Monday, February 21, 2022

Day 4442

We met Willie today. This delightful three year old male came to Dalmatian Rescue from animal control in a nearby city. It always seems strange to me that such a nice dog could wind up abandoned or stray but it happens a lot. I don't know a lot about Willie's history, but I think it's safe to say that his future will be a lot better than his past.

With four Dalmatians at the kennel now, we're spending more time playing with the dogs. Jo Jo has adjusted to his new surroundings well. Oliver is recovering from an eye infection. We helped the kennel staff give him eye drops which was a lot harder than I thought. Oliver wouldn't stay still and had no interest in the drops. Charlie continues to amaze me at how well trained he's become. This is a good group of dogs and we enjoy spending time with them.

It was so warm today that the air conditioner came on for a while. It's almost impossible to plan for this weather. Every day is something new. There was a light mist when we took our sunrise walk this morning, but the sun came out later in the day. Amazingly, the temperature topped 80 degrees this afternoon. Apparently there are still more surprises to come. We are under a severe thunderstorm alert now with storms arriving in the area later tonight. I'm really getting tired of this schizophrenic weather.

I'm also getting tired of my foot problems. I investigated some alternative treatments offered by sports medicine specialists this afternoon. One involved injections of bone marrow concentrate and the other treated you using stem cells. Both procedures looked a little sketchy to me, but what do I know. I'm in no hurry to do something stupid. I'll ask my doctor about these alternative treatments the next time I see him.

The foot pain has definitely put a damper on my long walks. I didn't even get close to 20,000 steps today. We typically walk about a mile and a half with Dawn in the morning and I walked another two miles after we returned from the kennel. That was plenty. I don't think new shoes are going to be a magic bullet at this point. The cartilage between the bones in my feet is wearing out and I haven't heard of many effective ways to replace it.

Traffic has gotten so bad in the city now. When we are driving back and forth to the kennel it seems like a completely different place than it used to. Rush hour seems permanent now. Where are all these new people coming from? I guess there are still a lot of job opportunities in Dallas. I've never seen so many out of state plates.

My repairs to the problematic French toilet didn't go so well. I'm already hearing a drip again. I wish things would stay fixed. Every time I hear a strange noise in the kitchen or utility room I think I'm going to have to make another call to the appliance repairman. I'm nervous about finishing repairs to the living room ceiling as well. I know that as soon as I get things looking nice again, the roof leak will reappear.

I'm continuing to watch the weather radar. The storm is closer to us now. It looks like the worst weather will be to the north of us, but we're definitely going to get some rain. Let's just hope the roof doesn't start leaking while we're asleep.