Day 1132

It was one of those prematurely early Spring days that brought everyone outside. The dog park was absolutely packed. Dash was intimidated by all the people and dogs at first, but he adjusted quickly. Everyone was in a good mood. I rarely see this many people in the park and quickly noticed that everyone looked kind of similar. Virtually the entire crown consisted of singles or young couples without children. All were Caucasian. You would never have seen a crown like this twenty years ago. Some of these people will have children later, but others never will. For a variety of reasons, they have decided that dogs are a much easier kind of family.

Later in the day, the dogs and I see tons of families with children at the large city park where we take our daily walks. Virtually all of these people are Hispanic. The adults are fixing picnic dinners while the kids play soccer and other games. The demographics of the city and probably of the entire country are changing dramatically. One group is marrying young and having large families while the other postpones families and pursues careers until they eventually start to worry about down syndrome babies and cogitative disorders. The future is all in the demographics. Immigration reform is a big issue now, but eventually it won't even matter. In less than a hundred years, I am convinced that this country will simply become an extension of Mexico.

When I wasn't ruminating about the future, I spent my time doing an assortment of odd little tasks. Since my car was clean again, I got a bottle of Meguiar's Fine Cut Cleaner and polished out a couple of scratches in the paint. I also glued a wooden chopping block that had become de-laminated back together. Finally, I tried to clean up the little Japanese Garden in our atrium. When we first bought the house, Janet and I made a huge effort to make this little area pretty and green. We bought Japanese Maples, ferns and ivy plants. When the plants died, we bought replacements and continued our efforts to have a delightful little green spot in the center of the house. It was a futile effort. There wasn't enough light in the atrium and every two or three years there would be a big freeze that would kill everything anyway. At some point I made a rock garden because I figured nothing could hurt the rocks. The garden is a failure, but it still looks nicer when I clean it up.

I have an appointment with my financial adviser tomorrow. I'll ask him if Apple has dropped enough to consider buying some shares again. I'll ask him why my natural gas investments are doing so terribly if natural gas is still what is supposed to make us energy independent. We won't watch the inauguration, but I'll ask him how to make the next four years work in my favor. I doubt if he'll have a good answer.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1131

I took my car to the car wash today. Janet likes clean dogs, but it's a clean car that does it for me. The old Defender looks almost new when it is sparkling clean. The only problem I had was setting the side mirrors again. The side mirrors on the Defender are so tiny that unless they are positioned perfectly, you can't see anything at all. I need the side mirrors because a big metal dog crate obscures my vision from the rear view mirror on the windshield. There are no electric buttons to move these mirrors. You have to get out of the car, monkey around with the mirror, then get get back in the car and see if you'd adjusted things properly. After three of four tries, I could see the road behind me again and I was on my way. A clean car didn't make the grocery shopping go any faster, but I did feel better.

I got another gift card in the mail from Klout this morning. This time it was from McDonalds. I own some McDonalds stock, but I can't say that I eat at the place very often. A Big Mac isn't exactly my idea of a healthy meal. Hey, I'll eat anywhere if it's free though. Maybe I'll go have an Egg McMuffin for breakfast some day.

I watched a few old Top Gear episodes on TV while I was cleaning the house this afternoon. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are my heroes. They've managed to make a great living bumbling about, playing tricks on each other, and driving fast cars. Given a choice between being an accountant, a civil servant, or driving around in the latest Ferrari, I think most guys would choose to be James May. I probably shouldn't make such a sweeping statement though. Guys who drive a Prius probably don't like Top Gear at all. Most of them would probably rather be Al Gore than Richard Hammond.

