Day 635

I was looking through some old Ektachrome slides the other day and was surprised to discover that I'd taken several pictures of Engine Company 18. I used to do a lot of work in New York in the 1980's and I must have taken this picture of the historic West Village station while I was walking from my hotel to the recording studio. Who would have known then that Engine Company 18 would become a specialized HazMat unit known as Squad Company 18 in 1998 and subsequently be put to the ultimate test a few years later on September 11, 2001. Squad Company 18 lost a huge number of firefighters for such a small station on 9/11. When I look at this photograph, I can't help but think that the world will never again enjoy the innocence it felt when I walked by this station on a cool morning in 1985.

When all my other memories have faded, I will still remember the day President Kennedy was shot, the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon, and the day the towers fell. These are days that changed history forever. I think the changes set in place by 9/11 aren't over yet. Today's economy has something to do with 9/11. The Arab Spring with its unprecedented fall of dictatorships has something to do with 9/11 as well. History is funny. It's hard to see it when you're right in the middle of it. Maybe in thirty years or so, we'll have a better idea of what opening this particular Pandora's Box has brought us. I just wish we could somehow recreate the sense of unity and determination we all felt on September 12, 2001. If we could do that as a society, we could accomplish anything.

I don't know how to make sweeping changes. I don't think anybody does. That's why I stick to small things. I try to help dogs and avoid being a burden to others. That's about it. Today we took the dogs to the dog park. We did some laundry. We reflected on what we saw on TV. Tomorrow will be a brand new day.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 634

OK. We just got back from Vegas and what's on the agenda for tonight: another Dalmatian Rescue Casino Party. After this fundraiser is over, I think I've had enough with gambling for a while.

Saturday's are usually busy errand days anyway, but a Saturday after you've been away a week can seem even busier than usual. I've gotten my bags unpacked. I've taken the dirty vacation clothes to the dry cleaner. I've gone to the grocery store and filled the car up with gas. There's still cleaning and laundry do be done, including a dirty bedspread that Dash somehow managed to track mud on within the last ten minutes.

Just out of curiosity, I looked on the Tramadol website last night to see what Contraindications were listed. Right on the website, it said the drug should never be given together with muscle relaxers like Skelaxin. Why would my doctor not know this? In fairness, I never saw my real doctor about my neck episode. He wasn't available. The technicians that took care of me should have known better though. There is simply no excuse for giving me a prescription for two drugs that should never be taken together.

The house is finally nice and cool again. It takes a long time to cool down a house in Texas after you've left the AC off for a week. Maybe tomorrow, I'll have some time to clean up the yard. A possum or an armadillo totally destroyed the back yard while we were away. The critter must have been looking for grubs under the soil. In it's search for food, it dug literally hundreds of 3 to 6 inch holes all over the yard. Things weren't going all that well anyway, because of this Summer's head wave. This was the final nail in the coffin though. It's too late in the season to do much this year, but next Spring is a total do-over.

Hopefully, we'll make a lot of money for the Dalmatians tonight. Wish us luck...

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 633

We’re in the air and on the way home. I hope that what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas. Pain is such a relative thing. Everyone has their own threshold. Maybe I’m a total wuss. On the other hand, maybe I’m a total idiot who took a Vegas vacation when he should have been in a neck brace. At any rate, I think I may have passed my own personal threshold when I found myself spending several nights in an expensive hotel, sleeping in an upright chair because it was the most comfortable place I could find.

We had a lovely dinner at Canaletto last night. I think it was a signal that the worst was over. The Northern Italian Ravioli was light, fresh and satisfying. I ate everything and actually felt like doing something after dinner. We went outside again to see a beautiful sunset, and then it rained. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Madame Tussauds. I'd never been to a wax museum before and it was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. You never get a sense of how large or small people are by looking at pictures. The wax figures are absolutely accurate. A lot of famous Hollywood people turned out to be much smaller than I thought they'd be. At some point, I came face-to-face with Richard Petty and I was stunned. I'd spent some time with Richard in the mid 90's when I was making a series of Pepsi commercials that featured the legendary NASCAR driver. I stood a few feet away from the wax figure and the effect was so real that I almost expected Richard to start talking. Not all the wax figures were this real, but this one brought back some fond memories.

