Day 1337

What a difference a few hours make. This morning was so slow and uneventful that I wrote a letter to my Luddite, historian sister who still refuses to use the Internet. Writing letters on paper that actually travel through the mail is becoming a lost art. I'll have to admit I'm losing the knack myself. My problem is that I can never think of anything to say that I haven't already said on the blog. I keep thinking that if I could just convince my sister to read the blog, I wouldn't have to write these redundant letters.

After I mailed my letter, I began to look for a way to attach a quick release plate to my heavy-duty Miller tripod. What a dummy I am. While I was measuring things so I could order the right sized plate, I discovered that my tripod already had a built-in release plate. I've been using this tripod for over ten years and had never noticed the little button that releases the attached metal plate from the top of the fluid head. Until today, I though the plate was permanently attached. If I'd noticed this handy feature back when I was shooting a lot of corporate videos, it would have saved me a lot of time.

I was convinced that the entire day was going to be slow and uneventful until my calm was disrupted by the screech of an extreme weather alert on the television. The dogs know what these weather alerts mean now, so their storm phobia behavior immediately escalated to DEFCON-1. After I confirmed on the iPad weather radar that a bad thunderstorm was indeed headed our way, I did what I could to calm Dot and Dash. Storms didn't used to bother Dash at all, but he has learned his fear of bad weather from watching Dot. Ironically, Dot wasn't scared of storms when she was a young dog either. She acquired her storm phobia from watching Petey, an older Dalmatian we had before Dash joined the family. Petey's storm phobia was so severe that I can understand why it left a strong impression on Dot. One day during a storm he completely destroyed the carpet in the bedroom, trying his best to dig a hole straight to China. He didn't make it to China, but he did manage to scratch his way all the way through the plywood sub-floor under the carpet.

When the storm arrived, I got under a big blanket with the dogs and huddled with them for at least thirty minutes until the booming thunderclaps began to subside. I don't know why this works, but it usually does. Maybe since dogs are pack animals, they feel more comfortable huddled together with their pack in a cave. It took me a while to discover this simple solution to storm phobia, but I go straight for the blanket now whenever I hear a storm approaching. Now that I don't have to worry about a leaking roof anymore, a thunderstorm is just an excuse to go take a nap with the dogs.

I take my car in for service tomorrow to get the harmonic balancer I order a few weeks ago attached. Hopefully, this will finally cure my engine vibration problem. If this new part doesn't work, I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to keep the Defender running another two years until the new Land Rover Defenders hit the market. I'm going to be real disappointed if Land Rover decides not to re-introduce the Defender 90 to the United States after all. I've been looking and I still can't find anything else I'd be satisfied driving.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1336

My gym is about as close as I'll ever get to experiencing Ground Hog Day. Every time I go, there is an old man reading the same book while he pedals a stationary bicycle very slowly. There is always a very thin girl who is speed walking endlessly around and around the oval track. And then there is someone who looks a lot like a competitive cyclist putting an elliptical machine through its paces as fast as he can while continually turning his head from side to side. There are other familiar faces as well, but these three are amazing. No matter when I arrive, they are always there, doing exactly the same thing.

I got a new photography job today, but other than that, it was a pretty typical Monday. Monday's are almost a textbook definition of boredom. Very little happens on a typical Monday, so in lieu of productive work, I invent little chores. I water the lawn. I do laundry. I don't usually try to catch up on things, because I've caught up already.

I should just go to a movie on days like this, but there hasn't been a new movie that has caught my interest for a long time. I'm becoming paranoid about leaving the dogs as well. Now that both dogs are prone to have seizures, I have this fear that the one day I take off for a long time will be the day that something terrible happens and I won't be there when they need me to take them to the emergency vet. I shouldn't think this way, but once your mind starts going in this direction, it's hard to snap out of it. I find myself checking the nanny cam on my phone quite a bit while I'm at the gym. Today Dash was so still that I thought for a minute that he might be dead. Luckily the nanny cam has a zoom lens. I zoomed in all the way and I could see him breathing. Then, it was back to the hand bicycle for another twenty minutes.

I think my social media efforts might have plateaued. Have people finally discovered that I seldom post anything new on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook anymore? There's still something new every single day on the blog of course, but you, my faithful readers, are a dying breed. Hardly anyone bothers to read blogs anymore. I don't know if I should care about the slow, but steady attrition of followers on Twitter. It's not like I'm going to start doing anything new at this point.