The days are already starting to get longer. Since we tend to walk around sunset at this time of year, I can see small differences almost every day. Less than a month ago the sun was starting to set when the dogs and I started our evening walk. Now, the sun doesn't reach the horizon until we are almost home again. Lots of people were out in the park today. I heard a woman scream when I was watching the sunset today. It wasn't what I thought though. Somebody's radio controlled model aircraft had run out of gas and almost hit the woman when it unexpectedly fell out of the sky. You never know what to expect in the city. I'm glad the model plane didn't hit the dogs.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1130

I paid a visit to my watchmaker today. Although I rarely even bother to fix my own watches any more, Janet still likes hers to run. I like visiting with the watch repairman. I'd drop by more often if he wasn't so busy. Guys like him usually have enough work to last a lifetime. The mechanic who works on my old Maserati is the same way. These solitary craftsmen work alone, slowly and methodically restoring odd little treasures from a bygone era. I used to know lots of people who could fix things. I knew several guys who could rebuild a Leica camera from scratch and one peculiar guy who did nothing but restore old electric fans. Most of these guys are gone now, but fortunately the watchmaker remains. He and I both collect things and enjoy sharing our discoveries. Guys like me rarely talk about feelings because we don't really have many. We do like to talk about stuff though. I had a very enjoyable afternoon and Janet's watch got fixed too.

I got quite a bit done today. I have a feeling that I was more productive because the skies were clear and the weather was warm. I think everything goes better on a nice day. The dogs enjoy sunning themselves in the back yard. The car starts effortlessly, and best of all, I don't have to muck about up on the roof. With the help of the suns rays, I managed to finish several articles and completely update an animal rescue website.

I think I'm going to contact the foam roofing company next week and have them come out and give me an estimate. I need to come up with a five year plan to get the house shipshape again if I ever want to sell it. I guess the roof would be a good place to start. It certainly wouldn't make sense to fix anything inside if the roof was still leaking.

I wonder how long it will be before I become bored with eating out every Friday morning. I found a really nice restaurant this morning, but nothing on the menu really appealed to me. Maybe I just wasn't hungry. I finally ordered an omelet with chorizo, shallots and cream cheese. When I got home I was so full that I almost went up on the roof just to push the broom around for exercise.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1129

I was hungry today, so I stopped by a nearby taco joint to get a taco. Four cops from the gang squad were sitting at the next table, watching ESPN sports on the big-screen TV behind me while they were drinking their coffee. All of them were laughing about Manti Te'o and his fictitious girlfriend. "How could that guy be so stupid," one of the cops said. I don't have the answer to that one, but I do think the whole fake girlfriend phenomenon is a lot more common than you might think.

I've known three people who were duped by fictitious girlfriends and I don't even know that many people. The first guy was a senior vice-president at an ad agency I worked at in Seattle. The Internet didn't even exist back then, so this guy was duped by plain old letters sent through the mail. He went on and on about this "perfect" girl he knew in Los Angeles. He had a picture of her on his desk and everything. After about six months, he finally flew down to Los Angeles to meet his perfect girlfriend and she stood him up. This rather obvious warning sign wasn't enough to dissuade the guy from his fantasy. He actually believed the lame excuse the people conning him made up and three months later, he flew to Los Angeles again. Only then did he finally admit the girl didn't exist. The poor guy took some time off from work for "personal reasons" and he never returned.

I needed to get some printer ink this afternoon and discovered that my favorite printer store had moved. Instead of a convenient 5 minute drive, the place was now over 25 minutes away via an inconveniently busy freeway. When I finally got there, my sales rep wanted to show me around. He was really proud of their new 40,000 square foot warehouse. I liked the little 11,000 square foot warehouse in my own neighborhood a lot better. The guy said that if I didn't like the drive, he could just FedEx my supplies to me. I guess that's what the world has come to: sending things all the way to Memphis on a plane so you can get them across town the next day.

I'm finally getting better about taking the trash out on Thursday evening. It took months to imprint this new habit on my brain, but I think I've got it down now. I haven't missed trash day for several months. Do you like the colorful electric sign I saw today? If I could find a smaller version, I'd put one in my office. It certainly seems to sum up the whole situation for me.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1128

I spent most of the day doing my bookkeeping and paying a bunch of bills. This took a long time, mostly because I'd been postponing the loathsome task for so long. The older I get, the more depressing dealing with financial matters becomes. When I was younger, it was easy to pay my bills. I didn't have many bills in the first place and I was lucky enough to work in an industry that was obsessed with youth. Bright, young people can do exceptionally well in advertising. It wasn't until much later that I realized in that quintessential race between the tortoise and the hare, I was the hare. All the tortoises eventually caught up with me and now they appear to be in the lead. I can no longer glibly tell people that the answer to all spending problems is simply to get a job that pays better. I must embrace frugality. And I hate being frugal.

