Day 920

I could write a book about the breakfast choices in my neighborhood. Every Friday morning for the past three months, I've been sampling the menus of all the restaurants within a three mile radius of my house. OK, so I've only been to four different restaurants. There aren't a lot of restaurants close to where I live. Nevertheless, a full breakfast menu times four still gives you a wide variety of choices. After all this frivolous experimentation, I still haven't decided on a favorite breakfast destination. One restaurant has the best service. Another has the best ambiance. A third has the best food. And the fourth has the best coffee. None of them are very consistent. 

One thing I have learned is that restaurant quality can vary dramatically, depending on who shows up for work that day. In some restaurants, I've ordered the same thing over and over again, but it never comes out the same way twice. One restaurant never puts salt and pepper on the table because they think their food is seasoned just right. It isn't. Another restaurant is so stingy with the coffee that they make you pay a dollar every time they refill your cup. All of them use too much salt when they cook. All in all, the food is delicious though, and I've picked up some great ideas if I ever decide to cook on Friday again. I've kind of gotten addicted to eating out on Friday morning. It's a simple pleasure, but a very genuine one.

I had to run a bunch of errands today, and on the way back from the grocery store, I decided to stop in the local Guitar Center and look at guitars. I am baffled by the huge variety of absolutely identical looking Fender and Gibson guitars at totally different price points. You could buy a Fender Stratocaster for $300 or $3000. There is almost a mythology built up around why the more expensive versions are worth more. Was the guitar manufactured in Mexico, Japan, or the USA?  Was the wood aged and seasoned before it was shaped into a guitar body? Are the pickups hand wound? Did the electronics come from China? The list goes on and on. To the untrained eye though, the cheap Fender Stratocasters look exactly the same as their expensive cousins. If cameras were marketed this way, it would drive photographers crazy.

I'm amused at all the New York news anchors and talk show hosts going on and on about the awful heat wave they're having. They ought to come to Texas. The temperatures that New Yorkers are experiencing now aren't just a two day event in Dallas. We have to deal with 100 degree days for months at a time.  In addition to the heat, I also have to deal with mushrooms. Mushrooms are starting to appear everywhere in the new grass we just planted. Mushrooms normally grow in the dark. This isn't very auspicious. If I needed a sign that the St. Augustine grass isn't getting enough sunlight, this is probably it.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 919

Like many of you, I missed the Summer Solstice this year. It was yesterday. How did that happen? I thought the longest day of the year was always on June 21. Today still seemed pretty long and very hot anyway. I'm afraid that Summer has arrived in earnest.

During breakfast, I watched the "Girl in the Fireplace" episode of Dr. Who for probably the fourth time. This is one of my favorite episodes, surpassed only by "Vincent and the Doctor." What's the connecting link? Maybe it's just that both of these episodes take place in France. Paris is my favorite city. For many years a Citroën was my automobile of choice. I drove a Citroën in Seattle, and against all logic, I drove a Citroën when I first moved to Dallas. In a world of Ford F-150 pickups, this car definitely didn't blend in.

I don't know what it is about France. I'm drawn to Philippe Stark furniture, even though it is wildly impractical. I even have a French Porcher toilet. I wouldn't recommend French plumbing products however. When they start to leak, it is almost impossible to find replacement parts. It's pretty hard to find parts for Citroën automobiles in Texas as well. That's why I switched to Land Rovers.

I found myself thinking about guitars again today. I've got a birthday gift card that's burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe I can find myself a nice used Les Paul. A real Les Paul is probably too expensive. I'd likely have to settle for the less expensive Epiphone version. I'm getting way ahead of myself though. I need to go to a guitar store, sit down with a guitar, and see if I can still play. My carpel tunnel is getting pretty bad in my left hand. If it hurts to squeeze a tennis ball, I have a feeling that playing a guitar might not feel so good either. We'll see.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 918

I was invited to one of those business networking breakfasts this morning. In theory, these type of things seem like a good idea. A group of non-competing business owners get together for breakfast and agree to use each other as vendors and suppliers whenever possible. There is supposed to be only one member in the group for each type of business. You might be sitting at a table with a dentist, a real estate agent, a body shop owner and an insurance agent. This sounds like a good way to introduce your services to a receptive audience, but whenever I'm invited to one of these things there is already somebody else who does websites. Today, the other guy who did websites was making the morning's presentation. When I was introduced, I just said I did the same type of thing as the other guy.

