Day 783

A photographer I knew from my ad agency days called this morning to ask if it was OK to refer me for a writing job. Sure. I can always use one more client who wants things done overnight for no money. When the prospective client called later in the day to fill me in on the upcoming project, I asked for some input and she sent me what appeared to be the text for a finished brochure. "This looks done," I said. "What do you need me to do?" She told me she wanted basically the same thing, except different. OK. I've been down this road before. I guess I'll take the job.

As I was getting dressed to go in for a doctor's appointment this afternoon, I got a call from the doctor's office wanting to confirm my appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Oops. I looked, and I even had the appointment marked on my calendar for tomorrow. I guess this just shows that I don't pay much attention to my calendar. It seems like this same thing happened to me less than a month ago.

Sometimes I wish I had more of a competitive spirit. During the past week, I've received two entry forms in the mail for contests where I could be a strong contender. One is a photo contest sponsored by the City of Dallas for pictures taken in the park behind my house. I have taken hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of pictures in this park, so it would seem like I could manage to come up with two good ones to enter in the contest. The second contest is sponsored by Panasonic for short videos shot with one of the cameras I own. At first glance, it would seem that this contest would be very hard to win, but I happen to know that very few people actually bought this particular camera, so maybe there won't be many entries. One of the categories in the video competition is Nature as well, so I could just spent an afternoon in the park on a nice day and probably come up with some great images that could be set to music. Will I enter either of these contests? Who knows. I almost always come up with some sort of excuse not to do these sorts of things.

Tomorrow I need to take Dash to the vet to get his antigen shot. I need to remember that I need to go to my own doctor as well. I wonder how much work I'll get done. The day seems full already.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 782 - Superbowl Sunday

It was a good game this year. Actually, it was a great game. These weren't my two favorite teams, but they both played the kind of football that kept you on the edge of your seat until the final seconds. This year the game itself was a lot better than the commercials and halftime show. Madonna was a bit of a disappointment. Aerosmith, Michael Jackson and Prince were much better. Call me old fashioned, but the commercials have been going downhill for quite a while now. Nothing this year even came close to Apple's classic 1984 commercial or Coke's 1980 Mean Joe Green spot. Even last year's Darth Vader spot for Volkswagen was better than anything I saw this year.

Before the game I went to the Culwell & Son Superbowl Sale. I love this sale and go every year. The sale only lasts five hours, but it's the only time of the year when I can really afford these clothes. After I stocked up on bargain Robert Talbot and Ike Behar shirts, I noticed that my car was parked right next to a shiny new Fisker Karma. Jeez, what was someone who could afford a $116,000, 125 mph electric hybrid doing shopping at a 75% off sale? I backed out of my parking slot real carefully, because I definitely didn't want to hit this car.

The dogs had a great time at the dog park today. It was colder than usual and the cool air made all the dogs frisky. Even Dot was in a playful mood, which is almost unheard of. We stayed at the park longer than usual, but Dot and Dash still weren't ready to go when we finally left. I think if we left things up to them, they would have stayed the entire afternoon.

All in all, it was a great day. The dogs are happy. We watched some exciting football. I enjoyed a couple of Shiner beers with some fabulous cheeseburgers. I scored some great bargains on my favorite menswear. I even took a nice moonrise picture on our evening walk. Tomorrow it's back to reality.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 781

I did all my normal weekend shopping today and was amazed at the crowds in the supermarket. People were filling their buggies with huge amounts of meat, liquor, and unhealthy snack foods. I've come to realize that the Superbowl is just as much about eating as it is about football. The grocery industry must love this day. To a grocer, this day is probably better than Christmas. Janet and I aren't having a Superbowl party tomorrow, but we definitely did our part for gluttony by getting burgers, ribs, and Shiner Beer for the big event.

