Day 2556

We didn't make it to the back door this morning, so there were a lot of rugs to wash. This one was my fault. I knew Dot had to go as soon as I woke up, but I failed to make sure that the back door was already open before we made our race for the back yard. Slowing down just a little to give Janet a chance to open the door was all it took and Dot peed all over the place.

I'm learning to get everything done in the morning now. After their morning walk, Dot and Dash will still go back to sleep for a few hours. Today, I used that time to take my invoices to the post office and run a few errands. I left the house before I took a shower or even turned on the computer. I really didn't know how long I had.

Maybe it's the Tramadol pills that are giving Dot a little more energy. Maybe it's something else. I'm glad to see her moving around more, but it sure keeps me busy. I've tried to let her wander around the house on her own, but it doesn't work very well. Dot is still very unsteady on her feet and she usually falls within a minute or two if I am not supporting her rear end. Since her incontinence has gotten worse, she also tends to leak a lot. Whenever she falls, there is usually a puddle of pee on the ground when I lift her up.

I've thought about trying a doggie wheelchair for her, but they don't work very well for larger dogs. Our first Dalmatian used a wheelchair during his last year, but he was always tipping it over. A wheelchair is terrible for a dog that likes to alternate between walking around and lying down. You spend all your time hooking them up and detaching them from the contraption. A wheelchair might be good for longer outdoor walks though. I'm almost at my wits end and am willing to try almost anything.

I think I'm coming down with a cold. I rarely get sick, but if I do it's almost always during the holiday season. Everyone seems to have a cold in December. Even though I do my best to avoid people, there is inevitably someone coughing or sneezing nearby. So far, I've just got a mild sore throat. Hopefully, that's as far as it goes. I'll see if I can shake this one off.

The large format printer is clogged again. I wish I could bring myself to just throw this albatross away. I have a lot of compassion for old dogs, but it's hard to be sympathetic to an old printer. At some point I'm going to realize that I get nothing in return for all the expensive ink and maintenance I pour into this relic. I need to find a twelve step program for people who are attached to obsolete gear. Keeping all these things running is getting ridiculous.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1849

I got on the phone this morning and literally begged the appliance repair folks to expedite the shipment of the part needed to get my washing machine working again. In an era when you can get literally anything overnight using FedEx or UPS, it just doesn't make sense to wait a week for a washing machine part. After making my case, the company agreed to fix my machine on Friday. I still don't understand why they couldn't have fixed it today. Delays like this are one more reason I hate the whole concept of just-in-time sourcing. Nobody inventories anything anymore. Repair shops used to have huge warehouses full of parts. They don't want the expense of maintaining an inventory these days and prefer to just order things as needed. It's another sign of the apocalypse as far as I'm concerned.

When I went to my physical therapy appointment today I asked the therapist if everybody's shoulder made loud cracking and popping sounds like mine does when I'm doing the stretching exercises. "No, you're the worst I've ever seen," she told me. She also added that the next time I had a shoulder problem, I definitely shouldn't wait five years to look for a solution. The dentists I've been seeing have been basically telling me the same thing. What can I say? I'm great at taking care of the dogs. Not so good at taking care of myself.

I'm ready for Summer. I don't know how you Northerners can stand these frigid temperatures. One week of sub-freezing weather has just about brought me to my knees. The temperatures are still in the high twenties, but when you factor in the wind chill it feels closer to zero. I still don't understand why the dogs appear to like this weather. They get cold on longer walks, but when we follow our normal route, the seem to take the chilly weather in stride.

Work is getting busy again. I had several writing assignments today, along with one big website revision. This work, along with my physical therapy appointment and two dog walks completely used up my day. I was trying to explain to my physical therapist that it was difficult to find time for all the stretching exercises and she seemed perplexed. Most people think that if you work out of your house, you have an almost unlimited amount of free time. Not true! I had a lot more free time when I worked in an office. You really have to manage your time wisely if you want to make a decent living while still being a world class dog butler to two demanding Dalmatians.

The laundry is already stacking up. I'll readily admit that I'm obsessed with doing laundry. I hate seeing dirty laundry lying around the house. I can't stand a dirty car either and am always washing mine. Oddly, a dirty house doesn't bother me at all. Go figure.

Vegas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1396

I was asked recently what was on my bucket list. Hmm. I don't actually think I've ever had a bucket list. I can recall doing some pretty amazing things in my time, but most of them were purely accidental. There never was much of a plan or a clearly focused goal. I'm convinced that the epitaph on my tombstone will just read He had a lot of potential. In lieu of a bucket list, I do have a rather long list of things I'd love to never do again. Does that count?

I thought today would be a piece of cake, but it turned out to be a lot more involved than I had planned. By the time I finally made it to the gym  for my second workout of the week, it was 5 PM. There just aren't enough hours in the day anymore. Walking the dogs takes a little over two hours. Writing assignments typically take four hours. Routine website revisions take an hour and a half, while more extensive design work is usually reserved for a day where there is no writing planned. Breakfast takes about an hour. It doesn't matter whether I eat out or cook my own, it still takes an hour. Minor household chores like making the bed, doing the laundry, fixing coffee, and vacuuming take about an hour. Answering e-mail and writing the blog takes a couple of hours every day. Is there any time left? It certainly doesn't seem like there is.