My research on seizures has netted me a lot more questions than answers. It seems that medical science has discovered, mostly through trial and error, a variety of ways to control seizures and minimize their severity, but nobody really knows what causes them in the first place.

As you can see, there are so few wildflowers left that I've started taking pictures of rocks.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1335

Now I remember why we tried so hard to wean Dash off of phenobarbital the first time he had seizures. The drug seems to make our excitable boy even more hyper and agitated than normal. Dash never could ride calmly in a car when he was on phenobarbital before, and it appears like this behavior has returned. It's weird that a barbiturate would make a dog agitated and wild, but that's what happens with Dash. When phenobarbital was given more commonly to humans, a paradoxical reaction was sometimes observed in children. This is where the drug causes the opposite effect of what you would normally expected. Makes sense in a way. Dash certainly acts like a child.

It was a nerve wracking trip to the dog park this morning, but once we got there, Dash seemed fine. After they had a chance to play in the park for a while, we took the dogs to the Dalmatian Rescue "meet and greet" event. Dot and Dash were both polite and well behaved. I was surprised at how many people came up and told us that they had never seen a real Dalmatian before. The breed is becoming increasingly rare and that's a good thing. When the "101 Dalmatians" Disney movies were popular, everybody wanted a Dalmatian and puppy mills began breeding them. Now, the dogs are harder to find and most people who have a Dalmatian understand the breed and really want one.

I think I determined the problem with my old Apple laptop myself. All it took was thirty minutes of searching on Google and I discovered that if I took the keyboard off and disconnected the PRAM battery underneath, the computer would probably start up and began to recharge. Sure enough, when I did this, it worked like a charm. I bet this is exactly what the technician did when I took the computer in for repair last year. Just like the electrician who charged me $100 to fix a switch, the computer technician probably charged me $100 to disconnect a wire, recharge the battery, and then connect the same wire up again.

So many things in life seem easy once the mystery has been revealed. I am continually amazed at how easy some plumbing, automotive, and household repairs turn out to be when you actually watch the repairman at work. Of course charging a lot for intrinsically easy things is a double edged sword. Some of my best clients have discovered how easy it is to design websites and decided to do it themselves.

Next week looks busy already. There are client meetings on the calender, I've got to take my car in for repairs again, and then there's the vexing question of phenobarbital vs potassium bromide. I've read everything I can find about both meds and still don't know which is the best way to control seizures.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1334

When we took Dot and Dash to our favorite dog washing emporium this morning, we discovered much to our surprise that it was no longer there. The building was empty with a "For Lease" sign on the door. There wasn't an explanation for the abrupt departure. Not even a "We've Moved" message or phone number. Something must have gone terribly wrong. Established businesses don't typically disappear overnight.

We managed to find an alternate place to wash the dogs, but it was a shame to see another neighborhood business bite the dust. Businesses I like seem to have a habit of going bust. I could make a long list of beloved restaurants, furniture stores, camera stores, indoor dog parks, old fashioned hardware stores, and esoteric hobby shops that are no longer around to amuse me.

I've often thought I ought to hire myself out as a new business consultant. In an odd way, my judgement is almost infallible. If I love your business idea, it's going to fail. If I hate your idea, you'll probably make millions. Time after time, businesses that I thought were tailor made for people like me just couldn't make it in Dallas. Businesses I'm not so fond of, on the other hand, seem to thrive. As evidence, there are Wal-Marts, McDonalds, and Payday Loan stores on every corner in this town.

I thought it would be a good day to recharge batteries today and discovered that an old Macintosh laptop that I had spent a considerable amount of money repairing not so long ago, wouldn't boot up anymore. I think I've only started up the old laptop three times since I had it repaired and now it's broken again. If my luck holds true to form, my warranty on the repair probably ran out two weeks ago. That's usually what happens. I don't need this computer at all, but I hate to throw it away. I need to join some sort of twelve step program for people who can't throw things away. I continually fix and repair old things I don't need and seldom use, "just in case" I might need them someday.

Dot and Dash are going to be doggie ambassadors for Dalmatian Rescue tomorrow. That's one reason we gave them a bath today. The dogs are usually quite well behaved at these pet store events. I seem to remember that this particular store has a big glass case filled with rabbits and ferrets however. Show me a dog that isn't interested in rabbits and I can almost guarantee it isn't a Dalmatian

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1333

Dash had another seizure this morning. This new episode comes only a few weeks after the previous one, so it looks like the days of one seizure every four years are over. I'm beginning to recognize the different stages a dog goes through during a seizure, so I'm not quite as panicked now when these episodes begin. Seizures are still frightening events though. They can occasionally become life threatening events, so it's still important to take your dog to a vet as soon as you can after a seizure has occurred. Luckily Dash's seizures have never been prolonged or life threatening, so I've never had to deal with the complexities of getting him to the vet while he is still having convulsions.

