Day 910

Today was a disaster. Things started out normally enough. I walked the dogs and ate breakfast. Then I made the mistake of turning on the computer and opening my e-mail. The first thing I saw was a letter from my real estate agent. He said that we had a problem. Bear in mind that I am supposed to close on the sale of my rent house in less than two days. Evidently, Fannie Mae told the lender that they needed some additional information before they would approve the loan. What? Why did they wait to the last possible second to drop this bombshell? I submitted all my information weeks and weeks ago. At any rate, the rest of the day was spent calling and e-mailing the lender, the buyers agent, the title company and my own agent trying to see if there was a way to quickly resolve this problem. So far, no luck.

The whole situation is very frustrating. First of all, Fannie Mae should have told the lender and the buyer exactly what they needed weeks and weeks ago, when this whole process started. This is no way to solve the housing crisis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA basically control the lending market these days. You can't get a loan without them. They have made it so difficult to qualify for a loan that I probably couldn't have qualified myself if the same rules were in place when I bought the place. The sad thing is that it is all out of my control. I just have to sit and wait and see if all the parties involved can get their ducks in a row.

While was waiting, I took Dash to the vet for his bi-weekly antigen shot. At least that went smoothly. The antigen shots actually seem to be working. Dash has a full, thick coat now and his skin condition has dramatically improved. With his newly cleaned teeth and a nicely spotted black and white coat, the little guy is looking pretty spiffy. If only the rest of my problems could be solved with a shot every two weeks.

Isn't the little wild rose I photographed this morning pretty? The flower looked so optimistic, but I guess that goes to show that you shouldn't trust a flower to forecast the kind of day you will have. Probably the only good news today was from the sewing machine repairman, who called to tell me that the old machine was fixed and ready to be picked up. I'm not even sure if this is good news, since Janet is still puzzled about why I even bothered to fix the old Singer right after she bought a much better brand new sewing machine. 

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 909

I found myself getting sidetracked today. There was plenty of regular work that needed to be done, but there always seemed to be something that needed to be taken care of first. As part of my continuing efforts to declutter the office, I decided that an old portable multi-track recorder needed to go to the storage room. I used to use this machine to record our band performances, but it has gathered dust for many years. Unfortunately, I discovered today that while it was gathering dust, I had forgotten to remove the batteries. All the old batteries had leaked and made a horrible mess. I have ruined other things by forgetting to take the batteries out, but I was convinced that this recorder was salvageable. I took the recorder apart so I could remove the battery cage and clean out all the battery acid and rust and suddenly the entire morning was gone.

When I got the recorder apart, I was amazed at the huge spaghetti of wires that spilled out. Jeez, if they made my iPhone this way, the thing would be as big as a pizza box. It isn't all that surprising that there were a lot more jobs when this little recorder was made. They must have hired ten people just to solder all the connections together.

Eventually I got the little machine looking like new and put everything back together again. Then I got worried that I may have forgotten to take the batteries out of some of my old film cameras as well. As I opened each camera case, I discovered that I actually had remembered to take the batteries out of the Nikon motor drives and strobes. This wasn't entirely good news though, since I also discovered that the foam inserts in most of the cases had disintegrated and gooey old foam was sticking to the lenses and camera bodies. Again I had a big mess on my hands. I carefully cleaned each lens and then wrapped it in a paper towel before placing it back in the decaying foam insert. Protective foam inserts really don't last very long. I know I have already replaced all the foam in the Nikon case at least once before for exactly the same reason.

I'm fighting a losing battle. Everything around me is getting older, and I'm not getting any younger myself. I'm starting to get gun-shy about even turning on a piece of old equipment. There's always a good chance it will fizzle or fail to function. Even things that are never used will disintegrate eventually. Rubber belts dry and crack. Lubricants evaporate and congeal. Once you take something out of service, you will always lose the wall wart power supply that came with it too. I've got a whole box full of these old wall warts, and I have no idea what they go to.