All I came home with was food on today's shopping excursion, but when Janet came home a few hours later, she had food, along with a brand new sewing machine. This wasn't any ordinary machine either. It was a Husqvarna Viking. OK, I'll admit that I'm a little more interested in sewing than most guys. Hey, I like Project Runway too. There was a time when I could sew really well. I've sewn my own goose down sleeping bag and sewed myself a backpack full of complicated zippered pouches and compartments as well. I think I even sewed myself a pair of leather pants back in my college days. I haven't touched a sewing machine in years, but I immediately recognized this new machine as a world class contender. You can even program the thing to sew lettering. If Janet will let me use it, I'll have to sew my company logo on all my black t-shirts.

Dalmatian Rescue has done so well at finding homes for the dogs this year that there are only two dogs left in the program right now. We went up and walked Maverick and Molly today and remembered the days when there were 25 dogs to walk. It's much better now that Dalmatians aren't a popular breed anymore. When the 101 Dalmatian Disney movies were popular, we were overrun with abandoned dogs. Now, I think it is the small breed rescue groups that have the most problems. Pugs, Chihuahuas, Bichon Frises: these are the dogs that are being abandoned these days.

We went out for dinner tonight at Cafe Lago. We were planning to take the dogs along with us, but by dinner time the weather had gotten far too cold to sit out on the pet friendly patio. It's supposed to be near freezing by tomorrow morning. Probably leaving the dogs at home was a good idea. Dinner was far more relaxed this way. I even had a glass of wine tonight. I very rarely drink anymore for health reasons, but every once in a while, it's nice to remember the way it used to be.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 780

I went out for breakfast again this morning. There was no special occasion. I just realized that I could drive down to the neighborhood breakfast place, eat breakfast, and drive home again in less time that it typically takes me to make my own breakfast at home. I don't usually make anything fancy either. I'm just a slow cook.

There weren't many paying jobs today, so I got all my charity websites up to date. This is a never ending job, because dogs and cats are continually entering rescue programs and then getting adopted shortly after I get their page online. I put the pages up and then I take them right back down again. It's good that these animals get adopted quickly, but sometimes I wonder if anyone sees these pages I make at all.

It rained last night and no water leaked into the house, so maybe my patches worked. It's too early to tell for sure though. Sometimes it takes the water several days to get from the leaky place on the roof to the dripping place in the Sheetrock on the ceiling.

When I went to pick up dinner at Central Market today, the place was full of Superbowl food. They must think that Superbowl viewers are a bit more upscale this year. Last year, the deli counter featured ten different kinds of spicy wings. This year most of the wings were gone, replaced by all sorts of expensive little hors d'oeuvres. Some of these things looked real tasty, so I brought home a sack full of stuffed mushrooms, stuffed tomatoes, crab meat pot stickers, and other exotic morsels for dinner. I don't think we'll have this upscale stuff when we watch the game though. You've got to have burgers and beer when you watch the Superbowl.

It's been a full week and the furnace is still running perfectly. Thank you Marty. It's amazing what people can accomplish when they know what they're doing.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 779 - Groundhog Day

Everything seemed a bit out of sync today. I guess I've come to expect this on Groundhog Day. Ever since the 1993 Bill Murray movie, I've ceased to think of Groundhog Day as a predictor of an early Spring. Instead, it has become a weird little holiday celebrating endless drudgery. My life is a lot like the movie. I keep doing the same things over and over again.

Today I returned a client's call, only to discover the call had actually been made several days ago. I'm always slow to return calls to my cell phone. I just never notice them. Someday callers will learn that I don't use this device to talk with people. I just like the handy little camera. I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, only to discover that they were out of stock. This happens again and again as well. You'd think the automated phone system would say "don't bother to come until tomorrow", instead of saying "your prescription will be ready at 3 PM." No such luck however. The phone system is always wrong. Later, I got up on the roof with a caulking gun and applied a tube of Henry 209 patch to all the places that looked a little damp last week. I've done this more times than I care to count. Will it work this time? Who knows. I should find out fairly quickly though. I think it is supposed to rain this evening.

I found out several months ago that my dentist would be retiring soon. I've been thinking that I should go over and get my dental records, along with a recommendation for a new dentist before the office closed for good. Today seemed like a good day to do this, and wouldn't you know; I waited too long. The office was locked and appeared empty. I guess I should have done this last month. Oh, well. I go to see the dentist so seldom that I probably don't have many dental records anyway.

