Day 905

Yes, the rain did find a way inside last night. No, it didn't find its way to the carefully placed buckets I set out before I went to bed. Leaking water has a mind of its own. It just goes wherever it wants. After I cleaned up the puddles in the living room and utility room, I drove down to the rent property to make sure that water hadn't leaked in there as well. The place was clean and dry. It even smelled nice, because the real estate agent had set a bowl of potpourri on the coffee table when he staged the place.

It's kind of ironic. The rent property I'm selling is actually in much better condition that the house I'm living in. To keep the place occupied and tenants happy, I've always made necessary repairs to the rent house almost immediately. In contrast, I tend to put things off at my own house. "Maybe I'll have more money next year," I think. "What's the point," I rationalize. "The dogs will just tear it up anyway." Sometimes I even convince myself that the problems will fix themselves. At any rate, the rent house looks really nice. Maybe that's why the new owners bought it.

I had a lot of errands to run today. It was nice to drive around in a new car. I think this is one reason the dealer gives you these nice loaner cars. After driving around in a new car for a week, it's easy to convince yourself that your old car is rubbish. I'm sure they'd like me to trade up to a new Land Rover. I wish I could get a new car every three years or so, like I did when I was an ad agency employee. As the owner of a small business, my income fluctuates too much to be casual about large purchases like I used to be. Some years I do pretty well, but other years, I make almost nothing after expenses. You just never know. I think a new car will just have to wait until the stock market makes a dramatic rebound. And when will that be? After the events of the past two years, I'm inclined to say never.

It rained off and on today, but thankfully, the dogs were calm. I think it's thunder that really sets them off. They're both smart enough however to associate rain with the thunder they fear. Even a gentle shower will make them nervous. They're always waiting for the other show to drop. I guess I'm the same way. I'm still superstitious that something's going to go wrong with the sale of my rent house, even though we close nest week. Janet thinks I've made the dogs neurotic. Of course, maybe it's the other way around.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 904

I got the repair estimates on my car today. Ouch! The problem with having an old British car is that certain parts can be very expensive. There are a variety of things wrong with the car, but the expensive thing is going to be getting a new power steering pump. I was hoping that there was just a leak in the lines, but unfortunately the entire pump has gone out. I could buy a reasonably decent used car for the price of this pump. In the past, an expensive repair like this would have convinced me that it was time to trade the car for something new. There comes a point in every car's life where it costs more to keep the car running than to get something new. I've reached that point, but unfortunately times have changed. The cars that I like to drive have become ungodly expensive and I'm not making as much money as I used to. With few alternatives, I just keep repairing the Defender 90.

On the bright side of things, I did manage to get rid of the horrible Chevy Cruze. The dealer took pity on me and gave me a new LR-2 to drive until my repairs are complete. Since some of the parts have to be ordered from Europe, I might be driving this loaner car for a long time. That's one thing I've always liked about Land Rover. They have great service. I may be driving the oldest Land Rover in town, but they still treat me like I'm a basketball player driving a tricked out Range Rover with 26 inch Asanti wheels. Unfortunately I can't say the same thing for Enterprise. The treat everyone like they're trying to rent their cars to harvest a marijuana crop or dispose of a dead body. I try to avoid Enterprise.

The day started out nice enough, but storm clouds started rolling in by early afternoon. I expected the dogs to panic when the thunderstorms started. What I didn't expect was for my U-verse service to go out again one day after I got everything fixed. Luckily, this just seemed to be a temporary glitch. An hour or two after the connection went down, it mysteriously returned again. So far, U-verse is turning out to be a lot like cable. It's great when it works, but not so great when there's a problem. 

I was hoping that the rain would quit so the dogs could go to training class this evening. No such luck. It's still raining as we speak, and Dot is hiding under the desk, waiting nervously for the thunder to stop. I'm just hoping that we make it through the night without a roof leak. I've learned the hard way that it's pretty stupid to try to clear the water off the roof in the dark. I've got plenty of buckets. We'll just wait until morning.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 903

It was unnaturally quiet this morning. Dash was at the vet, getting his teeth cleaned. The television and the Internet were silent, because my U-verse account was still offline. Breakfast went quickly because there wasn't an old episode of Top Gear or Dr. Who to watch on TV. Even Dot went back to sleep, because there was no Dash for her to boss around. I thought I'd get a lot done with no distractions, but I was wrong. It was too quiet.

