Day 1090

My Dad would have been 95 years old today if he'd been healthier. The last birthday I remember celebrating with him was his 80th. After that, he began to go downhill quickly. Although my Dad and I were never terribly close, I find that I am becoming more and more like him as I grow older myself. I've never seem to acquire Dad's good habits; just the bad ones. Dad could never throw away anything. When I was settling his estate, I discovered a large dresser filled entirely with socks. There were stacks of old National Geographic magazines five feet tall. Shoes never became worn enough to actually throw away, and even paper grocery sacks were carefully folded and placed near the refrigerator for some ambiguous future use.

I don't think I've gotten this bad, but Janet says I'm headed down the same cluttered path. I can certainly appreciate the benefits of keeping only what you need. I'm just having trouble actually getting rid of anything. In an attempt to declutter, I thought I'd throw a few things away this afternoon while I was packing up photo gear to take back to the storage warehouse.  I threw away all the phone-books in the house. There were quite a few. I haven't looked up anything in a printed phone book for years. Google seems just fine for finding just about everything. I threw away a lot of catalogs for the same reason. You can always find a wider selection of whatever you're looking for online these days. Some three hole paper punches got dumped. If you're trying to git rid of paper, what's the point of a three hole punch?

Janet was packing up things for her storage warehouse as well. Yes, we both have our own storage warehouses. If she ever got into my space, she would just throw everything away. I leave her space alone as well. I know I would be continually retrieving things she no longer had a use for. It works better to have two storage spaces. At any rate, we filled up both cars with stuff that didn't need to be in the house any longer and the place looks a lot tidier now.

The dogs had a great time at the dog park today. You could tell that Dash had been missing his off leash time. There was a nip in the air and both dogs raced around making up for lost time. Dash even played with other dogs, which is something he only does when he is an exceptionally good mood. Dot never plays with the other dogs, but enjoys the opportunity to stroll around at her own pace, smelling everything in the 22 acre park.

There's a doctor's appointment on my calendar for tomorrow. I can't even remember what I'm seeing the doctor for this time. I guess I'll find out when I get there.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1089

We're done! After photographing hundreds of dogs and snapping thousands of images, the Santa Paws pet picture events are over for another year. This is a good series of fundraisers for Dalmatian Rescue. Every picture we take helps to save another abandoned Dalmatian. Even though it is a good cause, I'm still glad the photo marathon is finally over. It's tiring taking pictures of dogs all day. Dogs aren't very impressed by photography. They've got better things to do. Some dogs like to chew on Santa's beard. Other dogs like to pee on the muslin backdrop. Very few dogs listen to the photographer at all. Despite all this, we still manage to get good pictures. Everyone seemed happy with their photos this year, and most said they'll be back to see us again next year.

With the holiday pet photos finished, it's time to clean the house and pack away some of the photo gear. I'll be taking a lot of stuff back to the storage warehouse tomorrow. Although I take pictures for clients all year long, I rarely use big sets. Maybe with all the Santa Paws gear back in its place again, we can finally get the house looking nice. It will definitely be an uphill battle. If you ever saw my office, you'd probably think the whole effort was hopeless. I'm convinced that somewhere underneath all this clutter is a thing of beauty. We've just got to find it.

With all the Santa Paws photo events during the past three weeks, Dot and Dash have been getting shortchanged on their weekend outings at the dog park. We'll try to make amends tomorrow. The weather looks nice and I can't think of one good reason not to head up North for a little play time. It's probably good to avoid our own park tomorrow anyway. There's a big marathon race on Sunday and the place will be packed with people.

Our dog training class had a Christmas party tonight, but Janet and I were both too tired to attend. By the time I got all the photography stuff unloaded out of the car and took the dogs on their evening walk, all I really felt like doing was taking a long nap. Janet hasn't completely recovered from the food poisoning episode either. Maybe by this time next week, everything will be back to normal.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1088

I found a brand new breakfast restaurant today. The place has only been open for a couple of days. With its trendy industrial chic decor, inexpensive prices, and fast service, I have a feeling that this place will be a success. I'm not a good judge of success in the business world however. Most places I like go out of business quickly. Maybe it was just because the place was new, but I couldn't really tell who this restaurant would appeal to. The people sitting at nearby tables looked like a convention of the dispossessed. Although I have lived in the neighborhood for years, I didn't recognize anyone.

An overheard customer/cashier conversation: "I like your logo. What is it?" "Umm, it's the devil." "Oh, dear. Well, it certainly is a cute little devil." Although the food was pretty good, I think this place is actually a bar that just happens to open early and serve food. If you ever feel like having your bacon and eggs with Tequila, this would be the place.

Since tomorrow is another Santa Paws photo day, I tried to get some of my weekend errands done after breakfast. While driving around in the car, I listened to a fascinating interview with Dave Brubeck that was initially recorded in 1999. I guess the station was replaying the interview today because Dave died recently. I never realized that Brubeck grew up on a ranch, studied veterinary medicine in college, and initially wanted to be a cowboy like his Dad. The older I get, the more it becomes obvious that I don't know nearly as much as I thought I knew.

