Day 1086

I got a call this morning from a guy I used to work with during my ad agency days. He asked me if I would be interested in designing and maintaining a website for an oil and gas company that a friend of his owned. "Sure," I said. "That sounds great." "There's just one complication," the guy says. "This is a staff position and you'd have to move to Argyle, Texas." Oops! The opportunity didn't sound so great anymore. I can't think of one good reason why anyone would want to live in Argyle.

I passed on the oil and gas job and went back to work on my own website projects. It's been a very busy week. Of course, not all the activity has been work related. A lot of it centered around the two big guitar amplifiers sitting in the living room. Today, I took everything apart, traded out the electronics in the two amps, and then put the amps back together again. It took quite a while to do everything properly, but at least now I've got one amp that's a keeper. I boxed up the broken cabinet, which ironically now contained the brand new amp head from the replacement amp and took the package back to FedEx to be returned to the music store. Hopefully, this little episode is over now.

This time last year I was writing several watch articles a day. At the time, I thought the work load was insane and wished the articles and the endless deadlines would just go away. One year later, it appears my wish has come true. I'm lucky if I write several articles a week these days. It just goes to show that you should never take anything for granted. It's amazing how much the company has to keep changing, just to keep the doors open. One year I'm producing network TV commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew and a few years later, I'm taking pet pictures. Granted, there have been some big comebacks as well, but it's certainly been a bumpy ride.

Dog class has been a bumpy ride as well. Some days Dash is a star performer and other days he won't do anything. Dash is a very smart dog and I suspect he thinks the whole thing is silly. Hey, why would you want to leave a warm house just so you could go to a cold, windy field where an instructor tells you to sit, stay and heel? I could tell that Dot and Dash were cold tonight. When the instructor told them to lie down, they would immediately pop back up again into a sitting position as soon as their bellies touched the grass. The German Shepherds, Border Collies, and Labs seemed happy enough to lie down in the cold, damp grass. The Dalmatians would have nothing to do with it. I think that is a testament to their intelligence.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1085

Things certainly didn't go according to plan today. Janet got food poisoning at an awards dinner she went to last night, and I needed to take her to the doctor this morning. As we sat in the crowded waiting room, it made me realize that my strategy of only making doctors appointments at 2:15 PM was a pretty good one.  We got to the doctor's office around 11 AM and I'm sure everyone there was trying to cram in a quick visit on their lunch hour. 2:15 PM is a great time to go to the doctor, since all the working people are back at work and the doctor is just back from his own lunch and hasn't had time to get behind with other patients yet. Considering that Janet didn't have an appointment at all, she actually got in to see the Doc fairly quickly. We were home again by 2:15 PM.

With Janet's emergency taken care of, I drove to the FedEx office to pick up the replacement for the guitar amp that arrived broken last week. I didn't want to risk another delivery to the house, because I thought the driver would just drop the heavy package again. When I got the big box home and unwrapped I was happy to see that this time the case was in perfect condition. I wasn't so happy when I turned the amp on and discovered that the volume potentiometer on both channels made a loud crackling noise whenever I turned the control knobs. I've seen very old and dirty amps make this sort of crackling noise, but never a brand new one. Oddly, the electronics on the broken amp sounded much better than on the brand new one.

After another call to my sales rep, the music store finally decided that it would be OK if I took the electronics from the broken cabinet and switched them with the electronics from the new cabinet. I think they were willing to do anything to avoid sending me a third amp. As long as I sent them back something resembling a guitar amp, they seemed to be happy. It will take me a couple of hours tomorrow to take the internal parts out of the broken cabinet and install them in the good cabinet, but after I do that, I think everything will be OK.

With all this going on, I didn't have enough time to take the Norman strobes to the repair shop. Hopefully, I can do this tomorrow, because there are still some more Santa Paws events for me to shoot. Somehow, amid all this confusion, I still found time to write an article and make some website revisions. Today's updates involved changing several women's names after they had gotten married. I should know better than to embed names in JPEG images. The young ones always get married right after I get their profile pictures finished.

Dot and Dash were good little nurses today. They seem to sense whenever either of us get sick and become very attentive. Both dogs were very gentle today and spent most of their time sleeping right next to Janet.

