Day 232

I took my car over to the Land Rover dealer today to complain about the engine overheating, and wouldn't you know, it didn't overheat at all. It was just as hot today as it was yesterday, but for some reason, everything seemed fine. This always happens to me. I'll hear a weird noise, or a door won't lock, or the air conditioner will quit working and when I take the car in to show my service guy the problem, it simply disappears. The Land Rover folks made a service appointment for me anyway. They wouldn't miss an opportunity to take my money.

Just about everyone I talked to today wanted to reschedule something. It seemed like I spent most of the day just moving appointments from one day to another in my iCal program. That's OK. At least the meetings aren't being canceled. One way or another, it looks like I'm going to be busy this month. It's unlikely that I'll make any money though. A lot of these meetings are for pro bono projects I've foolishly agreed to do and the rest seem to be about future projects that might not even happen. I still believe in leaving no stone unturned. You never know. One of these seemingly pointless meetings might actually lead to something good.

I think the dogs are just as disgusted with the heat as I am. They only want to walk about half as far as they normally go in milder weather and neither one of them seemed to have any interest in training class tonight. I can't blame them. It's just too hot to do anything outside for very long. And before I forget, did any of you take the time to vote for Kobe? I noticed today that he's still sitting in 8th. place on the Purina website.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 231

Dash had his dental appointment this morning, so I had to walk the dogs much earlier in order to get him to the vet by 8 AM. I'm always amazed at how many people are out and about early in the morning. By the time we normally take our morning walk, the dogs and I virtually have the park to ourselves. It's a lot different at 6:30 AM. There were cyclists and joggers everywhere. One hour later, when I drove Dash over to the vet, the roads were equally crowded. I don't know how people tolerate rush hour traffic. It would drive me nuts if I had to do this everyday. Traffic is not usually a problem for me. I try not to go anywhere before 10 AM or after 4 PM.

The house was unusually quiet today. Dot doesn't bark when Dash isn't around. I don't know if she barks to show off, or to keep Dash in line, but there is definitely a lot more barking going on when both dogs are together. I thought Dash would be coming home right after lunch, but the vet discovered a tooth that had become abscessed and he had to have it pulled. By the time he was released around 6 PM, he was really ready to get home again.

With an unusually quiet house and only one dog to keep me company, I got a lot of work done today. I developed some additional logo ideas for the watch repair company and got started designing the new medical clinic website. I also picked up the large banner I designed for Dalmatian Rescue and was pleased at how nicely it turned out. It wasn't that long ago that it would have been both expensive and complex to print a single full color ten foot long weatherproof banner. All I did was take a PDF file to FastSigns on a disk and two days later, the banner was done. All at a very reasonable price. It's getting harder and harder for me to be the wizard of oz for my clients when things like this have become so easy.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 230

Help me out here guys. Kobe has dropped to eighth place in this year's Purina Rally-to-Rescue Doing More For Pets competition. This dog had been hit by a car and his injuries were still untreated when we found him. He couldn't even walk. Dalmatian Rescue helped provide the necessary surgeries and extensive physical therapy he needed and Kobe now walks completely normally again. It's a great rehabilitation story and Kobe really deserves to win the competition. If each of you could take a few seconds to click here and vote for Kobe, he might be able to regain first place again. If you've got a Facebook page, put the link on your wall too. You can only vote once, but every vote counts.

I had to take my aging Beta-SP camera to the Bexel repair center in Irving today using my equally aging Defender 90. Ordinarily, this journey wouldn't be worth mentioning, but the temperature was 106 this afternoon and my car overheats badly on days like this. When I stopped at a stop light or got stuck in traffic, I watched the oil temperature gauge climb dangerously close to the red line. Every few miles I would see cars stranded by the side of the road with their hoods open and frustrated drivers calling for help on their cell phones. I kept thinking that my car would soon be joining these victims of the heat, but somehow we successfully completed the thirty five mile trip and made it home again. Needless to say, I'm ready for Winter. Maybe we could skip the rainy season, but cooler weather would be great.

