Day 445

It's amazing how the smallest of tasks can escalate into a big mess. When we go to take the dogs for their bath this morning, the coolant level light comes on in Janet's car. I check, and sure enough, the overflow tank is a little low. I look at the manual for the LR2 and it says the car needs to use Texaco antifreeze. Why? I don't know. Where did all the Texaco stations go? There used to be a Texaco station on just about every street corner. I drive around looking for a Texaco station and notice that everywhere there used to be one, there is now a bright yellow Shell station instead. When did this happen? Was it last month, or three years ago that this big switch happened. I haven't really been paying attention. Ever since gas started getting expensive, I stopped buying gas at Texaco and started filling my tank at Sam's Club instead.

Eventually it dawned on me that there weren't any Texaco stations in our neighborhood anymore and I got some generic antifreeze at a Chief Auto Parts store and went home. When I opened the hood of Janet's car to fill the reservoir, I noticed that there was a dent right in the middle of the hood. Under the hood I saw some weird shards of glass up near the windshield wiper motors. When I asked Janet why there were strange looking pieces of glass inside her engine compartment, she said that a street lamp had fallen off a pole last week and landed right next to her car while she was at work. "I'm sure glad it didn't hit the car," she said. "Uhhh, you'd better come look at this," I say. We notice different things. I would notice a dent in my hood instantly, but I never seem to notice when something has gone bad in the fridge.

Dot really didn't want a bath this morning. She refused to get out of the car when we pulled up in front of Vhea's LaundroMutt. When I finally had to resort to lifting her out of the car, she growled at me. Strangely, Dash was actually pretty good about his bath. He had one of his quietest, most uneventful visits to the LaundroMutt in several months. Tomorrow, the dogs take part in the city of McKinney's annual Krewe of Barkus parade. The theme for this year parade is "The Wild West." Dash will go as a cowboy and Dot will go as a horse...complete with a tiny leather saddle that I found on eBay.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 444

I put together my ad for Dallas Dog Life and sent it off to the publication this afternoon. It's a simple little ad, but then I'm a simple little company these days. It's hard to believe I started my business doing TV commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew. I like what I do now, but I'll have to admit that I'm painting with a lot smaller brush. At least I'm still in business. A lot of folks aren't.

I got a call this morning from a woman who wanted me to come take a picture of her puppy. When I asked how she'd heard of me, she said she'd seen one of my pictures on the wall while she was at her vet and liked it. This is exactly what I wanted to happen when I loaned the leftover photos from a couple of old gallery shows to veterinary hospitals and restaurants all over town several years ago. It's been so long since anyone called about the pictures however, that I've almost forgotten that they are still out there. Some seeds take a long time to root though and I've finally learned to be patient.

I guess patience finally paid off with Google Adsense too. I noticed that I made it to the $100 payout threshold today. I'm certainly not going to get rich from online advertising though. Since it took me a full year to earn my first $100, I'd better not buy that vacation home quite yet. Even with these paltry earnings, the fantasy of passive income is still alluring. Like many of you, I still have hopes that a collection of blogs and websites might eventually pay the bills some day.

It's going to be a busy weekend. Dalmatian Rescue has a booth at the annual Krewe of Barkus parade and festival this Sunday. No photography involved this time, but Dot and Dash are going to be in the parade.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 443

I finally got all my ring binders and file folders full of receipts assembled and took them over to my accountant's office. I thought they would be pleased that I had finally switched over to the Quickbooks accounting software they've been trying to get me to use for the past several years. I asked if they could read the disk with the Quickbooks file I had made for them. "Sure, we can read it just fine," they told me, "but you've set up all your files wrong." I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I set the files up in a way that made intuitive sense to me. Whenever I do something that makes sense to me, it rarely makes sense to anyone else. When I asked if they could work with what they had, they said they could, but it would probably cost me a little more. Again, this is pretty much par for the course. At lease I can finally check this task off my list.

