Day 309

After more than 300 days of non-stop blogging, I finally won one of those awards I always see on other people's blogs. A big thank you to Sharkbytes at My Quality Day for giving me the Versatile Blogger award. I'm not sure I'm all that versatile since I basically write about the same things day-after-day, but I'll keep the award anyway. On receiving this award, I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself that you don't already know and then pass the award on to four other people I think might deserve it. Sounds kind of like a chain letter, but I guess there's no harm done in passing the award along.

Bruce Coltin at Coltin1948 is certainly versatile, since he went from a career in sales and marketing to become one of the best writers in the blogosphere. Mona at Rebellious Arab Girl is equally versatile, always managing to combine an impeccable sense of design with honest and insightful writing. Chinaren gets the award for teaching me everything I know about China with a seemingly endless variety of personal experiences in his Living and Writing in China blog. I can't forget Jennifer at Writing to Survive either. She continues to weave ordinary daily life into extraordinary and original stories. Hmmm. So, how are these four even going to know they won the award? They might not read this blog. Hey, you guys with lots of these award badges on your blog. What do I do now?

Oh, I almost forgot. The seven things you probably don't know about me. 1: I actually can sew pretty well. 2: I flunked out of flight school because I always threw up in the plane when I took my flying lessons. 3: I went to high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. 4: I once had dinner with Rudy Vallee. 5: I made a documentary film about the police department in a town with no crime. 6: I have a piston from one of Richard Petty's cars. 7: I eat crystallized ginger like candy

Well, that's it I guess. I've probably inadvertently violated all the rules of blog awards by not putting my badge in the right place or something equally trivial, but this is as good as it's going to get.

While we're on the subject of blogging, I ended up buying an EC banner ad today when I plucked an e-mail out of my spam folder saying that there were only four of these ad spaces available and for a limited time they were only half price. You guys probably got exactly the same mail and wisely left it in your junk mail folder. I bet there are still four of these ads available for half price. You'd think I'd know better, since I'm in the advertising business myself, but I'm a sucker for things like this. I've bought online ads all over the place and still have no idea if any of them work. I don't even know where some of the ads are anymore, because I forgot to bookmark the sites running them. At any rate, it's like department store pioneer John Wanamaker used to say "I know I waste half the money I spend on advertising. The problem is, I don't know which half."

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 308

I got a call from the SPCA this morning. They want me to do the marketing materials for a big charity event they're having next February. I think they'd seen some of the things I'd done for other rescue groups and apparently they must have liked what they saw. They want to meet with me this Friday. I do lots of charity projects. You'd think that some big corporation would see this work and say, "Wow, this is nice. We'd like to give you a huge budget to work on something for us." It doesn't work that way though. Charity projects usually just lead to more charity projects.

National Geographic keeps asking me if the goat has been adopted yet. They want to finish the show about the friendship between the goat, great dane and three legged dog, but they still need a happy ending for their story. I'd like to finish the story too. I'm afraid that if the rescue group waits too long to adopt the animals that the producers will lose interest in the story and it will never air.

Probably I just need to be patient. Everything gets finished eventually. I finally launched the last of this year's crop of new websites today. I thought that would never happen either. Dash's skin is starting to look better too. Maybe someday, even the plumbing problems will go away. I probably won't live that long though.

At least I met all my deadlines today. I got to my meeting on time. I successfully uploaded a bunch of large files to the online printer I use. Dash got his weekly allergy shot at the vet. I may even have time to click on a few EC and Adgitize ads.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 307

There was water under the kitchen sink again this morning. There definitely shouldn't be water under the sink when the plumber was just here just a week or so ago. Unfortunately, this is the way the world works these days. You take your car to the shop because it's making a funny noise and the noise is still there weeks later after you've spend hundreds of dollars on repairs. Sometimes it takes three or four service calls to get the my furnace working properly in the winter. That's just the way it is. I don't know whether people don't know how to fix things properly anymore, or if they've all just decided that nobody will pay the price for doing things correctly.