Dash gets his teeth cleaned tomorrow. We got the results of his ultrasound exam today and it looks like his new higher protein diet is already helping his heart muscles grow stronger. At any rate the vet gave him a thumbs up for the dental exam and we'll get all the plaque cleaned off his teeth, so we won't have to worry about gum disease. I probably need to go to the dentist myself. I'm pretty faithful about keeping the dogs teeth cleaned, but I'll use any excuse to postpone a trip to my own dentist.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 229

It was unbelievably hot today. The thermometer in the backyard said it was 108 degrees and when I took the dogs on their walk this afternoon it certainly felt like it was actually this hot. We have to make sure we have plenty of water with us when we take the Dalmatian Rescue dogs on their Sunday walk these days. We don't walk very far either, but the dogs still look forward to getting out of their kennel for a while. Dot and Dash still look forward to going to a dog park on Sunday too, so we drove them up to the Wagging Tail dog park again. Dash seems to be getting better at riding in the car now that he knows where he's going. It's definitely a long drive just for a few minutes of running around in the sun, but it's still the most enjoyable part of the day. After the dogs are taken care of, it's back to doing chores and housework.

I went over to the storage warehouse this afternoon and got the leftover pictures from one of my old gallery shows to hang in Janet's new offices. I sell a few pictures when I have a show, but there are always a lot of leftovers. I'm not nearly as excited about having a gallery show as I used to be. It takes a long time to print all the images and framing a show can be quite expensive. I've gotten some good reviews over the years, but I've ended up losing money on every show I've had. Maybe I could save money on framing if I didn't print such large images. What's the fun of that though? I like large images.

It's hard to believe it's August already. When I started this blog, I had my doubts about whether I'd be able to keep writing something new day after day. Writing has gradually become part of my daily routine though. If I've kept things going this long, I'll probably be able to keep writing indefinitely. The blog does take a bit longer than I thought it would, mostly because I have to photograph a new watch every day and look for a Dalmatian that hasn't already been dog of the day. For a while I wondered what I was giving up to make time for my blogging activities. A quick look around the office tells me the answer to this question. I appear to have given up cleaning entirely. My once tidy office is now a total trainwreck.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 228

They say the secret to happiness is staying busy. I heard it on TV this morning while I was eating breakfast. Apparently, doing something mindless keeps you happy just as effectively as doing something important too. I've certainly got the "doing something mindless" part of the equation down pretty well. I just don't enjoy staying busy all the time. Some of my most enjoyable moments are when I'm doing absolutely nothing. Janet ought to be happy. She is constantly busy. If I'm busy, it's only because I am disciplined enough to finish everything I start. In a perfect world, I would prefer to just sleep eighteen hours a day like the dogs do. To me, Dot and Dash are actually pretty good role models.

No rest for the weary tonight. Dalmatian Rescue is hosting another of our Casino Night fundraisers. I'll be spinning the roulette wheel again. We haven't had a Casino Night for quite a while, so I'm a bit rusty on the odds for all the different bets you can place. It's a simple game though. It all comes back quickly once we get started. Roulette isn't all that different than investing. You hand over your money. You spin the wheel. You lose your money. There are ways to beat the dealer at blackjack, but with roulette the house always wins. Although the basic odds of red or black turning up are 50/50, the two zeros on the wheel guarantee that the house eventually wins.

I ought to be real happy now because I stayed busy the entire day doing mindless things. I spent a couple of hours this morning trying to get the big production printer unclogged again. When I finally got the printer working, I couldn't think of anything I needed to print. Typical for me. I did need to do the laundry though, so I did that instead. Add in the usual Saturday grocery shopping and that's about it for the day. At least I don't need to fret about missing Dr. Who while I'm doing my stint as a roulette dealer this evening. I think the series is over for the year.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 227

I'm really pretty easy to please. It doesn't take much for me to change a bad day into a good day. I took the large Dalmatian Rescue banner over to FastSigns to be printed this morning and the technician told me that I had prepared the files for printing better than 95% of his customers. Yeah! Admittedly, this is not a big deal, but it made me feel good. Did I wonder what the other 5% of the people had done to make their files even better than mine? Nope. It is probably this kind of "good enough" attitude that has kept me at the helm of an obscure little company that nobody knows about instead of becoming the next Donald Trump.