The bills still get paid. Some months I make a little more than I spend. Other months I spend a little more than I make. It all seems to even out by the end of the year. I know I should be happy with this. In many ways I have what the working world wants. I don't have a boss. I don't have any debts. I don't have many responsibilities. Life is good. I walk my dogs. I write a little. I enjoy my bacon. Why do I even care that there's not going to be a Lamborghini in my future?

Klout sent me a gift card to Chili's today. I wonder if Chili's serves breakfast? That would be cool if Klout started sending me gift cards to breakfast restaurants. This gift card was certainly a better perk than the package of Zatarain's pasta I got last month. I still haven't figured Klout out. I enjoy getting little surprises in the mail, so the whole perks concept works for me. I just don't know what the companies sending me stuff get out of the deal.

It was too warm to cancel dog training class tonight. But it was too cold to actually enjoy it. I was surprised at how well Dash did this evening, considering how much he hates the cold. He still barked a lot and irritated some of the older people, but he did all his exercises perfectly. I was proud of my boy tonight.

I think I'm going to call that company that does sprayed on foam roofs and have them give me an estimate. It's been a wet Winter and I'm really getting tired of sweeping the water off the roof on an almost daily basis. There was still ice on the roof this morning and I had to break it into little chunks with my broom handle. When I slipped on the ice, I thought it might be a good idea to call the roofing company.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1127

What a surprise. I looked out the window this morning and the back yard was covered with snow. It's quite rare to get enough snow to cover the ground in Dallas. The dogs initially didn't want to go outside, because it was cold, but when they discovered the snow, they had a great time. We tramped around in the woods, leaving foot and paw prints everywhere and by the time we got home again, the snow had just about melted.

As luck would have it, the only snow that didn't melt was the snow on the roof. I decided to wait until it turned to water again before I dealt with the cleanup ritual. For the moment, the snow is just good insulation.

Today, I took care of keeping my car legal for another year. First I got a new registration sticker and then drove down the street to the little garage where I always get the car safety inspected. Even though they have inspected this car for at least six or seven years, I always have to tell them that it is a full time four wheel drive vehicle and ask them not to put it on the dynamometer. I must have been pacing around the lobby of the garage during the inspection because the owner asked me why I was so nervous. I made up some lame excuse for all the pacing because I was embarrassed to tell the guy that I was nervous that the mechanic would put my inspection sticker on crooked again. He always puts the stickers on the windshield crooked. Last year, he even put my registration sticker on upside down. The car passed inspection with flying colors, even though I hadn't bothered fixing the rattling catalytic converter. I guess I'll just live with the rattle for for another year. It doesn't hurt the engine and I'm kind of getting used to it.

While I was at the garage this afternoon, their web developer stopped by to renew their contract for another year. Since I was obviously too late to make a pitch for the business, I asked the garage owner what the other guy was charging to design a website after he had left. The owner said his new site was costing him $500 and acted like that was a lot of money. Sad. I don't know how you can make a living doing websites anymore, unless you're one of those big corporate interactive agencies like Razorfish. The budgets for the simple bread and butter jobs that keep little guys like me busy keep getting lower and lower and lower.

The price of Apple stock keeps getting lower and lower too. Apple closed below 500 today. I wonder how much further it's going to fall. I'm sure glad I didn't buy any shares at 700. I hate to admit it, but maybe my broker's decision to get me out when he did wasn't so stupid after all.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1126

I took my car to get a new catalytic converter today. The mechanics banged on the exhaust system with a wrench for a while and then told me there was nothing wrong. Although they didn't solve my problem, they did like my car. The muffler shop wasn't busy and I could have spent the rest of the day talking with the guys about Jeeps and 4-wheeling if I didn't have better things to do. I asked the mechanic what was making the rattling sound if there was nothing wrong with the catalytic converter. He told me that it could be anything and sent me on my way. In a way it was refreshing dealing with folks who were so open about not knowing what they were doing. In my experience, very few people really know what they are doing, but most of them try to fool you into thinking they know.

