Day 796

We spent most of the day at the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade in McKinney, Texas. McKinney is one of those beautiful small towns with a town square that has a courthouse in the middle. Most of the shops in the historic town square have been converted into chic restaurants and antique stores, but visiting this town still brings back memories of the town I grew up in. This is what America used to look like. It's kind of sad that towns like McKinney survive by turning themselves into architectural theme parks, but what are you going to do? The industries that used to keep towns like these thriving all across America left long ago. I have a feeling that places like McKinney will become thriving retirement communities. When you think about growing old in a quaint little town like this or a crime ridden city like Dallas, the choice is pretty clear.

Dalmatian Rescue has been coming to this Mardi Gras parade for three or four years now. I don't think the dogs understand the tradition of pre-Lent reveling, but they do seem to enjoy being outdoors and getting to see lots of other dogs. Dot seems to enjoy being in charge of the Dalmatian Rescue booth. As soon as we get the tent set up and are ready for business, there she is, standing tall at our table and greeting visitors. People seem to love seeing Dot take charge this way. She's a bossy girl, but she can be quite charming.

Dash was a hit during the parade. As the procession wound its way around the town square, Dash barked continually at everything he saw. He was wearing a Texas Rangers baseball costume and the crowd would yell "Go Rangers" as we passed. He seemed to enjoy the attention, especially when an endless stream of little kids came up to pet him at our booth. Both dogs were tired at the end of the afternoon and slept on the way home. We didn't hear a peep out of Dash during the entire long ride back to Dallas. Our strange boy is finally starting to mature.

Tomorrow is President's Day. This holiday has become so vague that I can't even remember which president's we are honoring anymore. Janet gets the day off, but I still have to work. I was hoping to get a little writing done today, but the day went by too quickly. Hey, I can write any day of the week. It was nice to get out in the sun today and enjoy a little taste of an early Spring. Tomorrow, I may need to forgo the pleasant weather. I'm behind on everything.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 795

Today was a day only a duck could love. It rained and rained and rained. In fact, it's still raining. You guys probably know how I feel about rain by now. Janet wanted to give the dogs a bath because of the big Mardi Gras parade tomorrow. It was hopeless keeping them clean though. It was equally hopeless trying to keep the water off the roof. I went up twice today to sweep away the standing water and both efforts were futile. Within thirty minutes, the roof looked like a stock pond again. I'm surprised there were no ducks swimming around on the roof. There was certainly enough water for them. The rain will eventually stop, but until it does, I've resigned myself to cleaning up the dripping spots inside. Hopefully, the rain clouds will move on to the East tonight. This certainly isn't the best weather for a parade.

I connected the new shock mount I got yesterday to the microphone I got 25 years ago and everything screwed together perfectly. I was absolutely amazed. How many products stay exactly the same for 25 years? Not very many! the microphone was so old it said "Made in Western Germany" while the shock mount just said made in Germany. Despite the age difference, not a single dimension had changed. Best of all, the old mic is even more desirable today than it was then.

I like products like this. That's why I like my Defender 90 so much. The car has remained essentially unchanged for decades. Back when photographers still used film, I loved shooting with a Leica. There were no batteries. No real frills at all. It was just a precision tool that took great pictures and remained essentially unchanged for over thirty years.

A lot of people worship change these days, but not me. I'm irritated that my computer is continually out of date. I was happy enough with the computer I had ten years ago. It did everything I needed. It might not have been fast by today's standards, but it certainly seemed fast at the time. You couldn't give this ten year old computer away now. Nobody would want it. People collect old watches, old cars, and old cameras, but old computers are destined to become land fill.

When we took the dogs for a bath today, we discovered that the place is moving. The landlord had doubled the rent for the building and the owners are being forced to move elsewhere. What a shame. This place is so convenient that I can walk the dogs over to give them a bath. Once again I am reminded that change is not always for the better.