Most of the problems I have tend to solve involve computers. I understand how difficult it can be to track down intermittent problems. I often can't fix things on the first try either. Nevertheless, it would be nice if more people were able to genuinely diagnose and resolve problems instead of just following a formula.

I certainly don't want to put myself up on a pedestal. I'm sure people feel exactly the same way about me as I do about the plumber. Just this afternoon, a PDF file I had already sent to a client for approval was returned to me twice in two hours to correct spelling errors I should have spotted in the first place.

It's almost hopeless. Turn on the television and you'll hear about big banks screwing up thousands of mortgage applications. Go to the doctor and sooner or later you'll receive a prescription for the wrong medication. I think that life has simply become too complex. I can't fix an iPhone. I can't fix the fuel injectors on my car. I don't even know where the plumbing pipes go after they disappear into the wall.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 306

There weren't as many dogs to walk when we went up to the K-9 University kennels this morning. This is good news. It means than many of the dogs we have been walking this Fall have found homes in recent weeks. Wendy went to her new home several weeks ago. Yesterday, Hobbs went to his new home and Neo went to a foster home. Lance will go to his new home next week. Maybe someday soon we won't have any dogs to walk at all. So far, that has never happened. As soon as we find one dog a home, we usually discover another stray that needs our help in a nearby pound or animal shelter.

After walking the rescue dogs, we went out and bought a bunch of pumpkins to use as props when we do the Halloween photo shoot next Saturday. Ann said she'd bring a bale of hay. That ought to be plenty to create a simple Fall harvest theme. I thought it would be a good idea to keep the pumpkins inside so they'd stay nice looking when we got home. I didn't realize that Dash would think of them as brightly colored balls to play with. Just as soon as we got them all inside, he began slapping the little pumpkins all over the living room floor like tennis balls. Now, we've got pumpkins on every available shelf to keep them out of his reach.

One thing is certain. Last year's pumpkin shortage is over. There are plenty of fresh pumpkins, as well as the canned variety everywhere. Prices are pretty reasonable too. Since pumpkin is a great source of fiber, we like to put a few tablespoons of canned pumpkin on top of the dog's food at dinner time. It was just about impossible to find the stuff last year. Often we had to resort to buying expensive canned organic pumpkin off the Internet.

I've been reading some articles about SEO this week. While I'm not a huge fan of search engine optimization, I'll have to admit that I am a bit curious to see whether mentioning the word pumpkin nine times will bring me any new readers.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 305

I always try to stop by and see what Terri Stone has been doing during the annual Fall Studio Tour. She always has something new and interesting on display and the hot dogs she serves are good too. It's not really a gallery opening. It's more like a big backyard party with lots of steel sculptures on display. I didn't buy anything during this afternoon's visit, but it's always fun to window shop. I'm convinced that Terri's work is going to wind up in museums someday and I'll be able to say I used to work with her on Taco Bueno ads.

After visiting Terri's studio, I headed North to distribute posters for next week's Halloween pet picture event. We've got a great location this year, but I'm not sure we've done a very good job of getting the word out. I should have put the posters up two weeks ago, but of course two weeks ago we didn't even know we were doing the pictures. Needless to say, this is a typical last minute animal rescue event. You just take advantage of the opportunities you get and hope for the best. I'm hoping for a good crowd. If any of you live in the Plano, Texas area, please stop by the Three Dog Bakery next Saturday and I'll take a fabulous picture of your dog. If you don't have a costume for your dog, come anyway. We'll still take a nice picture.

I couldn't find anything when I did the grocery shopping this afternoon. Why do stores keep moving the things you normally buy to a different aisle every few weeks? It's irritating. I know they want you to discover new things and buy even more stuff while you're looking for the paper towels, but constantly rearranging the merchandise isn't a good formula for happy customers. Sam's Club is the worst about this. Nothing is ever in the same place when you go to Sam's. At any rate, I finally found everything on my list and headed home.