The unusual silence didn't last long. Around 10:30 AM, there was a knock on the door that got Dot barking again. It was the U-verse technician. He didn't think the problem was in the house, but he wanted to check anyway. Dot definitely did think there was a problem in the house. There was a stranger inside. I kept telling the technician that she wouldn't bite, but I don't think he believed me. As expected, the problem wasn't in the house, so the technician packed up his tools and left to trace the problem to its source. About two hours later he returned. He said somebody had disconnected my line at a junction box while they were connecting another customer. Some things never change I guess. This used to happen frequently when I had my plain old twisted pair phone line.

Like most problems, the U-verse outage turned out to be simple human error. I don't think my car problems are caused by human error, however. Things break on this car even when it's sitting in the driveway. Granted, the Defender is old and has quite a few miles on it, but I still wish it were more reliable. Once, I looked at a printout of all the things that had gone wrong with the car at the dealership and the document looked like a book. There were literally hundreds of things that had broken of gone wrong over the years. I'm still loyal to the Defender though. Parts are easy to obtain. The car is fun to drive. Best of all, I can fit a large dog crate in the back.

When I went to pick up Dash around 4 PM, I noticed he was walking a bit funny. I asked the vet what was wrong, and she said he was probably a little sore. Since he went in for a dental procedure, I was wondering why he was sore at the other end. The vet said they put the anesthesia and heartbeat monitors up his butt, so that his mouth would be unobstructed. Whoa!  I sure hope they don't start doing that when I go to the dentist.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 902

I don't know why I even bothered to get out of bed this morning. By the time I'd finished getting my car towed to the Land Rover dealer and gone through the hassle of finding a rent car, the day was half over. Usually, the dealer gives me a loaner Land Rover when I take my car in for service. They didn't have any vehicles available today though, so I had to rent a car from Enterprise. I ended up with a Chevy Cruze. Definitely not my favorite vehicle! I think the Cruze is supposed to be Detroit's answer to the Honda Civic. To me, it's just a piece of junk. Honda, Kia, Toyota and many others all make better low priced cars. Hopefully, I'll have my Defender back soon.

When I got home, I noticed that the TV wasn't working. Then I noticed that the Internet wasn't working either. When I tried to call AT&T tech support, I noticed that even the phones didn't work. My U-verse was dead. Since I couldn't remember my U-verse account number, I drove down to the AT&T store in the miserable Chevy to ask for assistance. The sales guys found my account number and told me to call an 800 service number on my cell phone. I had hoped they would tell me what was wrong, but I guess I shouldn't have expected any more from AT&T. Eventually, I ended up talking to an outsourced technical support guy in the Philippines. They ran a remote diagnostic test on my system and told me that someone had cut the fiber optic cable somewhere between the server and my house. I wasn't getting a broadband signal at all. Supposedly, technicians were already working on the problem and would have things working again in three hours. Eight hours later, things still aren't working. Luckily, I still have my little T-Mobile 4G hotspot. Without the hotspot, I would have been dead in the water today. I called AT&T again this evening to get an update on repairs and was told that a technician was scheduled to come out sometime tomorrow. I wonder what happened to the guy who was supposed to be working on the problem today?

Dash has to go to the vet to get his teeth cleaned tomorrow morning. This is a very routine procedure, and my vet is very good, but I still worry. I think any time you have to use anesthesia, it is serious business. Year ago, I had a friend who took his dog to the vet to have its teeth cleaned and the dog died. After all these years, I still haven't forgotten that. Having an older dog with gum disease can be serious too, so I always go ahead and have the dogs teeth cleaned whenever the vet recommends it. I'll be glad when it's over though. I don't even like to have my own teeth cleaned.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 901

Well, we didn't get 101 Dalmatians at the dog park today. The six that actually did show up sure seemed to have a good time though. Even six Dalmatians managed to attract a lot of attention. Practically everyone in the park came over to look at the dogs. We're thinking of having Dalmatian Day at the Northbark Dog Park once a month now. Everyone who came today said they'd tell their friends, so we ought to get more dogs next time. The weird thing about Dalmatians is that they seem to recognize other Dalmatians. They like to hang out together and aren't all that interested in the other dogs in the park. If dogs ever discover how to be elitist, Dalmatians will be among the first to lord it over the others. I still think it would be fun to get 101 of these guys together for a play date. Maybe someday. For today it was just Dot, Dash, Willow, Jasper, Emmie, and Penny.