I honestly don't know why I'm even invited to these things. I don't seem to fit in. I don't even want to fit in. While the others around the table are talking about their Spring ski vacations or the upcoming marriages of their kids, I'm just wondering when I can get home to walk the dogs. The last time I was excited to be around a group of people talking about their chosen profession was when I used to go to SXSW in Austin every Spring. Being around a bunch of talented indie filmmakers was exhilarating. I always came home from the festival wanting to make another film myself. Somehow, looking at a PowerPoint presentation describing yet another small business marketing plan isn't quite the same. I shouldn't complain though. Breakfast at the Park Cities Club is always great. If the breakfast were served at 9 AM instead of 7 AM, the whole thing might be worth a try.

A lot of people in our dog training class must have gotten caught in last week's big hailstorm. When we got to class tonight, everyone was showing their iPhone videos of the storm to each other. I'm still amazed at how much damage a twenty minute storm like this could cause. Janet finally managed to get her car into the body shop today, so we're both driving loaner cars at the same time. I just hope that there's not another hailstorm in the near future. I want to get these loaner cars returned safe and sound. I've already learned the hard way that damaging someone else's car is much worse than damaging your own.

I noticed that all the birthday greetings on Facebook yesterday caused my Klout score to go up three points. Hmm. Is this what Internet influence is all about? Maybe so. Probably the folks with really huge scores are the people who post all those LOL Cat pictures.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 917 - My Birthday

"Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?" When I first heard these lyrics during the Sergeant Pepper summer of 67, I never dreamed I'd eventually be 64 myself. It was simply impossible. I was playing in a band at the time and thought I was ageless. My feelings of being impervious to age lasted a long, long time. I soon entered the world of advertising where youth is almost a prerequisite. When I was a 26 year old creative director, we used to wonder where they put the 40 somethings out to pasture. There simply weren't any old people in ad agency creative departments back then. Maybe there still aren't. At any rate, it should come as no surprise that I've always been reluctant to reveal my age. I have always looked younger than I am and have used this to my advantage for many years.

I think the jig is up, unfortunately. When you wake up feeling 70, it's hard to pretend you're 40 anymore. In the inner recesses of my mind, I may still be 18, but my body begs to differ. What a compendium of aches and pains I have become. There is a pill for every perceived problem, but I'm not really fond of pills. I think its actually the dogs that have kept me alive. I walk Dot and Dash five miles each and every day. Dalmatians are very strong and active animals. The daily exercise keeps the dogs happy and helps keep me in much better shape than I would be otherwise. As an added benefit, everything else I do during the day seems easy by comparison.

I was thinking of going to a daytime movie as a birthday treat. Janet doesn't really like science fiction and it would be nice to see Ridley Scott's new Prometheus prequel on a big screen. I should have known better. By the time I finished the day's writing and website work, a movie was out of the question. As usual, when the work is finished, the day is usually over. I heated up a pizza in the microwave and treated myself to the remaining Shiner beer in the refrigerator. When Janet came home from work later in the evening, she brought Sprinkles Cupcakes with her and we had a little party. All in all, it was a good day to turn 64. Even the stock market was up today.

Ironically, if I had been born one day earlier, I would have shared a birthday with Paul McCartney, who wrote the song I can't help humming today.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 916

It was a slow day. I did what I normally do on slow days. I tried to tidy up loose ends. In retrospect, I should have just left well enough alone. Today's loose ends were a bunch of marginal, small jobs that had somehow slipped through the cracks. I wasn't particularly interested in any of these jobs. They didn't pay much and some were just favors that didn't pay anything. After I finished contacting clients, I realized that all I succeeded in doing was reviving a few jobs that the clients weren't interested in either. If I had just kept my mouth shut, these jobs probably would have just gone away on their own accord. Now, I've got to do them.

