Day 1272

We woke to the sound of a torrential downpour pounding the roof, and nothing leaked. Maybe a new era of carefree living has begun. After striking out twice, we finally found a dog park that was still open in spite of the recent rain. Not surprisingly the park was very muddy. The dogs had a good time though. They would have had an even better time if we'd remembered that the annual dog training class Summer party was this afternoon as well. While we were at a muddy dog park, the obedience class dogs were right behind our house having a party in the park. It's a shame we missed the whole thing, because Dash really likes the bobbing for biscuits game and there's always some really tasty barbecue for the people as well.

Since the new roof appears to be finished, I went to Home Depot this morning and bought some spackling compound and a trowel to repair the damaged Sheetrock in the living room.  I thought I'd try to do this myself first, since I dread having workmen in the house with the dogs. Having some tape and bed guys in the living room would be an open invitation for non-stop barking from Dot and Dash. Anyway, what could be so hard about repairing a little damaged Sheetrock?

Several clients have warned me to expect a busy week. I hope this is not the case, but I ought to be grateful for the work. There are certainly a lot of bills to pay this month. Dot is back on schedule to resume her acupuncture treatments and it's time to get my June invoices out as well. From the looks of things, it probably will be a busy week.

It's hard to believe that the year is almost half over. It still seems like I was putting up Christmas decoration just a few weeks ago. I've been a busy bee this year, but it doesn't really feel like I've accomplished much. I'm still dealing with exactly the same issues I was last year and the year before. Maybe that's just the way life is.  I do try to live in the moment, but somehow it always seems to be the same moment.

Tomorrow ought to be exciting. I bought some flax seed to mix in with my morning oatmeal. Oh, there's a new type of tea in the cupboard too.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1271

It was a typical Saturday. I went to the doctor's office to straighten out a fouled up prescription. I watered the big patch of yellowed grass in the front yard that the roofers killed, in hopes that it would come back to life. I put clean sheets on the bed, vacuumed the house, and unclogged the large format printer. I tried to re-attach some of the plywood that had come loose under the carport when water poured though the unfinished and largely unprotected roof a few weeks ago. The roofers should have done this themselves, but they didn't. The dogs got a walk too, but they didn't want to go far. It was pretty warm today.

Before getting started on my weekend chores, I finished up an article that I knew would be due Monday. Next week is going to be busy enough anyway, so I might as well try to get ahead of the game.

There are so many bills this month, it's driving me crazy. Homeowner's insurance is due on the house. There a big car repair bill. And of course there's the roof. Month after month, small checks from clients arrive in the mail and much larger checks are written to pay the relentless onslaught of bills. My investments are supposed to make up the difference, but that hasn't been working out so well lately. It's frustrating to say the least. I don't understand all these economists on TV saying that we are in a non-inflationary environment when the price of gas, food, utility bills, and just about everything else seems to have doubled. When the phone bill is twice what is used to be, that's inflation to me.

I bought some new jeans when I was running errands this afternoon. As my waistline keeps shrinking, my old pants are starting to feel too large. If simply losing weight was my goal, I'd think I've just about reached it. I suspect getting healthy isn't quite so simple, however. I'm beginning to wonder if I might have lost too much weight. Since periodic blood tests are the only way to tell if I'm headed in the right direction, it's really hard to tell on a day-to-day basis. It probably can't hurt to lose twenty pounds though. I'm not sure my liver appreciates the slimmer, trimmer me, but maybe it will help keep diabetes at bay.

I couldn't figure out why the dogs were both barking so wildly until I looked out the living room window and saw the cat they were looking at in the back yard. I'd never seen this cat before, but it was obviously stalking something. I told the dogs to be nice to the cat, because it was helping us get rid of rats. I don't think Dot and Dash were listening, because they kept right on barking.

Our neighbors are having a party. There's one of those gourmet food trucks parked in their driveway. You can tell the kids are getting older when a food truck replaces the ubiquitous birthday bounce house. I'm curious what the food truck is serving, but not curious enough to become a party crasher.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1270

I think the roof is finished. Today, the roofers spent their time doing small stuff like painting and caulking. They explained why water leaked through the kitchen door the other day and said they fixed the problem. They explained how they managed to kill a big patch of grass in the front yard, but promised it would grow back. I expect they'll return next week to haul away the huge pile of debris in the side yard, but I doubt that I'll see much more work up on the roof.

