Day 1317

Dot did a lot better during her first water therapy session than I expected. She doesn't like water and she doesn't like surprises, but she adapted to the underwater treadmill surprisingly well. It took her a few minutes to figure out what the treadmill was all about, but after sliding to the back of the tank a few times she quickly got the hang of walking underwater. The whole experience is very non-threatening. The tank is dry when the dog initially walks inside and then the water level is very slowly raised as the treadmill starts to move. I can see how this would be great exercise for an older dog. With the water level around her chest, Dot began to take exaggerated high steps, working muscles that are typically unused in a normal day. I was very pleased with her first session. I am hoping that this type of low impact exercise will help keep her muscles from any further atrophy.

Health and fitness seems to be a growing theme in my life. When I'm not trying to improve my own deplorable condition, I'm doing my best to keep the dogs healthy. If you lump together the dog's lengthy morning and evening walks, my own trips to the gym, shopping excursions for healthy food, and all the doctor visits for blood work and scans, it's a wonder I have time for anything else at all. Maybe if I'd paid more attention to maintaining a healthy lifestyle during the first half of my life, some of this new found discipline wouldn't be necessary. I don't think I'd trade a life of bacon, burgers, and beer for a big plate of kale though. I really enjoyed all those years of gas guzzling cars and gut busting meals. A life of moderation would have been very boring.

The weather today was surprisingly mild. The weather reports on TV were predicting temperatures in the triple digits, but a surprise cold front blew through and left things almost twenty degrees cooler than I expected. There was a nice breeze when we took our morning walk and even though it warmed up quite a bit during the day, it was still pleasant when we went to dog training class this evening. Dot and Dash seemed to enjoy the temporary reprieve from the Texas heat. Both dogs did exceptionally well in class tonight. They didn't win any ribbons, but they didn't embarrass us either.

I should get a lot of writing and website work done tomorrow. I'm going to be stuck in the house all day, waiting for the appliance repairman to come fix the garbage disposal. Repairmen never come when they promise. If they give you a window of between 1 PM and 4 PM for a service call, it is almost inevitable that they will actually show up at 5:30 PM. Usually repairmen don't arrive until I've given up on them completely and have started to do something else. All will be forgiven though if the repairman is able to fix the disposal. I'm discovering that a functioning garbage disposal is a very essential appliance.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1316

Sometimes dealing with tech support is like Chinese water torture. I found myself locked out of my voicemail this morning and ended up spending hours talking to three different levels of tech support. When one technician couldn't solve my problem, they would escalate my call to the next level. I don't know why turning on my voicemail account again was so complicated, but it apparently was. At one point I was talking to one person on my cell phone, another person on the land line and had to put both phones on speakerphone and set them next to each other so the technicians could hear each other. Most of these folks spoke English as a second language, so I was constantly saying "Could you repeat that please." I did manage to talk to one native English speaker, but he had a terrible stutter, so I couldn't understand him either.

When the problem was eventually resolved, I listened to my new voicemail messages and they were all from telemarketers. Jeez! Why did I spend hours trying to listen to messages I didn't want to receive in the first place? On days like this technology hardly seems worth the effort. Everything seems to work for the moment though, so if an important call comes in tomorrow, I'm right on top of it.

While Dash was getting his antigen shot today, I talked to the vet about alternatives to Phenobarbital in case his seizures returned. She mentioned that she had success using Potassium Bromide and thought it was safer than Phenobarbital. I looked up the drug on the Internet when we got home and discovered that possible side effects include ataxia, increased urination, skin disorders, nausea and vomiting. Doesn't sound very safe to me. Potassium Bromide won't damage the liver like Phenobarbital though. Of course, the alternative I like best is not to put Dash on any drugs at all.

I routinely experience the same frustrations with my own meds. The devil is always in the details. I've been wondering why I've had this strong metallic taste in my mouth for the past several months. A quick Internet search revealed that the metallic taste was probably caused by the Metformin I take to control blood sugar levels. I have a feeling that my doctor didn't mention the metallic aftertaste because he was afraid I wouldn't take the drug if I knew about this common side effect.

After making a trip to the post office to pay some bills, I stopped by Home Depot to get some wasp spray to combat the growing number of wasps and hornets building nests near the house. After I got out my reading glasses and read the warning label on the side of the can, I took the spray back and exchanged it for a much milder organic product. It was amazing to me than anyone would even sell a product with so many potentially toxic side effects. I guess a bug spray that will kill a snake is too strong for normal use.