Like many video editors, I eagerly awaited Apple's product introductions today. I was convinced that it was long past time for them to update their aging Mac Pro tower. I would definitely like a faster, more powerful tower. Once again however, Apple introduced a cool new laptop and did virtually nothing with their aging desktop. The tower is completely out of date and it doesn't appear that a replacement is on the horizon. Oh well, I'm completely out of date as well. I'm still working and so is my old tower. We'll just have to make do with what we have.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 908

Dot and Dash had a big day today. In the morning, they got to romp around in the city's new 22 acre dog park and in the afternoon they had a party to attend. Our weekly training class has two parties every year. The Winter Christmas party is mostly for people, but the Summer party is all about the dogs. There are lots of games for the dogs and their owners. The games are the kind of things little kids do at summer camp, but they are still fun, since dogs are involved. We entered Dot and Dash in the egg carry contest where you have to balance an egg in a wooden spoon while you heel your dog around a figure eight course. Dash knocked my egg off the spoon five times by tugging on his leash, while Dot just tried to eat the egg. Dash did a little better in the bobbing for biscuits contest, where all he had to do was see how many dog biscuits he could retrieve in 60 seconds from a kiddie swimming pool filled with water. I think the dogs favorite activity of the day was getting to eat some of our fried chicken at the lunch we all enjoyed before the games.

With all this activity, I thought that Dot and Dash would just want to go to sleep after we returned home for the day. Not on your life. They still wanted their regular evening walk. At the end of the day, I think I was the only one who was actually tired. I'm always tired on Sunday though. It's usually the busiest day of the week. Truthfully, this Sunday was quite relaxing compared to a normal weekend filled with vacuuming, grocery shopping and mowing the grass.

If all goes well, the rent house sale will close next week. It will be weird not to own this house any more. I've owned the place since I moved to Dallas from Seattle in the Fall of 1977.  It wasn't always a rent house, since I used to live there myself. The Internet as we know it today didn't even exist when I bought the house. I didn't have a computer and I didn't even have any Dalmatians. I did all my writing on an IBM Selectric typewriter. I did keep a daily journal though. Although the journal was hand written in a little leather bound book, it wasn't all that different than the blog you are reading today. Even back then, I mostly wrote about nothing. If you want to know what I had for dinner on April 30, 1981, I'm sure I wrote it down somewhere.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 907

I can always tell when I'm in a rut. I start looking at catalogs a lot. My favorite catalogs are Sweetwater Sound and B&H Photo. I flip through the pages and think about gear that I'd like to have. Never-mind that I have way too much gear already. I can always convince myself that a new lens, some clever new software, or a new microphone is just what I need to get the creative juices flowing again. I don't have enough money to feed my gear lust these days, but that doesn't keep me from flipping through the catalogs. I've been thinking about an anamorphic lens to extend the life of my old Beta-SP cameras. I've even considered upgrading Media Composer to Avid Symphony. A Zeiss Compact Prime cinema lens would be pretty cool too. There is no sound business reason to get any of these things. I just love the tools of my trade. Sometimes I think I like having the tools more than I like actually using them.

The dogs seem to share my tendencies to want what they don't have. When they're inside, they always want to go outside. When I take them outside, they quickly realize it is too hot and they want to go back inside again. We can go back and forth like this all day. Dot and Dash are perpetually looking for the best spot on the bed. Where is the best spot? Well, it's usually where the other dog is sleeping. I wonder why it is so commonplace to want what you don't have?  The dogs should be happy just to have a good home. I should be happy with what I've got for any number of reasons. I still keep looking through those catalogs though.

Janet and I haven't visited the rescue Dalmatians for a while, so we went up to The Velvet Snout this morning to get reacquainted. There are only four Dalmatians in the kennel right now and we spent some time with each of them. Dalmatian Rescue is doing a really good job of finding homes for the dogs this year and nobody seems to stay at the kennel for very long. This a far cry from the days when we used to have over twenty dogs at a time. I think it helps that Dalmatians aren't quite as popular anymore. The people who get a Dalmatian today know what to expect about the breed. They aren't just getting a cute puppy on a whim like they did when the 101 Dalmatian Disney movies were popular. Dalmatians have a better life now and aren't dumped nearly as often.

The weather is getting warmer, but it still looks like it's going to be a nice day for the dog park tomorrow. Tomorrow is also the big Summer party for our training class. There are all sorts of races and games for the dogs and barbecue for the people. Dash particularly likes the bobbing for dog biscuits game.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 906

I'm thinking of pairing down my collections. A wiser decision would probably be to stop collecting things entirely. I've collected stuff since I was a kid. When I was young, I collected Dinky Toys. When I was in architecture school, I started collecting chairs. When I became an adult and had a real job, I started collecting art. Over the years, I've collected things as esoteric as the first editions of all John Fowles books, and as ridiculous as brass scale model trains. There are even people who say the only reason I have friends is so I can collect memories. I don't know why guys collect things. Just about every guy I know collects something. Probably guys collect stuff for the same reason women buy shoes. It's just in their DNA.

