throw away every few years. I believe that tools and automobiles and clothing and even relationships need to be fixed when they are broken. Fixing things builds character. Not many people think this way unfortunately. Disposable is just easier. Use it. Toss it. Get something better. That's the way people think now. It's sad. I can't even get the case off most things I buy these days.

I fix things too. Most of the website maintenance work I do involves changing and modifying websites to meet new needs and requirements. There are no templates. I do all the coding by hand. It all works pretty well until my clients happen to see a GoDaddy ad on TV that promises them a brand new website for only $9.95 a month. I can really appreciate the difficulties the Epson repairman and the Norman repairman are having. I'm having the same problems myself.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day