Dash's veterinarian wanted to keep him for observation for the rest of the morning, and I reluctantly agreed with her that it was time to put him back on phenobarbital again. I hate the thought of Dash being on a strong barbiturate like phenobarbital for the rest of his life, but the thought of these seizures becomeing more frequent and more severe is even worse.

While Dash was at the vet, I drove up to the Land Rover dealer to see if the harmonic balancer I'd ordered had arrived yet. It turns out that the part had actually arrived several days ago, but they'd never gotten around to telling me about it. I guess we all have different priorities. I want to get this engine vibration problem resolved as quickly as I can. When it's 106 degrees outside and you have a dog in the car, the last thing you need are mechanical problems. I'm still driving the Defender, but at least I've got a service appointment scheduled for next week now.

I stopped for breakfast at a restaurant near the Land Rover dealer on the way home. This place has gotten rave reviews, but I was a bit disappointed. I guess I've gotten spoiled, since one of the best breakfast spots in the entire state is right in my own neighborhood. Maybe I just can't handle salt anymore. My meal was tasty, but it was way too salty for my taste.

Dash was completely normal when he returned from the vet, but it took me a bit longer to get the house back to normal. It is common for dogs to salivate excessively and urinate during a seizure and the bed was a mess. Not only did I have to wash the pillow cases, sheets, and comforter, I had to take the mattress pad off and wash it as well. I really feel bad when Dash has these seizures. His appear suddenly, usually on waking up, and are quite violent. Dot seems to be able to anticipate her infrequent seizures and has learned to go to a quiet place and lie down before the seizure starts.

Since there was also quite a bit of work to complete during this eventful day, I'm exhausted now. I think I got everything finished though. The dogs are resting quietly, the bed linen has been cleaned, all pending articles have been completed and e-mailed to the clients, website fixes are in place, and August invoices are in the mail. I hope the weekend is completely boring and uneventful.

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1332

When I was doing my twenty minutes on the arm bicycle at the gym this afternoon, it occurred to me that this repetitious activity was a pretty good metaphor for what my life has become. I do a lot of boring, repetitious and very necessary activities these days. It wasn't always this way, but I think when you realize that you've already used up eight of your allotted nine lives, your attitude changes a bit. There are times when I wish I was still more adventurous, but my adventures have always been on the self-destructive side and who needs that anymore.

The other people I see at the gym seem just like me. The pick out their favorite machines and do the same routines over and over again. Maybe this is just human nature. On the other hand, maybe I'm just doing my workouts with a bunch of old people.

I saw on the local news tonight that a maintenance worker at the dog park we go to regularly on Sundays attacked one of the dogs in the park with a weed-wacker and injured it pretty bad. The dog had cuts all over its head and neck and had to be taken to a vet for surgery. This is insane. The maintenance company fired the worker immediately, but should have never given him the job in the first place. If you hate dogs, or are fearful of dogs, you should not have a job that involves working around them. On a much happier note, I also saw a segment on the news about Dot's physical therapy vet. Evidently this place is one of the only places in the area that offers this type of advanced therapy for dogs. I'm proud of Dot. Just like me, she's always been an early adopter of the latest things.

I found out today that my assignment in Las Vegas isn't going to happen. I'm disappointed, but not terribly surprised. Maybe Janet and I will go anyway. It's a shame that a money making opportunity has instantly turned into a money losing opportunity though.

Someone wanted me to announce an event that was taking place in May of 2014 on their website today. Even though this seems a bit premature to me, I still approve of this weird request. Updating websites is what I do and as far as I'm concerned, jumping the gun is far better than doing nothing at all. Keep those changes coming guys.

I'm still debating whether to drive a little further just to taste something new for breakfast ntomorrow. There are only so many ways you can cook an egg, and I've tried them all by now. I love the over-easy eggs on a bed of skillet potatoes and pulled pork at the little restaurant down the street from me, but boredom is always a factor on these Friday outings. I certainly wouldn't want my favorite day of the week to turn into another boring ride on the exercise bike.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1331

Dot got quite a workout today. Now that she has become more comfortable with the underwater treadmill, we started her on a program of interval training. This is great exercise for an older dog. Just like interval training for humans, the treadmill speed can be controlled to provide bursts of intense activity, followed by slower cool down periods. Dot always loved to run when she was younger, and the underwater treadmill allows her to work the same muscles without the risk of injury. I am very pleased with this low impact exercise, especially since Dot seems to enjoy it. The Heal Veterinary Hospital where we go every Wednesday specializes in physical therapy and rehabilitation. When Dot gets stronger, we may try other forms of physical therapy as well. They even have balance and exercise balls designed specifically for dogs to strengthen core muscles and improve coordination.