One of the animal rescue groups I work with has their big fundraising event of the year in May. I always do the promotional materials for this event and this year the theme is going to be based on the movie Gone With the Wind. Somehow at tonight's planning meeting, I agreed to recreate the classic 1939 movie poster with a dog dressed up as Clark Gable and a cat as Vivien Leigh. I have no idea how I'm going to get a cat to look up lovingly at a dog wearing a clip-on moustache and a white shirt open to the waist, but I've got about a week and a half to figure it all out. One thing is already certain. Dot and Dash aren't going to be in this picture. I couldn't bring either of them within ten feet of a cat without total chaos breaking out on the set.

I was supposed to start on my new annual report project today, but I never received the input material. I guess some things never change. Even back when I used to do a lot of annual report projects, I never got the input material on time. Hey, at least it's Friday tomorrow. I always like Fridays...mostly because the next day is Saturday.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 442

I called my accountant's office today and asked how much time I had to get my tax files over to them. They told me everything was due yesterday. Oops. Somehow, I thought I had at least another week to get things ready, but that's the kind of week it's been. I seem to be behind on everything. I've already placed and paid for the ad I'm going to to be running for my company. The only thing missing is the ad itself. I haven't designed it yet. I could go on with other examples of things that haven't quite made it out of the starting gate, but you get the idea. It's March already, but it still feels like February.

The weather was so nice this afternoon that I thought that Dash would do great in training class. Dash had other ideas. This was one of his worst performances in a long time. I don't think he did any of the exercises very well tonight. I don't know why he was in such a big hurry to get home though. As soon as the dogs got home, they had to do a fitting for the costumes they are going to wear in this weekend's Krewe of Barkus parade.

I noticed that the iPad2 was introduced today. This is typical Apple. I'm still learning how to used the first iPad I got and it's already obsolete. I don't think I'm going to trade mine in for the newer model though. The iPad2 is supposed to be faster and lighter than the original iPad, but the one I already have certainly isn't very heavy and it's certainly fast enough for me. I definitely don't need a camera in my iPad. I've already got a camera in my phone and the phone fits in my pocket. I really wish that technology didn't change so quickly. I've got far too many obsolete gadgets already.

Are any of the rest of you facing social media burnout? A blog post every day. Fresh Tweets for Twitter. Enough status updates so Facebook still thinks you're alive. Professional sounding LinkedIn updates about your business. It really doesn't leave you with much time to do anything else.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 441

I got a phone call today asking if I'd be interested in writing an annual report. Definitely! Before spending a lot of money on the company annual report became a corporate faux pas, I used to get a lot of this sort of work. Now, most companies just stick a cover on their 10-K report and claim that they are saving the shareholders money. I'm actually kind of surprised that anyone still does a full blown annual report with an editorial section anymore, but I'm certainly happy to get the job.

I also decided to run an advertisement for my own company, which is something I do even less frequently these days than write annual reports. You'd think, since I'm in the advertising business myself, that I'd be a little more enthusiastic about self promotion. Unfortunately, most of the money I've spent on my own advertising has just disappeared down a black hole. Since the very beginning, most of my business has come from referrals. It's time to give advertising a try again though. I'd like to expand the veterinary specialty side of my business and I've just about run out of veterinarians that I know personally.

Dash certainly knows plenty of vets personally. I've been taking him to the vet every other week lately. After yesterday's false start, I was determined not to forget his appointment again. I put a post-it note reminder on my computer and we arrived right on time. I have this elaborate appointment calendar on my computer that I can update via e-mail or even using my cell phone, but I seldom remember to look at it. Old fashioned yellow sticky notes seem much more effective. The computer calendar just seems to remind me of what I've already forgotten when I finally get around to looking at it.