I hope this long, involved, and expensive process was worth it. I'm certain the roof will be waterproof for a while, but I don't think I'll know whether I got a really good roof until three or four years from now. Between now and then, it's just a lot of of hope and empty promises.

My beloved Jawbone UP band went kaput today and I had to take it to the Apple store to exchange it. I've only had the activity band for a few months, but I've been reading on the Internet that hundreds of people have been having the same problem that I am. It's the battery. It initially holds a charge for ten days. Then you start noticing that it will only hold a charge for five days. After about three months, things get worse rapidly. Yesterday, the UP band would only hold a charge for an hour or two, no matter how long I tried to recharge it. It's a shame that such an innovative product is so unreliable. The first version of the UP activity tracker was a disaster. The company had to recall just about every model it sold. Now the second version of the product seems as if it's going to suffer the same fate. If a non-replaceable battery is only going to last three months in a product that costs hundreds of dollars, I don't think many people are going to be all that excited to buy it.

I still haven't managed to get caught up with my work yet. I spent the day revising websites and writing articles, just like I usually do, but there is still a lot of uncompleted business. Maybe I'll work this weekend and see it I can get things finished. I don't like to work on weekends, but I dislike unfinished projects even more.

I noticed that the power company crew cut down part of a tree in my backyard when they were restoring the power last night. I guess they needed better access to the telephone pole where they replaced a transformer. Or maybe they just don't like tree limbs anywhere near their wires.All I know is that whenever a power company crew comes near the house, I lose a few more tree limbs.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. The weather looks nice and I definitely could use a little rest. I was so tired this week that I literally fell asleep sitting at the computer a few times. It would be so much better if I slept well at night, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1269

My models for today's photo shoot were a small puppy and kitten, sitting together inside a gold crown. I didn't think a dog and cat would play nice together for long enough for me to get the shot I needed, but we had an unusually calm kitten and some very good animal wranglers. I think the shot came out fine. I definitely don't think Dot or Dash would have been this calm in a similar situation.

Our power went out today during another surprise thunderstorm. After about six hours of being dead in the water, the power is still out. I can hear a repair crew from the power company back in the alley replacing a transformer on one of the telephone poles, so I have high hopes that our electricity will be restored this evening.

There was another roof problem today. The roof is mostly finished, but there is a small section of rotted wood that still needs to be replaced directly above the kitchen door. It rained so hard during today's thunderstorm that water got into the unfinished area and came spilling into the house through the top of the kitchen door. As I have mentioned already, I couldn't have picked a worse time to put on a new roof. It's usually not so bad at this time of year, but this has turned out to be the wettest Spring I can remember.

It was bad enough that it was raining cats and dogs while I had to pack up all my equipment to go photograph some cats and dogs. It would have been even worse if the rain and ensuing power outage had happened yesterday though. I would have hated to be forced to complete my Photoshop marathon using a laptop with a low battery as my primary resource.

Everyone seems in a hurry except for me. I feel out of sync with just about everything this week. My client in New York is in a hurry to get all the Las Vegas pictures. My veterinarian client is in a hurry to get the kitten and puppy pictures. The roofers are in a hurry to get paid for their still unfinished roof. I'm trying my best to keep up with all the requests, but the only thing I'm in a hurry for is the weekend.

Dot and Dash did pretty well today, especially considering all the chaos going on around them. I had to leave the dogs right in the middle of the rainstorm, and amazingly they both seemed pretty calm when I left the house. I think they sensed that this was a day where I had few options and they were doing their best to help.

Hopefully, the power will be restored this evening and tomorrow will be calm and uneventful. I'm looking forward to sunny skies and my favorite Black Bean Benedict for breakfast.

Gypsy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1268

I finally got all my Las Vegas photo files processed and they're currently on a FedEx plane in-route to New York. I need to make a mental note that it takes at least a full day to individually process 500 image files in Photoshop. What was I thinking when I convinced myself that it would only take me a few hours to get these files ready for publication? The sad thing is that I can never charge for all this Photoshop time, because every client I've got believes that the pictures I take should come out of the camera looking like this. Since most photographers shoot in some sort of Camera RAW format these days, nothing could be further from the truth. Camera RAW images always need some sort of processing. Oh, well. The images look good now. Maybe they will help me got some more work in the future.