Getting to the gym several times a week is proving to be harder than I thought it would be. I only made it once last week and it looks like this week will be just as busy. Tomorrow Dot starts her water therapy and Thursday is when the garbage disposal gets repaired. Throw in an article or two each day, along with the usual website revisions and a dog walk and my day is gone. Maybe I can find some free time on Friday.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1315

It took forever to make an appointment with an appliance repairman to come out and fix the garbage disposal. After talking on the phone for fifteen minutes with a friendly, but almost unintelligible customer service representative based far outside the borders of the United States, the line went dead and I had to call again and repeat the entire process all over again. The actual repair visit seems like it will be just as convoluted as the call to set things up. I asked if the repairman could put a new disposal on the truck, just in case the old one couldn't be fixed. Nope, this couldn't be done, I was told. Repairs and installations were two different departments with completely different technicians. If the repair was unsuccessful, I would have to call a second technician to come out later and install a new disposal.

Not to worry, said the service representative on the phone. Apparently, my disposal was still under warranty and the repairs might be free. "If the disposal is still under warranty, why don't we skip the repairs and just install a new one," I said. Nope, they couldn't do that either. I apparently only had a "parts warranty," not a full warranty for the entire disposal. If the disposal was completely trashed and new parts couldn't fix it, there was no warranty at all.

It looks like my recipe will be included in the SXSW Cookbook. I won't know for sure until the book is actually printed in March of 2014 though. Truthfully, I was quite surprised that my recipe made the cut. I called my dish "Lazy Man's Savory Sausage Omelet" and the directions for preparing it would make any real cook cringe. The recipe was authentic though. I didn't copy anyone else's recipe. This mess is all mine.

Even though today was a slow day, I almost didn't make it to the gym. I wasted so much time making an appointment with the appliance repairman as well as answering several confusing client questions via e-mail that the day seemed over before it began. Nothing seems easy these days. Simple tasks that used to take five minutes now seem to drag on for hours. I don't know whether to chalk these frustrating delays up to simple incompetence or look for something more fundamental. Something has changed though. Nobody will give you a simple, straight answer anymore. You have to first fill out an online form, or answer a long series of automated questions on your phone. I usually just say "Speak to a Representative" over and over again when the phone asks me what I'd like to do next. Sometimes this gets me a real person, and other times it doesn't.

Dash seems completely back to normal again. I still set up the nanny cam every time I leave the house, but it might be years until he has another seizure. Dash's blood work came back completely normal today and he has no tick borne diseases. I guess I'll just add seizures to my long list of life's mysteries.

Pongo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1314

I helped Janet get her laptop ready for making a presentation on a big flat panel TV and was a bit surprised that I'd never tried to hook up a laptop to our TV before. I guess that just shows you how important presentations are to me these days. I don't think I've made a formal presentation or even shown my portfolio to anyone in almost ten years. Hey, if you don't already know what I do, it's probably a little late to show you now.

Hooking up the Macbook Pro to the TV was much easier than I thought it would be. I went to Fry's and got a Mini DisplayPort adapter and some HDMI cables. I hooked the computer up to the TV, set the computer screen to mirror mode and all of the sudden I had a huge image of the computer screen on the TV.

It's to bad that it wasn't this easy to figure out why the garbage disposal isn't working. I'm going to have to leave that task to an appliance repairman who will hopefully come out and fix things very soon. A garbage disposal doesn't seem like a very essential appliance until you've got a non-working one still hooked up to your plumbing. I'm discovering that the sink clogs up very quickly when the garbage disposal isn't doing its job.

Dot and Dash really enjoyed their trip to the dog park today. Dash saw a dog that he recognized and liked and proceeded to race around the park showing his friend how fast he was. Dot took advantage of the mild weather to sniff every tree in the park. She seemed to have more energy today than she usually does.

I wish I had more energy than I usually do. Mowing the grass today was tiring. I think I've reached some sort of plateau with my new diet and exercise regime. I saw dramatic incremental improvements for a while, but now not so much. I think from now on out, it's going to take a lot more effort to continue losing weight while I'm building my strength and adding muscle mass. I probably don't actually need to lose any more weight, but I do need to keep working on building my strength.

I had a terrible dream last night. I frequently have dreams about being lost as I futilely try to find my way back to the dream's starting point. In last night's dream, not only was I lost, I also seemed to have lost my luggage and all my money. When I was young, I found myself lost in caves a lot during these types of dreams. Now I'm usually lost in labyrinth-like hotels. I guess that's an improvement of sorts.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1313

It's hard to believe that it's been 44 years since we landed on the moon. I still remember those grainy pictures of Neil Armstrong slowly exiting the Lunar Excursion Module like it was yesterday. I was in college at the time and watched the landing in the ballroom of the university student union because I didn't have a TV of my own in the rooming house where I lived while going to architecture school. Those were good times. The Summer of 69 was a magical period in history when anything was possible. A month after the moon landing was Woodstock. Jimi Hendrix and Neil Armstrong defined my world. A few years later I graduated, completely convinced that both the moon landings and the spirit of Woodstock would last indefinitely.

