Day 701

So far, the entire week has felt like Monday. Even though the week is already half over, today still had that muddled, unfinished quality that I usually associate with Mondays. Luckily, most of today's work involved doing repetitive tasks in Dreamweaver and Photoshop. My brain wasn't operating on all cylinders, but that didn't stop me from resizing photos and cloning web pages.

I don't know if my shoulder is ever going to heal. I thought I was making good progress with my exercises, but this morning Dash tugged real hard when he saw a rabbit and dislocated it again. I kind of dread all the pet pictures we've got scheduled for Friday and Saturday. With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my left wrist and a dislocated right shoulder, I don't look forward to holding a heavy camera all day.

I got an e-mail today saying that Avid Media Composer 6.0 is available now. Seems like I just got the 5.5 release a few weeks ago. I was almost certain that I'd get a free upgrade since I bought Media Composer so recently, but I was wrong. I should have waited one week longer to buy the software. As it stands now, I bought just a little early to qualify for a free upgrade. Damn! No wonder I got such a good deal on Media Composer. They already knew there was a new version ready to be released.

The dogs had to wear their sweaters to training class tonight. I had on a pretty warm coat as well. A cold front blew through around suppertime. By the time we got to class there was a fierce wind blowing and the temperature had dropped twenty five degrees. This is probably just a taste of what's to come. Some of these Winter classes feel more like a test of endurance than a test of our dog's abilities. I've turned up the furnace a bit, so at least it's still T-Shirt weather inside the house.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 700

Some days you're lucky, and other days you aren't. I certainly didn't stumble on a four leaf clover today. The big event of the day turned out to be fixing the toilet in Janet's bathroom. I thought this would be an easy job, but when I went to turn off the water at the shut off valve, I discovered that the valve had rusted and was frozen in the open position. I've learned from prior experience that it's not a good idea to go pounding rusty water valves with a hammer to see if you can get them to move. It's pretty easy to break the valve and end up with tons of water all over the place. I had two choices. I could call a plumber. Or I could try to fix the toilet without turning off the water. I opted for option number two, since I couldn't deal with the dogs barking at a plumber for several hours.

After a trip to Home Depot for supplies, I did manage to fix everything, but it was weird to be working with a wrench and a pair of pliers in a tank full of water to remove and replace the broken parts. Lord knows how long this repair will last, but I bet it will last as long as the repairs done by the last plumber I hired. Maybe I need to start using Angie's List or something. It's really getting hard to find good help.

The rest of the day was spent doing routine website updates. I guess this is the high tech version of fixing toilets. It would be nice to have something exciting to work on, but people don't seem to want to pay me to get excited. They pay me to do things they don't really want to do themselves. If I want to do something fun, I generally have to spend my own money.

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 699

I went up to the Fry's store in Plano today to pick up one of the last available Panasonic SDXC Memory Cards in the area. I guess a lot of stores are discontinuing these cards because nobody wants to pay this much for the extra speed they offer. At any rate, when I went to look up the location of the store on the Internet, there were five comments below the location map that all essentially said "Don't even bother to go to this store because they have the worst service in the universe." I went anyway, because they were the store that still had the memory cards. Sure enough, the service was just as terrible as everybody said. I went at 2 PM when there were very few people in the store and it still took me over 45 minutes to purchase the memory card. Then, when I got home I discovered I had actually bought a used store demo, instead of a new card.

I got all the footage I shot yesterday logged and burned to several DVD's for the editor on the project. I offered to edit the video myself, but I'm kind of glad that nobody took me up on my offer. With all the Dalmatian Rescue Santa Paws photo shoots I've got scheduled for the rest of the year, I really don't need anything else on my plate.

My watch client is starting to sell watches on Shop NBC, which is a lot like QVC. They asked if I'd be interested in being a guest presenter on the show. Sure, I'd be interested, but I don't know if I'd be all that good for sales. I ought to recommend Janet as a presenter. She can sell anything.