When I go to the gym, I usually fumble around and learn what the various machines are all about by trial and error. Dot has a whole team working with her. Watching her in the tank reminds me of that Aflac Duck commercial on TV. The nurses encourage her, saying "Come on Dot, you can do it" while she high steps through the water. All we need now is the theme music from Rocky as the soundtrack for her athletic adventure.

The weather certainly didn't get any cooler today. Somebody at training class this evening said it was the hottest day of the year so far. No worries though. Janet let me use her car to take Dot to her therapy session. This made a big difference, since a new Land Rover is much more comfortable and reliable in hot weather than an eighteen year old Land Rover. Even though it was still 106 outside, we were cool and comfortable today.

Considering how much time I spent carting Dot around town, I still managed to get quite a bit done today. I finished two articles and got started on a third. I completed some minor website updates as well. I still don't know whether I will be going to Las Vegas for the WWD Magic show later this month. Hopefully, this decision won't take two years like the website project that came back to life yesterday.

Now that Dot's workout is complete for the week, I'm hoping to get back to the gym myself tomorrow. I need to burn off enough calories so I can try out a brand new breakfast restaurant I discovered recently. It's supposed to be one of the best in Texas, and it's nearby as well. I can hardly wait.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1330

While I was sitting in the lobby waiting for Dash to get his antigen shot this afternoon, a guy came in and told the receptionist at the clinic that he had an emergency. He said his dog had collapsed and was unresponsive after only five minutes of playing at the dog park. What was this guy thinking? It was 106 degrees outside! Dogs don't handle extreme heat well anyway. The last thing you want to do with your dog when it is 106 degrees outside is keep throwing the ball for him at a dog park. Luckily, the dog was OK after some rest and a bowl of water, but I still think his owner was an idiot.

I feel like I spent the entire day trying, without much success, to schedule a variety of things. An imaging lab wanted to schedule an MRI for me, but they needed insurance approval first and apparently the insurance and imaging sides of the equation weren't communicating well. No resolution here. A client wanted a travel estimate, but wasn't sure when they wanted me to travel. Not much success here either, especially since hotels and airlines seem to charge different rates for each day of the week. Don't ever try to make travel arrangements when you don't know when you're going. I wasted even more time trying to track down a missing Fedex package that mysteriously disappeared and then just as mysteriously reappeared about six hours later. I would like to tell you about a day where everything went smoothly, but don't hold your breath. Very few aspects of life go smoothly anymore.

A website project that had been dormant for over two years roared back to life today. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. It has taken me over two years to decide on certain things. I have a feeling that people who are slow to make decisions are a lot more common than you might think. I'm happy to move this project back to the front burner though. It was getting pretty cold sitting on the back burner for so long. Although I'm not sure that the terms I agreed to several years ago are even relevant anymore, I'm probably stuck with them. That's usually the way it works.

I'm praying that it will be a little cooler tomorrow. I don't know how many 106 degree days I can take. I've got to drive Dot across town for her water therapy treatment tomorrow and taking the Defender out in this kind of weather is never something that inspires confidence. Janet says I can use her car to transport Dot if I get up extra early and drive her to work. I'm not surprised that she doesn't want to trade cars and take my car to work. Driving an unreliable car without a synchromesh transmission is definitely an acquired taste.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1329

I set up an account with a new supplier today. Someday when pigs fly, I'll buy a lot of cool video gear from these guys. Until then, I'll just keep on doing what I do best: working for next to nothing. I managed to get two animal rescue websites updated today. Although adoptions always seem to slow down in the Summer, it is good to see that these dogs and cats are still finding homes.

I may be going back to Las Vegas to cover another fashion show later this month. Hopefully, we can iron out the details and finalize the trip in the next few days. I always enjoy an excuse to go to Las Vegas. Janet likes Las Vegas too, so it tends to be our most frequent travel destination.

My new gym is starting to be one of my more frequent destinations around town. I try to go at least twice a week, but apparently most members go a lot more often. I see the same people on the machines every time I go. I don't know where they find the time. If I went more than twice a week, I'd be way behind on my work.

