Day 1718

I thought I'd do something useful today, so I decided to clean the teak outdoor furniture in the back yard. I had a bottle of special cleaning liquid and made the mistake of reading the fine print on the back of the bottle. Before using this product, I was supposed to put on rubber gloves, wear protective eyewear, and dispose of any clothing that inadvertently became exposed to the product. The warning message also told me to cover the ground under the bench I was about to clean, so the product wouldn't seep into the soil when I rinsed the furniture off with a garden hose. WTF? If this stuff is this dangerous, why was it sitting on a shelf in a hardware store begging to be purchased by idiots like me. Needless to say, I didn't open the bottle. I only read the label to make sure the cleaner would be safe around dogs. I never dreamed it would be hazardous to my own health. The last line on the warning label included the number for the poison control hotline, just in case something went wrong.

With my plans to clean the patio furniture thwarted, I decided to go ahead and finish my August writers group essay a few days early. The prompt for this month was "windows," but it could just as easily been kangaroos. I'm not particular about what I write about. As my regular blog readers have already learned, I often write about nothing.

The weather was strange today. We woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. By the time I had gotten dressed and made the bed, the rain has stopped. I took the dogs on a nice walk and then went out for breakfast. Almost as soon as I returned home again, the rain started again. It went back and forth like this for most of the day. One minute it would be bright and sunny, and the next minute there would be ominous dark clouds on the horizon. Everything worked out well. The dogs got both of their walks. I was able to run all my errands. And the plants in the yard still got some much needed water.

Dot had a good day. There were no accidents at all. We woke up in a dry bed and the day proceeded normally from there. I still can't figure out why Dot would be completely normal one day, and pee all over everything the next. Dot does appear to be getting better, but her progress certainly isn't linear. There are still good days and bad days, but the good days seem better than they were two weeks ago and the bad days aren't as bad. I wish I could take Dot along with me the next time I see my urologist. Maybe he might be able to explain what is going on.

I'm looking forward to having a three-day holiday. We don't have anything planned for Labor Day, but that's OK. Doing nothing is always fine with me.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 723

What a busy day. We started with a very frosty walk through the park. I'm trying to get up a little earlier, so the day isn't half over before I even get started. It hasn't been an easy task though. I'm just not a morning person. Earlier is better though. Even after piddling around making French Toast for breakfast, I got started with my writing chores about an hour earlier than usual.

I saw something that amused me while I was walking the dogs this morning. A bird was making its nest inside the letter O of a sign that spelled out the word house on a building. This was quite literally a bird house. I took a quick picture with my iPhone, but it's times like these that make me wish I always carried a better camera with me at all times.

Writing work has been quite steady this month. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to write an article about how the color orange has become the fashion world's hot new color for 2012. Orange? You're kidding me. Orange still just says Halloween to me. In the packet of background materials I got for the story, there were pictures of models walking down the runway in outfits that looked suspiciously like the orange safety clothing road construction crews wear. Orange is evidently supposed to be the new black. Somehow I don't think a lot of women are going to be getting out their favorite little orange dress to go to holiday cocktail parties.

I actually ended up going to a holiday party myself today. It was an open house at my physical therapist's office. I really went to remind them about the video project they kept telling me they wanted to do several months ago. Of course, they didn't really remember much about the video when I got to the party, but it wasn't a total waste of time. The party was surprisingly festive for something being held at a medical facility. People were using the exercise machines, getting free massages and drinking lots of free beer and wine. I'm surprised they didn't serve bacon. Maybe this is why I like this place so much. No prescription medicine. No unnecessary surgery. Just lots of sensibly exercise.

I've got another doctor's appointment tomorrow. I doubt that this doctor will be serving me beer and wine. Hopefully, this will be my last doctor's appointment for the year. When I finish writing my article about the color orange, I'll start packing for the final Santa Paws photo event that takes place on Saturday. No rest for the weary this year.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 464

I submitted my first article to the BRAINZ group today. BRAINZ is a group of writers who all contribute an original essay about the same topic each month and then post the results on a website. I got invited to become a member of this group because one of the contributing writers liked my blog. I probably joined the group because it was flattering to be asked to join something called BRAINZ. If the writers group had been called The Doofus Club, I doubt that I would have joined. It will be interesting to see what the other writers have to say about this month's topic. I still might end up looking like a doofus.

At least I didn't end up looking like a doofus at tonight's animal rescue meeting. I presented the Gone with the Wind poster I've been working on and everybody loved it. I've still got to add the final verbiage and do some technical tweaking so everything will print properly, but the poster is basically done. I'm glad everybody liked what I've come up with because we're running out of time and I really didn't have a Plan B anyway. I'm still kind of amazed that this idea actually worked. The dog's smile almost exactly mimics the little mustache he's wearing and strangely, the cat actually does look madly in love with the dog.

The weather continues to be exceptionally nice. I hope the clear skies and 70 degree temperatures continue for a few days because there have already been a few setbacks in getting the new heat pump installed at my rent property. Most of the problems involve renting the proper crane to lift the heat pump to the roof. I hope you guys never have to rent a construction crane. They are very large and very expensive. I would have much rather purchased a new HD video camera for myself than a new air conditioner for my renter. Sometimes we don't get to choose these things, however. It's right in the lease that providing a habitable building is one of the things the landlord is responsible for.

I heard on the news this morning that some government agency was paying a staffer $110,000 a year to update Facebook pages. What were the rest of us thinking? We've all been doing this sort of thing for free.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day