With the Dalmatian banner crossed off my "to do" list, I drove over and showed Kevin my three logo concepts for his watch repair business. He liked them all and picked one to develop further. I was pleased, because with a little finesse, the idea he picked could make a very nice looking logo. I left Kevin with the logo comps and went home with two watches he'd finished repairing.

I stopped and got gas on the way back and noticed that the price had come down a bit this week. I overheard someone at the next pump talking on his cell phone and asking how large the tank on the car was so he'd know how much gas to put in. This confirmed my opinion that people can't do anything without their cell phones anymore. Jeez, is it that hard to fill up your tank? I've also heard long cell phone discussions in the grocery store about whether to get medium eggs or large eggs. I just pick up some eggs and put them in my buggy. It's easy.

I guess I just don't understand the need for constantly staying in touch. I will admit that telephones still have their uses though. After I returned from all my errands, I got a phone call myself. It was from the National Geographic people. They want to give me the job to complete the story about the dog and goat. I probably won't make any money doing this, because they still want me to rent HD equipment for the segment. It will be fun though. I'll finally be able to tell people that I've shot something for National Geographic. Hey, maybe someone will think I've been to the South Pole or something. I don't need to tell them I just took pictures of a goat.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 226

I don't think my financial adviser likes me. I have a passive/aggressive approach to investing. I generally follow my adviser's recommendations, but I'm quick to hold his feet to the fire when things turn sour. We had one of our periodic review meetings today. The conversation went like this. I would say something like "Look at this stock over here. It went up like a rocket the day after you told me to sell it." He would counter with something like "Well, look at this one over here. It's still going down after I got you out of it last month." Back and forth we'd go. With the possible exception of Apple and Kinder Morgan, there weren't many success stories. This has been a terrible year for investing. The market shows no clear direction. It just keeps zigzagging sideways on declining volume. I hate to give up though. I finally agreed to try a couple of new suggestions, probably just so I'd have something to yell at my adviser about the next time we get together.

I think I've come up with several nice looking logo ideas for my watchmaker. I set up a meeting to show him the preliminary concepts tomorrow. I hope he likes one of these ideas. You never know with logos though. They are totally subjective. The client either likes them or they don't. If a website design isn't approved, you can usually salvage the navigation or the basic architecture. If a logo isn't approved, you just start over.

I'm about ready to start over with the grass in the backyard. I had things looking pretty good last year, but this year is another story. What the dogs haven't killed this Summer, has died on its own as a result of the hot weather. I need to belong to some sort of "sod of the month club" where new St. Augustine sod would just be delivered to my backyard every month. Grass just doesn't last very long at our house.

All my usual Thursday website updates got delayed this week. They're all supposed to arrive tomorrow. If they do, it's going to be a very busy day. Even a hectic Friday is still a Friday though. I'm happy to see this week finally wind to a close.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 225

More employee pictures today. Every company has a different approach to these pictures. Some make a big deal out of the whole thing, sending out memos weeks in advance with instructions on what to wear and when to show up. Other companies are so casual that they've totally forgotten that they even called me by the time I show up with my cameras. I'll spend half a day shooting pictures at one company and ten minutes doing exactly the same thing at another company. It all depends on what they want.

The primary objective of today's photo session was to get things done quickly. The pictures turned out nice, as they usually do in situations like this. Being in a hurry is fine. I start to worry though when the employees want to change outfits or start asking me if I can make them look different in Photoshop. Some people worry entirely too much about getting their picture taken. So, what makes a good portrait anyway? Surprisingly, it has little to do with what you actually look like. If you're comfortable with how you look, you're going to take a good picture. If you're uncomfortable with how you look, your picture will probably be terrible. Happy people take much better pictures than unhappy people. If you're having a bad day, try and see if you can just skip the employee pictures. I'll come back later. Some people ask me why their pictures are never any good. I feel like telling them that it's probably because they don't like their job.