I was wrong of course, but I'm certain that the optimism I felt during the Summer of 69 contributed to my early success. It was easy to get a job back then. I was hired as a junior designer by a well known architect in Seattle. I was given an opportunity to make documentary films. Nothing really seemed like a struggle. I don't think I would have fared nearly as well in today's world.

I still can't really tell you how the kid who thought he was going to be the next Richard Avedon wound up taking pictures of Dalmatians instead. It's been quite a ride though and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Actually, taking pictures of Dalmatians is quite enjoyable. Janet and I photographed one of our new rescue dogs today. Sterling is a young guy who seems to be filled with the same exuberant optimism I felt in 1969. It was hard to get a good picture though, because Sterling wouldn't stay still. Hopefully, I captured the happy boy that he is. He should find a home quickly.

Later in the afternoon when I took Dot and Dash on their afternoon walk they both heard a loud thunderclap off in the distance. The noise triggered their storm phobia and I could barely hold on to them as they tried to make a hasty retreat back to the house. I tried my best to get the dogs to slow down, since this was exactly how Dot lost a nail last year. It never did rain very much, but the thunder alone was enough to convince Dot and Dash that the sky was falling. I got under a blanket with them and watched a cooking show on PBS until they calmed down.

I made another attempt to figure out what was wrong with the garbage disposal today. I took the faceplate off the control panel for the oven and other kitchen gadgets and tried to trace the wiring for the disposal. No loose or burned wire found. Everything seems completely normal. The disposal still doesn't work though. I added making an appointment with an appliance repairman to next week's to-do list.

It's hard to say whether the dogs will get their Sunday trip to the dog park tomorrow. The mornings start out clear and sunny and then by mid-afternoon little thunderstorms start springing up all over town. We'll see what happens. So far, it's been a nice weekend.

Lady Jane is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1312

Sometime I wonder how people with small children cope with all the uncertainties that come along with the inevitable childhood illnesses and injuries. Just dealing with one sick dog is more than enough for me. I had a lot of errands to run today and I was still worried that Dash might have another seizure. I found myself checking the nanny cam feed on my phone every five minutes or so. Dash was fine. The only thing I observed was that he is a very lazy dog. He didn't move an inch the entire time I was away. I wish I could say the same thing for Dot. There were scattered showers again today and Dot was a nervous nellie. Even though I was watching the camera to check on Dash, it was Dot who forced me to return home. At some point during the afternoon, I could tell she was going into her storm phobia mode. I looked at the weather radar app on my phone and sure enough, there was a storm directly over our house. I knew what to do. I curtailed a trip to the gym and came home. The dogs spent the rest of the afternoon huddled under my desk until the rain stopped.

It would have been nice to go to the gym, but I probably got enough exercise today anyway. I swept the water off the roof again this morning after another overnight rain. So far, the new roof is exactly like the old roof except that it doesn't leak. I'm surprised at how much rain we're getting in July. Most of my efforts to get the standing water off the roof have been an exercise in futility. Usually it is dry as a bone at this time of year. Since the roof doesn't leak anymore, I'm actually kind of happy to have the rain. It keeps the temperature lower, which means that Dot can still take her walks.

The garbage disposal quit working this morning. It didn't get stuck or jammed. It just won't turn on anymore. I can't find a circuit breaker on the disposal either. Do I call a plumber, an electrician, or an appliance repairman?  It could be a mechanical problem with the disposal itself. It could be an electrical problem. Or maybe there's some sort of internal fuse that burned out. The only thing I'm certain of is that I'm not going to try to fix the garbage disposal myself. Years ago, I tried to fix one of these things and ended up with such a bad leak under the sink that I had to call a plumber anyway.

I still haven't picked a recipe to send to the film festival recipe book. I think the deadline is tomorrow. My few original recipes are so simple and boring that a child could make them. I asked Janet what I should do and she told me to just pick something I liked out of one of our many recipe books and change it up a little. Wouldn't that be cheating I asked? She said that most recipes originate from other recipes anyway. This is probably true. There are literally thousands of recipes for lasagna, but they are all just different kinds of stuff layered between lasagna noodles and cooked in a baking dish. Omelets are all pretty much the same too. Beat some eggs, pour them into a skillet, and fold in whatever you want. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a cook. I'd still like to be featured in that cookbook though.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1311

Dash had another seizure this morning. A bad one. I had almost convinced myself that these seizures were a thing of the past. Until today, Dash hadn't suffered from a seizure in over four years. We were so confident about his recovery that we were able to lower his Phenobarbital dosage and eventually eliminate it completely. Dash has been completely free of Phenobarbital now for almost two full years with no adverse effects.

