Day 2792

When I was doing some yard work this morning, I noticed a huge army of sweet ants crawling from a crack in the patio and making their way up the side of the house to the roof. No wonder I've been seeing ants in the bathroom. I found some ant and roach spray in the kitchen and killed the ants that were visible, but I'm sure there are thousands more wherever these came from. While I was trying to eliminate the ants, I also saw several wasp nests. The wasps were rebuilding in exactly the same places where I had removed their nests a few months ago. I've been doing this year after year for as long as I can remember. Keeping the insects and critters out of the house is next to impossible. It's hard enough just to keep Dash from eating the June Bugs.

It doesn't look like my repairs to the shower stall were successful. After I took a shower this morning, I noticed a small stream of water flowing from one of the corners I had just sealed with the silicon caulk. The problem is that there is a small area under the glass shower door frame that is inaccessible. I think some of the tiles have cracked under the door and are letting water seep in. The leak isn't bad, but if there is any leak at all, it will only get worse.

I spend way too much time in this house. It's disheartening to see everything slowly disintegrate around me. Thirty years ago the doors and windows opened and closed a lot more smoothly. The brick floors were completely free from cracks. And the wool carpets looked wonderful. I could never afford to restore the place to its original condition, but it sure would be nice. I have fantasies about those guys from the This Old House show on PBS coming over and fixing up the place. Real contractors aren't like This Old House though. They want to do the work as quickly as possible using substandard materials they picked up at a nearby Home Depot. Sadly, the house will probably just continue to deteriorate.

For years, Dash used to be eager to take an evening walk right after he'd finished his dinner. Now that Janet has been home for most of the summer, Dash refuses too walk without her. It makes things awkward on days like today when Janet had a company dinner. Dash wouldn't walk at all. I tried three times and he refused to leave the yard. It was almost dark when Janet returned, but Dash decided he needed a walk after all. We all walked to the end of the street and back, but he could have had a much longer walk if he'd just gone a few hours earlier.

Janet's been having trouble finding an iPad, so I told her that I'd go locate one for her. After doing a little looking around, I found exactly the model she wanted at a local AT&T phone store. The Apple Store in the mall said there would be a three or four week wait before they had this model back in stock. This doesn't make any sense. You'd think that the Apple Store would always keep a good supply of their own products on hand. It's getting harder and harder to be an Apple fanboy. I think that Apple has become too rich and powerful for its own good. They don't even try to keep customers happy anymore.

I don't know what it will take to keep me happy. I still miss Dot a lot. It would be nice to have a steady income, but I don't really want a job. I wake up each day with a small list of things to do and I usually do all of them. There is no grand plan anymore.  I'm just going from one day to the next.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day