Even though I wasn't running on all cylinders today, I did remember to take the trash out to the street tonight. That means it's Friday tomorrow. TGIF.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 778

There was a thick fog this morning that just begged to be photographed. I think the dogs are getting sick of me carrying a camera along with me on our walks. We'll walk about 30 yards and then I'll stop and take a picture of something. They're pretty patient, but after a mile of so of stopping and starting like this, they just want to walk. The fog was spectacular this morning. As it slowly lifted, it gradually revealed the opposite shore of the lake. At first you would only see the tops of trees, then hills, and finally the entire shoreline. The fog never lasts long. By the time we got home again, it was just a normal partly cloudy day.

My early morning photographic opportunity put me in a good mood, so I fixed myself French Toast and sausages for breakfast when we got home. I lingered over my coffee, because I knew it was all going to be downhill for the rest of the day.

There was a long list of errands today. I had to get heartworm pills for the dogs, some more Henry 209 patch for the roof, some astringent for my face, and halogen light bulbs for the living room lamps. It was probably a good day to do this stuff, because other than some minor website revisions, there wasn't all that much to do at the office.

February is usually when we get our worst Winter weather here in Dallas, but there was certainly nothing wrong with the weather today. It was over 70 degrees for most of the day. The weather was still warm and nice when we went to dog class tonight. A meteor went right overhead during class tonight, but I missed seeing it because I was trying to get Dash to lie down. The meteor must have been pretty close, because I did hear the sonic boom as it went through the sound barrier shortly after everyone spotted it overhead.

Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to patch the leaking spots I found on the roof last week. I also may try out this new app I downloaded for my iPhone today. It's supposed to tell you if there is good food nearby. I always like to know if there's good food nearby.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 777

One of my European clients paid me using Paypal this morning. I couldn't believe how easy and painless the whole process was. I can still remember the days when I used to get a check in the mail from international clients. I would take the foreign check to my bank where they never knew what to do with it. They usually told me to go downtown to the main bank where there would be someone who could exchange my Deutsche Marks for dollars. The process varied, depending on who I talked to, but it was always a giant hassle. Paypal changed everything. These days, working internationally a snap. The sender just makes a deposit in their own currency and it automatically comes out in dollars on my end.

It still seems amazing to me that it's just as easy to get work from people living thousands of miles away as it is from a neighborhood business down the street. This is one aspect of the online age that I'm pretty happy about. I could do without social media however. It's a giant black hole that sucks up all my time and most of my energy. Life was much easier when I just met people for coffee.

Thanks to Alan from Birding in the Falkland Islands I now know that the lonely bird in yesterday's photo is an American Kestrel. This happens to be the smallest falcon in North America, which is pretty cool. It's nice to have this amazing little bird in the neighborhood. I won't need any help identifying today's picture. Yes, I know it's a squirrel. It's easier to photograph birds than squirrels and other animals. The birds know they can fly away and aren't scared of the dogs. Anything on the ground is fair game though and the dogs make every effort to catch it.

People keep asking me who I'm rooting for in the Superbowl. I don't know. I like Dallas, but they didn't even get in the playoffs. I like Pittsburgh, but they didn't do so well this year either. Towards the end, I was rooting for Denver because I like Tim Tebow. That didn't work out either. I guess I'm just hoping that Budweiser runs a commercial with a Dalmatian in it.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 776

Another day, another doctor's appointment. Sometimes I think my physician's have made me a test case to see how effectively they can manipulate blood panel results to tweak my physical condition. It doesn't matter which doctor I see; a new blood test is ordered with virtually every visit. I've got a whole ring binder full of blood test results now. I used to hate these things, but now I think I'm becoming addicted to them. I've learned all the nuances associated with the rise and fall of liver enzyme levels and know what my glucose levels should be at different times of the day. I know what a perfect blood panel looks like now and so to the doctors. They keep adding and subtracting medication in search of the Holy Grail. Am I any healthier after all this experimentation? Your guess is as good as mine. There were more tests today though. There are always more tests.