I've got another Dalmatian in costume for you today. This time we've got Camp appearing as a "shovel ready project."

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 304

I was a busy bee today. I got an assortment of poster and postcard layouts approved and ready to go to the printers on Monday. I launched a new mini-website for the November Pet Fair celebration. I also got the Epson 4000 working just long enough to print out enough posters to hang in nearby store windows when we do the Halloween pictures next week. This print run was so frustrating that after I finally got the posters printed, I drove up to Imaging Spectrum to price a replacement printer. I wish I could replace all my equipment, but it's just too expensive. Unfortunately, I need the equipment mostly for pro bono work that I give away for free.

I probably will get a new camera this year. Unlike the large format printer, the camera equipment pays for itself. I'm looking at the new Olympus E-5. Although most commercial photographers seem to prefer Canon or Nikon, I really like Olympus cameras. I used Olympus OM series cameras back in the days of film, and I still use the lenses from those cameras on my E-3 today. Olympus makes fabulous lenses.

Every year, Janet and I say we're going to go to the State Fair of Texas and then typically, we get busy and never go. If we're going to go this year, it will have to be this weekend. The Fair is just about over and I think this is the last chance we'll get. It looks like the weather is going to be great this weekend, so maybe we'll go. I think the Artist's Studio Tour is this weekend too. There'll be plenty to do.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 303

I got the promotional posters finished today for the upcoming Halloween photo event at Three Dog Bakery. Dot is a great little model. She's very patient and will let you put just about anything on her. Dot might not be quite as accomplished as William Wegman's legendary Fay Ray, but I think she's pretty remarkable. I use her in photos a lot. I hardly ever use Dash, because he won't sit still for more than five seconds and tends to tear up the set.

Project Runway was good tonight. This was the last competition before the finalists go to Fashion Week and the contestants were all trying desperately to hang on to their ambition before it was replaced by total exhaustion.

Exhaustion certainly seems to be the theme of the day. I went to an animal rescue meeting earlier this evening and everyone was tired. I don't know why we even had the meeting because all of us were just going through the motions. I was as tired as everyone else. It seems like I'm always tired these days. Nobody is able to relax or even get caught up on things any more. My clients are tired. Janet comes home from work tired. When I read other blogs, even my favorite bloggers seem worn out. I wonder what has happened to the world. It certainly didn't used to be this way. I don't really think computers and technology are helping matters either. I would much rather have a good assistant than a powerful computer. Right now I have neither.

I'm glad the dogs are around during the day. Even when life seems like an endless marathon, the dogs have a way of putting their own unique spin on things. We had a great walk today. Of course, since Dalmatians love nothing better than walking as fast as they can, my 'relaxing' walk made me tired as well.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 302

I went up and looked at locations today for the Halloween photo event that Dalmatian Rescue is planning with Three Dog Bakery in Plano. It looks like we'll have an entire vacant building to use as a studio near the bakery. The shopping center where we will be located is new and has lots of traffic, so this might be a great location. The only problems is that I'm not sure if the vacant building still has the electricity turned on. It would be scary to attempt something like this without electricity, but then it is Halloween after all. Three Dog Bakery said they'll help us promote the event, so I need to get posters and flyers designed in a hurry.

As I did my work today, I had the TV on and watched as the miners were being rescued from the collapsed copper mine in Chile. I wish there were more events like this that had the power to bring the entire world together. Today, it didn't matter what country you were from, or what your political persuasion happened to be. Everyone around the world was united in the hope that all 33 miners would make it out safely. Events like this don't happen very often. The first moon landing was similar to this. During the height of the cold war, even the Russians had best wishes for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they set foot on the lunar surface. Sadly, this will all be forgotten in a week or so and everyone will go back to squabbling again.