The only thing I managed to collect today was another cell phone bill, an electric bill, and a new batch of website revisions. I'll deal with all of these things on Monday. Today, I wrote the articles on my to-do list and got my June invoices in the mail. Oh, I also had a delicious stack of pancakes for breakfast. After a month of experimentation, I've reverted to my original breakfast restaurant and I'll probably stay there for a while.

Janet doesn't want me to mow the new grass in the backyard, because she thinks I'll kill it. It needs to be mowed eventually though. With all the rain we've been having lately, the grass is doing fabulously. I haven't measured it or anything, but it's getting pretty tall. How tall are you supposed to let St. Augustine Grass get anyway? I don't know.

I've noticed that every time Thomas Hawk mentions my name that I get hundreds of new followers on Google. I hope that I don't run out of pretty things to photograph. Early in the year there was an abundance of beautiful sunsets. Then there were some spectacular foggy mornings. Lately, I've been photographing Texas wildflowers. This year, wildflowers are abundant, since the weather conditions are ideal. The Summer heat is on its way though. A month from now, all the flowers will be dried and withered. I'll need to find something new to photograph. Air conditioners would probably be a good subject.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 905

Yes, the rain did find a way inside last night. No, it didn't find its way to the carefully placed buckets I set out before I went to bed. Leaking water has a mind of its own. It just goes wherever it wants. After I cleaned up the puddles in the living room and utility room, I drove down to the rent property to make sure that water hadn't leaked in there as well. The place was clean and dry. It even smelled nice, because the real estate agent had set a bowl of potpourri on the coffee table when he staged the place.

It's kind of ironic. The rent property I'm selling is actually in much better condition that the house I'm living in. To keep the place occupied and tenants happy, I've always made necessary repairs to the rent house almost immediately. In contrast, I tend to put things off at my own house. "Maybe I'll have more money next year," I think. "What's the point," I rationalize. "The dogs will just tear it up anyway." Sometimes I even convince myself that the problems will fix themselves. At any rate, the rent house looks really nice. Maybe that's why the new owners bought it.

I had a lot of errands to run today. It was nice to drive around in a new car. I think this is one reason the dealer gives you these nice loaner cars. After driving around in a new car for a week, it's easy to convince yourself that your old car is rubbish. I'm sure they'd like me to trade up to a new Land Rover. I wish I could get a new car every three years or so, like I did when I was an ad agency employee. As the owner of a small business, my income fluctuates too much to be casual about large purchases like I used to be. Some years I do pretty well, but other years, I make almost nothing after expenses. You just never know. I think a new car will just have to wait until the stock market makes a dramatic rebound. And when will that be? After the events of the past two years, I'm inclined to say never.

It rained off and on today, but thankfully, the dogs were calm. I think it's thunder that really sets them off. They're both smart enough however to associate rain with the thunder they fear. Even a gentle shower will make them nervous. They're always waiting for the other show to drop. I guess I'm the same way. I'm still superstitious that something's going to go wrong with the sale of my rent house, even though we close nest week. Janet thinks I've made the dogs neurotic. Of course, maybe it's the other way around.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 904

I got the repair estimates on my car today. Ouch! The problem with having an old British car is that certain parts can be very expensive. There are a variety of things wrong with the car, but the expensive thing is going to be getting a new power steering pump. I was hoping that there was just a leak in the lines, but unfortunately the entire pump has gone out. I could buy a reasonably decent used car for the price of this pump. In the past, an expensive repair like this would have convinced me that it was time to trade the car for something new. There comes a point in every car's life where it costs more to keep the car running than to get something new. I've reached that point, but unfortunately times have changed. The cars that I like to drive have become ungodly expensive and I'm not making as much money as I used to. With few alternatives, I just keep repairing the Defender 90.

On the bright side of things, I did manage to get rid of the horrible Chevy Cruze. The dealer took pity on me and gave me a new LR-2 to drive until my repairs are complete. Since some of the parts have to be ordered from Europe, I might be driving this loaner car for a long time. That's one thing I've always liked about Land Rover. They have great service. I may be driving the oldest Land Rover in town, but they still treat me like I'm a basketball player driving a tricked out Range Rover with 26 inch Asanti wheels. Unfortunately I can't say the same thing for Enterprise. The treat everyone like they're trying to rent their cars to harvest a marijuana crop or dispose of a dead body. I try to avoid Enterprise.