I think Janet is going to be mad at me for a while for turning into the Howard Hughes of the Mirage. I seldom left the room, but that’s just the way it was. Things didn’t really start getting better until I gave up on the pain pills in total disgust and decided that “cold turkey” couldn’t be any worse. Almost immediately, I started feeling better. All the pills were doing was making me loopy. I was starting to see bugs flying around the bathroom that weren't even there. I’m so mad that my doctor gave me a big bottle of Tramadol when this medication obviously had no effect on my type of neck pain at all. Janet told me that she was worried sick that she’d come back from the casinos and find me OD’d on the floor. It probably was a very good thing the pills didn’t work, because if they actually did what they were supposed to do, I would have taken a lot more of them.

It will be great to see the dogs again. We’ve both really missed them this week. Dot and Dash always looked happy enough when we looked at them on the webcam, but I’m sure they’ll both give us one of those “how could you” looks as soon as we get them home. Luckily, dogs forgive very easily; especially when you remember to put dog treats in your suitcase.

Janet’s been having trouble with her computer and I told her that I’d take it to the Apple Store for her after she went to work tomorrow. “It’s Friday John,” she told me. “What day did you think it was?” Lord only knows. I don’t think I left anything at the hotel though.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 632

Rod Stewart was fantastic! I clapped my hands, I stomped my feet. I cried like a baby. For two hours, I totally forgot that I was in terrible pain. Stewart is an amazing survivor. The guy literally survived throat cancer and kept right on singing; some say even better than before. There aren't many original A-list rockers left who could still put on this kind of a show. Rod started his working career as a gravedigger and went on to make music history. He was friends with Ray Davies and briefly played with the Kinks. He joined Jeff Beck's band right after the Yardbirds. Stewart and Ronnie Wood were famous friends and wrote many songs together. He still tells people he learned to play the harmonica by watching Mick Jagger play in Newport Street clubs.

There's a lot more to this guy than Maggie May, even though everyone on the 4,000 seat auditorium knew all the words and were singing along on this one with tears in their eyes. The guy is a master at getting emotion out of a audience. I really wished I'd brought my camera to the concert. I never bring electronic devices to concerts anymore because they always get confiscated when you arrive and then you have to wait for an hour after the show to get your stuff back. Rod didn't care about cameras. He said he liked people taking pictures during the show. I actually recall him saying "Hey, it's your show guys. Have a party...dance on stage..do whatever you want." You have to be careful when you say that sort of thing in Vegas. It didn't take long before a large group of women actually did storm the stage. They were all quickly whisked away by security, although in fairness, Rod did personally invite them up there. The women were persistent though. Throughout the evening they would throw bras and even expensive Jimmie Choo shoes on stage. Rod seem perplexed about the shoes. He picked one up and sang to it at some point. Then he shouted out to the audience "Why do you just throw one shoe? One shoe is totally useless. Throw me the other one too."

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening last night. This is my kind of rock n' roll. I never cared about totally fabricated PR creations like Lady GaGa. I never cared much for self proclaimed blues legends like Amy Winehouse who sing a few song and go kill themselves. Jeez guys, the blues is people like B.B. King and John Lee Hooker. You live a long, hard life and you sing about it. You don't sing a few songs and kill yourself.

I don't know what this world is coming to. I'm convinced though that it would be a much better place of there were a lot more Rod Stewart's and a lot fewer Mark Zuckerberg's. Sure, Rod isn't perfect. The guy's been married a million times. At least he's honest about his life though. I'm sure a lot of uber-geeks are still with their first wife because they're terrified of how much they'd lose in the divorce settlement. A true rocker is never terrified. One of my favorite Rod Stewart quotes is when he told somebody, "I not getting married again, I'm just going to go find a woman I can't stand and buy her a house."