My car went kaputt today. I've had a small leak in the power steering lines for about a month now. I should have taken the car in for service immediately. Instead, I just went to the AutoZone store and bought a bottle of power steering fluid. Every time I heard a squealing noise, I would top up the power steering fluid tank. It worked for a while. I think the little leak became a big leak today though. The power steering is gone. It takes a massive effort to turn the wheel at all. The speedometer quit working too, and the engine dies when I'm at a stoplight. I don't know if all these things are related, but the car isn't very drivable. I'm going to have to get it towed to the Land Rover dealer tomorrow.

I went down to the rent house for what may be the last time this weekend. I wanted to make sure the place looked clean and tidy when the new owners take possession. I really like this house. If any of you are familiar with the architecture of Bud Oglesby, you'll know what I mean. I should have sold the place years ago though. If I had been perceptive enough to sell at the top of the Dallas real estate market some years ago, I could have made almost double what I'm likely to make now. Live and learn. That's what life's all about, isn't it?. If I had made all the right decisions, I'd be a multimillionaire now. On the other hand, if I'd done everything wrong, I'd be dead.

I'm starting to get telemarketing messages on my iPhone now. I even get junk text messages. It was so nice for a while to have one phone that was immune to these annoyances. I knew it couldn't last. Now, this phone is just about as bad as the land line. How do all these people get my number? I wouldn't be surprised if Apple actually wants telemarketers to get your number. I remember telling my postman once that he didn't have to deliver the junk mail to my house. I though this might make his job a little easier, since I could see his bag was absolutely full of junk mail. "No, no," he told me, "We have to deliver this mail. This is how the post office makes money." Maybe so. Personally, I'd rather pay the post office and AT&T a little more not to have to deal with this stuff.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 900

I could tell you about my blood test this morning. I could tell you about all the vacuuming I did this afternoon. I suspect you've heard all that before. Maybe I'll try to give you a little advice instead. After 899 days of telling you what I do, it might be time to tell you what I think. I don't give advice very often. Why should I? Absolutely nobody listens. Humor me though. It's Day 900 and it's time for  something different. My advice to you...

1: Quit spending money you don’t have.

So many of today’s problems are caused by a national desire for instant gratification. High school kids think they need a car. College kids expect a high paying job when they graduate. Young couples get a $300,000 mortgage on a “starter home. Our entire country spends more than it takes in. It wasn’t always this way. Our grandparents didn’t live like this. They managed to raise families in modest homes with a single bathroom. Instead of using credit cards with reckless abandon, they typically paid using cash, while occasionally putting something special away on layaway. Ironically, our grandparents were probably happier than we are. Rich is a relative term. If you always spend a little less than you make, you’re eventually be rich.

2: It’s not a secret if you tell anybody.

I grow weary of people telling me that something is confidential. I’m bemused when I see someone who still believes that privacy even exists. Privacy left the building long ago. Do you ever watch MI-5 on the BBC channel? In this show, top British spies continually solve puzzling crimes and mysteries by snooping on people’s activities using the country’s burgeoning CCTV network. This is where we are headed. If the IRS doesn’t already know everything about you, Google and the credit bureaus can certainly fill in the blanks. It’s just a matter of time before Google creates a global panic by revealing that it has compiled a database with the personal porn preferences of over a billion men worldwide. Hey, if you really want to keep something a secret, don’t tell anyone. Ever.

3: Learn to compromise.

It’s not all about you. Everyone thinks they’re special these days. They were brought up that way. Parents told them they were special. Teachers told them they were special. A cult of individuality was born and several generations of very self-centered children entered the adult world thinking, “It’s all about me.” These spoiled children expected to get exactly what they wanted in the workforce and in their relationships. That’s what they had been taught. When everyone was going for the gold, the bronze had no value. Slowly, the art of compromise was lost. Our politicians became deadlocked. Our relationships increasingly ended in divorce. Our employers got disgusted and began looking for a more agreeable workforce in China. Hey, it’s not all about you. It never was.

4: Believing in something doesn’t necessarily make it true.

Christians. Jews. Obama supporters. Global Warming. The Tea Party. The Taliban. Isn’t it all a bit confusing? If anyone actually had the answer to anything, why would there consistently be so many conflicting points of view? It’s comforting to believe in something, especially if others believe the same thing. Belief isn’t the same as truth however. Belief is just another manifestation of mind over matter. At least religious people understand that their beliefs are nothing more than blind faith. The worst believers are the secular humanists, who have somehow managed to get faith, religion, science, objectivity and prejudice muddled together in an unholy stew. Believe in yourself! Don’t get a big head about it though. It’s still not all about you.