The days are really getting shorter now. I remember that last week when we took the dogs to their Wednesday training class, there was still a bit of daylight left. Tonight it was dark. Maybe we left for class a bit later than usual, but still it seemed like a big change for just one week. When the time changes soon, it will be even darker. Dash does better in the daylight, but we're going to have to deal with what we've got. It's not going to be daylight during class again for a long time.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 301

I've noticed that the Coots and Double Crested Cormorants have returned to the lake for the winter. The White Pelicans and Wood Ducks can't be far behind. I can't even remember how many times I've witnessed these seasonal migrations. I've lived by the lake for a long time. This is probably my favorite time of year. The days are crisp and cool and it is actually pleasant to open the windows.

When the birds return for the Winter, I know we're on the home stretch to finish up another year. I'm through with dealing with air conditioner repairmen for a while. Now, I can start calling furnace repairmen instead. The holidays are almost here as well. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all seem to run together these day. It's like they have become one long extended holiday. Already, I see stores filled with stuff for celebrating all three holidays.

I wonder if I've accomplished anything worth celebrating this year. It's harder to tell than it used to be. I'm certainly busier than I ever was, but I don't have clearly defined goals anymore. Mostly, my goal is just to make it through the day. Bills get paid. Dogs find new homes. Periodically, new websites appear. There are very few surprises. I've gone through periods where I thought this sort of life was hopelessly boring. Maybe it's not though. I think that writing the blog has helped me realize that things actually do happen to me every day. I just had to write them down to notice.

I've got poison ivy again. This is another seasonal event that is almost as predictable as the return of the Double Crested Cormorants. I always forget that the urushiol oil which causes all the itching is very stable. It's usually still active even when the plants are turning yellow and dying. Luckily, the season is just about over. Even if I'm forgetful, this is probably my last case of poison ivy for the year.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 300 - Columbus Day

Columbus Day is certainly an odd little holiday. I always totally forget about it until I go out to check the mail after lunch and discover that there isn't any. Many people I know aren't quite sure why this day is celebrated at all, and among those who do know, most are opposed to it. I just don't like postal holidays, because I enjoy getting the mail.

The Paypal folks are letting me test some of their latest donation widgets on the blog. I added a brand new "Giving Widget" they are developing today and it seems like a fabulous idea for any sort of charity. The neat thing about this widget is that it can easily be shared. All you do is click on the "add to site" button and you can easily add a fully functioning duplicate of the widget on your own website or blog. I hope you guys will try this widget out, and if you are interested in helping animals, will consider adding it to your own blogs. Give a few dollars to the Dalmatians too. They could certainly use your help.

I had some sticky buns we got at the auction Saturday night for breakfast this morning. Man, those ladies can cook! These were the best tasting sweet rolls I've ever had. No wonder the cakes and pies were getting higher bids than the jewelry and craft items.

I'm still getting used to Twitter. I don't really know what to Tweet about on days like today. Do people really want to know that nothing is happening? I've already learned one thing though. It's a lot easier to get followers on Twitter than it is on a blog. Every day there seems to be a few more. Maybe someday I'll say something memorable enough to get re-tweeted. It probably won't be any time soon though.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 299

The casino party last night was interesting. We drove 75 miles north of Dallas to a small town near the Oklahoma border to participate in a fundraiser for a member of the community who needed brain surgery. She had no insurance. The entire town was rallying behind this woman to help her get the $300,000 surgery she needed. A couple in town who adopted a Dalmatian from us a few years ago asked Dalmatian Rescue if we could help with the event. I didn't know what to expect, but the evening was quite enjoyable. The little town had no less than three authentic pit barbecue restaurants and one of them served a delicious dinner at the event. After dinner, the casino party began and everyone seemed to have a good time. When the gambling concluded around 10 PM, a live auction began. People in the community had donated beautiful hand made quilts and crafts for the auction, along with a ton of delicious looking baked goods.