I'm beginning to see the wisdom of the cloud. I needed to reprint a large banner I'd done for Dalmatian Rescue about three years ago. I couldn't find the file anywhere on my computer. This wasn't that surprising, since I am working on a different computer now. When I called the printer however, they instantly knew what I was talking about. They had archived the file when I initially uploaded it long ago. It is already prepared and ready for printing. I like it when other people already have my files. Maybe someday, I won't need to save anything.

I've noticed that people have been leaving birthday greetings on my Facebook page and it isn't even my birthday yet. Some of these people have known me long enough to know perfectly well when the real day is, but they tend to believe Facebook anyway. Even when it's wrong. What is this all about?  Information is so easy to obtain on the Internet that we all want to believe it. It's much easier this way. I'll admit that I'm guilty myself. Whenever I casually look something up on Wikipedia, I am inclined to believe it is true. It's just so much easier to believe everything I see on Wikipedia than to do careful research and find out the real story.

I've noticed that squirrels are eating the new grass we just planted. The nerve of those cheeky squirrels! I thought that squirrels liked nuts anyway. They apparently like fresh grass too. I see them nibbling away every day. They grab a single blade of grass in their paws and nibble it down from the tip to the root. You'd think that a blade of grass wouldn't even matter, but we've got lots and lots of squirrels. I'm beginning to think that this is one of the reasons why our grass didn't last long last Summer.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 915 - Father's Day

Since I've never had children myself, Father's Day has always been pretty much of a non-event. Even when I was a kid, I can't remember Father's Day being a big deal like Mother's Day. We had a good Dad, so probably we should have paid more attention to him. Dad was a quiet man and it was easy to forget he was around. Of course there's always the possibility that he talked a lot to everyone else but me. I just don't remember. He certainly knew how to keep a secret. I'm convinced that he took a lot of secrets to the grave with him. He made a lot of trips to Nevada in the 1950's when the government was testing atomic weapons in the desert near Las Vegas.  We used to live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee when we were little kids too, but I never did learn what he was doing. Maybe there really were flying saucers in Roswell. Men like my Dad didn't talk.

I'm just the opposite. I'll blather on about anything. I love to gossip and have a rather tenuous grip on reality. I've learned to recognize this odd worried look that bosses and co-workers get whenever I open my mouth. Janet occasionally gets this look as well. I may be a slow learner, but I'm not stupid. When I see the worried look now, I just shut up and say nothing. It's probably for the best.

The dogs had a great time at the dog park today. I guess they always have a great time. It's too bad the place is so far away, or I'd take them everyday. Dot and Dash have learned the route by now. They bark to tell us which freeway exit to take and they bark some more if we aren't driving fast enough. I wish I were as easy to please as a dog. When we take the pair to the dog park and let them off their leashes for an hour, they're happy as clams for the rest of the day.

Even though I'm not a Dad, I did dad-like things today. I mowed the grass and ate barbecued ribs for dinner. It was a good day, even though Dot and Dash may beg to differ. They both got a bath today.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 914

I think we are transitioning from the allergy season to the bug bite season. My allergies don't bother me nearly as much when I'm working outside now. It's a small consolation however, since I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes. The chiggers and mosquitoes are terrible this year. It's been years since they've been this bad. Probably the moist, rainy Spring has created just the right conditions for bugs of all kinds. I wish they'd go away. I had to mow the grass today, and by the time I finished, I must have gotten a hundred mosquito bites.

One reason that my allergies aren't bothering me as much is that I've started eating local raw honey. I've heard that since bees pollinate many of the same plants that cause Spring allergies, you can build up an immunity to these allergies by eating several tablespoons a day of local, raw, unfiltered honey. It's seems to work. Then again, maybe the allergy season is over anyway. I guess I won't know for sure until next Spring.

I'm still seeing cars with broken windshields and dented hoods all over town. Janet finally got an insurance adjustor to look at her car today. She said it took forever, since the adjustor insisted on counting every single dent. This ferocious hailstorm leaves me more nervous about rain than ever. It seems like nothing good happens when it rains. The roof leaks. The power goes out frequently during storms. The dogs panic and occasionally have seizures. Now, I have to add the total destruction of your car as yet another rainy day hazard. I guess a dry climate isn't much better though. Look at all those forest fires they're having out west right now.