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 631

If I told a veterinarian that one of my dogs was showing signs of pain in the spinal area, they would tell me to bring the dog in immediately for a CAT scan so they could identify the pinched nerve. When my doctor finally called me back and I explained my condition to him, he told me to put an ice pack on it. This, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with out medical system today. Veterinary Hospitals are for profit businesses that attract customers by providing the advanced services people want at prices they can afford. Doctors and hospitals operate by a completely different business model. Their customer isn't the patient. It is the insurance company that ultimately pays them. They know exactly what the insurance companies will approve and what they won't approve and design their care accordingly. I certainly don't blame the doctors. They're just trying to make the best of a very bad system. It is the insurance companies that are the bad guys.

I didn't tell my doc that I'd already tried an ice pack yesterday. The ice really didn't deaden the pain very much and the ice bag leaked as well, soaking my shirt with cold icy water. I think I'll stick with Bengay rub and my pain pills till I get home.

We had breakfast at the Bellagio this morning. I've always thought this was one of the prettiest hotels in town. The fountains are a work of art in themselves, and if you look up over your head in the main lobby, you'll see the most spectacular blown glass chandelier you could ever imagine by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. Today, there were giant umbrellas hanging all over the place. I have no idea what the umbrellas meant, but they were quite pretty.

We're going to go see Rod Stewart tonight. Jeez, this guy makes me seem young. The guy's a senior citizen and he's dancing around the stage like Mick Jagger....who is also a bona fide senior citizen. Go figure. At any rate, I wish I had a little of whatever they're taking. Most of my memories of Rod Stewart are from the earlier years when he was playing in the Jeff Beck Group with Ron Wood. I also remember Every Picture Tells a Story being one of the best albums of the early 1970's. It will be fun seeing if the guy still has his chops tonight.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 630

Taking a trip to Las Vegas while I was suffering from severe neck pain probably wasn't the smartest thing I've even done. How was I to know? Vegas almost always works for me. Although it might seem implausible to some, the place relaxes me. I always learn something new when I'm here. Las Vegas is probably the one place on the planet where people of every race, religion, age, social status, and belief system can happily share the same space without a hint of a problem. Spent an hour sitting on a bench watching people walk by and you can paint a fairly accurate picture of where the world is headed. You can always tell who the successful countries are by what languages you hear the most in the casinos. Not surprisingly, I'm hearing a lot of German and Mandrin. I've never seen so many people from mainland China in Las Vegas before. There used to be a ton of Japanese tourists, but it appears the Chinese have taken over the lead in decadence.

That's one thing you have to remember about America. We may have lost our edge in manufacturing and technology, but we are still totally world class when it comes to decadence. People come here from all over the world to learn from the masters. This morning I saw a group of Chinese having their pictures taken in front of an under construction sign for the new Kardashian Khaos store. The store wasn't even there yet, but people were still fascinated.

This has been my weirdest trip to Las Vegas yet. I feel like I've taken a ride in the Tardis and gone forward twenty or thirty years onto my own future. I'm walking around just as slowly and painfully as the legions of stooped old men you see in the casinos who are too proud to use one of those electric scooters. I'm confidant that the current pain in my neck will be resolved shortly, but there will come a time when it will be like this every single day. That's certainly what happened to my Mom and Dad. By the time each of them died, they were ready to go. The pain had beaten them.

