Day 1029

It's been almost a year since I started taking a camera with me when I walk the dogs. During my first three or four months as a dog walking photographer, I would see something new and interesting almost every day. Now, I've started to notice that nature repeats itself with remarkable regularity. Flowers appear and disappear with clockwork precision. Birds return to exactly the same logs and pilings where I photographed them last year. Squirrels seem to be perpetually digging up the same nut. I feel like I've documented every square inch of my tiny little world. There must still be new things happening all around me, but I'm just not seeing them. I guess I'll have to look a little harder.

An estimator came out this morning to measure the utility room and recommend a new furnace. The room is so small and cramped that I have no idea how everything got in there in the first place. The furnace, the washer, the dryer and the water heater all seem too large to even fit through the door. The estimator assured me that installing a new furnace would be no problem. This was reassuring, but I think he was being overconfident. Everything about this house ends up being a problem. Problems or not, we should have a new furnace installed by the end of the week.

I'm glad the Jewish Holidays are finally over for a while. I've had some camera equipment on order from B&H in New York City since before Rosh Hashanah and it still hasn't been delivered. I completely forgot how many holy days there are during September and October. I had thought about ordering from Adorama instead, but it wouldn't have done much good. They follow exactly the same holiday schedule. Basically, it's just not a good idea to buy a camera in October.

Since I wasn't having much luck with the camera, I went and bought an iPhone case instead. Why doesn't anyone make the kind of case I like anymore? I loved the soft Griffin perforated silicon case I had for my old phone, but nobody makes these things anymore. Now, big clunky cases like OtterBox are popular. Boo. I finally bought a trim looking white Speck case, but it wasn't what I really wanted. Maybe I'll get one of those fancy LunaTik cases when they start selling them later this Fall. It would be just like me to get a case that costs more than the phone.

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1028

I spent most of the day carrying a small ceramic heater from room to room in a somewhat vain attempt to keep warm. Eventually, I decided to give up on the ineffectual little heater and just put on a sweater. My Northern readers would probably laugh at these antics. You guys seem to wear sweaters indoors all the time. I'm a Southerner though and prefer to pretend that Winter doesn't exist. I usually just turn the heat up and wear a t-shirt and shorts around the house all Winter.

Unfortunately, I can't turn the heat up yet, because the furnace is broken. The HVAC guys are coming out tomorrow to give me an estimate on replacing the furnace. This is probably going to hurt. A good furnace isn't cheap. There's really no alternative though. You can't live very comfortably without a furnace during the Winter. At least this is probably the last furnace I'll need to buy. The current furnace lasted twenty-five years. It will be a miracle if I last twenty-five more years.

I spent some time today getting my ducks in a row for a new technical article I need to write this week. I always learn something new when I research these articles.  Last week I learned that steam turbines powered railway locomotives during the 1930's. This week I learned that Germany has oil wells. Why did I think that Europe didn't have any oil of its own? Shows what I know.

I used to think that curators only worked in museums. Now, I think curation has a much broader appeal. The term has become an Internet buzz word with people curating pictures of cats on Pinterest and making lists of people who like chocolate on Twitter. I've never seen such an explosion of information gathering and list making in my life. I'm fascinated by people who love to make lists. Why?  I never make lists. Even though I sometimes talk about my "to-do" list, there is never an actual list. It is just a figure of speech. Jeez, I even go shopping without a grocery list. Although I don't understand this fascination with lists, I'm grateful that it exists. If it weren't for the list makers, probably nobody would read this blog. I got added to another list today. Almost immediately, 100 new people started looking at my photos on Google+. What a strange world we live in.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1027

Brrr. It was cold this morning. Since there is still no heat, the inside and outside temperatures at the house have gradually equalized. It's about 64 degrees everywhere now. As much as I hate to deal with the whole situation, I'm going to call the HVAC folks tomorrow and see about getting a brand new furnace. I thought briefly about trying to patch the old furnace up for one more year, but it's hopeless. I know the old furnace needs a new gas valve and they don't even make the part anymore. I've patched up the furnace so many times that I think the repairs themselves have become part of the problem. The whole thing is just a bunch of replacement components installed at very different times, all trying without much success to communicate with each other.

