Day 824

There is a big storm on the way with as much as eight inches of rain predicted for tomorrow. Like it or not, today was the day to bag up all the leaves in the yard and get them out to the curb for bulky trash day. If the leaves become waterlogged again, we'll be stuck with them for another month. Today was the day to try and get the roof patched as well. It's been dry for a while now, so it's easier to spot the small cracks where water gets inside.

Before tackling these tiring chores, we took Dot and Dash to the dog park. Dot is back to her old self again. The park is turning green again, which is a big improvement over the pile of dirt it is in the Winter. While the dogs were playing, we saw Dash try to protect Dot from an overly aggressive dog. We've never seen this before. I think dogs send signals to each other that we don't see or hear. Dash probably understood that Dot was still vulnerable and not quite herself. Dash was quite the hero, chasing the big black dog who was trying to hump every dog in the park away from Dot.

When we got back home, it was time for work. Janet and I must have bagged thirty bags of leaves in the back yard. The leaf blower sent an almost equal number into the street in front of the house where passing eighteen wheelers scattered them to the four winds. The yard looks much better now and is ready for a new St. Augustine turf to be installed in early April. I still can't believe the turf we put in last year only lasted one year. I think I'm going to till the soil before installing the new grass this time. The grass people said not to do this last year, but I don't think they realized how hard the clay in the backyard is. The roots never got established, even though we watered constantly. Hopefully, tilling the soil and adding some additional topsoil will help this time.

With a big rain coming, I knew I had one last chance to find the roof leak and patch it. I did find one little hole that still looked damp when the rest of the roof was dry. I dragged the shop vac up on the roof and tried to suck water out of this hole before I patched it. Amazingly, over two gallons of water came out. There is something a bit hopeless about this entire situation. I need an entirely new roof. Unfortunately, I can't really afford one yet. I keep patching and hoping for the best.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. Janet and I are tired. The dogs are tired. We're ready as we can be for whatever comes our way.

Nick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 823 - St. Patrick's Day

Dot is doing a lot better today. Since she doesn't have a limp or any lingering effects from yesterday's trauma, I'm inclined to think she really did have a seizure. We'll never know for sure though, since I wasn't there when it happened. The important thing is that Dot is more or less back to normal.

Health is so important, for people and animals. I got two e-mails today from the families of friends who are losing their battle with cancer. One friend was a college classmate and the other an animal rescue volunteer. It's sobering to realize how tenuous our hold on health can be. One minute you're fine and the next minute, you're facing the battle of your life. I saw both my parents lose their grip on good health, and I'm sure my day will come as well. We all need to learn not to waste the good years we are given.

I seldom edit this blog, but I realized this morning that today was actually St. Patrick's Day and not yesterday. I don't know what made me think that the holiday was yesterday. Probably I just saw some news anchors on TV wearing green ties and didn't think any further about the subject. At any rate, I moved the St. Patrick's Day header from yesterday's post to today's. I'd hate for people to think that I'm so out of touch that I don't even know when I am experiencing a holiday.

I was going to bag up the leaves in the back yard this afternoon, mostly because I've been seeing my neighbors bag up their leaves. This means that the trash people will probably be picking up leaves this week. It wouldn't have been good to bag up the leaves today though. It rained last night and each bag would have been twice as heavy as it should be. Maybe if the weather is nice tomorrow, I can still get everything bagged up in time. I think there is only one leaf pick-up day all year, so I'd better not miss this one.

I got another letter from the Missouri Department of Revenue today. I was shocked. They actually admitted that I was right and that I didn't owe any Missouri State Tax after all. They thanked me for my input and said they would close out all my tax files. I guess this is good news, but it still doesn't answer the question of why I had a Missouri tax file in the first place. Like I said earlier, I've never lived in Missouri.

Tomorrow looks like a good day to go to the dog park. It also looks like a good day to do yard work. We'll go to the dog park first, and hopefully there won't be much time left to do yard work when we return.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 822

We had a dog emergency today. The day started normally enough. We fed the dogs and I took them on their morning walk. Both Dot and Dash were energetic and eager, just like they usually are. When we returned, I went out for breakfast. I was only gone an hour, but when I got home again, Dot couldn't walk anymore. I would lift her up and she would just fall over. She couldn't stand at all. I immediately rushed her to the vet. I wasn't sure if she had a seizure, if she had somehow torn her anterior cruciate ligaments, or if something life threatening was happening.