I've got a call into my doctor to ask him if I should cut my trip short and come home now. I'm kind of in uncharted territory here and I don't want to do anything that could make things worse. It will be a miracle if he even returns my call. I don't seem to be a very high priority to doctors. Oddly, if I had called my vet about the dogs, I can almost guarantee that the call would be returned within fifteen minutes. Dot and Dash get much better medical care than I do.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 629

I woke up this morning at the Mirage. This has always been my favorite hotel in Las Vegas. Even though it's older now and starting to look a bit frayed around the edges, I still prefer the Mirage to current favorites like The Winn or Bellagio. The Mirage definitely has the best pool in town. I don't think anyone else even comes close to this huge tropical oasis with dozens of mature palm trees and at least three waterfalls. I was particularly interested in these waterfalls this morning. I thought if I stood under them for a while, the water pounding down on my back would help unknot some of the tension and give me a bit of relief. I didn't know what to expect when I got under the waterfall, but it was actually quite pleasant. I might have stayed under the water too long though. Two hours later, I can feel an additional component of soreness has been added to my pain. I am getting lots of advice. Some people say ice packs will help. Others say heat is the answer. So far, nobody's advice, including my own doctor's, has made one bit of difference.

It's fun watching Dot and Dash on the webcam. They both do the same silly things that they do at home. Dot usually get the blue dog bed in the kennel run first, but within minutes she finds something to bark at and runs up to the glass in front. Dash immediately steals her bed and won't give it back to her. This type of activity can go on for hours.

It seems like every aging musician in the world is playing Vegas now. Garth Brooks is at The Winn. Rod Stewart is at Caesar's Palace. Donny & Marie are at the Flamingo. Crosby and Nash are at Mandalay Bay. I don't know what happened to Stills and Young. Maybe those two did a better job of hanging on to their money.

We'll probably do some gambling this evening. I'm definitely not a big time gambler, but the games are fun in moderation. Sometimes, Janet and I can even pick up some tips from the pro roulette dealers touse at Dalmatian Rescue events.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 628

I’m writing this at 38,000 feet. I doubt that I’ll be able to post the blog until we land again, but it’s a good time to write. I don’t know how Janet managed to get us upgraded to first class without paying any more. She’s a lot better at travel planning than I am. I’d almost forgotten how much nicer first class is than coach. I don’t get up to the front of the plane much anymore. There’s plenty of room for your feet up here. The flight attendants are nicer. They even serve you a real meal. I could get used to this. I’m sure the next time I fly, I’ll be right back in coach however. If my clients are paying, I’ll definitely be back in coach.

I think it took longer to get the dogs ready for the boarding kennel than it took to pack our own bags. We packed their food, their meds, their dog treats and their toys. I’m sure Janet probably threw in a few dog blankies into their bag as well. I think we’ll be able to watch them on a webcam when we arrive. I’ve learned that live webcams aren’t very reliable though. About half the time when I go to view one, it has already crashed.

Janet is convinced that if I could just learn to relax, my neck pain would go away immediately. I don’t think it’s this simple, but I’m certainly willing to give it a try. When we get to our hotel, I’ll probably just upload this and immediately go to sleep with my special u-shaped pillow wrapped around my neck.

Tomorrow is another day. I may feel fabulous tomorrow. The hotel mattress is probably a lot better than our mattress at home, which has been ruined over the years by large dogs jumping all over it. Just a good night’s sleep would probably make a world of difference.

Domino: today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 627

Well, it was back to the doctor for another muscle relaxer shot this morning. I woke up feeling just about as bad as I did yesterday. I don't think that my head is getting the proper support when I sleep, because these neck spasms always seem to be worse in the morning. This time, I made sure they gave me some Tramadol along with the muscle relaxers and by afternoon, the pain seemed a lot better.

It probably is stress that is causing the problem. I've got a trip coming up and I never travel well. I always wait until the last possible minute to pack and plan and consequently, the final hours before any sort of a trip are usually a madhouse. Janet is exactly the opposite. She's usually packed and ready to go a full week ahead of time. I'm usually still not packed and ready to go when I'm walking through the TSA scanners at the airport. At any rate, I really hope I can get this neck pain issue resolved before I leave. It's not going to be a pleasant trip if I still feel the way I do now.