The dogs don't seem to mind the cold nearly as much as I do. I guess that makes sense, because they've got fur. They certainly enjoyed the cooler weather when they went to the dog park this afternoon. Dash wanted to say hello to everyone in the park and even Dot was playful. I'm sure the dogs will appreciate the new furnace as the weather grows colder, but I'm going to have to board them on the day it is installed. I've already learned that the dogs and repair people aren't a good mix.

I watched that Rumble2012 debate between Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly after dinner. It was actually quite good. Both men tackled difficult subjects, were well informed, and still managed to be funny. I actually learned more from this debate than from the real debate last week. I guess real politicians could never be this candid. Real politicians from both parties have a ton of sacred cows they can't even go near for fear of upsetting their constituents. It was refreshing to hear two different points of view without all the pandering.

This whole weekend zipped by. Between yesterday's Oktoberfest and today's dog park outing, there was barely time to mow the grass and get the groceries. It's going to be a busy week. I've got October invoices to get out. There are technical articles to write. Hopefully, there will be a new furnace before it gets any colder.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1026

It's jacket weather again. For the first time since last Spring, I needed to put on a coat when I went to run my weekend errands. I like jacket weather myself, mostly because jackets and coats are the only form of clothing that I actually enjoy buying. I've got more jackets than I know what to do with, but if I pass by the right sort of store on a chilly day, I'll probably get another one.

Unfortunately, I'll be wearing my jackets indoors soon if I don't get the furnace replaced. I tried to turn on the heat today, but I couldn't get the pilot to light. This doesn't really surprise me, since the furnace wouldn't work late last Winter either. I just didn't want to deal with it then. It was almost time to start using the air conditioner and I didn't want to spend the money. I guess the time has arrived. It's going to be chilly this evening.

I stopped by the neighborhood Oktoberfest this afternoon and had a beer and a bratwurst. The Weizenbier I tried was quite good. I initially thought it was imported until I looked on the label and realized it was a product of a little microbrewery in Plano, Texas, only a few miles down the road. When I used to work in Germany a lot, I remember that every town had its own local brewery. With the increased popularity of craft beers and microbreweries, it's getting to be that way here as well. Too bad I can't enjoy these tasty brews as much as I like anymore. I can survive without beer, but I'm not going to make it very long without a liver.

The dogs were wild on their walk this evening. I don't know whether they were enjoying the cool weather, or were cold and wanted their sweaters on. They certainly had more energy than they did yesterday. I guess it makes sense that the dogs would act diferent today. The temperature dropped at least 35 degrees overnight.

I got another assignment to write about the oil and gas industry today. I used to do a ton of these jobs and then they all disappeared for a while. Now, they're coming back again. The opposite is happening with my watch industry assignments. I'm not writing as many watch articles these days. This is the way it's always been. When one thing picks up, another thing slows down. I feel like I'm treading water instead of making any real forward progress. Hey, I'm still in business though and paying my bills. I know a lot of people who can't say that anymore.

Cassie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1025

The Cormorants and Coots have returned to the lake again. I find these seasonal migrations reassuring. At least something in this world stays the same from year to year. Truthfully, not very much in nature stays the same. I've noticed this year that Johnsongrass is slowly but surely erasing the beautiful native prairie near our house. Sparrows have occupied all the Martin Houses in the area as well. I wouldn't call these two things a sign of the apocalypse, but it's not exactly good news either.

I got lucky when I stopped by the cool restaurant for breakfast this morning. The place was virtually empty. I got to enjoy a delicious meal without overhearing a bunch of trendy people salt and pepper their conversations with words like sustainability and codependency.

Since some of my clients pay me in Euros, I never know quite what I'm going to make until I exchange the money for dollars again. I think I picked a good day today, since the Euro was down. Things were much better though before the Federal Reserve started printing money again and caused the dollar to weaken. It's way too complicated for me. Life was so much easier when I just went to work at an ad agency and collected a paycheck every two weeks.

One of Janet's charities is having an Octoberfest fundraiser this weekend. Janet will be working the event, but for me it will be a good excuse to have a rare special occasion beer with a bratwurst. I think my liver will forgive me for the occasional special beer. Honestly, I haven't had a drink since the last special occasion. Regular readers will know that these things don't happen all that often.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1024

I lost another website account today. My soon to be former client went to a conference and was pitched by one of those companies that offer standardized, template driven websites geared to a specific industry at very low prices. I patiently tried to explain to my client that all those cheap bells and whistles would be of limited value if their competitors all had exactly the same website. This argument went in one ear and right out the other. Apparently, one of their competitors had actually recommended this web developer to them. They didn't care if their website looked exactly like 100 other websites. They just wanted the cheap bells and whistles.