5: Don’t aspire to be happy. Just choose to be happy.

A lot of people think they’d be happier if they had more money. Others want to be thinner, more popular, or in a better relationship. We are an aspirational society, but sometimes our aspirations can be counterproductive. I’ve known multi-millionaires who were catatonically depressed. I’ve known people with one leg who seemed much happier than I was. I think the happy people around me just chose to be happy. We can’t really select the cards we are dealt in life. We can fight and struggle and attempt to swim upstream, but eventually the current always wins and we are swept out to sea. Happy people just enjoy the journey.

6: Success doesn’t mean much if you have never experienced failure.

Is success learning to read road signs in French, or discovering that E=MC2? I think any successful person will tell you that success is entirely relative. Without a few setbacks along the way, you probably won’t even be able to recognize success when it finds you. Success can be large, or it can be small, but it you are afraid to fall, you probably won’t experience success at all.

7: Don’t wait too long to do the things you want to do most.

My Dad was a zoologist. He always wanted to travel to Africa and see giraffes and elephants. When he died and I was settling his estate, I cleaned out his safe deposit box and discovered an expired passport and visas to all the countries he wanted to visit. Dad knew where he wanted to go. He just kept putting off the journey. There were books to write. There were kids to put through college. The passport got dusty and Dad got Parkinson's disease. He waited too long. Don’t wait too long to do the things you want. Your time on this earth is limited.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 899

The stock market is an unmitigated disaster. The Dow was down another 274 points today. I don't think I've seen things in this big of a mess since I started investing. Nobody seems to know what to do anymore. The slightest whiff of bad news can send stocks tumbling. You wonder why a bad jobs report would cause this much turmoil? Doesn't everybody already know that there aren't any jobs?  Doesn't everybody already know that jobs aren't coming back soon? When manufacturers discovered that they could make things dirt cheap in China and Malaysia, they're not going to come back here and make things the expensive way anymore. That ship has already sailed. We can't just give everybody government jobs like they did in Greece either. Then we'll just end up like Greece. Personally, I think we're a lot closer to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome than we care to admit.

Breakfast was pleasant today. Instead of having a trendy fusion cuisine creation or an omelet packed with every kind of smoked meat imaginable, I just had pancakes. I haven't had pancakes in quite a while and the simple meal was quite satisfying. I used to make pancakes myself fairly often, but they seem to taste better if someone else makes them. I wish I could afford to eat out every day. I'm starting to realize that I really prefer eating in restaurants.

I had to pick up some prescriptions this afternoon. Whenever I go to the pharmacy, I end up in line behind a bunch of old people who take forever to get their prescriptions filled. I feel like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol when he is visited by the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Will I ever be this slow or have this many pills to take? I certainly hope not! Lord help me if I creep up to the counter with a cane and take 30 minutes to get all my pills sorted out. It's not a pretty sight.

This weekend was when we were hoping to get 101 Dalmatians out to the new dog park. Things aren't going so well. Maybe we were a little ambitious. The invitations have gone out, but based on the responses we've been getting so far, we're going to be lucky if we get 10 Dalmatians out to the park. Oh, well. I still think it was a fun idea.

June is here. I think I'm going to sell my rent house this month. I know I'm going to get a year older this month. I have no idea whatsoever what the stock market is going to do.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 898

Some days I think a robot could do my job. Other days I think I am the robot. How may days can you do the same thing over and over again before going quietly insane? I wonder about these things.

Today certainly wasn't the day to break free. I took some checks to the bank. I took some bills to the post office. I took some dogs on a walk. There was water on the roof. Dishes in the sink. And a load of dirty clothes in the washing machine. It was just an ordinary day.

My work assignment for today was doing a little Father's Day marketing for one of my clients. They want Mom and the kids to buy something expensive for Dad. Not very likely. Dads never get anything good on Father's Day. Since my birthday always fell fairly close to Father's Day, my Mom never got Dad anything at all. She claimed that I was his Father's Day gift. I think this always made my Dad mad. He would much rather have received tickets to a good basketball game, or at least a nice fishing rod.

