Day 1322

I have a working garbage disposal again. Based on what electricians typically charge, I will probably get a $200 bill for installing a simple $2 Single Pole Single Throw Toggle Switch that I happened to have on hand anyway. I suspected that the on/off switch might be the problem and bought another one last week. I should have just done the work myself. I'm a bit reluctant to get involved with electricity anymore though. After several dubious self-repair attempts where I nearly electrocuted myself, I now think it's best to leave these things to a qualified electrician. Live wires, running water, and stainless steel counter tops aren't necessarily a good combination.

I'm frequently faced with situations like this. I basically know what needs to be done, but don't have the tools or experience to do the job properly. I learned the hard way when I used to do a lot of my own auto repairs that there is nothing more irritating than getting an engine disassembled and not being able to get it back together again. Faced with the choice of doing something inexpensively myself or paying someone else to take responsibility for the whole mess, I'll usually opt to pay someone else. I'm convinced that there is good karma involved in paying someone too much to do something simple. I'm sure many of my website clients feel like they're paying me too much to do something simple. Maybe hiring an electrician to install a simple switch is just my way to pay it forward. I'd like to think so anyway.

I finally found a company in England that said it could send me the elusive engine part I need for the Defender 90. I copied down all the information about the part, drove over to the Land Rover dealer and told them to order it. Seems like they could have found this part themselves, but I'm not complaining. Maybe I'll have a reliable car again by the end of the Summer.

One good thing happened today. I stopped by my primary care physician to schedule my next round of blood tests and casually mentioned that I'm on Medicare now.  They didn't drop me! Yay! I've heard so many horror stories about doctors who refuse to deal with Medicare, even when someone has been a patient for years, that I'm a bit nervous to tell my doctors that my insurance has changed. My insurance agent told me that since I got the best available supplemental insurance policy, my medical coverage would be even better than I had before. Not true! So far, my old group plan appears to have been much better.

I did get to go to the gym today. I figured that I needed some kind of reward for dealing with Dot and the electricians. Dot absolutely hates to have visitors over to the house. The only people allowed are Janet, Dash and me. Once again, she got so agitated this morning that she pooped all over the hallway while she was barking. Somehow Dash even managed to get in the line of fire. When the electricians left, I found poop on him too.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1205

The day started out with a roof leak in the living room and kind of went downhill from there. I had to have an insurance agent over to the house today and the dogs set some sort of new record for continuous barking. The agent liked dogs and thought he could win their trust by feeding them treats. What the hell. It sounded like a good idea to me. A half a box of dog biscuits later, Dot and Dash stopped barking about guarding the house and immediately started barking for more biscuits. Both dogs were a total embarrassment. You never would have known that they'd been in obedience training for almost six years.

Dot made matters worse by getting herself so worked up that she pooped in the living room. The old girl has trouble controlling her bowels when she gets too excited.

There was a lot of website work today. It was all stuff that the clients probably thought was trivially easy for me to implement. In reality, everything that was asked for today was fairly difficult. I'm still not done. On days like this, I have to bite my tongue and repeat to myself "The client is always right."

The one roofing company that I thought might actually have the solution to my problems refuses to return my calls. The last time I talked to them, I got the strong impression that they weren't interested in residential work, but I haven't given up yet. It's frustrating. Several companies are eager to put on a roof just like the leaky one I have now. But how about a roof that can be actually guaranteed against leaks for ten years? Well, those guys aren't interested in me. They just want to do hospitals and football stadiums.

My accountant called today and said he needed some information from when I bought my rent house back in 1978. Yeah, right! That information is going to be real easy to find. He needs the information to complete tax preparation on the sale of this property, but that doesn't make it any easier to find the documents he needs. I had to really scratch my head to even remember when I bought the place, or what I paid for it.

I had to pick up a part for the Defender at the Land Rover dealer this afternoon and while I was at the dealership, I noticed a brand new Defender 90 on the showroom floor. I asked how they got this car, since Defenders aren't imported to the U.S. anymore. The salesman said they were selling it for a collector who bought the car in Europe. What really caught my eye was the price. They were selling this this simple, utilitarian jeep with roll-up windows and no interior to speak of for $74,000. That seemed like an insanely high price for a car that looked exactly like mine. I asked why the price was so high and the salesman said this European version was very rare and he thought they'd get the price. This seems just as crazy as vintage guitar prices, but whatever. I may have to re-think my plan to get another Defender some day. This one was out of my league entirely.

I'm starting to think that my 'spider bite' is actually an early case of poison ivy or poison oak. I think I'd rather have a spider bite.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day