Day 2006

Something caught my eye when I was reading about Dot's condition last night. It said that older dogs like Dot have a lot of difficulty squatting, and tended to defecate while they were moving. This morning, instead of waiting and waiting in the yard for her to do her business, I immediacy took her on a little walk down the alley as soon as I got out of bed. Worked like a charm. Dot pooped normally after only walking about fifty feet. We then returned home, I finished getting dressed, we had our meds, ate breakfast and everything was fine. No accidents for the rest of the day. It's weird how such a little detail could make such a big difference. For years I'd always let the dogs out in the yard when I first got up and then we took a walk later. That doesn't work anymore. Dot needs to be moving to poop and apparently it doesn't matter to her if she's moving down the road or moving around the house, waiting for us to get ready. She'll still have accidents, but I think this little change in routine will help.

Since it was supposed to rain today, I did all my Saturday errands early. I should do this all the time. People get up later on the weekends and it's so much easier to do your shopping before the rest of the world is out and about. I had an easy time finding parking places, didn't have to wait in lines to check out, and as an added bonus, didn't have to wash my car because I got caught in the rain. Don't ask me why I'm so OCD that I have to wash my car every time it rains, but that's just the way it is.

I was surprised to turn on the TV this morning and discover that a nutcase who recently bought an armored car on eBay was trying to attack the downtown police station with pipe bombs and an assault rifle. I know people who live right across the street from this police station. I don't know if I was more surprised that something like this could happen in a trendy urban neighborhood full of cool restaurants and loft residences, or that someone could actually purchase an armored car on eBay. Is there anywhere left that is immune from all this social chaos? Sadly, I don't think so.

It did rain today. It rained a lot. Luckily, I was able to time things so that the dogs got walked and I was able to take care of all my Saturday errands during the dry periods. During the rainy periods, I went to the office and wrote some new articles while the dogs stayed nearby under my desk. I've started turning the pump on as soon as the rain starts now to slow down the rate that standing water accumulates. The reason this works now when it didn't before is that I've finally managed to find the low point on the roof. That's exactly where I place the pump. I've also built a little guard to keep leaves and debris from immediately clogging the pump's impeller. Maybe if a buy a second pump for the lower carport roof and do the same thing, I won't actually have to crawl up there much at all.

I still can't figure out why U-verse wasn't working last night. One TV was fine and the other kept saying that it wasn't getting a signal. Since the TV in the kitchen worked perfectly, I knew the signal was there. I rebooted the router, tried several different HDMI cables and nothing worked. Usually, I'm pretty good at analyzing and fixing things, but I totally struck out last night. This morning everything worked fine. I don't have a clue what changed while I was sleeping.

It looks like we are going to have a wet summer. Not only are we getting more rain tomorrow, it is supposed to rain every single day next week. The yard looks great, but enough is enough.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day