The Spring allergy season seems to be waning. It's great not to go through an entire package of Kleenex every time I walk the dogs. The only problem is that the allergy season is always followed by the muggy season. Each day, within an hour after the rain quits, it becomes a steam-bath outdoors. During the muggy season I have to put on a new shirt every time I walk the dogs, because the shirt I was wearing is soaked. There are tons of mosquitoes during the muggy season as well. I really shouldn't complain about the weather we're having though. The muggy season is always followed by the impossibly hot season. During July and August in Texas, it feels like you are living on the surface of Mercury. I don't look forward to this heat. I don't think Dot can handle the heat anymore either. Her tongue is hanging out right now after our walks, and Summer hasn't even arrived yet.

Friday has arrived though. Almost anyway. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb for tomorrow morning's pickup and I'm already wondering what I'm going to have for breakfast on my weekly restaurant excursion. TGIF.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 897

The day started badly, but it ended well. The dogs and I had to endure wave after wave of thunderstorms before the sun finally emerged late in the afternoon. Rainy days are not fun with Dot. She has one of the worst storm phobias I've ever seen in a dog. She shivers and shakes and looks genuinely pitiful during even the slightest rain. During a real thunderstorm, her reactions can be scary. I didn't used to worry about Dot's antics, but now that she's had a seizure, I'm afraid that the panic attacks might trigger another seizure.

We did OK today though. We even managed to squeeze a short walk in between downpours. The real-time weather radar app on my iPhone is incredibly useful on days like this. Even on soggy days like today, I'm usually able to find little gaps when I can take the dogs out to do their business.

I still had to sweep the water off the roof today, but at least I didn't have to deal with the ants. All the ants had been swept away. Ants are incredibly resilient though. Wherever the rain swept the little critters, they're probably still alive, planning another assault on the house.

I'll sure be glad when the sale of my rent property is finalized. After all the activity a few weeks ago, it's kind of weird that nothing is happening now. There really isn't much left to do before we all show up at the closing to sign the documents. I'm sure that everything is proceeding smoothly, but I've heard so may horror stories about deals falling apart at the last second that I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch.

The dogs did really well at training class tonight. I was proud of both of them. We did jumps tonight and both Dot and Dash love to jump. I'm probably a bit prejudiced, but there are few things prettier than a happy Dalmatian sailing over a hurdle.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 896

It's election day in Texas. Maybe the incessant robo-calls will finally stop. Wait a minute, what was I thinking? Today's election was only a primary. The winners will be emboldened to make even more outrageous robo-calls and commercials in the days ahead. The commercials this year are particularly annoying. Every time you turn on the TV, you are greeted with the spectacle of one candidate accusing all the other candidates of being a liar. Jeez, they couldn't all be liars, could they? Sadly, they probably could.

When I woke up this morning, I thought one of the dogs had thrown up, because there was a suspicious looking puddle in the hallway. On closer inspection, the puddle wasn't dog vomit after all. It was something much worse. Paint, or glue, or a combination of the two was leaking out of a nearby cabinet where I kept supplies for household projects I hadn't gotten around to yet. When I opened up the cabinet, it became clear that a can of paint was leaking. I just wasn't sure which one, since several cans were suspiciously rusty and sitting in a big puddle of paint. I ended up throwing away all the old paint. I didn't stop there either. Since I had to take the old paint cans to the hazardous chemical disposal facility anyway, I figured that it would be a good idea to get rid of all the ancient cans of glop that I had around the house. I filled the car with old gasoline containers filled with gas that was so old I would never put it in a lawn mower. I found quite a few equally old cans of brake fluid, motor oil, antifreeze, and windshield washer fluid. It was good to get rid of this stuff, but it left me wondering why I had bought it in the first place.

It rained a lot last night, so I crawled up on the roof after breakfast to get the water off. I was greeted with thousands of ants crawling all over my sump pump. Fire ants, chiggers, and mosquitoes have been particularly bad this Spring. I feel like I am being eaten alive. I got rid of the ants by dipping the pump in the deepest puddle of water I could find. Then it occurred to me that the ants might actually be useful. Ants are tiny. Probably wherever they congregate on the roof is both their entryway to the inside of the house and the source of the water leaks.

