Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Day 3358

It was much nicer today. I could almost overlook the fact that it was 23 degrees this morning because the sun was shining and there wasn't much of a wind. Of course Dash wanted a walk. It takes a while to get him suited up on cold days. We try to put his socks and boots on before he gets up because it much easier to fit these things while he is still lying down. When he gets up we take off his harness so he can wear a warm sweater underneath. Then we attach the Help 'Em Up Harness again, trying to make sure that Dash doesn't fall down in the process. On really cold days he also wears his hat. You may think this is overkill, but everything fits well and when Dash came home this morning, he wasn't shivering.

Long walks were the order of the day. There wasn't much else to do. I think Dash and I were both ready to get outside. Without writing and website design jobs to keep me busy, my days can get pretty long. If Dash were young and healthy, I could walk for hours in the park. Walking is a great way to daydream and kill time.

The muddy area on top of the sewer pipe still seems to be drying up, so I canceled the plumbing appointment that I postponed yesterday. Plumbers are expensive and I'd hate to tear up the yard and spend a lot of money just to discover that the pipe was fine and I was dealing with a drainage problem instead. We have had a lot of rain lately. I think I'll wait until we get some dry weather and then see what the yard looks like. I can always call the plumber back.

When I was busy with work, I also seemed to have lots of hobbies. I collected things. I taught myself to repair watches. I played in a rock band for a while. I convinced myself that I was an artist and had several gallery shows. Now that I have all the time in the world, nothing interests me. Most of the watches aren't running anymore and I don't even care. I tried to resume playing the piano and took online lessons for a month or two, but quickly became bored and my keyboard is now gathering dust. We have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime and I'm not even interested in watching movies. This is all very curious. I wonder how this happened? I'm not depressed. I don't think I'm avoiding things because when something needs to get done, I still take care of the problem quickly and efficiently. Some people are motivated by desire. I must have always been motivated by deadlines. Without a deadline to meet I'm alarmingly content to do nothing.

I'll probably do nothing tomorrow. A roofer may come over to give me an estimate on a new roof. Since he's a roofer, he may not come at all though. We'll see. On Thursday we take Dash to the cancer center again for one of his periodic echocardiograms. Against all odds, I think Dash's condition has actually gotten better since we saw these doctors two months ago. He's eating better and seems to have more energy. He even got up on the bed by himself today. The little guy is pretty amazing. We were warned that Dash was living on borrowed time over two years ago and he's still with us today. He seems happy too. Maybe doing nothing is the secret to a long life. Dash has perfected doing nothing. He sleeps all day and when he's active he's mostly interested in smelling other dog's poop in the park. I think he's a good role model.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day