Dash wouldn't stop barking at obedience class tonight. Our teacher asked me what command I used to get him to quit barking and whining. Hmm. I guess I don't know the "stop barking" command. It usually works better if I just ignore him for a while. This wasn't good enough tonight though. Tom tried to get Dash to be quiet himself, but he didn't have any better luck than I did. Personally, I just think Dash was having a bad day. He probably wouldn't have taken a good picture today either. We'll come back later, and chances are he'll be fine.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 224

Do you ever feel like a car that's stuck in first gear? Things do move along, but ever so slowly. Today was like that. I had to take Dash to the vet for another ultrasound exam. Our appointment was at 2 PM, but we sat waiting in the lobby until almost 3 PM. Waiting for doctors almost seems to be one of those inviolable laws of nature. It doesn't matter when they tell you to come; you're always going to wait. Considering how bad Dash can be for something as simple as a bath, he was actually extremely well behaved for the ultrasound exam. He's got a weak heart valve that leaks a little bit when it closes. We're still trying to determine if this is serious or not. I have a feeling he'll be just fine. If you've ever had a stress test or echocardiogram done yourself, you quickly realize that nobody's heart is perfect.

When we got home from the vet, I decided to finish the Dalmatian Rescue banner I've been working on. This moved along ever so slowly as well. Ordinarily, I could design something like this in less than an hour. Unfortunately, the banner's 10 foot by 3 foot size made it impossible to create the monster PDF file I needed using my ancient copy of Quark Express. Rats! I had to use Adobe InDesign instead. I don't use InDesign very often and of course I have never bothered to read the manual. I prefer to use the trial and error method. In this case, it was mostly errors I encountered. I eventually figured out how to get the huge PDF file to print correctly though, so this is one item I can finally cross off my "to do" list.

More rain today. We were doing fine on our evening walk until a bolt of lightning landed right across from us on the other side of the lake. Both dogs immediately turned around and headed for home as fast as they could. It was a good thing the dogs were in a hurry to get home. As soon as we reached the front door, the rain started coming down in buckets. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning: sweeping water off the roof again with my big push broom.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 223

I talked to my bank today and they told me that the number they gave me the other day was correct and that the Germans were wrong. Unfortunately, the Germans are the ones who still have my money. I wish my client and the bank could just agree on a number. This shouldn't be this difficult. Unfortunately, even the most mundane task can end up being difficult these days. I've stood in line forever while a cashier tried again and again to get a bar code to read on their scanner. I've even occasionally had trouble buying stamps at the post office. I'd like to get myself one of those "easy buttons" you see on the Staples TV commercials. I think someone forgot to give me my easy button.

I had coffee at Starbucks with my friend Alan this afternoon. Alan never fails to introduce me to something new and interesting. Over the years, I've come to depend on him to provide me with a preview of what I'll be doing this time next year. Today, Alan was telling me how he had just finished publishing his own book on a website called Blurb.com. He showed me the book and it looked beautiful. I had never heard of blurb.com before, but I immediately began thinking of books that I'd like to publish myself. Apparently, the business model for book publishing has changed radically in recent years. Publishers don't need to find the next Steven King and sell millions of copies at Barnes & Noble to make money anymore. Nowadays, they just need to convince everybody on the planet to create their own book and give copies to their five best friends for Christmas. Alan's book looked so pretty that I'm going to have to do one of these things myself.  I'll probably be the only one that buys it though. That's usually the way it works with me.

I wish I could figure out a way to get Dot to overcome her fear of bad weather. What started as a fear of thunder and lightening has now morphed into a general fear of rain. It rained today, but I could barely hear the thunder. It was way off in the distance somewhere. The distant thunder was enough to set Dot off though. She went through her usual routine of barking and hiding under my desk. We bought an Anxiety Wrap for her a couple of years ago and it actually works, but usually by the time I can remember where I put the darn thing, the rain is over.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 222

It was another dog filled Sunday. After we finished walking the Dalmatian Rescue dogs this morning, we took our own dogs up to the new Wagging Tail dog park in North Dallas. We've tried to go to this park before but it's always been closed. This time the park was open and it was definitely worth the trip. The place was large, clean and well maintained. It was much nicer than anything we've seen in our part of town. Everything is nicer in the suburbs though. I don't get out to communities like Frisco, Allen or Flower Mound very often, but when I do, I'm always amazed at how clean and pretty they are. Dallas used to be clean and pretty when I first moved here, but I think the people who kept it that way have all moved to the suburbs. Dallas still has the history and the heritage, but the suburbs now have better restaurants, better schools and much safer streets. Even though it's a long drive, we'll come back to Wagging Tail. The dogs loved it and it's ten times better than the city run park only a few miles from our house.