The roofers are just about finished.  They attached the galvanized metal flashing to the edge of the roof today and applied the final top sheet to the carport. In a day or two, they will be gone and I will have a large bill to pay.  All in all, I think the roofers did a good job. They repaired all the areas where mistakes were made and I'm reasonably confident that my roof isn't going to leak for a while. The only thing I'm disappointed about is that the roof still doesn't drain properly. The rafters have settled and warped over the years and the low point on the roof is right near the center. Although the roof is now waterproof, there are still areas that will become small duck ponds after a heavy rain. These puddles will evaporate quickly in the Summer, but next Winter I'll probably still have to pump or sweep the standing water off.

I've got a big photo shoot tomorrow. It's a good assignment, I'm not really looking forward to it, because I still need to go to the storage warehouse tomorrow morning and dig out all the heavy backdrops and studio gear. I can carry everything I need for editorial jobs like the Couture Show in a small carry-on bag. Jobs that require studio strobes, soft boxes, and large muslin backdrops fill up the entire car. I'm getting too old to keep lugging all this stuff around. Too bad my day rate isn't high enough to hire a couple of muscular assistants to do the heavy lifting for me. It would be nice to be one of those photographers who just walks on the set and is handed a camera.

Dot seemed tired today. I certainly can't fault her lack of energy. It was hot and muggy outside. Summer is on its way. Truthfully, I was tired too. I need some time to sleep in late and watch old Dr. Who episodes on television. I doubt that this is going to happen any time soon though. Everyone is in a hurry. This usually means I've got deadlines to meet, whether I like it or not.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1267

I think I bit off more than I can chew. I thought I could process 500 images in Photoshop today in plenty of time to send the color corrected files to my client this evening. Well, the FedEx man has come and gone and I've still got quite a few files left to color correct. I sure wish the auto white balance function on most DSLR cameras worked better. In run and gun situations where there are multiple light sources, I often have to go back and manually color correct each image. The large ballrooms I was shooting in at the Couture Show, were often lit by a combination of ambient, incandescent, fluorescent, and mercury vapor light. Since each of these light sources has a different color temperature and an on-camera flash is seldom enough to overpower the bright theatrical lighting, my best alternative is often Photoshop. That's what I did today. I looked for something in each image that I knew was true white, made it white again, and the rest of the image snapped into place. The pictures look great. They're just taking me longer than I thought to process.

Before I started my Photoshop marathon, I had a meeting with the roofers. We went up on the roof and they explained why filling in the little depressions where the roof has settled would just cause the puddles of standing water to shift to another part of the roof. Evidently, the high point on my roof on all four sides is the exterior edge. This is exactly the opposite of the way it should be and causes water to drain toward the center of the roof instead of spilling over the edge. The edge of a flat roof should always be the low point. Other than build an entirely new roof with a pitch to it, there just doesn't seem to be a way to get my roof to drain properly. My advise to all first-time homeowners: don't ever buy a house with a flat roof.

I don't think the dogs like Photoshop. I tend to move around more when I'm writing, and when I move around, the dogs get more attention. I often wander around the house and even go outside when I'm thinking about where to go next on a writing project. Sometimes I get my best headline ideas when I'm not sitting at the computer. Photoshop is much different. A big Photoshop project usually involves lots of repetitive actions. I crop and re-size images. I color correct and eliminate blemishes. I add meta tag information. It's not brain surgery, but it can be time consuming.

Tomorrow looks like another busy day. The roofers will be back. The road crew in front of the house will be back. I've got some website revisions to make and another article is due. First on the docket though is getting all the images processed and burned to a disk, so I can drop them in an envelope and take it to a Fedex drop-off. Poor Dot might have to end up waiting another couple of days for her acupuncture session.

Faith is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1266

I had another one of my periodic meetings with my financial adviser today. The guy is a technical analyst and it's taken me a while to come around to his disciplined point of view. After four years, I'm finally starting to become a believer. I used to pick strong, well run companies without paying much attention to the technicians. I pretty much ignored support and resistance levels and didn't know a moving average from a Bollinger band. The world has become too volatile to just pick a good company and forget about it, unfortunately. Companies rapidly go in and out of fashion, just like everything else these days. Just about only consistent thing left is that history still tends to repeat itself. The cyclic and somewhat repetitive nature of history is the basis for most technical analysis. People like my financial adviser look at past performance and try to make an educated guess about the future.