Dot was still real shaky when I got her to the vet, but over the next hour she appeared to stabilize and was able to stand again. The vet agreed that she probably had a seizure, but nobody knew why. Dot, unlike Dash, has never had a history of seizures. The vet did blood work to make sure she hadn't gotten a tick borne disease and then checked all her vital signs. Everything seemed normal. I left Dot at the vet for several hours, just in case she might have another seizure. Seizures often come in clusters of three. Nothing happened for the rest of the day however, and Dot is back home with us. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to believe that anything had happened at all.

While Dot was under observation at the vet, I took my tax files over to my accountant. This year, instead of fat ring binders and bulging accordion files, I just took them a disk with all my Quickbooks information. The disk is all they really want anyway. Last year, I took over a stack of papers almost a foot thick and I don't even think they looked at them. After finally getting Quickbooks configured exactly the way my accountant wanted, you'd think my taxes would be less expensive to prepare. Nope! Somehow, they're actually more expensive to prepare now.

After dropping off my files at the accountant's office, I headed back to the vet to check on Dot. On the way, I stopped by my rental property to see if my tenant had actually moved out. Nope! There's still furniture in the place. I was under the impression she was going to move out last week. I don't know if I have the patience for another renter. Maybe it's finally time to sell the place. I think I'm going to interview some real estate agents and see what they have to say.

Friday traffic was a lot worse than usual. The grocery stores were packed and everyone seemed to be buying beer and wine. There is a huge St. Patrick's Day parade down Greenville Avenue tomorrow. I need to remember to avoid the entire area, since traffic becomes gridlocked. The days when I enjoyed drinking green beer and getting knee walking drunk are long gone. I just hope Dot is feeling better tomorrow.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 821

I started working on my taxes today. Every year these things seem to become more complicated, even though my life has actually become simpler. Once you start depreciating things and carrying losses forward, you are forced to do these things every year thereafter. Right now, my financial life is such a complicated mix of things I've done in previous years that I don't think I'll ever have a simple return again. Maybe someday, our politicians will pass a flat tax and put an end to this needless complexity. You should really be able to do your taxes on a single sheet of paper. Just write down what you earned, subtract fifteen percent for the government, and write a check. Right now there are literally hundreds of ways for people to try to game the system, and yet nobody is happy. A flat tax would be better.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting to daylight savings time. I feel like I'm getting up earlier because it's still dark outside. In reality, I'm getting up a bit later though and the whole day gets off to a slow start. I don't really care about having more daylight in the evening. All I do in the evenings is write the blog anyway. Somehow, I'm walking the dogs at 8:30 in the morning now, instead of 7:30 like I used to. The sun is way too high in the sky for me to capture any neat sunset shots on our evening walks either. I haven't even finished resetting all the watches. I'm just not cut out for daylight savings time.

I've got to decide what to do about the rental property. One day I'll wake up wanting to sell the place, and the next day I'll decide it would be better to lease it again. It's hard to decide. The real estate market certainly hasn't rebounded yet. On the other hand, I don't really like being a landlord. I've got to decide something soon though, because I can't afford to have the place sitting empty forever.

I noticed that Jupiter and Venus were real close together in the Western sky when I took the trash out tonight. I wonder if they'll get closer, or if I already missed the closest approach? I used to be real interested in astronomy, but like so many things, the fascination slowly faded away.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 820

I'm planning ahead. I went to the Storage Warehouse and reserved a new and much larger storage space that will become available on April 1. The plan is to move everything from my existing space and organize it neatly like it was inventory in a store. Maybe when I get things organized and have a better idea of what I actually have, some of the stuff eventually will become inventory to sell on eBay. Right now, I have no idea what I have over at the storage warehouse. I've spent years stacking boxes on top of other boxes until the room is completely full from floor to ceiling. I often think that I've stored away things that I really need, but it's so much trouble to dig though all the boxes and find what I'm looking for that I've stopped even trying.

I also bit the bullet and made the decision to switch all the household electronics from cable to U-verse. In theory, this will give us a lot more TV channels, the internet connection will be faster, and the land line phones won't sound scratchy anymore. In practice, probably none of these things will be true. Whenever anyone attempts to install anything at our house, there is always some sort of Catch-22 situation that results in higher costs and lower performance. U-verse is definitely worth a try though. It certainly couldn't be much worse than cable and I do seem to be saving money with the deal.

