Day 4751

Dogs love consistency. As luck would have it, so do I. Dawn and I do exactly the same things at the same time every day and this consistancy seems to help us both. I've turned off Janet's alarm clock and we sleep until 8 AM now. I've learned how to make the bed while Dawn is still in it because she refuses to leave her spot on the bed. I get dressed, fill Dawn' water bowl with fresh water and then make her breakfast. I take it back to the bedroom and then go out to the kitchen and start fixing my own breakfast. I can hear her eating because the tags on her coller jingle on the ceramic dog bowl. When I'm sure she has finished eating, I put on a coat, and grab her blue training leash. When she is wearing this leash, she will follow me down to the park. Without the training leash, she won't leave the yard. I always make sure I have poop bags in my pocket before we leave the house. Dawn usually does her business very quickly and then immediately wants to return to the house.

I take my time eating my own breakfast, because a day is a long time to fill and I don't have that much going on. After breakfast I give Dawn her morning meds. She likes to take them in cream cheese. Since it's been very cold lately, I try to wait a few hours before taking my long walk. The walk is more pleasant if I leave around noon. Before I leave I'll take Dawn out to the back yard to pee. She always returns to her place on the bed. That's where she likes to spend her day. When Janet is home, Dawn will follow her around like glue. She doesn't follow me around.

My long walk is always the same. I know where the birds and animals live and keep an eye out for them. Some days I see lots of wildlife. Other days I see none. I always see joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists. The park is a popular place to exercise. For me at least, my walk is a lot better than going to the gym. There are lots of elevation changes and if you keep up a decent pace, the walk is great for cardio health. It's also a great way to kill time. I spend several hours each day walking and usually travel at least six miles. I'm about a mile short now that Janet is gone however, because there is no early morning walk with Dawn. Dawn does not want to go walking with me unless Janet is nearby and I'm not going to make an issue of it. 

The parts I ordered for my broken Waterpik arrived today so I took the unit apart and fixed it this afternoon. I guess I could have just ordered a new Waterpik, but why bother? I'm pretty good at fixing things and I knew that this could be fixed. It's hard for me to give up on something, and the computers, the refrigerator, washer, dryer, my phone, and one of the dehumidifiers have all been repaired. The toilet in the office bathroom need work, but I can't find parts. I have been unable to fix the large sliding glass door in the living room as well. It's way too heavy for me to take off its track by myself and nobody seems to repair these things anymore. I wish I was a better carpenter. I have the tools, but the repairs the house needs are way beyond my modest abilities. I do what I can. For now, it's fixing a broken Waterpik.

Our arctic freeze appears to be over. It was still a little chilly this afternoon, but tomorrow the temperature is supposed to climb back to seventy again. That's fine by me. A week of freezing weather was about all I could handle. I keep thinking that the past few days have been the worst ever, but that's just not true. I remember one winter when our lake completely froze over. No frozen lake this year. Not much snow either in recent years. When I first moved to Texas there were some huge snowfalls along with ice storms that knocked down large trees all over town. All in all, the climate does seem to be getting warmer.

Dawn won't be going to her training class tomorrow. That's fine by her. She and I are getting along fine and she seems to enjoy having a lazy week with nothing on her agenda. I'm sure she will be delighted when Janet returns, but so far things are going better than I expected.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day