The flaw in this type of thinking is that nobody can really predict the future. Even though history does tend to repeat itself, it can also throw you a curve and totally surprise everyone. I have discovered that technical analysts like my financial adviser aren't right all the time, but they do seem to be right more than half the time. Since I was wrong about Apple and I was wrong about the natural gas industry, I'm going to give technical analysis a little more respect in the future.

When my meeting was over, I returned to the office and began to edit and color correct the image files I shot in Las Vegas. This can be a long and tedious process when you have over 500 images to process. Although I seldom get paid to do this, I almost always color correct my image files before sending them to the client. At the Couture Show, I was shooting in an environment where your subject might be lit by a combination of ambient, incandescent, fluorescent, and mercury vapor light all at the same time. It is often hard to color correct these types of shots, because when you balance one of the lighting sources, you often throw one of the others off even further. I do my best to color correct the faces or whatever is the center of interest and let the rest of the image fall where it may. It's a slow process and not surprisingly, I didn't get finished today.

I heard the roofers up on the roof today, but didn't have time to go see what they were doing. After they left for the day, it was unclear whether they did anything at all. The roof is still a long way from being finished and I'm beginning to wonder how long this is going to take. I'm fairly certain that the roof will be finished before the road crew finishes re-paving the road in front of my house. Nothing moves slower than road construction.

I need to get Dot back on schedule with her acupuncture therapy. We had to skip one session while I was out of town and she lost another session due to bad weather. Since the acupuncture treatments seem to be showing some positive results, it's time to get things back on schedule. When I went up to visit with my financial adviser this afternoon, I noticed that there was an acupuncturist right next door to his office. Maybe I ought to start seeing this guy whenever I have a financial review. Acupuncture is supposed to be great for relieving stress and talking about money is always stressful for me.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1265

It was a beautiful day with clear skies and a light breeze. The dogs got to frolic in the sun at the dog park and I had plenty of time to catch up on some much needed yard work. I mowed the grass, watered the shrubs, and enjoyed one of those brief moments when everything looks nice for a change. I certainly wasn't the only one taking advantage of the nice weather. The park was filled with picnickers and the lake was dotted with small sailboats. I'm always in a better mood when I can see my own shadow, and sunny days where it's still cool enough to open the windows are the best. From the looks of things in the park this afternoon, there appear to be a lot of people who would agree with me.

I thought I'd re-arrange all the partitions in my camera case, based on how I used my equipment in Las Vegas. It would be nice if the things you used the most were right at the top for easy access. After spending an hour or so peeling away the Velcro partitions and re-attaching them somewhere else, I ended up with a configuration much worse than when I started. I guess this just proves that sometimes it's better to leave things well enough alone.

I sure wish I could have left my diet alone. It's much harder than I thought to avoid salt, sugar, and wheat entirely. While we were eating dinner tonight there was this baking competition show on TV and it made me really hungry. The show was basically like Top Chef, except that the contestants just baked pies and other pastries. I love pie. Unfortunately pie is the poster child for things I shouldn't eat. A good pie is chock full of salt, sugar, butter, and flour. I'll just have to learn to enjoy my Kale.

I discovered why there were so many tasty things that actually were on my diet when I was staying at the Wynn. It turns out that Steve Wynn is a vegan and he insists that all his restaurants have choices on the menu that he could eat. I guess that explains why there was such a variety of astoundingly good vegetable dishes. If you're a vegetarian with plenty of money, the Wynn is definitely where you want to go.

I don't want to go back to the regular work routine tomorrow, but there's basically no choice. It's going to be a very busy week with meetings on Monday and Tuesday, along with a big photo shoot on Thursday. Some of my friends tell me that they couldn't imagine not working. I can easily imagine this kind of life. All I have to do is look at the dogs sleeping peacefully on the bed in the next room and visions of the good life start to appear in my head.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1264

It's good to be home again. Well, it's good to see Janet and the dogs again anyway. Catching up with all the household chores? Not so good. I got caught in another rainstorm while I was out getting groceries and taking things to the dry cleaner. I don't think it's ever going to quit raining. Oh, well. At least we don't live in Oklahoma. Things are pretty wet here, but nobody's house has blown away. I never expected such a wet Spring. I definitely couldn't have picked a worse time to put on a new roof.

I recharged all the camera and laptop batteries and put the equipment away. All the Couture files have been loaded to the main computer, where they will receive some Photoshop enhancement next week. The dirty clothes are in the washing machine and there are clean sheets on the bed. I think we're back to normal.