I do hope the weather changes soon though. We'll be going to the Krewe of Barkus parade whatever happens, and it would be so much nicer for everyone if the weather is cooperative.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 794

I went out for breakfast again this morning. On one side of me were two old ladies who kept taking the cash out of their purses and counting it over and over again for the duration of their meal. I don't know whether they were trying to calculate their tip or were worried that they didn't have enough to pay for their eggs. On the other side of me was a young couple wearing Doc Martins and festooned with tattoos. The shabby way these two were dressed, you could have sworn they lived in a trailer park. I knew better though. They were probably just advertising creative people. She was carrying a $1500 Coach purse and he had a pair of Porsche Design sunglasses perched on the top of his head.

I was trying to explain Klout to Janet recently. "It's this new website that sends you free stuff, based on how popular they think you are on the Internet," I told her. "If you're really popular, you might get free airline tickets or even a cruise. If you're like me, you'll get this grey dog blanket that came in the mail today." Hey, I'm not complaining though. Dot and Dash can always use a new dog blanket to go with the 27 others they already have.

Along with the grey Klout dog blanket, I also received a shock mount in the mail for a microphone I bought over 25 years ago. Why did I wait twenty five years to get a shock mount for this particular microphone? Lord only knows. Twenty five years ago, I was a serious songwriter. I wrote a new song every couple of days and was even considering moving to Nashville. I wonder what happened? Today, I'm just a guy who likes to get stuff in the mail.

I spent most of the day writing watch articles. My watch client has started a new marketing push that will keep me busy until the middle of March. I really need to check the Guinness Book of Records and see if this category has been covered. I can't imagine anybody writing more watch articles in a single year than I have.

Janet is finishing up costumes for the dogs to wear at the big Mardi Gras parade on Sunday. I think Dot is going as Miss America and Dash as a baseball player. Why? You'll have to ask the dogs about that.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 793

Why do software updates come so frequently now? I just installed Lion on my computer a few weeks ago and I'm already getting e-mails about the impending release of the next Apple OS, strangely named Mountain Lion. I'm assuming that this breed of Lion is different than the Lion I already have and will cause me just as many problems when I eventually decide to upgrade. I'm having the same problem with the Avid Media Composer software I recently started using. I literally just finished installing version 6.0 of Media Composer when I get an e-mail saying that version 6.01 is here and that it is an essential upgrade. Avid never makes it easy to upgrade either. You usually have to completely uninstall the previous version of the software and start over from scratch. Sometimes you even have to re-register the upgrade.

I just don't get the necessity for all these upgrades. Most people, including myself, don't even fully learn the old software before it's time to trade up to something new. Personally, I was happy enough with Photoshop 6.0 and would still be using it if my clients hadn't shamed me into upgrading to CS5. I'm sure it's better, but after years of use, I still hadn't learned all the secrets of Photoshop 6 and 7.

As recently as five years ago, I would have been knee deep in annual report writing by mid February. New annual report jobs awarded so far this year? Zero. That's not good. Writing annual reports used to be a good source of income for me. It was a good source of income for a lot of photographers and designers I know as well. Somehow it has totally fallen out of fashion for companies to produce elaborate annual reports these days. I guess they don't want shareholders to think they are being wasteful. The old style reports were a bit expensive, often having a unit cost as high as $5 each, but they kept a lot of small businesses like mine alive during the Winter and early Spring. Jeez! What's a boy to do when companies of all sizes just staple a cover to their 10-K Form and call it an annual report? There's nothing to write anymore.

I think I'll go out for breakfast again tomorrow. It's a sign of just how boring and predictible my life has become when I start looking forward to a waffle in a restaurant once a week.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 792

It was a busy day. I methodically moved from one thing to the next and by the end of the day I had accomplished a lot more than I thought I would. I used to have at least one day a week where I would work in the yard or tackle some household repair project. These days, I can't seem to get away from the computer. Between the website updates, the writing assignments, and the seemingly futile efforts to get my Klout score above 50, there just isn't any extra time. I've settled into a routine that starts with the dogs and ends with the blogs. I guess I'm glad I've gotten playing in a band and having gallery shows out of my system, because I really don't know where I'd find the time for these activities anymore.