I hope I'll get to watch Dr. Who this evening. Writing the blog has really cut into my TV watching time. I haven't seen any of the new Dr. Who episodes yet, and I've only seen one full episode of Project Runway this season. I never used to miss Project Runway, but there just doesn't seem to be time anymore. Maybe TV isn't as much fun now that I can't drink. We used to always have martinis while we watched Project Runway and somehow the show doesn't seem quite the same completely sober.

I decided to copy all the important software I use everyday over to my laptop this afternoon. You'd think this would be a routine, easy process, but it didn't turn out that way. Some things wanted to go back into demo mode even though the instructions said that a single license could be used on two computers. Quark Express and Quickbooks seemed the hardest to install. I finally got these two registered as well after a couple of calls to customer service, but it shouldn't have been this hard. I do feel better after doing this however. Now, I don't just have my files backed up, I have the applications I need to make the files backed up as well.

Domino: today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 626

I don't know what's wrong with me. I woke up this morning with terrible neck pain. It was so bad that it took me almost ten minutes to get out of bed. I couldn't move my head left or right. I couldn't lift my head normally either. It felt like a big watermelon on top of my body. To sit upright in bed, I had to cradle my head in my hands and use my arms muscles to lift my head off the pillow.

All this was not looking good. Luckily Janet was able to walk the dogs for me this morning before she left for work. While she was doing this, I drove up to my doctor so I would be there when they opened at 8 AM. The doctor didn't think there were any neurological problems. She seemed to think the pain was a muscle spasm and gave me a muscle relaxer shot along with a prescription for an other type of muscle relaxer that I could take for up to 30 days. The shot worked. I felt much better by lunch time. I'm not so sure about the pills though. When the shot started to wear off, I took one of the pills, but haven't noticed much improvement yet. Maybe if I'm able to get a good night's sleep tonight, I'll feel better in the morning.

When I went to my pharmacy to get the pills, the pharmacist said they were out and that they'd been on back order for almost a month. When I asked what I could do, he said I could buy the $65 name brand version of the muscle relaxer, instead of the $5 generic version. There was apparently plenty of the more expensive pills. I remember reading an article just yesterday about how hospitals and pharmacies are having an increasing problem keeping certain essential drugs in stock. The pharmacist said it was all true and that a lot of drugs people really need just aren't readily available anymore. At any rate, I bought the expensive drug. What choice did I have?

I still had some writing jobs to complete this afternoon, but when I got caught up on everything, I took a nap with the dogs. The muscle relaxers must have helped, because I finally got a little sleep. Last night I didn't get any sleep at all. My doctor thinks stress is causing the pain. I seldom think I'm stressed out, but sometimes my body tells me otherwise. How do you relax when you don't even think you are tense though? Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 625

I'm enjoying taking my daily Instagram pictures. These casual little pictures remind me that there are still small moments of beauty in even the most ordinary of days. I guess the whole purpose of this blog is to remind me of these same small moments, but it's easy to forget when your day mainly consists of tasks and responsibilities.

The postman knocked on the door this morning and told me that he thought I had a plumbing leak, because water was streaming down the driveway and into the street. It really wasn't a plumbing leak at all. I was just watering a tree in the front yard and had forgotten to turn the water off. This lapse of memory falls into the same category as forgetting to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer after a load is finished, or forgetting to take the trash out to the street. I wasn't going to tell the mailman, but these things are common occurrences around our house.

I downloaded the new 9.1 update to Quark Express this morning. This upgrade contains the new ePublishing module that lets you create Kindle eBooks and simple iPad apps directly in Quark. I'm really intrigued with having the ability to create my own eBooks without outside help. I've written a ton of stories and it would be nice to have them all in a book sometime. I wonder if anyone would buy an eBook from me though. Virtually everything ever I've written is already available somewhere on the Internet for free.