Camp 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

Day 1083

I burned up one of my power supplies this afternoon. It happens. We had such a steady stream of dogs to photograph at today's Santa Paws event that I must not have allowed enough time between shots for the heat to dissipate. I turned the power supply off and switched to a back up unit as soon as I smelled burning insulation, but it was probably too late. The trusty old Norman power pack will be making a trip to the Flash Clinic next week. I hate that I think this way, but my first thought as I smelled the burning insulation was "Gee, I wonder if that guy who owns the Flash Clinic is even still alive." Back when I used to shoot fashion, he used to service my equipment frequently. It's been a while!

Equipment failure notwithstanding, we had a good day. Our team was able to handle a large volume of customers, while keeping everyone happy. The Santa Paws events have been very successful for us. Nobody got bit today and the set survived several dogs that looked like small horses. One nervous woman told us she chose us for pictures this year because the last Santa dropped her dog. Santa told the woman that her pup was safe with him. From the looks of the pampered pooch, I had a pretty good idea what happened last year. I have a feeling that Santa dropped the dog after it bit him and then peed on his lap. As I've mentioned before, I have the easy job. Santa gets all the abuse.

Our own dogs did well in front of the camera and Janet seemed happy with the results. I'm not sure that Dot and Dash were very happy though. They would have much rather gone to the dog park today than spend the day in a boarding kennel waiting for their turn with the bearded one. Maybe now they won't be quite so eager to go with us on these photo events. I think they finally realize that it's much more pleasant to stay home and sleep on the bed while we are away at these fundraisers.

I'm going to be busy next week. In addition to taking the power pack to the Flash Clinic for repairs, I've also got to find someone to repair Janet's printer. Lot's of luck with that. Nobody likes to repair Epson printers. They are difficult to work on because the print heads can't be easily removed or cleaned. Epson prints always look better than prints coming out of other photo printers until the day the printer begins to malfunction. Then it's all over. These things are so difficult to repair that it's often cheaper to just toss the broken printer in the trash and buy a new one.  Oh, I've got to get the broken guitar amp boxed up and returned to the music store as well.  I think the replacement amp is already on its way.

I've already got some website revisions on tap for Monday, but I hope it's not going to be a really busy week. I need a little rest. I feel like I've put in a full week's work already just in the past two days

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1082

Three down two to go. Today's Santa Paws event was a marathon. We had more appointments per hour than we'd ever done before. I photographed big dogs, little dogs, puppies, seniors, well behaved dogs, stubborn dogs, shy dogs, and some dogs that didn't look like dogs at all. All these dogs probably thought they looked ridiculous dolled up with a bright red bow. Their owners seemed to like the pictures though. Some of them were returning for the fourth year in a row.

Today went well. Even though we photographed dozens of dogs, none of them knocked over the set or peed on the backdrop. With only two more events to go, I'm optimistic that we can make it through the holiday season without a major mishap. The real test will come tomorrow, when Dot and Dash get their pictures taken.

It's hard to believe that it's December already. The temperature was in the mid-80's this afternoon. If it wasn't for the Christmas tree lots on every corner, you could have sworn it was Summer. I was too tired to take advantage of the warm weather and get some yard work done. I'm sure the yard will wait.

More printer problems today.  One of Janet's printers has a clogged line and the black ink won't print. If someone would just invent a printer that never ever clogged, I think they should get the Nobel Prize. We don't use our printers all that much and inevitably the tiny lines that carry ink from the cartridges to the print head get clogged. You would think that Epson could make these lines something that the user could replace, since they get clogged so often. Nope! I've asked Epson how to solve these clogging problems many times and the only answer I get is that I ought to use the printer more often.

I hope Dot and Dash don't wake me up in the middle of the night like they usually do. We've got another one of these photo events tomorrow and it would be nice not to fall asleep with my finger on the shutter button. I need to remember to recharge all the batteries tonight, including my own.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1081

The restaurant was filled with platitudes this morning. People would say things like "It's not the destination it's the journey" and their companion would excitedly exclaim  "Exactly, that is so true." These people had to be teachers. Who else would talk like this at 9 AM? I didn't say anything. I just ate my pancakes in silence, while wondering why there was a big sign on the wall saying "Have you tried our new menu yet?" As far as I could see, everything on the new menu was exactly the same as the old menu.

