Day 847

I got a new client today. As often happens, I also learned something about an industry I didn't even know existed. My new client makes the tools that allow high-tech computerized lathes and milling machines to rapidly carve things like apple keyboards out of blocks of solid metal. I watched as massive half million dollar machines shaped blocks of tungsten steel into the precision tools needed for automated manufacturing. It was kind of amazing that all this was going on in an inconspicuous warehouse district about five miles from my house. Evidently, there are only two shops with these sophisticated capabilities in the entire North Texas area and their customers come from all over the world. My job is to build the company a website that works as well as their machines. I like complex mechanical things, so the assignment sounds like a fun project.

A number of loose ends got tied up today. My taxes are finished and it looks like I'll be getting a refund. I reached an agreement with my former tenant and it looks like I'll be sending her a check for a portion of her security deposit. I paid some more bills and I had hopes of getting my April invoices out before I ran out of time. Sometimes life seems like nothing more than moving money from one pile to another. It comes in and it goes out again. I never seem to be able to hang on to the stuff for very long.

The park was full of butterflies today. It's that time of year. It's not easy to photograph butterflies when you're walking two rambunctious Dalmatians, but I did manage to get a few decent shots. My whole photography style has changed. I used to dedicate an afternoon every month or two to taking photos without the dogs. Now, I just take a camera along with me whenever we take our walks. Dot and Dash do ruin a few good shots, but there are so many more photo opportunities on long dog walks that I'm starting to capture things that I never though possible before.

I need to call a plumber soon. I can't decide whether to fix our own house or the rent house first. It would make sense to give my own leak top priority, but if the plumber goes to the rent house first, I won't need to deal with all the dog barking.

Apollo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 846

It's hard to get an early start when your dogs don't want to get up either. Dot and Dash have been my alarm clock for many years and when they don't feel like getting up, I'm always off to a late start. Today, we got started on our morning walk so late that I had to resort to eating cereal for breakfast. I'm a slow cook, so sometimes just eating cold cereal for breakfast will give me an extra forty-five minutes.

I don't know why I was in a hurry anyway. Not a lot happened today. I was a bit embarrassed that I complained so much about my bill with the electrician the other day. When I was writing checks this afternoon, I noticed that I had paid a similar bill for almost the same amount in 2008. The electrician hadn't raised his prices after all. They were always high. I wonder why this bill seemed so high and the earlier bill didn't? The only thing that I can think of was that I was making a lot more money in 2008 and being overcharged for something wasn't as much of a big deal. Oh well. Fair is fair. I paid the entire bill, even though I'd told the electrician two days ago that I wasn't going to.

I got a call from the accountant's office today. It looks like even though the company billed out twice as much as it did the previous year, I'm still going to have a tax loss. Bad investments and healthcare expenses largely offset any gains I made with the company. I don't know if this is something to celebrate or not. So, there's no big tax bill this year, but apparently I didn't make any money either.

Life goes on though. I have a new business meeting tomorrow. With any luck, I'll get an opportunity to design another website that I can continue to maintain in the future. I write new articles almost every day and make a deposit at the bank every two or three days. I'm just going to have to resign myself to the fact that even though I'm busy and often tired, I'm not making as much as I was fifteen years ago.

I saw today on the news that Facebook bought Instagram for a billion dollars. My first thought was a sincere hope that Facebook doesn't end up ruining Instagram. They're ruined plenty of good ideas before. Hey, I love this little app and use it all the time. My second thought was that I sure wish I had invented Instagram. Probably everyone in that entire company is a millionaire now. Amazing! This simple little photo sharing app on my iPhone is worth more now than the entire New York Times Corporation.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 845 - Easter

No sunrise services or egg hunts for us anymore. We still have a traditional ham dinner on Easter, but for the most part, it's just another day to go to the dog park. For many in Dallas, Easter is a day to have huge family picnics in the park behind our house. We saw people setting up tents and stoking barbecue fires early this morning. Unfortunately, most of the families were gone by mid-afternoon. A big thunderstorm swept through town a little after noon and undoubtedly dampened quite a few holiday plans. We did manage to get the dogs to the dog park before the deluge started. They had a nice outing and were ready to come home again as soon as they heard thunder off in the distance. It rained much of the afternoon, and stopped just in time to give Dot and Dash their evening walk. The park was almost empty. The picnickers had all gone home.