The dogs are getting fairly relentless about their evening walk. I was trying to get a press release finished this afternoon when Dot and Dash decided that they'd rather take a walk instead. The both started barking and slapping me with their paws. It wasn't long before I abandoned the press release and got their leashes. I still got the job out on time though after we got back.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 698

I spent most of the day at Pet Fair. The volunteers did a fabulous job of organizing the event this year. There was a little bit of everything. There were tons of games for the kids, including a large bounce house, teddy bear surgery, and something that involved throwing water balloons. One of the most popular areas was the reptile exhibit, where kids who dared, got to touch and even hold large pythons and other snakes. I never dreamed that there would be so many kids who wanted to walk around with a large snake around their neck, but there were lines waiting to get near the reptiles. The girls were just as interested in holding a snake as the boys, and one little girl was so fond of her snake that she sat with the snake in her lap for most of the afternoon. The reptile exhibit was well supervised by two herpetologists, and although I wouldn't want a snake as a pet myself, I'll have to admit that they are interesting animals. While I was filming the reptiles, I noticed that parents were much more skittish around snakes than their children. For the most part, the children were fearless. I guess fear of snakes must be learned behavior.

There was a great neighborhood Doo-Wop band, playing hits from the fifties and sixties. Unlike some garage bands, their harmonies were on key and their musicianship was quite good. Sometimes I think that half the men over forty play in one of these garage bands. They're everywhere, and no charity event would be complete without one. As the afternoon was drawing to a close, a young man in his late twenties came to complain about the noise and said he'd call the cops if the band didn't stop playing immediately. Actually, the cops had been at the event all afternoon, and none of them seemed to have any problems with the band. The ironic thing was that the old men in the band were the rockers and the young guy complaining was the old fuddy-duddy. Nobody seems to want to accept their role in life these days. It gets confusing sometimes.

The new Panasonic camera is fabulous. One of the first things I noticed about shooting with a memory chip camera is that you can actually use the on-board mics. Since there are no moving parts in the camera, it operates completely silently. The next thing I noticed was how light the camera was. After years of carrying a Beta-SP camera around on my shoulder, this thing seemed almost weightless. The picture quality was amazing, especially considering that I didn't bring any lights and there were hard shadows everywhere. I think I'm going to like shooting with this camera!

Dot and Dash were a bit miffed that they didn't get their usual trip to the dog park today. Hey, you can't do everything. To make up for this faux-pas, I did take them on a longer than usual evening walk. By the time they finished dinner, I think they'd forgotten all about the dog park. Tomorrow, it's back to our usual schedule.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 697

I shop at Sam's Club frequently. It's definitely not my favorite store, but prices are low. The irritating thing about Sam's it that once you get used to buying something, they package it in a larger container and make you buy even more. Instead of buying two bottles on Windex, you have to buy three. Almost every week, something gets less convenient to buy. Today, I needed to get butter, and instead of the normal boxes with four sticks of butter to a pound, they just packaged the butter in giant one pound slabs. You had to buy four of these slabs at a time. The huge mounds of butter wouldn't even begin to fit on a butter dish. Who needs this much butter? I passed on this item and went on to the next thing on my list: glucosamine chondroitin pills. I had to buy two large jars. Much to my chagrin, I found that I already had glucosamine when I got home.

When the shopping and laundry was done, I experimented with my editing software to see if it was going to be easier to edit files from my new video camera in Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer. Final Cut seemed the clear winner. This may be because I know Final Cut backwards and forwards, while I'm still learning to use Media Composer. On the other hand, Final Cut Pro may be easier to edit with, because it transcodes the AVCHD files to ProRes, while Avid tries to edit them directly. I don't think my computer is fast enough to edit AVCHD files directly.

We're still having spectacular sunsets. Tonight, the dogs and I got quite a show on our evening walk. The sky seemed like it was on fire. It was almost like that scene in The Poison Sky episode of Dr. Who where the earth's atmosphere burns. If the dogs would actually stay put while I told them to stay, I could have gotten a few more pictures. With squirrels to chase and strong smells everywhere, I'm lucky to get any clear images at all. The iPhone doesn't help matters either, since there is no control over shutter speed. At dusk, most iPhone pictures are blurry anyway.