I need a Twitter strategy. Google Analytics is telling me that almost 10% of my web traffic is already coming from Twitter. Maybe it's time that I started taking Twitter seriously.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 440

I didn't sleep well last night. Dash woke me up twice with a cacophony of barking and growling that was very uncharacteristic of him. Dot is the self designated protector of the house and when she gets alarmed, she'll bark at the sound of a pin dropping. Dot was asleep though. It was Dash who was making all the noise. I got up and looked around, but nothing seemed amiss. There certainly weren't any strange noises. The second time Dash woke me up, I finally noticed what was causing all the commotion. There was a rather large armadillo walking around on our back porch. Armadillos aren't very noisy critters, so I wonder what caught Dash's attention. Maybe he smelled it. He did start barking before he even went to the window. I don't even know how the armadillo got in our yard. The yard is fenced and armadillos don't really seem like climbing creatures. Dot didn't even get out of bed during the whole episode. I guess as long as it's not a garbage truck or a furnace repairman, she doesn't care.

I got a call reminding me of Dash's vet appointment, so I put him in the car and headed over to the vet. When I was halfway there, it dawned on me that the call was reminding me about an appointment on Tuesday. Today was Monday. We drove straight past the vet and came home again. Hopefully I'll remember that tomorrow is Tuesday.

After the aborted vet appointment, I took all the boxes back to the storage warehouse that I had filled up yesterday. This is going to take a little longer than I initially thought. I've got one shelf finished now. Only twenty five left to go.

Maybe tomorrow will be more productive. All I've got to show for today efforts are 200 gallons of water that I swept off the roof and a bunch of boxes that got moved from one part of town to another.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 439

When we got up to the dog park this afternoon, we were surprised to see four police cars in the parking lot. Just before we arrived, several cars had been broken into and purses and personal items had been stolen. This was in broad daylight when the park was open. There must have been fifty people nearby, but this didn't seem to deter the thieves in the least. They smashed the side windows, grabbed what they wanted and were gone in less than two minutes. It's sad that this kind of thing is becoming so commonplace in Dallas. Nobody in the park even seemed alarmed. Ironically, there must have been ten German Shepards in the park when the robberies occurred, but they were apparently too busy playing to go after the robbers.

On a brighter note, it seemed more like April than February outside today. I've noticed that the Dogwood trees are already starting to bloom. There were several pretty Dogwood trees in the park that were in full flower. Hopefully, it won't freeze again. That's what usually happens here in Dallas. Everything starts to bloom and then there is one final freeze that nips all this early growth in the bud.

I packed the boxes I brought home yesterday with an assortment of scale models and piled them up to take back to the storage warehouse again. Why I ever collected so many die-cast models of construction equipment in the first place is a mystery to me. I have little interest in the models anymore. If I can ever got rid of this stuff, maybe I'll tackle the autographed footballs next.

Janet kept telling all this trivia about the Oscar nominees as we watched the famous folks walk down the red carpet during dinner. How does she know all this stuff about these people? I didn't even recognize many of them. For the second year in a row, I haven't seen any of the films nominated for best picture. I think I'm doing better than I was last year though. At least this year, I was planning on seeing two of the films. Never got around to it though. That's why DVD's are so nice. Eventually, when most people have already forgotten about them, I probably will make a point of seeing The Social Network and The King's Speech.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 438

I think I'm coming down with a cold. Actually, I know I'm coming down with a cold. I knew it the moment someone sitting next to me at last Wednesday's animal rescue meeting mentioned that she had a cold and shouldn't really be there. If I'm within fifty yards of someone with a cold, I usually catch it. The only reason I'm relatively healthy is that I don't really spend much time around other people. At any rate, I've been walking around in a fog all day. I took some antihistamines this morning to stop the runny nose, but all they did was make me sleepy and leave me with a weird buzzing feeling in my head.

I went to the storage warehouse after breakfast this morning and brought home some empty boxes that I plan to fill with things in the office that I haven't used or even looked at in a long time. Most of the boxes are for collectibles that were important at one time or another, but are now just gathering dust. I still love to collect things, but I ran out of room a long time ago. Somehow, I've got to get a handle on this mess. Here's a plan. I've always been good at acquiring stuff. Janet is equally good at getting rid of it. Maybe when we get old, we could have a tidy little business just selling off what remains of all my accumulated crap on eBay.