My Facebook account is working again. It always gets suspended for suspicious activity when I travel because I can never remember the answers to those challenge questions they ask you when you try to log-in from a different location. When I get home there is always a message saying something like "Your account has been temporarily suspended because someone tried to gain access from an unfamiliar location." Yeah, I know. That suspicious someone was me.

Hopefully, the skies will clear tomorrow, so we can take Dot and Dash to the dog park. I think they've got cabin fever from all the rain we've been having. The recorded message says that the park is still open for business, but that just might be because nobody got around to updating the message. I think I'll go to bed early this evening. I fell asleep at the computer a few minutes ago. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and all the sudden, it was an hour later. My body may be trying to tell me something.

Rain or shine, tomorrow will be a busy day. There is grass that needs to be mowed, websites that need to be updated, and dogs that need to be walked.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1263

Today was even busier than yesterday. It wasn’t as long though. I’m already on my way back to Dallas. I spend the morning catching up with things that were impossible to do yesterday. There were several new products to photograph, along with three new people to interview. I interviewed a mix of CEO’s and support people at the show this year. You can usually tell pretty quickly why the top guy is the boss. The CEO never gives you much time, but they are almost always articulate and to the point. All the CEO’s I talked to at the Couture show did their interview in a single take. The rest of the people were a mixed bag. I’ll give my client plenty to choose from though.

I think I have a new favorite hotel. The Wynn was fabulous. It reminds me of the way The Mirage used to be many years ago when Steve Wynn first opened that venue. The guy definitely knows how to run a classy hotel. It’s too bad I didn’t have more time to explore the place. Just walking back and forth between my room and the Couture Show ballrooms, I saw an abundance of great restaurants I’d like to try. The food was such an abundance of riches that I was even able to find delicious things to eat on my severely restricted diet. The bed was really comfortable too. I slept a lot better than I usually do at home. Of course, that probably had a lot more to do with Dot and Dash than with the mattress.

I got an e-mail from the roofers last night. Evidently, there are problems and they want to have a meeting. Why are there always problems? I have visions of spending a lot of money on a new roof and still having to sweep the standing water off after every rain. The roofers I hired mostly do new construction, so I’m sure they’re going to tell me that I need to rebuild the house, or something equally drastic. That’s the problem with older houses. They settle and sag. If they sag too much, there aren’t many good solutions.

When I went through security at the airport, there was a distraught woman right ahead of me in line who had lost her laptop when it was going through the scanners. With the general level of chaos at the Las Vegas airport, I can easily imagine losing almost anything. One of the TSA folks asked a woman sitting at the scanning machine if she’d seen a laptop lately. “I’ve seen hundreds of them,” she said. “How should I know where it is?” I hurried to put everything back in my pockets and return my own laptop to my bag before it disappeared too.

This week has really gone fast. It’s hard to believe it’s Friday already. Even though I’m in a different city, I kept my Friday morning tradition alive with a nice breakfast at one of the Wynn restaurants. I’m sitting at my gate at the airport now, waiting for my ride home. This was a quick trip, but I look forward to returning sometime in the near future. I like Las Vegas. It’s a fantasy city. Nothing is real here, and that’s fine with me.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1262

I haven't left the hotel since I arrived in Las Vegas. Luckily, it's a very nice hotel. I'm staying at the Wynn to cover Couture 2013 which has more or less taken over the hotel for the week. If you're not in the jewelry business, you've probably never heard of Couture. If you are in the jewelry business, you're probably here. Like most trade shows I've worked, this one made me wish I'd worn more comfortable shoes. After a day on my feet taking pictures, my feet are killing me. My feet have it easy compared to some people I saw today. I noticed scores of women at the show wearing towering Christian Loubouton platforms with six inch heels. Ouch is all I've got to say. A jewelry show is all about appearances. There are lots of pretty people and lots of pretty things. I doubt that many people attending this show have ever been inside a Walmart. I walked right by Ivanka Trump this afternoon. It's was a pretty high end crowd. Needless to say, I couldn't afford anything I saw today. It's still fun to look though.