Even with too much on my plate already, I still keep adding more things to my daily routine. I'm actually glad I added daily photographs to my list, even though it makes the walks with Dot and Dash a bit longer and more difficult. I've taken more photographs in the past month than I typically take in a year. I'm developing a whole new style of shooting as well. If you don't think it's difficult to take nature photographs while holding two very strong and rambunctious Dalmatians on a leash, just try it sometime. I've learned to quickly wrap the leashes around my foot when I see something interesting, so I can steady the camera better. I've also learned to start shooting as I approach something, because if I wait for the perfect vantage point, the dogs will invariably scare the critters away. Thinking quickly and shooting fast isn't usually the way I approach photography, but this run and gun style has actually improved my eye. I'm starting to see things I never noticed before.

I wish I could figure a way to do my writing assignments as fast as I do my photography now. I don't think it's going to happen though. Writing has always been a slow, methodical process for me. I write a sentence, take a sip of coffee, change a word or two in the previous sentence and then move on to the next sentence. I have to concentrate more when I write as well. When I'm working in Photoshop, it's fine to listen to music, but I never listen to music when I write. It destroys my concentration.

I don't think music affects the dogs one way or the other. What destroys their concentration are other dogs. At training class tonight, there was a young pit bull in the beginners class that would snap and growl at any dog that came anywhere near it. Even though we were in a completely different class, this behavior put all the dogs in our class on edge. They knew exactly what was going on.

Even though it was sunny most of the day, it must have rained again last night. There's water up on the roof again. I didn't have time to get up there today, but it's first on my list for tomorrow. Water leaks are kind of like death and taxes. You can ignore them, but you can't make them go away.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 791 - Valentine's Day

You could tell that I didn't have much going on today. Once again, I waited forever in an impossibly long Valentine's Day line for some seriously overpriced cupcakes. Yup. I went to Sprinkles. I'm not complaining though. I really like these cupcakes. Sprinkles is a way to be genuinely indulgent without actually spending all that much money. Hey, you don't have to go out and buy a Porsche 911 or a Cartier Santos watch. Just go pick up half a dozen cupcakes at Sprinkles.

Texas weather keeps confusing me. This morning I wore a down jacket while I walked the dogs. By the afternoon, it had warmed up so much that didn't need a coat at all. It was practically T-shirt weather this afternoon. I hope the warm spell lasts through the weekend. We have a big outdoor Dalmatian Rescue event this weekend. It's an annual Mardi Gras pet parade and you never know what to expect because the date for Mardi Gras changes every year. This year it's a bit earlier than usual, but if this nice weather continues, everything will be fine.

I'm watching Westminster Dog Show as I write this. This year a Dalmatian actually made it to the finals for the best of show competition. Amazing. Dalmatians never seem to win this show. I can't even remember the last time a Dalmatian won the Westminster. Maybe this will be their lucky year though. As soon as I post this, I'm going to go root for the Dalmatian in the best of show competition.

The Sprinkles cupcakes were delicious. Especially with a glass of champagne. Valentine's Day is a weird little holiday. Nobody ever gets off work for Valentine's Day and yet it's quite important for many people. It's kind of like Halloween. Merchants love this day, even though nobody gets the day off. I think we should get off work on Halloween and Valentine's Day and just forget about President's Day. Who even cares about President's Day?

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 790

I'm still thinking about the Grammy's from last night. I didn't even realize that Glen Campbell had Alzheimer's until Taylor Swift announced it on the show. Such a long time. I remember years ago that my ex-wife once played the cello in the string section of his touring band. I briefly met Brian Wilson once at a book signing. At that point in his life, he was a mess. I never dreamed that he would ever be back on stage with the Beach Boys again. I never thought that I'd see a big chunk of the Beatles Abby Road album performed live on TV either. Especially not with Paul McCartney jamming on stage with Bruce Springsteen and Joe Walsh. I don't spend much time watching TV at all, but I love this kind of stuff.

