Day 2861

I love my new doctor. It was refreshing to make an appointment and actually see the doctor at the scheduled time. I'm used to sitting in the waiting room for hours, then waiting some more in the exam room, only to end up seeing the doctor for a few minutes. The waiting room at my old doctor's office seems like a scene from The Walking Dead. This new place was quiet and sedate. Everyone was friendly and there was even valet parking. Best of all, this new doctor took the time to listen to me, instead of rushing around trying to see five patients at once. Janet told me that concierge medicine was a completely different experience. She was right.

After three unsuccessful attempts to get Dash walking this morning, I decided to leave his harness on, just in case he felt like going out again later. I finished my breakfast and when I was doing the dishes, I saw him scratching at the back door. I was ready to go, so I quickly grabbed a leash and off we went. This time I didn't waste time putting the knee brace or the protective rubber boots on. This seemed to do the trick. Maybe Dash just hates all the protective gear. I made sure that we walked on grass, so he wouldn't injure his paws and kept the pace slow, trying to avoid a knee injury. We had a nice slow walk along the shoreline. Dash seemed to be enjoying himself and walked very normally. This evening when Janet came home, we put the protective gear back on for our evening walk. He still walked normally. I just need to get him used to wearing the protective gear in the morning. Based on my experience so far, this may take a while.

I had trouble sleeping last night. This is so rare that it was kind of alarming. I'd hate to have insomnia  on any kind of a regular basis. When you're lying in bed and can't get to sleep, time seems to move much slower than usual. I occasionally had insomnia many years ago when my company was busy. I would just get up, turn on the computer and go to work. There's little point in doing that now. There's no work to do. I think I'd rather lie in bed and listen to my dog snore than look at Facebook at 3 AM.

I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up something for dinner on my way home from the doctor's office. I used to think that all grocery stores were basically the same, but they definitely cater to specific audiences these days. Whole Foods seems to be for upscale vegans. Central Market is for upscale meat eaters. Sprouts is for people who like the idea of a small neighborhood market. I guess Albertsons and Kroger are for older people who haven't realized that shopping has changed. I have no idea who Walmart is for and I don't intend to find out.

It's time to clip Dash's nails again. It's weird that something so simple can be such a problem. I hate taking Dash in the car, but I'm terrible at clipping his nails myself, so he always has to go to the vet. Sometimes the techs clip his nails too short and they bleed. This happen more often than you'd think with Dalmatians, since some nails are black and you can't see the quick. Bleeding of any sort is not good, since Dash is taking Plavix. I can't ignore his nails though, since he might pull out a dewclaw again. This whole procedure only takes a few minutes, but I've already spent hours thinking about it. I worry too much.

I'm really hoping that tomorrow will be the end of the refrigerator repair saga. I need to get this thing fixed before something else breaks.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day