Have any of you had any experience with Angie's List? I'm real tempted to use Angie's List to find a good real estate agent to market my rental property. Maybe this would be more objective than just asking a friend. I've asked friends to recommend roofers, painters, doctors and even real estate agents in the past and the results have been uniformly terrible. I've kind of learned over the years that just because someone is a friend of a friend, doesn't necessarily mean they're any good. There has got to be a better way to find great service. I haven't discovered it yet though.

The sun was still up when we went to dog class tonight. Finally, a real use for daylight savings time. Last week we went to class in darkness, and this week there was light. I'm still not sure what monkeying around with the time actually proves, but it was nice to have a little light while we told our dogs to sit and heel.

Humphrey is our Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 819

I went to the AT&T store today to find out a little more about U-verse. I've been getting these flyers in the mail for the past several months with what look like incredibly good deals and I wanted to find out if they were really true. The $79 a month bundle price they quoted was indeed correct, but the more I learned about it, the more I wondered if anyone would really sign up for this rather limited service. You got a phone, but you were limited to a certain number of minutes a month. You got internet, but it was slower than what I have now. You got TV as well, but not very many channels. When I asked how much it would cost to get what I really needed, the price suddenly got a lot higher. Despite the bait and switch tactics, I'm still thinking of switching from Time Warner to U-verse anyway.

Why do competing companies make it so difficult to compare services these days? You always end up comparing apples to oranges and at the end of the day, you're just guessing which company is actually better. I'm convinced this is why telephone, internet, and electricity providers try so hard to get you to sign a two year contract. Without a contract, there would be nothing preventing you from just leaving when the disappointment sets in. Somehow phone companies always seem to deliver less than they promise. They never mention all the city and state taxes that are going to be added to your bill either.

I got a bid on putting in a new furnace as well today. Although the price was more reasonable than I expected, it was still pretty high and confirmed my decision to just wait until next Fall to do anything major. There are far to many expenses on the horizon these days anyway. Taxes are due in less than a month. The rent house is empty and not contributing anything to the monthly cash flow. The Defender 90 is almost due for another major service. The list never ends.

Enough complaining though. The weather seems to get a little nicer every day. I'm not wild about daylight savings time starting so early this year, but it's nice to be able to put the heavy Winter coats away for another season. Walking the dogs is a lot more enjoyable in warmer weather too. Although Dot and Dash haven't officially become photo assistants, they are both becoming better about letting me take pictures during our walks. I never really thought of myself as a nature photographer, but I'm actually starting to get some good shots.

The iCloud has turned out to be a good thing as well. I was a bit apprehensive about upgrading everything to take advantage of the Cloud, but it's certainly making my life easier. I don't have to synchronize calendars and contact lists anymore and I just noticed that my iPhone upgraded itself to the latest IOS all by itself. Now, if I could just train these devices to do my web and writing work for me.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 818

Decisions, decisions. When I went to the storage warehouse today, I noticed that there was a much larger storage unit available right across from mine. I've been wanting a larger unit for quite a while, so I went to the manager and asked how much more it would be to upgrade to this larger space. The manager told me that I could move to the larger storage space if I wanted, but that I would lose the entire discount I had received earlier by paying for my storage space in advance. What? This seemed ridiculous. I thought they would just pro-rate the new space based on the additional square footage I would be occupying. I should have known. If you want something that someone else has, you almost always have to pay for the privilege.

If somebody wants you on the other hand, there are all kinds of deals available. I've been getting these flyers in the mail from U-verse lately, offering what appears to be fantastic deals if I will switch from my cable provider to their service. Since U-verse is offering a telephone, television, and internet bundle for less than what I currently pay for phone service alone, I keep thinking there's got to be a catch. Cable was pretty reasonable too when we first got it installed, but the cost has kept going up dramatically every year since. Maybe U-verse really is a good deal, but I keep thinking that the minute we abandon our cable service, the U-verse will start acting flaky and we'll want the cable back.

I got a call from the HVAC folks today saying that the cost of the new gas valve required to keep my furnace limping along for another year or so is over $400. Since it was warm today, I'm thinking about just waiting until Fall and then getting an entirely new furnace. The only trouble with waiting until Fall is that I might have already wasted the money for the new furnace on something else. I think the yearly rent on the new large storage space I've got my eye on is almost exactly the same as the cost of a new furnace.