Today was the coldest day of the year so far. Since layering works well with me in cold weather, I tried the same thing with the dogs. First, I put on their black sweaters, which fit quite well and cover their bellies better than most dog coats. Then I added a thicker quilted coat on top. Dot and Dash get quite a bit of attention wearing this Winter garb. I think they are the only dogs in the neighborhood who wear two coats in cold weather. Most people think these coats are quite ingenious. The rest think they are ridiculous.

I had quite a bit of website and writing work due today, so I spent most of the day sitting at my desk, trying to stay warm. The heating vents don't distribute air very evenly, so when the office is comfortable, the rest of the house is unbearably hot. I'm sure this problem could be resolved by restricting the air flow to the living room and kitchen, but it's just not worth the trouble. I've never thought work was fun anyway and somehow having an uncomfortable work environment seems appropriate. When I finish my work, I can reward myself by fixing something to eat in the kitchen, or watching TV in one of the warmer rooms.

I must be one of the world's most unobservant people. Although the Internet was buzzing this morning about Jodie Foster coming out during her lifetime achievement award acceptance speech, I can't remember her saying anything about being gay. I'd never heard of Ben Affleck's Argo film either. Where did that one come from? I kept thinking that Steven Spielberg's Lincoln would win all the awards. Not that it matters anyway. I probably won't see any of these movies until they eventually wind up on the $9.95 discount DVD table at Fry's.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1125

We saw a bobcat on our walk this evening. Although the park is full of bobcats, it is rare to actually see one. My guess would be that the cat was just catching some rays like everyone else this afternoon. It was a beautiful day. Luckily, Dot and Dash had the good sense to leave the bobcat alone. I don't think it would be smart to mess with a bobcat. On the way home we saw a disheveled looking man wandering through the woods carrying a container of gasoline. Personally, I'd be a lot more wary of that man than any bobcat.

Since it was a clear day with blue skies all the way to the horizon, we though for sure that the dog park would be open. Guess again. When we arrived with Dot and Dash the park was closed. Sure, it rained yesterday, but that was yesterday. Today was nice. Sadly, you're at the mercy of the city whenever you go to the dog park. If someone from Parks and Recreation doesn't feel like coming out and unlocking the gate, you're screwed.  The dogs showed their displeasure about this unfortunate turn of events by howling and barking the entire way home. A road trip with this pair would be like a journey into the Twilight Zone. I don't think you'd emerge with your sanity intact. Oh, did I mention we're planning a road trip.

I'm getting intrigued with the idea of using a sprayed-on foam roof to solve my roof problems.  I've been researching this type of roof on the Internet and on the surface, it seems like the perfect solution. The roof is completely seamless, so there are no joints or seams that can crack later. The foam has excellent insulation value, to the house would stay warmer on cold days like this. It's pretty cost effective too, compared to other alternatives. There must be something I don't know, or I would have heard of this before. Maybe the foam is flammable and a spark from one of the irritating designer piñon pine logs my neighbors use in their fireplace would burn the house down. Maybe the foam is an environmental hazard and I'd have to have a hazmat crew remove it before I could sell the house. Maybe the stuff is just fragile and a falling branch of two would ruin the whole thing.  I'll have to find out more.

I'm watching the Golden Globes as I write this.  I had trouble finding a live video feed initially, but then I went to Twitter and found one immediately. The Internet feed appears to be live, but I don't think I'm watching NBC. All the comments on the website are in Arabic.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1124

The rain has returned. There was enough of a downpour this morning to scare both the dogs and send them shivering under my desk. I didn't have the heart to leave and start my errands until the rain let up a bit. Eventually, I was able to get my shopping done and even got the water off the roof when the rain finally stopped late in the day. Unfortunately, right after dinner a brief hailstorm swept through the neighborhood. I'll be back on the roof tomorrow.

I've been writing about my roof for so long that Google Adsense ads are starting to show up on the blog from commercial roofers who specialize in flat roofs. A couple of these ads look intriguing and I've bookmarked them. It would be ironic if all my complaining actually led to a solution. The odd thing about Google Adsense ads is that they seem to be directed toward me instead of to my readers. I'm not supposed to click on the ads though. That would be cheating.