Epileptic seizures can be quite alarming. At first your dog goes into convulsions, typically falling to the ground, gasping for air and twitching wildly like it has been electrocuted. There is not much you can do at this point. Vets tell me that once you make sure the airway is clear and the dog had not swallowed its tongue, to just leave it alone until the seizure subsides. When the convulsions stop and the dog tries to get up, it will often appear unsteady and even fall over like it is experiencing severe vertigo. This disorientation often causes the dog to become fearful and aggressive, and it will growl or even bite if you try to approach. Usually, after about twenty minutes, some sense of normalcy returns and you can take the dog to the vet to check all the vital signs. If you're lucky, there will just be the single seizure, but often they come in clusters.

Nobody at the veterinary hospital could tell me why Dash had a seizure today after so many years with no problems whatsoever. The violent seizure fell into the category of unexplained mysteries, just like my own elevated liver enzyme levels. It makes me nervous though. I have no idea when or where a seizure will happen again. I don't want to put Dash back on a powerful sedative like Phenobarbital again unless it is absolutely necessary. I don't want to become fearful to leave the house either. Life must go on. To add to the complexity, Dot has had her own problems with seizures. Either one of the dogs could have another seizure at almost any point. On the other hand, neither of them may ever have a seizure again. 

Since I was more or less confined to the house today while I kept an eye on Dash, I was able to get all my work finished with time to spare. Dash is back to normal now and there were no further incidents. If I didn't see the seizure with my own eyes, it would be easy to imagine it never even happened.

Since I didn't make it to the store today as I had planned, there wasn't much in the house for dinner. I found a can of Wolf Brand Chili in the pantry and heated it up. Although my nutritionist would have frowned on this meal, it tasted surprisingly good. It's probably back to Kale salads tomorrow though.

I took the dogs on their evening walk immediately after a short, but intense thunderstorm passed through the area. The air was much cooler, but the ground was still hot, creating a layer of ground fog that hovered above the roads and pathways in the park. The effect was surreal and beautiful, but it didn't last long.

Before I forget, thanks to Joan and Lynne for helping me identify the mystery plant I saw the other day as a Passionflower. I always enjoy learning something new. I now know that these beautiful vines have been used for hundreds of years by Native Americans for medicinal purposes and that they got their name because people thought that the different parts of the flower represented the Christian crucifixion story. The recent heavy rains flattened the plant I saw the other day, but I'm sure the Passionflowers will be back. I haven't seen a wildflower yet that didn't return the next year.

Beemer is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1310

I had to give Dot the Heimlich maneuver today. She eats her food so fast that she occasionally chokes on it. This has happened before and I'm not really sure how to prevent it. I've tried putting some of her food inside a big rubber Kong to slow her down. I've tried putting a couple of rubber balls in her bowl so she has to push them around with her nose to get at the food. Nothing works very well. She always eats as if it was her last meal. Dash, on the other hand, it a very slow eater. This is probably one reason why Dot is in such a hurry. I'm sure she'd like to eat Dash's food as well.

There were still a few scattered showers today, but the weather is definitely improving. We were lucky and were able to get to Dot's acupuncture appointment and back without getting wet. Dot likes her acupuncture treatments now. I think she even looks forward to them.

Next week we're going to start alternating water therapy with the acupuncture treatments. This type of physical therapy is great for older dogs that are starting to experience some muscle atrophy. The dog is placed in a special harness and walks on a treadmill submerged in a tank of water. This low impact stress resistance helps to build the dog's leg muscles back without causing additional joint problems. Dot doesn't like water, but we'll give it a try and see how things go. I didn't think she'd like acupuncture either and that's worked out quite well.

I wish somebody would pay me. Bills are stacking up and way too many  invoices are past due. If you get a regular paycheck every two weeks, consider yourself lucky. Wild fluctuations in cash flow are all a normal part of owning your own business, but it's not a part that I particularly enjoy. I put up with the hills and valleys though, because it's still a lot better than having a boss.

The dogs did a good job of putting up with training class tonight. They actually did quite well this evening. I was proud of them. With nothing on the agenda tomorrow, I'm sure they'll quickly revert back to their stubborn ways, but they seemed like well trained dogs tonight.

I just noticed that I'm out of oatmeal. I could either go to the store after I walk the dogs tomorrow morning and get some more, or I could just go out to eat instead. Hmm. Tasty veggie omelet or oatmeal? You can probably guess what I'm going to do.

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1309

I'm starting to realize why I enjoy going to the gym. My body gets the activity it needs without the irritation that typically comes with household chores and yard work. Instead of going to the gym today, I got my exercise the old fashioned way. I swept standing water off the roof. Sweeping hundreds of pounds of water off the roof with a push broom is fairly strenuous activity, but there is no satisfaction in it. Today when I climbed up on the roof, I was met with the sight of a dead squirrel rotting in a puddle of water. Disgusting! Lord knows how long the squirrel had been on the roof. I haven't been up there for several weeks. With two dogs, I'm always apprehensive about dead animals in the yard. Was the squirrel poisoned? Did it have rabies? At least it died up on the roof where Dot and Dash couldn't get at it.