Inexpensive template websites have become the bane of my existence. I still do everything from scratch, and just can't compete with this mass produced approach. I feel like one of those obscure auto companies who were hand-building cars in a garage right after Henry Ford invented the assembly line. I still have some really good customers who seem happy with my work, but the writing is on the wall. I get e-mail everyday from companies offering to re-design my own website for free. I get other e-mails offering to host the site for as little as $9.95 a month. It's becoming a commodity driven business and I'm becoming a dinosaur.

Maybe I ought to just stick to writing. I think the bloom is off the rose when it comes to comes to photography, video editing, and website design. It's become increasingly easy to do these things yourself. People still don't like to write, however. Hell, they don't even like to read anymore. I actually have more writing jobs than I did a few years ago. I guess there still isn't a convenient iPhone app that will do your writing and thinking for you.

Although I missed the political debates last night, I couldn't avoid seeing everything rehashed on the morning news shows today. The pundits were right. Obama was definitely off his game. The guy looked like he was sleepwalking through the entire debate. The debacle serves him right if you ask me. He's been spending way too much time partying with the likes of JZ and Beyonce.

Jersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1023

When I go to the post office, I park at a nearby strip mall and walk the final 100 yards to mail my letters. I do this because there is a traffic light at the intersection leading to the neighborhood shops. There is no light at the post office and it is much easier to go home again when I can turn left. I've been parking at this strip mall for years now and continue to be amazed at how quickly the shops change hands. A theater where I once saw 101 Dalmatians is now a small grocery store. A pizza place is now an MRI imaging center. Most of the retail stores have been replaced by restaurants. The restaurants themselves get replaced by other restaurants with disturbing regularity. The video rental store on the corner is just empty. I guess nobody rents video tapes anymore. I can't help thinking that each of these stores was somebody's dream. So many broken dreams, and this is just one little neighborhood strip mall. I'd like to see a little more permanance in this world, but I'm not holding my breath anymore.

I finally managed to get Linux running on my computer this morning. I now have access to thousands of open source programs that I'll never ever use. The problem yesterday was all my fault. I just wasn't typing things correctly in the terminal command line. Now that I've solved this mystery and have Linux running side by side with my Mac OS, I'll probably just forget about it. That's what I did last time anyway. I'm sure I'll use Gimp from time to time, but since I know Photoshop so much better, it's hard to see the point. Basically, it was just a slow day yesterday and installing Linux gave me something to do.

We missed most of the presidential debates this evening because we were at dog training class with Dot and Dash. That's just as well. I have a hard time even listening to politicians anymore. Everybody is saying what that they think people want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. I'm getting tired of the whole charade. When the majority of the population is spending more than they earn, it's no surprise that the entire country is in trouble. A little restraint on everybody's part would do wonders. It doesn't matter is you are an individual, a family, a city, or a country. You just shouldn't spend what you don't have.

I hope I feel better tomorrow. I've been dragging around all day with no energy whatsoever. I almost feel like I've got the flu or something, but it's not even flu season. Maybe I just didn't get a good night's sleep last night. Dot and Dash are active dreamers and their paw slapping dog dreams woke me up at two hour intervals. I'm hoping things will be a little calmer tonight.

Hobbs is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1022

I felt like using some Linux applications on my computer today. Oops. I forgot that I didn't have X-11 or Developer Tools installed on my Mac anymore. No problem. Hey, I used to do this stuff all the time. "I'll just get out the Developer Tools install disk and get everything working again," I thought. When running Linux on a Mac first became an option after OS X appeared, I became fascinated with it and grew to love several Linux applications. I particularly liked Gimp, which was sort of a free open source version of Photoshop.