I think I'm finally starting to understand what Twitter is all about. Rather than just sit around passively as a motley crew of self-proclaimed SEO gurus and spammers start to follow you, it is actually possible to go look for people with shared interests yourself. I did a search today for people with the word Dalmatian in their profile and found quite a few interesting folks who followed me back almost immediately. I wonder why there are so many people on Facebook and Twitter who are obsessed with Dalmatians, but almost no bloggers? I've only run into one other blogger who has a Dalmatian. Maybe Dalmatians just aren't very conducive to writing.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 437

It's tax time again. I spent a good chunk of the day putting tax documents in a ring binder for my accountant. This whole process used to be easy, but it seems to be getting harder every year. Almost every day an envelope comes in the mail with the words "Important Tax Return Document" printed on the outside. I don't know what half of these documents are or why I should be saving them. They all go in the ring binder though for my accountant to figure out. I used to buy a copy of TurboTax every year and do my taxes myself, but it has simply become too complicated. I like the flat tax idea proposed by Steve Forbes and many others. Everybody pays 17%. No loopholes or deductions. Just fill out one page and you're done. It will probably never happen though. Too many people like the loopholes and deductions.

When I was up on the roof sweeping away the water this morning, I noticed signs that a rather large animal has been up there recently. Either we've got a giant Possum in our yard or one of the neighbor's dogs has learned to climb trees. I don't even know how an animal larger than a cat or a squirrel could get up on the roof, but something's been up there. I'm on critter watch now.

I stopped by and got some more ink for the Epson 4000 on my way to the grocery store this afternoon and was surprised to discover that the printer store guys were reading my blog. It still startles me when people in my everyday life know what I've been doing every day, but I guess I ought to get used to it. I've been writing this thing for quite a while now. I like going to the printer store. It's a place where I can talk about cars and archival printing and what's on the horizon for my business. Mostly we just talk about cars though. There used to be tons of stores like this where guys could go to hang out and waste time talking about their favorite things. Most of these places have disappeared. I think the printer store will be around for a while though. I keep them in business buying ink.

I got an e-mail from one of my animal rescue friends today saying that she was canceling her LinkedIn account because an invitation to connect with her inadvertently got sent out to everyone in her address book. Is this even something to get upset about? Jeez, I think I send out blanket invitations of one sort or another just about every week.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 436

Slowly but surely, I'm working my way through this month's to-do list. Yesterday, I got my hair cut. Today, I got the oil changed in my car. I've always kind of enjoyed going to the Land Rover dealership. I've had the car for so long that everybody knows me by now. The service is great. You don't really expect someone to offer you a beverage and a copy of Architectural Digest to read while you've having your oil changed, but it's a pleasant experience. Maybe this is a guy's equivalent of having a pedicure. They washed my car too, which was great because this was the next thing on my to-do list. Sure, I know. I could have gotten my oil changed for quite a bit less at Jiffy Lube, but who wants to go to Jiffy Lube? I may not be able to afford one of those $100,000 Turbocharged Range Rovers they have sitting in the showroom, but I can definitely afford the same Castrol oil they use.

My LunaTik watch arrived in the mail today. I continue to be impressed by this company. Somehow, they managed to go from an idea in Scott Wilson's head to shipping finished products in less than three months. The LunaTik is a simple product, but it is revolutionary. The company was entirely funded through the Internet. There probably aren't many employees at all. Everything is outsourced. The product quality is very high and the order tracking system is amazing. I watched on the web as my watch moved all the way from the factory in China to my house in only three days. If I ever have an idea for something people would actually buy, I could probably do the same thing as Scott Wilson. So could you. The combination of Internet funding and global outsource partners make it possible for literally anyone to start their own manufacturing company.