Las Vegas is a weird place.  Looking out the window of my room, I can see a pirate ship battle at Treasure Island, a volcano exploding at The Mirage, and a fireworks show worthy of a big city Fourth of July celebration. Far below me, I can hear the music of Neon Trees, playing an outdoor concert for the Couture attendees. My credentials would have gotten me into the concert, but I'm too tired. When my shift was over for the day, I proceeded directly to the Wynn buffet, ate entirely too much for dinner, and retired to my room.

The day isn't over yet though. I still have to back up the hundreds of image and video files I took today.  I'm sure all event photographers have nightmares about losing an entire day's worth of work, due to a corrupted disk, a faulty camera, or even simple stupidity. The first thing I do after a day of photography is back everything up. It doesn't really matter if I'm taking Santa photos of Dalmatians, or product photos of a $100,000 watch. Sometimes you've only got one chance.

I hope I get more sleep tonight than I did last night. With all the flight delays due to bad weather, I didn't arrive in Las Vegas until almost midnight. At home, I always think I'd sleep better if the dogs weren't constantly crowding me out of bed. Without the dogs, it's another story entirely. Now, it seems hard to sleep without a Dalmatian on either side of me.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1261

UPS said that my package would be ready at the customer service center at 7 AM this morning. When was is really ready? Noon! When I arrived at the Will-Call counter to pick up the package, I noticed a big poster on the wall that said We're all about speed. Although I wasted a huge amount of time, I still believe that all's well that ends well. I now have what I need.

Unlike UPS, the road crew made no performance promises whatsoever. They were back in full-force this morning, blocking my driveway, stirring up dust and making lots of noise. The roofers were back too. I'm not sure why they were here, because there were tornado warnings on the Weather Channel this morning. I would have waited to start the roof until all this bad weather was gone for the year, but that's just me.

Despite the approaching bad weather, the dogs still got their morning and afternoon walks. The rest of the day was spent getting things ready for my upcoming road trip. I never pack well. Since I don't like to carry a lot of luggage, I always try to cram too much in my suitcase. It seldom fits. Rather than just get a larger suitcase, I start tossing things out, thinking that I won't really need them. This seldom ends well either, and I often arrive without toothpaste, an electric shaver, or socks.

Life is always full of surprises. Now, the day looks like is will end exactly the way it started. I am facing some very long delays. I managed to stay on schedule all day. I got to the airport in plenty of time for my flight. Even though they took my tube of toothpaste away at the security checkpoint, I still made it to my gate with time to spare. I was pulling out my boarding pass and getting ready to board the plane when I saw my departure time change on a big flat screen display overhead. My flight is being delayed for two hours because of severe thunderstorms in the area. So here I sit, wondering what is going to happen next.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1260

I woke up this morning to an entirely different kind of noise. There was a giant piece of construction equipment on the road in front of our house methodically grinding up the asphalt surface and spitting it out into waiting trucks. I looked at the slow moving convoy and was glad I didn't need to go anywhere. Oops! What was I thinking? I actually did need to go somewhere. The Land Rover dealer had called and told me my car was finally finished and I needed to come pick it up. About three hours later, when the road crew had finally moved a few blocks further down the road, I was finally able to get out of the driveway and retrieve the Defender 90. As I was writing a check for the repairs, someone said "you must be really glad to have your car back." I wouldn't go that far. In truth, I was growing to like the fancy LR4 loaner car. Now, it's back to basics with the old Defender.

There was lots of activity up on the roof this morning as well, but it was hard to hear the roofers over the cacophony of road machinery noise. Things are finally starting to look organized on the roof. Maybe this story will have a happy ending after all. I'm glad I followed Janet's advice and kept my mouth shut. Well, I did write those letters to the contractor, but they were very polite. If I'd actually gone up on the roof and started screaming at people, I don't think it would have ended well.

I went online today and got a UPS package re-routed to a Customer Service Center, so I won't have to wait around all day tomorrow for the delivery. A few minutes later when I looked up the address of the Service Center, I read a bunch of reviews on Yelp telling me to never go to this Service Center because the staff was disorganized and there was always a long line. We'll see. It couldn't be any worse than waiting around all day for the package. Well, it actually could be worse. What if I get down to the Service Center and discover that the package is already on a truck headed to my house? The lady I talked to on the phone today assured me that this wouldn't happen, but you know how good those kind of promises are.

I went and renewed my storage room contract for another year. Every year, I tell myself that I'm going to start thinning things out, so I can fit everything into a smaller storage room that isn't so expensive. Not surprisingly, this never seems to happen. The storage room is kind of like a black hole. Once something goes in the room, it never seems to come out.