Well, getting Gimp to work again was going to be a problem. First of all, there wasn't a Developer Tools install disk anymore, because I had downloaded the Lion OS from the app store. Apple doesn't make things easy these days. To get access to the Developer Tools, I had to sign up to become an approved Apple Developer. I answered a whole bunch of questions on their website, which probably proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I know absolutely nothing about coding Apple applications. Apple approved my application anyway and sent me the software. I read all the instructions that I could find on Google about how to install all this stuff and then I tried to launch a Linux application. Nothing. Apparently, I'm not as much of a geek as I used to be. There was a time when I had lots of Linux apps running perfectly on a previous desktop computer. Either Apple has become more complicated, or I have become less intelligent.

Dash got to go to the vet again today. He loves to go to the vet. All I have to say is "It's time to go to the vet," and he's right at the front door, wagging his tail. I don't think he even feels the antigen shot he gets every two weeks. To him, a vet visit is just a time to socialize and get petted by the nurses.

I'm determined to open the windows before the weather turns cold again. I got rid of two big wasp nests today. There's still one very large nest left and a lot of smaller ones, but I'm making progress. My method so far has been to open a window near a nest, spray the nest with insecticide and then close the window very quickly before the agitated wasps fly inside. Since the remaining nests aren't near a window, I'll have to go outside under the nest, spray quickly, and then run.

You've probably figured out already that there weren't a lot of writing projects today. When I've got writing deadlines, there's never time for things like getting Linux running on my computer. Of course, when I'm spending my time on personal projects like this, I'm not making any money. Why does it always have to be one or the other?

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1021

This is the only time of year when you can open your windows in Texas. The weather is beautiful in October and the month certainly got off to a good start today. Did I open my windows and enjoy the cool breezes and mild temperatures? Well, no. You see, if I opened the windows, a ton of wasps would fly inside. Over the summer, lots of wasps have built imposing nests under the eaves. The window screens would keep the wasps out, you might think. Well, no. I went on a tour of homes a while back and noticed that a house on the tour which resembled ours looked much better without the window screens, so I took the screens off our house as well. The house does look better, but I haven't been able to open the windows since. Unfortunately, that's the way it is with me. Pretty wins over practicality just about every time.

The dogs didn't seem all that eager to get up this morning. I think yesterday's golf tournament tired them out. They normally sleep so much during the day that having people come up and pet them all afternoon was more activity than they could handle. I thought they would go to sleep in the car on the way home last night, but they don't seem to like the smaller seats in the little Kia rental car. Nobody seems to like the Kia. Janet and I have gotten so hooked on GPS navigation that we frequently get lost without it. Since we'd never been to the Bridlewood golf course before, we weren't sure how to get home without the Land Rover GPS until we realized that the iPhone had a turn-by-turn navigation app. A little voice in the dark guided us safely home. It is kind of weird how ubiquitous technology has become. I didn't even question putting my faith in a little artificial voice coming out of a telephone.

I've started looking for an alternative to Entrecard and so far I don't like what I see. Most of the other blog advertising networks seem to either be pay-per-post schemes, which I don't like, or require huge readership stats to attract national advertisers, which I don't have. Several of these blog networks suggested creating a niche blog with content devoted exclusively to one subject like parenting, vampires, or knitting. I guess talking about wasp nests and sleeping dogs doesn't count.

There are days when just doing your own thing seems a lonely road to follow. I don't know what else to do, however. I'm kind of set in my ways and I'm certainly not much of a team player. I told one of my advertising friends that I couldn't imagine spending all my time writing about one subject. "But you do spend all your time writing about one subject," he said. "You just write about yourself." Touché.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1020

I initially thought that today’s golf tournament was going to get rained out, but we got lucky. Although it rained all the way from Dallas to the Bridlewood Country Club, the skies started to clear as soon as we pulled in the golf course parking lot. Dalmatians are always welcome at Dalmatian Rescue events, so we took Dot and Dash with us this year. Dash actually did pretty well in the car, considering that this was a lot longer trip than he was used to.

There were at least 16 Dalmatians at the event. I think we had 70 players this year, plus all the people who stayed behind at the clubhouse to take care of the Dalmatians while the golfers were out on the course. I spend the afternoon like I usually do: driving around the course in a golf cart and taking pictures of each team.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been doing this for eleven years now. The golf courses change periodically and the weather is never the same, but the people who support our tournament have been very loyal. A lot of the people who came to our very first golf tournament were still here today.