The temperature must have dropped 30 degrees this afternoon. Texas weather is hard to get used to. One day, you're wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The very next day you've looking for your goose down coat. Things go back and forth from one extreme to the other for most of the Winter. You never know what to expect. I am always pleasantly surprised when I wake up and see clear blue sky through the bedroom windows. It still happens ocassionally.

I'm glad dogs live in the moment. If they thought ahead like I do, they'd already be fretting about whether they'll get to go to the dog park tomorrow. Right now, things don't look too good. Dot and Dash aren't concerned about the dog park now. They're more focused on who's going to get the best spot on the bed. About ten o'clock tomorrow morning they'll start thinking about the dog park. If it's still raining, they'll both be expecting me to make it stop. Getting rained out of the dog park is a serious thing for a dog.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1123

I got a flu shot today. I'm not a big fan of flu shots and seldom get them. I think the reason I got one this year was that I didn't want people saying "I told you so" if I actually came down with the flu. Everybody I know has already gotten their shot and they keep asking me if I've had mine yet. I figured it was just easier to get the shot than explain my theory that the whole flu panic this year had been created by a 24-hour news cycle that continually needs something to scare us with. Remember the bird flu? Whatever happened with that one? Wasn't the bird flu supposed to wipe out civilization as we know it? I think you have to take all media scares with a grain of salt. I can bore you with pictures of pancakes, but the cable news channels can't get away with this kind of behavior. They're determined to scare us into watching more often.

If you want to avoid the flu, I've got a tip for you. Just stay away from little children. Little kids are always sick. Pretty soon their parents get sick. Then their teachers at school get sick and finally I get sick. As long as I avoid kids, I stay pretty healthy. I guess this advice doesn't work if you actually have kids though.

I discovered why my Lombard laptop can't connect to the Internet.  The short answer: it's too old. The slightly longer answer: First generation WiFi networks used WEP encryption which was supported by the Apple Airport card. Modern WiFi networks now use sophisticated WPA encryption, which although it is much more secure, isn't recognized at all by older computers like the Lombard. I guess I could just plug the old laptop straight into the U-verse hub using an Ethernet cable, but what's the point.

I got an e-mail today telling me that I was as "Class Member" in a class action suit against Facebook for improperly using people's identities for their own purposes. I wonder if everyone on the planet is a "Class Member" in this lawsuit? I just always assumed that invading people's privacy was what Facebook was all about anyway. Personally, I don't think this lawsuit will go anywhere. I'm sure that when we all signed up for Facebook in the first place, there was some very tiny legal type somewhere that said by signing up for the service, we gave Facebook the right to do whatever it damn well pleased for all eternity.

For future reference. If all I've got to show you is a picture of pancakes, chances are it was a very boring day.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1122

I got the Apple Lombard back today. It worked perfectly. Well, actually it didn't work perfectly. I couldn't connect to the Internet anymore. Unbeknownst to me, during the years that the Lombard sat unused in my closet, WiFi standards had changed and the built-in Airport WiFi card didn't work anymore. This was kind of ironic, since it was this computer that practically invented built-in WiFi. I don't even think you could even buy a laptop with built-in WiFi before the Lombard.

I don't want to keep kicking a dead horse, but this is just one more example of how little respect that old electronics get in today's world. Old computers get about the same amount of respect as soured milk or stale bread. It doesn't seem fair to me. Vintage guitars and amplifiers are revered by musicians. Vintage mechanical watches are often worth much more than their contemporary counterparts. Even old vinyl record albums have their fans. When I tell people that I still have a working Osborne-1, all I get are glassy stares. Nobody even cares.

I got a call from a friend today that I hadn't seen in a while.  When I rhetorically asked him what had been happening in his life since we last talked, he told me that he'd had a heart attack, was unable to work for almost a year, sold his house, and was now on permanent disability. Whoa! I wasn't expecting that. This guy was very athletic and I always thought he was healthy as a horse. Apparently, so did he until the heart attack hit him. I think that our health is much more fragile than most of us would like to admit. It was also disconcerting to realize that, unlike my friend, I didn't even have long term disability insurance. I'm not even sure it matters if you're a writer though. Insurance companies are getting pretty tough. Most of them tend to think that if Stephen Hawking can still write, then other writer's disabilities must be trivial.