I woke up this morning with a stiff neck. I thought the pain would go away in an hour or two, but it's still here twelve hours later. I can't hardly move my neck at all without turning my whole body. Sometimes this happens when I fall asleep watching TV with a pillow elevating my head. Whenever this happens, I usually blame the dogs. They move around on the bed so much during the night that they're always waking me up. One thing about neck pain is that it makes you forget about hand and foot pain. Hopefully, I'll sleep properly tonight and feel better in the morning.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 624

We ended the month exactly the same way we started. The dogs got an extended walk through the park. I got a nice breakfast. Then, the clients got their work done. In all these years, I've never missed a deadline. I don't think some clients would actually mind if I missed a deadline, but I don't like to let these jobs linger. They're all like a hot potato that I want to toss back to the sender as soon as I can.

I got done with enough time left over today to go up on the roof with a caulking gun and look for cracks to patch. Even though it's hot and dry now, the rainy season isn't that far away. I'd really like to have the roof sealed again before the Fall rains begin. I don't know how water gets through this roof. I looked and I looked today, but couldn't find any weak spots. I squirted the Henry 209 compound on anything that looked suspicious, but I'm not sure it will do any good. If history is any guide, there will be a drip in the living room again soon after the first heavy downpour.

The dogs were pretty good in class tonight. The weather was a few degrees cooler this evening and it was just enough of a difference to catch their attention. Dash did pretty well with all the exercises for a change, but I don't know what it's going to take for him to win a ribbon again. He used to win ribbons almost every week, but he hasn't finished in the top four for over six months now. Maybe he's adopted the same attitude I now have about advertising awards. I have boxes full of these things in the storage warehouse, but I don't even bother to enter the competitions anymore. What's the point.

It will be September tomorrow. Time for the dog's heartworm pills again. Maybe I'll have French Toast for breakfast instead of my usual biscuits and gravy. That ought to make the day exciting.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 623

Every once in a while I wake up feeling like I'm going to fly like an eagle. Most days a feel a lot more like a pigeon. I hunt and peck. I make a little money. I never end up flying very far from where I started. I typically have a hard time getting up in the morning. Sometimes I stay in the shower until all the hot water runs out. Let's just say I don't start the day singing a rousing chorus of Good Morning Sunshine.

All this being said, I do manage to get a lot done when I finally kick myself into gear. Today I made revisions on just about every website I manage. I finished a couple of articles, took Dash to the vet for his bi-weekly antigen shot, and picked up another month's supply of meds for myself at the pharmacy. The day was a pigeon's dream.

I've been hearing a lot lately about Facebook's new privacy settings. They evidently let you individually select which people you want to see various posts that are on your wall. Sounds like a lot of trouble to me. Facebook still doesn't have the filter I want. I wish they had some kind of zip code filter. I would use it to filter out my neighbors. Increasingly, people I see almost every day are asking me if I saw their Facebook message. Why don't they just tell me in person? It would certainly be a lot easier, because I almost never look at that messages section of Facebook.

I'm keeping the back yard really wet, in hopes that the Fescue seed we planted this weekend will sprout and cover some of the dead patches. So far, the only result of this frequent sprinkling has been two muddy dogs.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 622

We didn't get very far on our morning walk today. Dot saw a lightning bolt way off in the distance and decided that the walk was over. Dot makes all the weather decisions, so we turned around and went home. Since our walk was cut short, I had a lot more time for breakfast this morning. After all Dot's drama, we never did get any rain. It's still dry as a bone. By afternoon, it was just as hot as usual and the dogs made up for lost time by taking a much longer walk than they normally do in the afternoons.

I got listed on Robert Scoble's photographers to follow list today and all the sudden I'm a lot more popular on Google+. It's funny how these things work. The photographs had been there all along, but nobody had told people to look at them yet. I'm certainly not complaining though. This is just the way life works. Just about every good job I got in my life was because somebody noticed that I worked at a well known ad agency and decided they wanted to hire me away. If I had been unemployed and tried to get a job at the very same agency, I doubt that the people who hired me would have even given me an interview.