A local livestock auctioneer conducted the auction and everyone in the room acted like they'd been to plenty of auctions before. The bidding was fast and furious. Oddly, the beautiful quilts and craft items didn't get nearly as much attention from the bidders as the food. People even bid on the leftovers from the barbecue dinner. I ended up having the winning bid on a gorgeous custom made hunting knife by Texas knifemaker Rorick Davis. I was amazed that the bidding didn't go higher on this beauty and I ended getting the knife for less than folks were bidding on the pecan pies. This was definitely a town that loved to eat. By the end of the evening, people were even bidding on potato salad and leftover barbecue sauce. I love little towns like this. In Dallas, it's easy to forget you're actually living in Texas. It's just another big city. Spend some time in Lindsay though and you'll know exactly where you are. It might be fun to go back next Summer for the annual tractor pull.

We have a new dog up at the K-9 University kennels now. His name is Neo and he's a rare lemon spotted Dalmatian. Most Dalmatians have black and white spots, although it's not that uncommon to see the liver spotted variety with brown and white spots. Lemon Dals have yellow ocher spots. I've only seen a few of these dogs, and they are usually quite striking.

I don't know what's happened with Dash. He was doing so well in the car earlier this Summer and now he seems to have regressed. We took advantage of the great weather and took the dogs up to the Wagging Tail dog park this afternoon. Dash whined and whimpered the entire way.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 298

I've got plumbers over at the house again. Dogs are barking. The kitchen sink is backed up. It's a general mess. I thought when I had a plumber over all day fixing things last month that I wouldn't have any more plumbing problems for a long time. Apparently I was wrong. When something goes wrong with the electricity or the water lines, I wonder how people ever managed to live without these things. I can't even function without air conditioning anymore. It's easy to forget that only a few generations ago it was completely normal to have an outdoor toilet and no electricity. How quickly we take things for granted. Probably the next generation will look at their WiFi connection the same way I look at running water.

I'm running way behind today. As soon as the plumber is finished unclogging the drains, I need to take a shower and get the grocery shopping done. Everything has got to be finished by 5 PM today, because we've got another Dalmatian Rescue Casino Night this evening. As always, I'll be spinning the roulette wheel. These casino parties remind me of the days when I used to play in a rock band. The hard part was always setting up and then packing things up again after the gig was over. With the casino parties, we have to haul a trailer full of blackjack, roulette and craps tables to each event. The craps table is always a bear to set up. It's too large to carry in one piece, so we pack it up in several pieces and assemble it at the event. It's probably easier to move a piano than it is to move a full size craps table. Even though it's a lot of work, the casino parties have turned out to be good fundraisers for the dogs. People seem to love to gamble, even if they're placing their bets with Monopoly money.

Another Halloween costume for you today. This time, it's Dash as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 297

I got a lot done today. The Pet Fair poster is not only finished, it has already been approved. Most of the websites I manage are finally up-to-date again. I even found time to write some testimonial quotes for the Paypal folks. The office still looks like it received a direct hit from a passing tornado, but I'm getting used to that. It would be nice if I had a tidy office and a tidy life, but I can barely keep up with everything as it is.

I did find time to go to the reception for my architecture school classmates after work. I don't know why I bothered though. What's the point in going to a cocktail party when you can't drink? It's depressing to have a glass of bottled water in your hand when everyone else is drinking wine. I did manage to say hello to a few of my old classmates, but there weren't that many people I knew at the party. Events like these used to draw a big crowd when we were all just out of school, but nobody has the time anymore. I still go to just about anything I'm invited to however. What the hell. I talk to dogs all day. It's nice to have an opportunity to talk to people occasionally.

When I stopped at Central Market on the way home to pick up dinner, I had another chance to talk to someone I knew. Terri Stone, my sculptor friend, was right ahead of me in line at the deli counter. Terri reminded me that she was on the Fall studio tour this year and I promised that I'd stop by and see her new work next week. I have a couple of Terri's steel sculptures in my back yard, but I doubt that I could afford her work anymore. I'm glad her sculpture has gotten pricey though. It's not easy making your living as a fine artist and it's always nice to see someone succeed.

