Day 3294

Another year bites the dust. I guess it was fitting that the year ended in such a typical fashion. It rained all night. Dash pooped in the bed. And the roof started leaking again. As usual, I noticed the leak when I stepped in a puddle of water while I was taking Dash outside to pee in the middle of the night. I had a towel in my hand to dry Dash off with, but ended up using it to mop up the water on the floor. After strategically placing buckets under the leaks and cleaning Dash so he wouldn't get mud on the bed, I went back to sleep.

This morning I was puzzled that no water was being pumped from the roof. I went up to investigate and discovered that the pump had tipped over during the night. No wonder there was over three inches of standing water directly over the leak. I spent two hours removing all the water from the roof, but the effort was probably all for nothing. There is snow in the forecast for Wednesday.

I took a small check from one of my few remaining clients to the bank and got a bunch of buckets at the Dollar Store on the way home. You can't have too many buckets when your roof is leaking. I never go to the Dollar Store, but Janet said that if I'd quit being such an elitist, I could get the buckets for only a dollar. She was right. I would have paid five dollars for a similar bucket at Home Depot.

Not much has changed this year. Last New Year's Eve Dash was already wearing his knee brace and was having major problems with vestibular disease. The elastomer coating on the roof was falling apart and my accountant was telling me it was time to shut down the business. I was starting to think about selling things, but hadn't actually started yet.

One year later, Dash has exceeded all his doctor's expectations. He poops all over the place, but his heart is actually stronger than it was last year. He still has vestibular disease, but the seizures seems to have subsided. Considering that he can barely stand up at times, the little guy is proving to be remarkably resilient.

The house hasn't been resilient at all. I guess this is to be expected since it was built in 1955. I'm going to need a new roof, new toilets and tile in the bathrooms, new sheetrock on the ceiling, fresh paint, and a new sliding glass door in the atrium. It's too bad that my services are no longer in demand because this is going to be expensive. I hate to spend a lot of money on this house, since it will probably be torn down if we ever move. On the other hand, I hate living like this. I've almost forgotten what living in a trouble free house is like.

I think we'll make it to midnight this year. We've been staying up later lately because Dash usually pees around midnight. It's easier to go to bed after this happens. There's some champagne cooling in the refrigerator. We'll lift a glass to the new year and hope that it is better than 2018.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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