I think everybody had a good time. Bridlewood was a very nice club, and once the skies cleared, the weather was beautiful for the rest of the day. I definitely prefer the crisp, cool Fall afternoon we had today to the scorcher of a Sunday we had last year. Dot and Dash were really patient. They let everyone pet them and didn’t complain once. I think they were ready to go home around 3 PM, but both dogs were troupers and stuck it out to the end.

It was a long day for everyone. By the time we all finished dinner, passed out trophies to the winners, bid on a few silent auction items and drove home again, it was time for bed. Luckily, I had time to sweep the water from last night’s rain off the roof before we left for the tournament this morning. I may have avoided a leak this time. Dot and Dash would probably have preferred to stay at home and gone to sleep on the bed, but it was good we took them with us. Instead of worrying about getting home in time so we could let them out to poop, they just pooped on the golf course. We cleaned it up of course.

Tomorrow’s just another Monday. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but I imagine it will involve writing something. I think I’ll start the day by sleeping in late.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1019

I wonder why people like to make lists? I've never been much of a list maker myself, but I seem to wind up on a lot of them. The last time I checked, I had been added to over 600 Twitter lists. I never thought all this list making mattered until I noticed that just being added to two widely read Google lists resulted in thousands of new Google+ followers almost overnight. The only reason I mention this is that this whole list making thing seems to work both ways. Now that Entrecard has disappeared, I seems to be disappearing from a lot of lists as well. There must have been a whole infrastructure built around the inflated traffic that blog communities like Entrecard, Adgitize, and CMF brought. Now that all three of these communities are gone, I think some of the blogs and bloggers and list makers who depended on these services are starting to disappear as well. Oh, well. It was probably all an illusion in the first place. I used to think I had over 400 regular readers every day. It was probably closer all along to the 40 that Google Analytics has been reporting recently. Easy come, easy go I guess. You can still add me to your next list though. Blogs that nobody reads might be a good category.

We gave the dogs a bath today, so they'd look nice for tomorrow's Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. Since it's been raining cats and dogs all day, they won't look nice for very long if I take them out for an evening walk. The park is a giant mud-hole right now. Hopefully, the rain will quit soon. The dogs still won't poop in the yard. I need to clear the water off the roof before it gets completely dark as well. Most importantly, the golf course needs time to dry out before tomorrow's tournament begins.

The Dr. Who season finale is this evening. How can you have a season finale with only four shows? I missed one of those shows too. I'll be sure to watch this season's final episode tonight, but I can't help thinking that it wasn't much of a season. I've only seen two episodes so far. Didn't there used to be 26 shows in an average TV season?

I can't hear the sump pump running up on the roof anymore. Hopefully, it's just a circuit breaker that's been tripped. I'd hate to buy yet another new pump. It seems like I have to replace these things almost every year. Unfortunately, it's still raining too hard to go up on the roof and check things out. The last thing I need right now is to get struck by lightning.

Sweet Pea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1018

I'm getting really tired of all the political rhetoric. I've never seen such a disingenuous bunch of people in my life. Everyone wants to save the middle class. I'm right in the middle of the middle class. Why do I keep feeling like nobody is talking to me? I think the Republicans like to use the words middle class so people won't think they are talking to the privileged elite. On the other hand, I think the Democrats like to use the words middle class so people won't think they're talking exclusively to Walmart lowlife. I don't trust politicians. I've spent too many years sitting in advertising focus groups to believe any of them. Politicians love focus groups. They like to find out what people emotionally respond to and then that's what they say. Whether what they say is true is irrelevant.

I think the restaurant with good bacon knows I'm taking pictures of their food. Today, the chef brought my bacon to me carefully arranged in an artful star shape on a special plate. That's never happened before. Nobody said anything about this interesting bacon star, but I did think the whole thing was a bit strange.

I think I made it through a very challenging work week with no major damage. A few things came back for revisions today, but the re-writes were minor and quite reasonable. Most of my website revisions are still up as well. I always look at this as a good sign, since sometimes the revisions go up and then come right back down again. Usually, I always worry where next week's work is coming from. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind if people forgot about me for a week. I need a little time to recharge.

I've had my new phone for a week now. I still haven't made a call. I don't think I've received any calls either. This is par for the course. I think I had my first iPhone almost a month before I actually called anyone. I have received four text messages though. They were all from AT&T, asking me to take a survey.