When I was walking the dogs this afternoon, it looked like a good day to take the kayak out. I saw lots of kayaks out on the lake. I wish it wasn't so hard to get my kayak down to the water. I have two choices. I can strap some little wheels to the boat and drag it down the hill to the water. Alternately, I can bolt a roof rack to the car and drive the kayak down to the water. Neither of these alternatives are great. Since the hill is steep, it can be quite tiring to pull the boat back up the slope to the house when you're finished. Going to the lake by car seems like a good alternative until you realize that there aren't many entrances to the park by road. I can see the water from my house, but I have to drive quite a ways to get to the same place. The roof rack won't fit on the loaner car anyway, so this is all a mute point. Needless to say, the kayak doesn't leave the backyard very often

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 913

The rent house was sold today. I signed all the papers this afternoon at the title company, turned over the keys to the new owners, and that was that. It's over. I was relieved that the whole process was finally finished, but I can't say that my mood was exactly celebratory. I guess my initial thought was "one down, one to go." I've got one more mid-century modern house, but hopefully, I'll continue living in the remaining house for a while. I was really happy with my real estate agent. He really understood the peculiarities of selling a 1960's house in 2012. My agent is young. I suspect he'll still be around when it's time to retire and sell the other house. I'd definitely use him again.

I tried to help Janet get her car into the body shop today for repairs. I guess I didn't realize how bad the hailstorm actually was.  All the rental cars in  town are already gone. The Land Rover body shop said the soonest they could start repairing Janet's car was July 14. There are literally thousands and thousands of cars in Dallas that were seriously damaged by yesterday's storms. The Land Rover dealership itself was right in the path of the storm and my service representative told me that over 200 of their cars were damaged, including all of their loaner cars. When they told me this, I started to worry, because my own car is still at the dealership for repairs. I had them check and they told me I was one of the lucky ones. My car was already inside the shop when the storm hit. Some people weren't so lucky. The body shop told me that several cars they had just finished repairing were damaged all over again before their owners had a chance to pick them up.

With all the water problems I've been having with my roof, I was kind of hoping that yesterday's hail storm might have have left enough dents in the roof that my homeowner's insurance might finally spring for a brand new roof. I climbed up on the roof this afternoon to look for signs of damage. Nothing! No signs of damage at all. The roof looked exactly the same as it did before the storm. It's just a leaky old roof.

I went to Cafe Lago for breakfast this morning. This is the place where we sometimes take the dogs for dinner. I don't know why I haven't thought of this place before. It's right in the neighborhood and I've always liked their dinner menu. I guess I just forgot that they served breakfast as well. I came at 10 AM, which is when I usually eat breakfast, and I was the only one in the place. The owner cooked my omelet. The food was great and I kind of liked being the only one in the restaurant. I'll be back.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 912

The hailstorm last night was even worse than I thought. In the light of  day, Janet's Land Rover looked pretty well demolished. The hood looked like someone had spent ten minutes banging on it as hard as they could with a hammer. The windshield was broken. Some of the taillights were broken. There were even some serious dents in the doors. I'll bet that the insurance adjusters are going to be very busy today. There are probably thousands of cars like this all over town. It's weird. Janet and I will probably both have loaner cars at the same time. My own car is still a long way from having its own extensive list of repairs completed.

Luckily, there's one thing that does appear to have reached its conclusion. The buyer of my rent property got their loan approval this morning. We are scheduled to close tomorrow. I never dreamed that buying and selling property would become so complicated. The last time I did this, the whole process seemed much, much simpler. Oh, well. At least selling a house is safe. If you sell something to a stranger on Craig's List, you have to worry about getting abducted or killed.

Can you believe that it's the middle of June already?  I've got to remember to pay my quarterly estimated taxes tomorrow. Next week, it's going to be my birthday again. Seems like we just did this not too long ago. Jeez, where does the time go.  I've still got a few Christmas thank-you letters that I haven't written yet.