The rainy afternoon was a good time to bring the Dalmatian Rescue website up to date. While our own Dalmatians hid from the rain under my desk, I made new webpages pages for our three newcomers: Crosby, Bunny, and Milo. I also marked another dog as "adopted." Molly got her forever home today.

Our dishwasher isn't broken after all. Janet and I had thought it was broken for months, because the dishes weren't dry anymore after a load finished washing. I just noticed today that an inconspicuous little button on the front panel had been switched from "heat dry" to "air dry." Personally, I think Dash pushed the button when he was trying to get at food on the counter. At any rate, when I switched the button back to "heat dry" again, everything worked perfectly. It's strange that this situation has been going on for months and I never noticed that little button before.

There are probably a ton of things around the house that I just don't notice anymore. I wish I could train myself to be more observant when I'm up on the roof. Maybe I could finally find that pesky leak. I certainly didn't discover any secrets today. I just pushed this afternoon's rains off the roof with a broom, so we're ready for the next Spring deluge.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 844

Every day that I go down to the rent property to fix things up, I find something else wrong. Today, I went down to paint, and when I was cleaning up my tools, I discovered that the garbage disposal in the kitchen was broken. Hmm. Funny that my renter never mentioned this. A lot of the problems I'm finding are little and could possibly be overlooked. Unfortunately, they cumulatively add up to a big mess. Almost a month after my tenant moved out, I still haven't gotten the place ready to lease or sell. To add insult to injury, I was tired and stumbled into a freshly painted wall toward the end of the day and got wet paint all over my jeans. Now, I'm going to have to add a plumber to my growing list of expenses. I don't think this renter is going to get all of her security deposit back. Today, I didn't feel like giving anything back.

Earlier in the day, Janet and I went up to The Velvet Snout and took Odie to the vet to get his stitches out. When we returned, we took pictures of the three newcomers: Milo, Bunnie and Crosby. I haven't had time to build webpages for the new guys yet, but they'll be up on the Dalmatian Rescue site soon. All three are gentle, wonderful dogs. You really have to wonder why dogs like these ever wind up at the pound in the first place. At least the ones we find will get a second chance. I actually think Molly will be going to her new home today.

I wonder what ever happened to relaxing weekends. I vaguely remember weekends where the big activity was going to a gallery opening or trying out a new restaurant. Not anymore. These days, weekends are just an endless stream of chores. Even if I could put all the problems with the rent house behind me, there's still a world of hurt at our own house. I think one of the lines to the dishwasher has sprung a leak. I need to find a plumber for this too. Too bad I can't get a two for one deal on plumbers. Not very likely! It will be one service call for our house and another for the rent property. The grass is a problem too. The grass in the front won't stop growing and the grass in the back won't start growing. Maybe if it stays dry for another few days I can go up and survey my roof patches. I think I'm making progress because during the big tornado day last week, nothing leaked at all.

The dogs have none of these burdens on their shoulders. They're just wondering if they'll get to go to the dog park tomorrow. Don't worry. They'll get to go. Unless somebody at city services decides to close the park for Easter, a trip to the dog park is the first thing on tomorrow's list.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 843

I couldn't believe how crowded the mall was when I went to Northpark to get a haircut this afternoon. I wasn't aware that Good Friday was a shopping holiday, but apparently it is. I had trouble even finding a parking place. Maybe kids are out of school. At any rate, the place looked like the day before Christmas. When I went to get groceries on the way home, it was the same story. Central Market was packed. I had to drive around the parking lot several times before someone pulled out and gave me a space. I guess it makes sense for grocery stores to be full, since a lot of people cook a big Easter dinner, but I was really surprised by all the traffic and activity today. Who knows? Maybe it's like this all the time. I really don't get out all that much anymore. I did eat breakfast at my favorite neighborhood restaurant though. That's become a Friday tradition.