Does anyone know what today's flower is? I very rarely see these things. They are about two inches in diameter and usually only appear right after a heavy rain. The flowers bloom in the mornings for a few days and then disappear. The unusual delicate bloom reminds me more of a sea creature than a plant. I have no idea what it is.

It's a good thing I didn't have much writing work today because I was swamped with website updates. It seems like I spent the better part of the day adding and deleting text and resizing images in Photoshop to fit the layout. I finally got everything finished and uploaded to the server, but it definitely took a while. One of today's updates will only last about a week before it needs to be updated again. In that regard, it is much like the roof. It is raining again as I sit here typing, so all of my efforts to clear the roof of water earlier today are being erased.

A lot of yesterday's gains in the stock market are being erased today as well. I guess that's just the way the world is. Almost every week when we walk in the park, I'll see a large tree that has toppled to the ground. The large old Oak trees seem permanent and eternal until the day they fall and then they just slowly begin to rot away. As much as I want permanence, there just isn't any. If you pick the right vantage point, just about everything in this world turns into castles made of sand.

To continue this theme, I received an e-mail today announcing the debut of Apple Logic Pro X. The Apple Logic software I purchased last year as a potential alternative to Pro Tools is now officially obsolete. Jeez! I haven't even used the previous version yet, and now there's a brand new version to learn and grow frustrated with.

Dot has her acupuncture appointment tomorrow. The acupuncture treatments are simple and immediate. We spend an hour with the vet and Dot walks away feeling better. I wish everything in life were this simple.

Laura is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1308

It's been raining for two solid days and I haven't gone up on the roof once. There's still a lot of water up there, but I'm not nearly as worried about it because there are no longer any leaks. Any regular reader will quickly realize that two days of standing water on the roof with no attempt to remove it is nothing short of astonishing. Even without troublesome roof leaks, rain can still be problematic though. It's hard to walk the dogs. Today was a waiting game. The rain was fairly steady throughout the day, but I discovered if I kept an eye on the iPad weather radar, I could still manage to find little pockets of relative dryness when the rain would slow to a trickle and the dogs became brave enough to venture outside. It was one of those days where I used up a lot of towels. We would get wet. Then I would dry everyone off. And then we would repeat the process again.

I was invited today to send a recipe to be included in the 2014 SXSW Interactive Cookbook. It was quite an honor, since my recipe will apparently be included with other recipes from luminaries like Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, and BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti. This invitation just shows how far I have fallen in recent years. Yes, I not only used to attend SXSW on a regular basis, I used to be a speaker there as well in the early years. There's only one problem with submitting a recipe of mine to this cookbook. I don't have any. I can only think of two original recipes I have created in the past twenty-five years and I can no longer eat either of them.

These days I hardly cook at all. I've succumbed to stopping by Central Market several times a week and picking up some tasty, semi-healthy items from the Chef Prepared section. It's kind of like eating out, except that I can eat at home with the dogs and there are no waiters to tip.  Today, I picked up a container of Kale, Chard, and Orange salad and another container with Walnut, Grape and Blue Cheese salad on the way home from the gym.

The gym is already starting to feel like a familiar place. I'm starting to establish a routine that suits me. I stay about an hour or so and work mostly on exercises designed to build up my upper body and core strength. A lot of people at the gym seem to be doing cardio workouts using treadmills and elliptical machines. I don't think I need this type of workout quite as much, since I spend so much time walking the dogs. Maybe I do though. I'm just making this up as I go along.

Even though it was a slow day, I still managed to get a few writing assignments finished. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be busier.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1307

Rain isn't nearly as frustrating when your roof doesn't leak. Although it rained most of the day, I was no longer filled with my usual apprehensions. It was actually kind of enjoyable to have a damp, overcast day with a temperature 25 degrees lower it normally is in the middle of July.  Our rain phobic dogs seemed to approve of today's showers as well. Dot was eager to take a walk in the cooler weather, even though she got wet in the process. I guess dogs, just like people, are able to prioritize things. Today, rain was definitely the lesser of two evils.

The day-long rain turned out to be the perfect time to try out Janet's new Vitamix blender. Foodies and fans of programs like Top Chef are probably already familiar with these amazing machines. I'd never even heard of a Vitamix until fairly recently, but I'm definitely a fan now.