Since this weekend is another Christmas pet photo marathon, I did my grocery shopping right after breakfast. Maybe I ought to go to the grocery store in the morning more often. I did this last week as well and the meat and produce seems fresher than late in the day when I usually shop. I don't think early shopping will ever become a regular part of my routine though. I'll do just about anything to sleep in an extra hour.

When I got home, I began carefully re-assembling the broken guitar amplifier that I had taken apart yesterday. The broken pieces I had glued back together appeared to have dried well and everything fit back together perfectly. I was quite proud of my work. You could hardly tell that the amp had been dropped by FedEx at all. I don't know if the music store will appreciate all my hard work though. They might actually be expecting me to send them back a box full of bits.

Since our own dogs get their Santa pictures taken during one of this weekend's photo sessions, Janet wanted them to have a bath again. Dot hates a bath. She has gotten so good at gluing herself to the back seat, that it is just about impossible for me to get her out of the car and into the dog cleaning facility. Maybe she'll get lucky though. After this bath, I can't think of a good reason why she would need another one this year. I'm just the opposite of Dot. I like taking a shower. What I don't like is getting out and starting another boring day of work. Eventually, the hot water runs out though and makes the decision for me.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1080

The FedEx man came early today. That was a good thing, because I hate waiting all day. The bad thing was that FedEx dropped my package during shipment and broke it. The guitar amp I had ordered looked like it had been dropped off a ten story building. When I plugged the amp in, it still appeared to work, but the wooden case was completely ruined. Since I had purchased the amp used, I had an awful feeling that I might be stuck with the shattered amp.  I called the company and explained the situation and asked what they could do. My sales rep didn't have an answer for me, but said he'd check into it.

I always expect the worst, so I carefully took the entire amp apart to see if the cabinet could be repaired. Then I went to Home Depot and bought some extra long pipe clamps and a bottle of Gorilla Glue. For someone who had just received a badly damaged piece of merchandise, I was strangely optimistic. I'm good at fixing things and have pretty decent woodworking skills. Something inside me told me I could salvage this thing.

When I got home from Hope Depot, there was a voice-mail from the music store. I called my sales representative back and he told me that the company had decided to replace my damaged amp with a brand new one. All I had to do was ship the damaged amp back to them. I couldn't believe my luck. It appears that I am getting a brand new amp for the price of an old used one. Perhaps I was a bit hasty in disassembling the broken amp. Now, I'm going to have to carefully reassemble the entire thing so I can ship it back to them.

There was more good news as well. Several weeks ago, I took some mother/daughter shots for a friend of Janet's. I did the job as a favor, but the woman insisted on giving me something in return. What I got was a gift card to the restaurant with good bacon. Yum! I think I'll start using the card tomorrow. It doesn't look like I'm going to have to pay for my bacon for a long time.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1079

Janet had more dental surgery today, so I got up early to take her to the dentist. By the time I returned home, walked the dogs and finished breakfast, I was more than an hour and a half ahead of schedule. Some days, having a leg up on things like this would have made a big difference. Today, I think I could have gotten up at noon and still finished everything in plenty of time.

The cooler weather continues. I've noticed frost in the shady areas for the past several mornings. Although Winter is definitely on the way, it's going to have to get a lot colder to finish off this Summer's bumper crop of bugs. There are still way too many wasps, roaches and ants hanging around our house. Petey, an earlier Dalmatian, would eat some of these household pests, but Dot and Dash will have nothing to do with them. I guess they are too refined.

I picked up Janet from her surgery after lunch and spent the rest of the day finishing my writing assignments. If my own little corner of the world is any indication, the economy is not getting better.  I was much busier this time last year. At least the market finished up today. If we could end the year back where we were last March, I'd be a happy camper.

The dogs got a reprieve from training class tonight, since Janet's anesthesia hasn't worn off yet. I could have always taken one of the dogs myself, but which one? The dog that's left behind always feels left out. I don't think Dot and Dash really wanted to go to class anyway. It's too cold.

Tomorrow, I've got to wait for the FedEx delivery guy again. I hope he comes early. Even though I'd just be sitting here anyway, I still hate to wait.