I got a letter from my German client today saying that they couldn't pay me yet because the bank identification number I sent them was wrong. Jeez, I got the number straight from my bank! What do they want? I wonder why big companies can't just pay me using Paypal? I like Paypal. It's certainly the easiest way to get money from one country to another. Big companies never do something the easy way though, especially if there is a convoluted, bureaucratic alternative available.

Next week is going to be busy. I've got something scheduled out of the office every single day next week except for Friday. Some days are meetings and other days are photo shoots. I should be happy that I'm staying busy, but all I can think of right now is that I'll only have time to eat cold cereal for breakfast on Wednesday.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 221

I spent the afternoon looking on the Internet for stock photos that I could use for a large banner I've been promising to design for the Dalmatian Rescue group. You'd think I'd already have all the Dalmatian pictures I need, but I couldn't find any of my own that would work for this banner. I can usually enlarge my files to at least 30x40 inches, but the resolution isn't good enough for a banner that is ten feet long. I like working with stock photos anyway. They are great idea starters. I'll often see an image that I would  never have thought of myself and it will take the ad or campaign I'm working on in a whole new direction.

So far, I've been more of a buyer of stock photography than a seller of stock photography. I'd certainly like to change that. Come on guys, let's download a few pictures. They're cheap! You could use them to make a birthday card or something. So far, turning stock photography into another source of revenue has been more difficult than I thought. The stock agencies want photo releases for everything and I seldom bother to get them. About the only thing I can send to the stock agencies are pictures of flowers and bugs, because just about everything else requires a model or location release. I guess I could have ring binders full of model releases and charge for prints like other photographers, but it's so much easier to just give the client a CD at the end of the job and tell them they own the images. That's what they all want anyway.

Tonight is the fifth season finale of Dr. Who. I was planning to watch the show at 8 PM and then let you know what I thought about it. We were still eating dinner at 8 PM though, so it's on to Plan-B. I'll do the blog first and then watch the show when it's re-broadcast at 11 PM. It sure seems like this season was over awfully quick, but then the entire year seems that way. I can't believe it's almost August already.

While the dogs and I were walking today, we saw what appeared to be the world's longest kayak. The boat was being towed to the lake on a huge trailer and had four separate cockpits with space for four paddlers. I have a kayak myself and can't imagine why you would want to go kayaking with three other people in the same boat. To me, the whole point of kayaking is to enjoy a little peace and quiet, away from other people. What do I know though? I never understood the point of tandem bicycles either.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 220

I had my first meeting with my new medical clinic customer today and it went very well. I always enjoy these initial stages of a new project. The client is all excited because everything still seems possible. I'm equally excited because I have a blank slate to work with. Later, things always get more difficult, but I try to maintain the initial excitement as long as possible. I've done a ton of websites for veterinarians, but this will be the first site I've designed for medical doctors. I hope everything goes well, because this project could make a great case study to show other doctors. A lot of veterinarians already have attractive, functional websites, but the websites of most medical doctors are still abysmally bad. If I can do something that raises the bar a bit, this project could be a real opportunity.

I'm glad it's Friday. Somehow this has seemed like a very long week. There weren't any big deadlines, but I seemed to slip a little further behind with each passing day. I still have one unfinished project to tackle this weekend, but that can wait a little while longer. Tonight is devoted to Dr. Who and good food. I enjoy going to Central Market on Fridays and picking up interesting looking things to eat for dinner from the Chef's Case. It's kind of like going out to dinner without having to make reservations or actually go anywhere. Tonight I picked up several types of Quinoa salads which were delicious. I've never had Quinoa before. It's a grain like seed from South America that's a bit like Couscous. Quinoa is supposed to be extremely nutritious, but I probably canceled out all its nutritional value by also picking up some scrumptious looking barbecued ribs while I was at the store.