Tomorrow is Pet Fair. I'll be taking video footage of the event from noon through 4 PM. This is an event for kids, so I'll probably have plenty of pictures of bounce houses, face painting, and children holding puppies. Hopefully, it won't rain.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 696 - Veteran's Day

Both of my parents served in the Navy. They were so proud of their service that they both requested military funerals, long after they returned to civilian life. One of my favorite art director partners, back in my ad agency days, was in the Marine Corps before he discovered the ad biz. Several of my high school and college buddies went to either West Point or the Air Force Academy, and just about everyone on my Mom's side of the family was career military. All these connections to the military life have disappeared. I don't know anyone personally who is serving in the military these days. All I know is what I see on TV. I remember my parents and my friends though and the dedication with which they served. I think all our veterans, past, present and future, deserve a tremendous amount of respect.

Watching a parade on TV this morning was as close as I got to a Veteran's Day celebration. It was a just another normal Friday for me, full of projects that really should have been finished on Wednesday. Weekends are more enjoyable for both my clients and myself if there aren't any unfinished projects lingering on my desk, so I usually stay busy on Fridays. By the end of the day, I had everything finished and I'm ready to face to weekend.

The photo above was part of an ad campaign I did several years ago for a client who insisted on basing their entire marketing efforts around their logo, which just happened to be a flag. I must have taken pictures of every flag in Dallas, looking for the perfect pictures to illustrate the campaign. For a while, I thought all these flag images would be great for stock photography, but all the stock photo houses told me that they had plenty of flags already. I still find a use for these pictures occasionally, but not very often. Hey, if you need a good flag picture, I'm your guy.

There's basically only one day to get all the weekend errands done this week. On Sunday, I'm supposed to take video footage of the Pet Fair animal rescue event. With all this going on, I'm not sure how we'll get our own dogs to the dog park on Sunday, but I'm sure where there's a will, there's a way.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 695

I was watching one of those Lynda.com training CD's today to brush up on software I use in my work. Even though I tried to stay focused, I kept falling asleep. The training CD was well produced and very professional. The problem was that the subject matter was totally boring. This is stuff I do all the time. Let's face it. A lot of what I do is boring. I just needed to watch the CD, so I could learn how to do the boring stuff faster and hopefully, a lot more productively. The instructions that came with the CD said it would only take me half a day to watch all the course material. Wrong! I think it's going to take me about three weeks. My head is so filled with useless technical information already, that I'm going to have to take this new information in small chunks so it won't explode.

There's the new camera I've got to master as well. This little learning exercise is a bit easier, since the new camera is just a better version of equipment I'm already familiar with. I practice taking little movies of the dogs in the back yard after lunch. I not quite ready for prime time yet, but it shouldn't take that long. Sometimes this continual learning process gets tiring. It's absolutely essential though. If I didn't try to stay ahead of the curve and discover new and better ways of doing things, I wouldn't even have a business today.

One of the rescue groups I work with is having a big fund-raising event this Sunday. We had our final run through meeting tonight and the whole thing seemed quite complicated. I was glad that my task on Sunday was taking video of the event and not setting up tents or running the silent auction.

We're still having beautiful sunsets just about every evening. I hope you're enjoying them as much as I am.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 694

I think the French Toast I made myself for breakfast might have been the high point of the day. I didn't have any writing deadlines, so I thought I'd try to finish the rest of the videos I've been editing for my medical client's website. I made pretty good progress, but I've still got one more video to go. The odd thing is that even though my computer is much faster than the ones I used to edit with ten years ago, it still takes me just as long to render things. Back then I was editing standard definition 4x3 video and now I'm editing 16x9 high definition video. There's so much more information to crunch that my speedy new computer doesn't save me any time at all.

