Day 4548

We went back and visited the rescue Dalmatians today. Rocket was at the vet beginning his heartworm treatment, but Charlie, Oliver, Willie, and JoJo were all glad to see us. Each of these boys has their own distinct personality and favorite toys. Charlie knows the most commands and always wants to have a toy in his mouth. He likes to race around with a rope octipus thrashing it from side to side. Oliver is the best at retrieving things and will always bring a ball or toy back to you so you can throw it again. There is a large ball that makes funny noises that Willie likes to play with, but he mostly likes to just sit next to you and be petted. JoJo doesn't like being inside and always takes his favorite red ball to the outside play yard. Even though it was hot today, he still prefered being outside. They all like the treats we bring and some can catch them from a considerable distance. We had a good time today. These visits are good for the dogs and good for us as well.

It looks like I'm going to have to buy another expensive battery. Now the battery in the UPS backup system for the television and fiber optic network has gone bad. Everything still works, but the network would go down immediately during a power outage. The batteries for these systems are basically lead/acid motorcycle batteries. They're cheaper than a car battery, but a lot more expensive than a flashlight battery. I wonder if people who own electric cars realize how much of a problem batteries are? Most of these cars are still pretty new. Wait until they are ten years old and all start needing new batteries.

Since I knew that we would be visiting the Dalmatians today, I didn't think there would be time to go to the gym. I took my long walk right after breakfast when the temperature was still cool. In theory this was a good plan since it was quite nice outside when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. It warms up quickly when the sun is out though, and I walk pretty slow. By the time I returned home from my two hour walk, I was thinking that I'd better start going to the gym every day. I don't handle the heat well, and it is definitely Summer now.

I didn't catch the rat last night. In fact, I haven't even seen it since I put the Havahart trap out in the atrium.  Maybe this rat doesn't like cheese. I'll leave the trap out for about a week and if I don't catch it by then I'll have to come up with a plan B.  If the atrium didn't seem like part of the house it would be a lot easier to just ignore it. There are a ton of rats in the park and I'm sure that this one isn't the only one in our yard. I'm convinced that there are lots of critters in our yard at night that we don't even know about. Luckily I don't see snakes very often. There are quite a few possums and raccoons though. There are coyotes nearby, but we've never seen one in the yard. Live and let live is the best policy for all of these animals, but I definitely don't want a rat in the house.

I'll be glad when the new dishwasher is installed. I'm getting tired of mopping up the leak every morning before I eat breakfast. It's not a bad leak. Just enough to remind me that there is a problem. I guess I could start washing dishes by hand for a while, but it is much easier to just mop up the water. One advantage of having brick floors is that it is really hard to damage them.

I don't really have any plans for tomorrow. Truthfully, I don't have any plans for the rest of the Summer. It's too bad that travel has gotten so expensive. There's a lot going on at Kennedy Space Center right now. I wouldn't mind going back to Titusville again.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day