I spent the afternoon writing an ad for a $995 fountain pen. I don't think I'm really the target audience for this pricey pen. Those free plastic pens you pick up at trade shows work just fine for me. I'm terrible about losing pens too. Pens and umbrellas don't seem to last very long with me. Luxury goods are fascinating though. I've done a lot of advertising for luxury manufacturers over the years and most of these items are just ordinary things that have magically acquired status. People want these things because other people already have them. The ironic thing is that the famous people who give luxury goods their allure, usually never pay for them in the first place. The next time you see somebody looking fabulous on the red carpet, just remember that they never paid a dime for their outfit.

Dash goes to the vet again tomorrow for his antigen shot. I wonder if anyone spends more time in veterinarian's offices than I do. If my dogs don't need something, then my clients do.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 621

On the way home from the dog park, we stopped by Sprinkles again to get some cupcakes for Dot's party. They make dog cupcakes there, but really it's just an excuse to get some for ourselves. Janet seems to think that Dot's birthday is really today anyway. Maybe she's right. I'm terrible with dates. I just looked on the blog from last year and we celebrated her birthday on the 27th then, so I assumed it would be the same this year. Dot's real birthday may be Feburary 4 for all I know. When you rescue a stray, you never really know how old they are or when they were actually born. Most people just make the day they adopt their dog the pet's birthday from that day forward. I don't think Dot or Dash particularly care when they were born. They just wanted a bit of the steak we had for dinner and of course, their special Sprinkles dog cupcake. I think the party was a success.

Earlier in the day we got a call from our vet about some stray puppies that had been found in the park. The pups had spots, so the people who found them thought they might be Dalmatians. The dogs were heartbreakingly thin and looked like they had the mange. The two puppies definitely weren't all Dalmatian, but they were adorable. We see situations like this all the time and it is terribly sad. Who would just dump little puppies like this? One way or another these pups will get healthy again and find good homes. Probably next week there will be another story just like it however. I'm sure there are hundreds of stories just like this all over the country today.

I finished the day by mowing the grass, which was probably a mistake. It was still well above 100 degrees today. It's weird listening to all the reports about the hurricane on the East Coast. You wonder why they get all that rain and we get none? Even though we continue to water, the grass in our back yard has given up the fight. The yard that looked so great in May looks terrible again. I went to Home Depot this afternoon and got some Fescue grass in hopes that I could reseed the dead spots. It's probably hopeless though. I bet I'll be putting in a brand new turf again next Spring. There is just too much shade in the back yard for grass to grow properly.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 620 - Dot's Birthday

We started the day with a trip up to the Velvet Snout to photograph Jordan, our newest Dalmatian Rescue dog. The folks at the kennel initially thought that Jordan was aggressive, since he showed his teeth to them. They'd obviously never seen a Dalmatian smile. A lot of Dalmatians smile when they greet people and it's pretty cute if you've never seen it before. Jordan is really a very gentle dog and he'll be a great companion for someone when he finds his forever home.

Our own Dot had a lot to smile about today. It's her birthday. It's hard to believe that it's already been seven years since we adopted her. We've had at least one Dalmatian in our home for over 25 years now and I can't imagine life without them. I tell people that Dot is my office manager, since whatever I'm doing, she's almost always nearby.

We usually take Dot and Dash out to a dog friendly restaurant on their birthdays, but it's way too hot today to eat dinner on a restaurant patio today. Dot will literally have to take a rain check on her birthday dinner. As soon as it rains again it will probably be 20 degrees cooler.

I'm going to miss the Dr. Who season opener this evening because Janet and I have tickets to see a concert. I don't think there will be any problems catching up with Dr. Who later though. The BBC channel seems to re-run everything they show about ten times a week.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day