It's bird identification time again. I saw what I think is a large hawk on our evening walk today, but I'm not exactly sure what kind of hawk it is. There are actually quite a few varieties of hawks and falcons in the area. I wish I could have gotten closer to get a better picture, but these birds don't let you get very close unless you happen to be a rabbit or something else that's tasty to eat.

One of my favorite clients is driving me crazy. They love to barter and make deals. I don't know how to tell them that I'm Swedish, not Middle Eastern. The bartering gene just isn't in my DNA. Sometimes I'm amazed that my little company has done as well as it has. I don't like to make deals. I'm not very competitive. And I absolutely hate dog and pony shows. Hey, Just give me some work to do. Pay me fairly. And leave me alone. That's all I ask.

It was still very cold and wet today. That meant I spent a lot of time sweeping standing water off of the roof and cleaning mud off of the dogs every time they came inside. I did manage to get some work done, but it was kind of accidental while I was waiting for wet clothing to dry.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 789

Where is streaming video when you really need it? I've been trying to watch the Grammy's while I write this and I thought it would be easy to just open the show in a separate window and write while I watched. No such luck. Apparently, some folks still want you to watch the show on a regular TV. I've been going back and forth between the office and the nearest large flat screen. I like watching the Grammy's better than the Oscars or other awards shows because some of the live performances are amazingly good. I just finished watching the Beach Boys reunion and the harmonies were still pretty tight. Brian Wilson looked a little out of it, but it was amazing that he was even there with the rest of the band.

I've started noticing that the colder the weather, the larger and more aggressive the dogs are at the dog park. It was only a few degrees above freezing this morning, so the park was filled with huge, very active dogs. Dash totally lost his nerve and wouldn't play with anyone. I couldn't blame him. It was pretty rough and tumble today. We took the dogs Winter coats off, thinking they were cramping their style, but without his coat, Dash just ran away from the other dogs a little faster.

I ended up going to Target this afternoon to get a waterpic to ease my fears of being without a dentist. I hate going to Walmart and Target, but that's where you find these small appliances these days. I don't think I've been inside a Target or Walmart for several years. I prefer to imagine these stores don't even exist. I think I can sum up the discount superstore experience in four words: great deals; weird people. I did get my waterpic though. I'll probably still get a cavity before I find a dentist again.

I won't be doing Valentines pictures for the Dalmatians this year. It's getting harder and harder to find a good venue. We will be doing Easter pictures though. Get your little dogs ready for impossibly cute pictures sitting in an Easter basket, or on an egg, or something like that. Until then, I'll try try to keep myself busy writing about oilfield technology and shooting the inevitable employee pictures for websites you'll probably never see. Oh, in case you didn't notice: Adele was fantastic at the Grammy's tonight.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 788

Janet and I got up early this morning to pick up the new Dalmatian Rescue dog at our rendezvous point in Grand Prairie. Our job was to take her the rest of the way to the vet. When we met the volunteers who pulled the dog from the Burleson, Texas pound, they told us they had named her Lady Gogh because she had lost a bit of one ear, like Vincent Van Gogh. Lady was scared, so I rode in the back seat with her on our way to the vet. She was a friendly little thing and immediately sat on my lap. As soon as we got on the freeway back to Dallas and couldn't easily stop again, she proceed to poop all over me. It wasn't her fault, but it did give me another of my frequent Rodney Dangerfield moments. As I told Janet, I'm always getting shit on for one thing or another. Lady is a wonderful little dog though and I bet it won't take her long to find a home.