One of these days pretty soon, I'm going to have to walk the dogs real early and then go back and retrace my steps with a camera. I've been encountering beautiful sunsets and evening skies just about every day this week. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to take any photos that I could sent to the stock photo agency, since all I have with me when I walk the dogs is my iPhone.

Today's market sell-off was discouraging. It's getting to seem like market fundamentals don't mean anything. The market just bounces around wildly on rumors and fears. There isn't much difference between investing and gambling anymore. People who bet on sporting events can produce just as many charts and statistics as market technicians. Unfortunately, neither bookies or brokers can predict the future. The best either can do is look at past results and establish probabilities. Actually, I think sports fan might have the upper hand these days. If you know your teams and players, you probably have a better chance of winning your bet than folks who play the market like me. Will Europe implode and create a financial black hole that sucks us all in? That's what the smart money thought today, but in truth, nobody really knows.

The dogs definitely knew there was training class tonight. By 7 PM, they were circling around the front door, waiting for us to put their leashes on. They're not always obedient in obedience class, but they do seem to enjoy going.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 693 - Election Day

I went and voted today. I'm still not sure what I voted on however. It was a strange election. There were no actual candidates running. There were no TV ads. There weren't even a bunch of signs on sticks, telling you what to vote for in front of the polling place. It was kind of a stealth election. The only things on the ballot were some obscurely worded referendums that all seemed to be designed to give the state additional authority to sell bonds and collect taxes. I hate these kind of referendums. The wording is so convoluted that it's quite possible to end up voting exactly the opposite of the way you intended. No wonder there was no advertising. I don't think the politicians really wanted anyone to understand these referendums.

The weather report said there would be rain today. Sure enough, it did rain. It rained for about thirty minutes while I walked the dogs this morning. As soon as we got home, the rain quit and it was nice the rest of the day. By the time I got the dogs clean and dry again, I had enough wet towels to do another load of laundry.

It took forever to get my November invoices out this afternoon, mostly because my envelope printer wasn't working properly. It either chewed up the envelopes, or spit them out unprinted. Eventually I got everything printed and mailed, but it would have been easier if I had a printer with a foolproof paper path. Paper handling seems to be the weakest link in just about every printer I've owned. Paper jams are common in the big production printer and even more common in the general purpose printers. I don't know why someone can't design a really precise paper path that never gets out of alignment. Who knows? Maybe it's the paper itself that is causing the problems.

I think I'm going to have to start walking the dogs earlier in the evenings. Not only was it completely dark when I got home this evening, I also heard coyotes barking nearby when a firetruck went by in the distance.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 692

I'm glad I stayed on schedule today. About five minutes after we returned from our evening walk, it started pouring rain. The rain was a surprise, since it was quite nice outside during our walk. I even managed to get some decent sunset shots with my iPhone. Since we often take our walks around sunset at this time of year, I wish I could take a better camera with me. That would be a recipe for disaster though. The dogs can still knock me off my feet if they both see something they want to chase at the same time. The iPhone would probably survive being dropped on the ground. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the other cameras. Heavy, expensive cameras and Dalmatians just don't mix.

One of my clients called this morning and asked if I had time for a rush project that he needed by the end of the day. Sure. No problem. Monday's are always dead. I think everyone must be in status meetings or something. I rarely get new jobs on Monday. Things pick up a bit on Tuesdays, and by the time Friday rolls around, people can't seem to wait to get their hot potato projects off their own desk and on to mine.

After I got my regular work done today, I continued working my way through the AG-AF-100 instruction manual. The more I read, the more impressed I've become. This little camera will definitely meet my needs for the next few years. Eventually, it will become obsolete, just like my Beta-SP equipment, but for the time being, I'm good to go.