Today was a hodgepodge of activities. I paid some bills, wrote some articles, and tried to glue together a lovely little porcelain Dalmatian that didn't survive house cleaning last week. It's surprising how often watch repair tools come in handy. I carefully pieced together the little figurine using watchmakers tweezers and superglue. From a distance of more than six inches the thing looks as good as new.

I was planning on putting new grass in the backyard this weekend, but I think getting the rent property painted and ready to show has to come first. The place has been sitting empty for over three weeks now, mostly because I just haven't had time to deal with it. None of the real estate agents I initially contacted have bothered to follow up with me. I guess I was expecting better, but I shouldn't have been surprised. The place is small and doesn't have the latest amenities. Agents would fight to get a million dollar listing, but I don't think they really care about smaller places like mine.

We got three new Dalmatians in the rescue program this week. Maybe Janet and I will go up and photograph them tomorrow. That certainly beats painting the rent house or moving stuff from one storage warehouse to another.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 842

I took Dot to the vet today. They suspect that she has Spondylosis and want to see if Tramadol will help. I think we already knew she had Spondylosis, but it certainly could be getting worse. The alternatives in situations like these are typically anti-inflammatory drugs or surgery. Since spinal surgery is pretty serious, vets often recommend Rimadyl. I'm glad the vet didn't recommend Rimadyl again, because I think this drug was the cause of Petey's kidney failure. Tramadol seems safer than Rimadyl, because it doesn't tend to cause liver or kidney problems. It has been known to cause seizures however, and it seems a bit strange to prescribe something that can cause seizures for a dog that has just had a seizure. I probably shouldn't second guess the vet, but I tend to second guess everyone.

We got our first U-verse bill today and it was a lot higher than I thought it would be. Telephone company bills always seem higher than they should be, because when they are quoting you a price, they never include all the taxes and fees that the government tacks on to your bill. I think this bill was high because it included a partial month of service in addition to the normal full month. There were also some one time installation charges tacked on to the bill. We'll see if things average out over time. The electrician's bill for installing the mercury vapor lamp was also higher than I expected. They charged for two service calls, even though they did nothing on the first visit. They brought the wrong part and said they'd come out another day. I definitely don't think I should have to pay for that.

Being overcharged seems to be a recurring theme this month. The hospital is trying to charge me more than they quoted for the MRI I had in January. The furnace folks sent me a bill for something the technician said would be free. The electrician's bill was definitely too high. I can't wait to get the bill from my accountant for doing my taxes.

When I'm up on the roof sweeping the standing water off, I get a nice bird's eye view of the entire yard. Today, I saw all sorts of problems that need to be dealt with. Creeping vines are attacking the small trees and shrubs again. I need to pull all these vines up before they strangle the shrubs and kill them like they did a few years ago. There are still a ton of dead limbs on the trees as well. I thought I got most of them last month, but apparently not. Then there's the house itself. The gutters are rusting and need to be replaced. There's some rotting wood on the carport. I need to plug all the little holes under the eves with spray foam too, before those pesky bees return. After all the problems I had last year, I definitely don't want bees again.

I finally made an appointment with Betty for a haircut tomorrow. I think I'm about two months overdue. I've been real busy lately, but there are limits to how bad I'm willing to look. Lately, when I shave in the morning, I see Don Imus staring back at me from the bathroom mirror. That's bad! I really need a haircut.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 841

The electricians were out at the house at 7:30 this morning to fix the mercury vapor lamp in the back yard. There are times when I wish that I had a regular job instead of working on my own, but then I remember that people who work for someone else have to go to work a lot earlier than I do. I don't know if I could ever go to work at 7:30 AM on a regular basis. It's probably a good thing that the electricians came early though. The first fixture they tried to install was defective and they had to go back to the shop for another. They were still out in the back yard working when I returned from giving the dogs their regular morning walk.