The weather was much nicer today, and so was my mood. The roof is clear and dry again. The buckets are gone in the living room and the house looks more or less normal if you don't look up at the ceiling. Even the dogs stayed clean today. The only fly in the ointment was my visit to the muffler shop. I was going to get the rattling catalytic converter replaced, but when the technician pounded on both converters with a little hammer and told me he thought it was the left hand converter that had gone bad, it gave me pause. For months I've been driving around thinking that the right hand catalytic converter was the bad one. I'll have to think about this one.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1121

Days like this you simply endure. The rain started late last night and never stopped. It's still raining. Regular readers will not be surprised to learn that the roof did leak again. The leak wasn't that bad this time, but it was enough to make a mess. The dogs were true to form too. They insisted on going out, and then as soon as they realized what the weather was like, they wanted to come back inside again. We all got soaked on our walks, because even though Dot and Dash hate the rain, they still insist on pooping at their regular place, over a mile away. While we were walking, I noticed that the lake was getting pretty wet too. One of the piers was almost completely under water.

I thought I might have time to clear the water off the roof during a brief lull in the storm, but before I was even halfway finished, the rain started again in earnest and erased all my hard work. Some of you have wondered why I don't just go out and get a new roof. Well, it's not as easy as you think. The house is fifty years old and has settled in several places. As a result, water on the roof puddles into ponds, instead of draining off the edge like it is supposed to. It is not enough to simply put on a new roof. All the plywood decking under the roof must be leveled and replaced with a new decking that has a slight pitch so the water will drain properly. This is called an "engineered" roof and it is quite expensive. I've learned that roofers don't want to do carpentry work. I've also learned that general contractors, who could help find the proper carpenters, don't want to hire good roofers in the first place, so they can keep more money for themselves. Worst of all, the few commercial roofers who are experienced at covering large flat spaces don't even want to give me a bid. I don't have a large flat space. I have a very small flat space and they don't think it is worth their time.

In between drying off wet dogs and positioning buckets over dripping spots in the ceiling, I wrote watch articles. This didn't seem very glamorous either. I keep thinking that real watch writers get invited to polo matches in Argentina and fly around the world going to watch conventions. I can't imagine that the other watch writers spend most of their time cleaning mud off of two Dalmatians.

The Macintosh repair guy called today and told me he could fix my Lombard laptop. He seemed real excited about the old Lombard and called it a collectors item. This wasn't all that surprising to me. Just about everything I have is a collectors item to somebody. I have very good taste. I'm just not very practical. So here I sit, listening to water drip into plastic buckets as I tell a technician to go ahead and fix an aging laptop that I will probably never even use.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1120

I got my January invoices in the mail today. I also got Dash's anal glands cleaned at the vet. Both events held about the same degree of excitement. There's something about an all day rain that just takes the wind out of my sails. When I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions, I saw a wet pencil lying in the road and it seemed to sum up my day.

The dogs seem to think that I have the ability to stop the rain, the same way I can open and close doors for them and make food appear when they're hungry. Every time I would let them outside today, they would give me this "make it stop" look. I wish I could make the rain stop. I could certainly have used the hours I spent cleaning mud off the dogs, off my shoes, and off the floor for something better.

Rain always makes me nervous about water leaks. No leaks today, but I could hear the dreaded dripping sound at any moment. I joined Angie's List recently in hopes of finding a good roofer. So far, Angie's List has been a huge disappointment. The minute I joined, I started getting tons of junk e-mails for all sorts of household services. What's that all about? I thought the whole point of Angie's List was to avoid advertising hype. Apparently not. The list, and its companion universe of post cards, e-mail blasts, magazines and coupons are jam packed with ads. You don't really see many negative reviews on the list either. I think people are wary about saying negative things online now in the wake of all these lawsuits resulting from a bad review on Yelp.

At any rate, I'm still not sure that a roofer who truly understands residential flat roofs even exists. There are plenty of companies who know how to put a quality flat roof on factories, warehouses, gymnasiums, and other large expanses of real estate. These companies aren't interested in residential roofs though. They're too small, and it isn't cost effective for them to mess with them.