We experimented and made some fresh juice and smoothies with the machine in a fraction of the time it used to take using the juice extractor. There was no pulpy mess to clean up either. The pulp that was discarded using the juice extractor was completely liquified and actually became part of the juice using the Vitamix. The resulting beverage was absolutely delicious and the machine could be cleaned in thirty seconds using a special cleaning cycle. I love this thing. After making about a gallon of juice, we tried our hand at making peanut butter. Nut butters were equally easy to make.

The dog park was closed today due to the inclement weather, but I don't think Dot and Dash missed much. They like anything that involves food and seemed to enjoy hanging out with us as we learned to use the Vitamix machine. They were both pretty muddy at the end of their evening walk, but cleaning them up was a small price to pay for an enjoyable day.

I noticed something on social media today that mentioned one of my clients was considering utilizing new resources to augment its existing suppliers. Since I'm currently one of those existing suppliers, this short article caught my attention. I wonder what this means?  Maybe I won't get any more work from these guys. Maybe it won't affect me at all. I could ask, but I'm superstitious about such things. I'll just pretend I never saw the article and see what happens.

Next week looks busy. Now that I've added semi-regular trips to the gym to my weekly routine, I'm going to have even more trouble completing my endless to-do list. I did manage to cross one thing off the list today. I tried the egg and avocado recipe for breakfast. An egg poached inside half an avocado is quite tasty.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1306

I'm a little apprehensive about flying into the San Francisco airport these days. I'm even more apprehensive about being selected for jury duty. I'd hate to be selected as a juror in a high profile trial. These things have turned into gladiator events with the media whipping the proponents for both sides into a frenzy. In today's increasingly polarized society, it wouldn't matter whether you reached a verdict of guilty or innocent. Whatever you decided, half of the country would hate you. The courts don't make much of an effort to protect their juries either. Once the trial is over, everybody knows who you are.

I probably don't have much to worry about though. Although I have sat reading magazines in the jury pool room more times than I can remember, I've never been selected for a jury panel. Usually, as soon as I declare my occupation as "writer," I am dismissed. Twice, I made it as far as the Voir dire process, but the lawyers on both sides didn't like the way I answered their questions. I'm not exactly sure what most lawyers are looking for in a jury, but I'm definitely not it.

Even more worrisome than being selected for a jury is the thought of being tried by one. It's a sobering experience to walk into a Walmart and realize that the motley crew of shoppers inside might someday constitute a jury of your peers. This frightening thought has been more than enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.

The dogs hogged so much of the bed last night that I found it difficult to sleep. I had so little room that I might as well have been sleeping on a 2x4 plank. When Dot and Dash were younger, they would curl up in tight little balls when they slept. Now they stretch their legs out as far as they can. It doesn't leave much room for the people. I probably didn't need a lot of sleep last night though. I certainly didn't do much today. It was way too hot. I made juice out of the remaining supply of tangerines. I put clean sheets on the bed. I went to the store and got another month's supply of trash bags and paper towels. The dogs got a short walk too. When the temperature is 102, you try to keep everything you do outside on the short side.

Watson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1305

Timing is everything. The best time to eat breakfast at my favorite restaurant is 9 AM. All the work slaves have left for the office and the people with nothing better to do haven't even gotten up yet. I practically have the place to myself.  The best time to walk the dogs is 6:30 AM. This is not the best time for me, mind you. It is the best time for the dogs, and you should know by now that dogs rule. The best time to go grocery shopping is 10:30 AM. This is when I see the produce managers putting out fresh produce and most importantly, when the Chef Prepared section is being filled with fresh tasty dinner items. By the end of the day, everything is picked over, but not at 10:30 AM. The best time to go to the gym is at 2 PM. None of the Type-A fitness fanatics are here then. They all arrive either at the crack of dawn, before they go to work, or later in the evening on their way home. At 2 PM, it's just me and the cardiac rehab patients. You're probably seeing a pattern here.

Maybe I've grown too comfortable working in my quiet little room with a dog under my desk. Occasionally, I think I'd like something more exciting, but when I try to think of something specific, nothing comes to mind. I have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Apple computers, but I don't think I'd last long working at the Genius Bar. The Apple stores are just too busy and chaotic. I don't think I'd make a good film producer anymore, even though I spent the early part of my career doing precisely this. I just don't have the patience to hire and manage a film crew these days. I don't even think I could work at an ad agency. Agency life used to be fun, but whenever I visit an ad agency these days, you can smell the stress in the air. It's a dying industry and everyone is treading water, just trying to hold on to what they've got. I suspect than in ten years, the ad agencies I remember will all be gone.

I do like blogging. I keep hoping that if I keep stirring this pot, it will eventually start to boil. Who knows. Maybe people will eventually want to pay me for writing about nothing. Hey, it worked for Dave Barry and Seinfeld. In the long run, it doesn't really matter, but I learned long ago not to rule anything out. The world is a strange place and almost anything can happen.