I'm glad it's a short week. A four day work week is just fine with me.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 895 - Memorial Day

My Mom was from a military family, Her Dad was a career army officer and both her brothers were air force fighter pilots. My own Dad fought in the Pacific during World War II and my Mom served in the WAVES as a parachute rigger. That was the end of the family's military service. I don't think any member of the Sealander clan has served in the military since. I have tremendous respect for our armed forces. They are the best of the best. I'm not so sure I have the same respect for the politicians who have sent these brave man and women into battle recently. So many have died and absolutely nothing has been accomplished. The Crusades didn't solve any problems in the Middle East and neither has any subsequent war. As soon as we leave Iraq and Afghanistan, these countries will revert to exactly the way they were before we arrived. I don't think you should get into a war unless you are willing to win it convincingly. Harry Truman was the last president who knew how to win a war convincingly.

The park was filled with holiday revelers today. I don't think many of these people were honoring our troops, since most of them appeared for be from foreign countries. They were just families who had a day off from work and wanted to enjoy the nice weather with a little barbecue. There were helicopters  hovering over the park all day today. At first I though this was some strange new police surveillance program, but I learned later that a carjacker had fled to the top of a nearby construction crane when cornered and is currently involved in a standoff with the police. I think this confrontation is still going on. The carjacker has a gun and is sitting a hundred and fifty feet up in the air, so the police are cordoning off entire neighborhoods. The helicopters I saw were actually news helicopters using long telephoto lenses to record the ongoing action. I don't think the police would let them get any closer than the area where they were hovering over the park.

All this drama didn't prevent me from having a fairly dull day. I got caught up on a few writing jobs. I took my caulking gun up on the roof and looked for cracks where water might get in. I refinished an old cedar chest that Dot had scratched up. I even cleaned the toilets. Tomorrow, it will be back to business as usual. Pretty soon it will be June. Hard to believe the year is half over already.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 894

Dot and Dash had great fun meeting some other Dalmatians we know at the dog park today. The Dalmatians got so much attention that I started to wonder what would happen if even more Dalmatians appeared? What about 101 Dalmatians? It might be possible. I know that there are hundreds of Dalmatians living in the Metroplex. I've probably photographed 500 myself over the years. Janet and I are thinking of inviting all the Dalmatians we know to come to the park next weekend. If we could get a good showing, it would be quite an event. I bet if we could get 101 Dalmatians to show up, it would make the local news. We might get a write up in the local paper, or even a YouTube video that goes viral. It's worth a try anyway.

I wish the weather would stay like this all Summer. It was about 85 degrees with a nice breeze when I was out and about today. You can't get much better than that. When it's warm, but not oppressive, everyone is happy. The dogs like their walks, I'm able to work in the yard, and the electric bills are reasonable. We'll see what happens in July, but I have a feeling that nice days like today will just be fond memories when Summer really arrives.

I can't decide whether tomorrow will be a holiday or not. Some of my clients will probably send me things to do, even though I wish they would just take the day off. I think Janet has work to to too. We'll probably compromise. We'll sleep in late, but when we finally do get up, it will just be a regular workday.

We had a great holiday feast tonight: home made cheeseburgers, french fries, onion rings, cole slaw and Shiner beer. Since I'm trying to save my liver, I rarely get to drink beer anymore. This was a real treat for me. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to enjoy some of my favorite beer again on my birthday.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 893

Lots of errands today. There were the usual things, like grocery shopping and doing the laundry. Then, there were the unusual things, like looking for a sewing machine repair shop. Granted, there are still more places that repair sewing machines than repair typewriters, but these places are getting kind of rare. I finally found a shop that got good reviews off in an obscure industrial area of North Dallas and took the old Singer in for service. Yeah, I know that Janet just got a fancy new Viking machine, but I knew that if I didn't get this one fixed soon, she would just throw it away. I still haven't conquered my Gemini obsession with having two of everything. It's easy for me to rationalize fixing just about anything too. Hey, it's always good to have a spare sewing machine, isn't it?

On the way home from the sewing machine repair place, I stopped by my rent property to pick up some tools and touch up paint that I'd left there. A couple of neighbors saw me and congratulated me on selling the place.  How did they know already?  I doubt that these people are blog readers and the real estate sign out front didn't have an "under contract" banner on it yet. I certainly didn't tell them. I guess it all comes down to gossip. Neighbors everywhere gossip about everything. In my own neighborhood, I'm the last to know anything, because I don't keep up with the neighborhood gossip.