I hope the buyers enjoy my rent house. I still have a lot of fond memories about that place. I guess it would be hard not to have good memories. I was younger, healthier, and had a glamorous ad agency job when I lived there. I didn't have Dalmatians though. I didn't have a dog at all. On balance, life now is much better.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 911

The additional information requested by Fannie Mae was finally located and shipped off for review. Everyone seems to think that the buyer's loan will be approved now, although it's pretty obvious that the closing will be delayed a few days. I learned long ago not to count my chickens before they hatch, so I'm not celebrating until I get a call from the title company to come sign the documents and hand over the keys. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly from this point forward.

I was getting the dogs ready to go to training class this evening when a sudden thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere and dumped tennis ball sized hail in the back yard. I had taken the dogs on their evening walk only thirty minutes earlier with blue sky overhead. People who haven't spent time here never understand Texas weather. Conditions can turn on a dime. One minute it's clear and calm and a few minutes later you're drenched. Today's sudden thunderstorm brought some of the largest hail I've seen in years along with it. For several minutes it sounded like people were dropping large rocks on the roof. At least I was home and inside. When Janet got home from work, she told me that the hail had broken her windshield. The storm didn't last long, but it certainly lasted long enough for Dot to panic. Even though the thunder and lightening stopped over an hour ago, she still isn't back to normal.

For the past several days, I've been hearing on the news that a new study shows the average family's net worth in the United States had dropped almost 40% since 2008. That's an enormous loss of wealth and security in a very short amount of time. At first I though that this study was preposterous, but then I got thinking about my own situation. The real estate I own has dropped dramatically in value. My stocks have cratered. Clients don't want to pay me as much anymore. Gas is expensive. It's all a giant mess. I don't know if I've lost 40%, but I've lost quite a bit. If the entire country has lost 40% of their wealth, we're all in big trouble.

One of those business networking clubs wants me to join them again. Those of you who have been reading for a while will remember that this happened once before. I'm kind of torn. On one hand I really need to reach out and meet some new potential clients. I dislike marketing so much that I almost never go out and market my business anymore. On the other hand, I'm not a morning person at all. The thought of getting up at six-thirty every Wednesday to go to a seven-thirty breakfast meeting makes my skin crawl. I do like eating breakfast though. If they serve bacon, it might almost be worth it. We'll see.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 910

Today was a disaster. Things started out normally enough. I walked the dogs and ate breakfast. Then I made the mistake of turning on the computer and opening my e-mail. The first thing I saw was a letter from my real estate agent. He said that we had a problem. Bear in mind that I am supposed to close on the sale of my rent house in less than two days. Evidently, Fannie Mae told the lender that they needed some additional information before they would approve the loan. What? Why did they wait to the last possible second to drop this bombshell? I submitted all my information weeks and weeks ago. At any rate, the rest of the day was spent calling and e-mailing the lender, the buyers agent, the title company and my own agent trying to see if there was a way to quickly resolve this problem. So far, no luck.

The whole situation is very frustrating. First of all, Fannie Mae should have told the lender and the buyer exactly what they needed weeks and weeks ago, when this whole process started. This is no way to solve the housing crisis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA basically control the lending market these days. You can't get a loan without them. They have made it so difficult to qualify for a loan that I probably couldn't have qualified myself if the same rules were in place when I bought the place. The sad thing is that it is all out of my control. I just have to sit and wait and see if all the parties involved can get their ducks in a row.

While was waiting, I took Dash to the vet for his bi-weekly antigen shot. At least that went smoothly. The antigen shots actually seem to be working. Dash has a full, thick coat now and his skin condition has dramatically improved. With his newly cleaned teeth and a nicely spotted black and white coat, the little guy is looking pretty spiffy. If only the rest of my problems could be solved with a shot every two weeks.

Isn't the little wild rose I photographed this morning pretty? The flower looked so optimistic, but I guess that goes to show that you shouldn't trust a flower to forecast the kind of day you will have. Probably the only good news today was from the sewing machine repairman, who called to tell me that the old machine was fixed and ready to be picked up. I'm not even sure if this is good news, since Janet is still puzzled about why I even bothered to fix the old Singer right after she bought a much better brand new sewing machine. 