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1078

It's pretty clear who calls the shots in this house. I was just a little off schedule with walks and feeding times today and the dogs wouldn't let me hear the end of it. There is a time for everything, and when I'm late they both start barking and nudging me with their snouts to get me back on schedule. It's futile to resist, so I usually just go along with the program. If I'm late, you'd think the earth was coming to an end. On the other hand, if I'm early it just establishes a new benchmark and I'm expected to be early all the time

I don't know why Dot and Dash were so eager to go out today. It was cold outside. Another cold front must have swept through last night, because it was 70 degrees on Sunday. This morning, it was in the mid 30's. Too cold for me!

Every Winter I have reservations about our plan to move North when we retire. I don't like the cold. Even though I went to high school in Alaska and spent a few winters in Idaho and Washington, I never really got used to snow. After thirty years in Texas, I've totally forgotten how to deal with it. Nevertheless, Dallas is no place to grow old. When the time comes, I'll easily trade this city's problems for someplace cold and very quiet.

The only thing I'd miss about leaving Dallas are the city's great veterinarians. There isn't a better place in the entire country if you have a sick dog. The Veterinary Referral Center of North Texas is the Mayo Clinic for dogs. It's amazing what the doctors and surgeons at that place can do. They've saved the lives of several of our dogs and many of our friends dogs. It would be hard to go back to a little rural vet clinic after getting used to the idea that dogs can actually get better care than humans.

The cold weather seemed to cool everything else down as well. Business was slow today. I ended up having time to watch the Joss Whedon "Serenity" DVD after I took Dash to the vet for his antigen shot. It was a good movie, but the dogs didn't like it at all. It was what got me off schedule.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1077

When I arrive for my physical exam, my doctor always starts the conversation by asking how I'm feeling. Today, I asked how he was feeling. Doc said he was tired. He'd been working ten hour days, since he was having trouble filling a couple of staff vacancies. The doctor and I have become friends over the years. We are about the same age and take a lot of the same meds. I understood exactly what he was saying. I work ten hour days a lot myself and am almost always tired.

That's the trouble with these annual physical exams. They don't make you any younger. At best, they just provide a road map for what to expect next. I've got my cholesterol and blood pressure under control. I've been immunized against all manner of terrible things. I eat a healthy diet and haven't gained any weight in years. Despite all this, it's still a long, slow downhill slide toward oblivion.

I appreciate how thorough my doctor is. I've learned a lot about medicine along the way by learning to interpret the mountains of tests I've been subjected to. It's fascinating stuff in a macabre sort of way. Since the dogs receive the same overprotective care that I do, I often get confused. Is it Dot that has the heart murmur, or me? Does Dash need to change his diet because of a fatty liver, or do I? Dash and I have both had kidney stones. And Dot and I both have problems with acid reflux. It gets complex.

There were a lot of website updates to attend to today. I'm glad that November is going out with a bang instead of a whimper. Business was slow during the first half of the month and it's nice to know that I haven't been forgotten. Cyber retailers certainly haven't forgotten me. My inbox was bombarded with Cyber Monday messages today. I even saw some new Apple laptops on sale. I didn't think that Apple ever put anything on sale. Although some of the deals were tempting, I didn't succumb to the ad onslaught. After a certain point, another technology toy doesn't change anything.

The doctor says that I need to start doing more exercise to combat the muscle atrophy associated with the Statin drugs I'm taking.  More?  You'd think walking five miles a day would be enough.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1076

The dogs got an unexpected treat today. The weather was so nice that they got to visit two dog parks in a single day. After visiting the first park, it just didn't seem right to go home just yet. Dot and Dash seemed to agree, so we paid a visit to a second dog park about five miles further North. With double the number of trees to pee on and an abundance of friendly dogs to sniff, a good time was had by all. Although we don't get New England style Fall colors here in Texas, we did see quite a bit of red and orange today. This is undoubtedly my favorite time of year.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. When we returned from our dog park expedition, I mowed the grass and raked leaves. Raking leaves is just as much a part of the Fall experience as photographing them.