Dash has recently learned Dot's trick of turning around and heading for home when she gets tired. I don't think Dash is actually tired though. He's just stubborn. Since both dogs have become fond of staying inside in air conditioned comfort, it's getting harder to get them the exercise they need. The heat is pretty severe though, so I'll let them call the shots. Until the weather gets cooler, when either dog turns around, we'll head back home. Too bad I can't just take them to the gym with me. It's nice and cool at the gym. All I'd have to do is train them to walk on a treadmill. Again, when pigs fly perhaps.

The dogs may be getting too hot during the Summer, but I'm getting too cold. I wake up warm enough, but as the day progresses, I find myself getting colder and colder. It's odd, because the temperature in the house always stays the same. It's not that cold in the house either. If I kept the place any warmer, Janet would have a fit. I have a feeling that my blood isn't circulating as well as it once did. At any rate, when I run short errands now, I don't even bother to turn on the car air conditioner. It's nice to warm up again.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1328

It's a shame to drive thirty minutes to a nice dog park, only to find an overly aggressive dog getting in fights with the other dogs when you get there. This doesn't happen every week, but it certainly happens more often than I'd like. Usually, the owners of these aggressive dogs aren't even apologetic about their dog's deplorable behavior. They'll typically pull the fighting dogs apart, then let the instigator go right back to mingling with the other dogs like it was the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile, Dot and Dash are huddled in one corner of the park until the mean dogs leave. As far as I'm concerned, there are no bad dog breeds, but there are plenty of bad dog owners.

Yes, I'll admit I'm geeky enough that I turned on the TV this afternoon to catch a live special where the BBC announced the identity of the next Dr. Who. Will Peter Capaldi make a good Dr. Who? He's certainly a lot older than recent era doctors, but I've enjoyed watching him in The Thick of It. He'll probably make a very good Twelfth Doctor. I'm pretty accepting of these changes anyway. After each regeneration, I usually completely forget about the previous doctor in a matter of weeks.

I got a little lesson in how automated our lives have become this afternoon. I had to go to Home Depot to pick up some odds and ends. The furnace filters and grass seed didn't present a problem, but there was only one of the little stainless steel sink strainers I needed left in the plumbing department and it didn't have a UPC code. I told the checkout clerk what the price was, but he couldn't ring the item up without a bar code to scan. After several unsuccessful attempts to enter the price manually, he just gave me the strainer. Apparently, it just wasn't worth the effort to sell something without a bar code.

I'm not sleeping well. I can't blame it on the dogs anymore either. Dot and Dash have been sleeping quietly all week, even leaving me plenty of room in the bed for a change. I'm still waking up with bad dreams in my head. I've never gone through such a sustained period of bad dreams. When I was young, I had fabulous dreams where I could fly. Then I went through an odd period where I dreamed I was walking from one city to another and could remember every step of the journey. Now, the dreams are just a jumbled mess. Nothing works. I'm lost in giant hotels. My dogs run away. I'm playing with my old band, but we can never get our instruments tuned. I'm looking for a restroom, but they are all occupied. There are never any monsters. Just a lot of small irritations that keep piling up until they eventually wake me. Sometime it's hard to tell when the dream ends and real life begins.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1327

Janet and I photographed some more homeless Dalmatians today. It's hard to imagine how today's brother and sister pair wound up in the pound in the first place, but hopefully they are on their way to a good home now that they are safe and in the rescue program. The two litter-mates were only eight months old and both dogs were cute as a button. It would have been tempting to adopt this friendly pair ourselves, but two Dalmatians is enough for anybody.

I don't know if we set any temperature records today, but it certainly felt like it. It was so hot outside that I was dreading running my normal Saturday errands. Staying inside with the dogs seemed like a much better option, but there's no rest for the weary when there's a shopping list involved. If I didn't get these things today, I'd have to get them tomorrow anyway.

Even the squirrels were too hot today. They were stretched out on tree limbs and didn't even bother to move when we approached them. Since the dogs were moving in slow motion too, we didn't get any closer to the squirrels than we usually do. I wonder how these animals get enough water on days like this. It is bone dry now and squirrels don't have an air conditioned home to retreat to.

Luckily, the dogs and I did have the option of air conditioned comfort. I decided to put all thoughts of yard work aside for today and reorganized some photo gear instead. It was time to unclog the large format printer too. All I ever do with the thing now is make small test prints to keep the ink lines clear. I used to make large Giclée prints for gallery shows with this printer. That train has left the station though. I'm just not interested anymore.