I was sad to hear that the last flight of the Discovery space shuttle launched today. There will be two more space shuttle missions before the shuttle program is officially over, but the Discovery itself will fly no more. Launch Pad 39b, which was home to dozens of Apollo and shuttle flights, is already being demolished. They say they are going to recycle the steel to make sewer pipes. That pretty much says it all. In thirty years we've managed to go from landing on the moon to making sewer pipes.

Spring seems to be the fundraising season for all types of charities. Both of the charities I work with have their hearts set on finding a celebrity to help with their seasonal fundraising efforts. Why is everyone so obsessed with celebrity these days? Call me old fashioned, but I'm still more interested in what the dogs are doing on my own carpet than in what someone else is doing on the red carpet.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 435

I got a haircut today. I ought to seriously consider just going to a barbershop. I don't even think I have enough hair left to justify going to a stylist who has "Art Director V" as a job title on her business cards. Betty gives great haircuts though and I'm never enthusiastic about doing anything new, so the expensive haircuts will probably continue. The dogs have the right idea about hair. Their coats always look nice. A Dalmatian's coat is never too short and never too long. They do shed a lot though. I wouldn't want to shed.

I probably should shed a few of my stocks. The market has been doing terrible this week. You'd think with all this political unrest that at least my gold stocks would be doing well. Apparently not. I heard something on the news today that all the mining stocks were going to be adversely affected by the rising price of oil and that it would be better to own the metal itself. Hey guys, you should have told me that last month.

I wish someone had told me it was going to rain today. I could see blue sky overhead when we started on our evening walk, but before we even got to the halfway point, a storm appeared out of nowhere and we all got drenched. The dogs and I are dry again now, but there is no training class tonight. No water leaking in from the roof yet either. Knock on wood. Maybe I actually managed to fix the leak the other day. I certainly hope so.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 434

Whenever I turn on the TV lately, it's hard to tell whether I'm looking at Wisconsin or the Middle East. People are angry everywhere. My natural reaction is simply to turn off the TV and go on about my business. Unfortunately, that doesn't always solve the problem anymore. I can't even drive from one side of the city to the other anymore without encountering a bunch of road rage impaired drivers. I don't know what people expect. The world is just not going to become any simpler, whatever we do. There are so many of us now that we may never collectively agree on anything again.


All this chaos is one of the main reasons I have grown to prefer the company of dogs. Helping find a dog a home is a simple thing, but it is satisfying. I usually don't feel like rioting at the end of the day. I was happy this afternoon to discover that the ConnectionPoint Systems FundRazr team has featured our Dalmatian Rescue fundraising success story right on the landing page of their website. This "success story" is good exposure for Dalmatian Rescue and the money we raised using the FundRazr has definitely helped one of our dogs get some very expensive surgery that he needed to return to living a normal life.

All I want is to live a normal, uneventful life myself. Maybe that's all the rioting people on TV want too. It's not going to be easy though. We've managed to build a house of cards that the slightest breeze can blow over. Today Baidu and Apple, my two best stock picks in several years, dropped like stones on the winds of uncertainty. The news wasn't even all that bad, but people still didn't like it. That's why I try to provide the dogs with as much certainty as I can. They need it too. This evening, they had their dinner at 4:30 PM and took their evening walk at 5 PM, just like they always do. We'll do the same thing tomorrow too. Sometimes it is good to be boring.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 433

Oops. I was supposed to launch my new website next Sunday instead of yesterday. Now, my client knows, like everybody else, that I typically don't have a clue what day, or even month it is. On the plus side of things however, we were able to resolve the little hiccups surrounding a site launch a full week ahead of schedule. I guess if you've lost track of the time, it's always better to be early than late.

Our yard looks 100% better now. The leaves are bagged and sitting out on the street, waiting for the trash truck to pick them up tomorrow. Dead limbs littering the ground have been removed. Bushes have been pruned and trimmed. We'll wait until it gets a little warmer and then I'll till the soil and put in a new turf of St. Augustine Grass. If experience is any guide, this will look great for a month or two and then the dogs will tear it up again.