I can tell that Dash is frustrated and really misses his weekend visits to the dog park. He's starting to pull the yellow cover off his tennis balls again. If the weather cooperates this weekend, we'll resume our quest to find the perfect dog park. It's such a shame that Unleased went out of business. I think it's going to be a long time before we see another indoor dog park in Dallas.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 219

I thought I'd seen everything until the dogs woke me up last night with loud, insistent barking that usually means there's a noise they want me to investigate. I actually did hear a weird noise, so I grabbed a flashlight and went outside to see what it was. At first I thought one of the outdoor faucets had sprung a leak, but when I listened more carefully, the noise was coming from behind the greenhouse. It was the air conditioner compressor. I turned off the power and went to take a look. Jeez, what a mess! Evidently a rat had gotten inside the enclosure and was sitting on top of the fan blades when the compressor kicked in. The inside of the unit looked like someone had thrown a rat in a blender. There was no damage to the air conditioner, but there was plenty of damage to the rat.

Today was another employee picture day for one of my clients. I don't make much money doing these pictures, but it helps me keep my webmaster business going. Several years ago I noticed that most people weren't updating their websites very often. After a while they would decide they didn't need me anymore. I started offering free picture updates as part of my basic web maintenance package and all the sudden people started updating their websites all the time.  Basically, words are of little interest to many people, but everyone seems to love pictures. I probably spend too much time doing these employee pictures, but to me it's good practice. When I do get a good paying photo job, I find that shooting tons of employee pictures has made me faster, more consistent and much better at lighting than I used to be.

It's almost time for the Dalmatian Rescue golf tournament again. Actually, the tournament isn't until September, but time goes by quickly when you've got to line up sponsors for each hole and beg people for silent auction items. I'm not as good at finding sponsors as some of the volunteers, but some years I still manage to snag a few. Insurance agents will usually sponsor a hole. Maybe the Land Rover people will play this year. I find that if I ask them to sponsor a hole right after they're hit me with a big repair bill, they usually feel guilty enough to play.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 218

I went back to the doctor today and got my blood work finished. I made sure to go early in the morning, so I'd have plenty of time to come home and eat my usual big breakfast. I don't mind fasting, but I hate to miss breakfast. Sometimes I wonder if there's really any point to my quest to become healthier. Life without bacon in the morning and a martini in the evening still seems like it's missing something.

If you're involved in any sort of artistic endeavor, you need to go out and get an iPad immediately. For the second day in a row, my iPad has been instrumental in helping me land a new job. Today, I needed to take a couple of watches to my Omega repairman to get fixed. I took the iPad along too, because I wanted to show Kevin pictures of some other watches I was hoping he'd work on. Kevin liked the iPad and after showing him the watch pictures, I used some other examples of my work to demonstrate what the gizmo could do. He ended up asking me if I could design a new logo for his company. You bet! Logos are great. I never turn down an offer to design a logo, because it almost always leads to other opportunities down the road. The other opportunity in this case wasn't very far down the road at all. By the time I left this afternoon, we were talking seriously about a new website as well as the logo.

On the way home, I dropped the sample tapes I promised the National Geographic Channel in the mail. I'm not very optimistic about getting this job, but it's always worth making an effort. You never really know what people are thinking. I've been awarded jobs where I didn't even think I was a serious contender. I've also lost plenty of jobs that I thought were in the bag.

I thought the dogs would be terrible in obedience class tonight, since they skipped class last week. They both did well though. I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised about the entire day.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 217

I went to the doctor today to get my final blood work done before starting my Hepatitis C treatment. I've been avoiding this treatment like the plague because of all the horrendous things I've heard. I don't really look forward to losing my hair or feeling like I've got the flu for six months. No blood today though. The nurse who was going to draw my blood told me that I shouldn't have eaten breakfast this morning and to come back tomorrow.