The day started out nice enough, but storm clouds started rolling in by early afternoon. I expected the dogs to panic when the thunderstorms started. What I didn't expect was for my U-verse service to go out again one day after I got everything fixed. Luckily, this just seemed to be a temporary glitch. An hour or two after the connection went down, it mysteriously returned again. So far, U-verse is turning out to be a lot like cable. It's great when it works, but not so great when there's a problem. 

I was hoping that the rain would quit so the dogs could go to training class this evening. No such luck. It's still raining as we speak, and Dot is hiding under the desk, waiting nervously for the thunder to stop. I'm just hoping that we make it through the night without a roof leak. I've learned the hard way that it's pretty stupid to try to clear the water off the roof in the dark. I've got plenty of buckets. We'll just wait until morning.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 903

It was unnaturally quiet this morning. Dash was at the vet, getting his teeth cleaned. The television and the Internet were silent, because my U-verse account was still offline. Breakfast went quickly because there wasn't an old episode of Top Gear or Dr. Who to watch on TV. Even Dot went back to sleep, because there was no Dash for her to boss around. I thought I'd get a lot done with no distractions, but I was wrong. It was too quiet.

The unusual silence didn't last long. Around 10:30 AM, there was a knock on the door that got Dot barking again. It was the U-verse technician. He didn't think the problem was in the house, but he wanted to check anyway. Dot definitely did think there was a problem in the house. There was a stranger inside. I kept telling the technician that she wouldn't bite, but I don't think he believed me. As expected, the problem wasn't in the house, so the technician packed up his tools and left to trace the problem to its source. About two hours later he returned. He said somebody had disconnected my line at a junction box while they were connecting another customer. Some things never change I guess. This used to happen frequently when I had my plain old twisted pair phone line.

Like most problems, the U-verse outage turned out to be simple human error. I don't think my car problems are caused by human error, however. Things break on this car even when it's sitting in the driveway. Granted, the Defender is old and has quite a few miles on it, but I still wish it were more reliable. Once, I looked at a printout of all the things that had gone wrong with the car at the dealership and the document looked like a book. There were literally hundreds of things that had broken of gone wrong over the years. I'm still loyal to the Defender though. Parts are easy to obtain. The car is fun to drive. Best of all, I can fit a large dog crate in the back.

When I went to pick up Dash around 4 PM, I noticed he was walking a bit funny. I asked the vet what was wrong, and she said he was probably a little sore. Since he went in for a dental procedure, I was wondering why he was sore at the other end. The vet said they put the anesthesia and heartbeat monitors up his butt, so that his mouth would be unobstructed. Whoa!  I sure hope they don't start doing that when I go to the dentist.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 902

I don't know why I even bothered to get out of bed this morning. By the time I'd finished getting my car towed to the Land Rover dealer and gone through the hassle of finding a rent car, the day was half over. Usually, the dealer gives me a loaner Land Rover when I take my car in for service. They didn't have any vehicles available today though, so I had to rent a car from Enterprise. I ended up with a Chevy Cruze. Definitely not my favorite vehicle! I think the Cruze is supposed to be Detroit's answer to the Honda Civic. To me, it's just a piece of junk. Honda, Kia, Toyota and many others all make better low priced cars. Hopefully, I'll have my Defender back soon.

When I got home, I noticed that the TV wasn't working. Then I noticed that the Internet wasn't working either. When I tried to call AT&T tech support, I noticed that even the phones didn't work. My U-verse was dead. Since I couldn't remember my U-verse account number, I drove down to the AT&T store in the miserable Chevy to ask for assistance. The sales guys found my account number and told me to call an 800 service number on my cell phone. I had hoped they would tell me what was wrong, but I guess I shouldn't have expected any more from AT&T. Eventually, I ended up talking to an outsourced technical support guy in the Philippines. They ran a remote diagnostic test on my system and told me that someone had cut the fiber optic cable somewhere between the server and my house. I wasn't getting a broadband signal at all. Supposedly, technicians were already working on the problem and would have things working again in three hours. Eight hours later, things still aren't working. Luckily, I still have my little T-Mobile 4G hotspot. Without the hotspot, I would have been dead in the water today. I called AT&T again this evening to get an update on repairs and was told that a technician was scheduled to come out sometime tomorrow. I wonder what happened to the guy who was supposed to be working on the problem today?