My old answering machine hasn't been recording any messages lately. I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that messaging technology has changed and my ancient machine is obsolete. Today seemed as good a day as any to retire the ancient machine and set up the voice-mail account that came with my U-verse service. When I finally got the U-verse voice-mail working, I was amazed at how many options I had. I could selectively prioritize and block calls. I could forward them anywhere I wanted. Best of all, I could even keep those annoying anonymous telemarketing calls from coming through at all. I could even program things so the voice-mail messages showed up on my television screen. Pretty fancy for a guy who never gets calls in the first place. If I was smart, I would have done what many of my friends have done and dropped the land line entirely. Old habits die hard though. For the time being, I'll keep the land line around just to keep the telemarketers happy.

I finished watching the Firefly series on DVD today. The show was actually pretty good. I'm surprised that I completely missed the series when it was on the air ten years ago. I've heard that after the short lived 14 episode series ended, Joss Whedon made a feature length movie called Serenity in hopes of getting the series extended. It didn't happen. I'll have to look for a copy of this movie now. I want to see what happens next.

I have an appointment for my annual physical exam tomorrow afternoon. I dread these exams, because nothing good seems to come of them. Usually something suspicious but largely inconclusive is discovered and I have to go thorough even more tests to determine what is really going on. What is the point of all these tests? I can tell you what is going on right now. I'm getting older.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1075

I got the Christmas tree up today. Maybe it's a little early, but it seemed like a good time since I'll be taking holiday pet photos again next weekend. Holiday shoppers were out in force today. The parking lots were deadly. You had to look carefully before you moved because drivers were racing around like madmen, trying to secure the few empty parking spots. Ordinarily, I wouldn't leave the house on a day like this, but Saturday is my regular shopping day and I was low on a lot of things.

I've noticed that a lot of stores are installing automated check-out lanes where you scan everything yourself. I love these automated systems because most people don't seem to want to use them. Even when there are long lines at the regular registers, the automated lanes are often empty. You'd think people could figure these things out in a few seconds, but apparently they are not intuitive to some. I saw a lady ahead of me today take all her groceries out of her buggy, put them on one of rolling conveyor belts, take them off the belt, put everything back in her buggy again and only after she had done all this, did she finally scan her items with a hand scanner. Why? Force of habit, I guess. I never take anything out of the buggy. I just quickly wave the scanner at each bar code and I'm done in less than a minute.

As far as I can tell, Black Friday is all a scam. Nothing really good is on sale at all. I noticed a few really attractive prices on some electronic items when I was out today. As an astute consumer, I immediately noticed that the heavily discounted items were either discontinued or last year's models. The brand new stuff was still basically full price. You have to admire this as a marketing strategy. Discontinued items are always sold at steep discounts anyway. Now this old and less desirable merchandise has been repackaged as the Black Friday deal of the century and people get in fistfights to buy it.

I'm finding ticks on the dogs again. What's that all about? We'll go for month's without any sign of a tick and then all of the sudden, they'll be covered with them. I'm sure the ticks are outside continually, but for some reason they only jump on the dogs at very specific times. One more mystery of nature I guess. 

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1074

Janet convinced me to venture a little further away for our Friday breakfast. We went to a restaurant one of her friends liked a lot. This was a neighborhood breakfast place like the ones I usually frequent. It was just in a different neighborhood. While our own neighborhood is in the process of gentrification, this neighborhood was headed downhill. Although the restaurant was surrounded by pawnshops and empty buildings, it still had a loyal crowd of regulars inside. The food was good, but I doubt that I'll return very soon. I like my neighborhood better.

On the way home from breakfast, I stopped by the grocery store and picked up some things. With that chore out of the way, I could spend the rest of the day finishing up my web and writing assignments.

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I got confused and failed to take my garbage can out to the curb last night. I heard the truck when I was making the bed this morning, but by the time I got out to the street with my can, the truck was long gone. Just when I though I was going to be overwhelmed with two weeks of trash next week, I saw the big eighteen wheelers that pick up bulky brush once a month off in the distance. When the truck got closer, I convinced the driver to take my trash along with the brush he was collecting. Here's how silly the city is. Before the bulky trash truck would take my trash, I had to take it out of my can and dump all the garbage on the ground with the rest of the brush. This seemed totally ridiculous to me, but when I looked later in the day, my pile of garbage was completely gone.