In the course of this afternoon's cleanup activities I discovered why so many birds have been coming over to the office window. There were hundreds of spiderwebs, each full of dead bugs. The birds must have thought that this side of the house was a supermarket. There was all the food they could have ever wanted, just waiting for them in the webs. I went over to this largely inaccessible side of the house to get rid of any remaining bees nests before the bees returned, but I ended up getting rid of spiders instead. We are inundated with all manner of critters trying to find a way inside the house. Sometimes I win and other times the critters do. I do envy those who live in spotless 17th floor high-rise apartments with great views and no critters though.

The dogs really enjoyed today. It was one of those rare days where the temperature was absolutely perfect. We just left the back door open while we worked in the yard. Dot and Dash wandered in and out all afternoon. I'm sure they think that this is how it should be every day.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 432

I spent most of the day using an assortment of rakes, brooms and blowers to wrestle the huge accumulation of leaves in our yard into some semblance of order. I haven't actually gotten rid of the leaves yet, but at least they are stacked in nice piles. Tomorrow, I'll go buy a package of those big drum liner bags and bag them all up. It's amazing how many leaves fall off our three large Oak trees every season. The ones that fall on the roof make little dams that keep the water from draining properly. The ones that fall on the ground kill the grass and smother the ground cover. They also tend to hide a ton of dog poop during the Winter, most of which I found today. The leaves used to blow away naturally after a couple of windy Spring days. Now that all the neighbors have put up these tall wooden security fences, they don't blow anywhere. Without a natural breeze, they just sit on the ground forever until I finally can't think of any more excuses to avoid removing them. I have bought quite a few blowers and gas powered leaf mulching machines over the years, but the machines always break and the leaves keep falling.

I'm not a big fan of manual labor, but if I am forced to work up a sweat, I couldn't have picked a better day than today. It was 75 degrees with a nice breeze all day. I actually got quite a bit done. The dogs got a workout too. We took them with us this morning when we walked the rescue Dalmatians at K-9 University and when we finished that, we took them to the dog park. By the time they got home, all they wanted to do was sleep.

I just finished launching the new website I designed recently for Benny's Dog Resort. This is the first project I've gotten directly as a result of being on Facebook. I hope this is a trend that will continue in the future. It would be nice if social media started bringing me jobs instead of just an endless stream of Farmville requests. Maybe I could get more work from Facebook if a few more people would stop by and like my company page. For a company that's been around more than twenty years, the number of "Likes" we have received is pathetic. Oh well. Maybe some of you guys will stop by and like us.

I know what I like. I like that tomorrow is a holiday. Granted, it's a strange little holiday that not everyone celebrates, but a lot of my clients are off tomorrow and that means I'm off as well. Janet's office is closed tomorrow too, so maybe we can do something fun. On the other hand, maybe we'll just clean the house.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 431

Why is gas going up in price again? I'm paying more than $3.00 a gallon now, and the Defender still takes regular. My favorite coffee beans are going up in price even faster than gasoline. I keep hearing on TV that inflation is under control, or that we don't even have an inflation problem. I don't get it. How can we not have any inflation when just about everything I use costs way more than it did a few years ago? Computers are just about the only thing that don't continually go up in price. It's not like we're really saving anything on computers though. They become obsolete and turn into door stops about every three years anyway, and you have to buy them all over again.

I'm more aware of what things cost on Saturdays. This is usually when I run my errands. I go to the grocery store. I go to the hardware store. I fill the tank up with gas. Everywhere I go, it seems like everything is more expensive than it used to be. This is not a good situation, especially when I'm actually charging less for my services than I was ten years ago.

There's no point in dwelling on this downward spiral though. I learned a long time ago that dwelling on negative things only makes them worse. I've just got to learn to use the cards I've been dealt a little more effectively. You can see why bloggers become so interested in turning their blogs into income producing properties. The potential is tantalizingly close. It's pretty clear now that the Internet has changed everything. What isn't quite so clear is how to put this transformational change to good use.