Entrecard appears to be back online again. I probably should find a better way to blog hop and build traffic, but I've gotten used to using services like Entrecard and Adgitize. I will go back to dropping tonight and visit some of my favorite blogs that I've missed while the site was down.

Maybe, now that my visitors are returning, someone will be able to identify the little bird that I photographed today. I see this bird every morning and it sure seems like a lonely bird. It is always sitting on the same telephone line or tree. This solitary bird never flies in a flock with other birds. It is always alone. At first I though it might be a feral parrot, but now I think the bird could be a small hawk instead. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about birds though. Maybe one of you could tell me what I've been looking at every morning.

It's hard to believe that January is already over. Pretty soon it will be time to prepare my taxes again, and then it will be my birthday, and before you know it, election day will be here. I'll be glad when election day arrives, because I'm getting sick of the relentless campaigning. I know what everybody thinks now and still they have more debates. Somehow, I don't think any of these debates are going to change anything. There aren't going to be a lot of new jobs because we don't manufacture anything anymore. The housing crisis isn't going to go away any time soon because nobody can qualify for a mortgage anymore. Europe's problems are really our problems, because that's what happens in a global economy. Somebody opened Pandora's Box a long time ago and I don't think any of these politicians will be able to close it again.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 775

There was a big fight at the dog park today. Two dogs went after each other and within seconds, ten more joined in the ruckus. By the time the owners got their dogs separated, there was definitely a little blood spilled. I'm really glad that Dot and Dash don't have the desire to pile on when they see other dogs get into a scuffle. They both walked away from the commotion this morning and retreated to the other side of the dog park. Maybe they take after me in this regard. I avoid confrontations whenever I can. I don't agree with other people about very much, but our differences are seldom worth fighting about. If I fought with everyone I disagreed with, I'd be battling someone 24/7. It's much easier these days to publicly ignore what goes on around me while privately thinking that everyone has gone nuts.

The weather was so nice today that I though it would be a good time to trim all the low hanging tree limbs hanging over the roof. One of our large oak trees has become quite overgrown and some of the limbs are actually touching the roof now. When I go up to get the water off after a rain, I am continually bumping my head on these low hanging branches. I'm certainly no arborist, so I just copied what I'd seen other tree trimmers do when I used to hire professionals. I thinned and I pruned and after a few hours, the two trees that overhang the roof looked a lot better. I think I may have found where one of the leaks might have started while I was up on the roof as well. Most of the roof was dry, but there were a few areas that were still damp right at the edge of a seam. I should have spray painted an arrow to mark these areas, because when the roof dries completely, they will look absolutely normal. This was just the right time to see the telltale signs of a leak. I couldn't find any spray paint around the house unfortunately, so I'll just have to remember where these problem areas are. I can't patch anything until the roof is completely dry.

I don't remember manual labor always being this hard. Maybe I'm out of shape, or maybe I'm just getting old. Trimming trees seemed like hard work this afternoon. Maybe it was just the saw. The big reciprocating saw is pretty heavy, but it's a lot safer than a chain saw. A few years ago, an acquaintance of mine slipped while using a chain saw and the blade caught him in the face as he fell. After seeing what happened to this guy, I don't think I'll ever use a chain saw again.

Do any of you other bloggers use Entrecard? For the past several days I've noticed that I can't login to Entrecard anymore. The site seems dead. Maybe this is the end of the blog advertising sites. Adgitize closed its doors last month and before that several similar sites met their demise. It would be a shame if all these sites were gone. I discovered most of the blogs I currently follow using Adgitize and Entrecard.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 774

Some of you might remember me talking about the house lizard that I occasionally see darting around the house. Lizards are pretty agile and I've never been able to catch this guy. Until now, that is. This morning when I went out to the kitchen to make my morning coffee, I saw the lizard right in the middle of Dash's dog bed. It looked like he was sleeping on the bed, and maybe he was. At any rate, I seized the opportunity and carefully scooped him up in a dish towel and took him outside where he belongs. Don't get me wrong. I've got nothing against lizards. The little guy was a well mannered house guest, but he was all over the place and I really didn't want to wake up some morning and see him next to me in bed.