I can't figure the dogs out. They absolutely hate to take a walk in this hot weather we're having lately, but they seem to love to lie out in the back yard under the same hot sun. Often, they lie on their backs with their paws in the air. I guess it's not that surprising that a Dalmatian would rather sunbathe than exercise. I've got to keep an eye on them though. They sunburn easily.

A new spare tire cover for the Defender 90 came in the mail today. After ten years, the old tire cover had pretty much succumbed to the elements. It was tattered and torn and tended to fall off every time I went through a car wash. As I was putting on the new tire cover, I realized that it was the high point of my day. It was just that kind of a day.

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1304

Dot's weather predicting nose told her that there was rain in the vicinity today and she made sure that I was properly warned. It never did rain in our neighborhood, but that didn't stop Dot from barking. The girl is loud. I feel like I've been sitting in the front row at a rock concert. Although I'm never a big fan of rain, I'll admit that we could have used a little moisture. It's been hot and dry for several weeks now and the plants in the back yard are starting to droop and wither.

I finally got around to sanding last week's Sheetrock repairs. The ceiling looks pretty smooth now, so I might just skip the subsequent steps and paint it now. The older I become, the less of a perfectionist I am

Dash's Allopurinol finally arrived this morning, so I made a trip to the vet to pick it up. Since I was already out and about, I drove over to Culwell & Son afterwards and picked out a new pair of Hiltl jeans for myself. I've lost enough weight recently that most of my existing pants are starting to look a little baggy. I'm not getting rid of the old pants though. I have a feeling that my waistline could easily revert to its old dimensions the next time I'm invited to a good barbecue.

One of the things on today's to-do list was fixing one of Janet's watches. A few years ago, I convinced myself that I'd make a good watch repairman and bought some watchmaking tools. It didn't take long to discover that I wasn't cut out to be a watch repairman. I'm just too clumsy. Watch parts are extremely tiny and delicate. All it takes is a random sneeze to scatter tiny screws everywhere. I pretty much limit myself to replacing batteries now. Even something as simple as changing batteries has its perils though. Once you take the back off a watch, all sorts of small things can fall out and disappear forever.

I've found that writing about watches is a lot easier than repairing them, so that's what I did today. I used to write a whole lot about the oil and gas industry and very little about luxury items. Now, its the other way around. As long as the writing jobs keep coming, I don't really care what I write about. I need to do something and I think I proved today that I'm not really cut out for tape and bed work or watch repair.

I feel like today went well. Everything on the to-do list got done. The lawn has been watered. Even the trash has been taken out to the curb for tomorrow's weekly garbage pickup. It's time to start daydreaming about what to have for breakfast tomorrow. I'm in an adventurous mood. Maybe I'll even look for a new restaurant.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1303

It's a good thing that most of my chores were inside today, because it was way too hot outdoors. Even though we got started at 7 AM, the dogs and I were drooping by the time we finished our morning walk. Dot and Dash sprawled out on the brick floor to cool off, while I made myself a pot of coffee and some breakfast.

Under the protection of the air conditioner, I actually managed to get quite a bit done. I managed to get all my July invoices posted and in the mail. I changed some contact information on a website. And I finished another article.

Since my to-do list went so smoothly, I went to the gym after I mailed my invoices. It's still a little disconcerting to see people ten years older than me with more stamina than I have, but I'm making progress already. I have a feeling that this is one lifestyle change that's going to stick.

I don't know why we bothered to go to dog training class tonight. The dogs were hot. The people were hot. And there were little flying insects biting everyone. Everyone brought buckets of water for their dogs to drink. We brought water too, but Dash seemed to think all the other dogs water tasted better. Somebody brought a kiddie pool and it was amusing to watch Dash try to work up his nerve to get in the water. You could tell he wanted to, but he is timid about everything. He would put one paw in the water and then another, but never two paws at once. When Dash finally got the nerve to put all four paws in the water, a big Labrador Retriever took over the pool and splashed all the water out.

When I was driving around today, I saw a Fedex truck flashing its lights behind me. When the truck pulled alongside, the driver waved at me and I recognized him as my regular delivery guy. You know you're buying too much stuff online when the FedEx guy recognizes you in traffic.

Who knows. Maybe the FedEx guy will bring me something tomorrow. I could use a diversion. It looks like all I've got to look forward to is a lot of work. I wish it was Friday tomorrow, but I've got to wait another day. I'm bored with the oatmeal already. I saw a recipe online where you take half of a fresh avocado and poach an egg in the center after you remove the seed. I think you just bake the avocado in the oven until the egg cooks. The picture showed the avocado with some cheddar cheese melted over the top. It looks good. Maybe I'll make this tomorrow.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1302

Times have certainly changed. I can remember when an oil change meant thumbing through dog-eared car magazines in the the threadbare lobby of an old garage, waiting while a grease stained mechanic did his best to leave your car smelling like motor oil for the rest of the day. Not anymore. The Land Rover dealer serves you snacks and beverages in air conditioned comfort while they work, and then they wash and detail your car before they return it to you. Of course the oil change itself costs four times more than it should.