What a difference a day makes. The sky was clear and blue this morning. No wind. No rain. No tornadoes or thunderstorms anywhere. The only alarming thing I saw today was a snake. It's gotten warm enough that all the snakes in the park are coming out of hibernation. I have to keep an eye out for snakes in the Spring, because the dogs don't have the good sense to stay away from them. Some varieties of snakes in the park are poisonous, but I can never remember which is which, so I try to stay away from all of them.

I paid a bunch of bills this afternoon, which is always a frustrating thing to do on days when the stock market takes a big tumble like it did today. Every time I start to feel a little better about the market, something like this happens and I'm back to square one again. They say the market crashed today because of Spanish bonds. Who cares about Spanish bonds? I am convinced that embracing a global economy has opened a Pandora's box of woes that can never be closed. At this rate, I'll have to keep working forever as we slowly slide downhill toward some dismal global unity.

Maybe the dogs feel this way about training class. They're not making much forward progress either. The big improvements were all made in the first year. Dash won blue ribbons during his first year at school. With each succeeding year, he seems to be backsliding. I can certainly relate. I feel the same way sometimes. At least it's light outside now, so we can see how far we're backsliding.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 840

What a day. There were tornadoes all around us for most of the afternoon, some of them large enough to make it on the national news. Luckily, most of the really bad weather was a little South of us. Although the roof will probably leak tonight, we didn't suffer any damage. I couldn't convince the dogs that everything was fine, however. They were both convinced that the sky was falling and cowered under my desk until the rain finally quit.

Poor Dot. Right in the middle of the storm, the washing machine repairman arrived and she had to face her two worst fears at the same time. She's asleep now. I think having a repairman in the house and the same time there was thunder and lighting outside wore her out. I was surprised that the repairman kept his appointment, because the weather was genuinely terrible. I asked him if he had trouble driving over to my place, and he said no. "There was a tornado about five miles South of me when I was on the freeway," he said and then added, "It was no big deal." I'm glad he came, because the washing machine is finally fixed.

Understandably, the electrician did not come out today. Nobody in their right mind would want to replace a mercury vapor lamp sitting on top of a tall pole in the middle of a thunderstorm. I think the storms are moving to the East, so maybe we can get the lamp fixed tomorrow.

Getting the dogs walked was a problem. I wish they'd both learn to poop in the yard. I waited until the weather app on my iPhone said the storm had passed and out we went. Before we had even walked 100 yards, there was a bright flash of lightning and about five seconds later a huge thunderclap. That's all it took. Dot and Dash couldn't get home fast enough. About an hour later, when the radar showed absolutely nothing in the vicinity, we tried again. It was almost dark, but this time the walk was a success.

I got quite a bit of work finished today. There certainly wasn't much else to do. I'm glad the power didn't go out. That's what usually happens on days like these. I postponed Dash's antigen shot until tomorrow. His appointment was right during the worst of the storm and the last thing I wanted was to be sucked up in a tornado with a dog in the car.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 839

There are times when I think getting something fixed is simply impossible. The electrician came out today to fix the mercury vapor lamp in the back yard. The first thing he said was that the bulb in my lamp was obsolete and that nobody made them anymore. Not a big deal, I thought. "Just replace the entire unit," I said. I figured that since these types of lamps were quite common, they'd just have one on the truck. Nope! They didn't have any mercury vapor lamps on the truck at all, even though they'd known for a week that this is what I wanted fixed. The two electricians said they'd go to Home Depot and see what they could find. An hour later they returned, saying that Home Depot had nothing and that they'd have to come back later. As you might expect, there was a lot of frantic dog barking during this episode, and of course the light still doesn't work.

I'm really tired of dealing with broken things, but that certainly doesn't keep things from breaking. Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow. The washing machine repairman is coming back in the morning with the part that is supposed to get the complicated machine working again. One can only hope. In the mean time, I went to the paint store and bought some paint. Painting is definitely not one of my favorite things, but I've discovered that it's much easier to do little painting jobs myself than it is to find a painter willing to do a small job for an equally small price. Nobody wants to do little jobs anymore. It just isn't worth their time. Even though it is frustrating, I guess I understand. I don't like to do little jobs either. I always prefer big, complex jobs. It's the only way you can make any money.