I had to get another credit card to replace the one I canceled last week and when I went to activate it this morning, I got a surprise. Usually when you activate a new credit card they ask you for a password or some secret word you gave them in the past. This time the security folks at the bank had a whole new way to determine if I was who I said I was. Instead of asking me questions based on information I had given them, they asked me questions based on information they had found on their own. They said all the information they had was in the public record, but the information was very personal. I don't know how they found this stuff. I was given lists of things that might have happened to me but only one of the things was actually true and I had to correctly identify the event. This kind of questioning would be much harder to hack than a simple password. I still don't know how they knew all this stuff though. It's kind of spooky. There is no privacy anymore. Anybody who still thinks their secrets are safe is just living in a dream world.

Janet and I went and walked some of the rescue Dalmatians this morning. It's nice to see these dogs improve week by week. Some of the ones who looked pretty scruffy when we picked them up just a month ago now look sleek and beautiful. It's amazing what a good diet and a little veterinary care can do.

I upgraded my Avid Media Composer application to the new 6.0 version last night. If any of you out there edit video for a living, this upgrade is well worth the money. I've not always been happy with Avid in the past, but this is the best iteration of Media Composer the company has ever introduced. It's more powerful, easier to use, and comes packed with all the things I felt were missing. I was very impressed. Now I just need to get some video production jobs that are worthy of this fabulous new software. Most of the videos I edited last year were so simple that I could have edited them using iMovie.

Tomorrow it's time to go to the dog park again. The dogs have grown to love these weekly outings. I wish there was a human equivalent of going to a dog park. It would be nice to feel as exuberant and happy as Dash looks when he's racing around with his ears flapping in the wind.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 773

Marty, the good technician, came out to look at the furnace this morning and had the problem solved in thirty minutes. He said the gas pressure on the pilot light flame was too high and it was making the hot part of the flame go above the flame sensor, causing it not to ignite the burners. He lowered the gas pressure to the pilot light and everything seems to be working perfectly now. Why the previous two repair people didn't come to the same conclusion, I'll never know. One thing I've learned over the years is that really good repair people are like diamonds. You've got to treasure them, because they are scarce and quite valuable. Whenever I find a good carpenter, plumber or auto mechanic, I really want to hang on to them. Good, practical problem solvers are hard to find these days. I just hope a few people out there value good writers the same way I value good plumbers and HVAC repairmen, because my future is depending on it.

The dogs barked a lot and made a big commotion this morning, exactly as I expected. When Marty finished his work, I didn't really have the energy to cook breakfast. I walked the dogs and then drove over to a nearby cafe and had them cook my breakfast. The waitress seated me between a table full of teachers and a table full of cops. The cops were all in a good mood and seemed to be talking about different techniques they used to get cars to stop during a high speed chase. The teachers were totally full of themselves, talking about some seminar about raising self esteem they were planning to attend. I couldn't tell if they were trying to raise their own self esteem or their student's. The contrast between these two groups couldn't have been more stark. On one hand you had a group of practical problem solvers in crisp uniforms. On the other hand you had a bunch of fat, whiny bureaucrats who probably couldn't inspire a flea to sit on a dog's back. I remember a few high school teachers who really changed my life. They were smart, tough, and to my young eyes, a bit dangerous. The overweight, bland bureaucrats sitting across from me would never inspire anyone. I really wish the teachers were a bit more like the cops. The cops were all in great shape too. Not an ounce of fat on these guys.

Since I was already out and about, I drove over to my doctor's office on the way home and asked if the results from my MRI had come in yet. Sure enough, they arrived over a week and a half ago. They just hadn't bothered to tell me yet. Jeez, guys! Here I've been sitting around wondering if I had cancer or not and not a peep out of anyone. This is just one more reason why I think vets are better than doctors. My vet always lets me know what's going on with the dogs almost immediately. Since I couldn't get the doctor's attention, I asked for a copy of the radiologist's report. After looking up some of the incomprehensible medical words on Google, I discovered that it is very unlikely I have cancer at this point. The radiologist never says to come back next year for another test if something really serious is going on.