It was really cold today. The temperature hovered around the freezing mark all day long. I don't know why February is the worst month of the year here in Texas, but it almost always is. It is supposed to get down in the low twenties tonight. I need to remember to go out to the greenhouse and turn the faucets on so they drip a bit. Occasionally, I forget to do this and the result is a big plumbing problem as soon as it warms up a bit.

I'm finding that I'm taking more pictures of birds than animals lately. The dogs scare all the critters away as we approach. Birds seem to know that dogs can't fly though. Mockingbirds seem particularly fearless. You can walk right up to a Mockingbird and it won't fly away. Right now they seem nice enough, but when they nest in the Spring these birds can become aggressive and a bit annoying. If you get anywhere near their nest, they will dive bomb you and even peck at you. A Mockingbird landed on Dash's back last Spring and scared the daylights out of him. No wonder that dog is jumpy.

I hope it warms up a bit tomorrow. We're going to freeze at the dog park. We'll still go though. We always do.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 787

Today was one of those "death by a thousand cuts" type of days. There were no major disappointments. Just a lot of little ones. The routine nature of my life wouldn't seem so onerous if the routine things I did over and over again were actually fun. For the most part, they aren't. I find myself continually fixing the same things around the house, only to find them break again a few weeks later. I keep working on an endless stream of projects for less than half of what I really think I should get paid. Even when I walk the dogs, I am continually pulling disgusting dead things out of their mouths whenever I drop my guard for a minute and start looking at the scenery.

I went out for breakfast again this morning and am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that my own breakfasts are much better. I just wish I wasn't so slow. I spend forever dicing bell peppers into precise little cubes and whisking my eggs just so, to ensure that there are no lumpy spots in my omelet. I can't even make coffee quickly, since I insist on grinding fresh beans every morning.

I've been noticing that when I go out to eat, I'm one of very few people who eat alone. Women never seem to eat breakfast alone. Most of the men don't either. When the occasional solo diner does appear, it is inevitably a disheveled looking man who looks like he lives under a bridge somewhere. I certainly hope I don't appear that way to other diners. Maybe I do though. I certainly don't get much objective feedback from the dogs.

Tomorrow, Janet and I are going to pick up another abandoned Dalmatian. This dog, like the previous one we picked up, is coming from an out of town animal shelter, so we'll be meeting another volunteer who will pick up the dog from the pound and take her to a halfway point where we will take her the rest of the way to the Dalmatian Rescue kennels in Dallas. We've been able to find homes for these dogs very quickly this year, so this girl probably won't be with us long. I'll take some pictures and show her to you tomorrow.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 786

I spent the morning updating pictures on one of the animal rescue websites I manage. The animals were all puppies and kittens when I initially put them online, but they had grown so much that they didn't look the same anymore. You'd like to think that all rescue animals find their forever homes quickly, but sometimes it takes quite a while.

After I got all the animals straightened out, I went to work on writing a brochure for my latest client. This was a small job, but I'm always a bit apprehensive when doing something the first time for someone new. Some people are happy with just about anything, while others are so picky that nothing will please them. You never really know what kind of client you've got until you turn in that first job.

I almost ordered some new gear today. When I went to the website to place my order, it said the item I wanted was out of stock. This was actually a good thing. By the time the object of my desire is back on the shelves, I may have lost interest in it. Hopefully, this is what will happen. I am continually buying stuff I don't really need at the moment, just so I'll have it in case I need it in the future. People who don't buy equipment at all and just rent what they need when the job comes along probably do a lot better than me. Unfortunately, I don't like to rent things. I'm always nervous that I'm going to break the rented equipment, plus it's just no fun if the gear isn't mine.

Have any of you other bloggers heard about Google Friend Connect being discontinued on March 1? Apparently, the service will still be available to those who host their blog on Blogger, but everyone else may lose their followers. I've always thought it was a good idea to have a Blogger blog, since I'm convinced that Google always takes care of its own first. I know people though who have Wordpress or Typepad blogs that still use Google Friend Connect however. I wonder what these people will do? It would be sad to spend years building a good follower base and then lose it all just because Friend Connect disappeared.