As a website designer, I am already making money from the Internet, but not any more than I used to make designing things that were printed on paper. The problem is that the Internet really wants to be free. Why pay for phone calls when you can use Skype for free. Why pay for information when there's Wikipedia. I'm certainly no better about this than anyone else. I've already canceled my iPad subscription to The Daily. Sure, it was cool, but it just didn't seem worth paying for after the complementary two week subscription ran out. When the first upgrade message appeaded on my iPad saying "please delete your existing copy of The Daily before installing upgrade" I took the opportunity to not install the new version at all. I wonder how many other people did exactly the same thing? I bet some programmer heads are going to roll over that little programming faux pas. You never ask someone to delete your product from their computer. They probably will.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 430

I discovered something cool today. Have any of you ever heard of Kickstarter? I never heard of this website until I bought a LunaTik watch kit a few weeks ago and discovered that the entire project had been funded by Kickstarter. This unique site makes it possible for virtually anyone to fund or find backers for their latest project or dream. It's kind of like Kiva or MicroPlace, except that instead of making small loans to businesses in third world countries, it lets people like you and me become venture capitalists and fund new projects that we think deserve to see the light of day. I was amazed to discover that quite a few films and even gallery shows are being financed this way. I wish they had something like this when I was making documentary films. The hardest part of making a documentary is finding the financing. Kickstarter is the first thing I've ever seen that really levels the playing field. After spending about half an hour browsing though an interesting selection of current projects, I began to think that if I ever make another film again, this might be a very viable way to finance it. It's just amazing how the Internet has changed everything. Just about every week I see something that forces me to totally rethink the way I've been doing things. I haven't received the LunaTik I ordered yet, but I assume I will one of these days. They're probably still being made in China.

I wish I could totally rethink the way I'm dealing with my roof problems. I was up on the roof this afternoon and think I found where the water is coming in. The solution is not very high tech though. I still just take a tube of Henry 209 sealant and spread it liberally around all the suspect areas. The next time it rains I get to see whether I was successful.

At least I was successful at getting rid of the rotting pumpkins on the front porch. As pumpkins age, the outer skin gets thinner and thinner. These particular pumpkins were so fragile that if you even touched them, they disintegrated into a wet puddle of pumpkin mush. The three large pumpkins were still as heavy as fresh pumpkins though. Removing the pumpkins proved to be just as messy as patching the roof. At least the pumpkin mush was easy to wash off my hands and clothing. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the tube of Henry 209.

I'm glad we've got a three day weekend coming up. I doubt that we'll spend much time celebrating past presidents, but it's always nice to have an extra day off.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 429

I hope I never become one of those people who feel compelled to tell their life story to bank tellers and pharmacists. I always seem to wind up behind someone like this when I'm in a hurry and all I want to do is quickly make a deposit or pick up a prescription. All you have to do is say "How are you today," and the floodgates open with these people. I'm patient though and wait my turn. I know that the only thing more irritating than holding up a long line by telling total strangers what your grandchildren had for breakfast this morning is complaining to other strangers about what the person ahead of you is doing. I don't want to become one of those people either.

Maybe I was in a hurry today because I'm falling behind again. I need to go get a haircut. The leaves in the back yard are really starting to pile up. It's time to take the Land Rover in for maintenance again. Tax time is fast approaching. And I guess it's time to get rid of the pumpkins. There are still several very pathetic looking pumpkins on the front porch that were left over from Halloween.