Tomorrow, Dash gets his antigen shot again. It's also election day. I guess I'll go vote, but I'm still not sure what I'm voting on. I don't think anyone is running for office in our district. I'm pretty sure it's just a bunch of state referendums this time. Referendums are tricky. They are usually worded in such confusing language that it's easy to end up voting just the opposite of the way you intended. I also need to try to get my monthly invoices out tomorrow. Invoices aren't confusing at all. They're just frustrating, since people pay so slow.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 691

Most of the clocks in the house have been dutifully set back an hour, but I certainly don't feel like I've gained an hour today. Since we slept in a bit later than usual this morning, our extra hour was gone before we even got up. The time might have changed, but nothing else did. After breakfast, we took the Dot and Dash up to Wagging Tail Dog Park and on the way home we stopped by Vhea's LaundroMutt and gave them a bath. We don't give the dogs a bath every Sunday; just when we realize that they've started smelling like dogs again.

I mowed the grass for what is hopefully the last time this season. The yard will soon be covered with leaves and the lawn mower will be returned to the greenhouse again, where it generally serves as a Winter home for wayward rats.

In between chores, I started reading the owner's manual for the new AG-AF100 camera. Jeez, this thing is complicated. It supports both NTSC and PAL. You can shoot in 60i, 24p, 50i, 30p, plus a few other formats I'd never even heard of. There are so many options that the instruction manuel is an inch thick. All I basically learned today was how to set the day/date clock.

I got an e-mail from Design Within Reach this weekend, telling me that they were putting all their Sonno mattresses and bedding on sale. 15% off on everything! You'd think they could have told us this when we bought our mattress a few weeks ago. All they would have to have said was "hey, just wait a few weeks and you'll save some money." Few salespeople will do that though. They're all afraid that you'll change your mind and not buy anything.

The dogs certainly haven't changed their mind about the neighbor's cat. The cat jumped out right in front of us on the way home from our evening walk today and Dot and Dash just about pulled my arms out of their sockets trying to get at it. I'm pretty sure that these dogs are the source of all my shoulder and neck problems. You can't really blame them though. They're just acting like normal dogs.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 690

On weekends, I forget about website problems for a while and concentrate on problems around the house. The one thing that websites and household problems seem to have in common is that once fixed, they never seem to stay fixed for very long.

The first thing on today's agenda was trying to get rid of the rust stains on the ceiling where water had leaked in at some point in the past. I used to just paint over these stains, but they would always seep through the new paint in a matter of weeks. Now, I get up on a ladder and take a rag soaked with bleach and bleach the stains away. I've been avoiding this for quite a while, because if the bleach drips from the rag, it usually ruins whatever is directly below. I was more or less successful today, and the ceiling looks a lot better than it did before.

The second thing on my list was taking care of the slow drains in the bathroom. I went to Home Depot and came home with some new plungers, but that isn't what I really wanted. I had meant to buy one of those CO2 powered drain cleaners that sends a powerful blast of carbon dioxide through the pipes to clear out the gunk. I asked the plumbing guys at the store where these things were, because they work like gangbusters. They told me that they had to quit selling them because they were considered "dangerous." Jeez, just about everything that actually works is dangerous. I'm really getting tired of somebody else deciding if something is safe enough for me to use. I think I'm perfectly capible of deciding these things for myself.

I finally decided to open the box with the camera inside. It's a good thing I did. The first thing I encountered inside the box was a piece of paper saying that if I didn't register the camera within one month of purchase, the warranty was no good. I immediately went to the Panasonic website and got everything registered just under the wire.

We're got to remember to set the clocks back tonight. I used to hate time changes, because I felt compelled to reset most of the watches in my collection. Now, I don't even bother. The iPhone and the computer automatically reset themselves when the time changes and a couple of radio controlled watches do as well. That's enough for me. I still don't like the time change though, because it means that tomorrow evening, I'll probably be walking the dogs in the dark.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 689

We had our first frost last night. I'm still not sure what the difference is between a frost and a freeze, but it must have gotten below 32 degrees at some point. When I walked the dogs this morning, there were still ice crystals on a lot of the plants in shady areas the sun hadn't reached yet. As the weather gets colder, I start dressing warmer. When it gets real cold, the dogs have coats as well. For the most part, I like these Winter walks. We seldom have to compete with joggers and mountain bikes on the trails during the Winter. From now through Spring, we pretty much have the park to ourselves in the mornings.