Breakfast was good today. I added some tasty biscuits and gravy to my usual omelet. I know I shouldn't be eating wheat, but it's hard to stay on the wagon when my blood chemistry hasn't really improved much since I radically changed my diet. I have lost a lot of weight, but that wasn't ever the goal. I was trying to reduce my cholesterol levels and get my liver enzymes out of the red zone. I still think my new diet is a huge improvement over what I was eating before. I just wish the results would show up on my blood tests instead of on my waistline.

I don't know how to tell Dash that there is rain in the forecast for the entire weekend. The little guy really missed his trip to the dog park last Sunday and I can tell he's been waiting for some off-leash time with other dogs all week. Hopefully, we can make an early trip to the dog park tomorrow morning before the rain shuts the place down.

Our dog training class always has a Halloween party and it's time to start thinking about a costume for the dogs again. Dot won once as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, although Dash didn't get rave reviews for his Tin Man costume. It's hard to think of a good costume for a Dalmatian, since they don't really like to wear costumes.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1321

Today was pleasant. The weather was surprisingly mild for a July day in Texas. Janet fixed a nice breakfast. The dogs enjoyed their visit to the dog park. They even saw several dogs that they knew. When we returned home, I got the lawnmower out and mowed until the yard looked presentable again. I'm more or less caught up on work assignments too. The only thing that was missing today was a mid-afternoon Dr. Who marathon on BBC.

Since I finished my weekend cores early, I decided to brave the crowds at the mall and go looking for a better WiFi camera to monitor Dash when I'm away. I may have overdone it. The camera I came home with not only has a great picture, it also monitors sound, keeps track of the temperature and humidity, allows two way communication, and plays a lullaby on command. Yes, I really bought a baby monitor instead of a pet monitor. I guess people with babies are even more apprehensive than I am with the dogs, since this thing had features that had never even occurred to me before.

The icing on the cake was that the camera actually worked. Sometimes they don't. I read all the reviews and they were split 50/50. Half the people thought this was the best WiFi camera on the planet and the other half thought it was a worthless piece of junk. I bought the camera making the assumption that the 50% who hated the camera had never hooked anything up to a WiFi network before. Routers, firewalls, and wireless gateways aren't always friendly with each other and it is often difficult to introduce a new piece of equipment to the system. Luck was on my side today though. The camera works like a charm.

The electrician is coming to fix the garbage disposal at 7:30 AM tomorrow. Lord knows why he wants to come so early, but it's just as well. Maybe he'll be able to get the faulty wiring fixed in time for me to take the dogs on a walk at their normal time and proceed with my Monday work day. You never know with electricians though. He may fix the problem in five minutes, or he may tell me that the entire house is not up to code and that everything needs to be rewired.

I hope I have time to go to the gym tomorrow. It's been more difficult to establish a regular schedule than I anticipated. Dash has a vet appointment every other Tuesday and Dot has a vet appointment every Wednesday. Walking the dogs and carting them around to their various appointments eats up a lot of time. Work is erratic too. Some days there is so much to do that I don't even have time to eat. Other days are so quiet that I have trouble staying awake. Workout or no workout, I'll be a happy camper if I have a working garbage disposal at the end of the day.

Queenie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1190

The landscapers came during breakfast and spent the next five hours raking leaves, hauling away bad soil, and pruning trees. At two-thirty they abruptly left and didn't return. I'm sure they'll be back because they left all their tools in the yard. It looked like they left in a hurry, since one guy left his coat hanging on the bird-feeder. I would have thought the crew would have spent the rest of the day finishing up the preparation work, but clearly they had other plans. I certainly wouldn't leave my own tools lying around the job site on a multi-day assignment, but then my tools are cameras, not shovels and wheelbarrows. Who knows? I'm not going to be judgmental. All's well that ends well, as far as I'm concerned. I still have high hopes that these guys will transform my dog of a yard into something beautiful.

Dot was amazingly good today, considering all the activity she had to deal with. She barked for about fifteen minutes and then got tired of barking and went to sleep by my desk, just like she usually does. It probably helped that the crew worked fairly quietly. No boisterous singing or loud radios this time. Or maybe that acupuncture treatment yesterday has really made Dot a calmer dog.

Dot was so calm this morning that I felt safe leaving her alone while I took Dash to the vet for his bi-weekly antigen shot. Dash is anything but calm at the vet. He thinks the only reason we go to the clinic is so people can pet him and feed him treats. After Dash got his injection and a few doggie treats, we returned to the house for an afternoon of work.

I typically get quite a bit done when I have to keep the dogs confined to the office. Since staying in the office with them is the only way to keep Dot and Dash quiet, it's usually a good time to tackle long and tedious web projects. With five hours confined to the computer, I managed to finish several projects that I've been postponing for a long time. I could have finished a lot more if the landscapers had stayed until 5 or 6 PM like I expected. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow.