It's almost time to put the Christmas tree up again. There aren't many presents under the tree anymore, but it still seems worthwhile to put the tree up. All the ornaments are Dalmatians. Some are wooden. Some are glass. And others are ceramic. You wouldn't think there would be so many different kinds of Dalmatian tree ornaments, but we've been collecting them for quite a few years. It's a pretty little tree, and best of all, the dogs don't try to knock it over anymore.

The stock market had a good day today. Maybe they ought to close the market early every day. The market went up in the morning like it often does, but then it closed around noon, before it had a chance to give up all the gains in the afternoon session. Sounds good to me.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1073 - Thanksgiving

I always like it when Thanksgiving falls on November 22. This date brings together a confluence of Dealey Plaza conspiracy nuts, Dallas Cowboy football fans, and Paula Deen deep fried turkey chefs. It is Dallas at its best. Sometimes I go down to Dealey Plaza on November 22 and listen to the strange theories about Lee Harvey Oswald's real motives and hear about the mysterious second gunman on the Grassy Knoll. Today, I preferred to celebrate the day in a more traditional fashion: with a nice Thanksgiving meal.

Since there are only two of us, we seldom cook a big Thanksgiving dinner anymore. It is much more enjoyable to just pick a nice restaurant and see what they've got for dinner. Today, Janet and I went to The Mercury. The restaurant had a traditional Thanksgiving brunch and it was absolutely delicious. The meal started with Mimosas and fresh shrimp. Several hours later it ended with Creme Brulee and coffee. In between, I enjoyed prime rib, turkey, jalapeño cheese grits, creamed corn, braised brussel sprouts, asparagus spears in a champagne vinaigrette and an exceptionally fresh garden salad. It was a very nice meal.

When we got home again, Janet watched one of those holiday movies on the Lifetime channel while I finished up a couple of yesterday's writing assignments. I can't watch chick flicks anymore. They usually make me feel guilty about something. Towards the end of the day we both took the dogs on a long walk to work off some of our holiday meal. Even though it started to rain while we were walking, it was still a nice way to end a very pleasant day. I have finally learned not to eat too much on Thanksgiving. I try lots of things, but take very small portions. It's much better to feel pleasantly full than to be stuffed.

Since tomorrow is still a holiday, Janet is going to join me on my Friday breakfast excursion. We'll probably venture further from home than I usually do. As long as we avoid the hordes of Black Friday shoppers, we'll be fine.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1072

Wouldn't you know. Just when I had accepted the fact that November was going to be slow, the office fills with work again. Go figure. I am never really in control of these things and often feel like a twig tossed around in a strong current.

I didn't let the new assignments change my plans however. That wouldn't be right. When I went to the mall for my haircut today, I was surprised at how crowded the stores were. I think most of Dallas jumped the gun on Black Friday. It seemed like the entire town skipped work today and was out shopping. It still kind of baffles me why so many people do their Christmas shopping so early. I'm more of a Christmas Eve shopper myself. Although it took forever to find a parking place and I wish I had picked a different day, I did get a good haircut, so all is well.

I always stop by the Apple store after getting a haircut and I'll have to admit that I was more impressed with the new mini iPad than I thought I'd be. It's little enough to easily fit in a camera bag and still large enough to view pictures at a decent size. Even though I could think of four or five reasons why the little gizmo would be useful to me, I didn't buy one. I've bought way too much I don't need already.

While watching my Firefly DVD this week, I noticed that Vern Gillum had directed one of the episodes. The name sounded familiar. After scratching my head a bit, I remembered that I had worked with him several times back in my ad agency days. The guy used to shoot commercials. Although I remember visiting the offices of Vern Gillum and Friends in Los Angeles quite clearly, I can't remember the commercials we did together whatsoever. It's kind of sad. Slowly that whole era is slipping away. Last year I stumbled across my old print portfolio in the storage warehouse.  Flipping though the book and looking at page after page of ads from the 1980's, I kept thinking "Damn, that guy was good." It didn't even seem like my work though. I've grown so much more cautious in recent years.