I used to scoff at the notion that the middle class in America was being systematically eliminated, but I'm beginning to believe that this is actually the case. As a member of the vanishing middle class, I find this discouraging. I don't need tasty snacks and a car wash when I get my oil changed, but I don't want to change it myself in the parking lot of an Autozone store like the Walmart people either. The gap between the rich and the poor is definitely widening and the territory in the middle is nothing but quicksand.

Another sign that times are changing is that my website clients increasingly ask me to do things that they think are trivial no-brainers, not realizing that these things are actually quite difficult for me. People see things that they like on Facebook or Pinterest and then they ask me to put the same sort of thing on their own websites. I've given up trying to explain that sites like Amazon and Facebook have huge development teams to do all the fancy stuff. I've already learned the hard way that if I protest too much, the client will just take their business to GoDaddy or some other template site and get what they want for free. So guess what I did today? I did some difficult stuff and pretended like it was easy.

I also pretended that it didn't really matter when Dash didn't get his regular nurse at the vet today. I'm equally frustrated when I go to my own doctors and don't get the lab tech or nurse I want. It is often difficult to tell whether a doctor is any good, but at the lower levels of medicine, it is quite easy. Some technicians can draw blood painlessly and others can't. Once I even had an absent minded tech inject me with the wrong shot. Dash had to have his anal glands expressed today and memories of my own colonoscopies made me wish he had the best nurse in the building. Of course like the song says, you can't always get what you want.

I've got to get my July invoices out tomorrow so I'll have some money coming my way in August. Among other things, there's a ritzy oil change that needs to be paid for. Just so you know, today's Dalmatian is a special one. She was one of ours. Greta went to the Rainbow Bridge nine years ago tomorrow.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1301

I've already learned a few things by going to the gym. Most importantly, I've learned that I'm not in nearly as good shape as I thought I was. For years, I've been telling myself that I got all the exercise I needed by taking the dogs on long walks. Maybe this was true at some point, but the dogs are getting older now and don't walk as far or as fast as they used to. I still spend quite a bit of time walking the dogs, but a lot of this activity consists of Dot and Dash looking for new places to pee while I look for flowers to photograph. We may be on the trail for an hour, but when we return, we usually aren't even breathing hard.

I am winded when I leave the gym, and I guess that's as it should be. So far, my exercise strategy is to watch the people who come with their own personal trainers and just do the same things they do. I don't even attempt to copy the true fitness fanatics though. I saw someone today going full speed on a stair climbing machine for 45 minutes without stopping. My legs would have turned to jelly within fifteen minutes. I do think I'll be able to incorporate a trip to the gym into my regular routine though. I'm going to try to go a minimum of two days a week, and hopefully I'll find time for three.

One nice thing about the gym is that I never have to make an appointment. I can just go whenever I feel like it. Everything else in life seems to require elaborate planning, with appointments made weeks in advance. Haircuts require appointments. Doctors require appointments. I even had to make an appointment to get my oil changed. I used to just show up at the dealership with the Defender and enjoy a cup of coffee while they serviced my car. Evidently those days are long gone. I was able to make an appointment for tomorrow however. The oil change is two hours earlier than Dash's vet appointment. It's going to be a busy day.

Every time I get interested in one of the many new services AT&T offers, one of my existing services crashes or breaks and I'm thrown back into the land of reality. Today I kept getting notices on my computer that I had new voicemail messages waiting, but whenever I tried to access them, I was locked out. I tried to listen to the messages using both the phone and the computer, but neither of them would accept my password. By the time I finished dinner, the system was back to normal. As usual, all the messages were from telemarketers.

I didn't get around to working on the Sheetrock today. I had the time, but it never occurred to me because I didn't look up at the ceiling much today. I did find some more bees however. Just as I thought I was winning the battle with the critters outside, I spotted another hornet's nest on the back porch. Although I managed to get rid of the nest without getting stung, I'm sure this wasn't the last of the bees and hornets I'll be seeing this Summer.

I need to get to bed earlier. I'm a habitual night-owl, but this doesn't lend itself to early dog walks. I have no desire to rise with the sun, but it's becoming increasingly necessary to give the dogs a chance to enjoy themselves before the weather becomes unbearable. We got started at 8 AM this morning and it was already too late. Maybe 6:30 AM would be better. Janet says the weather is quite nice at that time of day. I wouldn't know anything about that.

Trevor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day