Life is complicated. If I could just bring myself to throw stuff away, I wouldn't need a new storage space in the first place. Of course, if I could bring myself to start wearing sweaters indoors, I probably wouldn't need a furnace either.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 817

It's amazing what a difference a little sunlight can make. While none of yesterday's problems have been resolved, today still seemed much more pleasant anyway. Spring made a surprise return this morning. I think this entire month is a meteorological struggle between Winter and Spring. One day Winter wins, and the next day Spring makes a comeback. There may be a few cold days left, but warmer weather is definitely on the horizon. The wild irises are already in bloom and most of the trees are starting to turn green.

I'm wondering if it's even worth fixing the furnace right now with Winter on the way out. It's only a matter of weeks before it will be time to start using the air conditioner again. In many ways it would be better to just wait until Fall to get a new furnace. I may need the money for taxes anyway.

The dog park was closed today because of yesterday's heavy rains, but the dogs had fun anyway. Spring brings lots of new smells and Dot and Dash ambled along on their walks through the park today, stopping every ten feet to smell something new. Dot loves to smell flowers and almost got stung by a bee when she got too close to one fragrant bud. Dash seems to have no interest in flowers, but he sure loves horse poop. Both dogs had plenty to smell this afternoon.

When I took the useless utility pump back for a refund today, I bought one of those new space-age light bulbs that supposedly took millions of our taxpayer dollars to develop. I don't know why people on TV are ranting and railing against these LED bulbs. I think they're great. Sure they're a bit pricy, but they'll last longer than I will, they don't get hot when they're on, they don't contain mercury like those compact fluorescent bulbs, and the latest models are just as bright as a regular incandescent bulb. I'd rather buy one expensive bulb that lasts forever than hundreds of ordinary incandescent bulbs that continually burn out at the most inopportune moments.

I replaced my client's Google map with a Bing map today. For some reason, Bing maps seem more accurate than Google maps. You'd think that with hundreds of Google photo trucks cataloging every last inch of the planet, these maps would be a little more accurate. This is the second time in less than a year that I've had to replace an embedded Google map because the location was off by more than a mile.

I hope I get a better night's sleep than I did last night. Dash woke me up five times. I finally figured out what he was barking about. He wanted a blanket. As soon as I covered him up in a blanket, he went right to sleep. Dash doesn't like the cold. I think he'd vote for getting the furnace fixed whether it's getting warmer or not.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 816

It rained all day. The furnace apparently can no longer be repaired. The new sump pump I bought for the roof today doesn't even work. Need I say more? Some of my friends keep telling me that I need to keep the blog upbeat and positive. Truthfully, I do get more followers when I'm upbeat and positive. Nevertheless, there are still days when everything sucks. This was one of those days.

The dogs were amazingly quiet this morning when Marty came over to look at the furnace. I was amazed at how quiet they were and so was Marty. What was so different about today? The only thing I can think of is that Janet was home. Either the dogs are more confident when she's home, or they don't feel the need to protect anything when two of us are here. The difference was amazing. I was actually able to hear when Marty told me that the furnace was on its last legs and probably wasn't worth repairing again.

I don't know where I'm going to be able to find a decent pump. The pump I bought today was advertised as the perfect utility pump, capable of pumping of 3000 gallons an hour. What nobody told me is that the pump needs to be sitting in at least six inches of water before it will start pumping at all. There's a lot of water on the roof, but it isn't six inches deep. The new pump didn't work at all and I'll have to take it back tomorrow. My old metal Simer Geyser pump was almost indestructible and would suck up standing water even if it was only 1/4 inch deep. All these new pumps are constructed out of plastic and appear to be made for the sole purpose of creating decorative fountains in backyard ponds. None of them work very well for getting water off a flat roof. Sign of the times I guess.

I was trying to figure out how to get the little red location circle in the right place on my client's embedded Google map this afternoon. I experimented by inputting slightly different addresses to see if I could get the circle to move and then I realized that this was a stupid plan. Even if I did manage to get the circle in the right place, it would still show the wrong address. I think I'll just take down the Google map and replace it with a Bing map.

It doesn't look like the dogs will get to go to the dog park tomorrow. With all this rain, the park probably isn't just muddy. There's a good chance it's underwater.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 815

It wasn't the best of days. The furnace quit this morning and I wasted a lot of time monkeying around with the thermostat, trying to get it to start again. I was hoping the last repair visit would take me through the rest of the winter, and it almost did. I think I would have been just fine if Winter hadn't unexpectedly returned a couple of days ago. The furnace wasn't the only temperamental machine today either. When I started the car later in the day, I was greeted with a squealing sound that told me instantly the power steering system was leaking again. Oh, well.