I do keep up with when the dogs have had their rabies shots and get their city registration renewed. Apparently, the city doesn't keep up with things quite as well. Every year about this time I get a letter from Code Compliance telling me that Dash's city registration has expired and that they are going to fine me form non-compliance. I always call them back and tell them that I renewed Dash's registration at least a month ago and then read them his new tag number. They apologize, update his records, and then I don't hear from them again for another year. This has happened now for four years in a row. You'd think the city would get it right by now, but they haven't even come close.

I thought I'd play a few tunes on the old ESQ-1 synthesizer I uncovered yesterday. When I hit the first chord, I heard nothing. "Damn," I thought. "I've gone to all this effort to uncover this thing and it doesn't even work." I eventually discovered that the keyboard was just fine, but that the powered speakers it was connected to were broken. One more thing to fix, I guess. I don't know why I even bother. I'm certainly not that good at playing the piano. Of course, I'm not that good at sewing either. I just like to be surrounded by working tools.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 892

Dash finally got his birthday dinner today. It was a little late, but it was a good excuse to go to Cafe Lago again. I think they have the best Cuban sandwich in town. I'm continually amazed at how well behaved our dogs can be when we take them to restaurants. They both bark like crazy on the drive over to the restaurant, but once we're sitting at our table, they look like contenders for the canine good citizen award. Other diners frequently come over to our table to pet the dogs and praise their good behavior. Nobody can believe that Dalmatians can be this good in public. Dot and Dash are both quite social. They both like an outing, especially when food is involved. Some of their good manners stem from the fact that they get fed when they're good. I also think that they just like to go out to eat. Who wouldn't? Going out to eat is always more fun than eating at home.

I've finally moved enough stuff to the new storage space that my office is actually starting to look shipshape again. All the bags of camera equipment are finally off the floor and neatly arranged on shelves where they should be. My big accomplishment today was clearing a mountain of paperwork off the top of an old ESQ-1 keyboard I have set up in the corner of the office. For the first time in several years, I can actually play the keyboard if I want. Amazing!

While I was sorting through the paperwork to determine what goes in the shredder, what goes in the trash, and what stays behind, I found an old unopened letter that looked suspiciously like a lot of the letters I'm getting from politicians lately. When I opened the letter, I was really surprised. It was an invitation to be part of a trade delegation to China.  Hmm. That would have been fun if I had opened the letter three years earlier. I still can't figure out how I got on a list to be part of a trade delegation.  The letter said I was selected because of my reputation and experience in the industry. It didn't say which industry though. The whole thing could have been some sort of scam. It definitely looked legitimate though. Jeez, I really need to start reading my mail.

It will be nice to have a three day weekend. This week has been so busy that I would be content to do absolutely nothing for the next three days. There are places to go and things to do however. Dot and Dash have a play date on Sunday. They're meeting two other Dalmatians. One of their spotted friends is a talented show-off who does agility. I think Dot and Dash can hold their own however. After all, how many Dalmatians are cosmopolitan foodies who go to restaurants for dinner?

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 891

Yay! I think I sold a house today. I've signed so many documents this week that it's hard to believe the whole process has come to a conclusion. My real estate agent says that the amended contract I signed this afternoon was the final document though, and that the buyers have definitely committed to purchase the house. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing from now till the closing in early June.

I don't know how real estate agents keep their sanity. The buyers, sellers, lenders, appraisers, and inspectors all have their own agenda and their own questions. "We know the air conditioner is on the roof" someone said to me today, "but where is the furnace?" "It's a heat pump." I said. "Everything is combined in one package." An hour later I got the same question. "Where is the furnace?"  They obviously didn't know what a heat pump was.

If the rent house sells as expected, it will be a major step toward my long term goal of simplification. Since I am a Gemini, I used to think I needed two of everything. I'll readily admit now that I took this principal to extremes. There had to be two cars, two guitars, two computers, and of course two houses. Sometimes things got totally out of control. Somehow my two watches turned into two hundred. There were other excesses as well. I'm trying to set things right though, and having just one house again has got to be looked at as progress.

You know that famous phrase from the Book of Common Prayer; "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." I got a dramatic demonstration of what the phrase means today. Years ago, I received some sort of square Peruvian rug as a Christmas present from relatives. I didn't have anywhere to put the rug at the time, so I folded it up and placed it on a shelf in the bedroom closet. Over the years, I forgot I ever had the thing. I forgot until today, that is. When I was packing up more stuff to move over to the new storage warehouse, I saw the rug, high up on a shelf. "This is good storeroom material," I thought. I picked up the rug and it literally disintegrated into dust in my hands. There was nothing left! I don't know what the rug was made of, but I don't think moths got at it or anything. There were no signs of insect damage. The material had just turned to dust.