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 909

I found myself getting sidetracked today. There was plenty of regular work that needed to be done, but there always seemed to be something that needed to be taken care of first. As part of my continuing efforts to declutter the office, I decided that an old portable multi-track recorder needed to go to the storage room. I used to use this machine to record our band performances, but it has gathered dust for many years. Unfortunately, I discovered today that while it was gathering dust, I had forgotten to remove the batteries. All the old batteries had leaked and made a horrible mess. I have ruined other things by forgetting to take the batteries out, but I was convinced that this recorder was salvageable. I took the recorder apart so I could remove the battery cage and clean out all the battery acid and rust and suddenly the entire morning was gone.

When I got the recorder apart, I was amazed at the huge spaghetti of wires that spilled out. Jeez, if they made my iPhone this way, the thing would be as big as a pizza box. It isn't all that surprising that there were a lot more jobs when this little recorder was made. They must have hired ten people just to solder all the connections together.

Eventually I got the little machine looking like new and put everything back together again. Then I got worried that I may have forgotten to take the batteries out of some of my old film cameras as well. As I opened each camera case, I discovered that I actually had remembered to take the batteries out of the Nikon motor drives and strobes. This wasn't entirely good news though, since I also discovered that the foam inserts in most of the cases had disintegrated and gooey old foam was sticking to the lenses and camera bodies. Again I had a big mess on my hands. I carefully cleaned each lens and then wrapped it in a paper towel before placing it back in the decaying foam insert. Protective foam inserts really don't last very long. I know I have already replaced all the foam in the Nikon case at least once before for exactly the same reason.

I'm fighting a losing battle. Everything around me is getting older, and I'm not getting any younger myself. I'm starting to get gun-shy about even turning on a piece of old equipment. There's always a good chance it will fizzle or fail to function. Even things that are never used will disintegrate eventually. Rubber belts dry and crack. Lubricants evaporate and congeal. Once you take something out of service, you will always lose the wall wart power supply that came with it too. I've got a whole box full of these old wall warts, and I have no idea what they go to.

Like many video editors, I eagerly awaited Apple's product introductions today. I was convinced that it was long past time for them to update their aging Mac Pro tower. I would definitely like a faster, more powerful tower. Once again however, Apple introduced a cool new laptop and did virtually nothing with their aging desktop. The tower is completely out of date and it doesn't appear that a replacement is on the horizon. Oh well, I'm completely out of date as well. I'm still working and so is my old tower. We'll just have to make do with what we have.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 908

Dot and Dash had a big day today. In the morning, they got to romp around in the city's new 22 acre dog park and in the afternoon they had a party to attend. Our weekly training class has two parties every year. The Winter Christmas party is mostly for people, but the Summer party is all about the dogs. There are lots of games for the dogs and their owners. The games are the kind of things little kids do at summer camp, but they are still fun, since dogs are involved. We entered Dot and Dash in the egg carry contest where you have to balance an egg in a wooden spoon while you heel your dog around a figure eight course. Dash knocked my egg off the spoon five times by tugging on his leash, while Dot just tried to eat the egg. Dash did a little better in the bobbing for biscuits contest, where all he had to do was see how many dog biscuits he could retrieve in 60 seconds from a kiddie swimming pool filled with water. I think the dogs favorite activity of the day was getting to eat some of our fried chicken at the lunch we all enjoyed before the games.

With all this activity, I thought that Dot and Dash would just want to go to sleep after we returned home for the day. Not on your life. They still wanted their regular evening walk. At the end of the day, I think I was the only one who was actually tired. I'm always tired on Sunday though. It's usually the busiest day of the week. Truthfully, this Sunday was quite relaxing compared to a normal weekend filled with vacuuming, grocery shopping and mowing the grass.