I wonder if Dash thinks the same thing sometimes. Three or four years ago he won lots of ribbons at training class. Not anymore. Now, he just barks and acts irritated. Sometimes he won't even do basic things like sit and stay anymore. Can we make a comeback? I know we're both smart enough. It's just a matter of desire.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1071

I thought I'd seen everything. Apparently not. While walking the dogs this week, I encountered a man and his daughter walking two small donkeys on leashes like dogs. From a distance, I just assumed this pair were walking their Great Danes, but on closer inspection, the animals were definitely donkeys. They both had collars and leashes and were actually better behaved than my rambunctious Dalmatians. If only I could get Dot and Dash to heal as nicely as those two little donkeys.

I may have won the battle with the wasps on the side of my house, but I don't think I've won the war. When I went out to finish cleaning the cobwebs off the windows this morning, I noticed a lot of angry wasps buzzing around. Apparently when I knocked down the nests yesterday, some of the wasps were away doing other things. Now they have returned and don't seem to be happy that they can't find their home.

I knew it was going to be slow this week, but I didn't think it would be this dead. I added holiday hours to one website and deleted a departed employee from another. That was about it. I got a call that the webcams were down on one of the sites I manage, but it wasn't a problem I could fix. Personally, I think a rat chewed through one of the wires going to the router, but since the wires are buried away in the ceiling, there is no easy way to check. This is a job for someone a lot younger and more agile than me.

To avoid drifting around aimlessly like I did today, I made an appointment with Betty to get my hair cut tomorrow. The haircut itself only takes about 45 minutes, but the whole process of finding a parking place in the crowded mall and then taking a look at what's new in the Apple store when I'm done can eat up several hours. I've promised myself that I'm not going to buy one of those new little iPads. I don't even use the one I've got very much.

I'd certainly rather go to the mall tomorrow than on Friday. I don't really understand the fascination with Black Friday. Are the deals that good? Even my bank teller asked me yesterday if I was going to do any Black Friday shopping. Lots of people I know routinely go shopping on Black Friday, but I don't think they save all that much. Maybe it's just the thrill of the chase. I think I'll wait until the frenzy is over to do my holiday shopping. Shopping is much more enjoyable when you're the only person in the store.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1070

I should have left well enough alone today. It seemed like a good time to tackle the mess of spiderwebs and wasp nests on the East side of the house. This small section of the yard became a no man's land after our neighbor erected a tall security fence that turned the narrow side yard into a dimly lit corridor. Armed with a broom and a can of bug spray, I attempted to rid the walls and windows of the unsightly mess on the side of the house. I managed to remove three large wasp nests and cleaned up four windows before I got stung. Somehow a wasp got into my shoe and stung me on the arch of my foot. Ouch! This pretty effectively put an end to my clean-up activities for the day. I did make good progress though, so I ought to be able to finish the job tomorrow after the rest of the wasps have died.

It looked like there was going to be a nice sunset this evening, so I grabbed a telephoto lens and headed out with the dogs toward a small hill that provided a good view of the horizon. About halfway to my destination, I was intercepted by a neighbor who wanted to talk about a neighborhood issue. I tried to be polite, but I wasn't very interested. I watched the sun slip behind behind a cloud and knew I had missed my shot. Dot barked so much that the neighbor eventually got tired of talking and let me go on my way. All I was able to salvage from this little expedition was a single afterglow shot taken with my iPhone.

I don't know why the neighbors are wasting their time with me anyway. They are trying to stop a boathouse from being built on the lake. Since I like to look at architecture just as much as I like to look at trees, I'm not really opposed to this boathouse. The design is actually quite pretty. The neighbors don't have a chance of stopping this thing anyway. The city is desperate for additional revenue. If the city thinks that this building will be a moneymaker for them, a few disgruntled neighbors aren't going to slow things down a bit.

I've just about finished replacing all the incandescent bulbs in the house with high-tech LED bulbs. I'm doing this a little bit at a time, since the high output LED's are still kind of expensive. The front porch got LED bulbs today. I'm a big fan of these bulbs. They don't get hot. They don't burn much electricity. They practically last forever. And since they are daylight balanced, they give off a very pleasant natural looking light. It's weird to think that the light bulbs in my house are going to last longer than I will, but that's probably what's going to happen. Isn't technology great.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day