It looks like the heat wave will continue through the weekend. We need to get to the dog park early tomorrow, before the heat becomes unbearable. The dogs still enjoy these outings, but the park is not quite the same as it was in March or April. The dog park is still better than our own back yard, which seems to becoming a haven for wasps. The hotter is gets, the more wasps I see buzzing around. They're even trying to build a nest by our back door, so I have to be careful that they don't fly inside when I let Dot and Dash out to pee at night. Bug spray seems irrelevant to these wasps. No matter how many nests you knock down during the day, there's always a new batch of insects rebuilding things the next morning.

It's hard to stay away from sugar in the Summer. I'm starting to miss ice cream and lemonade almost as much as beer.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1326

I need help. Maybe you guys could help point me towards my next car. I love my Defender 90, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that keeping an eighteen year old car roadworthy and reliable is a losing proposition. The Defender has entered that phase of a car's life where is ceases to be transportation and becomes an expensive hobby instead. I'm getting tired of guessing which part is going to fall off next, but I can't find anything even remotely affordable that I would rather drive.

My taste in cars has always been rather eclectic. At one time or another I've owned an International Harvester Metro-Mite Van, a silver Citroën Maserati, a Citroën DS-21, a humongous diesel Ford F-350 dually crew cab pickup, a white Ford Bronco identical to the one OJ drove during the famous low speed chase, and of course the Defender 90. I've always been partial to cars that look like they could survive a Zombie apocalypse. I almost bought a Hummer H-1 once, although I hated the H-2 and H-3. I'm fond of the Mercedes Geländewagen as well, but this one is a bit pricy for someone like me. There just aren't many vehicles available that are built like a tank, have full time four wheel drive, and can carry a full size metal dog crate in the back. The Defender is perfect. I just wish Land Rover would bring some new ones back to the United States again while I'm still alive.

As you might guess, I'm still trying to find a new vibration damper for my aluminum V8 engine. By the time I eventually find this illusive part, it is almost inevitable that something else will have fallen off the car and need my attention. I'm tenacious though and made another trip to the Land Rover dealer this morning to get this issue resolved. This was only one of many errands on my list today. I also stopped by my doctor's office to get my blood tested, paid a visit to my equipment supplier to look for a mattebox, and got some weekend groceries at Central Market.

Like last week, I didn't make it to my favorite breakfast restaurant until almost noon. While I was waiting for my meal I listened to three guys at the next table talking about the George Zimmerman trial. As strange as it may seem, one guy was explaining the trial to the other two, who had never even heard about it. On the other side of me was a fat little girl wearing sunglasses who looked exactly like Honey Boo Boo. She had an entourage of adults sitting with her who were continually taking pictures of the kid with their cell phones. This probably wasn't really Honey Boo Boo though. I bet is was just a normal family who likes to post status updates of their grandchildren on Facebook every five minutes.

One of my clients asked me to take some companies who had gone out of business off his website customer list today. I probably ought to do the same thing with my own website. Quite a few of my customers have either gone out of business or been gobbled up by bigger companies over the years. A long list looks better than a short list though. Maybe I'll just leave things the way they are.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1325

Land Rover called me with a "just kidding" message about the special part they ordered for me last week. Even though repairs were scheduled and the parts manager told me that the part was definitely available when I left the dealership, apparently the elusive part doesn't exist after all. Things like this are very frustrating for me because they happen so often. We live in a throwaway society and nobody seems to care about maintaining old stuff anymore. Somewhere along the line, companies discovered that they could make a lot more money if things were simply replaced instead of being repaired. This has all happened fairly recently. Twenty years ago, virtually everything I owned could have been kept running forever by replacing a few inexpensive parts. Those days are gone forever. I have spent weeks looking for spare parts to repair toilets, faucets, furnaces, cameras and cars. All the things I was trying to repair were well made and could have lasted indefinitely with proper maintenance. Well-made and repairable aren't terms you hear much anymore, unfortunately. Instead, we get bombarded with new features that tempt us to abandon the old and get something new instead. It's such a waste. I still prefer well made things that can be maintained forever, but this kind of thinking is a bit like preferring unicorns to horses.

I would definitely prefer some cooler weather, but it doesn't look like I'm going to get that either. It was another triple digit day and the dogs hated it. We took an early walk this morning, but it was already too hot before we even left the house. By the time we returned, we were exhausted. Dot and Dash slept the rest of the day and I went to the gym. One thing I like about my gym is that it is well air conditioned. It's one thing to work up a sweat. It's another thing entirely to be drenched in sweat before you even get started. I'll take an indoor workout any day of the week. I don't understand what all the cyclists and runners I see out in the August heat get out of their self induced punishment.