If all goes well, the rent house sale will close next week. It will be weird not to own this house any more. I've owned the place since I moved to Dallas from Seattle in the Fall of 1977.  It wasn't always a rent house, since I used to live there myself. The Internet as we know it today didn't even exist when I bought the house. I didn't have a computer and I didn't even have any Dalmatians. I did all my writing on an IBM Selectric typewriter. I did keep a daily journal though. Although the journal was hand written in a little leather bound book, it wasn't all that different than the blog you are reading today. Even back then, I mostly wrote about nothing. If you want to know what I had for dinner on April 30, 1981, I'm sure I wrote it down somewhere.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 907

I can always tell when I'm in a rut. I start looking at catalogs a lot. My favorite catalogs are Sweetwater Sound and B&H Photo. I flip through the pages and think about gear that I'd like to have. Never-mind that I have way too much gear already. I can always convince myself that a new lens, some clever new software, or a new microphone is just what I need to get the creative juices flowing again. I don't have enough money to feed my gear lust these days, but that doesn't keep me from flipping through the catalogs. I've been thinking about an anamorphic lens to extend the life of my old Beta-SP cameras. I've even considered upgrading Media Composer to Avid Symphony. A Zeiss Compact Prime cinema lens would be pretty cool too. There is no sound business reason to get any of these things. I just love the tools of my trade. Sometimes I think I like having the tools more than I like actually using them.

The dogs seem to share my tendencies to want what they don't have. When they're inside, they always want to go outside. When I take them outside, they quickly realize it is too hot and they want to go back inside again. We can go back and forth like this all day. Dot and Dash are perpetually looking for the best spot on the bed. Where is the best spot? Well, it's usually where the other dog is sleeping. I wonder why it is so commonplace to want what you don't have?  The dogs should be happy just to have a good home. I should be happy with what I've got for any number of reasons. I still keep looking through those catalogs though.

Janet and I haven't visited the rescue Dalmatians for a while, so we went up to The Velvet Snout this morning to get reacquainted. There are only four Dalmatians in the kennel right now and we spent some time with each of them. Dalmatian Rescue is doing a really good job of finding homes for the dogs this year and nobody seems to stay at the kennel for very long. This a far cry from the days when we used to have over twenty dogs at a time. I think it helps that Dalmatians aren't quite as popular anymore. The people who get a Dalmatian today know what to expect about the breed. They aren't just getting a cute puppy on a whim like they did when the 101 Dalmatian Disney movies were popular. Dalmatians have a better life now and aren't dumped nearly as often.

The weather is getting warmer, but it still looks like it's going to be a nice day for the dog park tomorrow. Tomorrow is also the big Summer party for our training class. There are all sorts of races and games for the dogs and barbecue for the people. Dash particularly likes the bobbing for dog biscuits game.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 906

I'm thinking of pairing down my collections. A wiser decision would probably be to stop collecting things entirely. I've collected stuff since I was a kid. When I was young, I collected Dinky Toys. When I was in architecture school, I started collecting chairs. When I became an adult and had a real job, I started collecting art. Over the years, I've collected things as esoteric as the first editions of all John Fowles books, and as ridiculous as brass scale model trains. There are even people who say the only reason I have friends is so I can collect memories. I don't know why guys collect things. Just about every guy I know collects something. Probably guys collect stuff for the same reason women buy shoes. It's just in their DNA.

The only thing I managed to collect today was another cell phone bill, an electric bill, and a new batch of website revisions. I'll deal with all of these things on Monday. Today, I wrote the articles on my to-do list and got my June invoices in the mail. Oh, I also had a delicious stack of pancakes for breakfast. After a month of experimentation, I've reverted to my original breakfast restaurant and I'll probably stay there for a while.

Janet doesn't want me to mow the new grass in the backyard, because she thinks I'll kill it. It needs to be mowed eventually though. With all the rain we've been having lately, the grass is doing fabulously. I haven't measured it or anything, but it's getting pretty tall. How tall are you supposed to let St. Augustine Grass get anyway? I don't know.

I've noticed that every time Thomas Hawk mentions my name that I get hundreds of new followers on Google. I hope that I don't run out of pretty things to photograph. Early in the year there was an abundance of beautiful sunsets. Then there were some spectacular foggy mornings. Lately, I've been photographing Texas wildflowers. This year, wildflowers are abundant, since the weather conditions are ideal. The Summer heat is on its way though. A month from now, all the flowers will be dried and withered. I'll need to find something new to photograph. Air conditioners would probably be a good subject.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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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

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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