Spanky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1017

I've pretty much caught up on things again. Even though I'm continually busy, I'm having increasing difficulty remembering who my clients are. I never see them anymore. I turn on my computer in the morning, check my e-mail and find out what I'm going to be doing that day. There isn't a connection to real people or real companies anymore. I do my research on the Internet. I do my work sitting in a quiet room with two Dalmatians. If I'm lucky, at the end of the day I send the finished results back where they came from using YouSendIt. If you've ever wondered if you could make a living in total isolation, I guess I'd have to say the answer is yes.

I kind of miss the days where you had to have five meetings before you could do anything. Maybe you guys still go to meetings. Not me. People stopped paying me to come to their meetings long ago. Maybe I wasn't attentive enough, or didn't take good notes, but most people eventually learned that I wasn't really necessary at their meetings. Once they discovered that I did just as well with no input whatsoever, they quit inviting me to their seminars and strategy sessions. Oddly, I still do almost exactly the same things that I've always done. I just don't talk about it much.

I wonder if I could even go to a meeting anymore. Most of them are a monumental waste of time. I think one of the primary reasons I started my own company is that I hated bosses who scheduled status meetings at 7:30 AM. Why? I don't think anything useful has happened before 9 AM in my life. I guess I can't have it both ways. If I snub my nose at meetings, it's a pretty safe bet that I'm going to continue working alone. Nobody likes people who rain on their parade.

When I finished my work today, I drove over to the doctor's office to schedule my annual physical exam. The nurse looked at my chart and told me to come back around Thanksgiving. Evidently, I had arrived way too early for my physical. I don't know why I've been feeling that I was overdue for this thing all week. Maybe I should have made an appointment to talk with the doctor about memory loss.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1016

I promised Janet I'd print something for her today. Somehow, to make a single 8x10 print, I ended up running an hour-long cleaning cycle, replacing three $55 ink cartridges and putting in a new maintenance tank. When I finally got the image printed, I found out it was the wrong size.

Most of the rest of the day was spent writing. Writing is a fairly peaceful activity. When I'm writing a longer piece, I usually compose all the headlines and sub-heads first and then use these as an outline to fill in the text. I never try to do anything in a single draft. The first draft is just to get something down on paper. The second is to correct major contextual errors and logical flaws. All the other drafts are just nit-picking to refine sentence structure and bring things in at the required work count. I enjoy this part of the process. The inevitable revisions that come after the piece is submitted aren't nearly as much fun.

My eyes were watering so badly from Fall allergies that I could hardly tell what the dogs were doing at training class this evening. Once the Spring allergy season is behind me, I completely forget that there is also a Fall allergy season. Everything is fine during the Summer, but it is usually way too hot to really enjoy the relief from my perpetual sneezing and wheezing. It's a shame that the nicest weather usually coincides with the worst times for seasonal allergies. Maybe allergies just get worse with age, but I don't remember having these problems before I moved to Texas. Colorado air was crisp and clear. Seattle was damp and rainy, but I still didn't suffer from seasonal allergies. The dogs have allergy problems too. They don't sneeze or have watering eyes, but their skin itches. I don't know which is worse. When I see them scratching and rolling on their backs on the carpet, I sympathize. I know exactly what they are going through.

The holiday pet photo season will be here before you know it. I'm gradually replacing faulty equipment and getting ready for this year's events. Since many of the same people come year-after-year with their pets, it's time for a new set as well. The pets are the same, so you've got to do something to make each year's pictures a little different. While I'm shopping for a new backdrop, I should shop for a comfortable chair to sit in as well. Yeah, I know you can't really take pictures sitting in a chair, but it would be nice if you could. These events are murder on my knees.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1015

I won't bore you with what I did today. Why? Well, maybe because I did exactly the same things as I did yesterday. Tomorrow will be the same as well. It's going to be a very busy week. My activities ranged from steam turbines to a 40 pound cat, but it wasn't as interesting as it might seem. Basically, days like this are just a lot of typing.

My Google Analytics stats have been depressing lately. Now that Adgitize and Entrecard are both gone, my blog traffic has slowed to a trickle. I know that some of you think that visitors from these blogging networks weren't really interested in reading your blog, but I beg to differ. Almost every interesting blog I've ever discovered came directly as a result of participating in the Adgitize and Entrecard networks. Without them, it's just going to be a bit harder to keep up with my favorite bloggers.