Janet will throw something away if she hasn't used it for several years. I will hang on to something forever, just in case I might have a use for it sometime in the future. I think Janet has the right idea. It's all going to turn to dust anyway.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 890

Politicians, are you listening? Please stop making those robo-calls to my house every five minutes.You guys are relentless this year. I must get ten calls a day. Day in and day out the calls continue. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. Your incessant badgering is irritating and the more I hear your message on my phone, the less likely it is that I will ever vote for you. Personally, I think if they played these robo-calls over and over again at Gitmo, they would be more effective than waterboarding.

One problem with managing dozens of websites is that occasionally everyone wants something at the same time. Today was one of those days. As soon as I finished making a change on one client's website, I got a request to change another. The website change requests today were almost as frequent as the political robo-calls.

At least the weather was nice today. I had a great walk with the dogs this morning. The temperature was mild. There was a nice breeze. Best of all, there was no pollen in the air and my allergies didn't bother me. I wish every day was like this, but I'm lucky if I get to enjoy three or four days a month without allergy related sneezing and wheezing. I'll take what I can get though. Today was perfect.

When I finished my webmaster and writing assignments for the day, I went over to the storage warehouse and started assembling another section of poorly made Chinese industrial shelving. I can't believe how flimsy these things are. The brand on the box says Gorilla or Rhinoceros or something. The blurb on the side of the box brags that the shelves are rated for commercial use and that each individual deck can hold over 200 pounds. That would mean that the six tier section I put together today should hold up to 1,200 pounds. Not very likely. The thing would crumple like tin foil if I loaded it with 1,200 pounds of stuff.

I don't know why poor quality bothers me so much, but it does.  Power tools are made of plastic these days. The bodywork on your car is half as thick as it used to be, and to add insult to injury, you are charged more for the flimsy material. Energy efficiency, they call it. All cameras should be made like Leicas and Hasselblads. All cars should be as durable as the old Saabs they used to make from Swedish steel. Who needs Wal-Mart at all? My problem is that I think my toaster should be just as good as my iPhone.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 889

I know I complain about the trials and tribulations of running a small business. I shouldn't. Actually, I have it pretty good, because I don't have to deal with the general public. I can't imagine anything worse than dealing with the general public in a big city. I was picking up something this afternoon at the little neighborhood jeweler where I take some of my watches for repair and was surprised that I didn't have to ring the buzzer to get in like I normally do. I asked the jeweler why his door was unlocked and he said the fire department made him do it because it was against fire codes to lock a retail building during business hours. The jeweler was mad and said that the rule just wasn't fair. He said that every time he left his door unlocked, he was robbed at gun point. I feel sorry for the jeweler and hundreds of small retail businesses just like his. This is what our city has become. Dallas isn't as bad as Detroit, but that's kind of like saying it's not as bad as Beirut or Baghdad.

I'm glad my customers are in Germany. I'm glad that they are in New York and other places far away. The folks I deal with may irritate me from time to time, but I don't worry that they are going to hurt me. Maybe doing your work over the Internet is a good thing. The Internet is a very effective filter. I like to filter out the bad in life. I can't really get rid of it, but I certainly don't want to deal with it on a day to day basis. I wish there was an industrial strength Dyson Vacuum Cleaner thingy for sweeping up the bad in life and getting rid of it permanently. I'd buy one.

I can't remember being nearly this busy last May.  Every day has been a continual stream of small tasks that need to be completed quickly. I feel like one of those hamsters running continually inside the little spinning wheel in their cage. I get a lot of things done every day, but somehow when I wake up the next morning, there is always more to do. This perpetual busyness would be great if I truly loved what I did everyday. Not very likely! Most days I'd much rather just curl up with a good book.

No rest for the weary, I guess. I bought some more industrial shelving for the storage warehouse today, but didn't have time to assemble it. I've noticed that the power steering fluid leak in my car is getting worse, so I'm going to have to schedule another expensive repair at the Land Rover dealer sooner than I expected. I don't know why the buyers are asking so many questions about the rent property. I didn't know the answers when I bought the place. I didn't know the answers when I lived there. And I still don't know the answers today.

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day