The dogs didn't seem too happy with the day either. Both of them barked incessantly all day. It was very windy today and every time a tree limb brushed against the roof, Dot went crazy. She a good little watchdog, but sometimes I don't think she knows what she's barking at. Dash is usually pretty quiet, but if Dot barks long enough, he'll join in too. Inevitably, whenever the dogs choose to have a barking spree turns out to be exactly the time when clients call with difficult problems to solve.

I had two clients call with website problems today and I could barely hear either of them. The first call involved third part code that wouldn't work. I still haven't been able to contact the developers, but eventually this problem will be solved. The second call was from a client who was unhappy where Google placed them on their maps. I keep trying to tell people that I have no control whatsoever over where Google places you on a map, but that doesn't stop people from asking. This time I think the location dot on the map was on the wrong side of the street. How quickly we take things for granted. Hey, the map did get people pretty close. I think if you went to where the dot on the map was, you could look around and actually see the sign on the building.

I was supposed to get my March invoices out today, but my website problems put me so far behind that the invoices are still sitting in a pile on my desk. At least I found time to run to Central Market and pick up dinner for tonight. I'll finish the invoices tomorrow after the HVAC folks come to look at the furnace. That is sure to be another barking frenzy. The dogs should know by now that the furnace repairman is one of the good guys. Jeez, Dot and Dash don't like the cold any more than I do. They ought to be welcoming the furnace guy.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 814

I took Janet's tax information over to the accountant's office today and the first thing they asked me was why I didn't have my own tax information as well. "Well, I haven't started working on mine yet," I said. They gave me this look that told me I'd better get started. Guess what I'm going to be doing this weekend?

On the way home, I stopped by my rental property to see if the place was even close to presentable. I wasn't even sure I could get in the door, since I'd lost my set of back-up keys. I make lots of key duplicates though, so I took everything I could find that looked like a front door key with me. I almost gave up and went home, but literally the last key I tried worked. It's a good thing I never throw anything away.

I was disappointed when I saw the place. My renter had told me that she'd hired a maid service clean the place out before she moved, but it still looked pretty messy to me. There were Velcro strips glued to the wall where apparently pictures had been hung. There was a sticky residue on the dining room floor that looked like someone had been using spray glue for art projects. My renter apparently had a TV in every room, because the cable company had stapled wires everywhere. I've seen a lot worse, but I've seen better too. At least the refrigerator was clean.

It rained again today. I was able to use the weather radar app on my iPad to map out a few dry periods where I could walk the dogs, but basically it rained all day. As the day progressed, it kept getting colder and colder. Jeez! Why keep tempting us with Spring, if the weather keeps reverting back to this miserable stuff? I had to get up on the roof again too. The standing water was getting pretty deep.

At least it's Friday tomorrow. I think I'll have waffles for breakfast.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 813

I had another photo shoot today. Luckily, the client wanted me in and out in a hurry, so I didn't have to drag two hundred pounds of lights and backdrops along with me. This time, I just put a little on-camera flash in my bag and that was that. Inevitably, when I arrive for these employee photo shoots, everybody claims that they weren't given any notice and they didn't know I was coming. I knew about this two weeks ago, so surely somebody else must have known as well.

Today was one of those rainy days that result in dirty dogs and a lot of laundry. It didn't really rain hard. Just enough to get the car, the dogs, and everything else dirty. I didn't even bother to go up on the roof today, because I was too busy. I'm sure I'll have to deal with the standing water on the roof tomorrow though.

I found out today that there is a house right next to my rental property that will be going on the market at exactly the same time as my place. Damn! It's hard enough to rent this place anyway. The last thing I need is competition. Maybe there will be two people who want to live in the neighborhood. I'd really rather just sell the property, but then I'd be forced to deal with real estate agents, which I try to avoid at all costs.

We didn't go to dog class tonight. Janet had a business function she needed to attend and it rained anyway, so it was a good night to stay home. I got an earlier start on writing the blog and the two dog got an earlier start on their evening nap.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 812

Life is entirely too complicated. I'm finally being forced to deal with the reality of an empty rent property. All the little things I need to do to make the transition to a new tenant are driving me nuts. I got the electricity for the rent house transferred back to my name today. This used to be an easy process that took about five seconds over the phone. Now, you've got to spend five minutes just to get a real person on the other end of the line and then things get even more difficult. The power company records your call and forces you to answer a barrage of questions before they'll even consider transferring the electric bill. When they finally agree to transfer the billing, you have to agree to pay a higher rate for "short term" service. Apparently, the power company now wants you to sign a two year contract just like the phone companies do. It's a bit ridiculous.