Since Halloween is only a few weeks away I thought I'd show you guys some Dalmatians in costumes. Today, we have Dot as Cruella de Vil.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 296

I'm finally able to retire my oldest printer. For quite a few years, I've had to keep an ancient printer running in the office because it was the only thing that would print the invoices that my equally ancient accounting software generated. Today, I finally figured out how to turn these invoices into PDF files and print them on a decent printer. This wasn't as easy as it sounds because Adobe hadn't even invented the PDF format yet when I started using the accounting software. At any rate, when I got my monthly invoices out in the mail this afternoon, they looked a lot nicer than they did last month.

It's hard to believe it's already been a week since I was in San Francisco for the Paypal photo shoot. Although it's still going to be a while before the ads start running, I'm already starting to see some results. A completely different division of Palpal called me this afternoon and asked if I could send them some quotes to use on their fundraising page. These folks got my name from the advertising team I met last week. I guess the fundraising campaign is different than the image ads we were photographing in San Francisco. The Paypal folks I talked to today even said they might be able to link my quotes back to the blog and wondered if I would be interested in adding a Paypal donate button to the "Dalmatian of the Day" feature. I'm excited. I think when all these ads roll out later this year, it's really going to benefit Dalmatian Rescue. We've noticed that even a small notice in the local newspaper gets more people interested in helping the dogs. Since Paypal is worldwide, who know what might happen.

It looks like I'll be shooting Halloween pet pictures at Three Dog Bakery in Plano later this month. I'm trying to decide what kind of set would be best for dogs in costumes. I could have a "scary" set with cobwebs and tombstones , or a Fall harvest set with pumpkins and bales of hay. I'm leaning toward doing a warm and friendly Fall theme, because there will be no way of telling ahead of time how the customers will dress their dogs. I'm getting quite a collection of muslin photo backdrops with all these holiday photo shoots I've done. I looked through what I had this afternoon and didn't see anything that works for Halloween. Guess I'll need to add "get Halloween backdrop" to my 'to do' list.

I also need to add 'photograph Fall leaves' while I'm at it. For the past two years, I've completely missed capturing the Fall colors. It would be a shame to let this happen again. I noticed while I was walking the dogs this morning that the trees are already starting to turn. Now that I have the iPhone, there's really no excuse not to snap a few pictures while we're walking.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 295

I had to go back to the dentist today to get my chipped filling repaired. I didn't think this would be a big deal, since only a small piece of the filling was missing. Oops. I was wrong. The dentist said he had to grind out all of the remaining filling and start over again. Since the tooth that needed repair was right next to a large wisdom tooth that had come in crooked, he couldn't deaden the tooth properly. Yikes! Every time the drill hit a nerve, I remembered exactly why I don't like going to the dentist. Somehow, just the sound of a dental drill is all it takes to remind me of that film Marathon Man. After an hour or so of drilling, I was ready to start drinking again. On the way out, I asked the dentist if he needed a website and he wasn't sure if he had one. I think that's a pretty good sign that he needs one. I'll have to remember to follow up on this when the Novocain wears off.

When I got back to the office, the remainder of the day was slow. I thought I'd take this opportunity to update my own website. For someone who does this for a living, my own websites are usually hopelessly out of date. I guess I've just lost interest in them. I always tell clients how important it is to keep their content fresh if they want people to keep visiting their site, and then I totally ignore my own sites. Today, I found some pages that hadn't been updated in years.

After sprucing up my company website a bit, I decided to go outside and spruce up the back yard as well. That was a mistake. My allergies are just as bad today as they were yesterday. By the time I had finished pruning a few bushes, I had to go back inside again. Janet says I'm allergic to dust and that if I would start dusting things properly around the house, my allergies would go away. I don't think she's right. The allergies are much worse outside than in my dusty, cluttered office. I'm starting to think that Dash and I have exactly the same allergies, because I've noticed that his skin looks worse on the days when my eyes are watering the most.