Dash has to go to the vet to get his teeth cleaned tomorrow morning. This is a very routine procedure, and my vet is very good, but I still worry. I think any time you have to use anesthesia, it is serious business. Year ago, I had a friend who took his dog to the vet to have its teeth cleaned and the dog died. After all these years, I still haven't forgotten that. Having an older dog with gum disease can be serious too, so I always go ahead and have the dogs teeth cleaned whenever the vet recommends it. I'll be glad when it's over though. I don't even like to have my own teeth cleaned.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 901

Well, we didn't get 101 Dalmatians at the dog park today. The six that actually did show up sure seemed to have a good time though. Even six Dalmatians managed to attract a lot of attention. Practically everyone in the park came over to look at the dogs. We're thinking of having Dalmatian Day at the Northbark Dog Park once a month now. Everyone who came today said they'd tell their friends, so we ought to get more dogs next time. The weird thing about Dalmatians is that they seem to recognize other Dalmatians. They like to hang out together and aren't all that interested in the other dogs in the park. If dogs ever discover how to be elitist, Dalmatians will be among the first to lord it over the others. I still think it would be fun to get 101 of these guys together for a play date. Maybe someday. For today it was just Dot, Dash, Willow, Jasper, Emmie, and Penny.

My car went kaputt today. I've had a small leak in the power steering lines for about a month now. I should have taken the car in for service immediately. Instead, I just went to the AutoZone store and bought a bottle of power steering fluid. Every time I heard a squealing noise, I would top up the power steering fluid tank. It worked for a while. I think the little leak became a big leak today though. The power steering is gone. It takes a massive effort to turn the wheel at all. The speedometer quit working too, and the engine dies when I'm at a stoplight. I don't know if all these things are related, but the car isn't very drivable. I'm going to have to get it towed to the Land Rover dealer tomorrow.

I went down to the rent house for what may be the last time this weekend. I wanted to make sure the place looked clean and tidy when the new owners take possession. I really like this house. If any of you are familiar with the architecture of Bud Oglesby, you'll know what I mean. I should have sold the place years ago though. If I had been perceptive enough to sell at the top of the Dallas real estate market some years ago, I could have made almost double what I'm likely to make now. Live and learn. That's what life's all about, isn't it?. If I had made all the right decisions, I'd be a multimillionaire now. On the other hand, if I'd done everything wrong, I'd be dead.

I'm starting to get telemarketing messages on my iPhone now. I even get junk text messages. It was so nice for a while to have one phone that was immune to these annoyances. I knew it couldn't last. Now, this phone is just about as bad as the land line. How do all these people get my number? I wouldn't be surprised if Apple actually wants telemarketers to get your number. I remember telling my postman once that he didn't have to deliver the junk mail to my house. I though this might make his job a little easier, since I could see his bag was absolutely full of junk mail. "No, no," he told me, "We have to deliver this mail. This is how the post office makes money." Maybe so. Personally, I'd rather pay the post office and AT&T a little more not to have to deal with this stuff.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 900

I could tell you about my blood test this morning. I could tell you about all the vacuuming I did this afternoon. I suspect you've heard all that before. Maybe I'll try to give you a little advice instead. After 899 days of telling you what I do, it might be time to tell you what I think. I don't give advice very often. Why should I? Absolutely nobody listens. Humor me though. It's Day 900 and it's time for  something different. My advice to you...

1: Quit spending money you don’t have.

So many of today’s problems are caused by a national desire for instant gratification. High school kids think they need a car. College kids expect a high paying job when they graduate. Young couples get a $300,000 mortgage on a “starter home. Our entire country spends more than it takes in. It wasn’t always this way. Our grandparents didn’t live like this. They managed to raise families in modest homes with a single bathroom. Instead of using credit cards with reckless abandon, they typically paid using cash, while occasionally putting something special away on layaway. Ironically, our grandparents were probably happier than we are. Rich is a relative term. If you always spend a little less than you make, you’re eventually be rich.

2: It’s not a secret if you tell anybody.

I grow weary of people telling me that something is confidential. I’m bemused when I see someone who still believes that privacy even exists. Privacy left the building long ago. Do you ever watch MI-5 on the BBC channel? In this show, top British spies continually solve puzzling crimes and mysteries by snooping on people’s activities using the country’s burgeoning CCTV network. This is where we are headed. If the IRS doesn’t already know everything about you, Google and the credit bureaus can certainly fill in the blanks. It’s just a matter of time before Google creates a global panic by revealing that it has compiled a database with the personal porn preferences of over a billion men worldwide. Hey, if you really want to keep something a secret, don’t tell anyone. Ever.