When I got all the electricity issues ironed out, I realized that I had lost my spare set of keys to the rent house. I have no idea where they are. I guess this proves that I'm pretty much a "hands off" landlord. I haven't been down to the place to inspect anything in over two years. Now, I'm going to have to ask my renter for the original set of keys, just so I can get inside the place. Of course, my tenant is going to want her entire security deposit back. Now, where did that money disappear to? All the real estate agents I know are going to call too, wanting to be my "leasing agent." Apparently this is what real estate agents do these days, now that they don't sell as many houses.

Hopefully, I can put all the rent house issues behind me before I have to concentrate on tax preparation. Dealing with tax problems and real estate problems at the same time would simply be too much to bear. I increasingly find myself envying the dogs. Although Dash occasionally worries about being attacked by another dog in the park again and Dot worries about her dinner being late, these pups don't have a care in the world.

I took Dash to the vet for his bi-weekly antigen shot today. It was the first time I've left the house in several days. There was an Avid Media Composer seminar downtown this afternoon that I kind of wanted to go to. I didn't want to deal with finding a parking place downtown though, so I skipped the event. That's kind of how things have become.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 811

My Spring allergies left my nose running like a leaky faucet this morning. Dash had diarrhea, which made my nasal problems seem insignificant. Like the song says, "It's just another manic Monday...I wish it was Sunday..." Dash's problems started last night, when he woke us up in the middle of the night to go outside. At least he tries to go outside now, and there aren't as many accidents on the carpet anymore. The little guy certainly made it impossible to get a good night's sleep though. He was up and down all night.

The Purple Martins returned to the park today. I've been watching them fight with the Sparrows for control of the Martin houses scattered through the park. Somehow, the Purple Martins always win this battle, but the sparrows aren't giving up easy. From what I've observed, the animal kingdom isn't any more peaceful than the human kingdom. At least the animals don't have guns.

I've been receiving a lot of requests lately from people who want to place "in-text" ads on my websites and blogs. The pitch is always the same. "Let us add a couple of carefully crafted linked sentences to your original content and we'll send you $50 via Paypal." I don't like these type of ads. They make it appear like you are actually endorsing their product instead of just running an ad for it. Hey, I'm an advertising person myself and realize that everything has its price. If I'm going to sell out though, it's going to take a lot more than $50. I wonder why these "in text" people don't want to run regular banner ads like you see on Google Adsense? My guess is that they've probably discovered being sneaky and deceptive works better for them.

I'm still trying to decide whether to sell my rental property or lease it out again after my current tenant moves out. I really don't enjoy being a landlord. On the other hand, the real estate market hasn't even started to bounce back yet. Decisions. Decisions.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 810

It was interesting watching the dogs at the dog park today. One reason I like dogs so much is that they never hide their personalities. Active, energetic dogs are unabashedly wild. Shy dogs aren't a bit shy about letting you know exactly how they feel. All the dogs seem to instinctively seek out other dogs with similar personalities. Dot is not playful, but nobody pushes her on the issue. Dash is a bit shy, but puppies seem to seek him out. The dogs who like to chase each other at breakneck speeds from one end of the park to the other, always seem to leave the more sedentary dogs alone. The humans seldom have to intervene, because the dogs already know what kind of animal they are.

Even though there were dramatically different canine personalities in the park today, all the humans seemed pretty much the same. I'm sure the dogs owner's were just as diverse as their dogs, but we humans are so much better at masking our feelings. The people just talked politely with each other, while the dogs lived out their K-9 fantasies in public. I think the dogs have the right idea.

The weather was so nice today that I decided to tackle the leaves in the back yard after we got back from the dog park. Every Spring, it seems like there are more leaves than the year before, but I think it is a lot more likely that I just have less energy than the year before. There were certainly a lot of leaves today. In some spots the dead leaves had become compacted into a solid mass almost two feet thick. It was almost as if the entire yard had turned into a giant compost heap. One thing that you quickly discover when you rake leaves in the Spring is that you missed a lot of dog poop during the Winter. After several hours of using a rake and the leaf blower, I finally managed to get most of the leaves corralled into a huge pile in the middle of the yard.