So far, giving Dash a snack at night seems to be working. He hasn't thrown up for three days in a row and the only difference is that he now gets a rice cake just before bed.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1119

I feel cheated. Remember when I told you that I had discovered some new HD channels on my TV? Well, they're all gone. It's turns out that this was just an evil holiday promotional ploy by AT&T to suck people like me into paying even more for their monthly bundle. It wasn't that I failed to notice the HD channels earlier. They just weren't there. These new channels appeared briefly during the holidays as free programming, but today it was back to normal. All I got was an onscreen message saying "You have not subscribed to this channel. Please press OK to upgrade to our premium service." I should have known. You never get something for nothing at AT&T, Comcast, or Time Warner.

I took my old Apple Lombard laptop up to the Apple repair center in Plano today. Yeah, I know I should have just thrown the old laptop away, but I feel compelled to bring this thing back to life. Although I have a much faster and more capable laptop now, the old Lombard was always the real workhorse of my business. This computer traveled the world with me and was always there for my biggest and best assignments. It's almost laughable now that I depended on this computer and it's tiny 6 GB hard drive for almost everything. My phone is more capable now and has a much larger memory. Even the thumbnail sized SD cards my camera uses hold much more information than this computer. I'm a loyal person, not a practical person. I'm bringing the Lombard back to life just for old times sake.

We're in uncharted territory with Dash now. Since the vet has run out of ideas, we have been left to our own devices on the best way to control his nightly vomiting. Pills certainly aren't the answer. I hate to over medicate a dog, especially for long periods of time. Janet said she sleeps better when she has a snack before bedtime. We tried giving Dash a snack before bedtime last night, and he slept soundly all night. I guess we'll try the same thing again tonight.

The big liver specialty clinic called today to set up an appointment. When I called them back to confirm my visit, it was a bit disconcerting to hear their call center message. "Press 1 if you are a cancer patient," it said. "Press 2 if you are a transplant recipient," the message continued. When it got to "Press 3 if you are on the transplant waiting list," I didn't want to hear any more. Hopefully, my own appointment is just a precautionary visit.  I feel fine.

Misty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1118

I took some filing cabinets from the office over to a little resale shop that benefits homeless animals. I love this place, because you can donate absolute rubbish and they always act like it's exactly what they needed. They are really doing me a favor to even take this old stuff, but they always make me feel like I'm the one doing something good. I like that. I have a feeling that these folks are just nice, but maybe they're being polite in hopes that I'll eventually bring them something good.

After I got rid of the unneeded furniture, I went back home and tried to thin out the closets a bit by getting rid of equally unneeded clothes. I used to just throw away shirts that I couldn't button around the neck any more. Since most of these tight fitting clothes from younger years are already gone, I have to rely on Janet to tell me which things are hopelessly out of style. If I hold something up and she makes a face, it goes in the throw away pile.

Spring cleaning is kind of like peeling an onion. There are usually layers upon layers of mess, and once you have dealt with the top layer, it just reveals something else waiting underneath. When I removed the filing cabinets today, they must have been in a damp corner, because there was a layer of mildew on the wall behind them. I then had to set up a portable heater to dry out the wall and still haven't finished scrubbing everything down with bleach. I found an old Macintosh laptop when I was cleaning things out this afternoon. I plugged it in and got nothing. Dead as a doornail. When I removed the battery, it was date-stamped 1999. I don't know it it's even worth the effort to try and find a working 1999 Apple laptop battery. Probably not. Even if I managed to get the computer working again, I'm sure it is so slow that I would find it useless.

Dot and Dash had a great time at the dog park today. They both seemed a bit alarmed when we began to take an alternate route to the park. Both dogs started barking like crazy in the back seat. I'm sure they were saying something like "Turn around immediately, this isn't the right way." To quiet things down in the car, we returned to the old route. As soon as the dogs recognized their surroundings and knew where they were going, they both settled down again and were good for the rest of the journey.