3: Learn to compromise.

It’s not all about you. Everyone thinks they’re special these days. They were brought up that way. Parents told them they were special. Teachers told them they were special. A cult of individuality was born and several generations of very self-centered children entered the adult world thinking, “It’s all about me.” These spoiled children expected to get exactly what they wanted in the workforce and in their relationships. That’s what they had been taught. When everyone was going for the gold, the bronze had no value. Slowly, the art of compromise was lost. Our politicians became deadlocked. Our relationships increasingly ended in divorce. Our employers got disgusted and began looking for a more agreeable workforce in China. Hey, it’s not all about you. It never was.

4: Believing in something doesn’t necessarily make it true.

Christians. Jews. Obama supporters. Global Warming. The Tea Party. The Taliban. Isn’t it all a bit confusing? If anyone actually had the answer to anything, why would there consistently be so many conflicting points of view? It’s comforting to believe in something, especially if others believe the same thing. Belief isn’t the same as truth however. Belief is just another manifestation of mind over matter. At least religious people understand that their beliefs are nothing more than blind faith. The worst believers are the secular humanists, who have somehow managed to get faith, religion, science, objectivity and prejudice muddled together in an unholy stew. Believe in yourself! Don’t get a big head about it though. It’s still not all about you.

5: Don’t aspire to be happy. Just choose to be happy.

A lot of people think they’d be happier if they had more money. Others want to be thinner, more popular, or in a better relationship. We are an aspirational society, but sometimes our aspirations can be counterproductive. I’ve known multi-millionaires who were catatonically depressed. I’ve known people with one leg who seemed much happier than I was. I think the happy people around me just chose to be happy. We can’t really select the cards we are dealt in life. We can fight and struggle and attempt to swim upstream, but eventually the current always wins and we are swept out to sea. Happy people just enjoy the journey.

6: Success doesn’t mean much if you have never experienced failure.

Is success learning to read road signs in French, or discovering that E=MC2? I think any successful person will tell you that success is entirely relative. Without a few setbacks along the way, you probably won’t even be able to recognize success when it finds you. Success can be large, or it can be small, but it you are afraid to fall, you probably won’t experience success at all.

7: Don’t wait too long to do the things you want to do most.

My Dad was a zoologist. He always wanted to travel to Africa and see giraffes and elephants. When he died and I was settling his estate, I cleaned out his safe deposit box and discovered an expired passport and visas to all the countries he wanted to visit. Dad knew where he wanted to go. He just kept putting off the journey. There were books to write. There were kids to put through college. The passport got dusty and Dad got Parkinson's disease. He waited too long. Don’t wait too long to do the things you want. Your time on this earth is limited.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 899

The stock market is an unmitigated disaster. The Dow was down another 274 points today. I don't think I've seen things in this big of a mess since I started investing. Nobody seems to know what to do anymore. The slightest whiff of bad news can send stocks tumbling. You wonder why a bad jobs report would cause this much turmoil? Doesn't everybody already know that there aren't any jobs?  Doesn't everybody already know that jobs aren't coming back soon? When manufacturers discovered that they could make things dirt cheap in China and Malaysia, they're not going to come back here and make things the expensive way anymore. That ship has already sailed. We can't just give everybody government jobs like they did in Greece either. Then we'll just end up like Greece. Personally, I think we're a lot closer to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome than we care to admit.

Breakfast was pleasant today. Instead of having a trendy fusion cuisine creation or an omelet packed with every kind of smoked meat imaginable, I just had pancakes. I haven't had pancakes in quite a while and the simple meal was quite satisfying. I used to make pancakes myself fairly often, but they seem to taste better if someone else makes them. I wish I could afford to eat out every day. I'm starting to realize that I really prefer eating in restaurants.

I had to pick up some prescriptions this afternoon. Whenever I go to the pharmacy, I end up in line behind a bunch of old people who take forever to get their prescriptions filled. I feel like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol when he is visited by the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Will I ever be this slow or have this many pills to take? I certainly hope not! Lord help me if I creep up to the counter with a cane and take 30 minutes to get all my pills sorted out. It's not a pretty sight.