My trip to the clinic wasn't a wasted effort however. This time, I finally managed to catch the attention of Freddy, the office manager, and get him to listen to my quick pitch for redesigning the clinic website. This was the first time I've used my iPad to make a presentation and it worked fabulously. I was able to show samples my design work and visit several websites I've done quickly and efficiently. My whole presentation lasted less than ten minutes. It worked too! I've got a follow up meeting with the clinic's owner this Friday to get further input and finalize the budget. I think I've got the job.

My German client said they can't pay me until they have my IBAN number. Jeez, what's an IBAN number? I stopped by my bank on the way home from the doctor to see if they knew what my number was. I didn't really think they would be able to help, since the closest thing to international banking that takes place at my branch are all the illegal aliens ahead of me in line trying to cash checks without any form of identification. The manager was very helpful though and knew exactly what I needed. It turns out I have all sorts of ID numbers I never knew I had.

I need to write a website bio for one of my clients tonight. You'd think that people would prefer to write their own bios, but typically they just send me their wife's name, where they went to school and the number of pets they have and then I make up the rest. I also write the bios for the dogs on the Dalmatian Rescue website. Frequently I say the dogs are two years old. I don't have a clue how old they actually are. Stray dogs may know their own age, but they never share their secret with me.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 216

I ought to start a company called Obsolete, Inc. If you needed a photo, I'd make you a nice one using a Nikon F2 and Kodachrome film. If you needed a video, I'd shoot one for you using a very nice analog Sony DXC-637. If you needed a website, I'd build you a well designed static site using nothing but HTML. Sure, I'm aware that there are newer and better ways of doing things. I just don't like them. So, why do I bring this up? The National Geographic Channel folks called me today. They really liked the video footage I sent them. In fact, they were interested in having me shoot the entire episode about the dog and the goat. There was only one little snag. They kept asking me all these questions about HD-video. Could I shoot the episode on HD? How much experience did I have shooting HD-video? What kind of HD equipment did I own?  Could I send them some examples of shows that I'd produced on HD?  Well, I lost that job I guess.

I'll go ahead and send them DVD's of some shows that I've done. I doubt that it will make a difference though. Virtually everything I've done is 4x3 analog video. What they want is 16x9 digital video. The world has moved on without me.

There was some sort of Dr. Who marathon on the BBC Channel today. I left the TV on all day and watched the shows while I was doing my other work. My feeble attempt at multi-tasking I guess. Truthfully, the only reason I could still work while I was watching Dr. Who was that I'd seen all these shows before.

If you're a guy like me who has a lifestyle that consists of nothing but walking Dalmatians and spending long hours in front of a computer building websites, you need a certain amount of science fiction to keep you from going stark raving mad. When I started my company, I watched all five seasons of Babylon 5. Then there was Lexx and Farscape. Now I mostly watch Dr. Who. I never liked Star Trek at all. By the time Dr. Who had finished saving the planet today, I had finished most of my website work as well. It was a reasonably enjoyable day.

I need to figure out how to snag this National Geographic job. Sure, I could go out and rent the HD equipment they're looking for. I don't know if that will do the trick though. I think they want someone who lives and breathes digital video. That certainly wouldn't be me. National Geographic Channel: meet Mr. Analog.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 215

Beemer, who is also today's Dalmatian of the Day, turned out to be a great little dog. We don't get new dogs in the rescue program all that frequently now. It's hard to believe that we used to be looking for homes for as many as 25 dogs at a time. That was back when the Disney movies were popular and it was profitable for puppy mills to breed Dalmatians. There are still plenty of puppy mills, but now they are breeding the Chihuahuas and Pugs that are so popular these days. I'm glad the Dalmatian frenzy is over, because dogs like Beemer have a lot better chance of finding a good home.

Today's kids must still watch the 101 Dalmatians movies though. Whenever children see Dot and Dash they certainly get a lot of attention. We were going to take the dogs to a dog park today, but it was just too hot. They both got a bath instead. Our evening walks are much shorter now, because the dogs can't take the heat. People can't take the heat either. When we were walking this afternoon, we saw an ambulance come and take an older man away. It was probably heat stroke. We see EMT trucks come to the park quite often in the summer. The heat can be brutal. This is the time of year when I really start to wonder why I ever left Seattle. During the years I lived in Seattle I didn't even have an air conditioner in the house. Once you got used to the rain, the temperature was always comfortable.