I'm glad it's the weekend, but then you already know that. I'm always glad when the weekend arrives. We may go walk the rescue Dalmatians tomorrow. We'll probably go to the dog park on Sunday. Either of those things is preferable to getting up on the roof with a saw on the end of a long pole and trimming trees.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 772

I got up much earlier than usual this morning. There weren't any early meetings or places I needed to be. The only reason I can think of for bounding our of bed at the crack of dawn is that the dogs were good last night. I finally got a decent night's sleep. Usually Dot and Dash wake up three or four time a night to bark at imagined noises or try to find a better spot on the bed. They wake me up every time. Last night for some unexplained reason, they both curled up in a ball and didn't move a muscle until morning.

Did I get a lot more done with my extra hour of time? Not really. Just when I was getting ready to take the dogs on their morning walk, it started raining again. Since the weather radar showed that the rain would only last an hour, I just watched TV for a while until the clouds lifted.

When we returned from our morning walk, I was right back on my usually tardy schedule. Today I finished up a little promotional video for one of the rescue groups I work with. This video was due so long ago that I doubt anyone still remembers why it was needed. I finished the video anyway, because I knew the group was meeting tonight and I wanted to be able to say I'd done something this week in case I was asked. This just happened to be the first video I'd shot using the Panasonic AG-AF-100 camera and I was kind of surprised at how good the footage looked. I really need to start using this camera more often.

Since it looks like it's going to be clear and dry for the rest of the week, I spent more time than usual getting the water off the roof. I'm hoping that the roof will actually dry out, so I can inspect for cracks again and do my best to seal them. At least that exceptionally windy day we had sometime last week blew all the dead leaves off the roof. The roof is finally clear of debris and ready for repairs. Unfortunately, it still leaks.

The furnace repairman is supposed to come out to the house tomorrow morning at 8 AM to fix the furnace. I'm surprised they even bother to come out anymore. The problem is intermittent and the dogs bark so loud that it is impossible to hear odd little furnace noises anyway. I wish I knew how to fix the furnace myself. This whole process seldom comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 771

There was an unbelievable amount of rain last night. Of course, Dash would have to choose this nasty weather to have an upset stomach, so I ended up spending half the night letting him outside. I know he wanted to eat grass, but with the rain pounding down, he didn't even get off the porch. On our third attempt around 2 AM, he finally threw up on the porch and we all went back to bed.

This morning on our walk, we got to see what the rain had brought with it. The water level in the lake had risen at least three feet and had flooded a lot of nearby low areas. We live quite near the lake, but luckily we are on high ground. From the news helicopter I saw hovering nearby, I got the feeling that a few passing motorists weren't so lucky. There are a few streets in the vicinity that always flood when it rains this much and there are usually a few fools who think they can drive through anyway. They often end up on the evening news.

Dash seemed quite intrigued with all the water this morning. He tried to drink out of gutter spouts, and whenever we passed a nearby puddle, he would splash around with his front paws and try to dig a hole. Dot appeared to be disgusted with these childish antics and just wanted to go home where it was warm.

After breakfast, I got up on the roof and swept away all the accumulated water. There was a small leak in the living room last night, but nothing of any consequence. I've learned that if I can get the water off the roof quickly, there usually isn't any damage. The only time the leak gets bad is if I forget that there is standing water on the roof and it gradually leaks in, one drop at a time.

So far, so good with OS 10.7. I've been using the new system software for two days now and haven't had a single crash. I'm impressed. In the past, whenever I've updated my Apple system software, there were so many problems that it took me weeks to get everything sorted out again. No problems at all this time. In fact, things have been going so well with Lion that I've decided to retire Firefox and switch to Chrome while I'm changing things around on the desktop. I've become a big fan of Google+ recently, so I might as well start using a browser that is optimized for Google+.

