Day 3032

I spend most of the day waiting for rain. Theoretically, we are under a tornado watch, but the bad weather must have gone to the North or South of us. So far, all I've seen are a few light showers. It doesn't hurt to be prepared though. I went up on the roof and moved the sump pump, so it would remove water from the area where we've been experiencing a leak. It may not work, but it's worth a try.

I got an early start today so I could walk Dash before the rain started. Even at Dash's excruciatingly slow pace, we managed to stay dry until we made it home again. I wasn't so lucky when I went to get groceries for the weekend. The rain wasn't heavy, but it was enough to get the car muddy. I picked up a new supply of phenobarbital for Dash on the way home and spent the rest of the day inside, watching the sky get darker and darker.

The vet that examined Dash yesterday thought some of the weakness in his rear legs was caused by arthritis and wanted us to see if gabapentin would help Dash walk without dragging his legs. We tried the drug today and it actually seems to make him worse. Sure enough, two of the most common side effects of gabapentin are sedation and wobbliness. We decided to discontinue the drug after only using it for one day. Dash is so wobbly already from the vestibular disease that he stumbles a lot. He can't afford to get much worse. I had to help Dash up several times this afternoon as he was waking up from a nap. He was struggling to get up on his own. This wasn't normal. It almost has to be the pills.

The tree trimmer canceled his appointment today because of the rain. He told me he was going fishing instead. I don't blame him for not wanting to trim trees in a thunderstorm, but I'm not so sure that fishing was a wise idea. Oh, well. The trees aren't a big priority anyway. The person I'd really like to see right now is the roofer.

I downloaded some of the piano lessons that come with GarageBand. The lessons are pretty basic, but nicely thought out. I could actually learn something. It's kind of cool to have a digital audio workstation that can teach you to play an instrument. Today I learned that the way I typically finger chords is wrong. I also learned how to play a simplified version of Ode to Joy. I think you have to buy the more advanced lessons on the App Store, but they're not very expensive. This will definitely give me something to do on rainy days.

We didn't even try to take an afternoon walk. Dash was smart enough to know that the noise we were hearing off in the distance was thunder. In lieu of a walk, I did some laundry and watched TV. I'm so tired of political news and stock market gyrations, that it might have been better to take a walk in the rain. I need to find a channel that just talks about artificial intelligence and upcoming space launches.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day