Of course, we usually have the rest of the day to ourselves as well. Today was no exception. When we got back from making tracks in the frosty grass, I made a pot of coffee, fried some eggs and got started on another day. These days all kind of blend together. I can't even remember which websites I modified today. I wrote another watch article, which seemed very much like the one I wrote yesterday. I paid a few bills, and since it was Friday, I went to Central Market to pick up some things for dinner. Just another normal day.

We've added a few new locations to our Christmas pet photo schedule. I don't look forward to lugging the equipment to yet another venue, but I am glad that we've got an opportunity to make some additional money for the Dalmatians. The new muslin backdrop arrived this week, so the people who come to these events every year will finally get pictures that look a little different than the year before. Santa has lost some weight this year as well, so I need to remember to punch new holes in Santa's big leather belt. I think everything is ready, and there's still several weeks until our first event.

I think Winter is officially here. If the weather cooperates this weekend, I'll mow the grass for the last time this season. There won't be any rotting pumpkins on the front porch this Winter, because I never got around to buying one this year. I've noticed that the leaves are already starting to fall off the large Oak trees in the back yard. Hopefully the leaves will cover up some of the bare spots in the lawn.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 688

When I was washing the breakfast dishes this morning, a rather large lizard walked across the kitchen counter and headed straight toward the pile of plates I had just cleaned. I tried, and ultimately failed, to catch the lizard. It's still around the house somewhere. There was a time when this would have really bothered me and I would have spent the rest of the day trying to find the little reptile. I just don't care anymore. We live near a large wooded area and every time it gets cold, critters somehow manage to find a way inside. I guess a house lizard isn't so bad. At least it isn't a mouse or a rat.

As much as I hate going to the dentist, I think I'm going to have to go back again very soon. During my last visit, the dentist told me that one of my wisdom teeth was crowding the rest of my teeth so badly that it simply had to go. Oddly, it's the wisdom tooth on the other side of my mouth that is bothering me now. Nevertheless, I'm starting to agree with the dentist's assessment. Something has to be done. I'm dreading this, but I'll make an appointment to see an oral surgeon next week.

I had to go to a lighting store today to look for a halogen bulb to replace a burned out bulb in one of the living room lamps. While I was there, I noticed that LED bulbs were finally getting bright enough to be a viable replacement for the remaining incandescent lights in the house. There were lots of LED bulbs that claimed to be as bright as a seventy-five watt incandescent light bulb. There was even one large and very expensive LED that claimed to be as bright as a 150 watt bulb. These LED bulbs still have a way to go however. The big fifty dollar LED was rated at an output of 1200 lumens, while the little halogen bulb I needed for the living room lamp output a commanding 2800 lumens. Hmmm. $7.95 vs. $49.95. You can guess which bulb I went home with.

When I woke up this morning, I was convinced that this was going to be the day I got caught up with everything. Nope. It didn't happen. Just about the time I finished my daily watch article, I got a bunch of emergency web updates that needed attention. The big brown Panasonic box near my desk is still unopened.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 687

All day long I've been hearing that a big cold front was on its way. By tomorrow morning it's supposed to get down to thirty-five degrees. The front didn't really arrive until I took the dogs on their evening walk. Just when we reached the halfway point, the wind picked up and leaves started blowing off the trees. The temperature dropped ten degrees in just a few minutes. The dogs seemed alarmed by this rapid change of affairs and were eager to get home again. The temperature continued to drop as I ate dinner, but it wasn't enough to cancel dog training class. Nobody, except for me, seems to want to wimp out on dog class, so the training went on as usual.

Some dogs were excited by the wind and others were scared of it. Most of the people were just wishing they'd worn a warmer jacket.