No training class tonight. Actually, there might be training class, but we're not going. Although the rain has stopped, it's certainly not dry outside. The field where we train the dogs is a giant mudhole right now. I think Dot and Dash would agree that it is much more enjoyable to sit at home on their blankets and watch TV than to have their trainer tell them to sit in a puddle.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 770

I spent the day straightening up loose ends. There were a lot more loose ends than I thought. I canceled the credit card, because after a day and a half of thinking about what I could have possible bought from Luxembourg, I came up with nothing. I even checked all of the domains I own to make sure that none of them had accidentally auto renewed. Auto renewal is an increasing problem with online purchases, because it seems to be the default setting for any recurring purchase made with a credit card. It doesn't matter if it's the cable company or Network Solutions, once they've got your credit card number, they want to keep charging you forever.

Later, I called the furnace people to have them come out again, even though it means another morning of non-stop barking. I kept hoping that the furnace would just fix itself, but it's become apparent that this isn't going to happen. This time I asked the HVAC folks to send Marty out to look at the problem. He got promoted to commercial installations, but since he's been the only person who's been able to fix the problem in the past, it makes sense that he would be my best bet to fix it again.

When I was checking on my computer to see if the iCloud synchronization worked, I discovered that I'd written down a doctors appointment on a different day on my phone than I had on the computer. After calling the clinic to see which day was correct, I looked at the calendar again and sure enough I had double booked myself. You'd think conflicting schedules wouldn't be a problem, since I leave the house so seldom, but I double book myself again and again. It's probably because I only like to do things out of the office between 2 and 3 PM.

Dash kept us awake most of the night last night. For some odd reason this dog refuses to poop in the yard under any circumstances. He kept waking us up by barking and slapping his paw at the back door. I'd go let him out and he would just stand around and do nothing. This happened over and over again. He wanted to go down into the park on a walk to do his business. No thank you! I'm not going down into the park at 3 AM. This is Dallas. Somehow Dash made it till morning without pooping in the house, but he didn't do us any favors in the sleep department.

It's pouring rain again. When I went to the bank this afternoon, the people standing in line with me were all commenting about how much we needed rain. Maybe they need the rain, but I sure don't. I can tell by how hard the rain is beating on the roof that there's a 50/50 chance I'll have a leak in the ceiling by morning.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 769

A guy down the street is all worried about some new website where you can apparently roll your mouse over a picture of your neighbors house and find out everything about them. I asked him if he was thinking of Google Streetview and he said "No, this is much more powerful than Google Streetview." I'd never heard of a website like this and really couldn't get too concerned about it because I was wondering why charges from someplace in Luxembourg were showing up on my credit card statement. I've never bought anything from Luxembourg and don't even know anybody in this little country. When I called the credit card company, they didn't appear too concerned and just asked me if I wanted to file a complaint. I just wanted to know what the company in Luxembourg was selling, in case I had bought something over the Internet and forgotten about it. I've canceled credit cards before over charges that I had actually made, so I didn't want to go off half cocked on this one. You've got to be careful though. Once somebody tried to charge the down payment to a new car on Janet's credit card. They didn't get away with it, but it just shows you that scammers are everywhere these days. Life is becoming way too complicated for my taste.

Since the day was off to a dismal start anyway, I decided to go ahead and install Lion on my main computer. I always like to install new system software on days where I figure that things couldn't possibly get much worse. So far, so good. The download took a long time, but everything seems to be working. Photoshop works. Dreamweaver works. Microsoft Office works. I'm sure that there are half a dozen little applications that will never open again, but all the stuff I need on a daily basis to earn a living seems to be fine. I hate updating system software. No matter how careful you are, there's always a gotcha moment when you realize that you've actually made your life more difficult instead of easier as you had planned. You can postpone upgrades with Apple, but you can never avoid them altogether. The next time I buy a computer, it will only run on Lion, or whatever animal comes after Lion. I might as well bite the bullet now.