Those discount coupons and gift cards you get from merchants during the holidays can be dangerous. I got a $50 gift card from my favorite clothing store the other day. The only catch was that you had to buy something worth more than $100 to be able to use it. The card was burning a hole in my pocket, so I ended up going over to the store and buying something I didn't even need, just so the card wouldn't go to waste.

I hope my back-up Norman power pack holds up tomorrow. I was so busy this week that I never found the time to take the overheating power pack in for service. If I can make it through tomorrow's photo shoot though, I'll be fine. I probably won't be doing another marathon like this for another year.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1087

What a weird world we live in. Our phones can do all manner of miraculous things with the wave of a finger, yet when getting something done depends on another living, breathing human, everything grinds to a halt. Sometimes I think 50% of the population is completely incompetent. If we limit our survey to the people I actually deal with on a day-to-day basis, that percentage is probably even higher.

Today I tried to find out why I've been receiving two identical phone bills for the same account for the past six months.  No luck there. Then I tried to find out why all my prescriptions ran out today, when a nurse specifically told me just last week that they had been renewed for another year. Nope. Didn't solve that one either. Simple, routine things don't seem simple anymore. Day after day, I attempt to rectify blunders and track down the source of inevitable human errors. It's futile. Most people won't admit to making a mistake in the first place. And if you do get them to admit that something is wrong, they will almost always blame the mistake on someone else.

I guess I would put paying bills in the same circle of hell as dealing with incompetence. I hate paying bills. Today I paid the big property tax bill I've been avoiding for the past month or so. Why does Dallas County need so much of my money? I don't use their roads very much. I've never been in one of their hospitals. I've never had children in one of their schools. It just doesn't seem fair to me. At least I don't have two property taxes to pay anymore. I don't regret selling the rent property one bit. That thing was an expensive albatross around my neck for way too many years.

The neighbors hired someone to repaint their house earlier this week. For the past three days I've been listening to a loud and ever-present air compressor right outside my office window. Couldn't they have painted the house with rollers or brushes instead of spray guns?  The noise is driving me nuts. Maybe when they finish painting, my posts will be more coherent. With all this racket, I'm extra glad it's Friday tomorrow. I think I'm going to spent a long time at the breakfast restaurant.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1086

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

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

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

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

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1085

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

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

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

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

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

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1084

Today was all about repairing things. I managed to find a place to take both the Epson printer and the Norman strobes for repairs. Even though both places were factory authorized service centers, they were quite small and seemed to be on the verge of going out of business. To me, this was just another sad statement about our throwaway society. People don't find value in fixing things anymore, and as a result good repair people are having a harder and harder time making a living. When I drove the Epson printer over to the repair facility, I had a hard time even finding it. The small building was so nondescript that it was almost invisible. An older man and his wife ran the place and did all the work themselves. They seemed very knowledgeable and their business had received rave reviews on the Internet. You'd think their business would be doing great with so many people having printer problems. Unfortunately, it is usually cheaper to buy a new printer than to repair an old one. Most broken printers just get tossed.

The Norman repair shop was a different story. The man I remembered from my studio days had retired to Mississippi and sold his business to another younger repairman. I talked to this new guy on the phone today and he was a treasure trove of knowledge with over forty years of experience repairing studio photo strobe lights. Unfortunately, changes in the photography business had forced him to move to a succession of smaller locations, ending with a small shop in his home where he works now. He no longer sells parts, because his customers can buy them directly for less at big warehouse photo emporiums like B&H in New York. Eddie can still fix my power pack though. These old Norman power packs were built like tanks. One more refurbishment and the thing ought to outlast me.

I just don't understand a throwaway society. Fixing things is good. When you fix something, you develop a better understanding for how it works and what you can do with it. It's hard to respect something you just throw away every few years. I believe that tools and automobiles and clothing and even relationships need to be fixed when they are broken. Fixing things builds character. Not many people think this way unfortunately. Disposable is just easier. Use it. Toss it. Get something better. That's the way people think now. It's sad. I can't even get the case off most things I buy these days.

I fix things too. Most of the website maintenance work I do involves changing and modifying websites to meet new needs and requirements. There are no templates. I do all the coding by hand. It all works pretty well until my clients happen to see a GoDaddy ad on TV that promises them a brand new website for only $9.95 a month. I can really appreciate the difficulties the Epson repairman and the Norman repairman are having. I'm having the same problems myself.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1083

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

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

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

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

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

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1082

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

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

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

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

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

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1081

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

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

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

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

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1080

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

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

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

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

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1079

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

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

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

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

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

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1078

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

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

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

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

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

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1077

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

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

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

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

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

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1076

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

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

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

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

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

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1075

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

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

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

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

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1074

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

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

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

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

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

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day