Although it wasn't a terribly productive day, I did manage to get a few things done. I made an appointment to take Dot to the vet. I made another appointment with my potential new web design client. Oh, I did a load of laundry too. The machine always works for me. It just doesn't work for Janet. Somehow, I can't convince her to throw lights, darks, and towels together in one huge load that completely fills the tub.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 838

The dogs got a nice outing at the dog park this morning. When we returned home, I settled down for a long afternoon of chores. I'm so far behind in getting the rental property ready to show again that I decided to spend the entire afternoon cleaning the place up.

I re-hung the closet doors so the handles were facing outward again. I removed mountains of cable that had been stapled to the walls by the Direct TV and U-verse guys. I vacuumed all the floors. All these tasks were just a sideshow though. The main event was painting. I painted over all the dings, dents and wall anchor holes that I had Spackled during my previous visit. I thought I was doing a pretty good job until the first coat of paint dried and I realized that my touch up paint wasn't quite the same color as the rest of the wall. Damn!

The paint was actually the very same paint that I had used to paint the walls three or four years ago before my renter moved in. Unfortunately, the paint on the walls had aged and darkened a bit over the years. Now, instead of just touching up around the nail holes and miscellaneous scrapes, I'm going to have to entirely repaint the walls. This is why renters are so frustrating. They think they deserve a medal for cleaning the oven before they leave, while at the same time they're creating a host of new problems that they aren't even aware of.

When I was walking the dogs this evening, we passed a local rock band playing in the park. These guys had a full kit with a good PA system and everything. They were playing to an audience of five people. I think there were six people in the band. The odd thing was they actually sounded pretty good. These guys were mostly just playing old Eagles songs, but any cover band who can do a credible job playing Hotel California in a public park is OK with me. I still don't know what they were doing out there. The dogs weren't very interested in hanging around to find out.

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. I've got to re-schedule the appointment with the electrician, I've got to make a new appointment with Dot's vet to see if they can determine why she's so tired and shaky on her legs. I've got to see if I can get the washing machine repairman to commit to finishing the job he started over a week ago. We've been without a washing machine for quite a while now. If I've got time, I need to go to the one paint store in town that can still mix the proper color of paint for my rental property. A couple of gallons should do. Oh, and I need to set up a meeting with that guy who wants a new website for his company. I guess that's enough for one day.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 837

Janet and I went to another charity fundraiser tonight. I think this one benefited children instead of animals, but they're all pretty much the same. We used to spend more time at these things, but now we pretty much just eat our dinner and come home. With Dot's rear legs getting increasingly shaky, we both hate to leave her by herself for long periods of time. I ended up bidding on a pallet of St. Augustine grass at the silent auction, since I'm going to have to be putting in new grass anyway in a few weeks. We played a little roulette out of habit, but we were home before nine.

I started moving some stuff into the new storage space this afternoon, mostly because I needed to bring home some special steps I had in storage that will make it easier for Dot to get up in the bed at night. I had these steps made for Petey when his legs started to go and they actually work pretty good. Now, we've just got to teach her how to use them. She still seems to want to take a flying leap up into the bed instead of gently walking up the steps.

The steps were buried away pretty well, so I ended up moving quite a few things from the old storage space to the new one just so I could get the dog steps and bring them home. While trying to find the elusive steps, I uncovered a dental drill, a vacuum tube powered, 1950's era lie detector machine and an original Elsworth Kelly painting. I don't do much now, but this odd little room reminds me that I have led an interesting life.

I was going to go down to the rent house and do some painting today, but I spent so much time at the storage warehouse that all I had time to do was go to the grocery store and walk the dogs before we had to leave for the charity dinner. If we were smart we would have just eaten at home and left a little later for the event. The food was terrible. These guys need to find a new caterer next year.

It looks like it's going to be a great day to go to the dog park tomorrow. The weather was beautiful today and it looks like it's going to stay this way for the rest of the week. I think Dot's days of racing around are over, but she still likes to wander through the park and smell the flowers.