Maybe I'll go out for breakfast again tomorrow. I've enjoyed eating out on Friday morning for the past several weeks. I'd get fat in a hurry if I ate out every day, but I don't think one day a week could do a lot of harm.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 785

I got a note from my tenant today saying that she was moving out in March. Oh, well. This one stayed over two years, which is a lot longer than some of my tenants. The young ones never stay very long. They fall in love. They find a new job. They evolve into something new, and then they're gone. The older tenants stay a lot longer, but they eventually get so grumpy that you wish they would leave.

I don't really like being a landlord. The renters never take care of the place very well and I'm always horrified to discover that they've taken the lovely white interior and painted the rooms some atrocious color. I think it says you can't paint right in the lease, but nobody seems to listen. Renters start to think it's their house until something breaks, and then they call me immediately to fix it. I really should just sell the place, but the younger crowd who likes the mid-century architecture can't seem to qualify for a mortgage anymore. Nobody seems to be able to come up with a down payment unless their parents give it to them. If I'd sold the rent house ten or twelve years ago, before the bubble burst, it would have been a good investment. I don't know if anything is a good investment anymore.

I lost the lens cap on my camera this morning while I was walking the dogs and discovered that Dot and Dash hate to retrace their steps. I was determined to find the lens cap, since little things like this are almost impossible to buy separately. Eventually, I found the elusive cap, but Dot and Dash certainly weren't any help. They were continually pulling on the leash to go in the opposite direction.

Somebody brought a really aggressive dog to training class tonight. Luckily, the dog was in the beginner's class instead of ours. Nobody in any of the classes wanted to go anywhere near this dog. I felt sorry for the owner. I'm sure she adopted the dog from a shelter, thinking she would give it a better life. You can never rest easy with an aggressive dog though. Even with the best training and care, you can never, ever let down your guard. If you adopt a dog like this, you are always going to wonder if today is the day your dog is going to snap. There are far too many nice, gentle dog who need good homes. I would avoid the mean ones.

It's going to get real cold again tonight. I'm pretty sure that this is what the rest of our Winter will be like. One day it will be 70 degrees and the next day it will be below freezing. That's just the way it is in Texas. We'll have a few really nice days in April and then it will suddenly be too hot again.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 784

I felt like I spent the entire day waiting. I'm exaggerating, of course. I really only spent several hours sitting in waiting rooms. That was long enough though. It doesn't matter what you're waiting for these days. If you're getting new tires put on at a tire store, you're going to wait. If you're going to see the doctor, you're going to wait. Even if you're just going to buy cupcakes at Sprinkles, you've going to wait. Of course, when people want something from me, they never want to wait. That's just the way it is.

Luckily, after my long wait to see the doctor, he told me that my latest lab results looked really good. I'd have hated to wait that long, just to hear bad news. Dash didn't have to wait that long to get his antigen shot, but nevertheless, the wait was about five times longer than the time it actually took to give the shot. After I got home, I tried to get everything done on my to-do list, so I wouldn't have people waiting on me. I don't want to be the pot calling the kettle black.

I need to look for some new trails for my walks with Dot and Dash. After uploading over 300 pictures to Instagram, I'm starting to run out of things to photograph. I saw an interesting looking tree this morning and realized that I'd already photographed exactly the same tree from almost the same angle just last month. The park is large though, so it shouldn't be hard to change my route and find some new objects of interest. I'll have to be on my toes if I try a new route though. The primary objects of interest for the dogs are horse poop and dead things. I know where all these road hazards are located on our regular route, but whenever we go someplace new, Dot and Dash are quick to put their superior sense of smell to good use.

I got an e-mail today from one of my best German clients. Yay! I'm glad these guys haven't forgotten about me. One good job from them equals about ten from my local clients.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

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

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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

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