I have a feeling that next week is going to be busy. It's time to get the car safety inspected again, and before I can do that, I need to get a new catalytic converter. I have a feeling that the old clattering converter would be a dead giveaway that my emission system isn't up to par. I've grown to hate state safety inspections over the years. They continue to grow more and more complicated. I think I should be exempt anyway, since I don't drive very much. In our state, humans aren't even involved with the safety inspection. It's all in the hands of a computer. They hook your car up to some sensors and the results get sent straight to Austin. In the old days, I could talk my way out of minor infractions. There's no one to talk to anymore though. This automated life really doesn't suit me. It probably won't be long before I have to give a DNA sample just to get my prescriptions filled.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1117

There was a new Dalmatian to photograph today. We haven't had many Dalmatians available for adoption recently, so it was fun to go meet Vegas, the new girl. With her friendly, happy temperament, she should find a home quickly.

I didn't sleep very well last night. Dash woke everyone up around 4 AM, wanting to go outside to eat grass and throw up again. When he doesn't throw up, I think the antihistamines are working.  When he does throw up, I think they are doing nothing. Who knows. Dash has certainly been to the vet enough times about his condition, but nobody has arrived at any conclusion. Apart from this odd behavior, he seems perfectly healthy. At any rate, as soon as Dash threw up, he went right back to sleep, while I stayed wide awake. 

I tried, with little success, to get some old USB webcams to work with my newer computers this afternoon. It's frustrating trying to get old peripherals to work with new computers.The equipment is usually perfectly good. It's just been abandoned. Very few manufacturers continue writing new drivers for their old printers, scanners, and webcams. It's much more profitable for them to simply sell you a brand new piece of equipment. The only reason I keep this old stuff is that I still have the old computers as well. As long as you pair old stuff together, everything works fine. It's only when you try to pair the old with the new that the problems start.

I'm still kind of fascinated by the new HD channels I've discovered on our TV. HD images look great. Of course, old shows like The Twilight Zone and Seinfeld look exactly the same on HD. If they weren't shot in high definition in the first place, they're not going to look any sharper twenty years later. Sports and live rock concerts look fabulous though. I suppose that a lot of movies look fabulous in high definition too, but I seldom have time to watch movies anyway.

Maybe I'll go to bed early and make up for the sleep I lost last night. One can only hope that Dash will decide to sleep soundly tonight. The weather is warming up a bit, so maybe tomorrow will be nice. A good night's sleep, a late breakfast, and an early trip to the dog park sounds like a plan to me.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1116

I put away the Christmas decorations for another year. If this year zips along as quickly as the previous one, I'll be getting them out again before you know it. I don't know why time seems to pass so quickly now. I get much less done than I used to, but all the available hours remain filled while the time races along at an alarming rate.

The usual Austin indie bands didn't accompany my breakfast at the cool restaurant this morning. Instead, I listened to the same Beatles tunes I heard in the elevator when I went to the doctor on Wednesday. Overheard conversations were a bit different too. Two girls with purple streaked hair at the next table were talking about how to get into the best sororities at SMU. Although the attire was different, I could have heard this same conversation thirty years ago. Sometimes I wonder if anything changes at all.

I accidentally discovered that there were channels on the U-verse TV above 1000 last night. Most of these new channels were in high definition too. I don't know why I never discovered all these additional channels before. I guess I never went channel surfing above 300. The ironic thing is that for over a year, I've been thinking I was watching HD TV and I actually wasn't. Shows what I know.  Maybe I'll eventually get the hang of the television, telephones, and Internet all coming through the same IP pipe. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to our caller ID. It was there two weeks ago and now it's gone. I have a feeling that the dogs turned it off somehow. Their waging tails hit the set-top box every morning when they are trying to get us out of bed. They could have easily changed one of the settings.

I might have finally figured out why Dash is throwing up. In today's pile of junk mail was a inconspicuous little post card with tiny type on one side. The card was from the water department and the tiny type said that the city's water treatment plant had failed to meet quality standards during the month of December. Jeez! You'd think something like this would have made the evening news. Nope. This tiny little post card was the first I'd heard that our tap water might be polluted. You'd think with all the tax money we give the city, they could at least give us clean water in return. Oh, well. Janet and I have been drinking bottled water for years. Maybe we'll have to start pouring the Ozarka bottle into the dogs bowls as well.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day