Smiley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 836

I went down to the rent property to do some painting and cleanup today. I gathered all my tools together, went up to the front door and then realized that I had forgotten to bring the key with me. I couldn't get in. The whole trip was a wasted effort. It was a waste of gas as well. I hadn't really noticed how expensive gasoline was getting until the rent property became vacant and I had to start making periodic visits to fix the place up. My weekly mileage has doubled and so has my gas bill. I feel sorry for those who have to commute long distances to work. At these prices, you could easily spend a small fortune on gas. Expensive gas notwithstanding, I'm going to have to make another trip to the rent house this weekend to finish what I should have done today. This whole cleanup process is taking a lot longer than I expected.

I'm starting to worry about Dot. Ever since her seizure, she has not been herself. Even though her blood work seems normal, she has been so lethargic and tired lately. Something is wrong, but it's hard to tell what the problem is. She still seems normal on her walks, but once we get home she mostly sleeps the rest of the day. This isn't like her at all. I'll take her in for some more tests next week. It could be that she's just getting old.

Hard to believe that March is over already. Last year at this time, we already had the St. Augustine grass in place in the back yard. This year we haven't even started yet. There's just so much to do. In addition to painting at the rent property, I have to start moving things over to the new larger storage warehouse this weekend. Nobody believes me yet, but the plan for the larger storage space is to organize things so I can finally start getting rid of some of this stuff. Right now, things are packed so tightly that I don't even know what I have. I'll give this project a year. If it works, I'll have sold a lot of stuff on eBay. If it doesn't work? Well, then I guess the new warehouse will be just as full of crap as the old one.

A guy called me today and said he was finally ready to start on the new website. I didn't recognize the voice, but said "Great" and asked when he'd like to get together. After the guy hung up, I searched through my files, trying to discover who I was talking to. I finally found what I was looking for. The call was a response to a bid I had sent out over two and a half years ago. It just goes to prove that all those dormant jobs aren't necessarily dead.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 835

I went to a friend's funeral today. No, this wasn't the architectural school classmate I mentioned earlier. I met David doing animal rescue work here in Dallas. Oddly, although my two friends lived thousands of miles apart, they both died of cancer within days of each other. During the service, the wireless mic that the preacher was using kept fading in and out. I could imagine David fuming in the casket. He was a fabulous DJ and knew everything there was to know about sound systems. I'm sure he knew exactly how to fix the situation, but he was already somewhere else. David loved people and was always there to lend a helping hand. It was not surprising that the church was filled to capacity. As a somewhat grumpy person with few friends, I often wonder if anyone will show up at my funeral at all. I guess we never know these things though. It's probably best that we don't.

While I was at the funeral, the electrician called and left a message saying he was ready to fix the mercury vapor lamp in the back yard. When I returned the call and asked whether he could reschedule for tomorrow, he said that they didn't work on Fridays and that I would have to call the office on Monday and reschedule. I also got a call from the washing machine repair shop today, saying that the part hadn't come in yet and they were planning on coming out again next Wednesday. When I reminded them that the repairman told me the part could be ordered overnight and that the repair would be finished by Friday at the latest, all the dispatcher said was that the repairman shouldn't have been telling me these things. Oh, well. So much for service.

My financial advisor called me today to explain some recent transactions. I was perplexed yesterday when I discovered that I now owned two new stocks and didn't remember buying either of them. My advisor explained to me that we had talked extensively about these two companies during our last meeting, but that he had waited until now to buy them because they hadn't been attractively priced until recently. I have no reason to doubt the guy. I forget stuff all the time. It was just a little embarrassing to admit to my financial advisor that much of what he tells me goes in one ear and right out the other.

It was a busy day, but I still managed to get just about everything on my list finished. Dogs were walked. Articles were written. Websites were updated. Probably the most surprising thing about the day was that my dark funeral suit still fit. I may be getting senile, but at least I'm not getting fat.