On the way home from the gym I went to look for some soup bowls. Janet and I are both so clumsy that we routinely break bowls and glasses. Having brick floors in the kitchen and dining areas probably doesn't help the longevity of these items either. I was looking for those oven proof bowls you make French onion soup in, but I couldn't find any as nice at the set we'd broken. I finally found something acceptable at Bed Bath and Beyond. You always have to have a coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond. When I took my blue discount coupon up to the cashier, she said my set of four bowls was really just four individual bowls and I could only use the 20% off coupon for one of my bowls. WTF?  I still think it was a set of four.

I have to get my blood work done tomorrow morning, To help skew the numbers a bit in my favor, I had a big helping of kale salad and didn't eat any dessert. I'm sure it won't make much of a difference anyway. It's always been hard to see a discernible trend in my test results.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1324

I'm always relieved when Dot and I return from her weekly therapy appointments. Driving an old, frail dog around in 102 degree heat in a less than reliable car is never something I look forward to. There are so many things that could go wrong. The car could overheat. The air conditioning could go out. The vibration damper I have on order from England could get worse and throw the fan belt off. Even a flat tire would be disastrous, since Dot's crate would quickly become too hot inside a stationary car. There isn't even a safe way to get Dot out of the car if the Defender broke down on a busy freeway.

At times like these, I wish I lived in a tiny little village that still offered big city services. Do places like this even exist? I'm kind of hooked on taking the dogs to big, full service veterinary hospitals. I like Central Market and Whole Foods for groceries. I enjoy having lots of interesting restaurants nearby and it's always handy to have a Guitar Center in the neighborhood. Everything else, I could live without.

I could certainly continue working from a small town. I never see my clients anymore. Even the folks that are right here in town find it easier to just send me an e-mail. My e-mail assignments kept me pretty busy today. Once Dot's vet appointment was out of the way, the day was virtually identical to yesterday. There was another website to update and three more articles to write. I didn't pay any bills today though.

I'm surprised that the dogs did as well as they did at training class this evening. It was really hot. Dash did a good job with the exercises that didn't involve moving, but I could tell that he would much rather have been at home, sitting near an air conditioning vent. I was so hot that I was very tempted to drink the dog's water. Luckily, the class only lasted an hour.

We start another new month tomorrow. It's hard to believe it's August already. The days are already starting to get shorter. We watched the sun set during training class this evening. Pretty soon the leaves will start to turn and before you know it, we'll be having class in the dark again. These cycles come and go so quickly now. I wish I could slow the clock down a bit. I find I still have time to make plans, but seldom have the time to act on them.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1323

Today was one of those "nose to the grindstone" days. I methodically worked my way through a long list of simple tasks. Articles got written, websites got updated, and bills got paid. There was even a conference call, although since only one person showed up, it wasn't really much of a conference. The dogs had nothing to bark about today, and other than the faint sound of typing, the house was quiet as a tomb.

I got an adapter in the mail this afternoon that will allow me to attach a professional matte box to my video camera. The device would be a lot more useful if I actually had a matte box to attach, but I'll worry about that later. With few upcoming video jobs on the agenda, I've got plenty of time to find that matte box.

I'm beginning to wonder if social media is worth the effort. Without the leverage and large numbers that blog sharing sites like Entrecard and Adgitize used to provide, it's getting harder and harder to attract new readers. Even during its heyday, a lot of people dismissed Entrecard as mindless widget clicking. I liked it though. It brought thousands of new eyes to the blog every day and some ended up staying to become regular readers. Sure, it's easy enough to re-share blog posts on Facebook and Google+ but it's not that same thing as having lots of people come directly to the source. Probably my main problem with social media is that I'm not a very social person. I think the only reason I'm on Facebook at all is to try to lure people back here to the blog.

Maybe declining readership is just another sign of Summer. Everything seems to go through a decline in the Summer. It's getting hard to find flowers to photograph in the park these days. The season is over and almost all the flowers have dried and turned to seed. The grass in the back yard is looking a lot thinner too. Even though the yard was professionally landscaped early in the Spring, the Summer's thick canopy of Oak leaves prevents enough sun from getting to the grass. Essentially, even after a lot of effort, the yard looks just like it always does at the end of July.