I'm never comfortable with the weather in Texas. When it's wet, I complain about the water on my roof. When it's dry I complain about the heat. I didn't move down her for the weather though. It was a good place to work. Of course, now I find myself complaining about the difficulty of finding work as well, so maybe there's just no pleasing me.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea though. It was still a very nice weekend. Dinner was delicious tonight. There are clean sheets on the bed. The dogs smell good again after their bath. As soon as I post this, I'm going to go relax and watch a few British Comedies on Channel 13. Life's OK.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 214

When I was getting my car repaired earlier this week, the service manager said I ought to stop by this weekend and take a look at his own highly modified Defender 90. Since the Land Rover dealer is close to the grocery store where I do my Saturday shopping, I did swing by and take a look this afternoon. Wow! This car has had so many custom modifications that you could probably drive it on the moon. Most of the custom-made lifts, rock sliders and winches were totally useless for city driving, but they sure did look cool. I wish I still had the kind of income where I could waste money in such grand style. This car was totally over the top and I loved it.

I think women get a bad rap for wasting money. Sure, they may think a $500 pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes are absolutely essential, but this is pocket change compared to the way men waste money. A man will think nothing of dropping $10,000 on a bass boat, or the world's largest flat screen TV. There must be a thousand blogs out there with titles like "My Frugal Ways." These blogs are filled with ideas about clipping coupons and tips on how to get free samples of peanut butter. Coincidently, they are all written by women. Men don't think this way. Men would rather have a new Harley Softail, or in the case of my service manager, a Land Rover you could drive to the South Pole. I'm still a little suspicious of men who drive a Prius. Real men just aren't this practical.

The only practical thing I did today was mow the grass early in the morning before it got too hot. This is the middle of July in Texas though. It was already way too hot before the sun even came up. I needed to get a new coffee filter today and I tried my best to be practical by taking one of those blue coupons that I get in the mail every week to the Bed Bath and Beyond store with me. Unfortunately, I left the coupon on the kitchen table like I always do and ended up paying full price for the coffee filter. Why is a coffee filter worth $14.95 anyway?  If I was practical and businesslike, I would just go to Starbucks and drink their overpriced coffee every morning while I efficiently checked my e-mail on the free Wi-Fi. That seems to be what everybody else does these days. That doesn't appeal to me though. I'd rather waste half the morning grinding my own beans and making pancakes and sausages.

We've got a new Dalmatian coming up to the K-9 University kennels tomorrow. I need to remember to take my camera and get his picture up on the website. The new dog's name is Beemer.  If a woman named this dog, it was probably because of the way he smiles. If a man named the dog, he just named it after his car.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 213

I picked up Janet at the airport today. I did manage to make it to the right airport too, with the help of a couple of Post-It Note reminders in the kitchen. I haven't been to Love Field in a while and I couldn't find the parking for arriving flights. It turns out they didn't have any. They had something called "Cell Phone Parking" instead. You just pulled into a lot near the terminal and waited for your arriving passenger to call you from their cell phone and say something like "Hey, I'm standing in front of the terminal now." Then you would just drive up in front of the terminal and pick them up. Cell Phone Parking would have been a great idea if I had a cell phone. I ended up parking far away in the departure lot and taking a long walk to the terminal. I probably should have just gone to Las Vegas with Janet in the first place. As it turned out, the week certainly didn't end up being anything worth staying home for.

I don't know whether to root for the bulls or the bears anymore. Now that I've taken a short position in the market, I can make a little money on a terrible day like today. On the other hand, I still have my long positions too, so the best I can ever do is break even.  Going short just allows me to hedge my bets a bit and hopefully limit my losses. I just hate all this volatility. One day the market is up a hundred points and the very next day it is down two hundred for no apparent reason. Nothing has changed about the companies or the economy. It's all just reading tea leaves these days.

The dogs sure seem happy that Janet has returned. Maybe life with me got a bit boring by the end of the week. Or, maybe it was just the box of special dog treats in Janet's suitcase.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day