I'm having trouble eating my fresh vegetables in the right order. After years of eating things with a ten year shelf life, I'm still getting used to how quickly some fresh things go bad. If I had more time, I would go to the store more often and buy smaller quantities. I've never had more time though. I probably never will. With my time already stretched between being a dog nanny, a webmaster, a photographer, and an increasingly busy writer, I'm amazed that I have any time for groceries at all.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 546

I think I'm totally maxed out. Every day, I begin with some vague plan to start something new, but by the time I finish my regular website updates, walk the dogs, make a trip to the bank and post office, write my watch articles, do a load of laundry and post something new to the blog, the day is over. Tomorrow will be the same thing all over again. I'm not complaining. I just can't figure out why it takes me so long to do these routine and often mundane things. I think I used to be faster. I also used to have lunch with friends several times a week. Now I just say Happy Birthday to them once a year on Facebook.

A big chunk of today's time got used up sitting in my vet's lobby with Dash. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be anything seriously wrong with him. He doesn't have Crohn's disease and he doesn't have Giardia either. This is all good. We decided to add a probiotic supplement to his food and see if that helps. The more I hear about Probiotics, the more I think it might be good for me to start taking them too.

Now that my office is a little less cluttered, I'm starting to see other things that I could get rid of as well. If I could just pare things down to the stuff I actually use, my office would be as tidy as a Japanese zen garden. The place has kind of become a repository for memories. All four walls are lined with books. At some point I actually read most of these books, but I haven't taken one off the shelf in years. The tape machines can probably go too. I finished my last project on video tape early last year. With everything being recorded to tiny memory chips these days, I think it is highly unlikely that anyone will ask me to do something on video tape ever again. The tape machines look cool though. I feel real professional surrounded by tape machines.

I've really got to get over this need for gear. When I was working on the trade show project in Houston last May, I realized that I can do everything anyone would ever ask me to do using a single laptop. There's just no need for video tape machines, mixers, limiters, compressors and all sorts of other 19 inch wide boxes that screw into a slot in my audio rack. Everything can be emulated in software now. I guess all I need these days are a fast laptop and my huge honking Epson printer.

I'm meeting with a client tomorrow to wrap up another website project that I've been working on this Spring. Hopefully, everything will go well and I'll be done. I'm always happy when I can get a project moved from my server over to the client's server. That's an accomplishment that feels almost as good as a clean office.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 427

I am the world's worst at time management. I only had one thing to do outside the office all day and I still managed to be an hour late. It wasn't like I had a deadline crisis or anything. I was just late. I started revamping a client's website this morning after I walked the dogs and when I looked up it was almost 2 PM. When I saw the time, I should have thought "Damn, Dash and I need to be over at the vet right now." Instead, my first thought was "Well, I better go take a shower and get this day started." It was only after I was actually in the shower that it dawned on me that I was late for the vet appointment. It was a fairly typical day actually.

I learned all sorts of odd little facts today. I learned that if Better Business Bureau members want to display the Better Business Bureau logo on their website, they have to pay $500 extra a year in dues. I discovered that a surprising number of my Facebook friends aren't putting their real birthday on their page. I discovered that my portfolio tracking software will download my stocks to the iPad just fine using 3G, but crashes when I try to do the same thing using WiFi. I discovered that The National Geographic Channel is actually owned by Fox. I discovered that when I take Dash in to get his anal sacs expressed, only one of them is usually full. All of these things are perplexing to me, but I suppose none of them really matter.

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of February. It's even harder to believe it was almost 80 degrees today. I walked the dogs this afternoon in shorts and a T-shirt. Wasn't I shoveling ice on the roof less than a week ago? With the unusually balmy weather, it looks like we'll be having training class again tomorrow. After three weeks of bad weather, the dogs have probably forgotten everything they've learned.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 395

Ever since I decided to embrace social media, I've noticed that I have a a lot more messages to answer. I guess that's the nature of social media. It's social. People want to have lunch. They ask me to join things. There are questions that need to be answered. These are all good things, but they do take time. Today, I didn't even finish answering my e-mail until after lunch. By the time I got caught up with my regular daily website updates, it was almost time for supper.

At least it isn't as cold as it was last week. The dogs didn't need their coats when I walked them this morning and I was able to get my work done without spending the day wearing a big bulky sweater. The days are starting to get longer again too. As the sun set on our evening walk, I started to wonder about all the things I've been hearing on the news about astrological signs being out of date. Jeez, my whole identity is based on being a Gemini. I don't know if I could live with being a Taurus, but that's apparently what some people think I am now.

The dogs don't dwell on such things. I think all Dash has been thinking about lately is how to snatch my breakfast again. Ever since he ate my entire breakfast a few days ago while I was outside talking with the guy from the power company, he's been hovering around the table every morning, looking for an opportune moment to grab everything again.

The local health food store called today and said they were doing cholestrol screenings again this weekend. I think I'll go. I've had so much blood work done recently that I probably don't need any more tests, but I'm hooked on the health food store's low prices. I still don't see how they can offer tests for $25 that Labcorp charges my doctor $400 for. Somewhere hidden in the difference between these two prices is the solution to the whole health care mess.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day