This weekend was when we were hoping to get 101 Dalmatians out to the new dog park. Things aren't going so well. Maybe we were a little ambitious. The invitations have gone out, but based on the responses we've been getting so far, we're going to be lucky if we get 10 Dalmatians out to the park. Oh, well. I still think it was a fun idea.

June is here. I think I'm going to sell my rent house this month. I know I'm going to get a year older this month. I have no idea whatsoever what the stock market is going to do.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 898

Some days I think a robot could do my job. Other days I think I am the robot. How may days can you do the same thing over and over again before going quietly insane? I wonder about these things.

Today certainly wasn't the day to break free. I took some checks to the bank. I took some bills to the post office. I took some dogs on a walk. There was water on the roof. Dishes in the sink. And a load of dirty clothes in the washing machine. It was just an ordinary day.

My work assignment for today was doing a little Father's Day marketing for one of my clients. They want Mom and the kids to buy something expensive for Dad. Not very likely. Dads never get anything good on Father's Day. Since my birthday always fell fairly close to Father's Day, my Mom never got Dad anything at all. She claimed that I was his Father's Day gift. I think this always made my Dad mad. He would much rather have received tickets to a good basketball game, or at least a nice fishing rod.

The Spring allergy season seems to be waning. It's great not to go through an entire package of Kleenex every time I walk the dogs. The only problem is that the allergy season is always followed by the muggy season. Each day, within an hour after the rain quits, it becomes a steam-bath outdoors. During the muggy season I have to put on a new shirt every time I walk the dogs, because the shirt I was wearing is soaked. There are tons of mosquitoes during the muggy season as well. I really shouldn't complain about the weather we're having though. The muggy season is always followed by the impossibly hot season. During July and August in Texas, it feels like you are living on the surface of Mercury. I don't look forward to this heat. I don't think Dot can handle the heat anymore either. Her tongue is hanging out right now after our walks, and Summer hasn't even arrived yet.

Friday has arrived though. Almost anyway. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb for tomorrow morning's pickup and I'm already wondering what I'm going to have for breakfast on my weekly restaurant excursion. TGIF.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 897

The day started badly, but it ended well. The dogs and I had to endure wave after wave of thunderstorms before the sun finally emerged late in the afternoon. Rainy days are not fun with Dot. She has one of the worst storm phobias I've ever seen in a dog. She shivers and shakes and looks genuinely pitiful during even the slightest rain. During a real thunderstorm, her reactions can be scary. I didn't used to worry about Dot's antics, but now that she's had a seizure, I'm afraid that the panic attacks might trigger another seizure.

We did OK today though. We even managed to squeeze a short walk in between downpours. The real-time weather radar app on my iPhone is incredibly useful on days like this. Even on soggy days like today, I'm usually able to find little gaps when I can take the dogs out to do their business.

I still had to sweep the water off the roof today, but at least I didn't have to deal with the ants. All the ants had been swept away. Ants are incredibly resilient though. Wherever the rain swept the little critters, they're probably still alive, planning another assault on the house.

I'll sure be glad when the sale of my rent property is finalized. After all the activity a few weeks ago, it's kind of weird that nothing is happening now. There really isn't much left to do before we all show up at the closing to sign the documents. I'm sure that everything is proceeding smoothly, but I've heard so may horror stories about deals falling apart at the last second that I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch.

The dogs did really well at training class tonight. I was proud of both of them. We did jumps tonight and both Dot and Dash love to jump. I'm probably a bit prejudiced, but there are few things prettier than a happy Dalmatian sailing over a hurdle.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 896

It's election day in Texas. Maybe the incessant robo-calls will finally stop. Wait a minute, what was I thinking? Today's election was only a primary. The winners will be emboldened to make even more outrageous robo-calls and commercials in the days ahead. The commercials this year are particularly annoying. Every time you turn on the TV, you are greeted with the spectacle of one candidate accusing all the other candidates of being a liar. Jeez, they couldn't all be liars, could they? Sadly, they probably could.