Dash actually did pretty well in obedience class tonight, but I hardly noticed because I spent the entire evening blowing my nose.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 294

Since it was such a beautiful day today, we took an extra long walk through the neighborhood. It's getting close to election day, so it's fun to look at all the yard signs and learn everybody's political affiliations. You really don't need the signs though. All you have to do is look at the cars in the driveway. So far, I've never met a Republican who drives a Prius, and I've never met a Democrat who drives a Hummer. It's pretty easy to spot the Tea Party folks too. They're the frustrated ones who've had the same real estate for sale sign in their front yard all year and still don't have any buyers.

My vet taught me how to give Dash his antigen injections today. I think I did OK on my first attempt at giving a shot. Dash didn't flinch or act uncomfortable. I didn't poke myself by mistake. And there was no blood on the floor when I was finished. I still haven't made the leap from giving Dash an easy subcutaneous injection in the loose skin of his neck to giving myself a Peginterferon injection in my leg muscle, but I guess this is a start.

I have made the leap to embracing Twitter however. I think I'm hooked. I'm certainly not a compulsive Twitterer, but I'll admit to posting Tweets from all over the place. In theory, the Tweets could funnel people over here to the blog, where they would eventually discover my website. It probably doesn't work that way though. Truthfully, I don't have any interest in using Twitter as a marketing tool. I'd rather just use it to blather.

I got an e-mail today inviting me to a local alumni reception for my architecture school classmates later this week. I think I'll go. There are still quite a few people from my graduating class here in Dallas and it would be fun to see them again. Even though I can't drink any more, a happy hour reception is still a good place to blather.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 293

The last time I went to the dentist was in 1999. A lot has changed since then. I thought my teeth might have changed quite a bit too, but apparently not. After all these years, I still had no new cavities. One of my fillings had become loose, but that was about it. I was really surprised. After seeing how bad the dogs teeth could get in just one year, I thought I would have a mouthful of problems after ten years. My dentist said I was very lucky to have such good teeth, but that I still ought to come in at least once a year. He's going to repair the loose filling this Wednesday. I told him that the filling was very old and that I couldn't even remember when I got it. The dentist remembered. He said I had gotten pretty good mileage out of this filling. He gave it to me in 1986.

It's certainly easier to get your teeth cleaned than it used to be. The last time I paid a visit to the dentist, I remember lots of scraping with metal dental tools. Now they use this ultrasonic wand that just floats the plaque away. I sent a Tweet from my iPhone before I left the dentist's office. When I was here previously, Twitter hadn't even been invented yet.

After I left the dentist's office I went over to see a client who never bothers to send e-mail. He always has stuff for me to do though, so I make a point of dropping in on him every once in a while. Sure enough, there were a bunch of website updates I needed to make. He thought he had told me about the changes last month, but couldn't really remember. I wish all my clients were this casual. It's just a lot more enjoyable to work with folks who don't go into panic mode if their changes aren't up in thirty minutes.

My allergies weren't nearly as bad today. Oddly, Dash's skin looked worse though. I don't know why I'm so convinced that we're both suffering from the same problem. Dash's allergies are probably completely different than mine. I keep forgetting he's a dog.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 292

Seventy degrees. Blue skies. What's not to like? For me, the answer is Fall allergies. Somehow the nicest weather of the year and the worst of the allergy season always seem to coincide. By the time I had finished walking the Dalmatian Rescue dogs at K-9 University and taken our own dogs up to the Wagging Tail dog park, my eyes were watering so bad that I could hardly see and my nose was dripping like a faucet. Ironically, Dash's allergies are actually getting better. Maybe I should just start taking a daily dose of antibiotics like he does.