It's time for my annual physical again. I'm pretty good about eating the right foods and getting plenty of exercise, but I still don't look forward to these physicals. I'm just tired of hearing that my blood sugar and PSA levels are on the high side. I'm tired of wondering about the differences between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. I definitely don't want to add any more meds to the growing pile I already take every day. Truthfully, I'm in better physical shape than I was fifteen years ago, but it's hard to feel that way. I've had to give up drinking and lost my tolerance for alcohol in the process. Now, even a glass or two of wine with dinner will keep me up half the night. The statins I take are starting to cause muscle atrophy. For the first time in my life, I'm feeling old.

I kept thinking I heard the raccoon last night. When I got up and looked out the window, there was nothing. Maybe I just dreamed I heard the raccoon. I have a feeling that the raccoon and the armadillo may have moved on to greener pastures. The backyard is so torn up right now that I don't think these animals could do any more damage if they tried.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1014

People must have spent the weekend thinking of things they wanted me to do. Usually Mondays are completely dead, but today there were a ton of little projects that needed to be dealt with. There were new things that needed to be written. Old things that needed to be revised. And of course, there were confusing things that made no sense at all. As I methodically worked my way through this lengthy to-do list, I kept wondering when the fun was going to start. It never did.

I learned a bit about steam turbines today as well. Steam turbines are pretty dull. Even though these complicated and very expensive pieces of machinery are essential for everything from making electricity to making paper, they are only slightly more exciting than a farmer's windmill. Actually, a farmer's windmill is a type of turbine.

Our backyard armadillo has been joined by a backyard raccoon. I saw the raccoon on the porch this morning when I woke up early and went out to the kitchen for a glass of water. I don't know if the raccoon has joined forces with the armadillo to tear up the yard, but it is stealing things off the porch. Raccoons will steal virtually anything. They are also carriers of rabies and will attack dogs and cats. I've got to get rid of this raccoon.

I missed last Saturday's episode of Dr. Who, so I thought I'd record it on the U-verse DVR so I could watch it later. I've never used the DVR, but it couldn't be that hard, could it? I set the DVR to record the show when it was replayed at 2AM this morning. I must have done something wrong though, because when I got ready to watch the episode this morning, I discovered that nothing had been recorded at all. Oh, well. My Instagram photos aren't being recorded to the Camera Roll on my new phone either. That's the trouble with technology. You've got to learn how to use it.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1013

I can't believe I spent such a beautiful Fall day doing a laundry list of disagreeable tasks. They had to be done though, and today was as good a day as any. I finally took off all the switch plates and outlet covers and applied the bait that is supposed to rid our house of bugs. It's been dry for over a week, so I also went up on the roof to look for tiny cracks that might let water in and patch them with Henry 209. I mowed the grass. I patiently talked with tech support until I finally got the voicemail working on my new phone. Of course, it wouldn't have been a laundry list without doing a couple of loads of laundry as well.

Before I started my chore marathon, we took the dogs to the dog park. Dot and Dash both had brand new harnesses that we were trying out for the first time. We were hoping that this new style would work better with Dash. I call Dash the Harness Houdini because he manages to effortlessly slip out of every harness we have ever put on him. This new model didn't fare better than any of the rest. Somehow, he managed to slip out of his harness sitting in the back seat of the car before we even arrived at the dog park. Oh, well. At least we tried.

My input material for the new steam turbine project arrived today. It took about 20 minutes just to download it all. Now I've got to digest over 600 MB of facts about the turbines in the next several days. I know nothing about these things now, but I have a feeling that by the end of the week, I'll be a walking encyclopedia.

It's hard to believe that it's almost the end of September already. This month just zipped by. Actually, this entire year has just zipped by. Next week is the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. This is the eleventh year we've done the tournament! After that, it will be time to make the dog's new costumes for the annual dog training class Halloween Party. There's an election in November, and then it will be time to hunt for the Christmas decorations in the storage warehouse again. At some point between now and then, the skies will get very pretty on our evening walks and I'll start taking more sunset pictures. It doesn't sound all that exciting when I describe things this way, but I'm sure I'll have something new to tell you each and every day.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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