Now, the leaves need to go into big plastic trash bags where they will wait for the illusive day when the city comes to pick them up. I need to check and see whether there is some special bag the leaves need to go into. I seem to remember a very angry neighbor last Spring who was furious, because after bagging all his leaves, the city refused to pick them up because they were in the wrong kind of bag. This seems like something the city would do, so I think I'll check first before I go to the trouble of bagging everything.

I may need to rethink my plan of buying a guitar and becoming a rock god again. I need to be able to spend an afternoon with a leaf blower first without being defeated by wrist pain. My left wrist just about killed me after two hours of swinging the leaf blower around with my left hand. I don't remember things being this bad last year. Carpal tunnel syndrome basically sucks.

Orion is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 809

I forgot that one of the things that comes along with an early Spring is an early onset of Spring allergies. For the past several days I've been wheezing and sneezing like crazy. This happens to me every year when the grass pollen starts to blow in the wind. Usually my grass pollen allergies start a few months later, however. Even with all the sneezing, it was still a very nice day.

We went up this morning to visit Patches, our newest Dalmatian Rescue dog. While we were there, we said goodby to Molly, who was on her way to her new home this afternoon. Patches, who is today's Dalmatian of the Day, was delightful. She was as friendly as could be and should find a home very quickly. She was hard to take pictures of though, since she never quit moving. Patches doesn't like to stand still.

Wall outlets are always at a premium in the office, since I've got so many things plugged in. I went to Home Depot and got another plug strip and I could plug in a few more things. When I got behind the desk to look for an outlet to plug in the new power strip, I found half a dozen black wall warts that weren't connected to anything, even though they were still plugged into a wall socket. These were all remnants of earlier computer systems. I guess when various printers, scanners and external hard drives became obsolete, I just unplugged the other end of the cable and left the wall warts intact. This was certainly easier than moving the desk like I did today. To make a long story short, just by unplugging all the unused extension cords and wall warts, I instantly had all the outlets I needed for my new gear. There are still a lot of cables behind the desk that don't appear to go to anything, however. I really need to totally start over in this office, but it's such a lot of work.

Dot and Dash seem to love all the new Spring smells in the park. I wish they wouldn't be quite so exuberant though. Dash is so strong and so eager to chase after things that I think I'm going to have a permanently dislocated shoulder.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 808

I'm really getting the urge to play the guitar again. There were several points in my life where guitars were real important to me. I played in several different bands throughout high school and college, put the instrument down for well over ten years and then joined yet another band. Now, I find myself languishing in another one of those periods where I haven't played a note for over ten years. Nevertheless, I find myself strangely attracted to guitars again. Too bad I never kept all the guitars I've had over the years. Some of them would have been collectable rarities by now. I didn't collect things back then though. Collecting came much later.

If I do start playing again, it won't be be to meet girls or become famous. I have this feeling that moving my left hand up and down a guitar neck again might be just the exercise I need to hold the carpal tunnel in my left wrist at bay. My physical therapist gave me a whole set of exercises to do that are designed to stretch the nerves in my wrist. I hate lifting weights though, or doing resistance training with a bungee cord. I really don't like exercise period. I like activities that kill two birds with one stone. Walking the dogs four miles a day is great exercise for me, but it also gets the dogs walked. Ditto for things like vacuuming and getting the water off the roof. I don't necessarily enjoy these things, but they provide exercise while getting something else accomplished as well. The way I look at it, practicing the guitar again would flex exactly the same muscles and help stretch the same nerves as I'm doing now using small weights. It would be a lot more fun though, and if I worked at it, I might get to the point where I could play decently again.

Do you ever notice how chatty some waiters are when you go out to a restaurant? When I went out for breakfast this morning, my waiter would answer everything I said by saying "Awesome." "Would you like some more coffee?" "Sure," I would say. "Awesome." says the waiter. "How are those eggs." "Very good," I say. "Awesome." says the waiter. The guy must have said "Awesome" twenty times during the course of breakfast. I much prefer those waiters in fancy steakhouses who invisibly hover in the background, filling your water glass and bringing you more dinner rolls without saying a word.

The Dalmatians seem to be finding new homes very quickly this year. I think I saw on Facebook that Lady found a home today. For every dog that finds its forever home however, there is always a new dog ready to take its place at the kennel. Another new girl arrived late this week. Janet and I will have to go up and meet her this weekend.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day