While I was up at K-9 University, I took pictures of Hobbs, our newest rescue dog. Hobbs is only ten months old and still acts like a puppy. He love to play with a ball, but he doesn't know much about walking on a leash yet. He'll take about ten steps forward and then back up and take a flying leap into the air. He's a strong little guy too. After walking him this morning, I felt like I had a dislocated shoulder. Hobbs learns quickly though. I think he'll master the leash in a few more weeks. One of the volunteers actually taught him to sit and stay while we were walking the dogs today.

I wish my trip to Alberta hadn't gotten postponed at the last minute. Now that I'm not going anywhere next week, I have no excuse that will get me out of tomorrow's dental appointment. The trouble with waiting so long between dental checkups is that it is almost inevitable they'll find something wrong. I'm prepared for the worst. If the dentist doesn't find at least one cavity, it will be a miracle.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 291

Today was full of little mysteries. When I went out to mow the grass this morning, I saw three ambulances surrounding a car on our street. The car didn't appear to be damaged at all, and the ambulances weren't in any hurry to take anyone to the hospital. From time-to-time, paramedics would get out of one of the ambulances and walk over to hand the driver of the car paperwork to sign. This went on for over fifteen minutes. As I was finishing up mowing the front yard, a police car drove up and two officers got out and started handing the driver even more paperwork. I never did see the ambulances leave with anyone injured and still have no idea what had taken place in front of the house.

Later, while I was doing the grocery shopping, I checked in on the dogs using the iPhone petCam and saw them both racing up and down the hallway and barking like crazy. Usually they just sleep. By the time I got home, they were back asleep again and the house looked absolutely normal. I guess I'll never know what had them so riled up. I'll probably never even know if this is a common occurrence or not.

One mystery did get solved, however. I've been wondering all week if I would be flying up to Alberta next Monday. Nope. I guess not. The trip has been postponed because my German client wasn't able to set up meetings with the people I was supposed to interview. The project is still supposed to happen, but I don't know if they're talking about next week or next year. It would probably help if I could speak German a little better.

Usually, I don't like to do website work on weekends, but today I found myself still playing catch up on things that slipped through the cracks while I was away. It's amazing how quickly you can get behind. After a few days of neglect, even something as simple as answering e-mail can become a monumental task. I think I've finally caught up on everything though. If the weather stays as nice tomorrow as it was today, the dogs are going to have a great time at the Wagging Tail Dog Park.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 290

Everything is back to normal. The dogs got their regular morning walk. I did my webmaster chores. I answered yesterday's e-mail. I even went over to the pet orphanage and photographed the goat again. It's hard to believe it's October already. Pretty soon it will be Halloween and we still haven't found a venue to do pet pictures for Dalmatian Rescue. Halloween is a great time to do our holiday pet picture fund raisers, since so many people like to dress their pets in costumes. Unleashed would have been a great place for this sort of thing, but since it's gone, we're going to have to find someplace else.

I certainly couldn't find anything last night. When my flight from San Francisco arrived back in Dallas, I couldn't find my car. It seemed to have just disappeared. I was convinced that the car had been stolen or towed. After I had called the towing company and airport security, I finally realized that I was on the wrong level of the parking garage and my car was exactly where I left it, four levels below.

I got home around midnight and when I washed my face before going to bed, I noticed that the washrag was turning brown. I couldn't figure out what was going on and then I realized that I'd never taken my makeup off after the photo shoot. Damn. I'd flown all the way back to Dallas with my photo makeup on. I can't believe women do this every single day. Maybe it's worth it though. It certainly fixed my blotchy skin in a hurry.

Everyone in San Francisco was talking about the heat wave they've been having lately. In Dallas, people are talking about the unusually cool weather we're currently enjoying. The temperature was exactly the same in both cities yesterday.

I wonder what I left behind in the photo studio? No matter where I go, I always manage to leave something behind.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day