With all the commotion today, I almost forgot it was Dash's antigen shot day. Well, I did forget, but I was able to get him rescheduled again for later in the afternoon. How people manage to combine a busy career with ferrying kids all over the place is beyond me. Just managing the activities of these two dogs keeps me busy enough.

I hope things calm down a bit tomorrow. Today was tiring. I thought I'd rest on the bed for a few minutes with the dogs right after dinner and immediately fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, it was three hours later. So much for keeping on schedule.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1259 - Memorial Day

Most of my regular readers are grandmothers, but maybe there are one or two active military folks among you. If so, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate your service. I often worry that people don't value the importance of a strong military as much as my parents generation did. Strength matters. If you aren't strong and resolute, people take advantage of you. This is the essence of bullying. Individuals can be bullied, and so can entire countries. For many years, we have had the strongest, most capable military the world has ever known. It needs to stay that way.

We woke up again today to the sound of footsteps on the roof. I expected to hear a knock on the door, along an explanation of what's been going on, by whoever was tramping around on the roof. There was no knock on the door. Before I finished brewing my morning coffee, the footsteps ceased and the house was quiet again. I saw no need to go outside and confront the roofers at this point. I learned long ago that it's better to keep your powder dry.

The dogs didn't get to go to the dog park today, which was a disappointment for all. The weather wasn't bad, so we called the hotline several times to see if the park would open up again in the afternoon. It just wasn't in the cards today. I recognize the voice of the guy making the hotline messages. He's the same guy who cleans up the dog poop in the park. This guy takes his job seriously and is super conscientious. He updates the hotline message for the two parks he's in charge of at least three times a day. I admire this guy and wish everyone had his work ethic. It shouldn't matter what your job is. You should always do your duty to the best of your ability.

Since we weren't able to go to the dog park, Janet went to the gym to work out, and I took a camera up on the roof to document some of the problems I've been having. I also did a small rush writing job for one of my clients and vacuumed the house. It's simply amazing to me how quickly the vacuum cleaner bag fills up with dust around our house. If I'm sweeping up this much dust, why don't the carpets look any cleaner when I'm finished? You know "the rift" they are always talking about on Dr. Who and Torchwood shows? I think our house is sitting right on top of a mysterious rift that is sucking in dust from all over the planet. Of course, there's always a chance that Dot and Dash are responsible for all the dirt.

Our three day holiday went by far too quickly. Sometimes it didn't seem like a holiday at all. Footsteps on the roof usually woke us up too early. Rain curtailed most of our planned holiday activities. Then, there was still work to finish as well. It was still a holiday though, and a pretty important one at that. With all my complaining, I'll be the first to admit that my life is pretty soft. It's those guys who live day-to-day in a forward firebase somewhere in Afghanistan who are doing all the heavy lifting.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1258

Janet and I woke up to the sounds of footsteps on the roof. WTF? The roofers were back. In my limited experience, it is simply unheard of for roofers to work on a Sunday morning. Initially I was a bit confused and then I remembered that I'd written a letter to the contractor last night. It must have been the letter.

I guess in a world where Yelp and Angie's List can make or break a business, a blabbermouth writer with a popular blog and 30,000 Twitter followers might just be a contractor's worst nightmare. I certainly hope this is the case, because basically all I've got are words. My architect friends have the carrot and stick of future jobs to keep contractors in line, but like most of you, I don't. All I have are words.

It was far too wet outside to take the dogs to the dog park today. Dot and Dash were good sports about the situation though and took a long nap on the bed instead. While Janet went to the mall to take advantage of the Memorial Day sales, I tried to get caught up on work. There are quite a few jobs I need to complete before beginning my upcoming trade show assignment and today was as good a day as any to get started. I managed to get three articles completed this afternoon. Not a personal best by any means, but it's still pretty good for a Sunday.

It was incredibly humid today. The air felt like you would wring it out like a wet rag. Under these conditions, the ground never had a chance to dry out. Every time the dogs went outside, they came back with huge clods of mud adhered to their paws. We buy large bundles of cloth bar towels to clean the dogs paws with. We used enough today to fill the washing machine. A load of these towels are being cleaned as we speak.

