Day 2355

Sometimes on a completely normal day I'll suddenly find myself feeling incredibly sad. I don't know why, but I suspect this is because a number of important things in my life are reaching their logical conclusion at the same time. Even on the best of days, I have to acknowledge that Dot is on a glide path, headed directly towards the Rainbow Bridge. It's amazing that she's made it this far. When I watch video tributes to dogs who have left this world, they make me cry. When I watch Dot take painfully slow steps from the bedroom to the kitchen, I remember days when she and Dash could run like the wind. I wish I could turn back time.

As Dot begins the final chapters of her journey, so does my business. It's hard to believe that twenty five years ago I started a company that would soon be making national Pepsi commercials and providing me with opportunities to work around the world. Like Dot's incredible life, I'm amazed that we've managed to make it this far. If only the clock turned a bit slower. When I pull my aching bones out of bed in the morning and survey my crumbling kingdom, it seems like everything happened way too fast.

There was a life before loving Dalmatians and running a small business, but I barely remember it. Did I really play bass in a rock band? Did I used to stay out late and laugh uproariously with friends? Was I really an architect? It all seems like dream memories now. Why did I ever move to Dallas? It's a mystery. All I know is that life is a jumble of memories and after a while you can't even put them in the proper order.

After a while I'll never remember that the plumber came today. He was very nice and tightened all the fittings to eliminate a leak that was so small that I probably should have just ignored it. I was hoping that Dot would ignore the plumber, but the part of her brain that guards the house is still working and she barked the entire time he was here. The plumber was gone in fifteen minutes, but Dot continued to pant and act agitated for the next two hours. She is so weak and tired now that it takes her a while to bounce back from anything.

Eventually Dot fell asleep and started breathing normally again. I started up the computer was was amazed to see that everything worked normally today. The UPS man delivered the new router sometime this afternoon, but I'm reluctant to install it. I think I'll just leave it in the box until things start acting up again. It crossed my mind that since tech support calls are usually monitored, maybe the supervisor of the idiot I talked to yesterday listened to my irate call and actually made the minor configuration changes I was requesting. If things aren't working tomorrow morning, I'll chalk today's smooth sailing up to pure coincidence.

Dot has her monthly recheck at the cancer center tomorrow, but since both ultrasound technicians are out sick, I wonder if there is any point in going. Dot won't mind if I have to reschedule, but I'd like to know what's going on. I worry too much already and knowing exactly why Dot has been so tired this week might help me keep things in perspective.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day