I got an e-mail today saying that there was a typo in one of the websites I manage. Apparently, it's should have been its. I'll admit that I should have noticed this error. Other people should have noticed the error too. Guess how long the error has been online? Would you believe eight years! I guess this proves that people just look at the pictures.

I hope it doesn't take me eight years to open the Panasonic box sitting next to my desk. It's been sitting there almost a month now with a new camera inside. Every day, I think I'm going to have time to put this camera through its paces, but then something comes up and I postpone things for another day. If history is any guide, I probably won't open the box until I need the camera for a job. I'm the same way with shoes. I have shoes that I really like, but have never taken out of the box, because the right occasion never comes up. My dog walking shoes are worn out though. That's all I seem to need these days: a warm coat and a good pair of dog walking shoes.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 686

The days are getting visibly shorter. I wish this meant something philosophically, but I think it just means I will be walking the dogs in the dark soon. I'm not looking forward to Winter. I don't mind the cold, because I have lots of warm jackets. I do mind the darkness though. Darkness usually makes me feel even more melancholy than usual.

The new muslin backdrop for the Dalmatian Rescue Christmas photos arrived today. We must have a new FedEx delivery guy in the neighborhood, because for the past few weeks I've been playing a game of "find the package" every time a shipment arrives. Today's parcel was left at the side of the house, instead of near the front door where the regular Fedex guy leaves things. I probably never would have found the box if I hadn't stumbled over it while taking the dogs on their evening walk. Front door next time guys!

In hopes that their inventory might have improved, I went to Home Depot this afternoon looking for a new utility pump for the roof. They still had the same inferior pumps they had last year. The service guy working the plumbing aisle confirmed that these pumps were junk, and then told that he once owned a real good pump himself. He said it was blue and made of metal, unlike the plastic pumps on the shelves. I asked where I could get this pump, because this was exactly what I wanted. I had one like this myself once. It was made in the USA and it lasted ten years. The company that made it probably doesn't even exist anymore.

Last week I got a frantic note asking me to add some information to a client's website. Oops! Somehow, I never got around to this task. This morning I got an equally frantic note asking me to take the information down again. Wow! That was an easy job. I just sent a quick e-mail that said "done." Sometimes procrastination works in your favor.

Did I tell you that I was disgusted with the stock market? Oh that's right, I did that yesterday.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 685 - Halloween

We didn't do any Halloween pet pictures for Dalmatian Rescue this year. Last year, there was a tornado warning during our photo event and nobody came. The year before, we were at Unleashed Indoor Dog Park and I photographed a boatload of animals in costumes. I enjoy taking pictures of animals in costumes, but I'll be the first to admit that it's an acquired taste. A lot of people seem to think that dressing up a dog isn't "serious" photography. I tell these people to look at William Wegman. His whimsical portraits of his Weimaraners Man Ray and Fay Ray are hanging in some of the best museums in the country.

Without silly looking dogs to photograph, Halloween was just an ordinary day. I wrote another watch article and then tried to make sense of the 2012 enrollment documents I had to fill out before the end of the day to continue my health insurance plan. These enrollment documents are always confusing for me, since I am both the employer and the employee in my health insurance plan. Should I check the box that says "Employer will pay 100% of the cost and the employee pays nothing," or should I check the box that says "Employer pays nothing and the employee pays 100% of the cost? Actually, whatever box I check I end up paying exactly the same: way too much.

In September, my broker convinced me to buy some inverse positions to protect myself against a serious market downturn that he though was imminent. I sold those positions at a loss this week after one of the best bull runs this year. Go figure. I'm very discouraged by my results in the market this year. Basically, I still don't see many positive things about the economy in real life, so I'm easily swayed by bearish arguments. On the other hand, I know that traders are becoming increasingly sophisticated at gaming the system and turning bad news into a profit. I still believe in the old "buy low, sell high" adage, but when the lows and highs occur on the same day, it's real hard to keep up with things.

Until I figure out the intricacies of investing, I'll continue to plug away at copywriting and photography. I think the dogs have a much easier life.

Roxie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day