I had a hamburger for dinner tonight! Janet is concerned that I'm not getting enough protein with my rather severe new diet and maybe she's right. At any rate, this was the first hamburger I've had in many, many months and it was delicious!  I did eat the burger on a gluten-free bun however, so I'm not completely off the wagon. Tomorrow, it's back to oatmeal for breakfast and kale salad for dinner.

I watched a member of SEAL Team 6 recount the night they captured Bin Laden on a 60 Minutes episode this evening. We all owe these guys a huge debt of gratitude. My Mom's family was career military and one thing she taught me was to give our soldiers the respect they deserve. Tomorrow is a day reserved for saying thank you, but I think we all know that the men and women in our military deserve a whole lot more.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1257

If you've never worked with a contractor before, here's what to expect. First you meet the contractor. He sounds knowledgeable and fills you full of hope and anticipation about the project you are about to undertake. After you agree on a price and the work begins, you never see this guy again. Next, you meet the foreman the contractor has selected to oversee the job. This guy drops by every couple of days to give the work crew their marching orders for the day. If something goes wrong, the foreman always smiles and tells you that the problem will be fixed later. The work crew never listens to the foreman. To a man, they are convinced that they already know the best way to do everything and just continue doing what they were going to do anyway as soon as the foreman gets in his pickup and leaves for the day. Did I mention that I don't enjoy dealing with contractors.

It rained again today and just as I thought, the unfinished carport leaked like a sieve. You would think that with the forecast predicting a rainy Memorial Day weekend, the roofers would have put a giant tarp over the roof to protect it. Nope. They did nothing. When I mentioned the leaky, unfinished carport to the contractor, he just said that these things happen and that they would fix things later.

It was such a busy week that Janet and I forgot Dash's birthday. We tried to make amends tonight with a little celebration that featured special doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. Dash must have gotten high on cake, because he started racing around the house and refused to stay still for his birthday picture. I think the dogs enjoyed the party though. They always enjoy anything that involves food.

I took a nap with the dogs this afternoon because it is the only thing that seems to calm Dot down during a thunderstorm. Dash didn't used to care one way or the other about the weather, but Dot has managed to convince him that the sky is falling every time it rains. Now, his storm phobia is just as bad as Dot's. I huddled under a blanket on the bed with a warm dog on either side of me and fell asleep immediately. The short nap was the most enjoyable part of my day.

Maybe the weather will improve tomorrow. I certainly hope so. A few of my readers have suggested that I try being a little more upbeat and positive in the future. Me? Negative? What on earth would give you that idea? Hey, this is just the way things are. I'm a pragmatic realist. Most of the happy people I know are all on Prozac.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1256

While I was having my Black Bean Benedict breakfast this morning, two people seated at the next table were trying to explain the concept of purgatory to each other. I can't remember when I've heard a more confusing and convoluted explanation of anything. I'm not much of a believer. Belief requires a certainty I just don't have. I am a good observer though and try my best not to pass judgement on what I observe.

It was difficult not to pass judgement on the roofers carpentry skills however. When I got home from breakfast, I noticed that the new fascia trim the roofers had just finished attaching to the edge of the carport didn't match the existing trim on the house. The lumber they used for the fascia was an inch wider than the existing trim. Didn't the guys notice the obvious mismatch at the joint where the new trim met the old trim at the corner of the house? Jeez! I wish they'd measured the lumber before they nailed it up on the house. When I pointed out out the disparity in the two sections of trim, the guys seemed angry with me. Did they actually think I wouldn't notice this?  One of the roofers finally told me that they would fix the problem, but didn't tell me how. They all left for the day immediately afterwards.

The assignment to provide photography and social media coverage for one of my clients at a big watch and jewelry trade show got approved today. The schedule has changed though. Now I'm leaving earlier and staying longer than I anticipated. I wish I'd known this new schedule several days ago. I recently ordered an airport friendly rolling carry-on camera case in anticipation of this assignment. The UPS website says the case is scheduled to arrive the day after I leave.

It's raining now. The main roof is more or less finished, so I imagine we'll stay dry inside. I wouldn't be surprised if the cars were wet tomorrow morning though. The carport is definitely still a work in progress. When I looked this afternoon, it certainly didn't appear very waterproof to me.

I hope the wet weather clears up soon. We've got a three day weekend ahead and it would be nice to have some beautiful, sunny weather to go along with the holiday. I know the dogs are going to expect a trip to the dog park. Personally, I don't know what to expect anymore.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day