Day 1896

The dreaded ice storm wasn't as bad as everyone expected. There was certainly a fair amount of ice and sleet on the ground when we woke up this morning, but we still had electric power and a few brave souls were even out on the roads. I had no desire to join these people. Driving on black ice is just asking for trouble. I started the car to make sure the battery still worked in the sub-freezing temperatures, but I never left the driveway.

There was plenty to do around the house anyway. Taking care of Dot is almost a full time job. She's starting to get cabin fever, so I try to walk her around a bit using the harness whenever she appears restless. Neither of the dogs wanted to be outside for long today. It was just too cold. Dash has become a model of efficiency about doing his business lately. He used to take forever to poop on his evening walks, but for the past two days he poops and pees almost immediately. We had completed our walk and were back in the house within five minutes this evening.

There were no writing jobs today, so I took care of my usual website updates and began editing another video. I can edit using either the laptop or desktop computers, but I've got to choose one or the other. Dot must have thought I picked the wrong one, because almost as soon as I began the tedious editing process in the office, she wanted me out in the living room with her. Even though Dot mostly just sleeps, you can't really let her out of your sight. You never know when she'll try to get up on her own, and since she's still taking prednisolone, you have to be able to get her outside to pee in a hurry.

I'm so glad that our power didn't go out today. Ice and snow days seem to last forever anyway, but enduring frigid weather while trapped inside a freezing house is even worse. Dealing with all these things with a sick and very immobile dog would have probably driven me over the edge. Dot did surprisingly well navigating our icy back yard when I took her out to pee. She had lots of help of course, but it was still encouraging to see her front legs move so confidently on the slick ground.

There is already another NASA event on the horizon and it appears that two people in the group that joined me at Vandenberg Air Force Base are planning to attend. I'm a bit envious. I wonder how these people have the time and money to do this so frequently. This event will be the first test firing of the rocket that will eventually take astronauts to Mars. This is a static test, so the rocket will never leave the ground, but it will still be very impressive. The test site is located near Promontory, Utah, which is even more remote than Vandenberg Air Force Base. Lord know how expensive it would be to fly there from Dallas. Oh, well. Maybe in a year or so, when Dot gets healthy again, I can start thinking about attending these events again.

It's going to be another very cold day tomorrow, but at least the danger of ice is receding. I'm mainly worried about the weather on Thursday, when we have to transport Dot to the specialty center in Lewisville where she will have her spinal surgery. It would be nice if you could deal with all stressful things on clear, warm Spring days, but nature doesn't work that way. As long as we continue to have electric power this week, I guess I'll be OK.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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