Since it was such a nice day today, I though I'd complete the tree trimming I'd started this weekend. I got out the reciprocating saw and headed for a dead tree in the back of the yard. Unfortunately, the longest extension cord I had wouldn't reach the tree, so I had to put all my tools away again. I thought I had an extension cord long enough to reach the back of the yard, but I'd forgotten that it's up on the roof now, hooked up to my next to worthless sump pump.

I got a call reminding me about Dash's antigen shot appointment tomorrow. This got me wondering why nobody has called me about the MRI I had done several weeks ago. You'd think that if the vet can remember my dog's allergy shot, that someone might remember the MRI they took of my liver.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 768

Another weird Winter day in Texas. It was clear and cool when I woke up this morning. As the day progressed, it got much warmer and windier. By the end of the day the winds were quite strong and seemed to be bringing the remains of a West Texas dust storm with them. The setting sun was almost totally obscured by dust and haze. I've been waiting for one of these days to get one of those pictures of a red ball sun hovering just above the horizon. Unfortunately when the conditions were perfect, I only had my iPhone with me. I could have gotten a lot better picture with a proper camera and a telephoto lens, but at least I have a record of this dusty, hazy day.

Earlier today at the dog park, we had trouble even finding a parking place. The warm weather brought people and their dogs to the park in droves. There were plenty of small, well behaved dogs for Dash to play with, but he didn't seem to be in the mood. I still can't figure out what it takes to bring out Dash's playful side. Some days, he'll race around the park with great abandon and other days, like today, he's kind of shy and never leaves our side. Even when the dogs aren't playful, I still think they enjoy the trip to the dog park. They love being off leash and having the opportunity to roam around and take in all the new smells.

Even though I would have preferred spending the afternoon watching Dr. Who re-runs on TV, I took advantage of the nice weather and did some tree pruning in the back yard. I removed all the dead limbs on the Photinia Bushes that I could reach with a pair of pruning shears. Some of the branches were too big and I'll have to go back later with a saw. While I was working, one of our older neighbors was walking down the back alley and told me how nice our yard looked. This is a sure sign that the poor guy has gone senile. The yard actually looks terrible.

I continued downloading Logic Pro today. I didn't realize how long it would take to download 15 GB of files over a WiFi connection. When I get everything in place, I'll be all set to do nice scores for TV commercials again. Never mind that nobody has asked me to do music for a commercial in almost three years. When they do, I'm ready.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 767

Janet and I went to Grand Prairie this morning to pick up Molly and take her to the vet. Another pair of Dalmatian Rescue volunteers had taken Molly on the first leg of her journey from the Burleson, Texas pound to a PetSmart parking lot in Grand Prairie where we met them to pick her up and take her the rest of the way. When we arrived at the rendezvous point, we saw that Molly was a small dog who had led a hard life. She had bad skin, was covered with ticks, and cried when you touched her feet. We made her comfortable in the back seat and headed back toward Dallas for an appointment with the Dalmatian Rescue vet. Although she had an ingrown dewclaw and was suffering from poor nutrition, Molly was basically healthy. I don't think it will take this girl long to find a home. She has a great disposition and is going to be a wonderful companion for some lucky person.

After Molly had been safely delivered to the Dalmatian Rescue kennels, it was back to weekend chores for us. I made a web page for Molly and then went to the grocery store and got gas for the Defender. Although it was still a beautiful day outside, it was considerably colder than it was yesterday. It felt much too cold to go around with a pruning saw and trim hedges in the back yard, so I downloaded some software instead. I love the Apple app store. One by one, all Apple's favorite applications are becoming available on the app store at much lower prices than I've ever seen them before. I noticed today that's Apple's Logic Pro Studio was available for less than half of what the boxed version cost just several months ago. I've been thinking of buying Logic for a while now and was glad that my indecision worked out in my favor. It's a large program though. I started downloading the application several hours ago and it still isn't finished yet.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting tired of non-stop political coverage on TV. I watched a few minutes of the South Carolina returns this evening and then changed the channel and watched Betty White's 90th birthday party instead. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be another good day for the dog park. Even the dog park is more interesting that all this political coverage.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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