Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Day 484

I received another non-disclosure agreement in the mail today. That's always a good thing, because it usually means that projects have progressed from the talking about things stage to the actually doing things stage. I've signed so many of these agreements over the years that it's amazing I am still able to talk about anything at all. That's the good thing about dogs. You can write or say anything you want about dogs and the dogs don't really care.

After breakfast this morning, I had to go to the frame store and get some things dry mounted. I like this store, because they'll do little things like this while I wait. I've noticed that the waiting part of "while you wait" keeps getting longer though. The person doing the framing and dry mounting had to come out and run the cash register whenever a customer came in the store. It took me an hour and a half to get the dry mounting done. Getting watch batteries replaced or changing the oil in my car seems to take longer now as well. Nobody seems to hire enough staff anymore. Everywhere I go, there are just a few stressed out people trying to do the work of all the other people that got laid off to keep the companies profitable.

Luckily, haircuts are still done on a while you wait basis. I went to Northpark this afternoon and got a haircut so I would look halfway decent for our big Dalmatian Rescue pet photo event this weekend. After Betty finished with my hair, I did a little shopping in the mall before I went home. As I was leaving, a salesperson asked me if I wanted him to accompany me to the car with my purchase. Weird! Nobody has ever asked me that in a shopping mall before. In my mind, it kind of confirmed some of the rumors that I've been hearing about the mall having problems with increasing gang activity.

I don't know where I'm going to stay in Houston. I just kind of assumed that I would be staying at the same hotel where my client was staying, but when I called to make reservations today, I discovered that the place is booked solid for the entire week. Two hotels nearby are booked solid too. This means that I'm going to have to spend considerable time tomorrow looking for hotels instead of designing websites like I should be.

Dash didn't do that well in training class tonight. Maybe his allergies were bothering him just as much as mine were. He didn't win any ribbons this evening, but if they were giving ribbons for barking, he would have gotten first place.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day