At least Dot seems to be improving. She's got another acupuncture session tomorrow. The girl's got a pretty full dance card now with the combination of water therapy and acupuncture. I think the treatments are helping though. Dot was pretty spry on her walks today, even though it was a hot day in July with very few flowers to smell.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1322

I have a working garbage disposal again. Based on what electricians typically charge, I will probably get a $200 bill for installing a simple $2 Single Pole Single Throw Toggle Switch that I happened to have on hand anyway. I suspected that the on/off switch might be the problem and bought another one last week. I should have just done the work myself. I'm a bit reluctant to get involved with electricity anymore though. After several dubious self-repair attempts where I nearly electrocuted myself, I now think it's best to leave these things to a qualified electrician. Live wires, running water, and stainless steel counter tops aren't necessarily a good combination.

I'm frequently faced with situations like this. I basically know what needs to be done, but don't have the tools or experience to do the job properly. I learned the hard way when I used to do a lot of my own auto repairs that there is nothing more irritating than getting an engine disassembled and not being able to get it back together again. Faced with the choice of doing something inexpensively myself or paying someone else to take responsibility for the whole mess, I'll usually opt to pay someone else. I'm convinced that there is good karma involved in paying someone too much to do something simple. I'm sure many of my website clients feel like they're paying me too much to do something simple. Maybe hiring an electrician to install a simple switch is just my way to pay it forward. I'd like to think so anyway.

I finally found a company in England that said it could send me the elusive engine part I need for the Defender 90. I copied down all the information about the part, drove over to the Land Rover dealer and told them to order it. Seems like they could have found this part themselves, but I'm not complaining. Maybe I'll have a reliable car again by the end of the Summer.

One good thing happened today. I stopped by my primary care physician to schedule my next round of blood tests and casually mentioned that I'm on Medicare now.  They didn't drop me! Yay! I've heard so many horror stories about doctors who refuse to deal with Medicare, even when someone has been a patient for years, that I'm a bit nervous to tell my doctors that my insurance has changed. My insurance agent told me that since I got the best available supplemental insurance policy, my medical coverage would be even better than I had before. Not true! So far, my old group plan appears to have been much better.

I did get to go to the gym today. I figured that I needed some kind of reward for dealing with Dot and the electricians. Dot absolutely hates to have visitors over to the house. The only people allowed are Janet, Dash and me. Once again, she got so agitated this morning that she pooped all over the hallway while she was barking. Somehow Dash even managed to get in the line of fire. When the electricians left, I found poop on him too.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1321

Today was pleasant. The weather was surprisingly mild for a July day in Texas. Janet fixed a nice breakfast. The dogs enjoyed their visit to the dog park. They even saw several dogs that they knew. When we returned home, I got the lawnmower out and mowed until the yard looked presentable again. I'm more or less caught up on work assignments too. The only thing that was missing today was a mid-afternoon Dr. Who marathon on BBC.

Since I finished my weekend cores early, I decided to brave the crowds at the mall and go looking for a better WiFi camera to monitor Dash when I'm away. I may have overdone it. The camera I came home with not only has a great picture, it also monitors sound, keeps track of the temperature and humidity, allows two way communication, and plays a lullaby on command. Yes, I really bought a baby monitor instead of a pet monitor. I guess people with babies are even more apprehensive than I am with the dogs, since this thing had features that had never even occurred to me before.

The icing on the cake was that the camera actually worked. Sometimes they don't. I read all the reviews and they were split 50/50. Half the people thought this was the best WiFi camera on the planet and the other half thought it was a worthless piece of junk. I bought the camera making the assumption that the 50% who hated the camera had never hooked anything up to a WiFi network before. Routers, firewalls, and wireless gateways aren't always friendly with each other and it is often difficult to introduce a new piece of equipment to the system. Luck was on my side today though. The camera works like a charm.

The electrician is coming to fix the garbage disposal at 7:30 AM tomorrow. Lord knows why he wants to come so early, but it's just as well. Maybe he'll be able to get the faulty wiring fixed in time for me to take the dogs on a walk at their normal time and proceed with my Monday work day. You never know with electricians though. He may fix the problem in five minutes, or he may tell me that the entire house is not up to code and that everything needs to be rewired.

I hope I have time to go to the gym tomorrow. It's been more difficult to establish a regular schedule than I anticipated. Dash has a vet appointment every other Tuesday and Dot has a vet appointment every Wednesday. Walking the dogs and carting them around to their various appointments eats up a lot of time. Work is erratic too. Some days there is so much to do that I don't even have time to eat. Other days are so quiet that I have trouble staying awake. Workout or no workout, I'll be a happy camper if I have a working garbage disposal at the end of the day.

Queenie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day