Elliot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 834

I must have been tired last night. When I woke up this morning, the house was quiet. Janet had already left for work and the dogs were back asleep on either side of me. I got myself in gear and started working, but spent most of the day thinking it was Tuesday. Tuesday or Wednesday? It doesn't really make much difference. I do practically the same things each day anyway. I didn't realize it was Wednesday until I was paying bills this afternoon and noticed that the computerized check on my screen was dated Wednesday, March 28.

Although I got off to a late start, it was a pretty normal day. I paid some bills, wrote some articles and updated a few websites. For some reason nobody is paying me this month. It's the 28th of the month and only one check in the mail so far.

I made the final arrangements for moving to my larger storage space this Saturday. I also had a talk with the people who did my MRI last January. When I went in for the MRI, the girl at the front desk told me that the amount I paid up front would be the only payment I'd have to make. Sure enough, three months later I get another bill from these people. This type of thing happens frequently and is one of the reasons I think healthcare is hopelessly complex. Doctors and hospitals initially charge way more than they ever expect to receive and then spend the next three months fighting it out with the insurance companies. In this case, a $5,500 initial bill was eventually settled for $798. This still seems a lot for what is basically a fancy scan. Sure, they're scanning something that's alive, instead of a photo or a piece of paper, but an MRI is still a fancy scan in my book. You ought to be able to walk into an MRI store and get one of these things for $25.

Neither of the real estate agents I contacted about my rental property has bothered to follow up with me. When I wasn't interested in selling, real estate agents were relentless about getting a listing. I'd tell them no and they'd just keep calling. Ironically, now that I am interested in selling, these same agents don't even give me the time of day. Maybe they know something I don't. Now that I think about it, there are a lot of for sale signs in the neighborhood already. Maybe they're worried that adding one more house to the mix will depress prices even further.

The dogs did well at class tonight. The weather is getting warmer and more importantly, there is still daylight when the class begins. In another month, there will probably be daylight when the class ends.

Doc is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 833

I got a message this morning that one of my college classmates had died after a long battle with cancer. Spending as much time with dogs as I do, I'm all too familiar with the cycle of life. Some of my very best friends are sitting in little urns on our coffee table. It's different though when someone passes away who is exactly the same age as you are. It makes you realize just how fragile and short life can be. Whenever a friend dies, I resolve to make the most of the rest of my life. This resolve seldom lasts long however. The simple mechanics of daily living seem increasingly complex and any grand plans I once had continue to fade away. My college friend accomplished a lot during his short time on earth. Sometimes I wonder whether I've done anything at all. Maybe being an observer is not enough.

The mower charged up just fine last night, so right after I finished walking the dogs, I mowed the grass for the first time in 2012. If the front yard was filled with Bluebells like the ones that are starting to appear in the fields behind our house, I wouldn't bother to mow at all. Unfortunately, there are no wildflowers in our yard; just a lot of wildly growing weeds.

Continuing the theme of broken things that I've established this Spring, a mercury vapor lamp in the back yard burned out last night. I called an electrician to replace the lamp, since it is located right next to where the power comes in from the utility pole. I'm so clumsy that I'd probably electrocute myself if I tried to change the lamp myself. We installed the lamp for security years ago, but in recent years it has become more of a nightlight for me and the dogs. Dash seemed restless last night without the soft light streaming in the windows and it seemed a bit too dark to me as well. It's weird that everyone at our house sleeps better with light streaming in the window, but that's just the way it is.

I returned to the rental property this afternoon to continue my cleaning efforts. I patched the holes in the Sheetrock and started to clean the floors. A word to the wise: don't ever put slate floors in a rental property. The dark floors hide the dirt so well that nobody bothers to clean them. When I got out my wet mop to clean the floors, I discovered they were filthy. I don't think any renter has bothered to clean them since they were installed. Although it's often hard work, I don't mind cleaning up the rent house. It's peaceful down there. No phones or Internet to interrupt me. As I slowly and methodically bring the place back to the way it was when I used to live there, I have many fond memories of the good times I had there. Life was simpler then. Much simpler!