When I woke up this morning, I thought one of the dogs had thrown up, because there was a suspicious looking puddle in the hallway. On closer inspection, the puddle wasn't dog vomit after all. It was something much worse. Paint, or glue, or a combination of the two was leaking out of a nearby cabinet where I kept supplies for household projects I hadn't gotten around to yet. When I opened up the cabinet, it became clear that a can of paint was leaking. I just wasn't sure which one, since several cans were suspiciously rusty and sitting in a big puddle of paint. I ended up throwing away all the old paint. I didn't stop there either. Since I had to take the old paint cans to the hazardous chemical disposal facility anyway, I figured that it would be a good idea to get rid of all the ancient cans of glop that I had around the house. I filled the car with old gasoline containers filled with gas that was so old I would never put it in a lawn mower. I found quite a few equally old cans of brake fluid, motor oil, antifreeze, and windshield washer fluid. It was good to get rid of this stuff, but it left me wondering why I had bought it in the first place.

It rained a lot last night, so I crawled up on the roof after breakfast to get the water off. I was greeted with thousands of ants crawling all over my sump pump. Fire ants, chiggers, and mosquitoes have been particularly bad this Spring. I feel like I am being eaten alive. I got rid of the ants by dipping the pump in the deepest puddle of water I could find. Then it occurred to me that the ants might actually be useful. Ants are tiny. Probably wherever they congregate on the roof is both their entryway to the inside of the house and the source of the water leaks.

I'm glad it's a short week. A four day work week is just fine with me.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 895 - Memorial Day

My Mom was from a military family, Her Dad was a career army officer and both her brothers were air force fighter pilots. My own Dad fought in the Pacific during World War II and my Mom served in the WAVES as a parachute rigger. That was the end of the family's military service. I don't think any member of the Sealander clan has served in the military since. I have tremendous respect for our armed forces. They are the best of the best. I'm not so sure I have the same respect for the politicians who have sent these brave man and women into battle recently. So many have died and absolutely nothing has been accomplished. The Crusades didn't solve any problems in the Middle East and neither has any subsequent war. As soon as we leave Iraq and Afghanistan, these countries will revert to exactly the way they were before we arrived. I don't think you should get into a war unless you are willing to win it convincingly. Harry Truman was the last president who knew how to win a war convincingly.

The park was filled with holiday revelers today. I don't think many of these people were honoring our troops, since most of them appeared for be from foreign countries. They were just families who had a day off from work and wanted to enjoy the nice weather with a little barbecue. There were helicopters  hovering over the park all day today. At first I though this was some strange new police surveillance program, but I learned later that a carjacker had fled to the top of a nearby construction crane when cornered and is currently involved in a standoff with the police. I think this confrontation is still going on. The carjacker has a gun and is sitting a hundred and fifty feet up in the air, so the police are cordoning off entire neighborhoods. The helicopters I saw were actually news helicopters using long telephoto lenses to record the ongoing action. I don't think the police would let them get any closer than the area where they were hovering over the park.

All this drama didn't prevent me from having a fairly dull day. I got caught up on a few writing jobs. I took my caulking gun up on the roof and looked for cracks where water might get in. I refinished an old cedar chest that Dot had scratched up. I even cleaned the toilets. Tomorrow, it will be back to business as usual. Pretty soon it will be June. Hard to believe the year is half over already.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 894

Dot and Dash had great fun meeting some other Dalmatians we know at the dog park today. The Dalmatians got so much attention that I started to wonder what would happen if even more Dalmatians appeared? What about 101 Dalmatians? It might be possible. I know that there are hundreds of Dalmatians living in the Metroplex. I've probably photographed 500 myself over the years. Janet and I are thinking of inviting all the Dalmatians we know to come to the park next weekend. If we could get a good showing, it would be quite an event. I bet if we could get 101 Dalmatians to show up, it would make the local news. We might get a write up in the local paper, or even a YouTube video that goes viral. It's worth a try anyway.

I wish the weather would stay like this all Summer. It was about 85 degrees with a nice breeze when I was out and about today. You can't get much better than that. When it's warm, but not oppressive, everyone is happy. The dogs like their walks, I'm able to work in the yard, and the electric bills are reasonable. We'll see what happens in July, but I have a feeling that nice days like today will just be fond memories when Summer really arrives.

I can't decide whether tomorrow will be a holiday or not. Some of my clients will probably send me things to do, even though I wish they would just take the day off. I think Janet has work to to too. We'll probably compromise. We'll sleep in late, but when we finally do get up, it will just be a regular workday.

We had a great holiday feast tonight: home made cheeseburgers, french fries, onion rings, cole slaw and Shiner beer. Since I'm trying to save my liver, I rarely get to drink beer anymore. This was a real treat for me. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to enjoy some of my favorite beer again on my birthday.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day