That's the problem with life today. If you spend your time doing things that bring in money, there is very little time left over for tending to rotting pumpkins. I do what I can. The trash is out on the street, waiting for tomorrow's ridiculously early trash pickup. The checkbook is balanced again, after a few mystery purchases were finally identified. Maybe I'll go up on the roof again tomorrow. It's probably dry enough to pour some more patching compound on the leaky areas before it rains again.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 428

I got an invitation to a Stern Monroe reunion in the mail today. This agency closed its doors almost twenty years ago, so I was amazed that someone had managed to track down enough people to invite. I can forget someone's name three weeks after I've met them, so I'm always impressed with reunion committees that manage to find people who've been lost for decades. I've skipped a lot of reunions over the years, but I'm planning to go to this one. Stern Monroe was actually one of the ad agencies I enjoyed working at.

I'm thinking it might be fun to have a reunion of the old band I used to play in. I've managed to find the lead singer, the drummer, the lead guitar player and the keyboard player on Facebook. Only two more band members to go. Of course most of us don't even live in the same city any more, but that is probably a minor problem compared to the task of remembering enough songs to get through a three set gig.

I don't think my own memory is much better than the dogs memory anymore. They certainly forgot a few things at training class tonight. This is the first time we've had nice weather on Wednesday evening for a long time now and all the dogs in class were a little rusty. Dot and Dash probably did as well as anyone else though. The dogs might not have wanted to do the exercises, but they were definitely excited to see each other again. I'm still surprised at how social Dash has become recently. He was determined to say hello to every dog in class tonight.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 427

I am the world's worst at time management. I only had one thing to do outside the office all day and I still managed to be an hour late. It wasn't like I had a deadline crisis or anything. I was just late. I started revamping a client's website this morning after I walked the dogs and when I looked up it was almost 2 PM. When I saw the time, I should have thought "Damn, Dash and I need to be over at the vet right now." Instead, my first thought was "Well, I better go take a shower and get this day started." It was only after I was actually in the shower that it dawned on me that I was late for the vet appointment. It was a fairly typical day actually.

I learned all sorts of odd little facts today. I learned that if Better Business Bureau members want to display the Better Business Bureau logo on their website, they have to pay $500 extra a year in dues. I discovered that a surprising number of my Facebook friends aren't putting their real birthday on their page. I discovered that my portfolio tracking software will download my stocks to the iPad just fine using 3G, but crashes when I try to do the same thing using WiFi. I discovered that The National Geographic Channel is actually owned by Fox. I discovered that when I take Dash in to get his anal sacs expressed, only one of them is usually full. All of these things are perplexing to me, but I suppose none of them really matter.

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of February. It's even harder to believe it was almost 80 degrees today. I walked the dogs this afternoon in shorts and a T-shirt. Wasn't I shoveling ice on the roof less than a week ago? With the unusually balmy weather, it looks like we'll be having training class again tomorrow. After three weeks of bad weather, the dogs have probably forgotten everything they've learned.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 426 - Valentine's Day

I got an assortment of pink muslin backdrops, support poles, tripods and sparkly cardboard hearts put back in the storage warehouse until we need them again for our next photo event. Since I was already out and about, I decided to stop by Sprinkles and pick up some cupcakes for Valentine's Day. The store would have been empty if it weren't for the hundreds of other men standing in line ahead of me, doing last minute Valentine's shopping just like I was. The line snaked halfway around the block and once you were inside the store, there was a whole new line of people waiting to get up to the counter to pick up their cupcakes. I picked out what I wanted when I got inside the store and by the time someone was ready to take my order, my cupcake picks were all gone. I don't know what the fascination is with these overpriced pastries, but I bet this store is making a huge profit. At any rate, I picked out some alternate flavors, including two little dog cupcakes for Dot and Dash and was on my way.

The mail was full of interesting surprises today. I got a little card swiping gizmo that lets me accept credit card payments with my iPhone. Does anyone actually want to use their credit card to pay me? Not that I know of. Hey, if anybody ever does get a strong desire to send me money with their credit card though, I'll be ready.

My latest website project passed another approval hurdle today. With any luck, we'll launch the site by the end of the week. This means it's about time to start looking for new business again. I've got to make a special effort to get out and mingle more this year. Just about everybody I know is a client now. That's not saying much though. I don't know that many people.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day