I took the last of the K-1 forms that have been arriving in the mail to the accountant today. I think I'm finally good to go. Taxes are another thing that have become more complex over the years. You'd think with such a complex tax return, I'd be making a lot of money. Sadly, this is not the case. It's all just a lot of bad investments.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 832

I started three big repairs today. The report card: one success, two fails. The washing machine repair was a big fail. After listening to barking dogs and strange noises in the utility room for an hour and a half, the technician told me that I needed a new circuit board and that he would have to special order the part. It doesn't matter whether it's the furnace, the car, or the washing machine, it's always the motherboard. I don't know why they had to special order this part. They should have just filled the truck with these innocuous looking but strangely expensive circuit boards. There was nothing mechanically wrong with the machine at all. It was the electronics that had gone haywire. The machine is still broken and I will have to listen to barking dogs again as soon as the part arrives.

For a while, I thought I was going to have better luck with my catalytic converter. When I went to the muffler shop, the repair guy said he didn't see anything wrong with my catalytic converter. He thought I just had a loose heat shield. He welded the loose heat shield on again and didn't charge me a thing. I thought I was ahead of the game until I started hearing the rattling noise again before I was even halfway home. Either the weld broke when I went over a bump, or they guy was completely wrong about the catalytic converter. At any rate, it's back to the muffler shop tomorrow.

The one success of the day was the lawn mower. I went to a shop that rebuilds batteries and they were able to get my 24-volt lawnmower going again by using two twelve volt motorcycle batteries. Hopefully, these new batteries will hold a charge and I'll be able to finish mowing the grass in the morning.

Despite all the repairs, I still managed to get several websites updates done and wrote a couple of articles. I think the whole week is going to be this way. Hopefully, I'll find time tomorrow to go down to the rent property and patch the holes in the Sheetrock. I need to find the paint number and buy a quart of touch-up paint.When all the holes are patched, sanded and painted, I'll contact a real estate agent. Now that I'm thinking about selling, I'm starting to get calls from people who'd like to rent. It's always this way. I'm totally out of sync with the rest of the world.

Dot seemed tired today. She probably just wore herself out barking at the washing machine repairman, but she's getting old and I'm starting to worry about her legs giving out. I probably worry too much about everything.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 831

Our weekly trip to the dog park was the high point of the day. After we returned and had a little lunch, it was non-stop chores. I went to Home Depot first, to try to get a battery for my lawn mower before the grass in the front yard gets two feet tall. Although the store was still selling my model of mower, they had no replacement batteries. "We used to have batteries for these." was the best response I could get out of anyone. The salespeople couldn't even point me to a service center. Everyone seemed totally dependent on the Home Depot website. I already knew what the website said however. It said that this battery was out of stock online. Oh, well. Too much grass up front. Not enough grass out back. What are you going to do? Maybe I can get the battery rebuilt where I buy my watch batteries.

Later in the afternoon, I kept the promise I made yesterday and went down to clean my rental property. I'm happy to say that the Goo-be-Gone stuff actually worked and most of the candle wax and sticky stuff on the stone floors is gone. Now I've got to figure out how to get the Goo-be-Gone off the floors. It's some kind of petroleum based product and it doesn't seem to evaborate.

The big Molly Bolt wall anchors in the living room were a lot harder to remove than the sticky stuff on the floors. I managed to get most of them out, but I've got to go back and plaster over the holes. Now, the living room looks like someone used the walls for target practice. Renters are a complete mystery to me. I just don't understand why they do some of the things they do. In one of the bedrooms, someone took off the four sliding closet doors and put them on again backwards. Why? I just don't know what this proves. I've still got a lot of work to do, but I ought to have the place presentable enough to show a real estate agent in a week or two.

I think I'm getting too old to be cleaning sticky stuff off floors on my hands and knees. All I know it that every bone in my body was sore when I arrived home for dinner. I hate to pay someone to do this stuff however. It's simple mindless work. I used to be able to do this type of cleaning all day long. Unfortunately, the operating word in this case is "used to." If my hands rebel at scrubbing a floor, Lord help me when I pick up a guitar again.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day